IN the second century they brought a Christian before a king, who wanted him to give up Christ, but the man spurned this. Then the king said:
“If you don’t do it, I will banish you.”
The man smiled, and answered, “You can’t banish me from Christ, for He says, ‘I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.’”
The king became angry, and said: “Well, I will confiscate your property, and take it all from you.”
The man replied: “My treasures are laid up on high; you cannot get them.” The king became still more angry, and said: “I will kill you.”
“Why,” the man answered, “I have been dead forty years; I have been dead with Christ, dead to the world, and my life is hid with Christ in God, and you cannot touch it.”
“What are you going to do with a man like that”? said the king.
ML 03/13/1927