The understanding of
this requirement enables one to appreciate why Christians have never
been popular and why they have suffered so much during the past nineteen
centuries.
[481]The Psalmist wrote concerning the new creation; "I am become a
stranger unto my brethren, and an alien unto my mother's children. For
the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up; and the reproaches of them
that reproached thee are fallen upon me." (Psalm 69:8,9) Jesus became a
stranger to the Jews in this, that they despised and rejected him.
Because of his zeal for the heavenly Father's great plan, his earthly
life was consumed. Satan had reproached Jehovah from the time of Eden;
and now these reproaches fell upon Jesus. We should expect the body
members to have similar experiences. And so the Apostle quotes this text
and applies it to those who are the followers of Jesus, saying, "For
even Christ pleased not himself; but, as it written, The reproaches of
them that reproached thee fell on me".--Romans 15:3.
[482]God is a great economist. He makes the wrath of men and other
creatures to result to his own praise. Satan and his seed have always
persecuted and buffeted the Christians, and Jehovah has caused this
persecution to result in the development of the members of the body of
Christ. He could have prevented the church from suffering at Satan's
hands had he desired so to do; but by being permitted to buffet them
with trying experiences, Satan has demonstrated his own depraved
character, and the resistance of the church has shown their love and
devotion to the Lord and thus developed characters that are pleasing
unto him.
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