Tag: religion

MID-WEEK MANNA FROM PASTOR NAT’S DESK:

THE RELIGION OF THE BIBLE AND THE FAITH OF JESUS Part 6

Who, does the Bible say, practices and manifests the religion of the Bible and have the faith of Jesus?

Without a shadow of doubt, it is those who, often unrecognized, despised, and ridiculed for their singularity and “peculiarity as a people, as a chosen nation, a royal priesthood and holy nation” (1 Pet. 2:9), because of their own enlightened, loving, consistent, growing, and “faith that works by love” (Gal. 4:6) in the “faith of Jesus”(all that refers to Christ in the New Testament) and thus “have the Spirit of prophecy which is the Testimony of Jesus Christ” (Rev.12:17; 14;12; 19:10).

The Revelation of Jesus Christ in the last book of the Bible, by way of end-time prophecy that proclaims “the EVERLASTING gospel,” distinguishes them from the rest of the Christian world in these “It is written,” “Thus saith the Lord,” definitive definitions and descriptions of who, why, and what makes them such: (All from the KJV; emphasis mine):

First, “And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make WAR with the REMNANT of her SEED which KEEP THE COMMANDMENTS of GOD, and HAVE THE TESTIMONY OF JESUS CHRIST.” Rev. 12: 17.

Second, ( after citing the first, second, and third angels’ messages in their fixed order, verses 6-11): “Here is the patience of the SAINTS : here are THEY THAT KEEP THE COMMANDMENTS OF GOD, and the FAITH OF JESUS.” Rev. 14:12.

Third, (read verses 1-9). John says, “And I fell at his feet [the angel revealing these prophecies to him] to WORSHIP him. And he said unto me, See thou do it NOT: [for] I am thy fellow-servant, and of THY BRETHREN that HAVE THE TESTIMONY OF JESUS: Worship God: FOR THE TESTIMONY OF JESUS IS THE SPIRIT OF PROPHECY.” Rev. 19:10.

Jesus, “the Word from the beginning,” Himself the God of love and law, “manifest in the flesh” in the “great mystery of godliness” in His incarnation, defined the SUM and SUBSTANCE of the true worship of the true religion of the Bible, manifested in those that have the sanctifying “faith of Jesus” through the edifying and enlightening work of the Holy Spirit in “the Testimony of Jesus in the Spirit of prophecy” in these last days, as follows:

“If you LOVE Me, KEEP [do; obey] MY COMMANDMENTS.” John 14: 15. RenderIng it even it clearer “by the word of His testimony,” rebuking all Pharisee-like naysayers, and silencing any all disputes, quibbling, controversy and confusion generated by both ignorant and willful ignorance, Jesus reiterated this sum-and-substance definition of the everlasting covenant-relationship and its conditional promises and blessings between Jesus Christ and His true apostles, disciples, and followers, in the following verse in the New Testament for all professing Christians to study and ponder upon:

“IF ye keep My commandments, ye shall ABIDE in My love, EVEN AS I have kept His [the Father’s] commandments and ABIDE IN HIS LOVE.” John 15:10.

I am sure that all who claim to be Christian, “live, move, and have their being” based exclusively on sola scriptura (as did the early church in apostolic purity), will want and do everything within their God-given talents, abilities and powers by the empowering grace dispensed by the Holy Spirit, will “make their calling and election sure” in and by ABIDING IN THE LOVE OF JESUS, “even as,” His example as the “Son of man,” in our adopted “flesh and blood nature, He abode in His Father’s love BY KEEPING the law, “magnifying it and making it honorable” (the exact opposite of ignoring, “making of none effect,” trampling upon,” disobeying, transgressing, tinkering, amending, distorting, abrogating, and the absurd and apostate teaching that it has been “done away with” by “nailing it to the cross.”

It was CHRIST, not the Law of God, that was “nailed to that shameful tree.”) This IS religion, this IS the faith of Jesus, this IS the faith of Abraham “the father of the faithful” and “friend of God,” the faith of all the named and unnamed SAINTS in the Bible’s eternal HALL OF FAITH (in contrast to the “Halls of Fame,” and ignominious “Halls of Shame” of fallen, sinful morals of corruptible flesh) preserved and immortalized in the divine ARCHIVES and revealed to the eyes of mortal man, both wicked and righteous in Hebrews chapter 11.

Dear friends, please FAST and PRAY for the awakening, conviction, conversion or re-conversion, enlightenment, and guidance of the Holy Spirit, then “roll up your sleeves,” study and store your minds with the great testing truths of the fundamental pillars and landmarks of Present, testing, sealing Truth and “work for the night is coming when man works no more” in death.

To be continued in the next MWM, God willing. NMF

MID-WEEK MANNA FROM PASTOR NAT’S DESK:
September 7

THE RELIGION OF THE BIBLE AND THE FAITH OF JESUS (Focus on the Faith of Jesus) Part 5

In the context of the proclamation of the three angels’ messages (of Rev. 14: 6-12) given in these last days of earth’s history, the first immediately reveals the nature and burden of these consecutive and threefold worldwide messages (represented as “flying in the midst of heaven”), as being: worship, religion, and “the patience” of a people who “are prophetically distinctly identified as the faithful “remnant,” thus, not the mass of Christianity, because of two distinct joint-features: they “keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.”

The sum and substance of the relationship between the Creator and man, alone created in His image and likeness, was stated simply by Christ Himself: “If you LOVE Me, KEEP [do; obey] My commandments.” (John 14:15). And loving obedience is the highest and most sublime form of worship!

Among other fundamental commands and principles the Creator laid down and declared in the beginning, uniting the indivisible union between Creator and creature, starting with Adam and Eve, “What God hath joined together, let no man put asunder,” so everything following thereafter in the gospel’s plan of salvation, especially as it reaches its stupendous climax in the great controversy between Christ and Satan and their respective agencies and followers on earth, the issue is the same: it is over the immutable law of God, which is the transcript of His character, the foundation of His government in heaven and throughout the universe, and the pre eminent authority of Jesus, the Creator incarnate, over all creation, both animate and inanimate, thus, the only Redeemer and Savior of fallen mankind from the power of Satan and slavery to sin, “the transgression of the law of God Almighty, not multitudinous and changeable laws if sinful, finite, and mortal man.

These are integral parts of the Bible’s religion, the faith of Jesus, and thus the religion and faith of those designed ages as the faithful “remnant” of the last days.

Are you part of these “saints” who “worship Him who made heaven and earth” by “keeping the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus” and are in “one accord” “in spirit and in truth” with these faithful “remnant” of the last days?

Be sure to “make your calling and election sure” by “examining yourselves and proving yourselves whether you are in the faith” of the present testing truths for these last days!

To be continued next MWM, God willing. NMF

MID-WEEK MANNA FROM PASTOR NAT’S DESK:
August 31

THE RELIGION OF THE BIBLE AND THE FAITH Of JESUS (Part 4)

Focus on the “Faith of Jesus.”

“Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.” Rev. 14: 12, KJV.

Here we will focus on “the faith of Jesus” more definitively, expansively, and wholistically, as in the whole gospel, not merely parts or broken shards of it; or worse, “another gospel” and “another Jesus” which Paul warned against (2 Cor. 11: 3, 4). Thank and praise God for making special provisions for the commandment-keeping remnant saints of the last days (Rev. 14:12) with the “Testimony of Jesus, which is the Spirit of prophecy” (Rev. 19: 10; cf. 12: 17).

By magnifying (not replacing or rendering secondary) the testing truths of the Bible for these last days (called ‘present truth’), it fortifies the mind and strengthens the faith of those who will stand faithful and true in the rapidly-approaching “hour of temptation, which will come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth” (Rev. 3:10). In the context of the proclamation of the three angels’ messages of Revelation 14, the “faith of Jesus” is defined as follows (emphasis mine):

“You inquire what the faith of Jesus is. I have seen that the brethren and sisters have NOT understood the faith of Jesus in its TRUE light. They have taught that it is healing of the sick, etc. It is not healing the sick, MERELY, but it is ALL THE TEACHINGS OF JESUS in the New Testament. ‘The commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.’ I saw that it was the WHOLE NEW TESTAMENT, which relates to Jesus.” (E. G. White, Letter 4, 1857 (To Bro. Pierce, Dec. 3, 1857), Manuscript Releases, Vol. 5, p. 290, par. 1.

The Faith of Jesus. It is talked of, but not understood. What constitutes the Faith of Jesus, THAT BELONGS TO THE THIRD ANGEL’S MESSAGE? Jesus becoming our SIN-BEARER that He might become our sin-pardoning Savior. He was treated as WE deserve to be treated. He came to our world and TOOK OUR SINS that we might TAKE HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS. Faith in the ability of Christ to save us AMPLY and FULLY and ENTIRELY [from the power of sin, the world, the flesh, and the devil] is the FAITH OF JESUS.” (Ibid, Vol. 3, 1888 message, p. 117).

See Gen. 4: 1-16. The offering [and worship] of Cain was an offense to God, because it was a Christ-less offering. The burden of our message is NOT ONLY the commandments of God, but the Faith of Jesus. A bright light shines upon our pathway today, and it leads to INCREASED FAITH in Jesus. We must receive EVERY RAY of light, and WALK in it, that it may be NOT our condemnation in the [pre-advent, Investigative) Judgment.

Our duties and our obligations become MORE important as we obtain more DISTINCT views of truth. Light makes MANIFEST and REPROVES the errors that were CONCEALED in darkness; and as light comes, the LIFE and CHARACTER of men MUST CHANGE correspondingly, to be in HARMONY with it. Sins that were ONCE sins of ignorance, because of the BLINDNESS of the mind, can NO MORE BE INDULGE IN without incurring guilt.

As increased light is GIVEN, men must be REFORMED, ELEVATED, and REFINED by it, or they will be MORE PERVERSE and STUBBORN than before the light came.” (Ibid, Gospel Workers, p. 162).

To be continued in next week’s MWM, God willing. NMF

MID-WEEK MANNA FROM PASTOR NAT’S DESK:
August 24

THE RELIGION OF THE BIBLE AND THE FAITH OF JESUS (Part 3)

Per the “more sure word of prophecy” (2 Pet. 1: 19-21, KJV) specifically the prophetically con-joined prophecies of Daniel in the Old Testament and Revelation, the last of the sixty-six books of the Bible–the great controversy between Christ and Satan and their respective agencies and followers on earth, between righteousness and sin, good and evil, truth and error, particularly it’s mesmerizing counterfeits in these last days—was and will be waged through and over religion and it’s main form of expression, worship, OBEDIENCE being the highest form of worship.

It is this arena of human activity, experience, and context that man’s duly informed, conscious and rational ultimate choices, before death, determines and then fixes beyond change, his eternal destiny.

This is why the wiseman Solomon, moved by the Holy Spirit, wrote: “Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might: for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, wither thou goest.” Eccl. 9: 10, KJV. Again, “For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not anything, neither have they any more a reward, for the memory of them is forgotten. Also, their love and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished; neither have they any more a portion forever in any thing that is done under the sun.” vs 5, 6.

Repeating what God sadly told Adam and Eve after their transgression in Eden (Gen. 3:19), the wiseman wrote: “Remember now Thy CREATOR in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say [too late], I have no pleasure in them.” Eccl. 12: 1. For “Then shall the dust return to the earth as if was: and the spirit [the breathe of life] shall return unto God who gave it.” v 7. He then tells all generations of men since then who have ears to hear and do not harden their hearts: “Let us hear the CONCLUSION of the whole matter: FEAR GOD AND KEEP HIS COMMANDMENTS: FOR THIS IS THE WHOLE DUTY OF MAN. For God shall bring every work info judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.” Eccl 12: 13, 14, KJV.

This is Bible religion, and certainly central to the faith of Jesus who testified of Himself: “If ye keep My commandments, ye shall abide in My Love, EVEN AS I HAVE kept My Father’s commandments, and abide in His love.” John 15: 10. Having set that example of genuine Bible religion and His own faith, verily “the faith of Jesus,” He then bequeaths this love command to His true followers thereafter: “If you love Me, keep My commandments.” John 14:15, KJV.

These commandments are the commandments of God and Jesus, not the counterfeit and Antichristian commandments of “the man of sin” and its “image” of the apostate churches of the last days, as prophesied.

Apostle Paul exhorts all professed believers: “Examine yourselves and prove yourselves whether ye are in the faith. . . “(2 Cor. 13: 5). Now, ask yourself these questions:
Does my present Christian religion teach and uphold these clear fundamental truths of Bible religion? Is the “faith” I currently profess, and even zealously promote to others in harmony with this “faith of Jesus”?

The midnight cry for these last days (first given by Jesus as part of Bible religion and the faith of Jesus) in the prophetic-parable of the Ten Virgins (Matt. 25: 1-13), is echoed by Paul in these words: “And that, knowing the time, that NOW IT IS HIGH TIME TO AWAKE OUT OF SLEEP: for now is our salvation NEARER than when we [first] believed. The NIGHT is far spent, the DAY is at hand: let us therefore cast off the WORKS OF DARKNESS [see Gal. 5: 15-17; Rom. 1: 18-32; 2 Cor. 6: 9. 10, etc.] and let us PUT ON THE ARMOR OF LIGHT [see Eph. 6: 10-18, etc.].

Let us walk [“live, move, and have our being”] honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering [partying] and wantonness [self-pleasing indulgences], not in strife and envying. But PUT YE ON JESUS CHRIST, and make not provision for the FLESH, to fulfill the LUSTS thereof.” Rom. 13: 11-14, KJV. Beyond any reasonable doubt, this is Bible religion and the faith of Jesus.

To be continued in next week’s MWM, God willing. Bless all, NMF.

MID-WEEK MANNA FROM PASTOR NAT’S DESK:
August 10

THE RELIGION OF THE BIBLE AND THE FAITH Of JESUS (Part 1)

Religion and Faith. Regardless of any and all arguments, contradictions, disavowals, or denials to the contrary—-whether held as a personal view or upheld as a venerable tenet of belief defined by various religious authorities, or secular luminaries such as clinicians, psychologists, philosophers,
and even poets, etc., the only origin of the twin subjects of faith and religion, and the respective principles that undergird their interpretation and practices, are but two intertwined branches emanating from the main trunk of the “tree” called WORSHIP.

Here’s why:
The only true record and source of information and enlightenment on these transcendental subjects lying at the core of the humanity of the human race, is the written Word of God, the Holy Bible, specifically Genesis, the first of its 66 books–the veritable book of beginnings.

It is here, in the unvarnished, pristine sheen of primordial simplicity, unaided by jargon, metaphor, or symbolism, declared in a language that all who wish, child or adult, can understand; which are:
1) the creation of the heavens and the earth, and man, as the crowning act of the creative genius of the omnipotent power and perfect works of God Creator
2) the genesis of the fundamental principle and foundation of the first-ever of relationships possible, that being between Creator and creature, divinity and humanity.

This instantly commenced when the yet-lifeless, mannequin-like, perfectly-formed, hand-made from the “dust of the ground” in the Garden of Eden, received the first breathe of life through his nostrils, from the Life giver-Creator. Instantly, “man became LIVING SOUL.”

Thus began the Relationship between God and man, “made in the image and likeness of God,” a free moral agent endowed by his Creator with a free will, which is the glorious and precious “governing power in man,” not a “perfect” automaton. Of such is the origin of man, as designed by God.

From hereon, I shall present passages (all emphases mine) from Alonzo Trevor Jones’ booklet, The Individuality of Religion (The Divine Right of Individuality of Religion or Religious Liberty Complete).

Since God has created man, in the NATURE of things, the first of all RELATIONSHIPS is that to God; and the first of all DUTIES could be nothing but duty to God.

Suppose a time when there was only one intelligent creature in the universe. He was created: and his relationship to his Creator, his duty to his Creator, is the only one that could POSSIBLY be. That is the FIRST of all relationships that can possibly be.

Therefore, IT IS WRITTEN that ‘the first of all the commandment is, Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord: and thou shalt LOVE the Lord thy God with ALL thy HEART, and with all thy SOUL, and with all thy MIND, and with all thy STRENGTH (also might).’ [Mark 12: 28, 29; cf. Deut. 6: 3-9, KJV.].

This is the consummate Biblical meaning and definitive definition of “love for God.” Everything else and anything less is not of God. Such will be “weighed in the balances of sanctuary” during the pre-advent judgment announced by the first Angel’s message of Rev. 14, and will “be found wanting.”

Bless all, till next MWM, God willing. NMF