At one time Jesus seemed to think his hearers might possibly misapprehend him, and he told them plainly that poverty, trouble, sorrow, persecutions in this world, awaited them if they followed him. And he told them plainly, also, that if they would have any part in him and with him they must flinch at nothing--that they must die if need be. When they did understand him “many went back from following him.” And many are joining their company to this day. What he said to the young ruler he said to all; nay, says to us all to-day: “The foxes have holes; and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.” And we do him the deep dishonor of believing that he spoke the words of mere sentiment! He could only mean by his words to the rich young man, “Come with me and welcome; I will help you, I will save you; but for this world I can promise you nothing.” He himself was always a poor man, and his poverty was not an accident in his manner of life. There never was a man too poor to be a friend to Jesus, never a man so rich that he could find special favor in those eyes that were “single” and “full of light.” Jesus could not have offered holiness to men as the chief good of man, with worldly blessings as a reason for being good; it would have spoiled the Gospel. He never promised that his disciples should be better off in this world than he was. He asked them one day, “Shall the servant be above his lord, the disciple above his Master?” But we explain all this away. Jesus was not indulging sentiment when he taught his disciples that following him meant a self-renunciation that would brave all things. He distinctly told them to expect persecutions and tribulations. And some persuade themselves that he was speaking only for those who were then his disciples; that such ideas do not fit civilized times and countries. An apostle, being a mere man, might well enough give his “judgment” as to what best suited an existing condition of life and society; but Jesus, who belongs to all times, speaks no word of simply local and temporary significance and importance. It was so certain that suffering and persecution of some sort would follow fidelity that Jesus gave his disciples and all who should come after them a test by which they might judge of their personal fidelity to him: “Woe unto you when all men shall speak well of you.” Can we imagine that Jesus did not mean such words for all men, of all times and countries? He knew how his friends would need to stand firm, and how fearful the pressure of temptation would be to deny him. He told them they would “for his sake” be “brought before kings,” and that “some of them would be killed.” But he told them not to be afraid; they were to fear God and no other whatever.