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The Chief Source Of Persecution
"Perils among false brethren."—2Co 11:26.
St. Paul was remarkable in many
respects, but chiefly for his loving devotion to the Master and His Cause.
His faithfulness brought also many trying experiences.
In our context he enumerated some of these. He served the Cause of Christ to
such an extent that many thought him unwise, and counted him a fool. This
service brought him stripes, whippings, as a disturber of the peace—not that he
did disturb the peace, but that those who opposed his teachings raised a tumult
and blamed him for it, in order to bring him into disrepute, hinder his service
and forward their own interests. This at times brought him to prison, too, and
even close to death’s door.
Nevertheless, the Apostle rejoiced in all such privileges.
He declared that five times he received whippings, stripes; once he was stoned,
and three times he was shipwrecked.
But none of these things moved him from faithfulness to his Master, whose
servants he had persecuted before his eyes were opened. Then he recounts
various perils experienced from waters, from robbers, from the Jews, from the
heathen—in the city, in the wilderness, on the sea. He winds up the list of
perils in the words of the text, "Perils among false brethren."
One question which will arise in many minds is, "Were these
sufferings—stripes, perils, etc.—deserved?"
If asked, the answer would surely be that they were not deserved; for St. Paul
was a noble character and bore the Message of God’s grace in Christ—"good
tidings of great joy which shall be unto all people." The next question
with some would be, "If his sufferings were not punishments, what were
they?"
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We reply that they were the same as were the Master’s—evidences of his loyalty
to God and of the darkness of the world, which led them to oppose him. The
declaration, "Whosoever will live godly will suffer persecution," was
fully exemplified in his own experiences and in the Master’s. The amount of
suffering as a reward for well-doing marked the measure of loyalty and zeal,
and the measure of hatred and malice aroused by the Adversary. The answer to
the question as to why Jesus suffered is the answer to all such questions in
respect to St. Paul and all other footstep followers.
DARKNESS HATES THE LIGHT
The Master declared that He stood for the principles of light, righteousness,
Truth; while Satan stands for the reverse—darkness, superstition, blindness.
And so it is with the followers of Jesus. They must all be children of the
light, must walk in the light, must be uncompromising in their attitude toward
sin and all that is wrong. Therefore the world will hate them and say all
manner of evil against them falsely. Yea, men will feel that they do God
service when they slay the righteous, whether literally, as in Jesus’ case and
St. Paul’s, or by "shooting out arrows, even bitter words," as is the
more popular method of the present time.—Ps 64:3.
But some one will say, "Ah, times have changed! Today our bishops and
popes and preachers are all reverenced.
No one thinks of persecuting them. Rather all men speak well of them. Any one
not spoken well of today must be in some way unworthy." How strange that
we should forget, and argue along these lines! Were there not Doctors of
Divinity in Jesus’ day? Were there not priests and chief priests and Levites
then? And were there not Pharisees who made long prayers in the Temple? And
were they not highly spoken of and reverenced?
Did they not make broad their phylacteries?
Did any one think of traducing them? No, indeed!
But the Master was there and His disciples; and they
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were not of the popular clergy. By their own record they were styled "the
filth and off-scouring of the earth"; and, as the Master said, whoever
persecuted them thought that he did God service. How apt we all are to think of
our own day as being different from other periods! So it was in Jesus’ day. As
He told some of them, "Ye garnish the sepulchers of those whom your
fathers slew, yet ye do their works." So today many extol the Lord and the
Apostles, and denounce their persecutors, while they similarly persecute.—Lu
11:47,48.
The climax of St. Paul’s perils, the severest of them all, was from false
brethren. How strange that seems!
One would think that however much the heathen or the Jews might have persecuted
him, at least all professed followers of Jesus would have thanked God for his
example and ministry, and have esteemed him. But this was not so; and as we
look back to the Master before him, we see the same to be true. As He declared,
"A man’s foes shall be they of his own household."
The Master was a Jew. The Jews were His brethren according to the flesh; and it
was they that hated Him without a cause—they that persecuted Him—they that
said, "He hath a devil and is mad"—they that "took up stones to
stone Him"—they that finally crucified Him.
"He came unto His own, and His own received Him not," except a few
saintly, elect ones.—#Joh 10:20,31; 1:11.
St. Paul also had persecution from the Jews, who repeatedly sought his life. He
lived after the establishment of the Church. He had also Christian brethren,
begotten of the Holy Spirit and fellow-members of the Body of Christ. Jesus had
none such. "Of the people there was none with Him."—Isa 63:3.
The Holy Spirit was not given until Pentecost; hence Jesus could not receive
Christian persecution. The nearest approximation was the case of Judas. But if
St. Paul enjoyed the sweetness of Christian fellowship in his study, labors and
toils, he also knew the bitterness of
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opposition and persecutions from false brethren—the climax of his perils. We
may be sure that such experiences were more difficult for him to bear than any
others, because they came closer home. They came from brethren of the closest
imaginable relationship—fellow-members of the Body of Christ.
THE GODLY SUFFER PERSECUTION
As we glance down through this Gospel Age, from St. Paul’s day to the present,
we find that all followers of Jesus have had experiences such as He foretold
for them—persecutions. We find that these persecutions have come from every
quarter, but none, apparently, more severe, more cruel, more perilous, than
those which have come from Christian brethren. It is scarcely necessary for us
to refer to history to demonstrate this fact.
Disputes between Christians have been very bitter.
Thousands have lost their lives at each other’s hands.
The word heretic became more obnoxious than any other term in the dictionary.
Neither Catholic nor Protestant can deny the terrible story of the pages of
history. All true men are ashamed of the record. All are ready to say, "We
would not so have done." Monuments stand in various parts of the world,
marking places where sectarian strife has manifested itself in atrocious,
barbarous acts. Our Catholic friends blush at the story of the Huguenots. Our
Church of England friends blush at the story of the Covenanters and other
non-conformists. Our Presbyterian friends, in turn, blush for atrocious acts of
injustice, etc., done in the name of Calvinism.
We might also say that each denomination in its turn has been a subject of
persecution from one and another.
Baptists were publicly whipped—sometimes driven from their homes to exile. So
were the Puritans, who afterwards became persecutors themselves. The Methodists
also suffered from sectarian spite and jealousy, ignorance and superstition.
Indeed, who will dispute that
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Christendom has good cause to be ashamed of her own record, no matter what her
standpoint may be?
Thank God for the advancement made along the line of human sympathy! No longer
can civilized people take pleasure in public executions, tortures, burning at
the stake, as in former times. Whatever competition may remain between
Christian brethren, the peril is not that of open persecution; for general
sentiment has advanced beyond the point where physical torture could be
tolerated by the masses.
We have come to the time when Calvinists erect a monument to Servetus,
expressing dissent from their great leader’s mistake in causing a Christian
brother to be burned. We have come to the place where the "perils among
false brethren" are of a different kind. Now whatever jealousies or
rivalries there may be, either at home or in the mission fields, are recognized
as improper and suppressed, so far as brethren connected with popular and
influential bodies of Christians are concerned.
But is it not true today that the Truth is unpopular?
Has this not always been the fact? Is it not true that in proportion as the
denominations have become popular they have escaped persecution? But woe be to
those who are unpopular, as were Jesus and the Apostles! If they indeed escape
the cross, the guillotine, the rack and the fagot, they are amenable to other
means of torture.
Something can be trumped up against their personality.
Insinuations can be given by word and look, and shrug of shoulder. More damage
can be accomplished in this way than in any outward attack.
Evil speaking, evil surmising, slanders, ambiguous suggestions, etc.—all, as
torture—can be applied to the followers of Jesus today. And all who today take
such a course are sharers with the malefactors, even though they do not indulge
in physical torture. Who can dispute that sometimes mental torture is equally
severe? In our day there are other and more refined ways of persecuting,
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torturing, open to false brethren, than imprisonment or crucifixion or burning.
And what shall we say of the false brethren who do such things? And how shall
we assure ourselves that we shall not be of them? Undoubtedly the Master is
still of the same mind as St. John expressed when he declared, "Whosoever
hateth his brother is a murderer, and ye know that no murderer hath eternal
life abiding in him." (1Jo 3:15.) Murderers may indeed receive severe
stripes, and eventually learn better under Messiah’s Kingdom; but no one of a
murderous 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.—1Co
6:9-11.
"ONE OF THE LEAST OF THESE"
In every time, and now, the spirit of persecution naturally would strike
most prominently certain leading figures; nevertheless, even as Jesus’ words
implied, all lovers of righteousness are to have more or less share in such
experiences of opposition. St. Paul mentions this, saying, "Ye endured a
great fight of afflictions; partly, whilst ye were made a gazingstock...and
partly whilst ye became companions of them that were so used." (Heb
10:32,33.) Jesus gives us the same thought in His declaration that whosoever
shall offend one of the least of these, His disciples, it were better for him
that a millstone were hanged about his neck and he were drowned in the depths
of the sea.—Mt 18:6.
This, of course, is very highly figurative language, and yet it must have a
special meaning. It must mean that the Lord has a special care over all of His
consecrated saints; and that no matter how poor, how weak, how ignorant, they
may be, the very least of His followers are supervised, and injury to the least
is punishable.
Of course, there would still be an awakening from the dead for the one who was
drowned in the sea; and so there are possibilities of help and recovery for
those
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who would stumble the Lord’s "little ones." Nevertheless, the
intimation is that of drastic punishment. This would not mean anything like we
once supposed—eternal torment—but some just recompense of reward for every evil
deed.—2Pe 2:9.
From this standpoint we may readily assume that considerable satisfaction of
Justice is necessary; for surely a considerable number of the Lord’s
"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."—Isa 66:5; Mt
7:21-23.
Speaking of some such, Jesus once declared that they would have great
disappointment when the time of rewards 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 I will declare, I do not recognize
you." They will not be worthy of the Lord’s recognition as 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—Love.
LOVE FOR THE BRETHREN
The Lord’s will concerning all His followers is that they should love one
another as He loved them. St. John expressed this sentiment, saying that 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. (1Jo 3:16.)
If this is the love standard that the Lord has sent for His people, how sorely
some will soon be disappointed in respect 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.
Oh, how much the true followers of Jesus need to
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impress upon themselves this great lesson—that love does no ill to his neighbor,
that love is sympathetic, suffereth long and is kind, vaunteth not itself, is
not puffed up, seeketh not merely its 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 do those things acceptable 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 toward them will demonstrate the real sentiment of our hearts. Thus
seen, we are daily making our reward in the Lord’s sight, daily showing Him to
what degree we are worthy or unworthy of His great reward.
Those mentioned in our text as false brethren were perilous to the true
brethren, but did not get into this position immediately. It was a growth, a
development.
The wrong spirit gradually supplanted the right. It is well that Christians
note this insidious canker which gnaws at the root of brotherly love, tends to
poison the spirit and to bring forth the evil fruitage mentioned.
Apparently, in some cases, the spirit of pride, the spirit of sectarianism, the
spirit of ambition, are the leading features of the wrong course, which, if
permitted to go to the heart, will develop a bad fruitage, such as we are
discussing. It will produce false brethren, persecuting brethren, blind to the
real spirit of their Master, heady, high-minded.— Jude 11; Ge 4:6,7.
Let us then, beloved, be more and
more on guard against the encroachments of the Adversary upon us as New
Creatures! Let us be more and more zealous for the Spirit of our Master and
show forth the praises of Him who has called us out of darkness into His
marvelous light! In no way can we better show forth these praises than by
exemplifying in our daily conduct the lessons we have learned of Him!
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