Matthew 10:22
And ye shall be hated
of all [men] for my name’s sake:
but he that endureth to the end
shall be saved.
Anecdotes
The lighthouse
When Mr. Smeaton had built the lighthouse upon the Eddystone, he looked out anxiously after a storm to see if the edifice was still there, and it was his great joy when he could see it still standing, for a former builder had constructed one which he thought to be indestructible.
He expressed a wish that he might be in it in the worst storm which ever blew, and so he was, and neither he nor his lighthouse were ever seen afterwards.
Now you have to be exposed to multitudes of storms;
You must be in your lighthouse in the worst storm which ever blew;
So build it firmly then on the Rock of Ages, and make sure work for eternity, for if you do these things, ye shall never fall.
For this Church’s sake, I pray you do it; for nothing can dishonour and weaken a Church so much as the falling of its professors.
A thousand rivers flow to the sea, and make rich the meadows, but no man heareth the sound thereof; but if there be one waterfall, its roaring will be heard for miles, and every traveller will mark the fall.
A thousand Christians can scarcely do so much honour to their Master as one hypocrite can do dishonour to Him.
The ocean liner
A ship starts on a voyage to Australia.
- But now imagine that it stops at the Canary islands,
- or imagine that it returns after reaching Capetown
Would you consider that it ought to be called an emigrant ship for new South Wales, Australia?
To be called an emigrant ship for new South Wales it must go the whole voyage, or it does not deserve the name.
A man has begun to build a house, and has erected one side of it,
do you consider him a builder if he stops there, and fails to finish the other walls and put a roof on top of it?
Do we give men praise for being warriors because they know how to make one desperate charge, but lose the campaign? Have we not, of late, smiled at the boasting despatches of commanders, in fights where both combatants fought with valour, and yet neither of them had the common sense to push on to reap the victory?
What was the very strength of Wellington, but that when a triumph had been achieved, he knew how to reap the harvest which had been sown in blood?
Only he is a true conqueror, and shall be crowned at the last, who continued till war’s trumpet is blown no more.
It is with a Christian as it was with Napoleon:
He said, “Conquest has made me what I am, and conquest must maintain me.”
So, under God, conquest has made you what you are, and conquest must sustain you.
Polycarp
Polycarp (the friend and pupil of John) was eighty-six years old at the date of his martyrdom, and this took place, it seems almost certain, in 155 or 156.
There had been a long and bitter persecution of the Christians in the East, and the reports of martyrdom after martyrdom reached the aged man, “but,” (quoting Mr. Holland) “he was not disturbed at the reports, and wished to stay in the city at home; but at the entreaties of his friends, he withdrew to a little field-house, not far from the town, and stopped there, with a few companions, praying continuously for all men, and for the Churches, as was was his habit.
As he prayed, he saw a vision, his pillow seemed to him all burning in flames, and he turned to those with him, and said, ‘I shall be burnt alive.’
And to escape the pressure of his pursuers he moved to another field-house, and they, the pursuers, came just after to his first hiding-place, and caught two boys, one of whom, under torture, confessed where his hiding-place was.
It was the hour of the evening meal when the officer of the peace came with fourteen horses and arms, as if against a thief.
Polycarp could have fled again, but he refused.”
His prediction came true, he was burnt, but God caused his sufferings to be brought to a speedy end by a providential circumstance, which, on first reading it, one is inclined to think too miraculous to be true, but which seems well-authenticated, though the description given by his biographer is probably unintentionally exaggerated.
The wind so caught the flames that were to consume him that they took the shape of a hollow, or a sail swollen by the wind, and they despatched him with a sword.
Polycarp is thought to have been the angel (i.e., messenger) of the Church of Smyrna addressed in Revelation 2:8.
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