Marvel not, brethren, if the world hateth you.
The apostle, having intimated that one mark of the devil's children is hatred of the brethren, takes occasion thence, I. To recommend fraternal Christian love, and that from the excellence, or antiquity, or primariness of the injunction relating thereto: And this is the message (the errand or charge) which you heard from the beginning (this came among the principal parts of practical Christianity), that we...
Commenting on 1 John 3:11-13
Marvel not--The marvel would be if the world loved you. the world--of whom Cain is the representative (Jo1 3:12). hate you--as Cain hated even his own brother, and that to the extent of murdering him. The world feels its bad works tacitly reproved by your good works.
Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you. By "the world" is meant the inhabitants of the world, the wicked part of them; these hate the saints, though without a cause, any just cause, and for no other reason, but because they are chosen and called out of the world, and do not live the wicked life they do: and this hatred of theirs...