 |  |
Examples of Suffering.
The Apostle Paul certainly knew that to follow Christ faithfully was costly. How he
suffered for his faith! He lists the characteristics of his life in II Tim. 3: 10-12, "But
thou hast fully known my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, longsuffering, charity,
patience, persecutions, afflictions . . . . . what persecutions I endured; but out of them all
the Lord delivered me". He adds in verse 12, "Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ
Jesus shall suffer persecution".
In Heb. 11:, where we have that wonderful account of those who lived by faith, in
verses 33-38 we have a long list of the tremendous trials and afflictions that were
endured. In verse 36, we read, "and others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings,
yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment".
Of Christ, we read in Isa. 53: 8:
"He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare His generation?
for He was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of My people, was
He stricken."
So in days of old, trials, persecutions, and afflictions had to be endured and Paul
included prison experiences among those trials. Conditions may be different today, and
in this country, we are greatly favoured. But in some countries, Christians are suffering
prison sentences and even torture for their faith. We propose to consider some examples
of those who had prison experiences and we will commence with the life of Joseph.
Joseph (Introduction).
We read the account of the life of Joseph in Gen. 37:-50: It is a long but thrilling
story. In addition to its own intrinsic interest, it contains much valuable material for
Bible study. A number of O.T. characters are types of Christ and a study of Joseph's life,
watching for similar events in the life of Christ, can be very rewarding.
In Volume XII of The Berean Expositor, Charles H. Welch sets out on page 5 a little
structure which he calls "Seven great types of Christ". We reproduce it here.
A
| ADAM.--Sin forfeits life.
B | ABEL.--The accepted offering.
C | SETH.--Substitution.
D | NOAH.--Atonement ("pitch").
C | ISAAC.--Substitution.
B | JUDAH.--Suretyship.
A | JOSEPH.--Sufferings lead to preservation of life.
In view of the length of the whole story, we must restrict ourselves to the main
features, leaving the reader the pleasure of studying the complete narrative.