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What kind of great witness could the church be if its people were willing to reason with God to come to what the reality of truth is and align their minds to that which is revealed? When we are humble enough to hear and secure enough in our identity in Christ to be wrong, we are modeling a law of love that pursues the kingdom of God through “righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.   If we really want unity in the church, we have to be humble enough to learn from other believers that may see something scripturally that we do not. And that means hearing. Really hearing, not for flaws in the argument, but for understanding.   Conscience is a gift from God. But it’s not God. Can conscience grow with truth when one is fully convinced in her or his own mind or can it be better achieved with the mind of Christ? What are we offering to God? The Holy Spirit is specifically assigned to aid our growing in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and having our minds renewed by the Spirit of God. He will also speak to us when our thinking becomes contrary to God’s will. Suppressing this prompting is ignoring the voice of God through your conscience. God does speak through His Spirit. God creates us with a capacity to know and love him, and we have a natural desire to seek the truth about him. We don't search for God unaided; he calls us to himself to help us draw closer to him. Conscience helps us hear the voice of God; it helps us recognize the truth about God and the truth about how we ought to live. Conscience is "a judgment of reason" by which we determine whether an action is right or wrong. Hearing God deepens our relationship with Christ by following him, and in doing so, we become more fully ourselves.   Wherever we are on our journey with Christ, we can grow deeper with him by continuing the work of forming our consciences well, so that we may follow him ever more closely. The conscience is the God-given inner voice that either accuses or excuses us in terms of what we do.  It is the “divine sense” that God puts into every person, and that divine sense is a significant aspect of God’s revelation to us.   God’s revelation may be common revelation or unique revelation. Unique revelation refers to that information given to us in the scriptures. Not everyone in the world possesses this information. Those who have heard it have had the benefit of hearing specific information about God and his plan of redemption. Common revelation refers to the revelation that God makes available to every human being on earth. It’s common in the sense that it’s not limited to any specific group of people. It’s global, and it can extend to every human being. The audience is general, and the information given is general as well. It doesn’t have the same level of detail that sacred scripture does. But here’s a mystery of knowledge to better understand the conscience. With common revelation, we must distinguish between interceding common revelation and direct common revelation.   Intercessory revelation refers to the revelation that God gives through a mediator: creation, in which God reveals his invisible attributes. Common revelation mediated through creation is clear enough that every single person knows God exists and, therefore, is without excuse as stated in the book of Romans. Unique revelation is revelation that is transmitted to without external assistance. It’s internal. It’s the revelation God plants in the soul. God reveals his law in the mind by framing a conscience within each of us. The crisis here is that we learn how to turn the volume of our conscience down so that our ethics align with how we want to live and not how God tells us we should live.   We prefer silence from God rather than being reminded that what we do is under the condemnation of Almighty God.   Here is the supreme irony and tragedy of sin: the more we repeat our sins, the greater the guilt we incur, but the less sensitive we become to the pangs of guilt in our consciences. This is how we store up wrath for ourselves. Some people have so seared their consciences that they believe it really doesn’t matter what they do as long as it is consensual, and they can see no harm. In a deluded fashion we find new ways to accept sinful behavior, both as individuals and as a culture. There is no collective conscience left in this country.   W e practice things deserving death and approve of others who practice them as well. When people destroy their own consciences, they do everything in their power to destroy the consciences of others. It is so important to keep our hearts tender to the testimony of God’s word in our conscience.    Our minds must be in captivity to the scriptures. The only antidote is knowing the mind of Christ. We need men and women whose consciences have been captured by the word of God. Thank God for his word. It exposes the ploys of the enemy. A taste of judgment is now in part, through our consciences, as a gift from the God who desires all would come to repentance. The Holy Spirit convicts us of sin, and with that conviction comes a certain tender mercy that leads us to repentance and forgiveness so that we might walk in his presence. It is the blood of Christ that gives the true believer a clear conscience – hence the admonition: let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith.   If we know the free grace of Christ in acquitting us before God, and then his ongoing grace each day, we will possess something very precious – a clear conscience. So important is the conscience that even one that is ill-informed is to be respected. Conscience is not our final authority; there is something above it - for if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things.   All humanity possesses a conscience bearing witness to the law of God which is written upon all our hearts. Even those who refuse to believe the claims of Christ are not devoid of conscience. Conscience can provide us with the capacity for accurate self-examination, particularly when used in the light of God's truth. We should realize that it is not a dictator of our beliefs, but a response that reflects our current values. Conscience means “with knowledge”.  The conscience is not an audible voice, but it is a sense that echoes responsibility and obligation to do right. It can be a wise counselor. Do not permit imagination to muffle the conscience. As the Spirit educates the believer’s conscience with the things of God, the personal standard formed by the conscience begins to align with the standard of revealed truth. As a result, the renewed inner man becomes increasingly in tune with the will of God.   An important question arises, though. If the nourishment of God’s Word by the Spirit is the means through which our conscience is properly trained, then how do we discern whether or not we are indeed being illumined by the Spirit? Answer: by comparing what we believe the Spirit to be communicating with what God has said in His Word. This is how we know that something truly is from God – comparing scripture with weight it in the balance with God's Word scripture. We take what we believe the Spirit to be teaching us, and weigh it in the balance with God’s Word. This is the way in which the Spirit teaches, “comparing spiritual things with spiritual”. Our conscience is to be in agreement with godliness…confident that we are in His will. Underneath our actions, thoughts and emotions, in a quiet mode, there is an utterance that continually attempts to guide us towards love and spiritual influence. Oh, to sense the wind of this whisper. The more knowledge of God’s Word, the more sensitive the conscience is to sin. Conscience is a most important part of our inward man, and plays a most prominent part in our spiritual history as we pray to have our minds enlightened by the Holy Spirit. It is our principle within. No longer as a true believer can we sin with impunity. Let conscience open its ears and eternal hope sounds the refrain of heaven. The strongest evidence of God's eternal truth, is the universal conscience of mankind. It is that clear understanding of who is our peace. Christ answers every accusation. He calms every fear. No thought of past sins and present failings and future judgment can refute blood of Jesus. Scarcely anything seems to approach the work of grace so nearly as the deepest convictions of conscience bringing a divine power into the heart. Peace of conscience is a fruit of reconciliation with God. The blood which reconciles, when sprinkled on the conscience, produces a sweet peace which can be obtained in no other way. If the atonement of Christ satisfies the law which condemned us, and we are assured that this atonement is accepted for us, conscience, which before condemned, as being the echo of the law, is now pacified. We have peace with God. The conscience must be continually enlightened and developed by an exposure to God’s Word. By it is the judgment which we pronounce on our own conduct. Conscience singles us out as though nobody else existed. God has given us a faithful witness inside of our own being. It is able to single a man out and reveal his loneliness, the loneliness of a single soul in the universe going on to meet an omniscient God. That’s the terror of the conscience. Conscience never deals with theories. Conscience always deals with right and wrong and the relation of the individual to that which is right or wrong. Remember the conscience is always on God’s side! It judges conduct in the light of the moral law, and as the scripture says, excuses or accuses.   The conscience of man, when he is really quickened and awakened by the Holy Spirit, speaks the truth. It’s that barking dog. Turn over to sleep if you like but that dog barks again and again, the wrath to come...the wrath to come...the wrath to come! Let’s lay this revelation out. Not a soul needs to witness our sin. Not a soul needs to know of it. We cannot hide the truth from the eyes of our conscience. In the end, what is important is not that other people know, but that we ourselves know. And heaven will know. Conscience is knowledge together with oneself. That is to say, our conscience knows our inner motives and true thoughts. It is above reason and beyond intellect. We can rationalize, trying to justify ourself in our own mind, but a violated conscience will not be easily convinced. God calls a people who sins neither in thought nor deed, and is fair and just, who gains enormous courage and strength to stand every fiery trial. The convictions of their mind are encouraged and sharpened in accordance with God's Word. The wise wants to grasp biblical truth so that the conscience is completely informed and judges right to co-operate fully and in accord with true holiness. Conscience is a thing that is inseparably united to the soul, and is essential to it. In what part of the soul is this conscience seated? It has a place not only in the understanding, in the will. The place of conscience is in the whole soul, in what we say references the body—that it is wholly in the whole, and wholly in every part. That which may be truly said of conscience in reference to the soul, is that it is not only a part of the whole, but wholly in every part. Conscience is in the understanding and acts there. It is in the will and checks there. It is in the affections and governs there. It is in the memory and records there. Conscience makes the understanding practical, and the will obedient, the affections spiritual, and the memory faithful. These are all the workhouse of conscience. Here it sits, here it acts, and from here it sends forth its influences into all the actions of a man's life. It extends itself over the whole man, and is concerned in every interest, and every motion, from first to last.  C onscience, it runs through all our duties and practices. Faith looks to the promises, fear looks to the threatenings, obedience looks to the commands, repentance looks to sins, but conscience looks to all. Conscience has a very high and solemn power in its respect of God. Conscience is God's repository, where the revealed will of God is kept and preserved. God wrote his law on tables of stone, and he writes it also on the fleshly tables of man's heart. This is the book of record. God never revealed more of his will, than he has written in conscience. The declaration of his will in the moral law, is no more than what was written on Adam's conscience. And the declaration of God's will in the covenant of grace, is no more than what is written in the believer's conscience.   As c onscience takes counsel of God, and we take counsel of conscience, we are led into the divine presence. Conscience is a witness of God's own appointing. God has ordained it, and set it up to give evidence both to the found and to the lost. It is a faithful witness that will not lie. Conscience stands indifferent between God and man, and therefore more fit to be a witness. Self-interest leads to partiality, but that which is indifferent, is the more likely to be for the equity of the cause. Conscience is a thing between both parties; it is not so of God, but it has something of man. Neither is it so of man, but it has something of God in it, and therefore the fittest to give evidence. Divine irradiation is that book of conscience in the last day. It is a solemn and fearful consideration—that every sin is written in the book of conscience, and that book must be opened in the great day of judgment. We are in the day where we must hold communion with our own consciences and do search that acquits us from hypocrisy and reigning sin. Then we have confidence towards God and liberty of access now, and boldness in the day of judgment. The consolations of conscience are most sweet…but its condemnations are very terrible and dreadful. Thank God for a tender conscience.   📖 Applying the Study For ongoing spiritual encouragement and prophetical insights, visit Higher Learning.

Lesson Learned Ask of us our denomination and we say we are His election, purposefully called to perfect obedience and the keeping of the faith of Jesus. God has already bequeathed a portion of our inheritance to us in this world that we become not disheartened at the complicated scenes of human misery that awaits us. He has each of us right where He wants us at this time…we must know this! We must be committed to living out God’s specific will for our life. His provisioning for our past is to illuminate His purposes for the overwhelming possibilities that will bring about our uniqueness. Do not think too comfortably on this call. God will move us to a new place and season in our calling to serve Him just as faithfully there. His ultimate purpose is to glorify Himself. So long as we are glorifying God where we are, we are where He wants us. In our contentment we are arriving at this “final stage” of service to God. There is this one thing that is worse than sin…worse in what way? In terms of consequences. It is worse when you cause another person to sin than when you sin yourself. Causing another to fall away is exceedingly grave. Woe to the world because of offenses. For offenses will inevitably come, but millstone woe to that person by whom the offense comes. One who incites another to sin, bears the heaviest of judgment, which explains why a millstone should be tied around his neck. We need Jesus in more ways than language can express. Too many who think themselves adventists are devoted to their gross ignorance. These will go out from us but they are not of us. If our teachings are not core spiritual principles, and reality reasoned orientation to the word of God, then we are engaging in verbal proposition only. Every truth that we teach must be centered on the personhood of Jesus. The truth of John 8:32 is the same truth of John 14:6. May I suggest this; let’s make our discussions a way of teaching “how to think”, rather than “what to think”. Have you ever heard this; if you make people think they’re thinking, they will love you. But if you actually make them think, they will hate you. What does that mean? When we think we’re thinking, we’re really not thinking at all. We are mechanically repeating the words or acts of others, frequently without full understanding, or reproducing or repeating a passage or statement of another. Few people reflect on, reason about, work out, and critically decide about something that challenges the mind. The only authority we should defer to is God. When you’re listening to what is written – think! When you’re reading – think! When someone is stating a position – think! There is a role for trusting the judgment and insight of another, especially when you discern wisdom and experience are the guiding lights. There are times where choices are required in situations where you can’t think it out alone. You know an important area where this is the case? The bible, especially belief, faith, and trust. It’s not inappropriate to act on faith and trust, if you have thought things out to the limits of your ability and experience—but it may be inappropriate if you first didn’t bother to think things out as best you could. God gave us eyes, ears, and a brain to think with and intervenes in our lives more than we fully realized or thought! Think about that! Brothers and sisters…we must be sustained by theology, not ideology. We must be appreciative rather than critical of the insightfulness offered by reason. Love must be demonstrably indiscriminate and authentically felt. We must access the head through the heart. The question we absolutely must ask ourselves everyday is; “is everything we are studying and is everything I am hearing the truth, based solely upon truth from error the word of God and the spirit of prophecy, which is the testimony of Jesus? The testimony of Jesus means words spoken with authority, recognized as characteristic of a prophet. Words spoken in the imperative, with the voice of command and authority. Words that provoke. Words that make our Lord’s truth, truth. We must keep our eyes opened to the ark of the testimony. To the word of God, to the precepts of God, the law of God, the statutes of God, the commandments of God. No theatrics. Jesus’ testimony sifts truth from fiction. We make the case for Christ. This represents God’s heart desire, God’s requirement - or may we say it…God’s standard revealing Himself. And the testimony of which we have been given to speak cannot be given by man: it has to come from God Himself. Hence to testify for God requires of us that we touch God, so as to be able to speak the words which God bids us to say. We can speak only after God is known, seen and revealed to us. Only when we have touched this ultimate reality are we able to open our voice and testify for God. If we have not touched this reality, we will have no words to say and therefore no testimony to give. Now think on the question we must ask ourselves everyday. To neglect asking, considering, and examining the answer to this question is opening yourself up to deception and to hinder your judgment. We cannot afford to be loose with any truth. Be sure to evaluate all that is coming to you with eternal values, not temporal values. The bible is an amazing wealth of testimony about the Lord. How blessed we are to have the stories of the Lord at our very touch. We must seek to turn all to righteousness. But let’s not settle there, let’s do even more. God is still at work, and let’s never stop receiving additional light to the testimony of the goodness of God. We make no attempt to supercede the bible. But there are yet secret things that belong to God to be revealed to whom He will. Let the bible speak for itself! Even a child can learn. If you have not a prophetic reckoning in your heart, you are teetering on being lost. We’re not all writers, but we should all have our testimonies on the tips of our tongues. We should be ready in season and out of season to proclaim the truths recorded in the bible. Do you recall that verse in the bible that speaks to God’s purpose? Are we really spiritually enlightened by what it is saying? God is trying to remove us away from bad religion. If we don’t come to know God, misrepresentation of the divine character is the inevitable result. Too many today are saying there is no God. Let’s think on this. Certainly the idea that there is no God is a discouraging thought. If there is no God, then we have no future beyond this life. Worse yet, the here-and-now is basically meaningless. All there is to life is an animalistic scratching and clawing for survival. But wait a minute. At least when it’s over, it’s over. There is something more terrifying. What if there is a God, an actual superior being out there somewhere, but he is not completely good? If the universe is governed by an all-powerful being who is anything less than perfectly good, that is horrifying news. But consider not another possibility, but this certainty. What if there is a God…and what if He is infinitely powerful and at the same time infinitely good? One cannot imagine a more comforting and glorious reality! The character of God matters. He happens to be the Person in charge of the universe, you and me included in that vast domain. Eventually we are going to find ourselves in His immediate presence…and He wants us to understand His purpose for His election whom He calls. The envisioned thought He gave me as I lay distraught, had me asking Him why He purposed the opening text to point to the sorrow associated with wisdom. He showed why His return was delayed; if our witness is prompted to teach the words of the bible connecting people to a church rather than teaching the life of Jesus, causing one to come to God, they will see themselves instead of Jesus. They will follow America’s discourse, Isaiah 5:20-24. There are not yet a 144000 made ready because we believe too much in our knowledge rather than faith, enabling the working of God to occur where things seem impossible. Faith is stronger than our knowledge, logic and all human abilities, because through faith we show we believe and trust in God. That’s enabling faith. Where is our peculiarity? Hear what every word of 9:11 is saying. God assigns His reason for intensification to affirm the nature of a thing. His purpose is the aggregation of many individuals of the same nature to come into existence and made finished by any means, no matter how great, how much, how many, because of the possibility of something undesirable happening. That thing that is undesirable is that much too many are in the game of life for temporal purposes, while God has determined life for eternal purposes. Few are caused to arise and appear in history and as a further matter neither undertaking or accomplishing anything themselves in order that only significant renderings other than "the" counted are set forth to be looked at as was the shewbread, as determined by God according to His free will, by which before the foundation of the world He decreed His blessings to certain persons. The decree made from choice by which He determined to bless certain persons through Christ by grace alone. Choosing out for Himself one out of many whom He judged fit to receive His favors and separated from the rest of mankind, to be peculiarly His own and to be attended continually by His gracious oversight. These He set apart from the irreligious multitude as dear unto Himself, and whom He has rendered, Loud voice call through faith in Christ, citizens in the Messianic kingdom: so that the ground of the choice lies in Christ and his merits only. These He calls by name to cause to speak, to teach, to exhort, to advise. These will continue to be present, not to perish, but to endure and remain as one awaiting one. These heard the utter in a loud voice call them by name to receive the name of and to bear a name of commandment. The faith of these is the end and perfection of the character of Christ. A people with strong faith, confident in their knowledge that they can do anything they set their minds to and weather the toughest times by the grace of God. Their faith should be as much more perfect than the faith of those of a good report; for their status and special consideration are more perfect than the former, and are indeed the perfection and completion of those before them. Only perfect beings are fit for the presence of the holy God, and only perfect beings will come into the realization of that hope which is laid up in heaven. Thrice holiness is our striving in Christ. This reasoning is strong, and should be effectually prevalent with us all. Now hear the testimonies 9, pages 11-18… We are living in the time of the end. The fast-fulfilling signs of the times declare that the coming of Christ is near at hand. The days in which we live are solemn and important. The Spirit of God is gradually but surely being withdrawn from the earth. Plagues and judgments are already falling upon the despisers of the grace of God. The calamities by land and sea, the unsettled state of society, the alarms of war, are portentous. They forecast approaching events of the greatest magnitude.The agencies of evil are combining their forces and consolidating. They are strengthening for the last great crisis. Great changes are soon to take place in our world, and the final movements will be rapid ones. The condition of things in the world shows that troublous times are right upon us. The daily papers are full of indications of a terrible conflict in the near future. Bold robberies are of frequent occurrence. Strikes are common. Thefts and murders are committed on every hand. Men possessed of demons are taking the lives of men, women, and little children. Men have become infatuated with vice, and every species of evil prevails. The enemy has succeeded in perverting justice and in filling men's hearts with the desire for selfish gain. "Justice standeth afar off: for truth is fallen in the street, and equity cannot enter." Isaiah 59:14. In the great cities there are multitudes living in poverty and wretchedness, well-nigh destitute of food, shelter, and clothing; while in the same cities are those who have more than heart could wish, who live luxuriously, spending their money on richly furnished houses, on personal starving humanity (photo by Unspash) adornment, or worse still, upon the gratification of sensual appetites, upon liquor, tobacco, and other things that destroy the powers of the brain, unbalance the mind, and debase the soul. The cries of starving humanity are coming up before God, while by every species of oppression and extortion men are piling up colossal fortunes. On one occasion, when in New York City, I was in the night season called upon to behold buildings rising story after story toward heaven. These buildings were warranted to be fireproof, and they were erected to glorify their owners and builders. Higher and still higher these buildings rose, and in them the most costly material was used. Those to whom these buildings belonged were not asking themselves: "How can we best glorify God?" The Lord was not in their thoughts. I thought: "Oh, that those who are thus investing their means could see their course as God sees it! They are piling up magnificent buildings, but how foolish in the sight of the Ruler of the universe is their planning and devising. They are not studying with all the powers of heart and mind how they may glorify God. They have lost sight of this, the first duty of man." As these lofty buildings went up, the owners rejoiced with ambitious pride (photo by Unsplash) that they had money to use in gratifying self and provoking the envy of their neighbors. Much of the money that they thus invested had been obtained through exaction, through grinding down the poor. They forgot that in heaven an account of every business transaction is kept; every unjust deal, every fraudulent act, is there recorded. The time is coming when in their fraud and insolence men will reach a point that the Lord will not permit them to pass, and they will learn that there is a limit to the forbearance of Jehovah. The scene that next passed before me was an alarm of fire. Men looked at the lofty and supposedly fire-proof buildings and said: "They are perfectly safe." But these buildings were consumed as if made of pitch. The fire engines could do nothing to stay the destruction. The firemen were unable to operate the engines. I am instructed that when the Lord's time comes, should no change have taken place in the hearts of proud, ambitious human beings, men will find that the hand that had been strong to save will be strong to destroy. No earthly power can stay the hand of God. No material can be used in the erection of buildings that will preserve them from destruction when God's appointed time comes to send retribution on men for their disregard of His law and for their selfish ambition. There are not many, even among educators and statesmen, who comprehend the causes that underlie the present state of society. Those who hold the reins of government are not able to solve the problem of moral corruption, poverty, pauperism, and increasing crime. They are struggling in vain to place business operations on a more secure basis. If men would give more heed to the teaching of God's word, they would find a solution of the problems that perplex them. The Scriptures describe the condition of the world just before Christ's second coming. Of the men who by robbery and extortion are amassing great riches, it is written: "Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days. Behold, the hire of the laborers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth: and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth. Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton; ye have nourished your hearts, as in a day of slaughter. Ye have condemned and killed the just; and he doth not resist you." James 5:3-6. But who reads the warnings given by the fast-fulfilling signs of the times? What impression is made upon worldlings? What change is seen in their attitude? No more than was seen in the attitude of the inhabitants of the Noachian world. Absorbed in worldly business and pleasure, the antediluvians "knew not until the Flood came, and took them all away." Matthew 24:39. They had heaven-sent warnings, but they refused to listen. And today the world, utterly regardless of the warning voice of God, is hurrying on to eternal ruin.The world is stirred with the spirit of war. The prophecy of the eleventh chapter of Daniel has nearly reached its complete fulfillment. Soon the scenes of trouble spoken of in the prophecies will take place. "Behold, the Lord maketh the earth empty, and maketh it waste, and turneth it upside down, and scattereth abroad the inhabitants thereof. . . . Because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant. Therefore hath the curse devoured the earth, and they that dwell therein are desolate. . . . The mirth of tabrets ceaseth, the noise of them that rejoice endeth, the joy of the harp ceaseth." Isaiah 24:1-8. "Alas for the day! for the day of the Lord is at hand, and as a destruction from the Almighty shall it come. . . . The seed is rotten under their clods, the garners are laid desolate, the barns are broken down, for the corn is withered. How do the beasts groan! the herds of cattle are perplexed, because they have no pasture; yea, the flocks of sheep are made desolate." "The vine is dried up, and the fig tree languisheth; the pomegranate tree, the palm tree also, and the apple tree, even all the trees of the field, are withered: because joy is withered away from the sons of men." Joel 1:15-18, 12. "I am pained at my very heart; . . . I cannot hold my peace, because thou has heard, O my soul, the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war. Destruction upon destruction is cried; for the whole land is spoiled." Jeremiah 4:19, 20. "I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form, and void; and the heavens, and they had no light. I beheld the mountains, and, lo, they trembled, and all the hills moved lightly. I beheld, and, lo, there was no man, and all the birds of the heavens were fled. I beheld, and, lo, the fruitful place was a wilderness, and all the cities thereof were broken down." Verses 23-26. "Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob's trouble; but he shall be saved out of it." Jeremiah 30:7. Not all in this world have taken sides with the enemy against God. Not all have become disloyal. There are a faithful few who are true to God; for John writes: "Here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus." Revelation 14:12. Soon the battle will be waged fiercely between those who serve God and those who serve Him not. Soon everything that can be shaken will be shaken, that those things that cannot be shaken may remain. Satan is a diligent Bible student. He knows that his time is short, and he seeks at every point to counterwork the work of the Lord upon this earth. It is impossible to give any idea of the experience of the people of God who shall be alive upon the earth when celestial glory and a repetition of the persecutions of the past are blended. They will walk in the light proceeding from the throne of God. By means of the angels there will be constant communication between heaven and earth. And Satan, surrounded by evil angels, and claiming to be God, will work miracles of all kinds, to deceive, if possible, the very elect. God's people will not find their safety in working foundation (photo by Unsplash) miracles, for Satan will counterfeit the miracles that will be wrought. God's tried and tested people will find their power in the sign spoken of in Exodus 31:12-18. They are to take their stand on the living word: "It is written." This is the only foundation upon which they can stand securely. Those who have broken their covenant with God will in that day be without God and without hope. The worshipers of God will be especially distinguished by their regard for the fourth commandment, since this is the sign of God's creative power and the witness to His claim upon man's reverence and homage. The wicked will be distinguished by their efforts to tear down the Creator's memorial and to exalt the institution of Rome. In the issue of the conflict all Christendom will be divided into two great classes, those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus, and those who worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark. Although church and state will unite their power to compel all, "both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond," to receive the mark of the beast, yet the people of God will not receive it. Revelation 13:16. The prophet of Patmos beholds "them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God," and singing the song of Moses and the Lamb. Revelation 15:2. Fearful tests and trials await the people of God. The spirit of war is stirring the nations from one end of the earth to the other. But in the midst of the time of trouble that is coming,--a time of trouble such as has not been since there was a nation,--God's chosen people will stand unmoved. Satan and his host cannot destroy them, for angels that excel in strength will protect them. God's word to His people is: "Come out from among them, and be ye separate, . . . and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be My sons and daughters." "Ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should show forth the praises of Him who hath called you out of darkness into His marvelous light." 2 Corinthians 6:17, 18; 1 Peter 2:9. God's people are to be distinguished as a people who serve Him fully, wholeheartedly, taking no honor to themselves, and remembering that by a most solemn covenant they have bound themselves to serve the Lord and Him only. "The Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, Verily My Sabbaths ye shall keep: for it is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am the Lord that doth sanctify you. Ye shall keep the Sabbath therefore; for it is holy unto you: everyone that defileth it shall surely be put to death: for whosoever doeth any work therein, that soul shall be cut off from among his people. Six days may work be done; but in the seventh is the Sabbath of rest, holy to the Lord: whosoever doeth any work in the Sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death. Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant. It is a sign between Me and the children of Israel forever: for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day He rested, and was refreshed." Exodus 31:12-17. Do not these words point us out as God's denominated people? and do they not declare to us that so long as time shall last, we are to cherish the sacred, denominational distinction placed upon us? The children of Israel were to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations "for a perpetual covenant." The Sabbath has lost none of its meaning. It is still the sign between God and His people, and it will be so forever. Sabbath Rest (photo by Unplash) 📖 Applying the Study For ongoing spiritual encouragement and prophetical insights, visit Higher Learning.

Logic Faith involves reliance and trust and it will endure in the very face of doubt or inquiry, whereas belief is simply something most take to be true. Belief may be sounded by information. Faith is known by application. Faith in its truest form is when we have confidence in God to the point that it causes us to undertake His will, which reinforces our assurance in all He does and performs our certainty in all He says. Belief in its most elementary form is about what we accept to be true, not what we do with it. Beliefs are things we take to be true based on our logic and experiences. If we learn new information, our beliefs can change. When someone’s beliefs are challenged and changed it sometimes deepens and solidifies their faith — which is what our Heavenly Father wants to happen. Faith is similar to belief in that it is a specific kind and deeper intensity of belief. A person can believe in something and not have faith. Faith requires a personal inspection. Many have believed in God, but their faith in His ability to come through was lacking. Even though we know God’s promises and can sing about His faithfulness, we often struggle to act in faith because we were unsure. This does not deny our belief, it simply reveals our humanity. In reality our faith remains unchanged even as it grows because the word does not change. However, it is not that our faith must grow. It is in whom do we have faith. And with that faith in Christ, it will grow. Faith grows with every new revelation of truth. So, does faith and truth change our lives…we answer in the affirmative. God wants to move us from belief to faith and He wants our faith to grow. He desires this so that as our faith grow we will trust Him to control every purpose of, and for our lives. But this is a process, and it does not happen all at once. The beautiful part is God is gracious and will give us opportunities to demonstrate our faith. In God’s plan for our life, there are more things He has for us to do, but to get there we are going to require more faith. For this reason, He will graciously help us turn our belief into faith and all we have to do is ask for His help. Faith is layered with so much reason that even with the most familiar of thoughts and purposes we strive to grow deeper to discover a much richer meaning or treasure contained. The stronger our faith is; the more extraordinary things will occur as His spirit leads us. If we believe only, we do not plunge beneath its surface to ask, “is that all there is?” Faith is fidelity to the Word even when we don’t see the object of our belief. Faith does not come from humans but only from God. Faith is God’s energy, a gift not one of us deserves, a gift given to us by Christ to wash away our iniquities, one that makes Heaven our inheritance. Faith enables us to search our minds and our hearts for God and to come to God to reason in humility and obedience to His will, not our own. Understand how love is the only aspect of holiness that covenants us by faith with God. Remember hearing that God so loved and that He gave? Most of us believe that. But to really know that requires faith in the One whom God gave and it requires that love for the One who gave. If you love Me…keep My commandments and live by the   faith of the Son of God. We love with   faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Faith is more than just intellectual knowledge. It is more than just a mental assent. Faith is not halting between two opinions. It is to accept God’s word on all matters. Accepting God’s choice, His purpose. Faith is the principle of separation. The concept of being set apart as sacred. Meaning belonging to God. This is a recurring theme throughout the bible. Holding to that understanding is how our faith will cease to wax and wane. Faith must be grounded in the always faithful God and His will being done and not upon some specific outcome that may or may not serve God’s purpose. It is trust without reservation. Trusting is what brings the promises of God into our lives. Faith is our choice as to whom we will serve in sincerity and truth. And truth is found in the word of God. And so, faith is that light in God’s promises. It is God behind us and God before us. Our faith has a way of revealing our worst days, or weeks, or months, or years. Faith has a way of uncovering the purposes and the mercies of God in our past, and giving light to the promises of God for our tomorrow. The past becomes a list of hopes deferred, relationships lost, opportunities squandered, all telling the story of how we were elected. God has so sanctified every sorrow we’ve experienced that it has become, in His hands, an upward step in His purpose. Our past is but our wilderness experience. Christ himself has walked there. If the children of Israel had learned from that experience they would have been as the peculiar people spoken of. No matter how much guilt and grief is buried in the years gone by, the ground bears the footprints of the God who works footprints of the God who works... wonders. When we rehearse the bitterness behind us, then, we need to tell ourselves about this day that we were awakened. But that is not yet the full story. True faith has a different interpretation than what our worst moments would suggest. True faith is knowing of God’s wondrous deeds and thoughts toward us. No matter how many sorrows await us, faith tells us that God knows the thoughts that He Himself thinks toward us to give us an expected end. And the sum of them is great! Our mourning these days is great. It will increase. But so will our faith in God. What will come from our mourning, our suffering is a deeper understanding of the character of God and His thoughts toward us. This provision is purposed by God. Consider Jeremiah…lamenting actually deepens our gratitude, building our capacity for belief in the promise of His presence and blessing in the midst of it. We have greater faith. It is this greater faith by which we are secure in God’s love for us, when we know how He really feels about us, we are free to come to reason with Him and to ask and tell Him anything. Faith will keep us from faking fine in life. True faith strengthens us to approach God with what is really going on with us. God thinks of us as His. He tells us of His experiences of anger, of joy, of compassion, and even of jealousy. Why would we not choose to be wholly honest with Him…He already knows. It just so amazes Him when He sees our faith becoming so full that He wants desperately to make us whole. He wants us to know that this wholeness is the only way to have the fullness of faith and that is to have the fullness of the Holy Spirit, the fullness of the life of Christ, and the fullness of love from and for the Father. Our belief is that He’s got us! We cannot limit what God can do, but we can limit what we accept. When we truly believe, the equation of our faith will fill us up. God tells us how evil the days are and how so much worse they will be. So, He admonishes us to redeem the time, understanding what His will is for us. That we be filled with the Spirit. In our reasoning we understand that means we must be empty of all things of this world. And because God’s thoughts are toward us, He tells us of this greater faith we come to. Faith to know the love of Christ that we may be filled with all the fulness of God. Glory!!! The fullness of our faith is not determined by our ability to reach it but to receive it. We cannot add to our faith, Christ asks that we yield to faith that it can be added onto us. If we want to believe for more, we must trust for more. Trusting is not done out of strength but out of surrender. There is nothing that God can’t do if only we would let Him. Every circumstance we go through is an opportunity to hear Him, to seek His face in everything that happens. Do faith is our constant connection to God-thinking not do anything to play down faith. Faith is our constant connection to God- thinking. This is the mind of Christ. God’s way is the grace way. We give Him glory and He gives us grace. We give Him praise and He gives us peace. We give Him worship and He gives us confidence. This is the way of God. Our faith is to move us beyond the temporal world unto eternal thinking. We cannot teach God anything, but we can understand the things of God. We are but a faith-step away from being made perfect in Christ Jesus. Faith gives us an advantage. Ignorance is torn down while passionate truth builds up. Faith says test what you believe and see if it withstands the scrutiny of critical thinking, that is, critical thinking based on the Word of God. Faith is not established on what we think however, faith is built of what God knows of us. He knows when we make His ways our ways. As our faith is, so will God continually unfold new dimensions of His grace, His love, and His kindness, and His wisdom. By faith we are to expect days of troubled serenity ahead. If there be any lingering wreckage of our sin, God will clean it up. There will be days that will reveal more constellations of God’s goodness and glory to us, even as we more constellations of God's glory must walk through deep darkness to see them. By faith whatever else we see when we look ahead, then, see the grace and the mercies God has multiplied for us. See also the God who will never fail to preserve us with His steadfast love and faithfulness. If only we had a believing faith to see. We are hemmed in by the things behind us and the hopes before. We know of God’s wondrous deeds of the past. And our faith tells us of the merciful wonders to be. Both of these are marvelous and more than can be told. With such a God behind us and before us, we need not allow the past to swallow us, nor tomorrow to worry us. The past and the morrow belong to Him…and most importantly, so do we. It is believed that faith by both biblical and spiritual definitions needs no evidence. Faith is something that is certain but not yet fully realized in our present experience. It is the conviction of the reality of what we do not yet see. It is the characteristic of those who live “as seeing him who is invisible. We might even suggest that faith is ventured trust that is in no way contrary to reason. If faith bypasses reason why would God give us a written document. It is not just believing in God, it is believing God. It is belief that may not necessarily rely on empirical evidence. Can faith provide a connective understanding as to why our own belief must be based upon historical reality historical reality? Therein is the highest mystery that spans the truth of faith…faith always has an object. That is, one cannot have faith in some unclear way. There must be some thing or person, one has faith in. Most people do not understand how to place faith in its characteristic order. Faith cannot be “belief without evidence” since it is not a belief to begin with. It is a condition that may involve beliefs or may be caused by beliefs, although it is not itself a belief. Rather, it is a state of trust. And so, faith embraces testimony. Measure our faith by the Word of God and make sure we are assenting to the reasonable, historical testimony of the prophets. Faith is not something of a distance. Wow! What? Some have faith of being in the kingdom. Millennium has past and we’re not there yet. Do we believe these words: thy faith hath made thee whole, the kingdom of God cometh not with observation, the kingdom of God is within you. Is that faith? And how near is the kingdom? an entrusting ourselves where we risk ourselves and our wellbeing to something or some person. Trust is exemplified in a deep and mutual relationship. Faith requires not trust from a distance but God becoming man might qualify for such a demonstration. Everyone has faith, in this sense, insofar as they entrust themselves. So, what is the very distinctiveness of our faith? Its object is Jesus Christ, God Himself. And we venture on the reason, the truth, the revelation of every word of God. We place our faith in Christ as Savior and Lord. It is not merely the truth of the gospel, and it is not merely the evidence and reasons constitutive of the knowledge of the gospel, but we are literally entrusting ourselves to Christ. And here is the essence of the mystery: we might know some truths of the Creator’s determinative purpose by reason and evidence but, at a certain point, reason and evidence run out and faith takes over and the Spirit of God gives us what the mouth of God has spoken in secret. This moves us beyond the measure of faith. Beyond becoming convinced by the preaching of the gospel, the testimony of the Spirit, the richness of scripture, a work the Lord has done in our own lives, answers to prayer, a world that appears designed and finely tuned, needing an explanation for purpose and hope. We engage the life of the mind of Christ and being careful for nothing, considering and weighing out our reasons as we grow in faith and prayer letting our requests be made known unto God. Many that hear do not believe, yet those that believe have first heard. Faith cometh by hearing. The beginning, progress, Faith cometh by hearing. and strength of faith are by hearing. The word of God is therefore called the word of faith: it causes and nourishes faith. God gives faith, but it is by the word as the instrument. Hearing is by the word of God. It is not hearing the enticing words of man's wisdom, but hearing the word of God, that will befriend faith, and hearing it as the word of God. Think about how hearing the word of God reflects in the meaning of our lives for God. Others are made to witness faith in the relationship we have with God through Jesus Christ. We become a model of how a person of faith should live their faith out loud. People need to be encouraged and know others are praying for them, that they are loved and not forgotten, that they are loved by God and that He desires them to experience the grace, love and peace of God. There is a purpose behind God’s calling us to come to Him. We see the necessity of reason in bringing us to the threshold of faith. It is this vital collaboration whereby we believe that God will reveal to us the truth in the words of Jesus and his divine works as recorded in the bible. As such we become eyewitnesses of truth. We were not there, yet our reliance, our trust is in the One who makes known the strength of the evidence…it is faith in God. None of this violates our free will , for our faith in God depends on our personal “commitment” to Christ. For those of us who allow ourselves to be touched by God’s grace, for faith is nothing short of a gift, then we can make faith is a gift an act of faith that God does indeed exist and that He reveals Himself through His Son to bring us into the fullness of life. When we come to God to reason, we do not come to be rational, we come to be transrational, we go beyond the realm of reason. We trust God and that is faith! Faith and reason become like two wings on which the human spirit rises to the contemplation of divine truth to believe all that is God. God wants us to know what we believe and why we believe it. We are to have a well reasoned, evidential faith that we can articulate to those who may have doubt. We do not share opinions. God either is, or He is not. Jesus is that God, or He is not. Salvation comes through Christ alone, or it does not. This is not a personal preference. Historical reality points to determined providential purpose. Ensamples, patterns, admonitions are for our benefit. Yesterday is a collection of ideas, choices and possibilities. Faith is that event that creates a wise narrative weaving our experience to hope and having that confidence that the work God began, He will perform. This is the how and the why we can know why we are the called. We are dramatic proof of the accuracy of the Old Testament. How did Mary know what she heard was truth? It was written. It is written How did Jesus know he was the Son of Man? It was written. Has your life been transformed? You know your experience to be true because you understand, on separate evidence, that the one in whom you trust is Himself trustworthy. And because God is God, His every utterance about the future is to be utterly trustworthy. Believing faith is discernible. It emits a spiritual light. Jesus perceived the strength or weakness in the faith of those around Him. We hear him say, “thy faith hath made thee whole.” “Great is thy faith.” He lamented to another, “O ye of little faith.” He questioned others, “where is your faith?” And Jesus distinguished yet another with, “I have not found so great faith.” The measure of faith is given by God, but faith in Jesus Christ is a gift from heaven that comes as we choose to believe and as we seek it and hold on to it. Faith is a principle of power, important not only in this life but also in our progression beyond the veil into the most holy. By the grace of Christ, we will one day be saved through faith on His name. The forthcoming of our faith is not by chance, but by choice. We must realize that if we fail to reason with every word, with any of God’s word, it is a sign that the adversary is destroying our faith. Remember the words of Jesus, “I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not”. We view life’s events through the divine prescription that enables us to have spiritual vision in this world because we view it from the perspective of another world. When we reach perfection we realize that faith has been leading all along to the person of our Lord Jesus, the author and finisher. With believing faith we defy the wisdom of the world that tells us to live for today. Instead we live in the present in the light of the future, and handle everything that is visible in the light of the invisible. To live by faith is not to live by what we can see and feel and touch on the basis of our sense experience, but to live on the basis of what God has said and promised. That is believing faith. It has its epicenter in our Lord Jesus Christ. It takes its practical shape from what God has said and promised in His Word. Learning, understanding, embracing, digesting, and applying every last word of scripture. Everything about us will be assessed by our faith. The basis of our expectation, the proof of what God has prepared. The word is written…we know there is an election…we know the wise will understand…we know the sealing is certain…we know of the time of trouble…we know there will be great plagues, the coming of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords…we know of the thousand years…the lake of fire, the new heaven, the new earth…and by faith we know it is done. 📖 Applying the Study For ongoing spiritual encouragement and prophetical insights, visit Higher Learning.

OnlineBibleCourse: Deepen your search for truth in the bible and learn about Christ. Sounds of Manna -Hymn 10 - Jesus Paid It All Play Video Free books! Play Video Be Transformed Play Video The Truth Watch Now Facebook Twitter Pinterest Tumblr Copy Link Link Copied Close DISCLAIMER: PLEASE NOTE ALL INFORMATION PROVIDED ARE EXTRACTS, EXCERPTS, OR COMPILATIONS AND ARE NOT COPYEDITED. MANY WORKS OF VARIOUS AUTHORS ARE USED. THERE IS NO AUTHOR HERE…IT IS A COMPILATION FOR YOUR LEARNING Schedule Learn at your own pace. Grade your own quizzes. No schedule. No deadline. Contact He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone , and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it. Revelation 2:17 KJV Online Bible Courses No Cost *New Blog Entries Added Weekly* Bible Prophecy Charts & Maps Learn where we are in the stream of time Bible Helpful Links From reputable sources About About White Stone Bible Study Online/OnlineBibleCourse Have you had questions about the Bible? Perhaps you just want to know more about the life of Jesus or how to become a better person. Or, rather, you have come here to learn more about prophecy and the events that are coming upon this earth. Well, put on your seatbelt, because you are about to have a bumpy ride; these studies may cause you to question long-held church traditions that might make you ponder and wonder...

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