COMMENTS
There was no reward of earthly prosperity for the Lord's faithfulness, but the reverse—privation and persecution—was realized, even unto death. He was a "man of sorrows and acquainted with grief"; the reproaches of them that reproached God fell upon Him; though He was rich, for our sakes He became poor; so poor that He said, "The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head." … And the servant is not above his Master: if they have persecuted Him they will persecute us also; and the reproaches of them that reproached Him will also fall upon us. The only present reward for which the followers of Christ may look is the heartfelt manifestation of the Lord's love and approval.
Among the tribulations that the Lord's people must endure may be enumerated the disadvantages of the present evil conditions, the continued opposition of the Adversary, the persecution of the world and the opposition of the flesh, particularly amid exhaustion, sickness and sorrow. The Lord gives us compensating spiritual blessings as an offset to these disadvantages, enabling us to rejoice amid present inequalities, and to hope for victory because of our Lord's victory over the world.
John 15:19-25; 16:2, 3; Acts 14:22; Rom. 5:3-5; 2 Tim. 3:12; Heb. 10:32-34; 12:5-13; Rev. 3:19; John 14:1, 27; Rom. 8:35-37; Gal. 6:14; 1 John 4:4; 5:4.
