Pharisees Refused to Acknowledge Christ's Power

Christ Triumphant - A Devotional by E.G. White

Pharisees Refused to Acknowledge Christ's Power

Today's Text: But the Pharisees said, He casteth out devils through the prince of the devils. Matthew 9:34

The Message:      In Christ's mighty works there was sufficient evidence for faith. But these people did not want truth. They could not but acknowledge the reality of the works of Christ, but they cast condemnation upon them all. They must acknowledge that supernatural power attended His work, but this power, they declared, was derived from Satan. Did they really believe this? No; but they were so determined that the truth should not affect their hearts and they be converted that they charged the work of the Spirit of God to the devil....      All-compassionate Redeemer! What love, what matchless love, was Thine! Charged by the great men of Israel with doing His works of mercy through the prince of devils, scorned and maligned, He was yet as one who saw and heard not. The work He came from heaven to do must not be left undone. He saw that truth must be unfolded to the people. The Light of the world must flash His beams into the darkness of sin and superstition and reveal error in contrast with truth....      Christ does not use force or compulsion in drawing people to Him. But while truth was being proclaimed, the hearts of those who professed to be children of God were barricaded against it, and those who had not been so highly privileged, those who were not clothed with the garment of self-righteousness, were drawn to Christ. Their minds were convinced and quickened into activity, and light and truth vibrated through the universe....      Satan endeavored to keep hidden from the world the great atoning sacrifice, which reveals the law in all its sacred dignity and impresses hearts with the force of its binding claims. He was warring against the work of Christ and united all his evil angels with human instrumentalities in opposition to that work. But while he was carrying on this work, heavenly intelligences were combining with human instrumentalities in the work of restoration....      Here are the two great powers, the power of truth and righteousness and the working of Satan to make of none effect the law of God. The human agent, magnetized by the power of Satan, works in the lines of the enemy; the Saviour employs His human instrumentalities to be laborers together with God.... Those who expect to be children of God are not to expect an easy time in this life.... We are not left alone to engage in this conflict. Jesus Christ is the Captain of our salvation.-Manuscript 61, 1899.

Commentary: My friend, the miracles that Jesus performed revealed that He was the Son of God.  The Scribes and the Pharisees rejected the miracles as from Satan when they were undoubtedly from God.  In attributing the power of God to Satan, they were grieving away the Spirit of God.  As they persisted in this denunciation, they eventually were placed beyond the reach of God, and were led to crucify the Son of God. Today there is a similar reaction to the truth that is found in the One true God movement.  The church has adopted the doctrine of the trinity, and when God reveals to them the truth about who He is, it is rejected and called a delusion of Satan.  The plain truths of the Bible are set aside for the traditions of the church, and anyone who studies and shares this truth with those in the church, are derided, censured, and eventually dis-fellowed from the church. When the truth is rejected, the Spirit of God is grieved, and when it is persistently rejected the people are placed in a position where God cannot reach them.  When we set a thus sayeth the church ahead of a thus sayeth the Lord, we are in danger of grieving away the Spirit of God in our lives.  As the Pharisees rejected the Son of God in the time of Christ, so too will many who claim to be the remnant of God, reject the Father and the Son and cling to the tradition of men.  The trinity denies that the Son of God is truly the Son of God, and therefore denies the Father as well.  1 John 2:22, 23 says "Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son. Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: (but) he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also." My friend, the Word of God is very clear, that there is only One true God and He reveals Himself to us by His Son, Jesus Christ.  If you continue to cling the man-made doctrine of the trinity in light of the plain truth of Scripture, you are in danger of rejected the Spirit of God.  If you persist in this course you will place yourself in a position where God cannot reach you.  It is time to heed the words of Christ which says "And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent." (John 17:3), "For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;" (1 Timothy 2:5). May you accept the Word of God over the word of men today. God bless,

Video of the Week Biblical Monotheism - Part 1 by Imad Awde What does the Bible say about God's Oneness? Is the one God of the Bible made up of three Persons? If the Father is God, and Jesus is God, how come there is only one God? Join Imad as he answers these questions and more in this three part series.