Participants:
Series Code: AU
Program Code: AU000049S
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00:00 - Here in North America,
00:02 trust in the government seems to be at an all-time low. 00:04 And unfortunately, that also means that some people 00:07 are calling the court system into question, 00:09 the one branch of government 00:11 that's supposed to be impartial. 00:12 Today on "Authentic," what in the world 00:14 can you actually trust? 00:17 [mellow music] 00:38 A little more than a generation before the birth of Christ, 00:41 one of the most important court cases 00:42 in the history of Western civilization went down, 00:46 and it revealed to the public something 00:47 they kind of already knew. 00:50 The system that was governing them was corrupt. 00:54 It happened during the days of the Roman Republic 00:56 when the state was notoriously plagued by civil war. 01:00 And in many ways, this court case contributed 01:03 at least somewhat to the decline of the republic 01:06 and the relatively peaceful empire mode 01:09 that was established by Augustus Caesar. 01:12 The records from this ancient case are remarkably detailed, 01:15 and they provide historians with some really important 01:18 insights into how the Roman Republic was actually governed. 01:22 And it all began with a very corrupt individual 01:25 named Gaius Verres. 01:27 Sometimes you'll see his name as Caius with a C, 01:30 but most of the time, Gaius with a G. 01:33 Gaius was born to a fairly high ranking member 01:36 of Roman society, which probably gave him 01:38 a taste for the good life. 01:40 According to some records, or more accurately, 01:43 according to some accusations, 01:45 his father was less than honest, 01:47 which probably also taught him corruption. 01:51 In time, Gaius Verres began to climb 01:53 through the ranks of Roman society, 01:55 and he quickly realized that his position in power 01:57 gave him the ability to plunder other people's goods, 02:00 to accumulate wealth for himself. 02:03 He became a legatus, or a high ranking officer 02:06 to the governor of Sicilia, 02:08 where he used his position to start robbing pagan temples, 02:12 taking the expensive statues and pictures. 02:15 On top of that, he soon realized that his power 02:17 also gave him the ability to exercise his lust for women, 02:22 any women, married or not, with little danger of recourse. 02:26 This guy was, to put it mildly, a really bad man. 02:31 But the world being what it is, 02:33 bad men often get nice promotions. 02:35 And before long, he made his way to the city of Rome, 02:38 where he obtained a judicial office 02:40 that gave him oversight of civil litigation. 02:43 And of course, that enabled him to extort money 02:46 from both parties in any given case. 02:48 It was an elected position, and from what we can tell, 02:51 he got the job through bribery, forking out something like 02:55 300,000 Roman sesterces to various individuals. 03:00 That was a small fortune. 03:02 He was also in charge of overseeing public construction 03:05 in the city of Rome, which made it possible for him 03:08 to extort money from contractors. 03:11 What he would do when a project was getting close 03:14 to completion was send an inspector with instructions 03:16 to find something wrong, anything. 03:19 And then he accepted bribe money from the contractor 03:22 who couldn't get paid unless Verres 03:24 signed off on the project. 03:27 So then in 73 BC, he suddenly became the governor of Sicily, 03:33 a rich province with all kinds of potential for plunder. 03:35 Over the next three years, Verres stayed true to form. 03:39 He misused the courts for personal gain. 03:41 He extorted money from landowners and farmers. 03:45 He plundered artwork from temples and from private citizens. 03:48 He illegally took a slice of every inheritance. 03:52 He forced the local government 03:54 to make a gold statue in his honor. 03:56 He illegally tortured and executed Roman citizens. 04:00 And he made an absolute wreck of the Roman navy. 04:03 He was the most corrupt governor 04:06 the republican had ever seen. 04:08 So after his departure in the year 70 BC, 04:11 he was eventually put on trial. 04:14 And unfortunately for Verres, the prosecutor 04:16 in this case was Cicero, a man whose rhetorical prowess 04:20 is still being studied in classrooms to this day. 04:23 Cicero accused various of unbridled corruption. 04:27 And then he asked the court to give him time 04:29 to assemble a case. 04:30 He was given 110 days, 50 of which were spent 04:34 collecting evidence and interviewing witnesses in Sicily. 04:37 And every step of the way, Cicero was hindered 04:41 by Verres's friends. 04:42 Fortunately, however, for the cause of justice, 04:45 Cicero was relentless. 04:48 To his delight, the chief magistrate appointed to this case 04:51 was a guy by the name of Glabrio, 04:53 a man considered completely incorruptible. 04:56 I mean, everybody knew there was no chance 04:58 you could scare Glabrio or bribe him. 05:00 Now, of course, that terrified the crooked Verres 05:03 because his only hope of getting an acquittal 05:07 was by resorting to corruption. 05:09 So his representative, a guy by the name of Hortensius, 05:12 tried to stall the case, why? 05:15 Well, Glabrio's term as judge was over 05:17 by the end of the year. 05:18 And if they could kick the can down the road 05:20 to the new year, they would get a different judge. 05:22 And hopefully, one who could be bribed. 05:27 Aware of this, Cicero shortened the initial hearings 05:29 dramatically, making a single speech that exposed 05:32 the corrupt plans of Verres and challenged the court 05:34 to consider the fact that very few people trusted them 05:38 because, well, everybody realized that wealthy and powerful 05:41 people seldom ever got a conviction in that court. 05:44 They were obviously favoring their powerful friends, 05:48 and even taking bribes. 05:50 "I will present such a convincing case," Cicero argued, 05:53 "that if you don't convict Gaius Verres, 05:55 you'll be condemning your own character." 05:58 Now, from what I can tell, and I'm no legal scholar, 06:02 but from what I can tell, Cicero then used a technique 06:05 that was brand-new at the time, 06:06 at least to my understanding. 06:08 He called witnesses from Sicily 06:10 and interviewed them in front of the court, 06:12 allowing the defense to cross examine. 06:14 That's what you and I expect, 06:16 especially in movies that feature a courtroom drama. 06:19 But Cicero seems to write that he was implementing 06:21 something brand-new when he did that. 06:24 The process went on for nine days, 06:25 and the evidence he produced against Verres 06:27 was so compelling that Verres's own lawyer panicked 06:32 and suggested that the crooked governor 06:33 should probably disappear before the trial was over. 06:37 Verres took that advice and went to modern-day Marseilles, 06:39 where I believe he spent the rest of his days. 06:44 Now, here's what I want you to see in this case. 06:46 There's an important feature in Cicero's arguments 06:49 that still rings true in our world. 06:51 He makes a very clear case for Verres's corruption, 06:55 bringing out credible witnesses for every single accusation. 06:59 But he also makes the case 07:01 that the court itself was on trial. 07:04 Let me show you what I mean. 07:05 Cicero states that this trial was a potential gift 07:08 from the gods, a way for the court to redeem its reputation 07:12 because the people believed it was corrupt. 07:15 He says, "For an opinion has now become established, 07:19 pernicious to us and pernicious to the republic, 07:22 which has been the common talk of everyone, 07:24 not only at Rome, but among foreign nations also, 07:28 that in the courts of law as they exist at present, 07:30 no wealthy man, however guilty he may be, 07:33 can possibly be convicted." 07:36 In other words, everybody knew the rich 07:38 and powerful never got a conviction. 07:41 It's not unlike the sentiment that plagues our system now. 07:45 A lot of people now suspect rather strongly that one way 07:48 or another, our courts are stacked, and there's little hope 07:52 of actual justice for the average person. 07:54 The rich and powerful never seem to pay their dues, 07:57 and the rest of us seem powerless to stop it. 08:01 That's the way it was in Cicero's day. 08:02 And a little later, this is what he says. 08:06 "This is a trial in which you'll be deciding 08:08 about the defendant, the Roman people, about you. 08:12 By the example of what happens to this man, 08:15 it will be determined whether, when senators are the judges, 08:18 a very guilty and a very rich man can be condemned." 08:22 So in other words, there are two trials 08:24 taking place at the same time. 08:26 On the one hand, they will be considering 08:28 the case of the crooked governor. 08:30 But on the other hand, the people will be judging them. 08:33 "I hope," says Cicero, "that the only wickedness 08:36 found in these proceedings will be those of the defendant. 08:39 "But now," he says, men are on the watch towers. 08:43 They observe how every one of you behaves himself 08:45 in respecting religion and in preserving the laws." 08:51 You can see this was not an ordinary trial. 08:53 Gaius Verres was really a proxy for the whole Roman system, 08:57 which means that the republic itself was on trial. 09:00 Would the judges be as corrupt as people thought, 09:04 or would this be a real trial, a real display of justice? 09:08 And that is still one of the most important questions 09:11 in the world, so I'll be right back after this 09:14 to explore it just a little bit more. 09:19 [gentle music] 09:20 - [Announcer] Life can throw a lot at us. 09:22 Sometimes we don't have all the answers. 09:26 But that's where the Bible comes in. 09:28 It's our guide to a more fulfilling life. 09:31 Here at the Voice of Prophecy, we've created 09:33 the Discover Bible Guides to be your guide to the Bible. 09:36 They're designed to be simple, easy to use, 09:39 and provide answers to many of life's toughest questions, 09:42 and they're absolutely free. 09:44 So jump online now, or give us a call 09:46 and start your journey of discovery. 09:50 - The case against Gaius Verres was so obvious, 09:53 so compelling, that even the most corrupt judges 09:56 wouldn't dare rule in his favor. 09:58 By acquitting such an obvious criminal, 10:01 they'd be condemning themselves. 10:02 And Cicero had made it obvious that this time 10:05 public trust was on the line. 10:07 The condemned man ran away. He hidden the hinterlands. 10:10 And in 43 BC, Mark Antony went after him 10:13 to get the artwork he had stolen. 10:16 Verres refused to give it back, and so from what I can tell, 10:19 he was summarily executed. 10:21 Justice had finally been done. 10:24 But the questions raised by Cicero 10:26 continue to plague our world to this day. 10:28 Can we really trust the system in a world 10:31 where power and money continue to produce results 10:34 that should never, ever happen? 10:36 Do we live under a fair government, a just system of laws? 10:40 Or is there one set of laws for the elites of this world, 10:42 and another set for you and me? 10:44 Now, honestly, even if the courts were perfectly fair, 10:47 and I think for the most part they tend to be, 10:50 but if public perception says they're not, 10:52 then we've got a really serious problem. 10:55 When public trust disintegrates, 10:57 the stability of society begins to corrode. 11:00 And that's something that's clearly going on 11:02 all over the world right now. 11:04 Public trust in government has been declining now for years. 11:08 In 2014, Pew Research discovered that 81% of Americans 11:13 were either angry or frustrated with the federal government. 11:17 And only 24% said they trusted government. 11:20 Fortunately, according to a 2019 survey by Annenberg, 11:24 a little more than 2/3 of people say 11:26 they still trust the Supreme Court. 11:28 But 57% did say that it had become too political. 11:33 And in recent months, the Supreme Court 11:35 has become yet another political football. 11:38 And of course, what that all means is that our generation 11:41 is a lot like the generations that came before us. 11:44 None of us in the history of this world 11:46 has ever produced a utopia. 11:49 Human government has been constructed by human beings 11:52 who are inherently self-interested. 11:54 And it is the very rare person, indeed, 11:57 who continues to serve the public 11:58 with absolutely no regard for self. 12:01 We just don't have that many altruists in the world. 12:04 And that's one of the major points being made 12:06 in the Old Testament Book of Daniel. 12:09 The Hebrew people had been brought 12:11 into a covenant relationship with God, 12:13 declaring him to be their only sovereign. 12:16 But as time progressed, they demanded human forms 12:19 of government so they could be like other nations. 12:22 And then they became plagued by the same corruption 12:24 that goes with human government. 12:26 So in the end, as the Hebrews persisted 12:29 in this political rebellion against God, 12:32 God just released them to their wishes. 12:34 He allowed them to go and live in a world 12:36 that was run by Gentile kings, 12:38 which is one of the big points in Daniel chapter 7, 12:42 where the prophet sees a series of strange-looking animals 12:45 coming up out of the sea and walking up on the land. 12:48 These animals represented various Gentile kingdoms 12:51 that Israel would have to live under 12:53 from that point forward. 12:55 The Babylonians, the Persians, the Greeks, and the Romans. 12:59 In fact, the vision continues all the way down 13:02 to the final judgment, where the kingdom of God 13:04 is reestablished and real justice is finally restored. 13:09 What this prophetic passage does is remind readers 13:11 that all of us are sleeping in a bed 13:14 that we made for ourselves, and there are consequences 13:17 to our desire for self-sufficiency. 13:20 And of course, when you bring up the subject 13:22 of a final judgment, a lot of people raise 13:25 exactly the same question Cicero did. 13:28 Can we really trust the court to be fair? 13:31 And by that, we're talking about God's court. 13:35 There's a story in the Old Testament that really highlights 13:37 this question, the story of Sodom and Gomorrah. 13:41 Before destroying these wicked cities, 13:43 God approached Abraham to discuss his plans, 13:46 because after all, Abraham had been told 13:49 that he and his descendants would inherit the lands 13:51 where Sodom and Gomorrah were standing. 13:53 This was gonna be their new home. 13:56 So let's pick up that story in Genesis chapter 18, 14:00 where God is discussing the fate of these wicked cities. 14:03 And I think you're gonna find this really interesting. 14:06 It says, "And the Lord said, 'Shall I hide from Abraham 14:10 What I'm doing, since Abraham shall surely 14:13 become a great and mighty nation, 14:15 and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him? 14:18 For I have known him, in order that he may command 14:21 his children and his household after him, 14:23 that they may keep the way of the Lord 14:25 to do righteousness and justice, that the Lord 14:28 may bring to Abraham what he has spoken to him.'" 14:33 And here's what I want you to consider. 14:35 There is no reason that God was required 14:38 to explain himself to Abraham. 14:40 As the creator, God could do whatever he wanted. 14:43 But he chose to disclose his plans 14:45 to a mere human being in spite of that. 14:49 I mean, Abraham was a person who couldn't possibly hope 14:53 to see the situation from God's perspective, 14:55 but in spite of that, God brought him into the loop. 14:58 I'm not gonna hide what I'm gonna do 15:00 from Abraham, God says. 15:02 The story continues down in verse 20. 15:05 "And the Lord said, 'Because the outcry 15:08 against Sodom and Gomorrah is great, 15:10 and because their sin is very grave, 15:12 I will go down now and see whether they have done 15:14 altogether according to the outcry against it 15:18 that has come to me, and if not, I will know.'" 15:22 In other words, the behavior of these two cities 15:25 was so outrageous at this point that they'd become notorious 15:29 even in the courts of heaven. 15:31 And there was just no escaping the fact 15:33 that something had to be done. 15:36 Verse 23, "And Abraham came near and said, 15:39 'Would you also destroy the righteous with the wicked? 15:43 Suppose there were 50 righteous within the city. 15:46 Would you also destroy the place and not spare it 15:48 for the 50 righteous that were in it?'" 15:51 And here comes the really important part. 15:53 "Far be it," Abraham says, "from you to do such a thing 15:56 as this, to slay the righteous with the wicked 15:59 so that the righteous should be as the wicked. 16:01 Far be it from you! 16:03 Shall not the judge of all the earth do right?" 16:08 This is the part of the story that reminded me of Cicero 16:10 and the case against Gaius Verres. 16:14 Cicero reminded the court that it wasn't just 16:16 a criminal being tried., the system itself was on trial. 16:20 And Abraham basically says the same thing. 16:23 Lord, if you do the wrong thing here, 16:24 your reputation as a righteous judge is going to be ruined. 16:28 Shall not the judge of all the earth do right? 16:31 Now, what's interesting about this is that the dialogue 16:35 you find in this chapter spends more time judging God 16:38 than it does Sodom and Gomorrah. 16:40 Abraham says, what if there were 50 righteous in that city? 16:44 I know what kind of God you are. 16:45 If there were 50 good people, you wouldn't do this. 16:49 And then God says, well, Abraham you're right. 16:51 I wouldn't, but there aren't 50 righteous people. 16:54 So Abraham drops the number to 45, and then 40 16:57 and 30 and 20, and finally, 10, 17:00 if there are 10 righteous people. 17:02 But of course there are no righteous people, 17:04 and it turns out that God's verdict is just. 17:08 So the really big question here is not so much 17:10 the injustice of these cities, but the justice of God. 17:14 There are two important things going on at the same time. 17:17 The criminals are being tried. That's for sure. 17:20 But so is the court. 17:22 And given the incredibly long litany of complaints 17:24 that human beings have lodged against God and his justice, 17:28 you've got to know that this story with Abraham 17:31 might just be foreshadowing 17:33 the work of God's final judgment. 17:36 I'll be right back after this. 17:41 - [Announcer] Here at the Voice of Prophecy, 17:43 we're committed to creating top quality programming 17:45 for the whole family, 17:47 like our audio adventure series, "Discovery Mountain." 17:50 "Discovery Mountain" is a Bible-based program 17:52 for kids of all ages and backgrounds. 17:55 Your family will enjoy the faith-building stories 17:57 from this small mountain summer camp and town. 18:00 With 24 seasonal episodes every year and fresh content 18:04 every week, there's always a new adventure 18:07 just on the horizon. 18:11 - There's a really serious problem with the way 18:13 that you and I try to assess the character of God, 18:16 and it has to do with our, well, 18:18 rather limited body of knowledge. 18:21 I mean, it's one thing for an all-powerful, all-knowing God 18:24 to judge me, but how could I possibly hope to judge him? 18:30 It's a question that shows up in what might be 18:32 the oldest book of the Bible, the Book of Job. 18:35 Most people know this story pretty well. 18:37 Job is unfairly, unjustly afflicted 18:41 through no fault of his own. 18:42 He loses his wealth, he loses his family, 18:45 he loses his health. 18:47 His friends of course assume that somehow 18:48 this has got to be Job's fault, because otherwise 18:52 they can't imagine why all this stuff would happen. 18:54 And of course in time, Job begins to suspect 18:58 that maybe something is wrong. 19:00 And he begins to ask the same kinds of questions 19:02 you and I ask when life becomes unfair. 19:05 So in Job chapter 38, we find one of the most 19:08 astonishing accounts ever put to paper. 19:11 God himself appears, and he begins to question Job. 19:16 Here's what it says. 19:18 "Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said, 19:21 'Who is this who darkens counsel by words without knowledge? 19:25 Now, prepare yourself like a man. 19:28 I will question you, and you shall answer me. 19:32 Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? 19:35 Tell me, if you have understanding." 19:38 And then the questioning goes on for several pages. 19:41 And I would probably, if I was Job, 19:43 I would probably wither under this kind of questioning 19:46 because God obviously has a big point here. 19:49 You and I just don't know very much. 19:53 There's an old saying that true wisdom 19:55 consists of knowing that you know nothing, 19:57 which is often attributed to Socrates, 19:59 although he never actually spoke those words. 20:03 Yet, there's some truth to that. 20:05 Eventually life has a way of showing you 20:07 how little you really know. 20:09 The older you get, the less sure of yourself you get. 20:12 And the more the human race discovers about the universe, 20:15 the more that principle proves to be true. 20:18 So judging God is a pretty ambitious undertaking, 20:21 to say the least. 20:23 But that doesn't mean that God isn't interested 20:26 in demonstrating his justice or proving it to us. 20:30 I mean, he doesn't have to explain himself, but he does. 20:34 1 Samuel 16, verse 7 says, "The Lord does not see 20:37 as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, 20:41 but the Lord looks at the heart." 20:44 God is telling us that he's trustworthy and fair. 20:48 You and I make horrible mistakes when we judge other people 20:51 because we use all the wrong criteria, 20:54 and the truth of a person's character is often 20:57 hidden away from our sight. 21:00 At the end of the day, you and I just aren't mind readers. 21:03 But God is able to weigh the entire person. 21:08 And you know, even then, 21:10 he doesn't ask us to trust him blindly. 21:12 A few moments ago, I referred to those Gentile kingdoms 21:15 you read about in Daniel 7, and I mentioned 21:17 that the sequence of worldly government 21:19 ends with a final judgment. 21:22 So let me show you something fascinating 21:24 about the way that Daniel describes that judgment. 21:28 "I watched till thrones were put in place 21:30 and the Ancient of Days was seated. 21:32 His garment was white as snow, 21:34 and the hair of his head was like pure wool. 21:37 His throne was a fiery flame, and its wheels, 21:39 a burning fire. 21:41 A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him." 21:44 So this is a pretty solemn scene to say the least. 21:47 "A thousand thousands ministered to him, 21:49 10,000 times 10,000 stood before him." 21:53 Now, most commentators believe those thousands, 21:55 that's a reference to angels. 21:57 So now watch this, "The court was seated 22:01 and the books were opened." 22:04 Now, here's what I want you to think about. 22:06 Why in the world would an omniscient, 22:08 all-knowing God need books? 22:11 Wouldn't he already know everything? 22:12 Wouldn't he know what was in the books? 22:15 Well, the answer's yes, 22:16 but God's not the only party to this process. 22:19 It says a vast multitude is gathered around the throne. 22:22 And of course, those beings are not omniscient. 22:26 So what this is telling us, frankly, 22:28 is that God plans to show the universe everything. 22:31 He doesn't have to. We certainly don't deserve it. 22:35 But he's not afraid to show us the truth 22:37 because his court is not corrupt, 22:40 and the judgment is going to prove it. 22:43 And because of that, and here's the big idea, 22:46 we can leave the judging to God. 22:48 I mean, listen to this important statement 22:50 from the apostle Paul. 22:52 He writes, "Therefore judge nothing before the time, 22:55 until the Lord comes, who will both bring to light 22:58 the hidden things of darkness 23:00 and reveal the counsels of the hearts. 23:02 Then each one's praise will come from God." 23:06 What God promises is full disclosure. 23:10 And I don't know about you, but I have two minds about that. 23:13 On the one hand to finally have the unvarnished truth 23:16 about everybody and everything, 23:19 that's gonna be a huge relief. 23:21 I mean, most of us can't even imagine living in a world 23:23 where everybody is honest and everything is transparent. 23:27 Every election cycle, we hear more and more promises 23:30 that somebody is going to form, quote, 23:33 the most transparent government in history. 23:36 But you know full well it never happens. 23:38 So on the one hand, yeah. Bring it on. 23:41 Give me the unvarnished truth about absolutely everything. 23:45 But of course, that would also mean 23:47 the unvarnished truth about me. 23:50 And I have to suppose if there's gonna be full disclosure, 23:53 that the future will be kinder to people 23:55 who choose to live honestly. 23:58 Now, of course, living honestly is a really tall order 24:01 in a crooked world, because the right thing 24:03 is almost never the easy thing. 24:06 Jesus once said, "Let your yes be yes, and your no, no. 24:09 For whatever is more than these is from the evil one." 24:13 He was telling us that honesty matters, 24:15 transparency matters, and dishonesty is going to be exposed. 24:22 In fact, those who have been profiting by their dishonesty, 24:24 Jesus said, "Therefore whatever you have spoken 24:26 in the dark will be heard in the light. 24:29 And what you have spoken in the ear in inner rooms 24:31 will be proclaimed on the housetops." 24:35 All right, time for one last break. 24:36 I'll be right back after this. 24:42 - [Announcer] Dragons, beasts, cryptic statues. 24:46 Bible prophecy can be incredibly vivid and confusing. 24:51 If you've ever read Daniel or Revelation and come away 24:54 scratching your head, you're not alone. 24:56 Our free Focus on Prophecy Guides are designed 24:59 to help you unlock the mysteries of the Bible 25:01 and deepen your understanding of God's plan 25:04 for you and our world. 25:05 Study online, or request them by mail, 25:08 and start bringing prophecy into focus today. 25:12 - Let your yes be yes, and your no be no. 25:14 It's not unlike the advice that Cicero gave the judges 25:17 right before he exposed the corruption of Gaius Verres. 25:21 He knew full well that Verres had been trying to bribe 25:24 these judges, and so he told them this. 25:26 Quote, "I promise the Roman people that this shall be 25:28 the most honorable and the fairest 25:30 employment of my aedileship." 25:32 That was the public office Cicero had. 25:35 "I warn, I forewarn, I give notice beforehand to those men 25:38 who are wont either to put money down, 25:40 to undertake for others, to receive money, 25:43 or to promise money, or to act as agents in bribery, 25:46 as go-betweens in corrupting the seat of judgment, 25:48 and who have promised their influence or their impudence 25:51 in aid of such a business, in this trial 25:54 to keep their hands and inclinations 25:56 from this nefarious wickedness." 25:59 In other words, the case against Verres 26:01 was gonna be so compelling that anybody found 26:03 defending this man was gonna look pretty wicked himself. 26:07 It would be obvious to everybody that he'd allowed himself 26:10 to be unduly influenced. 26:13 And that's why this is one of the most important 26:15 trials in history. 26:16 It was not just a matter of one wicked man. 26:19 There were plenty of wicked people in the halls of power. 26:22 But Gaius Verres was exceptional for one reason. 26:25 He became a type, a symbol of the entire system 26:28 which everybody knew was crooked. 26:30 And on this one occasion Cicero argued 26:33 the court had a chance to redeem itself. 26:36 He continued, "For an opinion has now become established, 26:40 pernicious to us, and pernicious to the republic, 26:42 which has been the common talk of everyone, 26:45 not only at Rome, but among foreign nations also, 26:48 that in the courts of law as they exist at present, 26:50 no wealthy man, however guilty he may be, 26:53 can possibly be convicted." 26:55 Would the court be just, or would it be corrupt? 27:00 And so it goes with the government of God. 27:02 Everybody knows something is wrong with this world. 27:04 We can see the corruption, the abuse of power, 27:07 the senseless suffering, and we wonder, 27:09 doesn't God see all this? 27:10 And if he does, why doesn't he do something? 27:13 The temptation is to get cynical, to mistrust God, 27:16 to assume he's also self-interested 27:18 and willing to abuse his power. 27:20 Why should we trust the ultimate judge? I'll tell you why. 27:27 It's because he didn't isolate himself from our pain. 27:28 He became one of us. He lived here. 27:30 He knows what this world is like. 27:32 And then he laid his life on the line to save you. 27:35 And then before it's all over, he says he's gonna 27:37 open the books and show you nothing 27:38 because he's got nothing to hide. 27:40 And after that, it says in the Book of Revelation, 27:43 "He reaches out and wipes away 27:44 your tears with his own hand. 27:47 He stacked everything in your favor. 27:49 That's why you can trust him. 27:51 If you haven't been reading this book, 27:53 maybe it's time to have a look and see what else 27:55 God has already shown us in the pages. 27:59 Thanks for joining me today. 28:01 I'm Shawn Boonstra and this has been 28:02 another episode of "Authentic." 28:05 [upbeat music] |
Revised 2022-09-27