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The Acts of the Apostles
is written: “Others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea,
moreover of bonds and imprisonment: they were stoned, they were
sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered
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about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented;
(of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in
mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.”
Hebrews 11:36-38
.
The enemy of righteousness left nothing undone in his effort to stop
the work committed to the Lord’s builders. But God “left not Himself
without witness.”
Acts 14:17
. Workers were raised up who ably de-
fended the faith once delivered to the saints. History bears record to the
fortitude and heroism of these men. Like the apostles, many of them
fell at their post, but the building of the temple went steadily forward.
The workmen were slain, but the work advanced. The Waldenses, John
Wycliffe, Huss and Jerome, Martin Luther and Zwingli, Cranmer, La-
timer, and Knox, the Huguenots, John and Charles Wesley, and a host
of others brought to the foundation material that will endure through-
out eternity. And in later years those who have so nobly endeavored to
promote the circulation of God’s word, and those who by their service
in heathen lands have prepared the way for the proclamation of the
last great message—these also have helped to rear the structure.
Through the ages that have passed since the days of the apostles,
the building of God’s temple has never ceased. We may look back
through the centuries and see the living stones of which it is com-
posed gleaming like jets of light through the darkness of error and
superstition. Throughout eternity these precious jewels will shine with
increasing luster, testifying to the power of the truth of God. The flash-
ing light of these polished stones reveals the strong contrast between
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light and darkness, between the gold of truth and the dross of error.
Paul and the other apostles, and all the righteous who have lived
since then, have acted their part in the building of the temple. But the
structure is not yet complete. We who are living in this age have a work
to do, a part to act. We are to bring to the foundation material that will
stand the test of fire—gold, silver, and precious stones, “polished after
the similitude of a palace.”
Psalm 144:12
. To those who thus build for
God, Paul speaks words of encouragement and warning: “If any man’s
work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.
If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself
shall be saved; yet so as by fire.”
1 Corinthians 3:14, 15
. The Christian