The Power of Truth and Obedience
INTRODUCTION
All emphases are the authors unless otherwise stated.
Psalms 121:1-8. “I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. My help cometh from the LORD, which made heaven and earth. He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: he that keepeth thee will not slumber. Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep. The LORD is thy keeper: the LORD is thy shade upon thy right hand. The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night. The LORD shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul. The LORD shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore.”
Psalms 100: 5. “For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.”
Jeremiah 1: 9. “Then the LORD put forth his hand, and touched my mouth. And the LORD said unto me, Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth.”
NOTE: May the Lord put His words and thoughts in my mind and heart today for this study.
Isaiah 1: 18. “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.”
NOTE: God is a reasonable God and He wants us to consider what He is saying to each of His children, so, think about what you are studying. Please consider whether it is truth or not and apply the truth with-in.
Let us pray:
Holy Father, I ask for wisdom and the ability to share truth in a way that may be understood by all who read this lesson. Please send Your holy spirit to be present with Your children that these words might be understood. Forgive our sins and cleanse us from all iniquity. I ask and make this supplication in the name of Jesus, Your only begotten Son. Amen.
Never stop studying the Word of God for it is truth and shows the way of salvation. Never refuse truth no matter how much it is misunderstood until you have diligently compared scripture with scripture, here a little and there a little. Understanding will come as you study, a little light from this verse and then more from another verse until a complete and harmonious truth is understood!
When Jesus taught that everyone must eat His flesh and Drink His blood, many walked no more with Him. Why? Because scripture taught that no one was to eat the flesh of man or consume blood of any living creature. They did not consider what He revealed next, that it was His words that He was talking about that were to be understood, they were to digest them into the mind so that they become part of their very being. Jesus ask the twelve disciples will you also go away? Notice Peters response, “where will we go, you have the words of eternal life!” Nowhere else could they go to hear the truth and the word of God!
When looking for a church to join do not ask, “is the pastor hansom, is the building beautiful, does every-one drive expensive cars, is this church well liked and extoled in the community.” But ask, “do they teach and believe and obey the truth.” Otherwise you will be joining a social club; it will not give you a true worship experience. Remember Samuel’s response to Saul upon his return from the destruction of the Amalekites?
1st Samuel 15: 22. “And Samuel said, Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.”
Because of disobedience Saul lost, not only the king-ship, but he and his sons lost their lives as well. It is a dangerous thing to disobey the word of God. It is as if God is saying, “keep your large offerings, obey Me! Keep your praises and oblations, obey Me! Obedience is better than sacrifice!”
Here is a brain twister. Obedience is even better than sacrifice even the sacrifice of Christ on calvary! You ask me to explain that. May God guide my mind in what I write that no one is misled.
Why did Jesus die? One word—sin! If Adam had not sinned would Jesus have had to be sacrificed? NO! before Adam sinned was there obedience in the universe? YES! In the new world when all sin and sinners are no more will there be obedience? YES!
Isaiah 66:23. “And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one Sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the LORD.”
NOTE: There was obedience before sacrifice! There will be obedience after sacrifice is no longer required or needed. Today many are trying to worship God but are not following His prescribed method of worship! Many go to church on Sunday and worship three Gods in one. This they do without one word of scriptural authority for such. They think and believe that they are worshiping God, but not so. They are, in reality, worshiping a false god, they are in reality worshiping Satan! Why? Because these doctrines are man derived (man-made) doctrines. “In vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men!
Mark 7: 6-8. “He answered and said unto them, well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, this people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men, … and many other such like things ye do.” (Italics in original).
NOTE: “In vain” Jesus is saying, “this worship that does not conform to the word of God is useless! WHY? “Because they are teaching and believing doc-trines composed by men, not God!”
Luke 4: 4. “And Jesus answered him, saying, it is written, that man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.”
Deuteronomy 8: 3. “And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live.” (Italics in original).
NOTE: Let’s turn that around. What worship does God accept? He accepts worship based on the requirements and law of God. Listen again and think! “In vain do they worship Me.” Why is it vain? Why is it useless? Because they are trying to worship me with ideas and commandments derived from the imaginations and thoughts of some man or organization of men! Therefore, following these man-made doctrines, these two doctrines are man-made, related to true worship of the one true God is a waste of you time, it is useless! You are not worshiping God but in reality, you are worshiping the god Baal the sun god.
We know there are only two powers in the universe that clam worship and obedience, that is Satan’s and Jehovah’s kingdoms! So, you see it matters not who originates the belief, if it is not contained in Scripture it is ultimately a fabrication, a false doctrine, from Satan’s kingdom! To hold such a belief or doctrine will ultimately lead to destruction and loss of eternal life!
When Saul came back from the destruction of the Amalekites, he had not obeyed God’s explicit com-mand to utterly destroy every living thing, including all animal and human life. Nothing was to be spared. Yet Saul had spared the king’s life and the choice of the flocks and herds. He claimed they were for the sacrifice to the Lord.
“To obey is better than sacrifice, and to harken than the fat of rams” obedience to every word that proceeds from the mouth of God is the only form of worship that God accepts from His children. EVEN CHRIST’S OBEDIENCE IS BETTER THAN HIS SACRIFICIAL DEATH! THINK—”obedience is better than sacrifice!”
Many believe they are worshiping God each week while holding two of the most prevalent false doctrines or philosophies’ in Christianity today without one word from Scripture to authenticate either. These are Sunday sacredness, when the Bible plainly states that Saturday is to be held sacred. And the Trinity is also held tenaciously to explain the nature of God as three individuals in one God when the Bible plainly states there is only one true God and His redeemer Jesus Christ! (Not three in one god).
Mark 12: 29, 30. “And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.” (Italics in original).
1st Corinthians 8: 6. “But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him.” (Italics in original).
Isaiah 44: 6, 8. “Thus saith the LORD the King of Israel, and his redeemer the LORD of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God. V. 8. Fear ye not, neither be afraid: have not I told thee from that time, and have declared it? ye are even my witnesses. Is there a God beside me? yea, there is no God; I know not any.” (Italics in original).
NOTE: The scripture plainly states that there is one God and no other! There is one redeemer Jesus Christ. Question, HOW CAN THERE BE THREE GODS IN ONE WHEN SCRIPTURE PLAINLY STATES THER IS ONLY ONE GOD AND NO OTHER!
And the Sabbath is stated in scripture to be Saturday, the seventh day, and not Sunday the first day of the week. Here is what Scripture says:
Exodus 20: 8-11. “Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.” (Made it holy). {Italics in original}.
Matthew 12: 8. “For the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath day.” See also Mark 2: 28; Luke 6; 5. (Italics in original).
NOTE: The Lords day is Saturday not Sunday. How can Sunday be sacred when God has proclaimed the Sabbath, Saturday, to be sacred and holy! He never suggested anywhere in scripture that Sunday, or the first day of the week, to be holy or sacred! There is no verse in the Bible proclaiming Sunday as a day of worship but instead proclaims it is a work day.
Why did Jesus die? One word. SIN! What is sin? Disobedience to the word of God?
1st John 3; 4. “Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.”
NOTE: If you continue to try to worship God by keeping Sunday or worship God as a trinity you are committing sin and Christ death is required for forgiveness for those sins. We know that if we persist in sin there is no salvation for that person. Therefore, repent that your sins may be blotted out and your name written in the Lambs book of life.
How many people are wasting their time, trying to worship God contrary to His command, every week-end? Turn that around Jesus is saying, “worship me based on My requirements and commands then you are truly worshiping God!” This makes obedience the cornerstone of true worship.
1st Samuel 15:23. “For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from being king.” (Italics in original).
NOTE: Disobedience, if persisted in, will eventually lead to witchcraft. Notice what happened in Saul’s case. Because God had ceased to commune with Saul he turned to wizardry and necromancy. He consulted the witch of Endor. This cost him his kingdom and his life. The same curse is upon all who persist in rebellion to the plain teaching of the Word of God. They lose the kingdom of God and eventually their very lives in hell fire.
There was perfect obedience to God’s requirements before sin came into existence and there will be perfect obedience after sin has been destroyed! We must allow Christ to drive Satan from our soul so that we have neither spot or wrinkle and no guile so that we stand perfect before Gods throne!
Revelation 14: 4, 5. “These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed from among men, being the first fruits unto God and to the Lamb. And in their mouth was found no guile: for they are without fault before the throne of God.” (Italics in original).
NOTE: We can see that there are two kingdoms. Satan’s and the kingdom of God, everyone belongs to one kingdom or the other. Everyone either worships the Lord or, they worship the Devil, there is no middle ground.
Matthew 12: 30. “He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad.”
NOTE: everyone either worships God or the Devil! When God said “rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft” and is the same as witchcraft, you are in harmony with the Devil. Not all witches look strange or live in the forest stirring a cauldron of witches’ brew with a stick. They can be deaconesses, secretaries, elders, singers in the quire, or whatever. Every time someone disobeys God, they obey the Devil and that is the same as witchcraft. Dear brother and sister, this is a very serious matter! If we are living in the last generation and want to be a member of the 144,000 there can be no guile or fault in you. “Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.” Revelation 14: 12. (Italics in original).
You cannot have spot or wrinkle, you must have no guile in your mouth, you must stand before God’s throne without fault. (That means perfect). Please do not say you are being to sever! It is not my word but the word of God, is God to severe? I don’t think so. He only wants your salvation. So, it is the word of God that constrains you, not mine.
Allow me to make one more point before bringing the solution to this great dilemma of obedience, and how we are able to obey to the extent God requires.
Eve, in the garden, had two words of seeming authority. One was Gods word, “thou shalt surely die. The other was the serpents, or Satan’s, “ye shall not surely die.” Satan’s word did not have one shred of evidence that his word had power to accomplish what it said. God’s word had abundant evidence of its power to preform everything it commanded. Everything God created was by His word. Let there be light, and there was light. Let the dry earth appear, and it was so. Let there be a firmament, and it was so. Eve had abundant evidence that God’s word had power to preform what it said! THERE WAS NOT ONE SHRED OF EVIDENCE THAT SATAN’S WORD HAD POWER TO COUNTERACT GODS WORD!! Yet Eve took Satan’s word above God’s word. If a belief or doctrine it is a word not found in the Bible it is not the word of God. It is in really the word of Satan and has no power to save. It only has power to destroy! That is just the opposite of God’s word. The word of Satan is witchcraft! The word of God is life eternal! Ques-tion are we worshiping God in vain. If our worship is not based on every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord and his commands, it is worship in vain!
If we are the last generation and are to prove that fallen sinful man can follow every word of God, thus disproving Satan’s clam that sinful man cannot keep every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. Then we must allow God to write His law in our hearts and minds. This is the only way we can keep His law according to His will!
Saul was told to destroy all of the Amalekites he killed all but one, the king, whose name was Agag, such a small infraction. Many would say Saul obeyed. NOT GOD. I REPEAT, NOT GOD, DID YOU HEAR? NOT GOD! What part of “all” Did Saul not understand? All means all not 99.99%. Because you have rejected my word, I have rejected you from being king. God is precise, no variances from His word can be tolerated. Death and unrest are always the results of the smallest infraction of God’s word and law. Absolute obedience is always paramount to our wellbeing.
God is precise, He has given 10 commandments. If you keep 9 are you obedient? In the university and schools on earth 90% is excellent. You get honors for 9 out of 10. In God’s system 9 out of 10 is a failure! If He had wanted us to keep 9 commandments, He would have given 9. God wants us to keep 10, so, at the risk of being tedious and repetitious, although repetition is an effective method of teaching. God says “in vain do you worship me, teaching for doc-trines the commandments (laws) of men!”
The laws of men, when contrary to God’s Word, have no power for salvation. What is our theme? Power of truth and obedience. Error has no power to save, error only has power to kill and destroy! When man’s laws are exalted above God’s law in our worship, then we can be sure that our worship is useless and worthless in God’s eyes!
1st Thessalonians 4: 3. “For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication” (sin). (Italics in original).
John 17: 17. “Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.”
NOTE: The desire or will of God and His Son is your sanctification. Jesus is saying “only the truth in the Word can sanctify!” Error contaminates. The function of truth is to eliminate error and sin and to cleanse the mind. Let me give to you the greatest truth in the Bible!
Psalms 119: 142, 151. “Thy righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, and thy law is the truth.” V. 151. “Thou art near, O LORD; and all thy commandments are truth.” (Italics in original).
NOTE: The law is the greatest truth that can be ex-pressed! Not only have the Christian world rejected the fourth commandment but they have also rejected the first and second be accepting a three god Trinity!
Exodus 20: 2-6. “I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, (the world of sin), out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.” (Italics in original).
NOTE: Are we not breaking the first and second commandments by accepting a three god Trinity doc-trine? YES! Most defiantly we are. God is calling us out of all the wine of false doctrines that Satan has used to deceive the whole world. Don’t think that the deceptions of the Devil have bypassed the S. D. A. Church. They have not, in fact it is that Church that Satan directs his most concentrated and relentless efforts on to deceive. And he has had much success in that endeavor since the death of Ellen G. White. But Christ must allow the test to come. For all have to be tested, to see if they will stand firm, relying on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.
Malachi 2: 6, 7. “The law of truth was in his mouth, and iniquity was not found in his lips: he walked with me in peace and equity, and did turn many away from iniquity. For the priest’s lips should keep knowledge, and they should seek the law at his mouth: for he is the messenger of the LORD of hosts.”
NOTE: Keep the law of knowledge and truth in the mouth and tongue that no iniquity be found in the lips! Mouth and lips are the same. This represents the Words that Malachi and all God’s messengers are to deliver to the world.
What is the opposite of truth? Iniquity! What is iniquity? Sin, witchcraft, deception, and evil of all kinds. The man of God must be full of the truth of the law of God with no room for iniquity!
Deuteronomy 32: 3, 4. “I will publish the name of the LORD: ascribe ye greatness unto our God. He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he.” (Italics in original).
NOTE: By this we see that truth is just and right and that God’s truths are solid rock! That means truth never changed or altered from what is spoken. That Word spoken by God is as an eternal rock!
In this lesson we have discovered certain ideas held by many Christians which are not taught in Scripture and have not one word of authority from the Word of God. If we are to belong to God and love God with all our hearts, we will absolutely keep the truth of His word (the Bible) and obey it with all our heart, strength and mind. The question for each person reading this lesson, will you follow God only and keep all His Word and reject the doctrines of man. We all must decide, we have a choice. Satan has said the lie, God has told the truth. We have the evidence that God’s word is powerful and performs exactly what it says. There is no proof that Satan’s word has any power to counteract God or nullify what He declared. Satan’s word only destroys and kills. He is the original liar and the father of it. Who will you choose to obey and follow?
IN CONCLUSION
We have studied the Word of God. We have learned that some of our cherished beliefs are not in harmony with God’s Word! Many will determine to follow that Word. But like Israel of old at Mt. Sinai our commitments are like ropes of sand! We desire to obey but when we would obey, we fall short, and sin. Oh, retched man that I am. Who can know the heart for it is evil above our understanding?
Jeremiah 17:9. “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” (Italics in original).
NOTE: How is the heart subdued? How do we obey the Word of God? Of our own selves it is not possible to obey! The answer is found in Revelation:
Revelation 3:19, 22. “As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent. Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. To him that overcomes will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.”
NOTE: It is Christ that wants entrance, by His spirit, into the heart for the administration of His life (for this life is in the blood of Christ). Thus, the life that Christ lived is to be granted and applied to our lives. We become a new creation with the desire and ability to obey every particular of God’s law, just as Christ obeyed. By letting Christ into the heart all things are accomplished that God would perform within the heart. This is the only way we can be without fault before the throne of God. See Rev. 14: 4, 5.
Revelation 14: 4, 5. “These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed from among men, being the first fruits unto God and to the Lamb. And in their mouth was found no guile: for they are without fault before the throne of God.”
Christ Object Lessons 331:3. “A noble character is earned by individual effort through the merits and grace of Christ. God gives the talents, the powers of the mind; we form the character. It is formed by hard, stern battles with self. Conflict after conflict must be waged against hereditary tendencies. We shall have to criticize ourselves closely, and allow not one un-favorable trait to remain uncorrected. {COL 331.1}
8 Testimonies 207:3. “Passing down through the centuries, we find that there came a time when God’s law must once more be unmistakably revealed as the standard of obedience. Christ came to vindicate the sacred claims of the law. He came to live a life of obedience to its requirements and thus prove the falsity of the charge made by Satan that it is impossible for man to keep the law of God. As a man He met temptation and overcame in the strength given Him from God. As He went about doing good, healing all who were afflicted by Satan, He made plain to men the character of God’s law and the nature of His service. His life testifies that it is possible for us also to obey the law of God.” {8T 207.3}.
NOTE: Thus, Christ became the first witness to prove Satan a liar that man cannot keep God’s law! But there has to be two or three witnesses to establish the truth of a matter! Therefore, the second witness are the 144,000, after them are the multitude that cannot be numbered. For this reason, these two groups are different groups of the saved!
Review & Herald APRIL 29, 1902 ART. A: 9. “Satan’s work is to make the truth of God of none effect. Cast out of heaven because of his transgression, his aim has ever been to defeat God’s purpose for man. He seeks to make it appear that the law is imperfect, unjust, tyrannical. He declares that it is impossible for man to keep the law. And in his own power man cannot keep the law. Without a Savior, he is without hope.” {RH April 29, 1902, Art. A, par. 9}.
“Christ saw the helpless condition of the race, and he came to redeem them by living the life of obedience the law requires, and by paying in his death the penal-ty of disobedience. He came to bring us the message and means of deliverance, an assurance of salva-tion, not through the abrogation of the law, but through obedience made possible by his merits. RH April 29, 1902, Art. A, par. 10}.
NOTE: “He came to bring us the message and means.” This life, or “means of deliverance” is that life He lived out while on this earth for 33 ½ years. This life He has given to each of His children at con-version through the bestowal of the holy spirit! If you have the spirit, or mind, of Christ then you possess the merits of Christ life that He lived while on this earth, and your are able to live His life within you!
Signs of the Times JANUARY 6 1888: 1, 2. “Now therefore hearken, O Israel, unto the statutes and unto the judgments, which I teach you, for to do them, that ye may live, and go in and possess the land which the Lord God of your fathers giveth you. (this is heavenly Canaan). Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish aught from it, (see Deut. 4: 1-4), that ye may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you. Your eyes have seen what the Lord did because of Baal-Peor; for all the men that fol-lowed Baal-Peor, the Lord thy God hath destroyed them from among you. But ye that did cleave unto the Lord your God are alive every one of you this day.” {ST January 6, 1888, par. 1}.
“The claim has been made that the commandments of God are a yoke of bondage, that it is impossible for man to keep them, and that ancient Israel found them unendurable, and failed to fulfill their righteous obligations; but such a claim is proven to be false by the words we have presented. The commandments were not grievous while the people were firm in their allegiance to God; but when they separated from him and gave their powers to the service of the prince of evil, they became aware of their inability to execute the holy enactments of Heaven. The law that had once been their delight, became an unendurable weight, because they had deprived themselves of the love and power of God, and had taken a willful course to resist the authority of the Most High. {ST January 6, 1888, par. 2}.
NOTE: This is the same reason we are not able to obey! When we lose our firm allegiance to follow God and begin to desire the things of this world, we deprive ourselves of the ability to execute the holy enactments of Heaven! Why? Because we have chosen to follow the desires of Satan! We lose the power of God to obey and deprive ourselves of Christ’s love!
James 1: 5-8. “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.”
COL 331:2. “Let no one say, I cannot remedy my defects of character. If you come to this decision, you will certainly fail of obtaining everlasting life. The impossibility lies in your own will. If you will not, then you cannot overcome. The real difficulty arises from the corruption of an unsanctified heart, and an unwillingness to submit to the control of God. {COL 331.2}.
NOTE: We can do nothing until we make a complete surrender to God of everything we are and possess!
Romans 12: 1, 2. “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”
NOTE: If we make this surrender to God, He is faithful and will make it a joy to fulfill the commands He has ordained to eternal life! My prayer is that each of you will test God in His promises and give your life whole to Him which is your reasonable service!
Let us pray:
Holy Father, may this study lead to a better under-standing of Your will and desire for your Children. May we all study to show forth Your will in our lives. Forgive our sin of ignorance and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Grant us the indwelling of Your spirit, may we open the door of our hearts to You. I ask this in the name of Your dear Son Jesus. Amen.
Your brother in Christ,
Virgil Prindle