Month: April 2024

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Mid-week Manna

The Law of God and the Cross of Christ Series – No. 8 “THE FIFTH ‘WAY OF ESCAPE’ FOR ALL TEMPTED, FALLEN SINNERS”

MID-WEEK MANNA FROM PASTOR NAT’S DESK:
April 24, 2024

The Law of God and the Cross of Christ Series – No. 8

THE FIFTH ‘WAY OF ESCAPE’ FOR ALL TEMPTED, FALLEN SINNERS

“Thy Word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against Thee.” Ps.119:11, A.V. 

 “Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.” Ps. 119:105.

 “For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and reproof of instruction are the way of life.” Prov. 6:23. 

 “The entrance of Thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding to the simple (humble).” Ps. 119:130.

 “The Words of the Lord are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, PURIFIED SEVEN TIMES. Thou shalt keep them, O Lord, Thou shalt preserve them from this generation forever.” Ps. 12: 6, 7.

“Order my steps in Thy Word; and let not iniquity (sin) have dominion over me.” verse 133.
My son, attend to My Words; incline thine ear to My sayings. Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart. For they are LIFE unto those that find them, and HEALTH to all their flesh. Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life. Put away from thee a froward (deceitful) mouth, and perverse lips put far from thee. Let thine eyes look right on, and let thine eyelids look straight before thee. PONDER THE PATH OF THY FEET, AND LET ALL THY WAYS BE ESTABLISHED. Turn not to the right hand nor to the left: remove thy foot from evil.” Prov. 4:20-27.

“Thou art my HIDING PLACE AND MY SHIELD: I hope in THY WORD.” Ps. 119: 114.

God’s messenger wrote:
“We should make the psalmist’s petitions our own, ‘Open Thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of Thy law.’ Ps. 119:18. TEMPTATIONS OFTEN APPEAR IRRESISTIBLE BECAUSE, through neglect of prayer and the study of the Bible, the TEMPTED ONE CANNOT READILY REMEMBER GOD’S PROMISES AND MEET SATAN WITH SCRIPTURE WEAPONS. But angels are round about those who are willing to taught divine things; and in the TIME OF GREAT NECESSITY, they will bring to remembrance the VERY TRUTHS which are needed. Thus ‘when the enemy shall come in LIKE A FLOOD, the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a STANDARD against him.’ Isa. 59:19.” E. G. White, ‘The ‘Scriptures A Safeguard,’ ch. 37, Great Controversy, 1911 ed.,p. 600.

By faithfully following, as in imaging, Christ’s EXAMPLE in His constant battle against Satan and temptation, arming Himself the Word, with prayer and His own Word, “It is written” and “Thus saith the Lord,” as His armor of defense and weapon of offense, He thereby becomes our SAVIOR FROM yielding to any and all of Satan’s temptations and schemes.

Notice:
“For in that He (Jesus) Himself hath suffered being tempted, He is able to succor (deliver, save) them that are tempted.” Heb 2:18. “For we have not an High Priest who cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities: but was in ALL POINTS tempted like as we are, yet without sin[ning].

Let us therefore COME BOLDLY unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to HELP IN TIME OF NEED.” Heb. 4:15, 16. And thus: “How shall we ESCAPE, if we NEGLECT so great SALVATION; which at first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard Him.” Heb. 2: 3.

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

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Mid-week Manna

The Law of God and the Cross of Christ Series – No. 7 “THE FOURTH ‘WAY OF ESCAPE’ FOR ALL TEMPTED, FALLEN SINNERS”

MID-WEEK MANNA FROM PASTOR NAT’S DESK:
April 17, 2024

The Law of God and the Cross of Christ Series – No. 7

THE FOURTH ‘WAY OF ESCAPE’ FOR ALL TEMPTED, FALLEN SINNERS

 “Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried [by the temptation], he shall receive the crown of life [or ‘the crown that is eternal life’], which the Lord has promised to them that love Him. Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, NEITHER tempteth He any man. BUT every man is tempted, WHEN he is drawn away by his OWN LUST and [thereby] enticed. THEN when lust hath CONCEIVED, it bringeth forth SIN: and sin, when it is FINISHED, bringeth forth DEATH.” James 1:12-15, KJV. (All emphasis and bracketed words mine).

I class this as the fourth “way of escape,” not as a matter of divine chronology or order of importance but because it makes spiritual practical sense, following the first three cited previously.

It is clear here that the apostle describes a process at work, not an instantaneously automatic occurrence, but traceable from cause to effect. The sinful act is the result of several factors and steps. Honestly recognizing, spiritually discerning, and weighing each, intellectually and spiritually, affords the tempted one to pause and “nip it at the bud” preventing it from deteriorating further in the process. Indeed, “an ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure.”

It is as, “Stop, first look left than right before crossing the street.” Or “count the cost” if you really can afford it, or actually need it. Is worth all the risk. That momentary pause to reflect, can be the difference between life and death. As has been said, one moment’s indiscretion, a lifetime of shame and regret! Impulsive-compulsive behavior is intemperance and lack of personal discipline and self-control.

So how does the tempted one “endure,” not yield and succumb to the temptation? Endure by resistance. By what means? By God’s empowering grace. Here’s what the same apostle teaches us:

 “Do you think that the Scripture saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy? But He giveth more grace. Wherefore He saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace to the humble. SUBMIT yourselves therefore to God. RESIST [by grace] the devil, and he will FLEE from you. Draw NEAR to God, and He will draw near to you. CLEANSE your hands, ye sinners; PURIFY your hearts, ye double-minded. Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep [for your sins, pride, stubborness, and double-mindedness]: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness. HUMBLE yourselves in the sight of the Lord [not before man], and HE SHALL LIFT YOU UP.” James 4: 5-10.

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

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Special Message

THIS SPIRITUAL DISEASE IS NOT HOPELESS – Part 29 (No. 11)

SPECIAL MESSAGE FOR WGM TEAM MEMBERS:
April 14, 2024

THIS SPIRITUAL DISEASE IS NOT HOPELESS – Part 29 (No. 11)

“Knowest thou not that thou art wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked.” Rev. 3: 17, A.V.

Poor. Blind. Naked. This startling divine assessment and diagnosis of The Amen, the Faithful Witness directly contradicts what the afflicted Laodicean patient thinks and says of himself, “I am RICH, and increased with GOODS and have need of nothing.”

So who is right? The fallen, sinful, finite, mortal yet strangely self-assured-and-confident patient? Or the infinite, omnipotent, omniscient Healer and Lover of souls whose “scalpel” in His mighty hand is—-“The WORD of God that is quick, alive, powerful, and SHARPER than any two-edged sword, PIERCING even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a DISCERNER of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Neither is there ANY CREATURE that is not manifest in HIS SIGHT. But ALL THINGS ARE NAKED AND OPENED unto the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.” Heb. 4: 12, 13, A.V. (all emphasis mine).

The Testimony of Jesus in the Spirit of Prophecy (Rev. 12:17; 19:10), which is “the lesser light that leads to the greater light” of the Bible, sheds more enlightenment for the humble in heart who “hungers and thirst for righteousness.”

Note:
“Not one of us will EVER RECEIVE the seal of God while our CHARACTERS have one spot or stain upon them. [cf. Eph. 5: 25-27]. It is left with us to remedy the DEFECTS in our characters, to CLEANSE the soul temple [mind and body] of every [moral and spiritual] defilement. Then the latter rain [the promised final outpouring of the Holy Spirit] will fall upon us as the early rain fell upon the [120 prepared] disciples on the Day of Pentecost. [see Acts 2 and 3].

“We are TOO EASILY SATISFIED with our attainments. We feel ‘rich and increased with goods, and know not that we are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked.’ NOW IS THE TIME to heed the admonition of the True Witness!: [Rev. 3: 18 quoted. Read it!].” E. G. White, Vol. 5 Testimonies for the Church, pp. 214-215.

 “With some the knowledge of their TRUE STATE seems to be hidden from them. They SEE the truth, but PERCEIVE NOT its importance or its claims. [The spiritual ‘blindness’]. They HEAR the truth, but do NOT FULLY UNDERSTAND it, BECAUSE they do not conform their lives to it, and therefore are NOT SANCTIFIED through obeying it.[cf. John 17:17].

“And yet they REST AS UNCONCERNED AND WELL SATISFIED as though the cloud by day and pillar of fire by night, as token of God’s favor, went before them. They PROFESS to know God, but in works DENY Him. They reckon themselves HIS chosen, peculiar people, yet His PRESENCE and POWER ‘to save to the uttermost’ are SELDOM MANIFESTED among them. HOW GREAT IS THE DARKNESS OF SUCH! YET THEY KNOW IT NOT.

The light [of advancing present truth] shines but they do not comprehend it. NO STRONGER DELUSION can deceive the human mind than that which MAKES THEM BELIEVE that they are right, and that God ACCEPTS their works, WHEN THEY ARE SINNING AGAINST HIM. They mistake ‘the FORM of GODLINESS for the spirit and power thereof.’ They suppose that they are ‘rich, and have need of nothing, when they are poor, wretched, blind, and naked,’ and need all things!” Ibid, Vol. 1, Testimonies, pp. 406-7.

Indeed! Only the truth as it is in Jesus can set us free from the chains and snares of Satan, the master deceiver.

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

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Special Message

THIS SPIRITUAL DISEASE IS NOT HOPELESS – Part 30 (No. 12)

SPECIAL MESSAGE TO WGM TEAM PARTNERS:
April 22, 2024

THIS SPIRITUAL DISEASE IS NOT HOPELESS – Part 30 (No. 12)

That is, only If the Bible-reading Christian, who professes faith in Christ but in fact and truth, is afflicted and infected by this seventh and last condition (Rev. 3:14-17)—-realizing that the prophesied “hour of temptation which shall come upon the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth” (Rev. 3:10), with the final test of faith, obedience, and true worship of God Creator (Revelation 13, 14), bringing on the “fiery but necessary ordeal of the final sifting” that separates “the chaff from the golden wheat,” finally revealing the church triumphant of the ages, and that on the most sobering, individual level, “his soul may be required of him this night” (Luke 12:20) hastens to do the following by the empowering grace of God in Christ, imparted by the Holy Spirit:
—fully and without any excuses, murmuring, or complaints humbly confesses these sins with its guilt, as revealed in the chastening rebuke of the Faithful and True Witness
—unconditionally surrenders his self-pride and self-righteousness that blinded the eye of faith to Christ’s perfect and perfecting righteousness
—completely submits and yields his will to be swallowed up only in God’s will, as clearly revealed in His law magnified by His life and death, the transcript of His character, the rule of His government, and the foundation of His everlasting throne of perfect and everlasting love, light, truth, mercy, righteousness, and justice, verily the law of life
—“exercises” “godly”
“repentance towards God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.” Acts 20:21; 2 Cor. 7:9, 10).
—pleads for mercy and pardon (justification) by humbly claiming exclusively the merits of Christ’s sacrifice and atoning blood shed at Calvary’s cross—not by any good works he has done in Christ’s service and in His name, or even his perceived faithful commandment-keeping
—renounces these sins of spiritual ignorance and blindness caused by pride of self-righteousness and Peter-like, fatal self-confidence and all others revealed by the conviction of the Holy Spirit upon his conscience through the written or spoken Word of “the law and testimony” (Isa. 8:20; 28: 9-13, etc).
—renews his covenant with God, praying like David, “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from Thy presence; and take not Thy Holy Spirit from me. Restore unto me the joy of Thy salvation; and uphold me with Thy free spirit. Then will I teach transgressors Thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto Thee. Deliver me from blood-guiltiness, O God, Thou God of my salvation: and my tongue shall sing aloud of Thy righteousness.”
(Ps. 51: 10- 14, A.V.).
—re-consecrates his mind and heart and dedicates his time and energy to henceforth, diligently study and understand and faithfully obey and “fill the fullest” all that the divine Physician has prescribed and clearly described as “it is written” in Rev. 3:18, then 19-22. Read them again with the foregoing thoughts only as a background, if you please.

We shall address these in and with more Scripture-detail in the succeeding MWM editions, God willing. Bless all, NMF.

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Mid-week Manna

The Law of God and the Cross of Christ Series- No. 6: THE THIRD ‘WAY OF ESCAPE’

MID-WEEK MANNA FROM PASTOR NAT’S DESK:
April 10, 2024

The Law of God and the Cross of Christ Series- No. 6

THE THIRD ‘WAY OF ESCAPE’

“Let them make Me a sanctuary that I may dwell among them. According to all that I shew thee, after the pattern of the tabernacle, and the pattern of all the instruments thereof, even so shall ye make it.” Exo. 25:8, 9, KJV. (Read chapters 25-31 for more complete picture).

The first of four earthly ones was any tent or temporary dwelling place, but especially the tabernacle erected by Moses at Mt.Sinai, God’s sacred earthly dwelling place and the center of the Hebrew (ancient Israel) worship for more than four centuries. Under the first and last theocracy God was Israel’s direct Supreme Ruler, and in the Most Holy Place of the tabernacle abode the visible glory symbolic of Divine Presence (Exo. 25:22; 40:34, 35), at times called the “Shekinah” glory, which is a Rabbinical, not Biblical term.

In the promised land, king David was privy to the purpose and meaning of the sanctuary and all its systems and services. God gave him all the specifications on how and what it would be built with—but forbade him from actually doing if for he had “bloody hands” as a man of war. It was his son Solomon “the wise man” whom God entrusted with this sacred task and project.

This temple, most often referred to as Solomon’s Temple was constructed on what was formerly called Mt. Moriah, scene of the offering of Isaac by Abraham. Hence, David could and did write, “Thy WAY, O God, is in the SANCTUARY” (Ps. 77:13).

Going back to the beginning:
“It was difficult for man, surrounded by sin, to understand these wonderful truths [embodied in the first promise and prophecy of Gen. 3:15]. The rays of light [of the gospel truth] which shone from the heavenly sanctuary upon the [very first] simple sacrifices [offered by Adam, Abel, Seth, etc.], were so obscured by doubt and sin, that God, in His great love and mercy, had an EARTHLY SANCTUARY built after the divine pattern [in heaven], and PRIESTS were [divinely] appointed [not people-elected], who served unto the EXAMPLE AND SHADOW of heavenly things.’ (Heb. 8:5). This was done that the man’s FAITH might lay hold of the fact that IN HEAVEN there is a SANCTUARY whose SERVICES are for the REDEMPTION of [fallen, sinful] mankind.

“The prophet Jeremiah grasped this great truth, and exclaimed, ‘A glorious high throne from the beginning is the place of our sanctuary.’ (Jer. 17:12). David knew of God’s dwelling place in heaven [the ‘Father’s house,’ John 13:1-3, and when writing for the generations to come, he said, ‘He (God) had looked down from the height of His sanctuary; from heaven did the Lord behold the earth.’ (Ps. 102:19).

The faithful ones have always understood that when they sought God with ALL THE HEART, their PRAYER came up to His holy dwelling-place, even unto heaven.’ (2 Chron. 30: 27).”
S. Haskell, The Cross and Its Shadow, pp. 21, 22, Facsimile Reproduction, Printed by Review & Herald Publishing Asso., 1914. (All emphasis and bracketed words mine)

Review 1 Cor. 10:13 again with these added light that should strengthen, resolve, as it increases intelligent faith in God and the ways of escape He has made that all may successfully bear and endure, not yield to any and all of Satan’s deceptions and temptations!

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

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Special Message

THIS SPIRITUAL DISEASE IS NOT HOPELESS – Part 28 (No. 10)

SPECIAL MESSAGE TO WGM TEAM MEMBERS:
April 9, 2024

THIS SPIRITUAL DISEASE IS NOT HOPELESS – Part 28 (No. 10)

“Knowest not that thou art wretched.” Rev. 3:17.

The prophesied, not foreordained nor predestined, decline of the initially ardent and zealous believers in the advent movement, into the dangerous comfort zone of self-confidence, mostly unintentional, has betrayed them into already feeling “safe and sound” in the excellence of the Biblical soundness of their doctrinal beliefs as being consistent and true “to the faith once delivered to the saints”(Jude 3), is, in fact, happening at the worst possible time period—during the pre-advent, Investigative Judgment, and when a “woe,” not a blessing, has been pronounced “upon the inhabitants of the earth and sea, for Satan has come down with GREAT WRATH upon us “knowing he has but A SHORT TIME” (Rev. 12: 12).

This particular Satanic wrath finds its deadliest, most fiendish and soul-destroying form in the temptation of DECEPTION, the same one he deployed in heaven and the same one he employed in Eden, causing the corresponding fall in each occasion.

While it is true that “there is safety in numbers,” that is, in true spiritual unity and harmony, the exact opposite is starkly true on its flip-side, as attested to by both sacred and secular history, which is, there is even “greater danger in numerical superiority” because the “truth as it is in Jesus and the tested true and faithful followers of God on earth, have, since the beginning, always been found in the minority.

This continues up until the final, living “church triumphant” emerges, as revealed in the parallel passages of Revelation 7:1-8 and 14:1-5, the latter a natural continuum of Rev. chapter 13 preceding it, whence “the beast, its image, mark, name, and number” are revealed.

Described as the second of the six manifestations of end-time lukewarmness, this “wretchedness”, like all the rest, is spiritual in nature, a moral character issue; hence, individual eternal destinies are at stake. To ignore or belittle this diagnosis is self-deception that ends in self-condemnation—a wretched state indeed!

Quite interestingly, in the KJV or Authorized Version, “wretched” appears only twice, and “wretchedness” only once in Num. 11:15. In the former, Paul confessed in his yet-unconverted condition, “O WRETCHED man that I am! Who shall deliver me from this body of death?” (Rom. 7:24).

“Wretched” here is the untranslated Greek talaiporos, “enduring trial, i.e., miserable,” the same word used to describe the Laodicean condition. The word “miserable” is also used very sparingly, three times only in the Bible, Rev. 3:17 and 1 Cor. 15:19 both the Greek eleeinos, meaning “pitiable.” In Num. 11:15 we read Moses plaintively pleading with God as he singularly deals with a burden the size of a murmuring, stubborn Israel: “I am not able to bear all this people alone, because it is too heavy for me. And if Thou deal thus with me, kill me, I pray Thee, out of hand, if I have found favor in Thy sight; and let me not see my WRETCHEDNESS.” Num. 11: 15, 16. (Read the whole chapter as a parallel to Exo.16 and see for yourself what Moses had to put up with for 40 years. No wonder the Bible anoints him as “the meekest of all men.”

“Wretchedness” here is the untranslated Hebrew “rah,” meaning “bad or evil; adversity, affliction, distress, calamity, harm.”

For Jesus to describe the Laodicean to be both “miserable” and “pitiable”’even without yet considering the rest of the manifestations should be be more than enough cause one to quickly “examine ourselves and prove ourselves whether we are really in the faith of Jesus, and can stand before Him in our individual judgment!

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

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Special Message

THIS SPIRITUAL DISEASE IS NOT HOPELESS – Part 27 (No. 9)

SPECIAL MESSAGE FOR WGM TEAM MEMBERS:
April 7, 2024

THIS SPIRITUAL DISEASE IS NOT HOPELESS – Part 27 (No. 9)

It will turn malignant and terminal if the pointed messages from Christ coursed through His chosen instruments are persistently ignored and even ridiculed and rejected. If this, it is a clear evidence that that disease has made deadly inroads already. Hereunder are more of such warning messages (all emphasis mine):

The message to the church of the Laodiceans is a STARTLING DENUNCIATION, and is applicable to people of God AT THE PRESENT TIME.

[Rev. 3:14-17 quoted]:
“The Lord here shows us that the message to be borne to His people BY MINISTERS whom He has called to WARN the people IS NOT A PEACE-AND-SAFETY MESSAGE. It is not merely theoretical [or doctrinal], but PRACTICAL in every particular.

“The people of God [not the heathen, unbeliever, or worldling] are represented in the message to the Laodiceans as in position of CARNAL SECURITY. They are AT EASE, believing themselves to be in an exalted condition of SPIRITUAL ATTAINMENTS. [Rev. 3: 17 quoted]. 

“What GREATER DECEPTION can come upon human MINDS than a confidence that they are right when they are all wrong! The message of the True Witness finds the people of God in SAD DECEPTION; YET HONEST IN THAT DECEPTION. They know not that their condition is DEPLORABLE in the sight of God. 

“While those addressed are FLATTERING THEMSELVES that they are in an exalted spiritual condition, the message of the True Witness BREAKS THEIR SECURITY by the starling denunciation of their TRUE condition of SPIRITUAL blindness, poverty, and wretchedness. The testimony, SO CUTTING AND SEVERE, cannot be a mistake, for it is the True Witness who speaks [as in ‘Thus saith the Lord;’ ‘It is written’], and HIS testimony must be correct.

“It is DIFFICULT for those who feel secure in their attainments, and imagine themselves to be rich in spiritual knowledge, to receive the message that declares that they are DECEIVED AND IN NEED OF EVERY SPIRITUAL GRACE. [Here’s why]:

The UNSANCTIFIED HEART ‘is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked.

“I was shown that MANY are flattering themselves that they are GOOD CHRISTIANS, who have NOT a ray of light from Jesus. They HAVE NOT a living experience FOR THEMSELVES IN THE DIVINE LIFE. They need a deep and thorough work of SELF ABASEMENT before God [not before man, the public, or the church community] BEFORE they will feel their TRUE NEED of earnest, persevering effort to SECURE the precious graces of the [Holy] Spirit.” - E. G. White, Vol. 3 Testimonies for the Church, pp. 252-3.

I want you to know that, as a personal testimony, such “two-edged sword” messages are what awakened me to my true spiritual condition, not mere church attendance—and drove me to really “ask, seek, and knock” for the Holy Spirit to convict, convince, enlighten, and guide me as I sought to “rightly divide the Word of God.”

I can only hope and pray that you will be similarly, not identically, inspired to do the same individually. Bless all, NMF.

Categories
Mid-week Manna

The Law of God and the Cross of Christ Series – No. 5: THE FIRST AND SECOND ‘WAYS OF ESCAPE’ SUMMARY

MID-WEEK MANNA FROM PASTOR NAT’S DESK:
April 3, 2024

The Law of God and the Cross of Christ Series – No. 5

THE FIRST AND SECOND ‘WAYS OF ESCAPE’ SUMMARY

The first “way of escape” God provided for our first parents and all their children, mankind itself, was the divine “enmity” He immediately “put” between Satan disguised as a serpent, the first of all spiritualistic mediums thereafter, between the woman Eve, the mother of mankind and their respective “seed.”

This enmity had no existence prior and neither were Adam and Eve originally designed and made from the dust of the ground (never from “spirit”) physically or especially spiritually, programmed or wired so to speak with this one-off function and power, or even a special gift” as “a way of escape.”

The word itself “escape,” meaning “to break free or flee from,” “unshackle,” gives the transformed yet finite and mortal (no longer carnal) SPIRITUAL MIND of the true follower of Christ and diligent student of the Word some idea of this great “mystery of iniquity” in stark contrast to the “great mystery of godliness” as was and is manifest in the incarnated Creator Christ Jesus.

Hence the absolute indispensability of a genuine and full conversion of the sinner previously possessing a “carnal mind,” being “transformed by the renewing of that mind” into “the mind of Christ” (Rom. 12:2, 1; Phil. 2:5-2). Only such a mind can “discern spiritual things,” and “set their affections on things above” that are eternal, not temporal in value. (Col. 3:2; 2 Cor. 4:18). Paul reminds all: “Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither can it be.” (Rom. 8: 6-8).

The second “way of escape” God provided for man after the fall in Eden was intentionally both visceral and instructional, divinely-designed by its shock value to emphasize the exceeding sinfulness of sin and thereby cherish hatred towards it—-the killing and shedding of its blood of the very first yearling male lamb as a burnt offering on the first stone altar, set up just outside the gates of the garden of Eden.

If revealed to the fallen father and mother of mankind that indeed “sin is the transgression of the law” and that its “wages is death.” That the only hope the transgressor has is not “to do away with the law” but for someone pure and innocent of any sin to volunteer to take the place of the guilty and condemned one as his substitute and surety.

This is the only living-sacrifice, ransom and redemption price demanded by God’s immutable law of righteousness that had been transgressed: the life of the transgressor. Nothing else or less could suffice or could take its place as the only acceptable atoning sacrifice. It was only then that indeed “the law was to be magnified and made honorable” by the Law giver himself. (Isa. 32:21).

It was this first of all typical animal sacrifices, especially and specifically the lamb, in contrast to the other specified clean animals such as goats, bullocks, and doves. All were types or “shadows” of the great Antitypical Lamb of God who would offer Himself four thousand years later at Calvary’s Cross!

At this pivotal point in the plan of redemption type would meet antitype, shadow its substance when all the system of sacrifices and the system of the priesthood, instituted by Christ himself under the ceremonial law governing them, would be “nailed to the cross” with Christ.

The GOSPEL IN SYMBOLS—-with the law of Ten Commandments originally written with God’s finger on two tables of stone secreted within the ark of the covenant/testament/testimony that stood alone in the most holy apartment of the earthly tabernacle/ sanctuary on earth, that was always set in the midst of the encampment of Israel and preceded them in all their travels—-as taught in the Old Testament of the Mosaic-Levitical dispensation to and through ancient Israel as a nation—-would then transition to the GOSPEL IN CHRIST through the Holy Spirit in the New Testament Church of the Christian Era till Christ returns in His second advent.

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