Spurgeon: November PM
* 11/10/PM
"It is enough for the disciple that he be as His Master."
--Matthew 10:25
No one will dispute this statement, for it would be unseemly
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
worshipped, by those whom He came to bless? No; "He was despised
and rejected of men." Outside the camp was His place: cross-bearing was His occupation. Did the world yield Him solace
and rest? "Foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have
nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay His head." This
inhospitable country 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 conversation--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 Saviour--they
will despise it. Dream not 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 prized not the
polished gem, how should 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 should be more hated by His enemies. It were a
sad dishonour to a child of God to be the world's favourite. It
is a very ill omen 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 unrighteous 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 honour where our Lord found a coronet of thorn.