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Humanity's Shadow I Samuel 16:7 establishes a divine axiom that stands in judgment over every human system of valuation: God does not see as man sees. Humanity is prone to measure worth by the visible, the immediate, and the socially reinforced, while God weighs the heart, the seat of moral agency, intention, and spiritual alignment. This distinction is not incidental but foundational. Any civilization that elevates outward appearance as a determinant of value inevitably drifts from divine wisdom toward deception. Scripture is unambiguous that such deviation is not morally neutral; it is a movement away from truth itself, and therefore away from God, whose very nature is truth. When outward appearance becomes authoritative, inward reality is obscured, and injustice is given philosophical legitimacy. The historical development of racial classification in this nation illustrates this principle with sobering clarity. In the eighteenth century, European-derived systems of categorization reduced humanity to visible traits, assigning fixed meanings to skin color and embedding those meanings into law, economics, theology, and social order. The designations Black, Brown, Red, Yellow, and White were not benign descriptors but instruments of hierarchy, crafted to concentrate power and moral legitimacy in one group while diminishing the humanity of all others. This was not merely a social error but a theological one, because it contradicted the biblical witness that all humans share a common origin and bear the image of God. By grounding worth in appearance, these systems institutionalized a lie that required constant reinforcement through violence, distortion, and fear. Genesis 25:23 provides prophetic insight that reaches far beyond a single family narrative. The declaration that two nations would emerge from one womb reveals a recurring biblical pattern: divergence is not first ethnic or physical, but spiritual and moral. Jacob and Esau emerge from the same lineage, under the same providence, yet embody different orientations of the heart. Scripture consistently traces the consequences of Esau’s disposition, culminating in Genesis 27:41, where unresolved resentment hardens into hatred. This is not presented as a biological destiny but as a spiritual trajectory shaped by choices, values, and response to divine counsel. The text does not condemn peoples by appearance, but it does warn that unchecked hostility toward God’s purposes produces generational consequences. It is critical to distinguish environmental and physiological realities from moral and spiritual ones. Skin pigmentation is a function of environment and adaptation, authored by God and evident across all human groups. Scripture offers no support for the notion that pigmentation signifies divine favor or disfavor. To conflate skin color with spiritual status is to repeat the ancient error of confusing the vessel with its contents. The tragedy of modern racial ideology is that it inverted this truth, using outward difference as evidence of inward deficiency. In doing so, it projected spiritual failure onto physical traits, thereby absolving the oppressor from self-examination while burdening the oppressed with false guilt. Biblical prophecy anticipates this inversion and exposes its futility. The conflict between brothers, nations, and systems is never resolved through brothers domination of the visible, but through judgment upon the unseen motives that drive history. Daniel 11:41 is especially instructive in this regard. The text indicates that Edom, Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon escape conquest in the final conflict, not because of moral superiority, but because of divine intervention. This implies that God’s redemptive purposes are not exhausted by historical antagonisms. Even those associated with ancient hostility are not beyond the reach of providential restraint and mercy. The prophecy resists simplistic binaries of good and evil mapped onto peoples, reminding us that God’s sovereignty operates beyond human narratives of permanence and exclusion. The enduring lesson is that true discernment requires spiritual perception. To evaluate a human being by outward appearance is to participate in a system God explicitly rejects. The inward complexion of a person—the orientation of the soul, the humility of the heart, the integrity of the mind, and the responsiveness of the spirit—cannot be assessed through skin, culture, or ancestry. This discernment demands moral courage, because it confronts inherited assumptions and institutionalized falsehoods. Yet it is precisely this courage that aligns humanity with divine truth. As history accelerates toward its consummation, the exposure of outwardly based systems of worth is not incidental but necessary. God is closing out evil by dismantling the lies that sustained it, calling all people to see as He sees, and to recognize one another not by appearance, but by the deeper reality of the heart. A nation that structures its institutions around skin color reveals that it has fundamentally misunderstood both humanity and God. By elevating pigmentation as a criterion for access, legitimacy, or moral standing, such a nation confesses—whether knowingly or not—that it trusts what the eye can measure more than what the heart reveals. This posture stands in direct contradiction to the wisdom of God articulated throughout Scripture and exposes a reliance on human constructs rather than divine truth. When outward distinctions become institutionalized, the nation is no longer merely flawed in practice; it is misaligned in principle, building its identity on a foundation God has already judged as false.Revelation 7:9 dismantles every racialized framework with finality. The vision great multitude of a great multitude “of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues” standing together before the throne declares that diversity is not an obstacle to redemption but its visible testimony. No group is elevated by appearance, and no group is diminished by difference. All stand clothed in the same white robes, signifying a righteousness not produced by lineage, culture, or skin tone, but granted by God alone. In the presence of the throne, the very categories nations use to divide and rank humanity are rendered irrelevant, exposed as temporary tools of a fallen world. In light of this vision, a nation obsessed with skin color positions itself against the trajectory of God’s redemptive purpose. Its institutions train citizens to see division where God intends reconciliation and to enforce boundaries Christ has already torn down. Such a nation inevitably cultivates injustice, because systems built on appearance cannot administer equity; they must continually distort truth to sustain themselves. Revelation 7:9 does not merely describe heaven—it pronounces judgment on earthly systems that refuse to anticipate heaven’s values. What cannot stand before the throne will not endure history. This contrast also exposes the spiritual poverty of racialized governance. While Revelation presents a unified worshiping multitude defined by shared allegiance, a skin-based society is defined by fear—fear of losing dominance, fear of difference, fear of truth. These fears harden into policy and culture, producing institutions that reward conformity to visible traits rather than fidelity to moral character. In doing so, the nation forfeits the opportunity to reflect God’s kingdom on earth and instead mirrors the divisive logic of the enemy, who traffics in accusation and separation. Ultimately, Revelation 7:9 calls nations to repentance. It declares that history is moving toward a reality where every system grounded in outward hierarchy will collapse under the weight of divine truth. A nation bent on skin color is not merely out of step with social progress; it is out of step with eternity. The prophetic warning is clear: only those structures that honor the equal worth of all people, rooted in the inward transformation God alone provides, are compatible with the kingdom that is coming. The persistence of hatred among many who identify as “white” is not best explained by skin color itself, but by a spiritual and psychological inheritance that has gone largely unexamined. When identity is constructed around dominance rather than truth, fear becomes the governing emotion. For generations, social advantage was falsely sacralized—presented not as theft or distortion, but as entitlement. When such advantage is threatened by truth, equality, or demonstrated excellence among people of all hues, it provokes resentment rather than reflection. Hatred, in this sense, is not confidence but insecurity weaponized, a refusal to measure oneself by character when one has long relied on appearance and proximity to power. This posture is sustained by deliberate moral disengagement. To disregard the freedom, dignity, and achievement of others requires the suppression of conscience. Scripture repeatedly shows that when truth is resisted, the heart hardens, and what once felt wrong begins to feel justified. Over time, injustice becomes normalized, even defended as “order,” “heritage,” or “national interest”. The issue is not ignorance alone; it is consent to deception. Many know, at some level, that the system is unjust, but choose silence or complicity because truth would require surrender—of privilege, of false narratives, of inherited self-exaltation. The tolerance of such hatred by a so-called government “by the people, for the people” exposes a deeper contradiction. When a state removes historical documentation of a people, it is not engaging in neutrality; it is practicing erasure. This is a form of violence that precedes and enables physical displacement. To erase a people’s history is to argue they have no rightful claim to the present. Once that lie is accepted, policies that expel, marginalize, or criminalize them can be framed as lawful rather than immoral. History shows that no population is forcibly removed until it is first symbolically removed from memory, textbooks, and public conscience. That people of color are forced out of a land that is their home reveals how fragile the moral claims of such a nation truly are. Citizenship, belonging, and humanity become conditional—granted or revoked based on political convenience rather than truth. This betrays the foundational promise of equal justice and exposes the nation as operating on fear rather than principle. The law, instead of restraining injustice, becomes its instrument. When this occurs, democracy remains in name only; in substance, it has been hollowed out by partiality. Spiritually, this moment reflects what Scripture warns happens when nations reject inward evaluation in favor of outward markers. Hatred is tolerated because it serves power. Erasure is permitted because it preserves control. The suffering of others is ignored because empathy would disrupt the system. Yet these very actions testify against the nation. They reveal that it is not the oppressed who threaten its stability, but the lies required to maintain inequality. Truth is costly, but deception is fatal. What is unfolding is not merely social decline but moral exposure. The refusal to honor the full humanity and history of all people places a nation in opposition to the trajectory of God’s redemptive purpose. Revelation’s vision of a reconciled multitude stands as both promise and indictment. It promises that hatred will not have the final word, and it indicts every system that insists on speaking it now. The tolerance of injustice is never permanent; it is only the prelude to judgment—historical, moral, and ultimately divine. The Word of God teaches that the solution to entrenched evil is never first structural, political, or even cultural, but spiritual and internal. What is missing in this hour is not information, nor even moral language, but genuine death to self. Christ did not come merely to restrain human behavior; He came to crucify the old nature entirely. Until believers accept that salvation is not simply forgiveness but transformation, hatred will persist even among those who speak the name of God. Scripture is clear that the final conflict is not between races or nations, but between two spirits—self-exaltation and self- surrender. God has always preserved a remnant whose defining mark is inward allegiance rather than outward conformity. This people rises above hatred not because they are insulated from injustice, but because they are governed by a different kingdom. Romans 12 teaches what many resist: that overcoming evil does not occur by matching its force, but by refusing its spirit. The call to present oneself as a “living sacrifice” is not poetic language; it is a demand that the believer relinquish the right to hate, retaliate, or dehumanize—even when wronged. What we are missing is the costliness of discipleship. We want resurrection power without crucifixion obedience. The Word also teaches that love is not sentimental tolerance but spiritual authority. Jesus loved in a way that exposed lies, unsettled power, and threatened unjust systems. Yet He never allowed hatred to become His instrument. This is where many fail: they confuse righteous anger with righteous identity. Ephesians warns that unresolved anger gives place to the devil, meaning that even justified outrage, if nursed, becomes a doorway for the same spirit it seeks to oppose. God’s last-day people must learn to contend for truth without internalizing the enemy’s methods. Another missing element is the fear of God—not terror, but reverence. Proverbs declares that the fear of the Lord is to hate evil, not people. Modern faith often reverses this, hating people while tolerating evil systems if they benefit us. The proverb that teaches the fear of the Lord is to hate evil establishes a critical moral boundary that modern faith has largely blurred. To fear the Lord is to align one’s inner life with God’s moral clarity—to love what He loves and to reject what He rejects. Evil, in Scripture, is not defined by ethnicity, class, or identity, but by rebellion against God’s character: pride, injustice, deceit, oppression, violence, and self-exaltation. When God calls His people to hate evil, He is calling them to reject these forces wherever they appear, including within themselves. This kind of hatred is purifying, not corrosive, because it is directed at what destroys life rather than at those who are ensnared by it. Modern faith often reverses this order because hating evil requires repentance, while hating people does not. To hate evil systems that benefit us would require relinquishing comfort, privilege, security, or power. That cost is high. It is far easier to redirect moral outrage toward individuals or groups, especially those already marginalized or portrayed as threats. In doing so, people preserve their sense of righteousness while leaving intact the very structures that produce suffering. This inversion allows believers to feel morally justified while remaining spiritually unchanged. Scripture consistently reveals that God distinguishes between the sinner and the sin in a way humans resist. God confronts evil relentlessly, yet He pursues people redemptively. Jonah’s anger at Nineveh exposes this tension: he hated the people because he benefited emotionally from their destruction, while God grieved the evil but sought their repentance. Modern faith mirrors Jonah more than Christ when it desires judgment on people while quietly tolerating unjust systems that sustain national, racial, or economic advantage. When people are hated, evil is personalized and obscured. Systems escape scrutiny because they are abstract, complex, and inconvenient to challenge. Racism, exploitation, historical erasure, and coercive power structures are allowed to persist because they are normalized, legalized, or theologized. Meanwhile, individuals become scapegoats, absorbing collective blame. This is spiritually dangerous because it aligns the heart with accusation—the primary work Scripture attributes to the adversary—rather than with truth and restoration. The fear of the Lord restores the proper target of moral opposition. It trains the conscience to recognize that hatred directed at people deforms the soul, while hatred of evil refines it. Jesus modeled this perfectly. He confronted hypocrisy, abuse of power, and religious corruption with uncompromising severity, yet He wept over Jerusalem and prayed forgiveness for His executioners. His opposition was fierce, but it was never personal in the sense of dehumanization. That distinction is what modern faith is missing. When faith loses the fear of the Lord, it becomes selective in its morality. It condemns visible sins that carry little personal cost while excusing systemic evils that provide stability or advantage. This is why oppression can coexist with worship, and why injustice can be baptized as patriotism, tradition, or divine favor. Reverence for God disrupts this arrangement because it exposes every benefit gained through unrighteousness as a liability before Him.To recover the fear of the Lord is to undergo a painful but necessary reordering of love and hatred. It means learning to hate lies more than discomfort, injustice more than instability, and evil more than the loss of advantage. It also means refusing to let contempt for people take root, even when confronting grievous wrongs. This posture does not weaken resistance to evil; it strengthens it by keeping the heart aligned with God rather than corrupted by the very darkness it seeks to oppose. In the last days, this distinction will mark God’s people. They will be recognized not by their alliances or slogans, but by their clarity: fierce against evil, tender toward people, unwilling to profit from injustice, and unafraid to stand alone if truth requires it. This is the fear of the Lord restored—and it is the only posture capable of overcoming hatred without becoming it. Reverence restores moral clarity. It teaches us to see hatred itself as defilement, regardless of its target or justification. Without this fear, believers can coexist with injustice while maintaining religious confidence. With it, compromise becomes unbearable. Scripture also teaches that endurance is a spiritual weapon. Jesus warned the love of many grows cold that the love of many would grow cold, not primarily because of persecution, but because iniquity would abound. Constant exposure to injustice tempts the soul toward numbness or bitterness. God’s people must therefore cultivate watchfulness—guarding the heart through prayer, fasting, remembrance, and deliberate communion with truth. Rising above hatred is not automatic; it is sustained by daily dependence on the Spirit. What we are missing is the discipline required to remain tender in a brutal world. Finally, the Word teaches that judgment begins with the house of God. The transformation longed for will not originate from governments or movements, but from a people willing to be searched, corrected, and refined. Malachi speaks of a refining fire that purifies not the world first, but those who claim to serve God. This is the hope of the last days: not that humanity will suddenly become kind, but that God will have a people whose inward life bears witness against the darkness simply by being different. Humanity’s present condition cannot last because God has already decreed its end. What remains is whether His people will reflect His character in that closing hour. The Word teaches that the answer is not louder protest or deeper despair, but deeper surrender. When Christ truly reigns within, hatred finds no soil to grow. This is not weakness; it is the strongest force God has ever placed in human hands.

European invaders to North America used the Bible to convert and control indigenous Americans. Some Native Americans in turn adopted biblical messages, but they often adapted them to their own national, cultural purposes. How did Europeans use the Bible when they invaded North America? Europeans invaded North America with the Bible in their hands, not in their minds. It inspired them, and they used it to justify their conquest of indigenous peoples and lands. For instance, biblical accounts of Israelites’ entering a land promised to them but inhabited by pagan Canaanites - Deuteronomy 20:10 thru 16 - provided grounds for Europeans to appropriate the Americas. This became known as the theological doctrine of “discovery.” With the gospel as their guide, English Protestants sought to convert Native Americans. They held the Great Commission from Jesus, which said to “go … and make disciples of all nations,” at the base of their missionary endeavor. These Christian invaders translated Bibles into Native languages, with the aim of transforming Native peoples into Christians through evangelization and, if necessary, by force. How did Native North Americans adopt and adapt biblical messages? In early North America, Natives sometimes saw the Bible as a magical invention of literacy, a source of divine potency. Being able to read a Bible seemed like a supernatural feat. Who was this God of the Christians, and what were God’s powers? What relevance did the life and death of Jesus have for indigenous North Americans, who had never before considered concepts of original sin or the need for salvation in the afterlife. Two Native American men in particular used the Bible to champion Native autonomy. In the 1760s, a Delaware man named Neolin recognized the revolutionary potential of the Bible as a weapon of spiritual and social resistance. This Delaware Prophet, as he is known, preached a message like that found in the book of Exodus. He argued that God takes the side of oppressed people, which in his case represented indigenous Americans against their Euroamerican subjugators. The Master of Life, as Neolin termed God, called upon Native peoples to resist the corrupting ways of the colonists and seek divine, even militant, deliverance by returning to Native traditions and freedoms. Ironically, Neolin employed the liberating biblical theme of social justice to defend Native self-rule against invasive, Bible-quoting Christians. In the latter 1700s, Native Protestant ministers such as Samson Occom, Mohegan, made biblical Christianity their own. They were stirred by the “Great Awakening,” whose proponents encouraged heartfelt experiences of sinfulness and redemption brought on through emotional public preaching, scriptural recitation and personal self-scrutiny. The Native clerics drew upon the Bible, not only to instill the fear of God, but also to establish a model of God-supported nationhood for their Native people, apart from white dominion. Occom, for instance, was pastor to the Brotherton community of Native Christians in what is now central New York state. Members of this community held ancient Israel and the early Christian community at Corinth as their ideals. Occam was a prolific preacher. His sermons expressed his reliance on biblical passages in order to proclaim two separable but related messages. In the former, he emphasized individual human struggle against sin. In the latter, he held out the promise of Native American societal virtue, even under duress. Occom delivered his best-known sermon in 1772 at the execution of a Native man, Moses Paul. Occom based his talk on Romans 6:23, as he quoted it: “The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” He called upon the convict to repent the “accursed sin of drunkenness” and “receive … Christ” as his savior. It was a conventional gospel theme, concerning innate sinfulness, Christ’s redemptive love, divine omnipotence, and hope for divine grace, forgiveness, and eternal salvation. But Occom’s biblical message had special application for his fellow Native Americans, his “brethren and kindred,” who suffered under white Christians’ control that had been justified by a Eurocentric reading of the Bible. Particularly in the homilies of his later life in the 1780s, Occom called out to “all the Indians in this Boundless Continent” to be uplifted by Christ’s redemptive sacrifice on the cross. A reflection by Occom on Daniel 5:25 made clear the dignity of Native people among the world’s populations, who he argued deserved to persevere “according to God’s pleasure,” no matter how much Occom felt that whites despised them. Occom also dwelt upon Luke 10:26–27, “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself,” which is generally seen as a depiction of ideal Christian love. So, Occom asked, what were white Christians doing, oppressing slaves? In contrast to two-faced whites, who “are not Neighbours to anyone, and Consequently they are not Lovers of God,” Occom heralded Native communities for their social spirit: “The Savage Indians, as they are so called, are very kind to one another, and they are kind to Strangers”. With high hopes for indigenous Christians, preachers like Occom used biblical texts to nurture Native spiritual progress and political autonomy. From the beginning, the human story is, in its truest form, a divine narrative of origin, scattering, transformation, forgetting, remembering, judgment, and restoration. Scripture anchors this narrative in the reality that God “hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth,” revealing that the diversity of nations, cultures, languages, and appearances has never contradicted the unity of the created human family. What history confuses, and what oppressive powers manipulate, the Spirit clarifies: all humanity proceeds from the original pair—black, earth-toned, image-bearing beings fashioned by the very artistry of God. Yet the pathways of human migration, the trauma of divine judgment, and the long arc of prophetic dispersion shaped the world into a mosaic whose truth has often been hidden beneath conquest, colonization, and deliberate historical distortion. What Scripture does not catalogue exhaustively in geographical data, it reveals prophetically in the unfolding destiny of nations. What it does not list explicitly in territorial names, it embeds in patterns of scattering, covenant consequence, and the divine oversight of history. Thus the lands today called the Americas—unknown to ancient Hebrew cartography—stand nonetheless within the sweep of prophetic oversight, prefigured in the global dispersion outlined in Deuteronomy 28, the beast power of Revelation 13, and the narrative patterns of Nehemiah 9, where God’s people, long judged and scattered, confess from the “fat land” of their dispersion the sins which produced their estrangement. The biblical writers, shaped by the geographical consciousness of the ancient Near East, wrote within the horizon of lands around the Mediterranean, Africa, Mesopotamia, and Asia Minor. Yet the God who authored their covenant history never restricted His knowledge to their limited maps. The scattering that followed the judgment at Babel created the conditions for mass migration, and the division of the continents during the age of Peleg—when “the earth was divided”—opened pathways for humanity Pangea to traverse land bridges no longer present in our time. The ancient world was not sealed; its borders were permeable, its continents closer, its climates milder, its terrains in flux. The scattering of tribes and clans in the post-Babel world set in motion migrations that crossed vast distances, carrying with them fragments of the original stories—creation, fall, the global flood—that reappeared in the mythologies, oral traditions, and sacred memories of peoples across the earth. The indigenous peoples of the Americas preserved narratives astonishingly parallel to the biblical account: a Creator who fashioned the world, a catastrophic deluge, a remnant preserved, moral laws rooted in harmony with heaven and earth, and the hope of restoration. These echoes are not coincidence; they are remnants of primordial truth refracted through cultures shaped by isolation, climate, geography, and survival. What the world calls myth, God recognizes as cultural fossils of the Edenic revelation carried across oceans and continents by those who migrated eastward and kept in memory what remained of the world they left behind. Nature itself—climate, altitude, sun exposure, diet, and environmental adaptation—played a shaping role in the development of human appearance. The scattering created divergence, not in essence, not in dignity, not in spirit, but in phenotype, producing what modern people categorize as races. Yet these differences, far from biological barriers, were simply the visible signatures of geographical adaptation—proof that the human body carries within it the divine potency to survive and thrive in every environment under heaven. Thus the ancestors of today’s Asian peoples, whose presence stretches across the sweeping corridor from Mesopotamia to the Pacific islands, represent one branch of the post-Babel dispersion, while indigenous peoples in the Americas reflect another, their ancestral trail echoing the eastward movement described in Scripture and preserved in ancient memory. These populations, though separated by oceans and mountains, share cultural motifs, agricultural patterns, mythic structures, and linguistic affinities that trace backward toward a shared African and Near Eastern origin. The world that modern academia divides into isolated compartments was, in truth, a single migrating human family shaped by divine oversight and covenant history. Yet within this family, sin did its ancient work of corruption. As nations arose, power was seized, and empires formed, some peoples elevated themselves through violence and domination. The rise of the so-called Euroamerican identity, forged through the intertwined sins of colonization, enslavement, displacement, and historical revisionism, is one of the clearest manifestations of human pride weaponized into global oppression. Their arrival in the Americas was not a benign encounter between civilizations but a catastrophic collision in which indigenous peoples were slaughtered, enslaved, dislocated, stripped of culture, and robbed of memory. The atrocities committed against Black people and native populations were justified by fabricated doctrines of racial hierarchy, pseudoscientific theories, and theological distortions crafted to sanctify wickedness. The rewriting of history, which replaced indigenous intellectual and spiritual sophistication with narratives of savagery and primitivism, served the same purpose as the truncated “Slave Bible”: to control minds, erase heritage, legitimize oppression, and prevent the oppressed from recognizing their divine identity. This same pattern was replicated across continents, for in every age those who seek empire attempt to bury the story of the people they oppress. The Bible is not a dictionary of civilizations, nor a compendium of all world cultures—but it is the prophetic key to understanding the moral and spiritual DNA of humanity. It does not list the Chinese by name, nor the Hindus, the Gauls, the Mayans, the Navajo, or the Polynesians, yet their existence is embedded in the divine declaration that God scattered the nations “upon the face of all the earth.” Their histories, though absent from the pages of Scripture, are not absent from the supervision of God, who judges all nations with impartial justice. The biblical narrative records the covenant people’s relationship to God, but the Creator’s relationship to the nations is broader, deeper, and more mysterious than the text explicitly chronicles. Every people group carries the breath of God, the imprint of Eden, the memory of origins, the consequence of judgment, and the hunger for redemption. The absence of detailed ethnographic catalogues in the Bible does not diminish the sacredness of non-Israelite histories; rather, it challenges believers to cultivate “other-ical knowledge,” the wisdom to discern the movements of God in cultures not named in Scripture. True reasoning with God incorporates scientific, linguistic, historical, geographic, and anthropological understanding, recognizing that all truth—rightly interpreted—belongs to Him. The Spirit who brooded over the waters in Genesis is the same Spirit who preserved fragments of ancient revelation in the stories of peoples across every continent. Faith becomes blind only when it refuses to integrate the fullness of truth available through the study of God’s creation. Thus when we read Deuteronomy 28—its warnings of global dispersion, its portrait of a people carried “into all nations,” its prophecy of captivity in ships, its lament over the loss of heritage and name—we can see in it not only the ancient near exiles but the transatlantic slave trade, the scattering of Israel’s descendants, and the relocation of peoples whose identity was stripped from them. When we read Revelation 13’s description of a beast rising from a land uninhabited by historical empires, exercising global power, performing deception, and enforcing worship, we cannot ignore the modern nation that fits the profile—a nation arising not from the crowded world of Europe, Asia, and Africa, but from a land previously unknown to the biblical world. And when we read Nehemiah 9, where the scattered remnant confesses from the richness of a “fat land” the long history of covenant failure and divine mercy, we hear an echo that reaches across time into lands whose abundance parallels that description: fertile plains, great rivers, vast forests, and overwhelming natural wealth—the Americas, where descendants of the scattered have been gathered, oppressed, awakened, and prepared for a final witness. Human diversity, then, is neither accident nor curse; it is the unfolding of God’s providence across geography and history. The distinctions between peoples—African, Asian, Indigenous American, Middle Eastern, Pacific Islander—are not evidence of separation from God but of the extraordinary adaptability built into humanity’s original design. The problem is not difference; the problem is the hatred that arose in hearts corrupted by sin, turning diversity into hierarchy and turning dominion into domination. The Euroamerican atrocities against Africans and Native peoples are not evidence of a superior civilization encountering an inferior one but evidence of a deeply fallen civilization encountering deeply spiritual peoples whose histories were erased to protect the conscience of the conqueror. Yet God, who sees beyond the lies of nations, preserves truth in the hidden places, raising up voices who recover the stories, reclaim the heritage, and expose the deception. The oppressed, those scattered to the far ends of the earth, those whose sacred memory was almost extinguished, are those through whom God now speaks with prophetic clarity. It is through these marginalized histories that He is restoring the unity of the human family and preparing a remnant who understand the full story of humanity—not the sanitized version constructed by empires, but the Spirit-revealed truth seen from heaven’s vantage point. This understanding reshapes faith itself. A religion divorced from history becomes sentimental. A religion divorced from anthropology becomes tribal. A religion divorced from geography becomes abstract. But a religion that integrates all forms of truth into the knowledge of God becomes expansive, prophetic, and revelatory. The believer who reasons with God is not afraid of science, history, linguistics, or archaeology; they welcome every discipline as a tributary flowing into the river of divine understanding. Faith does not fear truth—it recognizes its source. When we examine how peoples migrated, how cultures formed, how stories were preserved, and how landscapes shaped human development, we are not moving away from Scripture but entering more deeply into the reality Scripture points toward. Thus this scenario described is not only plausible, it compels truth: that indigenous Americans are descendants of the ancient scattering; that their stories contain remnants of Edenic and Noahic memory; that their physical appearance reflects environmental adaptation rather than racial essence; that Euroamerican oppression replayed the ancient sin of nations exalting themselves; that the biblical narrative, while centered in the Near East, prophetically encompasses the entire earth; that God has left His imprint across every people; and that in the final generation He will restore the unity of all nations through the remnant who recognize the whole story of humanity and its place in the great controversy. If humanity is of one blood, then humanity is of one destiny. If the story begins with one pair in Eden, it ends with one redeemed family in the New Jerusalem. If peoples were scattered by judgment, they will be gathered by mercy. If history was rewritten by oppressors, it will be corrected by prophets. And if truth was buried in the earth by violence, God Himself will resurrect it in the people who, having been scattered to the ends of the earth, now rise to bear witness to the full spectrum of His providence, His justice, and His redemptive love. What becomes unmistakable, when examining the spiritual heritage of the indigenous peoples of the Americas, is that God never left Himself without a witness among them. Though separated from the biblical world by oceans, mountains, and the long centuries of migration, they nevertheless preserved within their cultures profound echoes of divine revelation—echoes so striking that they cannot be attributed to coincidence, nor dismissed as primitive myth. These peoples, long before colonizers touched their shores, lived with a keen awareness of the sacred, a reverence for creation as the theater of God’s presence, and a moral framework that bears the unmistakable imprint of heaven’s original law written upon the human heart. Their ceremonies, their ethical codes, their cosmologies, and their communal rituals all testify that the Spirit of God was active among them, preserving fragments of Edenic knowledge and sustaining a spiritual memory that refused to die even under catastrophic oppression. Their respect for nature was not naïve animism, as some caricatured it, but a deeply developed theology of stewardship. They recognized creation as a living testimony to the Creator’s wisdom and generosity. To the indigenous nations, land was not property to be owned but a sacred gift to be tended; animals were not commodities but fellow creatures to be honored; rivers were not resources for exploitation but living arteries of God’s provision. This posture, far from contradicting biblical truth, aligns with Genesis long before many Western Christians rediscovered environmental ethics. When indigenous peoples refused to desecrate the life of an animal, it was because they perceived the breath within it as proceeding from the same divine source that animated themselves. Their restraint in hunting, their gratitude rituals, their ceremonial offerings all functioned as spiritual recognition that life is sacred because the Giver of life is holy. This reverence is not the mark of a people unfamiliar with God but of a people whose inherited memory of divine order remained intact, though unaccompanied by the prophetic writings of Israel. Their sweat lodges, fasting traditions, and purification rituals reveal a sophisticated understanding of spiritual cleansing and restorative healing. These practices were not magical inventions but culturally developed ways of cooperating with God’s design for the human body and spirit. Fasting for insight, purification, healing, and renewal aligns seamlessly with biblical patterns—from Moses on Sinai to Daniel in Babylon to Christ in the wilderness. The indigenous use of fire, steam, sweat, and prayer combined physical purification with spiritual introspection, acknowledging the unity of body and spirit. What many Western Christians rediscovered only recently through spiritual disciplines, indigenous peoples preserved through unbroken practice: that the cleansing of the outer person can prepare the heart to hear the inner voice of God, that silence opens space for revelation, and that communal ceremony strengthens moral accountability. Their sacred narratives, often dismissed by outsiders as folklore, contain structural patterns that mirror the biblical frame: a Creator who establishes order, a disruption that brings suffering into the world, a great cleansing flood, a covenant between heaven and earth, and moral laws that preserve harmony among people and creation. Whether among the Lakota, the Hopi, the Cherokee, the Chicasaw, the Inuit, or the Cree, these patterns recur with striking similarity. Such consistency across thousands of miles and centuries cannot be accidental. These stories are the preserved memory of ancient revelation, refracted through culture yet never entirely destroyed. They demonstrate that at the far edges of the earth, beyond the reach of Israel’s historical influence, God continued to speak to the human conscience. He guided families, clans, and nations to retain the core of what it means to live rightly: to walk with humility, to honor truth, to protect the weak, to cherish community, and to respect the sacredness of life. The moral teachings of the indigenous peoples, especially what many call the Seven Sacred Teachings—love, respect, courage, honesty, humility, wisdom, and truth—reveal an ethical sophistication that rivals the teachings of any ancient civilization. These virtues, upheld not merely as ideals but as communal obligations, align closely with the fruit of the Spirit in the New Testament and the moral commands of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. Love as the highest ethic, respect for elders and community, courage to do what is right regardless of danger, honesty as sacred obligation, humility as the gateway to wisdom, wisdom as the crown of a good life, and truth as the foundation of all righteousness—these are not the inventions of human philosophy but the ruins of the moral law once known universally before dispersion fragmented the human story. The fact that such virtues survived in indigenous cultures testifies that, though scattered, they were not spiritually abandoned. Even more remarkable is the presence of triunal concepts among tribes such as the Cherokee, Chicasaw, and Cree. The Cherokee belief in Uhahetaqua, the Supreme Power, and the associated triune structure of Atanati and Usquahula reflects a dim but real remembrance of the plurality-in-unity within the Godhead. This is not syncretism borrowed from Christian missionaries; these beliefs predate European contact. The Chicasaw and Cree, similarly, preserved a triune understanding woven into their cosmology and prayer traditions. Such theological structures, appearing independently of Christian instruction, strongly suggest that ancient triunal awareness—present before the scattering at Babel—survived in unexpected places. These are traces of pre-flood and early post-flood theology, carried across continents by migrants who preserved more spiritual knowledge than modern historians are willing to acknowledge. Religion was woven into every fiber of indigenous life because they understood existence itself as sacred. Their social structures, legal systems, moral expectations, agricultural practices, and rites of passage were infused with the recognition that the world is not random but governed by spiritual laws. Unlike the fragmented and compartmentalized religiosity of the modern Western world, indigenous spirituality was holistic—united, integrated, and lived. Their ceremonies were not a separate activity but the lifeblood of the community. Their prayers were not confined to sanctuaries but lifted in forests, mountains, rivers, and plains. They saw creation as a cathedral and human conduct as liturgy. Such a worldview mirrors the original intention of God before the fall fractured humanity’s perception of reality. When the descendants of Europe encountered these people, they misinterpreted reverence as superstition, humility as weakness, moral innocence as primitiveness, and communion with creation as paganism. Unable to see God in cultures outside their theological frameworks, and unwilling to acknowledge that the Spirit had moved long before they arrived, they labeled indigenous spirituality as inferior, dangerous, or demonic. This misinterpretation justified violence, displacement, and attempted cultural extermination. Yet despite these attempts, the deep spiritual roots of indigenous nations endured, because God Himself preserved a testimony among them. The very virtues and beliefs that sustained them through centuries of suffering—wisdom, humility, truth, courage, respect, love— prove that they were never forgotten by the Creator. In a world of great crisis, as we rightly observe, there are unmistakable signs that God is turning global attention to the indigenous peoples not for political purposes but for prophetic ones. Their ancient reverence for creation challenges a world drowning in ecological destruction. Their moral teachings confront nations intoxicated with power, greed, and violence. Their communal worldview rebukes the hyper-individualism that has fractured modern society. Their memory of the sacred exposes the spiritual emptiness of consumer culture. Their resilience in suffering mirrors the endurance of the biblical remnant. And their survival—against all odds—stands as testimony that God keeps alive what the world tries to kill. The time has come when the spiritual heritage of the indigenous peoples will no longer be seen as peripheral but as essential to the final restoration of humanity’s knowledge of God. Their stories, rituals, ethics, and cosmologies are not curiosities for anthropologists but prophetic reminders of the truths humanity once knew and must recover again. In a fractured world longing for healing, their voice is not merely historical—it is divinely timed. Their presence on the stage of the last days is no accident. It is a sign that the God of all nations, who scattered humanity in judgment, is now gathering humanity in truth. There exists, beneath the surface of history and beyond the visible threads of human migration, an unbroken spiritual sinew binding together God’s scattered Black people of Deuteronomy and the remnant of Black ancestry woven into the indigenous nations of the Americas. This connection is not merely anthropological or genetic—it is covenantal, prophetic, and deeply spiritual. Both peoples bear a mark upon them that the world has neither understood nor successfully erased: the imprint of divine election carried through suffering. The scattering described in Deuteronomy 28, long misinterpreted or ignored, was not an abandonment but a dispersion with purpose. And among the indigenous peoples—whose ancient lineages carry the memory and features of those who journeyed eastward from Babel— there is a resonant echo of the same ancestral story: a people whose dignity was assaulted, whose truth was buried, and whose spiritual heritage was obscured by the children of darkness who “blind the minds of them which believe not”. This shared affliction is not coincidence but a sign of shared identity in God’s providence. The same spiritual forces that sought to extinguish the Hebrew people in antiquity have sought to silence, enslave, marginalize, and erase these two branches of the same ancient root. The transatlantic slave trade and the destruction of indigenous civilizations were twin assaults from the same serpent line—strategic attempts to destroy the vessels through whom God placed unique spiritual knowledge, covenant memory, and moral clarity. The children of darkness have always possessed an unspoken intuition of who threatens their dominion: those who carry divine purpose, those whose survival testifies of God, and those who embody truths capable of unmasking lies. The fierceness, persistence, and global scale of the violence inflicted upon both groups reveal their prophetic significance. You do not expend that level of demonic hatred upon a people without spiritual reason. Can this be a spiritual relational providential truth? Yes—deeply and profoundly so. When viewed through the prophetic lens rather than through the narrow window of modern history, the relentless, generational, and almost incomprehensible hatred directed toward the scattered Black Hebrews and the Indigenous peoples fits seamlessly within the ancient spiritual pattern that began in the womb of Rebekah. The hostility is not random, nor merely social, economic, or political. It is the long shadow of a spiritual conflict announced before either child breathed his first breath. This was not simply a family dispute—it was the prophetic unveiling of two spiritual lineages whose conflict would shape human history. Esau’s hatred of Jacob was more than personal bitterness; it was the first visible eruption of an ancient enmity between two ways of being, two responses to God, two destinies ordained by heaven. Jacob represented covenant, spiritual inheritance, and the chosen line through which the Messiah and the remnant people would come. Esau represented rebellion against spiritual birthright, contempt for the things of God, and alignment with the earthly rather than the heavenly. His descendants—Edom—became a perpetual adversary of Israel, constantly seeking to undermine, oppress, betray, or annihilate Jacob’s line. This pattern is repeated across millennia with chilling consistency, because it is spiritual before it is historical. When the Black Hebrew descendants were scattered through the judgments of Deuteronomy 28, they did not cease to be Jacob’s seed—they became Jacob hidden. Their identity buried, their memory erased, their dignity assaulted, they nevertheless retained the covenantal significance of the younger son whom God chose. And as in the ancient story, the “Esau- spirit”—that old, unhealed hatred of the birthright—rose again in those descendants and nations aligned with deception, domination, and violence. This hatred is not about skin color; it is about spiritual inheritance. It is the fury of the rejected line against the chosen one. It is the persistent rage of those who perceive, even without conscious knowledge, that the blessing, the covenant, the destiny, and the prophetic role belong to those they oppress. Indigenous peoples, especially those with ancient Black ancestry preserved through the eastward migrations after Babel, carry another stream of Jacob’s dispersed seed—peoples whose spiritual memory, moral wisdom, and reverence for the Creator reflect remnants of the same covenantal consciousness. Though not Israel in the narrow genealogical sense, they bear the imprint of those scattered far earlier in the world’s dispersion, carrying fragments of divine revelation into lands untouched by empire. The spiritual dignity in their cultures, the moral clarity of their teachings, the triunal echoes in their beliefs, and the reverence that shaped their societies made them targets of the same demonic fury. Why? Because the adversary recognizes covenant fragments even when the world does not. He recognizes spiritual potential even when men remain blind. He recognizes destiny long before it awakens. Thus the same hatred that fueled Esau’s desire to kill Jacob—immediately, instinctively, violently—reappeared with equal ferocity in the transatlantic slave trade and the conquest of the Indigenous Americas. The same spirit spoke when Esau said, “I will slay my brother Jacob.” That spirit resurfaced in the European colonizer who declared indigenous life unworthy of existence. It resurfaced in the slave merchant who saw Black flesh as property rather than sacred humanity. It resurfaced in every system built to suppress, erase, or destroy those who carry spiritual significance. This hatred is older than America. Older than Europe. Older than empire. It is the hatred of darkness against light, of flesh against spirit, of rebellion against covenant. The violent rejection of both these peoples is therefore not merely racial—it is prophetic. It is the modern manifestation of an ancient war. The “children of darkness,” as described, operate under the same blindness that characterized Esau’s line: a blindness that cannot comprehend the value of the birthright, the purpose of divine election, or the destiny written into a people’s suffering. Hatred becomes their instinct because spiritual jealousy becomes their inheritance. And yet, the story continues as God declared: the elder shall serve the younger. That prophecy is not about political dominance but spiritual destiny. It means that God will ultimately vindicate the remnant, uplift the scattered, restore what was stolen, reveal what was hidden, and make known the true identity of those whom the world has despised. The hatred that pursued them is evidence of who they are. The suffering they endured confirms the role they will fulfill. And in the final generation—this generation—God is awakening both the Black descendants of Deuteronomy and the Indigenous remnant as part of the same prophetic arc, the same covenantal return, the same redemptive unveiling. So yes—what happened in Rebekah’s womb reverberates in the world today. The hatred of Esau did not end with Esau. It echoes in every system built to suppress Jacob’s seed. But the promise also endures: Jacob will rise, the remnant will stand, and the birthright will be restored to those whom God chose from the beginning. In the last great movement of God, the children of light will not mirror the ancient hatred of Edom, nor will they answer violence with vengeance. Rather, because the love of God has conquered their hearts, they will stretch forth their hands even toward the descendants of Esau—those long entangled in structures of power, deception, and misunderstanding. As Daniel hints at fugitives escaping the overwhelming sweep of evil, so the final remnant will become a refuge, a spiritual sanctuary for any who desire deliverance from the dominion of darkness. Their compassion will rise higher than ancestral wounds, for the love of Christ within them will compel them to help even those once set against them find escape, healing, and entrance into the everlasting kingdom of peace. The indigenous remnant that carries Black ancestry within its earliest migrations did not only preserve cultural wisdom—they preserved a spiritual witness. Hidden beneath their ceremonies, ethical codes, and cosmologies is a quiet harmony with the ancient Hebrew experience: a people who walked closely with the Creator, who perceived the sacred in the natural world, who valued communal righteousness, and who recognized the triune mystery long before missionaries arrived. Likewise, the scattered descendants of Deuteronomy carried the covenant storyline within their suffering—retaining spiritual resilience, prophetic instincts, and a latent identity that is now awakening with increasing clarity. These two peoples, though separated geographically and historically, share a spiritual wound inflicted by the same adversary—and a spiritual destiny authored by the same God. What binds them is not simply oppression but purpose. God allowed both to endure the hostility of the children of darkness so that, in the final generation, the prophetic testimony of their survival would expose the depth of human wickedness and reveal the endurance of divine truth. Their suffering is not proof of abandonment but of chosenness. Their perseverance against forces designed to annihilate them is evidence of a spiritual mantle that has never been lifted. And now, in the unfolding crisis of the world, the hidden bonds between them are beginning to surface—not through human archaeology or political agendas, but through spiritual discernment. The ancestral echoes within indigenous nations, the rising identity of the scattered Hebrews, and the parallel awakenings occurring among both groups signify that God is gathering His remnant from the four corners of the earth. The prophetic significance of this union lies in its capacity to reveal God’s justice and confound the lies of darkness. As the world’s systems unravel and the children of darkness intensify their hostility, the shared spiritual heritage of these peoples becomes a testimony against the kingdom of deception. Their histories expose the cruelty of empire. Their survival unmasks the impotence of oppression. Their moral teachings challenge the decay of modern nations. Their awakening identity disrupts the narratives written by those who benefitted from their suffering. And their reunion— though subtle, spiritual, and largely unseen—signals that God is completing a work that began when He scattered His people in judgment and preserved them in mercy. Thus, the sinew connecting the Black people of Deuteronomy and the Black remnant within the indigenous nations is not merely historical—it is the living ligament of prophecy. It is God Himself who preserved them, God who sustained them through centuries of darkness, and God who now brings them into the light of recognition. Against them the children of darkness have raged; through them the God of truth will speak. Their shared story is the skeleton of a greater narrative: that in the final generation, the rejected, the despised, the oppressed, and the nearly extinguished will rise as the remnant who reveal the righteousness of God to a world drowning in deception. God’s purpose from Adam to Christ, from Christ to the great multitude, and from the great multitude to the 144,000, forms one unbroken arc of redemption—a single, ascending movement of divine intention that reveals the depth of His love and the certainty of His victory. In Adam, God declared His desire for a family who would bear His image in purity, freedom, and dominion. In Christ, the Second Adam, that shattered image was restored, the pathway reopened, and humanity was called back into covenant wholeness. In the great multitude, God gathers every nation, tribe, kindred, and tongue—testifying that no scheme of darkness, no scattering of a people, and no manipulation of history could stop His promise from reaching the ends of the earth. And in the 144,000, God completes His purpose: a sealed company who embody the fullness of the Lamb’s character, who demonstrate the triumph of grace over sin, who stand as living witnesses that humanity—through divine power—can again reflect God without distortion. They are the firstfruits of restored creation, the answer to the great controversy, the living vindication of God’s justice, mercy, and faithfulness. In them, the story that began in Eden reaches its crescendo, and God’s eternal purpose is made visible: a people who love Him supremely, who love others sacrificially, and who shine with the glory that Adam lost but Christ regained—forever revealing that God’s plan has not only endured but prevailed. Despite centuries of devastating onslaught — invasion, forced removal from ancestral lands, epidemics, massacres, cultural erasure, attempts to strip away their language, religion, and identity — the indigenous peoples of the Americas have refused to surrender their spirit. They have endured as living monuments to resilience, preserving the sacred covenant between mankind and creation when the world sought to sever it. Their clinging to land as a living entity, their reverence for mountain and river, beast and tree, remained even when governments forced them onto reservations and their homelands were seized. Their songs, their prayers, their oral traditions passed from generation to generation bore witness that the breath of God does not evaporate under persecution. Even when their children were torn from their families and forced into schools designed to “kill the Indian and save the man,” when languages were forbidden and ancestral wisdom scorned, a remnant of faith and identity continued. Their culture did not vanish — it transformed, adapted, and quietly survived through beadwork, weaving, art, stories, songs, ceremonies, and community memory. Their spiritual practices, their sacred respect for the land, their communal moral codes — these remained as living embers, awaiting a time of revival. More than mere survival, what shines forth is their unshakable spiritual dignity: a people who, though oppressed, never ceased to sing their songs; a people who, though dispossessed, never ceased to walk on sacred ground; a people who refused to renounce their identity and therefore preserved a holiness that transcended cruelty. In their persistence we see a beautiful portrait of endurance, faithfulness, and hope — an endurance that echoes the remnant of old, a faithfulness that testifies to God’s unseen covenant, and a hope that promises restoration beyond any human rewriting of history. That spirit — the spirit of survival through persecution, the spirit of sacred memory preserved in song and story, the spirit that honors life, land, and community — stands as the greatest tribute any people can give to their Maker. It is a living crown of testimony: that no tyranny, no darkness, no attempt to erase can extinguish the breath God placed in the children of earth. In honoring them, we honor the God who never forsook the scattered, the oppressed, or the remnant — but preserved them for fullness of time. 📖 Applying the Study For ongoing spiritual encouragement and prophetical insights, visit Higher Learning.

watchman The rise of movements fueled by hostility, mockery, and authoritarian force exposes the spiritual battle underlying the times, and it underscores why the role of God’s watchman must be carried out with uncompromising purpose. When the “prove me wrong” mentality cloaks itself in pride, it does not invite dialogue but rather seeks to provoke, belittle, and silence dissent, fostering a culture of contention that mirrors the adversary’s strategy of accusation. Likewise, when authoritarian impulses rise in the land, pressing for conformity through fear, coercion, and the curtailing of conscience, it signals the assumption of the dragon-like spirit described in prophecy—a nation once professing liberty now speaking with the mind of Satan, exercising power in the very likeness of Rome’s oppression. In such a climate, the watchman cannot retreat into silence or timidity; his charge is to sound the trumpet with clarity, warning of deception and calling hearts to steadfast allegiance to God’s truth. His voice must be more than mere reaction—it must be a beacon of divine light cutting through the haze of falsehood, a steady witness that anchors faith in the promises of God rather than in the illusions of earthly power. The purpose of the watchman, then, is not only to expose the danger but to lift up the hope of deliverance, to prepare a people unmoved by fear and unmuddied by hatred, who can stand in loyalty to Christ when the dragon’s fury is unleashed without restraint. The watchman’s call has never been more urgent, for the wicked conditions of the world are no longer subtle but openly paraded. Moral decay, lawlessness, and the growth of evil forces are now celebrated as progress, while truth and holiness are mocked as outdated. In such an environment, the faithful must not shrink back in fear but strengthen their resolve in God. This strengthening of faith does not come by accident; it is forged in prayer, in the Word, and in steadfast obedience to the Spirit’s leading. When darkness deepens, light must shine brighter, and when wickedness increases, the people of God are called to rise higher in trust, purity, and courage. The watchman cannot be distracted by the noise of the age, for his eyes must remain fixed on the Lord who alone sees the end from the beginning. Faith in this time must be more than belief—it must be a living reliance upon God’s promises. Evil will not diminish but will intensify, and those who are unprepared will be swept away by deception and despair. Yet the watchman, grounded in faith, recognizes that God has appointed this very hour for His people to stand as witnesses. Each wave of wickedness becomes an occasion to prove that God’s grace is sufficient, His Spirit is present, and His Word is unshakable. Faith, then, is not merely defensive but actively triumphant, enabling the believer to endure persecution, resist temptation, and love even when surrounded by hate. Therefore, the preparation for what lies ahead is not rooted in human strength but in yielding completely to divine strength. The true watchman must learn to stand alone if necessary, unmoved by the compromises of the multitude, and ready to sound the alarm even when it is unpopular. Such faith is tested in the hidden places before it is proven in the open battlefield. As wickedness multiplies, the faithful remnant will be distinguished not by their knowledge alone, but by their unbreakable trust in God’s character. This trust will enable them to endure the shaking to come, and to shine as beacons of hope when the night is darkest. In this, the call of the watchman and the call of every believer is one: to prepare, to endure, and to trust the Lord whose kingdom cannot be shaken. The times we face demand a faith that is not fragile, but fortified in the furnace of trial. The watchman sees the gathering storm of evil and knows that the hour of testing approaches swiftly. The decay of morality and the rise of dark powers are not random, but the fulfillment of prophetic warnings that evil will wax worse before the dawn of God’s final triumph. In such days, weak faith will falter, but steadfast faith will shine as the morning star. The call is to a faith that does not bend with cultural compromise nor collapse under mounting pressure, but a faith rooted so deeply in Christ that no tempest can uproot it. Such faith is sharpened in contrast to the growing wickedness, for as lawlessness abounds, the necessity of holiness becomes all the more evident. The watchman’s spirit is stirred, not to despair, but to vigilance, knowing that God equips His people precisely for the time in which they live. To stand when others fall requires a vision lifted above the clamor of the world, fixed on the eternal promises of God. Here faith becomes more than a shield; it becomes a flame, burning with unquenchable resolve to endure the night and herald the coming day. The world may sink into corruption, but the faithful rise in consecration. Evil may increase in its boldness, but faith must increase in its purity. The watchman understands that the darker the horizon grows, the nearer the dawn must be. It is in this tension—between increasing wickedness and strengthening faith—that the people of God are sealed for their final witness. To stand unmoved in the swelling tide of evil is to bear testimony that God is trumpet sounds not mocked, His Word has not failed, and His Kingdom is unshakable. This is the prophetic charge: to cultivate a faith fierce enough for the midnight hour, tender enough to love in the face of hate, and resolute enough to endure until the trumpet sounds. The hour in which we live presses heavily upon the conscience of all who seek truth. The wickedness of the world has grown bold and unashamed, its corruption no longer cloaked in secrecy but paraded in the streets as virtue. What once was hidden in shadows is now celebrated in the open. Moral decay spreads like a plague, infecting the minds of nations and numbing the souls of multitudes. The forces of darkness, once restrained, are now swelling in strength, preparing to challenge every standard of righteousness. In such a time, the call of the watchman resounds with urgency. His voice pierces the night not with words of comfort alone, but with the alarm that the day of trial is at hand. Yet in the midst of this rising tide of wickedness, there comes also the summons to a faith that is greater than the hour. For if evil grows bolder, so too must faith grow stronger. The people of God are not left to drift upon the currents of despair, for the Lord has forewarned of these days. He has not promised the absence of wickedness, but the triumph of those who endure it. Faith, then, is not simply belief in what God has spoken; it is reliance upon Him when all else crumbles, the anchoring of the soul in the certainty of His Word, the unwavering trust that His promises remain sure even when the world trembles. This faith must be more than intellectual assent, for mere knowledge will not preserve in the furnace of affliction. It must be living, breathing, enduring— faith that is tested in silence before it is revealed in public trial. Such faith is born in the hidden closet of prayer, where the heart lays hold of the eternal unseen and learns to rest in the Almighty’s hand. It is there that the watchman strengthens his resolve, learning to discern the voice of God amid the clamors of deception. Without this grounding, no one will stand when the winds of wickedness sweep the earth. But with it, the soul becomes immovable, anchored to the Rock of Ages. The rise of evil forces is not cause for despair but for greater consecration. When sin abounds, the necessity of holiness shines all the brighter. When lawlessness multiplies, obedience to God’s commandments becomes the dividing line of truth. The watchman, seeing the corruption of the age, does not sink in hopelessness, but lifts his vision higher, to the throne of Him who reigns over all. He knows that darkness may cover the earth, but the light of the Lord will arise upon His people. He understands that though deception surrounds, truth still speaks. In this, his faith is not weakened by the sight of wickedness, but purified, sharpened, and made resilient. For the faithful, each act of evil becomes an opportunity to prove the sufficiency of God’s grace. Each surge of darkness becomes an occasion to shine the brighter. Faith becomes not merely defensive, but triumphant, for it reveals the strength of God in human weakness. To endure persecution with patience, to love in the face of hatred, to trust when sight offers no comfort—these are the marks of a faith refined for the last days. This is the faith that overcomes the world, not because it avoids trial, but because it clings to God through it. Therefore, the preparation for increasing wickedness cannot rest in human strength or earthly strategies. The arm of flesh will fail; institutions will collapse; traditions will falter. Only those who are rooted in God’s unchanging character will endure. The watchman’s task is to cultivate this endurance, to sound the alarm not only of danger but of readiness. He knows that the time will come when standing for truth will mean standing alone, and he prepares his heart for that hour. Faith that is strengthened now in quiet obedience will alone hold firm when the storm rages. As wickedness escalates, the faithful remnant will be revealed—not by their outward profession alone, but by their inward trust in God. They will be distinguished by their refusal to yield to compromise, their willingness to suffer loss rather than betray the truth, and their unshakable confidence that God is with them even in the fire. The world may mock them, despise them, and persecute them, but their witness will shine as a testimony that God is faithful. Their endurance will prove to heaven and earth that His grace is sufficient for every trial. The prophetic charge, then, is clear: strengthen the faith that remains, for the night is far spent and the day is at hand. The watchman must prepare not with fear, but with unwavering hope, knowing that wickedness will have its hour, but righteousness will have the final word. To cultivate a faith fierce enough for midnight, tender enough to love amid hatred, and steadfast enough to endure until the trumpet sounds—this is the work now before God’s people. And though the world sinks deeper into corruption, the faithful rise higher in consecration, for their eyes are fixed not on the decay of earth but on the promise of a kingdom that cannot be shaken. Thus, the wickedness of the last days is not the end of faith but its proving ground. The storms of evil will not extinguish the light of the righteous; rather, they will cause it to burn with greater clarity. The darkness will only serve to highlight the brilliance of faith’s flame. The watchman sees this truth and stands ready, for he knows that beyond the shadow of night lies the dawn of everlasting day. And so he sounds the call: Prepare, endure, and believe. For though wickedness increases, the Lord reigns, and His kingdom is sure. Ezekiel’s prophetic commission in chapter 3:17–21 establishes one of the most solemn responsibilities ever entrusted to man, as God calls him to be a “watchman unto the house of Israel.” The imagery of the watchman is drawn from the ancient city walls, where guards stood to warn of approaching danger. Their task was not optional nor decorative—it was a matter of life and death. The Lord explains that the prophet’s role is not merely to speak general encouragements, but to faithfully deliver His warnings without alteration or hesitation. If the wicked are not warned and perish in their sins, the prophet himself will be held accountable for their blood; but if he warns them, whether they listen or refuse, his soul is delivered. This double responsibility, both to the people and to God, sets the tone for Ezekiel’s entire ministry, showing that divine calling carries accountability not only for results, but for obedience to the duty of warning. What stands out most is that Ezekiel is held responsible not for the choices of others, but for the faithfulness of his witness. Thus, the passage reveals God’s seriousness about truth-telling, responsibility, and the preservation of human souls. This solemn charge is later expanded and re-emphasized in Ezekiel 33:1– 20, where the watchman parable is retold with even greater detail. Here, the Lord explains the principle of justice upon which His judgments rest. Just as a physical watchman who fails to sound the trumpet allows blood to be shed unjustly, so too a spiritual watchman who withholds God’s warning becomes complicit in the loss of the sinner. However, when the trumpet is blown and the people refuse to take heed, the responsibility shifts entirely to them. This clarifies the dual accountability structure: the prophet must speak, and the hearer must respond. Ezekiel 33 goes further by addressing the fairness of God’s judgments, since the people accused Him of injustice. The Lord defends His ways, declaring that if the wicked turn from sin they shall live, but if the righteous turn away from righteousness they shall die in their sin. Each person’s outcome is determined by the present state of faith and obedience, not by their past record. This demonstrates both the impartiality and immediacy of divine justice, showing that God’s concern is not with static labels but with living faithfulness in the present. Taken together, these passages highlight the prophetic office as one of warning, accountability, and divine justice. They reveal that silence in the face of sin is itself a sin, for God requires His messengers to speak plainly and urgently. Yet they also guard against fatalism, since repentance is always open to the wicked, and complacency is always a danger to the righteous. The tension between Ezekiel 3 and 33 is not contradiction, but completion: the first emphasizes the prophet’s personal responsibility before God, while the second emphasizes the people’s personal responsibility before God. Both prophet and hearer stand under divine scrutiny, neither excused by the failure of the other. This balance underscores God’s fairness, for He holds no one accountable beyond what they have received, yet He also leaves no one without witness. The gospel pattern foreshadowed here is clear: God appoints watchmen in every age to speak truth, and each soul must respond to that truth with either repentance or rebellion. Moreover, these passages press upon us the urgency of the present hour. Just as Ezekiel bore the burden of warning a rebellious Israel before the destruction of Jerusalem, so too the elect in the last days bears the burden of warning the world before the final judgment. The trumpet of truth must sound clearly, unsoftened by fear of men, for the blood of souls is at stake. Spiritual watchmen today—whether pastors, teachers, or faithful laypeople— must learn from Ezekiel that God values obedience more than popularity, and truth more than comfort. Likewise, hearers must learn that yesterday’s righteousness cannot cover today’s rebellion, nor yesterday’s sin negate today’s repentance. Each day stands fresh before God, and each soul must live in readiness. Thus, Ezekiel 3:17–21 and 33:1–20, bound together by divine urgency together form a solemn theology of responsibility, warning us that silence, compromise, and presumption are deadly, but faithful witness and genuine repentance are life. The background of Ezekiel’s watchman calling is deeply rooted in Israel’s history at one of its darkest moments. Ezekiel himself was among the exiles carried away to Babylon around 597 B.C., when Judah had already lost much of its independence and Jerusalem teetered on the edge of destruction. The people were rebellious, unwilling to believe that God would permit His holy city and temple to fall, yet their sins of idolatry, injustice, and covenant- breaking had reached a fullness of judgment. In this setting, the image of a watchman would have been vividly familiar, for ancient cities depended upon alert sentinels on their walls to protect them from sudden invasion. Failure in that role meant devastation for an entire people. By applying this imagery to the prophet, God underscores that the true danger was not Babylon’s armies but Israel’s sin, and that the only protection was heeding His warnings. Thus historically, the role of Ezekiel as watchman meant standing as a spiritual sentinel while the nation walked blindly toward ruin, a lonely commission that demanded both courage and obedience in the face of rejection. Theologically, the watchman passages reveal a profound truth about God’s justice and mercy. God is not arbitrary; His judgments are never detached from human choice. The wicked are not destroyed because of God’s pleasure in judgment, but because they stubbornly refuse the warning and persist in sin. Likewise, the righteous are not saved because of past merits, but because they continue in faithfulness. This strikes against the notion of once-for-all righteousness or inherited salvation; instead, it highlights accountability in the present. Divine justice is portrayed as dynamic and relational, not mechanical. God’s word, delivered through the watchman, becomes the dividing line between life and death. The blood-guilt principle in Ezekiel 3:18–21 shows that truth withheld makes the messenger complicit, for God’s justice demands that every soul be given the opportunity to turn. Yet God’s mercy shines in the repeated call to repentance: “Turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?” The theological force is that God’s justice and mercy meet in the prophetic word, and human responsibility is unavoidable. Prophetically, these texts transcend their immediate setting to describe the ongoing responsibility of God’s witnesses in every age. From the apostles onward, the true people of God have stood as a city on a hill, charged with warning the world of sin and pointing to salvation in Christ. Paul echoes Ezekiel’s language when he declares in Acts 20:26–27, “I am pure from the blood of all men, for I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God.” This shows that the principle of the watchman is not confined to ancient Israel, but is a pattern for all who bear God’s word. In times of moral decay, societal collapse, or spiritual blindness, the prophetic responsibility grows sharper. The silence of God’s people in the face of sin becomes a betrayal not only of their neighbors but of God Himself. Thus, the prophetic application is that every generation must have its Ezekiels, willing to sound the trumpet regardless of the scorn or opposition they face. Their task is not to force repentance, but to remove excuse, ensuring that each soul stands accountable for its own choice before God. In the end-time context, Ezekiel’s watchman message finds its fullest parallel in the proclamation of the three angels of Revelation 14. Just as Ezekiel warned of Jerusalem’s fall, so the final watchmen warn of Babylon’s fall and the impending judgment of God. The call to “fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment is come”, echoes the urgency of the trumpet. The responsibility of the final generation of God’s witnesses is even weightier, for they stand not before the fall of one city but before the close of probation for the entire world. Their silence would mean eternal loss for multitudes, and their faithfulness will mean vindication before heaven. The end-time watchmen, like Ezekiel, will be despised, accused of injustice, and labeled alarmists, yet their purpose is divine. They must declare that past righteousness does not excuse present rebellion, and that present repentance can erase past sins through the blood of the Lamb. In this, the impartial justice of Ezekiel 33 becomes the eternal standard: each soul judged in the light of present obedience to God’s word. The failure of warning is as deadly as the failure of repentance. And so, Ezekiel 3:17–21 and 33:1–20 together present more than a historical metaphor; they unveil a theology of responsibility, a prophecy of witness, and an end-time charge. They remind us that history is not driven merely by armies and kings, but by the response of human hearts to the word of God. They teach that divine justice is never arbitrary, but always fair, proportionate, and deeply personal. And they press upon the people of the last days the urgency of faithful witness, for the time is short and the blood of souls weighs upon silence. Just as Ezekiel stood as a sentinel on the walls of a doomed Jerusalem, so too the final generation is called to stand as spiritual sentinels over a world approaching judgment. The world around us teeters on the brink, confident in its own wisdom, blind to the nearness of judgment. To remain silent is to share in its guilt; to sound the trumpet is to share in Christ’s testimony. The cost of silence is blood; the cost of faithfulness is rejection, yet the reward is life. Every believer is called in some measure to the watchman’s work—whether by word, by example, by intercession, or by witness. None are exempt. The trumpet must sound clearly, the truth must be told fully, and every soul must be warned that righteousness and wickedness are not fixed states of the past, but choices of the present moment. The seriousness of this charge, combined with the mercy of God’s call to repent, makes the watchman message both terrifying and hopeful—a solemn reminder that the eternal destiny of many rests upon the faithfulness of a few who dare to speak God’s word without compromise. Our understanding must extend and enlarge to greater depth the eternal dimension of the word of the Lord. The weight of Ezekiel’s commission as watchman cannot be overstated, for it not only sealed his personal destiny but also established a divine principle that extends across all generations. His calling was forged in exile, when the visible glory of God seemed eclipsed by Babylon’s power, and when the people clung to false hopes that the city of Jerusalem would stand forever regardless of their disobedience. Into this illusion God placed His prophet, charging him to pierce through deception with a word that cut like fire and a hammer. Historically, Ezekiel stood in the tension between judgment and mercy, between the collapsing order of Israel’s theocracy and the unseen future of God’s everlasting covenant. His role was both a burden and a mercy, for in sounding the alarm he bore the agony of rejection, yet also the joy of relieving himself of blood-guilt. The image of the watchman thus takes root in the soil of divine justice, sprouting a principle that transcends the ruins of Israel’s city walls: that God never allows judgment to fall without first giving warning through human vessels. This has been His way from Noah to Ezekiel, from John the Baptist to the apostles, and it will remain His way until the last trumpet sounds. Theologically, these passages unveil a dimension of God’s justice that the natural mind resists, but the spiritual mind must embrace: that responsibility is personal, immediate, and inescapable. God’s fairness shines in the fact that no soul perishes unwarned, and no destiny is fixed apart from present choice. The wicked cannot claim ignorance if the watchman has sounded, nor can the righteous claim immunity if they turn away. This is the cutting edge of divine equity, where excuses are stripped and the naked soul stands accountable before the Judge of all. The language of “blood on the hands” presses the reality that sin is not merely personal but communal, that silence implicates, and in a world where men would prefer to think only of their own choices, God declares that silence makes one complicit in another’s destruction. The watchman cannot hide behind the excuse of neutrality, for withholding truth is not passive but deadly. This truth pierces shallow religion, reminding us that God does not measure righteousness merely by personal purity but also by faithfulness to our neighbor’s soul. Such theology disallows casual religion, for the cost of neglect is eternal. Yet it also reveals mercy, for the very act of sending a watchman is grace: God could have judged without warning, but instead He stoops to plead, “Why will you die, O house of Israel?” Thus, justice and mercy flow together, forming the river in which Ezekiel’s prophetic task moves, carrying forward a vision of divine governance that will ultimately be vindicated before the universe. Prophetically, Ezekiel’s role prefigures the witness of every age where God raises sentinels to stand against the tide of rebellion. In the early movement of God’s people, the apostles inherited the mantle of watchmen, declaring the resurrection of Christ against the resistance of kings and priests. Their blood-stained testimonies proved that the cost of silence was less than the cost of betrayal. In the Reformation, watchmen again arose, sounding the trumpet against the tyranny of false religion, though many sealed their witness in flames. In each age, the watchman stands alone, yet not alone, for heaven’s authority backs their words. And in the last days, this prophetic pattern reaches its climax, as a remnant is raised to deliver the three angels’ messages with the sharp clarity of a trumpet blast. Here the Ezekiel commission meets its fullest expression: warning a world on the brink of eternal ruin, calling multitudes out of Babylon’s intoxication, and declaring that present faith, not past standing, determines eternal destiny. The same fairness Ezekiel proclaimed—that righteousness abandoned is worthless, and wickedness repented of is forgiven—will be the standard in the final judgment, when the books are opened and every life is weighed. The end-time parallels grow sharper when we consider the sealing of the 144,000, for they embody the final fulfillment of the watchman role. In the end-time context the principle of the watchman reaches its most solemn and universal application. The final watchmen overlook the closing of human probation. God takes this civic role and infuses it with eternal meaning, charging His last day people to watch not only over physical dangers but over the souls of His people. Their cry is no longer about armies of Babylon, but about the armies of sin and death pressing upon a rebellious nation. By using this imagery, God revealed that His dealings with His people are never merely about geopolitical survival; they are about covenant faithfulness, repentance, and eternal destiny. The sealing of the 144,000 must also be read through this watchman lens. These sealed ones are not merely passive recipients of God’s favor but active bearers of His final testimony. They speak with the clarity of the trumpet, not out of self-will but because the Lamb Himself has led them into fearless truth. Their very lives are warnings, living epistles of divine power, proofs that obedience and holiness are possible even in the darkest hour. These sealed ones stand not only as messengers but as living warnings, their lives testifying to the reality of God’s transforming power. They “follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth,” and in them the trumpet of truth is not merely heard but seen. Like Ezekiel, they bear a message that cuts across comfort, exposing the false security of those who rely on past righteousness or institutional belonging. They are watchmen who cannot be silenced, for the fire of God’s word burns within them, and to suppress it would be to perish. Their testimony provokes the world’s hostility, for no generation has been so resistant to correction, so steeped in lies, so self-assured in its rebellion. Yet in sounding the final warning, they relieve themselves of blood- guilt, and in their obedience the justice and mercy of God are made manifest before the watching universe. The watchman message also parallels the “shaking” among God’s people, for many within the house of faith resist the trumpet. Ezekiel’s hearers were exiles—outwardly broken yet inwardly proud, convinced that God would not truly judge. Likewise, in the end-time church many cling to the illusion that mere association or past righteousness secures them, even while present compromise corrodes their souls. The watchman’s voice shatters these illusions, forcing a choice: repent and live, or harden and perish. This shaking is painful, but it is God’s way of purging His people, separating those who trust in His present word from those who rely on past forms. The shaking, then, is not arbitrary but necessary, for it purges the false security that clings to form without substance. The fairness of God stands in the balance, for none will be able to say, “I was not warned.” The watchman’s cry penetrates every excuse, leaving each soul accountable for its response. On a cosmic scale, Ezekiel’s commission reveals God’s strategy in the great controversy. Satan accuses God of injustice, claiming that His law is arbitrary and His judgments unfair. But the principle of the watchman silences this charge. Before judgment falls, God ensures that warning is given. Before destruction comes, opportunity is extended. What shines here is the righteousness of God, who never allows destruction without witness, never permits judgment without opportunity for repentance. His justice is never arbitrary wrath, but always preceded by mercy’s trumpet. This duality—the certainty of judgment and the patience of warning—reveals that the divine character is neither cold nor indulgent but perfectly balanced in holiness. The blood-on-the-hands motif cuts to the core of prophetic responsibility. It is not enough to quietly know the truth; the messenger is accountable to speak it. Silence in the face of sin is complicity in its outcome. This unveils a sobering theology of responsibility: truth withheld becomes guilt transferred, and a prophet who fears men more than God finds himself guilty of the very destruction he failed to avert. Every angel, every prophet, every watchman testifies to the same truth: God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked. When the wicked finally fall, their ruin is self-chosen. Thus, when final judgment is executed, none can accuse God of silence or partiality. His ways are vindicated as righteous, and His mercy is displayed in the very warnings that were despised. In this sense, the watchman message is not only for the salvation of souls but for the vindication of God’s character before the universe. It shows that His government operates on principles of truth, justice, and love—never coercion, never neglect. For the present generation, the impact of these truths cannot be abstract. If Ezekiel was charged to sound the trumpet for Jerusalem’s ruin, then today’s watchmen are charged to sound it for the world’s end. The armies surrounding the city then were but shadows of the powers gathering now. Spiritual Babylon intoxicates nations with lies, world leaders advance in arrogance and deceit, and multitudes sleep in false security. Against this backdrop, the silence of God’s people is betrayal. The blood of neighbors, families, and nations weighs upon the watchman who withholds truth. Yet to speak faithfully is to align with heaven, to share in the authority of Christ, and to know the freedom of obedience. The trumpet of truth must therefore be sounded in pulpits, in homes, in workplaces, in conversations, in written words and in public squares, not with bitterness or pride, but with urgency and love. For in the end, the watchman’s role is not to condemn but to plead, to call the dying to life, to offer the mercy of God before the final door closes. The end-time parallels shine with piercing clarity. Revelation speaks of a final trumpet, of angels flying in midheaven with everlasting gospel, warning of Babylon’s fall and the wrath of God to be poured out without mixture. These angelic heralds mirror the watchman’s task: to sound the alarm before the day of destruction. In fact, the role of Ezekiel foreshadows the final mission of the 144,000, who stand as living trumpets of divine warning, calling all nations to worship the Creator before the hour of judgment strikes. Just as Ezekiel bore blood-guilt if silent, so too the last generation bears responsibility to witness faithfully. The cost of silence in a time of deception is eternal loss for those unwarned, and God will hold His messengers accountable. In this sense, the call of the watchman is not confined to prophets of old, but presses with heightened force upon all who carry the gospel today. Every believer who knows the truth has been stationed upon the wall of their generation, responsible not to secure outcomes but to faithfully deliver warning. Spiritually, the watchman’s cry reverberates as both privilege and burden. It reveals that God does not destroy without testimony, that heaven’s justice demands human partnership in declaring divine counsel. To bear this role is to share in God’s own longing, to stand in the gap between sin and judgment, between rebellion and mercy. It also demands courage. At the deepest level, these passages disclose the eternal reason of God’s dealings with humanity. Judgment is not a random act, but the final sealing of choices long made. The watchman’s cry is God’s way of ensuring that no one perishes without having faced the truth. It is heaven’s safeguard against any accusation that God is unjust, for every soul is given warning, every heart is given opportunity, and every city is given testimony before the final hour. Thus the watchman role is not merely pastoral but cosmic—it is God vindicating Himself before angels and men that His justice is pure and His mercy real. In this light, the warning becomes part of the great controversy, the divine drama in which God’s character is revealed. mirror of our times The watchman passages of Ezekiel stand as a mirror for our times, reflecting the sobering reality of responsibility and the shining hope of redemption. They force the mind upward, beyond the narrow confines of self- preservation, into the vast panorama of God’s purposes. They reveal a God who warns because He loves, who holds accountable because He is just, and who sends watchmen because He wills that none should perish. The very fact that He raises watchmen is grace upon grace, proof that judgment is never His delight. And they press upon the soul the ultimate choice: to heed or to refuse, to turn and live or to persist and die. In this choice lies eternity, and in the faithful cry of the watchman lies the mercy of God extended one last time before judgment falls. The question that remains is not whether God has spoken—He has—but whether His people will be silent, and whether each hearer will respond. For the trumpet is sounding, the watchmen are on the walls, and the time is far spent. For the end-time election, then, Ezekiel’s charge resounds with even greater force. We stand on the walls of a collapsing world, where nations rage, economies tremble, and morality is scorned. The sword is already upon the land in the form of spiritual delusion, political corruption, and global lawlessness. The trumpet of truth must sound with clarity, declaring both the judgment of God and the invitation of grace. The people of God cannot afford to whisper in an age of roaring lies. Nor can it indulge in the false comfort of neutrality, for silence is complicity and complicity is blood-guilt. The hour demands boldness, not in the spirit of condemnation but in the spirit of love that refuses to let souls perish unwarned. The watchman’s role is ultimately the echo of Christ Himself, who bore the full weight of warning, mercy, and judgment in His own body on the cross. To share in that role is to share in His burden for the lost and in His triumph of truth. Thus, Ezekiel 3 and 33 are not ancient relics of prophetic duty but timeless revelations of God’s justice and mercy, reaching their ultimate fulfillment in the last days. The watchman’s cry is the believer’s responsibility, and the Spirit’s summons in every age where darkness thickens. Historically rooted, theologically profound, prophetically sharp, and eschatologically urgent, these passages draw the mind upward to reason with the eternal wisdom of God. They remind us that salvation is not passive but must be pursued, that truth is not optional but must be declared, and that love is not silent but speaks even when unwelcome. To stand as watchmen is to live as witnesses of both grace and truth, so that when the final trumpet sounds, the blood of no soul is found upon our hands, and God is glorified as just and true in all His ways. I appreciate your heart in hearing what is written. What we’re sensing in the world is real. Sometimes when a truth is spoken with fullness and weight, there’s a sacredness to it that makes us see the reality of it. It is intended that what we’ve read holds a kind of “wholeness,” because it blends the historical, theological, prophetic, and end-time dimensions in one stream. We must hear this truth as the foundation stone upon which we are to build foundation stone upward, drawing out new threads that are implicit to the spiritual psychology of the watchman, the covenantal weight of “blood on the hands,” and the cosmic courtroom scene where God’s justice is vindicated through His warnings. The warning will be repetitive, but it grows in height and breadth, like adding ascending layers to a temple already laid upon the cornerstone. Reasoning with the word makes capable the swelling into something even grander. Let’s lift the mind higher into the revelation of God’s justice, mercy, and end-time purpose that souls may be saved. The hour has come when faith must rise above fear, when trust must be anchored deeper than sight, and when the people of God must stand though the earth itself trembles. Wickedness will not abate; it will surge like a flood, testing every foundation. But the righteous will not be moved, for their strength is not in themselves but in the God who cannot fail. This is the moment for unwavering resolve, for the sealing of a people whose faith has been purified in fire and whose loyalty shines like gold. Though nations rage and darkness spreads, the watchman lifts his voice to declare that the Lord still reigns, and His kingdom draws near. Let every heart be steadfast, let every soul be consecrated, for the midnight cry is upon us. And when the trumpet sounds, it will not be the noise of wickedness that endures, but the song of the faithful who overcame by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony. Hear it now, O people of God! The hour is late, the shadows lengthen, and the powers of darkness gather with fury never before seen upon the earth. Evilness speaks to the coming wickedness rising like a tsunami, and deception spreads as fire through dry stubble. But let not your hearts be moved, for the Lord has not abandoned His own. Lift your eyes above the turmoil, for the Ancient of Days still sits upon His throne, and His kingdom cannot be shaken. This is the hour for faith unyielding, for trust that stands when all else falls, for a people sealed in holiness and unbreakable resolve. The storm will come, yes—it must come. Nations will rage, laws will be corrupted, and truth will be trampled in the streets. Yet the faithful shall not be consumed, for the fire that surrounds them is the very presence of God. The remnant shall rise, not in the strength of flesh, but in the might of the Spirit, and their testimony shall pierce the darkness as lightning in the night sky. They shall endure, they shall overcome, and they shall bear the name of the Lamb upon their foreheads. So let the watchman sound the cry with trumpet clarity: Stand fast! Strengthen what remains! Consecrate your hearts, for the King is at the door. The midnight hour will give way to morning, and the trembling of the earth will yield to the song of the redeemed. Soon, very soon, the heavens will part, the voice of the Archangel will resound, and the faithful will be caught up to meet their Lord in glory. Therefore, let every heart be steadfast, let every soul be vigilant, for though wickedness increases, it is but the final prelude to everlasting victory. The Lord comes, and His reward is with Him. Stand, watchman, stand—for the dawn is near!   📖 Applying the Study For ongoing spiritual encouragement and prophetical insights, visit Higher Learning.

The Morning Star In Scripture, the image of the Morning Star is a rich and multilayered symbol that unfolds progressively across the biblical narrative, reaching its fullest meaning in Jesus Christ. The term itself—phōsphoros in Greek and lucifer in Hebrew—means “the shining one,” an image drawn from the brilliant appearance of the morning star just before dawn. This image is never neutral. It always carries theological weight, revealing either true, enduring glory or false, fleeting brilliance. Biblically, this image consistently points to the transition from darkness to light, from night to day, and from anticipation to fulfillment. At its core, the Morning Star represents Christ Himself, the One who announces and inaugurates the dawn of God’s kingdom, while also explaining the presence of counterfeit light in a fallen world. Christ as the Morning Star (Primary Meaning) The clearest and controlling definition of the Morning Star is given by Jesus Himself. In Revelation 22:16, Christ declares, “I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright and Morning Star.” This statement leaves no ambiguity. He is not merely a sign of the dawn—He is the dawn. This fulfills the ancient messianic hope voiced in Numbers 24 verse 17, where a star arises out of Jacob and a scepter out of Israel, combining royal authority with heavenly light. The Morning Star, therefore, is a messianic title that speaks of Christ’s kingship, glory, and the arrival of God’s redemptive reign. The Morning Star Rising Within Believers (Applied Meaning) Yet Scripture does not stop with Christ revealed externally. In  2 Peter 1:19 , the apostle moves the imagery inward, urging believers to attend to the prophetic word “as unto to a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts.” The day does not break all at once; it  dawns . Guided by the Greek text, this verse depicts a progressive, internal illumination. The verb  diaugasē  describes light breaking through darkness, while  anateilē  conveys rising or beginning to shine. The Morning Star is not portrayed as distant or merely transcendent, but as rising within the inner person—the heart, the center of mind, will, and moral life. Christ’s light is not merely observed; it is received, internalized, and increasingly manifested in those who belong to Him. This does not mean believers become the source of light. Rather, it means that Christ’s own life and glory penetrate and transform them from within. This internal rising of the Morning Star aligns with the broader New Testament witness concerning  union with Christ . Paul speaks of believers being “conformed to the image of His Son”, Romans 8:29, of Christ being “formed in you”, Galatians 4:19, and of “Christ in you, the hope of glory”, Colossians 1:27. In  2 Corinthians 3:18 , believers behold the Lord’s glory and are transformed into the same image “from glory to glory.” Together, these passages confirm that while Christ alone is the Morning Star by nature and authority, His life and glory are meant to be reflected in His people. He is the source of light; believers are its reflectors. As Christ’s light rises within, Scripture also describes a corresponding  change of identity . Paul writes, “Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness”, 1 Thessalonians 5:5. This language does not redefine believers as the dawn itself, but as those who belong to the day Christ announces. Awakened by His rising light, they are called to live according to the reality of the coming day while the night is passing. This distinction is crucial. Scripture consistently preserves Christ’s unique identity while affirming believers’ participation in His life. This balance is especially clear in  Revelation 2:28 , where Jesus promises overcomers, “I will give him the morning star.” The Morning Star here is not a created object nor a separate being, but a gift—participation in Christ’s own life, authority, and glory. This promise anticipates  Revelation 22:16 , where Christ reveals that the Morning Star He gives is, in fact, Himself. Believers do not become Christ, but they are granted union with Him, sharing in His reign and radiance, just as  1 John 3:2  declares: “We shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.” Just as He remains the  Head , believers are His  body , deriving all life, direction, and purpose from Him (Ephesians 1:22–23; Colossians 1:16 to 18). The light does not originate in the body but flows from the Head, in the same way it does through the eye (Matthew 6:22). Likewise, the church is presented as His  bride , adorned not with her own glory but with His (Ephesians 5:25–27; Revelation 21:9–11). In this union, Christ does not diminish His identity, nor are believers absorbed into deity. Rather, His life is shared, His light reflected, and His glory displayed through a people made one with Him. The pattern is consistent: Christ is the light; believers reflect that light as they are transformed by Him. The Morning Star rises within not as a rival light, but as the life of Christ shining through His body and beloved bride—testifying that all radiance, authority, and hope proceed from Him alone. Stars as Messengers, Not Sources of Light Scripture also assigns meaning to stars beyond mere illumination. In Revelation, stars are explicitly identified as messengers. Jesus Himself explains, “The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches” (Revelation 1:20). The Greek term  angelos  simply means “messenger,” emphasizing function rather than nature. Stars, therefore, represent appointed bearers of light—those entrusted with revelation, warning, and witness. This distinction is essential. Stars do not create the dawn; they serve within the night. They reflect light, mark seasons, and guide travelers, but they do not originate the day. Likewise, God’s messengers—whether angelic or human—do not generate truth or glory. They bear witness to a greater light. This explains both the dignity and the danger associated with stars in Scripture. Faithful messengers shine by reflecting divine light, while false teachers are described as “wandering stars” (Jude 13), detached from their proper orbit and reserved for darkness. The issue is not brightness, but alignment. In contrast, Christ alone is called the Morning Star (Revelation 22:16). He does not reflect light; He introduces the day. All other stars derive their meaning, placement, and brilliance from Him. When believers are called “children of light” and “children of the day” (1 Thessalonians 5:5), it is not because they have become the source of light, but because they belong to the coming day announced by the true Morning Star. Created “Morning Stars” and Poetic Imagery The Bible also clarifies what the Morning Star is not. Scripture also uses the term “morning stars” in other contexts that must not be confused with Christ’s identity. In Job 38:7, “morning stars” appear in the plural, poetically describing created heavenly beings—angels—who rejoiced at creation. These are not messianic figures, nor are they human. They sing together at creation, parallel to “the sons of God.”. The plural form and the context of creation make this clear. Likewise, Isaiah 14:12 uses similar language—“shining one, son of the dawn”—to describe the pride and downfall of a human king, associated with Satan. The same image is employed, but with the opposite meaning: brief, false glory that rises and falls. Scripture frequently uses shared imagery this way, just as “lion” can describe both Christ and Satan in different contexts. Meaning is determined by context, not by the symbol alone. Across Scripture, then, a coherent theological flow emerges. Creation rejoices in God’s light (Job 38), false glory falls into darkness (Isaiah 14), Christ arises as the true and eternal Morning Star (Revelation 22), and believers are invited to share in His life and reign (Revelation 2:28; 2 Peter 1:19). This movement follows the redemptive arc of the Bible: creation, fall, redemption, and glory. Peter’s use of Morning Star imagery is especially powerful because it is anchored in historical revelation. In 2 Peter 1:16 to 18, he appeals to the Transfiguration, where he witnessed Christ’s majesty firsthand—a preview of the coming kingdom. The prophetic word, he says, is therefore “more sure,” functioning as a lamp during the present darkness of this age. Scripture guides believers until the day dawns and Christ’s glory is fully realized, both in His return and in the completion of His work within His people. Peter immediately guards this hope by reminding readers that prophecy is not subjective or privately invented, but Spirit-inspired and trustworthy. 2 Peter 1:20, 21 Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. Jude reinforces this same framework by contrast. False teachers are described as “wandering stars,” destined for darkness (Jude 13), unstable and deceptive, unlike Christ, the true Morning Star who faithfully heralds the dawn. Jude’s warning mirrors Peter’s concern: those who reject the light before dawn will remain in darkness. Yet Jude ends, like Peter, with hope—God is able to present His people blameless before His glory with great joy (Jude 24), the very glory revealed in Christ. Throughout the prophets, this light-dawn imagery continues. Amos 5:8 praises the LORD who “turns the shadow of death into the morning,” echoing resurrection hope. Malachi 4:2 announces the rising of the Sun of Righteousness with healing, complementing the Morning Star imagery. Isaiah 60:1–2 calls God’s people to arise and shine because the LORD has risen upon them. All of these strands converge in Christ, the Light of the world (John 1:4 to 9), whose coming transforms night into day. False Light and the Fall of Lucifer (Where It Belongs) The question of Lucifer, Satan, and certain human rulers must be handled with care in order to preserve the integrity of the Morning Star doctrine. Scripture never states in a single verse, “Lucifer fell and became Satan.” Rather, this understanding arises from the convergence of “precept upon precept, line upon line” theological synthesis, as multiple passages are read together. Isaiah 14:12 speaks of the fall of hêlēl ben-shāḥar—often translated “shining one” or “son of the dawn.” In its immediate context, this passage is a taunt against the king of Babylon, employing elevated and poetic language to mock his prideful ambition and sudden downfall. Yet Isaiah 14 functions typologically. The king’s repeated declarations—“I will ascend… I will exalt my throne”—reach beyond ordinary political arrogance and mirror a deeper pattern of rebellion against divine authority. For this reason, the imagery became associated with Satan when read alongside passages that explicitly describe his fall, such as Revelation 12 and Jude 6. This broader biblical witness is reinforced by Christ’s own words:  “I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven”  (Luke 10:18). Peter likewise speaks of angels who sinned and were cast down and reserved for judgment (2 Peter 2:4). Taken together, these texts establish Satan as a fallen angelic being characterized by pride, deception, and the loss of true glory. Ezekiel 28 presents a deliberate prophetic progression that further clarifies this pattern. Verses 1 to 5 confront the  prince of Tyre  as a mortal man, explicitly reminding him, “thou art a man, and not God,” and holding him accountable for his political arrogance. Beginning in verse 6, however, the lament shifts. The prophet now addresses the  king of Tyre , whose origin, position, and fall are described in Edenic and heavenly terms that exceed what can be applied to any human ruler alone. This shift indicates that the prophecy is now directed toward Satan himself—the unseen spiritual ruler whose authority, mindset, and ambition were exercised through the human king. The passage thus reveals not a blending of beings, but a hierarchy of control: an earthly prince ruled by a greater, unseen king. In Scripture, “king” and “prince” are not rigid ranks but functional titles whose meaning depends on whether the text is addressing earthly authority, administrative rule, or cosmic power. In this way, the same rebellious spirit animates both the invisible adversary and the visible tyrant. As Paul later explains, this is “the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience” (Ephesians 2:2). The human ruler becomes a historical manifestation of unseen rebellion. The name  Lucifer  itself does not originate in Hebrew but arises from the Latin translation of Isaiah 14, where  hêlēl  was rendered as  lucifer , meaning “light-bearer.” Its later theological use reflects Satan’s role as false light—one who appears radiant, ascends in pride, and collapses into darkness. This false dawn does not define the Morning Star; it parasitically imitates it. Lucifer’s fall explains the corruption of light during the night, but it is Christ alone who defines the true dawn and brings the night to its end. False Light vs. True Light Isaiah 14:12 declares, “How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning!” In Scripture, the term  son  often functions as a relational and creative designation rather than a statement of divine nature. It can signify that which is produced, derived, or brought forth. Thus, in Isaiah 14:12, the phrase “son of the morning” does not confer authority, divinity, or messianic status; it identifies origin. Hebrews 1:5 makes clear that God has only one Son by nature—Jesus Christ—whose Sonship is unique, eternal, and unshared. Yet Colossians 1:15–16 teaches that all created beings, whether angels or mankind, exist through Christ and for Christ; they are the work of His hands, not participants in His divine Sonship. In this sense, for Lucifer to be called a “son of the morning” places him firmly within the order of creation—one brought into being, not self-existent, not the source of light, and not the heir of divine authority. The title marks derivation, not destiny; creation, not crown. Here the contrast becomes essential. Scripture deliberately employs similar imagery to reveal opposing realities: Christ as the true dawn—marked by humble descent and eternal exaltation—and Lucifer as a false dawn—defined by prideful ascent and catastrophic fall. Those who operate within this realm are described elsewhere as belonging to the night, not as possessors of true light, but as those shaped by darkness and deception. Paul contrasts them with believers when he writes that we “are not of the night, nor of darkness” (1 Thessalonians 5:5). Satan is later described as one who masquerades “as an angel of light” (2 Corinthians 11:14), while false teachers are called “wandering stars” reserved for utter darkness (Jude 13). These images belong to the shadow side of the light and dawn motif. They account for deception that operates during the night, not the character of the coming day. Lucifer’s fall explains why the night exists; Christ, the true Morning Star, explains why the night will end (Genesis 3:15). The Morning Star and the Opening of Orion Amos calls God’s people to seek the Lord and live, anchoring true life not in outward religion, but in righteousness that flows from heaven itself. This call is immediately linked to the Creator’s power over the heavens: “Seek him that maketh the seven stars and Orion.” The prophet directs our eyes upward, reminding us that the same God who governs justice on earth also commands the constellations in the sky. Heaven itself becomes a witness, a signpost pointing to God’s voice and His final movements in the great controversy. Orion, referred to by Amos, stands as more than a constellation—it is a celestial testimony of God’s sovereignty and His coming intervention. According to the Spirit of Prophecy, Orion will open as a vast gateway, a beacon to God’s faithful people, Early Writing, Page 45. Today, this constellation is understood emblematically, drawing the gaze of the redeemed heavenward and signaling the approach of God’s final act of deliverance. Amos links this heavenly sign with a profound spiritual transformation: God “turneth the shadow of death into the morning.” The grave, once dark and final, is overcome by resurrection light. As David declared, “When I awake, I shall be satisfied with thy likeness.” This awakening finds its fulfillment in the Morning Star—Christ Himself—whose glory dispels the night of sin and death. Even the strange day spoken of by Zechariah, neither full day nor full night, resolves into light at evening time, when human hope seems dimmest. Thus, the opening of Orion is not merely cosmic spectacle; it is a declaration that righteousness will prevail. Judgment will no longer be turned to wormwood, nor justice cast aside. The same Lord who pours out the waters upon the earth and commands the seas will complete His work of restoration. His name stands above all—Creator, Redeemer, and King. In the heavens and in the earth, His purpose is sure, and His people are called now, as then, to seek Him and live. Venus and Emblematic Light (Morning and Evening Star) The Morning Star is a powerful image both in the heavens and in Scripture. What we call the Morning Star or the Evening Star is actually the planet Venus. Though often mistaken for a star, Venus does not produce its own light; it reflects the light of the sun. Because it orbits between the Earth and the Sun, it never appears far from the sun in our sky—never more than about forty-seven degrees. For this reason, Venus is only visible at the margins of the day, either shortly before sunrise or shortly after sunset. It never shines in the deep of night. As the third brightest natural object in the sky after the sun and the moon, it commands attention during these moments of transition, remaining in one role—morning or evening—for roughly two hundred sixty-three days before shifting again. These moments of appearance are significant. As the Morning Star, Venus signals the first light, the quiet announcement that night is ending even while darkness still lingers. As the Evening Star, it represents the last light, the final witness before night settles in. In both cases, Venus does not change the night by force; it marks a turning point. Its presence speaks not of completion, but of certainty—something new is coming, something inevitable is on the horizon. Scripture draws deeply on this imagery. In Revelation, Jesus declares, “I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the bright Morning Star.” He does not identify Himself as the midday sun, blazing over a world already transformed, but as the Morning Star—appearing while the world is still dark. Christ entered human history not after darkness had passed, but at its height, proclaiming that the dawn of God’s kingdom was assured. Like Venus before sunrise, His light did not erase the night immediately, but it made the coming day undeniable. Spiritual illumination often precedes visible change, just as Venus rises before the sun crests the horizon. Scripture also warns that not every “morning star” is true. Isaiah speaks of one who fell, a false light driven by pride and self-glory. The contrast is sharp. Venus itself offers a lesson: it shines brilliantly, yet only because it reflects the sun. In the same way, Christ’s glory is not self-exalting but perfectly reflective of the Father. True light does not draw attention to itself; it points beyond itself to the greater glory that follows. Ultimately, the Morning Star reminds us that God works in seasons and transitions. It teaches patience in the darkness and confidence in the promise of light. The Morning Star is not the dawn, but it guarantees the dawn. When Jesus names Himself the Bright Morning Star, He assures us that no night is endless, no darkness final. Even when the world still sleeps, the first light has already appeared, quietly proclaiming that the day of the Lord is near. The Prophetic and Redemptive Flow When placed correctly, the Morning Star theme unfolds as a coherent biblical progression rather than a scattered set of images. It begins at  creation , where the “morning stars” rejoice as God lays the foundations of the world, celebrating His life-giving work and creative authority (Job 38:7). From there, Scripture records  rebellion —angels who fall from their appointed place and human rulers who imitate that same prideful ascent, seeking glory apart from God (Jude 6; Isaiah 14). This rebellion gives rise to  darkness , a long night in which false light governs and “wandering stars” mislead, offering brilliance without truth and illumination without life. Into that darkness comes  redemption . Christ appears not as a counterfeit light but as the true and final Morning Star, announcing the end of night and the certainty of dawn (Revelation 22:16). His coming does not merely expose deception; it initiates  transformation , as His light rises within believers, illumining the heart and guiding them until the day fully breaks (2 Peter 1:19). The theme reaches its culmination in  glory , when the day has completely dawned and God’s people share in Christ’s likeness, seeing Him as He is and reflecting His radiance forever (1 John 3:2). Read this way, the Morning Star remains firmly Christ-centered. Satan is not allowed to define the meaning of light; he merely reveals the nature of the night. Christ alone defines the dawn—and guarantees its coming. Final Summary In the created order, Venus uniquely appears as both the morning star and the evening star, depending on its position relative to the sun. It shines with remarkable brilliance, yet it does not produce its own light—it reflects light. Today, this astronomical reality is  emblematic , not doctrinal. Scripture does not build theology on planets, yet it frequently uses the visible heavens as a teaching witness (Psalm 19:1). In this sense, Venus serves as a fitting emblem of  borrowed glory . What appears radiant and authoritative may still be derivative. This makes the image useful for illustration, but never authoritative for interpretation. Christ alone is identified as  “the bright and morning star”  (Revelation 22:16), not because He reflects light, but because He is its source. Any lesser “morning star” imagery—whether applied to rulers, angels, or symbols—only has meaning in relation to Him. The Morning Star was the first light, from which all light proceeds in Genesis. It was introduced before the creation of the physical earth, fully revealed in Christ, intended to restore humanity to divine light. It is not merely created light, but the herald of divine action with Christ Himself as the illuminating presence. Since heaven had already existed for eternities, God’s introduction of the Morning Star was intentional and purposeful. In Genesis 1 through 3, this light is the same light spoken of in John 1, the light that enlightens every man. Taken together, Scripture presents a unified and Christ-centered doctrine: Jesus Christ alone is the Morning Star—the herald and embodiment of God’s eternal day. As He rises in the hearts of believers through faith and the work of the Spirit, His image is progressively formed within them. Until the final dawn, the written Word remains the lamp guiding God’s people through the night. When the day fully breaks, faith will give way to sight, and the glory already begun within will be revealed in fullness. In this way, Scripture redeems the image of the Morning Star by revealing its true meaning in Christ. Created stars may rejoice, false light may imitate, and wandering stars may deceive in the darkness—but Christ alone is the Bright Morning Star, eternal and victorious. Lucifer’s fall explains the presence of the night; Christ, the Morning Star, announces its end and the dawn of God’s everlasting day.

Word of the Word God is revealed and experienced in the Word. And only the knowledge of His Word can lead a person to the truth of the knowledge of Him, and consequently His power. And God’s power is demonstrated by His ability to accomplish His will in every situation, both real and potential, through any means He chooses, in order to glorify Himself. God's power is centered on His will and His glory. His transformative power is the power of God poured out on the human heart. God's word is a standard against which all philosophies, ideas, and proposed solutions for our depraved condition can be measured for correctness. 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. Search the scripture because God's word is the standard for comparison, not human notions. God's word, planted in human hearts, produces true faithful believers. God's Word is the bonding means between Himself and His people. It is our greatest and most precious reward. Death is not a surety in life. For not all will die. Eternal life is not a surety, for not all will be brought by Christ to the Father. There is however one for sure thing in life…the judgment. The word of God is the only source of information that can help us prepare for this sure event in our lives. It has the power to do this because God, in His word, shows us how to prepare for the "great day" in our lives. We must be ready, ignorance and disbelief will not exempt any from the judgement. To experience the power of God we need to know and understand the word. We are to study the word, to respond in complete obedience to every word, sharing the word multiplies the power of God to enable others to enable others to do the same. When you hear the phrase, “the Word of God”, do you think of the divine message given to humanity?  The Word is a discrete “message from God,” a particular divine message given at a particular time for a particular purpose. Furthermore, while these few precious “words of God” have certainly been compiled together and written down, they are to be heard in the thoughts of God as an oral proclamation, as spoken messages. When we hear God’s thoughts in the word, we hear life, truth, grace, faith, salvation, here, and here, and here, and here…with a specific content of that which is affirmed and manifested. God has spoken many “words,” given many divine messages, commands, teachings, promises, and prophetic pronouncements. And Jesus is the “Word” of all those “words,” the Divine Message extraordinaire. And this ultimate Divine Message has been “made flesh and dwelt among us.” The eternal Word in all these divine words has become embodied in a particular human and divine person, Jesus. Every word of God finds its coherence, its fulfillment in the One, the clearest and most complete revelation of God and God’s will. Our seeing the eternal message of God embodied in Jesus’ life, teachings, death, and resurrection, empowers us to respond to the living Jesus with loving devotion and faithful allegiance. Christ is the titled name of the “anointed One”, the “chosen One”, the Son of the living God. Even the devils acknowledge this truth. He is Jesus the human, Christ the Divine. The Word says it in the bible. Luke 4:41 John 1:1-4, 14 Jesus has extraordinary oratory abilities…he is the Word that reaches the upper heights of creative and transforming power conveying a moral and spiritual framework to live by. As we hear, as we study the word of God it not only broadens our inquiries into understanding, but it broadens the truth of the answers given. This is divinely and intentionally designed by God. It is known as verbal plenary inspiration. The word of God communicates exactly what He wanted us to understand beyond the written texts. His words reflect the quality of being “God-breathed.” Everything in scripture is there, not only in the written word, but also in the idea, the thought, the intent, the purpose, behind the written word of what God has decreed, has experienced so that if we are wise we will seek the higher wisdom to understand the moments, the events, and connect them with the character and purpose of God. We are not to lean upon our own understanding. We are to depend upon the faith given that God knows the whole picture. Ours is a pilgrimage of growing in conformity to Jesus Christ by the power of the Spirit through the word of God. We cannot ignore God’s creative ability to give us understanding according to His word as it is reasoned with the mind of Christ. Our approach to the word is to fix us forward to the day when we can and will see God face to face. Every word is to lead us toward and into the love of God as we are brought deeper into the life of Christ. This is not interpretation of scripture…it is a distinctively purposed union with the Holy Spirit to convince and to convict us of the authoritative nature of God to give us an exalted view precisely making Himself known more throughly, not just in His revelations but in the spiritual source of His revelations. And that spiritual source is the word of the Godhead in the Determinate Counsel. It is the one only source of revelation, namely, God the Father, through Jesus Christ the Son, in the Holy Ghost, the Spirit. It is by this source that God speaks divinely to us with human utterances. All these utterances can be summarized in only one word, the divine Word. Jesus Christ is the original revelation of God. Through revelation, God unveils certain truths about Himself and His salvific plan for mankind. Some of these truths exceed all created intellect; others are accessible to the human mind by receiving the entrusted sacred deposit of wisdom when coming now to reason with He who patterned every sounding word of creation. We are to follow the pattern of the sound words which we have heard from God, in the faith and guard the truth love which are in Christ Jesus. We are to guard the truth that has been entrusted to us by the Holy Spirit who dwells within us. II Timothy 1:13, 14; 2:1-3 The scripture and the word are “bound closely together, and communicate one with and for the other. For both of them, flowing out from the same divine well-spring, come together in some fashion to form one thing, and move us towards delving deeply into the divine mysteries revealed. Christ himself wanted his people to have a living teaching authority with the task of authentically interpreting the divine word, whether written or orally transmitted, exercising its authority in the name of Jesus Christ. This authority is not superior to the word of God, but is its servant. It teaches only what has been handed on to it. At the divine command it hears the devoted truths of God, guards them with dedication and expounds them faithfully. All that it proposes for belief as being divinely revealed is to draw upon our single deposit of faith. In this supremely wise arrangement of God, scripture and the word are so connected and associated that one cannot stand without the other. Working together, each in its own way under the action of the one Holy Spirit, they contribute effectively to the salvation of souls. Thus, the Word is the only authentic interpreter of scripture. Yes, we are to study the bible alone as individuals for ourselves. And yes, we should study the word as a community. We should be hearing others who are studying scripture, giving checks and balances to one another through the Spirit that we learn more of God. God is infinitely great, but our image of God, our conception of God, isn’t…it can’t be. The unifying thread running through the word is the importance of knowing God in the life, and of our faith in the word through which we form the image of the greatness of God. In our finite humanness, we cannot comprehend God’s immensity, cannot take in God’s greatness. What we do is to form an image in our minds encompassing as much of God’s greatness as we can handle, and that image is inevitably too small. So, God makes His Word more expansive than what our minds can conjure. We are jolted by how the word of God always moves our mind to more essential truths. God grows bigger. It is for those who choose not to reason with God that deaden the reality of truth. Our approach to the truth of the word of God is to enable sight. It is true that “seeing is believing”. But in reasoning with God “believing is seeing”.  And we by faith see the effect of God invading time and space to show the revelation of His word both in the bible and in the experience. This cannot be grasped by the intellect alone. God came down to talk with Moses. And Moses had as intimate a communion with God as thinkable. God spoke face to face with Moses, yet Moses desired a deeper acquaintance. Moses wanted to “see” the Word of the Word. This is why we study scripture…to endeavor to preserve it and to improve upon our bearing the sight of it. It is not with bodily eyes that we see the Word until our Lord returns, but hearing the word fits us to assist our faith to know the earnest of His presence. And it is in our going from faith to faith in His word that lets us adore the height of what we do know of God, and the depth of what we do not. We are acutely conscious of the hiddenness of God, of the inexhaustible mystery of the Divine. But we have an eye to the evidences of the shadows that proves the light of the mysteries of truths revealed. Every word of Jesus has unique significance. They are rich and carefully chosen words to powerfully affect the final generation. His truth brings to view the ultimate fulfillment of all that was foreshadowed. Whatever it is that we are assigned to do is revealed in the masterpiece of his life. Every word of God converges together to communicate a beautiful truth. We intellectually get that there are many tragedies in the word, and though God condones no sin, He knew it was going to be, and so in the power of the word we see Him working out all things for good. This suggests that we give voice expressively to His word with the faith that recognizes His sovereignty. There is in the word of God distant concepts. Ideas and thoughts too far for human devising. We are to see the profoundness, the praises to be offered, the promises fulfilled, the hopes and the certainty of why and how the word of God declares Jesus to be The Word that became flesh. We could search the greatest minds of mankind, hear the highest ideals of every thought. We could probe the ponderings of every prominent philosopher that ever lived and the poetry of every artist and still find no idea higher than God, nor a more concise, yet expressive statement about Jesus, than the one the word makes in reciting the enfolding account describing this interactive invisible and yet visible relationship. We begin with an all-knowing, all-powerful, invisible God who is a Spirit and to be worshipped by His creation in spirit. Colossians 1:15 John 4:24 God wanted to display to His creation the life that He expected of them. The love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, and self-control. The sinlessness that He hoped His creation to possess in their lives but could not, thanks to an adverse situation and to show exactly what it means to sacrifice oneself for the benefit of others while being obedient to God. God knew then that He Himself must enter His creation in a visible, physical form, carrying His very image and Spirit. And He must experience and exhibit what it meant to actually be human, with the same temptations, challenges, hurts, emotions, ups and downs, and ins and outs, yet live with, and for God. That meant none could come born of a woman and a man. Being born of a virgin by the Spirit was the only option. Instilling His image, having his own human form, into the womb of a woman who had never been known by any man. There was only one way; his visible, physical, earthly image would be the Son of God. God’s only begotten   son. That distinction is made in the word begotten and that makes all the difference…with a but. The world seeks to diminish the Lord Jesus Christ’s special status as “begotten.” Why is “begotten” so important when referring to him? “Begat” means “to give life to.” If not known, we loose the truth of God’s Word and an aspect of Christ’s fulfillment decreed by God at Jesus’ resurrection. It was at the resurrection that the Father gave Jesus life. He became God’s “only begotten Son” at his resurrection in the tomb. Psalms 2:7 Acts 13:33, 34 Hebrews 5:5 Revelation 1:5 Colossians 1:18 Do we hear and see the power of The Word of The Word in this truth. There is no other God than God and so Jesus is the unique, divine Son of God, and no other sons are like him. And he is relatable in so many ways; Emmanuel, that holy thing, son of David, Redeemer, Bread of life, the Light, King of the Jews, Son of man, Savior, the Lamb, the prophet of Nazareth of Galilee, the I Am, this is Jesus, the very Word of God. The infinite unsearchable God is made personal in the audience of Jesus Christ. The mystery is the Word. Always with God. Always is God. A relationship so beautiful and glorious, so complex and simple, must be admired. The word presents an awe-inspiring presentation of the Word and the many facets to be admired from every angle of truth. The Word is the many facets to be admired communication of the Father. He is the rational power, influence, and strength of Fatherly fulsomeness overflowing in infinite goodness. That Word was no impersonal object but a full person, with the Father in all things at the principal moment of all things. The Word was both with God and was God. Was and with. What God was, the Word was. The Word was God, and the Word was with God. Coequal, indistinguishable, yet distinct. The Word was closer than accompaniment, more present than association. The Word is the “Am” of the “I”.  We are to contemplate and meditate on this truth. We must repeat this report until they it is etched on our minds, then ponder them, study about them, and respond to them by worshiping the incomparable God that is The Word of The Word. Today, we are but vaguely familiar with what we must need know of God, but in the word, we have significant understanding that our overcoming is in the comprehended and understood meaning of how we are to prevail to rise to be sons of God.  It is the word that articulates the divinity and eternality of Jesus as well as his distinguishability from the Father. And by the word we know that Jesus did not cease to be the Word when he became flesh. And as God dwelt in the tabernacle in the midst of the people of Israel in the wilderness, so the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us. In Christ we have visible the invisible glory of God seen by those who are born of God. Born of the Holy Ghost.  We are enabled to see the work of God in Christ. Philippians 1:6 This is our great comfort. In the Word we have the evidence of being lifted above our hopes, knowing the greatness and goodness of God concerning our future prospect. In this word is heard our judgment of faith. It is God’s beginning. We could not begin this of ourselves. And it is to be applied to particular persons, and then the word speaks of the certain accomplishment of the work of grace wherever it is begun. Because God is doing a good work, a blessed work; for it makes us good, and is an earnest of good to us, it will make us like Jesus, and fit us for the witnessing of the Word of God. It was the Word declaring that “it is finished” that gives cause to God saying, “it is done”. The Word is in agency with all that is God. His word of forgiveness lacks no power. I John 1:1-9 We must know the word that we might speak in the name of God with the eternal word of the transcendent Creator whom we represent. The identity of God is revealed in His self-communicative Word and self-giving sacrifice of Jesus. There is no God behind the back of Jesus. This eternal truth must be firmly impressed upon the hearts and minds who know the Oneness of God. God came to us in Jesus, showed His face to us, and poured out His love to us as our Savior. Acts 20:28 I Timothy 1:1; 4:10 There is this identity of being in this assertion of the simplicity and holy transcendence of the Deity. There is no nothing between the unbegotten Father and the begotten Son. It is by the Word that creation emerges out of nothing and includes it in the sharing in the Being fountain overflowing of God. The Being of God is not closed to itself, it is like a fountain overflowing with creativity. God is uncreated in the Father, and He is Creator in the Son. The Word stepped out of his anonymity and made himself known in the most concrete, tangible and unexpected way, in and through the particular human historical existence of the man Jesus. And in Christ Jesus the whole fulness of deity dwells bodily. And even in his self-revelation and enfleshment, God remains the incomprehensible divine mystery. At no point does the Divine Essence become an object of human perception and intellectual conceptualization whereby we could offer a description of explanation of such a Spirit Being. All things that are in the Father are beheld in the Son, and all things that are the Son’s are the Father’s; because the whole Son is in the Father and has all that the Father has in Himself. And so, the Person of the Son becomes as it were the Form and Face of the knowledge of the Father, and the Person of the Father is known in the Form of the Son. God is not one thing in Himself and another thing in Jesus Christ. What God is toward us in Jesus, He is inherently and eternally in Himself. They are a oneness in Being. What God is in eternity, Jesus Christ is in space and time, and what Jesus Christ is in space and time, God is in His eternity. There is an unbroken relation of “Being” and “A Thing Done” between the Son and the Father, and in Jesus Christ that relation has been embodied in our human existence once and for all. There is thus no God behind the back of Jesus Christ, but only this God whose face we see in the face of the Lord Jesus, the Word of the word. There is only the one God who has revealed Himself in Jesus Christ in such a way that there is perfect consistency and fidelity between what Jesus reveals of the Father and what the Father is in His unchangeable reality. The constancy of God in time and eternity has to do with the fact that God is in Jesus, for there is no other God than He who became man in Jesus and He whom God affirms Himself to be and always will be in Jesus. The world attempts to dilute Christ as God to rationalize their disobedience, saying that Jesus died for their sins so that there is no guilt upon them, no condemnation. These share another gospel than does The Word. To these Jesus presents the triune question – “lovest thou me”? Jesus is asking this in real time. It is the rarity of loving Jesus that increases the probability of coming to a satisfying conclusion. The Word conveys a higher sense of meaningful love. It interchangeably is asked by Jesus as the divine omniscience is the witness that the Word knows us better than we know ourselves in the word usage. The distinctions of the love requires a broad understanding of the word of The Word. We have as it is a deeper question. In the scriptures every single word has been meaningfully chosen for our instruction. Can we love who we don’t know? God’s word is to show us the harmonious nature of The Word that we might know Him in Spirit and in truth. How very much like the Word was Christ before and after his trial...he was God and with God. How unchanged was his disposition. There could be no altering in his character as a man any more than there could be in his attributes as God. He is the Word forever the same. We must probe the word being with a suspicion concerning our spiritual estate so we may suppose it asked of us this day that we may put it to our own hearts. Let us ask in the Savior's name, "lovest thou the Lord?” God is love and love is the very best evidence of reverence, faithfulness, holiness. These questions were to us that we take no cavalier attitude toward truth. That is, acting as though there were no such thing as truth, or as if it didn’t matter, when, in fact, truth matters at every point in life, it matters eternally. What really is the measure of truth? Jesus demands that we take a stand for truth. Matthew 21:23-27 There are some who will not stand for truth to avoid ridicule for not agreeing with the group…hypocrites. Then there are some who will not stand for truth fearing violence. Here is the way the depraved mind works. They are thinking carefully: if we say this then such and such will happen. And if we say that, then such and such will happen. They are reasoning carefully. Why? Because the truth is at stake? No, because their skin is at stake. And their ego. They don’t want to be harmed and they don’t want to be shamed. Truth doesn’t matter. These say, I matter. Jesus won’t deal with people that treat truth that way. Jesus abominates that kind of arrogant, cowardly prostituting of the precious reality of truth. The sum of the word is truth. Exodus 30:12 Psalms 119:160 The sum total is truth. And not just the totality, but the individual citizens in this land of God’s word, every one of them, is accountable for truth. That’s why the second aspect draws out this individual nature of each judgment; “and every one of thy righteous judgments endureth forever.” So you have a summation in the first of the verses (“the sum of thy word is truth”), and an individualization in the second half of the verses (“and every one of thy righteous judgments endureth forever”). So, this figurative census taken by Moses is the headcount of God’s word. It discovers something about the sum and something about the individual members in the sum. The sum is truth, and every individual part endures forever, because they too are truth. Neither the whole nor the part will ever prove false; they will never need to be struck from the royal record. The population, so to speak, of the word of God is totally truth and truth in every part. So, to answer what is the sum of truth… it is the word of God, in its totality and all its parts. Or consider it this way…sanctify them in the truth; thy word is truth. In other words, when the Father speaks, that is truth. If we want to know what truth is, we go to the Word of God. Step back and ponder this for a moment. The reason God’s word is ultimate truth is because God is ultimate reality. The concept of truth depends on the concept of the real. For something to be true, something behind it must be real. And the truth is telling us what is real. God alone is ultimately real, ultimate reality. That is, no reality was before Him. He doesn’t depend on any other reality. All other reality is created by Him. So, by His being and by His creating He has determined and defined what is and what is real. And since what makes something true is that it corresponds to what is real, therefore, God determines and defines all truth. When God speaks, that is truth. The way the bible uses the word truth, and the way we are to use it, is to refer to a faithful representation of reality. If it is a true statement or proposition, that statement faithfully represents reality. If it’s a story, the story faithfully represents reality. Jesus is God’s Word and speaks God’s Words…he is the Word of the word. Jesus also says, “I am the truth”. The most fundamental reason he could say this is that he is God. Jesus enters the world as the ultimate divine reality and as the perfect spokesman for this reality, for God. This is God’s final and decisive way of saying to us that truth is not impossible to reach. It has come to us. He is not waiting for us to find it. Truth is pursuing us. Since he is God, and God’s Word, he speaks God’s words. So when we speak the words of God today, we mean all that Jesus has shown us it means: Himself, his words, the Old Testament, and the New Testament. This is the sum of God’s word, and it is truth. God has not left us without the revelation of His will. He has not left us without wisdom. He has not left us without unfathomable knowledge, that none of us ever exhausts. He has not left us without a full and sufficient revelation of the way of salvation, the way of everlasting joy. He has not left us without a way to measure the truth claims of every life-shaping question we face. This is simply a priceless legacy left us in the word of the Word. This will prove our faith in the Word in the final days. We will have a conviction, so clear, and evident, and assuring, as to be sufficient to induce us, with boldness to sell all, confidently and fearlessly to run the venture of the loss of all things, and of enduring the most exquisite and long continued torments of suffering. We will so deeply treasure the word that we will build our whole lives on its truth, and be ready to risk everything for the glory of its story. It is the Word of God that tethers our mind to the truth. Romans 15:14 Colossians 3:16 I Thessalonians 5:12 II Thessalonians 3:15 Hebrews 8:5 To admonish is to deposit truth into a person’s thoughts. It might take the form of discipline, encouragement, or affirmation. It may be commendation or correction. Above all, admonishment is truth spoken into a difficult circumstance. It’s like inserting a chlorine tablet of truth into the algae of difficulty. This is the charge that Jesus spoke to us. Admonishment speaks up. Yes, we may have to hold the hand of one who is struggling. Yes, we bring water to the thirsty. And yes, yes, yes, we speak words of truth into moments of despair. Dare we sit idly by while Satan spreads his lies? By no means! The word of God is that Word who is Christ. Christ never began to exist, and he never will go out of existence. He exists at each moment in time. He exists at every turn in eternity. And when the word says he was the Word, he was with God, he was God, it is not referring to a time in the past, it is positioning our minds to form the concepts of expression that foundates Christ as the embodied Son. We, by the truth of the Word, are to always present the doctrine of the deity of Christ and affirm His co-eternal nature with God as Creator of the universe. The expression “the Word was with God” hides a vital truth about the relationship between God and Jesus. In the most intimate sense the Divine Word from all eternity was in a living, dynamic, co-equal relationship of close communion with the Father. Where God is the mind, Christ is the heart. This is the truth within the prayer of Jesus that we be one as they are one…and that we be one in them. It is the only way we can be made perfect…the Word of the Word’s prayer is answered. John 17:11, 21 We are to go beyond the surface reading of scripture to reason the expressed deity of Jesus Christ and His inseparable oneness with God the Father. And the Holy Spirit has come, and he has given us understanding so that we can know the true God. This word of truth was written by John after his experience on Patmos, after his being brought up hither. John saw the Word of faith evidenced. And by the word he signals the otherworldliness of Jesus right from the beginning. The Word is only a partial reflection of this densely significant word. There is so much truth packed into the Word. We are to discover every truth in the word using reason and observation. From this we will gather clear and knowable principles that are constant. The Word is the total representation of all knowledge. The Word structured knowledge. He is the truth that exceeds all knowledge. This Word became personified. This Word is before the beginning of anything, he is the entity we know as God, who embodied, and created, the rational principle on which everything is founded. It is from this Spirit that everything material comes forth…celestial and terrestial. God is the Word.  The Word was both with celestial and terrestial God and also was God. When God spoke the Word what God spoke happened. Consider that truth. Jesus who is the Word, God in flesh is the full package. He carries in him the nature of God, the power of God, and the authority of God simply because he is God. This is the heart of our faith. God has never attempted to hide who He is. He has been very clear in defining His character and His nature. To us, God shows that He is the one and only God. Deuteronomy 6:4; 4:35 The Word is clearly the truth declaring there is only one God and there is no God beside Him. And too, the bible clearly identifies Jesus as God. And the Holy Spirit is shown to be God. Equal and eternal in nature and essence. This truth, this word accounts for how God relates to events, things, and people within the entire creation. The answers to our questions turn on God’s relationship in the sense that He is eternal and holds the dominant view of all things happening in a determined moment. We reason not of His timelessness, but rather of His everlastingness. We attribute our temporal existence as designated by God to bring us to the succession of the Word. We experience the events He has located in time. That is where the wonder of the Word and He who exceeds all wonders surpasses all understanding. God is that supernatural peace offered us in the midst of our trials. It is a peace that defies explanation and human logic because it is not based upon our circumstances. It is based upon the word of the Word. And the word of God not only defines faith in Christ; it is God's appointed means to create faith in Christ. Isaiah 55:11 God’s presence is sequential and all at once. He is at any point in time, at every point in time, beyond time in His eternalness. There can be no temporality to God. He is omnitemporal. Amazingly the bible states that God the Father and God the Son abide in eternity. Isaiah 57:15 Is eternity the place where God lives or is God where eternity lives? Let’s reason… eternity doesn’t consist of a succession of “moments”. Else it would be “time”. Can there be anything before God? No, then God is before even eternity. But that does not imply that God does not inhabit eternity. God, in His presence, in His glory abides in eternity as He dwells with His people. God can do anything that is possible to do for there is nothing that is impossible for God. I Kings 8:27 Exodus 25:8 Revelation 21:3 This is God’s relational presence. The glory of God is the beauty of His spirit. It is not an aesthetic beauty or a material beauty, but it is the beauty that emanates from His character, from all that He is. And it was given to us in human flesh…in the Word…in Jesus Christ. The glory of God, which is manifested in all His attributes together, never passes away. It is eternal. Isaiah 43:7 We beheld God’s glory in the Word. John 1:14 We are the vessels which “contain” His glory. All the things we are able to do and to be, find their source in Him. The Word, God’s glory, is what connects us to God. In this way, God is able to reveal Himself to all men, no matter their race, heritage or location. The essence of who God is, is His glory. God has an eternal voice. It is the Word. We should listen to that eternal voice. Our “time” of frustration here is because we are not of “here”. I Chronicles 29:15 We are to know of our time. Because you and I were made to join Father, Son and Spirit in the joy of eternity. And when Jesus Christ stepped into time from eternity, he was making the way for us to return with him. God gave us His Son just as God gave us His spirit. Job 33:4 Our spirit is in the same likeness of being that God is. God is a Spirit—it will never die. It is the part of us that has a relationship with God. God connects with, speaks to, and gives revelation to our spirit. Ecclesiastes 12:7 Proverbs 20:27 There is only one way for us to find out God…the Word of the Word. He is the only way for he is the only truth that gives the only life that can be eternal with God. No one can go between them. They are One. We must be “in” Christ for we can only go to the Father “by Jesus”. God, in the Word, reveals something about Himself through His spoken word, which is ultimately and perfectly personified in His Son, Jesus Christ. It took more than written revelation for us to know God. It took faith in the Word. It took the Spirit of God to teach us of the hidden depths of God’s nature, His love and how the Godhead so exhaustively works together in thought, word, and deed to save us. God is a speaking God or, simply put, God is the Word. This Word is eternally with Him, and this Word is His very nature. Be clear in your understanding that God’s Word of revelation is supreme authority over all things. The Word is the witness of the divine things of God. We may conclude that the Spirit, the Blood and the Word of God work together to accomplish great things for God. The blood of Jesus and the spirit of God are completely united in the spiritual Word. In the born again experience everything we have been taught by faith becomes real, and we develop a direct and personal relationship with God. In His word we give up our will and our way and follow the will of God. We learn His will by studying the Word, praying, meditating and teaching the true word of God, not by ministers or preachers that stand up and give their own commentaries, but exactly by a ‘thus saith the Lord’. The Spirit of God leads us where we are to be. It leads us to life in Christ. John 3:5 I John 5:8 Notice that the spirit, the blood and the water are in great agreement and united in their work. Yet, the Word spoke of his life, his blood, but the hearer did not reason with the Word and understood not. John 3:6-21 Ephesians 5:26 The water there speaks of the word of God. It can be seen that the spirit, the word and the blood give life. This we find in our reasoning. Luke 4:4 John 6:54, 63 Now hear what the word says… Ephesians 2:13, 18 The blood of the Word, of Jesus, in the believer’s life, the importance of the Holy Spirit, and the water of cleansing, of baptism bring us closer to God. That’s why these three witness on earth. In other words they are inseparable. baptism   How much better do we know the Word when we know of the blood. Think of the power of the Word of God…now think of the power in the blood of the Word. We are overcomers because of the blood and the word. Revelation 12:11 As our revelation in the power of the blood increases, so will the power of the word of Christ increase.  The Word must be continuously and persistently necessary in our lives. When we plead the blood of Jesus, the blood contends and protects us from the powers of darkness. It speaks on our behalf. It speaks better things than did Abel's blood. Jesus’ blood speaks of our rights in Christ – our right to be forgiven of sins, our right to be made righteous. Study the Word to learn what the blood foreshadows for our life. Ephesians 1:7 Hebrews 9:12-26; 10:1-20 I Peter 1:18-25 There is no wisdom to be gained by the Word unless we reasonably likewise come to the knowledge to ascribe the power of the blood by which we are saved. The sacrifice of life was never an intention of God even though it was His plan. For eternal life to be made possible it would require a perfect offering of life for the vindication of the perfect law of God. God needed the blood of Deity as the bestowal of life for sacrificial worship. And for our understanding, the blood of the Word suggests the thought of life, dedicated, offered, transformed, and open to our spiritual adoption. Our faith, that comes by the hearing of the word, is that faith in the blood representing the human life of Christ suffering, dying and sacrificing himself upon earth, which cleanses us in our repentance desiring forgiveness. This faith in the word of God releases our life to present ourselves to God as a living sacrifice. Christ’s dying was not unto death but unto life for others. What prominence is "the Word of God" upon his return? Revelation 19:13 This title clearly identifies the rider on a white horse here as Jesus, who came to earth the first time as God in the flesh but was rejected by the world. Here the question and the answer. Isaiah 63:2, 3     It sounds as though this rider is returning from a bloody engagement. But reason with the entire content of the context. This is when our salvation was wrought upon the cross. None showed any boldness of spirit for Christ on the cross. None joined with him against his oppressors. Among the children of men no one could. It was determined that what the Word said on the cross had to be sounded in aloneness. But now, in his fury, in his omnipotence, will those who forsook the right to life offered by God, see the white robe of Christ stained by their blood. In God’s Word is God’s will for our life. For as in the beginning was the Word, so in the ending will be the Word. It is by the Word that we are being finished. The born again experience is the new beginning of life turned over to the Holy Spirit for transformation. And one might have to see death, yet faithfully knowing the spirit returns to God. But what of the soul? James 1:21 We are to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling. Our soul needs to be saved. The soul is often defined as the mind, the will and the emotions. Each of these areas needs salvation. According to the bible, this is done by the Word of God. This is the sanctification…bringing the whole man into God’s perfect will. It is a process not dependent upon time, but rather upon transforming the mind. An immediate union with Christ on the cross is an instant transforming of the mind. We must become more determined than ever to make the Word of God a priority in our lives. The enemy hates and fears the Word of God. Have you ever been in study and witnessed the enemy stealing the word? He will do anything possible to prevent us from learning God’s Word. How was it that Jesus discerned the thoughts of those opposed to truth? He is the Word. It is shown in our relationship with the word the deepest part of our nature. Every presentation of the truth of the word exposes and sifts and analyzes and judges the very thoughts and purposes of the heart. These will show in the words spoken. Hear with the ear.  The word will divide things for us; it begins separating truth from lies. As a result, we begin to realize what is of the Spirit and what is of the soul. Soon we know what actions are approved of God and what actions are not. The Word exposes wrong motives, wrong thoughts and wrong words. Spiritual strength is drawn from the Spirit. And that which the Spirit wields is that which is the Word of God. God’s Word arms God’s consecrated people with defensive armor. And as in any warfare there is need also for offensive weaponry. Ephesians 6:10-17 II Corinthians 10:3-6 This warfare is with spiritual enemies and for spiritual purposes. In this warfare there is no design to please the flesh: this must be crucified with its affections and lusts; it must be mortified and kept under. The principles and disciplines of the gospel are the weapons of this warfare. There is no outward force but rather strong persuasions, by the power of truth and the meekness of wisdom. Conscience is accountable to God only. The evidence of truth is convincing and cogent. This indeed is through the Word of God. It is our owing to Him, because the Word is His institution, and accompanied with His blessing, which makes all opposition to fall before His victorious reasoning on the word of the Word. Be discerning of proud conceits, in others. Let the Word of God reveal the richness of our character, the keeping of our faith, the gaining of our obedience, the efficient cause of our grace and power. Know that it is in our desire for the conversion of others that the enemy is conquered. But understand the readiness we must stand in to censure error. We must know and believe that the Holy Spirit knows exactly what scripture to give us in every situation. We are to stand for the Word in the spiritual realm. The power of the Word of God is the true knowledge of Him and His ways and character. Strongholds are wrongs thought to be true. Jesus is God’s final word to us. And why is he called The Word? The things that came out of his mouth as the truth of God and the person of Jesus, as the truth of God, in such a unified way that Jesus himself, in his coming, working, teaching, dying, and rising, was the final decisive message from God…he is the Word from God. It was not just the words he spoke, but also who Jesus was and what he did. That is what God had to say to us. Jesus’ words clarify himself in his work, but his self in his work were the main truth that God was revealing. It was the witness of his life coming together as one great message from God. We come together when we, as the Word says, abide in him. John 15:4-7, 10 John called Jesus “The Word” because he watched this man be truth. The Spirit impressed John with the best thing he could call him from eternity - God’s Word - God’s message to us. We are so unified in God’s intention for Jesus that He called him The Word of God. In the Word of God we have this view of all the revelation, all the truth, every witness, the glory, the light, and the works that came from Jesus, that Jesus was, in his living, in his teaching, in his dying, in his rising, the sum of all that can be said…The Word is God and that’s what the word of God says…   Let us come now to reason the truth of the revelation of The Word. Psalms 138:2 God has made Himself known to us in many ways in creation and providence, but most clearly by His word. The judgments of His mouth are magnified by His Word. What is discovered of God by revelation of The Word is much greater than what is discovered by reason. We understand this to be of Christ, the essential Word, and of the episodic narrative of the words and endeavors of Jesus, culminating in his trial and death and concluding with his appearance after his resurrection. He is the Word which is magnified above all the discoveries God had before created, even His law, even His sanctuary. The Word is the communion in the Godhead. Ephesians 1:13, 14 James 1:12 God’s word is the truth of His promise of our inheritance. His Word. His name. The Word is God, the Word is Jesus, and there is none other name under heaven given… We make God’s name our refuge. And we can be saved by none other than Jesus, the Word. And here is what lifts thy word above thy name… II Corinthians 1:18-21 The Word of the Word invokes the promise echoed throughout the word of God. The intricate history of God’s initial promise realized is the fulfillment of God’s word of the promised Seed. And that Seed is Jesus, who is “The Word”. 📖 Applying the Study For ongoing spiritual encouragement and prophetical insights, visit Higher Learning.

what God's righteousness looks like God’s righteousness looks like Jesus on the cross. He is Himself right, just, and true. Righteousness is essential to His very being and characterizes all that He does: God is morally and ethically right, and He acts only in keeping with what is right and just. This theme is common throughout all scripture: the judge of all the earth shall do righteousness. Righteousness is what God is. Every expected obligation of God is dimensionally heightened, lengthened, and widened above every physical quality: the backgrounds and foregrounds are rendered in beautiful lifelikeness to His mode of holiness. It is this aspect of holiness that distinguishes God infinitely beyond anything and everything that can be conceived of except that He is God! And this is the consistency that He wants His people to have. By faith to know that our God’s righteousness is not bound to anything that is not perfect.  The word affirms that God is righteous and it assures us that God always conforms to Himself - He faithfully adheres to His own perfections. He acts only and always according to the very highest principle of justice: Himself. God is His own self-existent principle of moral equity, and when He rewards the righteous, He simply acts like Himself from within, uninfluenced by anything that is not Himself. Always in prayer the thoughts of God are so mysterious as I think to come to Him that they seem to turn around and walk away from me. It is understood by me that from my vantage point God is so sovereign, and as such it is His nature and will that constitute the very essence of righteousness to allow me to spiritually envision the absolute moral distance between God and His human creatures. This is His amazing, extraordinary ability to create whatever humbleness I am to be made like Jesus to come boldly before Him in prayer. To encounter God in His holiness is the expression of His righteousness that makes it possible for us to see ourselves as we really are. God’s holiness is His complete and utter uniqueness distinct from all other beings in His infinite and absolute worth and beauty. This overlaps with His righteousness - His unwavering commitment to the highest standard imaginable - namely, His glory. This view is to leave an individual with a deep sense of awe at the greatness of His actions toward us that are in perfect agreement with His holy nature. To be indifferent is impossible for the true believer when confronted by the righteousness of God. He desires from this that our practical lives flow from the vision of the God of righteousness. He opens the veil of heaven to offer a glimpse of how the whole earth is full of His glory. The truth is that there is not and can never be anything outside of the nature of God which can move Him in the least degree. All God’s reasons come from within His uncreated being. Nothing has entered the being of God from eternity, nothing has been removed, and nothing has been changed. It is by God’s righteousness that we come to understand the “amen” response of His people. It is us saying, “now hear this”! God’s righteousness is of such a superlative degree that there is only one attribute   ever raised to the third degree of repetition in scripture. The bible doesn’t simply say that God is holy, or even that He’s holy, holy, but that He is holy, holy, holy. The bible doesn’t say that God is mercy, mercy, mercy or love, love, love or justice, justice, justice or wrath, wrath, wrath, but that He is holy, holy, holy. This is a dimension of God that consumes His very essence, and when it is manifest to us we must have the good sense to be moved. How can we, made in His image, be indifferent to His righteousness?   God’s righteousness is His unswerving faithfulness always to preserve and display the glory of His name. God is ever concerned to glorify Himself in all that He does, and His righteousness tells us just that. It is for this reason man’s “unrighteousness” is described in terms of “not glorifying God as God”. Righteousness consists in glorifying God and nothing less. The law to which men are bound is God’s   law – not a law that is “above Him” but a law that is “within Him.” And this standard, being nothing other than the nature and will of God, is the standard to which the immutable God has bound Himself: He acts always in a way that is consistent with His own perfection. This is a truth about God which we are glad to know. It is one thing to know that God is sovereign and so rules the world by His own will. But it is something more indeed to know that He rules in righteousness. For all the apparent inequities of life, for all the patient favors He shows the wicked, and for all the afflictions that fall upon the righteous, it is necessary indeed that we know that God is just and that He will always do what is right – however difficult it may be for us to see it at a given moment. Or again, it is one thing to know that He is the judge of all the world; it is something much more to know that He judges according to what is right and in a way that is consistent with Himself, that He will not condemn the innocent or clear the guilty. Our God is not whimsical or capricious. He is righteous – immutably righteous. For God to be God, and for us to be God’s election, God must demand of us righteousness. In virtue of this He institutes a moral government in creation, and imposes a just law upon His creatures, with promises of reward for the obedient. And God’s law is the very expression of His own Being. The divine righteousness of God is of such satisfaction as to offer a reformative function – repentance that we may avoid the vindicatory effect - the punishment of sin. God redeeming us will only be so as He can do so righteously. He cannot side-step justice. This is that aspect of God’s righteousness by which He provides righteousness for His offending creatures and Himself makes satisfaction for our unrighteousness.  T he gospel is a revelation of God’s righteousness. The gospel is a revelation of God’s love and grace, and it is also necessarily a message of His righteousness. Amazingly, God is righteous in forgiving sin. This is the beauty of His righteousness. God has not surrendered His just demands. Rather, God sent His son to be the propitiation for our sins. In the Lord Jesus we have all that God’s righteousness requires of us. In Jesus, we are righteously forgiven. This is grace whereby through faith his righteous record became ours, and we are justified. And with all that God’s righteousness is, there is yet this one aspect that overwhelms me. God’s “remunerative” righteousness as was spoken in the parable of the pounds. Him knowing that whatever good thing any man doeth, that man shall receive of the Lord. He does not overlook our work and labor of love. It is a curious thing that with God it is a matter of righteousness that He rewards His servants for their faithful service. It is not simply a matter of goodness or kindness but of justice. When we have obeyed and served Him, we have only done what is our purpose. All that we are, we are only “by the grace of God”, and our faithfulness is due only to His working in us. It seems strange that God would view our rewards as a function of His righteous justice. The point here is not that God is obligated to us, simply, but that He has obligated Himself to us by promise. It is in His righteousness to make good His word; by promise God hath made Himself a debtor. It is just with God to pay what He owes, and God owes what He hath promised; and so it is a crown of life which God the righteous Judge will give us at that day. Now, so as not to conflict understanding, God owes us nothing. No primary and original obligation rests upon the Creator, to reward a creature made from nothing, yet He can constitute a secondary and relative obligation. He can promise to reward the creature’s service; and having bound Himself to reward obedience, His own word establishes a species of claim…God by His promise, has made Himself a debtor to men.  Our obedience and service that He righteously demands of us and that He graciously enables us to give Him put otherwise, is God rewarding us, His servants, for the very thing that He has purchased and freely provided. The truth of God’s righteousness is a startling one for us. But when this righteousness is wedded to His grace, it is a joyful truth indeed. Even the heavens declare His righteousness. And by His Son we might become the righteousness of God right now as Jesus stands before Him. This very moment if we are in Christ, we are righteous, meaning we are seen by God as just, innocent, and right. There is no measurement to God’s righteousness. The cross of Calvary accomplished a just salvation, for all who will receive it. But we also know that only those whom God has chosen—the “elect”—will repent and trust in the death of Christ on their behalf. This raises another question related to divine righteousness. After understanding the teaching of the doctrine of divine election, how does God’s righteousness and His justice reconcile. Should God stand before the bar of human judgment? God is righteous in that He has condemned all, and in Christ, those who are justified have been punished and then raised to newness of life. God is also righteous for judging all those who refuse to accept His offer of salvation in Christ. God would be unjust only if He set aside justice rather than fulfilling it in Christ, whether by His sacrificial death at His first coming or by His judging the unbelieving world at His second coming.   Divine grace, the grace by which God reaches out to save men from their sins, is meted out not on the basis of men’s merits but in spite of men’s sin. Grace is sovereignly bestowed. God would be unjust only if He withheld blessings from men which they deserved. Since God is free to bestow unmerited blessings on any sinner He may choose, God is not unrighteous in saving some of the worst sinners, while choosing not to save other sinners. God does not owe salvation to anyone, and thus He is not unjust in saving some and choosing not to save others.   If sin is the manifestation of our unrighteousness and we can be saved only through a righteousness not our own—the righteousness of Christ—then the ultimate sin is self-righteousness. Jesus did not reject sinners who came to him for mercy and salvation; he rejects those who were too righteous in their own eyes to need grace.   No one is too lost to save; there are only those too good to save.   If we are among those who have acknowledged our sin and trusted in the righteousness of Christ for our salvation, the righteousness of God is one of the great and comforting truths we should embrace. By the law is the knowledge of sin, and thus every mouth is stopped, and the whole world is brought in guilty before God. But notwithstanding this, there is a righteousness; a righteousness which meets the case of the unrighteous in every part; a righteousness which can reverse even the verdict of the law against the unrighteous; a righteousness on the footing of which we can stand with boldness in the presence of the holy God without either shame or fear. It is the righteousness of God. It is divine. It is called the righteousness of God because it is a righteousness provided by Him; a righteousness which was conceived by Him, set on foot, and carried out in every part by Him entirely, and by Him alone; a righteousness in the providing of which we had nothing to do, even in thought or in desire, far less in execution; a righteousness the origin and accomplishment of which are wholly and purely God’s, not man’s at all. Again, it is called the righteousness of God because it is a righteousness founded on the sufferings of the Son of God. What God’s righteousness looks like…it is the only begotten flesh that has suffered and provided such a compensation for our unrighteousness. God’s righteousness is so divinely situated that it pushes our faith to a divinely accepted blessing. A faith which can leave no room for doubt on our part at all. Yet it is not our faith that is our righteousness. It is a righteousness which passes over to us, and becomes available for us, by believing in Him whose righteousness it is; that is, by receiving the Father’s testimony concerning Jesus Christ. It is by believing that we are identified with Him, so that His doing becomes our doing in in the eye of God and in the eye of the law; His suffering becomes our suffering; His fulfilling of the law becomes our fulfilling of the law; His obedience to the Father’s will is our obedience to the Father’s will. Such is the position into which we are brought, by being made, in believing, one with Him. Thus “the righteousness of God, which is by faith of Jesus Christ,” is presented to us, that in believing on Him He may become ours. Righteousness is here laid down at our feet. It is there, whether we receive it or not. It is there, whether we believe it or not—whether we reject it or receive it.  A righteousness that is most amply sufficient to meet our case were we the very guiltiest on whom the sun has ever shone. This is God’s righteousness. On this righteousness the feet of every faithful from the beginning have stood; of this righteousness every prophet has spoken; to this righteousness every type has borne witness; and this righteousness every sacrifice has set forth. It is even the righteousness of God, which is by the faith of Jesus Christ unto all, and upon all them that believe; for there is no difference. If we be lost, it will be not that there was no righteousness, not that we refused to complete a righteousness which had been begun, but that we rejected the righteousness which was completed, and which was so presented to us by God Himself. Here is what the essence of a blessing is concerning what God’s righteousness looks like: the fitness of the righteousness for the sinner, and the fitness of the sinner for the righteousness have no difference. This is God’s righteous declaration of not guilty. All are equally fit or equally unfit, equally qualified or equally unqualified, for “all have sinned;” and it is this that brings down all to the same level, and down to this level it is that the righteousness comes. God’s righteousness is an effective work of God that cannot be limited to a mere declaration, for it includes the entire creation and not just the individual. What God declares becomes a reality as represents the unleashing of His power in an active way. God’s declaration of righteousness over us is not temporary – it is eternal. The effective work of the Spirit is part and parcel of the righteousness of God.   Righteousness is the manner by which the promise of inheritance is acquired and put into practice.   Righteousness is a journey of increasing maturity in godliness that enables access to resources of God which we haven’t experienced as yet.  R ighteousness opens up for us a lifestyle of awesome deeds that will touch the ends of the earth. This is the outcome of righteousness we are waiting for and eagerly expecting.   God’s righteousness, therefore, is both just and holy. The righteousness of God, Himself, is the righteousness that saves, and in salvation God freely extends, to sinful humanity, both justice and holiness—the justice and holiness of our very God.   However, this righteousness must be explained, as well as proclaimed, must be seen as well as heard, and must be demonstrated as well as argued. It must be revealed and understood before it can be received. Let’s enlarge upon this truth. The righteousness of God is embodied in Christ. We receive righteousness by receiving him. The question, however, is how? How is the righteousness of God revealed in Jesus? Christ’s redeeming death was the glorious manifestation of God’s own righteousness. God revealed His justice through the propitiatory act of the cross by which we are reclaimed from sin and death. Christ’s shed blood, his substitutionary, sacrificial death, deals with human sin, guilt, and condemnation. The cross reveals the justice of God by meeting the demands or requirements of the broken law. And this revelation of righteousness at the cross is fundamental. It is a demonstration of the inherent justice of God. Also, the equally fundamental truth that the life that Jesus lived also reveals God’s righteousness. Christ was obedient not only “unto death” but throughout his life. He revealed the righteousness, the holiness, the very character of God, in his everyday living. His obedience in its totality reveals God’s righteousness and, therefore, is the source of human righteousness.   The righteousness of God is both judicial and moral. Justice and holiness are revealed in Jesus, through His life and His death. Note the kind of faith that enables sinful human beings to receive God’s saving righteousness. A constant faith, from faith to faith, a faith from first to last, through faith from beginning to end. We are learning of a faith that includes much more than intellectual assent. We are learning of a faith that goes beyond knowledge. A faith that is submissive, dependent, trusting. This faith transcends knowledge, evidence, argument, and understanding, but yet it does not dispense with any of these. Do not be deceived…this righteousness does not change the nature…it changes the status. Imputed righteousness gives justification, imparted righteousness initializes sanctification. There is a future element in our experience of righteousness that will set the final seal on God’s people. It is the third angel’s message becoming in reality the message of righteousness by faith. 📖 Applying the Study For ongoing spiritual encouragement and prophetical insights, visit Higher Learning.

let us pray Let us pray. Now let us consider the answer to our prayer. God answers yes to give us confidence. He answers no to avert error. He withholds an answer to help us grow in faith through Him and to assume our own responsibility of making our own decisions using the truths we've learned. But sometimes God wants to use our prayer to bring us to a right place to know that prayer itself is a means of grace. He will expose us to what is right for us. Prayer is our response to the grace we receive from God’s Word. So, the answer is found in these questions; how are we to know what God’s answer means and is God’s answer sufficient? The answer is grace. Trusting in God’s grace is allowing His love and power to flow through us to inform our free will and our intentions of His purpose. Whatever comes from God is divine. Grace activates us according to the principles of God. With grace sin has no dominion over us for we are not under the law, but under grace, not under the law of sin and death, but under the law of the spirit of life, which is in Christ Jesus. Under grace is all about what Jesus has already done and our having faith in the finished works of Jesus Christ. We thank God for giving us the ability to do something which is humanly impossible for us to do. It is only by God's grace that we who remain faithful can experience eternal life, and it is only by God's gifted faith that we have gifted faith the ability to live for the Lord. There is this great plague that is inflicting deathly harm upon the world…the plague of sin. And it is ravaging the souls of many whom Christ died for. Except for the blessings of an all-powerful, all- knowing, and supremely loving Deity all would succumb to the devastation of inherited affliction of the flood of ungodliness…the very sorrowfulness of the grave. If not for grace…the “favor of God” which is His divine kindness, His act of true compassion toward undeserving human recipients. And it is because we cannot save ourselves that we are wholly dependent upon God’s grace and faith. For by grace we are saved through faith. We have the promise of life as we by grace and through faith are in Jesus Christ. It is this faith that gives us access to grace. We, as beneficiaries of Christ, believe that God’s grace gives us the ability, the strength to do something we are humanly incapable of doing. We can cease to sin altogether. We must come to understand the incredible and supernatural resources of heaven that broadens our path to salvation. We are the spectacle of why and how God determined and purposed this drama to secure eternity for His election. God delights in us. He supplies us with His favor or grace and faith totally at His initiative and only because of His love for us. God’s love is the greatest gift. God loves us because it is in His character to love. He does it because He wants to. Grace existed before ever we came to be. Grace is God’s part. Faith is that measure of first accepting and knowing who He is by His word and being a the formula positive response to what God has already provided by grace – the power of choice. In other words, faith is our positive response to God’s grace, and our faith only appropriates what God has already provided for us. Therefore, faith in Jesus is our part in the drama. Grace and faith work together, and they must be in balance. Understand the formula. Grace is the power not to sin and the faith in and of Jesus justifies us to be the righteousness of God. This qualifies us as the children of God and the faith given us works by love to the keeping of every word of God. The grace of God and the faith of Jesus brings us to the worthiness of all acceptation. By faith we are of God's elect, and by grace is our acknowledging of the truth after godliness. Our every doing in life, every communication, every thought is by faith. This is the effectual grace, the effectual calling applied to those whom God has determined to save, the elect, and, in God's timing, overcomes all resistance to obeying God. We come to reason through the teaching of the Spirit that the offer of salvation through grace does not act overpoweringly in a purely cause-effect, deterministic method, but rather in an influence-and-response fashion that can be both freely accepted and freely denied because of the choice that God graces us with. This choice is the act of drawing, it is an act of power, yet not of force; God’s grace in the drawing of unwilling, makes willing in the day of His power: He enlightens our understanding that bows the will, gives an heart of flesh, allured by the power of His grace, and engages the soul to come to Christ, and give up itself to Him; He draws with lovingkindness. This drawing, though it supposes power and influence, yet not force but coaction as does music to the ear, love to the heart, and pleasure to the mind. Adam and Eve were free to choose between right and wrong. We are able, as a result of the grace of God through Jesus Christ, to choose to turn from sin to righteousness and believe on Jesus Christ who draws all of humanity to himself. In this view, God's dispensation of grace to us, the will of man, which was formerly both adverse and averse to God, and unable to obey, can now choose to obey through the work of Christ; and although God's grace is a strong initial catalyst to effect salvation, it is not irresistible but may be ultimately resisted and rejected by a human being. Herein is the sovereignty of God bound up; God can allow individuals to accept or reject His grace and yet remain sovereign. Sufficient grace does not become efficacious or effective from the cooperation of the human will, but because of the purpose of God. Without it we remain in a state of depravity. Without it we have not the capability to believe or to repent. God's election does not depend upon any human response. The Word and will of God awakens us from the death of sin, enlightens and renews us. What a purpose that the preaching of the word by which faih comes is a means of grace by which God offers salvation. The outward call to salvation given to all who hear the gospel becomes an inward work by the Holy Spirit. And by faith we embrace the grace offered and conveyed by it. Once inwardly revived, we freely follow God and His ways as not only the obligatory but the preferable good, and so that special restoring grace is always effective as the outward working of the Holy Spirit converts the life. This is the confirmation that those whom God effectually calls necessarily come to full salvation. Of course, this confirmation depends upon the faith that when God elected certain individuals for His purpose of salvation, He knew who would respond and obey, according to the foreknowledge of God as the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ. We must not be so familiar with the word of God that we take for granted what God purposes it to say. God inspires profound truth to be declared through reasoning with Him by the Spirit. Being saved by grace through faith, does not say one or the other. Salvation is not dependent on grace alone. If it were, everyone would be saved and going to heaven, for God’s grace that brings salvation has appeared to all men. He has already given the gift of salvation to everyone through Jesus. Now, it is predicated upon the individual to receive what was done by faith. It is essential that we understand what the spirit says rather than simply consider the words. The purpose of God must be distinctly understood in the light of the predestination and the election. Predestination is God's sovereign ordaining, while election is the specific purpose of God choosing us in Christ before the foundation of the world. And yet, both refer to God’s grace decreed for eternal life. Predestination is the broader grace of which faith in His election is the sealed sum. In the counsel of determination, God’s eternal decree, by which He compacted with Himself was what He willed to become of each person. Election implies eternal life. Predestination is according to purpose. It is God’s plan taking place. God saw us unperfect and wrote it in His book when as yet there was none of us. Eternal wisdom formed the plan, and by God’s power the structure was brought forth. How can this be described being so far out of sight of our sense? He who saw our substance when it was unfashioned sees it now that it is fashioned. Every person has existed in the mind of God eternally. This does not negate the paradoxical truth that He holds of choices and forked paths before us. He tests us. He calls to us and awaits our response. But it is true that He has ordained our lives. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. The question is: how do we come to know what the works are that God prepared in advance for us to do? The answer is that we must abide in Christ and that makes us a reality in the mind of God. God the Father is a spirit. He sees spiritually beyond what is and on to what will be. For Him to think is to create. He sees us in nothingness and His thoughts toward us create a substance full of potential. He shapes and brings life to it. Now, with your patience let’s return to reason with what the spirit says rather than simply consider the words as stated earlier. Most believe that in order to be saved, people need to ask God to forgive them of their sins, but that isn’t what the bible teaches. The bible states that Jesus was the propitiating atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. Jesus didn’t just die for those he knew would accept him; he died for every sinner who has ever lived on this earth. And he died before they, you or I ever committed a single sin…his death was in reality accomplished before any of us were. Here is a radical truth that even some of you may frown at. Sin is not an issue with God! Because He knows the sufficiency of His grace and He knows our faith in His word to confess our sins. Does not the scripture read, “I write unto you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for his name's sake.” Because of the name of Jesus, the life of Jesus, the death of Jesus, the resurrection of Jesus, the heavenly ministry of Jesus…the sins of the entire world…God does His part; He gives us grace to receive the truth by faith and make it a reality in our life. We are to be convinced of sin, righteousness, and judgment. We can sum these up in the receiving of Jesus Christ sending the Holy Spirit to convict us of lacking faith in him. We must have faith to trust God’s grace. Do we believe that God wants to save us? Grace can reverse the deep effects of sin. Our response to grace is faith in Jesus. It is this faith that carries us to salvation. It’s the gift of God, not a work we do. Jesus says, “thy faith hath saved thee.” But it is according to God’s own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began. He provides faith through grace for us to be brought from death to life. It’s the work of God alone that we can receive His grace through faith. God gives the grace, the faith, and the salvation. This is His purpose…what did we do. So, why does God give both grace and faith? That none of us may boast. That is grace from God to keep us from pride. God knows the human tendency for pride. Salvation is a divine work of God that cannot be earned through any human actions. It can’t be passed down from our parents as some believe. If we had anything to do with our salvation, we would think to take credit about what we had accomplished. Since salvation is a work of God alone, we by faith can boast about God alone. Please get this…from the beginning, God knew of the fall that would bring separation. He purposed this to secure eternity for those who would come to Him. God had a plan to bring creation back to Himself and that was through Jesus. Jesus came to live the perfect life that we couldn’t and then died the death that only we deserved, but that’s not all of it. Jesus rose, defeating death, so that we too would experience resurrection of life. The Word of God made grace possible and by that Word God made salvation possible through faith. God, in His providence, extends both grace and faith to us. Without grace, faith cannot function; and without faith, grace cannot be retained. Grace is the power, faith is the “on” switch within our spirit that enables us to receive grace. Faith is essential for us to see and to know God. Without this faith in its continual growth the righteousness of God cannot be unveiled. Without this we would have no life. That’s why faith is the underlying basis of our relationship with God, and the means by which we can apprehend God’s grace. There is this divinely powerful truth that sets us free from the penalty and the power of sin: by our faith in the grace of Christ’s death. Application of this grace and truth of the cross by faith each day gives us the putting on of Christ. His mind, his doing. This is the way by God’s grace we overcome sin in our sanctification. Having the mind of Christ gives us the heart of the humility of Christ making it possible to have true faith required to receive God’s grace for God giveth grace to the humble. This is God safeguarding eternity. Faith acts on the truth of God’s word and this shows the effect of grace in the life. Grace and faith are pictured in God’s hand reaching down to touch us and we reach upward to take hold of Him. And it is as we envision God’s hand of grace and our hand of faith joining together to form an interlocking handshake that our divine relationship and friendship is complete and inseparable. Consider how faith so pleases God. Faith is so powerful that it can give conditional exception to our standing with God. How so? Believing what God says to us is true; even if we don’t see it happen right away. But there is a word written with purpose. The experience of the repentant thief is a perfect illustration of the biblical truth that salvation is a gift of God’s grace that we receive through faith and not by works. The repentant thief had already received a death sentence for his wrongdoing. All we know about his sin is that the scriptures call him a thief and a criminal. This sin, according to the world, deserved death. However, according to Jesus, it was forgivable. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. This is proof that God will show grace and forgive the sins of all those who have faith in Him, even in their last moment. Whatever goodness faith sees, it sees as the fruit of grace. Eternal destiny changed by a faith that recognized Jesus as the Savior. Our faith is the demand we place on the power of God. Our faith is the receiver of grace; it is the receiver of the power of God. Our faith is ours when we believe and act on the Word of God. Just reach out and touch the H, I, M. Grace will in no way excuse sin. God will by no means clear the guilty. Every one shall die for his own iniquity. God reserveth wrath for his enemies. He is of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity. It was Jesus who by the grace of God should taste death for every man. What an amazing thought! Jesus Christ, our perfect and sinless substitute, tasted death for everyone. The bible even says how he did it: by God’s grace. It was God’s love, compassion, and mercy for us that not only sent Jesus to the cross but enabled him to endure it. Jesus was no helpless victim of hatred or persecution. He voluntarily surrendered himself. This was purposed in the grace of God. To embrace this truth, the idea that everyone could be saved based upon grace must be received by faith by the individual. This grace and this saving faith express God’s omnipotent plan for our lives, purposed to bring glory to His name through Christ Jesus. Faith is the act of our soul that turns away from our own insufficiency to the free and all-sufficient resources of God’s grace. The grace in God’s plan is so purposed that no one is required to work to earn it. And our faith is the mark of being chosen for God’s election. We are found in the favor of God for our salvation is through faith, not as a cause or condition of salvation, or as what adds anything to the blessing itself; but it is the way, or means, or instrument, which God has appointed, has purposed, for the receiving and enjoying it, that so it might appear to be all of grace; and this faith is not the produce of our free will and power, but it is the free gift of God...it is not of our desiring nor of our deserving, nor of our performing, but is of the free grace of God. Faith fueled by grace authenticates our obedience to God. By it we understand God’s call and our identity. Grace is highlighted through our faith. Both are of our divine Father in heaven, and sacrificial offering of our Savior Jesus Christ. Hearing and discerning which voices speak wisdom and truth for God today requires a grace that overarches the source of our faith. There will be storms, hardships, trials, persecutions. By faith in the grace of God’s promise we take courage to endure. God’s grace is not an abstract concept or a thing. God’s grace is a person. Jesus Christ is God’s grace personified. When God lived in the tabernacle in the wilderness, the people saw His glory by the things He did. At that time, God tabernacled in a man-made tent, the sanctuary. The second time God comes to dwell among His people, He comes in a tent/tabernacle/temple that is not made with human hands. He comes in the fleshly body as Jesus Christ. That is why Jesus referred to his body as “this temple”. Our dwelling in tents in the wilderness was the shadow of our bodies. So Jesus came in the true temple and he was “full of grace” and truth. From his fullness we have all received grace. God appeared to us as Jesus, in a temple that was foreshadowed by the tent or tabernacle in the Old Testament. In this new tent, unlike the old tabernacle that had the law on table to stones, this new tabernacle or body prepared Christ was completely filled with God’s grace. Jesus was walking around as the face of God’s grace and his flesh was simply a “covering” that was put on that grace so that it could take shape that is physically visible. The bible says this; for the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works. These things speak, and exhort, and rebuke with all authority. Let no man despise thee. This is a reference to Jesus whom John describes as God’s only son who left heaven and came to earth, full of grace and truth, and from his grace we have each received grace and God’s blessings. Jesus is the grace that saves us as our faith is in Him. We see Jesus in his grace as God sees the faith that is in us. To enlarge…without grace, there would be no salvation, considering our flagrant disobedience against God’s sovereignty over us within His purpose. We need to understand grace specifically as seen against the backdrop of God's justice, that is, what God is fully and absolutely justified in doing to us. Without it, there would be no calling, no justification, no Holy Spirit given, and no sanctification—let alone, no salvation. We could go as far as to say that there would be no creation! In short, in terms of our salvation, grace is the key element in God's entire purpose. Therefore, at this point in our lives, we must have the determined mindset to live the rest of our lives by faith, submitting to God to fulfill our part in His purpose for us. To complete our course, we will find as we live it that God's grace is supporting and filling our needs all along the way. From beginning to end, our salvation is by means of divine benevolence, gifting by God. In no way is grace given because God is obligated, compelled, forced, or duty bound to us to do so. He gives grace freely, not by constraint. All He truly owes us is the death we have earned through sin. He gives grace because that is the way He is; it is His character. He gives it because of what He is working out in His purpose. God, the Author, would not contradict Himself by suddenly giving approval of any work of faith as a means of salvation. Grace, a merciful gift, preceded our having faith in Him. Without His gift of grace, we would never have godly faith, the faith, in the first place. Faith, our trust in God, is a fruit of the grace God freely gives. Our calling and election by God preceded even the slightest fragment of saving knowledge of God and thus our having faith in Him. Therefore, we could not possibly earn any grace of God, even as Jacob could not. As a vivid illustration for us, God deliberately chose to do this to show us that we couldn’t possibly do any works pertaining to salvation. An overwhelming nugget of truth may be gleaned from this gift of God. Because God is revealing here His purposed pattern which He determined to call those He has chosen to save at this time, then it shows that our personal calling and election into His spiritual creation is in no way random but very specific. When was Jeremiah sanctified and ordained? David’s substance was not hidden. And what of John the Baptist? Works have an entirely different purpose than that of saving us. Works are the fruit derived from God's grace. Even though the grace of God is the foundation for good works, they, by themselves, do not and cannot earn us grace. The grace of God enables our works to do spiritual things. Essentially grace is an intervention into the course of our lives. Our calling is an act of God's grace, a gifting completely apart from any merit on our part. We tend to think of grace primarily in regard to justification and the forgiveness of sin, but that is far, far too limiting. Our relationship with God through Jesus Christ is a faith connection that supplies us with a continuous flow of grace, powers, forgiveness, knowledge, understanding, wisdom, and more through God's loving concern. He is not supplying our every desire but our every need as His spiritual creation of each of us moves toward His purposed conclusion. Again, remember that, for this truth to be more fully appreciated, it must be understood that God does not owe us one tiny jot or tittle of it. Just as surely as the manna physically appeared to the unconverted Israelites every morning except Sabbath in the wilderness and the cloud was in the sky by day and a pillar of fire by night, God is supplying our every need in relation to His salvation and purpose. It is all freely given toward His glorification and His purpose of creating us to fill a position, a place in His eternity. May it be our prayer that we have seen a firm definition of and foundation for appreciating the importance of grace and faith to our salvation. Without either, there would be no salvation to give hope to our lives in Christ. Along the way, through God's creation of us into the image of Christ, His giving of God has laid His hand upon our life, and He is going to use grace and faith becomes the source of power that enables us to overcome and glorify God. us for His eternal purposes. Our faith gives us the full realization that grace has already taken care of everything that concerns us. 📖 Applying the Study For ongoing spiritual encouragement and prophetical insights, visit Higher Learning.

troubled in Spirit The many agitations that will befall us will so completely and utterly trouble our peace because of the discerned unknowns. It will not be the heart that is troubled, it will be the spirit. If not for the hope of faith in the fact that God has made a suitable revelation of Himself to us and that He expects us to give attention to it, it would seem that the finite mind must confront subjects of unknown circumstances, but we are never without the doctrine to relinquish being overcomers in every circumstance if we are positive. Confronted with such subjects, we should ever be in quietude of holy reverence, as was Moses before the burning bush, and ever impressed with the futility of dependence upon mere human opinion, as well as of the disastrous consequences which such dependence on humanity may induce. In the simplest of terms, God has spoken of Himself, and of things infinite and eternal. The bible is that message and while we cannot originate any similar truth, we, though finite, is privileged by the gracious illumination of the Spirit to receive, with some degree of understanding, the revelation concerning things which are infinite. And herein is where the troubling in the spirit is announced…there are issues involved in such a contemplation of the events today which are too vast for the finite mind to fathom, and no intelligent, reverent person will be alarmed to discover the boundaries of the finite mind. When standing on the border between the finite and the infinite, between time and eternity, between the perfect, irresistible will of God and the impotent, perverted will of man, between sovereign grace and hell-deserving sin, who among us is too proud to exclaim that there are some things which I just do not understand. What troubles me in spirit is not that I don’t know the future, but I discern the forfeiture of so many who could be saved. The Lord does know and so He is troubled in spirit. There are some among us whom God must remove before the introduction of the mystery doctrine of the cross. This mystery is the invitation for believers to reflect on and unite with the willingness of their Creator to suffer the worst degradation imaginable. There will be this break, this hard line in history, in truth, where direct intervention will show the personal revelation of the Creator in the lives of His chosen beings. This event is reckoned as the most important of all events for God’s people in the final time. You and me, in this continuing divine revelation, continuously claiming the protection and guidance of the Holy Spirit, and passing on the truth of the greatest-ever happening…the "mystery of faith" and the "mysteries" of the life, death and resurrection in Christ. In this context mystery means "not fully knowing" and "not capable of being fully known" by human reason. It does not mean "cannot be known" or "not ever to be fully understood or revealed." But these mysteries bring us to the poignant concept of the time of our salvation. We acknowledge the leap of faith over the chasm of the unknown necessary to achieve the personal relationship with the Savior that fulfills the resurrection promise. It is that one moment on the cross that pivots God’s people to all that which is purposed. It creates that bright line on the continuum of history. There is hope that we can know, and it requires of us a total investment of body and soul and it asks of God, through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, to move actively in that same body and soul. This is the process of our conversion to belief, which leads to eternal life, represented by the image of the man on the cross, who was labeled with a mocking sign. We are to have, when found in Christ, an indicative love. It must be understood that this is a spiritual attitude love. It is a spiritual attitude love that is minus mental attitude sins. The greatest of all grace appeals, the final invitation to salvation sounds in the love that brought Him from heaven’s glory to this earth. Christ fulfilled in us is our love for one another, we provide for each other what He had provided for those that were with him. This kind of love will be a sign to all people that we are his final generation. Each movement in Israel historically had had its peculiar identifying sign. The sign that one was related to Abraham and the Abrahamic covenant was circumcision. The sign that one was related to Moses and the Mosaic law was the observance of the Sabbath. The sign that one related to John the Baptist and his message concerning the coming Messiah was water baptism and repentance. Christ gives us an identifying sign. It is not an external sign that could easily be imposed but an inner sign that requires a transformation. The sign is mutual love. This deeply moves an inner peace that is not troubled by turmoil on the outside. Our burden is over things yet to come. My distress is not focused merely on the tragedies that are, but rather, my spirit must grasp the reality of the betrayals to be committed against our blessed Savior. We must comprehend the ugliness expressed when redeemed souls turn against the very One who redeemed us. When we realize that any word, action, or expression that is against His holy nature is a betrayal of our Lord, then we will know the reality of a troubled spirit. Some people lack a clear understanding of how reasoning/revelation/inspiration works. Their self views weaken their confidence in the very truths that would strengthen their faith in the word of God. God’s people, seeking to help others, find their spirit troubled when others have difficulty finding certainty in the word only because these seek to satisfy the self rather than the head and the heart. There is an authority who longs to respond with His side of the story. God never wanted men and women to be without certainty regarding the purpose of life. Especially during the unparalleled stress of the last days, He made certain that we could know the truth. Truth carries its own authority because truth appeals to and satisfies our concern for objective certainty and subjective certitude—the linking of the head and heart. We are to always consider the weight of evidence. It must be to God’s people a living reality. God’s people are troubled in spirit when those who claim to worship in truth do not honor the truth. The move that the enemy puts forth among God’s people is always the conflict over truth. God’s position is that truth needs no defense, it simply needs to be seen and demonstrated. The enemy appeals to the self-centered heart to raise doubt, causing hesitancy and postponement of a spiritual commitment. For this reason, tampering with truth in any way, casting unwarranted shadows over what may not be totally clear, is an immoral act. Openness of mind will separate facts from opinions. Faith is in jeopardy if one sets limits to research, fearing that new discoveries may unsettle faith. One’s faith also is in jeopardy when human reason or feelings are permitted to set the limits of faith. Truth must be honored at all costs. When someone models his or her words against truth for their own framing, the motive to it is from self which bespeaks a desperate depth of wickedness into which one falls. Being troubled in spirit by the trouble is a circumstance fight. The enemy is after our faith. We’re troubled, but not troubled means the circumstances may be dark, but we still have our faith. Man will never learn to live in peace on this Earth. Persecution in the last days will be because of the name of Jesus. The world doesn’t mind if you pray; just don't mention that name. We can be in favor of religion, but leave out Jesus’ name. Is that not true? There is no absolute standard of right and wrong. If there is no absolute standard, the moral anchor is gone. Think what the sins of the world have done unto people. Experiencing betrayal by someone we love is painful. Betrayal destroys trust, injures love and leaves an indelible scar on one’s heart. It may be forgiven, but the pain is enduring and it troubles the spirit. There is a troubled spirit that is sinful and we should seek to overcome it by trusting the promises of Jesus. And there is a troubled spirit that is not sinful, because Jesus had it, and it has a place in the life of his followers. There is disquiet of heart without sin. There is an agitation of soul without sin. There is a kind of troubled turmoil in the spirit that is not owing to sin. The sinful troubled soul is owing to unbelief. For that reason Jesus tells us: “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe. . . believe.” But the holy troubled soul is owing to love. Jesus isn’t only troubled by the prospect of his own agony. Not sinful turmoil that comes from lack of trust in the promises of God, but holy turmoil that comes from love for someone who is about to destroy himself and defame God. This gives us continual sorrow and great heaviness. We are made miserable by this holy disquiet. The same faith in God that dispels sinful turmoil, keeps holy turmoil in its proper bounds. It doesn’t overwhelm us. Let this cup pass from us. Jesus moved forward with God’s plan for His life. We can move through times of suffering and anguish and answer God’s higher calling as well. Prayer is the most powerful weapon in our arsenal. No troubled spirit can last with prayer. We have only to ask our friend Jesus. He chose us and appointed us. The bible warned that there will be unspeakable darkness and a great falling away in the last days before Christ returns, but most of us probably never thought we would live to see a day of moral decay quite like this. In the natural, we are on the weaker side; but in the spiritual, we are already more than conquerors. The greatest tool we have to keep our hearts from being flooded with chaos and trouble is His Word. If we believe the bible is the revealed Word of God given to us to show us how to keep our eyes on Christ, then we should not only read it often, but hide His Word in our hearts. The greatest defense against anything that unsaddles our spirit is His Word because it is through His Word that our minds are renewed and settled into His perfect peace. That’s why God called His people to put His Word in their hearts and to imprint it into their minds. We will pass through the deep waters of personal bitterness...take hold of God. God is at work to accomplish His purpose in Israel; He will bring about His highest purposes… The troubled spirit is brought on by the love we have for those near to us. Those who say they live in covenant with Him. What of these who suppress any truth of God…stubborness of heart. As these show agitation in refusing the truth it devastates the unity of the people of God. These are not conscious of their spiritual poverty. And when those who are troubled in spirit seek to hide the remorse, the despair that so burdens their heart, they are denying the Holy Spirit. It was this change by God to example for us the truth of reality shown in Jesus that our communication with others would be of sound witness. God is a Spirit, and a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have said the Son of God. Being troubled in spirit is preparatory to the closing up of all earthly scenes. God has a record of this and that is sufficient. In this last time God’s purpose is for His people to weep deep inside for those who compromise the attachment with truth. We will suffer together in the chaos of the turmoil of love — in its appointed bounds.   We seldom use the term turmoil to describe a kind of love. But the thoughts of our hearts are sunken. We can only do this when the foundations for our thresholds are built on truth, purity of heart, goodwill towards others and honesty towards ourselves. A troubled spirit, combined with our faith, gives us a stronger relationship with Jesus and prepares us to last. We find wholeness in Jesus Christ. Divine wisdom shepherds us in the path of Divine will. We are approaching unto the we are in the valley mountain, but as of now, we are in the valley. Foreboding trials and troubles are out there. Thank God for gracing us with an intense peace and calm within. We are not feared for ourself, but for those we love whom the enemy is surrounding. We pray for the re-encountering of a right relationship in the remembrance that we have a purpose and calling as a stand-in figure for Christ. The end is here. A compassionate and loving God asks us to look beyond ourselves. We are called to begin at the end…where God says it is done. That is to be our faith. This troubled spirit helps us to transcend self. We grow in our experience to a greater awareness in responding to others. We are in the sanctuary of a troubled soul. Reason has full power and dominion over the will and the will governs the sensual faculties constrained to be serviceable to good as we are held in obedience to God’s will. Sin causes the will to be disordered and to break loose from its obedience to God. It is on a violent course, and this troubles the spirit as it frames waywardness in justification, or excuses, or concealment. Reason lacking in the people of God is seduced thereby. It remains dispirited in power. And by judgment is so blinded that it cannot discern what it ought. This troubling in spirit finds it necessary for fasting, meditation, and prayer, being not only just, but expediate for the soul. This stirs up and strengthens the forces of reason: faith, prayer, and grace. This disposes the soul of God’s people to make familiar conference with God for the many others cared for. Prayer is the speech of our soul unto God and meditation is the speech of God to the soul. We render our employment of the sabbath days always to begin and end with God while we pause in the midst to comfort our consciences one with another. This is how God’s people are familied…made sweeter than honey as being drawn from many flowers. If we fail to present ourselves to speak face to face we fail in faith. How can we think to praise God with the tongue that deserts truth. Be troubled in spirit regarding the corruption of our nature consisting of love and dread in the trembling for the souls being lost. Our inward anguish cast our thoughts upon the Savior. What love moved him to choose death for me. In all the necessities and tribulations of this life, in Christ we have an assured hope and confidence. Our troubled spirits may find comfort in the sanctuary. Not a location or place; not confined within walls or defined by them. It's a spiritualized state of consciousness reached through prayer. Within the sanctuary of spiritual understanding we find immunity from sin and from the impositions of the world. Here we have spiritual recourse to meet any problem that may confront us and the means of resolving it. It is the secret place of the Most High. It is the understanding of our relationship to Christ as His spiritual expression of himself. In the sanctuary we discover the truth of our individuality as God's image. God has a purpose in troubling our spirits. It is for us to plead God's allness! His all- power, His ever-present love, His nearness, supremacy, oneness, and infinitude. How heartening it is to realize that every troubling thought, each trial can actually cause us to gain the understanding of our perfect state as God's spiritual image and likeness. It is as we take these troubling spirits to the sanctuary that we then understand their end. We take refuge in truth. We will see that the operation of divine principle is irresistible. We will learn that the demise of evil is inevitable because evil has no foundation in truth to support it, no life to sustain it, and no law through which to act. Because underived from God, evil is a nonentity; it's never a person or a group of persons. How is it that God has purposed a called election? God knows us only as we truly are. God's knowing of our faith preserves it. 📖 Applying the Study For ongoing spiritual encouragement and prophetical insights, visit Higher Learning.

There is no time in eternity. It is an eternal, unchanging state where there are no intervals, no succession of moments. The essence of eternity is that all things are present simultaneously. Eternity is the complete, simultaneous and perfect possession of everlasting life, meaning that in eternity every experience is fully present at once. However, eternity is not static. It is timeless perfection in God. Eternity is not merely an endless extension of time described as sempiternity, a perpetual property, but rather a state of timelessness. Eternity is “the complete, simultaneous and perfect possession of everlasting life,” meaning that unlike our sequential, ever- changing experience of time, eternity is a unified “now” where past, present, and future are all present at once. This timelessness is associated with the divine. And with that said, our prayer now is to come to reason with God in the highest level of understanding that we are afforded. Let’s reason: Jesus is understood to be not only the path to eternal life but as the very embodiment of that life. Everlasting life isn’t simply a future promise after death – in Christ it’s a present, transformative reality that begins when one enters into a relationship with Him. Jesus declares, “I am the resurrection and the life,” indicating that through Him believers experience life beyond physical death. He defines eternal life as “knowing the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom He have sent,” highlighting that eternal life is about an intimate, ongoing relationship with God. Jesus isn’t just a mediator for us now; He is the very reality of everlasting life. His life, death, and resurrection restore our broken relationship with God and empower us to live in the light of His eternal kingdom right now. Can we reason that “eternity” and “time” are both filled with every eventful moment possible - past, present, and future are in a present actual continuation of existence “all at once?” Having been created in the very image of God, with the possibility of eternal life, our existence wasn’t limited to a fleeting present; rather, our entire life, with its many temporal parts, was laid out in a dimensional spacetime. In this sense, existence is both “in time”, since events are ordered by temporal relations, in tme and “eternal”, since all those moments exist equally, regardless of their “presentness” for us. In this understanding there can be reality outside the present moment. God’s knowledge and being are “eternal” while still engaging with temporal creation. And because of that “image” the eternal is realized in our lived, temporal present. The power of the presence of God where there is nothing of sin invites us to consider that the ultimate reality may not be a flowing sequence of events but an eternal state in which all events are interrelated, transcending our ordinary temporal experience. Here is where only God can move our minds; under the aspect of eternity, we are given a vision perspective to understand a vast, unified whole beyond the transient concerns of existence. Eternity’s reality to us today remains something of a mystery - a profound ground of being that underpins and transcends our every moment experience. It challenges us to ask whether our most deeply held notions of time, change, and existence are limited by our perspective, and whether the true nature of reality might be found in a realm where time, as we know it, simply does not apply. We will come to learn that eternity isn’t just a measure of endless time - it’s a journey into the timeless truths that shape who we are and what we can become. As we learn of eternity, we explore concepts that go beyond our everyday moments: questions of purpose, the nature of the soul, and our destiny in a reality that transcends the temporal. We will possess such an attainment of spiritual insight the decisions we make now can echo into eternity. Eternity deepens every dimension of life. Growth and change is not sequential, but constant always. Advancement in an eternal realm might be understood as the continuous unfolding or deepening of an inner perfection that is already complete. That is, while there’s no temporal change, there can be an experiential or qualitative enrichment - a kind of “growth” that isn’t image by Unsplash measured by change over time but by the fullness of being. We redefine advancement as the realization of complete, eternal perfection, then “growth” in eternity becomes a different kind of process; one that is not temporal but reflective of an ever-deepening awareness or perfection that is already fully present. A mystery ever beyond human understanding is the core mystery of the doctrine of the Triune relationship. Truth teaches that there is one God in essence, one divine substance or nature, and that God exists eternally in three distinct persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. We can reason this considering the One Essence of which God is - the single, unified divine nature. This means that God is not divided; He is one in His being. Three Persons in context denotes distinct centers of consciousness or relational identity. The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are distinct in how they relate to each other and to creation, yet they share the same divine essence completely and perfectly. These are not three Gods: but rather one God who has a threefold personal existence. The relationships within the Triune, the Father sending the Son, the Son offering redemption, the Spirit sanctifying, highlight different roles and relationships without compromising the unity of God’s nature. A truth mystery of the wonder of faith. The doctrine of the Triune is ultimately considered a divine mystery that goes beyond human logic and fully comprehensible explanation. It is accepted by faith as a revealed truth about the nature of God.God the Son has always been the Son - eternally begotten of the Father, not created - and the Holy Spirit is the power, presence, and love of God who proceeds “from the Father and through the Son” to work in the people of God. So, although God is One in His divine nature, the eternal relationships within the Godhead reveal three distinct persons who are co-equal and co- eternal. The distinctions are relational rather than in the divine substance: the Father is the source; the Son is eternally begotten of the Father; and the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father. This formulation preserves both the unity of God and the reality of the three Persons who relate to one another in love and communion. In short, the “coming forth” of the Son and the Holy Spirit does not imply that they are separate or created gods, but that the one divine essence is expressed relationally as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - a mystery that, while ultimately beyond full human comprehension, is revealed in scripture. Begotten of God expresses that the Son is eternally generated from the Father - sharing exactly the same divine nature and substance. There was never a time when the Son did not exist; His Being is a timeless, spiritual act that reveals the unique, eternal relationship within the Godhead. This does not mean that the Father and the Son are the same person - instead, they are distinct persons who nevertheless share one undivided, singular divine nature. This doctrine was established to affirm the full divinity of Jesus. Thus, when we say the Son is the very essence of the Father, we are expressing that in His divine nature, Jesus is completely and entirely God, just as the Father is, even though they are distinct as persons. Eternal generation is that power of love whereby God the Father eternally begets the Son. This isn’t a temporal event but an eternal, unchanging relationship within the one divine essence having no beginning…no ending. And thusly, the eternal procession where similarly, the Holy Spirit eternally proceeds from the Father, expressing an unending outpouring of divine life. Preceding every particular event and time is God’s existence. Incomprehensive of any temporal sequences exceeding the full grasp of human reason. The totality of God’s infinite and transcendent nature remains beyond complete human understanding. Our finite minds can catch glimpses of the divine through analogies, symbols, and partial revelations, but the fullness of God’s essence - His omnipotence, omniscience, omnipresence, and mystery - is ultimately ineffable. We can reason divine truth but will fall short of encapsulating the entire mystery of the Godhead. And even so does the word of God invite believers to embrace both the revealed knowledge and the mystery, trusting that the divine reality, though partially knowable, is inherently and wonderfully beyond the confines of human comprehension. How did the bible writers, both of the old testament and the new testament tell others about Jesus? Most of the writers never had direct personal interaction with Christ. Those who did receive the blessing of abiding in his presence, were not of the faith to present his testimony in the light of the truth that he lived until the Holy Spirit brought inspiration to their lives. John, the hearer who revealed the words, the thoughts, the scenes, the purposes, the times related both to prophecies and eternity, that God purposedly called him up to heaven to write for our understanding of things to shortly come, admonishes God’s people to write, that their personal understanding of God’s working His will in their lives through the indwelling Holy Spirit by the commonness of life shared with Jesus can witness to those who choose to read that a glimpse into the mystery of how the word of God affects His people. So, God gives us time...to think about eternity. So, let this be said here for those of us who by faith, and that means the faith of Jesus, have a somewhat knowledge of things existing in the Determinate Counsel. Before creation, God in His sovereign wisdom and foreknowledge convened a divine “council” in which He determined that humanity would fall into sin and that redemption would be provided through the sacrifice of His Son, Jesus Christ. This affirms that Jesus’ crucifixion was not a tragic accident or a mere human conspiracy - it was the fulfillment of an eternal plan. Before this plan was “established” in time, God had already foreordained every detail necessary for our salvation, ensuring that even events like the cross were part of His divinely orchestrated design. That implies eyes capable of envisioning eternity past...eternity future, we might say even while understanding that in eternity there is no past, no future. Life in eternity is usually considered a future experience. However, truth emphasizes eternal life as a "present possession" existing outside of time. Eternity in the past and eternity in the future...in eternity past God planned and purposed, and in eternity future everything will have been accomplished. When does God accomplish His work, then? Between the two sections of eternity is the bridge of time, and it is here that God accomplishes all that He wants to accomplish. Again, so, God gives us time. And does that mean that eternity is waiting for us sometime in the future? And because eternity is always in the present tense, God gave us time to understand things that must be resolved before moving forward. Because our being was created in the first of time, we are temporal beings. And because we were created in the image of God, we are likewise touched with eternity. And so, we are in the now, yet able to consider a past and a future. All peoples are eternal...that is we all were in the mind of God. But time, that event created to deal with sin, will determine who among us will continue into eternity. The purpose of God stands. There is in this a great mystery. Spirits return to God indicating eternality. The mystery is that of godliness. For it is only in Christ that the body changed can enter into the kingdom of God. What can the almighty power of God not effect? He will change faithful sleeping and the living that will not die. Because flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God. This is the mystery. This is the reason why we need to think intentionally about eternity. And because we do reason the truth, we are able to give correct answers to those who ask us about it more than when we are not being mindful about it. But whether we intentionally think about it or not, we naturally will have to think about it even without being mindful about it, just because our very nature knows about eternity past and eternity future. We are yet to see the complete beauty of God’s providence. Faith tells us of the wonder of eternity. The bible says we must wait with patience for the full discovery of that which to us seems intricate and perplexed, acknowledging that we cannot find out the work that God makes from the beginning to the end. We are in the midst of God’s counsel...we are in time. The veil will be rent soon and time will be no more. God has a people who are spiritual beings. This will be our powerful witness in these final days. It is our greatest testimony that we are but spiritual beings, longing for that eternity future with Christ. This idea, which expresses the essence of the body under the form of eternity, is, as we have said, a certain mode of thinking, which belongs to the essence of the mind, and is necessarily eternal. Yet it is not possible that we should remember that we existed before our body, for our body can bear no trace of such existence, neither can eternity be defined in terms of time, or have any relation to time. But, notwithstanding, we feel and know that we are eternal...existing in the mind of God from the beginning. For the mind feels those things that it conceives by understanding, no less than those things that it remembers. For the eyes of the mind, whereby it sees and observes things, are none other than proofs. Thus, although we do not remember that we existed before the body, yet we feel that our mind, in so far as it involves the essence of the body, under the form of eternity, is eternal, and that thus its existence cannot be defined in terms of time, or explained through duration. Thus our mind can only be said to endure, and its existence can the womb only be defined by a fixed time, in so far as it involves the actual existence of the body. Thus far only has it the power of determining the existence of things by time, and conceiving them under the category of duration. The power of the mind of eternity tells us that God knew us before the womb. He wrote our members in a book. Purposed before the womb to call those whom would be His servants, predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, to be holy, without blame before Him in love. This from dust called forth in the beginning. If you are reading this, you were made for the last days. Our mind, in so far as it knows itself and the body under the form of eternity, has to that extent necessarily a knowledge of God, and knows that it is in God, and is conceived through God. The reality of eternity is in God. We are living out events that are already finished in eternity. There is no rebellion against God; there is no question of God’s sovereignty, power, dominion, rulership, or His love. It is all settled, complete, final. All that John sees and hears in the transport to heaven is done from God’s perspective. The bible speaks of us who love Jesus and trust in Him here on earth, it describes the finality of our existence in terms of the eternal duration of eternity: we are already there as citizens, united in heaven, and our place is reserved in eternity. These terms describe us already in that eternal domain, while we live out our temporal lives here on earth. With this faith in every word of God, may this writing set forth our touching the mind's power over the emotions and the mind's freedom. Now to us let it appear how potent is the wise man, and how much he surpasses the ignorant man, who is driven only by his envying. For the ignorant man is not only distracted in various ways by external causes without ever gaining, the true acquiescence of his spirit, but moreover lives, as it were unwitting of himself, and of God, and of things, and as soon as he ceases to suffer, ceases also to be. He has no thought of eternal things. Whereas the wise man, in so far as he is regarded as being wise, is not disturbed in spirit, but, being conscious of himself, and of God, and of things, by a certain eternal necessity, never ceases to be, but always possesses true acceptance of his spirit. Eternity involves judgment. Not just the contemplation of it, but the discernment necessary to understand the standards of separation principled by God in Christ. Therefore, even if we cannot be sure of how eternity exactly looks for our life from where we stand, step by step we can be sure that the intended way to live would be a step-by-step choice to choose God’s way above our own, laying down our natural inclinations in exchange for His - this is to be our daily spiritual act of worship. The tension of living for eternity in mind continues as we persevere knowing that it is God who guides and directs our steps. God grants us the grace to construct this vision of eternity. God stopped eternity for the beauty of allowing His people to witness the beginning of eternity again and to involve us in it. This time with higher understanding. With love. And not in His determination, but in His presence. So, in our day we see more how God has made all things beautiful in its time. This earth is but a cemetery. Time will cease. But it is beautiful, as in it, God reveals His mind in time. History consists of all the generations of men and their experiences fused into a whole. This concentrated time in which all the generations of man are fused and from which all things come is called eternity paused. It is a complete compression of every conceivable thing that man could ever do, all in just one compressed section of time. The old testament is that block of beginning whereby the wise begin to understand. Every frightening thing in the world is openly described in the bible. There isn’t a crime that we read or hear about in the media, not a war, that isn’t openly described in the bible. Talk about rubbing out a whole race, that’s described in the bible; a whole country, that’s described in the bible, a people set apart to sound a trumpet of warning for the whole world, that’s described in the bible. Eternity exists, and all things in eternity, independent of creation which was an act of mercy. We do realize that revelation means something was hidden, right? So, the word of God tells us that we must be waiting for something, that was concealed. God gave us grace that we might search and inquire about our salvation. This - why the reference to the old testament as that block. The prophets who prophesied of the grace that was to be ours searched and inquired about this salvation. They inquired what person or time was indicated by the spirit of Christ within them, and to be in us, when predicting the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glory. It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but us. All these characters of the old testament were all in us. They were serving not themselves; they were serving us. They were writing for our admonition for when the fullness of time arrived. They asked, “what person or time was indicated by the spirit of Christ within them when prophesying this state? We are in the fullness of time. Now can be revealed which was hidden in the minds of man. Here is what is hidden. Jesus Christ as the personification of God; seen as the glory of God. Now, think of humanity, God’s love, and who personifies humanity...this same Jesus. When we his humanity, God’s love, God’s beloved – we see his love with mankind, with humanity. This is eternity personified reflected in Jesus. Take the block and fragment it. God has hidden eternity in the mind of man. Christ in man is the hope of glory. There is to be the unveiling of God, an act of God in self-revealing: He unveils Himself in us as us. God sets up events in time to reveal Himself in His people. He is revealing eternity, and this takes time. Now the time will fulfill itself in that too. All things take time. Time is a facility for change in experience; space is a facility for experience. This is necessary because the day will come when we will be called to testify to the truth of God’s word. That’s all that we are going to testify to: it is truth. We will have the experience. We will go into the world and testify to the truth of his word. The contemplation of God eternally is incomprehensible. We are from the beginning lost in the wonder of His infinite greatness. When we turn our thoughts to God’s eternity, His immateriality, His almightiness, His absolute sovereignty, our minds are overwhelmed. While incomprehensible in His totality, God has not left us completely in the dark, but revealed certain truths about Himself in His Word. These truths should teach us humility, caution, and reverence. God is all-sufficient in Himself and to Himself. He can receive nothing from another nor be limited by the power of another. There was nothing before God. It is He who created eternity. God is before “beginning”. But God wants His people to reverently inquire with prayerful strivings to apprehend what He has so graciously revealed of Himself in His Word. Nothing will so enlarge the intellect, so magnify the whole soul of man, as a devout, earnest, continued, investigation of the subject of the Deity. The most excellent study for expanding the soul is the science of Christ and Him crucified and the knowledge of the Godhead in the glorious Triune. The fitting study of the believer is the Godhead. The highest science, the loftiest speculation, the mightiest philosophy, which can engage the attention of a child of God is the word, the name, the nature, the person, the doings, and the existence of the great God which we call our Father. There is something exceedingly improving to the mind in a contemplation of the Divinity. It is a subject so vast, that all our thoughts are lost in its immensity; so deep, that our pride is drowned in its infinity. If we could only come to a right reasoning first among ourselves and then approaching by invitation unto God, He would give us a true report of Himself, but not a full. We could then secure ourselves from error and from ignorance. We could think on the perfections we discover of His Being. Then, all our thoughts can be attributed to Him. There is a difference indeed that is great between the knowledge of God which we may have in this life and that which we shall have in Heaven, yet, we should not undervalue what we learn here even in its imperfection. We, by faith magnify nothing above its reality. Though we will be like Christ, we will be glorified, not made Divine. In the heavenness of the new creation we will see God with the eye of the spiritual mind, for He will be always invisible to the bodily eye. We will see Him more clearly than we could see Him by reason and faith, and more extensively than all His works and dispensations have so far revealed Him. Though forever learning, forever attaining, our minds will not be so enlarged as to be capable of contemplating at once, or in detail, the whole excellence of God’s nature. To comprehend infinite perfection, we must become infinite ourselves. Even in Heaven, our knowledge will be ever growing but partial, but at the same time our happiness will be complete, because our knowledge will be perfect in this sense, that it will be adequate to the capacity of the subject, although it will not exhaust the fullness of the object. We believe that it will be progressive, and that as our views expand, our blessedness will increase. But it will never reach a limit beyond which there is nothing to be discovered, and when ages after ages have passed away, He will still be the incomprehensible God. Consider this viewpoint if you proceed to hear this...God could have dealt with sin in eternity destructively from the beginning. He stopped eternity and brought forth time. Yet it was not in order to supply a lack, but that He might communicate life and happiness to angels and men, and admit us to the vision of His glory. We are to see a glimpse of the perfectness of His love – God commands the faithfulness and services of His intelligent creatures, yet He   derives no benefit from our offices; all the advantage redounds to ourselves. God makes use of means and instruments to accomplish His ends, not from a deficiency of power, but to more strikingly display His power through the feebleness of the instruments - us. No dominion is so absolute as that which is founded on creation. He who might not have made anything, had a right to make all things according to His own pleasure. God's nature and existence aren’t contingent upon His acts of creation. In other words, God is defined by His own self-existent, being of and from Himself, aseity, not by what He has made. God is the uncaused, eternal Being. He is the “I Am” regardless of whether creation exists or not. God is God even if he had not created anything underscores that God’s essence is self-sufficient and not dependent on the created order for His existence. Even if nothing existed except God, He would still be God because His identity isn’t derived from creation—it comes from Himself. God with eternity, and eternity with timelessness, is the essence of spiritual life. God made man, and to these He added in man the gift of reason, and an immortal spirit, by which we are connected to a higher order of beings who are placed in the loftier regions of creation. God chose the path of love to demonstrate His wisdom, His power to overcome the one-time only contempt for His Godship. Eternity is vastly grander compared to time. God’s placement of human beings within time is generous. It is necessary for preparation. Fortunately, the believers’ concept of God as triune commends the divine becoming through time, for our advantage. What was it that made the fall of the rebellious angels so devastatingly harrowing to them...they resigned themselves to be in the deep for all eternity. They had no knowledge of the concept of time. But that would mean that the darkness brought into the light of eternity with God for the unfallen would forever be a contamination to the wellness of the accord of creation. The triune view that God is three persons united through love can now be revealed which demands divine eternality. There is now distinction between His attributes and His essences of divine simplicity. Relationality relies on change for its content. The divine attributes of God Himself was to show in the humanity of His Son and those same attributes and essence had to be impersoned in the Holy Spirit as the only Person of the three which could be holy and dwell in all humanity without ending life. So, for the gift of God, eternal life, to be bestowed to humanity two unknown dimensions had to be brought forth...time and space. We needed a continuum special construct that is measured in terms of events which succeed one another from past through present to future with probational limits. This was needed that we might experience a type of oneness with God. Eternity had to be stopped. A merely human Jesus could not save us. Because today will never come again, we make precious our time with Christ. It is the key by which we can realize life, and answer the call to a higher possibility. For God to be internally related, God must be internally timeful. Moreover, to assert that the triune persons relate through time places a high value on human relationships. Created in the image of God, we are called to create ever-closer community through time. This effort sanctifies time, rendering kairos of chronos. Kairos is the experience of time as sacred, whereas chronos is the experience of time as purposeless. For the three persons of the triune, all time is kairos. For us, every moment contains the potential for kairos because God sustains the universe continually. Through faith, the moment by moment progression of time can become the grace by grace gift of God. Will this be the transformation of time in eternity? Man was not spoken into being. We were created for growth. Every living thing brought forth in the concept of time and space has the ability to recreate its likeness. And this mystery is that power contained in life, and that life is that spirit of God, breathed into man that returns to God in the occasion of death. That spirit breathed into man was a crucial point in creation that would instill in man God admiring thoughts. This, that worship may be the act of understanding essentially who God is. Worship is an act of understanding, applying itself to the knowledge of the excellency of God, and actual thought of His majesty, recognizing Him as the supreme and sovereign lord of the creation, and beholding the glory of His attributes in the Redeemer, Jesus Christ, His Son. In truth we cannot comprehend eternity, yet we may comprehend that there is eternity; as though we cannot comprehend the essence of God, what He is, yet we may comprehend that He is as we see Jesus. Though the eternity of God be one permanent state without succession, yet the Spirit of God, suiting Himself to the weakness of our conception, divides it into two parts, one past before the foundation of the world, another to come after the destruction of the world. God’s eternity means in particular the eternal life promised to those who are in Christ. God’s eternity is “His own” eternity; God has life in Himself, by His essence. And in that God is without beginning and the essence of this is the unchangeable resolve of God to save man. The gospel is not preached by the command of a new and temporary God, but of that God that was before all ages. Though the manifestation of it be in time, yet the purpose and resolve of it was from eternity. Christ is God because eternity is an attribute of God that is clearly ascribed to Christ as he is before all things, and by him all things consist. This truth goes forth in Christ’s promise to believers. Christ’s eternity is an eternity of “actual possession” not merely “of decree.” This applies both to His glory and His preexistence. Christ speaks of a glory that he had “with the Father before the world was”, when there was no creature being; this is an actual glory, and not only in decree; for a decreed glory every believer has, and why may not every one of us say the same words, if it were only a glory in decree? It cannot be said of any man that he was before the world was. Christ speaks of something peculiar to him, a glory of actual possession before the world was. The eternity of Christ is clearly of fundamental importance to our faith. There is no hope for sinners such as us without it. Why would eternity need to be halted? God has perfect wisdom deriving from a perfect foreknowledge. If God is in heaven and we are on earth, then God is elsewhere. If God is in eternity and we are in time and space, then God is elsewhen. But God stopped eternity that His Son may occupy time and space with us that we might know God and worship God in truth and in Spirit and attain life eternal. Love cannot express itself without an object. All love is love of; hence all love is relational. God is persons united by love. In time and space God can be with us here and now though not limited to here and now. God’s character never changes. But God’s character expresses itself in different ways due to the change that time required. Time is a creation of God. And time is relevant to prophecies. Time and prophecies will end. This speaks to why God stopped eternity. He takes sin very seriously. He takes sin so seriously in fact, that in the fulness of time He sent a Savior for us. Eternity is an interesting subject. What does it have to do with God’s relationship with time? Eternity is “a time” with God. For God is the beginning and the ending. And eternity is like a rope with one end. There was a law in heaven in the government of God. Could God have done in eternity unbounded what He does in time limited? Immateriality is a quality of state that can lack a relation between something and matter. This is how after the change of body of Jesus at the resurrection he was able to appear in the midst, the doors being shut. This we know – sin can exist in eternity. Choice can exist in eternity. Suffering could exist in eternity. The wage of breaking the law is death. But could death exist in eternity? That would imply “an end”. God had to deal with the results of sin that started in eternity. God had to stop eternity and bring forth time and space to fulfill His determined purposed plan. The punishment of the wicked is not endless. That signals that God’s entire plan for creation is based in His universal love that is unconditional and directed at all of existence and transcending the boundaries of having a subject. That should give us something more to think on. Let’s say time for an individual is the space between birth and death. Time described by God is from the moment His word says, “let there be light” and “I make all things new”. But God created us in His image. We are eternal beings. We are beings who pass through a mortal existence while we are becoming what we were meant to be. This is both a reality and a source of sorrow. For not all beings will pass through. But Christ is purposed to bring us home with him for all eternity. He has experienced mortality. And so, if we have the mind of Christ we learn to think in terms of eternity rather than just time. Until we step into eternity our God’s divine providence must be our path in faith. Death is relational with time. And in time death spreads to all mankind because of sin. The gospel revolves around the life, the death, the majesty of Jesus. The apex of his ministry and of his life was that he died. That was the apex of his achievement. The resurrection was absolutely essential, absolutely glorious, and confirmatory of the apex of what he achieved in dying. We have this faith...Christ died. There is no one to whom the gospel message is irrelevant. All meagerness should be ignored. There is something so massive that our attention must be set on. The great central truth of the gospel, that God sent His Son into the world to die and rise again, to overcome the problem of death. God uses the reason for death, sin, to focus our hope on heaven. Death has a way of keeping us from putting any hope in this world. Seeing the loss of life can help transform the character. God’s foreknowledge is just that. There is nothing that God does not know. Death, that strange act foreknown by God to come, however was not part of God’s plan...time was. Eternity had to be stopped to ensure the continuing of eternity. Heaven is not God’s ultimate destination for us. If the bible is the revelation of truth, we look forward to living on a new earth, in a new creation and dwelling with God. But we must deal with the reality of the Genesis account. God made man a combination of spirit and flesh with the intentions of man living in a physical state upon the earth forever! Death only came about as the result of sin. And death in the bible is never extinction; it is always separation.God's purpose for saving us is to restore us to His original plan, fulfilling His purpose which was before sin. This purpose is based on His hidden plan from eternity past, and includes: cleansing us from our sins, bestowing God Himself in Christ as the Spirit into us, revealing and magnifying his glory showing his goodness to the world, teaching us about his mercy and encouraging us to be workers of righteousness. All creation learns there is no sum total to His divine perfections, His attributes, His intrinsic glory. Where God’s timing is perfect, His eternity is set in our heart that none can find out the work of God from beginning to end. We have a God who sees all time, and sees our circumstances in the forever continuing context of all of eternity. That sin and suffering and hurt and pain and despair, and even the meaninglessness, the struggles and toils that we experience in this world, that they will not have the last word. Why? Because God, the Lord over time, has come to us in the person of Jesus. He has lived the life we couldn’t live. He’s died the death we deserve to die, on a cross, and he has conquered the enemy we could not conquer, death itself. He has risen from the grave. He has ascended on high, and he is bringing all who trust in him to be with him for all of eternity. What a picture, that God has put in all of us a sense that this world is not all there is, that there is more beyond what we see, both in the past and in the present, that lasts for all eternity. We are not complete in our understanding by the fact that we are constrained in time. Every aspect of our being is ordered by time, so it is a task to rationalize anything outside of time. In the same way, it is challenging to imagine anything outside of our physical universe, because we have no rational context into which it can fit. It is not a vacuum, because a vacuum is still a function of matter and energy, time and space. It has to be something totally different than anything from our physical and temporal existence. It is eternity. In each of us, there is a part that seems to know that there is something “out beyond” – a realm we cannot directly access, but a realm that can still touch us. The bible is a message from one who dwells there, as incomprehensible as eternity itself, but none-the-less real and significant in our lives. We were created for eternity, yet fell from eternity and became bound in time. But God stopped the eternity we were to dwell in and reached into time from eternity, touched us and is drawing us back. God Himself paid the price to bring us ever forward into eternity. We see that even though eternity exists outside of time, it permeates all of time. Time may be thought of as a subset of eternity. This concept helps us understand God’s ability to operate in and out of time, His ability to be everywhere all at once. God can place His finger into time at any point and turn the flow of history in the direction He has purposed from eternity. He can permeate all of time and all of the universe at once. Stopping eternity was not a random act by God. The determinate counsel has all the wisdom, all the understanding, every insight, the deepest penetration, the holiest of judgment, the experience of things created...everything. God is not constrained to effect His will only sequentially in time, thus He is able to deal with our free will and still ensure that His plan unfolds as He has purposed. He can see our every future acts as clearly as He can see our past acts. God is so God that He knows not only everything we do, He knew everything that everything would do, including every consequence ever before there was anything created. And He can reach into what we consider our past and tweak what we call our history to bring us to the point of decision we reach today or tomorrow, building the sequence of events in our past that will allow us to see His best for us today. He is able to bring us to a point where we agree with His will for ourselves and freely make decisions in keeping with that agreement. He is sovereign – yet we are free to act as we see fit. Predestination and free will need not be in conflict! Long ago, even before He made the world, God chose us to be His very own through what Christ would do for us...His unchanging plan has always been to adopt us into His family by sending Jesus Christ to die for us. One day very very soon God will gather everyone who's put their full faith in Him, and we will live together with Him in the new heaven and new earth. Life here on earth is preparation for eternity. The bible says that God has “set the world in our heart”. That means we were made to last forever. We were made for eternity. To be ready to stand for God, the first thing we need to do is understand the purpose of our life. God made us to be part of His family. He made us so He could have a relationship with us - to love us and to be loved in return. But there’s only one way to become part of God’s family: through faith in Jesus Christ. Not only does God want us to be part of His family but he also wants us to spend eternity with Him. This is His purpose: that when the time is ripe He will gather us all together...to be with Him in Christ forever. History is moving to its climax. The time given to us in this life is a time of opportunity for us to prepare for the eternal kingdom of heaven. We should find the meaning and the purpose of our life in service to others in this world and go back together with many people to the kingdom of heaven which God has prepared for us. Living by faith must be our purpose. Having a sure faith and living in obedience to the pleasing will of God...that is our life of faith. We will willingly endure hardships and persecutions. We diligently walk the path of faith knowing there are much severer trials to come than our ancestors of faith endured...having the assurance that nothing would be able to separate us from the love of Christ. Nothing will persuade us to deny Jesus Christ. We are now preparing ourselves for glory. We should wholeheartedly give thanks to our Elohim, for calling us into the truth and giving us the hope and joy of eternity with Him. We are to thoroughly preach the everlasting gospel diligently, keeping God’s commandments faithfully, and achieving beautiful unity among us, brothers and sisters of Zion, according to the teaching of the bible which is a spiritual preparation for our fulfilling our purpose and completing our journey. God stopped eternity for our preparation. He determinately called with purpose His election to stand in the last days. He created time and space that we may come to know His Son personally, intimately who was made so much as we are yet without sin that we may be as he is. The eternity that we will dwell in is like no eternity ever. Eternity has been designated as having no time, no special limitations. Yet, our God tells us of our worship of Him. We will have a celebrated Lord’s supper and a sanctified holy Lord’s day. Will this supper in eternity and this day in eternity be monthly, weekly. How so can time measurement exists in eternity? The Sabbath is a day that celebrates time and holiness, and is a metaphor for paradise and eternal rest. It's a day to become attuned to time, and to share in what is eternal in time. The Sabbath is also a time to spend in intimate fellowship with God, and to rest in God's loving care. It is marked in the world by an even to even event. Evening in heaven?? The bible shows that the Sabbath has been ever since this world was created. And it shows that it will remain even in eternity, when the Redeemed will worship God every Sabbath in the New Earth. Time differs from the divinity of eternity because time is based upon change while the divine eternity is unchanging. The Sabbath on earth foreshadows the rest God will give to us who love and honor Him once our purpose for Him on earth is done. The eternal Sabbath is the goal of all who proclaim Christ as Lord. We observe the Sabbath to remind us of our place in God’s creation. Taking this day to recognize our smallness and acknowledge God’s power reorients our perspective and aids in shedding any pride that may have been building inside us. As we enjoy the rest, we remember it is only a precursor to an eternal Sabbath when we will worship in the presence of our Creator and Lord. Jesus Christ hung on the tree of life in time. Jesus Christ is the tree of life in eternity. The street is the way. The Holy Spirit feeds the roots on either side of the testament, the covenant, the truth. The river of water of life proceeds out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. For the water of life to flow out of the throne means that it flows out of God Himself. In the New Jerusalem, we have God in the Lamb, and out of the redeeming God flows the river of life, the life-giving Spirit. This is the dispensing of the Triune God. Before God could dispense Himself into us, He had to redeem us. Thus, the picture reveals that the redeeming God is the life-dispensing God. The Lamb signifies redemption, and the river of life signifies the dispensing of life. For eternity, our God will be the redeeming and life-dispensing God. In the New Jerusalem in the new heaven and the new earth, our God will be in the redeeming Lamb, flowing out as the river of life, the life-giving Spirit, to dispense His life into every part of the city. The tree of life grows in the river of life, and the river of life that flows out of the throne reaches every part of the city. This indicates that the flow of the Triune God waters the whole city. Every part of the city receives the life supply because the tree of life grows in the river and the river reaches every part of the city. The tree of life, as a vine, grows on both sides of the river, following the flow of the river. Wherever the river flows, the tree of life grows. The supply of life is in the flow of life. This is a picture of God’s dispensing. Christ as the tree of life is the life supply available along the flow of the Spirit as the water of life. Where the Spirit flows, there the life supply of Christ is found. The entire city of New Jerusalem, which will be constituted of all the redeemed people of God, will be watered by the river of the water of life and nourished by the tree of life. This is the dispensing of the Triune God in full for eternity. This was the message at the cross. At the piercing of our Lord flowed forth water and blood on the earth. The Holy Spirit in the life of God. How richly we are fed! The flesh of God’s own Son, the leaves of the tree, are the spiritual food of every heir of heaven. He is the water of life. He is the balm of Gilead. Will God create a sacredness of time in eternity? A creation that transcends time? What will be the greatest of heights in this eternity? As the Oneness of the Godhead is one, so will be the people who are the New Jerusalem. This New Jerusalem is a body of teaching based on divine truth. This is because divine truth is what the Lord refers to as “holy.” And the Word says “the New Jerusalem” for much the same reason that it refers to the earth as new. That is, “the adorned bride” means the church and New Jerusalem means that church in regard to its body of teaching. It is described as coming down from God out of heaven because all the divine truth that gives rise to a body of teaching comes down out of heaven from God. Love will be the highest acclamation of praise to the One who is love. The people who make up this city...what are they like? Namely, that they are of one mind, because when we live a life of Christ and caring we love our neighbors as we love ourselves, and love that is mutually felt joins us to them and them to us. This joining is reciprocal and mutual because in the spiritual world of eternity love is a joining together. So, when all beings are acting on the same principle, then a single mind arises from the many - from countless individuals, in fact, who are gathered in harmony with heaven’s form. Peoples of every form in creation become one in this way because there is nothing that separates or divides them; everything connects and unites them. No longer will there be heavens as they are, an earth as it is. Eternity will see new heavens...new earth. And still, all these heavens make one heaven because of an indirect inflow and a direct inflow, which come from the Lord. At the end of our journey through time is a destination we can scarcely imagine - a destination called Eternity. Everything in scripture points to Eternity, and everything within us cries out for it. God’s work with us is not finished in this life. God has prepared something incomprehensibly beautiful for those who love Him and trust Him - something that lies beyond time, something so beautiful and vast and breathtaking that only Eternity is big enough to contain it. And His description of eternity gives us grounds for confidence and courage as we face the trials and pressures of the present time. There are aspects of our present experience as believers which indicate that something much greater is coming. The increase of wisdom and the mellowing of love which mark the spirit of one who walks with God. What was Jesus saying when he said, “I go to prepare a place for you”. Did this mean that heaven was not yet ready and needed some additional work before we could be brought there? But hear the further explanation which Jesus gave. “If I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.” Jesus’ way of preparing a place for us was to send the Holy Spirit to us. The Spirit, when he came, would give us the power to handle the pressures and pains of life, "hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; struck down, but not destroyed", and in the mystery of redemption, transmute each trial into a corresponding glory. So, the trials are preparing the glory; the hardships are preparing "the place" for us. Jesus was doing this by means of the Spirit. Eternity and time are not the same. Time means that we are locked into a pattern of chronological sequence which we are helpless to break. For example, all human beings sharing the same room will experience an earthquake together. While there are varying feelings and reactions, everyone will feel the earthquake at the same time. But in eternity events do not follow a sequential pattern. There is no past or future, only the present now. Within that “now” all events happen. An individual will experience sequence, but only in relationship to himself, and events will occur to him on the basis of his spiritual readiness. No two individuals need, therefore, experience the same event just because they happen to be together. This helps us to understand how we have the Sabbath and the new moon in eternity. Reason this...Jesus is referred to as "the Lamb that was slain from the foundation of the world." Now the cross occurred at a precise moment of time in history. We know when the Lamb of God was slain. But the bible says it occurred from the foundation of the world. How can an historical event, which occurred at a certain spot and time on earth, in the biblical reckoning be said to have occurred before the earth was even made? The passage does not say that the Lamb was foreordained to be slain before the foundation of the world, but it says He was actually slain then. That means that the cross was an eternal event, taking place both in time and eternity. In time, it is long past; in eternity, it occurs now. God stopped eternity to give us time. Time to consider eternity. Time to understand that God is the God of love who desires for us to spend eternity with Him. Time for us to choose Him over all things. So, God makes His word deeper, higher, broader, and amazing that we who study might grasp the concept of eternity. God lives in eternity and He always has. He is not bound by time - He lives outside of time. For God every part of time is in the present. He created time. He carved out a section of eternity, gave it a specific starting point and ending point and called it time. Our past, present and future is all the same to Him. That is one reason He is called I Am. He need not move forward or backward in time, He sees all as if it is happening now. Recall how we spoke of Jesus being called the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. That statement showed that God already completed the work of redemption before man even sinned and needed to be redeemed. He could do it this way because eternity is of Him. Having an understanding of eternity, even if it is a limited one, will change how we see life. Plan a trip from Marietta today. Where are you right now? Open a virtual online map showing the total areas between Marietta and your destination point. Can you see where you will be tomorrow? God has a written map for us to get from where we are to eternity. The bible is virtual in its spiritual presentation of how God shows us the gift of eternal life in Christ. We see beyond of where we are. Understanding God’s entire work from before time began to after time ends is beyond our current limited comprehension, but once we who are born-again come to reason with God, we will be able to understand it much better. “In time” and “in eternity” are united by being purposed by God. We are chosen to be God’s in both time and eternity. In truth, all of the words we read form pictures that are limited by the existence with which we are familiar – time. There is no description of eternity that we can describe. Eternity is not really like anything we have experienced. It is only by revelation from God that we can get glimpses of eternity and His nature. Even then, our nature only allows us to see a tiny glimpse of what it must be like – not what it really is. He is able to express it in language we can relate to, but our understanding will still be limited. Know that if we are faithful, we will have a view from the vantage point of eternity. We will see time as God does. This will be that we may understand how history had to flow and how we fit into that flow. This is why there will be no more tears of sorrow. We will see that everything did indeed unfold according to a plan that brought God glory and brought us to that blessed place with Him. Because of our experience with time, eternity will be an entirely new experience, one filled with the wonder of discovery and understanding of things we can only hope about while we are bound in time. Yet there is a part of us that can relate to eternity, even though we have no language with which to describe it. Time is spiraling downward. And many are going down with it. Only those of true faith know that it is God who directs and drives history forward towards a climax and a conclusion that He has prepared before time began. Life is not futile, it can have purpose and meaning because God is drawing us back into eternity to fellowship with Him. There is a purpose for all that we experience, and once we are free of time, we shall see it and rejoice. Too many will regret that they did not accept His offer of grace. Having this revealed understanding about eternity helps us anticipate some of what heaven may be like. And knowing how limited is our understanding of eternity, assures us that heaven is undoubtedly far greater than all we can hope or imagine. But it also convinces us of the horror of separation from God, after having clearly seen all that He created us to be, and all He did to draw us back to Him. The flames of the lake is the realization of what will be forfeited by foolish choice. Even if we do not fully grasp eternity, as faithful and true believers, we have already entered into eternal life. It is not just a future reality, it is here and now. It was always here, but we were deceptively unaware of it while enslaved to sin. Time, as related to sin can be so cruel. Because of time we know of the reality of eternity. We have an eager anticipation of it. It is with this frame of reference that we place proper perspective upon waiting for the Lord. Our treasure, our hearts are in heaven. This eternal perspective brings true humility. We play a significantly purposed role in God’s plan. We have a deeper urgency to help others come to Christ. At this moment, knowing of eternity, suddenness to the irrelevance of all things earthly is made clear. Eternity is the way God reasons all things. God’s will was to see the culture of eternity in heaven realized in the earth. Discord in heaven and man’s sin on earth introduced God’s plan of redemption for His creation and salvation for man. For this to be a reality, there must be an example of the Father’s character in the earth. Jesus was this example. He is the only person who could represent the character of the Father in the earth - in a way that was acceptable to Him. This is a very important point because before one can be a part of the culture of heaven, he or she must also be exposed to the character of the kingdom. Again, we must be reminded that God thinks from the perspective of eternity. What did God have in mind? God did not intend to provide a temporary solution to an eternal challenge. His plan was based upon His always present knowledge of all things possible. Jesus was proclaimed in the Determinate Counsel as the Father’s will to be manifested in the earth. The heart of God was to see the hearts of men and women changed by one man’s example of what kingdom character is like. Jesus went on to reveal the mind of the Father - “that His will be done on the earth.” The Father knew that this would not be accomplished without there being a culture change in the earth. This is the purpose of God according to election. This is the finishing of His people. This one reality validates the existence of the church spiritual in the earth today. God has never changed His mind, nor altered His will. He still wants heaven’s culture on the earth. The people of God must be challenged to think eternally. This simply means that the church must think beyond reaching the lost, and go further to change the culture of this world! There is no way the culture can be changed without the people being changed in the process. And so, God stopped eternity that His people could in time come to the fulness of that solution determined before the foundation of the world. God is so loving that His love extends beyond those who will be saved. If we abide by sound biblical teaching then we know that God loves all humanity including the non-elect. God’s expressions of hatred such as was spoken concerning Esau was unrelated to Esau’s conduct or character. It was rooted in God’s eternal, sovereign purposes determined in eternity before ever there was anything. If we understand the wisdoms of God in revealing His higher ways, His higher thoughts then our spiritual fervency for love, time, and eternity will be sorely tested in caring for those who will not see eternity. Love makes time of no consequence. Time is not to matter where love is in play. This is why God stopped eternity that we might experience time in relation to love. And so we learned that even time stops being so important when love is displayed. That explains why being in eternity where love is perfected, time will be totally irrelevant. Eternity is the place where we lose all consciousness of time. We will be in the deepest embrace of love that minds can conceive. What makes love so powerful? God is love. Love always gives and that is why God created time for us to love to give. This is how we begin to enjoy eternity now. We are to love even those who crucify our Lord daily that we may be sons of our Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. The implication...we are to love as God loves. Consider this: Jesus perfectly fulfilled the law in every respect, including this command for universal love. His love for others was surely as far-reaching as His own application of the commandment. Therefore, we can be certain that He loved everyone. He must have loved everyone in order to fulfill the law. After all, the whole law is fulfilled in one word, ‘Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself’. He reiterates this theme: “he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law”. Therefore, Jesus must have loved His “neighbor.” And since He Himself defined “neighbor” in universal terms, we know that His love while on earth was universal. Would God command us to love in a way that He does not? Would God demand that our love be more far-reaching than His own? And did Christ, having loved all humanity during His earthly sojourn, then revert after His ascension to pure hatred for the non-elect? Such would be unreasonable. Jesus is God. Stopping eternity gives us the chance to learn vital truths about the character of God. He has lived our yesterdays, our todays, and our tomorrows, the past, present, and future. God is the Alpha, the Omega. We redeem the time. We warn the wicked. In time, eternity is future...in eternity, time is now. Though the actual possession of eternal life in eternity cannot be now, and at the same time, a future gift our faith makes it a reality. It is a promise of God. A promise conditional and dependent on our being faithful. That which is before set forth by God in His counsel, for His interests for things that are due Him, according to the act of His free will by which before the foundation of the world He decreed His blessings to certain persons through Christ by grace alone, whom He judged fit to receive His favors and separated from the rest of mankind to be peculiarly His own and to be attended continually by His gracious oversight so that the ground of the choice lies in Christ and his merits only to remain as one called by name. The truth and certainty of this blessed state are ratified by the word and promise of God, and ordered to be committed to writing, as matter of perpetual record. The subject matter of this time-eternity vision is so great, and of such great importance to the church and people of God, that we have need of the fullest assurances to understand it; and God therefore from heaven repeats and ratifies the truth thereof. Besides, many ages must pass between the time apportioned. It is done already. God will leave nothing imperfect. We may and ought to take God's word as present. As His power and will were the first cause of allthings, His pleasure and glory are the last end, and He will not lose His design; He is the beginning and the end! He is the source of all life, existence, and purpose. God is the goal and fulfillment of all things. All creation finds its purpose in Him, and history moves toward His divine plan. In Him all things are fulfilled. With God all things are possible. God is the ultimate reality where everything is completed, for all creation finds its purpose in God. Every part of existence, every event, process, and purpose, finds its complete meaning, culmination, and realization through God. In this view, God is not only the originator but also the ultimate end of all things; everything in creation is directed toward and finds its fulfillment in His will, love, and divine plan. It means that whether we look at the unfolding of history, the fulfillment of biblical prophecies, or the personal growth and moral development of individuals, all these aspects of life are ultimately woven into God’s grand design. Even the challenges and sufferings we encounter are understood to be part of the process that leads us closer to the perfection and completeness found in God. Nothing is accidental but part of a larger, divinely orchestrated plan. It is God’s presence in perfection with all its diversity and complexity. 📖 Applying the Study For ongoing spiritual encouragement and prophetical insights, visit Higher Learning.

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

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

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