By John Thiel, First Angel’s Message, study 23, mp3

Through the process of justification we enter the lifework of sanctification in the same way as Christ did.

John 17:19 And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth.

As Jesus sanctified himself he and the believer are one in partnership in this transaction.

Hebrews 2:10 For it became him, for whom [are] all things, and by whom [are] all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. 11 For both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified [are] all of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren,

The apprenticeship/discipleship that Jesus calls us to is indeed the work of partnership in sanctification which has been enlarged in previous studies.

God takes men as they are, with the human elements in their character, and trains them for His service, if they will be disciplined and learn of Him. They are not chosen because they are perfect, but notwithstanding their imperfections, that through the knowledge and practice of the truth, through the grace of Christ, they may become transformed into His image.  {DA 294.4}

This is involved in the process of salvation. If they will be disciplined and learn of him. These are very important words in this partnership.

In Partnership with Christ

He who called the fisherman of Galilee is still calling men to His service. And He is just as willing to manifest His power through us as through the first disciples. However imperfect and sinful we may be, the Lord holds out to us the offer of partnership with Himself, of apprenticeship to Christ. He invites us to come under the divine instruction, that, uniting with Christ, we may work the works of God.  {DA 297.1}

How is God’s will to be understood in this process?

Conversion is a work that most do not appreciate. It is not a small matter to transform an earthly, sin-loving mind and bring it to understand the unspeakable love of Christ, the charms of His grace, and the excellency of God, so that the soul shall be imbued with divine love and captivated with the heavenly mysteries. When he understands these things, his former life appears disgusting and hateful. He hates sin, and, breaking his heart before God, he embraces Christ as the life and joy of the soul. He renounces his former pleasures. He has a new mind, new affections, new interest, new will; his sorrows, and desires, and love are all new. {FLB 139.2}

The work of holiness that appeared wearisome is now his delight. It is a work that before appeared wearisome. When you come to Jesus Christ through his beautiful teachings of the gospel of the grace of his atonement, it starts to fascinate you. You begin to take delight in that work it is no longer boring.  The development through sanctification is to finally arrive at the ultimate mastery of righteousness. We need to know the will of the Master tradesman is. With what kind of a mind does he have in dealing with his apprentices? How does he deal with us? What is his will?

Your Sanctification

God’s will is your sanctification;

1 Thessalonians 4:1 Furthermore then we beseech you, brethren, and exhort [you] by the Lord Jesus, that as ye have received of us how ye ought to walk and to please God, [so] ye would abound more and more.

This is important. That you receive how you ought to walk, to please God. `We want to please him.

1 Thessalonians 4:2 For ye know what commandments we gave you by the Lord Jesus.

4:3 For this is the will of God, [even] your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication:

What is the will of God? We need to know what pleases him. What do we need to know? Sanctification.

Titus 2:11 For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,

What is that grace?

Titus 2:12 Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;

This is God’s will that we should live godly in this present world.  We are being taught to do this through the grace of Jesus Christ. He is the one who we are in partnership with doing the same things, learning of him. This is a very tall order.

This is what many churches of today deny – that we are going to be perfect, that we are going to be righteous and that we are going to get there. They deny that. They hold you in a state of just believe in Jesus and you will be alright but that is not God’s will. He wants us to believe in him to copy him.

To follow by his grace denying ungodliness and worldly lusts. This is a tall order yet according to 1 John it is essential if we will finally be saved and resurrected. We need to learn it. We need to be in the apprenticeship so that we can really be like our master, the master tradesmen. Exactly like him.

1 John 3:2 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is pure.

We are not there yet. We can’t see it yet. This text links up in this sanctification aspect that Jesus purified himself and as he was pure and we are to do the same thing. We are to purify ourselves as he is pure so that when he comes we are going to be like him. That is simple biblical truth. When he comes we have to be like him. The apprenticeship is to get us there. We have seen how God brings us to that point in our previous study ‘The Old and the New Covenant’ . He takes us through the law and we fail and we learn through the new covenant this beautiful prospect. This study is to help us understand a little more closely as we work together with the master tradesman. However it is not only through the process of the old and new covenant but understanding the way he will deal with us in the will of our sanctification as we go through this patient protracted process.

Philippians 2:12 Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.

2:13 For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of [his] good pleasure.

What Is God’s Pleasure?

We want to know what his pleasure is. His pleasure is our sanctification that we would be like him when he comes. That is what he wants. We are to work our own salvation as he works in us both to will and to do of his good pleasure. He works in us and we are to work together with him. This long process is a patient interaction with his will. Just as an apprentice has to be patient, we have to be patient.

Hebrews 10:35 Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompense of reward.

10:36 For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise.

The will of God comes into focus. The will of God covers an interesting aspect. His will is our sanctification but also his will in how we proceed. Even the method we have to understand of gaining it is to be his will. What is the whole process to connect us with?

Romans 12:2 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.

The process of sanctification will help us to prove the perfect will of God. For us to prove God’s perfect will, is there something between the lines to help us understand something else we need to know about his will? Does it suggest that there may be some other will that he might have so that in the process of sanctification which is will we are to prove his perfect will? We have been reading and identifying in the process of sanctification our evil traits will decrease and good traits increase. We will not be conscious of the changes but still conscious of our evils. In understanding that reality, how is God’s will to help us find his perfect will?

Does God Have a Secondary Will?

God has a will. Just like a master tradesman has a will of gaining the perfecting of the trade, what else does he exercise along the way? Is there a second will? Some apprentices are not always willing to pursue exactly what the master wants. They think – I can do it this way can’t I? I can improve a little bit on what the master is telling me. Like Israel in the Old Testament we learn that in his dealing with his apprentices God exercises something different.

Ezekiel 20:7 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.

20:8 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.

While they were in the land of land of Egypt God already wanted them to put away their idols. He wanted them to correct themselves but they did not do what their master tradesmen wanted them to do. Because of their unwillingness to put away their idols, what did he do?

Ezekiel 20:25 Wherefore I gave them also statutes [that were] not good, and judgments whereby they should not live;

Because of their unwillingness to do exactly what God says, he didn’t give up on them, he made statues for them that were not necessarily for their good.

God gave the people that which was not for their highest good, because they persisted in desiring it; {PP 382.2

This is the characteristics many times of apprentices. They keep thinking they can change some of the procedures. They think they are intelligent and can do certain things. We don’t do it exactly as God says we’ll do it this way. God says you want to do it that way? Here is my counsel;

Is Divorce God’s Perfect Will?

Matthew 19:3 The Pharisees also came unto him, tempting him, and saying unto him, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause?

19:4 And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made [them] at the beginning made them male and female,

19:5 And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh?

19:6 Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.

Jesus said this was God’s perfect will.

Matthew 19:7 They say unto him, Why did Moses then command to give a writing of divorcement, and to put her away?

19:8 He saith unto them, Moses because of the hardness of your hearts suffered you to put away your wives: but from the beginning it was not so.

Can you see God made a statute through Moses? Why? Because of the hardness of their heart. It was not a statute for good but for the hardness of their heart.

God Has a Secondary Will

God has a perfect will but there is a secondary will. It is a will that comes to deal with the apprentice who thinks he’s smarter than his master. God’s perfect will was that there was no divorce. God’s secondary will was that they could divorce because of the hardness of their heart.

2 Samuel 12:7 And Nathan said to David, Thou [art] the man. Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, I anointed thee king over Israel, and I delivered thee out of the hand of Saul;

12:8 And I gave thee thy master’s house, and thy master’s wives into thy bosom, and gave thee the house of Israel and of Judah; and if [that had been] too little, I would moreover have given unto thee such and such things.

Here is a perfect illustration of God giving to the king of Israel plurality of wives. I have given you, into your bosom, your master’s wives. God has given? This is a puzzle to many people. The language is plain and simple. He gave to king David wives. Not only did he give him wives, but he gave to the Israelites a king which was not really his desire but he gave it to them.

Give Us a King

1 Samuel 8:4 Then all the elders of Israel gathered themselves together, and came to Samuel unto Ramah,

8:5 And said unto him, Behold, thou art old, and thy sons walk not in thy ways: now make us a king to judge us like all the nations.

8:6 But the thing displeased Samuel, when they said, Give us a king to judge us. And Samuel prayed unto the LORD.

8:7 And the LORD said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them.

In other words God says, listen to what they have to say, hearken.

1 Samuel 8:8 According to all the works which they have done since the day that I brought them up out of Egypt even unto this day, wherewith they have forsaken me, and served other gods, so do they also unto thee.

8:9 Now therefore hearken unto their voice: howbeit yet protest solemnly unto them, and show them the manner of the king that shall reign over them.

What does God say? Do as they ask, give them a king. He is instructing here.

1 Samuel 8:19 Nevertheless the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel; and they said, Nay; but we will have a king over us;

8:20 That we also may be like all the nations; and that our king may judge us, and go out before us, and fight our battles.

8:21 And Samuel heard all the words of the people, and he rehearsed them in the ears of the LORD.

8:22 And the LORD said to Samuel, Hearken unto their voice, and make them a king. And Samuel said unto the men of Israel, Go ye every man unto his city.

What does God instruct Samuel? They want a king, listen to what they want. Give them a king.

I Gave a King in My Anger

Hosea 13:9 O Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself; but in me [is] thine help.

13:11 I gave thee a king in mine anger, and took [him] away in my wrath.

It was what you wanted and I gave it to you. What does that mean? You have destroyed yourself but in me is your help. It is interesting that they wanted a king and King David was one of those kings that he gave multiple wives to. Although that was in his anger and permissive will, yet Jesus came to reign in the throne of David. Interesting. You will destroy yourself in what you want yet in me is your help. A fascinating mind turn. I’m letting you have what you want and if you don’t give up on me I will still help you. This is the mind of the master tradesmen in this apprenticeship.

Was War God’s Will?

The children of Israel also wanted their King to go before them and fight their wars as there were wars taking place between the nations. Was war God’s will for his people? What was God’s real will for them?

Exodus 23:20 Behold, I send an Angel before thee, to keep thee in the way, and to bring thee into the place which I have prepared.

23:21 Beware of him, and obey his voice, provoke him not; for he will not pardon your transgressions: for my name [is] in him.

23:22 But if thou shalt indeed obey his voice, and do all that I speak; then I will be an enemy unto thine enemies, and an adversary unto thine adversaries.

23:23 For mine Angel shall go before thee, and bring thee in unto the Amorites, and the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Canaanites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites: and I will cut them off.

What would God be if they would listen to him? He would be an enemy to their enemies. This was his plan for them.

Exodus 23:27 I will send my fear before thee, and will destroy all the people to whom thou shalt come, and I will make all thine enemies turn their backs unto thee.

23:28 And I will send hornets before thee, which shall drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite, from before thee.

God’s plan for them was they wouldn’t have to crook a finger to get the enemies out of their life. God would be their enemy and he would deal with them and send the fear upon them and they would run away. They wouldn’t fight the Israelites they would turn their backs on them. What was one of the aspects? To send hornets to drive them out. He would work through nature. That was God’s plan yet they wanted a king to go before them. God’s will was not that but he gave them a king. There is a good example of how God would do it when they trusted in him. What his original plan was could have been always for them if they had heeded him but he had to give them other aspects. One of the kings was submissive to God and in consequence God could demonstrate what his original plan really was.

2 Chronicles 20:17 Ye shall not [need] to fight in this [battle]: set yourselves, stand ye [still], and see the salvation of the LORD with you, O Judah and Jerusalem: fear not, nor be dismayed; to morrow go out against them: for the LORD [will be] with you.

There was the triumph of the enemy that as they went they sang and when they arrived at the battle field the enemy was already slaughtered. That was God’s plan all the way through but as we know that didn’t happen. Because they wanted a king and they had the wars, God had to actually instruct them to go and slay other nations. He used their own desires to orchestrate the destruction of other nations. He instructed them, he sent them. Another example is Jericho where they marched around the city and the walls fell down. Another was Gideon with 300 men. They came down from the surrounding hills and the Midianites went fleeing. If the apprentices don’t want to do it exactly as their Master’s tradesmen wants, this master tradesmen who is sanctifying us, alters his own perfect will to coincide with the will of the apprentice. If I want something badly enough, God in his sanctifying work will say okay.

Diet

Psalm 78:18 And they tempted God in their heart by asking meat for their lust.

78:19 Yea, they spake against God; they said, Can God furnish a table in the wilderness?

78:20 Behold, he smote the rock, that the waters gushed out, and the streams overflowed; can he give bread also? can he provide flesh for his people?

78:21 Therefore the LORD heard [this], and was wroth: so a fire was kindled against Jacob, and anger also came up against Israel;

78:22 Because they believed not in God, and trusted not in his salvation:

78:27 He rained flesh also upon them as dust, and feathered fowls like as the sand of the sea:

78:28 And he let [it] fall in the midst of their camp, round about their habitations.

78:29 So they did eat, and were well filled: for he gave them their own desire;

78:30 They were not estranged from their lust. But while their meat [was] yet in their mouths,

78:31 The wrath of God came upon them, and slew the fattest of them, and smote down the chosen [men] of Israel.

How was God’s wrath turned against them? In giving them what they wanted.  God gave them what they wanted. How much? Heaps, give it to them, plenty. If I want it badly enough, God will give it to me, plenty, plenty so what I want badly enough will be my destruction. This ingredient of the master needs to be known if we are going to be apprentices with him. Along the path we will think I know a shortcut and I know it better. Apprentices often do that. They are under the apprentice of the bricklayer and the bricklayer tells them to do certain things and they think that is a long winded way I will do it this way. The one who has had lots of experience like Jesus in sanctification he knows exactly the ropes of sanctification and there are no short cuts. People want shortcuts in sanctification so Jesus says well have a try. This is the mind of our master tradesmen. This is an important principle to remember if we are going to be faithful apprentices, partners with Christ.

Ezekiel 14:1 Then came certain of the elders of Israel unto me, and sat before me.

14:2 And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

14:3 Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their heart, and put the stumblingblock of their iniquity before their face: should I be inquired of at all by them?

14:4 Therefore speak unto them, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Every man of the house of Israel that setteth up his idols in his heart, and putteth the stumblingblock of his iniquity before his face, and cometh to the prophet; I the LORD will answer him that cometh according to the multitude of his idols;

He will give what they want. He God will answer them. He God will make them statues and judgments that will not be good for them. Marriage, multiple wives, divorce, kings, all those things that were not in his plan, he himself the Lord answered them according to their idols. Why?

Idols

Ezekiel 14:5 That I may take the house of Israel in their own heart, because they are all estranged from me through their idols.

14:6 Therefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Repent, and turn [yourselves] from your idols; and turn away your faces from all your abominations.

Hosea 13:9 O Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself; but in me [is] thine help.

If they want something badly enough he gives it to them. He gives them the idols of their heart so they destroy themself but his help is still there. This is God’s answer to his apprencitices.  God has a permissive will. This is exercised when ignorance and self-will press God hard enough. He gives you want you want until you are hanging helpless and suffering as then you cry to Him when in trouble. This is our Master tradesman, you’ve had enough now? Then do it how I said in the first place. We then finally plead for His will to be revealed when after we have tried for a while.

God’s Perfect Will

Acts 17:30 And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent:

The children of Israel were in Egypt and God took them out to train them but yet they continued in their own way but he was always there to redeem them from their own self will. Apprentices just prior to His second coming will need to learn very quickly because they are living at a time when their lifetime isn’t long enough for sanctification. They will have to learn very quickly.

Romans 9:27 Esaias also crieth concerning Israel, Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant shall be saved:

9:28 For he will finish the work, and cut [it] short in righteousness: because a short work will the Lord make upon the earth.

As we get to the end and he has given Israel the church plenty of time to make their mistakes but ultimately a remnant will be saved. He is going to work fast among the remnant. That is why it says we should be conformed to this world but transformed to prove the perfect will of God. Jesus is trying to bring us as a people into discipleship for the last days to hasten our perfection. The people in these last days are identified. What will they do?

Isaiah 58:12 And [they that shall be] of thee shall build the old waste places: thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in.

Those that will be of God in these last days are going to correct the things that have been altered. There are things that are not God’s perfect will that have caused many problems in Israel that many people are relying on. They want the divorces, multiple wives, kings and all sorts of things. The genuine remnant people will revert back to Gods original and perfect ways. Jesus is trying to bring such a people to a point. To build the waste places means to correct the things that had been altered from His perfect will. God’s remnant will revert to the old, perfect ways.

How Long Will Heaven Keep Jesus?

How long will heaven keep Jesus?

Acts 3:21 Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.

What is holding Jesus back? He can’t come back until there is the restitution of all things. A little remnant at the end when he cuts short his work in righteousness is going to stand there and go on the principle of God’s perfect will, a restitution of all things which God had spoken since the world began. That is what Jesus is waiting for. A remnant to stand with the original old plan in place.

“Deny self; ye must step fast.” Some of us have had time to get the truth and to advance step by step, and every step we have taken has given us strength to take the next. But now time is almost finished, and what we have been years learning, they will have to learn in a few months. They will also have much to unlearn and much to learn again. {EW 67.2}

This is the remnant. The people who join the remnant will have to learn fast. They have not the years that the pioneers of this message had. They will have to learn very fast. The reality of apprentices who do not appeal to God’s permissive will can reach this much faster. They don’t have to hang themselves before they can learn. They can learn quickly if they realise that God has a permissive will but they don’t want to go by that, but follow God’s perfect instruction of the way Jesus wants to do it. They readily submit to His perfect will. These people are especially honoured.

Revelation 7:4 And I heard the number of them which were sealed: [and there were] sealed an hundred [and] forty [and] four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel.

7:14 And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

The 144,000 have gone through the process of sanctification not appealing to God’s permissive will but very quick and ready to jump to the attention and go through great tribulation because it is a suffering to do it exactly as God wants it instead of the way we would like to have it. They go through the great tribulation to learn fast.

Revelation 14:1 And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty [and] four thousand, having his Father’s name written in their foreheads.

14:5 And in their mouth was found no guile: for they are without fault before the throne of God.

God has pledged himself, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit to provide every facility for one object that we would be like God, like Jesus. The 144,000 are identified.

Jude 1:24 Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present [you] faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy,

What is he able to do? If we will trust him in this work of sanctification, he will cut short his work in righteousness. He will present them faultless. The 144,000 are those whom He is able to keep from falling and present them faultless before His presence. God then comes with extra appeal;

Deuteronomy 4:29 But if from thence thou shalt seek the LORD thy God, thou shalt find [him], if thou seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul.

4:30 When thou art in tribulation, and all these things are come upon thee, [even] in the latter days, if thou turn to the LORD thy God, and shalt be obedient unto his voice;

4:31 (For the LORD thy God [is] a merciful God;) he will not forsake thee, neither destroy thee, nor forget the covenant of thy fathers which he sware unto them.

Even in the latter days if you turn to the Lord and be obedient unto his voice and to his perfect will he can prepare a people who will not appeal to his permissive will but be willing to learn the quick way. Not until the people are there as he appeals, as he wants them in the latter days to be in that position, not until he has them there can he come.  He will return after the restitution of all things.  The willingness to follow his perfect will hastens his coming.

Christ is waiting with longing desire for the manifestation of Himself in His church. When the character of Christ shall be perfectly reproduced in His people, then He will come to claim them as His own.  {COL 69.1}

God’s perfect will reproduced in his people, then he will come.  The work of sanctification is to produce a people who are going to be like Jesus Christ who has sanctified himself so that they will be sanctified by the truth.  If we will follow his perfect will in the process he can have a people in these last days very rapidly coming to the point.  But if they want to dilly dally having their own ways they will prolong the issue. It has happened already, Jesus could have come earlier but because of people still appealing to his permissive will they have delayed the program.  As we are living now, God doesn’t want to let us go he wants to help us.  My perfect will he says, don’t look for the other one.  It means tribulation to be among the 144,000.  He lays it out before us.  He appeals to us, I want to take you home, hasten your response to my perfect will.

Amen.