CSN - LightWing Messages - Sunday - 8/13/2023
Paul’s Anguish Over Israel
I speak the truth in Christ—I am not lying, my conscience confirms it through the Holy Spirit— I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my people, those of my own race, the people of Israel. Theirs is the adoption to sonship; theirs the divine glory, the covenants, the receiving of the law, the temple worship and the promises. Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of the Messiah, who is God over all, forever praised! Amen.
God’s Sovereign Choice
It is not as though God’s word had failed. For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel. Nor because they are his descendants are they all Abraham’s children. On the contrary, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.” In other words, it is not the children by physical descent who are God’s children, but it is the children of the promise who are regarded as Abraham’s offspring. 9 For this was how the promise was stated: “At the appointed time I will return, and Sarah will have a son.”
Not only that, but Rebekah’s children were conceived at the same time by our father Isaac. Yet, before the twins were born or had done anything good or bad—in order that God’s purpose in election might stand: not by works but by him who calls—she was told, “The older will serve the younger.” Just as it is written: “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”
What then shall we say? Is God unjust? Not at all! For he says to Moses,
“I will have mercy on whom I have mercy,
and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”
It does not, therefore, depend on human desire or effort, but on God’s mercy. For Scripture says to Pharaoh: “I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.” Therefore God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden.
One of you will say to me: “Then why does God still blame us? For who is able to resist his will?” But who are you, a human being, to talk back to God? “Shall what is formed say to the one who formed it, ‘Why did you make me like this?’” Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for special purposes and some for common use?
What if God, although choosing to show his wrath and make his power known, bore with great patience the objects of his wrath—prepared for destruction? What if he did this to make the riches of his glory known to the objects of his mercy, whom he prepared in advance for glory— even us, whom he also called, not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles? As he says in Hosea:
“I will call them ‘my people’ who are not my people; and I will call her ‘my loved one’ who is not my loved one,” and,
“In the very place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’
there they will be called ‘children of the living God.’”
Isaiah cries out concerning Israel:
“Though the number of the Israelites be like the sand by the sea, only the remnant will be saved. For the Lord will carry out his sentence on earth with speed and finality.”
It is just as Isaiah said previously:
“Unless the Lord Almighty had left us descendants, we would have become like Sodom, we would have been like Gomorrah.”
Israel’s Unbelief
What then shall we say? That the Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained it, a righteousness that is by faith; but the people of Israel, who pursued the law as the way of righteousness, have not attained their goal. Why not? Because they pursued it not by faith but as if it were by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone. As it is written:
“See, I lay in Zion a stone that causes people to stumble and a rock that makes them fall, and the one who believes in him will never be put to shame.” Romans 9:1-33 (NIV)
Recent editions in the Citizen Sentinels Network of newsletters have focused upon God-given rights - especially last Sunday’s edition of the LightWing Messages. We also provided readers who could attend our Zoom call an interview with Pastor Earl Wallace, the promoter of one of the featured messages, “The Biblical Basis of the Bill of Rights.” We hope readers have been able to pay attention to our focused messaging in one way or another.
The problem with promoting such a message, or even the overall message of God-given rights, or religious freedom, is that when a person speaks up or speaks out in a godless society, at the very least they would feel as though they were a humble “voice crying in the wilderness.” In the worst case, if one speaks out, or tries to practice one’s faith, it attracts the attention of the more rabid activists of the godless. So, in our time, Christians, people of faith, conservatives, and patriots who believe in those God-given rights, are targeted, hunted down and persecuted.
This is a very substantial indication of the proverbial “Last Days.” The real question many need to ask is: the last days of what? There are quite a few answers to that question, and some of the answers are rooted in the Old Testament and some are rooted in the New Testament, but some of the signs can be seen in simple observations of reality, in that right is deemed wrong, and wrong is deemed right. These signs were prophesied. Many, if not most genuine people of faith are aware of the signs. However, many are not quite sure of where to go, or what to do in such a time as this. Yet, it is crucial that people not just awaken and become aware; it is crucial that people begin to act in defense of their relationship with God, their families, their country, and the very principles of freedom upon which the nation was founded.
Consider this: Jesus came into the world in the land of the Hebrew people, but that territory had been taken over and dominated by the newly formed Roman Empire that had previously been a Republic. That Empire was extremely corrupt and its citizens, though they had rights, were also under the despotic rule of the Caesars, very much like the rule of the Pharaohs in the time when Moses appeared and eventually led his people from slavery into relative freedom. However, in the time of the Roman Empire, Judea had previously gone through division and captivity within the Babylonian Empire. The Hebrew people had already returned to a form of slavery in such a time, and were only freed by the Persians, and again found themselves under a puppet king and ultimately under the dictates of the Roman Emperor. Yet, God brought forth the Messiah in such a dark time.
This edition focuses upon the darkness God’s children find themselves in our time. We offer messages today from two great souls. I am truly appreciative of such great people of faith. The first message is from Rev. Charles G. Finney, who was a major evangelist in America prior to the Civil War. The nation was in a dark time then, as it is now. The United States was a nation much more realistically existing as divided states in Finney’s time, and it descended into much worse darkness as the Civil War devastated the nation and disrupted peoples lives with much death and destruction. In several ways, the United States has not sufficiently healed from such a horrible dark period. Citizens are still wrestling with the constitutional, economic, and spiritual consequences of such a destructive division.
Finney preached in the dark days leading to the outbreak of war and he preached beyond the days of warfare. In the lecture we offer (and it is a lecture - not a sermon - from a series titled: “Lectures To Professing Christians” from the 1830s), Finney focused on the differences between the following the Law (the Ten Commandments) and the Gospel (faith). This lecture is titled: “RELIGION of the LAW and GOSPEL” The lecture was long (over 3300 words), as are most of Finney’s endeavors in educating his audience. Due to the length, we have edited it in this edition for the sake of the newsletter distribution restrictions; however, we provide a link to the full text as well as his remarks.
The second message is from Apostle Tim Taylor, who (in my humble opinion) currently stands as a mighty force for God’s Kingdom on Earth. His message is titled: “The Key to Walk Through Darkness in the End-times!” He provides some clarity for the faithful in how to withstand the evil and hold onto the good that surrounds us in the time of darkness in our day. He provides some spiritual ammunition to deal with what needs to be dealt with in such a time as this.
We again remind readers that our Zoom calls are continuing on each Wednesday at 5pm PDT (6pm MDT; 7pm CDT; and 8pm EDT). This coming Wednesday, we will have a discussion on the articles today. If readers would like to partake in this upcoming Zoom call on Wednesday and take part in our discussion, please reach out. Readers who are interested in receiving the link to the Zoom call please send a brief email request to this address: d.jamzon@gmail.com
We hope our readers enjoy this edition of the LightWing Messages today as well as the limited aggregated messages. Read, absorb and share, and practice what is within you. And we always hope readers would consider the messages in this edition meaningful, or relevant in some way, and if readers know others who might value these messages too, please help by passing this newsletter on to those whom you feel would welcome it. Or simply, please receive it yourselves.
CSN LightWing Mission – Zoom call Wednesday 8/16/23 at 5:00pm PST
These words are being freely offered to you and are intended to shine light unto our paths, as it was written: “Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.” Proverbs 29:18 - KJV
May God’s blessings flow into and through all of our readers and all of your loved ones today and may God bless America (she certainly could use His Divine Intervention!)
May we honestly humble ourselves, purposefully diminishing our EGO (Easing God Out), sincerely seek His face (a genuine relationship with Him), truly repent, and make a U-turn from wickedness - even if that may translate into our failure to fathom the providential significance of the time we are living in, and to commit to actions that pro-actively demonstrate a genuine faith and a sincere trust in God.
RELIGION OF THE LAW AND GOSPEL
By the Rev. CHARLES G. FINNEY
TEXT: "What shall we say then? That the Gentiles which followed not after righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness which is of faith: but Israel, which followed after the law of righteousness, hath not attained to the law of righteousness. Wherefore? Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumbling-stone; as it is written, Behold, I lay in Sion a stumbling-stone, and rock of offence: and whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed." – Rom. ix. 30-33.
IN the Epistle to the Romans, the apostle pursues a systematic course of reasoning, to accomplish a particular design. In the beginning of it, he proves that not only the Gentiles, but the Jews also, were in a state of entire depravity; and that the Jews were not, as they vainly imagined, naturally holy. He then introduces the Moral Law, and by explaining it shows that by works of law no flesh could be saved. His next topic is Justification by Faith, in opposition to Justification by Law. Here I will observe, in passing, that it is my design to make this the subject of my next lecture. The next subject, with which he begins chap. 6, is to show that sanctification is by faith; or that all true religion, all the acceptable obedience there ever was in the world, is based on faith. In the eighth and ninth chapters, he introduces the subject of divine sovereignty; and in the last part of the ninth chapter, he sums up the whole matter, and asks, "What shall we say, then?" What shall we say of all this? – That the Gentiles, who never thought of the law, have become pious, and obtained the holiness which is by faith; but the Jews, attempting it by the law, have entirely failed. Wherefore? Because they made the fatal mistake of attempting to become pious by obeying the law, and have always come short, while the Gentiles have obtained true religion, by faith in Jesus Christ. – Jesus Christ is here called "that stumbling-stone," because the Jews were so opposed to him. But whosoever believeth in him shall not be confounded.
My design to night is, to point out as distinctly as I can, the true distinction between the religion of law and the religion of faith. I shall proceed in the following order:
I. Show in what the distinction does not consist.
II. Show in what it does consist. And
III. Bring forward some specimens of both, to show more plainly in what they differ.
I. I am to show in what the distinction between the religion of law and the religion of faith does not consist.
1. The difference does not lie in the fact that under the law men were justified by works, without faith. The method of salvation in both dispensations has been the same. Sinners were always justified by faith. The Jewish dispensation pointed to a Savior to come, and if men were saved at all, it was by faith in Christ. And sinners now are saved in the same way.
2. Not in the fact that the gospel has cancelled or set aside the obligations of the moral law. It is true, it has set aside the claims of the ceremonial law, or law of Moses. The ceremonial law was nothing but a set of types pointing to the Savior, and was set aside, of course, when the great ante-type appeared. It is now generally admitted by all believers, that the gospel has not set aside the moral law. But that doctrine has been maintained in different ages of the church. Many have maintained that the gospel has set aside the moral law, so that believers are under no obligation to obey it. Such was the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, so severely reprobated by Christ. The Antinomians, in the days of the apostles and since, believed that they were without any obligation to obey the moral law; and held that Christ's righteousness was so imputed to believers, and that he had so fulfilled the law for them, that they were under no obligation to obey it themselves.
There have been many, in modern times, called Perfectionists, who held that they were not under obligation to obey the law. They suppose that Christ has delivered them from the law, and given them the Spirit, and that the leadings of the Spirit are now to be their rule of life, instead of the law of God. Where the Bible says, sin shall not have dominion over believers, these persons understand by it, that the same acts, which would be sin if done by an unconverted person, are not sin in them. The others, they say, are under the law, and so bound by its rules, but themselves are sanctified, and are in Christ, and if they break the law it is no sin. But all such notions must be radically wrong. God has no right to give up the moral law. He cannot discharge us from the duty of love to God and love to man, for this is right in itself. And unless God will alter the whole moral constitution of the universe, so as to make that right which is wrong, he cannot give up the claims of the moral law. Besides, this doctrine represents Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost as having taken up arms openly against the government of God.
3. The distinction between law religion and gospel religion does not consist in the fact that the gospel is any less strict in its claims, or allows any greater latitude of self-indulgence than the law. Not only does the gospel not cancel the obligations of the moral law, but it does in no degree abate them. Some people talk about gospel liberty; as though they had got a new rule of life, less strict, and allowing more liberty than the law. I admit that it has provided a new method of justification, but it every where insists that the rule of life is the same with the law. The very first sentence of the gospel, the command to repent, is in effect a re-enactment of the law, for it is a command to return to obedience. The idea that the liberty of the gospel differs from the liberty of the law, is erroneous.
4. Neither does the distinction consist in the fact that those called legalists, or who have a legal religion, do, either by profession or in fact, depend on their own works for justification. It is not often the case, at least in our day, that legalists do profess dependence on their own works, for there are few so ignorant as not to know that this is directly in the face of the gospel. Nor is it necessarily the case that they really depend on their own works. Often they really depend on Christ for salvation. But their dependence is false dependence, such as they have no right to have. They depend on him, but they make it manifest that their faith, or dependence, is not that which actually "worketh by love," or that "purifieth the heart," or that "overcometh the world." It is a simple matter of fact, that the faith which they have does not do what the faith does which men must have in order to be saved, and so it is not the faith of the gospel. They have a kind of faith, but not that kind that makes men real Christians, and brings them under the terms of the gospel.
II. I am to mention some of the particulars in which these two kinds of religion differ.
There are several different classes of persons who manifestly have a legal religion. There are some who really profess to depend on their own works for salvation. Such were the Pharisees. The Hicksite Quakers formerly took this ground, and maintained that men were to be justified by works; setting aside entirely justification by faith. When I speak of works, I mean works of law. And here I want you to distinguish between works of law and works of faith. This is the grand distinction to be kept in view. It is between works produced by legal considerations, and those produced by faith. There are but two principles on which obedience to any government can turn: One is the principle of hope and fear, under the influence of conscience. Conscience points out what is right or wrong, and the individual is induced by hope and fear to obey. The other principle is confidence and love. You see this illustrated in families, where one child always obeys from hope and fear, and another from affectionate confidence. So in the government of God, the only thing that ever produced even the appearance of obedience, is one of these two principles.
There is a multitude of things that address our hopes and fears; such as character, interest, heaven and hell... These may produce external obedience, or conformity to the law. But filial confidence leads men to obey God from love. This is the only obedience that is acceptable to God. God not only requires a certain course of conduct, but that this should spring from love. There never was and never can be, in the government of God, any acceptable obedience but the obedience of faith. Some suppose that faith will be done away in heaven. This is a strange notion! As if there were no occasion to trust God in heaven, or no reason to exercise confidence in him. Here is the great distinction between the religion of law and gospel religion. Legal obedience is influenced by hope and fear, and is hypocritical, selfish, outward, constrained. Gospel obedience is from love, and is sincere, free, cheerful, true. There is a class of legalists, who depend on works of law for justification, who have merely deified what they call a principle of right, and have set themselves to do right; it is not out of respect to the law of God, or out of love to God, but just because it is right.
There is another distinction here. The religion of law is the religion of purposes, or desires, founded on legal considerations, and not the religion of preference, or love to God. The individual intends to put off his sins; he purposes to obey God and be religious; but his purpose does not grow out of love to God, but out of hope and fear. It is easy to see that a purpose, founded on such considerations, is very different from a purpose growing out of love. But the religion of the gospel is not a purpose merely, but an actual preference consisting in love.
Again, there is a class of legalists that depend on Christ, but their dependence is not gospel dependence, because the works which it produces are works of law; that is, from hope and fear, not from love. Gospel dependence may produce, perhaps, the very same outward works, but the motives are radically different. The legalist drags on a painful, irksome, moral, and perhaps, outwardly, religious life. The gospel believer has an affectionate confidence in God, which leads him to obey out of love. His obedience is prompted by his own feelings. Instead of being dragged to duty, he goes to it cheerfully, because he loves it, and doing it is a delight to his soul.
There is another point. The legalist expects to be justified by faith, but he has not learned that he must be sanctified by faith. I propose to examine this point another time, in full. Modern legalists do not expect to be justified by works; they know these are inadequate--they know that the way to be saved is by Christ. But they have no practical belief that justification by faith is only true, as sanctification by faith is true, and that men are justified by faith only, as they are first sanctified by faith. And therefore, while they expect to be justified by faith, they set themselves to perform works that are works of law.
Again: I wish you to observe that the two classes may agree in these points; the necessity of good works, and, theoretically, in what constitutes good works; that is, obedience springing from love to God. And further, they may agree in aiming to perform good works of this kind. But the difference lies here; in the different influences to which they look, to enable them to perform good works. The considerations by which they expect their minds to be affected, are different. They look to different sources for motives. And the true Christian alone succeeds in actually performing good works. The legalist, aiming to perform good works, influenced by hope and fear, and a selfish regard to his own interest, obeying the voice of conscience because he is afraid to do otherwise, falls entirely short of loving God with all his heart, and soul, and strength. The motives under which he acts have no tendency to bring him to the obedience of love. The true Christian, on the contrary, so appreciates God, so perceives and understands God's character, in Christ, as begets such an affectionate confidence in God, that he finds it easy to obey from love. Instead of finding it, as a hymn has strangely represented, he finds it no hardship at all.
"Hard to obey, and harder still to love,"
The commandments are not grievous. The yoke is easy, and the burden light. And he finds the ways of wisdom to be ways of pleasantness, and all her paths to be peace.
Is it so with most professors of religion? Is it so with YOU? Do you feel, in your religious duties, constrained by love? Are you drawn by such strong cords of love, that it would give you more trouble to omit duty than to obey? Do your affections flow out in such a strong current to God, that you cannot but obey? How is it with those individuals who find it "hard to obey, and harder still to love?" What is the matter? Ask that wife who loves her husband, if she finds it hard to try to please her husband? Suppose she answers, in a solemn tone, "O yes, I find it hard to obey and harder still to love my husband," what would the husband think? What would any one of you who are parents say, if you should hear one of your children complaining, "I find it harder to obey my father, and harder still to love?" The truth is, there is a radical defect in the religion of those people who love such expressions and live as if they were true. If any of you find religion a painful thing, rely on it, you have the religion of the law. Did you ever find it a painful thing to do what you love to do? No. It is a pleasure to do it. The religion of the gospel is no labor to them that exercise it. It is the feeling of the heart. What would you do in heaven, if religion is such a painful thing here?--Suppose you were taken to heaven and obliged to grind out just so much religion every week, and month and year, to eternity. What sort of a heaven would it be to you? Would it be heaven, or would it be hell?--If you were required to have ten thousand times as much as you have here, and your whole life were to be filled up with this, and nothing else to do or enjoy but an eternal round of just such duties, would not hell itself be a respite to you?
The difference, then, lies here. One class are striving to be religious from hope and fear, and under the influence of conscience which lashes them if they do not do their duty. The other class act from love to God, and the impulses of their own feelings, and know what the text means, which says, "I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it on their hearts, I will be their God, and they shall be my people."
The preceding contains only a truncated excerpt of the full lecture delivered by Rev. Charles G. Finney. A full transcript, which includes remarks and footnotes, can be found by using this link: RELIGION OF THE LAW AND THE GOSPEL by Charles G. Finney
The Key to Walk Through Darkness in the End-times!
By Tim Taylor 8/10/23
Discover what Job 29:3 reveals regarding “the Key to Walk Through Darkness in the End-Times!” It is found in the Hebrew meaning of the words translated into “when His lamp shone upon my head.” English sometimes fails to capture the deep meaning of the word. I think you will be shocked to discover this scripture points us to:
Where the ancient artists got the idea for a halo!
The Menorah spoken of in Exodus 25.
The 5 wise virgins spoken of in Matthew 25.
Psalms 119:105 – Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path.
The key to keeping your lamp full is by keeping your mind stayed on the LORD as you go about your day praising Him, boasting in Him, testifying of Him, glorifying Him and magnifying Him, and meditating upon His word.
Watch Tim Taylor’s video message: The Key to Walk Through Darkness in the End-Times!
When you get a revelation of Job 29:3 it will cause the following scriptures to become even more alive:
Isaiah 60:1-3
Arise, shine; For your light has come!
And the glory of the LORD is risen upon you. For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth,
And deep darkness the people; But the LORD will arise over you, And His glory will be seen upon you. The Gentiles shall come to your light, And kings to the brightness of your rising.
Matthew 25:1-13 1
“Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Now five of them were wise, and five were foolish. Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them, but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. But while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept.
“And at midnight a cry was heard: ‘Behold, the bridegroom is coming; go out to meet him!’ Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ But the wise answered, saying, ‘No, lest there should not be enough for us and you; but go rather to those who sell, and buy for yourselves.’ And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding; and the door was shut.
“Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open to us!’ But he answered and said, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you.’ “Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming.”
Fill your lamp by praising God! This is the key to giving you light in the darkness.
Apostle Tim Taylor is the Founder, and overseer of Kingdom League International & the 1Church1Day strategy. His main message today is via a video presentation and it is quite powerful. We are grateful that we are able to share his messages on a somewhat regular basis with his blessing. His blog site: https://www.1church1day.org/blog
Onward and Upward!
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