God's Commandments Are Sure

Today's Devotion Tuesday, April 9, 2019

God's Commandments Are Sure

Today's Text The works of his hands are verity and judgment; all his commandments are sure. They stand fast for ever and ever, and are done in truth and uprightness. Psalm 111:7, 8

The law of God existed before the creation of man or else Adam could not have sinned. After the transgression of Adam the principles of the law were not changed, but were definitely arranged and expressed to meet man in his fallen condition. The angels were governed by it. Satan fell because he transgressed the principles of God's government. After Adam and Eve were created, God made known to them His law. It was not then written, but was rehearsed to them by Jehovah. In love, with a desire to elevate and ennoble us, God provided for us a standard of obedience. In awful majesty, amid thundering and lightning, He proclaimed from Mount Sinai His ten holy precepts. This law reveals the whole duty of the human family; the first four precepts define our duty to God, and the last six our duty to man. The law of God, being a revelation of His will, a transcript of His character, must forever endure, “as a faithful witness in heaven.” Not one command has been annulled; not a jot or tittle has been changed. Says the psalmist: “For ever, O Lord, thy word is settled in heaven.” Psalm 119:89. From the first, the great controversy had been upon the law of God. Satan had sought to prove that God was unjust, that His law was faulty, and that the good of the universe required it to be changed. In attacking the law, he aimed to overthrow the authority of its Author. Through Satan's temptations the whole human race have become transgressors of God's law; but by the sacrifice of His Son a way is opened whereby they may return to God. Through the grace of Christ they may be enabled to render obedience to the Father's law. When we trust God fully, when we rely upon the merits of Jesus as a sin-pardoning Saviour, we shall receive all the help that we can desire. Note: In some areas phrases have been omitted by the compilers for whatever reason. I have restored them as underlined text, that the full intent of the author may be given.

My Thoughts: My friend, the law is holy, just and good. In them are principals that reveal the character of God to man. But the law itself cannot transform the life of anyone. Yes, it can reform the life on the outside, but it cannot touch the heart. The purpose of the law given at Mount Sinai was to reveal to man their need of a Savior. In the Old Testament, it was given to govern the behavior of the children of Israel and to prepare them for the Messiah to come, "For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth." (Romans 10:4). In the beginning man was created with a nature that was in harmony with God. The law was not written because it was not necessary, for their natures were in harmony with the will of God. It was as natural for them to obey the will of God as it was to breathe. In order for Satan to bring the human race under his control, he needed to get them to doubt the word of God. By doubting the word of God, Eve transgressed the command of God and led her husband to do the same. By leading them to doubt the word of God, Satan instilled his spirit upon the human heart and thus the nature of man has been corrupted by it. The remedy for our sinful condition is to learn to do good, but to received a new heart. Our very natures must change, and God offers to us His nature in place of our own. "A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them." (Ezekiel 36:26, 27). In order to accomplish this, the Son of God must become a man; live a perfect life as a man and be crucified for our transgressions. Thus by His sacrifice we may be freed from the penalty of sin, and by His life we may become sons and daughters of God. His perfect and holy life is offered to us in place of our own. "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me." (Galatians 2:20). My friend, too many times we strive to keep the law of God in our own strength. We have looked to the law for righteousness while neglecting Jesus who was given to us that we may be made righteous. It is time to look unto the true Son of God who is made righteousness for us. "To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:" (Colossians 1:27). God bless,

I encourage your comments: wtaitague@gmail.com or directly in the blog (Click Here)

The Doctrine of Sin - Howard Williams Brother Howard Williams presents a message at a meeting to a group in Phoenix, Arizona on March of 2019. He presents a message outlining the doctrine of sin and how our understanding of sin affects our salvation. RESOURCES: Archive of Daily Devotions Melodies of Prayer Free Bible & Commentary Bible Study Resources The Truth About God The Final Protest Revelation1412.org

Tuesday: God's Commandments Are Sure

Our Angel Friends and Guardians

Today's Devotion Monday, April 8, 2019

Our Angel Friends and Guardians

Today's Text Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation? Hebrews 1:14

The plan by which alone man's salvation could be secured, involved all heaven in its infinite sacrifice. The angels could not rejoice as Christ opened before them the plan of redemption; for they saw that man's salvation must cost their loved Commander unutterable woe. In grief and wonder they listened to His words as He told them how He must descend from heaven's purity and peace, its joy and glory and immortal life,and come in contact with the degradation of earth, to endure its sorrow, shame, and death. He was to stand between the sinner and the penalty of sin; yet few would receive Him as the Son of God. He would leave His high position as the Majesty of heaven, appear upon earth and humble Himself as a man, and by His own experience become acquainted with the sorrows and temptations which man would have to endure. All this would be necessary in order that He might be able to succor them that should be tempted. Hebrews 2:18. When His mission as a teacher should be ended, He must be delivered into the hands of wicked men and be subjected to every insult and torture that Satan could inspire them to inflict. He must die the cruelest of deaths, lifted up between the heavens and the earth as a guilty sinner. He must pass long hours of agony so terrible that angels could not look upon it, but would veil their faces from the sight. He must endure anguish of soul, the hiding of His Father's face, while the guilt of transgression—the weight of the sins of the whole world—should be upon Him. The angels prostrated themselves at the feet of their Commander and offered to become a sacrifice for man. But an angel's life could not pay the debt; only He who created man had power to redeem him. Yet the angels were to have a part to act in the plan of redemption. Christ was to be made “a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death.” Hebrews 2:9. As He should take human nature upon Him, His strength would not be equal to theirs, and they were to minister to Him, to strengthen and soothe Him under His sufferings. They were also to be ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who should be heirs of salvation. They would guard the subjects of grace from the power of evil angels, and from the darkness constantly thrown around them by Satan. Angels are ever present where they are most needed, with those who have the hardest battles with self to fight, and whose surroundings are the most discouraging. Weak and trembling souls who have many objectionable traits of character are their special charge. That which selfish hearts would regard as humiliating service, ministering to those who are wretched and in every way inferior in character, is the work of the pure, sinless beings from the courts above. All the angels of heaven are united in the work of bringing to man the infinite treasures of the better world. God and Christ and the heavenly angels are fighting with you.... In the strength of the Redeemer, you can be more than conquerors. Note: In some areas phrases have been omitted by the compilers for whatever reason. I have restored them as underlined text, that the full intent of the author may be given.

My Thoughts: My friend, God has given to us angels of heaven that are to guide and protect us from the wiles of the devil. These holy angels work together with the Father and the Son for our protection and redemption. When the plan of redemption was unfolded to the angels and beheld that their beloved Commander was to give His life for the guilty race, they were so overcome with sorrow and grief that they prostrated themselves before the Son of God and offered their life in place of His. But though the life of a angle was holy was not sufficient to redeem man from their sinful condition. Only the Son of God, who came forth from the very substance of the Father could ransom the guilty race. Our problem with sin is more than just that we have sinned. When our first parents sinned they lost their holy and righteous nature. No longer did they reflect the lovely image of God, and by their sin, their natures had been changed. No longer were their hearts pure and holy; no longer did their actions stem from a righteous heart. They had become selfish by nature. This is evident in their interaction with the Son of God after their fall. Adam blamed Eve, and Eve blamed the serpent, but ultimately they blamed God. Such is the nature of sin. The remedy for fallen humanity required a transformation of life, and that life could not be the life of an angle; it required a divine life that could lift the soul of man from the degradation of sin. The Son of God though divine, was not the source of all life, and as such He is the only being in all the universe that could offer His life in place of our own. The life of the Father was given to us through His Son, "For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself;" (John 5:26). The trinity destroys the great gift of God in giving us His Son. The trinity teaches that the Son of God is co-equal and co-eternal with the Father. In presenting the Son of God in this way it denies that He is truly a son. In order to be a true son he must have a beginning and as such cannot be co-eternal. As such if the Son of God is not truly a son, then the Father is not truly a father as we have been taught, for a father must have a son. The teaching of God as a trinity is of the spirit of antichrist. The apostle John wrote of this saying "Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son. Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: (but) he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also." (1 John 2:22, 23). My friend, you have to ask yourself, why does our church deny that Jesus is the true Son of God? If you ask any of the leaders in the church you will get varying answers and explanations, but at the heart of it all they will deny that Jesus is truly the Son of God. They will unwittingly display the spirit of antichrist. May your eyes be opened as you look away from the trinity unto the One true God through His Son Jesus Christ today. God bless,

I encourage your comments: wtaitague@gmail.com or directly in the blog (Click Here)

The Doctrine of Sin - Howard Williams Brother Howard Williams presents a message at a meeting to a group in Phoenix, Arizona on March of 2019. He presents a message outlining the doctrine of sin and how our understanding of sin affects our salvation. RESOURCES: Archive of Daily Devotions Melodies of Prayer Free Bible & Commentary Bible Study Resources The Truth About God The Final Protest Revelation1412.org

Tuesday: God's Commandments Are Sure

Man's Inability to Save Himself

Today's Devotion Friday, April 5, 2019

Man's Inability to Save Himself

Today's Text Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified. Galatians 2:16

Another compact—called in Scripture the “old” covenant—was formed between God and Israel at Sinai, and was then ratified by the blood of a sacrifice.... God ... gave them [Israel] His law, with the promise of great blessings on condition of obedience: “If ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ... ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation.” Exodus 19:5, 6. The people did not realize the sinfulness of their own hearts, and that without Christ it was impossible for them to keep God's law; and they readily entered into covenant with God. Feeling that they were able to establish their own righteousness, they declared, “All that the Lord hath said will we do, and be obedient.” Exodus 24:7. They had witnessed the proclamation of the law in awful majesty, and had trembled with terror before the mount; and yet only a few weeks passed before they broke their covenant with God, and bowed down to worship a graven image. They could not hope for the favor of God through a covenant which they had broken; and now, seeing their sinfulness and their need of pardon, they were brought to feel their need of the Saviour revealed in the Abrahamic covenant, and shadowed forth in the sacrificial offerings. Now by faith and love they were bound to God as their deliverer from the bondage of sin. Now they were prepared to appreciate the blessings of the new covenant. The terms of the “old covenant” were, Obey and live: “If a man do, he shall even live in them;” but “cursed be he that confirmeth not all the words of this law to do them.” Ezekiel 20:11; Leviticus 18:5; Deuteronomy 27:26. The “new covenant” was established upon “better promises”—the promise of forgiveness of sins, and of the grace of God to renew the heart, and bring it into harmony with the principles of God's law. The only means of salvation is provided under the Abrahamic covenant. Note: In some areas phrases have been omitted by the compilers for whatever reason. I have restored them as underlined text, that the full intent of the author may be given.

My Thoughts: My friend, in the Old Testament the Jews were declared righteous by their faith in the promise to come. Their obedience was a testament to faith in the promise of God. In the New Testament we are made righteous by the fulfillment of the promise of God in giving us His Son. Today, we have the reality of what was promised to Abraham; we have the life of the Son of God made available to all that would believe in Him. While before the cross, the life that was promised was not yet given, today we have the reality of the life of Christ living within us. In the Old Testament, the Jews were made righteous by their obedience to the law of God. But while the law could not save them, the law was in place until the embodiment of the law could come. Thus by keeping the law they were demonstrating their faith in the promise of the coming Messiah. Today we are no longer are we under the bondage of the law, but we are under the grace of Christ. This does not mean that we do not keep the law of God, it simply means that we are no longer under the governance of the law. Jesus is the manifestation of the law that was promised in the Old Testament. Today we are not under the governance of the law but we are under the governance of grace, which is Christ dwelling within our hearts. My friend, the law is good but its purpose was fulfilled at the cross. Today we have the greater manifestation of the law in Jesus Christ. As He lives within our hearts, we are brought into harmony with the will of God. Jesus is the fulfillment of the promise of God saying "A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them." (Ezekiel 36:26, 27). To be under grace means to have the Spirit of Christ living within our hearts. God bless,

I encourage your comments: wtaitague@gmail.com or directly in the blog (Click Here)

The End of the Law - David Clayton Brother David Clayton speaks to a group in Houston Texas in March of 2019. He presents a message of righteousness by faith in the Son of God. RESOURCES: Archive of Daily Devotions Melodies of Prayer Free Bible & Commentary Bible Study Resources The Truth About God The Final Protest Revelation1412.org

Monday: Our Angel Friends and Guardians