“The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him.” (John 3:2)
“For he knew that for envy they had delivered him.” (Matt. 27:18)
We are to test the Spirits, meaning those who speak to us concerning Spiritual matters, what we read and what we hear, everything is to be tested against the Word of God. That also means that you must have an inerrant word of God, and once it has been proven to be so by all possible testing and by the truth imparted to you by the Holy Spirit, we are to study it, obey it, cherish it in our heart.
“If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?” (Psalm 11:3)
There are moments in the Scriptures that we are not informed about, those moments late at night when the religious rulers of the day rested their heads in their beds and pondered all the works of the Lord Jesus Christ. When a man is all alone in the dark, when he has no company but his own thoughts, he is more susceptible to the truth.
They knew, they knew in what we call our heart of hearts that not only was the Lord Jesus Christ sent from God, but that He was God.
“Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;” (Heb. 1:3)
The Lord Jesus Christ came for a specific purpose, and if that purpose had not been completed, you and I would never have had an opportunity to be saved by grace through faith in His name, there would not have been two thousand years of offered grace to the Gentiles.
The Pharisees and nearly all who were in positions of power did not care if Christ was indeed the Messiah, if they would have accepted Him as such, all their power over the people would have been forfeited to Him.
And envy my friends has only one companion, pride.
There is one thing that Satan understands more fully than the most wicked man who has ever lived, you cannot kill God, no one can usurp His authority, no one can thwart any of His desires.
“I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name.” (Rev. 3:8)
But the wicked try to everyday.
“I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.” (Isaiah 14:14)
Our adversary knew, he did not say, “I will remove the Almighty and take His place,” but he does not speak this to those that serve him, he deceives them into believing, through pride and envy, the same thing he spoke to Eve.
“For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.” (Gen. 3:5) Adding to it, or perhaps subtracting from it those few words of “shall be as.”
Pride in the heart of the wicked claims there is no God but the one they see in the mirror; envy hates the knowledge that this is not true.
The wildfire of the truth of the resurrection and redemption of the Lord Jesus Christ has burned for over two thousand years now, but it is dying down, coming to a close. Not by our adversary, not because of evil men, not because of the truth of Matthew 24:12, “And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.” But because it is time.
Once again mankind is attempting to kill God, and once again they will be shown the foolishness of pride and envy.
Everyone who has been crucified with Christ has been sent to reveal these truths, most who hear will not listen, that is their choice. Humility and pride cannot live in the same heart together, envy and love are in direct contradiction to each other. Our preaching is foolishness to them, do not let that deter you.
Speak the truth to them, let them hate you as they did our Lord.