April 30: BETRAYAL!
From that time, many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more. Then Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you also want to go away?” But Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” John 6:66-68
Drastic measures toward Protestant arrests in Paris commenced. A poor artisan who had embraced the reformed faith had volunteered as summoner of the believers to their secret meetings for praise and worship. He was seized and ordered to conduct the papal envoy to the home of every Protestant in the city. He shrank in horror at this command, but relentless threats of the stake’s flames wore down his resistance and he consented to become the betrayer of his brethren. Preceded by the host, and surrounded by a train of priests, incense bearers, monks, soldiers, and Morin (the royal detective), the procession silently passed along the streets of the city, making a demonstration ostensibly in honor of the “holy sacrament,” in response to the insult to the mass by the zealous reformers. But beneath this pageant was a deadly purpose. Upon approaching the house of a Protestant, the betrayer made a sign, but no word was uttered. The procession halted, the house was entered and the family dragged forth and chained. Then the terrible company proceeded. They spared no house, great or small, not even the colleges of the University of Paris. Morin sent a tremor throughout Paris. It was a reign of terror. *This paragraph is adapted from The Great Controversy by Ellen G. White (page 225-226)
All this because King Francis I had finally made up his weak, vascillating mind, choosing the side of evil. All of his energy, influence, and efforts were directed against the cause of Christ. It is nothing short of tragic that the poor artisan who had embraced the true message allowed threats from such a wicked man to convince him to betray his brethren.
Beloved, times of testing are ahead. You may be in the midst of a fiery trial even now. Make sure that your focus is upon Jesus, the exemplary Overcomer (see John 16:33). If our trust or focus is on anyone other than Jesus, we place ourselves at risk of failing the test(s). Remember that God allows testing in the essential process of refinement and sanctification. He comes to the aid of every dear soul who is wholeheartedly surrendered to Him. Testing, properly endured, will serve to fully destroy the bonds of the enemy that attempt to hold you captive. When Daniel’s three friends were bound and cast headlong into Nebuchadnezzar’s fiery furnace, only the ropes with which they had been bound (see Daniel 3:20) were burned up. “Look!” [Nebuchadnezzar said], “I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire; and they are not hurt, and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.” (v.25)
Hear these promises of Jesus to overcomers!
“To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life which is in the midst of the Paradise of God. He who overcomes shall not be hurt by the second death. I will give some of the hidden manna to eat and a white stone with a new [intimate] name. I will give him power over the nations, and I will give him the morning star. He shall be clothed in white garments and I will not blot out his name from the book of life. I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and I will write on him My new name. To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.” (Condensed from Revelation 2 and 3)