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Last Updated on :
Saturday, November 22, 2014

 

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CONTENTS

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Letters To The Elect Of God
In A Time of Trouble

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Triumphing Over Trouble

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Paul wrote: "We glory in tribulations also" (Rom. 5:3). is this genuinely possible? Only by attaining unto the state of mind manifested by the Apostle. He bore with tribulation because he saw the divine purpose in it. For one thing, he declared, it "worketh patience," or endurance. It is useless fretting against what we cannot alter, and therefore a courageous man will bear with it, and a faithful man will see beyond it. Once a trial has been successfully surmounted it brings "experience" (Rom. 5:4). The Greek word, dokimen signifies full proof by trial. The metaphor is taken from the refining of metal, in which there is purification by fire without any deterioration or loss of worth. If in tribulation we seek God's help, and endure the unpleasant experience moment by moment in the realisation that it cannot last for ever, we will ultimately emerge from it with the knowledge that we did not rest on God's help in vain, and that we manifested the strength to endure.

This will lead to hope. Hope in what? In the knowledge that He who sustained us in the past will do so in the future even to the setting up of the Kingdom; and in the realisation that as we emerged successfully from one trial so we can from the next, leading to a steady growth of endurance, until the time come when all such experiences will cease. Thus "hope maketh not ashamed',' for we shall triumph in spite of trouble, and will respond to the "love of God" that will be revealed in our hearts. Let us then develop the mind of Paul in the face of trouble. Let us view it as a time of testing, in which we can manifest that faith without which "we cannot please God" (Heb. 11:6), and a period of opportunity in which we are able to demonstrate our unswerving loyalty to Him in face of a challenge. When we do this, we truly "fellowship the sufferings of Christ," and will reveal an attitude pleasing unto the Father. However, let us be sure that our tribulations are not the result of our own folly: "For what glory is it if, when ye be buffeted for your faults, ye shall take it patiently? But if, when ye do well, and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with God" (1 Peter 2:20) -- H.P.Mansfield

 


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