Acts 14:22

Acts 14:22. Exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God. This seems to be the first exhortation to the then little Gentile church from the lips of inspired men. It contains a solemn truth, and is the sum of the whole teaching of Jesus. The happiness which awaits the redeemed in heaven can only be reached through an avenue of suffering. These first Gentile converts must learn the lesson every true- hearted Christian man or woman in every age has painfully had to learn, ‘ No cross, no crown.' It has been very beautifully said: ‘Thinkest thou that thou wilt enter into the kingdom of heaven without the cross and tribulation? But neither Christ nor any one of His most beloved friends and saints had the power or the will to do so. Ask any one of the triumphant citizens of heaven whom thou wilt, and they will all respond, “We attained to the glory of God by the cross and chastisements.”... Carry the cross with a willing heart, and it will guide thee to the place where thy sorrows will end, and where thou wilt find all for which thy soul has longed' (Thomas Aquinas).