April 25
Judg 4:1-5:31 | PS 94:1-23 | Prov 14:3-4 | Luke 22:35-53
The Nuremberg Defense was we were "just following orders". This was the defense given by the representatives of Nazi Germany after they were defeated by the Allied forces. This defense did not work. People are responsible for their own decisions. But pause for a moment and consider just how guilty we often are of using this same defense. Godless leaders and organizations issue expert advice and commands and those who lift them up follow them without question. Pastor Brandon Holthaus of Rock Harbor Church gives an excellent review on his Easter Sermon on 4/20/25 of the truth behind the Shroud of Turin based on very compelling evidence that this linen garment was indeed the burial cloth of our Messiah, Jesus Christ. The British Museum chose to hide compelling information proving the Shroud's authenticity for decades only coming to the forefront after being forced to by the Freedom of Information Act. But why are we surprised? People followed the claims of such godless organizations such as the WHO, the CDC, the NIH and took vaccines, bore masks, etc. without the slightest proof, yet these "experts" were lifted up.The UN, as godless and anti-Semitic as they are, continue to issue statements about Israel and are strangely listened to. How much damage has been done by godless professionals in the area of medicine, education, politics, yet the populace lifts them up and blindly follows. Please, please, please pick up your bibles and read them year after year from cover to cover. Listen to this, follow the guidance of the Holy Spirit, follow truth and not falsehood. You will find yourself in the minority more often than not, but remember God always calls the remnant, not the majority.
Jesus pulled away and did not listen to anyone but the Father. As He was approaching the culmination of why He came at His first coming, many were screaming fraud, His followers were screaming to save Himself, some meant well, others did not, but we see Jesus in Luke 22:41-43, "He walked away, about a stone’s throw, and knelt down and prayed, “Father, if you are willing, please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.” Then an angel from heaven appeared and strengthened him. He prayed more fervently, and he was in such agony of spirit that his sweat fell to the ground like great drops of blood." He listened and submitted to the only expert voice, His Father. We then see Jesus speaking to the leading priests and Temple guards, who were simply following the advice of their leaders in 22:52-53, "Then Jesus spoke to the leading priests, the captains of the Temple guard, and the elders who had come for him. “Am I some dangerous revolutionary,” he asked, “that you come with swords and clubs to arrest me? Why didn’t you arrest me in the Temple? I was there every day. But this is your moment, the time when the power of darkness reigns.” Though Barak was afraid, he rightfully followed the godly counsel of the prophet and judge, Deborah and assembled troops and attacked the more powerful army under the command of Sisera as we read in Judges 4-5.
Messages from Pastor Lloyd Pulley: