30
Thoughts from the Mount of Blessing
There was never one who walked among men more cruelly slan-
dered than the Son of man. He was derided and mocked because of
His unswerving obedience to the principles of God’s holy law. They
hated Him without a cause. Yet He stood calmly before His enemies,
declaring that reproach is a part of the Christian’s legacy, counseling
His followers how to meet the arrows of malice, bidding them not to
faint under persecution.
While slander may blacken the reputation, it cannot stain the char-
acter. That is in God’s keeping. So long as we do not consent to sin,
there is no power, whether human or satanic, that can bring a stain
upon the soul. A man whose heart is stayed upon God is just the
same in the hour of his most afflicting trials and most discouraging
surroundings as when he was in prosperity, when the light and favor of
God seemed to be upon him. His words, his motives, his actions, may
be misrepresented and falsified, but he does not mind it, because he
has greater interests at stake. Like Moses, he endures as “seeing Him
who is invisible” (
Hebrews 11:27
); looking “not at the things which
are seen, but at the things which are not seen” (
2 Corinthians 4:18
).
Christ is acquainted with all that is misunderstood and misrepre-
sented by men. His children can afford to wait in calm patience and
trust, no matter how much maligned and despised; for nothing is secret
that shall not be made manifest, and those who honor God shall be
honored by Him in the presence of men and angels.
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“When men shall revile you, and persecute you,” said Jesus, “re-
joice, and be exceeding glad.” And He pointed His hearers to the
prophets who had spoken in the name of the Lord, as “an example
of suffering affliction, and of patience.”
James 5:10
. Abel, the very
first Christian of Adam’s children, died a martyr. Enoch walked with
God, and the world knew him not. Noah was mocked as a fanatic
and an alarmist. “Others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings,
yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment.” “Others were tortured, not
accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection.”
Hebrews 11:36, 35
.
In every age God’s chosen messengers have been reviled and
persecuted, yet through their affliction the knowledge of God has been
spread abroad. Every disciple of Christ is to step into the ranks and
carry forward the same work, knowing that its foes can do nothing
against the truth, but for the truth. God means that truth shall be brought