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Truth Nugget

Suffering for His Name's Sake

“And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. For 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 8:17-18]

Suffering as a believer is part of our walk with God and Christian experience. To think otherwise is to defeat one of the very essences of Christianity. The early apostles and Christians in the early church had a very clear understanding of this. They suffered different forms of persecution and trials for His Name's sake. They were jeered at; their backs were cut with whips; chained in prisons; some were stoned to death; some sawed in half; others were beheaded and many others crucified. Yet they remained resolute in their Christian faith. They saw their sufferings for Christ as nothing but "light affliction, which is but for a moment will produce for them an eternal weight of glory that is beyond all proportions" [2 Corinthians 4:17]. This is the reason people like John the beloved while banished to the Island of Patmos was able to write the book of Revelation and Paul the apostle was also able to write the books of Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians and Philemon while in prison.
God expects that believers of today should be willing to do the same in this generation. We should be willing and ready to die for His Name's sake. This is what "bearing the cross of Christ" means. It is not about putting on a big cross round your neck, like we see many ministers do today. Neither is it about declaring a day of the year as "world cross day". Brethren there cannot be a crown without a cross.

We will close this message by reminding us of what our Lord Jesus Christ says in Luke 9:23-26 “And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it. For what is a man advantaged, if he gain the whole world, and lose himself, or be cast away? For whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he shall come in his own glory, and in his Father's, and of the holy angels.”

Think about these things. The Lord Jesus says in John 13:17, "If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them.”

God bless you.