p. 10 | Enduring Hardness as Good Soldiers by T. E. BOWEN

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Feb 6, 1908

Enduring Hardness as Good Soldiers

By T. E. BOWEN

T. E. BOWEN

MANY in entering the service of Christ do not first sit down and calmly count the cost. They get on well for a time—so long as everything moves on smoothly; but when hardships are experienced in the service, they fail.

Paul was set forth by Christ as one who should especially be called upon to endure hardness for his sake. And in this he is set forth for our example. From the very first, God made known to his servant that his was to be no easy lot. When giving instruction to Ananias, of Damascus, the Lord told him, in answer to his questioning as to the propriety of going to this man who was making such havoc in the church: “Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles and kings, and the children of Israel: for I will show him how many things he must suffer for my name’s sake.” Acts 9:15, 16.

Wherever Paul went, he encountered fierce persecution from Jews and Gentiles, and even from kings, because of his preaching the cross of Christ. He was imprisoned, beaten, hated, and reviled, yet amid it all he wrote, “None of these things move me.”

In writing to his son in the gospel—Timothy—near the close of his life, he said: “Suffer hardship with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus.” 2 Tim. 2:3. He held out no easy place for this young man in the ministry. He compared the service to that of a soldier.

The call to be a soldier calls out the bravest, the hardiest, among young men. Those who are faint-hearted, who want an easy place, do not choose a place among soldiers. To be a good soldier, requires forgetfulness of self; long, weary marches in the hot sun, or through the cold of winter; perils by day and by night; a constant readiness to listen for and obey orders; in fact, constant living in the face of death; for the soldier knows not at what moment his life may end. This is what it means to be a good soldier. And this applies spiritually.

To endure is the glory of the soldier. For hardness he enlists. So to the follower of Christ, it is his glory to endure temptation, to suffer the perils of the conflict, and that bravely and cheerfully. “Because to you it hath been granted in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer in his behalf.”

Christ made very plain that in the pathway of his followers there would be hard things to endure for his sake. In that wonderful parable of the sower,

he said that the gospel seed would fall upon stony places, and that for a while the seed would grow very well, but when the sun came up with its burning heat, because there was no root, it withered. In explaining this part of the parable, Jesus said: “And he that was sown upon the rocky places, this is he that heareth the word, and straightway with joy receiveth it; yet hath he not root in himself, but endureth for a while; and when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, straightway he stumbleth.”

By these words of the Saviour we learn that it is by a depth of experience, a thorough rooting and grounding in the truth,—the Word of God,—believers are prepared to endure hardness. Without this preparation, and a firm trust in God, rather than leaning upon one’s own understanding, when the real test comes, he stumbles and falls. And sometimes God permits us now to experience a little fall that we may better appreciate how weak we really are. He does this to prepare us for greater trials. Remember Peter.

And we shall be wise to prepare now for severe tests just ahead. Let no one deceive himself by thinking that to go through and triumph with this message means an ordinary conflict with the devil. As we near the end, when he knows that he has but a short time, every sinew of Christian character will be tried, just as it was in the Saviour’s life: his most severe conflicts came at the end of his life. Those who had been associated with him very closely turned to become very bitter enemies. All forsook him and fled in the very hour when he longed for human sympathy and companionship. As God permitted Jesus to be tried, so Jesus will permit his people to be subjected to severe tests.

“As Satan accuses the people of God on account of their sins, the Lord permits him to try them to the uttermost. Their confidence in God, their faith and firmness, will be severely tested. As they review the past, their hopes sink; for in their whole lives they can see little good. They are fully conscious of their weakness and unworthiness. Satan endeavors to terrify them with the thought that their cases are hopeless, that the stain of their defilement will never be washed away. He hopes so to destroy their faith that they will yield to his temptations, and turn from their allegiance to God.”—“Great Controversy,” pages 618, 619.

But Jesus will not desert his people. With him are found mercy and forgiveness, for every true, repentant one. His love for his people is unchanging. But this love permits them to be tested.

Let us provide ourselves with the armor Christ has prepared for those who enter the Christian warfare: “Finally, be strong in the Lord, and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world-rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Wherefore take up the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and, having done all, to stand.”

Takoma Park, D. C.