p. 357 | Christian Trials

International Tract and Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Jun 17, 1886

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 12, No. 23.

Christian Trials.

THE average reader is very apt to gain an impression from the stories of miraculous deliverances in prophetic and apostolic times, that godly men then were always delivered from temporal evil. This impression, though perhaps natural, is incorrect. We learn, for example, that Elijah withholds rain; Elijah grants rain; Elijah is miraculously fed by ravens; Elijah multiplies the widow's meal and oil; Elijah calls down fire from heaven; Elijah calls the dead to life; Elijah divides the Jordan; and, finally, Elijah goes to Heaven in a chariot of fire. Then follows the conclusion that Elijah had no trials such as modern disciples have, and that God helped men then as he does not now. Thus, from the biographies of Abraham, Moses, Joshua, David, Elijah, and Elisha, people draw wrong conclusions, and feel inwardly that the early saints had far easier times than we, and that the religious conflict then was child's play, compared with what we now have to endure.

This is illustrated by the case of Elisha. There he lies on his pallet, old, worn, feeble, and stricken with a fatal disease. Probably he suffered much pain. As we stand and look at him, we ask, "Is this not the same man who healed Naaman?" Certainly. "Why, then, can he not heal himself?" Because God has withheld from him this power. "Why does God not deliver his trusted servant from pain in his old age?" We cannot say; for we do not know enough of God's plans to answer this question wisely. The fact, however, remains, that a prophet lies on a dying bed, and no relief comes until death closes the scene.

If the faith of Christian children is sometimes put to the test, as they stand helpless by the bedside of an aged father or mother, and wonder why God allows the dear old saints to suffer so, was not the faith of Elisha's friends tested in the same way? Was it not as hard for them to believe in God's goodness, when no help was sent from above, as it is for us under like circumstances? In fact, it is possible that, just because Elisha had been miraculously delivered before, it was now all the harder to be reconciled to his sufferings and death. Is it not true that, if we had stood by Elisha's bedside during his last days, we should have seen that bare faith in God's dealings was as much called for, and as hard to exercise, as it is to-day?

But the case of Elisha is not an exceptional case. Look at the eleventh chapter of Hebrews, and, putting aside the cases of those who were delivered by miraculous power, fasten attention on those who had to suffer: "And 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 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." Heb. 11:36-38.

Surely this does not look like continual miraculous deliverances. Really, it seems as though some ancient disciples had harder, and not easier, times than many modern believers. I believe that, taking the life even of such men as Abraham, Moses, Joseph, Samuel, Elijah, Elisha, Paul, Peter, and John, we should find, on careful examination, that they had more of earthly trial than of earthly ease. Moses's forty years of wilderness life were doubtless hard, and all the harder because of his forty years of court luxury. From courtier to shepherd was a sudden and tremendous leap. From palace to tent, from silk to sheep-skin, from being waited on by servants to the position of shepherd, was a transition full of self-denial and real pain. The fact is, the closer we look at the experiences of God's children in olden time, the more completely will the impression vanish that they had easy times, and that faith, pure and simple, was less called for than in our own times. Joseph in prison for years; David hunted like a wild beast; Elijah fleeing for his life; Isaiah sawn asunder; Jeremiah thrown into a pit; John the Baptist in prison and then beheaded; John the evangelist in exile; Paul stoned, whipped, imprisoned, beheaded; James beheaded; Stephen stoned,—surely all these instances (and there are many more) show that the narrow way was thorny in early times.

What, then, may be the helpful lesson to disciples from all this? Why, simply that as men and women, and children too, stood steadfast amid all these troubles, without any especial divine interposition, so may we. Thus their examples, instead of disheartening us, will stimulate us to larger endeavor and more heroic suffering. We shall no longer feel that they had help which is not granted to us. In fact, we in Christian lands will feel that of the two we are by far the more favored, and that high Christian living is easier for us than for those old-time saints.

What was the secret of all their fortitude? It lay in their faith. They "endured, as seeing Him who is invisible." That spiritual vision took them through all the deep waters of affliction, and bore them safely through pain, and even death. There lay their power, and there must ours lie. So long as we see him who is invisible, we shall triumph over the seen. When we lose sight of him, and the visible gains power, we can but cry with Elisha's servant, "Alas, my master! how shall we do?"—Rev. A. F. Schauffler, in S. S. Times.