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Mid-week Manna

STUDY THE PROPHECIES WITH THE RIGHT SPIRIT, NOT DISSECT CURRENT EVENTS, INDULGING IN POLITICAL PUNDITRY

MID-WEEK MANNA FROM PASTOR NAT’S DESK:
August 3

STUDY THE PROPHECIES WITH THE RIGHT SPIRIT, NOT DISSECT CURRENT EVENTS, INDULGING IN POLITICAL PUNDITRY

“Agitate, agitate, agitate! The subjects which we present to the world [beginning first in our own households, then, in our home churches], must be to us a living reality [not merely doctrinal points to proselytize].

It is important that in DEFENDING the doctrines which we consider FUNDAMENTAL ARTICLES OF FAITH [the great way marks of present truth] we should NEVER allow ourselves to employ ARGUMENTS that are not wholly sound. These may avail to SILENCE an opposer, but they [such arguments] do NOT honor the truth. We should present sound arguments that will not only silence our opponents, but will BEAR THE CLOSEST AND MOST SEARCHING SCRUTINY.

“Whatever men’s intellectual advancement, let him NOT FOR A MOMENT think that there is no need of THOROUGH AND CONTINUOUS searching of the Scriptures for GREATER light. As a PEOPLE, we are called INDIVIDUALLY to be STUDENTS OF PROPHECY [not ‘current events.’].

We must WATCH with earnestness that we may DISCERN ANY RAY OF LIGHT which God shall present to us. We are to catch the FIRST gleanings of truth; and through PRAYERFUL STUDY, clearer light May be obtained, which can be brought before others.

“When God’s people are AT EASE, and satisfied with their PRESENT ENLIGHTENMENT [as in Laodicean, “lukewarm” contentedness and pride], we may be SURE that He will NOT FAVOR them. It is His will that they should be EVER MOVING FORWARD [in spiritual growth of knowledge and wisdom, “increasing in stature and favor with God and man’], to receive the increased and EVER-INCREASING light which is shining on them.

“Brethren, we must sink the shaft deep into the mind of truth. You may QUESTION matters with yourselves and with one another, IF YOU ONLY DO IT IN THE RIGHT SPIRIT; but too often SELF is large, and as soon as investigation begins [in Bible studies, etc.], an UNCHRISTIAN SPIRIT is manifested. This is just what SATAN delights in, but we should come with a HUMBLE HEART to know for ourselves what is truth.

“THE TIME IS COMING WHEN WE SHALL BE SEPARATED AND SCATTERED, and each one of us will have to stand WITHOUT the privilege of communion with those of LIKE PRECIOUS FAITH, and how can you stand UNLESS God is in your side, and you know that He is leading and guiding you?

Please remember this: “Whenever we come to investigate Bible truth [especially during Bible study] the Master of assemblies is with us [in and through the Holy Spirit, the third Person of the Godhead, Christ’s only vicegerent on earth from His ascension to His second advent].

The Lord does not leave the ship one moment to be steered by IGNORANT PILOTS. We may receive our orders from the Captain of our salvation.”- E. G. White, Review & Herald, Mar. 25, 1890/CWE 41, 42.

Bless all. To be continued next MWM, God willing, NMF.

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Mid-week Manna

THE TERRIBLE AND FIERY, YET NECESSARY ORDEAL OF THE SIFTING (Part 1)

MID-WEEK MANNA FROM PASTOR NAT’S DESK:
July 27, 2022

THE TERRIBLE AND FIERY, YET NECESSARY ORDEAL OF THE SIFTING (Part 1)

“Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves. But beware of men; for they will deliver you up to the councils, and they will scourge you in their synagogues [official places of public worship and prayer]; and ye shall be brought before governors and kings for My sake, for a testimony against them.”

“God will arouse His people [because they are spiritually asleep]; if other [less trying and painful] means fail, HERESIES will come in among them, which will SIFT them, SEPARATING the chaff from the wheat. The Lord calls upon all who believe His word to AWAKEN out of sleep [see Rom. 13: 11-14]. Why?

“Precious light has come. APPROPRIATE FOR THIS TIME [described as the present, testing truth’]. It is Bible truth, showing the PERILS THAT ARE RIGHT UPON US. This light should lead us to:
1] a diligent study of the Scriptures [not ‘Googling’],
2] A MOST CRITICAL EXAMINATION OF THE POSITIONS WE HOLD.

“God would have ALL the bearings and positions of truth THOROUGHLY AND PERSEVERINGLY SEARCHED, WITH PRAYER AND FASTING. Believers are not to rest in SUPPOSITIONS AND ILL-DEFINED ideas of what constitutes truth. Their FAITH must be firmly founded upon the Word of God [‘It is written;’ ‘Thus saith the Lord’ only], so that WHEN THE TESTING TIME SHALL COME, and they are brought before COUNCILS (of church and state) to answer for their faith, they may be able to give a reason for the hope that is in them with meekness and fear’ [not with the self-confident debater’s spirit, stance, looks, tone of voice, and choice of words].” – E. G. White, Counsels to Writers and Editors, p. 40 (1915).

How many professed people of God today are ‘praying,’ ‘doing Bible study’ but not accompanied with FASTING. Instead, they “go about doing their own pleasure and speaking their own words,” thus polluting the holy hours of the Sabbath day!

The “deep things of God” can only “be spiritually discerned,” and cannot be comprehended, much less appreciated and treasured! Jesus, our Savior and Example, and all His faithful followers from the beginning, diligently “searched the Scriptures, while praying and fasting [not only in food and drink but in any and all forms of self-pleasing and carnal indulgences].

Hence they were braced and equipped, intellectually and spiritually, to meet Satan and his agents with their guile, vexations, and false accusations, with the simple, childlike faith of the saints and the unwavering and uncompromising courage of the martyrs, daily, one victorious day at a time!

Bless all. Until next MWM, God willing, NMF.

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Mid-week Manna

WILL WE STAND WHEN TESTED SINGLY AND ALONE?

MID-WEEK MANNA FROM PASTOR NAT’S DESK:
July 20, 2022

WILL WE STAND WHEN TESTED SINGLY AND ALONE?

“Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for IF YOU DO THESE THINGS, ye shall NEVER fall. . . . Wherefore I will not be negligent to put you ALWAYS in remembrance of THESE THINGS, though ye know them, and be established in the PRESENT TRUTH.” 2 Pet. 1: 10, 12, KJV. (As to what “these things” spoken of above, see verses 1-9, because only then will the promised reward stated in verse 11 apply).

Moreover, a specific set of doctrinal pillars are designated as Present Truth, revealed and entrusted to the commandment-keeping remnant since after 1844. Make “your calling and election sure” by clearly understanding what these doctrinal pillars or “landmarks” are—they are the “testing, sealing truths” during these closing hours of the investigative judgment taking place in the most holy place of the heavenly sanctuary.

The eternal destiny of all who claim to be members of the remnant church is determined by what they “DO,” not merely say or profess, of “these things.” Making one’s calling and election SURE is an INDIVIDUAL for “salvation” has, and always is, “individual,” never corporate, much less institutional!

Hence, the following warning of the Spirit of Prophecy:
“CWE 39, 40: “I have been shown [in vision/impression] that MANY who profess to have a KNOWLEDGE of present truth KNOW NOT what they believe. They DO NOT understand the EVIDENCES of their faith. They have NO just appreciation of the WORK for the present time.

“When the TIME OF TRIAL shall come, there are men NOW PREACHING to others, who will find, upon examining the POSITIONS they hold, that there are MANY ThINGS for which they can give NO SATISFACTORY REASON. UNTIL THUS TESTED, THEY [such preachers] KNOW NOT THEIR GREAT IGNORANCE.

“And there are MANY IN THE CHURCH, who take it for granted that they understand what they believe, but, UNTIL CONTROVERSY ARISES [such as at this very time!], they do not know their OWN WEAKNESS.

When SEPARATED from those of like faith, and COMPELLED TO STAND SINGLY AND ALONE to explain their belief, they will be SURPRISED to see HOW CONFUSED are their IDEAS of what they had accepted as TRUTH. [Here’s why and how such a fearful state of uncertainty and unpreparedness lay hidden, until exposed by certain circumstances]:

“Certain that there has been AMONG US [within, not without] A DEPARTURE FROM THE LIVING GOD, and a TURNING TO MEN [see Jer. 17:5], putting HUMAN wisdom in place of DiVINE.” – E. G. White, Counsels to Writers & Editors, pp. 39, 40 (1915).

Both preachers (ministers; pastors) and members alike, from pulpit to pews need to diligently and thoroughly examine themselves,” not others, and “prove themselves whether they are really in the faith,” and make sure they can “stand singly and alone” to explain, defend, and “earnestly contend for the faith once delivered to the saints” (Jude 3).

Bless all till next MWM, God willing, NMF.

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Mid-week Manna

FATHER’S DAY IS EVERY DAY THAT GOD THE FATHER IS OUR FATHER IN HEAVEN

MID-WEEK MANNA FROM PASTOR NAT’S DESK:
July 13, 2022

FATHER’S DAY IS EVERY DAY THAT GOD THE FATHER IS OUR FATHER IN HEAVEN

“Except the Lord build the house, they labor on vain that build it.” Ps. 127:1, KJV

“What can we say to AWAKEN the moral sensibilities of [Christian] fathers, that they may understand and undertake THEIR DUTY to their offspring? The subject is of INTENSE interest and importance [why?], having a bearing upon the FUTURE WELFARE OF THE COUNTRY.

“We should solemnly impress upon fathers, as well as mothers, the GRAVE RESPONSIBILITY they have assumed in bringing children into the world [especially at these closing hours of earth’s probation]. It is a RESPONSIBILITY from which nothing but DEATH can free them…. In that great day of RECKONING it will be asked of him, ‘Where are the CHILDREN that I entrusted to your care to EDUCATE FOR ME, that their LIPS might speak My praise, and their LIVES be a diadem of beauty in the world, and they live to honor Me throughout eternity?” E. G. White, Signs of the Times, Dec. 20, 1887.

WHAT WE ARE AT HOME WE BRING INTO THE CHURCH

“Every family is a church, over which the parents preside. The FIRST consideration of the parents should be to WORK for the SALVATION of their children. When the father and the mother, as priest and teacher [respectively] of the family take their position FULLY on the side of Christ, a good influence will be exerted in the HOME. And this SANCTIFIED influence will be felt in the CHURCH, and will be recognized by every believer. Because of the great lack of PIETY AND SANCTIFICATION in the home, the WORK OF GOD is greatly hindered. No man can bring into the CHURCH and influence that he does not exert in the HOME LIFE and in his business relations.

“The angels of God, who minister for those who shall be ‘heirs of salvation,’ will help you make your family a MODEL of the heavenly family. LET THERE BE PEACE IN THE HOME, AND THERE WILL BE PEACE IN THE CHURCH.

These precious experience brought into the church will be the MEANS of creating kindly affection one for another. QUARRELS WILL CEASE. True Christian courtesy will be seen among church members. The WORLD [around them] will take knowledge of them that ‘they had been with Jesus and have learned of Him’ [without ever seeing Him physically/visibly, yet!].

What an IMPRESSION the church would make upon the world if ALL members would live [genuine, consistent] CHRISTIAN LIVES.” – Ibid, Child Guidance, p. 549. Indeed, “Charity begins in the home,” not in the church.

Bless all till next MWM, God willing, NMF.

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Mid-week Manna

THE LAST STATE (CONDITION) IS WORST THAN THE FIRST

MID-WEEK MANNA FROM PASTOR NAT’S DESK:
July 6, 2022

THE LAST STATE (CONDITION) IS WORST THAN THE FIRST

Jesus solemnly said to the religious leaders of the Jewish nation in His day (and in our day): “When the unclean spirit [fallen angels; demons; evil spirits] is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest, and findeth NONE. Then he [the demon] saith, I WILL RETURN into my house from whence I came out, and when he [the demon] is come, he findeth it empty, swept and garnished.

Then goeth he, and taketh with himself, SEVEN OTHER SPIRITS MORE WICKED THAN HIMSELF [as in a ‘legion’], and THEY enter in and dwell there: AND THE LAST STATE OF THAT MAN IS WORST THAN THE FIRST. Even so shall it be unto this WICKED GENERATION.” Matt. 12: 43-45, KJV. See also Luke 11: 24-26; compare to John 5: 14, 1-47.

Now let all prayerfully read the verses below, then carefully and honestly examine our own (not others) spiritual condition or “state” today, compared to “when we first became “believers” or were “converted” (Rom. 13: 11-14):

“While they promise them LIBERTY [or ‘freedom’], they themselves are the servants of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome, of that same is he brought into BONDAGE. For IF after they have ESCAPED , the POLLUTIONS of the world [the defilement of sin; ‘love of the world and things of this world’] through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are AGAIN ENTANGLED THEREIN, AND OVERCOME, THE LATTER END WITH THEM IS WORSE THAN THE BEGINNING. For it had been BETTER for them NOT to have known the WAY OF RIGHTEOUSNESS, than, after they had known it, to TURN FROM THE HOLY COMMANDMENT delivered unto them. But it happened unto them ACCORDING to the true proverb [cf. Prov. 26:11], The DOG is turned to his OWN VOMIT again, and the SOW [female pig] that was washed [already] to her WALLOWING in the mire [filthy mud].” 2 Pet. 2: 19-22, KJV.

These verses clearly explain why the claim “once-saved-alway-saved” is not a sound doctrine but the doctrine of modern soothsayers, deceivers, false prophets, the “children of darkness and disobedience,” who are either willing or unwitting agents of Satan, “the father of lies and murderer from the beginning,” the prince of this world,” the “prince of the power of the air,” the master tempter and “accuser of the brethren.”

To be continued next MWM, God willing. NMF

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Devotionals

SPECIAL INDEPENDENCE DAY MESSAGE: INDEPENDENCE, FREEDOM, AND LIBERTY OF INDIVIDUAL CONSCIENCE FROM DICTATORS OF MORALITY AND RELIGIOUS TYRANNY

SPECIAL INDEPENDENCE DAY MESSAGE FROM PASTOR NAT’S DESK:
July 4, 2022

INDEPENDENCE, FREEDOM, AND LIBERTY OF INDIVIDUAL CONSCIENCE FROM DICTATORS OF MORALITY AND RELIGIOUS TYRANNY

“Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is LIBERTY.” 2 Cor. 3:17. “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me; because the Lord hath anointed Me to preach good tidings [the plan of salvation] unto the meek, He hath sent Me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim LIBERTY to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound.” Isa. 61:1, KJV. (see verses 2, 3)

THE DIVINE RIGHT OF INDIVIDUALITY OF RELIGION (or the core meaning, fundamental principle, and transcendent essence of Biblical Religious Liberty).

All prayerful, truth-seeking, Holy Spirit-dependent, childlike yet diligent searchers of “the deep things of God” and the sacred “treasures” and “mysteries” of the Holy Scriptures, enfolded in its parables and prophecies, are better-equipped in these closing hours of probation, to distinguish Satan’s masterful counterfeits from the genuine. By sharpened spiritual discernment, honed by constant use, they will properly interpret current events by “the law and testimony” of the the interlocking and sequenced prophecies of Daniel and Revelation.

Focus on the specific entities, as revealed through their prophetic symbols, and the end-time final crises over the all-encompassing twin-issues of worship and religion, that they are responsible for, as delineated in Revelation 13. Consider the following enlightening definition of terms so critically relevant to what is rapidly forming right now in the political, legal, and religious institutions. Bone up on the First Amendment and the “Establishment Clause.”‘ To be forewarned is to to be forearmed, but only if we take heed! Now this:

RELIGION is ‘the duty which we owe to our Creator, and the manner of discharging it.’

“LIBERTY is ‘the state of being exempt from the domination of others, or from restricting circumstances. In ethics and philosophy, the power in any rational agent to make his choices and decide his conduct for himself, spontaneously and voluntarily, in accordance with reasons or motives.”

RELIGIOUS LIBERTY therefore, is man’s exemption from the domination of others, or from restricting circumstances: man’s freedom to make his choices and decide his conduct for himself, spontaneously and voluntarily: IN HIS DUTY TO HIS CREATOR, and in THE MANNER OF DISCHARGING THAT DUTY.” (emphasis in the original)-Alonzo Trevor Jones, “Individuality of Religion.”

May we assert our freedom and liberty from the bondage of sin and error with the faith of the saints and the courage of the martyrs, by the grace of God in Christ Jesus.

Bless all, NMF.

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Mid-week Manna

TO STILL FEED ON ‘MILK’ IS TO BE ‘LEFT BEHIND’ BY THOSE WHO ‘WALK FASTER’ IN THESE LAST DAYS

MID-WEEK MANNA FROM PASTOR NAT’S DESK:

TO STILL FEED ON ‘MILK’ IS TO BE ‘LEFT BEHIND’ BY THOSE WHO ‘WALK FASTER’ IN THESE LAST DAYS

“For when for the time ye ought to be TEACHERS, ye have need that one TEACH YOU AGAIN which be the FIRST principles of the Word of God; and are BECOME such as have need of MILK, and NOT THE STRONG MEAT. For everyone that useth milk is UNSKILFUL IN THE WORD OF RIGHTEOUSNESS: for he is a babe. But strong meat belongeth unto them that are of FULL AGE [intellectually and spiritually mature], even those who BY REASON OF USE have their SENSES [and conscience] EXERCISED to DISCERN both good and evil.” Heb. 5:12-14, KJV (emphasis mine).

Dear fellow “ten virgins” who profess to be “waiting” for the soon-coming Bridegroom (Matt.25: 1-13), the night is far spent! “And that knowing the time, that NOW IT IS HIGH TIME to awake”’out of spiritual slumber “for NOW is our salvation NEARER than when we first believed!” (Rom. 13: 11-14).

“It is TOO LATE in the day to feed with milk [of the gospel]. If souls A MONTH OR TWO old in the truth, WHO ARE ABOUT TO ENTER THE ‘TIME OF TROUBLE, SUCH AS NEVER WAS’ [Dan. 12: 1], cannot hear all the STRAIGHT TRUTH, or ENDURE the ‘strong meat’ of the straightness of the way [of ‘the straight and narrow way’ that leads to eternal life] HOW will they STAND in the day of battle [of the final test of mankind, Rev. 13 and 14]? Truths that we have been YEARS learning must be learned in a FEW MONTHS by those who NOW embrace the THIRD ANGEL’S MESSAGE [Rev. 14: 6-12].

“There is NO NEED of milk after souls are convinced of the truth [the present testing truths]. As SOON as the conviction of truth is YIELDED to and the heart WILLING, the truth should have its effect. The truth will work like leaven, and PURIFY and PURGE away the passions of the natural [carnal] heart.

“It is a DISGRACE for those who have been IN THE TRUTH FOR YEARS to talk of feeding souls who have been MONTHS IN THD TRUTH, upon milk! It SHOWS they KNOW LITTLE of the leadings of the Holy Spirit of the Lord, and REALIZE NOT THE TIME WE ARE LIVING IN.

“Those who embrace the truth [of the third Angel’s message] now will have to STEP FAST. There will have to be a breaking up of the HEART before the Lord, a RENDING of the heart, and NOT THE GARMENT” [not in word but in deed; not the form but the substance].”- E. G. White.MS #1, Feb. 12, 1854/ 1 MR, pp. 33,34.

Bless all. To be continued next MWM, God willing, NMF.

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Mid-week Manna

THE SCRIBES SAID HE WAS ‘BEELZEBUB,’ WHILE DEMONS ADDRESSED HIM, ‘JESUS, THOU SON OF GOD’

MID-WEEK MANNA FROM PASTOR NAT’S DESK:
June 22, 2022

THE SCRIBES SAID HE WAS ‘BEELZEBUB,’ WHILE DEMONS ADDRESSED HIM, ‘JESUS, THOU SON OF GOD’

Indeed, “truth is stranger than fiction,” i.e., Bible truth, specifically, “the truth AS IT IS in Jesus” (Eph. 4:21). This alone satisfies the demands of “THE truth, the WHOLE truth, and NOTHING BUT the truth,” for, Christ alone is “the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6).

It is only His truth and enabling grace that can “free us” from slavery to the natural propensities and inherited weaknesses to sin, and deliverance from Satan’s power to seduce, tempt, deceive, confuse, vex, and annoy with his numberless schemes. See Matt. 8: 28-34; Mark 1:21-28.

In a jaw-dropping contradiction of role-reversals, as recorded in the New Testament, the SCRIBES ascribed the title, Beelzebub, “the Lord of dung,” a name given to Satan, the chief of the demonic world, to Jesus! See Matt. 10: 25; Mark 3:22; Luke 11: 15.

Who were the scribes in Christ’s day? “After Ezra’s time [Ezra 7] scribes assumed influential positions among the Jews as TEACHERS of God’s Word. By the time of the Maccabees (2nd cent. BC.) they were recognized as constituting an honored profession (1 Macc 7:12).

Some of the most famous scribes of Jewry, such as Hillel, Shammai, and Gamaliel I, lived at the time of Christ’s birth and shortly thereafter. They were PHARISEES and attempted to adapt the Law of Moses [the Ceremonial law] to the times in which they lived, but could not always agree, so different schools of thought developed.

The SUBTLE interpretations of the Pharisees were considered by many to be of EQUAL value with the Law of Moses, and Jesus BITTERLY DENOUNCED the sect’s HYPOCRISY and MISINTERPRETATION of Scriptures which LED THE PEOPLE [the Jewish nation] ASTRAY (Matt. 15:1, 3; 23:15, 23, 25, 27, 29, 33).

Some of the scribes in Christ’s day were influential members of the SANHEDRIN and shared in the responsibility for His death (Matt. 26: 57-59; cf. chs 16:21: 27:41). Later some of these men also turned against the APOSTLES and had a hand in their persecution (Acts 4:5; 6:12).”-SDA Bible Dictionary, Commentary Ref. Series, Vol. 8, 1960, art. “Scribe,”p. 966.

Indeed, Jesus Christ, the promised “Seed of a woman”(Gen. 3:15; Gal. 4:4, 5) “came to His own, and His own received Him not. But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name.” John 1:1-3, 10-12

To be continued in the next MWM, God willing. NMF

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