Quote:
Originally Posted by peopleoftheway
John 11:25 Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:
How powerful Brothers and Sisters do those WORDS ring in your ears!!
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Greetings, brother Steve. Pretty plain, isn't it? Being identified as the friend of Jesus Christ will brand you as an enemy of the world.
John 15:18-19 If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. 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.
Although Jesus is specifically speaking to the eleven remaining Disciples, we too are grafted into the True Vine by faith. We should keep in mind that in this verse He is not addressing every person who professes to have some form of religion...like humanists; He is specifically speaking to those who have received and proclaim Him as Lord and Saviour. Persecution, whether verbal or physical, is one of the clearest marks of our true discipleship. It’s no mystery that the world hates Jesus. And it is no surprise that if we specifically proclaim Jesus, we too will be hated.
Perhaps, if we avoid persecution, it's because we are not proclaiming Jesus Christ.