- Jan 14, 2006
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"If you suffer for righteousness' sake, happy are you - 1 Peter 3: 14
The motto of the Moravians, and the badge attached to their motto, was an ox with a plough on one side and an alter on the other, and underneath in Latin, Ready for either.
Ready for service, to plough hard ground; ready for sacrifice, to be offered up in death. Sometimes we Christian preachers give the impression that all the hearers have to do is to turn to Christ Jesus, and that is the end of all the difficulties of life; and the end of all suffering they may have to face - or at least, a great modification of it. They will not have problems like non-Christians.
Peter would never have talked like that. Paul never talked like that. Becoming a Christian not only means believing on Him and going to heaven to be with Him for eternity when we die, but 'unto you', says Paul, writing to the Philippians, 'is graciously granted not only to believe on Him, but also to suffer for His sake'. 'Go and tell Saul.' said our Lord to Ananias, 'how great things he must suffer for my sake.'
Now we read very clearly in these verses that we may have to suffer. We read, at the same time, that we cannot be harmed by the suffering. 'Who is he that will harm you if you be followers of that which is good?' (v13) Oh they may hurt your body, they may hurt your eyes, they may hurt your ears, they may hurt your hands, they may maim you physically; but they cannot harm you.
You are not your body, you are just living in your body for a short while, and then by and by, out of it to be with Christ, which is far better. And at His coming to be given a glorious resurrection body, which is infinitely better than anything we can know here.
The motto of the Moravians, and the badge attached to their motto, was an ox with a plough on one side and an alter on the other, and underneath in Latin, Ready for either.
Ready for service, to plough hard ground; ready for sacrifice, to be offered up in death. Sometimes we Christian preachers give the impression that all the hearers have to do is to turn to Christ Jesus, and that is the end of all the difficulties of life; and the end of all suffering they may have to face - or at least, a great modification of it. They will not have problems like non-Christians.
Peter would never have talked like that. Paul never talked like that. Becoming a Christian not only means believing on Him and going to heaven to be with Him for eternity when we die, but 'unto you', says Paul, writing to the Philippians, 'is graciously granted not only to believe on Him, but also to suffer for His sake'. 'Go and tell Saul.' said our Lord to Ananias, 'how great things he must suffer for my sake.'
Now we read very clearly in these verses that we may have to suffer. We read, at the same time, that we cannot be harmed by the suffering. 'Who is he that will harm you if you be followers of that which is good?' (v13) Oh they may hurt your body, they may hurt your eyes, they may hurt your ears, they may hurt your hands, they may maim you physically; but they cannot harm you.
You are not your body, you are just living in your body for a short while, and then by and by, out of it to be with Christ, which is far better. And at His coming to be given a glorious resurrection body, which is infinitely better than anything we can know here.
