19 After a little while the world will no longer see Me, but you will see Me; because I live, you will live also. John 14:19 (LSB)
When our Lord spoke of the “world” in John 14:19, he was talking about those in this temporal existence who are not believers. They are not true Christians even though some in that group may profess to be so. In this context he was also referring to the Jewish religious leaders of his own day who so opposed him and his ministry and who would continue to oppose the early church as is seen all through the books of Acts for example. What is it that separates those alive in is this world who truly see Jesus for who he really is, believe and are saved from those who refuse to do so, reject the gospel, and remain in their sins, even if they may develop a form of Christianity that suits them that is absent of the real Jesus?
I don’t have to go into a lot of detail here about the darkness that has overtaken the majority of the visible church in our time. It is everywhere. However, we must never forget that this is nothing new. The history of the Church is replete with rebellion and apostasy and the need for reformation and the development of solid confessions of our faith for the clarification of our doctrines in order to shine God’s light into this darkness. God uses these battles to purify his church and also for the raising up of men who will stand firm, fight the good fight and leave behind a better understanding of our theology. We may not enjoy these truth wars or the battle or the endless attacks from our enemy and his people, but God is using these very things to in ways we cannot even imagine in the hearts of his people. <Continue reading this post>