Persecutions by A. Vuilleumier

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Jul 1, 1873

Persecutions.

By A. Vuilleumier

PERSECUTIONS are the lot of the children of God in this world, as long as they remain with a generation of wicked men who like to live in their sins and in the lust of the world. And when these see some who profess to believe in the soon coming of Christ deny, by their acts, what they profess to believe, and others in a state of discouragement and indifference finding no joy in the service of the Lord or the plan of salvation, how natural it is that they should conclude that the Christian leads a gloomy, monotonous life.

How much more attraction would the Christian’s profession have, if the Christian would try to live out the truths of the Bible, and show the happiness and blessing that he can enjoy by having his heart filled with the true love of God, if he would do as the martyrs who preceded us did during the apostolic age, and the long, dark, and bloody period of the papacy, when they suffered all the persecutions which were invented to destroy those faithful servants of God. Through all the Old Testament, we may also see the humble and bloody path of all the holy prophets and true worshipers of our almighty God, Creator of heaven and earth.

Arriving at the day of our dear Saviour, when the dragon stood before the woman to devour her child, Rome, in the person of Herod, attempted to destroy all the children of Bethlehem, from two years old and under, (and by doing that saved a generation). There we see God watching, and delivering our dear Redeemer from Herod’s hands.

The dear Son of God, who had not where to lay his head, who was without sin, and came upon this earth to suffer the most ignominious death, being nailed upon the cross, died in agony, shedding his own blood for us. Who can measure the love Christ felt for a lost world, when he hung upon the cross, suffering for the sins of guilty men? Held for a time under the dominion of the grave, he rose from the dead, opened a way for the human race, and ascended up to Heaven in the sight of his disciples, promising to them, by the words of the angels, that in like manner as he was taken away from them, so he would come again. What encouraging words for the faithful.

Let us read in Heb. 11:37, 38; there we see the persecutions of the apostles: “They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword; they wandered about in sheep skins and goat skins; 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.” Read also of the persecution under Diocletian:—“The majority of the believers suffered martyrdom with a firmness and calmness that confounded their executioners, and caused many to believe the gospel. Till their last moment, they uttered prayers or songs of praise. Only a few denied their Saviour.”

Are these not all examples for us who are waiting for the soon coming of Christ, believing that persecutions, also, shall be the lot of the generation that shall witness the coming of the Son of God, the King of glory, with all the holy angels? How would it be with us? Would we be in a condition to praise the Lord while the last breath of life remains in us, or would we deny our Saviour to save our life, and so lose eternal life? The Saviour said, “Fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul; but rather fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell; and, “Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in Heaven.”

Dear friends, God knows what is in our hearts. Let us be humble, that we may be lights in the world, and, directed by the Holy Spirit, we may be able to endure till the end. A. VUILLEUMIER. Battle Creek, Mich.