FBC Daily Devotional – May 19, 2021

Faith Baptist Church

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Well, a good Wednesday to you. I hope your week is going well. You're at the hump day, so we're climbing up that hump and then getting over that day and heading on toward the weekend.

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So I trust you're enjoying the week, enjoying the work that God's given you to do and seeing

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Him bless and bear some fruit in your labors. Well, I was reading today's passage in Mark chapter 14 and reminded of an event or really a series of events, a circumstance of life in colonial

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America. I'm reading this book about Samuel Davies, who was a pastor, preacher in colonial

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Virginia. He was a New Light Presbyterian and I'm not going to take the time to explain the differences between the different kinds of Presbyterians, but he was one that was, we would say, evangelical.

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He believed in the gospel and the power of the gospel to save and so forth. There was, among the

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New Light Presbyterians, there was a lot of opposition to some of the established church clergy in the colonies.

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These were men in the Church of England who were in the

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Church of England churches in this country, but they were formalists.

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They were dead in their religion, just going through formalities. They believed that their idea was that as long as you were baptized in the

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Church of England, you were good to go, that kind of a thing and so forth. Anyway, so Davies was a New Light Presbyterian and there were some other of his thinking

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Presbyterians who were living in the colony of Virginia and they wanted Davies to come and be their pastor.

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Well, the problem is that in Colonial Virginia, the Church of England was the established church.

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It was the only allowed church when the colony was established and there were even laws in the colony where you had to go to church.

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It was against the law not to go to church on Sunday. Could you imagine that? You know,

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I pastored church. I don't think I'd want people showing up to church just because they didn't want to get arrested or get a fine.

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I can imagine you'd have all kinds of problems with that scenario. But nevertheless, that was the case and so the

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Empire, the British Empire, they finally relented and passed the

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Act of Toleration which would allow non Church of England churches to meet but with a bunch of restrictions upon them.

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So in the colonies, they finally allowed Samuel Davies to go and pastor these dissenters, they called them, in their own church in Hanover County, but he had to stay in that County.

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And it was like everything Davies wanted to do for the sake of the gospel, he got all kinds of opposition.

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Not from the people, not from the common people, certainly not the people he wanted to reach, but from the clergy, from the

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Church of England clergy. Now, I mentioned that and they were brutal in the things they did.

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I mean, they maligned him, they lied about him, they published broadsides against him. They were just horrible in their treatment and their behavior toward this man.

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Now, I point that out because of what we read in Mark chapter 14, where Jesus is before this group of people who want to kill him.

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They want to find some reason to sentence him to death and the people who want to do that are the clergy, are the clergy, the religious elite.

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Of that day, the chief priests and the scribes, they're the ones interrogating

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Jesus. They're the ones looking for an excuse to have him sentenced to death.

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So I mentioned that because I think it's an important thing for us to realize that just because a vast majority or even a vocal minority of religious elites are opposing something or promoting something doesn't mean they're right.

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Just because the religious elites are behind it doesn't mean they're right. I mean, for example in our day, we have religious leaders who are going on record saying that they're fine with same -sex marriages and things of that nature.

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Well, there's no biblical warrant for that. In fact, there's ample biblical warrant against it.

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And yet, nevertheless, the Bible is set aside and things like, well, you know, love has to reign.

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What's really most important is people loving each other and that kind of a thing. Well, what's most important is what does the scripture say?

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What is God's thoughts on this subject? That's what's important.

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And so we always have to go back to the scriptures rightly interpreted, rightly understood.

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And that is our guide. Not so much what the religious elite have to say. In so far as they are in line with biblical truth and what

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God has to say, fine. They should be listened to. They should be heeded.

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But don't give deference to those who may be considered have a reputation of being pious and being religious elites and yet oppose what

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God has to say. Jesus faced it and those kind of guys are the ones that put

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Jesus to death and wanted him to put to death. So let that be a lesson to us.

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So anyway, I trust that will be instructive as you kind of navigate this culture in these days.

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Not only the secular culture, but even the religious world in which we live. It can be very confusing in this day.

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So I trust these thoughts will be helpful. So our Father and our God, we do thank you today for Jesus' faithfulness to stand up even against that that religious mob that was so intent on putting him to death.

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And from it may we learn to be trusting in your word and to center our lives and our understanding on your word and not put our faith and confidence simply in what men have to say.

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Especially when that is in contradiction to what your word has to say. Help us with this we pray in Jesus' name.

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Amen. All right. Well, I hope you'll have a good rest of your Wednesday and may the