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Truth sounds like hate to those who hate the truth. God has a people who refuse to engage in any unright, to pretend reality is something other than what it is. We are not willing to hold back truth to preserve people’s feelings. We look to Jesus. He loved people very much, and we are to love people too much, to withhold the truth from them when it is He that offers it. To not speak truth is a price that is too high to pay for our relationship with God. We have a deep sorrow that so many people are offended by reality, but reality is not going to change simply because someone pretends that it is different from how it actually is. It’s a delusion when someone feels or believes something enough, to think it must be true. People talk about “their truth”, but that is a contradiction in terms. Truth is Truth. If you don’t like the truth, it will not change for you simply because you are offended by it. For we can do nothing against the truth, but for the truth. 2 Corinthians 13:8 There is always a time and place to speak truth. There is always a time, a place to put truth out there. Some hold back telling truth, so as not to contradict anyone for fear of losing that person. That is most selfish in the most arrogant form. If something is said, meaning it to be the truth and another think it wrong, they should feel free to comment, with respect to proper social etiquette - taking their turn, and giving the other person their turn to talk – that’s called reasoning. If however, someone does not want to discuss a certain topic, they should not bring it up. If they choose to bring it up, they shouldn’t be offended that someone else corrects them with facts. It’s not right to bring up a topic that you don’t want to discuss, and then get annoyed at others for responding to it. If one chooses to walk away as a result, then that is their choice, and if they choose to not reason for truth, then allow them to have their delusion. At the end of the day, we are concerned about the standard of our own life, and of following Christ. The pressure exuded by worldly standards is enormous to compromise the truth in order to get along, to present the truth less boldly, or to remain silent altogether. It takes a boldness and confidence to attend the order of God’s Word. This confidence and boldness must not be rooted in our own abilities. If we speak boldly because we have put our trust in our own intellect or speaking skills, then we have not proclaimed God’s Word with a holy confidence but with self-importance. Our boldness must arise from a firm commitment to the truth of God’s Word. Those who preach and teach confidently in the manner that God approves of, are those who humbly admit that they themselves are heralds of the Lord, bearing His unchanging message that is not only for those being taught but also for the teacher. Outward adorning is fleeting Reason is sufficient to know truth, in fact, reason is the most reliable means of attaining knowledge. But what about such things as beauty, morals, and matters of the spirit? Most have inherited the belief that such things are at best matters of opinion; they are subjective matters having to do only with the individual’s experiences and tastes. Outward adorning is fleeting. We observe the integrity of the upright guiding them. We know that the natural man cannot receive the things of the spirit of God, he has no discernment. The question is, “can we have knowledgeable confidence in the truth of the faith”? Reason and revelation are the only truly reliable sources of knowledge. Reason is the authority. We start with God, the supreme arbiter of truth. Knowledge is to be objective, certain, and dispassionate - not subject to personal feelings. We come to know that faith is fundamental, even to doubt. For even doubt must rest upon belief. Because one doubts something because it conflicts with something else one already believes. And if that something else is doubted, it too, conflicts with something believed. To doubt everything is to learn nothing. In order to learn something, we must believe something. This is how truth of faith doesn’t rest on the fragility of human reason, although it is through our minds that we recognize faith’s truth. It rests on the faithfulness of God who has made Himself known to us. Our assurance comes from the combination of reasoning, knowing, believing, and following the One who is truth, and is evidenced by the revelation of His working out all things. We conclude that our faith is held as truth because of the certainty of the word, which is the correspondence of reality. Truth is the product of the creative activity of God. If this be our faith, then we intend our words to reflect what really is the case. And because truth is accessible, we reason to know that spiritual beliefs based upon the word of God correspond with reality. Conflicting truths must be rejected also, for if truth is that which conforms to reality and reality itself cannot be contradictory, truth cannot be either. Either it is raining outside the window or it’s not. It can’t be doing both at the same time in the same location. Either Jesus could have saved himself as he saved others, or he couldn’t. It was precisely because he came to save others that he could not save himself! To descend from the cross was not indeed a physical impossibility, but it was a moral and spiritual impossibility for the One sent to save us. Likewise, either God Am or He ain’t. As God as He is, He can’t be both. Our beliefs must go beyond   our own perspectives to reflections of reality itself. This is therefore a faith commitment. We have reason to know what the truth is, especially because the One who knows Explanation of Reality about it perfectly tells us. The construct of language will not change what is truth. While a change of terminology might change the attitude about something, it doesn’t change that something itself. We don’t change the nature of something simply by changing the words we use for it. We confidently rest on the faith we hold as describing the way things really are. There is no reason in principle to assume we can’t know ultimate realities just because of our human limitations. It is arbitrary to simply decide God cannot reveal truth to us because of our limitations. We have been met by the One who created the "story" of the world and is able to put the pieces together into a coherent whole. His is the one true explanation of reality. God’s people are not trapped behind opinions. In Christ we have direct contact with revelation. And thus, we do not "impose" truth on others. Truth is knowable and sharable by and with those who study to show themselves approved of God. God gives us each our own story of life’s situations. We respond that we have a story that puts all the pieces together, a story which is coherent and consistent, and which matches the nature of the purposes for service for humanity. In response to all things, we look to Jesus, a historical Person who The story is coherent and consistent has revealed to us more than our reason is capable of discovering on its own. In response to hate we look to Jesus the Creator of all and the final Word who has revealed to us ultimate truth. In him we find truth in its fullest sense, as the One who is real and trustworthy and who speaks. In him, by him, and through him, we can have confidence in our faith. This is why God instructs His last day people to write! The truth and certainty of God’s purposes are ratified by the word and promise of God, and ordered to be committed to writing, as matter of perpetual record. Words given to you from God, are for the support and comfort of the faithful. To provoke faith in our struggle. God has given to mankind such a high degree of autonomy and freedom, that if we choose to continue down a path of death and destruction, He will let us go, even though it pains Him greatly, and even though He does everything possible to warn us about where such paths lead. God instructs His last day people to write! A time such as never was, is the conclusion to a time of intense personal crisis for people on earth. Especially for the people of God. Some are going to defect from the faith. The challenges to our faith will seem even more formidable than they did when we were unrepentant. But the answers to those challenges will be even more convincing than they were when we knew nothing could separate us from the love of God. When asked for the reason of our hope, in a sense, we are supposed to apologize for our faith. This has nothing to do with being sorry for our beliefs. But rather, we are to contend for the faith with sound arguments for our beliefs as well as responding to the tough questions others raise about our faith. Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints. Jude 1:3 The truth is going to cut. Make no apologies for truth. We need the Word of God, the wisdom of God, and the counsel of God in all places and in all circumstances. There is no place that it is inappropriate to use or allude to God’s Word. It is in fact wicked to deny anyone the freedom to read, speak of, or use the Word of God in any context. The Word of God is at times meant to cut away thoughts and concepts that oppose the will or way of God. It is essential to allow the harsh words, the ones that seem to go straight to the heart of conviction, to do their work. The sharp scalpel is used to cut out the God's scalpel corrects cancer or the sharp scalpel is used to correct the alignment of the eye. If one is healthy in the word of God then it will not cut, it will correct. The Lord will bring harsh truth that may cut us. We should be thankful that He has shown us such grace and love. If we do this, we will see the fruit of righteousness abounding in our souls and healing is not far away. We will learn the difference of pain which is caused by disease and that which is produced in the process of healing. Self-righteousness brings division within the body of Christ. Believers should never apologize for believing, quoting, or affirming the Word of God. No, not ever or in any situation. Why should anyone ever apologize for acknowledging God or for using His wisdom? Rather, we should boldly speak of, read, and reference the Word of God, and our total dependence on His all powerful Word. As we move deeper and deeper into hostile spiritual territory in the last day, the spiritual needs of those around us are going to become more and more apparent. As we become more and more capable of sharing our faith with others, we will be more and more inclined to do so, enabling us to be used in a greater way by God. We'll be in a better place when we pray, when we read, and study the scriptures; when we wrestle with our self problems allowing God to preserve us. Let’s get our priorities straight. There are only two eternal things on this earth…God’s people and God's Word. Everything else will ultimately be burned up.

Have you ever wondered why the trials we must endure are so intense. In that God knows how we end, why do we need to go through trials. By faith we are to develop spiritual perspective through embracing trials. Trials produce maturity in God’s people. Trials help us to recognize God’s gracious and passionate power. We learn to persevere through trials that threaten our faith. Our suffering is never meaningless, and it is not accidental. For such a time as this, God is purposing extreme circumstances to develop our faith and trust in Him. God knows what is necessary for His people to find joy in suffering. We know trials are part of the believer’s life, and God would have us handle each one in a way that glorifies Him. Even though we should expect trials, we do not know when they will take place, which makes them unpredictable. But we count it all joy when we fall into various trials. The word communicates these unexpected nature of trials in a way that we face, meet, and encounter them as being from the Lord. Before trials reach us, they first pass through the throne of God. Trials It is our most holy faith that prepares us for every trial. This faith is a great blessing given to us from God, of God, and even with God. When this faith comes into us, it comes with God, with all that God is, with all that God has passed through, with all that God has accomplished in Christ and through the Spirit, and with all that God has obtained and attained. We prayerfully build this faith by praying in the Holy Spirit, staying right at the center of God's love, keeping our arms open and outstretched, ready for the mercy of our Jesus Christ. This is the unending life, the real life! The second most extreme consequence of a trial is death. The first is failing in the trial and missing eternity with God. The nature of trial is that it is personal and unique. There are times, and will be times, we experience suffering that could be considered life changing. There also are the trials that take place daily and can even become unrecognizable because of their regularity. We need a strong foundation to endure the trials that can lead to the collapse of our lives. That foundation is obedience to Christ. There is a difference between trial and discipline. God wants to reveal Himself through trials and use them for our good, but we do not have to wonder if we did something wrong. We learned that a trial does not necessarily indicate wrongdoing, but sometimes we do bring on our own suffering. What happens if we suffer because we did something wrong? That is not a trial. That is discipline. Suffering is part of God’s perfect and wise plan for His people even when they do good. If we do sin, we should expect consequences. Death is due but God may choose to discipline. David committed adultery. Moses struck the rock. These men suffered because of their sins. It would be incorrect to say they experienced trials in these cases. It would be correct to say God disciplined them because they sinned. The same is true of the negative consequences of foolish decisions. There are consequences for poor judgment. Sometimes people sin, are disciplined, and then say, “why am I suffering?” If friends love them enough to be honest, they will answer, “because of your disobedience. ”If we are Christ’s, we humbly accept our punishment. If we sin and God disciplines us, we can be encouraged that He does so because He loves us. We want to be confident in our salvation, and experiencing discipline allows us to say, “God is my Father. I am His child.” Sometimes people sin and it looks like they are getting away with it. Either God is giving them time to repent, or they are not His children. The bible was written with this realistic perspective, that life in this fallen world is often dreadfully unjust and painful. Again, God’s purpose in allowing us to experience trials is to bring us to maturity. God wants to produce individuals who are mature - who look like His Son Jesus, who are resilient, who have grit, who aren’t fragile, who can bear up without giving up. God wants to produce people who show up well in all kinds of situations - happy situations, sad situations, easy situations, and hard situations. We need to ask God for wisdom when encountering trials. Wisdom is faith in relating to God, wisdom is skill in relating to all kinds of people, and wisdom is aptitude in relating to all kinds of situations. A trial is something that happens in life that has the potential to teach us something. God will allow trials; a testing of our faith. God is more interested in our character than our comfort. He is developing something inside us. Trials are part of God’s work. Trials put God’s power on display. Trials causes us to depend on God.   Our enduring trials is God preparing us for His promise. He teaches us things. He grows our character, our faith, and our ability to do what we are called to do. There is divine design in each of our lives and that we have rendezvous to keep, individually. Remember that cry on the cross, “my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me”? That cry on the cross is an indication that the very best of our Father’s children found the trial so real, the test so exquisite and so severe, that he cried out - not in doubt of his Father’s reality, but wondering “why” at that moment of agony, for Jesus felt so alone. God withdrew His immediate presence from the Son so that Jesus Christ’s triumph might be truly complete. We must never doubt that sublime reality that God is always there because at times God will not be able to let us pass by a trial or a challenge. If we were allowed to bypass certain trials, everything that had gone on up to that moment in our lives would have been to no avail. It is because God loves us that, at times, He will not intercede as we may ask Him to. This, we learn from Gethsemane and from Calvary. We are going to be tried in all things. That is a hard doctrine. God chooses to teach us the things we most need to learn because He loves us, and if He seeks to discipline our souls and temper us in the way we most need to be disciplined and most need to be tempered, it follows that He will customize the challenges He gives us and individualize them so that we will be prepared for life in the eternity by His refusal to take us out of this world, even though trials - sharp & fiery we are not of it. The trials we are to go through, though they be sharp and fiery, yet they are designed only to try us, not to destroy us, to try our sincerity, strength, patience, and our trust in God. They are for the same cause that Christ suffered. Remember, we are forewarned of these things. The path of righteousness that God’s election must travel includes diverse trials. Consisting of a period of adversity caused by a contrast between our current earthly reality and the promises the Lord has given us. Enduring the test compels us to confront ourselves and decide not only who we are but who we choose to follow. The enemy will try us. Words loaded with insinuation that are calculated to cause doubts and misgivings will try us. Vanity and pride will try us. Out-and-out deceit will try us. We will be tried by thoughts that cause us to question our basic beliefs and values. We may want to pause in our investigation of truth and consider the absolute realism of the bible. Are we truly ready to reason and accept how candid and open and blunt and even gory the bible is in presenting God’s judgments upon the world, especially His own people in this final time that we are in. The bible does not shrink back from any truth that witnesses what God ordains. The trials, the tests, the temptations, the agonies, the sufferings that we learn of, that we experience, have meaning and eventual righteous resolution only if we come to embrace the biblical reality that sin against an infinitely wise and just and good God is a moral outrage greater than the physical outrage of centuries of global suffering. Let me say that again, because it is the heart of the matter, and it is very difficult for people without the Holy Spirit’s massive work to embrace: the physical horrors of suffering in this world can make sense to us and have meaning and eventual righteous resolution only if we come to embrace the biblical reality that sin against an infinitely wise and just and good God is a moral outrage greater than the physical outrage of centuries of global suffering. Each experience does not necessarily correspond to a sin. Biblical truth does not correlate between the extent of an individual’s suffering in this world and the extent of their guilt. Read Romans chapter eight, verses twenty through twenty-three. It talks to our universal groaning. Our agonizing in suffering. The sin that came into the world through Adam and spread to all people is a moral outrage greater than the physical outrage of suffering, which means that seeing and believing the goodness and justice of God assumes a self-denying revolution of our mind and heart. If we’re going to see God as good and just and wise, we have to undergo such a profound mental and spiritual revolution of mind and heart so that God ceases to be just a deity that circles humanity. He is that massively holy, blazing, glorious S-O-N at the center of the all that is creation. God becomes supreme reality. His being becomes the supreme worth and treasure of the universe. Trials are the pronouncement that all human suffering is a screaming witness to the greater dreadfulness of human sin. This is how and why our faith keeps reasoning with the truth of the revelation that God sent His Son into this world, sent His very self, to suffer a moral outrage, greater than the outrage against his Father by all his people in their sin. For the infinitely pure and good and wise and strong and holy Son of God to descend to the degradation and torture of a crucifixion is enough suffering, enough indignity, to cover all the outrage of all the sins of all who believe. This is not a simple faith…it is a gift that shows God’s love for sinners is unconditional, for He loves even when there is no reciprocity. The presence of trials and suffering in this world must not be a stumbling block to the sincereness of our worship for God, our witness to the world, and our testimony to those who overcome. Jesus could have healed Lazarus before he died. His purpose was to affect the faith of circumstances for the sisters. It’s not that their suffering or our suffering doesn’t matter: it matters enough to bring tears to the eyes of the Son of God! He purposed a relationship formed through suffering as much as through joy. Suffering at the death of a brother, joy in the resurrection of Jesus. The man blind from birth was not due to his sin nor the sin of his parents. This was purposed to blind show the works of God. If the goal of our existence is relationship with him, finding him in our suffering is the point. Jesus’s power over death is absolute. He is not a means to an end, he is the end. He is the only hope we have in the face of our inevitable end. Through the enduring of trial and suffering we are brought closest to God’s heart. Those who are chosen and beloved by God will be tried. Here is where we see the divine purpose of reasoning. It is that we may expose the fault lines between our natural assumptions and the biblical narrative of truth. You can read the letter of the words, yet unless you reason in the spirit of the word, the truth will evade your understanding. God could have used the flood to move us from Genesis to Revelation. But we would have missed out on that wonderful developing relationship with Jesus Christ. We would have missed the course of the covenant relationship where the faith of Abraham was tried. We would have missed the forming of Israel in the four hundred years of suffering and trials for the disciplining of a people. We would have missed the divine relationship between the man Moses and God and the trials of the wilderness experience which prompted The Sanctuary that coming of Jesus displayed in the teaching of the sanctuary. The beginning of the bible paints a picture of paradise: two human beings in relationship with God and with each other, unstained by sin or trial or suffering or death. God could just have stopped Adam and Eve from sinning in the first place. And even if there were reasons to allow sin - granting human free will, perhaps - one can imagine a much shorter, straighter line to draw between the beginning and the end than the scriptures describe. But the purposed “new creation” is not just a return to the idyllic old. It is far better. In the early Genesis narrative, Adam and Eve knew God as Creator and Lord, perhaps, even, as friend. But we know Jesus far more intimately: as Savior, Brother, Fellow Sufferer, our resurrection and our Life. The first humans could have this intimacy with God. It was an intimacy glimpsed in their experience of each other before they turned from their Maker. The original vision of humanity was very good. But it was not the best. The best, from a biblical perspective, was yet to come. And the way to get there would be through trial and suffering. Follow the spiritual script that is played out on the cosmic stage of creation down to our day. Note the journey of all the central characters in Christ is through darkness, to some even death, but to all the hope of the better end. For the true believer, all trials and tribulations have a divine purpose. God’s ultimate purpose for us is to grow more and more into the image of His Son. Everything in life, including the trials and tribulations, is designed to get us to this perfection. Trials are intended to set us apart for God’s purposes and to fit us to live for His glory. This is the trial of our faith tried by fire. The true believer’s faith will be made sure by the trials we experience so that we can rest in the knowledge that it is real and will last forever. Trials develop godly character, and that enables us to rejoice in our trials, in our sufferings, because we know that these produce perseverance. And that proves our faith. But our trials, our tribulations must not be the result of any wrongdoing. God uses our trials and tribulations to give us both purpose and a reward that we may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. Let the trials reveal who is in us. It is God’s way of transforming us in the maturing of our faith. In our responding to trials with God’s grace, we experience the power of God’s Spirit manifested in the life. Our response makes all the difference in our spiritual growth. Instead of despairing, we glory in the power of Christ resting upon us. We engage in this spiritual warfare by proclaiming truth in the face of tests, trials, and temptations. The greatest reason God takes us through trials in life is to bring us to the firm conclusion that we need Him. So we cry out to God. He alone must become our source of strength. Trials strengthen our dependence upon Him. We must trust that God has the ability to protect us from every trial or distress. But we know that He chooses God has the ability to protect us instead to deliver, strengthen, and preserve us in the midst of trials. We overcome the enemy in God’s strength for we know that God is faithful and He will not allow us to be tried above that we are able. And this is not based on any resource of our own. We are made able by faith in divine assistance, and that God knows what He Himself will give us by grace in enabling us to handle what He gives us. God will never let us so stumble or so fail that we don’t recover and repent and are restored. In other words, He will never let us sin our way away from Him. He will enable us to bear the fruits of genuine faith and perseverance to the end. The good work He has begun, He will perform. Those He has predestined, He called, He justified, He glorified. He has prayed that our faith fail not. There are realities of God’s love for us. He will particularly suit the course for each of us in order to teach us the things we most need to know. He will set before us in life what we need, not always what we like. And this will require us to accept with all our hearts - the truth that there is divine design in each of our lives and that we have rendezvous to keep, individually and collectively. Our trials are temporary. Our trials are not about us. They are for the fulfilling of the purposes of God.

God measures the progress of our civilization by making Himself known to us as a society of persons, existing eternally in mutual love and deference. Knowing God rests in His love. In America today, we are living in a toxic political climate that is the product of a very dangerous combination: a backwards civilization of unthinking leaders and frenzied citizens. Hate wears many different masks Hate, as the bible says, stirs up strife. It is a toxic energy that wears many different masks, and behind them all, dwells the same thing: self-hatred, fear, cruelty, thoughtlessness, and selfishness. Hate is a heavy subject of attitude and sentiment whose behavioral outcome will be death…death most certainly to the hater, and may be also to the hated. Hate is gravely different than dislike or contempt. It is the deadliest of all venom. In this country particularly, too many are too comfortable with hate. There are isolated groups in this country that experience the dimensions of hate of such intensity and duration until their very existence must be a constant alert to aggression. This is because in this land the truth of annihilating one people – and enslaving another is a consistent theme in the history of our country. In the book of the devolution of humanity, will be written this clause concerning the people who constitute hatred: these were taught hate as a way of life. This kind of hate is born in the fertile womb of fear, which showed up as a sense of superiority, intolerance, bigotry, ignorance, and arrogance. Malicious hatred did not originate with humans. It started when an angel in heaven, who came to be called Satan the Devil, rebelled against God. He has continued to instigate hatred and aggression among countless human beings. Hatred thrives in intolerance. The world we live in, feeds hatred by promoting harmful attitudes and behavior. Intolerance, prejudice, insulting speech, bullying, thrive because the whole world is lying in the power of the wicked one. The wisdom, the knowledge and understanding that is learned in reasoning with God cannot release me from the awareness of the devastating narrative that transcends history and geography. Humanity’s existence today reminds us all of the veracity of hate. There is so much hate in the world, I reasoned, because hate is hard-wired in the brain. Hate commonly fills the void of a lesser intellect. Hatred has its origins in personal stories that characterize one who has life frustrations. Hatred is based on the perception of the other, but also has a strong relationship with ourselves, with our personal history, and its effects on our personality, feelings, ideas, beliefs, and especially our identity. Certain adversity in our lives can trigger and intensify hatred such as jealousy or failure. These are often under- achievers in the real matters of life. This leads to a deep-rooted inferiority There is so much hate in the world complex and frustration. In an effort to salvage some of their sagging self- esteem, they try to compensate for it by latching on to something, which, in their perception, is visibly, tangibly an ‘achiever’ – such as a political party or some well-known organization. By associating themselves with that organization, they feel that the prestige, recognition of the organization will ‘rub off’ onto them and compensate for what they could not achieve individually. It is a learned and practiced emotion. We are witnessing the time of a troubling story of coercion, victimization, and devastating violence. We are experiencing an ancient narrative of a politically motivated education in hate, sanctioned by America’s political order, and enacted by a frightened and rageful people. A certain people that regards hate as an extension of the human tendency to form groups and for those groups to become the “us”, who focus their hatred on the “them”. Characterized by blind adherence and uncritical thinking, dilutes empathy, awareness of others’ suffering, and feelings of guilt towards the object of hatred. Haters thus acquire the ability to morally disengage from their actions and create excuses for the hatred they feel, or the suffering that they consciously cause. The facade of religion is used to conceal their conscience. Society is fueled with such malignant divisiveness that it is seriously affecting the nation, besides debasing our sense of humanity itself. God’s truth is the only source of hope. During the last days of this world, there will be times of great trouble. People will be cruel and they will hate anything that is good. People will turn against their friends. They will do foolish things. They will boast that they are very important. They will not love God, but instead they will only want to revel in a false privilege, purposefully constructed. This they hold to themselves believing to be privileged from conception. Being ignorant that privilege is not something you are born with, it is something society gives one that is not based upon equal intentions. These people will think to be serving God. But really, they refuse to accept God's power to help them. We must be spiritually discerning of such people. These are people who speak against God's true message. Human conduct, unrestrained by the law of God, will bring this earth to the point of almost complete destruction. But there will be some people—a very small group—who will not embrace lawlessness. In fact, these people will be defined by the opposite, lawfulness . They will govern their lives by God’s law, which will make them stand in stark contrast to the world around them. These will be delivered up to tribulation and all nations will hate them. There will be a great apostasy during the end times. A rebellion, an abandonment of the truth. The end times will include a wholesale rejection of God’s revelation, a further “falling away” of an already fallen world. God is not yet done. Mankind has not yet been sufficiently warned. Bible prophecies will come to be. The world merits God’s disapproval. Hate will be grounded in the realm of racism and prejudiceness, fear and ignorances. It is the upsurge of self, the mind of the flesh over God. Threats, Confiscation of Property confiscation of property, beatings, murder will be advanced in evilness. All who reject biblical values, who reject that we are created by an all wise God in His image, who reject God’s framework of the family unit, who reject absolute truth, who reject morality, who reject the claims of Jesus, yet are accepting of lies and false claims by supposedly leaders - it appears that these are becoming bolder, louder, more powerful, and more willing to silence those who disagree with them. Be warned that we will be hated because of our faith and true adherence to Jesus’ teachings. Hatred is more than just an emotion. It is a negative behavior with severe consequences. America has always been fertile ground that breeds hate, persecution, and silencing toward certain peoples. And now it is for those who proclaim hope in Jesus and His word. Be strengthened to testify of Him no matter what the result. Treading water is over. In the currents ahead of us we will have to be stronger than ever to swim in the Jordan or we will drown. Our hope is not in circumstances changing, nor is it in political figures.  Don’t allow your voice to be silenced. Don’t allow for you to be forced into isolation. Don’t allow your mind to be tarnished by news and social culture. Hate and persecution will increase, we will need the counsel, input, and encouragement of each other more than ever. Be wise, aspire to live quietly, and to mind your own affairs, and to work with your mind and hands, so that you may walk properly before outsiders and be dependent on no one. But please don’t make a habit of spiritual distancing. We need each other spiritually. Love one another as Jesus commands and then persevere through being loved or hated in return. Bestowed prenatally upon God’s people is His grace. And that, in His sufficiency. The bible always perfectly corresponds to reality; whatever the bible says is in accord with reality; whatever it says about God is in accord with reality; whatever it says about man is in accord with reality; whatever it says about history is the way it really is, and it cannot be denied. Humanity is getting worse and worse and worse - and at the end, the explosion of things will reach epic proportions…the worst of time ever that could be known. We’ve already faced the hostility borne by this country. We’ve already seen their hatred and animosity. Jesus was hated because of his inclusion and tolerance. The most intense, murderous fury of hatred directed toward Jesus was because he proclaimed “I am the Christ, and you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven.” They simply did not have the eyes to see or the faith to believe that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the living God. They hated Jesus without a cause. Not knowing that in Christ the world hates God Himself. What do we proclaim of ourselves? And as did he, we will upset their traditions and their scruples about the law. He was from above. We are one from beyond. Hate knows no bounds. It is in motion at every level. We are living in a world that hates. We have seen violence prompted by hatred. Hatred will be carried out against those who desire more than anything to preach the love of the Lord Jesus Christ and demonstrate compassion for those who suffer. Hatred gnaws at the vitals of people. It threatens the freedom of worshiping Jesus Christ as witnessed on every continent. Hatred is rampant—a sign of the Every Continent depravity of the human race. The bible teaches hatred is sin.   There is much to be said for the contagion of hate. Fear and deception are reflections of it. Love, as critical as it is, must possess a deep understanding of hatred. Hatred begins its epicycle with human contact as devoid of warmth and genuine fellowship, subsequently devolving into a stage of “unsympathetic understanding,” by which “the first step along the road of bitterness and hatred is assured,” and eventually reaches a crucial point at which this “penetrating, incisive, cold understanding…tends to express itself in the active functioning of ill will. Hate is the great insulator, making it possible for one man to deny the existence of another, or, will the other’s nonexistence, that violence is the act through which such a will is implemented, and hate is its dynamic. Periods of national crisis make it seemingly necessary to discipline men in hatred of other human beings. Hate corrodes unity as it presents an illusion of righteousness while it remains essentially and ultimately destructive. It guarantees a final isolation from one’s fellows. It blinds the individual to all values of worth, even as they apply to themself and their fellows. Hatred bears deadly and bitter fruit. It must be borne in mind that hatred tends to dry up the springs of creative thought. Hatred Hatred bears deadly and bitter fruit means death to the mind, death to the spirit, death to communion with the Father. Hatred indulges deception and dishonesty. Americans hate in such unprecedented proportions based on race, religion, gender, culture, caste, country, or nation. This selectively perpetrated by fear. They hate not just a specific individual but the entire category whom they have positioned themselves against based upon artificial differences. The differences, if any, arise because of our cultures and not our genes. Every person, first and foremost, is a human being. Our common humanity and unique individuality must be shared from the perspective of cultural understanding and inclusivity. The thing that the enemies of God continues to use, is hatred, in the attempts that God’s people will hate in return. In their ignorance they know not that this turns to be a great asset and blessing to us. For they know not that we love our enemies and are made stronger than ever in Christ, for love expresses our faith in God. We come to a complete and unqualified love for every single person everywhere, no exceptions. Not just a momentary love, but a sincere, honest, heartfelt, substantial love. This does not require us to accept the things people do that are hateful and selfish. We strive to love as God loves us, knowing that, through the unchallengeable, incontestable power of God’s love, anyone can ultimately be cleansed of sin with finality. There is a peculiar people of God who has been spiritually revived to come to Him to reason with His purposes for all things. The souls of these have no color, no national allegiance, no loyalty to ungodliness. These know that love conquers every act of hate. No matter the barrage of hate, love will prevail. There are too many herstories and histories that arc the truth of love as the only light that drives out darkness. God’s truth heightens our own spiritual purity by welcoming the cleansing presence of God’s love within. We can then affirm that love is in authority everywhere, and is operating effectively and inevitably, not only within us, but even within those whom we could suffer for. We take refuge in the love of God illumining the way for others to do the same. God’s people are born of the spirit and borne by the spirit having always the propensity for faith in God. This land thinks itself to have been predisposed to greatness. Thinking itself to be exceptional. There is a just spanking that is coming. And with it no forgiveness. Hatred will boomerang in the end. God’s people understand the purpose and power of love. We are familiar with biblical prophecy foreshadowing the end of time. And we hear this sounded from the mouth of Christ…and because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.  Because of hate , many people will stop loving each other. We who live in the last days witness, and may even be affected by , these huge social movements in which we have absolutely no control. Yet what follows is a sign and implied expectation that is totally within our control…we hold fast to our love. Because of sin we are limited creatures here. But God fashions us after His likeness, transmittable to us, His image- bearers, to reflect the attributes of our Creator. When we consider love, whether a human or divine attribute, we must always do so in correlation with God’s full character. We must first ponder God’s love as integral to His moral perfections and then consider the exercise of His love. There is no distortion to God’s love. God’s love obligates reciprocation. His redeeming love for us is conditioned on obedience. It means that God set His love upon every human without exception. But God has those whom He calls His elect ones. God’s unconditional, electing love establishes His covenantal relationship with these, which stipulates conditions concerning how His people are to come to Him. God requires our belief, our obedience, and our steadfast faithfulness. This obligates us to apply these truths thoughtfully and carefully to ourselves and our relationships. We hear the truth that “God so loved the world” and picture the vastness of God’s love. We hear the magnitude of His love. But do we consider the “so loved” to mean “of manner, or how”? Read this…“God loved the people of this world so much that He gave His only Son”. Now read it this way… “God loved the world in this way, namely, that He gave His only Son.” What is the way God shows His love toward the world of sinful humans? Now that stipulates a reciprocal response of love. God knew of the hatred that would inflict destruction upon humanity. He sent His Son into a world that hated him so that wicked humans would indict His righteous Son, condemn him to death, and execute him. They did not realize that they were carrying out God’s purpose and design by which He would redeem everyone who heeds the call of the gospel’s command to acknowledge His risen Son as the only savior of the world. Hate distorts God’s implanted image. Knowledge of God restrains human wickedness. Excepting for God’s purpose, hatred would utterly expunge humanity as did wickedness to the antediluvian society. The world indulges in hate today, and with all determination is setting itself against God by hating His people. Because of hatred, many who are not of color have become irrational people – inhumane people – indeed “crazy” people. These people are suffering from amnesia and anesthesia. But they are also unaware of God’s justice and equity. This is a state of being that involves choices, behaviors, and thoughts. The further away from God the world strays, the more hate will motivate decisions. This will only lead to violence and prejudice. While there is truth to this idea, it will also manifest in hating truth for lies, hating godly wisdom for man’s foolishness, and hating God’s justice for man’s injustice. Hate is dangerous, because when taken to its logical God's Justice conclusion, it is the desire to eliminate the humanity of another. It is the most destructive affective phenomenon in the history of human nature. Jesus makes the love-ethic central in the lives of his people. His people never hate their haters. Only by a right understanding of the cross can we truly love God and love others, and to that end we must labor as long as we are on this earth to save a soul.

When God pardons the sinner, remits the punishment he deserves, and treats him as though he had not sinned, He receives him into divine favor, and justifies him through the merits of Christ's righteousness. The sinner can be justified only through faith in the atonement made through God's dear Son, who became a sacrifice for the sins of the guilty world. No one can be justified by any works of his own. He can be delivered from the guilt of sin, from the condemnation of the law, from the penalty of transgression, only by virtue of the suffering, death, and resurrection of Christ. Faith is the only condition upon which justification can be obtained, and faith includes not only belief, but trust. Many have a nominal faith in Christ, but they know nothing of that vital dependence upon Him which appropriates the merits of a crucified and risen Saviour. Of this nominal faith James says: "Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble. But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?" Faith Without Works is Dead This is but a bare speculation and knowledge of faith. Faith must be the first principle. We are to have no good account of ourselves merely because we believe in him. If we are content with a bare assent to the articles of faith, and some speculations upon them, our faith is the same as of the devils. Our fear, our trembling is out of reverence, not hatred and opposition. We give up ourselves to God as the gospel directs, and we love Him, and we delight ourselves in Him, and we serve Him, which the devils do not, cannot do. Our spiritual life, our availability to eternal life is our rest in the faith of Jesus. The accounting of our righteousness is not separated from our faith, for both our righteousness and our faith are of Jesus Christ Himself. In him we are justified and in him are we saved. And so, our faith endears us to the Divine Being and advances us to very peculiar favors and intimacies with God. There is no boast to being Israel if we copy not the faith of Jesus. We must give evidence as God commands…self-denial as did Abraham. In our faith what we devoutly purpose and sincerely resolve to do for God is accepted as if actually performed. Our dying to self is regarded as offering up our life. Though we do not actually proceed to physically die, it is an offering of sacrifice to Him. It is a done thing in the mind, and in the spirit, and resolution that was shown of Abraham, and God accepts it as if fully performed and accomplished. This acting of faith makes it grow perfect, as the truth of faith makes it act. Such an acting faith will make others friends of God. Our faith brings us to God in Christ…one will, one heart, one mind. And now, upon the whole matter, this is the grace of God wherein we stand by faith. And we should stand to it now to persist in it by the word of providence. Many concede that Jesus Christ is the Saviour of the world, but at the same time they hold themselves away from Him, and fail to repent of their sins, fail to accept of Jesus as their personal Saviour. Their faith is simply the assent of the mind and judgment to the truth; but the truth is not brought into the heart, that it might sanctify the soul and transform the character. "For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified". Calling and justification are not one and the same thing. Calling is the drawing of the sinner to Christ, and it is a work wrought by the Holy Spirit upon the heart, convicting of sin, and inviting to repentance. Many are confused as to what constitutes the first steps in the work of salvation. Repentance is thought to be a work the sinner must do for himself in order that he may come to Christ. They think that the sinner must procure for himself a fitness in order to obtain the blessing of God's grace. But while it is true that repentance must precede forgiveness, for it is only the broken and contrite heart that is acceptable to God, yet the sinner cannot bring himself to repentance, or prepare himself to come to Christ. Except the sinner repent, he cannot be forgiven; but the question to be decided is as to whether repentance is the work of the sinner or the gift of Christ. Must the sinner wait until he is filled with remorse for his sin before he can come to Christ? The very first step to Christ is taken through the drawing of the Spirit of God; as man responds to this drawing, he advances toward Christ in order that he may repent. The sinner is The Shepherd represented as a lost sheep, and a lost sheep never returns to the fold unless he is sought after and brought back to the fold by the shepherd. No man of himself can repent, and make himself worthy of the blessing of justification. The Lord Jesus is constantly seeking to impress the sinner's mind and attract him to behold Himself, the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sins of the world. We cannot take a step toward spiritual life save as Jesus draws and strengthens the soul, and leads us to experience that repentance which needeth not to be repented of. When before the high priests and Sadducees, Peter clearly presented the fact that repentance is the gift of God. Speaking of Christ, he said, "Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins". Repentance is no less the gift of God than are pardon and justification, and it cannot be experienced except as it is given to the soul by Christ. If we are drawn to Christ, it is through His power and virtue. The grace of contrition comes through Him, and from Him comes justification. Paul writes: "But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise, Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down from above:) or, Who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.) But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach; that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation". The faith that is unto salvation is not a casual faith, it is not the mere consent of the intellect, it is belief rooted in the heart, that embraces Christ as a personal Saviour, assured that He can save unto the uttermost all that come unto God by Him. To believe that He will save others, but will not save you is not genuine faith; but when the soul lays hold upon Christ as the only hope of salvation, then genuine faith is manifested. This faith leads its possessor to place all the affections of the soul upon Christ; his understanding is under the control of the Holy Spirit, and his character is molded after the divine likeness. His faith is not a dead faith, but a faith that works by love, and leads him to behold the beauty of Christ, and to become assimilated to the divine character. "And the Lord thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live". It is God that circumcises the heart. The whole work is the Lord's from the beginning to the end. The perishing sinner may say: "I am a lost sinner; but Christ came to seek and to save that which was lost. He says, 'I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance'. I am a sinner, and He died upon Calvary's cross to save me. I need not remain a moment longer unsaved. He died and rose again for my justification, and He will save me now. I accept the forgiveness He has promised." Christ is a risen Saviour; for, though He was dead, He has risen again, and ever liveth to make intercession for us. We are to believe with the heart unto righteousness, and with the mouth make confession unto salvation. Those who are justified by faith will make confession of Christ. "He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life". The great work that is wrought for the sinner who is spotted and stained by evil is the work of justification. By Him who speaketh truth, he is declared righteous. The Lord imputes unto the believer the righteousness of Christ and pronounces him righteous before the universe. He transfers his sins to Jesus, the sinner's representative, substitute, and surety. Upon Christ He lays the iniquity of every soul that believeth. "He hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him". Christ made satisfaction for the guilt of the whole world, and all who will come to God in faith, will receive the righteousness of Christ, "who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed". Our sin has been expiated, put away, cast into the depths of the sea. Through repentance and faith we are rid of sin, and look unto the Lord our righteousness. Jesus suffered, the just for the unjust. Although as sinners we are under the condemnation of the law, yet Christ by His obedience rendered to the law, claims for the repentant soul the merit of His own righteousness. In order to obtain the righteousness of Christ, it is necessary for the sinner to know what that repentance is which works a radical change of mind and spirit and action. Work of Transformation Must Begin in the Heart The work of transformation must begin in the heart, and manifest its power through every faculty of the being; but man is not capable of originating such a repentance as this, and can experience it alone through Christ, who ascended up on high, led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men. Who is desirous of becoming truly repentant? What must he do?--He must come to Jesus, just as he is, without delay. He must believe that the word of Christ is true, and, believing the promise, ask, that he may receive. When sincere desire prompts men to pray, they will not pray in vain. The Lord will fulfill His word, and will give the Holy Spirit to lead to repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. He will pray and watch, and put away his sins, making manifest his sincerity by the vigor of his endeavor to obey the commandments of God. With prayer he will mingle faith, and not only believe in but obey the precepts of the law. He will announce himself as on Christ's side of the question. He will renounce all habits and associations that tend to draw the heart from God. He who would become a child of God must receive the truth that repentance and forgiveness are to be obtained through nothing less than the atonement of Christ. Assured of this the sinner must put forth an effort in harmony with the work done for him, and with unwearied entreaty he must supplicate the throne of grace, that the renovating power of God may come into his soul. Christ pardons none but the penitent, but whom He pardons He first makes penitent. The provision made is complete, and the eternal righteousness of Christ is placed to the account of every believing soul. The costly, spotless robe, woven in the loom of heaven, has been provided for the repenting, believing sinner, and he may say: "I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness". Abundant grace has been provided that the believing soul may be kept free from sin; for all heaven, with its limitless resources, has been placed at our command. We are to draw from the well of salvation. Christ is the end of law for righteousness to everyone who believeth. In ourselves we are sinners; but in Christ we are righteous. Having made us righteous through the imputed righteousness of Christ, God pronounces us just, and treats us as just. He looks upon us as His dear children. Christ works against the power of sin, and where sin abounded, grace much more abounds. "Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: by whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God". "Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; to declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus". "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God". The Lord would have His people sound in the faith-- not ignorant of the great salvation so abundantly provided for them. They are not to look forward, thinking that at some future time a great work is to be done for them; for the work is now complete. The believer is not called upon to make his peace with God; he never has nor ever can do this. He is to accept Christ as his peace, for with Christ is God and peace. Christ made an end of sin, bearing its heavy curse in His own body on the tree, and He hath taken away the curse from all those who believe in Him as a personal Saviour. He makes an end of the controlling power of sin in the heart, and the life and character of the believer testify to the genuine character of the grace of Christ. To those that ask Him, Jesus imparts the Holy Spirit; for it is necessary that every believer should be delivered from pollution, as well as from the curse and condemnation of the law. Through the work of the Holy Spirit, the sanctification of the truth, the believer becomes fitted for the courts of heaven; for Christ works within us, and His righteousness is upon us. Without this no soul will be entitled to heaven. We would not enjoy heaven unless qualified for its holy atmosphere by the influence of the Spirit and the righteousness of Christ. In order to be candidates for heaven we must meet the requirement of the law: "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself". We can do this only as we grasp by faith the righteousness of Christ. By beholding Jesus we receive a living, expanding principle in the heart, and the Holy Spirit carries on the work, and the believer advances from grace to grace, from strength to strength, from character to character. He conforms to the image of Christ, until in spiritual growth he attains unto the measure of the full stature in Christ Jesus. Thus Christ makes an end of the curse of sin, and sets the believing soul free from its action and effect. Christ alone is able to do this, for "in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted". Reconciliation means that every barrier between the soul and God is removed, and that the sinner realizes what the pardoning love of God means. By reason of the sacrifice made by Christ for fallen men, God can justly pardon the transgressor who accepts the merits of Christ. Christ was the channel through which the mercy, love, and righteousness might flow from the heart of God to the heart of the sinner. "He is faithful and just to forgive Costly, Spotless Robe Woven in the Loom of Heaven us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness". In the prophecy of Daniel it was recorded of Christ that He shall "make reconciliation for iniquity, and . . . bring in everlasting righteousness". Every soul may say: "By His perfect obedience He has satisfied the claims of the law, and my only hope is found in looking to Him as my substitute and surety, who obeyed the law perfectly for me. By faith in His merits I am free from the condemnation of the law. He clothes me with His righteousness, which answers all the demands of the law. I am complete in Him who brings in everlasting righteousness. He presents me to God in the spotless garment of which no thread was woven by any human agent. All is of Christ, and all the glory, honor, and majesty are to be given to the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sins of the world." Many think that they must wait for a special impulse in order that they may come to Christ; but it is necessary only to come in sincerity of purpose, deciding to accept the offers of mercy and grace that have been extended to us. We are to say: "Christ died to save me. The Lord's desire is that I should be saved, and I will come to Jesus just as I am without delay. I will venture upon the promise. As Christ draws me, I will respond." The apostle says, "With the heart man believeth unto righteousness". No one can believe with the heart unto righteousness, and obtain justification by faith, while continuing the practice of those things which the Word of God forbids, or while neglecting any known duty. Genuine faith will be manifested in good works; for good works are the fruits of faith. As God works in the heart, and man surrenders his will to God, and cooperates with God, he works out in the life what God works in by the Holy Spirit, and there is harmony between the purpose of the heart and the practice of the life. Every sin must be renounced as the hateful thing that crucified the Lord of life and glory, and the believer must have a progressive experience by continually doing the works of Christ. It is by continual surrender of the will, by continual obedience, that the blessing of justification is retained. Those who are justified by faith must have a heart to keep the way of the Lord. It is an evidence that a man is not justified by faith when his works do not correspond to his profession. James says, "Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was his faith made perfect?" The faith that does not produce good works does not justify the soul. "Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only". "Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness". Imputation of the righteousness of Christ comes through justifying faith, and is the justification for which Paul so earnestly contends. He says: "Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin. But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: for all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God…Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law". Grace is unmerited favor, and the believer is justified without any merit of his own, without any claim to offer to God. He is justified through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, who stands in the courts of heaven as the sinner's substitute and surety. But while he is justified because of the merit of Christ, he is not free to work unrighteousness. Faith works by love and purifies the Faith buds and blossoms soul. Faith buds and blossoms and bears a harvest of precious fruit. Where faith is, good works appear. The sick are visited, the poor are cared for, the fatherless and the widows are not neglected, the naked are clothed, the destitute are fed. Christ went about doing good, and when men are united with Him, they love the children of God, and meekness and truth guide their footsteps. The expression of the countenance reveals their experience, and men take knowledge of them that they have been with Jesus and learned of Him. Christ and the believer become one, and His beauty of character is revealed in those who are vitally connected with the Source of power and love. Christ is the great depositary of justifying righteousness and sanctifying grace. All may come to Him, and receive of His fullness. He says, "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest". Then why not cast aside all unbelief and heed the words of Jesus? You want rest; you long for peace. Then say from the heart, "Lord Jesus, I come, because Thou hast given me this invitation." Believe in Him with steadfast faith, and He will save you. Have you been looking unto Jesus, who is the author and finisher of your faith? Have you been beholding Him who is full of truth and grace? Have you accepted the peace which Christ alone can give? If you have not, then yield to Him, and through His grace seek for a character that will be noble and elevated. Seek for a constant, resolute, cheerful spirit. Feed on Christ, who is the bread of life, and you will manifest His loveliness of character and spirit.

God exists on His own. There is nothing or no one greater than God – He is the Supreme Being. Faith originates with God. That is the whole of truth of the measure of faith given to all. Receive it or forfeit it. But know that all relationship with God is dependent upon it. It brings the things that God provides for us in the spiritual realm into the physical realm. It is how we overcome the world. Everything we do must be accessed through faith. And that faith is not of our own…it is the gift of God. That is why the height of our expression of faith is in God. Have you seen immortality, incorruption? Its mystery is “faith”. Do you believe your sins are forgiven? Its mystery is "faith". The Word of God How so, because the word of God says it. The Holy Spirit empowers the word of God as the truth to enter us. God had to give us faith so that we could believe in Him and receive His salvation. This is how we receive His grace. When faith becomes that permanent part of us we grow in truth. God brought forth only one measure of faith…the measure. With that measure and the word of God we grow in the truth that grows faith to faith. It is by this that we live…by the faith of the Son of God. Now consider what measure of faith is of Jesus. This is how he can say, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.” Never doubt that you do not have enough faith…that is sin. Our faith may become effectual by the acknowledging of every good thing which is in us in Christ Jesus. We are to abide by the law that governs the operation of God’s purposes. God must be the object of our faith and for that we need a God-kind of faith. And that is the faith of Jesus as every word of God is that by which we are to live. "If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new." A person may not be able to tell the exact time or place, or trace all the chain of circumstances in the process of conversion; but this does not prove him to be unconverted. Christ said to The wind bloweth where it listeth Nicodemus, "The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is everyone that is born of the Spirit." Like the wind, which is invisible, yet the effects of which are plainly seen and felt, is the Spirit of God in its work upon the human heart. That regenerating power, which no human eye can see, begets a new life in the soul; it creates a new being in the image of God. While the work of the Spirit is silent and imperceptible, its effects are manifest. If the heart has been renewed by the Spirit of God, the life will bear witness to the fact. While we cannot do anything to change our hearts or to bring ourselves into harmony with God; while we must not trust at all to ourselves or our good works, our lives will reveal whether the grace of God is dwelling within us. A change will be seen in the character, the habits, the pursuits. The contrast will be clear and decided between what they have been and what they are. The character is revealed, not by occasional good deeds and occasional misdeeds, but by the tendency of the habitual words and acts. It is true that there may be an outward correctness of deportment without the renewing power of Christ. The love of influence and the desire for the esteem of others may produce a well-ordered life. Self-respect may lead us to avoid the appearance of evil. A selfish heart may perform generous actions. By what means, then, shall we determine whose side we are on? Who has the heart? With whom are our thoughts? Of whom do we love to converse? Who has our warmest affections and our best energies? If we are Christ's, our thoughts are with Him, and our sweetest thoughts are of Him. All we have and are is consecrated to Him. We long to bear His image, breathe His spirit, do His will, and please Him in all things. Those who become new creatures in Christ Jesus will bring forth the fruits of the Spirit, "love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance." They will no longer fashion themselves according to the former lusts, but by the faith of the Son of God they will follow in His steps, reflect His character, and purify themselves even as He is pure. The things they once hated they now love, and the things they once loved they hate. The proud and self-assertive become meek and lowly in heart. The vain and supercilious become serious and unobtrusive. The drunken become sober, and the profligate pure. The vain customs and fashions of the world are laid aside. Christians will seek not the "outward adorning," but "the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit." Outward adorning There is no evidence of genuine repentance unless it works reformation. If he restore the pledge, give again that he had robbed, confess his sins, and love God and his fellow men, the sinner may be sure that he has passed from death unto life. When, as erring, sinful beings, we come to Christ and become partakers of His pardoning grace, love springs up in the heart. Every burden is light, for the yoke that Christ imposes is easy. Duty becomes a delight, and sacrifice a pleasure. The path that before seemed shrouded in darkness, becomes bright with beams from the Sun of Righteousness. The loveliness of the character of Christ will be seen in His followers. It was His delight to do the will of God. Love to God, zeal for His glory, was the controlling power in our Saviour's life. Love beautified and ennobled all His actions. Love is of God. The unconsecrated heart cannot originate or produce it. It is found only in the heart where Jesus reigns. "We love, because He first loved us." In the heart renewed by divine grace, love is the principle of action. It modifies the character, governs the impulses, controls the passions, subdues enmity, and ennobles the affections. This love, cherished in the soul, sweetens the life and sheds a refining influence on all around. There are two errors against which the children of God--particularly those who have just come to trust in His grace--especially need to guard. The first, already dwelt upon, is that of looking to their own works, trusting to anything they can do, to bring themselves into harmony with God. He who is trying to become holy by his own works in keeping the law, is attempting an impossibility. All that man can do without Christ is polluted with selfishness and sin. It is the grace of Christ alone, through faith, that can make us holy. The opposite and no less dangerous error is that belief in Christ releases men from keeping the law of God; that since by faith alone we become partakers of the grace of Christ, our works have nothing to do with our redemption. But notice here that obedience is not a mere outward compliance, but the service of love. The law of God is an expression of His very nature; it is an embodiment of the great principle of love, and hence is the foundation of His government in heaven and earth. If our hearts are renewed in the likeness of God, if the divine love is implanted in the soul, will not the law of God be carried out in the life? When the principle of love is implanted in the heart, when man is renewed after the image of Him that created him, the new-covenant promise is fulfilled, "I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them." And if the law is written in the heart, will it not shape the life? Obedience--the service and allegiance of love--is the true sign of discipleship. Thus the Scripture says, "This is the love of God, that we keep His commandments." "He that saith, I know Him, and keepeth not His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him." Instead of releasing man from obedience, it is faith, and faith only, that makes us partakers of the grace of Christ, which enables us to render obedience. Obedience We do not earn salvation by our obedience; for salvation is the free gift of God, to be received by faith. But obedience is the fruit of faith. "Ye know that He was manifested to take away our sins; and in Him is no sin. Whosoever abideth in Him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen Him, neither known Him." Here is the true test. If we abide in Christ, if the love of God dwells in us, our feelings, our thoughts, our purposes, our actions, will be in harmony with the will of God as expressed in the precepts of His holy law. "Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as He is righteous." Righteousness is defined by the standard of God's holy law, as expressed in the ten precepts given on Sinai. That so-called faith in Christ which professes to release men from the obligation of obedience to God, is not faith, but presumption. "By grace are ye saved through faith." But "faith, if it hath not works, is dead." Jesus said of Himself before He came to earth, "I delight to do Thy will, O My God: yea, Thy law is within My heart." And just before He ascended again to heaven He declared, "I have kept My Father's commandments, and abide in His love." The Scripture says, "Hereby we do know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. . . . He that saith he abideth in Him ought himself also so to walk even as He walked." "Because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow His steps." The condition of eternal life is now just what it always has been,--just what it was in Paradise before the fall of our first parents,--perfect obedience to the law of God, perfect righteousness. If eternal life were granted on any condition short of this, then the happiness of the whole universe would be imperiled. The way would be open for sin, with all its train of woe and misery, to be immortalized. It was possible for Adam, before the fall, to form a righteous character by obedience to God's law. But he failed to do this, and because of his sin our natures are fallen and we cannot make ourselves righteous. Since we are sinful, unholy, we cannot perfectly obey the holy law. We have no righteousness of our own with which to meet the claims of the law of God. But Christ has made a way of escape for us. He lived on earth amid trials and temptations such as we have to meet. He lived a sinless life. He died for us, and now He offers to take our sins and give us His righteousness. If you give yourself to Him, and accept Him as your Saviour, then, sinful as your life may have been, for His sake you are accounted righteous. Christ's character stands in place of your character, and you are accepted before God just as if you had not sinned. More than this, Christ changes the heart. He abides in your heart by faith. You are to maintain this connection with Christ by faith and the continual surrender of your will to Him; and so long as you do this, He will work in you to will and to do according to His good pleasure. So you may say, "The life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me." So Jesus said to His disciples, "It is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you." Then with Christ working in you, you will manifest the same spirit and do the same good works --works of righteousness, obedience. So we have nothing in ourselves of which to boast. We have no ground for self-exaltation. Our Ground of Hope only ground of hope is in the righteousness of Christ imputed to us, and in that wrought by His Spirit working in and through us. When we speak of faith, there is a distinction that should be borne in mind. There is a kind of belief that is wholly distinct from faith. The existence and power of God, the truth of His word, are facts that even Satan and his hosts cannot at heart deny. The Bible says that "the devils also believe, and tremble;" but this is not faith. Where there is not only a belief in God's word, but a submission of the will to Him; where the heart is yielded to Him, the affections fixed upon Him, there is faith--faith that works by love and purifies the soul. Through this faith the heart is renewed in the image of God. And the heart that in its unrenewed state is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be, now delights in its holy precepts, exclaiming with the psalmist, "O how love I Thy law! it is my meditation all the day." And the righteousness of the law is fulfilled in us, "who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." There are those who have known the pardoning love of Christ and who really desire to be children of God, yet they realize that their character is imperfect, their life faulty, and they are ready to doubt whether their hearts have been renewed by the Holy Spirit. To such I would say, Do not draw back in despair. We shall often have to bow down and weep at the feet of Jesus because of our shortcomings and mistakes, but we are not to be discouraged. Even if we are overcome by the enemy, we are not cast off, not forsaken and rejected of God. No; Christ is at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. Said the beloved John, "These things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous." And do not forget the words of Christ, "The Father Himself loveth you." He desires to restore you to Himself, to see His own purity and holiness reflected in you. And if you will but yield yourself to Him, He that hath begun a good work in you will carry it forward to the day of Jesus Christ. Pray more fervently; believe more fully. As we come to distrust our own power, let us trust the power of our Redeemer, and we shall praise Him who is the health of our countenance. The closer you come to Jesus, the more faulty you will appear in your own eyes; for your vision will be clearer, and your imperfections will be seen in broad and distinct contrast to His perfect nature. This is evidence that Satan's delusions have lost their power; that the vivifying influence of the Spirit of God is arousing you. No deep-seated love for Jesus can dwell in the heart that does not realize its own sinfulness. The soul that is transformed by the grace of Christ will admire His divine character; but if we do not see our own moral deformity, it is unmistakable evidence that we have not had a view of the beauty and excellence of Christ. The less we see to esteem in ourselves, the more we shall see to esteem in the infinite purity and loveliness of our Saviour. A view of our sinfulness drives us to Him who can pardon; and when the soul, realizing its helplessness, reaches out after Christ, He will reveal Himself in power. The more our sense of need drives us to Him and to the word of God, the more exalted views we shall have of His character, and the more fully we shall reflect His image. Helplessness

Leviticus 25:55 A transaction has taken place, not simply from slavery to freedom but from the kingdom of darkness into light.  If we want to be right in the sight of God then we are to be willing to serve.  God's revelation of Himself to His people is being given to us.  The finished release in the seventh year of bondage.  Six years of bondage and then release at the beginning of the seventh.  What does this seventh year actually detail. Exodus 23 says there is what is known as the Sabbath year – A day for a year...a day for a thousand years – God’s revelation for reality.  Slavery was the consequence of sin.  Remember, all things for the good and God’s word gives us lessons to remember and learn from. By grace, by faith, the people of God have been redeemed from the slavery of sin, and so we are to interact with others as redeemed sinners rather than righteous saints.  We might have been born under the masterly cause of sin, yet in the purpose of God we serve a new master.  This follows in picture from the six days of work followed by the seventh day of Sabbath rest.  And secondly, it is a picture of the six thousand years of man, living in the world of sin from the time of the fall. This is followed by the final thousand years in heaven and we return to a new earth with God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. Let’s read Exodus 21:5 as revealed in reality - if Christ plainly says, ‘I love my God, my church, and my faithful ones; I will not go out free.  By a voluntary act of the will, the servant is given a choice about his status as a slave. Note that the love of the master is mentioned first. The giving of the wife came from the gracious hand of the master. The children who only temporarily belonged to the slave could only have come through the kindness of the master as well.  Therefore, it is a devotion to the master, first and foremost, to which the rest logically follows.  The servant loves his wife, given to him by his master, he loves his children who came from the wife given to him by his master, and therefore he desires to not be freed from his master. If this is the case, then there are provisions to allow this… Verse 6 - then God shall bring the servant to the judgment for the affirmation.  God, the master, shall also bring him, the servant, to the door, or to the doorpost, the cross.  To repeat and enlarge biblical truth - the door is the access point of the home. It signifies the way in. The doorpost is what holds the door. The doorposts were first mentioned at the time of the Passover when the blood of the lamb was sprinkled on them. That signified an open profession was made in the sufficiency of the death of the lamb to save.  And his master shall pierce his ear with an awl.  God, the master is the one to pierce the servant, Christ, thus laying claim on the ownership of him and everything that he would possess from that point on. Deuteronomy 15:17 “…then you shall take an awl and thrust it through his ear to the door, and he shall be your servant forever.” In that verse, the words “ear” and “door” are parallels. The two are tied together, as if they have become one.  Christ nailed to the cross.  And he shall serve him forever.  Rather than a long time, it is to never be undone.  So, what is this account picturing?  It pictures the work of Christ for each of us. It is we who are being pictured here. We, the bondservants of God in Christ.  Psalms and Hebrews show the ears being used in parallel with the entire body.  The piercing of the ear to the door is a picture of Christ’s crucifixion and thus our being crucified with Christ, who is the Door of salvation. John 10:7-9 The slave willingly gave up his freedom and his rights in one economy and transferred them to another. When he was a free man of Israel, he was bound to the law of Moses. As Paul shows in Galatians, the law is bondage. It is what shows us our sin and it is what condemns us. The law is not freedom; it is bondage.  Galatians 4:21-26 The very thing that we think is freedom is in fact only another type of bondage. But for the slave of his master, it is his master who was bound to the law and the slave is bound to his master under the law. Christ was made sin for us. It is a picture of Christ fulfilling the law on our behalf. Galatians 2:19-21 But there was always the chance that the master might have forced his slave to remain in bondage against his will.  Not my will, but thine...Who could tell if no public affirmation of his intent was made known? This is why he had to be taken to the judgment of “the God.”  The affirmation is one which is voluntarily made and openly witnessed.  Jesus says, “as the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep.  Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again.  No man taketh it from me, but  I lay  it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father. The slavery is not forced, but willingly accepted. This is an obvious picture of the free-will of man in his voluntary surrender to His Lord in the presence of “the God.” Nothing could be clearer. We who are in Christ are free from the law because He fulfilled it on our behalf.   “For he who is called in the Lord while a slave is the Lord’s freedman. Likewise he who is called while free is Christ’s slave.  You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of men.”  This freedom we possess as the Lord’s bondservants. This one word is an explanation of our eternal salvation. We actually need go no further to defend how long we are saved for, or if we could ever lose our salvation, once achieved. The picture given to us from the years before the coming of Christ tells us all we need to know.  We are His servants forever. God’s sevens are perfect for our learning in correspondence with the judgment of God pertaining to Christ and his servanthood toward his people. Consider Genesis chapters twenty-nine and thirty with the birth of the children of Leah.  In Genesis 29:32-35, she gives birth to four sons.  Then in Genesis 30:17-20 she gives birth to two more sons, making six sons in all.  Finally, in perfect correspondence to God’s seven principle, she gives birth to a daughter.  But God isn’t finished yet.  Notice the meaning of the names of these children – first the seven: Reuben – behold a son Simeon – hearing Levi – joined Judah – praise Issachar – recompense Zebulun – exalted Dinah – Justice So, we behold God’s Son, and we hear the gospel. Then we are joined to Christ by being born again.   Then we live a life of praise unto the Lord in our giving forth the messages of the three angels.  We are then recompensed at the Judgment Seat of Christ, after which we are exalted with Christ.  We will rule with Christ as priests and kings in the kingdom, which is eternal justice in the earth – the end of the reality of slavery.  Scripture does not engage in speculation.  We see in the last of the seven the woman representing the church.  With the other six sons we see a revelation. Nepthalim - wrestling Gad - troop Asher – happy Joseph – Jehovah has added Benjamin – right side of God Manasses – forgetting Dan and Ephraim were idol worshippers.  Some don’t want to go.  Joseph was sold into slavery.  We, the final generation, by way of ancestral blood were brought again into slavery, into an Egypt destined to receive again devastation by plagues.  Joseph means “Jehovah has added”.  Added what?  The last of the sons of Jacob for the forming of the tribes of the Israel to enter into the kingdom as God’s covenantal people. God tells us of our journey of affliction as experienced then and as we undergo now.  He knew that we would be unloved in the world.  But because of this we would be joined to our husband, Jesus.  And we would praise him.  We were purposed not to wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.  In the good providences of God, we would be as a troop of overcomers.  We would be blessed in our happiness as God’s elect.  Recompensed in our service for the souls brought to the Father.  As being God’s purposed election that stands that this great truth may be established - that God chooses some and refuses others as a free agent, by his own absolute and sovereign will, dispensing his favors or withholding them as he pleases, He has exalted us.  And it is in His calling wherein we are willing to lose our lives that we may bring to Christ his betroths and his children.  We, with them, in all our ways have repented reverently and in godly sorrow for all done against God. And now we wait on the revelation of the impending judgment of the mystery of God’s will, as spoken in the seven thunders.

Exodus 21:1-6; Deuteronomy 15:12-17 This is a profound judgment that God sets forth.  The bible presents a very different concept of slavery from that which has disgraced humanity in modern times.  God’s judgments concerning the insane inhumaneness of slavery was made on purpose to repress it, to confine it within very narrow bounds, and ultimately to put an end to it.  The fact that God gave legislation concerning slavery does not mean that He approved it. He was only protecting the civil rights of the enslaved.  Why piercing?  Why a door?  Why an ear?  There are all manner of truth treasures to be found in the bible.  Precepts and parallels help us to come to truth.  Psalms 40:6-8 A prophecy personifying our Lord...Jesus Christ is here speaking of himself as being forever, for our sakes, the willing servant of God.  Jesus entered into covenant with his Father that he would become the servant of servants for our sakes. All through the long ages he never started back from that compact. Though the Savior knew the price of pardon was his blood, his pity never withdrew, for his ear had been pierced. He became for our sakes the lifelong servant of God. He loved his betrothed, the church. He loved his dear sons, his children whom he foresaw when he looked through the ages, and he would not go out free. Our insolvency had made us slaves, and Christ became a servant in our stead.  “A body hast thou prepared me.” He was bound to God’s service when he was found in fashion as a man, for then he “became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.”  Jesus stood upon the word against Satan in the wilderness as the arch-fiend offered to him all the kingdoms of this world, and why did he not accept them? Because he preferred a cross to a crown, for his ear was bored.  Afterwards the people, in the height of his popularity, offered him a crown, but he hid himself away from them.  And why? Because he came to suffer, not to reign; his ear was bored for redemption’s work, and he was straitened until he had accomplished it. In the Garden, when the bloody sweat fell from his face, and he said, “If it be possible, let this cup pass from me,” why did he not put away that cup? If it had pleased him, he might have called for twelve legions of angels, and they would have come to the rescue; why did he not summon that celestial bodyguard? It was because he had wholly surrendered himself to the service of our salvation.  God will hold none to unwilling servitude.  The Lord’s service involves peculiar trials.  God’s grace is given to us.  The Holy Ghost abides in us. We desire to follow the Lamb whithersoever he goes.  His was a life of supreme sacrifice.  We long to abide faithful though all should forsake the truth. We desire perpetual servitude to Christ, and to bear whatever that involves.  Bore the ear! Think how in our innermost soul we desire to plunge deeper into this blessed bondage, and to bear in our body the marks of the Lord Jesus, and to be his marked slaves forever. Is not this the perfect freedom we desire?  What a blessed Master we have.  We look at his wounds, and we must love him.  We have been redeemed. We look at the great gash which reached his heart, from which flowed the water and the blood to be of our sin the double cure. Could we ever fail to love him? He who died for us and bought us, not with silver and gold, but with his own pangs and griefs and blood and sweat and death.  Let us not be such devils as to apostatize from such a God. The aul of the ear saves us from the miseries of hell.  Change Masters?  By no means!  Let none talk for us, we shall talk for ourselves, to our friends and kinsfolk, and answer for ourselves their various questions. There is no fault with Jesus, and we will tell them of his name and our being forever bound to him by cords of love.  Bore the ear...we cannot but love our Master.  How could I leave my wife’s God?  How could I leave my son’s God?  My brother, my friend, how could I leave your God, to be separated from you whom I love?  We love Jesus for the sake of those who will come into a right relationship with him.  We could not leave because there are dear ones who first learned of Christ from us.  Our ear is bored with the sharp aul of the Savior’s sufferings. No story wrings a true believer’s heart with such anguish as the griefs and woes of Christ.  Let our ear be fastened by the truth, so that we are determined to hear only the gospel.  We must have discernment...his sheep hear his voice in their ear.  To be Christ’s forever, we must not allow that ear of ours to hear bad doctrine, to hear error. We must take care that, knowing the truth, we hold to it, and renounce every false way.  When we really give ourself to Christ, we must have our ear opened to hear and obey the whispers of the Spirit of God, so that we yield to his teaching, and to his teaching only. This is a sign of voluntary servitude.  An allusion to the piercing of the ear of the servant as mentioned in the law takes on an even more profound truth.  In place of "mine ears hast thou opened" we read "a body hast thou prepared me." God is teaching us something. The opening or piercing of the ear is an act of voluntary surrender to full servitude. When Jesus came to earth and was born as a baby in the manger, thus taking on him a body that had been prepared for him, this was also a supreme act of surrender to servitude. He came to do the will of the Father.  In his act of taking the body prepared for Him, Jesus Christ took the form of a servant. That is, He put His ears to the door post and allowed the Father to open them with His aul. God prescribed a significant ceremony which evoked memories of a powerful event going back to that fateful night when the Hebrews first tasted freedom after four hundred years of slavery in Egypt. Exodus 12:7 Let us meditate on the significance of each Hebrew door in the land of Goshen. Until that night, when the blood was applied on the doorposts, the door was just another door. The people went out and re-entered as slaves in the land of Egypt. Now, for the first time in four hundred years, each Hebrew knew that once they exited through the bloodstained doorposts, their status would change forever – they would be free children of Jehovah. In addition, no one re-entered into those houses because re-entrance would make them slaves to Egypt again. It was a one-way exit with no incentives to re-enter. Deuteronomy 17:16 By this we understand the profound message in the ceremony of the ear nailed to the doorpost.  The blood represents the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. In addition, Jesus is the door himself. “I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture”. The slave is the believer who recognizes that unlike the door in Egypt, Jesus is the door with blood on the inside and outside – the life and blood of God is in his body. This means, as the Lord says, the slave can go in and out, back and forth, and still be free in Christ. This explains why a faithful slave does not want to leave his master because he understands that only Jesus Christ has complete and eternal freedom.  We must come in by Jesus Christ as the door. By faith in him, as the great Mediator between God and man, we come into covenant and communion with God.  We enter by the door of faith.  We shall have our witness in the world by the grace of Christ, and we shall be in his fold, where we have free ingress, egress, and regress. True believers are at home in Christ; when we go out, we are not shut out as strangers, but have liberty to come in again; when we come in, we are not shut in as trespassers, but have liberty to go out.  Aul our ear to the doorpost with the blood of my Jesus! We reject the world’s freedom.  Let him who has an ear and faith come by hearing...the ear is the first contact point of the words of Jesus’ witnesses. To save a soul first command the attention of the ear. This is why Moses shouted in the desert, “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD”.  Jesus voluntarily took upon his body the boring of nails in his hands and feet, piercing in his side and head for us.  Why would we hesitate to receive the invisible boring of the Lord through the auling of our ear.  We choose to continue to serve God. Galatians 6:17   Jesus willingly gave up His life to redeem us, how much more should we serve Him who we could never repay and who purchased the soul of the believer forever?  We were all enslaved to sin. The virtuous would think of the book of Exodus as an inspiring story of freedom from slavery but a greater reality is that in the life of a believer they are no longer a slave to sin but a servant of the Lord.

Matthew 7:21; 12:50 How are we to show the indispensable necessity of obedience to the commands of Christ…by doing his Father’s will. The will of God the Father is whatever He has decreed in His wisdom, knowledge, holiness, and grace. The word of God is that righteous standard that we are to conform to. An outward profession of religious conviction, however remarkable, will not bring anyone to heaven, unless there is a correspondent conversation and remonstrance. Belonging in God's kingdom is demonstrated not by good intentions but by the actual execution of God's will. Obedience to the will of God challenges and supersedes opinionated obedience which through concretization, or abstract concentration on a detail believed to be all truth, have become meaningless and even hinder the pursuit of a knowledge of God. Ultimately, the readiness of an individual to acknowledge and then do God's will determines whether that person will be able to apprehend the truth of Jesus. Jesus Christ is the truth in power. All judgment is committed to our Lord Jesus; he has power to prescribe new terms of life and death, and to judge men according to them. And natural affection is the embedded power of what Jesus says to us…love one another. When our regard to our relations comes in contest with the service of God, and the improving of an opportunity to do good, in such a case, we must say our duty to God must have the preference. And we must not take offense of our friends, nor think it wickedness, if they prefer to please God before the pleasing of us. We must deny ourselves and our own satisfaction, rather than do that which may in any way divert our friends from, or distract them in, their duty to God. God’s people value spiritual kindred, before natural relations according to the flesh. Doing the will of God is the best preparative for entering the kingdom. The attention of all who are called and chosen is to do the will of God. Our life, our spirit, and our soul should be on the center of His perfect will from the very beginning when He created us. Understand how the mystery of godliness so conjoins the Spirit of God to the flesh of Christ, as we are allowed to peer between the folded leaves of the divine purposes. John 6:38-40 Consider the extreme of God’s will. The truth is the comprehension of both His Spirit and His flesh. We are not to take a part from this and a part from that, toning down one and modulating the other, as is too much the custom, but in believing and giving full expression to everything that God reveals whether we can reconcile the things or not; opening our hearts as children open their understandings to their father’s teaching, knowing that because the gospel is such that we can make it into a complete system, we might be quite sure it is the will of God. Psalms 143:10 There are depths of truth into which we cannot now peer. So, it is by the Spirit of God that we are shown what His will is, and are taught how to do it, how to turn our heart, our mind, our feet, our hand dexterously to His service. It is the desire and endeavor of all God's faithful servants to know and to do His will, and to stand complete in it. Those that have the Lord for their God have His Spirit for their guide; and it is both our character and our privilege that we are led by the Spirit, that we might be enlivened to do His will. We are to do as God counsels. To obey Him is our work, not to attempt to know what He does not reveal. But let us understand that the bible is an extract from the will of God, and such an extract that it contains the very essence thereof of His will. There is no contrariness with God’s will and the truth of the word. Among the unrevealed things, there cannot be anything in conflict with the revealed things. None of the secrets can possibly contradict those truths which He has seen fit to unfold. There can be no irreconcilable truths in the word of God. We just need to open our hearts to receive them. It was from the will of God that the very thought of salvation first arose. Had we been left to our own wills, we would have been willing to wander further and further from God. No man originated the idea of restoration for our race - God Himself willed it. And it is from the purpose of His grace that all our hopes begin, and the will which originated salvation, which shaped and formed it. It was God’s will that ordained salvation by faith, salvation through an atoning sacrifice, salvation by the way of the new birth, salvation by the way of perseverance up to perfection. God cast in His own mold the way and manner of salvation and it has been His will that has shaped it. His fingers have made the form and fashion of it. According to His own will He made us, that we might be a kind of first fruits of His creatures. It is His will that has brought those of us who are chosen into the knowledge of the truth, by which will, also, we are sanctified, and upon which will we rely, as the motive force which shall bear us onward throughout the entirety of our walk in this world. It will bear us over the regions of suffering, and being found in the likeness of His Son, we are set forth in the divine side of salvation, and the human side of salvation, when it is then that we shall see the face of God without sin. It is because Jesus was in and did fully the will of his Father that none of those given him will be lost. That is the divine side of salvation according to the will of God. How sovereign is the character of that announcement of Jesus. Majestic words…this is the Father’s will. No “if.” No “but.” No asking and requesting of us; no bending the knee to our impulse; no asking us if we are pleased to have it so, but because it is the Father’s will. That is the will which is altogether absolute and independent, revolving on its own axis, the will that called creation out of nothing, the will which cannot be prevented, for it is omnipotent, which none may stand against, for it proceeds ever on its eternal course. It is a determined will. Not subject to change. There can be no better thing than God taking on human flesh that His will should be done. God’s unchangeable will should be such goodwill! So full of benevolence, so full of love! And we see the obedient servant of that will which was sent not to do his own will. What revelation is gifted us in the mystery of those words. That Jesus was not intent to accomplish or bring about any private purposes of his own, distinct or different from those of His Father. Psalms 40:7, 8 All that God requires, Jesus is ready to perform. It was to this end, for this cause, that Jesus did verily take on him the form of a servant, being God’s elect. He is the accomplishment of the will of his Father. It is by this truth that the will of God may be taken for His purpose, His decree, and His good pleasure to fulfill which Christ came into the world. It is accordingly, little by little, that the full sense of the words break on our minds. As we turn that over in our mind, not to do our own will, but the will of Him that made us, we might ought to reflect, it is for us to lay down our will at God’s feet. It is but fit and right for all of us to do so. For every one of us is to say, “I came not to do my own will,” seems proper as we follow Christ. Christ, our beloved, his will is perfect; his will is as complete as the will of God, Himself. It is, in fact, coincident, and must be coincident, with the will of God. But Jesus speaks as God-man, and he puts it so that he may be to us the pattern of complete resignation and perfect obedience. This is Jesus, the Son of God, who has no difference with God, who am God, who wills as God wills. Christ is no incompetent Savior come into the world to save without a commission and without authority. He has come here willingly enough, but still, the reason of his coming is His Father’s will. When Christ forgives a sinner, it is His Father’s will. When Christ receives a rebel to his bosom, it is His Father’s will. He does not do for us covertly or in any manner inconsiderate of or contrary to the divine purposes. I like to consider the wonder of it, that God, in His divine will, was pleased to give to Jesus, His obedient servant, a number of us out of mankind who are to be His. A number that no man can number. But He did give a certain number whom He had chosen from before the foundation of the world, and these became the prayer of the Lord Jesus Christ. They were put under a different government, being placed under the mediatorials way of the Son of God. Some became disciples, some apostles, some the elect, and some the very elect. None by their own natural inclination, but by His gracious calling. In due time these are to be Christ’s bride as even they are to be Christ’s brethren. This is a great transaction full of sublimity. Let us not forget it or slight it. This is that human side of salvation. There was once “no before”, but singularity postulates God, and then “before” was caused. And there was an instigate before anything as there was no cause but the Ancient of Days, and then the Ancient of Days, in His eternal wisdom, transferred a number whom He had chosen into the hands of the One with Him. It is of no use equivocating at it. It is true! It was so, and it is so, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken it. God’s eternal and electing purpose severed from all the creation a people who are to belong to Jesus. Let us say “Amen” to the record. This is a very remarkable expression denoting this One God. It is the articulate of truth that is both undeniably present and foundational in our coming to understand the will of God. How God Himself had to come into human history after the creation of all the worlds to manifest His Son and His Spirit. Jesus' life and teaching as recorded in the bible bear witness to the importance of the concept of the will of God for his understanding of his own place and that of his followers in redemptive history. Historical events are seen to have saving significance as they develop out of the determined will of God. He is one in essence, but three in person. Father, Son, and Spirit exist eternally as distinct persons sharing essential sameness. They are simultaneously and eternally three in one working in triunity in one will. Whether creating, ruling, saving, judging, or perfecting, He is always one and always three. Ephesians 1:11 God’s will is the first cause of everything that exists. God’s will is powerful and perfect. The will of God is crucial to understanding that God is sovereign over all things. God wills some events in one sense that He does not will in another sense. God never wills sin. But God willed that His Son, whom He loved, had to die. All sinned, in fulfilling God’s will, that His Son be crucified. So be very clear on this: God wills to come to pass some things that He hates. Not all do the will of the Father. Jesus says, “not everyone will enter the kingdom of heaven.” Why? Because not all do the will of God. God has a will of decree, or His sovereign will, and the will of command. His will of decree always comes to pass whether we believe in it or not. His will of command can be broken, and is, every day. Both wills correspond to man’s deep need. We need the assurance that God is in control and therefore is able to work out all things together for our good and the good of all who love Him. On the other hand, we need to know that God empathizes with us and does not delight in sin. The will of God empowers us above the trappings of deception of giving any recognition to the adversary. For example, if you were abused in some way as a child, as an adult, and someone asks you, “do you think that was the will of God,” you now have a way to give an answer. You, by reason, reply, “no it was not God’s will; because He commands that we whom He created not be abusive, but love each other. The abuse broke His commandment and therefore moved His heart with anger and grief. And yet, in another sense, yes, it was God’s will, His sovereign will, because there are untold ways He could have stopped it. But for reasons I don’t yet fully understand, but can, He didn’t.” God does not intend for us to know all of His sovereign will ahead of time. Deuteronomy 29:29 Yet, in our reasoning with the word of God, discerning implies that we should approve of the will of God and then obediently do it. We need not to search out the secret will of God that He plans to do, but discerning the revealed will of God that we ought to do. With this we require the renewed mind with its Holy Spirit-given discernment. With this, we will not distort the word of God. And with spiritual discernment we can apply bible truth to every situation thereby having the choice to be obedient to God’s command. We discern all relevant factors with the mind of Christ, and discern what God is calling us to do. We must be about our Father’s business, placing our will on the side of God’s will. Wonderful scenes are opening before us; and at this time a living testimony is to be borne in the lives of God's professed people so that the world may see that in this age, when evil reigns on every side, there is yet a people who are laying aside their will and are seeking to do God's will--a people in whose hearts and lives God's law is written. {AH 519.4} The law is the articulation of the ethical requirements of God's will. This pattern is taken up in the "new covenant" as doing God's law is the essence of the appropriate life of response to God's will. And God's will is as vast as His entire plan for creation, and from the standpoint of objective content, it is expressed in specific terms throughout the scriptures. God's will concerning the Messiah's death was specific. So specific, that it was God’s will that all be saved. This is the expansiveness of the salvation plan. I Timothy 2:3, 4 II Peter 3:9 Those who obtain a knowledge of God’s will pratice the teaching of His word. Whoever is with singleness of purpose seeking to do God's will, earnestlyheeding the light already given, will receive greater light; to that soul some star of heavenly radiance will be sent, to guide him into all truth. {GC88 312.1} To come to a knowledge of the truth is a formula that means to make a sound decision about the word of God. Not all will be saved regardless of their disposition toward the word if the whole of the truth is not received. There must be a faith response to the word of God. The will of God must be taught and understood and chosen by Christ’s followers. The Holy Spirit will equip the believer to be able to execute the divine will in appropriate behavior. Human inability continues to coexist alongside divine sovereignty. This means that the Holy Spirit must give the enlightenment necessary for the believer to perceive what the will of God is and to carry it out to completion. We are to seek God with our questions. He will direct us through the wisdom of His chosen, as well as through circumstances brought about by His sovereign will. Do not think that the reality of God's will relieves us of the responsibility of decision making. We are to reason wisely in assessing every option before us. The will of God consists of things that are in line with His plan and purpose. We are to understand the pattern of this will. God’s truth is presented to us. He reveals His intentional pursuit. We are to reason unto belief and adjust our lives to Him in obeying Him. And we experience God doing His will through us. It is clear that by seeking God and choosing to live according to His Word, we can not only do His will, but we will be rewarded as heirs with Christ because of it. Christ says, whoever does God’s will is my family. We can weed out subtle lies and learn the will of God when we hold nothing back from God, allowing God to have full control of our minds. And we can know God’s will by testing and approving it with a mind renewed by God, the mind of Christ. Our relationship with God is intimate. It must be so that our faith may be strengthened, and our heart deeply rooted in the truth that is only found in Christ, and that our mind would be fully renewed by His love and mercy. He asks that we would stand firm, fully trusting in and faithfully following Him, even when we cannot see beyond the next step. We are to live out love, justice, and humility in all of our relationships, and in so doing are made ready to live out God’s good and perfect will. With the strength of wisdom, grace, and faith let us bend our every doing in the direction of God’s will.

#election God’s call is not arbitrary but part of his grand plan of salvation and grounded in his eternal wisdom.   God elects and predestines his people “in love” . Deuteronomy 7:6-8 For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God: the LORD thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth. The LORD did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all people: But because the LORD loved you, and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers, hath the LORD brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. Those who have the privilege of being elected to receive God’s grace have the responsibility of living according to God’s word. Redemption has a divine purpose and intended result. God desires not only to forgive our sins but also to conform us to the image of his beloved Son. When God chose his people, they were not holy and blameless. They deserved his judgment and wrath. Because of his great love and electing grace, he chose us, and through the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit, is transforming the thoughts and actions of his people. Ultimately, all of God’s purpose in election is done “to the praise of his glorious grace”. Why God chose whom he chose is left to mystery. Here the door of revelation is closed, and we are left only to worship him for it. The basis of his choice was his own good pleasure. Election is according to grace, and its reasons are found in God alone. It took twenty years for Isaac and Rebekah to receive God’s answer to prayer. Look at the second sons; Abel is chosen over Cain. Isaac is chosen over Ishmael. Jacob is chosen over Esau. Joseph is chosen over his older brothers. Judah is chosen over his older brothers. Ephraim is chosen over his older brother Manasseh. David is chosen over his older brothers. Solomon is chosen over Adonijah. God is setting up a picture about how he is going to accomplish his purposes. The 2520 – the Israel of old and we the remnant of Revelation. Psalms 22:30 A seed shall serve him; it shall be accounted to the Lord for a generation. This is the seed that shall serve Him. These will keep up the solemn worship of Him, profess and practice obedience to Him as Lord. God will have a people in the world at the end of time, in order to that there shall be a succession of true believers from generation to generation. And there is this remnant, to whom shall pertain the service of God to whom God will give grace to serve Him. Perhaps not the seed of the same persons, but each the seed of Abraham as they be the seed of Christ. For grace does not run in a blood for it is the seed, Christ, that preserves. We are acknowledged and accounted for Him as this generation as He will be the same to us, His children, that He was to those who went before us, our fathers, in His kindness though we will not die with them, but shall be drawn out as heirs of some better thing that will make all His perfect. We all shall be acknowledged to be a seed. We will rise up in this day to keep the virtue of the generation that is past, to do the work of our own generation to honor Christ as his pure and entire deposit for the people who will be born again. These two things we will declare; the everlasting righteousness which Jesus Christ has brought in…his and not any of our own and that he is the foundation of our very faith for the work of our redemption is the Lord’s doing and no contrivance of ours. God does this in the wisdom and the mystery of His purpose. God chooses by divine grace and not by who we are, what race we are, what lineage we belong to, what wealth we have, what power we have gained, or why any ability or merit we think we have achieved. Friends, we rejoice in this! God was showing again and again through history that belonging to God’s family and being children of promise would never be by who you are, but by God who chooses by grace.   Please notice that the argument is not that God determines one person to be saved and determines for another person to be condemned. This is not the issue being addressed at all. Rather, the point is that God determined the means by which the promises of God would come. If God says the promises will come through Isaac, then so be it. If God says the promises will come through Jacob, then so be it. If God says the promises come to those who come to Jesus by faith, then so be it. This faith is that Word Jesus. For from the beginning of my days I realize that my sadness is a reflection of something deeper…all my doings. For holiness sake, what is this faith that God finds? I have walked the path of some whose faith has fallen away. They are many. It is as though a tree has fallen. May I not be counted in that number. Why does it hurt so much to see someone renounce the truth. It creates a sense of personal loss, but I grieve for more than broken fellowships. I grieve for the loss of their relationship with Jesus. Oh, God cause me to not be of these. Luke 1:1-8 And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint; Saying, There was in a city a judge, which feared not God, neither regarded man: And there was a widow in that city; and she came unto him, saying, Avenge me of mine adversary. And he would not for a while: but afterward he said within himself, Though I fear not God, nor regard man; Yet because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me. And the Lord said, Hear what the unjust judge saith. And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them? I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth? This truth is both sobering and encouraging. It is sobering because it strips me of a naïve view of my walk with God and the work of the gospel. The time to come is not all bright. Time reveals one’s faith, and it will ultimately be proven when Jesus returns. It is heartbreaking to think that Jesus knows of the countless people whose faith will wither. The realities of this world are resultantly dispirited. He knew all this before he died on the cross. To have the faith to know that God will bring justice to end all things that are not to be…I will not be ashamed to wait on my God. The world has known darkness before but not like that which is and is coming. It is a new phenomenon. We are in the form of a juxtaposition of two groups of people. There are selfless servants, who love Jesus, suffer for him, and put other people above themselves. And there are those whose teachings and lifestyles, if followed, could jeopardize the work God and leave Jesus altogether for the love of the world. Our faith must be Jesus’ universal authority as the determined and purposed reality that exists outside of our human will. It is not us who make Jesus Lord. His power and authority are established before any beginning as he subjects all things to himself and revealed to the world by our exercised faith. We must reason prayerfully to show the superiority of Christ, and disciple believers to live a narrative centered on Jesus.   Choose wisely whom to follow. Look for godly truth in those who say the word of God. Listen to hear if what is said is true, no matter what. So, walk in the light of the truth of God's Word not your feelings. Listen to your thoughts and your emotions. They are intense and important. But ask God to help you trust His Word above believing your emotions, and choose to believe what the word says. Titus 1:1-4 Paul, a servant of God, and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God's elect, and the acknowledging of the truth which is after godliness; In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began; But hath in due times manifested his word through preaching, which is committed unto me according to the commandment of God our Saviour; To Titus, mine own son after the common faith: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ our Saviour. Though we may be troubled by what some are doing, we are to have faith in God to make a perfect judgment on these things. In Jesus, our faith powers us, helps us to not judge others in areas that are not for us to judge and to accept others even when they do things differently than we, for we are not their judge…God is. Our faith tells us that there is a “forever”. Present conflict is as vapor. We have the volume of the book that enrolls us in the faith of Jesus. God knows where faith is. He created it, gave it, and sustains it. He knows our faith looks to Christ to see Him for everything. And because Christ looks to faith, he is sure to find it out. Our experiences are swelling the waters of testimony to the faithfulness of God.  Every word is to confirm our confidence in the eternal verities of our God and our Savior. I speak not to us all, but I speak to those whom the Lord has specially favored, to whom he has revealed his secrets, and made known his covenant; for us to question his faithfulness is wickedness. What should His elect believe? If it were possible for us to quit our faith, we would crucify our Lord afresh. By faith, we know that our God knows us. We are resolved upon this. Settled in our minds is our faith. Nothing is questionable about our God. He is in contact with our soul knowing that our whole faith rests in Christ and the merits of his cross. Our faith is not speculation, it is revelation. It is not a probability; it is a certainty. Divine truth grounded by faith is what Jesus looks for. Prayer is not an experiment with us. We find confidence in the efficacy of prayer. It’s an expression of our faith giving us power with God. By way of petition, we are to be confident of our expectations. God says to us “concerning the work of my hands command ye me”. Longsuffering will be with us a little while longer. Sin is not fiction. And the peace we received through faith in Jesus is no dream. Holy calm is due us in the time of trial. The more God reveals Himself in our reasoning in truth, we receive utmost confirmation, that our faith will be such a rarity on the earth that we become the visible church of God. You cannot believe in God too much. Believe without measure and without reserve. Hang your all upon the truth of God. We are His prevailing Israel. Guard well our faith. Note: There is this challenge for ministry; Darkness has been illuminated. None today can be deprived of learning. Delights of tyrannizing human beings was a plan of Satan. Provocation from the true people of God will be met with the greatest of cruelty. Christ alone holds the title to every human soul. We of truth must resolve to stand under the banner of rebellion against all sin in this closing hour of mercy. God and His truth make all who are in the Word free. We are the workmanship of God, a special work. There is much to be thought of in this disagreeable troubling time. This thing is coming again. PaM 93 and 22LtMs, Ms 196, 1907. Another subject that might be treated is the condition of the poor whites, and another is the present condition of the blacks. 22LtMs, Ms 196, 1907, par. 5. If the story of the poor whites could be told, and how they came to be what they are, and the need of doing work amongst them was set forth in a simple historical tale, it would have a tendency to interest the people of the North, and they would heed your appeals more than if there were just your appeals alone. 22LtMs, Ms 196, 1907, par. 14 E. G. White: Yes, there must be something to help the people to make the application. 22LtMs, Ms 196, 1907, par. 15 P. T. Magan: And I have thought that the same things were true about the blacks. You know, years ago you made the statement that the time would come when there would be a terrible race war in the South. I do not know whether you ever said it in so many words, but you intimated that slavery would exist again. 22LtMs, Ms 196, 1907, par. 16. E. G. White: Just as soon as people begin to make any kind of movement to educate the blacks, there are some who are determined that it shall not be done. 22LtMs, Ms 196, 1907, par. 17 E. G. White: There will be slavery just as verily as it has been, only upon a basis that is more favorable and secure to the white people. 22LtMs, Ms 196, 1907, par. 19 P. T. Magan: More secure, because they do not have to feed the negroes and care for them. Then if the negro has got outside that district, or if he is loafing and not working, they can put him in the chain gang for a year. Now they state in their plan that if anyone is caught, whose teachings excite theblacks to foolishness, that he can be taken and put in the chain gang. Senator Tillman has printed that; he has printed it in the leading magazine in the South, and he has spoken it in Chicago and also in Atlanta, Georgia. There are many of the negroes today who are selling their property and hiding their money in the earth for fear that their land and houses, if they were known to own any, would be taken from them. 22LtMs, Ms 196, 1907, par. 20 E. G. White: Then intelligent blacks may read from cause to effect. 22LtMs, Ms 196, 1907, par. 21 P. T. Magan: There are some blessings coming with this present agitation. Now there are a number of very good men in the South who see the trouble coming, and who are trying to stop it. There is ex-governor _______ of Alabama, a man who has been a friend to the Negro. He is advocating now, (contrary to the southern customs), that the blacks shall be taught by white people. 22LtMs, Ms 196, 1907, par. 24 E. G. White: That is the right way. It ought to have been done from the time of their emancipation. 22LtMs, Ms 196, 1907, par. 25 P. T. Magan: And there is an ex-governor in Northern Georgia. He is known as the preacher governor of Georgia. He is a very good man, and is stumping the state at his own expense, preaching to both classes, to try to bring about reconciliation and peace—the proper way of looking at things. So there are openings that will help us at the same time that these other things are closing down. There are some very good things mixed in with the terrible things that we see coming. 22LtMs, Ms 196, 1907, par. 26

#election Hebrews 6:1 Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God. Faith is always exercised toward God, but it is Christ who makes this possible. We are to examine every principle of the doctrine of Christ. Everything that is of God, we ought to know what He says about it, not being concerned about the opinions of people. Human beings accept knowledge that they have received through the five senses: seeing, hearing, smelling, touching, and tasting. These senses all involve physical information, physical knowledge. The mind receives and processes this information in order to draw conclusions about circumstances; things and events taking place around it. Faith is spiritual, not physical. It is a confident assurance, which comes from the Spirit of God in the mind of a born again human being. The election understands that it is the faith of Jesus…his actual faith in us, that justifies us, makes us righteous. The doctrine of unconditional election should have a tremendously humbling effect on us. What did we do to deserve faith…nothing. God gives it by grace, we don't deserve it. The ultimate ground of our standing before God is God and God alone. God never meant for any of us to go through life in this world alone, that is, in our own power and understanding. God has tremendous power just waiting and available for us to access, and the result is an enormous resource that we never thought possible. We were chosen in spite of what we are and do and not because of it. Forever then, give all credit and glory to God for every aspect of our salvation. We don't believe so that we will be elect. We are elect so that we would believe. That's the doctrine here. Ephesians 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God. Luke 17:5 And the apostles said unto the Lord, increase our faith. Because election is unconditional, it never has, nor ever will it be dependent on our righteousness. And so we have confidence in election that no sin pattern is ever so great that God's grace and mercy cannot forgive.   The grace of our Lord was poured out on us abundantly along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. Faith came with the package. Yes, it did. It was poured out on us as a gift. And what we are to realize is that we need more faith to have the power needed to effectively live this life. And here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance. Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners of whom I am the worst. But for this very reason, I was shown mercy, so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on Him and receive eternal life. And because of Jesus we know, no amount of sin disqualifies us. God's grace is so powerful, we can be forgiven, we can be saved. II Thessalonians 2:13, 14 But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth: Whereunto he called you by our gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. This is a calling which secures our justification and glorification. God effectually calls us and we come. If God is foreseeing our faith, he is simply foreseeing something he has given, and something which he gives us on purpose. In other words, there is really nothing for God to foresee that is not already included in his eternal purpose which he sovereignly brings to pass. God gives faith, and gives it unconditionally, so that in the end, God’s purpose of election is an unconditional election. There is a remnant made up of individuals according to the election of grace. This is given to believers before the world began – this is what it means to be elected. We are chosen in Christ, and we are called to salvation, a calling which springs from God’s gracious choice.  I t is not our works, but God’s call that is determinative in our salvation. We are called to eternal life. We, as believers ourselves are such only because we were predestined to this grace as God's gift. We are expressly taught that both faith and repentance originate from God, not from ourselves. Romans 12:3 For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith. Ephesians 2:8, 9 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. II Timothy 2:25 In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth. Do not think that this does away with the freedom of the will, by which we earn the esteem of God by the good of piety, or offend him by the evil of impiety. God loved the one and hated the other before either was even born and could have done either good or evil. We answer that God did this by His foreknowledge, by which He knows the character even of the unborn… Therefore God did not elect anyone's works by foreknowledge, but rather by foreknowledge He chose faith, so that He chooses precisely him whom He foreknew would believe in Him; and to him God gives the Holy Spirit, so that by doing good works he will as well attain eternal life. Here's how the 2520 prophecy prepares the very elect of God. Israel was the seed of Abraham and heirs of God's oath-bound covenant of grace. Yet Israel is under judgment because of disobedience and their possession of the law is of no profit whatsoever if they are found to be transgressors under the cruel and relentless dominion of sin. Will God then thoroughly annull His covenantal commitment to Israel? Will God now eradicate them? This takes us deep into the divine purpose of God. Does predestination make God unjust? Israel was entrusted with God's oracles; to her belongs the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the Law, the priestly service, and the promises. And the unspeakable condescension, the incarnate Son of God himself deigned to be born as a son of Abraham, not as the son of any other tribe. And so, through the vast stretches of eternity Abraham will be known as the father of all the sons and daughters of God. And Jesus by his incarnation as the seed of Abraham and as the Root and Branch of Jesse has sanctified that Israelite rootstock. But sonship in the Abrahamic line does not guarantee that one is a child of God, an Israel of Israel. Romans 11:16; 9:6 For if the firstfruit be holy, the lump is also holy: and if the root be holy, so are the branches. Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect. For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel. Privileged Israel betrayed the true import of her inheritance through unbelief and disobedience. But God has a promise. And being found in elect Israel has always depended solely upon God's personal election of individuals. Romans 11:1-8 I say then, Hath God cast away his people? God forbid. For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. God hath not cast away his people which he foreknew. Wot ye not what the scripture saith of Elias? how he maketh intercession to God against Israel, saying, Lord, they have killed thy prophets, and digged down thine altars; and I am left alone, and they seek my life. But what saith the answer of God unto him? I have reserved to myself seven thousand men, who have not bowed the knee to the image of Baal. Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace. And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work. What then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; but the election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded (According as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear;) unto this day. These are said to be such as He foreknew, that is, had thoughts of love to, before the world was; for whom He thus foreknew He did predestinate. Here lies the ground of the difference. These are called the election, that is, the elect, God's chosen ones, whom He calls the election, because that which first distinguished them and dignified them above others was God's electing love. Believers are the election ,  all those and those only whom God hath chosen. Now, this chosen remnant is really more and greater than one would think it is, which intimates likewise that it is no new nor unusual thing for God's grace and favour to Israel to be limited and confined to a remnant of His people today; for as it was in Elijah's time. There was a remnant, seven thousand, left under the Old Testament, when the displays of grace were less clear and the pourings out of the Spirit less plentiful, much more now under the gospel of Christ, when the grace of God, which bringeth salvation, appears more illustrious in our day. We are such as were chosen from eternity in the counsels of divine love to be vessels of grace and glory. If the difference between them and us be made purely by the grace of God, as certainly it is, then it must needs be according to the election; for we are sure that whatever God does He does it according to the counsel of His own will. Now concerning this remnant which we are, we may observe, first ,  from what source do we take rise…from the free grace of God, and that grace excludes works. The eternal election, in which the difference between some and others is first founded, is purely of grace, free grace; not for the sake of works done or foreseen; if so, it would not be grace. It is not grace if it be not perfectly free. Election is purely according to the good pleasure of His will. Faith has a peculiar fitness to receive the free grace of God. This faith gives us justification and acceptance with God. We are of this election because of faith. For we see that Israel of old did not this faith that we have. For we know in whom we are found. Romans 9:31 But Israel, which followed after the law of righteousness, hath not attained to the law of righteousness. Philippians 3:9, 12, 20 And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith. Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. If we trust only as far as we understand, then we have every reason to worry about the various trials and hardships that come over our life. After all, we don’t know what their purpose is. We don’t know what the outcome will be, or what long-term effect they’ll have on us. And as for the morrow? There’s a whole lifetime of unseen circumstances over which we could agonize. But if we choose to have faith, to trust in God, then we are freed from worrying about our life. God has a perfect plan for us in everything He sends our way. He sends us trials and He tests us, so that we can overcome sin and the virtues of Jesus can grow in us. He knows the end result. He has planned our whole life out, with love and care. When we truly believe that, we don’t have a single reason to be anxious. We can cast all our care on Him and focus our energy on doing His will instead of worrying about everything past, present, and future. What gives us confidence in our trials is the faith that we have in the scriptures. In us the promise of God has its accomplishment, and God's ancient kindness for that people of old is remembered. God calls us, the remnant of believers, not the elect, but the election. This shows that the sole foundation of all our hopes and contentment is laid in election. We are the persons whom God has in His eye in the counsels of His love; we are the election; we are God's choice. Such is the favor of God toward us…the chosen remnant.   Some are chosen and called, and the call is made effectual. But others are left to perish in their unbelief; they are made worse by that which should have made them better. The gospel, which to those that believed was the savor of life unto life, to the unbelieving was the savor of death unto death. These held not the truth being in accord with reality. They held truth as being what they believed. Truth is the experience of fact, and a fact is indisputable. Where belief and fact conflict there cannot be the truth. These failing to reason were blinded. They could neither see the light, nor experience the touch of fact, of gospel grace. Blindness and hardness are expressive of the same senselessness and stupidity of spirit. They shut their eyes, and would not see; this is their sin: and then God, in a way of righteous judgment, blinded their eyes, that they could not see; this is their punishment. This seems to be harsh doctrine. Let the Holy Spirit qualify it. Isaiah 29:10-12 For the LORD hath poured out upon you the spirit of deep sleep, and hath closed your eyes: the prophets and your rulers, the seers hath he covered. And the vision of all is become unto you as the words of a book that is sealed, which men deliver to one that is learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I cannot; for it is sealed: And the book is delivered to him that is not learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I am not learned. II Thessalonians 2:11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie. Isaiah 66:4; 6:10 I also will choose their delusions, and will bring their fears upon them; because when I called, none did answer; when I spake, they did not hear: but they did evil before mine eyes, and chose that in which I delighted not. Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed. Matthew 13:15 For this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them. John 12:39, 40 Therefore they could not believe, because that Esaias said again, He hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart; that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them. II Corinthians 4:3, 4 But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. The eternal benefits of God's covenant of grace have always been assured only to those upon whom God has from eternity chosen to show mercy. Jacob, not Esau, was the heir of the promise. And this promise cannot be broken, because all of God's promises are fulfilled in Christ Jesus in whom all elect Israelites, whether Jew or Gentile, become children of promise. God does not answer to us or to any other human standard of justice for his actions. Romans 9:19-29; 11:33-36 Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will? Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour? What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction: And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory, Even us, whom he hath called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles? As he saith also in Osee, I will call them my people, which were not my people; and her beloved, which was not beloved. And it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people; there shall they be called the children of the living God. Esaias also crieth concerning Israel, Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant shall be saved: For he will finish the work, and cut it short in righteousness: because a short work will the Lord make upon the earth. And as Esaias said before, Except the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed, we had been as Sodoma, and been made like unto Gomorrha. O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out! For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counseller? Or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again? For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen.

#election Ephesians 1:11, 4-6, 12 In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will: According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ. The counsel of God’s will, has to do with the wisdom, the plan, the thought processes of God. The very word “counsel” suggests intelligence and an intelligent reason for acting, and God never wills, apart from His own counsel. First, not just our calling but also our predestination is “according to his purpose.” So, God’s purpose governs his predestination. Second, the word says that it is a free and sovereign purpose, according to the good pleasure of His will, not governed by anything outside of God.   What’s the point of saying that this Purposer “works all things after the counsel of his will”? The point is that he governs all things, and that he does not base his governance ultimately on anything in man or in nature, but only on himself. “He works all things after the counsel of his will.” We are not finally decisive in turning the will of God; God alone is decisive. Hear how the informing of the 144000 is referenced…to the end that our ceasing to sin brings us to the fulfilling of that hope, that we who were the first, seeing this hope in Christ would be to the praise of his glory.” In other words, he does all his works to this end. Follow the words, step by step, in verses 4-6. All election, all predestination, all calling, and all redemption is according to this purpose — for the praise of the glory of his grace. God performs the unconditional election of Jacob over Esau. God’s purpose is to be seen and savored as infinitely glorious in his free and sovereign grace.   This is the purpose that governs all the works of God. He elects, predestines, calls, redeems, justifies, sanctifies, and glorifies to this end — for his purpose.  It is perfectly beautiful and immeasurably great.  T he final reason for all events in the universe is in himself and not another. The decisive influence of all that happens in the world, is God’s. He works all things, not just some things, after the counsel of his own will. He alone in all the universe has the freedom of ultimate self-determination, self-purpose, and self-election. Nothing can thwart what he wants most to do. God’s purpose is to be known and enjoyed and praised as infinitely glorious in his free and sovereign grace. And this purpose is according to election — it is an electing purpose — because if God did not elect unconditionally he would not be free, he would not be sovereign, and he would not be glorious. Not free, because then men would determine their own election, not God. He would be bound to conform to their own self-determination. Not sovereign, because instead of doing successfully what he wants most, he would be hindered again and again by self-determining man. Not glorious, because God’s absolute freedom and sovereignty are the essence of the glory of his grace. Man is negated, God is affirmed. Let’s reason the negation first. God chose Jacob over Esau “not because of works.” This adds something important to the first part of Romans 9 verse 11 where the word says, “for the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil.” Those words stress that God chose Jacob before birth and before virtue or vice. But now the word goes farther and says that this choice was not “on the basis of works.” Here the time is not the point. The foundation is the point. God did not choose Jacob because of works he had already done. Nor did he choose him because of works that he would do later.  The word rules out foreseen good deeds that Jacob will do, and foreseen evil deeds that Esau will do. And God is saying: MY election is not based on deeds in any way — not deeds already done, not deeds undone and foreknown, and not deeds undone and not foreknown. MY election is free. That is MY glory. Therefore, MY purpose accords with that kind of election, because MY purpose is to be known and enjoyed and praised as infinitely glorious in MY free and sovereign grace. Now, let’s reason the affirmative. Why does the word say, “so that God’s purpose according to election would stand, not because of works but because of Him who calls? This is heavenly sounding. The word’s ordinary contrast with works is faith. Reason the following… Romans 9:32; 3:28 Wherefore? Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumblingstone; Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law. Galatians 2:16 Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified. When we hear the word say, “Not by works” we naturally expect it to also say, “but by faith.”   But that is not what it says here. It says, “not because of works but because of him who calls.” Why? Because faith is a condition of justification, but it is not a condition of election. Election is unconditional. But justification is conditional. Before we can be justified we must believe on Jesus Christ. But before we can believe on Jesus Christ we must be chosen and called. God does not choose us because we will believe. He chooses us so that we will believe.   Hear again how inspirationally the word says it. “That the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth.” Notice it does not say: his purpose stands because of his calling. It says because of Him who calls. God is calling His elect. But his election is not based on that calling. It is based on Himself and His free and sovereign will to call.   God’s electing purpose will stand not because of any foreseen deeds, and not because of any foreseen faith; but simply because of Him — because of God. The ultimate ground of God’s election is God. This is simply another way of saying: for God to be God He must be free and sovereign. This is His glory. This is what it means to be God. How is our striving for the very elect co-signed in God’s purpose? The application to our lives is clear. If the purpose of God — flowing from the very essence of what it means to be God, is that He be known for His free and sovereign grace, then the meaning of our existence is to display the glory of that free and sovereign grace. And underneath this meaning for our lives is the massive assurance that this purpose will stand, and we who are in Christ by faith will stand in God’s purpose.  I so enjoy the repetition of this truth - t he Lord in his gratuitous election is free and exempt from the necessity of imparting equally the same grace to all; but, on the contrary, he passes by whom he wills, and whom he wills he chooses. God chooses people for salvation according to His good pleasure and not because of anything in them. In fact, He chooses to save repentant sinners in spite of the sin we’ve done. We should be eternally grateful that He does this; otherwise, no one could be saved. God is not an arbitrary God. Those who are arbitrary do what they do without any reason.   God has no impetuous or motiveless behavior. We must make a distinction between God’s doing something for no reason and His doing something for no reason found in us. We say clearly that His grace is given not for any reason in us. But the fact that there is no reason in me for my salvation does not mean there is no reason behind God’s action. Scripture actually tells us over and over again that God has a reason behind His choice of some for salvation and His not choosing others for redemption. It reveals something about His marvelous character, which His grace certainly does. It makes manifest His awesome, marvelous, beautiful mercy. There’s also this purpose, and that’s the purpose of honoring Christ. Remember His promise to Christ. Isaiah 53:11 He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities. According to His own counsel, God determined from the foundation of the world that the cross of Jesus Christ would yield its appointed fruit and that Christ would be satisfied by the results of His pain, suffering, and death. Our being purposed, our being elected, our being accepted is in the beloved Person of Christ. This is God the Father bestowing His glory, love, and affection on God the Son. Do we see the intersection here of grace and justice? It is right or just that Christ should receive an inheritance, and we are that inheritance. That we are that inheritance is grace for us and justice for Christ. Here’s the thing of God’s predestining according to His good pleasure. What’s good to God must give Him pleasure. This is why His very election pleases Him. His choices take no pleasure in any form of evil. Any sin is unpleasurable to them. There is no temptation, no enticement to defend any error or anyone holding to untruth. These cast away all human sentiments, views, attitudes, feelings, thoughts, beliefs, approaches, emotions, passions, tactics, responses that weaken the mind. God has a good purpose for choosing His elect. Nothing happens apart from the purpose of God. Everything fits in to God's purpose in all of creation. He's a purposeful Being. To me, that's most encouraging. That means that history has a purpose.  That means there's a purpose in my own history…your history. The things that we go through are not just random. Only knowledge based on God's word will produce a genuine experience of God and His power. God's word gives us an eyewitness, truthful, and detailed account of things about God and human existence that we could never know otherwise. God's word is a standard against which all philosophies, ideas, and proposed solutions for the human condition which can be measured for accuracy. If God's word approves it, we can run with it; if the word rejects it, nothing we can do will make it work, make it acceptable, or make it right. The reason for this is that the power of God is revealed and experienced in His word. To know His word is to know and experience His power. This power called purpose governs over everything in salvation, it's bigger and more important than any and every component part of our salvation. Because of purpose, God foreknows, because of foreknowledge, He predestines. Because of predestine and predestination, He calls. It all starts with the purpose of the Determinate Counsel. The Counsel is a before the beginning of time purpose. Its mystery is how it is so intensely focused and centered on Jesus Christ, the God of humanity who became human. In Christ we see an absolute harmony between God's purpose and His grace. This grace really is a servant of the purpose. God has a purpose and then the grace comes to accomplish that purpose. He has saved us and called us to a holy life. Not because of anything we have done, but because of His purpose and grace. God does everything after the council of His own pleasure and will. His purpose is not governed therefore by anything outside of God, it's all within Him, not governed by effects coming from the outside into God, but it's inside God. What is this purpose inside God? Bringing to us salvation. In that God desires His own glory above all things. That He would get the glory, that He would get the credit, that He would be seen to be a glorious and majestic and powerful Savior, that is His central purpose - that He gets the glory for our salvation. And very much related to that is that the elect of His purpose would get the joy and that none of them would be lost.   That of those whom He called, He chose. He has connected His name, He's put His name on us, He's tied His reputation to us. God is to get all the glory for our salvation…we can’t do it. He is the ground, the power, the strength for that salvation. Now pause because you are going to need the mind of Christ to come to God’s reasoning with what we are about to learn. Hold this thought…you can’t do you. You had no choice in you coming. You had no choice in you being male or female. You had no choice in you being Black, you being White. You even had no choice in who your parents would be. Let’s pray… Remember, not of works. Jacob was chosen over Esau. Neither having done any good, any evil. What works could they have done? They were in the womb. In the bible verse we see no works, then the purpose, the election, no works again, then the call. Why? We see that Jacob and Esau hadn't done any works yet, but maybe there's the issue of foreseeing good works. Maybe God is able to look ahead into the future and see the kind of lives that Esau and Jacob would live and on the basis of foreseen good works, He would choose, He would elect. That’s ruled out. The word says not past work, not present works, not future works, not good works and not bad works. No works came into election at all. It is totally unconditional, it's not based on works at all. Not because of Esau's bad works, because he traded his birthright for deer meat. And God looking ahead through the hazy corridors of time saw that and said, "No, he's out." Not by bad works, neither by good works, looking ahead and seeing that Jacob valued the promises of God or was a man of prayer or wrestled with the angel or any of the good things that he did. Neither one, not by works. Brothers and sisters. This is so hard for us to accept. It is so tough. It is woven into the fiber of our rebellion against God, that we are self-determining independent people and we get to choose and therefore good things that happen to us happen at least in some degree, because we did something good.   Nothing comes from nothing, nothing ever could. So somewhere in my life I must have done something good. Remember who it is that gets all the glory. We will not say, “God, I did such and such.” If election was conditional it would breed arrogance. If it's because we did something good that God picked us, then it makes us boastful. God sees something good in me…I’d better keep doing it. Romans 9:32: 4:2-5, 20 Wherefore? Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumblingstone; For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not before God. For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness. Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. Galatians 2:16 Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified. What of forseen faith? Now, what about faith. God is looking down the corridors of time and He is looking for faith. And He is discovering faith in people He's going to create later. Looking down through the corridors of time, He's finding something. He's finding faith inside us. The contrast is usually, not by works but by what? Faith. The contrast is usually faith that works. God, looking on all ages, from the creation to the consummation, as a moment, and seeing at once whatever is in the hearts of all the children of men, knows everyone that does or does not believe, in every age, in every nation. Yet what God knows, whether it’s faith or unbelief, is in nowise caused by his knowledge. So, God knowing if we believe or don’t believe is not caused by what He knows. Men are as free in believing or not believing as if God did not know it at all. God gives to every man the measure of faith and then God discovers if we use it. And when He discovers it, then He justifies us, based on it. But the word does not say by faith. It says but of Him that calleth. We are left here with Him that calleth. We are left with God and God alone. The call is a sovereign call. Now we understand why God gives to every man the measure of faith. Let there be faith and there's faith. That's the call of God. It's not by works, but by the call to discover faith. We end up with what God gives us. So, what then is the basis of our salvation? God and God alone. We might be justified by faith, but we are not called by faith. We are called because of faith…the faith given and discovered by God. The One who chooses, the One who calls. Faith is the thing inside us that God chooses. Thank you God. Total humility in salvation. Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Notice that faith involves “evidence” of things “not seen”. This “substance” is “assurance.” Faith involves an assurance “of things hoped for.” But, if something is hoped for, that something has not yet been received. Therefore, where faith is involved, there is an assurance that it will be received! But how can evidence be related to something that is not seen? Don’t we think of evidence as involving things that are seen or demonstrated? How then can faith involve evidence that is invisible - not seen? Faith involves evidence in the following way. Real faith, in any promise made by God, is actually the evidence. It is the belief that is the evidence. If God promises to do something, it is impossible for Him to lie. Our evidence that He will perform it is the very unwavering faith that we hold. Remember, “faith is the evidence.” We do not need to search for the evidence - we already possess it!

#purpose #election Let us not seek any self-satisfying, self-deception concerning God. Let our motive be the theological study and the pursuit of knowledge about God and His will as revealed in scripture. May this be the mean by which we are drawn closer to God.  W e can only know God by entering into a right relationship with Him through Jesus Christ. If we are faithful, this will not be a phenomenon that happens secretly, though unexpectedly, it will happen on the plane of reality. We will have greater thoughts of God, showing great boldness for God, and having great contentment in God. God is unchanging in His truth, in His ways, and His purposes. So, the 2520 is purposed to have God’s people “ready” as we meditate on the greatness of God, being guided by the Holy Spirit. The world is digressing into a state of wicked evilness. Conflict and moral decline are promoted. God’s people mindset is no longer just contemplating the last days…we live as today is our last day. We have a most beautiful pregnant message to give, but the labor pains of delivery will increase in frequency and intensity. Prophecies are fulfilled in relation to the first coming of Christ, the life of Christ, and in relation to His second coming. God’s purpose and election confirms the gathering promised in the 2520 prophecy. Prophecy revealed that four great empires would emerge in history: Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome. Preceding these historically were Egypt and Assyria, which figured largely in the history of Israel before Babylon. In all, six world establishments were described in history and prophecy. Yet we are told of eight. We now see America and the U.N. And one that was, is still. Another purpose and election of God is His plan for Israel. This began with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and the twelve tribes descending from Jacob’s twelve sons. Christ is restoring Israel spiritually. Our function in this time is to reveal God’s sovereignty and infinite power, and as Israel we are to make known God’s faithfulness, love, and righteousness, so the people of His election may illustrate the grace of God. The 2520 prophecy presents God’s people where they are. We are in the time of tabernacles. The gathering is a call to come and worship the Lord, while corporately posturing together to hear what the Spirit is saying to the people of God. It is a time of gathering the family of God to move according to the Jesus' prayer in John 17 for unity with one another and with Him. The warning to heed is to not let your feelings stretch you so far from the truth that you are drawn out from the truth and left scattered. To God, gathering is a purposeful and overt reversal of the distressed situation brought on by disobedience. Upon seeing Israel's changed or maybe we should say changing attitude - our repentance - God reciprocates by calling us His elect. Zechariah 3:1, 2 And he shewed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right hand to resist him. And the LORD said unto Satan, The LORD rebuke thee, O Satan; even the LORD that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee: is not this a brand plucked out of the fire? This brand is us as we are allowed a glimpse into the temple court. It is our daily moan as we are a sinner. But Christ quiets the accuser for he knows that we are more than this. He makes the declaration in the form of a question. Is not this a brand plucked out of the fire? We are what he means us to be…chosen. This is the gathering of the remnant souls rightly divided by the truth of prophecy. Isaiah 19 The burden of Egypt. Behold, the LORD rideth upon a swift cloud, and shall come into Egypt: and the idols of Egypt shall be moved at his presence, and the heart of Egypt shall melt in the midst of it. And I will set the Egyptians against the Egyptians: and they shall fight every one against his brother, and every one against his neighbour; city against city, and kingdom againstkingdom. And the spirit of Egypt shall fail in the midst thereof; and I will destroy the counsel thereof: and they shall seek to the idols, and to the charmers, and to them that have familiar spirits, and to the wizards. And the Egyptians will I give over into the hand of a cruel lord; and a fierce king shall rule over them, saith the Lord, the LORD of hosts. And the waters shall fail from the sea, and the river shall be wasted and dried up. And they shall turn the rivers far away; and the brooks of defence shall be emptied and dried up: the reeds and flags shall wither. The paper reeds by the brooks, by the mouth of the brooks, and every thing sown by the brooks, shall wither, be driven away, and be no more.The fishers also shall mourn, and all they that cast angle into the brooks shall lament, and they that spread nets upon the waters shall languish. Moreover they that work in fine flax, and they that weave networks, shall be confounded. And they shall be broken in the purposes thereof, all that make sluices and ponds for fish. Surely the princes of Zoan are fools, the counsel of the wise counsellers of Pharaoh is become brutish: how say ye unto Pharaoh, I am the son of the wise, the son of ancient kings? Where are they? where are thy wise men? and let them tell thee now, and let them know what the LORD of hosts hath purposed upon Egypt. The princes of Zoan are become fools, the princes of Noph are deceived; they have also seduced Egypt, even they that are the stay of the tribes thereof. The LORD hath mingled a perverse spirit in the midst thereof: and they have caused Egypt to err in every work thereof, as a drunken man staggereth in his vomit. Neither shall there be any work for Egypt, which the head or tail, branch or rush, may do. In that day shall Egypt be like unto women: and it shall be afraid and fear because of the shaking of the hand of the LORD of hosts, which he shaketh over it. And the land of Judah shall be a terror unto Egypt, every one that maketh mention thereof shall be afraid in himself, because of the counsel of the LORD of hosts, which he hath determined against it. In that day shall five cities in the land of Egypt speak the language of Canaan, and swear to the LORD of hosts; one shall be called, The city of destruction. In that day shall there be an altar to the LORD in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar at the border thereof to the LORD. And it shall be for a sign and for a witness unto the LORD of hosts in the land of Egypt: for they shall cry unto the LORD because of the oppressors, and he shall send them a saviour, and a great one, and he shall deliver them. And the LORD shall be known to Egypt, and the Egyptians shall know the LORD in that day, and shall do sacrifice and oblation; yea, they shall vow a vow unto the LORD, and perform it. And the LORD shall smite Egypt: he shall smite and heal it: and they shall return even to the LORD, and he shall be intreated of them, and shall heal them. In that day shall there be a highway out of Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrian shall come into Egypt, and the Egyptian into Assyria, and the Egyptians shall serve with the Assyrians. In that day shall Israel be the third with Egypt and with Assyria, even a blessing in the midst of the land: Whom the LORD of hosts shall bless, saying, Blessed be Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel mine inheritance. Give prayerful consideration about the incredible importance of the things that we're learning. Meditate on the value, the priceless value, the precious value that we place on knowledge and what’s truth in every area of life. Now know that nothing compares to knowing and understanding God. We must stay very close to the text. Consider the importance of our spiritual commitment to the covenant in resolving the following texts. I John 2:7, 8 Brethren, I write no new commandment unto you, but an old commandment which ye had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which ye have heard from the beginning. Again, a new commandment I write unto you, which thing is true in him and in you: because the darkness is past, and the true light now shineth. I write no new commandment unto you, a new commandment I write unto you. Both are truth. As a people of God we are to reason truth from the beginning. We were made to love one another as being of one blood, made to dwell on the earth, as being God's offspring, and bearing His image.  And even i n the state of sin because of God’s promised recovery, we are to love one another as related to God our Maker, as always related to each other by blood, and as involved together in the same hope. The law of love must be conveyed with new obligations by the new Israel of God being the privileged people, who are of the covenants and the adoption. We are constrained to do this duty the more. The Old Testament covenant established promises that look forward to fulfillment. The New Testament covenant shows how Jesus Christ fulfills these covenant promises and what life should look like for a people living in the law inaugurated in their hearts and minds. Jeremiah 31:31-33 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD: But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. If we fail to reason with God, we enter upon a potential crisis of confidence concerning the Word of God. The darkness of our prejudiced unconverted minds, our deplorable ignorance of God and of Christ, is now past. Pretended conversion is darkness. Scripture is not symbolic; God actually creates with words. Let there be light…He spoke creation into existence to include also that which He used to form man, and the substance of His faith manifested into what we can now see. It is in the new covenant that with a clean and recreated heart, a right spirit can be us. It is old as having been taught and heard from the beginning. New, that in the true Light, we have grace and virtue comformable to the Son of God. The deeper should our subjection be to the commandments of our Lord. The first by obedience, the second by purposed love. The Word of God has unlimited power. Each word is a power filled with faith waiting for us to release it in our hearts and speak it with our mouths. Faith is a divine sense that functions in the articulation of the word or better stated…in the testimony of Jesus. And faith is most justified when we infer this proposition – God loves me. It was sin that alienated us from God. It is the faith of Jesus that apprehends the determination by reason alone of our intense desire to dispose of all sin. By this is shown our willingness to take great risks to decisively be solely purposed in the overarching truth that unites the entire self to God. By this, our faith consists in submission without evidence to the authority of the ideal that God is. And our faith governs how we respond to His every word. Faith in God extends beyond just taking God to be an authority, but it includes doing so. Faith is the response to God being God. God tells Noah to build an ark. God tells Abraham that he will make him the father of many nations and that his wife Sarah will bear a son. God tells Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac. God tells Moses to lead his people out of Egypt. God tells Moses’s people that there will be manna to eat every day, and not to store any for the next day. God tells Jonah to journey to Nineveh and tell the people that it will be destroyed for its wickedness. God gives Samuel a vision about Eli’s family. God speaks through the prophets and tells his people that bad things will happen if they do not repent. God tells Hosea to marry Gomer. An angel of God tells Mary she will bear a child. God says that Jesus is God’s beloved son. God says that He has a peculiar people. And so forth. God’s story reveals that God is truth and that following God’s commands has proven better than not doing so. Evidence this - an old couple or a virgin will have a child, or that food will appear in the desert every day except one, liberate unarmed people from a nation with an army, take steps to sacrifice one’s son. And so, we have God’s promise to save His people as the key component of God’s cosmic plan to unite all things in His Word, in Christ. The Lord never promised to save all those who can trace their beginning back to the first pair. He will save those of His election according to His purpose. These children are those who trust only in Christ for salvation. God is continually moving and orchestrating our lives behind the scenes to lead us to those discovery points in which He reveals His love and purpose for us. He is the ultimate power and source of love. When we are certain of, and compelled by God’s love for us, our faith becomes unstoppable. Our faith in God grows when we discover how passionate and determined he is to be in a relationship with us, and understand what it cost Him to make this possible through the cross. This faith is what compels us to love others — inspiring us to give our hearts, serve, and sacrifice to help others discover and experience this same love and relationship with God. Acts 17:26, 27 And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation; That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us. God is continuously nearby, determining our very times, moving us to be closer in proximity to discovering Him, and revealing His purpose to us. Let us reason with the unconditional election and the invincible purpose of God. This is a huge task in considering the truths of the 2520 prophecy. It requires a mindful approach beyond the sense of feeling. The aim is simply to understand and apply to our lives the reasoning secreted in the word of God to be revealed to whom He chooses. We want to understand why God’s purpose according to election stands. I exhort us to caress the weight of this sentence. When God tells us why He does something as eternally fundamental as unconditional election, He is giving us information about the nature of ultimate reality — namely His reality — that is more foundational and more important than all other human knowledge.   Nothing is greater to know under God, than why He does His most fundamental acts. And here is one of these massively important sentences. We ask “why, God, do you do this great work of unconditional election?” And God answers: “So that MY purpose according to MY election would stand, not because of works but because of ME who calls.” What does the phrase “God’s purpose according to election” mean? It is defining the purpose. What purpose? The according to election purpose. The according to election purpose would be “the electing purpose.” In other words, the purpose of God is in part defined by election. The purpose of God that would not be what it is, if there were no election. The purpose that consists largely in election. But what is it? How can we state God’s purpose according to election — God’s electing purpose? Romans 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. There is something behind that call, namely, God’s purpose, guiding whom and how He calls. We are called “according to his purpose.” So, God’s purpose has to do with guiding His saving work, in this case His calling. II Timothy 1:8, 9 Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God; Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began. First, God’s purpose is eternal — before the world began. It doesn’t originate or respond to anything. It is eternal. Second, God’s purpose is related to Christ from all eternity. Christ is not an afterthought. God’s purpose was in him and through him from all eternity. Third, God’s purpose is linked with grace. It is a gracious purpose. It’s a purpose to exercise power to not sin. There is a direct correlation between faith and power. The more faith we put in God, the more we allow God to direct our lives, the more power and blessing we’re going to have. Fourth, the purpose of God rules out works as the basis of his saving call: He saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose. His own purpose is the basis of his call, not our works.