Friday Morning Manna March 1, 2019
Nathaniel Fajardo
email: [email protected]
Exploring Dimensions of the Mysteries of Godliness and Iniquity Under the Blowing of the Seventh Trumpet
God through Moses, declared, “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but those things which arerevealed belong to us and to our children forever.” Deut. 29: 29, N.K.J.V.
In the context of “the finishing of the mystery of God” during the present blowing of the seventh trumpet (Rev. 10:7), the two “belongs” in the Scripture verse above presents additional significance on top of what appears on its surface: both mean the same thing but apply to two entirely different entities, occupying two different realms on two different times and situations.
The first belong belongs to divinity; the latter, to humanity. To humanity, only when revealed by the Owner of and Revealer of secrets (Dan. 2: 27); but to divinity, it remains always and forever.
Belong, according to Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary means (emphasis mine): “To be connected with, as an adjunct, attribute, function, duty, part, or the like; to be theproperty of; to be attached or bound to or connected with.”
These true definitions of belong—with emphasis on connected with, duty, property of, attached or bound to—should help jump-start introspection leading to a deeper sense of our responsibility and accountability to three different entities. To fail to realize and quickly act on the spiritual awakening this should trigger, is triple jeopardy. How?
First, we grieve and even insult Jesus Christ. Unlike man, God Creator in the flesh never makes unofficial, unessential, whimsical or knee-jerk decisions in finishing up what He started in the Godhead’s plan to save sinners, fully vindicate the Father’s maligned name and character of love, mercy and justice, and to restore His usurped divine authority, as magnified in His law. God’s choice is a super-grand dimensional expression of His will. So, when He so chooses to reveal to fallen man those previously withheld secrets that belong to Him, that choice, in itself is already a test to us, it being intended for our safety and salvation.
Second and thirdly—we and our children—the second commandment says, “visiting the iniquity of the fathers unto the children to the third and fourth generation of them that hate Me.” Exo. 20: 5, 6. Whether by omission or commission both are equally sin. In man’s perverted moral scale of balances, the former is deemed lesser in gravity than the latter. The Church of Rome grades these as “venial” and “cardinal.” Nowhere in the Bible can such be found and has to be one of those “many inventions (schemes, N.K.J.V) of man.” Eccl.7: 29, K.J.V.
This side of the resurrection, the origin of sin is still enshrouded in the mystery of iniquity. But an aspect of the latter was immediately revealed to Adam and Eve before the fall—so that they would not be deceived into disobedience (commission) and fall deeper under the spell of the mystery of iniquity—that sin is simply “the transgression of God’s law.” 1 John 3: 4. Now that is aspect is no longer a mystery or mysterious so that one needs another definition of it. It was plainly defined, and then its consequences so graphically manifested and painfully experienced by mankind and the earth itself since after the fall, revealing how evil, destructive and hateful its real nature is. One would rightfully think no rational being would continue sinning (the cause) and suffering its immediate consequences (the effect), let alone its eternal reward of death which has no resurrection. But the general mystery of iniquity from the beginning, whose specific aspect and prominent role in negatively shaping the church’s history of seven stages, Apostle Paul revealed was: “the mystery of iniquity doth already work” within the young church during his watch and ministry. 2 Thess. 2: 7.
When sin and iniquity is not dealt with according to the only plan of redemption, so meticulously laid out in simple yet exquisite (not esoteric) details in the typical earthly sanctuary and its services, He “who changes not” repeats the same unchanging warning He gave to Adam and Eve in their first test and probation, which they failed–in its New Testament setting. He said: “the wages of sin, is death.” Rom. 6: 23. This will never change, as hard and as persistently as Satan and his religious and scientific agencies have ever been trying to. In this round and in this sense, Satan lost to Christ again, till he can lose no more when he and all his host of fallen angels and incorrigibly wicked human agencies have been totally blotted out of existence at the end of the true millennium that commences at His coming.
If we are parents or parenting in any capacity either biologically or spiritually, or both, we are duty-bound to thoroughly familiarize ourselves with all the secrets God has already unsealed though His prophet-messengers—that we might by precept and example “teach them diligently to our children, and shall talk of them when we sit in our house, when walk by the way, when lie down, and when we rise up.” Deut. 6: 7; cf.11: 22-23. This is also what is comprehended in the familiar injunction: “Train up a child in the way that he should go” (Prov. 22: 6). We must also factor into this the admonition for adults, especially those already claiming senior citizen benefits, who are literally counting their days, to: “Teach usto number our days that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.” Ps. 90: 12. The N.K.J. V has it as “gain a heart of wisdom.”
The second month of 2019 ends six days from today (Friday). Yes, that fast but still “early enough” to catch up and make (if you did not) the resolution to drive the shaft of investigation much deeper than you’ve ever done into the rich mines of Bible truth, particularly the prophecies already revealed and “the deep things of God,” both of which can only be “spiritually discerned” ( ). Scoop up as much as you quickly can, at every dig and find, and then hold them real close to your breast (heart and mind). Spiritual thieves and robbers are crouching at every corner and bend waiting to snatch these invaluable treasures from you. Additionally, charlatans and glib-tongued, smooth-operators galore—many of them standing behind and shielded by the pulpit, or wear sacerdotal clothes adorned with crosses–are on every hand to try to sweet-talk, bait-and-switch, or even hypnotize you (if you allow them as Eve did) into either “selling for a whopping amount” or trading away these imperishable yet still-invisible treasures for the instant dazzling treasures, riches, adulation and honors of the world.
While God immortal “has all the time in the world” (a Heritage Singers’ song), we mortals don’t. The truth is we are living on borrowed time, from which life that enables time as we know it, proceeds only from the Life giver whose life is original, unborrowed and underived. God in Christ is the great I AM—meaning, not subject to time or circumstance; boundless, immeasurable, without beginning or end; no pre-existence or post-existence. Often however, mortal and finite man presumptuously acts and “plans ahead of time” or “plans for their future” as though tomorrow belonged to him and is the master of his own destiny. This is a prideful and presumptuous sin.
This is not the same as the vibrant hopefulness and buoyant positivity born from the experience of uniting one’s will with God’s, following His footsteps by faith– confirming for ourselves that He indeed fulfills all His promises (as with His prophecies) when we appropriate all the provisions that come with each promise as a whole package in order to obey all His commandments. Only then, shall we reap with joy what we sow.
As it were, we are still on board the gospel boat sailing down the prophetic stream. From our vantage point of sitting by the window, we have been witnessing, in wonder or alarm, the world and its frenzied activities whizzing by. If we have not allowed ourselves to become so entertained, engrossed and distracted by these mesmerizing, sights, sounds and smells so that we have lost sight and connection with the goal and final destiny of this trip, then we know we have already passed almost all of the prophetic milestones marking this journey from its outset—either starting from the fall of man or from 1844 and onward, using the prophetic GPS.
Rapidly winding down time (of individual age and general probation) and dwindling opportunities remain for all living today to accomplish what we failed to do, as a people and individuals, when it was much easier between the years 1844 and 1888. (The 1888 crisis).
We need to “redeem the time for the days are evil.” Eph. 5: 16. And the only way we can do this–since we cannot recall a single minute that has passed on to eternity—is to make the best of whatever remains. God promised to bless and prosper such efforts. He said, go work on the plan of addition, I will work on the plan of multiplication. This assurance is also embodied as a principle in the parable of the laborers, or the “eleventh-hour workers.”
The God that we serve “is not the author of confusion” (1 Cor. 14:33). Many find their church doctrines, and religion as a whole, confusing and self-contradicting. But instead of rolling up their sleeves and finding out why by searching the Scriptures–they lazily sweep these under the rug, as it were. When suddenly the rug gets pulled out under them, their lofty towers of expectations come crashing down; dreams turn into nightmares. But again, instead of doing the right thing of humbling themselves and (re) turning to God, they give up and, in a huff abandon all things spiritual and become an agnostic. From the pan they jump into the fire.
Score? Satan wins. But it began with a method to his evil madness—using the corrupted versions of “church” and “religion” as the mechanisms to continue working the spiritualistic magic of one of his oldest strategies. And the churches and people seem to never learn.
“The Revealer of secrets” has revealed that the “deep things of God” are those only directly connected with and material to the plan of salvation and impact the great controversy. Anything outside of these, though appearing to be the real thing but are shrouded in mysticism are but elaborate deceptions resulting in confusion. A confused mind is a sitting duck for Satan’s hunting guns and bullet-lies. His strategy stealth, and patience, a long-game. Deception and disinformation in all its forms bring distrust towards the truth, the Bible, and God himself.
God said that what will eventually belong to us are first revealed to and through His true messenger-prophets. He identified them as those only who “speak the word according to the law and testimony if not there is no light in them” (Isa. 8: 20), Furthermore, “by their fruits you shall know them” and these are “fruits unto righteousness.” Matt. 17: 16-20; James 3: 18.
These are the Biblical diagnostic tools spiritual DNA tests that clearly distinguish truth from error, the genuine from its counterfeits, the innocent from the guilty, the perpetrator from the victim. Thus equipped, we are placed on vantage ground to function as trustworthy “minutemen” and “watchman of the night” (Isa. 21:11, 12) to quickly spot and “blow the trumpet with a certain sound,” warning the unwary flock of the stealthy approach of the enemy with his “mysteries of iniquity.” True, they are unnumbered but fear not nor be overwhelmed. God in wisdom and power and “mercy towards us,” packed them into manageable bunches, marking them clearly as the main actors as well and the main trunks of deception. That’s the burden of the third angel’s message and the blowing of the seventh trumpet.
The Origin of Sin and the Mystery of Iniquity
“To many minds the origin of sin and the reason for its existence are a source of perplexity. In their interest in these questions, the truths plainly revealed in God’s Word and essential to salvation are neglected; and the fact that the Scriptures furnish no explanation, is seized upon as an excuse for rejecting the words of the Holy Writ.
“It is impossible to explain the origin of sin, or to give a reason for its existence. It is an intruder for whose existence no reason can be given. It is mysterious, unaccountable; to excuse it, is to defend it. Could be excuse, could a cause be shown for its existence, it would cease to be sin. Our only definition of sin is that given in the Word of God; it is ‘the transgression of the law.’ 1 John 3: 4, K.J.V..”- E. G. White, Spirit of Prophecy, Vol. 4, 1884, p. 316.
As God’s process of communicating with men, the revelation of secrets do not end with the chosen messenger-prophets. They do not become demi-gods. The loop of communication is not completed even when it reaches fallen man; it has to finally return to the Giver, its mission completed and purpose accomplished. God’s divine guaranty is: “So shall My word be that goes from My mouth; it shall not return to Me void, but it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.” Isa. 55: 11. (Continued next week)