Month: February 2023

MID-WEEK MANNA FROM PASTOR NAT’S DESK:
February 22, 2023

God’s Saving Enmity
Part 8

THE ENMITY EXPERIENCED BY THE HERALDS OF THE TRUE GOSPEL

His name says it all. The Hebrew “satan” means “adversary,” “to cherish animosity” from the Greek satan, “Satanas” transliterations of the Hebrew and Aramaic.

This “great adversary of God and of man” (Rev 12:7-12), who Jesus described as “the father of lies and MURDERER from the beginning” (John 7: 44) has counterfeits for each testing truth of the Bible. As there is the “gospel of Jesus Christ that we should not be ashamed of” (Rom.1:16).

So there are counterfeit gospels, such as the “accursed another gospel” that apostle Paul had to contend with (Gal. 1:: 6-9, 11, 12: cd. Acts 15:1-11), and in these last days the deceptive “peace-and-safety’ prosperity gospel” (1 Thess. 5:3, etc) versus the “everlasting gospel of the three angels’s messages of Rev. 14: 6-12.

Note the following (emphasis and bracketed words mine):

“The disciples were to be heralds of the truth to prepare the way for the [second] coming of their Master. The message they had to bear was the WORD OF ETERNAL LIFE and the destiny of men depended upon their RESPONSE OR REJECTION of it. 

“To impress the people of its solemnity, Jesus bade His disciples, ‘Whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words, when ye depart out of that house or city, shake off the dust of your feet. Verily I say unto you, It shall be MORE TOLERABLE for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah IN THE DAY OF JUDGMENT, than for that city.’ 

 “Now the Savior’s eyes penetrate the future [at the time He declared these]; He beholds the broader fields [outside Palestine where His 31/2 year work was confined] in which after His death, the disciples are to be witnesses for Him. His prophetic glance takes in the EXPERIENCE of His servants through ALL THE AGES till He shall come the second time.

 “He shows His followers the CONFLICTS they must [not ‘may’ or ‘probably’] meet; He reveals the character and plan of the BATTLE. He lays before them the PERILS they must encounter; the SELF-DENIAL that will be required [not ‘merely ‘suggested’ or ‘implied’]. He wants them to COUNT THE COST [see Luke 14: 25-35] that they be not taken unawares by the ENEMY. 

“Their WARFARE is not to be waged against ‘flesh and blood,’ but ‘against the principalities, against the powers, against the world rulers of this darkness, against the SPIRITUAL HOSTS OF WICKEDNESS in the heavenly places.’ Eph. 6:13, R.V. 

“They are to CONTEND WITH SUPERNATURAL FORCES but they are assured of SUPERNATURAL FORCES [Who/what are they?]. ALL THE INTELLIGENCES OF HEAVEN ARE IN THIS ARMY. AND MORE THAN ANGELS ARE IN THE RANKS. [Who else?] The HOLY SPIRIT, the Representative of the Captain of the Lord’s hosts [Christ Himself called “Michael the Archangel], comes down to  DIRECT the battle. 

“Our INFIRMITIES may be many, our SINS AND MISTAKES grievous; but the [enabling, empowering, thus saving] GRACE of God is for all who SEEK IT WITH CONTRITION. The POWER of Omnipotence is enlisted in behalf of those who TRUST in [the true] God.”- E. G. White, Desire of Ages, ch. 37,

1950 edition, Apr. 1950, Pacific Press Publishing Asso.

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

MIDWEEK MANNA FROM PASTOR NAT’S DESK:
February 15, 2023

GOD’S SAVING ENMITY
Part 7

Jesus Christ the Rock and Cornerstone, laid down the groundwork of the grand gospel work in the Christian dispensation, that would be more fully developed and expanded after His death, resurrection, and ascension,, through the promised supernatural empowerment at the Pentecostal outpouring of the Holy Spirit, His divine vicegerent on earth.

Jesus called, then prepared and trained His first disciples by example and instruction—all within barely three and a half years. He forewarned them and all His true disciples, workers, and followers, particularly in these last days, of the same ENMITY (hatred, and rejection) that they would suffer, as He himself would be subjected to by His very own people!

Let’s read what’s “It is written” recorded in John 15: 18-25; 16: 1-4, KJV [all emphasis and bracketed words mine). To wit:
“If the WORLD hate you, you know that it HATED ME before it hated you.
“IF ye were of the world, the world would LOVE his own: but because you are NOT of the world, but I have chose you OUT of the world, therefore the world HATETH you.
“REMEMBER the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have PERSECUTED ME, they will also persecute you; If they have kept [accepted and practiced] My saying, they will keep yours also.
“But all these things they will do unto you for MY NAME’S SAKE, because they KNOW NOT HIM THAT SENT ME
“If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had NOT had SIN: but now they have NO CLOAK [cover, shield, reason, excuse, justification] for their sin.
“HE THAT HATETH ME HATETH MY FATHER ALSO.
“If I had not done among them the WORKS WHICH NONE OTHER MEN DID, they had not had sin: but now have they BOTH SEEN AND HATED BOTH ME AND MY FATHER.
“But this cometh to pass, that the word [of prophecy] might be fulfilled that is written in THEIR LAW. THEY HATED ME WITHOUT A CAUSE [see Ps. 69:4]. Then, Ch. 16: 1-4:
“These things have I spoken unto you, that you SHOULD NOT BE OFFENDED.
“They shall put you out of the synagogues [disfellowship, declared heretics, etc.]; yea, the TIME COMETH, that whosoever KILLETH YOU WILL THINK HE DOETH GOD SERVICE.
“And these things will they do unto you, because they have NOT KNOWN the Father, nor Me.
“But these things have I told you, that WHEN the time should come, you may REMEMBER that I told you of them. And these things I said not unto you at the beginning, because I was with you.” (end of Bible quote).

The inspired pen magnifies the “two-edged sword” truth of this critical subject below (all emphasis mine):

“The ANTAGONISM [enmity] that exists between the spirit of Christ and the spirit of Satan was most strikingly DISPLAYED in the WORLD’S reception of Jesus. It was not so much that He appeared without worldly wealth, pomp, and grandeur [the “things of the world” that the carnally-minded covet, live and die for], that the JEWS were led to reject Him. They saw that He possessed power [in all His public miraculous works and profound words] which would more than compensate for the lack of these OUTWARD [temporal] advantages. But the PURITY AND HOLINESS of Christ called forth against Him the HATRED [enmity] of the UNGODLY.
 “His life of SELF DENIAL and sinless devotion was a PERPETUAL REPROOF to a proud, sensual people. It was this the evoked ENMITY against the Son of God. SATAN AND EVIL ANGELS JOINED WITH EVIL MEN. All the energies of apostasy CONSPIRED against the Champion of truth [the nature of the real conspiracy; all others are counterfeits that are  part of the spiritual Babylonian confusion of these last days]
“The SAME ENMITY is manifested toward Christ’s followers as was manifested toward their Master. Whoever sees the REPULSIVE CHARACTER OF SIN, and in strength from above, RESISTS TEMPTATION, will assuredly arouse the WRATH [enmity] of Satan and his subjects [his ‘seed’]. 
 “HATRED OF THE PURE PRINCIPLES  OF TRUTH, and reproach and persecution will exist AS LONG AS SIN AND SINNERS REMAIN. The followers of Christ and the servants of Satan CANNOT harmonize. THE OFFENSE OF THE CROSS HAS NOT CEASED. [For] ‘All that will live godly in Christ shall suffer persecution.’ (2 Tim. 3:12).” -E.G. White, Great Controversy, 1911 ed., Pacific Press Publishing Asso.,pp. 506-7.

To be continued next MWM, God willing. “Quit ye like men and be strong” “in the Lord and the power of His might.” Bless all, NMF.

MID-WEEK MANNA FROM PASTOR NAT’S DESK:
February 8, 2023

GRACE IMPLANTS ENMITY IN THE HUMAN HEART
Part 6

If you haven’t yet heard it preached (or emphasized) or realized from your own Bible study the miraculous empowerment produced by the implantation of the Creator’s ENMITY in the Savior’s GRACE imparted by the Holy Spirit to the human —-that results in the greatest of miracles and it’s nature, we will learn more of this awesome truth of the gospel in this dedicated series. God’s end-time servant-messenger wrote and I quote below (all emphasis and bracketed words mine]:

“Every miracle that Christ performed was a sign of His divinity. He was doing the very work that had been foretold [prophesied] of the [coming] Messiah; but to the Pharisees these works of mercy were a positive OFFENSE. [Why?] The Jewish leaders looked with heartless indifference on human suffering. In many cases their SELFISHNESS and OPPRESSION had caused the AFFLICTION that Christ relieved [by miraculous healing]. Thus His miracles were to them a REPROACH.

 “That which led the Jews to REJECT the Savior’s work was the HIGHEST EVIDENCE of His divine character. The GREATEST SIGNIFICANCE of His miracles is seen in the fact that they were for the BLESSING of humanity. The highest evidence that HE CAME FROM GOD is that HIS LIFE revealed the character of God. He did the WORKS and spoke the WORDS of God. SUCH A LIFE IS THE GREATEST OF MIRACLES.

 “When message of TRUTH is presented in OUR DAY, there are many, who, like the Jews [in Christ’s day], cry, ‘Show us a sign. Work us a miracle.’ Christ wrought NO miracle at the demand of the PHARISEES [religious leaders of the nation]. He wrought NO miracles in the wilderness [of temptation] in answer to SATAN’S insinuations. He does not impart to us power to VINDICATE OURSELVES or to SATISFY THE DEMANDS OF UNBELIEF OR PRIDE. 

 “But the gospel is NOT WITHOUT A SIGN of its divine origin. [What is it?] Is it not a MIRACLE that we can BREAK FROM the bondage to Satan [and slavery to sin, sinful habits and lifestyle, indulging and excusing rcherished carnal desires and self-centered pleasures, etc.]. 

 “ENMITY AGAINST SATAN IS NOT NATURAL TO THE HUMAN HEART; IT IS IMPLANTED BY THE GRACE OF GOD. When one who has been controlled by a stubborn, wayward will is set free and yields himself WHOLEHEARTEDLY [not grudgingly or with murmuring] to the drawing of God’s heavenly agencies, a miracle is wrought; so ALSO when a man who had been UNDER STRONG DELUSION comes to understand MORAL TUTH. 

“Every time a soul is converted, and learns to LOVE GOD AND KEEPS HIS COMMANDMENTS, the promise of God is fulfilled, ‘A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I PUT within you.’ Eze. 36:26. 

 “The CHANGE in the human heart, the TRANSFORMATION of human characters, is a miracle that reveals an EVER-LIVING SAVIOR, working to rescue souls. A CONSISTENT LIFE IN CHRIST IS A GREAT MIRACLE. 

 “In the PREACHING of the word of God, THE SIGN THAT SHOULD BE MANIFEST NOW AND ALWAYS, is the PRESENCE of the Holy Spirit, to make the word a REGENERATING POWER to those that HEAR. This is God’s WITNESS before the world to the divine mission of His Son.” -Desire of Ages, pp. 406-7, Pacific Press Publishing, April, 1950. 

So dear friend, “Today, if you will HEAR His voice,” speaking to your conscience, “harden not your heart.” Tomorrow is not promised. Now is your day of opportunity.

Bless all, NMF.

MID-WEEK MANNA FROM PASTOR NAT’S DESK:
February 1, 2023

GOD’S SAVING ENMITY
Part 5

Again, Genesis 3:15 is the beginning of all the prophecies and promises of the Bible, as fleshed out in the everlasting gospel plan prepared before the foundations of the earth were laid for creation. If we truly desire to know “the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth,” i. e., “the truth as it is in Jesus” that saves fallen, sinful humanity FROM (not “in”) the power of sin, “the world, the flesh and the devil,” we first must learn to trace from cause to effect.

Indeed, for “the wages of sin is death” (Rom. 6:23). The consequences of a seemingly “small” wrong choice or a “minor” yet willful digression from God’s express will as revealed “unto the law and testimony” (Isa. 8:20), can and has resulted in humiliating, painful, long-lasting, and in the Fall at Eden, global consequences—such as the sinful curiosity of Eve and Adam’s obsessive love for her over their Creator.

Paul precisely refers to this, declaring: “Wherefore, as by one man, sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned. . . .

Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam’s transgression, who is the figure of Him that was to come [as the promised ‘Seed of the woman.’].” Rom. 5: 12, 14.

The omnipotent mouth that simply spoke into existence both “the heaven and earth and all that in them is” in six literal days of 24 hours (except the creation of man which He formed with His own hands from the dust of the ground of Eden) was the same mouth that pronounced and defined the true nature of the GREAT CONTROVERSY on EARTH (which first started in heaven, Rev. 12: 3-9), the main issue between the two armies and their respective commanders-in-chief; as to who eventually emerges victorious; and by what master strategy, method, and plan.

Abel the First Martyr; Cain the First Murderer. The murder of Abel by his own elder brother Cain (the very first two sons of Adam and Eve, their very first “seed”) is both the first example of the enmity between “Satan and his seed and the woman and her seed;” it is also the type of the antitypical declaration of Christ four thousand years after the fall in Eden to all His first faithful followers on earth in the New Testament, Christian dispensation, starting with the First Twelve disciples (in training).

He solemnly told them, as “it is written” in the following Scriptures found in
Matt. 10: 16- 18, 21-25, 32-39, KJV. all emphasis mine):
“Behold, I send you forth as SHEEP among WOLVES: be ye therefore WISE as serpents, and HARMLESS as doves. But beware of men: for they will deliver you up to the councils [of apostate religions such as “the beast and its image,” Rev. 13], and they will scourge you in their synagogues [places of religious worship and activity]. And you shall be brought before governors and kings [politically corrupt secular and state powers-that-be] for My sake, for a testimony AGAINST them and for the Gentiles. . . . And the BROTHER SHALL DELIVER UP THE BROTHER TO DEATH, AND THE FATHER THE CHILD: AND THE CHILDREN SHALL RISE UP AGAINST THEIR PARENTS, AND CAUSE THEM TO BE PUT TO DEATH. And you shall be HATED [the enmity in action and at work] of all men for My name’s sake; but HE THAT ENDURETH TO THE END SHALL BE SAVED.

“But when they PERSECUTE you in this city, flee ye into another: for verily I say unto you, Ye shall not have gone over the cities of Israel, till the Son of man be come. The DISCIPLE is not above the MASTER nor the SERVANT above his LORD. It is ENOUGH for the disciple that he be AS his Master, and the servant AS his Lord. If they called the Master of the house Beelzebub [‘prince of devils’|, how much MORE shall they call them of His household? 

 “Whosoever therefore shall CONFESS ME before men, him will I confess ALSO before My Father which is in heaven. But whosoever shall DENY ME before men, him will I ALSO DENY before My Father which is in heaven. 

 “Think not that I am come [in His first advent] to  send PEACE on earth: I came not to send peace but a SWORD. For I am come to SET A MAN AT VARIANCE [enmity] AGAINST HIS FATHER, AND THE DAUGHTER AGAINST THE MOTHER, AND THE DAUGHTER-IN-LAW AGAINST HER MOTHER-IN-LAW. AND A MAN’S FOE [enemy at enmity] SHALL BE THEY OF HIS OWN HOUSEHOLD. 

“He that loveth FATHER OR MOTHER MORE THAN Me is NOT WORTHY of Me: and he loveth SON OR DAUGHTER more than Me not worthy of Me. And he that taketh NOT HIS CROSS [as defined above], and followeth after Me [My example] is not worthy of Me. He that findeth his life [for his self’s sake] shall lose it: and   he that loseth his life [for Christ and righteousness’ sake] shall find it.”

Moreover, Jesus said of this manifested enmity (see chapter 15: 1-27): “These things have I spoken unto you, that you should not be offended. [why?] “They shall put you out of the synagogues [accused and anathemized as “soulless heretics’ consigned damnation and eternal torment of hell fire’]: yea, THE TIME COMETH, that whosoever KILLETH YOU will think that HE DOETH GOD SERVICE. And these things will they do unto you, because they had not known the Father nor Me.” John 16: 1-3, KJV.

If we do not invoke the grace-imparted anew principle of enmity/hatred that God put immediately after the fall between Satan and the woman and their respective “seeds,” we will invariably become the most efficient agents of Satan and the worst enemies of God’s faithful people in these last days. Therefore “examine yourselves, prove yourselves whether you are really in the true “faith of Jesus.”

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