Persecuted By Religion
PERSECUTED BY RELIGION
The church life is persecuted by religion. The Jewish priests took counsel that they might kill Lazarus (12:10) who testified to the resurrection power of the Lord. He was an evident and strong testimony of the Lord's resurrection power. This stirred up the religious people's hatred and per secution. It is the same today. The stronger we are in bearing testimony of the Lord as life to us, the more the religious people will be provoked to anger with us.
BEING A TEST AND EXPOSING PEOPLE
The church life is a test. It exposes people (12:6, 10). It exposes where a person's heart is and what his attitude is toward the Lord. With out the church, the people's heart and attitude toward the Lord could never be exposed. As long as there is a church, everything comes to the surface. If there were no church in your locality, the hearts and the attitudes of men toward the Lord would be hidden and concealed. However, in the church life, every man's heart is exposed.
BRINGING IN MANY BELIEVERS
In verse 11 we see that many believed because