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Suffering for the Truth’s Sake, September 26
Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater
than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute
you.
John 15:20
.
What will the human agent do to have the privilege of cooperating with
God? Will he forsake all that he has rather than forsake Christ? ... Will
he suffer persecution for the truth’s sake? Reproach and persecution have
separated many souls from heaven, but never a soul from the love of Christ.
Never yet did persecution drive the soul who was indeed a lover of Jesus
Christ away from Him. The love of Jesus in the soul is all-absorbing, for
that great love wherewith God hath loved us, revealed in giving Christ to
us, is beyond a parallel. “God so loved the world, that he gave his only
begotten Son.” ...
If we can bear persecution for His dear name’s sake, His love becomes
a ruling power in our hearts, for we have the assurance that nothing can
separate us from the love of Christ. Never is the tempest-tried soul more
dearly loved by his Saviour than when he is suffering reproach for the
truth’s sake. When for the truth’s sake the believer stands at the bar of
unrighteous tribunals, Christ stands by his side. All the reproaches that fall
upon the human believer fall upon Christ in the person of His saints. “I
will love him,” said Christ, “and will manifest myself to him” (
John 14:21
).
Christ is condemned over again in the person of His believing disciples.
When for the truth’s sake the believer is incarcerated in prison walls, Christ
manifests Himself to him and ravishes his heart with His love. When he
suffers death for the sake of Christ, Christ says to him, They may kill the
body, but they cannot hurt the soul. “Be of good cheer; I have overcome
the world” (
John 16:33
)
The apostle says to us, “... If ye be reproached for the name of Christ,
happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their
part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified.” Ask yourself, “Is
my Redeemer thus magnified in me before the universe of heaven, before
the satanic agencies, and before the world?
[276]
32
Letter 116, 1896
.
33
Letter 82, 1895
.
283