taking the kingdom of heaven by force!

[rainbowinthesky]

"In Christ the cry of humanity reached the Father of infinite pity. As a man He supplicated the throne of God till His humanity was charged with a heavenly current that should connect humanity with divinity. Through continual communion He received life from God, that He might impart life to the world. His experience is to be ours." Desire of Ages,363.

"The kingdom of God suffereth violence and the violent take it by force." Matt.11:12.

Here is a direct commentary from the SoP upon this verse:

"With the great truth we have been privileged to receive, we should, and under the Holy Spirit's power, we could, become living channels of light. We could then approach the mercy seat, and seeing the bow of promise, kneel with contrite heart, and seek the kingdom of Heaven with a spiritual violence that would bring its own reward. We would take it by force, as did Jacob. Then our message would be the power of God unto salvation. Our supplications would be full of earnestness, full of a sense of our great need, and we would not be denied. The truth would be expressed by life and character, and by lips touched with the living coal from off God's altar. When this experience is ours, we shall be lifted out of our poor, cheap selves, that we have cherished so tenderly. We shall empty our hearts of the corroding power of selfishness, and shall be filled with praise and gratitude to God. We shall magnify the Lord, the God of all grace, who has magnified Christ. And He will reveal His power through us, making us as sharp sickles in the harvest field." E.G. White, 5 B.C.1089; Review & Herald, Feb.14,1899

Now what is this great truth we have been privileged to receive?

"The merits of Christ's sacrifice are sufficient to present to the Father in our behalf." S.C.36.

Therefore "Present your case before God pleading the merits of the blood shed for you upon Calvary's cross." Faith & Works,106.

So with this great truth we have been privileged to receive, we could, and we should, with contrite hearts, approach the mercy seat and take the kingdom of heaven by force, by pleading the merits of a crucified and risen Saviour that we may be charged with a heavenly current that should connect our humanity with the divinity of Christ.

"We shall come in repentance and contrition, with a despairing sense of our own finite weakness, and learn that we must daily apply to the merits of the blood of Christ that we may become vessels fit for the Master's use." Faith & Works,86.

"The law of the divine and the human action makes the receiver a laborer together with God. It brings man where he can, united with divinity, work the works of God. Humanity touches humanity. Divine power and the human agency combined will be a complete success for Christ's righteousness accomplishes everything." Faith & Works,27.

"With divinity and humanity combined you can accomplish a work as enduring as eternity." Ibid,27.

And "When divine power is combined with human effort, the work will spread like fire in the stubble." 1 S.M.118.

Here it is again, this great truth we have been privileged to receive:

"You want to be like little children, hanging upon the merits of a crucified and risen Saviour, and then you will be fortified. How? The angels of God will be around you as a wall of fire; the righteousness of Christ, which you claim, goes before you, and the glory of God is your rearward. God sanctify our tongues, our thoughts, our minds, that we may dwell upon heavenly themes, and that we may impart that knowledge and light to others." Ms 9, 1891.

Thus the soul becomes God's fortress which He holds in a revolted world and He intends that no authority shall be known in it but His own. A soul thus kept by the heavenly agencies is impregnable to the assaults of Satan. See D.A.324.

"The kingdom of God suffereth violence and the violent take it by force." Matt.11:12.

sky

 

[rainbowinthesky]

"We have no hesitancy in telling you that in order to obtain the immortal inheritance and the eternal substance, you must be overcomers in this probationary life. Everything that blots and stains the soul must be removed, must be cleansed from the heart. We must know what it means to be a partaker of the divine nature, having escaped the corruptions that are in the world through lust. Are you willing to wage war against the lusts of the flesh? Are you ready to battle against the enemy of God and man? Satan is determined to enslave every soul if he can; for he is playing a desperate game to win the souls of men from Christ and eternal life. Will you permit him to steal from you the graces of the Spirit of God, and plant in you his own corrupt nature? or will you accept the great provision of salvation, and through the MERITS of the Infinite Sacrifice made in your behalf, become a partaker of the DIVINE NATURE? God has given His only-begotten Son, that through His shame, suffering, and death, you might have glory, honor, and immortality.--Signs of the Times, June 15, 1891.

 

[rainbowinthesky]

It is imperative that we understand where we are in the unrolling of the prophetic scroll, as far as the professed church is concerned. We need to study the past and the prophecies which delineates past, present, and future events and we need to remember that "We have FAR MORE to fear from wihin than from without. The hindrances to strength and success are FAR GREATER from the church than from the world." 1 S.M.122. *emphasis supplied

Note that the disciples of Christ did not turn to a broken world until the professed church (Jewish church) had definitely sealed her rejection of God's mercy and we all know that didn't happen until the stoning of Stephen in A.D.34 which ended the second call of the parable coinciding with the end of the 70 week prophecy of Daniel 9. Then the bearers of the message turned to the Gentile world and this action is represented by the third call of the parable.

It is the same today. Not until the second call of the parable of Matt.22 has been definitely rejected by the professed church can the message go to the world in a loud cry fashion.

According to Christ's Object Lessons,218, we are now living in the time of "added probation" during which those of us who are connected to Heaven are to seek for the lost sheep of Irael.

"He who is connected with Heaven will do the works of Christ. By faith in God he will have power to move upon humanity. He will seek for the lost sheep of the house of Israel. If divine power does not combine with human effort, I would not give a straw for all that the greatest man could do. The Holy Spirit is wanting in our work." See 1 S.M.411.

"The law of the divine and the human action makes the receiver a laborer together with God. It brings man where he can, united with divinity, work the works of God. Divine power and the human agency combined will be a complete success, for Christ's righteousness accomplishes everything." Faith & Works,27.

And only as we daily exercise the faith that lays right hold upon the merits of a crucified and risen Saviour will Christ and His righteousness be brought into the life to do for us that which it is not in our power to do for ourselves. See Faith & Works,65,66; T.M.456, bottom of page.
God bless,

sky

 

[rainbowinthesky]

It wouldn't hurt to re-visit the following statements as they, like no other I know of, clearly show the relation between faith and merits and grace and works and reward.

"We are accepted through Christ’s merits alone; and the acts of mercy,the deeds of love, which we perform, are the fruits of faith; and they become a blessing to us; for men are to be rewarded according to their works. It is the fragrance of the merits of Christ that makes our good works acceptable to God, and it is grace that enables us to do the works for which He rewards us. Our works, in and of themselves have no merit. When we have done all that it is possible for us to do, we are to count ourselves as unprofitable servants. (Luke 17:10) We deserve no thanks from God. We have only done what it was our duty to do, and our works could not have been performed by the strength of our own sinful nature.” E.G. White, 5 B.C.1122.

"Although we have no merit in ourselves, in the great goodness and love of God we are rewarded as if the merit were our own. When we have done all the good we can possibly do, we are still unprofitable servants. We have done only what was our duty. What we have accomplished has been wrought solely through the grace of Christ, and no reward is due to us from God on the ground of our merit. But through the merit of our Saviour, every promise that God has made will be fulfilled, and every man will be rewarded according to his deeds." RH, June 27, 1893 par.15

sky

 

[rainbowinthesky]

"We are accepted through Christ’s merits alone; and the acts of mercy,the deeds of love, which we perform, are the fruits of faith; and they become a blessing to us; for men are to be rewarded according to their works. It is the fragrance of the merits of Christ that makes our good works acceptable to God, and it is grace that enables us to do the works for which He rewards us. Our works, in and of themselves have no merit. When we have done all that it is possible for us to do, we are to count ourselves as unprofitable servants. (Luke 17:10) We deserve no thanks from God. We have only done what it was our duty to do, and our works could not have been performed by the strength of our own sinful nature.” E.G. White, 5 B.C.1122.

Notice that when she says that "our works, in and of themselves, have no merit" she is talking about the works that the grace of the Holy Spirit enables us to do. These good works wrought by the Holy Spirit in and through us do not play a part in the salvation of the soul or in merit and yet God will reward us for these good works as if they were our own works and the merit our own.

"Although we have no merit in ourselves, in the great goodness and love of God we are rewarded as if the merit were our own. When we have done all the good we can possibly do, we are still unprofitable servants. We have done only what was our duty. What we have accomplished has been wrought solely through the grace of Christ, and no reward is due to us from God on the ground of our merit. But through the merit of our Saviour, every promise that God has made will be fulfilled, and every man will be rewarded according to his deeds." RH, June 27, 1893 par.15

Those who shall walk through the gates into the City of God will have daily exercised the only true faith, the faith that lays right hold upon the merits of the blood of a crucified and risen Saviour in order to bring Christ's righteousness into the life. They will have a deep sense of their own unworthiness saying, Lord, we are unprofitable servants. If we walk through these gates into the City of God it will only be on account of the all-sufficient merits of a crucified and risen Saviour. We have no goodness within or merits whereby we may claim salvation but we present before You the all-sufficient merits of the spotless Lamb of God. This is our only plea.

"Blessing, and honor, and glory, and power be unto Him that sitteth upon the throne, adn unto the Lamb forever and ever. Rev.5:13.

And the Father will answer, "Enter in, good and faithful servants, for to you the gates are wide open. Take possession of the Kingdom prepared for you before the foundation of the world."

What say you?

sky