MID-WEEK MANNA FROM PASTOR NAT’S DESK:
April 5, 2023
God’s Saving Enmity
Part 14
HOW THE ‘PRiNCE OF PEACE’ IS ALSO THE CAUSE OF DIVISION IN THE WORLD
“Shortly BEFORE His crucifixion, Christ bequeathed to His disciples a LEGACY OF PEACE. ‘Peace I leave with you,’ He said, ‘not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” (John 14: 27).
“This peace is NOT the peace that comes through CONFORMITY to the WORLD [meaning, its standards, methods, philosophies, principles, strategies, tastes, trends, styles].
“Christ said of Himself, Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace but a sword.” (Matt. 10: 34). THE PRINCE OF PEACE, HE WAS YET THE CAUSE OF DIVISION. He who came to proclaim glad tidings and create hope and joy in the hearts of men, OPENED A CONTROVERSY that burns deep and arouses intense passions in the human heart.
“And He warns His followers, ‘In the WORLD, ye shall have TRIBULATION.’ ‘They shall lay their hands on you, and PERSECUTE you, delivering you up to the SYNAGOGUES [or churches, religious tribunals], and into PRISONS, being brought forth before kings and rulers for MY NAME’S SAKE.’ Ye shall be BETRAYED both by PARENTS, and BRETHREN [fellow church members], and KINSFOLKS [relatives], and FRIENDS; and some of you shall THEY cause to be put to DEATH.’ (John 10: 33; Luke 21: 12, 16, KJV).
“This prophecy has been fulfilled in a marked manner. Every INDIGNITY, REPROACH, and CRUELTY that Satan could instigate in human hearts [see above for who many are and will be] to devise, has been visited upon the followers of Jesus [particularly during the Dark Ages of papal supremacy, 538-1798 A.D.]
“And it will be AGAIN FULFILLED in a marked manner; [why?] “For the carnal heart is STILL AT ENMITY WITH THE LAW OF GOD, and will not be subject to His commands’ [See Rom. 8: 6-9]. The WORLD is no more in harmony with the PRINCIPLES of Christ TODAY than it was in the days of the apostles!
“The SAME HATRED that prompted the cry, ‘Crucify Him! Crucify Him!’ the SAME HATRED that led to the persecution of the disciples, STILL WORKS IN THE CHILDREN OF DISOBEDIENCE [against the Decalogue]. The SAME SPIRIT which in the Dark Ages consigned men and women to prison, to exile, and to death, which conceived the exquisite torture of the INQUISITION, which planned and executed the MASSACRE OF ST. BARTHOLOMEW [in France], and which kindled the FIRES OF SMITHFIELD, is still at work with MALIGNANT ENERGY IN UNREGENERATE HEARTS [although they have the ‘appearance and form of godliness’].
“The HISTORY OF TRUTH has ever been a record of STRUGGLE between right and wrong. The proclamation of the [genuine] GOSPEL has ever been carried forward in the WORLD in the face of OPPOSITION, PERI, LOSS, AND SUFFERING.” – Mrs. E. G. White, Acts of the Apostles, 1911, pp. 84, 85, Pacific Press Publishing Asso. (All emphases and bracketed words mine).
To be continued next MWM, God willing. Bless all, NMF.