United Church of God

Perspective

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Perspective

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Perspective

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A proper perspective is a must for obeying God, understanding God, and becoming godly.

Sermon Notes

Perspective

From Wikipedia…

Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions is a satirical novella by the English schoolmaster Edwin Abbott Abbott, first published in 1884 by Seeley & Co. of London. Written pseudonymously by "A Square",[1] the book used the fictional two-dimensional world of Flatland to comment on the hierarchy of Victorian culture, but the novella's more enduring contribution is its examination of dimensions.

The story starts out by describing two-dimensional life in a two-dimensional world.

“A Square” has a dream where he visits Lineland, and he tries to introduce them to the concept of two-dimensions, but they not only don’t believe him, even though he demonstrates insight into two-dimension, they also try to kill him.

He is then visited by a sphere from Spaceland who demonstrates to him three dimensions. At first, he rejects it, but he finally realizes and accepts this new perspective. When they take this demonstration to the leadership of Flatland, even though the higher ups secretly acknowledge the truth of three dimensions, they suppress that truth with executions and imprisonments.

After the Square's mind is opened to new dimensions, he tries to convince the Sphere of the theoretical possibility of the existence of a fourth and higher spatial dimensions, but the Sphere returns his student to Flatland in disgrace.

Tin can demo? Going from two dimensions to three.

We are definitely living in a time right now where EVERYBODY is being told to only accept a certain perspective, even though evidence exists for other perspectives on the same subject, and from people and organizations that have just as much qualification for their viewpoint as those in control of the conversation.

The enforcement of this perspective has even led to causing churches not to assemble, and there is a struggle now to enforce vaccines upon American society that all relied upon, to one extent or another, the use of aborted fetal cell lines during discovery, creation and production.

It’s extremely important to understand the value of a proper perspective on any given MORAL issue. Who cares one way or the other if one person’s perspective is that FORDs are the best, while another says CHEVYs are the best? But, I don’t care what your professional credentials are, if what you promote insists that the whole body of Christ not attend assembly on the Sabbath or insists people take one of these vaccines, you have lost perspective on God’s moral standards.

Assembly
Health Choices.

In Psalm 91 we are encouraged by the following statements.

Psa 91:9  Because you have made the LORD, who is my refuge, Even the Most High, your dwelling place,
Psa 91:10  No evil shall befall you, Nor shall any plague come near your dwelling;
Psa 91:11  For He shall give His angels charge over you, To keep you in all your ways.
Psa 91:12  In their hands they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone.

I’ve brought this Psalm up before, and one really needs to read it in its entirety to appreciate just how all-encompassing this promise from God is to those who obey Him.

Psalm 91 does not promise to protect us from illness, or even death from illness, but is this a plague? No. Would God allow us to ever become ill because we obeyed the fourth and sixth commandments?

We’ve had church members get sick from COVID-19, some have been hospitalized, and I believe some may have even died diagnosed with it. But we’ve last members to the flu and pneumonia before this illness came along. We understood that we are still subject to death, even if by the cause of old age. We know that Elisha is reported to have died from an illness.

The value in Psalm 91 is found in the realm of trusting in God’s protection because you are obeying Him. Just as I might forget on any particular day to ask my Father to “protect us from all evil”, I might go to church one day, but not in an attitude of obedience, and maybe I could catch an illness from another sick person who did not honor God’s quarantine laws. Outside of a witness to Christ, God has promised His children He will protect them if they are acting in obedience.

Psalm 91 speaks of a plague. Is COVID-19 a plague?

“The average age of these patients who are being said to die from COVID is around 79 to 83 years old, and the average life expectancy in the US is around 78.7 years. So technically, the average age of a COVID death is higher than the life expectancy in the US.” – Pamela Acker

If it is not a plague, then why is it being treated like a plague to be feared in the world, and why would we wish to emulate that behavior.

Isa 55:8  "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways," says the LORD.

Spoken to those who are carnal. Does not apply to you.

Rom 8:6  For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.
Rom 8:7  Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be.

With the introduction of God’s Spirit into the converted, we go from carnality to spirituality, a.k.a. true reality. Might I propose, another dimension?                                  

So, this then reveals something about God’s perspective…

Jas 1:17  Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.

God’s perspective is whole and complete, full and without any misinformation; instead, total truth. And we, His people have access to that perspective.

Joh 17:14  I have given them your word. And the world hates them because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world.
Joh 17:15  I’m not asking you to take them out of the world, but to keep them safe from the evil one.
Joh 17:16  They do not belong to this world any more than I do.
Joh 17:17  Make them holy by your truth; teach them your word, which is truth.

Our job, then is to obey Gods’ word, Brethren, no matter what people in the world claim. They don’t even appreciate the entirety of God’s word from a shallow perspective, like, we might say, looking only at the circle at the base of an unseen can. Many of them don’t even see the circle. We must see God’s word on its face, then we must also rely upon the gift of God, His Holy Spirit, to give us the full view of its value, purpose, and fulfillment.

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Addendum from ImmunizeBC.ca, who promote Evidence-based immunization information and tools for B.C. residents

Question: 
Are human fetal cells used to make some vaccines? 

Answer: 
Yes. Some vaccines are made by growing the vaccine viruses in human fetal cells. 

The fetal cells that are used to grow vaccine viruses were originally obtained from fetuses aborted decades ago. The fetuses were not aborted to make vaccines. These same cells continually grow in the laboratory, and no new sources of fetal cells are used to make vaccines today. 

Fetal cells are used because viruses need to be grown in cells, and human cells are often better than animal cells at supporting the growth of human viruses. The vaccines themselves do not contain fetal cells or tissue. The purification process removes nearly all the cell components so that only trace amounts of DNA and protein may be present in the vaccine. 

Ethicists from the US National Catholic Bioethics Center concluded that the use of human cells in vaccine production was not contrary to their religious practices or beliefs. A statement from the Vatican says, “Parents have a serious obligation to protect their children from disease whenever possible, and in doing so, they are not signaling their approval for abortion.” 

The following vaccines used in Canada are made by growing the vaccine viruses in fetal cells:

  • Varicella (chickenpox) vaccines
  • Hepatitis A vaccines (including Twinrix and the travel vaccine Vivaxim, which protects against typhoid and hepatitis A)
  • Rubella vaccines (given as measles, mumps, rubella and measles, mumps, rubella, varicella)
  • One rabies vaccine (Imovax Rabies)
  • One shingles vaccine (Zostavax II)

There are 2 COVID-19 vaccines authorized for use in Canada that are made using fetal cells: the AstraZeneca/COVISHIELD vaccine and the Janssen (Johnson & Johnson) vaccine. Although fetal cells are not used to make the Moderna and Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines, they were used in the very early stages of development of these vaccines to test “proof of concept” (to test that the vaccines could work).

Date last reviewed: 
Thursday, Jul 08, 2021