By John Thiel, First Angel’s Message, study 3, mp3

The angels are the messengers of God that communicate to humanity.  Humanity then takes the role of these messengers and proclaims the word of God to us in the three angel’s messages. Our second study was the revelation of the God whom the first angel’s message proclaims to us that we should worship.

Revelation 14:7 Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.

We saw that in worshipping God we needed to worship Him in spirit and in truth and therefore we need to know of Him as He really is and that is the Godhead – the three persons of the Godhead. The angels who communicate directly from God to us are the ones that have been commissioned by God to speak of Him to humanity. They preach God to us and we are then to proclaim what they have revealed to us of God and of the Godhead.

John 14:16 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; 17 [Even] the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. 18 I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you. 19 Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me: because I live, ye shall live also. 20 At that day ye shall know that I [am] in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you.

It’s very significant that Jesus said that although I am going, I am sending you another comforter and that is the Holy Spirit – the third person of the Godhead. However in saying that He says I will not leave you comfortless, I will come to you because if the Spirit is there, the Spirit is one of the Godhead that means that Jesus can be with Him because the one is in the three and the three are all in one.

John 14:23 Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.

Jesus expressed that the Spirit of truth will come and dwell in you and abide with you forever and in the Spirit coming here it will bring all three near because the three are one. This is the wonderful benefit that the understanding of the Godhead brings the fact across that when the Holy Spirit comes into our life, he brings the Godhead with Him and that is a wonderful reality that can be experienced.  Then comes the point in respect to the benefit or the spiritual impact of this Godhead being in us is.

John 17:20 Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; 21 That they all may be one; as thou, Father, [art] in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. 22 And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: 23 I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me. 24 Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world. 25 O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee: but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me. 26 And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare [it]: that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them.

The unity of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit have is to be extended to those who believe on Christ that by believing in Him the Holy Spirit is sent to them and through the Holy Spirit both He, the Father and the Holy Spirit in them will bring about a precious oneness among all those that believe that they all may be one. Here is the only real source of many people being thoroughly united in one through the Godhead.

John 17:22 And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:

The Godhead in the human being will produce.

John 17:20 And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: 23 I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me. 24 Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world. 25 O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee: but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me. V26 And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare [it]: that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them.

This is the only method by which the love that the Father has to Jesus may also be in us. That Godhead reality is the method by which they may be made perfect. It is the method by which the love of the Father can actually be in us because the Godhead is in us through the Holy Spirit.

Those who are baptized in the threefold name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, at the very entrance of their Christian life declare publicly that they have accepted the invitation, Come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty. 6BC 1075.3

The Godhead is here brought out as the very hub of the step that is taken in baptism to be baptized in the threefold name – the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost. At the entrance of the Christian life the possibility stands as it said, I will receive you and will be a Father unto you and ye shall be my sons and daughters saith the Lord almighty.

2 Corinthians 7:1 Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.

Because of this threefold union in us and the possibility of the Father being our Father we have these precious promises to be made perfect and holy in the fear of God.

“If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.”  {6BC 1075.3}

When we have accepted Christ, and in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit have pledged ourselves to serve God, the Father, Christ, and the Holy Spirit–the three dignitaries and powers of heaven–pledge themselves that every facility shall be given to us if we carry out our baptismal vows to “come out from among them, and be . . . separate, . . . and touch not the unclean thing.” When we are true to our vows, He says, “I will receive you” (MS 85, 1901).  {6BC 1075.8}

Jesus said we will come and make our abode with you and we will be made perfect in one and the love of the Father will be bestowed upon us. This is a reality for those who become baptised in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost. It says that these three dignitaries and powers of heaven pledge themselves that every facility shall be given to us if we carry out our baptismal vows. The three dignitaries provide for us every facility to help us to be made perfect.  We are to come out from among them and be separate.

2 Corinthians 6:17 Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean [thing]; and I will receive you, 18 And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.

To make a baptismal vow in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit that we will come out from the world, He will receive us and what will He be to us? It says and ‘I will be a Father unto you’. What does this develop in your comprehension about one of the members of the Godhead? The Father is the first member of the Godhead. What role is He the first person of the Godhead assuming? He says I will be a Father unto you and you shall be my sons and daughters. What does that produce in our appreciation? A Father, the role of a Father acting to help us like a child is being trained and brought up by a Father. We are a family and He the first person of the Godhead is the facility of the Father of such children.

Ephesians 3:14 For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named,

The Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the whole family in heaven is named after Him. He has taken the position of Father over the family in heaven of which we are to be members as He invited us that if we will leave the world I will be a Father unto you. Here is the member of the Godhead taking the role of a Father of all the created beings in the universe and He is the Father of the whole family in heaven and earth. The creation of all living beings in the universe took place and last of all the human family. This was the last created planet of life and we do not know how far back in the past the beginning of life in the universe took place in creation by the Father. We do not know but we know that we were the last ones and in other words we are then the youngest in the whole universe. Our Father must appear to us a very ancient being because if you have been born in the line of a family being developed and you come down to the very end of that birth line then the Father is already very longstanding and in the Bible He is actually announced to us.

Daniel 7:9 I beheld till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of days did sit, whose garment [was] white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool: his throne [was like] the fiery flame, [and] his wheels [as] burning fire. 10 A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him: thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him: the judgment was set, and the books were opened

The Ancient of Days

The ancient of days is surrounded by thousands up on thousands upon thousands of created beings.  We do not know how many eons of time these creatures were created over but one thing we do know is that He is the Father of them all and therefore He is identified here as the ancient of days. He is the most ancient as the role of the Father.

Daniel 7:13 I saw in the night visions, and, behold, [one] like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. 14 And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion [is] an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom [that] which shall not be destroyed.

The Father the ancient of days to humanity is pictured as the ancient of days and this Father image this Ancient of Days, this patriarch of the whole human family is expressed.

Psalms 90:1 A Prayer of Moses the man of God. LORD, thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations. 90:2 Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou [art] God.

The ancient of days is from everlasting to everlasting. He is the most ancient, the Father of the family of heaven.  As a Father over all creatures notice His work in being the facility. The three dignitaries at baptism offer themselves and pledge themselves to give every facility to us to help us in our spiritual recovery from sin in this facility where He offers to be a Father to us, the Ancient of Days.

Psalms 103:13,14 Like as a father pitieth [his] children, [so] the LORD pitieth them that fear him. For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we [are] dust.

Here is one of the aspects of His relationship with us that we are His daughters and sons. His work towards us is one of pity. He pities us like a Father as we fear him. He knows what we are made of and that we are but dust. He knows the formation of our frame and our weak frailty. He knows us like a Father knows and therein lies a wonderful activity of this facility, an activity of pity and great compassion for us. Here is this paternal Father with wonderful pity knowing us very well.

Hebrews 12:9,10 Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected [us], and we gave [them] reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live?  For they verily for a few days chastened [us] after their own pleasure; but he for [our] profit, that [we] might be partakers of his holiness.

Our Father who has pity over us also corrects like an earthly Father chastens his children who need fatherly chastening care. He will also do this and it is wise for us to be in subjection to this for earthly parents.  He does it for our profit that we might be partakers of His holiness.  The Father is not going to fail in His work in training us as His sons and daughters to develop a condition of His holiness.

James 1:17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.

A Father who has pity over His children knowing they are but dust has to work to correct them and chastise them so that they can become partakers of His holiness is also very benevolent. He who is the Father of lights delights to give gifts to His children and every good gift and every perfect gift comes from Him and so wonderful is this that these gifts come from somebody who does not alter in the slightest. There is not even a shadow of turning with Him. You have perfect confidence that He will give you the gifts that He has promised to give you. There is a wonderful resting place of a son or daughter in a wonderful heavenly Father. In the work of saving or making holy, He works in this manner as a Father. As He works spend time to explore Him the Father of spirits and the Father of lights.

The Name of Our Father

Exodus 3:13 And Moses said unto God, Behold, [when] I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What [is] his name? what shall I say unto them? 14 And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you. 15 And God said moreover unto Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you: this [is] my name for ever, and this [is] my memorial unto all generations.

Here God makes a very important impression upon the mind of Moses and all those to whom this message comes. As you look at those words and the meaning of those words, I AM, what does this suggest to your simple reading mind? ‘I AM is my name’. This Father of ours whose name is I AM is of a present nature so that the, past, present and future are all present tense to Him – I AM at the past, I AM at the present, I AM in the future. Not I will be in the future, not I was in the past, but just as I am present now, I am in the past and I AM in the future. God has past, present and future as a present tense picture part of Him and this is our Father and we are His sons and daughters. Present tense, past present and future, we are called by His name.  His name – the past present and future is yours and mine to appreciate as a present ongoing thing.

1 Timothy 6:14 That thou keep [this] commandment without spot, unrebukeable, until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ: 15 Which in his times he shall show, [who is] the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords; 16 Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see: to whom [be] honour and power everlasting. Amen.

This heavenly Father of ours who is the great I AM is also the only potentate. He is king, He is ruler of the universe and when a ruler is a potentate what does that mean? Doesn’t that mean that when he says something there is no argument and there is nobody else who can say stop, I can contradict you on that one, I don’t agree with you?

A potentate is a ruler who has the final say and nobody else can contradict that. This is our Father. He wants to be a Father unto us. A pitying, correcting and benevolent gift giving Father. That I AM the only potentate there is no other. We have seen that He is our creator and that is why He is our Father because He is the one who brought us into existence.

Isaiah 40:28 Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, [that] the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? [there is] no searching of his understanding. 29 He giveth power to the faint; and to [them that have] no might he increaseth strength.

Here is a dimension of facility that is offered us in the Godhead which gives us wonderful sustenance. It says here that because He does not faint, He has an everlasting energy, He is omnipotent, all-powerful, He fainteth not and neither is weary.  He is our Father and He wants us to be His sons and daughters because if we let go of the world, He will become a Father unto us and we His sons and daughters. What a profound sustenance is here offered us because He wants to give us gifts.

He fainteth not and neither is weary and His understanding is unsearchable.  What will He give of this never wearying energy? – He will give us power when we feel like fainting and to them that have no might he increaseth strength. Do we ever have to give over to these overwhelming senses of our weakness and faintheartedness with Him as our Father? The creator who holds this vast infinite universe as creator and sustainer fainteth not, neither is weary and he will give those that faint power and increase our strength.

With our mind so occupied by these realities what chance have we of withering and fainting? It is this being, this pitying correcting being, benevolent Father whose name is I AM that past present and future is all one tense to him. As potentate, as creator with energies beyond failure this one speaks to us and says if you will be separate and touch not the unclean thing, I will be a Father to you.

What Are Your Prospects?

Romans 8:15 For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. 16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: 17 And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with [him], that we may be also glorified together. 18 For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time [are] not worthy [to be compared] with the glory which shall be revealed in us. 19 For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.

The I AM this only potentate, this creator that does not fail or faint who can give power to the faint, this one who is the Father of spirits, the Father of lights from everlasting to everlasting being God our Father, if we will suffer together with Jesus, if we will really become a Christian in the full sense of the word, we may get rid of all fear, because he is our daddy.  It says ABBA – daddy, we are called upon to cry DAD!

We are no longer at all in danger of becoming fearful or in bondage with such a pitying God even though we may faint or fail, He will strengthen us again. He is our Father in our restoration program. The Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God and being the children of God, what are our privileges? If children, then heirs, heirs of the only potentate, heirs of the I AM, heirs of the creator, heirs of the everlasting God.  It says heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ. Who is Christ? He is the second person of the Godhead and we are to be joint heirs with Christ of God. We will join the Godhead. He has offered to be our Father in Jesus Christ, if we will be in Christ, Apostle Paul says I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.  If we will take hold of this work of the Godhead who have offered every facility to help us on our way and the first facility that we are looking at here is the Father/Son benefits. Heirship of such a God, we become heirs of a wonderful glory that we may be glorified together with Christ as it says ‘the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.’

1 John 3:1 Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. 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.

What is the heirloom of heaven, the inheritance of heaven? That we shall be like him. The Father only potentate creator, the I AM, we will be like him.

Heirs of God

Pure as he is pure. Just like him.

1 John 3:3 And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.

He fainteth not therefore He will continue to communicate energy and power so that we who are sinful and weak will be able to take hold of this hope.  He will give us hope and strength so that when we feel faint and are ready to give up we will pick ourselves up again and with new courage and new hope will move on in the path of purification so that we will be pure even as He is pure. In getting to know God as our heavenly Father in that knowledge lies our true salvation because he offers this facility as our Father to save us.

Matthew 5:43 Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. 44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;

He fainteth not. He is your Father. Love your enemies, don’t worry about the wearying experience, bless them that curse you, pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute you.

Matthew 5:45 That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. 46 For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same? 47 And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more [than others]? do not even the publicans so? 48 Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.

The Lord is at work to chasten us for our profit that we might be partakers of His righteousness, of His perfection. These things become so meaningful to us, so comforting and we can go forward in the first angel’s message and give Him the glory by exercising the precious facilities that He has offered us.

May God assist us to keep these things fresh in our mind that we will not read and study them once and forget about them but that we will go over this meditation and exercise our faith so that faith will sustain us in our battles so that when we become faint and weary, we are quickly rejuvenated again by this hope that is in us.  That is illuminated in the intelligent word of God for our wellbeing. We continue to anticipate the worship of the Godhead in our study as we further look at the subject of the Father in reference to another aspect that we are to become like Him, perfect and holy that we might partaker of His holiness.

Amen