Tag: holy-spirit

MID-WEEK MANNA FROM PASTOR NAT’S DESK:

January 22, 2025

Peace: The Third ‘Fruit’ of The Holy Spirit (Part 4)

    “Blessed are the peacemakers; for they shall be called the children of God.”

 Matt. 5: 9, A.V. 

Christ’s ‘peace that passeth understanding’ and empowering grace are imparted only by and through—-the Third Person of the Godhead, Christ’s Vicegerent on earth, the Holy Spirit—-to the peacemakers, not trouble-makers; the law-abiding truth-bearers, not the antinomian sin excusers and justifiers. 

Now this from “the Testimony of Jesus which is the Spirit of prophecy” (Rev. 19:10), emphasis mine: 

     “The peace of Christ is born of TRUTH. It is IN HARMONY  with God. The WORLD is at enmity with the law of God; SINNERS are at enmity with their Maker; and as A RESULT they are at enmity with one another. But the psalmist declares, ‘Great peace have they which LOVE THY LAW: and NOTHING shall offend them.’ Ps. 119:165. 

      “Men cannot manufacture peace. Human plans for purification and uplifting of individuals or of society will FAIL OF PRODUCING PEACE, because they do not reach the HEART. 

      “The  ONLY POWER that can create or perpetuate TRUE peace is the GRACE OF CHRIST. When this [grace] is implanted in the heart, it will CAST OUT THE EVIL PASSIONS THAT CAUSE STRIFE AND DISSENSION. ‘Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree;’ and life’s desert ‘shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose.’ Isa. 55:13; 35:1.” E. G. White, Desire of Ages, pp. 302-305. 

Now we know beyond any reasonable doubt why the world’s secular and religious empires, kingdoms, and nations have been at war against each other since the fall in Eden. Such is the somber witness of earth’s history and warnings of prophecy. Conflicts and wars will rage till the end, culminating in the Battle of Armageddon at the sixth and beginning of the seventh of the seven last plagues. (Rev. 16: 12-16). 

Seek God’s peace only according to His appointed way and specific instructions, and He promised: “My peace I give unto you; not as the world giveth give I to you. Let not  your heart be troubled neither let if be afraid.” 

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

MID-WEEK MANNA FROM PASTOR NAT’S DESK:

January 15, 2025

The Third Person of the Godhead Series – Part 45

Peace: The Third ‘Fruit’ of the Holy Spirit (Part 3)

NO TRUE PEACE WITHOUT SOUND KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE OF SPIRITUAL TRUTH 

Jesus said to the Twelve: “I have yet SO MANY THINGS to say unto you but ye cannot bear them now. HOWBEIT when He, THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH IS COME, He will guide you into ALL truth.” John 16:12, 13, KJV. 

Notwithstanding that the Master Teacher and “First Comforter” himself patiently, thoroughly taught, illustrated, and repeated His gospel lessons to the first disciples, they were “slow to hear,” that is, spiritually undiscerning. They were unready and unfitted to represent Him and the spiritual kingdom He was to establish on fallen earth. 

But Jesus, the promised “Seed” and Messiah only had an ultra brief, pre-determined three and a half years, according to the plan of redemption, to accomplish His comprehensive mission on earth, beginning at His baptism at the Jordan,  27 A.D. Three and a-half years later, 31 A.D., He was already crucified at Calvary! Then, 50 days later, after spending 40

days with His disciples in His glorified body, He finally ascended to the Father in the heavenly sanctuary, witnessed by “Cephas(Peter), the Twelve, the over 500 disciple”, James, all the apostles, and Paul. (1 Cor. 15: 1-8; Acts 1:1-3)

Q. So how and by whom was the “continuing education,” training, eventual vetting by anointing, and continual empowerment and guidance of the disciples to be accomplished and facilitated, in heralding to the world the first edition of the gospel of a risen Savior, thereafter, the gospel of a coming King of kings and Lord of lords? 

God’s messenger magnifies the Biblical account thusly (all emphasis and bracketed words mine): 

     “The disciples still FAILED TO UNDERSTAND Christ’s words in their SPIRITUAL SENSE, and again He explained His meaning. BY THE [Holy] SPIRIT, He said, HE WOULD MANIFEST HIMSELF TO THEM. ‘The Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send IN MY NAME, He shall teach you ALL things.’ [John 14: 26]. NO MORE WILL YOU SAY, I CANNOT COMPREHEND. No longer will you see through a glass, darkly [1 Cor. 13: 12]. You ‘shall be able to COMPREHEND with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and to know the LOVE of Christ, which PASSETH KNOWLEDGE’ (Eph. 3:18, 19].” E. G. White, Desire of Ages, pp. 

ignorance of the true knowledge and understanding of the spiritual meaning of Christ’s words, the whole Bible itself—-which ONLY “THE HOLY SPIRIT OF TRUTH” can/will teach and impart to any and all humble seeker of “the truth as it is in Jesus”—-explains why Christ’s love, “which passeth knowledge,” and Christ’s peace “that passeth understanding,” can never be truly and fully experienced by any merely professed Christians. 

This spiritual deficiency and disease will become even more critical, correspondingly increasing with the chaotic, predictably unpredictable “perilous times of the last days.” It reaches its prophesied  stupendous climax in “the hour of temptation that shall try all that dwell on the earth” (Rev. 3:10) in the final crisis and “time of trouble such as never was” (Dan. 12:1). 

It behooves all who confidently “think they will be able to stand” at that time “to make their calling and election sure” now by closely “examining themselves and proving themselves”, not others, “whether they are in the faith” of Jesus through the “Holy Spirit of truth,” by whom Christ’s  peace is imparted.

Presumption is the counterfeit of faith. Procrastinate no longer. Tomorrow is not promised. Today, “Ask, seek, and knock for the Holy Spirit” that you may obtain Christ’s “peace that passeth understandjng!”

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

MID-WEEK MANNA FROM PASTOR NAT’S DESK:

January 8, 2025

The Third Person of the Godhead Series – Part 44

PEACE: THE THIRD ‘FRUIT’ OF THE HOLY SPIRIT (Part 2)

THE ‘HOLY SPIRIT OF TRUTH’ GIVES CHRIST’S ‘PEACE THAT PASSETH UNDERSTANDING’

    “Great peace have they which love Thy law and nothing shall offend them.” Ps. 119: 165, KJV. 

This is a continuation of last week’s detailing on how, when, where, with WHOM, and in what particular circumstances and situations is the Holy Spirit’s “fruit” of peace is needed, imparted, and manifested. (All emphasis and bracketed words mine): 

    “At all times and in all places, in all sorrows and afflictions, when the outlook seems dark and the future perplexing, and we feel helpless and alone, the COMFORTER will be sent in answer to the PRAYER OF FAITH.” E. G. White, The Desire of Ages, pp. 668-9. 

 NOTE: This is why we are never to carelessly assume, thus erroneously and sinfully presume that God’s peace and all the rest of the “fruits of the Spirit” are automatically imparted or unconditionally possessed somehow. 

In the second time Jesus taught His disciples how to pray, He first repeated what we call the “Lord’s prayer” (Matt. 5) which was part of His longest recorded public discourse—the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew chapters 5, 6, 7); then He immediately added specific instructions on what else we are to pray for and the fervor and persistence that should attend it. Let’s review it from Luke 11: 1-13, KJV. 

Read verses 1-8 first. Now follows verse 9-13 (emphasis mine): 

      “And I say unto you, ASK, and it shall be given you; SEEK, and ye shall find; KNOCK, and it shall be opened unto you. For everyone that asketh, receiveth; and he that seeketh, findeth; and to him that knocketh, it shall be opened. If a son shall ask for bread of any of you that is a FATHER [or mother], will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent? Of if he shall ask for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If ye then, being EVIL [fallen, sinful, finite mortals] know how to give GOOD GIFTS unto your children: HOW MUCH MORE SHALL YOUR HEAVENLY FATHER GIVE THE HOLY SPIRIT TO THEM THAT ASK [seek, and knock] FOR HIM?”

This asking, seeking, and knocking for the Holy Spirit, particularly in our personal, private prayers, emphasizes that this asking is in order to give, as the three examples Christ cited clearly illustrates. More specifically, this heartfelt, persistent petition for the Holy Spirit is in order that the petitioner can give (share, declare, proclaim, teach, preach) the final, testing truths of the gospel for these last days! For indeed it is “not by human might nor power but by My Holy Spirit, saith the Lord.”(Zech. 4:6). 

While God’s true servants, co-laborers, and watchmen are to share the truth “with a zeal based on knowledge,” it is the Holy Spirit alone that does the work of conviction for His “workshop” is the conscience of the mind of the soul. Indeed, “Conscience is the ‘still small voice’ “of the Holy Spirit heard amid the din of human passions.”

     “Circumstances may separate us from every earthly friend; but no circumstances, no distance, CAN SEPARATE US from the HEAVENLY COMFORTER. Wherever we are, where ever we may go, He is ALWAYS at our right hand to SUPPORT, SUSTAIN, UPHOLD, AND CHEER.” Ibid, p. 669.

NOTE: This is the powerful promise of divine peace that will reign within the heart of all faithful and obedient believers in all dispensations and generations for “God is no respecter of persons,” “there is neither Jew, nor Greek nor Gentile” to Him.” “To all who receive Him He grants to become His sons and daughters” of and in His kingdom of righteousness.  And like the divine agape LOVE of the Father in Christ through the Holy Spirit, absolutely NOTHING but “transgression” or sin, can and will separate us from God.  

The gospel prophet wrote:

     “But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid His face from you, that He will not hear.” (Isa. 59: 2). 

If we haven’t yet quite grasped the real nature of the  exceeding malignity and sinfulness of sin, this is simply one in dozens of Scriptures that reveal it. We will do ourselves a “favor” of life unto life by taking serous heed to  such warnings before it is forever too late! 

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

MID-WEEK MANNA FROM PASTOR NAT’S DESK:

January 1, 2025

The Third Person of the Godhead Series – Part 43

PEACE: THE THIRD ‘FRUIT’ OF THE HOLY SPIRIT (Part 1)

    “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, . . “ Gal. 5: 22, KJV.

Christ’s last and parting legacy to His first disciples and all thereafter, was a legacy of peace. He said, “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” John 14:27, KJV. 

How was His peace, which neither the world nor the religions of the world could    ever give—be left with them when He was soon to die, and then later leave them behind on earth as He ascended to the Father in heaven after His resurrection? 

Yes, indeed, by and through the Holy Spirit, Christ’s peace Giver as “the other Comforter,” His Representative and Vicegerent, verily the third Person of the Godhead! 

The following is excerpted from the inspired book, The Desire of Ages by Ellen G. White, God’s end-times messenger in the order of Elijah and John the Baptist’s calling and nature of work. Pages provided at the end of the quotes. (All emphases and bracketed words mine): 

     “Before offering Himself as the sacrificial victim [‘the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world’], Christ sought for the most essential and complete gift to bestow upon His followers, a gift that would bring within their reach the boundless measure of grace. [John 14: 16-18 quoted. Pls. read for yourself]. 

    “Before this the [Holy] Spirit had been in the world; from the beginning of the work of redemption [immediately after the fall in Eden] He had been moving upon hearts. But while Christ was on earth, the disciples had desired no other helper. Not until they were deprived of His PRESENCE would they feel their need of the Spirit, and then He would come.

     “The Holy Spirit is Christ’s Representative, but divested of humanity, and independent thereof. Cumbered with humanity [as He eternally ‘partook of the likeness of sinful flesh’ in the incarnation, Rom 8: 3, 4: 1 Tim. 3:16; John 1: 1-3, 13; Heb. 2: 14-18] 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 personal contact with Christ [not even Mary nor Joseph]. By the Spirit Christ would be ACCESSIBLE TO ALL. In this sense He would be NEARER to them than if He had not ascended on high.

     “‘He that loveth Me shall be loved of My Father, and I will love him, and MANIFEST MYSELF to him.’ [John 14:21. That is, thru the Presence in the divine Person of the invisible Holy Spirit]. 

Here’s how, when, where, and with whom Christ’s peace is bequeathed through the Holy Spirit is especially needed and experienced: 

     “Jesus read the future of His disciples. He saw one brought to the scaffold, one to the cross, one to exile among the lonely rocks of the sea, [‘Stephen was stoned; James was slain by the sword; Paul was beheaded; Peter was crucified; John was exiled. Yet the church grew.’ AA 597]; others to persecution and death [see Hebrews 11]. 

     “He ENCOURAGED them with the promise that with EVERY TRIAL He would be with them [In and through His Holy Spirit]. THAT PROMISE HAS LOST NONE OF ITS FORCE. The Lord knows all about His FAITHFUL SERVANTS who for His sake are lying in prison or who are banished to lonely islands.

    “He COMFORTS them with His OWN PERSONAL PRESENCE [in and through the Holy Spirit]. When for the TRUTH’S SAKE the believer stands at the bar of UNRIGHTEOUS TRIBUNALS, Christ stands by his side [invisibly, in the Holy Spirit]. All the reproaches that fall upon him fall upon Christ. Christ is condemned over again IN THE PERSON OF HIS DISCIPLE. 

When one is incarcerated in prison walls, Christ RAVISHES the heart with HIS LOVE. When one suffers DEATH for His sake, Christ says, ‘I am He that liveth, and was dead; and behold, I am alive forevermore. . . . and have the keys to hell [grave] and death.’ Rev. 1:18. The life that is sacrificed for Me is preserved unto eternal glory.” – Desire of Ages, chap. LXIII, April 1950 New Edition. Pacific Press Publishing Asso., pp. 668-9. 

To be continued next MWM, God willing. A spiritually-prosperous and sanctifying New Year 2025 to all, NMF.

MID-WEEK MANNA FROM PASTOR NAT’S DESK:
October 2, 2024

The Third Person of the Godhead Series – Part 30

LOVE: ThE FIRST ‘FRUIT’ OF THE HOLY SPIRIT (Part 3)

A solemn, constant reminder for all time and occasions: the Spirit, Christ’s only appointed Successor, Vicar, or Vicegerent on earth since His ascension never was and never will be any finite mortal man, verily the third Person of the Godhead, but unlike Christ the Creator who, in the “great mystery of godliness” and “love divine and love excelling”
incarnated into “the likeness of sinful human nature” (Rom.8: 3, 1-14) is “devoid of the personality of humanity and independent thereof.”

“God is love, light, and life,” and this truth remains fresh “the same yesterday, today, and forever.” Absolutely “nothing whatsoever and whoever can separate us from this love.” Rom. 8:35-39. 

Let’s talk about love. There are four kinds of love known to man. The first three are brilliantly dissected for us by Leslie Harding, PhD.. in his book With Jesus in His Sanctuary, p. 228, published by the Book Publishing Division of American Cassette Ministries, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, U.S.A.. (all emphasis and bracketed words mine):

“Three Greek Words for Love. The Greeks had 3 words to describe love. EROS was the name of the god of sexual love, and so Eros came to mean love which was an outgrowth of his nature. Eros is driven by sexual drives and emotions [and passions, too], and is a longing, and yearning desire for the UNPOSSESSED. Eros thinks only of SELF and SELF-PRESERVATION. Our English words ‘erotic,’ ‘erogenous.’ and ‘erotica’ are derived from this Greek root. Eros or its derivatives are NEVER found in the New Testament. R. C. Trench sagely observed: ‘The absence is significant’ (Synonyms of the New Testament, 43). In the Septuagint two of the forms occur, but rarely (Est. 2:17; Prov. 4:6; Eze. 16:33; Hos. 2:5).

“The common Greek word for LOVE BETWEEN TWO PEOPLE, —friends, children and companions, and often based on a blood-relationship, — was PHILOS. Several English words have sprung from this root combined with its objects. PHIL-ADELPHIA means love of a brother. PHIL-ANTHROPY means love of mankind. PHIL-OSOPHY, love of wisdom, etc. While this love is actuated by EMOTIONS, these exist in a different level from those which
drive EROS. Philos occurs in the Scriptures. [However] Respect and reverence are NOT involved in Philos.

“The third Greek term is AGAPE, ‘a word born within the bosom of religion; it occurs in the Septuagint (2 Sam. 13:15; Cant. 2:4; Jer 2:2), and in the Apocrypha (Wisdom 3:9); but there is no trace of it in ANY HEATHEN WRITER ever’ (Trench, op.cit.33). A peculiarly CHRISTIAN term, AGAPE, it describes God’s RELATIONSHIP with man. As a consequence of ‘God’s LOVE shed abroad in our hearts’ [Rom. 5:5] we are ABLE to build ideal relationships with each other on a richer plain (1 John 4:7-11).

“AGAPE IS NOT DRIVEN BY EMOTION OR FEELING BUT SOLELY BY PRINCIPLE. It describes the forming of relationships on a carefully considered intellectual level with a view to bringing about EVERY GOOD RESULT TO ALL CONCERNED. It ‘expresses a more reasoning attachment, of choice and selection. . . . respect and reverence. . . . While men are continually hidden ‘agapan ton Theon’ (Matt. 22:37; Luke 10:27; 1 Cor. 8:3), and good men are declared to do so (Rom. 8:28; 1 Pet. 1:8; 1 John 4:21), the ‘philein ton Theon’ is COMMANDED THEM NEVER. The Father, indeed, both ‘agapan ton Huron’ (John 3:35), and also ‘philei ton Huion’ (John 5:20)’ (Trench, op.cit. 41,41). GOD REQUIRES MANKIND TO SHOW HIM ‘AGAPE’-LOVE.

“God’s love, Agape, CREATED the universe [not only ‘the earth and its heaven’] ‘in the beginning,’ and everything was VERY GOOD.’ Goodness contains the idea of UNIVERSAL well-being. There is NOTHING OF SELF in ‘agape.’ God’s LOVE-CREATION required the setting up of all the RELATIONSHIPS necessary for the maintenance of every form of existence in a STATE OF PERFECTION.” (end quote from Harding).

The fourth is “platonic love,” conceptualizes by the influential Greek philosopher, Plato, which we will pick up on next week’s MWM, God willing. Bless all, NMF.

MID-WEEK MANNA FROM PASTOR NAT’S DESK:
September 25, 2024

The Third Person of the Godhead series – Part 29

LOVE: THE FIRST ‘FRUIT OF THE HOLY SPIRIT (Part 2)

Before considering more Scriptures that amplify the sublime meaning of the sacred nature this “love” fruit borne only by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in the true believer, take a closer look at how, by inspiration of the selfsame Holy Spirit, apostle Paul contrasts by comparing two detailed lists of the 17 “manifestations of the works of the flesh” on one hand, and the the 9 (actually 10) manifestations of the “fruits of the Spirit” on the other. See Galatians 5: 19-21, then 22, 23; cf. 14-26, K.J. V.

Notice that heading the list of the “works of the flesh,” ADULTERY comes first, followed by fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness. . . .” While heading the list of the “fruits of the Spirit” is LOVE. This by no means is coincidental or happenstance but by divine design. Here’s why:

Beginning in the fall in Eden, where Adam “was not deceived like Eve was” (1 Tim. 2: 13, 14) but knowingly chose to join his wife in disobeying the Creator because “he could not bear the thought of losing her.” He loved his wife more than his Creator!

The original, pristinely pure principle of “love” that emanates from “the God of love, life, and light” steadily degraded into the carnal, corrupted, perverted, earthly, sensual, self-pleasing, self-indulging, emotionalism, sentimentalism, and romanticism, idolatrous worship of man for his fellow mortals and his achievements and works, bringing in its train the curses that brought the long-suffering wrath of God upon the wicked antediluvian world with the flood. Gen. 6: 1-22.

Jesus plainly warned our final generation: “As it was in the days of Noah so shall it be in the days of the coming of the Son of man.” Matt. 24:37-51.
John made it plain and simple: “LOVE not the WORLD neither the THINGS that are in the world. If any man love the world, the LOVE OF THE FATHER IS NOT IN HIM. For all that is in the world, the LUST OF THE FLESH, and the LUST OF THE EYE, the PRIDE OF LIFE, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the WORLD PASSETH AWAY AND THE LUSTS THEREOF; but he that doeth the will of God abideth forever [never passes away!].” 1 John 2: 15-17.

Find time to see for yourself the expanded list of the “works of the flesh” and their certain consequences and final rewards in the following: Rom. 1: 16-32; 1 Cor. 1: 19, 20; Eph. 5: 1–17, etc.

Unless our hearts and mind are transformed by God’s amazing, empowering grace, and the “old man” with a carnal
mind is replaced with “the new creature in Christ Jesus” possessing “the mind of Christ,” the “love fruit” of the Holy Spirit cannot be manifest in us! What will appear are its many counterfeits that “will have the form of godliness but will deny its power thereof.”

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

MID-WEEK MANNA FROM PASTOR NAT’S DESK:
September 18, 2024

Third Person of the Godhead Series – Part 28

LOVE: THE ‘FIRST FRUIT’ OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

“God is love.” 1 John 4:8-16.

“Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God is ONE LORD. And thou shalt LOVE the Lord thy God with ALL thine heart, and with ALL thy soul, and with ALL thy might [or strength].” Deut. 6: 4, 5. (Compare to Mark 12: 28-34; Luke 10: 25-28).

To be sure, there is only one God—the Creator and the Redeemer. All others who claim and pretend to be (or are made to be so by idolaters of all stripes, such as the sun, moon, stars, and animals, etc.) beginning with Satan “the enemy of God and man,” their master, are false gods.

The fulness of God Almighty the Eternal One, is beyond ken of His intelligent creatures; much less of fallen, sinful, finite mortals. But according to His own Word, omniscience, love, and “enduring mercy,” He chose to reveal His fulness in and through the GODHEAD made of three Persons. “For there are THREE that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost (Spirit): and these Three are ONE.” 1 John 5:7, A.V.

The Word is first and foremost, Christ, Jehovah the Creator (John 1:1-3, 14) and then, Redeemer through His mysterious incarnation, atoning sacrifice in His death by crucifixion, victorious resurrection, and ascension to the right hand of the Father in His glorious, white throne in heaven. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. . .” John 1: 1-3. Then the Word is both “the written and the spoken word by and through the power of the Holy Spirit: “It is written”; “Thus saith the Lord.” “To the law and the testimony: if they speak not according to this Word it is because there is NO light [of truth] in them.” (Isa. 8:20).

The God of love is the “Lord our righteousness” Jeremiah 23:6. Thus, God’s “Righteousness is LOVE, and love is the LIGHT and LIFE of God.” (E. G. White, Sons and Daughters, p. 304).

John was the youngest of the first Twelve when they were “called from their nets” by Jesus. He was drawn to and personally stayed closer to Christ than the eleven. Thus he was called even to this day as “John the beloved,” i. e.. of Jesus. Among the four synoptic gospels, John presents the most sublime aspect of the same gospel recorded by Matthew, Mark, and Luke.

It is in John’s gospel where we read a concentration of Christ’s pre and post crucifixion promises of the coming of, person, presence, office work, and efficiency of the Holy Spirit, His appointed Successor and vicegerent on earth after His ascension—the third Person of the Godhead “but devoid of the personality of humanity and independent thereof.”

In solemn biblical fact and spiritual truth, the Holy Sprit is “the fulness Godhead”—not “bodily” as Christ alone, “the “only begotten Son of God,”
incarnated into “the likeness of sinful flesh” in “the great mystery of godliness which is beyond any controversy” and thus gain the new identity and unique relationship to the Father. In both Sonships, Jesus repeatedly declared to the Pharisees and the Jewish nation in His time, “I and My Father are one.”

John wrote in language that even a child and the unlearned can understand regarding the love of the Father in Christ for Christ, His only-begotten Son and their undeserved love for fallen men.

John 3:16 is a keystone verse of this glorious truth of God, and the Godhead’s love underwriting the “counsel of peace” entered into by the Godhead “before the foundations of the earth were laid,” where and when the plan of redemption was contemplated and devised in the event man would fall, and did fall.

For beginners, we’ll just quote “what is written” from the “little John’s.”

 “Behold, what manner of LOVE the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the WORLD knoweth us not, because it knew Him NOT.” 1 John 3:1. 
“My little children, let us NOT LOVE in word, neither in tongue but in DEED and in TRUTH.” 1 John 3:18.
 “The Lord our Righteousness.” Jer. 23:6.
 “Fulness of the Godhead bodily.” Col. 2:9, 10; 1: 19, 16-18. 
 “In the likeness of sinful flesh.” Rom. 8:3.
 “Beloved, let us LOVE ONE ANOTHER: for LOVE IS OF GOD and everyone the loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. In this was manifested the LOVE OF GOD TOWARD US, because that God sent His only-begotten Son INTO the world, that WE MIGHT LIVE THROUGH HIM. Herein is love, NOT THAT WE LOVED GOD, but that He loved us, and sent His Son to be the propitiation [atoning sacrifice in His substitutionary death] for our sins.” 1 John 4: 7-10, KJV.

Likewise, beloved brethren in Christ, as you pray daily, “ask, seek, and knock” for the Holy Spirit” for it is only by and through Him that we can “bear the fruit of the LOVE OF CHRIST for undeserving sinners like us, and His perfect ENMITY (righteous indignation and hatred) towards SIN (transgression of His law) for it SEPARATES (Isa. 59: 2) the omnipotent Creator from His creatures, the loving Redeemer from all who are deceived, mesmerized, enamored, and enslaved to sin and Satan “the father of lies and murderer from the beginning.”

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

MID-WEEK MANNA FROM PASTOR NAT’S DESK:
September 11, 2011

The Third Person of the Godhead Series – Part 27

RECEIVER BEARS TEN KINDS OF FRUITS AND ‘BY THEIR FRUITS YOU SHALL KNOW THEM’

In Luke 11:9-13 (KJV) Christ repeated His promise of the Holy Spirit ten times, including it when He taught His disciples the definitive “Lord’s Prayer,” which He first revealed as part of His comprehensive Sermon on the Mount declared at the outset of His public earthly ministry when and where He introduced to the multitudes gathered there the spiritual nature of the kingdom He was to establish on earth. It was and is definitely unlike any kingdom, nation, empire of man and the earth, past, present, and future. So that He compared and illustrated its inception, growth, and progress “like a mustard seed.” See Matt. 17:20.

He likewise armed His disciples, then and now, by equipping them with a spiritual detector to discern and expose the true and truth from shiny “deep fakes,” look-alike counterfeits; His true messengers and servants from the fanatical, zealous yet spiritually immature, naïve, and unlearned, as well as hard-core charlatans, deceivers, and impostors—-verily “wolves in sheep’s clothing.”

In one fell swoop as it were, He laid down this second fool-proof principle and test: “By THEIR FRUITS ye shall know them.” See Matthew 7:15-20.

The first one was enunciated by the prophet in the Old Testament, “To the law and testimony [‘It is written’ and ‘Thus saith the Lord’]; if they speak not according to this Word it is because there is no light in them.’ Isa. 8:20.

And where the Holy Spirit, His office work, Person, and Presence is specifically and especially concerned, apostle Paul instructs God’s faithful followers and co-workers how to test, try, and “prove all things” by referencing thoughts, words, and deeds by a definitive list of the “fruits of the Spirit.”

NOTE: The “fruits of the Spirit” are not the same as the “gifts of the Spirit.” 1 Cor. 12: 1-31, then, 13:1-13. The former results from a faithful and wise use of the spiritual “gifts” of God-given talents, particularly time, exclusively for God’s glory, gospel work, and kingdom of righteousness.

There are nine “fruits of the Spirit” that Paul identifies in Galatian 5:22, 23. We don’t do any violence to this glorious truth when we add, as adjuncts, the following: “righteousness and truth” (Eph. 5:9; cf. James 3:18), and “the Spirit of “wisdom and revelation, and knowledge of Him” (Eph. 1:17, 18).

Humbly aware that “spiritual things can only be spiritually discerned,” i.e., by the Holy Spirit; that “the carnal mind is at enmity with God’s law;” that “the wisdom of man is foolishness with God” and vice versa; that God’s thoughts and ways are not like that of fallen, finite, sinful mortals, then we are better prepared to accept and understand the spiritually-magnified meaning of each of the nine fruits of the Spirit listed in Galatians 5:22, 23.

Their unforced, unfeigned, and unconscious manifestation in the words, actions, and lifestyle are the “fruit” and “fruit-bearing” evidences and living testimony of an indwelling Holy Spirit and the infilling of divine grace with its enabling power in the believer’s life.

We will take up the Spirit’s fruits of Love, Joy, Peace, Long suffering, Gentleness, Goodness, Faith, Meekness, and Temperance, Righteousness, and Truth “against such there is no law” for they are simply also the unmistakable evidences of loving—not coerced, enforced, legalistic, performative and mercenary obedience—to God’s immutable law of righteousness, the transcript of His character, and foundation of His everlasting throne.

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