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Crowns for the Faithful, December 23
Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which
the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to
me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.
2
Timothy 4:8
.
Did the great apostle to the Gentiles make any real sacrifice when he
exchanged Pharisaism for the gospel of Christ? We answer No! With
decided purpose, he turned away from wealth, from friends and social
distinction, from public honors, and from his kinsmen whom he loved
fervently and earnestly. He chose to link his name and his destiny with
that of a people he had regarded as low and the offscouring of all things;
but for the sake of Christ he suffered the loss of all things.
His labors were more abundant than any of the disciples, his stripes
above measure. He was beaten with rods, stoned, shipwrecked, in deaths
oft. He was in peril by land and sea, in the city and in the wilderness, from
robbers and from his own countrymen. He prosecuted his mission under
continual infirmities, in painfulness, in weariness, in watchings often, in
cold, in nakedness.... When he answered the bloodthirsty Nero, no man
stood with him....
But did Paul devote his precious time to the relation of his grievous
abuses? No, he called the attention from himself to Jesus. He did not
live for his own happiness, yet he was happy.... “I am exceeding joyful
in all our tribulation.”
2 Corinthians 7:4
. And in the last days of his life,
with a martyr’s death in full view, he exclaims with satisfaction, “I have
fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith.”
2
Timothy 4:7
. And fixing his eye upon the immortal future, which had been
the grand, inspiring motive of his whole career, he adds, in full assurance
of faith, “Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness,
which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day”—and then
this man who had lived for others forgets himself—“and not to me only,
but unto all them also that love his appearing.” Oh, noble man of faith!
Paul was a living example of what every true Christian should be. He
lived for God’s glory.... “For me to live is Christ.”
Philippians 1:21
.
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