“And he answered and said unto them, I will also ask you one thing; and answer me: The baptism of John, was it from heaven, or of men? And they reasoned with themselves, saying, If we shall say, From heaven; he will say, Why then believed ye him not? But and if we say, Of men; all the people will stone us: for they be persuaded that John was a prophet. And they answered, that they could not tell whence it was.”–Luke 20:3–7
In 1982 a war broke out between England and Argentina over control of the Falkland Islands. During the fighting, the British destroyer HMS Sheffield was struck by an Exocet missile fired by an Argentine warplane. Six days later, despite the best efforts of the crew to patch the hole in the hull, heavy seas flooded and sank the ship. An investigation revealed that though radar had detected the incoming missile, because a plane had not been spotted, the warning was not immediately sounded, and no evasive action was taken.
The great danger facing our society today is not primarily an absence of warning and truth, but rather the refusal to heed the warnings being received. This is true of the lost, who hear the message of salvation and reject it. And it is true of the saved, who read or hear the commands of God but refuse to obey them. The Bible is not filled with suggestions. It is not advice from God, but commandments given for our benefit.
The Pharisees tried to trap Jesus by questioning His authority to speak commands from God, but He undid their trap by pointing out that they had refused to believe the message of John the Baptist before Him. Rejecting the truth was nothing new for them—simply a dangerous and destructive pattern of behavior. It will always prove to be the same for us.(Copied)
