e they are worshipers in form
only, but in spirit they are worldly. In truth these people are usually
foremost in persecuting the true children of God. Jesus was persecuted and
hated by the very pretentious Pharisees and Sadducees. "He came unto his
own, and his own received him not." John 1:11. Those who professed to be
children of Abraham sought to take the Savior's life. John 8:39, 40.
Because Jesus by a pure, holy life rebuked sin, because he in burning
words of Heaven's glorious truth exposed the hypocrisy of the proud Jews,
because he told them of their sins, they gnashed upon him with their
teeth; they told him he had a devil; they spit upon him; they smote him;
they mocked him; they placed a crown of thorns upon his brow, and were the
instigators of his death.

Jesus says to his own beloved followers: "If they have persecuted me, they
will also persecute you." John 15:20. "If they have called the master of
the house Beelzebub, how much more shall they call them of his household?"
Mat. 10:25. "And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake." Luke
21:17. Those who live like Jesus, those who will boldly declare the truth
of the gospel, and rebuke sin and hypocrisy, they shall receive
persecutions from wicked men, and cold, proud-hearted professors, as did
the Savior. "Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall
suffer persecution." 2 Tim. 3:12.

Christians must suffer the taunts of a sinful world, but they "rejoice,
inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when his glory
shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy. If ye be
reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the Spirit of glory
and of God resteth upon you." 1 Pet. 4:13, 14. "Blessed are ye when men
shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and
shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man's
sake. Rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy: for, behold, your reward
is great in heaven: for in the like manner did their fathers unto the
prophets." Luke 6:22, 23.

One evening, shortly after God by his saving grace had separated us from
the world and bestowed his righteousness upon us, we for Christ's sake
received insults and abuse from the wicked. We turned away from our
persecutors and entered the privacy of our home, when a rich glory rested
in such a heavenly sweetness upon our souls that we cried out, "O God, why
am I so wonderfully blessed?" The a