Blog Archives
Life Giving, Healing Love
By John Thiel, Audio: mp3
God Loved the Sinner
The love of God extended to us needs frequent consideration; why? Why do we need to think about the love of God all the time; frequently? The reality is that unless we do, we will miss receiving it because God’s love is an unobtrusive love. He never presses His love upon us. If we are sick mentally, spiritually or physically, God has given us love to heal us but we need to actually drink that in. In His unobtrusive love, consider how unobtrusive this is. Many times we just express the words of John 3:16 and we miss some precious elements within them.
John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son,
Who does God love? The world, that means every human being He loves so much that He was prepared to give them His only begotten Son; but will all the world benefit?
John 3:16 …that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. 18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
Distractions to the Cause
By John Thiel, Audio: mp3
Martin Luther wrote the hymn ‘A Mighty Fortress is our God’. He knew what he was talking about as he knew that this world though filled with devils may threaten to undo us, we have nothing to fear for God has willed His truth to triumph through us. Some of those words, all the content of those words bring us to an appreciation that there is a warfare going on. The warfare is the upholding of the great cause that Jesus Christ came to this earth for and Satan wants to distract us from that cause.
The Present Work
I then saw the third angel. Said my accompanying angel, “Fearful is his work. Awful is his mission. He is the angel that is to select the wheat from the tares, and seal, or bind, the wheat for the heavenly garner. These things should engross the whole mind, the whole attention.” {EW 118.1}
Engross the whole mind, the whole attention …what things? The weeds and the wheat. Are you a weed, or are you a wheat? If you don’t want to be a weed, receive the engrafted word of God. Let it be a product within your heart and then be aware that now at this very present time the angel of Revelation 14, the third angel, is separating the weeds from the wheat, separating people. This should engross our whole mind, our whole attention. Read the rest of this entry
Dress Reform around the World
Proverbs 31:30 Favour [is] deceitful, and beauty [is] vain: [but] a woman [that] feareth the LORD, she shall be praised.
This Blog contains studies on dress reform by Adventists Dwayne Lemon, Dr Phil Collins, Amy Mcknight, Linda Kirk Driver. Also SDA Reformer – Peter Lausevic, and from our local church – Christine Godfrey, Paul Godfrey and John Thiel. http://sabbathsermons.com/category/dress-reform/
Is this topic exclusive to one place only?
Christ is leading out a people, and bringing them into the unity of the faith, that they may be one, as He is one with the Father. Differences of opinion must be yielded, that all may come into union with the body, that they may have one mind and one judgment. 1 Corinthians 1:10: “Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.” Romans 15:5, 6: “Now the God of patience and consolation grant you to be like-minded one toward another according to Christ Jesus: that ye may with one mind and one mouth glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Philippians 2:2: “Fulfill ye my joy, that ye be like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind.” {1T 324.1}
Is it fanaticism?
When we reach the standard that the Lord would have us reach, worldlings will regard Seventh-day Adventists as odd, singular, straight-laced extremists. “We are made a spectacle unto the world, and to angels, and to men.” {RH, January 9, 1894 par. 10}
Steffy – California USA
“Thanks for presenting the dress reform and I appreciate that very much. I grew up with Adventists all around me since I was born and I live in Loma Linda for most of my life 22 years since this year 2013. I didn’t follow the messages on what it means to be a Godly woman. Therefore I rebelled against God many times before I came into the present truth a few years ago and started learning more about reform. The dress reform was still new to me even though I grew up in Loma Linda filled with Adventists. As a young woman, I see that my professed Adventist friends and women ministers wore short dresses and high heels to attract others and I was influenced greatly. Rarely I see any women who can stand up and conform to God’s messages to the last days. Presently, I want to inspire others and be a daughter of God. My intention is not to attract men to lust, but to consistently walk in His spirit, learn more truths each day because God is coming very very soon, and to be a Godly influence to others inside and outside how we present to others. Grace and peace to you. (Prov. 31:30 kjv)”
Confirmed in the Testimony of Jesus
By John Thiel, Audio: mp3
The beautiful appeals of Jesus’ voice calling us and the deep emotional comfort that is found in the meditation of these words. We can hear His voice calling us; and as we come to Him, He draws us closer and answers us according to our inward need.:
Tho’ coming weak and vile,
Thou dost my strength assure;
Come unto Me and rest;
Lay down, thou weary one, lay down
Thy head upon My breast.
We have been trying to reach for someone we cannot see, someone that we couldn’t hear with our ears, someone that would seem to be elusive to our sense; yet we learnt that He does speak to us through His words. As it says in Isaiah, we are to search in the book of the Lord and all Christians believe that the Bible is indeed the book of the Lord. The closeness of the Lord to us is here brought to our appreciation:
Hearing the Voice of God
Isaiah 34:16 Seek ye out of the book of the LORD, and read: no one of these shall fail, none shall want her mate: for my mouth it hath commanded, and his spirit it hath gathered them.
As you seek in the book of the Lord you will read what God has commanded and said. As you open the sacred pages of the Bible you can sense God very close to you.
Jeremiah 15:16 Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by thy name, O LORD God of hosts.
That precious comfort of reading the Bible and finding a very intimate relationship with God through the Bible, so that whatever questions arise in your heart that you need answers to, the answers can actually be found in an intimate fellowship with the Lord through His word. Read the rest of this entry
The Israel of God versus the Israelites of the Flesh
By John Thiel, Audio: mp3
The concept that the Jews are God’s people and that Jesus is going to bring back His nation and dwell in Jerusalem with them for a thousand years is being taught by the various different churches.
We want to examine the Bible in regards to Israel and let the Bible speak for itself. It will illuminate our minds as to who is Israel. Indeed, as we look in the Scriptures, the God of heaven has chosen a people and made a nation. His very personal own nation. We read of it where the birth of His nation was foreshadowed:
The People of God
Genesis 17:1 And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the LORD appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I [am] the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect. 2 And I will make my covenant between me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly. 3 And Abram fell on his face: and God talked with him, saying, 4 As for me, behold, my covenant [is] with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations. 5 Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made thee. 6 And I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee. 7 And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee.
Any Jew who reads that will tell you, “See, we are to be in God’s expectation, a nation for eternity.” That is precisely where the Israeli confidence comes from. That they are God’s people because a promise has been made: Read the rest of this entry
The Princes of the North
By Gene Brown – Citadel Ministries
Each Gospel is a supplement to the others, every prophecy an explanation of another, every truth a development of some other truth. Education, page 123 (emphasis supplied)
How shall we search the Scriptures? Shall we drive our stakes of doctrine one after another, and then try to make all Scripture meet our established opinions, or shall we take our ideas and views to the Scriptures, and measure our theories on every side by the Scriptures of truth? {RH, July 26, 1892 par. 3}
As we take up the study of God’s word, we should do so with humble hearts {CW 36.4}
Those who sincerely desire truth will not be reluctant to lay open their positions for investigation and criticism, and will not be annoyed if their opinions and ideas are crossed. {CW 36.4} Read the rest of this entry
God’s Sacrifice to Save
By John Thiel, Audio: mp3
Our exploration into the infinite love of God that we are seeking to penetrate in our meditations, take us in this study to the Hebrew sanctuary to explore a particular element of God’s love. The holy God, the one we have been singing of where we used those words of His greatness as revealed in the starry skies:
“Lord of all being throned afar. Lord of all life, below, above.”
Him we have been singing to and addressing, this holy God far removed from sin and sinners came to the Hebrews. What did He have to witness in reference to the Hebrews?
Ezekiel 20:5 And say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; In the day when I chose Israel, and lifted up mine hand unto the seed of the house of Jacob, and made myself known unto them in the land of Egypt, when I lifted up mine hand unto them, saying, I am the LORD your God; 6 In the day that I lifted up mine hand unto them, to bring them forth of the land of Egypt into a land that I had espied for them, flowing with milk and honey, which is the glory of all lands: 7 Then said I unto them, Cast ye away every man the abominations of his eyes, and defile not yourselves with the idols of Egypt: I am the LORD your God. 8 But they rebelled against me, and would not hearken unto me: they did not every man cast away the abominations of their eyes, neither did they forsake the idols of Egypt: then I said, I will pour out my fury upon them, to accomplish my anger against them in the midst of the land of Egypt. 9 But I wrought for my name’s sake, that it should not be polluted before the heathen, among whom they were, in whose sight I made myself known unto them, in bringing them forth out of the land of Egypt. 10 Wherefore I caused them to go forth out of the land of Egypt, and brought them into the wilderness. Read the rest of this entry
A New Commandment
That dying love Thou gavest me, nor should I ought withhold, dear Lord from Thee. In love my soul would bow, my heart fulfil its vow, some offering bring Thee now.
By John Thiel, Audio: mp3
We are to respond to such a love, to sacrifice all for Him. That which we want to meditate about now is to sacrifice something for Him in regards to our relationship. We know well how the Ten Commandments are the laws of relationships, the relationship between God and us and us with one another. These commandments of God have been chronicled for the revelation to all humanity and they are indeed summarised here. Let us appreciate what God has said in reference to these Ten Commandments in their summary.
Deuteronomy 6:4 Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD:
6:5 And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.
Leviticus 19:18 Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the LORD. Read the rest of this entry
An Expose of Gods Love
By John Thiel, Audio: mp3
1 John 5:1 Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him. 2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments.3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.
The big problem in modern Christianity today is that people do not believe that the Ten Commandments can be perfectly kept. They do not believe that Jesus can save us from sin so that we can have sinless perfection. Here the love of God has been given us so that we can believe that because the love of God is something that motivates to sinlessness and to perfect obedience. Read the rest of this entry
To Know Nothing but Christ
By John Thiel, Audio: mp3
I want you to fall in love with the Man of Calvary, so that at every step you can say to the world, His “ways are ways of pleasantness, and all” His “paths are peace” (Proverbs 3:17). . . . {HP 354.3}
It is my burden that everyone who hears the words I proclaim will fall in love with Jesus. There was one who did fall in love with Him. He is the one of our scripture reading. What someone does when they have fallen in love with somebody is expressed here:
1 Corinthians 2:1 And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God.
They can’t help but talk about that person. The apostle Paul says, I don’t come to you with oratory, with the wisdom that is engendered in those who are the public speakers.
1 Corinthians 2:2 For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.
In our last study I shared the falling in love with Jesus that when somebody falls in love with Him I quoted:
With whom are our thoughts? Upon whom do we love to converse? Who has our warmest affections and our best energies? If we are on the Lord’s side, our thoughts are with Him, and our sweetest thoughts are of Him. {2T 262.2}
If we believe in Jesus, we will love to think of Him, love to talk of Him, love to pray to Him. He is supreme in our affections. We love that which Christ loves, and hate that which Christ hates. . . . {OHC 338.3} Read the rest of this entry
