CONDEMNED FOR ITS WIDE INFLUENCE
By J. O. C.
IT has been many times demonstrated that the more singular and active one's religion becomes, the more unpopular it grows. When first made known, not much attention is paid to it; but as it gathers force and gains expanse, the world condemns it. During the first thirty years of Christ's earthly career, little was said of Him; but after His miracles of healing, and other evidences of divinity, many were ready to say that He had a devil and was mad. His path narrowed each year of His open ministry. The first year, multitudes thronged Him. The following year, applause waned, and the crowds withdrew as Jewish counsels aroused opposition. His last year was marked by greater persecution and a narrower pathway. One disciple betrayed Him, another denied Him, and others forsook Him to die alone, amid the solitude of awful darkness, until, as His divine heart was at the breaking point, He cried, “My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?” The same spirit must ever pursue the true follower of the Master; for has He not said, “All these things will they do unto you for My name's sake, because they know not Him that sent Me”? John 15: 21. J. O. C.