Survive the Fire

August 7

“Then Pilate said to Him, ‘Are You not speaking to me? Do You not know that I have power to crucify You, and power to release You?" Jesus answered, ‘You could have no power at all against Me unless it had been given you from above. Therefore the one who delivered Me to you has the greater sin," John 19:10-11.

The clearest examples of enemies of the church are often found in established religious and governmental leaders. In Christ’s day, these leaders were men such as Caiaphas who was the high priest as well as men among the Pharisees and Sadducees, Pilate, the Herods, and others of their ilk who willingly cooperated in persecuting believers.

This is still true in our day. Civil governments and false church leaders are yet among the true church's most dangerous adversaries. But we who are the Lord’s need not fear the power wielded by the forces that desire nothing less than to destroy the Church of the Living God.

As Jesus informed Pilate, He also informs us, the only power these governmental and religious entities possess is ultimately authority from God. The authority they have would not be theirs if God did not allow them to wield it.

Proverbs 21:1 adds an important aspect to this truth: "The king's heart is in the hand of the LORD, like the rivers of water; He turns it wherever He wishes." The Living Bible states it thusly, "Just as water is turned into irrigation ditches, so the Lord directs the king's thoughts, He turns them wherever He wants to."

If the thoughts of a king—representing the supreme power of a nation—are in God's hand, and He has the power to influence his decisions toward the outcome that pleases Him, are not all human governors completely under the sovereign control of our God?

Indeed, God has the power to move all history in the direction He wishes it to go. As Paul says in Romans 13:1-2, “Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.” Consequently, to resist governmental and spiritual authority is to resist the power that God has allowed to reign for a season.

God reveals that in the final analysis, all civil magistrates, from the emperor on down to the lower authorities—and religious authorities as well—owe their right to govern ultimately to the Almighty Himself.

In John 5:17, Jesus affirms the source of all human authority when He says, “My Father has been working until now, and I have been working.” God's continuous ruling over the affairs of men is made evident in this statement. He is always actively involved in bringing His purpose to pass.

It is His will that authorities maintain order, encourage good conduct, and punish wrongdoing. Of course there are times when those whom He appoints overstep their bounds. Indeed there are times when they allow themselves to become instruments of the evil one, yet even if they do, they will be in power only as long as the Holy One allows.

When that day of His appearing breaks forth, all men of high and low degree will find their works “tried by fire,” I Corinthians 3:13, and only that which has been done in accordance with the will of the Father shall stand. May we and our endeavors be found among those that survive the fire of His judgment.