The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1913-04-04

| as Ct. Jouu SApfeSS6u when lie ue-
clared, "Whosoever hateth his brother
is murderer, and We know that no
murderer hath eternal life abiding in
him." Il John 3:15.I Murderers may
indeed receive severe stripes, and
eventually learn better under Mes
Eiah's Kingdom; but no one of muir
derous condition of heart. seeking to
do evil to a brother. could possibly be
Of suitable character to be a joint-heir
with his Master in the Kingdom
zone of the Least of These"
In every time, and now. the spirit
of persecution naturally would strike
most prominently certain leading fig
J ures; nevertheless, even as Jesus
words implied, all lovers of righteous
ness are to have more or less share in
such experiences of opposition. St
Paul mentions this. saying. I've en-
dured a great fight of affections; part
lily, whilst We were made gazing
stock and partly whilst We be-
came companions Of them that were
so used" (Hebrews 1892 49, Jesus
| gives us the same thought in His
declaration that whatsoever shall of
fend one of the least Of these, His
disciples. it were better for him that
a milestone were hanged about his neck
and he We're drowned in the depths of
the sea.-Matthew 1876.
This, of course, is very highly figura-
tive language, and yet it must have 81
special meaning. 1t must mean that
1.-The Lord has special care over all OF
His consecrated saints; and that no
norant. they may be, the very least OF
His followers are supervised. and in
jury TO the least is punishable. OF
course, there would still be an awak-
ening from the dead for the one who
was drowned in the sea; and so there
for those who would stumble the
Lords little ones" Nevertheless, the
| intimation is that of drastic punish
ment. This would not mean anything
4 like We once upposed-eternal tor
ment-but some just recompense of re-
ward for every evil deed.
From this standpoint We may readily
assume that considerable satisfaction
Of Justice is necessary; for surely q
considerable number Of the Lords
| little ones" have suffered persecution.
And as We have seen, not all of this
persecution lies at the door of the
world. Much of it lies at the door OF
the professed Church Of Christ-"false
brethren"
| Speaking Of some such, Jesus once
declared that they would have great
disappointment when the time of re-
wards would come. He says, "Many
shall say unto Me in that Day, Lord,
Lord, have we not prophesied in Thy
name, and done many wonderful
works? And | will declare, / do not
recognize YOU" They will not be
worthy Of the Lords recognition az
amongst His Elect Church, His Bride
class. We shall be glad if they will be
found worthy of some blessing under
/ His Kingdom. But there will be great
disappointment to them. They missed
the greater point Of the GOspel-LoDe..
! Love For the Brethren.
The Lords will concerning all His
followers is that they should love one
another as He loved them. st. John
as Jesus loved the Church and laid
down His life for the Church, so also
! His followers should lay down their
lives for the brethren. Il John $3.50
If this is the lore standard that the
Lord has set for His people, how sOrely
some will soon be disappointed in re-
spect to His will If they have ignored
this requirement. If, instead Of loving
the brethren and laying down their lives
for them, they say all manner of evil
against them, etc, what then? Then
they are false brethren. Then they are
the peril Of the true brethren. as men
toned in our text.
Oh, how much the true followers OF
Jesus need to impress upon themselves
this great lesson-that love does nc
Ill TO his neighbOr, that love is sympa-
thetic, suffereth long and Is kind
vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up
seeketh not merely It's own interest
and welfare, but seeketh the interest
and welfare of others!
The supreme test Of our loyalty to
God is our love for Him. And this
love is manifested by our desire to dc
those things accepta BILE to Him. There
is little that we really can do for the
Almighty. He is so great and we are
so small! But if We have His spirit
OF Love, then we shall love all those
who love Him. And our conduct to
ward them will demonstrate the rea
sentiment Of our hearts. Thus seen
we are daily making our reward in tn,
Lords sight, daily showing Him tt
what degree we are worthy or un
worthy Of His great reward.
Those mentioned in our text as falls,
brethren were perilous to the tru'
brethren, but did not get into this Pc
sition Immediately. 1t was growth
a development. The wrong spirit grad
ually supplanted the right. 1t is vel
that Christians note this insidiou:
canker which gnaws at the root q
brotherly love. tends to poison thu
spirit and to bring forth the evil fruit
age mentioned. Apparently. in soma
cases, the spirit of pride. the spirit O
sectarianism. the spirit of ambition
are the leading features OF the wrons