"What have I done," said Phocion, "what blunder have I committed, that all this rabble is applauding me?" The great Greek knew so well the low, perverted tastes and false standards of his countrymen that to be applauded by them made him suspicious of his own acts. And, my brother preacher, public or private, when the world praises you, you may be all right, but the matter looks suspicious. Scrutinize your work carefully. Say, "What now have I done that was un-Christlike and pleasing to the flesh? Have I been faithful? Have I been bold? Have I, while being kind and gentle as I ought to have been, also been aggressive enough? Have I held up the standard of Christ, or have I compromised? Have I made the sinners feel comfortable in their sins?" Do you hold with Christ in his unworldly, "impracticable" ideals and sentiments, or do you think and speak as the world, that so the world may hear you? (1 John 4:5.) These are the things to think on. A preacher who is popular, and remains popular for any length of time, is certainly wrong with God. (James 4:4; 2 Tim. 3:12; Luke 6:26.) The world loves but its own. If they go wild over the president's sermon on the "Universal Fatherhood of God and the Universal [250] Brotherhood of Man," it is natural. That sounds well to their ears, because it is one of Satan's sugary falsehoods, comforting and flattering to those whom Christ designates as lost, and "children of the devil." (John 8:44.) But if you are walking that unworldly path of Jesus that brought the world's hatred on him, how is it the world loves you? Now you need not go looking for trouble, but set out to be really earnest and faithful to the Lord, and trouble will come. (2 Tim. 3:12.)

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