And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake.
Christ's followers will be hated by all kinds of people because they bear His name and out of loyalty to Him in standing in defense of the truth. That warning applied both to the disciples facing the events surrounding Jerusalem's destruction and to those living in the final scenes of earth's history. At the close of the world's history this hatred will repeat the world's hatred and persecution of Christ Himself.
The prediction was fulfilled during the papal oppression beginning in the sixth century, when faithful Christians who refused to accept papal ceremonies and worship faced imprisonment, torture, and death, with persecution growing especially fierce. It has been fulfilled through indignity, reproach, cruelty, imprisonment, exile, torture, and death, and it will be fulfilled even more markedly. The hatred comes from the continuing opposition of the unregenerate human heart to Christ and to God's law.
Prior to the last closing conflict, God's commandment-keeping people will stand distinct and separate from Sunday observers, and many convinced of the truth will come to their side. The hatred accompanies betrayal even by family and friends, false witness, imprisonment, and persecution. Believers will be forced to flee for their lives from cities and towns, will be brought before kings and rulers and councils to meet false, absurd, and lying accusations, and some will be made martyrs and put to death.
Their trials give them an opportunity to testify for Christ, with His promise of wisdom to answer their adversaries. Though persecutors may kill the body, the life hidden with Christ is beyond their reach, and believers are assured of God's keeping care. Christ will preserve the life taken from them and will give the righteous salvation and immortal life. Christ's victory and the grace, comfort, and steadfastness given to Him in Gethsemane give them courage and steadfastness in tribulation. They must obey the express command of God and stand firm as a rock to principle, following Jesus who bore all this and far more, with the promise that strength will match their days and they will not be tempted above what they are able to bear.
Christ's followers will be hated by all kinds of people because they bear His name and out of loyalty to Him in standing in defense of the truth. That warning applied both to the disciples facing the events surrounding Jerusalem's destruction and to those living in the final scenes of earth's history. At the close of the world's history this hatred will repeat the world's hatred and persecution of Christ Himself.
The prediction was fulfilled during the papal oppression beginning in the sixth century, when faithful Christians who refused to accept papal ceremonies and worship faced imprisonment, torture, and death, with persecution growing especially fierce. It has been fulfilled through indignity, reproach, cruelty, imprisonment, exile, torture, and death, and it will be fulfilled even more markedly. The hatred comes from the continuing opposition of the unregenerate human heart to Christ and to God's law.
Prior to the last closing conflict, God's commandment-keeping people will stand distinct and separate from Sunday observers, and many convinced of the truth will come to their side. The hatred accompanies betrayal even by family and friends, false witness, imprisonment, and persecution. Believers will be forced to flee for their lives from cities and towns, will be brought before kings and rulers and councils to meet false, absurd, and lying accusations, and some will be made martyrs and put to death.
Their trials give them an opportunity to testify for Christ, with His promise of wisdom to answer their adversaries. Though persecutors may kill the body, the life hidden with Christ is beyond their reach, and believers are assured of God's keeping care. Christ will preserve the life taken from them and will give the righteous salvation and immortal life. Christ's victory and the grace, comfort, and steadfastness given to Him in Gethsemane give them courage and steadfastness in tribulation. They must obey the express command of God and stand firm as a rock to principle, following Jesus who bore all this and far more, with the promise that strength will match their days and they will not be tempted above what they are able to bear.