Month: May 2023

MID-WEEK MANNA FROM PASTOR NAT’S DESK:
May 31, 2023

God’s Saving Enmity
Part 21

WHY DOES PERSECUTION OF THE GODLY SEEM TO BE DORMANT? IS THIS A GOOD SIGN?

“For all that will live godly in Christ shall suffer persecution.”2 Tim. 3:12, KJV. 

“The Lord is not slack concerning His promise’ (2 Pet. 3:9). He does not forget or neglect His children; but He PERMITS [and thus is in control| the wicked to REVEAL their true character, that NONE who desire to do His will may be DECEIVED concerning them  [the wicked]. Again and again the RIGHTEOUS are placed in the furnace of affliction, that they themselves might be PURIFIED; that their EXAMPLE [under fiery affliction and duress| may convince others of the REALITY of FAITH AND GODLINESS, and also that their consistent course may CONDEMN the UNGODLY and unbelieving.

“God permits the wicked to PROSPER, and to reveal their ENMITY against Him, that when they shall have FILLED UP the measure of their INIQUITY, all may see His JUSTICE AND MERCY in their utter destruction. The day of His vengeance HASTENS, when all who have transgressed His law and OPPRESSED His people will meet the JUST recompense of their deeds, when every act of CRUELTY or injustice towards God’s faithful ones will be punished as though DONE TO CHRIST HIMSELF!

“There is ANOTHER AND MORE IMPORTANT question that should engage the attention of the CHURCHES OF TODAY. The apostle Paul declares that ‘all that will live godly in Christ shall suffer persecution.’ 

Q. “WHY IS IT THEN, THAT PERSECUTION SEEMS IN A GREAT DEGREE TO SLUMBER?

Ans. “THE ONLY REASON IS, the church has conformed to the world’s standard, and therefore awakens NO opposition. The RELIGION which is CURRENT in our day is NOT of the pure and holy character that MARKED the Christian faith in the days of Christ and His apostles. It is only because of the SPIRIT OF COMPROMISE WITH SIN, because the great truths of the Word of God are so INDIFFERENTLY regarded, because there is SO LITTLE VITAL GODLINESS IN THE CHURCH, that Christianity is apparently SO POPULAR with the world! [But] let there be a REVIVAL of faith and power of the EARLY CHURCH, and the spirit of PERSECUTION will be revived, and the FIRES of persecution will be rekindled!” -E. G. White, Great Controversy, p. 48, 1911, Pacific Press Publishing Asso. CA.(all emphasis and words in brackets mine).

No wonder “in the last days perilous times shall come,” because as Paul warned that professed Christians will have superficial, not vital godliness for “they will have the form of godliness but deny the power thereof” (2 Tim. 3:4, KJV). This is but one of over a dozen Peter-like, antitypical fearful denials of Christ in these last days!

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

MID-WEEK MANNA FROM PASTOR NAT’S DESK:
May 17, 2023

God’s Saving Enmity
Part 19

Again, lest we forget where we began this discovery, the very first promise and first prophecy is given in Genesis 3:15. It immediately revealed to the fallen first couple in Eden, and thereby thereafter, to all the generations of fallen mankind, the fundamental twin “core” seeds of eternal import:

1) the nature of the controversy between Christ and Satan and their respective “seeds” and
2) the plan of redemption

Both would develop and reveal more of themselves over the course of time til they reach their startlingly stunning climax in the days ahead of our final generation—as revealed in the prophecies, Daniel and the Revelation in particular.

In that supreme combined historical and prophetic moment in Eden, where we are shown the Creator speaking to Satan, Adam, and Eve in a very different position than that which He is first revealed to mankind as the Creator and Maker of “the heavens and the earth in the beginning. At that pivotal moment, the Creator is revealed, in its earliest forms that would unfold in its predetermined aspects, roles, and timetables (both in timed prophecies as well as divine chronological order), as the mighty Deliverer, Savior, Advocate, Intercessor and Mediator, all first preceded by and prefigured in the first lamb that would be sacrificed and the first blood of redemption that ever flowed after the bloodless work of creation.

Here, at the quintessential “moment of moments” of earth time and place, before Adam and Eve were to be banished from their divinely-designed and built garden home, God spoke, not in creative fiat but redemptive language and tones, declaring and demonstrating the immutability of His law by immediately counteracting Satan’s first lie that deceived Eve into believing that the soul is immortal (“you shall not surely die”) through and by first lamb slaughtered in sacrifice—-the death of the first type all countless specified animals offered under ceremonial law of the Mosaic dispensation fill they reached their antitype in the “once and for all” sacrifice of the very “Lamb of God” at Calvary’s cross, four thousand years after the fall in Eden.

Thus immediately demonstrated and viscerally revealed by actual participation of Adam, the certainty that “the wages wages of sin is death” (Rom. 6:23), for sin is but “the transgression of the law” (1 John 3:4), manifested by and in disobedience to God’s command, and express will as revealed in His Word, “It is written” and “unto the law and testimony.”

Thus immediately revealed by visceral demonstration to the startled and wondering eyes of Adam, Eve, Satan and the fallen and good angels as well as the numberless beings in the unfallen worlds in the universe—through Adam’s actual participation as the first offeror of sacrifices—of the certainty that “the wages of sin is DEATH” (Rom.6:23) and that “sin is the transgression of the law” (1 John 3: 4).

Apostle Paul reminds all professed Christians lest they be confused and deceived again like Eve. He wrote in 1 Cor. 15: 19-26:

 “If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable [note that] 
“But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the first fruits of them that slept [died]. 
 “For since by man [the first Adam] came DEATH, by man also [Christ the Son of man, the “second Adam”] also the RESURRECTION  of the dead. For as in Adam ALL DIE [because of the non-immortality of the soul], even so in Christ [the second Adam, the Creator incarnate as God in  the flesh] shall all be made ALIVE. 
“But every man in his (this) ORDER: Christ the first fruits [the first or preeminent of the resurrectees[; AFTERWARD, they that are in Christ [when] AT HIS COMING. 
“Then cometh the END, when Hs SHALL HAVE delivered up the kingdom of God, when He shall have PUT DOWN all rule and authority and power [‘against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of darkness in this world, against SPIRITUAL wickedness in high places” Eph. 6: 12]. 
“For He [the the first Adam] shall reign [first, as merciful High Priest, Advocate, Intercessor, Mediator, and righteous Judge of all the earth], TILL He hath put ALL ENEMIES under His feet.
“And the LAST ENEMY [as a part of the original enmity and its wages] that shall be DESTROYED is DEATH.” 1 Cor. 15: 19-26; see verses 1-18) 

These, and so very much more, was first intimated and comprehended in the declaration of Genesis 3:15! Follow the rule of First Mention when tracing From Cause to Effect, guided by the Holy Spirit who enables the earnest truth-seeker to discern spiritual things with a spiritual (not carnal or worldly) mind. Such will see that indeed Bible prophecy is but relevant history in advance and Bible history is but prophecy fulfilled! “There is nothing new under the sun.” What was will be but magnified and multiplied as taught in the type-antitype principle.

Only when we intellectually and spiritually invoke by faith, and harness the fullest dynamic powers of the ENMITY God first PUT BETWEEN Satan and his agencies versus His people on earth, will we learn to abhor and HATE SIN and its exceeding sinfulness. Only then can we victoriously, not vicariously “overcome” all the “sins that so easily beset us” even as Christ the second Adam.

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

MID-WEEK MANNA FROM PASTOR NAT’S DESK:
May 10, 2023

God’s Saving Enmity Part
Part 18

THE OFFENSE OF THE CROSS (OF THE CRUCIFIXION OF SELF) HAS NOT CEASED

“As thy days, so shall thy strength be.” Deut. 33: 25, KJV. 

In the Sermon on Mount, recorded in Matthew chapters 5, 6, 7, the promised “Seed of the woman” (Gen. 3:15), the promised Messiah, introduced the nature of the spiritual kingdom He came to install on earth. It was and is so unlike any and all the earthly kingdoms, monarchies, and forms of government of fallen man, past, present, and future.

“Jesus [did not] present to His followers the hope of attaining EARTHLY glory and riches, and of having a life FREE FROM TRIAL, but He presents to them the PRIVILEGE of walking with their Master in the paths of SELF-DENIAL AND REPROACH, because the world knows them not [cf. 1 John :1]. 

“He who came to redeem the lost world was OPPOSED by the united forces of the ADVERSARIES of God and man. In an UNPITYING CONFEDERACY, evil men and evil angels arrayed themselves against the Prince of peace. Though His every word and act breathed of divine compassion, His UNLIKENESS to the world provoked the bitterest HOSTILITY. 

“Because He would give no license [excuse, exemption, justification, occasion] for the exercise of the evil PASSIONS of our [fallen, sinful, human| nature, He aroused the fiercest opposition and ENMITY [beginning with His very own chosen people!].

“So it is with ALL who live godly in Christ [2 Tim. 3:12]. Between righteousness and sin [‘all unrighteousness is sin,’ 1 John 5:17, first part] love and hatred, truth and falsehood, there is an IRREPRESSIBLE CONFLICT. When one presents the love of Christ [revealed in His condescension, incarnation, life of self-denial, self-sacrifice culminating in His substitutionary death on Calvary], he is drawing away the subjects of Satan’s kingdom [all fallen mankind], and the prince of evil [Satan] is aroused to RESIST it. Persecution and reproach await all who are imbued with the Spirit of Christ. The character of the persecution CHANGES with the times: but the PRINCIPLE—the spirit that underlies it—is the SAME that has SLAIN THE CHOSEN of the Lord ever since the days of ABEL. [see Gen. 4:1-16].

“As men seek to come into HARMONY with God, they will FIND that the offense of the cross has not ceased [at Calvary two thousand years ago; meaning? ‘Principalities and powers and wicked spirits in high places’ [Eph. 6:12] are arrayed against all who yield OBEDIENCE to the law of heaven. Therefore, so far from causing GRIEF, persecution should bring JOY to the [true] disciples of Christ; for it is an EVIDENCE that they are following in the steps of their Master. 

“While the Lord has not promised EXEMPTION from trials, He has promised that which is FAR BETTER. He has said, ‘As thy days, so shall thy strength be.’ ‘MY GRACE is sufficient for thee; for MY STRENGTH is made perfect in [your; our] weakness’ (2 Cor. 12:9).

If you are called to go through the FIREY FURNACE for His sake, Jesus will be BY YOUR SIDE, even as He was WITH the faithful three [Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego] in Babylon. Those who LOVE their Redeemer will REJOICE at every opportunity of SHARING with Him [the glory of] His humiliation and reproach! The LOVE they bear for their Lord, makes suffering for His sake SWEET.” E. G. White, Mount of Blessing, pp 49, 50, Pacific Press Publishing Asso., 1943. (All emphasis and words in brackets mine).

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