compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.” And he tells us also in 2 Cor. 4:17, “ Our light affliction, which is for'the moment, worketh for us more and more exceedingly an eternal weight , of glory.” You will notice he speaks about his afflictions as “ light afflictions,” and yet they were constant and more terrible than any that men endure today, but he was right in calling them “light.” They are light indeed compared with the glory that is to be ours, and these very afflictions work out our glory. Every child o f God should count it a joy when he is permitted to suffer some thing for the Lord Jesus. By thus suffer ing he is making a deposit in the bank of heaven where it will bring an infinite amount o f interest. Our Lord Jesus Him self said in Matt. 5:10-12, ‘‘Blessed are they that have been persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom o f heaven. Blessed are ye when men shall reproach ypu, and persecute you, and say all manner o f evil against you falsely for my sake. Rejoice, and be^ exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so perse cuted they the prophets which were before you.” In the eleventh chapter of Hebrews we are given a catalogue o f the terrible suf ferings that men passed through for right eousness’ .sake, how they “had trial of 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 sheepskins "and goatskins; being desti tute, afflicted, evil intreated. o f whom the world was not worthy, wandering in deserts and mountains and caves, and the holes of the earth.” In the light o f these plain statements o f God’s Word regarding the persecution o f those who belong t o . the Lord Jesus, there is no mystery, nothing whatever that is difficult to Understand, in
How is it that the Armenians are suf fering such tortures when they are a Chris tian people, and, we are taught that Christ will care fo r His children and give them the things which they have need, o f? In answer to this would say first o f all that the Armenians are not a Christian peo ple. There is no such thing as a Christian people on earth. It is true that the Arme nians profess to accept the religion o f the Lord Jesus Christ, but that does not make one a Christian. A very small share of them, as far as I know, them, have really personally and definitely accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour, and surrendered to Him as their Lord, and are trying to obey Him in all the relations of life day by day. Neither have the Amer icans, as for that matter, nor any other nation. But even though they were Chris tians individually, and even though Christ does care for His children and give them the things which they have need of> that does not mean they will never be allowed to suffer, or even suffer terrible things. That oftentimes is exactly what we •need most,1 it is for our highest good. Indeed, God tells us in His own Word very plainly that “All that will to live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.” It is a great privilege to suffer persecution. Suf fering persecution is not something that we should dread nor shrink from, nor com plain about, it is rather.something for which we should thank God, and the fiercer the persecution the better it is for us and the more we should thank God for being hon ored by being permitted to suffer persecu tion fpr the sake o f the name o f His dear Son. No one ever suffered more for the Lord Jesus Christ than the Apostle Paul, yet it was this same Apostle Paul who ‘wrote in Rom. 8 :18, “ I reckon that the sufferings o f this present time are not worthy to be
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