by Betty

  Tim had a friend named Henry who had two sons. One was very wicked, and the other was
very good. The good brother did his very best to influence his wayward brother to come to
Christ and at last he did. The bad brother became exceedingly good, loving, holy, pure, and
clean. Jesus Christ had set him free from the bondage of sin, and now he gave himself wholly
to the Lord. The good brother rejoiced for a time; after all, he was the one who had brought his
brother to the Lord. After a while though, he found himself competing with his brother in
goodness, and he saw himself falling short. He felt envious and bitter about it; he was the good
one from the start. How dare his brother usurp this position. He despised his brother, and did
his best to be a thorn in his converted brother's side.
  My friend Emily was at a prayer meeting where everyone stood up to give their testimonies.
One man stood up and said that he was made perfect in Christ, and he was free from sin. Oh
boy, rage flushed into the dear saints' faces and the perfect man barely made it out of that
prayer meeting alive.
  Our friend Bob had the gift of prophesy. When Bob prophesied I took note and knew it was
from God. He always prayed about where he went and what he was to do. When he was
young in the Lord, he was nervous about going to church because when the Spirit of prophesy would
come upon him he spoke God's word because he always made a point to let the Lord have his way
whether his life was in danger or not. A few times after the word of the Lord came forth, he
was mobbed and dragged out of those fine churches. Jeremiah had the same problem (see
Jeremiah 20). Jesus didn't fare so well either when he prophesied in his own church.
  What is it about God's servants that the good people hate? They hate Jesus. Jesus showed
this clearly when he spoke with his own brothers when they demanded of him that he reveal
himself to the world. He said, “The world cannot hate you, but me it hateth, because I testify
against it, that the works thereof are evil.”
  Jesus said to his disciples ( including us): “Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you,
and ordained you that you should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain;
that what soever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you. These things I
command you, that ye love one another. 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. Remember
the word that I said unto you, the servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted
me, they will also persecute you: if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also.
  Here is an understanding that most people miss:  Jesus chose to save us. Save us from
what?  Jesus saves us from sin and its punishment; He cleansed our sins away with his blood.
The Bible states that he purged us from sin. He has destroyed the work of the devil in our lives and
 freed us from the bondage of sins. He quickens us. He makes us clean and alive and aware of heaven. 
He gives all His children the gift of the Holy Ghost that we might have power from on high. He gives us
according to His divine power all things that pertain to life and godliness through the knowledge of him 
that hath called us to glory and virtue: He has perfected us and made us His children, and this makes us 
not of the world. We are no longer the children of disobedience. Our testimonies should be that Jesus 
reigns in us, and we have the mind of Christ. We are His epistles written without hand showing that He is 
able to clean and make pure and perfect those who are His. Our lives should testify against the world for
 what it truly is. 
  The world loves a lie; God is truth. The world is full of pride; God dwells with the humble.
The Bible states that the things that are highly esteemed by men are abominable to God.
The world's picture of beauty and grace is what God calls evil and lustful. The world's most
highly acclaimed intellect God calls a fool. What the world calls love is far inferior to God's
definition of love.
  Need I say more? The world can't compare to God, and it hates God for it. It rejects His great love. 
We His children are testimonies of what God has wrought. God is able to make a sinner clean and pure, 
full of the righteousness of God, without spot, blameless, and holy, ready for heaven.  The world cries out, “No, He can't!”
The Lord proves it through us, “Yes, I can.” The world will condemn us because it believes not our testimony. 
God will be glorified and sanctified in his children. Praise be to God.
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