History is Repeated Christ's Followers Persecuted

Christ Triumphant - A Devotional by E.G. White

History is Repeated Christ's Followers Persecuted

Today's Text: And Herod with his men of war set him at nought, and mocked him, and arrayed him in a gorgeous robe, and sent him again to Pilate. Luke 23:11

The Message:      Past history will be repeated. A determined conflict is to be waged in the Christian world. People who are disloyal to the commandments of the living God will, in their supposed self-importance, be inspired by Satan to war against those who follow the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world.... The result will be that people will become inhuman in their actions toward other people....      If the professed Christian world would take a lesson from the Jews' treatment of Christ, and resolve in God never themselves to tread over the same ground, they would not make themselves responsible for the death of Christ in the person of His saints.      A large company of the priests and elders accompanied Christ to Herod. And when Christ was brought before Herod, these priests and rulers and scribes were all speaking excitedly, bringing in their accusations against Him. But the tetrarch paid little regard to the charges brought against Christ. He found Him to be innocent of all crime.      The Roman soldiers knew that they would please the low, coarse, hardened rabble and the priests and rulers if they should show Christ all the contempt that a wicked, corrupt soldiery could instigate. And they were helped on by the Jewish dignitaries themselves.... They set the Majesty of heaven, the King of glory, before them as a pretender, and treated Him as an object of derision.      They made the King of glory appear in as ridiculous a light as possible. They clothed Him with an old purple, kingly robe, which had done service to some king. They placed in His hands an old reed, and on His divine head a crown of cruel thorns, which pierced the holy temples and sent the blood trickling down His face and beard. The most contemptuous speeches were made before Him. But Christ did not cast upon them one reproachful look. They covered His face with an old garment and struck Him in the face, saying, "Prophesy, who is it that smote thee?" Then snatching the garment rudely away, they spat in His face, and smote Him with the reed with all the brutal force of a corrupt soldiery. The most grotesque attitude and the most vile language were used, while in mock humility they bowed before Him....      The Jews had desired evidence of His divinity by working a miracle, but here they had far greater evidence than any miracle that could have been wrought.-Manuscript 112, 1897.

Commentary: My friend, the persecution of Christ and the persecution of His followers during the dark ages are to be repeated just before the close of probation and the second coming of Christ.  How many professed followers of Christ will be able to stand during that time?  During a time of peace and prosperity a number of professors enter the ranks of the church; persecution drives them out. Today the elect of God have been lulled into a deadly stupor.  They have become complacent in their Christian experience and are asleep to the deception that has been brought before them.  The enemy of souls seeks to deceive the very elect of God, and through the doctrine of the trinity he has accomplished it.  By misdirecting the minds of the people to the Sabbath, he has artfully supplanted their belief in the One true God with a triune god of his own devising. This great deception has been accepted by the whole of the Christian world and by nearly all Seventh-day Adventists.  The god of Rome is now the god of the remnant church of God.  But while this deception is almost universal, there is still a small remnant within the remnant that have not bowed their knees to baal.  This small group of people believe in the One true God and His Son Jesus Christ.  They are entrusted with giving the straight testimony to the Laodicean church from the Faithful and True Witness of God, that some may awaken to their dreadful condition and be zealous in their repentance and turn away from the false god of the trinity. This will cause a shaking within the church and the wheat will be separated from the chaff.  Those who resist the message will be led to persecute those who believe in the One true God; deriding and ridiculing them as deceivers and troubles of the people.  The truth that they share is straight from the Bible, and their arguments are unanswerable.  Because of this their presence within the church body is not tolerated and they are driven from the churches. From this shaking, the church will be purified and made white.  They will proclaim the true message of the three angels to the world, which is a call back to the worship of the One true God; the Creator of heaven and earth, for the hour of His judgment is here.  Probation is about to close and the world must be warned and led to know who the true God of the Bible is.  The three angels message given in its true light, with the power of the Spirit of God, will have its effect upon the people.  Millions upon millions will heed the warning and take their stand with the One true God.  Satan, seeing that his prey are being taken from him, will respond with bitter persecution and many will seal their testimonies with their lives, but the true remnant of God, the 144,000 will be spared to vindicate the character of God after the close of probation. The reason why the three angels message has not had the effect upon the world that it needs is because it has been corrupted by our belief in the trinity.  The focus of the message has been upon the Sabbath rather than upon the One true God.  While the implementation of the Sunday laws separates the wheat from the tares, the keeping of the Sabbath has no power to sanctify the people of God.  The prophet Ezekiel says "Moreover also I gave them my sabbaths, to be a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the LORD that sanctify them." (Ezekiel 20:12).  The Sabbath is the seal of the living God, but before we can be sealed by keeping the Sabbath, we first must be sanctified by the LORD, the One true God.  Our keeping of the Sabbath only preserves our lives if we are worshiping the One true God.  This cannot happen if we are worshiping the false god of the trinity. My friend, the time of persecution of the world is just before us.  The shaking of the church has already begun, and it is time for us to choose whether we will worship the One true God of the Bible or the triune god of the trinity.  The worship of the One true God will lead us to be persecuted within the church, while the other will led us to persecute those who do not worship the god of the trinity. May you "Study to shew thyself approved unto God, ... rightly dividing the word of truth." (2 Timothy 2:15), and worship the One true God of the Bible today. God bless,

Video of the Week The Seal of God - Allen Stump This presentation from the 2018 West Virginia camp meeting studies the seal of God from Ezekiel 9 and the chapter on the seal of God from volume 5 of Testimonies for the Church by Ellen White.