Men and Women to Stand Boldly for Christ

Christ Triumphant - A Devotional by E.G. White

Men and Women to Stand Boldly for Christ

Today's Text: He went to Pilate, and begged the body of Jesus.... And when Joseph had taken the body, he wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn out in the rock. Matthew 27:58-60

The Message:      By those of intellect the priests were called upon to explain the prophecies of the Old Testament concerning the Messiah, and while trying to frame some falsehood in reply, the priests became like men insane. Upon many minds the conviction rested that the Scriptures had been fulfilled....      Joseph was a disciple of Christ, but in the past he had not identified himself with Him for fear of the Jews. He now went boldly to Pilate and asked for the body of Christ. He was a rich man, and this gave him influence with the governor. Had he delayed, the body of the Saviour would have been placed with the bodies of the thieves in a dishonored grave.      Nicodemus, a chief ruler and a rabbi, was also a disciple of Christ. He had come to the Saviour by night, as if afraid to have it known that his heart was troubled. That night he listened to the most important discourse that ever fell from human lips. [See John 3.] The words he heard had penetrated his soul. He had been enlightened by them, but still he had not identified himself with Christ. He had been among the number spoken of by John. "Among the chief rulers also many believed on him; but because of the Pharisees they did not confess him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue." But Nicodemus had endeavored, as far as he could, to defend Christ. On one occasion he had asked the priests, "Doth our law judge any man, before it hear him, and know what he doeth?"...      After the crucifixion Nicodemus came to the cross, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes to embalm Christ's body. He had witnessed the cruel treatment of the priests; he had marked Christ's patience and Godlike bearing, even in His humiliation. He now saw more clearly the real character of the high priest, and he came boldly to take the bruised body of his Saviour, looked upon as the body of a malefactor. Thus he identified himself with Christ in His shame and death.      With the death of Christ the hopes of the disciples had perished. Often they repeated the words "We trusted that it had been he which should have redeemed Israel."... They met together in the upper chamber, and closed and fastened the doors, knowing that the fate of their beloved Teacher might at any time be theirs.-Manuscript 111, 1897 (Manuscript Releases 12:419, 420).

Commentary: My friend, the time has come for us to stand boldly for Jesus Christ, the Son of the One true God.  The leaders of the church today deny that Jesus is the literal Son of God, claiming that the father-son relationship cannot be applied to the Father and the Son. (See "A Question on Sonship" from the Biblical Research Institute of the SDA church)  It holds that the Son of God has no beginning and thus cannot literally be a son, but the Father says of the Son, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." (Matthew 3:17).  To deny that the Son of God is truly a son, is to deny that the Father is a father, and makes Him to be a liar.  " God is not a man, that he should lie; hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?" (Numbers 23:19). The leadership of the Seventh-day Adventist church has embraced the trinity, and are teaching that Jesus is not literally the Son of God, but is only a title that one of the god-beings has assumed for the salvation of mankind.  The Scriptures declare that this is the spirit of antichrist.  "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." (1 John 2:22, 23).  In denying that the Son is literally a son, they are denying the Father as well. The scriptures are abundantly clear, the trinity is a false image of God and destroys the whole of the gospel, which is "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever beliveth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." (John 3:16). The time has come that we must stand up for Christ, the Son of God.  How can we accept a thus sayeth the church over a thus sayeth the Lord?  The church has been corrupted by this doctrine, and is truly in the Laodicean condition.  "Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:" (Revelation 3:17).  It is in this condition because it has forsaken the One true God and His Son Jesus Christ.  The remedy for this condition calls for "... white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear;" (Revelation 3:18).  The church needs white raiment because they do not have the righteousness of Christ, but have accepted the false righteousness of the trinity.  It has accepted another in place of the Son of God, for Jesus is depicted as on the outside seeking to gain entrance. My friend, how long will you resist the working of the Spirit of God upon your heart.  Now is the time to speak out and proclaim that Jesus is the Son of God. God bless,

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