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  • God's Intent...

    God is reproducing Himself God's purpose is something far bigger and far more important than we can totally comprehend. He is reproducing Himself. In broad generalities this purpose is shown in the opening chapters of Genesis. Right from the beginning, God wants to make sure that we understand where He is headed with His Word so that we can begin to process the information that comes along as we are guided into changing behavior and ingraining new spiritual objectives that the powerful truths of His purpose present. Spiritual objectives such as increased compassion, the certainty of faith, and sacrificial worship. The first most important clue…we are created in His image. Embedded in this image is the accommodating power of choice. This empowers us to heed God’s instructions in the very beginning, to choose life consciously, to avoid sin and death with the utmost of energy. Here is the intent of this purpose: that we be transformed from glory to glory - from the glory of man to the glory of God.   What truth can give us the confidence that we know and are fulfilling God’s purpose for our life? After all we are in a chaotic and unsettling time. It is sometimes hard to understand what God’s purposes may be and especially how God’s purposes are being worked out in our lives. This may not be yet revealed to us but this we do know…that God is indeed working out His plans in our lives. He uses His sovereign authority to determine the revelations His purposes contain and the sequence in which they are given and brought forth.  May we hear this suggestion: we can’t work it up on our own through human intellect and positive thinking. Rather, it is produced by the Holy Spirit, who works primarily, though not exclusively, through the holy scripture, which He uses to enlighten our minds and kindle faith in our hearts.    It’s as though God presents us through reasoning His character, purpose, and plan. We must intricately approach our need for guidance in the present time, which seem so urgent, in the context of God’s larger purpose. We must situate ourselves in a spiritual framework, whereby we can more readily discern and embrace God’s purposes in the unique circumstances of our lives, keeping uppermost in our minds that the God of the bible is our God of purpose. Specific purposes. And His purposes extend from eternity past to eternity future, encompassing not only the ultimate destiny of His creation, but every aspect of our personal lives, as well.   Specific purposes Everything was set determinately clear, fixed, and exact in counsel from the beginning. Then the employment of immense power and wisdom gave notice of the purposes by staging in the beginning, defined limits, periods of time, orders of precedence, essential events, settled consequences, certainty of truth. Before ever anything was brought forth, the Triune, in accord declared, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose’. With that, the forever faithful has assurance and comfort of knowing that God is more than simply a purposeful, all-powerful Creator; God is good! God is going to reveal Himself in deeper ways by demonstrating more of His sovereign purposes and power by calling those who accept the gift of His Son to be as saviors of the world. God…has purposes and performs particular actions,…does one thing and not another, is a choosing, commanding, prohibiting God with a determinate character. Have you ever consciously wondered why God ceased a previous system, an array of disparate parts, an earth without form, void, and dark and fashioned them into a form appropriate for His next step? Supreme order and direction in what He will reveal originates in and from Him. Though normally invisible to humanity, He is clearly in control, initiating what will happen and also continuing to completion what He began. God readies His purpose for man that was determined. The orderly progression of time began, and activity continues as God arranges the environment in which purposed intentional events will take place in both a natural and spiritual progression. First, there must be light. From this point on, everything coming into view is made new. The “let there be” is purposefully instructive. His purpose is that we become as fully manifested in His image as He was when He made that pronouncement and remains to this day. The Father and Son are eternal spirit Beings of awesome intellect, character, power, and purpose. Being in the image of God does not mean becoming God. We were to choose to not know evil. And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever. But what had the first pair reasoned to be the full effect of what was said. God implies that from the beginning, He intended that mankind live forever! He means “forever”, even as He and the Son live forever. From the beginning in counsel, God providenced the “in the beginning”. It was His ultimate purpose that, when His creative efforts are complete, those whom He created would live forever in His image. And God made sure that the first pair was not ignorant of the truth. Let’s offer a conceptualization of this performance; divine love shall be brought to its most glorious perfection in every faithfilled individual ransomed by Christ. Then, in every heart, that love which now seems but a spark, shall be kindled to a bright and glowing flame, and every ransomed soul shall be as it were in a blaze of divine and holy love, and shall remain and grow in this glorious perfection and blessedness throughout all eternity.   In spite of sin, God’s purposes continue to move toward fulfillment through His elect, then finally and supremely through Jesus, God’s own Son. We are commissioned to go into the world and teach the word of truth to people where they are. If called by God, they will be born again. This begins the process of transformation designed to conform them to the likeness of Jesus, displaying His grace and glory in this present time to make them fit to live in His presence. These will come to know that they are God’s works of art, created in Christ to do good works, which God has prepared in advance for them to do. These will manifest the change of heart and character that comes from the new birth - the process of becoming holy in daily life through grateful, spirit-empowered obedience.   Being “holy” is the unfolding of a metamorphosis as we follow the teaching and example of Jesus, drawn forward by a grateful love. It is guided by holy scripture, empowered by the Holy Spirit, and manifested in the fruit of the Spirit, as we contend against the world, the flesh, and the enemy of God. The position of being set apart as God’s child, which is conferred upon us through new birth, justification and adoption into God’s family, and the process of change, sanctification, makes that position a progressively experienced reality. The goal of this process is to “be conformed to the image of His Son”, and it happens as we “present our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is our spiritual worship” and seek to “be transformed by the renewal of our mind”.  T his involves every area of personal and moral and spiritual life, whether one is educated or illiterate. We were known, consecrated, and appointed before formed in the womb. And now God has purposed to reveal His Son in us. God’s calling us is predicated upon this: that we embrace His grace and love through faith in Jesus His Son Christ and that we respond to His grace with wholehearted surrender and the pursuit of Christlikeness. God calls us by a direct word or in rare cases, a word through others, or through an unusual circumstance. But normally, He works through a process using His written word, by which any other guidance must be judged. This process, which we usually find too slow, is purposeful, for it serves to draw us closer to Him in prayer, to keep us dependent on His word and Spirit, to help us surrender to His will, and to teach us about Himself and His ways and to so grow our faith as to have complete dependence upon Him. In a word, it is for our maturing.    process of growing in Christ is slow Think of the choices that we make each moment. How they forge the context in which God’s purposes are worked out; more important, they shape our lives and contribute to our transformation. It is an inescapable law of life that we make our choices, then our choices make us. Choices are transformative - for good or ill. This is why God calls us to reason. Every time we make a choice we turn the central part of ourselves, the part of us that chooses, into something a little different from what it was before the choice was made. It is so very important to reason with God for wisdom and guidance that unfold truth that establishes faith. We gain much insight and wisdom from the relevant biblical precepts and promises of God. Humility of heart and reverence for God are essential in God’s guiding us. He counsels us with His eye on us, indicating a more personal level of guidance. So, this is not a automated process of studying the bible as a book of rules, regulations, policies, and procedures, then coming up with the right answer. Rather, God is personally guiding and directing us through the Holy Spirit opening our understanding to the meaning and application of His word to the circumstances of our lives and the situations we face based upon His purpose for us. Choose not to be spiritually dull and rebellious to His guidance but rather docile and surrendered. We are to have wholehearted surrender and active faith in our commitment and trust to do His will whether we like it or not. We must resist the tendency to rely on our own understanding and instead seek God’s wisdom. We are to subordinate our understanding to God and His wisdom and never default to “what feels right”. Trusting God means waiting in the posture of faith. God sometimes uses delays to work deeply in our lives, testing our motives, deepening our faith, developing our patience, and aligning the circumstances required for His answer. Only then will we be in a position for Him to direct our paths.  T here is also a place to “listen to wise counsel and accept good instruction” from spiritually mature believers, parents or friends, who are known to be wise, godly, and well grounded in scripture, who have your back and want the right for you. All of this must be done with serious prayer and sometimes fasting and sometimes journaling your discourse with God. Have the confident assurance that in everything God has a purpose.     There is a caveat to the purposes of God that is so confounding. It is truly a mystery. Let’s reason here with God…we are always living in God’s purpose. God is God and He works all things, including our life, according to His purposes. Nothing can happen without God ordaining it. He has numbered our days and will fulfill every purpose He has for us. He has numbered our days However, our choices also really matter. In some ways, this is a mystery not fully understood, but that doesn’t mean it’s not true. God’s purpose already determined, yet my choice matters…? We are created so uniquely that the pursuit of God is not optional. It is not an “extra” that a person might grow into after he comes to faith. God knows this and from a relationship, not choosing God renders you purposeless. See, God wants to give us purpose. He wants to bestow divine wisdom on us. He gave us faith that we would expect Him to give us purpose to begin to understand the heart of God.    God's mind is absolutely undivided. This means that His sovereignty can never be separated from His love; His grace cannot be separated from His omniscience; His judgment cannot be separated from either His mercy or His wrath. God is absolutely and constantly purposing change that was determined in His counsel because His faithful providence cannot be separated from any other of His attributes. God is whole and complete. Under every circumstance, He is never confused or uncertain about what to do. He is always headed in the right direction, which is to complete His purpose. It is absolutely impossible for Him to do anything that is not wise and at the same time loving. It is He who tells us how to live and how to be like Him. What God is has awesome ramifications for us because we are so different, and He wants us to be like Him, to be one with Him, to be whole, to be complete, to be undivided in mind with Him. Becoming this way requires a measure of cooperation from us. And God gives every person that measure. Note this spectacular performance. God is always working two things at once: He is performing His overall purposes for His creation, and simultaneously working His specific purposes for us as individuals and for His people. Out of this comes a principle. God is Jehovah-jireh, Jehovahnissi, Jehovah-shalom. He is Jehovah God, the Eternal who sees, the Eternal who provides.    Many have not yet heard the call. But God is certainly manipulating events to His own ends in their world as well as ours. God determines their preappointed times as well as where they will come to where we are to hear of Him. This means that He has predestined when they will rise to understanding and when they will fade from self. God has overseen the path of every person, the coming and going of every kingdom, the ploys of devils, and the gathering of His Israel nation over millennia, and has kept all of them moving toward the successful conclusion of His purpose! What kind of God is this we serve? How awesome His mind, purpose, wisdom, and love! Man does not merely owe his life to God's creative acts, but his movements across time are to the very extent ordered by our Sovereign God. Almighty God works in this manner to the end that all might seek and find Him. God's purpose is all that counts! In addition, since He is God, He can bring it to pass. God has the right, the will, and the loving nature to do anything He pleases to anybody at any time - and good will result. God’s sovereignty and involvement with the details of events persist from beginning to end; everything happens when, where, and how God planned. Our acceptance shows our faith in God. Through it all we trusts Him, not fully understanding every detail sometimes until after it is over. But God works throughout moments, days, years and in all the details toward a purpose and a time He has determined in advance.   The need for a relationship with our Creator is beginning to emerge. A spiritual creation, a creation process begun in Eden continues. Not as an expression of newness in the sense of “makeover.” The sense of being completely and newly formed. God’s hand forming every part how He wants it and determining how every part would function with every other system in His creation. A purposed person as a new individual with a new family, a new set of values, new motivations, and new possessions. Nothing new in this sense creates itself. But in Christ we have an idea what it is we are in the process of becoming. Are we making ourselves spiritually? We are no more making ourselves spiritually than we did physically. However, this creation is far more difficult and important because it requires our mindful and willing cooperation   with our Creator. God’s determination is of such a high purpose that He clearly and precisely allows us to foresee where our spiritual Creator is headed. To say it bluntly, without God's calling to His election, found in His purpose which creates the relationship with Him, there is no possibility whatever of knowing anything meaningful about what God is in the process of creating, and therefore no eternal, spiritual salvation would exist. God is purposing us for everlasting life. Therefore, it is our responsibility always to do whatever is necessary to seek Him and glorify Him, helping to keep the relationship going and knowledge increasing. Without the relationship that He invited us into, there is no possibility of ever accomplishing the end that He is heading toward and yielding to what He desires. It is as though He has removed the cherubims from the eastward entry of Jesus to allow us back into the Garden of Eden, right into the very source of every good and perfect gift that will enable us to glorify Him by fulfilling our responsibilities to Him. It is as if He says, as He opens the gate, “now there, let's begin the next step in My overall purpose!”   We are to take certain factors into consideration, because they affect our lives. And God does have an overall purpose. How near is Jesus’ return?  Might there be occasions when God deeply tests our faith because other people's situations whose lives touch on ours must be resolved first? We may be called to suffer mightily in the process, not really understanding what is happening. We appeal to God, but we hear no answer because other things were being worked out through, around, for and about someone in our sphere, of which we are totally unaware. We are not privy to every purpose God has for another. The individual may not know until the episode is resolved. We may have to endure much emotional anguish while the whole situation plays out. For a while, God was a God from afar. But faith tells us that God was near because He strengthened us. We limit not God. He can work from afar for our good while always being nearby. As we think on God and His intent, remembering His purpose, we no longer think and act from an earthly point of view. Our minds open the possibility of an "above the sun" perspective of life that can teach us that God is to be considered in all things. By being a means of helping Him to form us into what He desires, our internal disgust with self can motivate cooperation with God and produce growth to maturity. God's calling, His reasoning with us, and the revelation of Himself and His purpose are favors beyond calculation. We have only one opportunity for salvation. Tremendous gain rests in what the called children of God are experiencing. We must choose to direct our lives to follow an "above the sun" perspective so that our lives are not meaningless. The choice lies between searching out earthly imaginings or submitting to what God has revealed. Understanding God’s purposes reveals much about our consideration for Christ. God's concern is for events in life involving moral, spiritual, and ethical choices. Whether one chooses a red or blue car makes no difference morally, but red car or blue car? whether we buy a car when other family needs are more pressing is another situation altogether. This choice may shape character and therefore purpose. Too many today are stiff-necked, opinionated, and self-willed. Sometimes this occurs because of ignorance or cultural influences. Far too often however, the cause of our poor moral and ethical choices is pride and self-righteousness. So much so, to the point that some will actually choose the lake of fire! Others, though their inferior works burn because of their poor choices, God will mercifully spare them.  In this we come to know that prayer's major purpose is to give us an additional, effective way to draw near to and harmonize with the Spirit. We must have access to God…to His nature to live right, to live according to His purpose. So what is meant as God says He changes not. He has never altered His purpose from the beginning. Because God has a purpose that He has been working out from the very beginning, He looked beyond what people do to destroy and remove themselves from His purpose. God, in a sense, overlooks what people do all the way to the last day, to the conclusion of His purpose for them. He did not carelessly call us. We may want to consider more deeply how valuable our conduct and attitude are to the entirety of the purpose of God. No challenge in our life is without divine purpose and approval. God's providence is in control in every aspect of our lives. We understand, if we are His election, that God assigns a place in the outworking of His purpose to everyone He calls. We must respond to God's grace, to His calling, to His gift of Christ, to His gift of the Holy Spirit, to His gift of revealing to us knowledge and understanding of what is happening. We must respond - that is, love God in return. We must be one of "the called according to His purpose," one of the elect.    God is reproducing Himself. He will not limit His options to avoid offending a humanity that lacks His Spirit and is therefore wholly incapable of sharing His perspective. He will bring His purpose about. His purpose and plan, is a mystery, a secret that is impossible to penetrate except by reasoning with God Himself. Man would never find out what God intends, except that God gives it to us by revelation. We have in no way earned this revelation. We have it because it pleased God to give it to us. He withholds it from others, but He has given it to us. He is in no way beholden to us, as if He owed us something. We could dig in His Word over our entire lifetimes and never come to what He freely gives to us for His purposes, for His own reasons. Had we not responded to and accepted His command to come we would never have caught the vision of His purpose. If you are called as His election in His purpose you are as the one man among the many at the Pool of Bethesda. Why was this one purposed? It was God’s will. Clearly, He treats and responds to individuals according to the counsel of His own mind, and He answers to no one. He does this even in the lives of His children. What right do we have to murmur about the discomforts He creates for us to endure and grow within? He could rescue everybody in every uncomfortable circumstance, but He does not. Have we fully accepted that He may choose difficult things for us? Pay attention intensely to what God is doing in our lives! What we see going on in the world during our time has not been brought to pass by men but by the invisible God. This unseen unseen hand hand is manipulating events so that the person of faith can understand that history is not an endless cycle of repetition; it is getting ready to end. God is drawing things to a conclusion. When we come to understand the design of His purpose we will come to the wisdom to understand the overall subject is the return of Jesus Christ. Then will be revealed to us the whole panorama of God’s purpose. God has the whole process planned out, and He is so confident of His ability to accomplish it that He perceives it as already done!   He knows the end from the beginning…

  • The Direst Time...

    the Direst Time In God’s mysterious plan each of us has a precise role to perform. Contribution to the fulfillment of God’s providential will, will be those whom God prepares to serve Him. God has a purpose in all that He does. And He calls forth in us full trust, a total abandonment to His divine plan. Nothing happens by chance in the history of salvation. Know that if you be God’s, you will not be relegated to the background in these final few days of time. Much self giving will be required of us. This is as an invitation to our humility in the last moment of time. We are to persist in studying the word of God knowing that scripture does not yield up all its riches, while having aspects that escape our understanding, and we must progress patiently without forcing the text into a ready-made framework. We must be cautious with hazardous assumptions. But let us welcome God’s mysteries as we are called to continually reason to understand His revelations. Let the Holy Spirit introduce us into the purposes of God through scripture. Full clarity will be given us when we faithfully walk in the truths offered to us. Truly scripture will serve to return us to our Creator Christ who unlocks the wisdom of the purposes of God for us, in the shadows of his return. He is the incarnate word. The wisdom and the truth that comes down to the night that is engulfing the world. We are coming to know him as he is one like us that we may know ourselves. Christ is the culmination of God’s purpose. We must contemplate his ways ceaselessly in the direst time. Brothers, sisters, what a mystery of this crazy love…God making Himself near, coming out from His inaccessibility to make Himself visible, tangible, knowable in Jesus. This uncreated light enters into the darkness. Such is the good news, the heart of our faith. He has shared our human condition and given himself that we may follow him in this final determination of time.           Extremely serious, calamitous, violent, ruinous, and dreadful are but the sane words of description for the time that is so very soon to come upon the world, and have a most distressing effect on God’s people. The world will come to know a clear link between disobedience and devastation.   They will attempt to offer human explanation for what takes place to deceive the masses while God’s people will proclaim a divine causation. We must get ready for the invasion that's coming from sin. We must do some sackclothing and some serious weeping.   Satan really isn’t that creative.  Demonic forces exercising their power over susceptible human beings will cause these to oppose truths. Had they reasoned with God’s word and His people they would be under the safeguard of Christ. Defiant rejection of God's Spirit will result in the complete removal of His restraining power. The world is in unrest. The surety of war is enraging the people of all nations. And when the story reaches its worst, it will only get more worse from there. There will be a darkness that can be felt. God is going to get everyone’s attention. This will be God’s forsakenness. This is a mystery beyond our human ability to understand. The earth will be turned upside down.   earth will be turned upside down Truth will reside only with those who source the bible as their only truth. The human mind has become so seared that it cannot contend with the pace of technological change. Mass manipulative narratives will cause broad swathes of people to simply give up on being informed. People are too polarized for any and every reason conceivable. We are in the country that promotes divergent points of view based on political and social subcultures; that champion false information. Belief systems – not ‘truths’ – help to cement identities, forge relationships, explain the unexplainable. Hatred has obliterated common knowledge. Sudden judgment is coming upon the earth, and it will change everything in a single hour. Within that short span, the whole world will witness fast-falling destruction upon cities and the world will never be the same. There will be no cure for the judgments of God. Utter chaos will erupt. All civic activities will stop, and society will descend into massive disorder. Government agencies will be helpless to restore any kind of sanity. No state troopers, no national guard, no army will be able to bring order to the upheaval. With certainty, this time will see calamity clearly beyond humankind’s capacity to respond. The economy will be devastated. In the midst of the terrible time, God’s people will message a truth and its sound will grow steadily stronger. The truth will be heard from the uttermost parts of the earth. East, west, north, and south — from Arab lands to China, Indonesia, Africa and all parts of the earth. Hypocritical veils are going to fall away. But God has a people not appointed to wrath. We are not to tremble or sorrow as the world does. Instead, we are to comfort one another in faith, knowing that God rules over every aspect of our lives. God has forewarned mankind of a great and terrible chastisement. Think not that these things are far-fetched and severe, but rather in face of so much impiety; blasphemy; desecration; corruption and immorality pervasive in our time; it wouldn’t be superfluous to surmise that the world indeed deserves such grave punishments. Thus, while the world faces a fearsome and terrible destruction in light of mankind’s insolence and impiety, God assures us that He will not abandon those who are faithful to Him. But let us understand this time. Central to our vision must be God on the mercy seat where His mercy met our sin and God judged it blotted out there. The mercy seat concentration of force against us will come with such cruelty and treachery that men will hate God and consequently those who remain faithful to Him, until even the atheist will acknowledge God’s existence, but question His sovereignty. There is going to be this seemingly suspension of order, as if God steps out of His creation and a cloak of darkness appears. Nothing in creation could have produced the darkness of these dimensions that will spiritually reflect the total abandonment of the spirit of God from man. Prepare my friends, for a silent sudden somber as we witness the last breath of many as God draws the curtain across His Holy of Holies so no outsider could see or hear within our cries. We will know of the desolate isolation and loneliness of persecution. This kind of loneliness – knowing our responsibility for what God is calling us to do no matter what, is an absolute truth of our faith. None of us will think to escape it. There is a unique burden that comes from knowing that God purposed this - that there is something that has been given by God for us to do, and that to renege would be akin to Jonah hiding out in the bottom of the boat trying to pretend that Jonah hiding from God he had not received a call from God. We can do what God purposes, but it may not leave us with much life. We are at the point where we can no longer distract ourselves from the disquiet sorrow that fills our inner being as we seek God in the here and now. Because this is the moment when we know to the fullness of our being that the nearness of God is for our ultimate good and we are not willing to sacrifice that for anything. The goodness of the Lord - which fills all emptiness - is with us. We will have faith to meet ourselves and to meet the infinite love and riches of God dwelling inside our beings. This transforms all loneliness. The sorrowfulness of the time will be extreme anguish of spirit. We will not seek community with others. This, that we be drawn intimately with God first and then wait to see how God meets us and who God brings us to, or to us. Prepare ourselves…the spiritual suffering we are asked to endure is to be so intense and terrible that God will hide it from the eyes of sinful people. Our cries will declare the unfathomable woe as such suffering is humanly inconceivable. But my God! Never before in our lives have we been more pleasing to the Father than at this hour of obedience to come to this climax and for Christ’s sake suffer grief, sorrow, and pain. This nation specifically intends to provoke collective fear and uncertainty among all peoples. This fear is today spreading rapidly and is not limited to those experiencing the events of today directly. Soon many more will be affected as God’s people are exposed through broadcast images showing the attempts of psychological suffering broadcast news before they revert to physical injury that leads to death. These events will produce individual responses. Some, few, will come to Christ. Societal functioning will be completely disrupted. Erosion of the sense of humanity will void all cohesions. The racial or ethnic, economic, and religious cracks that exist in our society, as evidenced by an increase in hate crimes, will so broaden the aftermath until adolescent persons will manifest traumatic violence against relatives, friends, schoolmates, rescue workers, witnesses who stand for godliness. Prepare yourselves; neither gender, age, experience, or personality will ward off the worse events to happen to God’s people until the retributive plagues of God befall the wicked. There will be no hoaxes and copycat events, actual terror will reveal the preparedness of God’s people to so identify with Christ that this purposeful act of God will bring conviction to the people who questions the severe tactics put upon a people of prayer. These will note the apparent shift in intensity from conflict to unprecedented concern for life or death toward targeted people. The wicked will all be devoid of any ethical compass. It is this critical moment in time that God knew our faith. We show to be no contradiction to His law, His love. This is the faith that sees eternity made real.    We are in an astounding time. God’s people must be strengthened by greater faith in the word of God. Our salvation cannot lie in addressing and alleviating the grievances being exposed by hatred. Consider the Israel-Hamas situation…is there a right side? The american people are being governmentally directed by a constant trickle of angry, bloody-minded individuals and groups, often in the grips of crazy ideological constructs, eager to kill and destroy for some ideal or cause. This will soon turn to what binds this country – worship and hate. Today, we are witnessing the unravelling of humanity. God’s people are about to face a very real and serious dilemma. Civil liberties in the sense we have known them, are inconceivable in this country. Government has the power to undertake secret investigations of individuals and groups that give off warning signs; bible studies, talk of Christ in the workplace, personal witnessing in public areas, sabbath keeping. Government thinks to have the power to collect information about what individuals are doing on the basis of mere suspicions or indicators that correlate with a disposition to differ from the norm. National and global instability are transparent. Sin is no small act. It is not a little thing. It was magnified greatly at the cross. God is done with sin. What Jesus went through, we could never go through. Salvation is not universal. Yes, God so loved the world but that does not automatically save anyone. If you have not the faith of Jesus in what Jesus did by faith, then you don’t believe. We have the end of the story. We know the difficulties we are to face in this lifetime. There is a deep mystery to suffering. While the bible makes it plain that we must expect to encounter times of sorrow and loss, of trial and grief, we often don’t know the full extent of this time to come. We do know however, that God is weaving together a marvelous God is weaving together a marvelous tapestry tapestry that will wondrously display His glory, we also know it is a time we will fully appreciate only when faith becomes sight and substance. Please understand this brothers and sisters, why would God choose this for us, and why would God choose us for this? Because we have friends who are alive and who have died, that we come to know through the book and through the studies that counsel and console us. This was purposed by God in His calling for those to endure loss, suffering or sorrow, not because there is any particular good in them, but because the Lord needs their witness to answer the question of faith. What is this question? Lovest thou me? In every age, we hear of professed believers who abandon the faith as soon as they are called to suffer. They are glad enough to express confidence in God as long as His will seems perfectly aligned with their own, as long as His providence decrees what they would choose anyway. But when they are called to lose instead of gain, to weep instead of laugh, to face poverty instead of prosperity, they quickly turn aside and fall away. Even we, as sincere believers wonder whether our faith is sufficient for times of deep sorrow, whether it could withstand a dreadful provocation. But here is our faith…being   confident that God has important purposes for our suffering, and we can be equally confident that one of these purposes is simply for us to stand strong by faith. From the valley of the shadow of death we affirm faith in the comfort of God, for we know that His faithfulness is great. God does not have to account to us for His providence. Our faith rests not in His explanation but in His character, not in what He has done but in who He is. He has been true to His every promise. In this time we love Him more now than ever.    as evil escalades As evil escalades, those of us who are in Christ will cling to the truth. And God will not rescind the Holy Spirit. Throughout the entire history of the world, we can identify times of cruelty and periods when the most horrific deeds are perpetrated by evil men against the people of God, but the period that precedes the last plagues will be so intense that half of the world’s peoples will die by the sword, famine, pestilence, or demonic entities, except that number that was heard to be sealed. This time that God puts us through are trials such as no others go through. There will be such a spiritual dryness that we must learn to recognise. We must also accept that when we endure such dryness of soul that it is for a reason. The reason is to save souls through such suffering.   Very few of us respond to suffering with resolved faith and hope. Pain and frustration are coiled together like thorn bushes, pricking us, drawing out blood. And with the sting fresh and the blood meeting the open air, we ask, “God, are you really   in control? Are you really   letting this happen right now? This is precisely when Christ, through the Holy Spirit, is closest to us.  He draws near to our experience. He says, “I know…I know…I know.” It’s not a knowing that comes from some detached knowledge of human pain. It’s an intimate, personal knowledge. It’s a with-us knowledge.   It’s the knowledge that will bring others to him as they hear, “why are you persecuting me?”   That’s how close he is to his people. He identifies himself with us. He suffers with   us, even though he’s already suffered for   us.   T here is the external persecution we will suffer because of our work. Then there is the physical suffering, offered freely to us, as a gift, to be a witness to save the souls of many. Then the worst suffering of all is the spiritual emptiness where we cannot feel the love of Jesus, as we experience the trial he endured when he cried “my God, my God”. We will know what it feels like to be despised and rejected, to be someone acquainted with grief, to be a person of sorrow. We will think no amount of praying releases us from the prison of desolation. This will be the trial of our faith! Try as we will to feel love and compassion for others, we will struggle. This is the appearance of spiritual abandonment where we seem to be so far away that we can no longer reach out to Jesus. What we do not know is this: this suffering is a gift, a grace from God. It raises us up in His eyes and the trials and sufferings we endure are purposed and allowed by God because of our generous and pure love to save blackened souls.  Keep in mind that our trials can be separated by not just days or weeks or months. It may seem unfair but the closer we come to Jesus, the more we will suffer persecution, because of the sins of mankind. This is our knowing the fellowship of his suffering and becoming like Christ. Only those with pure humble hearts, with no personal regard for themselves, when we place God before all that is of this earth, can endure what God purposes for our good. Such souls are chosen divinely by God and will work with Him, through the gift of suffering, to help Jesus in God’s plan of salvation.  Our faith must be such where n ever fear enters our thoughts. We may not feel God’s presence in the darkest of trial, see Him or understand the deep love for us as we would do in normal times, but He is with us. Always trust in Him, even when we find it hard to pray in the depth of sorrow or pain. Trust in God when we have a longing for Him, which cannot be satisfied or quenched, no matter how hard the trial. Know when this happens that He is much closer than we realize. Know that it is at these times that He elevates us to become a true friend. Never feel disillusioned. The day will come when the suffering will be forgotten. In its place will be a joy which will surge through the creation and which will only be possible because of our sacrifices, for all of God’s children who need our help in the last time.  In this world, in this direst of time, suffering will be inescapable. Suffering is much broader than physical pain. Yet, we must not allow suffering to become a threat to our spirituality. Suffering will focus our attention on the moral evil of the time, while our spirituality will thrive upon truth and goodness. We are not to lose sight of the purpose of God, for that is to lose sight of the truth, and to open ourselves to the lies of suffering; that is, that evil is all-encompassing, that our life lacks meaning, that there is no benevolent God. Our faith defeats this lie, that others may view God’s goodness in strengthening us to endure, to overcome. When we defeat the lie, the killing begins. The enemy will seek to put us to death. And so we say, “whatever God allows”, and if this be the means of God saving others…then our suffering becomes a means of grace.  Spiritual growth is a path we walk, not a moment we arrive at.  We know this path spiritual growth to be an extended experiment, offered to each one of us, with its twists and turns, dips and descents. Our entire life is a holy experiment as God’s hand shapes us into the image of His Son.  A holy, Son-shaping experiment, that’s what’s happening. Right now. As we trod the path of our day, our spirit is being tended and pressed in the ordinary moments. As we walk, we’re molded. We’re shaped. We are being purposed.   And suffering plays a major role in this divine experiment. We are coming to realize that our spiritual growth’s attainment is due, without question to God’s holy calling. It is our response to that calling that claims us as His election. It is our faith first to reason, secondarily to come to the revelation of his truth that, lastly positions us to enter upon to enter upon the suffering for God's sake as did His Son. This willingness to suffer for the purposes of God draws out true thoughts, attitude and desires of the heart, to not show what we want to be, but who we are. Suffering is the mirror that reflects our soul. That doesn’t mean we’re excited about suffering, but it does mean that if we can see what’s happening by faith, we can benefit God from it in ways we otherwise couldn’t. All of this resonates with our experience as being His election. And so, our eyes turn to others who might need the wisdom and encouragement we can offer. This is one of the ways in which God shapes us into givers after His own heart. He lifts our face and turns our eyes to others. As Christ encouraged us, we encourage others. We testify to the hands of the potter, even as we’re still wet from the water of suffering, even if we are meeting death. hands of the Potter We show others just how God can take something wretched and make something beautiful, how the muck and mire of pain can be shaped into a vessel that carries God’s beauty and redemption to someone else. We become cups of grace and hope, and the offering in the hand of God to those who thirst. We know the potency of the gospel message: even the worst things of the world can't ultimately destroy us. Our faith know who God is, and who we are in Him. When it's all said and done, the Holy Spirit within us holds us up.

  • Still...Part 2 of 2

    Human Cruelty Now let’s look at the providential reality of Revelation 22:11. The scattering of God’s covenant people into lands where they would be despised, enslaved, and regarded as less than human is one of the deepest mysteries of divine providence. It is not explained simply by human malice, though human cruelty has filled its pages with horror. Rather, it is explained by the sovereign hand of God, who in judgment, discipline, and hidden mercy allowed His people to be sown into foreign soil so that His ultimate purposes could ripen in the last days. When Israel rejected the covenant through disobedience, God’s word in Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28 foretold their dispersion among the nations. The curse was not random but measured, for He determined not only the scattering but also the land of their exile. In the transatlantic passage and the bitter history that followed, God’s people found themselves in the very heart of a civilization that would exalt freedom in word only yet deny it the darkest soil in practice to them. In this contradiction—where men who claimed to be Christian could reduce others to chattel—the testimony of heaven was preserved. For only in the darkest soil can the seed of God’s truth shine so sharply. By being made “less than human” in the eyes of men, His people bore witness to the dignity heaven placed upon them, a dignity no chain or law could erase. This mystery of placement was not accidental but prophetic. Just as Egypt revealed both oppression and deliverance, so the land of hatred became both the crucible of suffering and the stage for God’s vindication. The very hatred poured out upon them became a furnace of refinement, stripping away false glory and worldly identity until what remained was the incorruptible testimony of divine election. Their suffering was not purposeless—it was a mirror of Christ, who was “despised and rejected of men,” yet in His rejection bore the world’s redemption. This brings us to the solemn word of Revelation 22:11. In this final decree, final decree God announces that humanity’s moral direction will reach its completion without reversal. The unjust and filthy will be sealed in their rebellion; the righteous and holy will be sealed in their consecration. The scattering of God’s people into lands of hatred prefigures this division. For in their degradation, the nations revealed what was already within their hearts—a hatred that could not see the image of God in their fellow man. In the same way, the last generation will reveal its true character when confronted with the witness of God’s sealed remnant. Thus the hatred against God’s people was not only a judgment upon them but also a revelation of the nations. By placing His people where they would be most despised, God exposed the depths of human corruption and prepared a stage upon which righteousness would stand in sharp contrast to iniquity. The suffering of the scattered was therefore prophetic, pointing to that hour when humanity would be polarized forever. In their abasement, the pride of the nations was unmasked; in their endurance, the righteousness of God was preserved. When Revelation 22:11 is fulfilled, it will be seen that God’s purpose in the scattering was to bring all things to a head. The nations that hated will be revealed as unjust and filthy still; the remnant that endured will be revealed as righteous and holy still. Nothing will remain hidden, for God’s design in history has always been to bring truth to its final unveiling. Therefore, the mystery of being despised as “less than human” is not the negation of God’s covenant but its confirmation. For in the land of hatred, His people bore the weight of prophetic identity until the hour when God Himself would declare the irreversible verdict. Their journey from chains to consecration embodies the very movement of history itself—from scattering to sealing, from judgment to glory. the cornerstone The story of God’s scattered people does not end with oppression. What begins as abasement culminates in exaltation, for God allows the cruelty of men only to magnify the glory of His redemption. The land of hatred, where His people were treated as less than human, becomes the very soil out of which His final testimony grows. This is the divine irony: the stone which the builders rejected becomes the cornerstone, and the people whom nations scorned become the vessels of His end-time witness. The great reversal is a theme woven throughout Scripture. Joseph was sold as a slave but became ruler in Egypt. Israel groaned under Pharaoh’s taskmasters but walked out as a nation with God’s presence. Christ Himself was crucified in weakness but raised in glory to sit at the right hand of God. Each of these is a pattern pointing to the final generation. The scattering of the covenant people into lands of hatred fits this same design. For what appeared to be their destruction was, in fact, the setting of a stage upon which God would reveal the surpassing greatness of His power. Revelation 22:11 reflects this very turning point. The decree that fixes destinies forever is not arbitrary—it reveals the outcome of the long struggle of history. Those who hardened themselves in hatred, justifying injustice and refusing repentance, are sealed in their filthiness. But those who endured suffering, clung to the promises, and were refined through tears are sealed in holiness. The very contrast that was sharpened in the land of exile becomes eternally ratified by God’s word. Here the beauty of the reversal shines most brightly: the people once dehumanized will stand as the most human, for they reflect perfectly the image of Christ. They who were denied identity by men are given the very name of God in their foreheads. They who were shut out of earthly citizenship are welcomed as citizens of the New Jerusalem. They who were forced into silence by chains and oppression will sing the new song that no other company can learn. Their rejection prepared them for consecration, and their humiliation became the womb of holiness. This reversal also serves as God’s answer to the great controversy. Satan sought to erase the dignity of God’s image-bearers by reducing them to property, declaring that they were unfit for divine election. Yet God allowed this history to unfold so that, at the end, He could vindicate His covenant people as the very ones chosen to reflect His glory most perfectly. The despised ones become the final evidence that grace is stronger than hatred, that truth is stronger than lies, and that love is stronger than the chains of history. In this light, the scattering was not abandonment but positioning. God placed His people in the center of the world’s stage, where the contradiction of freedom and slavery, Christianity and cruelty, humanity and dehumanization could be seen most clearly. When the great reversal is revealed, the nations will recognize that those whom they counted as nothing were the hidden jewels of heaven, prepared for the crown of eternal life. Thus the prophetic arc bends toward vindication. The hatred of men sharpened the contrast; the decree of Revelation 22:11 seals the result. The ones who endured contempt will shine with glory; the ones who perpetuated contempt will be left in darkness. In this final unveiling, all of history’s questions will be answered, and the God who scattered will be seen as the God who gathers, who turns sorrow into song and ashes into crowns. ashes to crowns The scattering of God’s people into the land of hatred was not simply a judgmental punishment; it was a school of refinement. In chains, on plantations, under laws that denied their humanity, the scattered remnant learned to cry out to God in ways the prosperous never could. Stripped of worldly honor, they clung to the eternal. Denied dignity by man, they found it in the presence of their Maker. Suffering became their tutor, pressing upon them the reality that this world held no lasting city, but that a kingdom not built with hands awaited the faithful. This process matured them into the very righteousness and holiness described in Revelation 22:11. Holiness is not forged in ease but in fire. The endurance of unjust suffering without retaliation, the preservation of faith while surrounded by hatred, the refusal to let bitterness consume the soul— these are the marks of a people refined like gold. Their chains became the crucible in which their faith was purified, their tears the baptism that consecrated them for God’s final purpose. In this way, the despised became prepared to be sealed as righteous and holy still, embodying the mystery of godliness in its highest expression. Indigenous peoples But the same history that refined the oppressed also exposed and condemned the oppressor. America’s treatment of its Indigenous peoples and enslaved Africans became a monumental revelation of its moral failure. By stripping Native nations of their land, erasing their cultures, and treating their lives as expendable, the nation revealed its willingness to sacrifice righteousness for greed. By reducing Black people to chattel, justifying slavery with distorted scripture, and institutionalizing racial hatred even after chains were broken, the nation displayed the spirit of filthiness that Revelation declares will one day be sealed forever. This dual history cannot be separated. For while the oppressed were forced into humility and dependence upon God, the oppressor was hardened in pride, greed, and cruelty. The very systems that dehumanized others also dehumanized the perpetrators, robbing them of conscience until they could no longer discern right from wrong. By refusing to repent, by clinging to privilege at the expense of justice, multitudes sealed themselves in the very condition Revelation 22:11 describes: unjust still, filthy still. Herein lies the paradox of divine purpose: the same history that became the refining fire of the righteous also became the condemning evidence of the unjust. America’s record toward Indigenous and Black peoples stands as a prophetic witness. It shows how far humanity will go when blinded by the love of power, and how deep grace can reach when sustaining those crushed beneath that power. The contrast is eternal. In the end, the righteous and holy will shine all the brighter for having endured hatred, while the unjust and filthy will stand condemned for having inflicted it. This is the mystery of God’s judgment—that through suffering and injustice, the final division of humanity is revealed. And when the decree of Revelation 22:11 is spoken, it will confirm forever what history has already made plain: the oppressed who clung to God are righteous still, and the oppressors who refused repentance are filthy still. The scattering and the hatred were the furnace in which this eternal testimony was forged. America was a beacon of promise Let us lift the veil on the present. In the final hour of earth’s history, America stands as both a beacon of promise and a monument of hypocrisy. Its leaders drape themselves in the garments of liberty, democracy, and faith, yet beneath these robes lies a spirit steeped in wickedness. The same nation that once justified the chains of slavery and the dispossession of Indigenous peoples now justifies oppression through polished rhetoric and policies cloaked in respectability. What is presented as “security,” “progress,” or “freedom” often masks the spirit of control, greed, and deception. The tragedy is not only that such leaders exist, but that multitudes cling to their every word as though it were truth itself. This is why spiritual discernment has never been more necessary. Only those who have been refined in the school of suffering, who have learned to hear the voice of the Spirit above the noise of propaganda, can perceive the evil power at work behind the throne. The outward show of patriotism and religion conceals a darker reality: leadership animated by the dragon’s breath, guiding a nation ever deeper into rebellion against God. Without discernment, many are blind to this power; with discernment, the righteous see that the stage is being set for the final conflict between the kingdom of Christ and the kingdom of antichrist. And here the words of the apostle Paul find their dreadful fulfillment: “For this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: that they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness”. Because the heart of the nation has so long resisted repentance—because it has exalted its leaders’ lies above the plain truth of God—divine justice allows delusion to take root. Men and women who once had the capacity to discern right from wrong are swept away by the torrent of deception. They believe lies about race, lies about justice, lies about God Himself, until their very consciences are seared. Thus, in America’s present condition, Revelation 22:11 becomes increasingly visible. Those who drink deeply of these lies are hardened—unjust still, filthy still. Their leaders speak, and they follow blindly, their trust misplaced in human power rather than the living God. But those who are righteous, who have endured hatred and oppression yet held to truth, perceive the deception for what it is. They are not seduced by the outward show of power. Instead, they cling to Christ, whose word alone cuts through the fog of delusion. They are righteous still, holy still. Christ's word alone cuts through the fog of delusion This is the great unveiling of the end. Leadership that appears noble is exposed as wicked; a nation that claims liberty is revealed as enslaved to lies. Yet out of this environment of deception, God’s remnant shines with greater clarity. Their discernment, born of suffering and sharpened by the Spirit, testifies that God’s truth stands unmoved while the world falls under delusion. America’s treatment of the oppressed revealed the heart of its injustice; America’s leaders in the last days reveal the fullness of its filthiness. And through both, God prepares His final witness: a people so refined in holiness that no lie can deceive them, a people sealed forever in His truth. There is a reason for your hearing truths repeated…truths enlarged. Repetition and enlargement of God's truth build faith and wisdom by embedding and deepening divine principles within a believer's heart and mind. Repetition reinforces the foundational truths of scripture, while enlargement expands upon them, revealing greater depth and complexity. This process transforms spiritual understanding from superficial knowledge into a confident and deeply rooted trust in God. Major themes are highlighted. Spiritual challenges build spiritual minds and reinforce memory. Understanding is expanded. It moves knowledge from the head to the heart: enlargement helps spiritual truths move beyond mere intellectual assent to become a transformative, internal reality. It broadens a believer's understanding of God's character and plan while increasing spiritual capacity to receive more from God. Your foundation is principled, and your understanding is structured to give you wisdom. Repetition here is not vain. It is deliberate to create enduring minds and spirits to focus on God’s truth. Before continuing study II Peter 1:12 and 13. Engaging with God's truth in a deeper way strengthens theological convictions and equips believers to discern the greater light of truth. This is the difference between having a shallow faith and a robust faith that can withstand life's trials. The scattering of God’s covenant people into lands where they would be despised, enslaved, and counted as less than human is one of the most painful yet purposeful mysteries of divine providence. Human cruelty wrote the chapters, but divine sovereignty permitted the story. God allowed His people to be carried into the heart of nations that would strip them of dignity, for in that very soil of hatred His plan for the last generation was planted. Their abasement was not their end, but their preparation. When Israel rejected the covenant, their judgment was measured: God transatlantic passage Himself determined both the dispersal and the lands of exile. In the transatlantic passage and the bitter centuries that followed, His people endured the paradox of being planted in a land that proclaimed liberty yet denied it most cruelly to them. In this contradiction—freedom for some, bondage for others—the testimony of heaven was preserved. In this place of the darkest deception God’s truth shines in piercing contrast. Being brought to this land the scattered generationally bore witness to the indelible dignity that heaven had placed upon them. No lash, no law, no lie could erase the fact that they were chosen. Their humiliation became their refining fire. Holiness was forged not in ease but in affliction. In today’s America, this contrast grows sharper still. This is the strong delusion foretold in Scripture. Because the people have so long resisted repentance, God allows deception to overtake them. Lies are no longer perceived as lies; they are embraced as truth. Falsehoods issuing from the mouths of corrupt leaders are believed as gospel. Consciences grow dull, and the love of power blinds the heart to justice and mercy. In this condition, multitudes are sealed—unjust still, filthy still—because they prefer the comfort of deception over the cost of truth. Now let us reason with the other “still” in the cosmic trial. The still of America’s enduring hatred is to expose how the same permanence is manifest, though in a darker form. The still of America’s nature is the refusal to repent of a sin woven into its fabric from the beginning—the hatred of God’s chosen and the contempt for His image in oppressed peoples. Despite centuries of bloodshed, struggle, reform, and appeals for justice, the still of hatred endures. It mutates in form, but not in essence. The spirit that once justified slavery still justifies oppression. The voice that once cried for segregation still whispers for exclusion. The arrogance that once denied humanity still mocks truth and dignity. This is the unrelenting still that testifies to the prophecy of strong delusion: America is still settling into her historical sins, confirming her character before the Judge of all the earth while still clinging to the hidden venom of hatred. The still of hatred that has never been repented of. The two stills—one sealing holiness, the other sealing enmity— move side by side toward their appointed end. One is the fragrance of Christ unto life; the other, the stench of rebellion unto death. The solemn word “still” is the word that settles it. From the first Indigenous murder to the first lash laid on enslaved backs to the last unarmed child gunned down in Minneapolis, America has shown that her deep wound is not healed. The outward forms of progress shift, but the inward poison remains. Hatred is still here. Racism is still whispered into policy, hidden in systems, preached from pulpits of nationalism, and justified under banners of freedom. It mutates, disguises, reforms—but it does not die. It is still. This still of America’s nature stands as a fearful counterpoint to Revelation’s promise. Where holiness matures in God’s people, cruelty matures in the oppressor. Just as the saints grow into the image of Christ, so too the wicked ripen into the likeness of the adversary. Both are reaching fullness, each under the influence of a master—one Spirit of life, one spirit of death. The tragedy is that America as a nation persists in believing the lie. The deception is strong because the desire for truth is weak. And so God allows delusion to prevail, that those who love not the truth might be judged. The hatred that was once excused as ignorance is now willful, stubborn, and unyielding. It is still. Therefore, the two stills—the holy and the hateful—stand as witnesses in the last generation. The righteous are still faithful though despised; the wicked are still cruel though warned. The sobering truth is this—America’s refusal to release its sin is not just a blemish on her history but a prophecy of her destiny. The land of freedom will be revealed as the land of strong delusion. The still of Revelation is the dividing line of eternity. And the still of America’s hatred proves how close that line is. The closing decree of Revelation 22:11 is more than a verdict; it is the final verdict crystallization of character. America’s history bears witness to this strange providence. By absorbing hatred without returning it, the people of God are conformed to Christ’s likeness. By being despised, they are driven deeper into the secret refuge of divine intimacy. Thus, the still of hatred is permitted, for it sharpens the still of holiness. The wicked are blind to this mystery. They believe their cruelty crushes the righteous, when in truth it sanctifies them. Every slander teaches the saint the language of silence before the Lamb. Every act of injustice teaches them to lean more heavily on unseen promises. Every threat exposes the hatred that still dwells in the nation, while confirming that the righteous are still unmoved. In this way, the furnace of hatred becomes the forge of eternal righteousness. And so the two stills advance together: the wicked still hate, because their hearts love the lie. The righteous still endure, because their hearts love the truth. At the end, America’s unrepented hatred matures into open hostility against God’s people, sealing her under delusion and judgment. The word still in Revelation 22:11 is not merely the closing of human probation; it is the conclusion of the great controversy itself. It signifies the moment when the universe beholds two peoples, fully matured, their characters set in stone—one in righteousness, the other in rebellion. No middle ground remains. No mask can cover what has ripened within. America’s enduring hatred, unrepented and unhealed, is not an accident of history but a testimony of prophecy. It is the soil in which the adversary’s seed has grown unchecked. Where open slavery ended, systemic oppression worsened. Where strange fruit hanged from trees, veiled hostility is the rope of underlying prejudice and animosity – rooted terrorism. What was once codified segregation has become cultural exclusion. And yet, beneath every disguise, the same venom still flows. This persistence is not only evidence of human stubbornness—it is the mystery of iniquity reaching maturity. God, in His wisdom, allows this hatred to remain until it is fully ripe, for the same reason He allowed Egypt’s cruelty, Babylon’s arrogance, and Rome’s violence. Evil must be revealed in its naked form so that the universe may see its true character. The hatred that is still alive in America becomes the stage upon which the final scenes of the controversy unfold. anvil of hostility But here lies the paradox of God’s design: the still of hatred becomes the very catalyst for the still of holiness. The saints do not mature in times of ease, but in the furnace of contradiction. Their patience, their purity, their discernment, and their unshakable faith are hammered out against the anvil of hostility. Without an enemy’s hatred, the elect could not display the depth of God’s love. Without the world’s rejection, they could not embody the fullness of Christ’s cross. The unrighteous are still hardened by hatred; the righteous are still softened into love. Thus, the two stills reveal the climax of the controversy: Satan’s kingdom reaches its apex in delusion, hatred, and violence. God’s kingdom reaches its perfection in faith, endurance, and holy love. The still of hatred and the still of holiness together declare the eternal answer: love has triumphed over hate, truth has outlasted lies, and the Lamb has conquered through the very cross that the world despised. In this way, the persistence of America’s hatred does not overthrow God’s plan—it fulfills it. The universe sees with perfect clarity: sin matures into death, but holiness matures into life. O world, the decree is spoken. Choose your still, for the hour is late. And then comes the voice from the throne— final, irreversible, and eternal: “It is done” . Prophecy compels us to look deeper. The still of righteousness does not emerge in a vacuum, nor does the still of wickedness. Each is matured under pressure, ripened through conflict, revealed in contrast. In America especially, the hatred that has persisted is a dark testimony of this truth. Despite centuries of light, appeals, and opportunity, the nation is still steeped in unrepented hatred. This persistence is not accidental—it is prophetic. It shows the ripening of the mystery of iniquity, preparing the stage for final judgment. The maturing of holiness can be traced through the seven thunders—the hidden dimensions of divine intimacy is given only to those having the mind of Christ. Each thunder unveils a stage of transformation by which the righteous are prepared to stand “holy still” when the decree is spoken. And in each stage, the opposition of hatred serves as the backdrop against which holiness shines. The journey begins with the indwelling of Christ within the believer. Hatred still surrounds, but the saint learns that the true temple is not in human approval but in the heart where Christ abides. America may still scorn their identity, still deny their worth, still mark them as “less,” but in this pressure they discover the unshakable presence of Emmanuel. They are becoming holy still because Christ is dwelling still. As hatred condemns and the world accuses, the Spirit writes God’s law upon their minds and hearts. Every lie spoken against them—every “you are nothing,” every denial of justice—meets the inner witness of forgiveness and cleansing. Though the world still accuses, the blood of Christ still speaks better things. In this collision, they become a people who no longer live under shame, but under divine acquittal. Their conscience is clean, their identity secure, their holiness sealed deeper. eat the Word Here the remnant are sustained by bread the world cannot see. Hatred denies them access, strips them of earthly security, and mocks their need. Yet in their wilderness, God feeds them with hidden manna. America’s hatred may still deprive, still oppress, still withhold, but the saints eat the bread of heaven. Their survival no longer depends on the world’s systems, but on Christ Himself. This hidden sustenance matures their faith to stand independent of earthly provision, holy still in famine and rejection. Hatred provokes retaliation, yet the remnant are drawn into the ministry of intercession. They learn to pray for their persecutors, to carry the sorrows of the oppressed, to plead for mercy even on those who hate them. The wicked are still hardened, still cruel, but the saints are still compassionate, still burdened with Christ’s priestly heart. This thunder lifts them into heavenly places where their prayers mingle with Christ’s own, shaping them into His likeness. Hatred crucifies, but here the remnant embrace the mystery of the cross within. They accept not merely the cross of Christ for them, but the cross of Christ in them. As America still despises, still mocks, still oppresses, they learn the deeper truth: to die with Christ is to live with Him. Their lives are no longer their own, and even in death, they are still faithful. Thus the cross becomes the seal of unshakable holiness. bride awaiting her Groom The remnant are not only purified but betrothed. Hatred seeks to isolate, to make them despised and forsaken, yet it drives them into bridal intimacy with the Lamb. The more the world still rejects them, the more Christ claims them as His beloved. They are adorned with the beauty of holiness, entering into covenantal union that hatred cannot sever. In this union, they become holy still—faithful as a bride awaiting her Groom. At last, the remnant stand with the Lamb on Mount Zion, having the Father’s name written on their foreheads. Hatred is still burning in the world, but they bear the seal of divine identity that cannot be erased. America may still deny their heritage, still obscure their history, still despise their existence, but heaven has revealed their true name. They are sons and daughters of the Most High, sealed for eternity. Here the contrast of the two stills reaches its perfection: the wicked are still hardened, and the righteous are still holy. When the decree of Revelation 22:11 is spoken, the seven thunders will have completed their work. The remnant will have passed through the furnace of hatred, refined into vessels of eternal holiness. At the same time, the world will have ripened in rebellion, clinging to hatred as its final testimony. The still of wickedness will prove that sin matures only into death. The still of holiness will prove that God’s love is stronger than the grave. Together, these two stills form the eternal answer to the great controversy. The universe will see with perfect clarity: hatred cannot destroy holiness; instead, it forges it. Lies cannot silence truth; they only reveal its power. Cruelty cannot erase love; it becomes the backdrop against which love shines brightest. Thus, the two stills meet at the end of the age—the one sealing rebellion, the other sealing holiness. And in this final collision, the mystery of God is finished, and the Lamb is vindicated forever. We speak the final testimony as we stand as witnesses before heaven and earth. “O world, you are still hardened. Your hatred has endured every call to repentance, and it is still burning. You clothed it in laws, you baptized it in nationalism, you whispered it in policies, and you sang it in hymns of pride— but it was hatred still. You chose lies over truth, cruelty over mercy, self over God. Your end has come. But we are still here. Hated, yet faithful. Despised, yet beloved. Rejected, yet sealed. Through your fires, we found His presence dwelling within. Through your lies, we heard His blood cleansing our conscience. Through your deprivation, we ate the hidden manna. Through your hostility, we prayed as intercessors. Through your cruelty, we bore His cross. Through your rejection, we entered bridal union. And now, through your denial of who we are, the Father has revealed our true name. Nothing you did could turn us. Nothing you withheld could starve us. Nothing you accused could shame us. Nothing you inflicted could silence us. We know whose we are, and we will not be moved. We are in the end of the controversy: your still condemned you; our still vindicates our God. The universe beholds the answer—love triumphant, truth unbroken, Christ is all in all.

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