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Mid-week Manna

The Third Person of the Godhead Series – Part 19: SIN REPROVER; WITNESSES TO RIGHTEOUSNESS

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

The Third Person of the Godhead Series – Part 19

SIN REPROVER; WITNESSES TO RIGHTEOUSNESS

Read John 16:8-11 first. Now this from the inspired writer (all emphasis and bracketed words supplied):
“The OFFICE of the Holy Spirit is distinctly specified in the words of Christ: ‘When He is come He will REPROVE [convict] the world of SIN, and of RIGHTEOUSNESS, and of JUDGMENT.’ (John 16:8). It is the Holy Spirit that convicts of sin. If the sinner RESPONDS to the QUICKENING INFLUENCE of the Holy Spirit, he will be brought to REPENTANCE, and aroused [awakened] to the importance of OBEYING the divine requirements.”

NOTE: God’s requirements of divine love, wisdom, mercy, and justice are also the terms of His everlasting covenant- relationship with all His intelligent creatures—specifically man, created alone “in His own image and likeness.”

These are definitively defined in the Ten Commandments which He wrote twice with His own finger on two different occasions on two tables of stone and handed over to Moses to give to ancient Israel under the Old Covenant dispensation.

And in the New Covenant, New Testament dispensation of the church, it is “written in the hearts and minds of the individual members of each of the seven church periods as named in Revelation chapters 2 and 3.

“To the repentant [contrite, not proud, spiritually self-confident Laodicean believers], hungering and thirsting for RIGHTEOUSNESS [see Matt. 5: 5, 10] the Holy Spirit REVEALS the Lamb of God that TAKETH AWAY [not overlooks, covers up, excuses, justifies] THE SIN of the world. ‘He [the Holy Spirit] shall RECEIVE of Mine [righteousness] and shall SHOW it unto you,’ Christ said. ‘He shall TEACH you all things, and bring all things to REMEMBRANCE, whatsoever I have said unto you.’ (John 16:14; 14: 26). 

“The Holy Spirit is given [by the Father through the Son as His Successor and Vicegerent in earth since after His ascension to these closing hours of earth’s probation] to be a REGENERATING AGENCY [in behalf of the Father in the Son] to make EFFECTUAL the salvation wrought by the DEATH of our Redeemer. 

“The Holy Spirit  is CONSTANTLY seeking to draw the attention of [fallen, sinful] men to the GREAT OFFERING made on the cross of Calvary, to UNFOLD to the world the LOVE of God, and to open to the CONVICTED SOUL the PRECIOUS THINGS of the Scriptures.”

NOTE: God unconditionally loves the SINNER with ‘perfect love’ while He unconditionally hates SIN with ‘perfect hatred.’ In this divine dichotomy are embodied the opposing natures and principles constantly working in the “enmity” of the great controversy between Christ and Satan and the plan of salvation of the gospel to redeem all that was lost to sin and Satan.

 “Having [first] brought conviction of sin, and presented before the mind the STANDARD OF RIGHTEOUSNESS [the law that Christ Himself ‘magnified and made honorable’ by His substitutionary death, Isa. 42:21], the Holy Spirit WITHDRAWS THE AFFECTIONS from the things of the earth ], and FILLS the soul with a DESIRE FOR HOLINESS [also ‘the hunger and thirst for righteousness sake.’ See Matt. 5: 6, 10]. 

 “He will GUIDE YOU INTO ALL TRUTH’ (John 16:13), the Savior declared. If men are WILLING to be molded, there will be brought about a SANCTIFICATION of the whole being [is God’s will, 1 Thess. 4:3]. The Spirit will take the things of God and STAMP [seal] them on the soul. By His power the WAY OF LIFE [‘the straight and narrow’] will be made SO PLAIN THAT NONE NEED ERR [be misled; deceived].” -E. G. White, Acts of the Apostles, pp. 52, 53, Pacific Press Publishing Asso., 1911.

Now, just with these sobering yet inspiring revelations of the Holy Sprit’s divine person, presence, office, authority, power, and closing work on earth before its six-thousand year probation ends, who dares to doubt, belittle, deny, and grieve Him away, finally committing the unpardonable sin—“the most common manifestation of which is persistently refusing to accept heaven’s invitation to repent!”

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

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Special Message

THE DIFFERENT CLASSES TO WHOM THIS MESSAGE IS MEANT

SPECIAL MESSAGE TO WGM TEAM PARTNERS:
July 12, 2024

The Straight Testimony to the Laodiceans Series

THE DIFFERENT CLASSES TO WHOM THIS MESSAGE IS MEANT

Hereunder are specific examples, both individuals and classes of people to whom the Straight Testimony of the “Amen, the Faithful and True Witness” applies to. (All emphasis and bracketed words mines):

 “The PROUD HEART strives to earn salvation; but both our TITLE to heaven [thru justification by faith] and our FITNESS for it [thru sanctification by faith] are found in the RIGHTEOUSNESS of Christ. The Lord can do nothing for the recovery of man [from the degradation of sin] until, convinced of his OWN WEAKNESS, and stripped of all SELF-SUFFICIENCY he yields himself to the control of God. Then he can receive the GIFT that God is waiting to bestow.”

Q. What gift is this? “From the soul that feels his need, nothing is withheld. He has UNRESTRICTED ACCESS to Him ‘in whom all fullness [of the Godhead dwells [bodily, Col. 2:9; 1:19]. ‘For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place [of the heavenly sanctuary], with him ALSO that is of a contrite and humble spirit not with the proud and self-sufficient Laodicean], to REVIVE the spirit of the humble, and revive the heart of the contrite ones.’ Isa. 57: 15, A.V. “- E. G. White, Desire of Ages, p. 300.

“In the days of Christ THE RELIGIOUS LEADERS of the people felt that they were RICH IN SPIRITUAL TREASURE. The prayer of the Pharisee, ‘God, I thank Thee, that I am not as the rest of men’ (Luke 18:11, R.V.), expressed the feelings of HIS CLASS [the religious hierarchy] and, to a great degree, of the WHOLE NATION. But in throng that surrounded Jesus there were SOME who had a sense of their SPIRITUAL POVERTY. When in the miraculous draft of the fishes the divine power of Christ was revealed, Peter fell at the Savior’s feet, exclaiming, ‘Depart from me; for I AM A SINFUL MAN, O Lord’ (Luke 5:8); so in the MULTITUDE gathered upon the mount, there were souls who, IN THE PRESENCE OF CHRIST’S PURITY, felt that they were

‘wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind and naked’ (Rev. 3:17); and they longed ‘for the grace that bringeth salvation’ (Titus 2:11). In these souls, Christ’s words of greeting awakened HOPE; they saw that their lives were under the BENEDICTION of God.” -Ibid, Mount of Blessing, pp. 6, 7.

It is only those who humbly accept “the Amen and True Witness’s stern, yet soul-saving rebuke that they are spiritually-bankrupt as “wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked” instead of self-confidently thinking they are already “rich and increased with goods, and have no need for anything more” whose lives are under the benevolent power of God in Christ through the Holy Spirit. They have the “hope that does not deceive nor disappoints!

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

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Mid-week Manna

The Third Person of the Godhead Series – Part 18 : BETTER THAN PERSONAL PRESENCE OF THE CREATOR’S INCARNATED NATURE

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

The Third Person of the Godhead Series – Part 18

BETTER THAN PERSONAL PRESENCE OF THE CREATOR’S INCARNATED NATURE

Jesus said to His first disciples (all emphasis supplied):
“BELIEVE ME that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me: or else believe Me FOR THE VERY WORKS SAKE. Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that BELIEVETH IN ME, the WORKS that I do shall he do also; and GREATER WORKS THAN THESE SHALL HE DO, because I go unto My Father. . . . And I will pray the Father, and He shall give you ANOTHER COMFORTER, that He may ABIDE WITH YOU FOREVER; even the Spirit of truth.” John 14: 11, 12, 16, 17.

“Go ye therefore, and TEACH all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: teaching them observe ALL THINGS I have commanded you: and, lo, I AM WITH YOU ALWAY, EVEN UNTO THE END OF THE WORLD.” Matt. 18: 19, 20.

  1. How could the disciples “do greater things than Jesus their Master, verily God in the flesh, did? Surely He who is “the way, the TRUTH, and the life” spoke nothing but the truth. So what did He really mean?
    1. How could they remember all that He taught in order for them to teach these “to all nations” after He returned to the Father, when on several occasions they could not even understand His parables? He even said, “I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now.” John 16:12.
    2. Since He was soon to die at Calvary, resurrect “on the third day” and forty days later (Acts 1: 1-3; 1 Cor. 15: 1-8, etc.), in the presence of the Twelve, visibly ascend to heaven in His glorified incarnated human nature—how could He promise them He would still be “with them alway even unto the end of the world?”

Ah! All these and much more would be enabled and accomplished through the divine power of the Third Person of the Godhead, Christ’s invisible presence in and through His Successor on earth after His ascent, according for the divine plan of redemption. Because “these three [Persons] are one” (1 John 5:7, A.V.) the “fullness of the Godhead” resides both in the Father and the Holy Spirit, but in Christ the only-begotten, “it pleased the Father that “in Him should dwell all the fulness of the Godhead BODILY” (Col. 2: 9; 1:19) both in the work of Creation (Gen. 1:1; John 1:1-3, 10; Col. 1: 13-18; Heb. 1: 1, 2, 8-12; the work of Redemption, beginning in “the mystery of godliness in the incarnation. Furthermore, Christ alone is “the brightness of the glory” and EXPRESS image of the person of the Father” (Heb. 1: 2, 3)!

E. G. White, God’s servant, magnifies these precious truths (all emphasis and bracketed words mine):
“Before offering Himself as the sacrificial victim [the Lamb of God], Christ sought for the MOST ESSENTIAL AND COMPLETE GIFT to bestow upon His followers, a gift that would bring within their reach the boundless resources of GRACE. [John 14: 16-18 quoted].

“BEFORE THIS the Spirit  had been in the world [since beginning of creation]; [and then] from the very beginning of the work of redemption He had been MOVING UPON MEN’S HEARTS. But while Christ [in His adopted human nature from the incarnation] was on earth, the disciples had desired no other Helper. Not until they were DEPRIVED of His [physical, visible] PRESENCE would they FEEL their need of the Spirit, and then He would come. 

 “The Holy Spirit is Christ’s Representative [Successor; Vicegerent; Vicar], but DIVESTED OF THE PERSONALITY OF HUMANITY, and INDEPENDENT thereof. 

“CUMBERED with [the natural limitations of] HUMANITY, Christ COULD NOT BE IN EVERY PLACE PERSONALLY. Therefore it was for their interest that He should go to the Father, and send the Spirit to be His Successor on earth. NO ONE could then have ANY ADVANTAGE because of his LOCATION or his PERSONAL CONTACT with Christ. By the [Holy] Spirit He would be ACCESSIBLE TO ALL. In this sense He would be NEARER TO THEM than if He had not ascended on high.” - Desire of Ages, pp. 668-9, Pacific Press Publishing Asso., New Edition, 1950.

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

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Mid-week Manna

The Third Person of the Godhead Series – Part 17: THE EFFICIENCY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

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

The Third Person of the Godhead Series – Part 17

THE EFFICIENCY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

  1. A Divine Agency at Creation:
    The opening words of the Bible, declaring the genesis of all things beginning with the work of creation, immediately introduces to fallen mankind the presence and first works of the Holy Spirit, here called “the Spirit of God.” (All emphasis supplied).
    “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the SPIRIT OF GOD moved upon the waters.” Gen. 1: 1, 2, KJV.

The “Spirit of God” at work with the Creator at creation is one and the same as “the Spirit of God” working in His duly appointed capacities in both the Old and New Testament dispensations and in the plan of redemption.

Please read the following verses for yourselves from your own Bibles, preferably the KJV (or Authorized Version, A.V.), or the Revised Standard Version (RSV), not the NIV or other versions.
OT: Gen. 41: 38; Exo. 31:3; 35:31; Num. 24:2; 1 Sam. 10:10; 11: 6; 19: 20, 23; Job 27:3; 33: 4; NT: Matt. 3: 16; 12: 28; Rom. 8: 9, 14; 15: 19; 1 Cor. 2: 11, 14; 3: 16, 6: 11; 7: 40; 12: 3; 2 Cor. 3: 3; EPH. 4: 30; 1 Pet. 4: 14; 1 John 4:2.

Indeed! A veritable “battalion” of “It is written,” and “Thus saith the Lord” attesting to and defending the awesome truth that the Holy Spirit, the third Person of the Godhead is specifically identified in these verses as “the Spirit of God,” the same in beginning of creation!

  1. The Comforter as The Spirit of Truth:
    Just before taking His last painful steps in His blood-stained path leading to Calvary to die as the Father’s divine Sacrificial Lamb of God for fallen mankind, Jesus promised His first Twelve grieving disciples:
    “And I will pray the Father, and He shall give you ANOTHER COMFORTER, that He may abide with you FOREVER. Even the SPIRIT OF TRUTH; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth Him not, neither knoweth Him: but ye know Him; for He DWELLETH WITH YOU, and shall be IN YOU. I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you [through the Spirit of Truth ].” John 14: 16, 17 (all emphasis and bracketed words supplied).

Ponder these precious thoughts in your hearts and minds, praying for fresh supplies of grace imparted alone by the Holy Spirit. To be continued next MWM, God willing. Bless all, NMF.

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Mid-week Manna

The Third Person of the Godhead Series – Part 16: THE EFFICIENCY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

MID-WEEK MANNA FROM PASTOR NAT’S DESK:

The Third Person of the Godhead Series – Part 16

THE EFFICIENCY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

Starting from the divine work of glorious creation, and after the fall in Eden, down throughout all the generations thereafter, the divine work of redemption of the gospel designed to reconcile fallen, sinful man with God in Christ separated by sin, reaches its consummation in the restoration and perfect reflection of the character-image of God in man in their yet-finite, mortal, sinful flesh nature.

It is their moral characters, not mortal bodied, that have been sanctified and perfected by grace imparted through the Holy Spirit, patterned after the likeness of God the Father IN Christ Jesus,” then “sealed IN their foreheads” before He fully withdraws from the earth—the final act of His appointed work and office as Christ’s Successor and Vicar on earth. It is only at this very “edge and moment” of earth’s finite time that “the church triumphant” is finally manifested “to the world, man, and angels.”

The Spirit of Prophecy defines who and what this “church triumphant” is, but never reveals the specific identities and names of the individuals who make up this church of the living, not the dead. Read and compare Revelation 7: 1-8 and 14:1-5.

However, their dual prototypes in the Old Testament, are clearly identified by name with their corresponding works as their testimonial and witness, namely, Enoch and Elijah; both were translated to heaven without tasting literal death.

The Holy Spirit was the other divine agency also at work with Christ the Creator through whom the Father “created all things by, through, and for Him.” (John 1: 1-3, 10; Col. 1: 15, 16; Heb. 1: 1-3, 10). Notice the following (emphasis supplied):
“In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the SPIRIT OF GOD moved upon the face of the waters.” Gen. 1: 1, 2, KJV.

Now this from God’s messenger (all emphasis supplied):
“The [Holy] Spirit of God, received [by intelligent ‘faith that works by love’] will quicken all its faculties. Under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, the MIND that is devoted UNRESERVEDLY to God [as He is revealed in ‘It is written,’ ‘Thus saith the Lord,’ ‘To the law and the testimony’ and in the character, work, and life example of Jesus], develops harmoniously, and is strengthened to COMPREHEND AND FULFILL the requirements of God [as revealed in the precepts and principles of God’s law spiritually magnified]. The weak, vacillating CHARACTER is changed to one of strength and steadfastness.” -E. G. White, Desire of Ages, p. 251.

My dear friend and fellow pilgrim still sojourning in this antitypical wilderness of sin—the fallen, sin-cursed-and-corrupted planet earth—remember this solemn warning: “Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.” Eph. 4:30, KJV.

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

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Mid-week Manna

The Third Person of the Godhead Series – Part 15: ANOTHER COMFORTER

MID-WEEK MANNA FROM PASTOR NAT’S DESK:
June 12, 2024

The Third Person of the Godhead Series – Part 15

Foundational Scriptures (all emphasis supplied).
Jesus said, “I will pray the Father, and He shall give you ANOTHER COMFORTER, that HE may abide with you FOREVER.

Even THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH whom the WORLD CANNOT RECEIVE because it seeth HIM not, neither knoweth HIM: but ye know HIM; for HE dwelleth WITH you, and shall be IN you.”. . . “At that day [when the Comforter comes as promised and fulfilled at Pentecost that began the Christian church and dispensation of the New Testament) ye shall know that I AM IN THE FATHER, and ye in ME and I in YOU.” John 14: 16, 17, 20. (Unless otherwise indicated, all Bible scriptures cited will be from the King James or Authorized Version, K.J.V./A.V.):

The foregoing are one of the transcendental last “few words” Jesus made to His first Twelve disciples (Judas Iscariot still included) at that pivotal Thursday night after He had attended His fourth and last OT Passover service then immediately instituted the Lord’s Supper ordinance, including the preparatory foot-washing, which was to forever replace and render the annual Passover service merely a part of the Mosaic ceremonial system of the Old Testament, that along with all others including the physical circumcision of the male (see book of Galatians, etc.) and all included in the Ceremonial law, were, in fact and truth “nailed to the cross” and were “done away with” in the New Covenant where “the law is written in the living, moving, and thinking “hearts and minds” of the true believers, not on two inanimate tables of stone.” (Heb. 8:10, 1-9; 10: 16; Eze. 36: 25-27; 11: 19, 20; Deut. 5.13, etc.)—was the definitive promise of the Holy Spirit.

As a matter of introduction, after which Bible verses will the main source of this series, I first quote extracts from the book The Coming of the Comforter by Leroy Edwin Froom, Review & Herald Publishing, 1949. (All emphasis and bracketed words supplied). To wit:
“The Dispensation of the Holy Spirit. Taking this order [cited in the previous paragraph as:
1) the promised coming of the Holy Spirit;
2) the character and personality of the Holy Spirit; and
3) the mission, or work, of the Holy Spirit, observe FIRST the explicit declaration of the coming of the Holy Spirit. One must be impressed with the fact that just as truly as the PROPHETS announced Jesus’ [first] advent, so He announces the advent of ANOTHER, CO-EQUAL with Himself and the SUCCESSOR of Himself. As one ASCENDED [to the Father in heaven], so that other DESCENDED [on earth as His vicegerent!]. And the SAME recognition of authority and deference paid by the DISCIPLES [then and now] to their Lord, was to be given to the Holy Spirit as Christ’s VICAR on earth.

 “As Christ had a DEFINITE TIME MISSION [specifically, only 3 1/2 years from baptism to crucifixion] so the Holy Spirit likewise has a definite time mission [all take note!], His special DISPENSATION from Pentecost to the Second Advent. He is the a Person of the Godhead [the Third Person] who came to the earth in a DEFINITE WAY, at a DEFINITE TIME, for a DEFINITE WORK, and has been here ever since, just as really Jesus was here on His special mission during the THIRTY-THREE [short] years. ‘The dispensation in which we are NOW living is to be, to those that ask [‘seek, knock, and pray’ Luke 11: 9-13, 1-12] is the dispensation of the Holy Spirit.’ E.G. White, Testimonies to Ministers, 511).” pp. 26, 27.

The only antidote and protection we have in these last days against the last great deceptions and delusions of Satan for these last days that are and will so powerful that “if possible, even the very elect will be deceived,” includes the grave and solemn warning against the teaching that there is “no Holy Spirit” and the like! That is openly “grieving away of the Holy Spirt.” It is already on the rise which means probation’s hour is soon to close!

To be continued next MWM, God willing. “Make your calling and election sure!” Bless all, NMF.

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Special Message

THE DIVINE VENDOR IS PRESENTING HIS PRICELESS GOODS: WILL YOU BUY?

SPECIAL MESSAGE TO WGM TEAM PARTNERS:
June 9, 2024

THE DIVINE VENDOR IS PRESENTING HIS PRICELESS GOODS: WILL YOU BUY?

Read Rev. 3:18-20, KJV first. Now this (all emphasis and bracketed words supplied):

“The great Redeemer [Christ in and through the Holy Spirit, the ‘faithful and true Witness’] represents Himself as a heavenly Merchantman, LADEN with riches, calling from house to house, presenting His priceless goods [Rev. 3:18-20 quoted].” E. G. White, Review & Herald, July 23, 1899.

“The Lord KNOCKS on the door [never breaks it down and forces Himself in] of your heart, desiring to enter [through the Holy Spirit], that He may impart SPIRITUAL RICHES to your soul. He would ANOINT THS BLIND EYES, that they may discover the HOLY CHARACTER OF GOD IN HIS LAW, and understand the LOVE OF CHRIST, which is indeed GOLD TRIED IN THE FIRE” - ibid, RH Feb. 25, 1890.

NOTE. It is through the convicting, convincing, and enlightening work of the Holy Spirit upon the individual’s conscience via the word of “the law and testimony” (Isa. 8:20) and the messages of counsel, reproof, and warning issuing from God’s anointed and appointed human “angel” messengers] that the Lord KNOCKS on hearts.

“Jesus is going from door to door, standing in front of [not hiding behind] every soul temple, proclaiming, ‘I stand at the door and knock.’ As a heavenly Merchantman, He OPENS His treasures and cries, ‘Buy of Me GOLD TRIED IN FIRE that thou mayest be rich. . . .” -Ibid, Aug. 7, 1894. 

Q. What is this “gold tried in fire”? 
A. “The gold that He offers is without alloy, more precious than that of Ophir; for it is FAITH AND LOVE.” -Ibid.

 “By FAITH AND LOVE, the precious, beautiful ATTRIBUTES of our Redeemer, which will ENABLE US to find our way into the HEARTS of those who do not know Him, who are COLD and ALIENATED from Him through UNBELIEF and SIN. . . . Oh, shall we not open the heart’s door to this heavenly Visitor?” Ibid, 7BC 964. 

“The GOLD that Jesus would have us buy of Him is gold tried in fire: it is the gold of faith and love, that has NO DEFILING SUBSTANCE MINGLED with it.” Ibid, RH Apr. 1, 1890. 

“The counsel of the True Witness is FULL OF ENCOURAGEMENT AND COMFORT.  The CHURCHES may yet obtain the GOLD OF TRUTH, faith and love, and be RICH in heavenly treasure”-ibid, RH July 24, 1888.

NOTE: Ophir, gold of. “A land celebrated for its gold (1 Chron. 29:4; Job 22:24; 28:16; Ps. 45: 9; Isa. 13:12). It is also mentioned in an ancient Hebrew inscription. . . Solomon sent expeditions to Ophir. . . . A similar expedition begun by King Jehoshaphat miscarried because his ships were wrecked. The location of Ophir has been much discussed, and India, Elam, South Arabia, East Africa, and South Africa have been suggested. . . “ SDA Bible Dictionary, Commentary Ref. Series, Vol. 8, 1960, RH Publishing Asso. Wash., D. C.

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

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Mid-week Manna

THE ‘WHAT WOULD JESUS DO? ‘WAY OF ESCAPE’

MID-WEEK MANNA FROM PASTOR NAT’S DESK:
June 5, 2024

THE LAW OF GOD AND THE CROSS OF CHRIST Series
Part 14

THE ‘WHAT WOULD JESUS DO? ‘WAY OF ESCAPE’

While this is not the last or most important “way of escape” from temptation (1 Cor. 10:14), it, I believe, sums it all up for all who love Jesus enough to obey His commandments (John 14:15) and are thus sorely tempted and severely tried (John 15:17-25; 16: 1-4; 2 Tim. 3:12, etc.) by Satan through his demon and human agencies. (John 15:16-25; 16: 1-4; 2 Tim. 3:12; 1 Pet. 4:12-19, etc.).

Yes, indeed! “The Lord knoweth how to deliver the GODLY out of temptations, and to reserve the UNJUST unto the day of judgment to be punished.” (2 Pet. 2:9).

God’s special deliverance through His “ways of escape from temptations” are promised to the godly, humble, sin-hating sinners, not to the stubborn, proud, presumptuous, hypocritical, ungodly sinners. The only “way of escape” available for the ungodly is godliness, Godlikeness, even as “the only hope for the sinner is to stop sinning” by godly repentance and a resolute turning away from his sins by God’s enabling grace.

The authentic, not artificial, professed Christian, is truly armed with a deeper and experienced knowledge of Jesus which is only obtained and owned by “eating His flesh,” the heavenly manna, “and drinking His blood” (John 6: 48-53, 25-69), which is the acquired habit of a disciplined study of the His Word. Like Christ his Savior and Example, he daily, one day at a time, “grows in stature, waxes strong in spirit, increasingly filled with wisdom by the grace of God” (Luke 2: 40; cf. 1:80; Eph. 4:13, etc.) and therefore, intellectually and spiritually, and individually, not merely theoretical/doctrinal, or vicarious/corporate/institutional. He is locked-into the New Covenant/Testament relationship with the yet-invisible Jesus, by and in faithfully following His self-denying, self-sacrificing suffering-perfected EXAMPLE daily, one day at a time. (Heb. 5: 8, 9; 1 Pet. 2: 21-25).

He thus “walk in the Spirit, not in the flesh” (Rom. 8:1-18) by “letting the mind of Christ be in” him.( Phil. 2:5). This was the WAY Enoch WALKED with God for three centuries and became the first mortal to be translated “for his life testimony pleased God.” (Heb. 11: 5; Gen. 5:21-24).

It was in and through his MIND that Enoch walked and talked with God! He and Elijah are the prototypes of the 144,000 of Revelation 7:1-8; 14:1-5 who are found of God as guileless, not guilty! These fellow mortals experienced the “victory in Christ Jesus” by “faith that works by love” and purifies the life! (1 Cor. 15:57; Gal. 5:6).

So that whenever and wherever tempted by whomsoever with whatsoever, you can, with a mind intellectually and spiritually settled in “the truth as it is in Jesus,” ask this self-arming question, ‘WHAT WOULD JESUS DO’? and know with much greater but not absolute, certainty (as “without faith it is impossible to please Him”) as to what and how His answer will be.

Moreover, when one enters into a higher sphere of relationship with God in this manner, he will not knowingly, thus presumptuously pray and ask God for anything he knows is “at enmity with God’s law;”such would be an insult and one of the ways of denying Christ.

This also applies when wanting “to know what God’s will is” whenever faced with difficult decisions and things are not quite as dried-and-cut or is totally unfamiliar or unprecedented in one’s experience. This is rendered more efficacious when tended with “the patience of the saints” and the effectual, fervent prayers of the righteous” (Rev 14:12; James 5:16).

And where the relationship of creature with Creator, man with God, sinner with Savior, suppliant with Advocate/Intercessor/Mediator is concerned, the greatest evidence of, and highest form of WORSHIP, adoration, and obeisance is loving obedience to all of His Ten Commandments when “written in the heart and mind under the new covenant” (Heb. 8:9, 10; 10:16; Eze. 11: 19,20; 36: 25-27).

The profound yet simple gospel truth undergirding and assuring the victory of the plan of salvation versus the great controversy with Satan and sin, the Savior of mankind himself declared in an all-encompassing yet easy to remember “Jesus said” statement: “If you love Me, keep My commandments.” John 14:15, KJV. It is this “love that conquers all.” This is the LOVE or “charity that abides with faith and hope, these three; but the greatest of them all is charity” (1 1 Cor. 13: 13. 1-12) for it is the power to obey God’s law, not faith nor hope, as essential as these graces are as part of the “fruits of the Spirit.”

This is how Jesus, whose predetermined name in the council of heaven means “He shall SAVE HIS PEOPLE FROM (not in) THEIR SINS” (Matt. 1:21), provides the living Example of how He “SUCORS all that are tempted;” why “He is able to save to uttermost” all who flee to Him in faith, at any time and every kind of need as a personal Savior, Refuge, Solid Rock, Almighty Defender and through the Holy Spirit, the Comforter.

All need to know and remember that the Godhead and the angelic ministry that excel in strength are on the side of the severely tried yet humble and penitent sinner who is constantly buffeted by the merciless attack of the enemy of souls with his numberless agencies, employing unnumbered schemes.

Remember these:
“Wherefore He is able also to save them to the UTTERMOST [who?] that come unto God by Him, seeing He ever liveth [the risen Christ our Mediator is no longer subject to temptation and death!] to make intercession for them” (Heb. 7:25).

 “Now unto Him that is ABLE TO KEEP YOU from falling [into temptation, and to present you FAULTLESS before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy.” Jude 24.

“Now unto Him that is able TO DO EXCEEDING ABUNDANTLY ABOVE all that we ask or think, according to the POWER that worketh in us.” Eph. 3:20.

“Nay, IN ALL THESE THINGS we are MORE THAN CONQUERORS through Him that loved us [and love in return].” Rom. 8: 37.

Last but not least: (When resistance is success). “SUBMIT yourselves unto God, RESIST THE DEVIL, AND HE WILL FLEE FROM YOU.” James 4:7 (6-10).

This concludes this series. To be continued next MWM, God willing. Bless all, NMF.