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Devotionals

CHRIST’S SECOND PHASE OF WORK BEGAN AT GETHSEMANE COMPLETED AT CALVARY

August 18, 2020

FROM YOUR PASTOR’S DESK:

CHRIST’S SECOND PHASE OF WORK BEGAN AT GETHSEMANE COMPLETED AT CALVARY

Jesus demonstrated to perfection in the flesh-and-blood human nature that was subject to temptation and death that it is entirely possible, by appropriating God’s saving grace to constantly resist and obtain victory over every temptation!

“When He came to the end of His public ministry and faced GETHSEMANE and GOLGOTHA, He confidently affirmed, ‘I have glorified Thee on earth: I HAVE FINISHED THE WORK which Thou gravest Me to do.’ John 17:4. Within the time allotted, and as far as He was concerned, He had made ‘an end of sin.’ This work He finished BEFORE the cross in the BODY given Him. THIS WAS THE FIRST PHASE OF HIS ATONING WORK.”

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THE ‘WORK’ CHRIST ‘FINISHED’ BEFORE DYING ON THE CROSS

August 17, 2020

FROM YOUR PASTOR’S DESK:

THE ‘WORK’ CHRIST ‘FINISHED’ BEFORE DYING ON THE CROSS.

“Christ voluntarily took our sins upon Him. Every temptation we have to meet [whether desires of the flesh, attractions of the world, physical or emotional afflictions, etc.], He met, until Satan’s darts were exhausted.”

“With no other help from God that we may have, He DEMONSTRATED that it is POSSIBLE to resist sin and have constant victory over every temptation. His BODY TEMPLE, which Satan attempted to defile, was STAINLESS [remained undefiled, sinless, uncorrupted].”

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Devotionals

HOW THE CREATOR ‘PURGED’ AND ‘MADE AN END OF SINS’ IN HIS ADOPTED HUMAN NATURE

August 14, 2020

FROM YOUR PASTOR’S DESK:

HOW THE CREATOR ‘PURGED’ AND ‘MADE AN END OF SINS’ IN HIS ADOPTED HUMAN NATURE

“Christ in earth gave a demonstration in earth when humanity is fully yielded to Him. In ‘the body prepared for Him,’ He was tempted as men are tempted. ‘He was oppressed and He was afflicted;’ ‘He hath borne our griefs, and carried out sorrows;’ was ‘wounded for our transgressions’ and ‘bruised for our iniquities.’ He ‘was despised and rejected of men,’ ‘poured out His soul unto death: and He was numbered with the transgressors;’ He ‘bare the sin of many’ and ‘made his soul an offering for sin.’ Because of this He was ‘to justify many [not everyone]: for He shall bear their inquiries.”

Isa. 58.

“This presents Christ as Sin-bearer. ‘God made Him to be SIN for us, who KNEW NO SIN.’ 2 Cor. 5:21. ‘His own self bare our sins in His body on the tree.’ ”

1 Pet. 2:24.
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Devotionals

HOW ONE LOSES THE POWER HE ONCE HAD TO DISTINGUISH BETWEEN TRUTH AND ERROR

August 13, 2020

FROM YOUR PASTOR’S DESK:

HOW ONE LOSES THE POWER HE ONCE HAD TO DISTINGUISH BETWEEN TRUTH AND ERROR

“Whenever the CAUSE exists, the same RESULTS will follow He who deliberately STIFLES his convictions of duty because it INTERFERES with his inclinations, will FINALLY lose the power to distinguish between truth and error.”

“The understanding becomes DARKENED, the conscience CALLOUS, the heart HARDENED, and the soul is SEPARATED from God. Where the message of divine truth is SPURNED or SLIGHTED, there the [generic] church will be enshrouded in darkness; faith and love grow cold, and estrangement and dissension enter. Church members center their interests and energies in WORLDLY pursuits, and sinners become HARDENED in their impenitence.”

E. G. White, The Great Controversy, 1911 ed., p. 379.
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Devotionals

NOT ONCE-ENLIGHTENED-ALWAYS-ENLIGHTENED

August 12, 2020

FROM YOUR PASTOR’S DESK:

NOT ONCE-ENLIGHTENED-ALWAYS-ENLIGHTENED

Apostasy means “falling away from the truth.” An apostate is one who once knew the truth but turned away from it, gave it up and the light of truth he once possessed and cherished, turns to darkness and hates what he once loved. Hence the warning of the prophets to God’s people from the earliest of times!

“Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent to their own sight.”

Isa. 5:20,21, A.V.
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Devotionals

REJECTION OF 70-WEEK PROPHECY OF DANIEL 9 RESULTS IN THE REJECTION OF CHRIST

August 11, 2020

FROM YOUR PASTOR’S DESK:

REJECTION OF 70-WEEK PROPHECY OF DANIEL 9 RESULTS IN THE REJECTION OF CHRIST

“The rejection of Christ by the chosen people at His time, and the professed chosen people today was and is preceded by a rejection of the prophecies of Daniel, particularly the 70-week prophecy of chapter 9:24-27.  It is the terrible consequence of rejecting God’s merciful warnings sent through His faithful prophets and messengers, then and now.

“The spiritual darkness which falls upon nations[such as America is right now], churches [such as mainstream professed Christianity], and individuals [such as you and me], is due, not to an arbitrary withdrawal of the SUCCORS OF DIVINE GRACE on the part of God, but to NEGLECT or REJECTION of divine light on the part of men.” 

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Devotionals

THE ‘PURIFICATION OF SINS’ OF HEBREW 1:3

August 10, 2020

FROM YOUR PASTOR’S DESK:

THE ‘PURIFICATION OF SINS’ OF HEBREW 1:3 REFERS TO CHRIST’S WORK OF ATONEMENT PROPHESIED IN THE 70-WEEK PROPHECY OF DANIEL 9: 24.

Atonement is actually the work ‘at-one-meant.’ Some aspects of the atonement need further consideration.

“If Christ made ‘purification of sins,’ and SIN STILL EXISTS [to this very moment], what is meant by ‘purification of sins’? This question still becomes more important when we learn that not only was Christ to make purification of sins POSSIBLE but He was to ‘MAKE AN END OF SINS,’ and that this was to be accomplished WITHIN THE PROPHETIC PERIOD OF 70 WEEKS. Said the angel to Daniel:

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Devotionals

SINS: PURGED AT CALVARY, PURIFICATION CONTINUES

August 9, 2020

FROM YOUR PASTOR’S DESK:

SINS: PURGED AT CALVARY, PURIFICATION CONTINUES

May the Sabbath blessings received yesterday anchor our faith and feet as we hopefully forge forward to complete another week that brings us closer to our desired haven of rest! Let’s pickup where we left off last Friday:

The phrase under consideration (Heb.1:3) ‘purification of sins,’ Wescott says, ‘may express either (1) the cleansing of sins, i.e., the removal of the sins. Compare Matt. 8:3; Job 7:21 (Exo.30:10), or (2) the cleansing of the person FROM sins.’  The Epistle to the Hebrews, p.15.”

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