"If it is hard for the righteous to be saved, what will happen to the ungodly and the sinner?"

 (iii) Now we come to the uplifting things. Persecution is a sharing in the sufferings of Jesus Christ. When a man has to suffer for his Christianity he is walking the way his Master walked and sharing the Cross his Master carried. This is a favourite New Testament thought. If we suffer with him, we will be glorified with him ( Romans 8:17). It is Paul's desire to enter into the fellowship of the sufferings of Christ ( Php_3:10 ). If we suffer with him, we shall reign with him ( 2 Timothy 2:12). If we remember that, anything we must suffer for the sake of Christ becomes a privilege and not a penalty. 