FROM YOUR PASTOR’S DESK:
September 2
CHRIST UPLIFTED: ‘BEHOLD THE SON OF MAN’A-NOT THE ‘MAN OF SIN’! (Part 16)
“He [the Son of man] was in the world, and the world was made (created) by Him, and the world knew Him not. He came to His own (Israel/Jews) 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 in His name, which were BORN, not of BLOOD, nor the will of the FLESH, nor the will of man, but of GOD.” John 1: 9-13, KJV.
“There was no excuse for the BLINDNESS of Israel [and the Jews] in regard to the work of REGENERATION. [Why?]. Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Isaiah had written, ‘We are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousness are as filthy rags.’
David had prayed, ‘Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.’ And through Ezekiel the promise had been given, ‘A new heart will I also give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony [stubborn, rebellious, scheming, proud] heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh. And I will put My Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in My statutes.’ Isa. 64;6; Ps. 51:10; Eze. 36: 26, 27.
“Nicodemus had read these scriptures with a CLOUDED mind; but he now began to comprehend their meaning.” – The Desire of Ages, E. G. White, p. 174, April 1950, PPA.
How about you and me? Have we also been reading the Bible with a clouded mind? How long has this been going on?
(To be continued). Bless all, NMF.