Hated of Men Like Christ
Hi Mike,
I never fully understood why I would be hated of all men, but now I do. I have one question of which I think I know the answer, but I will ask it anyway for confirmation. I do not celebrate Christmas, Easter, father’s and mother’s day. Not celebrating my children’s birthdays will be hard. I don’t care one second about my own birthday, but my children’s is something different, and I don’t know if they will hate me for it; they will certainly not like it.
Do I need to force these things upon my wife and children? I would answer no, because it is a sin to expect a weaker brother to digest strong meat. Christ let the apostles go on the first day of the feast, but He Himself didn’t go.Your brother in Christ,
R____
Hi R____,
Thank you for your fidelity to the Word of God and the pattern we were given by Christ. Yes indeed, there really are reasons why we are warned that we “will be hated of all men”. Christ said that the reason we would suffer persecution and tribulation is “because of the word”.
Mat 13:20 But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it;
Mat 13:21 Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended.
That “Word” tells us that Christ did not observe any days, months, times or years. It tells us that the apostles did not observe any days, months, times or years.
Gal 4:8 Howbeit then, when ye knew not God, ye did service unto them which by nature are no gods.
Gal 4:9 But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage?
Gal 4:10 Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years.
Gal 4:11 I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labour in vain.
Should you force your wife and children not to observe these rituals? You are right in thinking no. That is what Rom 14 is all about. It is addressed to the strong, and they are informed that the weak and the infirm are not to be expected to walk beyond the measure of faith given to them. Babies cannot do the work of an adult, and sick people cannot endure the rigors that a healthy person can endure. The “weak in the faith… esteem one day above another” but they do so “unto the Lord”, even as the Lord plainly states in both the Old and the New Testaments, that it is an abomination to Him when we return to those weak and beggarly elements.
Deu 12:29 When the LORD thy God shall cut off the nations from before thee, whither thou goest to possess them, and thou succeedest them, and dwellest in their land;
Deu 12:30 Take heed to thyself that thou be not snared by following them, after that they be destroyed from before thee; and that thou enquire not after their gods, saying, How did these nations serve their gods? even so will I do likewise.
Deu 12:31 Thou shalt not do so unto the LORD thy God: for every abomination to the LORD, which he hateth, have they done unto their gods; for even their sons and their daughters they have burnt in the fire to their gods.
Deu 12:32 What thing soever I command you, observe to do it: thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it.
Rom 14:1 Him that is weak in the faith receive ye, [ but] not to doubtful disputations.
Rom 14:2 For one believeth that he may eat all things: another, who is weak, eateth herbs.
Rom 14:3 Let not him that eateth despise him that eateth not; and let not him which eateth not judge him that eateth: for God hath received him.
Rom 14:4 Who art thou that judgest another man’s servant? to his own master he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be holden up: for God is able to make him stand.
Rom 14:5 One man esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth every day [ alike]. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind.
Rom 14:6 He that regardeth the day, regardeth [ it] unto the Lord; and he that regardeth not the day, to the Lord he doth not regard [ it]. He that eateth, eateth to the Lord, for he giveth God thanks; and he that eateth not, to the Lord he eateth not, and giveth God thanks.
Rom 14:7 For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself.
It certainly is no sign of spiritual strength to just fit in with society at the expense of following Christ’s example and heeding Paul’s words in Gal 4:10. Yes indeed, there are many reasons why we are told that we will be “hated of all men”.
Mat 10:22 And ye shall be hated of all [ men] for my name’s sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.
1Pe 2:21 For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps:
Following Christ’s footsteps and His example is the very reason for our calling, but to how few is it given to do that? There are many reasons why “we will be hated of all men”, but all of those reasons are summed up in four short words: “Because of the Word…”
Be prepared to face this every year for the rest of your life. It is very hard at first, but as a very dear sister pointed out recently, it becomes much easier when your family and friends know why you do what you do, and they realize that you are permanently committed to keeping the commandments of God on this subject. I have had to go back to the word year after year, and every year the Words and example of Christ are always consistently the same. “He had broken the sabbath… went not up to the feast” at the appointed time, the “weak in the faith… esteem one day above another… [ and] when you knew not God… ye observed days, months, times and years…” There is nothing at all ambiguous about who is weak and what the ramifications are of that weak and infirm condition. It definitely keeps us on milk and herbs and in an infirm condition, according to the inspired Word. But it is also according to that same inspired word that we are to “let every man [ weak and strong] be fully persuaded in his own mind” until “he that is weak in the faith is able to “grow … by the sincere milk of the Word” to be able to eat something more than mere “milk and herbs”.
Rom 14:1 Him that is weak in the faith receive ye, [ but] not to doubtful disputations.
Rom 14:2 For one believeth that he may eat all things: another, who is weak, eateth herbs.
1Pe 2:2 As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby:
The greatest danger we all face is exactly what we see about us. Instead of “the strong brothers bearing the infirmities of the weak” while the weak brothers are “desiring the sincere milk of the Word so as to grow thereby”, what happened was on a scale which saw the apostles Paul and John being booted out of the very churches they established by the very “carnal babes in Christ”, who confused “the weak and beggarly elements of days, months, times and years for “strong meat and the strong meat of “esteeming every day alike became mere milk in the eyes of those who cast out the followers of the apostles.
2Ti 1:15 This thou knowest, that all they which are in Asia be turned away from me; of whom are Phygellus and Hermogenes.
2Ti 4:14 Alexander the coppersmith did me much evil: the Lord reward him according to his works:
2Ti 4:15 Of whom be thou ware also; for he hath greatly withstood our words.
2Ti 4:16 At my first answer no man stood with me, but all [ men] forsook me: I pray God that it may not be laid to their charge.
3Jn 1:9 I wrote unto the church: but Diotrephes, who loveth to have the preeminence among them, receiveth us not.
3Jn 1:10 Wherefore, if I come, I will remember his deeds which he doeth, prating against us with malicious words: and not content therewith, neither doth he himself receive the brethren, and forbiddeth them that would, and casteth them out of the church.
Should you and I expect anything less? There is a reason why “many are called but few are chosen”. The fire of God’s word is not tolerable for the “many called”.
Mat 22:14 For many are called, but few [ are] chosen.
You are in my prayers.
Your brother in Christ.
Mike
Other related posts
- Hated of Men Like Christ (August 1, 2010)
- Did Christ Keep the Sabbath? 2012_02 (February 24, 2012)