The Hartford republican. (Hartford, Ky.) 18??-1926, 1913-04-04

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false brethren" q
Corinthians II :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 n fool. Those
who opposed his teachings often raised
q tumult and blamed him for 1t. In or
der 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 deservedY' Surely not. st.
Paul was u noble character and bore
the Messuge Of Gods grace In Christ.
Then comes the question. III his SUI
ferings were not punishments. what
were they?" We reply that. like the
Masters. they were evidences VI 10y
atty to God and OF the darkness of the
world. which led men to prosecute 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 0f'the light mnst be uucomprO;
missing In attitude toward wrong.
Therefore the world hates them and
says all manner Of evil against them
falsely Yea. men will feel that they
serve God when they Stay the right
eous. whether literally. as with Jesus
and st. Paul. or by shooting out ar
rows. even bitter words" the more
popular presentday 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 traduce 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 9th and Of
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. I'VE 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 prosecute.
The Master was Jew. The Jews,
were His brethren according to the
flesh. Yet they hated Him without u
cause. prosecuted Him and finally cru
Gifted 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
that such experiences were most diff
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
quarter: but none are more cruel than
those from Christian brethren. Dis
putes between Christians have been
very bitter. History demonstrates this
fact. Hereto became the most obnox-
ious word In the dictionary. Nothing
was too bad to do against hereto.
Thank God for the advancement
made In Christian sympathy! No long
err can civilized people take pleasure 10
tortures. burnings. etc. The general
sentiment no longer appreciates or toll
crates physical torture. But who can
dispute that mental torture Is equally
severe? In our day there are more re-
fined ways OF prosecuting. tOrturing.
etc. open to false brethren.
Evil-speaking. evil-surmising. SIAN
ders. ambiguous suggestions. etc, can
be applied to the, followers u Issos ~
day. All who take such course DIRE
sharers with malefactors. even though
they do not indulge In physical torture.
What shall We say Of the false breth-
rem who do such things? Undoubtedly
the Master still agrees with st. Johns
declaration. "Whosoever hatefh bis
brother IN murderer and ye know that
no murderer hath eternal life" q John
8:l5.' Surely none with murderous
condition of heart could be suitable for
joint heirship with our Lord In Hk
Kingdom.