Is the Resurrection Necessary?

 When did man get an immortal soul? The short answer is- never. Take a few moments to ask yourself a couple of questions. When Abel died, was he resurrected? No. If, when Abel died he had a supposed immortal soul and it went to heaven, why was it a bad thing? Heaven is our goal, isn't it? Salvation. 

The thing is, why would we need a resurrection at all, whatsoever, if we go directly to heaven without any pesky bodies? 

If my loved ones are in a place of peace and happiness without any anguish, without any sin- why would God subject them to a resurrection from their dead state? It makes no sense. Will He pull their spirit forms from heaven and put them back into their bodies?

If being dead means you simply leave this flesh world to possess a spirit form- why would you want flesh back? Remember, in heaven the idea is that everything is wonderful. You aren't missing your flesh at all. So, I ask again, why would you want it back? When Jesus returns and calls all who died as His followers to rise from the graves and meet Him in the air, do you realize if you believe you are living on in some spirit form in heaven because your soul is immortal and not subject to true death, then you will have to be put back into the grave in order to be called from it when that last trump sounds. Does that sound even remotely logical to you in any fashion?

The excerpt study we are undertaking is really thought provoking, please read the excerpts- they are a lot more insightful than my words.

May the Lord bless and keep us as His now and always!!!!!!! Amen. 

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(The Immortality of the Soul, Is it a Scriptural Doctrine?)

Continued from yesterday…

1 Corinthians 15:16-18

1Co 15:16  For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised: 

1Co 15:17  And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins. 

1Co 15:18  Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished. 

1. In verse 16, his premise is,

"If the dead rise not."

The first conclusion from that is, "Then is not Christ raised;" 

then upon this conclusion follows the logical sequence,

"Your faith is vain," 

and upon that another, 

"Ye are yet in your sins." 

From his premise,-

"If the dead rise not," the second conclusion is, verse 18,

"Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished."

 

Nothing can be plainer than that this statement and the doctrine of the immortality of the soul cannot both be true. 

For if the soul be immortal, as is held, it cannot perish, and, therefore, so far as its existence is concerned, it is utterly independent of the resurrection of the dead. Is it not supposed by all those who believe the soul to be immortal that all who have passed from this world in the faith of Christ, have gone to heaven, and are now enjoying its bliss?-Assuredly it is. 

Then, if that be the truth, upon what imaginable principle can it be conceived that they "are perished," if there be no resurrection?

What need have they of a resurrection? 

Have they not, without a resurrection, all that heaven can afford?- 

Upon that theory they certainly have. Then it just as certainly appears that not one of them has perished, even though there never be a resurrection.

Over against this theory stands the word of God, that "if the dead rise not, then they which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished." That word is the truth. Therefore it follows that if there be no resurrection of the dead, there is no hereafter for any who have ever died, or who shall ever die.

But God has given assurance to all men that there shall be a hereafter, and that assurance lies in the fact "that he hath raised him [Christ] from the dead" (Heb. 9:27; Acts 17:31). The resurrection of Christ is the God-given pledge that there shall be a resurrection of all the dead: "For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive," and, "There shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust." Therefore it is by virtue of the resurrection of the dead, and not by the immortality of the soul, that there will be any hereafter for the dead, whether just or unjust. 

(EXCERPT) (Written 131 years ago) 

The Immortality of the Soul, Is it a Scriptural Doctrine?

BY A. T. JONES.

[Pacific Press Publishing Association] [Oakland, Calif.] [September 1890]

[Bible Students' Library No. 70] 

Christ - Our Savior, Our Example.

 Christmas Eve, almost Christmas Day - it's 11:44 pm as I begin to write this. 

Those who celebrate Christmas do so for different reasons. To some it is a gift giving and getting holiday without any religious connotations. To others it's a very religious celebration of the day Jesus Christ, God's only begotten Son was born. And still others keep the day knowing that it isn't the ACTUAL birthdate of Jesus Christ, but rather a day that was originally celebrated by pagans who worshipped the sun, celebrating the days growing longer once more after daylight growing shorter and shorter. When Christianity started to spread it mingled with pagan holidays- yes, more than one Christian holiday has pagan origins.  Christians rebranded the celebration and substituted Christ's birth for sun worship. 

I fall into the category of celebrating Christmas fully aware of the pagan origins of the day. I do NOT worship any pagan god, I do not worship the sun in any way- MY CREATOR, created that sun, I have no need to worship it at all, I worship MY CREATOR, the creator of the sun. I choose to celebrate the family aspects of Christmas and I choose to recognize that people want to celebrate the birth of the Savior, but I'll never say He was born on that day- but rather the day we choose to use as His birth date, not the actual day- and I'll say that IF I'm asked, or choose to write about it as I'm doing right now. I don't force God on anyone, I witness as He leads me to do so.

Have a blessed Christmas celebration as you allow it to hopefully remind you of our Lord and His greatest gift of all to mankind, Himself!

The follow excerpt is a very important truth that 131 years ago people didn't want to hear, and guess what, they still don't want to hear it- in fact maybe even more so today than 131 years ago. It's truth and if you want TRUTH, you'll study each and every verse given in this study. You'll pray for your eyes to be opened, for the Holy Spirit to guide you only to truth, I pray for this because I will always need the Holy Spirit to guide me, always!

The study will be in several parts, not sure how many at this point, but the following is only an excerpt. 

God bless you! God bless us all! All through the amazing love of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, now and forever! Thank you, Lord! Thank you, Father God! Thank you, Holy Spirit!

Amen!!!!!!!

1Jn 2:4  He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. 

1Jn 2:5  But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him. 

1Jn 2:6  He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked. 

*****

(EXCERPT) (Written 131 years ago) 

The Immortality of the Soul, Is it a Scriptural Doctrine?

BY A. T. JONES.

[Pacific Press Publishing Association] [Oakland, Calif.] [September 1890]

[Bible Students' Library No. 70] 

The doctrine of the natural immortality of the soul is one of the oldest and one

of the most widespread doctrines that has ever been in this world. It was

preached in the world before ever faith in Christ the Saviour was preached. 

"The serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die;" and from that day to this that doctrine has been believed more generally by the children of men than has the truth of God. 

Indeed, in our day the doctrine of the immortality of the soul has gained such favor among even those who profess the word of God as their standard of belief, that to deny it is considered by the majority of them as equivalent to a denial of the Bible itself. 

But, instead of such denial being in any way a denial of the truth of revelation, the fact is that the truth of revelation can be logically and consistently held only by the total and unequivocal denial of the doctrine of the natural immortality of the soul. This, the Scriptures plainly show.

I. THE RESURRECTION

There is no truth more plainly taught nor more diligently insisted upon in the

Bible than this: That the future existence of men depends absolutely upon either a resurrection of the dead or a translation without seeing death at all. 

Paul's hope for future existence was in the resurrection of the dead. In speaking of his efforts to "win Christ," he says: "That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; if by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead." Phil 3:10, 11. 

It was of "the hope and resurrection of the dead" that he was called in question by the council (Acts 23:6); and when he had afterward to make his defense before Felix, he declared that the resurrection of the dead was the end of his hope, saying: "And have hope toward God, which they themselves also allow, that there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust." Acts 24:15 

Time and again Paul thus expresses his hope of future life. Nor is Paul the only one of the writers of the Bible who teaches the same thing. The resurrection of the dead is that to which Job looked for the consummation of his hope. Job 14:14, 15; 17:13-15; 19:23-27. 

Job 14:14  If a man die, shall he live again? all the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come. 

Job 14:15  Thou shalt call, and I will answer thee: thou wilt have a desire to the work of thine hands. 

Job 17:13  If I wait, the grave is mine house: I have made my bed in the darkness. 

Job 17:14  I have said to corruption, Thou art my father: to the worm, Thou art my mother, and my sister. 

Job 17:15  And where is now my hope? as for my hope, who shall see it? 

Job 19:23  Oh that my words were now written! oh that they were printed in a book! 

Job 19:24  That they were graven with an iron pen and lead in the rock for ever! 

Job 19:25  For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: 

Job 19:26  And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God: 

Job 19:27  Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another; though my reins be consumed within me. 

David says: "Thou which hast showed me great and sore troubles, shalt quicken [give life to] me again, and shalt bring me up again from the depths of the earth." Ps. 71:20. And, "As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness; I shall be satisfied when I awake with thy likeness." Ps. 17:15 

And what shall we more say? For the time would fail us to tell of Isaiah, and Jeremiah, and Ezekiel, and Daniel, and Hosea, and Micah, and all the prophets and apostles, and of our fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; for Jesus himself declared that it was the resurrection of the dead of which God spake when he said, "I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob."

More than this, Jesus pointed his disciples always to the resurrection of the dead, through which alone they could obtain the reward which he promised. In John 6:39-54 we find that no less than four times the Saviour, in giving promise to those who believe in him, sets it forth as the consummation of

that belief that "I will raise him up at the last day."  

And in Luke 14:13, 14 we read: "When thou makest a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind; and . . . thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just."

Paul, however, gives us, upon this subject, a straight-forward, logical argument, which leaves the doctrine of the immortality of the soul not a particle of ground to rest upon. The fifteenth chapter of 1 Corinthians is devoted entirely to an argument in proof of the resurrection of the dead. The apostle first proves, by hundreds of living witnesses who had seen him after he was risen, that Christ arose from the dead. Still there were some who said, "There is no resurrection of the dead," and in refutation of that idea, he introduces three points of argument,  any one of which utterly excludes the doctrine of the immortality of the soul from any place whatever in Christian doctrine.  

To be continued…

God's Forbearance Is Long But Not Endless.

 The Time of the Gentiles Fulfilled-

Luk 21:24 … Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled. 

Historically Jerusalem was out of the control of the Jews for about 1900 or so  years. In 1948 they warred with those Gentiles in control, and won parts of Israel, but not Jerusalem. In 1967 they won Jerusalem. In 1980 they moved their government to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv. Jerusalem was effectively under the control of the Jewish people once again. 

1948 the sign of impending change in the status of Jerusalem- did people comprehend what was to come.

1967 a change took place.

1980 the change was complete.

Signs unfolding, signs fulfilled.

Jesus said this-- 

Luk 21:25  And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; 

Luk 21:26  Men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken. 

Luk 21:27  And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. 

Luk 21:28  And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh. 

We've had signs in the sun.

We've had signs in the moon.

We've had signs in the stars.

There have been distress of nations- with perplexity- the sea and waves roaring.

Men's heart fail them for fear- for the future.

We await for the powers of the heaven to be shaken… and then we will SEE the Son of Man coming in the cloud with power and great glory.

We are watching as these things are coming to pass…

We are looking up…

We are lifting up our heads…

Our redemption draws nigh!

We are close, so very close to our redemption.  

1980 -  41 years ago. I was 17 years old in 1980. I'm 58 years old and I'll be 59 years old this soon coming year- 2022.  I don't know how long it will be but I know there are very few unfulfilled prophecies left except for those that will be very rapid ones lest everyone be wiped out of existence and there is no one left alive when our Savior returns.  The Mark of the Beast has not been given to all yet, after it is given to all that are going to accept it, then the plagues will come and at that time probation will have been closed and the just who are deemed just will remain so- and the unjust will remain unjust, their chance to accept salvation closed. As the plagues begin some might recognize them for what they are and if they aren't Christ's the fear will be overwhelming for them. If they are Christ's, they will be praying and watching, living in the Holy Spirit. As a plague falls in one place, then another plague in another place, soon all the plagues- one after the other- will take place and such a horrific time of trouble that will be. You won't - let me emphasize this point- YOU WON'T be able to accept Jesus as the plagues appear, even if you recognize them for what they really are and you suddenly comprehend the truth of God's word and wish to have a change of heart. By that time it's TOO LATE. Just as in the days of Noah, the people watched Noah build the ark and then get on the ark and close the door with all those animals on board. They didn't try to get on that ark then, they weren't knocking on the door telling Noah they believe what he said and they want to be on the ark with them. Not a single person did that, not one. However, when the rains began, the torrential downpours such as never were known, as the water burst up from the ground itself, they suddenly wanted to be on that ark but it was TOO LATE. They screamed, they cried, they wanted to be saved! It was TOO LATE. It will be the same way as the plagues fall, people who wanted nothing to do with God when they could have called upon Him and been saved, will suddenly want God to save them.  

People don't want to imagine such a time.

People want to believe there will forever be enough time to accept the Lord as their Savior- they'll do it when they're ready. Or, when they get enough proof to believe, then they'll make the choice. 

People have to realize probation will RUN OUT! Time will RUN OUT! There is coming a cutoff point!  God's forbearance is LONG, but not endless.

We are watching, we are praying, please, Lord, please help us to be YOURS NOW AND ALWAYS! Please, Lord! Thank You for Your amazing LOVE! Thank You for Salvation! Thank You for Life Now and Everlasting!

All through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior NOW and FOREVER!!!!!!!

All praise, glory and honor to our GOD!

*******

CONTINUED- 

(Excerpt)

Christ and the Pharisees -OR Christ's Faithfulness in Sabbath-Keeping.

BY A. T. JONES. 1894 [Religious Liberty Library, No. 1

Assuredly. They could not have done it any more certainly if they had known all about it from the beginning. These now do not know what they have done; but they have done it; and they could not have done it any more certainly if they had intentionally and knowingly done it, and went about to do it from the beginning. This whole account was written for the warning and instruction of men in the ages to follow. And to no age or time could it possibly be more applicable, or more pertinent, than to just this day and time in the United States. The parallel is complete: Here the Pharisees, the scribes, and the doctors of the law have rejected God's idea of the Sabbath and have set up a man's. 

God's idea on this subject is clearly stated, "The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God." Man's idea is, and is declared, "Sunday is and shall be the Sabbath," and this plainly instead of the Sabbath of the Lord as the Lord himself has stated the matter. To-day also the most widely separated sects, in profession, the Protestants and the Catholics, have joined themselves together, as did the Pharisees and Herodians to get control of governmental power to make effective their purpose to put down the Lord's idea of the Sabbath and exalt a man's-even that of the "man of sin." 

These, too, to-day, like those of old, accomplished their purpose upon the governmental authorities by threats of political ruin, like those of old did upon Pilate. And to-day, in many parts of the land, these Pharisees are persecuting those who maintain the Lord's idea of the Sabbath, as expressed in his own words just as those Pharisees back there persecuted Jesus for doing the same thing. Today these Pharisees are watching, and spying upon those who are loyal to God's idea of the Sabbath, just as those back yonder were watching Jesus and spying upon him for the same thing. To-day these Pharisees are doing all this to get the Seventh-day Adventists to compromise or give up the Lord's idea of the Sabbath and adopt man's idea, which is but the idea of the man of sin, as did those Pharisees back yonder to get Jesus to do the same thing. And having now got the governmental power on their side and under their control, they will use it as did the Pharisees of old in persecuting to the death all who will not give up God's idea of the Sabbath and adopt that of the man of sin. Rev. 13:15.

And we are most happy to know, and to have these Pharisees find out, that there are some people to-day so much like Jesus, that when they are persecuted to get them to yield to the Lord's Sabbath and adopt man's, they will not do it. We are glad to know that there are to-day some people who are so much like Jesus, that when they are conforming strictly to God's idea of the Sabbath, and are therefore faithful Sabbath-keepers, they are yet persecuted and imprisoned as Sabbath-breakers. And we are especially glad to know that these people are so much like Jesus that when the Pharisees of to-day go sneaking and spying around them as the others did around Jesus, these see just what they are watching for, as the other Pharisees saw when they watched Jesus.

And we sincerely hope that these people shall still be so much like Jesus that they will suffer persecution to the death us did he, rather than to compromise or yield one hair's breadth of their allegiance to God's idea of the Sabbath, or to adopt to that extent man's idea of the Sabbath in the place of God's or even along with the Lord's. For to put man's idea on an equality with the Lord's is at once to put it in the place of the Lord's. Of the Sabbath-keeping              Waldenses it is written, that "many of the true people of God became so bewildered that while they observed the Sabbath they refrained from labor also on the Sunday."-"Great Controversy," Vol. IV,p. 65. 

God forbid that any of the true people of God in our day should become so bewildered as this! Far better be like Jesus and die for allegiance to God's truth, than to live by compromises with the lies and abominations of the Pharisees and Herodians, backed up by the governmental power. 

"Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus, who was faithful to him that appointed him." 

(End Excerpt-End of Article)

Christ's Return.

 127 years ago- that's how long it's been since the Excerpt I've been studying was written. In the excerpt the author talks about the imminence of Christ's return and our preparation for it, and he fully believed He'd see Christ return in his time even though he states we can't know the time. 

127 years ago. How different life was back then, but not so different that they didn't believe the world met a lot of the criteria for Christ's return.

41 years ago a sign that hadn't been given as enlightenment 86 years prior to then, came to pass. Up until 41 years ago, Jerusalem was under the control of the Gentiles. Jesus gave this sign- 

Luk 21:24  And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.

The times of the Gentiles was fulfilled 41 years ago in 1980.  Now you ask, what does it mean that the times of the Gentiles was fulfilled?  We'll discuss that further tomorrow by the grace of God.

CONTINUED- 

(Excerpt)

Christ and the Pharisees -OR Christ's Faithfulness in Sabbath-Keeping.

BY A. T. JONES. 1894 [Religious Liberty Library, No. 1

We stand now at the point where that nation stood when Pilate surrendered and took jurisdiction of the case when he knew he had no jurisdiction. And when they stood at that point, the doom of the nation was sealed. As that which they did at that time fixed unalterably the doom of that nation for destruction, as the destruction certainly followed, so the destruction of this nation will follow as the consequence of that which has been done, us certainly as the destruction of that nation followed that which they did back there that night.

When that was done that night, and the doom of the nation was fixed, that doom did not fall at once. No; Jesus told his disciples that they should bear witness of him in Jerusalem, and in Judea, and then in Samaria, and unto the uttermost parts of the earth. In Jerusalem and in Judea first, because ruin hung there; then to all the world afterward. But to Jerusalem and Judea first, in order to save by this gospel such as would be saved from the ruin that was

certain to fall. And this nation stands now where that one did then. Ruin is determined; that is fixed; it is only a question of time as to when it comes.

But behold, Jesus has a people to-day who are maintaining his Sabbath, and God's idea of the Sabbath as he reveals it to the world. To this people he says by the voice of the angel:-

"Go ye into all the world, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation and kindred and tongue and people." Mark, 16:15; Rev. 14:6, 7.

This thing concerns every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, because the influence of this nation is world-wide, and that which this nation has done in this land, will lead all the other nations in the same evil way, and the ruin that falls on this, takes in all the others.

Well then, the message now is, "Go forth," as certain as it was then, "to all the world," because it is doomed. Go, bearing the everlasting gospel to save such as will be saved from the ruin that is fixed by this which has been done. But before those disciples could go, Jesus said unto them:- 

"Tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high;" "but ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you; and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth." Luke 24:49: Acts 1:8.

They did not go until Pentecost had endued them with the power. We are in the presence of the second Pentecost. We must be endued with the power. Will you seek for that power? 

You cannot be faithful to the Sabbath of the Lord as Jesus Christ was, without his living presence which that Holy Ghost brings. "Let this mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus." 

Will you? Now the call is: Go to all the earth and preach this gospel to every creature, that there may be saved out of the world such as will escape the ruin that is so certain to fall, and that speedily, too. We and this nation are now standing where they were that night when they rejected Jesus Christ, and when the doom of that nation was fixed. We stand now where they stood then, and it is only a question of time as to when that ruin will certainly fall.

As the Sabbath of the Lord-the seventh day-is the Lord's own sign of the salvation of Jesus Christ, as it is the sign of what Christ is to men, so in rejecting the Sabbath of the Lord they are rejecting Christ. As the Pharisees back yonder in rejecting Christ rejected the Sabbath of the Lord, so these down here in rejecting the Sabbath of the Lord are rejecting Christ. For the Sabbath of the Lord means Jesus Christ, and Christ means the Sabbath of the Lord. To those back yonder he said, "The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner." "This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner. Neither is there salvation in any other; for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved." Matt. 22:42; Acts 4:11. 

And to these down here he says the same thing. As their salvation was wrapped up in that

which they rejected back there, so the salvation of these now is wrapped up in this which they have rejected down here. True, the princes of this world back there did not know what they were doing, for if they had known it "they would not have crucified the Lord of Glory." But they did it. Neither did these know what they were doing. But they, too, did it.

They, back there, did not know what they were doing, when they condemned and rejected Jesus on account of the Sabbath. These who have done this great evil in our day do not know what they have done, or what they are doing-they do not know that in condemning and rejecting the Sabbath they are also condemning and rejecting the Lord Jesus Christ. These do not know that in this which they have done they have doomed this nation. They did not

know it back yonder, either. But didn't they do it back there? Assuredly.

(To be Continued)

Twisted, Sick, Painful, Beautiful Life.

 Time.

Time for us right now is finite.

Time when we die- ceases for us.

When Jesus Christ sounds the trumpet and the dead in Christ rise, time will begin again- and for those rising saved through Christ- it will be eternal time.

During our pilgrimage here on earth as the years go by we are caught up in a twisted, sick, painful, heartbreaking and also- beautiful life. 

Men's heart failing them for fear -

Luk 21:26  Men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken. 

Luk 21:27  And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. 

Today, it is so easy to let ourselves fear. There is so much uncertainty in our world on every side. There is no such thing as feeling secure and safe in our life, not really. We can go days, weeks, months and years without too many problems, but that's not often the case. Some people live in a perpetual state of insecurity, uncertainty, feeling vulnerable and yes, scared, fearful. People can and do make themselves sick with fear and worry. Just knowing that we don't know what the future holds and only appears grim, can trouble us deeply. So much in our lives scream out for us to worry and be afraid. 

God tries to tell us this very important lesson we’re likely to forget-

Mat 6:34  Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof. 

Mat 6:25  Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? 

Mat 6:26  Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? 

Mat 6:27  Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? 

Mat 6:28  And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: 

Mat 6:29  And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 

Mat 6:30  Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? 

Mat 6:31  Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? 

Mat 6:32  (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. 

Mat 6:33  But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. 

Mat 6:34  Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof. 

So much TRUTH to learn!

We are living in very tumultuous times. And we have every reason to fear should we choose to allow this temporary life take precedence over our eternal life.

We are to SEEK the Kingdom of God and His righteousness FIRST before anything else- before money, food, clothes, shelter, health, all things.

Help us to this end, Lord. We would not that our hearts fail us for fear looking after the things coming, no matter what those things are. We ask that You uphold us with the right hand of Your righteousness and give us the peace that passes ALL understanding! Help us to trust in You with ALL our heart and lean NOT to our own understanding. We can't hope to understand what isn't ours to do so. Satan would have us understand everything, but he is evil and wants us to take our eyes off you and keep them on ourselves. Please, Lord, help us to keep our eyes EVER on you even as our individual lives fall apart piece by piece around us, never staying the same, never staying in a place we can be secure and content. Let us fine our security in YOU, no matter what chaos befalls us! Please, LORD, save us from ourselves! Save us! Keep us from evil! Keep our Hearts so they don't fail!

All through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior, now and forever!!!!!!! Amen!

CONTINUED- 

(Excerpt)

Christ and the Pharisees -OR Christ's Faithfulness in Sabbath-Keeping.

BY A. T. JONES. 1894 [Religious Liberty Library, No. 18] [Cont.]

But that was not the end of the story. They did this to save the nation from the Romans. They said, If we let this man thus alone, all men will believe on him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and nation. They did not let him alone, and the Romans came and took away both their place and nation forevermore. Their efforts to save the nation destroyed the nation. 

Self-efforts for salvation will always destroy him who makes them.

But let us follow this in its direct intent and purpose. Their efforts to save the nation, not only brought destruction to the nation; but the thing which they did that night settled the doom of destruction for that nation forever. There was no more salvation for that nation, as such, after that night, than there was for Sodom when Lot went out of it. It was only a question of time when the destruction would come. And in view of that destruction Jesus sent forth his disciples with the everlasting gospel of this same Saviour whom they had crucified; to call every one in the nation, as an individual, to believe on him, not only for salvation from self, but for salvation from this destruction that was so certain to come.

Every believer in Jesus escaped the destruction that was to come. Those who did not believe on him, did not escape. From that time forth they needed Jesus Christ for their salvation in this life as well as for the other life. They were just as dependent upon Jesus Christ to save them from the ruin that was to come, as they were dependent upon him to save them from their own personal sins. And he gave them a sign by which they were to know when to flee for their lives and escape that ruin:-

"When ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then let them which be in Judea flee into the mountain; let not them that are in the countries enter thereinto; let them that are in the midst of it depart out; let him which is on the housetop not come down to take anything out of his house: neither let him which is in the field return hack to take his clothes. But pray ye that your flight he not in the winter, neither on the Sabbath day, for these be the days of

vengeance. Luke 21:20-22; Matt. 24:16-20.

So the doom of the nation was fixed that night. And all that the Lord himself could do for them after that was to send his saving message to the whole nation, to all the people, telling them to believe in Jesus and they would be saved out of the nation, and from the ruin that was to come upon all the nation who did not believe.

We have already spoken of a parallel to this line of things in our day. Let us notice this further now. There have been in this nation for nearly fifty years now, a people, the Seventh-day Adventists, giving a special message in which God's ideas of the Sabbath are most prominently advocated, believed, and observed. The Pharisees and the doctors of the law saw it when it began, and they have watched it ever since; and they have said, "O, it will amount to nothing; this is just a little flurry; their preaching creates quite a stir for a little while, but as soon as they are gone, the whole thing will die out, and it will amount to nothing." They have said that at the beginning, and all the way along; but steadily they have seen that it does not work that way. Steadily they have seen God's ideas of the Sabbath finding a place among the people, more and more, and becoming more widespread. Although the word might be spoken in weakness, there was that about the words that were spoken, which caused them to linger with the people, and to stay in a person's heart for twenty years or more, and at last bring him to God. They saw it doing this. And then they saw that they would have to take more active measures than that, if they were going to maintain man's ideas of the Sabbath against the Lord's, and they did it. They enforced the State Sunday laws to a greater or less extent at different times, and in different places; but that did not stop the spread of God's Sabbath. Still it went on. Then they said, "If we let this thing alone, and let this people alone, this will become a whole nation of Sabbath-breakers. They go into a community and preach, and they get only a few at the most, and probably none at all, to keep the Saturday; but they break up the people's keeping Sunday, and therefore they are simply making the nation a nation of Sabbathbreakers; and it must be stopped, or the nation will perish for Sabbath-breaking; the judgments of God will come upon the land, and destroy us all."

Therefore they were compelled to have the power of the nation joined to them to put under foot and crush out pf existence, as far as lay in their power, God's idea of the Sabbath, and exalt man's. They tried it little by little, and more and more, upon the national legislature and the national power; but large numbers of the national legislature, like Pilate of old, said at first: "We find no fault in this; we will have nothing to do with it; attend to it yourselves; it is a controversy of your own; it is a religious matter; and if it comes up here, we will vote against it, every one of us." Scores of them said that. Then these Pharisees and doctors of the law said to the representatives of the government, "If you do not do what we ask of you, if you do not vote for that Sunday law, setting up Sunday here for the Sabbath of this nation, we will never vote for one of you again as long as we live, for any office under the sun." 

Then too, just like Pilate at last, these legislators surrendered and said, "We will do it-we will do it." They sat down in their official seat and took jurisdiction of the case, under the threats of these Pharisees and doctors of the law. And in the doing of this, these Pharisees and doctors of the law did as certainly turn their backs upon God, and join themselves to Cesar-to earthly power-as did the Pharisees and priests and doctors of the law of old. The gospel is the power of God unto salvation; the power of God belongs to every professor of the gospel, and he who has the power of God cannot possibly have any other. No power can be added to the power of God. 

Then he who professes the gospel, and calls for any other power, denies the power of God; and when he denies the power of God, and puts his confidence in the power of man, whether man as an individual, or man assembled in governments, he puts his trust in human power instead of the power of God. And when these people sent up their petitions and their prayers to Congress instead of to God, they turned their backs upon the Lord, upon the power

that goes with the gospel, and turned their attention to man for their help, to carry out this work in which they were engaged.

And thus they got Congress-yes, they got the whole government of the United States-to take jurisdiction of the case. They took the fourth commandment as recorded in God's word, and put it in the official record of the governmental proceedings, and then deliberately changed it. They definitely and purposely put the Sabbath of the Lord, the seventh day, out of God's commandment, and put the Sunday of the papacy in its place. They said the words Sabbath day "may mean Saturday or Sunday; it may be one day or the other, and we declare that it is and shall be the first day of the week commonly called Sunday," and that that is the meaning of the fourth commandment. Thus under these threats the Pharisees and the doctors of the law of to-day, got the governmental authority to do just what it did back yonder,-they got the governmental power to put the Sabbath of the Lord under foot, and as far as lies in their power, to crush it out of existence, and put man's ideas of the Sabbath in it instead. That thing is done. Everybody on earth knows that that is past. And to day we are that far along in the record made by Jesus in his faithfulness to Sabbath-keeping. This nation stands now where that nation stood when it rejected Jesus Christ because of his ideas of Sabbath-keeping. Back there they did it to maintain their own ideas of the Sabbath against the

Lord's, and they did it to save their nation. And these here did it for the same purpose. Three United States senators, each one in his place, said definitely that this must be done for the salvation of the nation. Two of them had more to do than any others to carry it through, and the third one not much less,-Senators Hawley of Connecticut, Colquitt of Georgia, and Frye of Maine, each of the three placed the salvation of the nation as the purpose of setting up. Sunday as the Sabbath under these threats. Then, as the same thing has been done here and now by the like parties, for the same purpose, and by the same means, we are that far along in the account. Then what comes next? Will the rest of the account be met? Must assuredly it will; for it was all written for us.  (To Be Continued…)

God of All Humanity.

 Wrongful persecution. Jesus was wrongfully persecuted, it's a well-known fact. Jesus didn't refuse to teach the right way of Sabbath keeping, he wanted the people to know that they were perverting the commandment with their man-made, excessive strictures. When He tried to explain that David even ate the temple shewbread, they ignored all that truth though it was right there in the scriptures, and they persecuted Him. When he mentioned they thought nothing was wrong with helping one of their livestock if it was in dire straits on the Sabbath, yet they reject helping other human beings- they again, ignore Him and His truth.

Jesus was a living example of truth and how it was to be kept by us. There was a place and time for the ceremonial laws of sacrifice and such, but Jesus the human sacrifice, wiped all that away. The Messiah came to FREE the people of God from the ceremonial sacrificial services, from the temple services. No longer would the temple services be necessary. The huge wall of separation between the Jewish people and the Gentiles was being broken down so that all could comprehend God is the Father of ALL HUMANITY. As the Father of ALL HUMANITY, God was revealing a way for all humanity to find eternal life through His only begotten Son. The Messiah was for all humanity, not just the Jewish people. Many Jewish people believed in Jesus as the Messiah, and many Gentiles as well. 

Truth. 

We need to dig into the Word of God-

Joh 5:39  Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.

SEARCH the scriptures.

2Ti_2:15  Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

STUDY to show yourself approved unto God.

Mat 4:4  But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. 

We are to LIVE by EVERY WORD that proceeds out of the mouth of God! Do we? Do we really?!

Let's STOP just skimming over the Bible and dig deep for the meat of the word!

Heb_5:12  For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat.

We need STRONG MEAT!

1Pe 2:2  As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby

When we are new Christians we need to desire the sincere milk of the word and grow. As we grow in Christ we need strong meat.

There are deep meanings behind the messages of our Savior, heart messages, spirit messages, we are to LIVE by the WORD- in order to live by the Word we must know the word. 

God help us all!  All through our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ! Now and forever!!!!!!! Amen. 

*******

CONTINUED- 

(Excerpt)

Christ and the Pharisees -OR Christ's Faithfulness in Sabbath-Keeping.

BY A. T. JONES. 1894 [Religious Liberty Library, No. 18] [Cont.]

They tried one more tack, however, before proceeding to open violence. They set a trap by which to get him to say some word or give some sign which they could twist into a charge of treason or of disrespect for authority, so as to get him into the clutch of the Roman power and authority. "Then went the Pharisees and took counsel how they might entangle him in his talk." And they watched him. "And they sent out unto him their disciples, with the Herodians," as spies, who should feign themselves to be just men, that they might take hold of his words that so they might deliver him unto the power and authority of the governor. And they asked him that insidious question concerning the tribute, when he answered, "Render unto Cesar the things that are Cesar's and unto God the things that are God's. And when they heard it, they were not able to take hold of the saying before the people: and they marvelled greatly at his answer, and held their peace; and left him and went their way." Matt. 22:15-22; Luke 20:20-30; Mark 12:17 (R. V.). 

This was Tuesday before the crucifixion. Then the very next day, "were gathered together the chief priests and the scribes and the elders of the people unto the court of the high priest who was called Caiaphas; and they took counsel together that they might take Jesus by subtlety, and kill him. But they said, Not during the feast, lest haply a tumult arise among the people, for they feared the people." 

Then that same day (Wednesday) came Judas to the chief priests and captains and offered to betray him secretly unto them. They gave him the thirty pieces of silver, "and he consented, and from that time he sought opportunity how he might conveniently deliver him unto them in the absence of the multitude." And the night of the very next day they captured him in Gethsemane, after midnight, and led him to Annas, and then to Caiaphas, then to Pilate, then to Herod; and back to Pilate. Pilate tried twice to get them to judge him themselves; but they

answered, "It is not lawful for us to put any man to death." "We have a law and by our law he ought to die" And when Pilate had insisted, even to the sixth time, that he found in him no fault, and spoke three times of releasing him, and really sought a way to release him, then it was, that in their desperation, they cried: "If thou let this man go, thou art not Cesar's friend. Whosoever maketh himself a king speaketh against Cesar." Pilate then took the judgment seat, and they demanded that Jesus should be crucified. Pilate said, "Shall I crucify your King?" And in utter renunciation of God and all that he had ever done for them, they replied: "We have no king but Cesar." Then therefore he delivered him unto them to be crucified. "And they led him away to crucify him." "And they crucified him."

Thus they accomplished their purpose; thus they persecuted Jesus to death for Sabbath-keeping-calling it Sabbath-breaking all the time. Thus they destroyed the Son of God, the Saviour of the world, and did all that lay in their power to shut away from, the world God's ideas of the Sabbath, in order that man's ideas might prevail. 

They shut away from the world the Son of God, and his salvation, and his sign of it, that they might appear themselves to save themselves from themselves. But how was it they accomplished this? When Pilate was determined to let him go, and sought how he might release him, and they saw he was about to slip through their hands, then they made it a

charge of high treason, involving both Pilate and Jesus; Pilate, if he let him go, and Jesus, if Pilate took judgment in the case.

Now, any one who set himself up for king, or made any pretentions toward it at all, in the Roman empire, even by a sign or a word, was guilty of high treason at that time; for Tiberius ruled. For a Jew to do such a thing was worst of all, and for a Galilean Jew to do so was even worse than the worst. For the Jews were the most unruly people under the Roman yoke, and the Galileans the most turbulent of the Jews. And when they said to Pilate, "If thou let this man go, thou art not Cesar's friend: whosoever maketh himself a king speaketh against Cesar's they simply said to him in other words, "Here is a Jew, and a Galilean Jew at that, who has set himself up for king of the Jews. We, the Jews, have prosecuted him before your tribunal. Now, if you refuse to take notice of this case, and thus let this pretended king of the Jews escape you, and escape us, when we inform Tiberius at Rome, that a Galilean Jew set

himself up for king and we ourselves rejected him, and prosecuted him before Rome's tribunal, and you sanctioned his kingship, and let him go, and refused to hear us,-you know what you will get. You know it will be your ruin." That was what their argument meant,

and he knew and they knew, that such a report to Tiberius would mean only death to him, for sanctioning the kingship of a Jew. And therefore under this threat they got Pilate to do what he was determined otherwise not to do.

And when they said, "We have no king but Cesar," and thus that they would carry to Rome with the rest of their report, this, that they had unanimously proclaimed themselves loyal to Cesar, and Pilate himself had turned traitor to Cesar, and had fought them down against all their wishes,-you can see what an immense weight it would give to such a charge in their threatened representations, or misrepresentations, to Tiberius. Thus they finally accomplished their persecuting purpose against Jesus for keeping the Sabbath in a way that did not suit them. (End Excerpt)

Would You Recognize Truth?

 Miracle workers, do you know of any? Right now, right today, do you personally know of any miracle worker walking the earth going from town to town healing all the sick, diseased, deformed, demon-possessed people? Have you ever known such a person?

We hear of the occasional miracle that goes beyond the ability of people to comprehend, and some attribute a miracle or two to certain people in the past. Since Christ walked the earth, since Christ's apostles walked the earth, there have not been miracles of such magnitude, and so widespread.

Guess what? When Jesus began to do the miracles He was doing, no one had heard of anyone doing such a thing before, either.

Today if a man started going from place to place healing everyone without regard to race, creed, nationality, finances and so on- and the word spread- there would be a whole lot of skeptics.  How many of those skeptics would remain skeptical if they witnessed firsthand the miracles? How long before this man was on television and internet being live streamed as he healed people? Many would doubt it, they doubted Jesus even after witnessing the miracles themselves. They wanted people who had been known to be sick and deformed since birth to be liars, even as they could see, they could walk when they never had before! Liars the lot of them! But they weren't, Jesus was healing them all!

Miracles weren't enough though. They didn't cry to keep the miracle worker alive so He could keep healing all their sick and infirmed, and even their dying because- yes - He'd brought the dead back to life! They were consumed with hatred because the Healer wasn’t consulting them on how to do all His wonders, but was doing everything as it pleased Him, on His own gaining His own followers. The Healer was revealing the hypocrisy of the rulers - the rulers did not care about the welfare of the people- they preferred them in their unhealthy states as long as they were following their leadership. It was all about their power to dictate the rules. They honestly thought they were protecting God's truth because they had perverted that truth to suit them over time. Jesus was living a life of pure truth and they couldn't recognize that as being what it was. Even when their hearts were pricked by the truth, they steeled themselves against it because it would upset their entire way of life.

We do that.. We don't like anything upsetting our beliefs. A lot of people keep their beliefs so basic, so generic that they don't have to worry about anyone upsetting them.  They keep the basic tenets of the Christian faith and when a strange belief comes along they can simply say 'to each his own as long as it doesn't disturb my walk with Christ'.  They don't let it bother them and they pat themselves on the back for being such good Christ followers. 

Unfortunately, the truth often arrives as a strange belief because men and woman have wallowed in their twisted truths covered in thick coatings of lies. When the coatings are removed and the twisting no more, they can't recognize the truth for what it is! 

The leadership in Jesus' day did not recognize the truth when it was exposed, when it was pulled from the lies and perversions. The truth appeared to them to be the lie and they refused to believe otherwise. Today it is the same, exactly the same.

So many cherish their lies and the truth is so alien to them they can't recognize it at all. 

May God open the eyes to ALL seeking ONLY HIS TRUTH no matter how much it interferes with cherished lies, traditions, and ways of life!

All through the love of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior now and forever!!!!!!!

Amen

******

CONTINUED- 

(Excerpt)

Christ and the Pharisees -OR Christ's Faithfulness in Sabbath-Keeping.

BY A. T. JONES. 1894 [Religious Liberty Library, No. 18] [Cont.]

While they were allying themselves to political power, he was holding fast to God. While they were putting their trust in earthly power, he was showing his steadfast trust in God. For the next point on this, turn to the ninth chapter of John beginning with the first verse. 

There Jesus met the man who had been born blind, and anointed his, eyes with clay, and sent him to the pool of Siloam, and the man went and washed and came seeing. His neighbors and others brought to the Pharisees him whose sight had been thus given him.

"And it was the Sabbath day when Jesus made the clay, and opened his eyes, . . . therefore said some of the Pharisees, This man it not of God because he keepeth not the Sabbath day." Verse 14-16.

The next instance is related in Luke 13:10-17:-

"And he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. And, behold, there was a woman which had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and was bowed together, and could in no wise lift up herself. And when Jesus saw her, he called her to him, and said unto her, Woman, thou art loosed from thine infirmity. And he laid his hands on her; and immediately she was made straight and glorified God.

And the ruler of the synagogue, answered with indignation, because that Jesus had healed on the Sabbath day, and said unto the people, There are six days in which men ought to work; in them therefore come and be healed, and not on the Sabbath day. 

The Lord then answered him, and said, Thou hypocrite, doth not each one of you on the Sabbath loose his ox or his ass from the stall, and lead him away to watering? And ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan hath bound, lo, these eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath day? And when he had said these things, all his adversaries were ashamed; and all the people rejoiced for all the glorious things that were done by him." 

Again we read:-

"As he went into the house of one of the chief Pharisees to eat bread on the Sabbath day, they watched him. And behold there was a certain man before him which had the dropsy. And Jesus answering spake unto the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, Is it lawful lo heal on the Sabbath day? And they held their peace. And he took him, and healed him, and let him go; and answered them, saying, Which of you shall have an ass or an ox fallen into a pit and will not straightway pull him out on the Sabbath day? And they could not answer him again to these things." Luke 14:1-6.

Every time they watched to see whether lie would do so and so on the Sabbath day, they saw just what they were looking for. And they saw it so plainly, too, that there was no mistaking it, Nor did he ever make any apology for it; nor did he ever attempt to prove that what he did could not have "disturbed" anybody. Next we read in the 11th chapter of John. Jesus went on doing his miracles, even to raising Lazarus from the dead, and they went so far as to try to kill Lazarus, to destroy the evidence of Christ's power to raise the dead. But as the work went on with Christ, they found they were losing ground more and more with the people, as Christ was gaining more and more influence.

"Then many of the Jews which came to Mary, and had seen the things which Jesus did, believed on him. But some of them went their way to the Pharisees, and told them what things Jesus had done." John 11:45, 46.

That was when he had raised Lazarus from the dead. Now the story goes right on from there. Some of them went to the Pharisees and told what things Jesus had done in the resurrection of Lazarus. Then and there the chief priests and Pharisees took counsel and said:-

"What do we? for this man doeth many miracles. If we let him thus alone, all men will believe on him; and the Romans shall come and take away both our place and nation." Verses 47, 48. Now notice the argument that was in their hearts, and in their words in fact. They were accusing Jesus all the time of Sabbath breaking; and here now they say, "If we let him thus alone, all men will believe on him," and that will make all men Sabbath-breakers, and it will be a nation of Sabbath-breakers, and when the nation becomes a nation of Sabbath-breakers, the judgments of God will be visited upon us, and the Lord will bring the Romans and sweep away the whole nation.

"And one of them, named Caiaphas, being the high priest that of year, said unto them, Ye know nothing at all. Nor consider that it is expedient for us, that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation perish not. Then from that day forth they took counsel together for to put him to death." Verses 49, 50, 53.

Now why do they determine to put him to death? His Sabbath keeping which they insist is Sabbath-breaking is the reason. And now, they argue, if he goes on thus breaking the Sabbath, all men will believe on him, that will make all men Sabbath-breakers, and then this will be a whole nation of Sabbath-breakers; the nation itself will be a Sabbath-breaker. Therefore, in order to save the nation, they propose to kill Jesus. But when they do that, they are killing the Saviour. So in order to save the nation, yes, to save themselves and the nation, they would destroy the Saviour of themselves and the nation. Then whom did that make the Saviour of themselves and the nation?-

Themselves. 

Jesus was the Saviour of the nation, and the Saviour of the people if they would believe on him. Jesus was keeping the Sabbath, the sign that he is the Saviour. So now they rejected his salvation, and himself, and all with it, Sabbath and all, in order to save the nation; so that makes them their own saviours, and this makes self-salvation the way of salvation,

instead of Christ the way of salvation.

Then in the last analysis, the contest between Christ and the Pharisees was whether it was salvation by Christ or salvation by themselves. They were destroying him, the Saviour of themselves and the nation, in order for themselves to save themselves and the nation. So that it came to just this: whether Christ is the way of salvation, or self is the way of salvation? And the Sabbath, in Christ's idea of the Sabbath, is the sign of salvation by Christ. Man's idea of the Sabbath is the sign of self-salvation, the salvation of self, by self, through self, and for self self all the time. So that, in the Sabbath question in that day, as in this, there was involved the question: Who is the Saviour? Is it Christ, by the faith and power of God alone? or is it the self-appointed church leaders, by the power and force of earthly

government?  (End Excerpt)