Daily Devotional, Year 4: February 6 (Noble Bereans, Part 50: “Liberty of Conscience Now Threatened!”)
By admin On March 26th, 2021.
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Daily Devotional, Year 4: February 6
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Noble Bereans,
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Part 50:
“Liberty of Conscience Now Threatened!”
To read part 1, click here…”September 2nd (Noble Bereans?)”
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“Now the Spirit speaketh expressly,
that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith,
giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;
Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron;
Forbidding to marry (Christ),
and commanding to abstain from meats (the deeper truths of Scripture)“
1st Timothy 4:1-5 (parenthetical comments by Editor)
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So, in this little series, the subject of those noble Bereans has been introduced. And today, it is still worthy of a little more exploration into another area of concern.
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Let’s review the key Bible passage… “And the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night unto Berea: who coming there, went into the synagogue of the Jews. These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” Acts 17:10, 11
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St Paul Preaching (Raphael, 1515) – Wikipedia – US public domain
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AN OPEN-MINDED SPIRIT IN BEREA
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Okay, so those in Berea were more noble, because they:
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1. “Received the Word with all readiness of mind.”
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2. “And searched the Scriptures daily, whether those things were so.”
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And so, the Bereans were ready to receive new teachings, which no doubt, conflicted with the supposed, “orthodox” teachings of that day.
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Thus there was an open-mindedness which permeated their hearts, and a willingness to search the Scriptures daily, in hopes that these seemingly new teachings were indeed true!
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La Bible, Notre-Dame – cropped image – Wikimedia – Share-Alike License
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THE REVELATION 12 DRAGON
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This Revelation 12 Dragon “cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood.” Revelation 12:15
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And this amazing constellation is comprised of various stars from several different well-known constellations. And this Dragon was created by God to reveal and confirm a great Bible truth regarding Satan and his war against Heaven.
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And the wave of water coming forth out of the Dragon’s mouth is spoken of in more veiled terms in such places as Psalm 22:5, 6… “When the waves of death compassed me, the floods of ungodly men made me afraid; The sorrows of Hell compassed me about; the snares of death prevented me;”
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So here we see that the Dragon’s wave of water is actually symbolic of Satan’s army of willing humans, who oppress the Church through means of false doctrines, oppressive dogma, and mind-indoctrination via various ungodly influences.
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ABOVE PICTURE: Revelation 12 Dragon – Winter – Hyades, Pleiades, etc. – not for commercial uses
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THE GREAT CONTROVERSY
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In Ellen White’s book, “The Great Controversy Between Christ and Satan”, she addresses this issue of liberty of conscience, and the future persecution against the faithful remnant people of God.
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(Down toward the bottom of today’s devotional, one can listen to the 40-minute audio version of this revealing and insightful chapter from that book)
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1858 version The Great Controversy by E.G. White – Public Domain
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AN INSIGHTFUL AND UNCANNY LOOK FORWARD IN TIME!
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Now, when reading this fine book, Great Controversy, it is also an uncanny look forward in time, to our day, and speaks of things only realized in these last few decades.
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And yet, because it was written in the late 1800’s, it doesn’t fully explain things from today’s vantage point. In other words, we have a much greater advantage today, because we can more clearly and more fully see the reality of the current world situation.
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Yes, we now have the great advantage of living in this day when prophecy is being fulfilled right before our very eyes!
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Nevertheless, Ellen White was given great insight into Bible prophecy, and by reading The Great Controversy, it is a tremendous witness that God was indeed working mightily through her!
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Ellen G. White – Wikimedia – Public Domain
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MUCH WORSE THAN ANYONE REALIZED!
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But in this fearful time we are now living, we realize that Satan’s oppressive warfare against God’s people is of a much wider scope than merely from the papal church-system.
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And perhaps this chapter does not bring this aspect out as clearly as it should.
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Nevertheless, we can now see things in much clearer light, and understand that liberty of conscience is in much greater peril because of the totalitarian nature of the current-day oppression!
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Christian and Apollyon – Pilgrim’s Progress – Wikipedia – US Public Domain
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VARIOUS INSTRUMENTS OF OPPRESSION
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Yes, with the advent of such things as television, radio, and Internet, Satan is now using virtually all of society to control the hearts and minds of God’s remnant people. And all this mind control goes far beyond the Church, as he works through these various means to brainwash all of society, yea even all the world!
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Even the educational institutions are currently being used in his battle to control the hearts and minds of the people! Oh yes, there are no doubt, many fine and dedicated employees within these institutions. But just like the apostate churches and denominations, these honest-hearted people would be mortified and appalled to realize that Satan is using them as pawns to further his oppressive warfare against the entire world, and especially against God’s faithful ones!
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“GOOD NEWS FROM A FAR COUNTRY”
Proverbs 25:25
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So just where is the Good News in all this bad news?
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Listen…“But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:” Romans 5:20
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This is just one exceeding great and precious promise among countless other similar promises that God will be with us till the end! Yes, the Lord will see us through the “troublous times” ahead!
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And as good and noble Bereans, we must with open minds and truth-seeking hearts, prayerfully study all these things to see if they are indeed so!
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And as already mentioned, by scrolling down toward the bottom of today’s devotional, one can listen to the 40 minute audio version of this revealing and insightful chapter from that book.
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USMC – Prayer before Bible study – Wikimedia – Public Domain
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“I BARE YOU ON EAGLES’ WINGS, AND BROUGHT YOU UNTO MYSELF!”
Exodus 19:4
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And we can rejoice that God will bare us up on eagle’s wings, even as it is written… “But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.” Isaiah 40:31
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MUCH WORSE THAN ANYONE REALIZED!
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There are many who are looking for a single individual who fulfills the role of The Antichrist Beast of Revelation 13.
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But in this fearful time in which we are now live, we realize that Satan’s oppressive warfare against God’s people is of a much wider scope than merely from one single individual.
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Nevertheless, we can now see things in much clearer light, and understand that liberty of conscience is in much greater peril because of the totalitarian nature of the current-day oppression!
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Christian and Apollyon – Pilgrim’s Progress – Wikipedia – US Public Domain
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VARIOUS INSTRUMENTS OF OPPRESSION
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Yes, with the advent of such things as television, radio, and Internet, Satan is now using virtually all of society to control the hearts and minds of God’s remnant people. And all this mind control goes far beyond the Church, as he works through the various medias to brainwash all of society, yea even all the world!
.
Even the educational institutions are currently being used in his battle to control the hearts and minds of the people! Oh yes, there are no doubt, many fine and dedicated employees within these institutions. But just like the apostate churches and denominations, these honest-hearted people would be mortified and appalled to realize that Satan is using them as pawns to further his oppressive warfare against the entire world, and especially against God’s faithful ones!
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.
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“GOOD NEWS FROM A FAR COUNTRY”
Proverbs 25:25
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So just where is the Good News in all this bad news?
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Listen…“But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:” Romans 5:20
.
This is just one exceeding great and precious promise among countless other similar promises that God will be with us till the end! Yes, the Lord will see us through the “troublous times” ahead!
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And as good and noble Bereans, we must with open minds and truth-seeking hearts, prayerfully study all these things to see if they are indeed so!
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USMC – Prayer before Bible study – Wikimedia – Public Domain
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“I BARE YOU ON EAGLES’ WINGS AND BROUGHT YOU UNTO MYSELF!”
Exodus 19:4
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And we can rejoice that God will bare us up on eagle’s wings, even as it is written… “But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.” Isaiah 40:31
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TO READ PART 52, CLICK HERE…
February 9 (Noble Bereans? Part 51: “Ellen White & Harold Camping on Coming Out of Babylon”)
Question book magnify svg – Wikimedia – GNU license
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TODAY’S PRAYER…
“Dear Lord, Help me to be an open-minded seeker of truth, even if it means giving up a very highly regarded Church opinion! Let me be willing to investigate any seemingly new teaching if it appears to have some biblical validity…
ABOVE PICTURE: Holy bible – cropped image – Wikimedia – Creative Commons lic.
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READ MORE…
To explore deeper into this subject, please read…August 2nd (Noble Bereans, Part 16: “The Signs Of Heaven?”) , or you can also read…October 30 (Noble Bereans, Part 26 – “The Message of the Third Angel of Revelation 14”)
Question book magnify svg – Wikimedia – GNU license
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THE END
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TODAY’S FEATURED HEAVENLY SIGN
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LOCATION…
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The Revelation 12 Dragon Constellation can be located by finding Orion in winter months. The Dragon is to Orion’s left, and the Dragon’s mouth is right next to Orion’s shield. This Dragon’s mouth is the V-like constellation The Hyades Cluster, which is also known as the head of Taurus the Bull. The Dragon’s tail-tip is Pleiades and the lower shaft of his tail is partly of Aries and Pisces. Then with aid of a dark and starry night, you may begin to connect the mouth and the tail with a very long body in an oval shape. The front and back legs are made of a few stars: the front legs partially of stars from Taurus . The back legs and rear fin are made of 6 stars from the Cetus Constellation.
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BODY HARD TO SEE
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The long oval-shaped body has relatively few stars, but can been seen, howbeit with a dark, starry night. The four stars of the front fins are made partially of Taurus .
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FIRST APPEARS IN MID-SUMMER
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This Dragon constellation appears in the eastern horizon about mid-summer in the pre-dawn hours, spewing his flood-waters northward toward the Revelation 12 Woman in Travail (not pictured in this chart).
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The Wave of Water is primarily composed of the Constellation Auriga. There are two dimmer stars (#’s 1 & 2) which are closest to the Dragon’s mouth. These two dimmer stars are also part of this Wave of Water, but are not part of the Auriga Constellation.
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THE ZODIAC NAMES
It is not the purpose, nor the desire of www.theheavensdeclare.net to give any validity or recognition to the Zodiac or any pagan deities. But unfortunately, the common names of many constellations (such as Scorpio or Sagittarius, etc.), must be given, solely for the purpose of locating them on star-charts.
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READ MORE…
To explore deeper into this subject, please read… “The Dragon of Revelation 12 Constellation“
Question book magnify svg – Wikimedia – GNU license
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TOMORROW…
February 7 (Taking Back This Nation For God! Part 11: “How To Stop the Growing Lawlessness in the Land” CONTINUED FURTHER)
Pray for Our Nation sign – Wikimedia – Share-alike-lic.
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THE GREAT CONTROVERSY BY ELLEN G. WHITE
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ALL ‘NOBLE BEREANS’ (open-minded seekers of Bible truth) are invited to listen to this 44 chapter audio book, a brief history of the Church, from the Cross of Christ forward to the Return of Christ.
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Chapter 35 – Liberty Of Conscience Threatened
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Martin Luther – 95 Theses – Wikipedia – US Public Domain
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EXCERPTS FROM THE OPEN FORUM QUESTION/ANSWER RADIO TALK-SHOW…
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ALL ‘NOBLE BEREANS’ (open-minded seekers of Bible truth) are invited to listen to this small 30 minute sampling of the late Harold Camping’s nearly 50 year-long series of 90 minute nightly talk shows…This is Open Forum Show #87
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ABOVE PICTURE: Holy bible – cropped image – Wikimedia – Creative Commons lic.