In the experience of the apostle John under persecution, there is a lesson of wonderful strength and comfort for the Christian.God does not prevent the plottings of wicked men, but He causes their devices to work for good to those who in trial and conflict maintain their faith and loyalty.Often the gospel laborer carries on his work amid storms of persecution, bitter opposition, and unjust reproach.At such times let him remember that the experience to be gained in the furnace of trial and affliction is worth all the pain it costs.Thus God brings His children near to Him, that He may show them their weakness and His strength.He teaches them to lean on Him.
Thus He prepares them to meet emergencies, to fill positions of trust, and to accomplish the great purpose for which their powers were given them.
In all ages God's appointed witnesses have exposed themselves to reproach and persecution for the truth's sake.Joseph was maligned and persecuted because he preserved his virtue and integrity.David, the chosen messenger of God, was hunted like a beast of prey by his enemies.Daniel was cast into a den of lions because he was true to his allegiance to heaven.Job was deprived of his worldly possessions, and so afflicted in body that he was abhorred by his relatives, and friends; yet he maintained his integrity.
Jeremiah could not be deterred from speaking the words that God had given him to speak; and his testimony so enraged the king and princes that he was cast into a loathsome pit.Stephen was stoned because he preached Christ and Him crucified.Paul was imprisoned, beaten with rods, stoned, and finally put to death because he was a faithful messenger for God to the Gentiles.
And John was banished to the Isle of Patmos "for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ."These examples of human steadfastness bear witness to the faithfulness of God's promises--of His abiding presence and sustaining grace.They testify to the power of faith to withstand the powers of the world.It is the work of faith to rest in God in the darkest hour, to feel, however sorely tried and tempest-tossed, that our Father is at the helm.The eye of faith alone can look beyond the things of time to estimate aright the worth of the eternal riches.
Jesus does not present to His followers the hope of attaining earthly glory and riches, of living a life free from trial.Instead He calls upon them to follow Him in the path of self-denial and reproach.He who came to redeem the world was opposed by the united forces of evil.In an unpitying confederacy, evil men and evil angels arrayed themselves against the Prince of Peace.His every word and act revealed divine compassion, and His unlikeness to the world provoked the bitterest hostility.
So it will be with all who will live godly in Christ Jesus.Persecution and reproach await all who are imbued with the Spirit of Christ.The character of the persecution changes with the times, but the principle--the spirit that underlies it--is the same that has slain the chosen of the Lord ever since the days of Abel.
In all ages Satan has persecuted the people of God.He has tortured them and put them to death, but in dying they became conquerors.They bore witness to the power of One mightier than Satan.Wicked men may torture and kill the body, but they cannot touch the life that is hid with Christ in God.They can incarcerate men and women in prison walls, but they cannot bind the spirit.
Through trial and persecution the glory--the character-- of God is revealed in His chosen ones.The believers in Christ, hated and persecuted by the world, are educated and disciplined in the school of Christ.On earth they walk in narrow paths; they are purified in the furnace of affliction.
They follow Christ through sore conflicts; they endure self- denial and experience bitter disappointments; but thus they learn the guilt and woe of sin, and they look upon it with abhorrence.Being partakers of Christ's sufferings, they can look beyond the gloom to the glory, saying, "I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us." Romans 8:18.
