“Do not fear any of those things which you are about to suffer…. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life” (Rev. 2:10).

For years now I have been daily studying the last hours of Jesus’ life. So many lessons are there to learn. Here are a couple that continually press upon my heart when I read the account in the book The Desire of Ages.

Both Peter and John entered the courtyard of the high priest behind Jesus. Peter mingled carelessly with the crowd around the fire. “By associating with those whom they should avoid, they place themselves in the way of temptation. They invite the enemy to tempt them, and are led to say and do that of which under other circumstances they would never have been guilty” (DA, p. 712).

“John did not try to conceal the fact that he was a follower of Jesus. He did not mingle with the rough company who were reviling his Master…. he sought a retired corner secure from the notice of the mob, but as near Jesus as it was possible for him to be” (DA, p. 711.1).

The crowd or mob is fickle. Some of the same people who cried out, “Hosanna in the highest!” as Jesus entered Jerusalem were in the group that cried out, “Crucify Him!” during His trial with Pilate.

God keeps telling me to “watch and pray,” and be “in the world but not of the world.”
May we all choose to be as near to Jesus as possible so we are not swayed by the emotional momentum of a crowd.

“Let us love God supremely, allowing no influence to come between us and our God” (That I May Know Him, p. 203, EG White).

Stay faithful. Jesus is coming very soon!

• Twitter