Vizualizare sursă pentru „Pagină:Feast-of-conspirators-part-I-1934.djvu/12”

<noinclude><pagequality level="1" user="" /></noinclude>CHRISTIANS PERSECUTED: VHY PERMITTED P EHSECUTIO~ and sufferings are not to be de- ~il'ed lJ.r tmyOl,lC. E·e~'.vone would ratha: dwdl III peace and 111 happmess. Jesus and IllS true followers have been persecutell because oi their loyalty and faithfulness to God, This being true, and God IJeing all-powerful amI the ver,Y expr',;siull of 10'(:, why w()u~d he permit hi::> belllved Son aad his fait h- ful fol!rnrel's to suffer persecution at the hands of the Devil mid his representatives? 'rhe l1nswer is that God has not interfered with Satan 's ptil'suin~~ his course of. willful wic'kedncss; I:e JlllS pcrmitted him to demonstrate his malignant dis- })osition, and 10 l'l'Jll'O:'j(~h UocI una repJ'(Jaeh eYeryuuc who has heen faithful to Gud, hecausl: these perse- cutiuns "01!ld fU1'lIish the upportunities for the I~ord .Tesus alld his faithful followers to prove their loyalty llnd faithfulness uulo Jehuvah and to Jll'Uve the Same unuc'r the most adverse cil'('umstances, and therchy <1emon~1l'atc to all en'ation thnt God can put men on this eal't h whu l'all und will maintain their integrity to'urd (Joel Con('crnjll~ .Je~n:') it is Vl'ittl'll: "'Vito in the days of his f11!sh, wl)('n he had olTerl'd np prllj'rrN uncI SIIP- plications, with stroug cr.rin~ and tears, unto him that was ahlc to save him from (It'ath, and W11S heard in that he feared; thol~h Iw Wl're a'Soll, ,ret ll'al'lleJ he obulienf'e by the things whieh he suffered."- !leb. 5: 7, 8. If a mall prefers hodily case and comfol"t and peaf'C 1"ather thun the approval of nod, thcn he will put hilll~ sdf in a condition to not l)e IH,'I'~:ecutecl; and thi:i he may uo hy proving clislo,ral and unfaithful to God. But he who would willill~ly suffer the most ig'nomiJli~ ou," death ill orlIer to maintain his loyalty and faith. fuIn<:ss to (lo(l can hc for ever trusted. ConcCl'lling Jesus it is written: "~
d hcilll{ found in fashion us a man, he humhll'd himself, amI became ohedicnt unto dl'ath, CTIl the death 'of the ero:.;.s. Wherefore God abo hath hi~hly exalt.eu him, ~IllU ~iven him a name which is above every name: that at the lI:.llne of J('sus every lnH'C should bow, of thin~s in he.wen, and things ill earth, and things under the earth; and that every tougue should eou1'ess that Jesus Christ is IJord, to the glor~- of God the 1·'atl1e1'."- Phil. 2: 8-1l. Thus did the Foundation Stone, the Chief Corner 8t011(" uc{'ome a tl'ied and proved Stone, as the prophet Isaiah (28: If)) had foretold ill these woras: ., There- fore thus saith the Lord God, Dphold, I lay in 2ion for a f01Uldatioll a stone, a tried stone, a pre('ivu~ comer stone, a sure fOlindation: he that believeth shall !lot make haste," Before God granted unto tIll' Lord .Tesus the exalted reward of heing the head of the great em- pire or kingdom of God which is to rule the enrtl1, he put him to the most crucial test. Those who will be ap- proved of God and become a part of the empire must follow in the footsteps of Jesus, which includes tht'ir suffering for doing right. "For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leavin~~ us an example, that ye should follow his stl'pS.' ' - I Pl't. 2: 21. Ylhj' do true Christians suffer? Beeall.'~e God hc, chosen them out of the world and because they reiu:;;: to show allegiance unto the Devil's organization, J e..;, ,:J said eonecrni.n!! his followers: "If yo were of the worlu, the worlu would lovc his own: but !JC'ca use ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you unt of tnc world, therefore the 'odd hatcth you. nern('mb~r the word that 11o:aid unto you, The servant is Hot ~real'r than his lvl'll. If they have persecuted me, tlll'Y will also pCl':Jccutc you; if they have kept my saying, till'Y will l,eep yours also. "-J'ohn Hi: 19, 20_ During- the 'Yodd War, from the year ID14 to lUI;, humble Chl'istiull~; rpsiding in Gl'l'many were snhjecll'd to all manner of wickeu pel':wcutions and pllnisllllll'llt because thcy declined to l1isolJey God's rOlllmalld, ., Thou shalt nut kill.» In England, Canada alld America like fullowers of .J(,SUS Christ w(,l'e !Jratlll, thrown in10 prison, tarred alltl fl'ath('red, an(1 sonw of tlwm wenl killeJ, hccau,;c they refused to take llplll'IllS B();Uinst theil' fellow man und shed ilJIIOtell t Llnoe 1. The war fumishcd an opportunity and all lxell<;C for the cler~l1' who, as the repl'csentatives of Satall, hat,'d tl1(':,e humhle Christians lIlHl who illdw··d the rom- mercial lind polit il'al powers to unjustly punish CIIl';-;- tians. Not all were peJ'sccutrd hecause of refusal 10 kill; some wU'C pel'sl'euted men:!y bceause they 'ere wi1nesses fOl' the Lord. Men too old for war scrviel', lind women who were not at all subject to mil i1 u 'y Juty, Ix'cause they wcre Christians wcre hatecl by the Devil; and his offspl'in~ the elel·/(y inuueed the [),I'SC- cut ion and impl'iHonmeut of sUe'h. For a full llPt'lJUllt of these wicked pen;eeu1.ions see the Golden Aye rna:..';a- zinc, uumber twenty-seven. Uecently in the towns of Jersey City, Plaimldd, Bergen1ielll, Ashul'Y Park, and Ocean U 1'O'e, lew .Jer- sey, and in divers }lluees in PCllnsylvania and Con- neet.il'ut, and other places, good men anu women ''hile cn~a~cd in an effort to do good, and while bl'llJ~in~ comfort to tho IJ~ople now in distress, have been rnth- lc£sly atTested, eurs~d and abused by ofliecrs, and otherwise illtrcateel, and thrmvn iilto dung'cons. 'l'1H'~u men anu women who have been thus al'l'cslcd and per- secuted al'e Jehovah's witness'.!s engugcd in the lll'r- formanee of their bwful anu rightful duties. TJwy are being thus wrongfully trcatl'd bceause they are the l'cprescntati'cs and servants of tkhovah llnd nrc DlI '{- s'J1~el'S oj' peace concerning his righteous gOW'l'llnll'llt. All true witnesses for thc Lord have been cln"sl:d hy the llomnn Cutholic hierarchy as bigots, bla>;p1Jem- ers und enemies of the state, nud the chnrg-c of S(,J;ti(ln and blasphemy is often laid against til'. humhl u 1'01- 10';Pl'S of Crll'i~;t .Jc~w.;. Such Wil'hd oTJPosition t i ) U:e truth, :Uld sneh l)('rsecution of ,TdlO-ah ':; wit D( :'::-;('S, are made manifest today, particularly in the l'(lmtl'il'S of Ital~', Germany, Canada and the united States, and 3 "" o>~ <noinclude><references/></noinclude>