Enrolled in the Record Books of Heaven
Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow-citizens
with the saints. Eph. 2:19. {
Those who closely connect with God may not be prosperous in the things of
this life; they may often be sorely tried and afflicted. Joseph was maligned
and persecuted because he preserved his virtue and integrity. David, that
chosen messenger of God, was hunted like a beast of prey by his wicked
enemies. Daniel was cast into a den of lions because he was true and
unyielding in his allegiance to God. Job was deprived of his worldly
possessions and so afflicted in body that he was abhorred by his relatives
and friends, yet he preserved his integrity and faithfulness to God.
Jeremiah would speak the words which God had put into his mouth, and his
plain testimony so enraged the king and princes that he was cast into a
loathsome pit. Stephen was stoned because he would preach Christ and Him
crucified. Paul was imprisoned, beaten with rods, stoned, and finally put to
death because he was a faithful messenger to carry the gospel to the
Gentiles. The beloved John was banished to the Isle of Patmos "for the word
of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ."
These examples of human steadfastness, in the might of divine power, are a
witness to the world of the faithfulness of God's promises--of His abiding
presence and sustaining grace. As the world looks upon these humble men, it
cannot discern their moral value with God. It is a work of faith to calmly
repose in God in the darkest hour--however severely tried and
tempest-tossed, to feel that our Father is at the helm. The eye of faith
alone can look beyond the things of time and sense to estimate the worth of
eternal riches.
The great military commander conquers nations and shakes the armies of half
the world, but he dies of disappointment and in exile. The philosopher who
ranges through the universe, everywhere tracing the manifestations of God's
power and delighting in their harmony, often fails to behold in these
marvelous wonders the Hand that formed them all. "Man that is in honour, and
understandeth not, is like the beasts that perish." No hope of glorious
immortality lights up the future of the enemies of God. But those heroes of
faith have the promise of an inheritance of greater value than any earthly
riches--an inheritance that will satisfy the longings of the soul. They may
be unknown and unacknowledged of the world, but they are enrolled as
citizens in the record books of heaven. An exalted greatness, an enduring,
eternal weight of glory, will be the final reward of those whom God has made
heirs of all things (Testimonies, vol. 4, pp. 525, 526).
>From Lift Him Up - Page 329
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