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“Among the chief rulers also many believed on Him [the Lord Jesus]; but because of the Pharisees they did not confess Him… for they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God” (John 12:42-43).
These are very sad verses to read, for we see that many of the rulers of the Jews were convinced of who the Lord Jesus was, and wanted to follow Him. However, they were afraid of the Pharisees, and did not want to be put out of the synagogue. As it says in verse 43, they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.
The same thing can happen today. Some people really want to believe the gospel, but are afraid of the laughter and criticism of their friends. They would rather risk going to hell than to put up with the disapproval of other people. But as someone has said, “Friends can laugh you into hell, but they will never laugh you out of it!” How much better it is to value the praise of God instead of the praise of men!
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