Month: January 2023

MID-WEEK MANNA FROM PASTOR NAT’S DESK:
January 25, 2023

GOD’S SAVING ENMITY-Part 4

“But unto the Son He saith, Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever: a scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Thy kingdom. Thou hast loved righteousness and HATETH INIQUITY; therefore God, even Thy God, hath anointed Thee with the oil of gladness above Thy fellows. And Thou, Lord, IN THE BEGINNING hast laid the foundations of the earth; and the heavens are the works of Thy hands: They shall perish; but Thou REMAINEST; and they shall all wax old as does a garment. And as a vesture shalt Thou fold them up, and they shall be changed: but Thou art THE SAME, AND THY YEARS SHALL NOT FAIL.” Heb. 1: 8-14, KJV.

Apostle Paul, moved by the Holy Spirit, wrote these holy Scriptures but the real author is Jesus the Word, who is the
“Author and Finisher of our faith,” the “Alpha and Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End,” “the One altogether lovely” and is “the same yesterday, today, and forever.”

Apostle John, called “the beloved disciple” in the New Testament (prophet Daniel was also called “the beloved” in the Old Testament), likewise moved by the same Holy Spirit, penned the sublime words of life and truth describing differently, yet in perfect harmony and unity with Paul, who addressed his epistle Hebrews, to the Hebrew-speaking Jews in his time (Galatians was addressed to the Gentile converts to early Christianity).

In the introduction of the the fourth of the “synoptic gospel” books, John wrote of the same “Son whom God the Father addresses as God” (Jesus Himself declared, “I and My Father are one”), in these
“In the BEGINNING was the WORD and the Word was with God AND THE WORD WAS GOD. The SAME was in the beginning with GOD. All things were MADE by Him; and without Him was not ANYTHING made that was made. In Him was LIFE; and the life was the LIFE of men.” John 1: 1-4, KJV (emphasis mine).

Then, following in verse 14, John helps those spiritually-minded to begin grasping the spiritual depths of the “mystery of godliness” (cf. 1 Tim. 3:16)of the mystery of the incarnation:

“And the WORD WAS MADE FLESH and dwelt among us (and we beheld His GLORY, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father) FULL OF GRACE AND TRUTH.” (emphasis mine).

It is the “glory” of “fulness of saving “grace and truth”—not the luminous, physical-vision-blinding glory—that John and his fellow disciple-apostles “beheld,” i. e., eventually spiritually discerned only after His resurrection and ascension, after the promised descent and empowerment by the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.

Indeed, God’s amazing GRACE in the gospel is “the power of God unto salvation” from the power of sin and Satan and his “seed.” And “the TRUTH that shall “make us free” from the alluring bondage and slavery to our cherished, self-centered, self-indulgent sins is the ENMITY, the new principle of HATRED against INIQUITY or sin, “transgression of the law,” and further described as: “All unrighteousness is sin,” and “to him that knoweth to DO good, and doeth it NOT, to him it is SIN.”

Not until we correctly interpret, properly appropriate and faithfully apply the divine provisions of God’s ENMITY towards sin and God’s GRACE which “MUCH MORE abounds where and when sin abounds,” will the professed Christian become a victorious OVERCOMER over “the world, the flesh, and the devil.” And Jesus the Word made flesh says, and our Example says,” “overcome EVEN AS I overcame,” if you want to “sit down and sup with Me now, then later after My return, to be part of My bride at the “wedding supper of the Lamb.”

So TODAY, if you WILL hear His voice, HARDEN NOT your hearts.”

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

MID-WEEK MANNA FROM PASTOR NAT’S DESK:
January 18, 2023

GOD’S SAVING ENMITY
Part 3

Without the enmity which God immediately “put between the serpent and his seed and the woman and her seed” (Gen. 3:15), immediately after the transgression and fall of Eve, followed by Adam, in Eden, there was nothing natural or intrinsic in man’s nature to counteract the mysterious power of the “mystery of iniquity” to unite Satan and his fallen angel “seed” with man, now fallen and sinful.

Apostasy and rebellion by a third of the angels led by Lucifer, against the rest of the loyal angels led by Christ, eventually resulted in the first (and last) war ever in heaven. Lucifer and his “seed” of rebellious angels were defeated and cast out of heaven and “fell” to the freshly-created earth.

Lucifer’s pride over his unparalleled beauty and excellence in knowledge, power, and privileged position and honor as a “covering cherub,” led to covetousness and jealousy against the preeminence of Christ the Creator over all heaven, all created beings and all creation.

Lucifer and all the angels were mere created angels to serve exclusively as “ministering spirits” and “all were to worship Christ only.” (Ps.104: 4; 103: 20, 21; Heb. 1: 6, 7). They were of a fixed number and had no power, reason, or purpose for multiplication by procreation. Thus they are sexless. When an angel falls he becomes a fiend. No plan of redemption exists for them for they were not “made in the image and likeness of God,” as only man was. Since then a third in the original number of angels remains “unfilled.” The plan of salvation for fallen men includes the provision for this “vacancy.” But it is not as most would carelessly opine and presumptuously assert. (A subject for another time).

This thing called “enmity,” was first manifested, mysteriously, in heaven, as part of the “mystery of iniquity.” It was LUCIFER’S (later called “the great dragon, the old serpent, Satan, the devil.” Rev. 12: 3-9). HATRED against Christ and His law, asserting the latter could not be kept by created beings and still enjoy “freedom, liberty, and happiness.” He secretly desired more and all the attention, adulation, reverence, and worship due to Christ only for himself. But “The first and greatest of all commandments” and the highest form of love and worship is to “love God with ALL your heart, all your mind, all your might or strength” (see Matt. 22: 35-38: Luke 10:25-18).

Lucifer coveted this “all.” And this led to jealousy, scheming, subtle subterfuge, and primordial “politicking”among the angels, which finally broke out openly in rebellion and finally, war. Since angels are spirits and not made of flesh and blood, this first conflict of the great controversy was “bloodless,”nonetheless an all-out, “scorched-heaven,” and pivotal war bearing eternal consequences.(See Jude 6; 2 Pet. 2:4).

To be continued next MWM, God willing. Be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Bless all, NMF.

MID-WEEK MANNA FROM PASTOR NAT’S DESK:
January 4, 2023

GOD’S SAVING ENMITY

It’s already the fourth day of the new year 2023. If you have already started implementing whatever resolutions, quickly yet prayerfully add this “new principle,” which, in fact and truth, is as “old and ancient” as the fall in Eden but is as potent as when first given, and even more critically vital as we near the stupendous closing events of the great controversy between good and evil laid out in the closing chapters of the prophecies of Daniel and the Revelation.

Instill this divine principle in your heart and mind and inject it into your mental and spiritual arsenal of the “whole armor of God”(Eph. 6: 10-18).

See Gen. 3: 15. Enmity is a translation from the Hebrew and Greek words that means hatred; trouble; agitation; variance; hostility; a reason for opposition.”

It was God Creator who put this new principle of enmity or hatred between Satan and man immediately after the fall—the first of all PROVISIONS that accompany all of His promises and prophecies.

“[Gen. 3: 15 quoted]. The divine SENTENCE pronounced against SATAN after the fall of man, was also a PROPHECY, embracing all the ages to the close of time, and foreshadowing the GREAT CONFLICT to engage all races of men who should live upon the earth.

“God declares, ‘I will put enmity.’ THIS ENMITY IS NOT NATURALLY ENTERTAINED. When man transgressed the divine law [hence sinned and fell in Eden], his nature [instantly] became EVIL, and he was IN HARMONY, and NOT IN VARIANCE, with Satan. [This is part of the ponderous “mystery of iniquity” or sin].

“There exists naturally NO ENMITY between sinful man and the originator of sin [Satan, the enemy of God and man, “the father of lies and murderer from the beginning;” the “old serpent;” the devil]. Both became evil through APOSTASY [a falling away from the truth, disobedience and rebellion against God’s law].

The apostate is NEVER AT REST [never has Christ’s peace “that passeth understanding”], except as he obtains SYMPATHY AND SUPPORT by inducing others to follow his example. For this reason, fallen angels and wicked men UNITE IN DESPERATE COMPANIONSHIP.

“Had not God SPECIALLY interposed, Satan and man would have entered into an ALLIANCE against Heaven; and instead of cherishing ENMITY against Satan, the WHOLE HUMAN FAMILY would have been united in opposition to God.” (From the inspired pen of E. G. White, Great Controversy, 1911 ed., Pacific Press Publishing Asso., p. 505. All emphasis and words in brackets mine).

To be continued next MWM, God willing. Remain blessed and “strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.” NMF