Will We Hear that Prophet?
By P. C. Rodman
"BLESSED are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely (lying, margin) for my sake." Shall we repine, or go about murmuring as too many are apt to do? Hear him in the following verse: "Rejoice and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in Heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you." Matt. v, 11, 12. "What is a little scourge of the tongue?" says Whitefield. "What is a thrusting out of the synagogue? the time of temptation will be, when we are thrust into an inner prison and feel the iron entering into our very souls. God's people may be permitted to forsake us for awhile; but the Lord Jesus can stand by us. And if thou, O dearest Redeemer, will strengthen me in my inward man, let enemies plunge me into a fiery furnace, or throw me into a den of lions, let us suffer for Jesus with a cheerful heart, his love will sweeten every cup, though never so bitter." And again, in the language of another, "When trials press us sore let us remember our strength is in Him who is able to save to the uttermost all that come unto God by him; for he is our High Priest, ministering still for us in the Heavenly Sanctuary."