FIRST, 'COUNT THE COST' OF THE 'SACRIFICE' REQUIRED

Heb 11:35-36 CHAPTER 80 - The Pinnacle of Faith
Not only were these instances of the sufferings of the O. T. saints pertinent to the circumstances the Hebrew Christians of Paul’s time were in, but we too need to be informed of what faith in God and fidelity to His Truth, may entail. At the outset of the Christian life, we are bidden to first sit down and "count the cost" (Luke 14:28), which means that we are required to contemplate those sufferings which the following of Christ is likely to involve, and it is well that we should frequently remind ourselves that "we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God" (Acts 14:22). It is criminal silence on the part of any servant of God to conceal from his hearers that a true profession of the name of Christ will necessarily bring down upon us not only the scorn and opposition of the outside world, but also the hatred and persecution of the false religious world. "Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you" (1 Pet. 4:12).

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