The daily sentinel., 1913-04-01

false brethren y
Corinthians IL .26) He said:
st. Paul was fully devoted to the
Master and His cause. His faithful
ness brought many trying experiences.
He served Christ to such an extent
that many counted him fool Those
who opposed his teachings often raised
a tumut and blamed him for it. in or
dei to bring him into disrepute.
Nevertheless, he rejoiced in all such
experiences. None of these things
moved him from faithfulness to his
Master. whose servants he had perse-
cuted before his eyes were opened He
recounts various perils from robbers,
from Jews. from heather, in the city.
in the wilderness, on the sea. He winds
up the list with the words of our text,
''perils among false brethren"
The question arises, "Were these suf-
ferings deservedT' Surely not. st.
Paul was u noble character and bore
the Message of Gods grace in Christ.
Then comes the question. IL his suf-
ferings were not punishments. what
were they? We reply that. like the
Masters. they were evidences OF 10y
atty to God and Of the darkness of tho
world, which led men to persecute him.
Darkness Hates the Light.
The Master declared that He stood
for the principles of light, righteous
ness. truth; while Satan stands for
darkness. blindness. superstition. All
children of the light must be uncompro-
/ mi Si mo IN, Of orI
Therefore the world hates them and
says all manner of evil against them
falsely. Yea. men will feel that they
serve God when they slay the right
eous, whether literally, as with Jesus
and st. Paul. or by shooting out ar
rows, even bitter words" the more
popular present-day method.
But some will say. Times have
changed! Today our ministers are rev.
erenced. No one thinks of prosecuting
them. All men speak well of them.
Those not spoken well of today must
in some way be unworthy"
How strange that we should forget.
In Jesus day did any truduce the chief
priests and Pharisees? Were they not
spoken of highly and reverenced? But
the Master and His disciples were not
popular. According to their own rec
ord they were styled "the filth and OFF,
securing of the earth.' The Master
said that whoever prosecuted them
would feel that he did God service. AS
Jesus told some in His day. ''Ye gar
nish the sepulchres of those whom your
fathers slew. yet ye do their works"
So today many extol the Lord and the
Apostles and denounce their persecu-
tors. while similarly they persecute.
The Master was a Jew. The Jews
We're His brethren according to the
flesh. Yet they hated Him without a
cause. prosecuted Him and finally cru,
cified Him. But st. Paul lived after
Pentecost. and had Christian brethren.
begotten of the Holy Spirit. fellow
members of the Body of Christ Jesus
had none such. "Of the people there
were none with Him."
\ st Paul knew the bitterness of per-
secution from false brethren-the eli.
max of all his perils. We may be sure
1 that such experiences were most diff
4 cult to bear, for they came from breth-
rem of the closest possible relationship
-fellow-members of the body of Christ.
The Cody Suffer Persecution.
All faithful followers of Jesus have
prosecutions These come from every
i quarter; but none are more cruel than
those from Christian brethren. Dis.
putes between Christians have been
very bitter. History demonstrates this
fact. Heretic became the most obpox-
ious word in the dictionary. Nothing
was too bad to do against u hereto.
! Thank God for the advancement
made in Christian sympathy. No long
er can civilized people take pleasure in
tortures, burnings, etc. The general
sentiment no longer appreciates or toll
crates physical torture But who eau
/ dispute that mental torture is equally
severe? In our day there are more re-
/ hned WAYS of persecuting, terturinp.
etc. open to false brethren.
Ev1l-speaking, evil-surmising, SIAN
ders, ambiguous suggestions. etc. can
be applied to the followers of Jesus to.
day. All who take such course ara
sharers with malefactors. even though
they do not indulge in physica. torture.
w nat shall We say of the false bre,il.
ren who do such things? Undoubtedly
: the Master still agrees with St Johns
declaration. whatsoever hateth his
brother is murderer and We know TINT
no murderer hath eternal life" q John
o'lol surely none with n mnrderous
condition of heart could be suitable for
soint-neirship with our Lord In Hb
Kingdom.