Whole Gospel Ministries

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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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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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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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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.

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April 1, 2024

THIS SPIRITUAL DISEASE IS NOT HOPELESS – Part 26 (No. 8)

Before His accurate, comprehensive, and fail-proof diagnosis, here first is a more complete identification of the credentials and corresponding title of the attending divine Physician:

He is none other than Jesus Christ, the “brightness of the Father’s glory and express image of His Person” (Heb. 1: 3), currently in the heavenly sanctuary performing His closing work as our merciful High Priest and righteous Judge whose personal Presence is in and through the Holy Spirit, the Third Person of the Godhead, His only vicegerent on earth.

In this instance and stage of the church, He is specifically identified by the divine title. “the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the Beginning [more properly, the Beginner] of the creation of God” (Rev. 3: 14, KJV).

The divine Diagnosis, Tracing from Cause to Effect:

1. Spiritual Ignorance caused by spiritual pride. “Knowest not that thou art.” The details of the spiritual cause: “Because I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing.”
2. The General Symptomatic Manifestation: Spiritual lukewarmness; “neither cold nor hot.”
3. The Specific Spiritual Ravages and Damages Caused upon the Heart, Mind, and Moral Character of the Afflicted Christian:
   • Wretched
   • Miserable
   • Poor
   • Blind
   • Naked

Of the seven church stages/conditions recorded in detail in Revelation chapters 2 and 3, this seventh and last stage/condition is quite obviously the worst. Be a Berean. Acts 17:11. Read and verify all from your own Bibles.

Following this, I will share what “the law and testimony” (Isa. 8:20) reveals of each specific spiritual “ravage-damage” caused by the Laodicean disease and the specific cure for each one. Only if God permits and enables me. Bless all, NMF.

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March 29, 2024

Straight Testimony to the Laodiceans – Part 25

THIS SPIRITUAL DISEASE IS NOT HOPELESS (No. 7)

Jesus sadly said to the self-confident and hypocritical spiritual leaders of His time, “They that be whole need not a Physician.”

All who profess to be Christ’s followers and “water-baptized members” of the remnant church in the these last days need to “stay awake and slumber not” by earnestly desiring and diligently seeking the daily “baptism of the Holy Spirit with fire” that cleanses and purifies the heart and mind, not the physical body.

Because Biblical salvation is individual, all who would be at last eternally saved need to individually—not corporately, never vicariously, but as in partaking of physical food and water for nutrition and health—daily “eat Christ’s flesh and drink His blood,” meaning, “study His Word to show ourselves approved unto God,” and then correspondingly live out the self-denying, self-sacrificing life of Christ as the Example and Pattern, daily, one day at a time.

Thus, by working and overcoming by the empowering grace imparted by the Holy Spirit and ministry of the angels that excel in heaven-borne strength, the character-shaping imaging principle silently works in transformative power so that the individual daily grows into the image-likeness of the character of the yet-invisible Jesus Christ.

By these spiritually-alive, dynamic process and work the true believer and commandment-keeping saint steadily gains by growth in intellectual and spiritual knowledge, understanding, wisdom, and sanctification “unto the measure of the stature of the perfection in Christ Jesus.” He “keeps his conscience void of offense towards God” and thereby obtains “the peace that passeth understanding” and Christ’s “rest” afforded to all “who takes His yoke and learns of His meekness and lowliness of heart.” Indeed, “He will beautify the meek with salvation.”

The spiritually “wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked” lukewarm, Laodicean believer in this seventh and last church stage has only one hope left in Christ: humbly and without delay, fully accept the divine Physician’s diagnosis, submit and yield to Him, and comply with His prescribed life-saving cure and full regimen to maintain and enhance the spiritual health thereafter until one receives “the seal of God in their foreheads.”

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