Spurgeon - Morning & Evening
Go to Morning
No one will dispute this statement, for it would be unfitting for the servant to be exalted above his Master. When our Lord was on earth, what was the treatment He received? Were His claims acknowledged, His instructions followed, His perfections worshiped, by those whom He came to bless? No! "He was despised and rejected of men." His place was outside the camp! Cross-bearing was His occupation. Did the world yield Him solace and rest? "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head." This inhospitable world afforded Him no shelter—it cast Him out—and crucified Him!
Such—if you are a follower of Jesus, and maintain a consistent, Christ-like walk and lifestyle—you must expect to be the lot of that part of your spiritual life which, in its outward development, comes under the observation of men. They will treat it as they treated the Savior—they will despise it.
Do not dream that worldlings will admire you, or that the more holy and the more Christ-like you are—the more peaceably people will act towards you. They did not prize the polished gem—how would they value the jewel in the rough? "If they have called the Master of the house Beelzebub, how much more shall they call them of His household?" If we were more like Christ—we would be more hated by His enemies. It would be a sad dishonor to a child of God—to be the world's favorite. It is a very bad sign—to hear a wicked world clap its hands and shout "Well done!" to the Christian man. He may begin to look to his character, and wonder whether he has not been doing wrong, when the ungodly give him their approbation. Let us be true to our Master, and have no friendship with a blind and base world which scorns and rejects Him. Far be it from us—to seek a crown of honor where our Lord found a coronet of thorns!
Courtesy of Grace Gems! Used by permission.