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Thank you to all of our brothers and sisters who have faithfully continued to allow us the joy of sharing the truth as it is in Jesus. We have not shared anything about our faithful readers. The letter goes out to a little over 3,000 Seventh-day Adventists around the world. Many of our church leaders receive our messages. We do not share your address, nor use it in any way other than sending out our newsletter. It is true that over the years we have lost some of our readers. Most who read regularly can guess who it is that have unsubscribed, and you are right. It is very sad, but we expected the loss from the beginning. There are many in God's church that are seeking truth, there are others who are not. Continue to pray for them, that the grace of God will reach their hearts.
Why the change in our message today? Jesus is coming very soon. If you have studied the life of Jesus, you will have noticed that His message changed as He neared the end of His time on this dark spot in the universe. He had a great desire to reach His people who had been greatly deceived to the point of not recognizing their Messiah.They put Him on the cross. Three and a half years later, Israel was cut off from being God's chosen people. Today, God has a chosen people, not because we have done right, for we have not. Like Israel of Old, we have been entrusted with the sacred oracles of God, thus we are the chosen ones. He has trusted us to be the church that takes the gospel to the whole world so that Jesus can finally cleanse the heavenly sanctuary and come to take us home.
The world is fast approaching the condition of the world as it was in the days of Noah. Good is called evil and evil is called good. The two horned beast America, was the last great hope of a world that is soon to perish. That beast no longer is the "lamb", but now speaks as a dragon. Putin calls the West immoral, and he is right. The whole world is becoming more and more a reflection of Satan himself. Yet, while God is withdrawing His Spirit from the world, He is pouring out His Spirit upon His children. There is little time left and we shall have to do our work under much more difficult conditions. God has put it on my heart to become more pointed in what we share. I pray that you will understand and be patient as you read the message. If you understand, then please share it with others.
There is much we could share, but we hope that this message is one that will help us better understand the gospel message and the necessity of seeking the Holy Spirit with all of the heart. There are two groups forming in the world and in the church. Jesus is not going to wait forever for us to do our work. He is going to pour out His Spirit and His truth. This will then force everyone in the world to choose to receive or reject truth. This is the time of separating the wheat from the tares, the sheep from the goats. God does not choose life or death for us, it is our choice to make. Follow man or follow God. Accept truth or reject it. All who have unsubscribed over the years chose to reject truth. This is why most unsubscribed. It was very sad to understand what was happening. We have added very few new subscribers in the last ten years. So our readers have remained fairly stable.
On a number of occasions we have not composed a newsletter, but just shared present truth as we have received it from either Scripture or the Spirit of Prophecy. It is important that we depend more upon inspired counsel than the wisdom of man. Thus, even in our prepared text, it has been filled with inspired counsel. It is by beholding Jesus that we become changed. Faith cometh by hearing the Word, not man's theory of the Word. So, without any more explaining what we do and thanking you for taking time to read our newsletter, let's get to a message from God for us today, present truth.
The Holy Spirit is Christ’s representative, but divested of the personality of humanity, and independent thereof. Cumbered with humanity,
| Holy Spirit is Christ’s representative |
Christ could not be in every place personally. Therefore it was for their interest that He should go to the Father, and send the Spirit to be His successor on earth. No one could then have any advantage because of his location or his personal contact with Christ. By the Spirit the Saviour would be accessible to all. In this sense He would be nearer to them than if He had not ascended on high. Desire of Ages, pg 669.
Notice that Jesus is no longer omnipresent. He gave this up when He became not only our Savior, but our Brother. He is one of us for eternity! Such a sacrifice, such love!!
The Comforter is called “the Spirit of truth.” His work is to define and maintain the truth. He first dwells in the heart as the Spirit of truth, and thus He becomes the Comforter. There is comfort and peace in the truth, but no real peace or comfort can be found in falsehood. It is through false theories and traditions that Satan gains his power over the mind. By directing men to false standards, he misshapes the character. Through the Scriptures the Holy Spirit speaks to the mind, and impresses truth upon the heart. Thus He exposes error, and expels it from the soul. It is by the Spirit of truth, working through the word of God, that Christ subdues His chosen people to Himself.
Notice where it is that the Holy Spirit dwells, in your heart. That is if you surrender it, the whole heart. Where is the Holy Spirit when you have not surrendered the whole heart? He cannot be in a heart where He cannot have it, all of it. Where is He then? He is standing at the door, knocking. When we sin a known sin, where is He? In the heart? No, standing at the door convicting of sin and pleading for entrance.
| Partaker of the divine nature |
In describing to His disciples the office work of the Holy Spirit, Jesus sought to inspire them with the joy and hope that inspired His own heart. He rejoiced because of the abundant help He had provided for His church. The Holy Spirit was the highest of all gifts that He could solicit from His Father for the exaltation of His people. The Spirit was to be given as a regenerating agent, and without this the sacrifice of Christ would have been of no avail. The power of evil had been strengthening for centuries, and the submission of men to this satanic captivity was amazing. Sin could be resisted and overcome only through the mighty agency of the Third Person of the Godhead, who would come with no modified energy, but in the fullness of divine power. It is the Spirit that makes effectual what has been wrought out by the world’s Redeemer. It is by the Spirit that the heart is made pure. Through the Spirit the believer becomes a partaker of the divine nature. Christ has given His Spirit as a divine power to overcome all hereditary and cultivated tendencies to evil, and to impress His own character upon His church.
Notice carefully that God tells us that we may become partakers of His divine nature. Miracle of all miracles!! When does this happen, and how does it happen? "Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust." 2 Peter 1:4.
When we love the Lord our God with all of the heart, we will give to Jesus all we have and all we are. Then the Holy Spirit who revealed the love of God will take possession of the heart. He is omnipresent, so we read that He can be with all who love Jesus supremely, not just one person. As we read, He is Christ's representative.
| We are imparted the righteousness of Christ |
Of the Spirit Jesus said, “He shall glorify Me.” The Saviour came to glorify the Father by the demonstration of His love; so the Spirit was to glorify Christ by revealing His grace to the world. The very image of God is to be reproduced in humanity. The honor of God, the honor of Christ, is involved in the perfection of the character of His people.
Yes, I did say that we are running out of time and the message must be to the point of what God wants from us, and what He will impart to us. In and of ourselves we can do no good thing. But, when filled with the Holy Spirit, we are imparted the righteousness of Christ. What does this mean? We just read: "Christ has given His Spirit as a divine power to overcome all hereditary and cultivated tendencies to evil, and to impress His own character upon His church." "The honor of God, the honor of Christ, is involved in the perfection of the character of His people."
Yes, I know this is hard to accept for most. Why? Because to many in leadership positions in God's church this is heresy. And since leaders lead, they have taught many in the church it is heretical and impossible for fallen man to obtain perfection of anything, much less perfection of Christian character. This is the opening paragraph of the book Ministry of Healing.
Our Lord Jesus Christ came to this world as the unwearied servant of man’s necessity. He “took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses,” that He might minister to every need of humanity. Matthew 8:17. The burden of disease and wretchedness and sin He came to remove. It was His mission to bring to men complete restoration; He came to give them health and peace and perfection of character. "Ministry of Healing, pg 17.
Yet, we hear very influential teachers telling us our righteousness is as filthy rags. This is very true, but not in the manner of the false teachers. They mean that in the converted Christian's life, their character, in Christ, is as filthy rags. They do not believe in imparted righteous, but teach that we may have only imputed righteousness. They believe the imputed righteousness of Christ will cover unconfessed sins. What does the Bible say? We do not have time to read it all. But, here is a plain statement of truth: "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." 1 John 1:9.
This may be difficult to understand in light of the false teachings that permeate the church. This is not to happen at the end of probation, but today. We have examples in in the Bible of those who loved the Lord our God with all of the heart and were transformed into His image by
| Changed into the same image |
beholding Him. "But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord." 2 Corinthians 3:18. "Image" is character, the glory of God is His character. By beholding His glory, we are transformed into His character. It is an intellectual truth and a spiritual truth that by beholding we become changed. Yes, our children to a great degree will be in character like our character. That is a great blessing for parents whose character is a reflection of Jesus' character.
“When He [the Spirit of truth] is come, He will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment.” The preaching of the word will be of no avail without the continual presence and aid of the Holy Spirit. This is the only effectual teacher of divine truth. Only when the truth is accompanied to the heart by the Spirit will it quicken the conscience or transform the life. One might be able to present the letter of the word of God, he might be familiar with all its commands and promises; but unless the Holy Spirit sets home the truth, no souls will fall on the Rock and be broken. No amount of education, no advantages, however great, can make one a channel of light without the co-operation of the Spirit of God. The sowing of the gospel seed will not be a success unless the seed is quickened into life by the dew of heaven. Before one book of the New Testament was written, before one gospel sermon had been preached after Christ’s ascension, the Holy Spirit came upon the praying apostles. Then the testimony of their enemies was, “Ye have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine.” Acts 5:28.
Christ has promised the gift of the Holy Spirit to His church, and the promise belongs to us as much as to the first disciples. But like every other promise, it is given on conditions. There are many who believe and profess to claim the Lord’s promise; they talk about Christ and about the Holy Spirit, yet receive no benefit. They do not surrender the soul to be guided and controlled by the divine agencies. We cannot use the Holy Spirit. The Spirit is to use us. Through the Spirit God works in His people “to will and to do of His good pleasure.” Philippians 2:13. But many will not submit to this. They want to manage themselves. This is why they do not receive the heavenly gift. Only to those who wait humbly upon God, who watch for His guidance and grace, is the Spirit given. The power of God awaits their demand and reception. This promised blessing, claimed by faith, brings all other blessings in its train. It is given according to the riches of the grace of Christ, and He is ready to supply every soul according to the capacity to receive. In His discourse to the disciples, Jesus made no mournful allusion to His own sufferings and death. His last legacy to them was a legacy of peace. He said, “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” Desire of Ages, pgs. 671-672.
"When we live by faith on the Son of God, the fruits of the Spirit will be seen in our lives; not one will be missing." Desire of Ages, pg 676.
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