By Pastor Hal Mayer
Dear friends,
Welcome to Keep the Faith Ministry once again. Today, we’re going to study the extremes to which men will go to silence the voice of rebuke. In the trial and crucifixion of Christ we see this in stark detail. But we have to realize that what Christ went through, to some extent, is what we will go through. We have to be ready to experience much the same thing. I hope that today you will understand this more deeply in your soul.
Let us begin with prayer. Our Father in heaven, we realize that we are facing a difficult time in the future but we don’t know how difficult it will be. All we can do is rest assured that Christ suffered more than we ever will, and He did it voluntarily. And we can take assurance that He will stand by our side to strengthen us to endure to the end. Please send your Holy Spirit to help us understand this as we study today. In Jesus name, amen.
Today, we’re going to examine the background and fundamental reasons for the trial and crucifixion of Christ and why the priests were so eager to have him put to death even though it was outside of the regular order and illegal to do so. What was the main point that triggered their abuse of the law and of the person of Jesus? And what parallels do we see today? Turn with me in your Bibles to John 15:20. Jesus gives His disciples a dose of reality. Do you think this verse applies to us today?
“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.”
Jesus was persecuted because He revealed the hypocrisy of the Pharisees and the Sadducees especially in regard to the Sabbath, among other things. He didn’t come in exactly the way that suited the Pharisees and the scribes and the doctors of the law; nevertheless, they were certain that he might develop into that after a while. So consequently, they studied His course for a considerable time without any positive opposition against Him publicly. In fact, for about 18 months of His public ministry, they were studying him, and looking to see what would develop. If He would develop the way they wanted Him to, the matter would resolve itself and He would conform to their ideas, as so many promising young men had done before. So, they watched Him to see how the matter would come out. But He made no great demonstration of putting Himself forward or calling attention to Himself. He simply went quietly on teaching and healing the people and doing good wherever He went. It was hard to find fault with that. Though the teachings that He espoused were somewhat unusual, they reasoned that it would be all right if, in the end, He would develop into what they expected.
But when a year and a half had gone by, and His fame had spread through the land, and had attracted wide attention among common people and caused their enthusiasm to reach quite a pitch, Pharisees, the scribes, and the doctors of the law grew very concerned. They couldn’t sit back any longer and let it just happen. His credibility was gaining traction and if let alone it would supplant their authority. Jesus had attracted their active attention, their interested attention, and their selfish attention. In his course, they saw not only that He did not develop into what they expected but, on the contrary, they saw that He was gaining an influence with the people in a way that was not playing into their hands. As He went on longer, the people were drawn more and more to Him. And if He did not develop the way they wanted Him to, they could then justify rejecting Him as the Messiah and therefore His work would come to nothing. So they thought.
Does that sound anything like what happens today? First of all, most young men who entered the ministry are molded into the shape that the leaders want them to be. They are sent to the seminary where they learn techniques and methods that fit the conference system. And any deviation from it they take note. They will try to influence him and convince him that if he wants to get anywhere in the conference, he must conform to their standards, methods, and practices. If one happens to develop in a different way once he is in pastoral ministry and begins to act in ways contrary to what the conference leaders see as fitting, especially in large churches, and especially in conservative conferences, there is a process by which he is removed and put out of the ministry. This process is done without regard to the church manual. Even though the church manual may outline the principles that will treat him fairly, these are cast aside in their quest to silence his voice. Thus, men who are strongly spiritual and who would be effective in ministry especially to their congregations are kept from influencing members too widely and their message is contained.
May I also reflect on the process of education at the seminaries. A young man, newly converted to the message, like many, desires training for the ministry. He is on fire for the great message that pulsates within his being. Thus, he dedicates his life to the gospel ministry. He quickly enrolls in the theological department of one of our seminaries with great enthusiasm. Like so many new believer he has studied widely the advent message and as a result is more richly informed than many who have been in the faith for decades. With great enthusiasm, he approaches his Bible classes, only to find that some of his teachers no longer share his belief in the authenticity of the advent message. These teachers, having been students in theological seminaries of the world, have dared to bring their aberrant beliefs into the institution where they are employed and are now being used of Satan to indoctrinate the upcoming generation of ministers in a faith which is defective. Years of teaching experience have honed the professors arguments, and many within the class are as lambs to the slaughter before the persuasive arguments of a much more experienced professor. Further, most students are prone to accept the word of the man who holds their academic grades in his hands.
In some classes, the professor uses the unsettling technique of raising doubt concerning the veracity of some portions of Scripture. He does not offer a solution to the apparent Bible problems, but rather leaves the student with the distinct impression that no such answer is available, and that in some areas Scriptures is less than reliable.
This young man is not deceived. He understands the errors of his professor. After his initial shock, he seeks in a careful way to point out that the teacher is presenting beliefs that are not in harmony with the Adventist faith as found in scripture. At first, the professor handles his objections in class kindly. However, soon the professor becomes agitated by these interruptions and challenges to the integrity of what he is teaching. Even many students in the class share the professor’s concern because they do not have the background of this young man, and feel that he is a negative influence on the class.
Eventually the professor calls the young man into his office to give him some “wise counsel.” The professor tells him, “you are a promising student who can do a great work for God, but remember you have come to college to learn and to understand from those of much wider experience and background.” the young man, while respectful, tries to explain his position to the professor. The professor implies that the evangelist who baptized the young man is not really a scholar. The young man is now more careful in class. Often he says nothing when he is deeply disturbed by the questionable teachings of his professor. He does, however, often raise these issues with his fellow students, most of whom proved to be unsympathetic to his viewpoint.
The teacher senses that the young man is still an “agitator” within the class, and once again, the young man is counseled. With integrity, the young man tries to put forward the principles of truth in his term paper, and in his written examinations, only to receive poor or failing grades from his professor. He now faces a crisis and a dilemma. He is convinced that he is called to the ministry, yet he realizes that the achievement of his ambition is largely in the hands of his professors. They not only teach him, but they will also grade him and be the ones primarily responsible for making recommendations to the employing conferences.
Eventually and reluctantly, the young man comes to the conviction that he must remain silent in class. However, he vows that as soon as he has graduated and has been appointed to ministerial work he will preach the truth, unadulterated and unhampered by human thought. He graduates and is appointed to an internship. Now he finds himself interning with a minister who is less than clear upon the distinctive truths of God’s word. And once again he is in a dilemma. Does he teach the truth or does he hold his peace and wait for his own church appointment?
Eventually, he is appointed to a church and begins to preach the truth and the cutting testimony that he knows and loves. Pretty soon influential church members approach the conference president complaining about the preaching of this young man. Eventually, he is called into the conference office and is told that he is being considered for the possibility of ordination. The president assures him that he is considered a promising young man with a bright future in the ministry, but he must learn to preach in a way that will maintain unity and peace within the church. The president explains that the members of the church who are held in high regard, men of experience and respect within the conference, have been concerned with the messages that he has been delivering from the pulpit. The conference president urges him to be careful with the subject matter of his preaching.
And so it goes until he is a confused and frustrated young minister who has been systematically led into a political environment in which the favor of the congregation becomes one of the most critical determinants of his future success. This whole process goes on and on until he is conformed and begins to point out his inadvertent rashness as a youth to other interns under his leadership. This is how Satan develops in silence the voices of present truth and the straight testimony. And the church becomes weak and lifeless under the preaching of ministers who don’t understand the vitally important message for this time. It’s a tragedy that is repeated over and over again with varying degrees and different situations. But the effect in the end is to strip the ministry of the message that we have been given as a people.
If Jesus would have conformed to the priests and their desired outcome, he would have never been the Savior of mankind. If He would have yielded to the priests and the scribes, and heeded the Sanhedrin, He would have been successful in achieving popularity among those leaders. But He would have lost His power and purity, and compromised the salvation of the world.
When Jesus started doing things that were only to be done by God, such as forgive sins, they had two options. They could believe He was God, or they could choose to believe that He was a blasphemer. And when He healed the man at the pool of Bethesda, it was a Sabbath day. Again, they had two choices, they could either accept Him as from God because He could do a miracle that could be done by no other, or they could accuse Him of illegal activity on the Sabbath. Again, they chose the latter, primarily because He was not working according to their methods and according to their ideas.
And the Bible says in John 5:16, “And therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus, and sought to slay him, because he had done these things on the Sabbath day.”
Are ministers today who do things that are not according to the methods and ideas of the leaders in the conference treated the same way? Often when a pastor or a member does something that’s not according to the way that it is prescribed by the conference or the church, they are ostracized and eventually put out of their positions. And it’s all because they did not work according to the way, the methods, prescribed for them. The Holy Spirit has no room to move and has to work around the leaders.
We know, and have always known, that persecution is coming on the people who in our day keep the Sabbath of the Lord. We will keep the Sabbath just as Jesus did. And this will bring us into conflict with the powers that be both in the church structure and outside of the church structure. We need His faithfulness in keeping the Sabbath during the times in which we are now to enter.
Jesus was persecuted for keeping the Sabbath. Then whoever else is persecuted for that is in most blessed company. But His Sabbath-keeping did not suit the Sabbath ideas of the Pharisees and doctors of the law and scribes. They called it Sabbath-breaking. So, Jesus was accused of Sabbath-breaking when He was actually a Sabbath-keeper. Turn to Mark 2:23. This chapter gives us a number of examples when Jesus used the Sabbath to illustrate true Sabbath-keeping. But each time the Pharisees, the scribes, and the doctors of the law were offended by His words because they did not conform to their ways of thinking. And their hatred of Him became deeper. The first was the healing of the paralytic. Please read verses 2 through 12.
“And again he entered into Capernaum after some days; and it was noised that he was in the house. And straightway many were gathered together, insomuch that there was no room to receive them, no, not so much as about the door: and he preached the word unto them. And they come unto him, bringing one sick of the palsy, which was borne of four. And when they could not come nigh unto him for the press, they uncovered the roof where he was: and when they had broken it up, they let down the bed wherein the sick of the palsy lay. When Jesus saw their faith, he said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, thy sins be forgiven thee. But there were certain of the scribes sitting there, and reasoning in their hearts, Why doth this man thus speak blasphemies? who can forgive sins but God only? And immediately when Jesus perceived in his spirit that they so reasoned within themselves, he said unto them, Why reason ye these things in your hearts? Whether is it easier to say to the sick of the palsy, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and take up thy bed, and walk? But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (he saith to the sick of the palsy,) I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy bed, and go thy way into thine house. And immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went forth before them all; insomuch that they were all amazed, and glorified God, saying, We never saw it on this fashion.”
Jesus not only made it clear that healing was possible to be done on the Sabbath day, but he also asserted his right to forgive sins. He basically told them that He was God. The next time was when the disciples we’re walking through a field. Let’s read it.
“And it came to pass, that he went through the corn fields on the sabbath day; and his disciples began, as they went, to pluck the ears of corn. And the Pharisees said unto him, Behold, why do they on the sabbath day that which is not lawful? And he said unto them, Have ye never read what David did, when he had need, and was an hungred, he, and they that were with him? How he went into the house of God in the days of Abiathar the high priest, and did eat the shewbread, which is not lawful to eat but for the priests, and gave also to them which were with him?
The Pharisees understood Sabbath keeping in the wrong way. They had strict rules and restrictions about what could be done on the Sabbath day. And this created a situation where Jesus could explain the true meaning of the Sabbath, much to the anger of the Pharisees.
This was on the Sabbath day. Jesus first forgave the man’s sins, and then proceeded to heal him. They questioned how He could forgive sins. Only God could forgive sins and they weren’t ready to accept that Jesus was God.
Then Jesus went through the wheat field with his disciples and the disciples plucked the grains of wheat and rubbed them in their hands to remove the husks and ate them. The Pharisees were ready to accuse them of breaking the Sabbath, but Jesus reasoned from the scriptures about David and Abiathar the priest, which silenced them. Jesus was saying that unusual circumstances can require unusual behavior. And then He said in verse 27… “The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.”
This statement rankled them. Jesus was telling THEM how to keep the Sabbath. They were the teachers of the law. He was not one of them and wasn’t trained in matters of the law, so they thought. So, how could he teach them?
Then in Mark 3 Jesus restored the man with the withered hand in the synagogue on the Sabbath day. And they were watching Him to find some reason to accuse Him especially before the people. Let us read verse one and two.
“And he entered again into the synagogue; and there was a man there which had a withered hand. And they watched him, whether he would heal him on the sabbath day; that they might accuse him.”
Notice that they were already persecuting Him for breaking the Sabbath. They had already decided to kill him. And they were involved in surveillance of his behavior. They were watching to see whether He would yield to their ideas and compromise the Sabbath or compromise Himself, in order to please them. They were looking for loyalty. They wanted to see if He was willing to be loyal to them and the church. And if He did not they were ready to accuse Him much like today. Today if you say anything perceived as negative about the church, they will try to cancel you and prevent you from saying anymore. Do you think they will use surveillance in the attempt to persecute God’s true people today? Jesus saw His opportunity to elevate the Sabbath of the Lord. He told the man to stand forth in front of them all to be seen. Then he asked them a question. It’s found in verse 4.
“Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath days, or to do evil? to save life, or to kill? But they held their peace.”
They couldn’t say that it was lawful to do evil, for that would be contrary to their own teaching. And they dare not say that it was lawful to do good, because then they would sanction the healing of this man on the Sabbath. It was a question that put them in a bind. He had told them to their faces, and they knew it was so, that if one of them had a sheep that had fallen into a ditch on the Sabbath day, they would pull it out to save its life. Whether they would do this out of mercy to the sheep, or for fear of losing the price of it, matters not, they knew it was so. Therefore, they held their peace. If they always had held their peace they certainly would have done better. Read verse 5.
“And when he had looked round about on them with anger, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts, he saith unto the man, Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched it out: and his hand was restored whole as the other. And the Pharisees went forth, and straightway took counsel with the Herodians against him, how they might destroy him.”
The Herodians were a sect of the Jews, who stood at the extreme opposite pole from the Pharisees. They derived their title from being the friends, the supporters, and the rigid partisans of Herod and his house in their rule over the nation of Israel. They were liberals who were badly involved in politics. The Pharisees held themselves to be the righteous ones of the nation, the ones who stood the closest to God, and therefore stood farthest from Herod and from Rome. They despised Herod. They hated Rome. They hated Herod. But they overcame their prejudices and counseled with the Herodians because they hated Christ more. So that they could, if possible, find a legal way to get rid of Jesus they united with the Herodians. In other words, they consulted with the state to find a way to destroy Christ and make Him subject to legal condemnation.
The Pharisees saw that Jesus was not going to yield to their ideas of Sabbath keeping. So, in order to carry out their purpose to kill him, they joined themselves not only to their sectarian enemies, but to these particular religio-political sectarian enemies, so that they could get hold upon Herod and at the last upon Pilate. That way they would get the government on their side, that they might have the civil power under their control, and thus make effectual their purpose to destroy Christ. So, they entered into politics. Herod and Pilate were made friends over this. Now you can see the far-reaching purpose which the Pharisees had in counseling with the Herodians. It was both to get Herod’s and Rome’s power in their hands, to carry out their determined purpose to kill Jesus.
How do churches today unite with the government? They accept money from them for their medical and educational institutions, and their aid organizations known as NGOs. And they have cooperated with the government in their laws for the military draft, for telling their military age young people to break the Sabbath, or children to attend school on the Sabbath (and then get rebaptized when the mandates are over). They assist mandates by making statements during pandemics that are used to coerce people to comply with medical mandates, and for other occasions when it is expedient to cooperate with the government, thus deepening their entanglements. By the way, “mandate” is another word that is used for “decree.”
This story is written for us. It is written for the people in the world today. We can see the same alliances with the evangelicals, formerly known as Protestants, and the political power in our day. We can even see it in our own public church today. Luke 6:11, 12 tells us what Jesus did after he healed the man with a withered hand.
“And they were filled with madness; and communed one with another what they might do to Jesus. And it came to pass in those days, that he went out into a mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God.”
While they were plotting, he was praying. While they were courting political power, Jesus was praying for the power of God. While they were putting their dependence upon the power of man and earthly government, he was putting His soul dependence upon the God of heaven and earth. Let us be like that. Prayer and soul dependence is something of which we ought to do more.
Jesus taught in the temple. It was the feast. And He had come up by a circuitous route. John 7:19-24. Listen to His words.
“Did not Moses give you the law, and yet none of you keepeth the law? Why go ye about to kill me? The people answered and said, Thou hast a devil: who goeth about to kill thee? Jesus answered and said unto them, I have done one work, and ye all marvel. Moses therefore gave unto you circumcision; (not because it is of Moses, but of the fathers;) and ye on the sabbath day circumcise a man. If a man on the sabbath day receive circumcision, that the law of Moses should not be broken; are ye angry at me, because I have made a man every whit whole on the sabbath day? Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment.”
The controversy was still over the Sabbath. It was really a sticking point to the Pharisees and Sadducees. Will the same type of conflicts over the Sabbath characterize our day? They hated Christ for exposing their hypocrisy and inconsistency. Now read verses 30-32.
“Then they sought to take him: but no man laid hands on him, because his hour was not yet come. And many of the people believed on him, and said, When Christ cometh, will he do more miracles than these which this man hath done? The Pharisees heard that the people murmured such things concerning him; and the Pharisees and the chief priests sent officers to take him.”
But when the officers got there, they heard Him speaking and they stood there charmed, listening to His words. And when Jesus ceased speaking, they turned and went back without Him to the Sanhedrin. Now read from verse 43-53.
“So there was a division among the people because of him. And some of them would have taken him; but no man laid hands on him. Then came the officers to the chief priests and Pharisees; and they said unto them, Why have ye not brought him? The officers answered, Never man spake like this man. Then answered them the Pharisees, Are ye also deceived? Have any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed on him? But this people who knoweth not the law are cursed. Nicodemus saith unto them, (he that came to Jesus by night, being one of them,) Doth our law judge any man, before it hear him, and know what he doeth? They answered and said unto him, Art thou also of Galilee? Search, and look: for out of Galilee ariseth no prophet. And every man went unto his own house.”
Did you notice that in their anger they were about to judge and condemn Him right there in their consultations and deliberations, without any hearing, and without His presence even? Nicodemus put a check upon the proceedings by his inquiry. Have you noticed that often this is the way proceedings happen today? John 8:1 tells us that while these men were having their wicked counsel that Jesus was going up to the Mount of Olives to pray. Here is a statement from Signs of the Times, August 22, 1895.
“Those who have repented of their sins, who have cast their weary, heavy-burdened souls at the feet of Christ, who have submitted to his yoke, and become his colaborers, will be partakers with Christ in his sufferings, and partakers also of his divine nature. In the world the Christian will be slighted and dishonored, and will consent to be least of all and servant of all. He will submit to be injured, to be despitefully used and persecuted, but wearing the yoke of Christ he will find rest unto his soul, and the yoke will not be galling. He will hear the Saviour saying: “I am the vine, ye are the branches. He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit; for without me ye can do nothing.”
Let us read Great Controversy, page 610.
“But so long as Jesus remains man’s intercessor in the sanctuary above, the restraining influence of the Holy Spirit is felt by rulers and people. It still controls to some extent the laws of the land. Were it not for these laws, the condition of the world would be much worse than it now is. While many of our rulers are active agents of Satan, God also has His agents among the leading men of the nation. The enemy moves upon his servants to propose measures that would greatly impede the work of God; but statesmen who fear the Lord are influenced by holy angels to oppose such propositions with unanswerable arguments. Thus a few men will hold in check a powerful current of evil. The opposition of the enemies of truth will be restrained that the third angel’s message may do its work. When the final warning shall be given, it will arrest the attention of these leading men through whom the Lord is now working, and some of them will accept it, and will stand with the people of God through the time of trouble.”
Nicodemus was one of those a few men who hold in check a powerful current of evil. So was Joseph of Arimathea. The same will be true at the end of time. But when it came to the trial of Christ, the Sanhedrin knew that they could not have opposition or opposing voices to the illegality of the trial. They had to work outside the legal structure and secretly to gain their object without strong opposition. They then sent these two men on some sort of mission so they would be absent during the trial. Here is a statement from Manuscript 26, 1899. I have never seen this statement before, but it really speaks to the situation in our day as well as in the days of Christ.
“There are men connected with the Lord’s work and institutions in Battle Creek who would not be corrupted. But they knew that if their voice should be heard calling things by their right names, they would soon for some pretense be left out of the councils. So, Joseph and Nicodemus were appointed to do some apparently important work, that they might not be present at the mock trial of Christ. Some have felt great anxiety to carry out their own methods, and it was not pleasant to have others present who would oppose their measures.”
Have you ever been in a council meeting where you felt that if you spoke up in opposition to an agenda that you didn’t agree with, you would be excluded from the council on some pretense? I have. And I was excluded. I was on a board that knew from comments that I had made that I was not in harmony with what powerful board members wanted to do. So, when they called the meeting to make the final decision, they advised everyone except me that they were having a meeting. The leaders got their way because the other members were either in agreement, or not willing to oppose them with their voices. I have actually seen this many times in my life. This method is satanic and brings discontent and dissatisfaction with the work. Let us read more from John 11:47, 48.
“Then gathered the chief priests and the Pharisees a council, and said, What do we? for this man doeth many miracles. If we let him thus alone, all men will believe on him: and the Romans shall come and take away both our place and nation.”
The argument in their hearts and on their words was that they had to do something to prevent Christ from taking away their credibility. They argued that the church had to unite with the state to eliminate Christ. They also implied that the judgments of God would come on them because Jesus would make them all out to be Sabbath-breakers, and this would bring the judgments of God upon them, and eventually the Romans would sweep away the whole nation. Now, there’s a lot of fallacies in this reasoning, but when a group of men want to get their way they will use similar false reasoning among themselves to justify the result. Now we will read verses 49, 50, and 53.
“And one of them, named Caiaphas, being the high priest that same year, said unto them, Ye know nothing at all, Nor consider that it is expedient for us, that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation perish not. And this spake he not of himself: but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus should die for that nation… Then from that day forth they took counsel together for to put him to death.”
Now again, let us understand why they wanted to put Jesus to death. His Sabbath-keeping, which they insisted was Sabbath-breaking, creates a dilemma. If He goes on breaking the Sabbath, all men will believe on Him, and that will make men Sabbath-breakers, and then this will be a whole nation of Sabbath-breakers. Therefore, to save themselves and the nation, they proposed to kill Jesus. To them, self-salvation was the way of salvation instead of Christ the way of salvation. Do you see how confused and inconsistent human reasoning can become? Human beings will sacrifice their own salvation ignorantly in order to achieve their purpose or agenda. Hypocrisy hates the light. And the more hypocrisy is exposed, the deeper the hatred.
But the Pharisees and Sadducees, though very powerful, couldn’t take Jesus openly because the people would sympathize with Him and would criticize the Sanhedrin. They had to find a time when they could arrest Him and try Him out of sight from the people. The Desire of Ages, page 699 puts it this way.
“The Saviour contrasted His own manner of work with the methods of His accusers. For months they had hunted Him, striving to entrap Him and bring Him before a secret tribunal, where they might obtain by perjury what it was impossible to gain by fair means. Now they were carrying out their purpose. The midnight seizure by a mob, the mockery and abuse before He was condemned, or even accused, was their manner of work, not His. Their action was in violation of the law. Their own rules declared that every man should be treated as innocent until proved guilty. By their own rules, the priests stood condemned.”
And in the Garden of Gethsemane when He was arrested, Jesus had made a similar point. It’s found on page 197 of Desire of Ages.
“Turning to the priests and elders, Christ fixed upon them His searching glance. The words He spoke they would never forget as long as life should last. They were as the sharp arrows of the Almighty. With dignity He said: You come out against Me with swords and staves as you would against a thief or a robber. Day by day I sat teaching in the temple. You had every opportunity of laying hands upon Me, and you did nothing. The night is better suited to your work. ‘This is your hour, and the power of darkness.’”
Jesus had exposed their hypocrisy. All through His life He had drawn from the sacred scriptures the truths that they had obfuscated and made of none effect. He was trying to set those principles in a pure light, but they refused the light because they did not want to lose their authority and their financial gain. As the contest became sharper, they hated Him all the more until they were determined to destroy Him. Do men have this same spirit today when their hypocrisy is exposed? I don’t think church leaders are exempt from anger over being exposed. Do you?
It is the same today. It is obvious from recent events that when wrongdoing is exposed, the leaders are acting in a similar way. They have no regard for fairness or standards of due process. And they stoically stand their ground regardless of appeals and pleas. They put pastors out of their churches, elders out of their elderships. And if they could, they would probably disfellowship those who speak plainly and who blow the whistle on their corruption.
When the links to the WHO, the UN, big pharma, and financial streams from government organizations like USAID, are exposed by members who are not part of the system, they bare their teeth like wolves. They attack their prey from hearts that are steeled in wickedness. Conservative leaders as well as liberal leaders are involved in this. They close ranks and stand resolutely and stoically against the Lord. And it all becomes clear to those who are willing to see it; that the big money largely influences their decisions and actions of these leaders in high positions in the church. Their hospital systems, their educational systems, and their public aid systems are all involved in government grants that send large streams of money flowing into these organizations. And it compromises our witness. The leaders are fanatically committed to humanitarian work that doesn’t witness to the truth. They even created a toned-down, emaciated, Great Controversy called The Great Hope to spread around like the leaves of autumn.
In Jesus day, the hypocrisy and the money flow was in regard to the Sabbath. In our day it’s in regard to alliances with governments and government agencies that corrupt the church and its leaders who depend on the funds to sustain their work. This will lead to the same attitudes about the Sabbath before the last great conflict. After all the Sabbath is the final test.
Do you think that God’s true people will be exempt from this kind of behavior in our day? Of course not. We can expect the same kind of spirit and the same kind of practices to exist when persecution comes upon God’s people. We are told that church members, who are our former brethren, will be our worst enemies. So, we can’t expect to get away with any more fairness than Christ Himself. Let us remember to be meek and lowly as Christ was and is. Let us remember to depend on Him to get us through the crisis. Let us surrender ourselves now so that we can develop in the way that He wants us to be developed; to practice how to react to persecution and the final test that will come upon God’s people.
Let us pray. Our Father in heaven, we are impressed that the trial of Christ was the worst trial ever in this world. But there are some that have been tortured and treated as unfairly as He was. Please help us to be faithful even when under severe pressure. Please stand with us as we face persecution from the church as well as from the world. We know the church is your church. But it is seriously compromised and will probably act in the same manner as the Sanhedrin in the days of Christ. We pray that we will be fit representatives of Christ in that day. Please make it so in our characters. In Jesus name, amen.