John wrote more about “the world” than anybody else in the New Testament. Our Lord said to His brothers, “The world cannot hate you; but me it hateth .” (John 7:7). To His disciples He said, “If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you” (John 15:19). The world does not hate its own. It does hate our Lord. It hates His followers. Where do you belong in this lineup?
Author: Vance Havner
Devotion of the Day
WOUNDED AFRESH
What are these wounds in thine hands?…These with which I was wounded in the house of my friends.
Zecchariah 13:6
Our Lord’s most grievous wounds are suffered at the hands of professing Christians, those who claim to be His friends. Judas was not the only man who has betrayed Jesus, nor is Peter the sole disciple who has denied Him. He is daily crucified afresh by those who call Him Lord, Lord, and do not His commands.
The present-day dens of iniquity, the liquor shops, theaters, the card playing and gambling, all the big, booming business of sin would practically be out of business if all church members withdrew their support. Staggering bums in the gutters are of little value to the devil. He prizes most the men and women who wear the livery of saints and live the lives of sinners.
Indeed, our Lord is wounded by this foul and blasphemous world. But His deepest scars He gets at the hands of those who dare to claim His Name. Shame on us who sing of His cross on Sunday and crucify Him afresh all week!