Search Results

15 Minutes The most important thing we are to understand to find the truths that perfect our characters is the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. This thing must be reasoned with God for love is more important than knowledge. Those who followed Jesus loved him yet they lacked spiritual understanding. Jesus was the perfect teacher, but understanding spiritual truth is not a human achievement. Jesus fed thousands and warned his followers to watch out for the leaven of the Pharisees and Herod. His followers concluded that Jesus meant that, since they hadn’t brought any bread and would have to buy some on the other shore, they shouldn’t buy any bread from a Pharisee or Herodian because something was incorrect about the yeast they used. Why didn’t they simply ask Jesus what he meant? They did not reason with the purposes of God as to why Jesus was sent. They did not want to appear not knowing, so they reasoned among themselves. They could remember facts, but they didn’t draw right conclusions. Jesus could make bread miraculously. The disciples didn’t need to worry about bread or yeast. Mark 8:14-21 Reasoning determines for us the fact that Jesus is our source of life, our source of truth. His teachings are what we need to live forever. What is it that prevents our learning truth as it is truth? Too many think ourselves correct even as we are to admit our fallibility. There is deep meaning in every word of God that only the Holy Spirit can teach. The dilemma is that not all are teachable. Too much pride fails to ask questions allowing reason to bring knowledge. If we would recount our experiences of ignorance due to denialism, which closes the door of opportunity to learn, we’d be more susceptible to reconciling the word. Matthew 16:5-12 Mark 6:52 We must come to understand that “hard teachings” will be a path to eternal life. Many left Jesus...left truth. Some who did not understand, wisely reasoned not to leave. Faith and patience brought them eventually to learn what Jesus was talking about. Those who left him, however, remained in ignorance. The human desire is to understand everything right away, we need patience when dealing with the comprehensive teachings of Jesus Christ. Prayer and the Holy Spirit will reveal to us whatever we need to know, if our hearts are right, if we are trusting in him. We do not always understand the things of God. That should not surprise us or alarm us. When it happens, we need to patiently wait for God to reveal more to us. Of course, we need to do our part, searching the scriptures and asking God for understanding. We should also take advantage of the tool that God provides, community. We are all learners. As followers of Jesus, we have to continue learning. The Holy Spirit leads us into all truth, but this doesn’t happen instantly. Quite the contrary: Jesus will return before we know it all. That’s why it is reassuring to know that God looks on the heart. Jesus revealed his glory to John, James, and Peter. He overshadowed their presumption, giving them spiritual vision allowing them to see Elijah and Moses in the present. Mark 9:2-10 Peter didn’t know what to say. They could have asked Jesus what he meant, but they did not. Instead, they discussed it among themselves, sharing their ignorance instead of learning from the teacher. Jesus was the perfect embodiment of love and truth, but his disciples were afraid to ask him what he meant. Perhaps they were afraid of the truth. Mark 9:30-32 The disciples didn’t understand. They argued. They did things they shouldn’t have. They didn’t ask questions they should have. They were ordinary people. God uses people like that. He can use people like us to help those, if our hearts and attitudes are right. It’s important that we always remain willing to examine the issues, admit our fallibility and be willing to change and grow in the grace and knowledge of our Savior. It may be difficult at times to change our ways, but that’s what we have been called to do. We are to be followers of Jesus, and thankfully, we are to be learning also. Our attitude toward the truth determines the outcome of our lives. If we don’t love the truth, if we resist it, we resist Christ. If we resist Christ we resist salvation. The whole point of the truth is that we be transformed. III John 3,4 There is no greater blessing, than to walk in the truth. This means to acknowledge it, to judge that which it shows us. We do this by rightly dividing the word of truth. Constant development, constant progress, continuous sanctification, and continuous transformation into the image of Christ. The more willing, obedient, and quick to acknowledge the truth, the quicker our progress will be. And what will the result of loving the truth be? That we are transformed from who we are by nature, and the life of Jesus will be manifested in us. Continuing diligence in the word, maintaining sound teaching allows us to handle straight truth and not allow our own opinions or views to cloud the meaning of what God has written. We should study the word of God to first consider, understand, and comprehend it literally and not be distracted from the main thought, the context. Now know that the word of God is inspired, authoritative, to be understood under the divine influence of the Holy Spirit. The depth of the word is found when the spiritual understanding is gleaned from the word of God. Not by qualification, it is simply by the Holy Spirit. There is natural understanding and there is spiritual understanding. The reason why the word of God appears to be less effective or less potent in the lives of many believers today is simply because they go no further than to try to understand the word of God naturally. Natural understanding talks about the place of intellect and logic to find meaning or relevance to the word of God. But it does not work this way. The word of God cannot be understood naturally because it has been spiritually designed. And spiritual understanding is what we get when the Holy Spirit gives us insight into the word of God. Colossians 1:9 We need to lean on the Holy Spirit. Literal words, natural words are not spoken by Jesus. The Holy Spirit opens our inner eyes to truth. He is to be our guide. John 6:63 Our intent in studying the word of God must be spiritual. It must be with the intention of laying hold of the promises of God. To gain spiritual understanding, we must be intentional with the word of God. We must take the word of God like all our life depends on it and without it, we are worthless. When we study the truth of the word to better gain understanding, we may ought to cultivate the practice of tarrying in the presence of God. And this is why we must not allow any other thing, any other being, to jeopardize our learning time with God. Deep spiritual understandings make most deliberate our coming into the character perfection of Christ. We do not understand the word of God as we should because we do not see the revelations of God as being continual. We think that all that is written, is all that is said, is all that is meant. We don’t understand the eternal power and divinity behind the testimony of God making Himself known to us more clearly through the experiences of the human construction cooperating with the designs of the determinate counsel to bring us to consider this question... how should I read the word? And the answer must be spiritual in its content so as to say the scriptures are to be read with an high and reverent esteem of them; with a firm persuasion that they are the very Word of God, and that He only can enable us to understand them; with desire to know, believe, and obey the will of God revealed in them; with diligence, and attention to the matter and scope of them; with meditation, application, self-denial, and prayer and with much reverence. Let’s hear it this way...if we love God, we will love truth as God reveals it about Himself. That which He inscribed with His finger and that which He breathed out of His mouth. Deuteronomy 4:10

5 Minutes For the glory of Christ, God puts out of His mind, our sin to remember no more. He regards us as being as righteous as Christ. This is intentional, not inadvertent, a decision, not a mistake. It is evidence of God’s character. And because we will be holy as God is holy, we will imitate our Father in His forgetfulness. We too will forget what we’ve done in sin. Our sins keep moving away from us, never to return. Psalms 103:12 Let’s reason upon this text. Isaiah 65:17 Past troubles, past sins never to come to mind? Nothing, not even our thoughts will diminish the wonders of Heaven. How is it that we will appreciate the depth and meaning of Christ’s glorious work for us? Our awareness of the perfect justice of love will enhance the depth of gratitude to God of those in Heaven. The drama on earth will be so eclipsed by the omni-wonders prepared for us that no eye has seen, no mind comprehended. Only God can do this, cause sin to be utterly non-existent. And that’s exactly what He did when He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to earth to die for us. We deserved to die, but on the cross all our sins were placed on Him, and He died in our place. The origin of sin upon man was due to disobedience. The existing of sin is due to disobedience. Our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God, even our Father, so loved us that God gave us His Son to reflect the immensity of that love. The essence of our relationship with Jesus was based upon this commitment. This same love that prompted God to send His Son will be the power of God to remember sin no more. God is love. It is the propensity to sin that separated us from God and showed our need for a Savior. God loves us so much that He watched His Son die. And the most remarkable aspect of this love is that God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit determined this to happen. Unlike the stated love we say we have for God, His love is immeasurably absolute. Our love is a love of posturing regardless of the words we use. If we loved God we would cooperate with His request...that we keep His commandments. Here we say we love Him yet the “if” renders us pretending. We cannot love God if we do not obey Him and we cannot obey God if we do not love Him. As our faith brings us into the fullness of the like character of Jesus, bringing us to perfection, our love will be as God wills. God the Son loved God the Father. Jesus’ obedience as a demonstration of his love for the Father was a side benefit. Jesus loves the Father because it is his nature: God is love. God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit, as one, all are love. Each member of the Triune cannot not love. It is their nature. Obedience of Jesus to the Father is a natural effect of being God and being a Spirit-filled man without sin. With hearts made new we will know the relationship between love and obedience. God knows that we will choose to love Him with all of our heart, mind, soul, and strength. In this we declare that Jesus is Lord. It is our faith in his finished work that we are changed, and obedience is natural. That love and this declaration comes with the territory of being born again while here on earth. That love will justify God remembering sin no more. None of us are in perfect obedience to Jesus now. Yet, we can be characterized by “essential” obedience to Him by purposing to set our heart on hearing the word of God and acting on it. This includes what He asks of us in the Sabbath hours whereby we come to worship Him. Why the term “essential”...obedience is essential to salvation. Faith is essential to salvation. And faith is a command, a work, something required in obedience to God. Therefore, obedience is essential to salvation by faith in what Jesus did. Here we may approach the throne of God boldly as we can be “in” the Spirit. In heaven the Spirit will be “in” us fully. Because the Holy Spirit is God and sin will not, cannot abide in the presence of God, He remembers sin no more. In God promising to remember sin no more, He makes known to His people His heart and His deeds, His ways and His acts. He wants us to know Him and to know what His heart is toward us. He gives us His Word so there can be no excuses. The only reason we may not know what He wants us to know is because we choose to ignore or disregard His Word. He does not want us to be ignorant or misled about His character or about how He thinks about us. He wants us to know what He has done for us and what He will do for us.

5 Minutes I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD; for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more. For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more. And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more. In the mouth of two or three witnesses...and these three agree in one. Their testimony is united in what God says He will do, and do it in so complete a way that He will remember their iniquities no more. The truth that God teaches is firm as an adamant. And He teaches us the truth about sin. Yet, we do not take transgression as serious as was the severity of its causing God to give His only Son as the sacrifice to demonstrate both the love and the justice of God. This was not an event done to appease God. It was done for the purpose of reconciliation. And God Himself made provision for such a costly gift. And it is this perfect atonement whereby the infinite grace of God makes the wonderful truth of His never remembering our sin the essential element for our eternal communion with the Father. For it was atonement that required God to come out of heaven, and yet heaven was not left void of divinity. Because sin was perfectly atoned for, it will be perfectly not remembered. The eternal Son, the second person of the Triune, He who is the same in substance as the Father and the Spirit, He who is equal to the Father and the Spirit in power and glory, left heaven to assume humanity in order to atone for the sins of His people. And in this death of death, in the death of Christ, our victory over death is that fabric in the relationship between Christ and God and God and us that the highest aspiration and hope among the holy and righteous is to see the face of God. And as Jesus knew no sin, so our God will remember sin no more. God remembering our sin no more...this is a wonder to me, a wonder of wonders, that God should say that He will do what in some sense He cannot do. That He should use speech which includes impossibility, and yet that it should be strictly truth as He intends it. For what is it that God cannot know? I write that there is impossibility in it, and so there is, because the Lord cannot in strict accuracy of speech forget anything, forgetfulness is an infirmity, and God has no infirmities. The Lord does not exercise memory as you and I do. His forgiveness is so true and deep that it amounts to an absolute oblivion. God’s forgiveness is so perfect and because God is always in the present, not the past, and our sins were in the past... Sin in any fashion, even memory, is of such a pervasive depravity and so abominable to God that He will not store them in His divine archives. No thought of sin will ever cast a shadow upon any mind in heaven. What Jesus did for us will show in the marked emblems in his hands. We will see such a treasury of glory beaming from our Lord unfolding to us that ultimate holiness, goodness, knowledge, wisdom, grace, hope, and God's revelation of all things transcendent to perfect beings. That light speaks to the inscription upon his hands...our eternal endearment of his love. Isaiah 49:16 God who is greater than immensity, will lift up His hands with adoring wonder, and say, “thy love to me is wonderful.” God will receive our love as He is love. In remembering His covenant, He will remember our sin no more because He remembers His Son’s suffering in our place and stead. God’s love is a desire to display the grace which pervades His nature. How does God remember our sin no more...through His everlasting love and this...the contentment He has in us as renewed and sanctified creatures. God will remember our sin no more. He’s making a choice and a promise. He’s choosing to put it out of His sight and mind. God does not gain or lose knowledge, and His understanding is always perfect. Then how can God not remember if His mind cannot change? God acts in accordance to what He has already determined. With God all things are possible. Isaiah 43:25 Do we understand why God will remember no more our sin? God states that He is the One who forgives our sins and blots out our transgressions. But notice the added phrase: "for my own sake." God specifically claims to remember our sins no more, but it isn’t just for our benefit...it is for God's benefit! When God forgives, He forgets. This is the great gem of God’s grace. God can remember no more because of what He is in Himself. Because of His glory and for the glory of the Lord Jesus who died and rose for us. Christ was made sin for us and there our sin died. By faith we must realize the awesome truth that at the cross Jesus, who knew no sin, actually became sin for us. There is this glory of God that is neglected...His forgetfulness is real. When God forgives our sin He puts it out of His mind; He erases it from the pages of time; He forgets it. This is the strength of His grace. Jeremiah 31:34

10 Minutes The truth of prayer resides in the power of prayer not to enter into temptation. Matthew 26:41 Pray for God's help to keep us from making wrong choices. The truth is that the power of prayer opens the heart, humbles the mind, and fills the life with awe of who our mighty God is. This is our confidence in going to God in prayer. Prayer is power and strength, a power and strength that influences God, and is most salutary, widespread, and marvelous in its gracious benefits to man. Prayer influences God. The ability of God to do for man is the measure of the possibility of prayer. Pride-filled beliefs are dismissive of God's provision. Pride invading the heart soon starts to bleed into the way truth is viewed and faith in the word is no longer a substance or evidence of things. None of us are immune from believing we can have a truth apart from Christ. But by God’s grace, we have the gift of discernment, wisdom, and clarity. You and I are called, commanded, and guided to live his way, in his truth, for our lives. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. He is it. His truth is our truth, end of story. So, to my brothers and sisters in Christ, let’s pray we take up our cross and live out the real truth of Jesus Christ to this ever-darkening world. Do we remember the choosing of Jesus? This election by God does for us that which we need to bring God’s truth to all peoples...it removes cultural distinctions that complicates interactions and relations. II Chronicles 7:14 In newer words, praying is our becoming in the circumstances in our life, the core of the character determined by what we talk to God about. And the power of prayer shows to be quite simply, the power of God, who hears and answers prayer. Prayer is an act on our part of worship that glorifies God and reinforces our need for Him. As we live a life of prayer, we communicate with the very source of, and purpose for, our existence. We are healed as heaven comes down to us. The truth of prayer is when we ask God to hear us, He does. When we ask for patience, He begins to tend to our hearts. When we ask Him to be near to us, His presence sweeps in and surrounds us, filling us with His peace and strength. It is prayer that brings the effective righteousness of Christ to our avail and advantages us in pleading for others to turn to righteousness. Power is inherent in prayer. A principal weapon of spiritual warfare is prayer. Not just routine or mediocre prayer, but prayer powerful enough to move God’s hand in order to determine the destiny of a whole nation. The truth of prayer is that we do not realize the power we have available to us when we take our authority in prayer as granted by God, in Jesus Christ, through the Holy Spirit. If we did, we would be praying far more. We would be sacrificing everything else in order to pray. Instead of worrying about the increase in evil in our land, we would be on our faces before God crying out for obedience and His intervening in our lives to bring sin to an end. With this we will stand strong in God’s truth knowing that our God can provide everything for us when we pray. We are in the appointed season, and we have awesome responsibility. We need God’s revelation of our spiritual obligation in union with Christ. What a privilege we have in prayer. In this power we invite the resources of heaven to intervene in our situation that the omnipotent God might do His work. Prayer comes from us in the knowledge that we can of ourself do nothing. Thus our prayer must come from a place of truth. Take every situation to God in total openness and in its reality having no false belief. Our discernment of the determinate counsel teaches us that prayer cannot supersede or override the will of God, particularly as God has determined by His will to effect a change in accordance with our prayer. What an approachable God we serve! When we understand this and are aligned with God’s purpose, there is nothing that God will not do in answer to prayer because our prayers are already aligned with what He wants to do in the first place. The truth is, the only way to grow in prayer, is by praying. And look how God brings the sharing of His power of omnipresence to His believing faithful...truthful prayer and the love of God will reveal the most powerful influence wielded by His people. We can be in one place and impact situations around the world simply by asking God to intervene. That’s why it is important for us who are true believers to make prayer a priority and not just a profession. When we do, we position ourselves to see God’s power in operation. Regardless of the outcome, we have true intimacy with God. God uses the prayers of His people to accomplish His plans. He’s completely sufficient without us, but prayer teaches us humility, dependence, submission, and trust. Intimacy with God is built when we come to Him with our praises, thanks, confessions, and petitions. The profit of prayer is not that we receive something but that we’re able to relate to the One who supplies all our needs. Simply put, praying God's word means speaking His language. It means talking to Him using His words. Don't waste time looking for a “formula” or “right” way to pray God's word back to Him. This process comes from what is in our heart and on our mind. We are ever to be on alert for every scripture that reflects the mind of God toward strongholds in our life. We pray, asking God to guide us and to open our eyes to His truth. Let’s be fellow sojourners in the words of Christ. It is by Christ that our relationship with God is unique. We are in the very last of times. Our prayers are solemn requests for help. We are to offer them with expressions of praise, gratitude, adoration, and thanks. Humility will be the core of our souls. God is the only One who can speak things into existence. When He speaks His peace to us, we become His peace. When God says “I have put My words in thy mouth”, with an upright heart we trembleth as we become His word. The truth of prayer is seen in the sorrow of our prayer. We ask God to lift us from the darkness of this grief to peace and joy in His presence. Our experience with sorrow will be more that just a good cry. We will plead with God not to give us over to the weight of our sadness for the trials endured. It is in our prayer, as we truthfully take in our sorrow and bring it honestly before God is one way He strengthens and grows us. Heads bowed in submission to the Lord, we can expose the depth of our sadness to Him without hesitation. In truth, our prayer of faith signifies the promised end of our sorrow. While the layers of sadness that fill us here on earth are many, joy is our eternal posture. It is in the night, contemplating Christ, that the layers of sadness fill us with thoughts of the Prince of Peace. We recognize that prayer will be our last resort. We will come to the end of ourselves. We must hand everything over to God, He is our only hope. I imagine praying without ceasing and fall asleep, having my mind always on the things of God. And even when we are not speaking consciously to God, there is to be a deep, abiding dependence on Him that is woven into the heart of faith. What is this unconscious prayer? It is our deep innate desire, relentlessly on fire, making itself felt through the groaning of our mind and soul, silently begging the very energies of God Himself, to let it come to consummation. There will be powerful inner pressures in our life in these last days. Our prayer lives must express our deepest oratories for the consolation of God’s grace. Peaceful solitude will have us search for both a stunning revelation and a wonderful consolation from heaven in centering our prayer in dependence on the Holy Spirit. Our default prayer will be “O God, help...” God knows our needs in all circumstances.

8 Minutes Think on this before we begin to consider the truth of prayer – God is all-powerful, but God is also Reason. Reason is part of the very nature of who God is. And God has willed to abdicate His power to a certain extent in some situations. Hold this concept commonsensically; when God willed to create the universe, He was free to create it to operate degreeably “independently” of Himself. God is eternally the Primary Cause, yet He has created a universe that has both “laws of nature” and is also filled with free beings. God has the power, at will, to suspend “natural law”. It is in this establishing whereby the determinate counsel, the providence of God, the character of God, the mind of God, and the will of man conclude. This is the wonder of the love, of the power, of the wisdom, of the Oneness of the Godhead...the willingness to subordinate His preferences as was“determined” to so align our choices with His purposes. God is not the “cause” of every occasion except for the fact that He created a world based on physical laws. God created chemistry, but He does not “control” a campfire or “cause” a wildfire; the fire burns because of the “secondary cause” of reason or science, the law of nature. And God has also created a universe with free beings. These beings are truly free. They can choose God or another power to dominate their being. Therefore, they are free to act as “secondary causes.” Human beings are part of this kind of causality. This is why we have thieves, liars, and kidnappers. But it is also why we can have doctors, nurses, judges, and teachers. Human beings are free to choose to act or not to act. And in choosing, we become causes ourselves. This is why spiritually minded people, knowing the character of God, reason to discern the intent of the mind of God. When it comes to prayer and how prayer works, it might be helpful to consider this reality. Believers know that God exists, and that God cares and acts in this world. But we also know that there are an abundance of secondary causes at work. We go through our day counting on God’s care while simultaneously making choices that make a difference. We are accustomed to being secondary causes. In the bible, God has revealed that He wants prayer to operate in a similar way. There are many times when the bible teaches us that prayer makes a difference...in the character or the mind of God?! In fact, prayer is one of the ways in which we cooperate with God’s will. In the same way our choice to give to a person in need, is one way we can cooperate with God’s will to care for the poor, our decision to pray for a person is another. The truth of prayer reflects the truth of Christ as he says of the Father, "Thy will be done". Our prayers make a difference because they are fulfilling what is needed for God’s will to be done. When we pray, God extends to us the dignity of becoming a “cause.” The truth of prayer reveals a great deal about the nature and identity of God. It reveals that God wants us to work with Him and He with us. This helps us become more fully mature spiritually in the likeness of Jesus. This is God’s love sharing His strength with us. This prepares us for the suffering to render us sinless. This builds our faith. God shares His power with us. When He calls us to pray, and that prayer actually makes a difference, God makes us into something even more than children, He allows us to be co-workers with Him. And when we pray... when we work with God, we are drawn into even more intimate relationship with Him. And that kind of prayer and relationship definitely changes something else... it changes us. Prayer should be our greatest source of peace...out loud or in silence. It is the sure evidence of our acknowledging God as God. God’s intention is for us to stay connected with Him all day, every day. Prayers are powerful and that power is not dependent upon how long the prayer is. Prayer is not to be done with any vain glory nor aim to please man. As humbleness is shown for God, our thoughts are to soar upward. Impressive statements that lack sincerity may as well be voiceless. Right words and eloquent speaking do not impress a magnificent God. He hears the character care as coming to Him by faith. God wants us to come to Him as trusting that He knows our every situation. And prayer should be our first response in every situation. When we come to God by faith we will see the power and peace of God come into our life in ways that will absolutely amaze us. John 15:16 Chosen. Jesus declares those who are servants of his truth, the fruit of his way, his life, as chosen. And in the light of this, his Father, Our God, hears and responds to us according to His will. In essence, Jesus is saying, I have given you a fruit-bearing mission in order that your prayers might be answered! May we wonder that some or all our prayers malfunction if we are not praying in the faith that Jesus chose and appointed us. Are the blessings we ask for subordinate to spiritual desires? Are our prayers God-centered, Christ-exalting, God-glorifying? Do we pray that God would hallow His name and that the Kingdom would come and that the will of God would be done on earth? The seriousness of prayer should be to challenge us to be the kind of people who do not use God for our own ends but are utterly devoted to being used for His ends. The words of Jesus abiding in us makes us those kind of people. The more we are saturated by the words of Jesus, the more our prayers will be answered. Prayer is surrender. Prayer is rending ourself and allowing God’s presence to overwhelm every single bit of us. This is us bringing ourself to God. That takes us to where God not only hears us, but He speaks with us. The truth about prayer is that we don’t always have to say actual words. If we just sit in the silence of peace and listen for the Holy Spirit to move within the heart, within the mind, to deepen our bond so that when we pray, we are made able to express our innermost thoughts as we come as we are, however we are, in our approaching God. The truth of prayer is that we can come to God at any time and with any problem, in complete honesty. God knows our hearts. He knows every intimate thing about us. There is no secret we can hide from Him. Risk not developing a relationship with God by being dishonest about who we are and how we feel...pray the truth. By this God’s promise to love us unconditionally will be strengthened.

5 Minutes II Peter 3:8 We are in 2022. Christ was crucified in 31 A.D. The Spirit of Prophecy tells us that Christ’s death met the requirement for God’s time. SOP - And in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease.” In A. D. 31, three and a half years after his baptism, our Lord was crucified. With the great sacrifice offered upon Calvary, ended that system of offerings which for four thousand years had pointed forward to the Lamb of God. Type had met antitype, and all the sacrifices and oblations of the ceremonial system were there to cease. {The Great Controversy, GC88 327.3} That means we return in time to 4000 years for the count to begin. We return to 31 A.C. (after creation). SOP - The great plan of redemption results in fully bringing back the world into God's favor. All that was lost by sin is restored. Not only man but the earth is redeemed, to be the eternal abode of the obedient. For six thousand years, Satan has struggled to maintain possession of the earth. Now God's original purpose in its creation is accomplished. "The saints of the most High shall take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom for ever, even for ever and ever" (Daniel 7:18). {Amazing Grace, AG 370.2} From 31 A.C. to 31 A.D is 4000 years. From 31 A.D. to 2031 A.D. is 2000 years. We are about 8 years from the 6000 year mark. That’s 96 months. 75 months = 9 minutes 96 months ~ 11.52 minutes remaining Matthew 24:22 Romans 9:28 And to cut that time short is purposed by God... Why 6 days for God time? God’s Sabbath is holy. It is the 7th day. God has not spent a holy Sabbath day with “all” His people since sin. When God’s people are all “caught up” together and changed there will be a holy people to keep a holy Sabbath with a holy God. Zephaniah 3:9, 13-17 A gazillion times the resonance of Niagara Falls. Yet soothing like the trickle of a stream. With the bass as the blast of Mt. St. Helen sounding smooth as a kitten’s purr. Vocals more powerful than every sun’s radiance. Yet audible like a flake of snow falling in the woods. The most euphonious voice having the range to extend not just to every octave but infinite times beyond every frequency. Yet rising and falling like a wistful glimmer in full harmonious accordant: strong, smooth, rich, distinct, deep, thick, mellow, calm. Did God give us early warning of Jesus’ death? Genesis-the seed Exodus-Passover Leviticus-the vow Numbers-the bronze serpent Deuteronomy-hanged on a tree Joshua-savior Judges-redemption Ruth-our blood kinsman Samuel-three days of darkness Kings-death and resurrection of the widow’s son Job-suffering Psalms-his life Isaiah-by his stripes Daniel-cut off Do you believe God will give early warning of the testing trial?

8 Minutes Why God Gives His People Prophecy... Our ability to touch others with our warning voice matters to all who are faithful covenant believers of Jesus Christ. Because the Lord is love, He calls servants to warn people of danger and to give admonishing counsel to call attention to truth. The Holy Spirit gives us thoughts that line up with God’s patterns. This is how God speaks. He wants us to understand His character, but He also wants us to teach, correct, rebuke, encourage, direct, guide, comfort, and confront. When we have peace in our hearts, then we know that God is speaking with us. Through His peace, He guides us situationally. Prayer is to provide us direction from God. We are living in perilous times. In addition to viruses, we have wars, other diseases, strong storms, earthquakes, civil unrest, etc. This is a dangerous world. Because there are risks that you may not have thought about, God sends a warning to come to Him for reasoning, and reasoning with God is not a cheap option. These things are imminent. Hebrew Israelites warn that the world, as well as believers, face a sterner judgment now because Christ has revealed the Truth as he is The Truth; this warning offers hope that Christ stands ready to help, therefore, we should persevere in our faith, we must both know God personally and be devoted to His purposeful interests. True love warns... Ezekiel 3:17-21 Ezekiel 18:4-9, 19-32 Ezekiel 33:1-20

3 Minutes Remember the purpose of the Sabbath is for us to worship God in spirit and in truth. John 4:23, 24 Let’s not be mechanical in our worship time...our study time. Tradition has no preference where true worship is concerned. We are understanding the word of God under the guidance of the Holy Spirit...there is no other word like it. These are God-breathed words. The power of the truth of the word itself commands our deepest attention. Let’s be holy this day. No hint of light heartedness. No quirps, no quips. Let’s unfold God’s word until the light of the glory of God comes forth. Let the truth impress our hearts. Where there are passages that need further explanation, let us reason and allow ourselves time to search the scripture. Let’s remember the context of what is revealed that we not wander off the path of understanding. Let’s not swallow the words till we have digested them well. We are going to go through some suffering as we learn from the word. Let’s be truthful in all circumstances. There’s a blessing in walking in God’s word. Please do not allow repented memories to tarnish your learning. When we close, we should hear the sound of every sober word spoken echoing in our minds throughout the six days of labor because we shall be as this scripture says... Titus 2:7, 8

12 Minutes There is this unreflective desire for the glorious prospect of seeing the Lord. This driving force comes from knowing the necessity of suffering before he comes. The decision to be found faithful and vigilant in our particular callings is to strengthen us until he comes. Our every response is to be biblical. Our pursuit is to be like him now. We must become a radically pure, holy, loving, sacrificial, Christlike person now. For that to happen the intensity of our hope, the devotion to nothing but the truth, is to be focused upon him. We are to be spiritually and mentally alert to satanic deception and every false teaching; we should be completely submitted to the word of God rather than being lawless or self-willed; and we should be cultivating strong faith in the sovereign goodness of God, so that we can endure to the end through whatever suffering comes our way. Be weary of human nature... human beings have developed popular as well as intellectual and sophisticated ways of denying the existence of any divine law or standard. We have a tendency to attempt to override the mind of God. We have found a way to claim plausibility for creating our own truth, creating our own right and wrong, creating our own identity. Such lawlessness will be multiplied, will be increased, and that the effect is a tragic coldness of love among professed believers. Another of our pursuits to prepare for the Lord’s coming and its antecedent sufferings is to submit ourselves with spiritual intelligence and spiritual wisdom and spiritual reasoning and spiritual joy to the absolute standards of God’s law, of God’s every word for the sake of warm love, not cold love. I thank God for allowing His messenger to fuel my thoughts in this plea for our betterment. Let’s be faithful and vigilant in our particular callings. We have an assignment. We are to be wise. We are to keep oil in our vessels that our light keeps us morally and spiritually awake that we may know the way in the dark time when the cry is made for us to meet the Lord. Our gifts, resources, abilities, money, relationships, and spiritual discipline must be of such as God means them to be. These are the spheres where we do our job with faithfulness and diligence. Our life is to be guided with the sureness of seeing our God at His coming. Consider the depth of the statement, “let this mind be in you”, in your readying yourself for Christ’s return. The mind of Christ... Mark 13:32 Christ did not have such intimate knowledge of God the Father. This verse reveals the self-limitation of the real Incarnation of the Eternal Word. As a fully human individual, Jesus learned things as other human beings learn them, yet Jesus was fully God, and as God, He had infinite knowledge. In the passage before us He speaks in terms of his human nature. This statement of our Lord as to Himself can be explained only by referring to the ignorance of His human mind...indeed, a finite mind could not contain all knowledge. If there was to be real Incarnation of the Eternal Word, then the body He took must be a real body, and the mind a real mind. How His divine nature could be omniscient, and His human mind limited in knowledge, both being united in one person, is part of the mystery of the Incarnation, which we need not expect to solve. But to be limited in knowledge, does not necessarily involve erroneous information or conceptions. The human nature of the Incarnate Deity was infallibly preserved from sin, and so, we may believe, from error of judgment. And the Word prayed for our being perfectly reproduced in this character. Our discernment is to be predicated upon this proposition. No day is named, that every day may be hallowed by the sense of the possibility of its being the day of Christ’s advent. It helps to hallow each day of life, even in consideration of prophesied events, to realize that before its close we may be in the presence of Christ's glory. Don’t let your familiarity with another hinder your discernment of truth. The whole truth measures motives, thoughts, intents as well as words and deeds. Intimate associations will be separated by the unexpected coming of Jesus. There will be no second chance. What is your personal relationship with Jesus? Are we prepared for the shaking? SOP - Had Adventists, after the great disappointment in 1844, held fast their faith and followed on unitedly in the opening providence of God, receiving the message of the third angel and in the power of the Holy Spirit proclaiming it to the world, they would have seen the salvation of God, the Lord would have wrought mightily with their efforts, the work would have been completed, and Christ would have come ere this to receive His people to their reward. But in the period of doubt and uncertainty that followed the disappointment, many of the advent believers yielded their faith. . . . Thus the work was hindered, and the world was left in darkness. Had the whole Adventist body united upon the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus, how widely different would have been our history! {Ev 695.3} It was not the will of God that the coming of Christ should be thus delayed. God did not design that His people, Israel, should wander forty years in the wilderness. He promised to lead them directly to the land of Canaan, and establish them there a holy, healthy, happy people. But those to whom it was first preached, went not in "because of unbelief." Their hearts were filled with murmuring, rebellion, and hatred, and He could not fulfill His covenant with them. {Ev 696.1} For forty years did unbelief, murmuring, and rebellion shut out ancient Israel from the land of Canaan. The same sins have delayed the entrance of modern Israel into the heavenly Canaan. In neither case were the promises of God at fault. It is the unbelief, the worldliness, unconsecration, and strife among the Lord's professed people that have kept us in this world of sin and sorrow so many years.--Manuscript 4, 1883. {Evangelism, Page 696.2} Are we to attain a level of holiness never seen before, will we ever meet that prerequisite? We must therefore do some thing never done before. From God’s viewpoint there is no delay. The sovereignty of God is our assurance. SOP - We have not cast away our confidence, neither have we a message dependent upon definite time, but we are waiting and watching unto prayer, looking for and loving the appearing of our Saviour, and doing all in our power for the preparation of our fellow men for that great event. We are not impatient. If the vision tarry, wait for it, for it will surely come, it will not tarry. Although disappointed, our faith has not failed, and we have not drawn back to perdition. The apparent tarrying is not so in reality, for at the appointed time our Lord will come, and we will, if faithful, exclaim, "Lo, this is our God; we have waited for Him, and He will save us" (Isaiah 25:9). {Manuscript Releases Volume Ten [Nos. 771-850, Page 270.2}. Zechariah 4:6 How can the testimony of Jesus speak of delay being "not so in reality"? How can we harmonize delay and nearness? Here we have two ways of looking at the same event. From our viewpoint, there has been a delay because we have not done the work we should have. But from God's viewpoint, there is no delay. He has not put His plans entirely in our hands. He is sovereign; He is in control; He has His "appointed time." Faith in God's power: it is divine power that gives success. Those whom God employs as His messengers are not to feel that His work is dependent on them. Finite beings are not left to carry this burden of responsibility. The delay is ours...in doing our work. But the time determined is God’s. And the promises and threatenings of God are alike conditional. And God knows when His called “are ready”. But in truth there is more in our readying whether in nearness or delay. Our readying is to exhort the third angel's message and Sabbath reform, and then call God's people to purify their souls through obedience to the truth. It is the unbelief, worldliness, unconsecration, and strife among the Lord's professed people that have kept them in the world so many years. Where is the holy living and diligent witnessing? The Lord is not delayed...we are hindering his return. Our being ready is more about preparation than about time. A people will be ready when the Lord comes. Their spots and stains will be removed beforehand - pride, passion, slothfulness, envy, evil-surmisings, and evil- speaking. Overcoming sin must be done in this life: not one error of character will be removed when Christ comes. We must learn and reason to cultivate heart-holiness and to live with purpose. God says that we can hasten the coming. God is allowing our godly living to actually affect His timetable. We are to live out the new covenant realities. We are to take advantage of the divine delay to join in God’s redemptive purposes.This truth should actually fuel our patience and passion as we prepare for our Lord’s return. Matthew 24:44 We are to “be ready” when every event is presented to us. Our all-important readiness is being born again. We must live in prayerful, watchful readiness for “all that is about to happen.” Do not allow your heart to be weighed down with mundane matters of worldliness. Don’t engage in any conduct that will damage your careful watchfulness and prayerfulness. Interesting scenarios are taking place. We would do well to take them all seriously, in order to be “ready” for whatever is coming while we are alive on this earth. May I strongly suggest that be wise to seek the fullness of the Holy Spirit; both the new birth by the Spirit and the baptism with the Holy Spirit. All that we receive from God is by His grace. But that does not remove from us our obligation to apply that grace in our lives and to expend every effort to “make ourselves ready” for presentation to our entering into the perfect character of Jesus. We must be “ready believers”. The key is “readiness”. I Peter 3:15 If you are ready, when you are ready, Jesus Christ holds a very special, central place in your heart; and as a result you are “ready always to give an answer” to those who see something in you that causes them to ask about your hopefulness, your optimism. Do it with gentleness and reverence. Make clear to all the truth of the event. And that answer, of course, is the blessed hope that you have in Jesus Christ.

12 Minutes Let’s state what is matter-of-factly the truth... What we are approaching in this last day engagement will not be a Mt. Carmel encounter. This final “battle” will be over truth versus false worship. And we must have such a deep loving loyalty that our protection, our discernment is predicated upon the following word of God. This word is so vital that I will not present the text, but rather the word of God as it is...and it is followed up with a most riveting opportunity. Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land: But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it. And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD. This is the day. The seven last plagues fall on those who chose poorly. The seal of God is experienced by those who chose to follow the Lamb wherever he goes. For here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus. If we fail to see the probation imagery that God is granting us to learn by reason, we may very well be on the left hand when Christ speaks. God’s truth is so powerful that He Himself has reasoned with us to place love in our hearts. This love is a blessing for obedience and promise for overcoming. Those who are lost had ample opportunity to fall in love with Jesus, to appreciate, and receive by living faith the gift of his righteousness, and the promise of eternal life. God purposed that all could be saved. Rome tampered with God’s law. If any transgress God’s sabbath they are doing the same as did Rome. This is breaking His covenant. None of the first six plagues are universal in nature though they have their affect upon the people of the world as they witness the upheaval of nature. Yet, in their torment at the end is the fierce anger of the Lord shown until they crescendo into full darkness, creating a vast emptiness. And as was our Savior on the cross, these torments pierce the earth as it was the epitome ofsin. As was the torment of isolation, emptiness and darkness upon those angels who fell in the beginning before creation, so will the return of torments be once again heaped upon their very souls with this exception...there will be no waters. Let’s achieve a higher truth through reasoning concerning this darkness for the originators of sin. What might precisely this darkness be? Darkness cannot exist without light. That means that even though they reside in darkness, even so as some human beings are in darkness, it does not mean that there is no light in them. How so? Ephesians 4:18 They have learned of some truth of God or received some witness of His word. So, when the evil angels are bound here on this deserted earth they will be in total darkness and since darkness cannot exist without light it will be as though they do not exist. Yet we understand that they will be here experiencing the consequence of their choice before seeing death...how so? The darkness they will be in will be “black”. Black is a physical impression experienced when no aspect of light is present. There is nothing that can reflect back to the eye. Spiritual blackness is the realization of complete, eternal absence from any facet of God. They will be in the blackest darkness for 1,000 years, not days...years. For us, this will be the “Sabbath” of God. SOP - These plagues are not universal, or the inhabitants of the earth would be wholly cut off. Yet they will be the most awful scourges that have ever been known to mortals. All the judgments upon men, prior to the close of probation, have been mingled with mercy. The pleading blood of Christ has shielded the sinner from receiving the full measure of his guilt; but in the final judgment, wrath is poured out unmixed with mercy. {FLB 340.3} It is impossible to give any idea of the experience of the people of God who will be alive on the earth when past woes and celestial glory will be blended. They will walk in the light proceeding from the throne of God. By the means of the angels there will be constant communication between heaven and earth. {FLB 340.4} The people of God will not be free from suffering; but . . . they will not be left to perish. . . . While the wicked are dying from hunger and pestilence, angels will shield the righteous, and supply their wants. To him that "walketh righteously" is the promise, "Bread shall be given him; his waters shall be sure." Isaiah 33:16. {The Faith I Live By, Page 340.5} Habakkuk 3:17, 18 SOP - Yet to human sight it will appear that the people of God must soon seal their testimony with their blood as did the martyrs before them. They themselves begin to fear that the Lord has left them to fall by the hand of their enemies. It is a time of fearful agony. Day and night they cry unto God for deliverance. The wicked exult, and the jeering cry is heard: "Where now is your faith? Why does not God deliver you out of our hands if you are indeed His people?" But the waiting ones remember Jesus dying upon Calvary's cross and the chief priests and rulers shouting in mockery: "He saved others; Himself He cannot save. If He be the King of Israel, let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe Him." Matthew 27:42. Like Jacob, all are wrestling with God. Their countenances express their internal struggle. Paleness sits upon every face. Yet they cease not their earnest intercession. {Great Controversy, Page 630.1} Our God will not forsake us!!! Those who so sorely chose to rebel against God in their mind, in their heart, were given the consequence of their choice. These are given grievous sores outwardly. Those who are the waters where the whore sits, forfeited life eternal for the sake of worldliness and sees the waters of the world turn to blood and death. Those who declined to drink of the blood of Christ that they might live, are given the waters turned blood to drink from the rivers and fountains of waters. Those who chose to worship the Sun-day are given the god of their choice... Jeremiah 8:2 They are given the sun in all its glory, its scorching heat and solar flares eject intense bursts of radiation upon the earth and upon those who accepted the mark of the beast, heightening the sore punishments. Boiling blood in the oceans, the seas, the rivers. Those who accepted the errors of Rome as the mouth of truth, see the full darkness of lies and receive torment in the very tongues that spoke against God. And now comes the preparation to war against God. These who come to battle the Lord of Lords here, are those who comprised the number who opposed God’s Sabbath as the truth was revealed to them. These are those who mocked God’s image. The Sabbath marks the coming to God in worship, in resting from the things of the world. Armageddon represents the anticipation of the coming of the Son of God not to worship, not to rest, but to battle. This gathering occurs between the sixth and last plague. The drying up of the Euphrates represents the collapse of the Beast power. Babylon represented the entertainment center of the world. Remember how the people were drawn to Babylon. People came to ride the canals; to walk the Hanging Gardens of Babylon; to see Ishtar Gate. So, when the call was made to come to the Plain of Dura, the people came. Those who disregard the Sabbath now, will respond to the call to come to Armageddon. The waters of the Euphrates represent those people flowing to Babylonian attractions...they will be dried up...meaning without the spirit. Where is the line to be drawn between obedience to God and pleasure of the world? God first darkened their support with the fifth plague being poured out on the seat of the beast. Their hearts remain hard against God and His people. As such, they become fertile soil for the final deception by which Satan will draw the world to unite against God’s people to wipe them off the face of the earth. These all rejected the Sabbath, the day that from the beginning of creation, which was “blessed” and “sanctified”, “hallowed” as a “sign” of obedience. These denied the Creator and worshipped the creature, as their sign of disobedience. These have sown the wind, and these shall reap the whirlwind. Jeremiah 10:10 Let’s prevent any confusion...the spirit of prophecy says, “All who have not the spirit of truth will unite under the leadership of satanic agencies, but they are to be kept under control till the time shall come for the great battle of Armageddon.” {LDE 238.3}. There are only two parties in our world, those who are loyal to God, and those who stand under the banner of the prince of darkness. {SDA Bible Commentary Vol. 7, Page 982.4}. We will be weeping, grieving, and saddened by the loss of so many that Jesus died to save. The plagues will show that the righteous are ready for heaven, for they have heaven in their hearts. Duty was our delight, and sacrifice our pleasure. The love of God in us was spontaneously as we walked in the light, as Christ is the light.

9 Minutes Let’s interject a truth requiring reasoning to gather the higher certainty for us. The evidence of things not seen does not infer being blind to the disclosures of God. In fact, the evidence of the Lord's work and resurrection was necessary to produce eyewitnesses. Moses saw the truths of God and worded what was seen and heard. John was shown things shortly to come and bare record of the word of God. He saw and heard things that are booked for our hearing. Walk through each inspiration given by God. You will be forever desirous of knowing the depth and the height of truth if you have faith. Without their sight, we would have none of their testimony; and without their testimony, there would be no faith. Do not ignore the evidence of God. It is by proving truth that our faith is established. Revelation 22:8 I John1:1-4 Romans 10:14-17 Wherein then did Thomas say “I will not believe”...it was not that he refused to believe without evidence, but that he refused to believe the evidence already available to him; the testimony of those who saw. Thomas doubted, and even refused to accept the witness of his fellow-apostles. But doubting is not the opposite of believing; doubting is an essential part of the process of believing, of coming to faith. Doubt is not the opposite of faith, unbelief is. The expression of doubt encourages us to find answers and answers of truth strengthen faith. And then the Word reasoned with him and at length he was brought into clear, strong faith. Unbelief is not hopeless. Ofttimes it may be but a process in the development of faith. "Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief". There are different ways of believing. Mark 16:14 The word of God is of such truth that it is more than sight and hearing. We will find ourselves in an acceptable way when we come together with God. It is reasoning with God whereby we are made able to come to the whole of truth. Honest questioning, sincere reasoning, intensifies the faith to grow strong. Let’s do what builds our faith. Let’s hear the word of God. Luke 24:9 Not only were the disciples told the truth, but others also. Luke 24:13-15 What did they do “together”? Luke 24:16 Where was their sight? Listen to their uncertain reasonings. Luke 24:17-24 Now hear the soundness of expounding what the word of God says...and how the scriptures open our eyes to “see” Jesus. Luke 24:25-35 Luke 24:36-53 Jesus identifies the source of their anguish and gives the disciples conversable satisfaction with his discourse. He removed the disquiet that was among them as they thought they were seeing a spirit. Jesus told them of his arrest, crucifixion, and burial, and how he would rise again. But his appearing to them after his resurrection...and in human form without blood. This was a wholly new concept. They understood not that the sinful flesh had to be crucified. Mark 9:30-32 He was in his providence preparing them for seeing him at the sea of Tiberias. John 21:1-7 How so often we give advantage to Satan when we fail to reason with truth. It was providential of their unbelief that Jesus gave them proof of his resurrection, both for the silencing of their fears by convincing them that he was not a spirit, and for the strengthening of their faith in that doctrine which they were to preach to the world by giving them full satisfaction concerning his resurrection. The insight he gave them into the word of God, which they had heard and read, wrought in them such clearing. Jesus enlightened the intellectual faculties with divine light. We cannot learn above our bibles in this world; but we need to be learning still more and more out of our bibles, and to grow more ready and mighty in the scriptures having right thoughts ofChrist. We are to hold in our hearts one we have not seen in the flesh. We are included in these words, only if we follow up our faith with good labors. The true believer practices what he believes. Faith is the gaze of the heart at God. It is the inward eye of the soul meeting the all-seeing eye of God. Our gaze of faith sets our mind to love, obey and worship God. It involves the whole person. Faith opens our spiritual eye that as we know Christ, we see God, and as we know God we see Christ. The Holy Spirit enables us by faith to set our inward spiritual gaze upon Christ and we grow to new levels of spiritual life. In the vast darkness of this world, God places the stars in heaven as glimmers of light, words of God in our mind that encourage us. We are to learn from the providences of God in relation to the testimonies of those He chose to call. We are to have a faith that is satisfied with what God provides and is therefore not yearning for visions, miracles, esoteric experiences, or various form of success as evidence of God’s favor. This is why we learn of the good report of those whom we are to make perfect. We have not seen Christ in the flesh, yet our faith is to suffer no loss in that we have the testimony of the faithful...we have the testimony of Jesus. And it is by reasoning in the Word of God that unbelief is conquered. Thomas’s experience prompts us to understand that our faith is a deep personal conviction and it is entrenched in our own unique experience with God and yet, we can also obtain faith in our learning from others when the content of the message is reasoned with the word of God. It is interesting to note that hearing is just as important as seeing when it comes to faith. And this hearing is the inner working of the promised Paraclete, the Holy Spirit. Acquiescence with any statement relies upon exposure to truth as is found in the word. Perceiving is a process of the senses and believing is a conviction of confidence in the truth. Once found, greater faith involves the willingness to testify of that truth. We are blessed. We learn and grow in our faith through struggling with an aspect of it and coming through that time with a greater understanding, a sense of having become closer to God through the process. We are given true and substantial comfort from the scriptures when we engage with others to reason through doubt, through unbelief. We live in an interesting time and place when it comes to issues of faith and unbelief. We must groan in spirit. There is no shadow to our hope. Christ is always our divine refuge.

15 Minutes The whole world is in unbelief; how far distanced from unbelief are we? God's providence is God's caring provision for His people as He guides them in their journey of faith through life, accomplishing His purpose in them. God's mission is to save people and shape them to be more like Jesus. God is the creator of heaven and earth, and all that occurs in the universe takes place under Divine Providence. That is, under God's sovereign guidance and control as a loving Father, working all things for good. Through divine providence God accomplishes His will. To ensure that His purposes are fulfilled, God governs the affairs of men and works through the natural order of things. The laws of nature are nothing more than God’s work in the universe. The laws of nature have no inherent power; rather, they are the principles that God set in place to govern how things normally work. They are only “laws” because God decreed them. How does divine providence relate to human volition? We know that humans have a free will, but we also know that God is sovereign. How those two truths relate to each other is hard for us to understand. God hates sin and will judge sinners. God is not the author of sin, He does not tempt anyone to sin, and He does not condone sin. At the same time, God obviously allows a certain measure of sin. He must have a reason for allowing it, temporarily, even though He hates it. Scripture proof through reasoning - God allowed Joseph’s brothers to kidnap Joseph, sell him as a slave, and then lie to their father for years about his fate. This was wicked, and God was displeased. Yet, at the same time, all of their sin worked toward a greater good: Joseph ended up in Egypt, where he was made the prime minister. Joseph used his position to sustain the people of a broad region during a seven-year famine—including his own family. If Joseph had not been in Egypt before the famine began, millions of people, including the Israelites, would have died. How did God get Joseph to Egypt? He providentially allowed his brothers the freedom to sin. God’s divine providence is directly acknowledged. Genesis 50:15-21 God allowed Judas to lie, deceive, cheat, steal, and finally betray the Lord Jesus into the hands of His enemies. All of this was a great wickedness, and God was displeased. Yet, at the same time, all of Judas’s plotting and scheming led to a greater good: the salvation of mankind. Jesus had to die at the hands of the Romans in order to become the sacrifice for sin. If Jesus had not been crucified, we would still be in our sins. How did God get Christ to the cross? God providentially allowed Judas the freedom to perform a series of wicked acts. Luke 22:22 There is a spiritual balance between the sovereignty of God and the responsibility of man. Divine providence is taught. Romans 8:28 All things” means “all things.” God is never out of control. Satan can do his worst, yet even the evil that is tearing the world apart is working toward a greater, final purpose. We can’t see it yet. But we know that God allows things for a reason and that His plan is good. Oh, the frustration of the sinner that yields his will to Satan. No matter what he does, he finds that his plans are thwarted and something good happens in the end. The doctrine of divine providence can be summarized this way: God in eternity past, in the counsel of His own will, ordained everything that will happen; yet in no sense is God the author of sin; nor is human responsibility removed. Nothing happens that God does not ordain, cause, or allow. The primary means by which God accomplishes His will is through secondary causes, for example, laws of nature, human choice, and the truth that even God “determined” to change His mind providentially when petitioned. God’s intervention can be direct as an event that occurs when the Deity of God becomes actively involved in changing some situations in human affairs. Exodus 32:7-14 Joshua 10:12-14 Mark 13:14-20 We have a special privilege. If God did not promise to intervene when we face difficulties, we will have no grounds to pray, to ask for it. We are the target of God's promises and blessings. There is no altering His character, but to slight the mind of God breaches upon His call to us to reason with Him. Our reasoning with God is an assent to a revelation of God, it is a special instrument of apprehending, and laying hold on Christ for justification of the coming to understand that truth that we knew not. Jeremiah 33:3 Unbelief is not intellectual, it is moral. It doesn't come out of the head; it comes out of the heart. Sin has its root in unbelief. Consider the attitude that rejects reasoning. It might show a good opinion of one’s self or a bad opinion of the word of God. What is the providence in Thomas, a disciple, saying, “I will not believe”? The bible does not tell us how Thomas was drawn to Jesus. Did a friend bring him? Did he learn of the new rabbi through the fame of him that went everywhere, and then come to him without solicitation? Did he hear him speak one day, and find himself drawn to him by the power of his gracious words? Or did Jesus seek him out in his home or at his work, and call him to be a follower? Did he not have even a glimmer of hope? Why was his willingness to understand the situation so negative? Why was Thomas’ view always from the dark side? Thomas’ coming is veiled in obscurity. With him there was no lack of reverence, rather a constitutional tendency to question, and to wait for proof which would satisfy the senses. But we do know that Thomas is that disciple willing to follow Jesus into death. John 11:1-16 Thomas would rather die with Jesus than live without him. As the time of the cross drew near and Jesus offered the disciples understanding, it was Thomas who asked for clarification. John 14:1-7 Christ’s testimony concerning their knowledge made the disciples more sensible of their ignorance, and more inquisitive after further light. Thomas, confessing his ignorance, however, seems more solicitous to know the way. He asks Jesus to make that statement a little plainer. This showed he was willing to own his defects. He was willing to be taught. And Jesus gives them the full answer..."if you have heard and understood rightly; for you know me, and I am the way; you know the Father, and He is the eternal end; and therefore, whither I go you know, and the way you know. Believe in God as the end, and in me as the way, and you do all you should do". How rich and significant is that message to us today? Why are we not following Jesus now? Preconceived notions may hinder the belief of truth when presented. First, Jesus says, “I am”. That is the name of power and authority. He is not a way...he is the way. Coming to God is only possible through him. Jesus is truth itself. He embodies all things that lead to truth. He offers us the exclusiveness to the only way to the claim of eternal life. The disciples at this time had not the wisdom that we have. They had not yet experienced the cross. Once they understood the truth of Jesus’ words they changed, and they went on to change the world. Thomas’ loyal love for Jesus was evident. Thomas evidenced only one motive: love, and one rule: obedience. His was not influenced by any question of consequences; but though it be to certain death, his love for Jesus hesitated not. The disciples were coming together. They were having breakthrough moments of the revelation of truth after seeing their risen Savior. Jesus’ words had in them the power to grow the spiritual attainment needed to reckon with the present and soon to be encounters of apostleship. They were dropped into darkness and brought back to light and was now upon the mountaintop of faith. And then the words...”I will not believe”. You can feel the shift of atmosphere at Thomas’ words, and that’s exactly what we do when we douse the fire of other’s search for deeper truth. They had proving faith that was met with firm unbelief. Dissension enters. Distraction ensues. Instead of focusing on forward kingdom thinking and the glory of God, Jesus’ very disciples were left divided and trying to convince one of their own. Is our unbelief causing dissension in the body? What must that following week of study have been like? What was the “rest” of that Sabbath? God’s providence did something for Thomas. Truth appeared to saturate his mind in truth. God brought to Thomas His presence of truth. He caused him to see Jesus. Unbelief turned to belief. It was by chance that this chosen disciple was absent, then came and heard, heard and doubted, doubted and touched, touched and believed. It was not by chance but in God’s providence. The wounds of Christ healed Thomas’ unbelief, strengthened his faith and did a divine purpose for Peter and John. Christ was teaching that faith is the proof of what cannot be seen, yet what is seen gives knowledge and grows faith. We cannot see God, but what does our faith tell us of Him. It is His word that gives us knowledge and what of our faith as we accept of His presence in the revelation of truth. Thomas’ unbelief was turned to belief and by faith he saw God, and in seeing Jesus he came to the truth of the resurrection. John 20:28, 29 In that moment Thomas saw both the body on the cross, hanging by hands and feet, the side opened by the soldier’s spear, and his living friend and master. As these two figures fused together, so Thomas leapt the gap between loyalty to a friend and adoring faith in God Himself. His ponderous pessimism and lonely doubts disappeared, and he identified his friend. In Thomas’ mouth, was the complete acknowledgment of Christ’s nature and one of the most definitive assertions of faith recorded in the bible. In the face of Jesus, Thomas beheld the abundant consolation in the hope of eternal life. Sight may have made Thomas believe that Jesus was risen, but it was something other and more inward than sight that opened his lips to cry, ‘My Lord and my God!’ With this response, Thomas left no room for doubt of Jesus’ identity, of who Jesus is. He knew that Jesus was all that He is in Himself. Thomas realized that Jesus had read his heart and known of his bold demand, his reply was not just a profession of faith but an act of adoration and an expression of deep sorrow at his own unbelief. Thomas’ faith was now a great deal more than just an avowal. In the faith of the divine he taught the Deity of Christ from his wounds. How heightened and strengthened is our faith in the experience of Thomas’ doubting? Thomas reasoned the evidence to its full meaning. The graciousness shown by Jesus to Thomas is that graciousness given us that we know it was not by chance, but in God’s providence that we have never a doubt where the reality of truth is reasoned to offer still more truth. We have this assurance by faith, that comes by the hearing, and that hearing by the truth of the word of God. Our faith is that by which we not only see and touch the Word, but we know him as our Lord...our God. This is the pinnacle of the testimony to Jesus Christ. I Peter 1:8, 9 Jesus chose to bring to heaven those wounds he bore for us, he refused to remove them, so that he might show God his Father the price and the love of our being set at liberty. The Father places him in this state at his right hand, embracing the trophy of our salvation: such are the witnesses the crown of his scars has shown us there. And as pertaining to Peter and John... John 21:15-24