The persecution of the Christians during the reign of Marcus Aurelius was very bitter. The Emperor himself decreed the punishment of forty of the men who had refused to bow down to his image.

“Strip to the skin!” he commanded. They did so. “Now, go and stand on that frozen lake,” he commanded, “until you are prepared to abandon your Nazarene-God!”

And forty naked men marched out into that howling storm on a winter’s night. As they took their places on the ice, they lifted up their voices and sang:

“Christ, forty wrestlers have come out to wrestle for Thee; to win for Thee the victory; to win from Thee the crown.”

After a while, those standing by and watching noticed a disturbance among the men. One man had edged away, broken into a run, entered the temple, and prostrated himself before the image of the Emperor.

The captain of the guard, who had witnessed the bravery of the men and whose heart had been touched by their teaching, tore off his helmet, threw down his spear, and disrobing himself, took up the cry as he took the place of the man who had weakened. The compensation was not slow in coming, for as the dawn broke there were forty corpses on the ice.

Who shall dream of shrinking, by our Captain led?

At least a thousand of God’s saints served as living torches to illuminate the darkness of Nero’s gardens, wrapped in garments steeped in pitch.

“Every finger was a candle.”

Who follows in their train?

I’m standing, Lord.

There is a mist that blinds my sight.

Steep jagged rocks, front, left, and right,

Lower, dim, gigantic, in the night.

Where is the way?

I’m standing, Lord.

The black rock hems me in behind.

Above my head a moaning wind

Chills and oppresses heart and mind.

I am afraid!

I’m standing, Lord.

The rock is hard beneath my feet.

I nearly slipped, Lord, on the sleet.

So weary, Lord, and where a seat?

Still must I stand?

He answered me, and on His face

A look ineffable of grace,

Of perfect, understanding love,

Which all my murmuring did remove.

I’m standing, Lord.

Since Thou hast spoken, Lord, I see

Thou hast beset; these rocks are Thee;

And since Thy love encloses me,

I stand and sing!

BETTY STAM, MARTYRED IN CHINA

When James and John came to Christ with their mother, asking Him to give them the best place in His kingdom, He did not refuse their request. He told them that the place would be given to them if they could do His work, drink His cup, and be baptized with His baptism (Mark 10:38).

Are we willing to compete for God’s best, with the knowledge that the best things are always achieved by the most difficult paths? We must endure steep mountains, dense forests, and the Enemy’s chariots of iron, since hardship is the price of the victor’s coronation. Arches of triumph are made not of rose blossoms and strands of silk but of hard blows and bloody scars.

The very hardships you are enduring in your life today have been given to you by the Master, for the express purpose of enabling you to win your crown.

Therefore do not always look ahead to your tomorrows for some ideal situation, exotic difficulty, or faraway emergency in which to shine. Rise today to face the circumstances in which the providence of God has placed you. Your crown of glory is hidden in the heart of these things—the hardships and trials pressing in on you this very hour, week, and month of your life. Yet the most difficult things are not those seen and known by the world but those deep within your soul, unseen and unknown by anyone except Jesus. It is in this secret place that you experience a little trial that you would never dare to mention to anyone else and that is more difficult for you to bear than martyrdom.

Beloved, your crown lies there. May God help you to overcome and to wear it.

It matters not how the battle goes, The day how long; Faint not! Fight on! Tomorrow comes the song.

We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.—Forasmuch . . . as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death. that is, the devil.—And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them.—I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.

Thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died.—It is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul.—I am the LORD. The blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you.

There is . . . no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus.

What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they? These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.

Who is like unto thee, O Lord , among the gods? who is like thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?

He saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor: therefore his arm brought salvation unto him; and his righteousness, it sustained him.

Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree.

Being made a curse for us.

O sing unto the Lord a new song; for he hath done marvellous things: his right hand, and his holy arm, hath gotten him the victory.

Having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it.

He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.

O my soul, thou hast trodden down strength.

We are more than conquerors through him that loved us.

They overcame by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony.