Spurgeon: December PM
* 12/28/PM
"I came not to send peace on earth, but a sword."
--Matthew 10:34
The Christian will be sure to make enemies. It will be one of
his objects to make none; but if to do the right, and to believe
the I true, should cause him to lose every earthly friend, he
will count it but a small loss, since his great Friend in heaven
will be yet more friendly, and reveal Himself to him more
graciously than ever. O ye who have taken up His cross, know ye
not what your Master said? "I am come to set a man at variance
against his father, and the daughter against her mother; and a
man's foes shall be they of his own household." Christ is the
great Peacemaker; but before peace, He brings war. Where the
light cometh, the darkness must retire. Where truth is, the lie
must flee; or, if it abideth, there must be a stern conflict,
for the truth cannot and will not lower its standard, and the
lie must be trodden under foot. If you follow Christ, you shall
have all the dogs of the world yelping at your heels. If you
would live so as to stand the test of the last tribunal, depend
upon it the world will not speak well of you. He who has the
friendship of the world is an enemy to God; but if you are true
and faithful to the Most High, men will resent your unflinching
fidelity, since it is a testimony against their iniquities.
Fearless of all consequences, you must do the right. You will
need the courage of a lion unhesitatingly to pursue a course
which shall turn your best friend into your fiercest foe; but
for the love of Jesus you must thus be courageous. For the
truth's sake to hazard reputation and affection, is such a deed
that to do it constantly you will need a degree of moral
principle which only the Spirit of God can work in you; yet turn
not your back like a coward, but play the man. Follow right
manfully in your Master's steps, for He has traversed this rough
way before you. Better a brief warfare and eternal rest, than
false peace and everlasting torment.