the truth remains

rainbowinthesky said:

Thanks Cast.


To his opponents Luther replied,

"'We can always see the MOTE in our brother's eye, but we overlook the BEAM in our own. Who does not know that a man rarely puts forth any new idea without having some apperance of pride, and without being accused of exciting quarrels? IF HUMILITY HERSELF SHOULD UNDERTAKE SOMETHING NEW, HER OPPONENTS WOULD ACCUSE HER OF PRIDE! Why were Christ and all the martyrs put to death? Because they seemed to be proud contemners of the wisdom of the time, and because they advanced novelties, without having first humbly taken counsel of the oracles of the ancient opinions.

Do not let the wise of our days expect from me humility, or rather hypocrisy, enough to ask their advice, before publishing what duty compels me to say. Whatever I do will be done, not by the prudence of men, but by the counsel of God. If the work be of God, who shall stop it? if it be not, who can forward it? Not my will, nor theirs, nor ours; but thy will, O Holy Father, which art in Heaven.'--

What courage, what noble enthusiasm, what confidence in God, and above all, what truth in these words, and what truth for all ages!" D'Aubigne's History of the Reformation of the Sixteenth Century, p.103.

Today:

"Those to whom the message of truth is spoken seldom ask, 'Is it true?' but 'by whom is it advocated?' Multitudes estimate it by the numbers who accept it; and the question is still asked,'Have any of the religious leaders believed?' Men are no more favorable to real godliness now than in the days of Christ. They are just as intently seeking earthly good, to the neglect of eternal riches; and it is NOT AN ARGUMENT AGAINST THE TRUTH that large numbers are not ready to accept it, or that it is not received by the world's great men, or even by the relgious leaders." Desire of Ages,459,460.

"A nation's sin and a nation's ruin were due to the religious leaders." Desire of Ages,738.

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rainbowinthesky said:

The best answer I have ever read is in the following:

Upon one Sabbath day, as the Saviour and His disciples returned from the place of worship, they passed through a field of ripening grain. Jesus had continued His work to a late hour, and while passing through the fields, the disciples began to gather the heads of grain, and to eat the kernels after rubbing them in their hands. On any other day this act would have excited no comment, for one passing through a field of grain, an orchard, or a vineyard, was at liberty to gather what he desired to eat. See Deut. 23:24, 25. But to do this on the Sabbath was held to be an act of desecration. Not only was the gathering of the grain a kind of reaping, but the rubbing of it in the hands was a kind of threshing. Thus, in the opinion of the rabbis, there was a double offense.

The spies at once complained to Jesus, saying, "Behold, Thy disciples do that which is not lawful to do upon the Sabbath day."

When accused of Sabbathbreaking at Bethesda, Jesus defended Himself by affirming His Sonship to God, and declaring that He worked in harmony with the Father. Now that the disciples are attacked, He cites His accusers to examples from the Old Testament, acts performed on the Sabbath by those who were in the service of God.

The Jewish teachers prided themselves on their knowledge of the Scriptures, and in the Saviour's answer there was an implied rebuke for their ignorance of the Sacred Writings. "Have ye not read so much as this," He said, "what David did, when himself was an hungered, and they which were with him; how he went into the house of God, and did take and eat the shewbread, . . . which it is not lawful to eat but for the priests alone?" "And He said unto them, The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath." "Have ye not read in the law, how that on the Sabbath days the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath, and are blameless? But I say unto you, That in this place is one greater than the temple." "The Son of man is Lord also of the Sabbath." Luke 6:3, 4; Mark 2:27, 28; Matt. 12:5, 6.

If it was right for David to satisfy his hunger by eating of the bread that had been set apart to a holy use, then it was right for the disciples to supply their need by plucking the grain upon the sacred hours of the Sabbath. Again, the priests in the temple performed greater labor on the Sabbath than upon other days. The same labor in secular business would be sinful; but the work of the priests was in the service of God. They were performing those rites that pointed to the redeeming power of Christ, and their labor was in harmony with the object of the Sabbath. But now Christ Himself had come. The disciples, in doing the work of Christ, were engaged in God's service, and that which was necessary for the accomplishment of this work it was right to do on the Sabbath day.

Christ would teach His disciples and His enemies that the service of God is first of all. The object of God's work in this world is the redemption of man; therefore that which is necessary to be done on the Sabbath in the accomplishment of this work is in accord with the Sabbath law. Jesus then crowned His argument by declaring Himself the "Lord of the Sabbath,"--One above all question and above all law. This infinite Judge acquits the disciples of blame, appealing to the very statutes they are accused of violating.

Jesus did not let the matter pass with administering a rebuke to His enemies. He declared that in their blindness they had mistaken the object of the Sabbath. He said, "If ye had known what this meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless." Matt. 12:7. Their many heartless rites could not supply the lack of that truthful integrity and tender love which will ever characterize the true worshiper of God." Desire of Ages,284,5.

Hope this helped answer your question.

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rainbowinthesky said:

The truth is, that we are to love Yehowah our Father, with all our heart, mind and soul.

Called Out
__________

True, and we must know the how.

Here is what I understand as to the "how".

To those who, day by day, come to God just as they are, sinful, helpless, dependent, trusting wholly in the MERITS of the blood shed for them upon Calvary's cross, trusting wholly in the merits of the crucified and risen Savior, every commandment is the voice of God speaking to the soul in promise. To them every precept of that law becomes a promise, a most positive promise of its own fulfillment.

For the law of God's mouth is Spirit and Life. (John 6:63)

Right?

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