While reading this morning in John 12, verses 42 & 43 jumped out at me, "Nevertheless even among the rulers many believed in Him, but because of the Pharisees they did not confess Him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue, for they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God."
It is amazing that even though the Son of God was standing before them performing signs & wonders in a human frame, they did not confess him because of the fear of man. Upon reading this, my first reaction was to cry out in repentance for my own desire for the praise of man & to ask God to root that terrible thing out of my heart. I desire to live before His eyes alone.
My second reaction was to realize how much that longing in the human heart is going to corrupt men & cause them to fall away in the last days. In a public event recently, someone introduced a sermon by putting Jesus on the same level with Buddha, Allah, Hinduism, & Atheism. A clergymen followed the introduction with a sermon that did not correct that information or give any clarity as to who the true God is. That clergyman may have believed in Jesus as the one true God, but he did not stand up & say so in the eyes of the public.
This is terrifying, & the church is going to face this more & more as we near Christ's return. Anyone who does not claim Jesus Christ as the only Way, Truth, & the Life does not know Him or stand for the Truth. As preachers & ministers of the Gospel, we are held accountable when we allow the praise of man to hinder us from our confession. Lord, have mercy & purge us of the fear & praise of man so we can stand on Your truth in the eyes of the world. Amen.
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