By John Thiel, Relationships in the Last Days Conference, Study 1, mp3

Scripture reading: Colossians 1:15 Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: 16 For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether [they be] thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: 17 And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.

We want to focus on the very source of the relationships that we need to understand for the last days. In the beginning – God. That is the way the Bible starts. In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. He created the heavenly host, all the angels, all the worlds, the cosmos, the stars and the planetarium of vast dimensions. If you look out into the stars you discover there is an immensity out there that is beyond human comprehension. God is the source of all that, but everything that is out there, and everything that is on the planet, is in relation to one another.

The stars of heaven are all under law, each influencing the other to do the will of God, yielding their common obedience to the law that controls their action. {9T 258.1}

The interrelationship of even the stars of the cosmos is all a principle of relationships. They all interrelate together.

All things both in heaven and in earth declare that the great law of life is a law of service. The infinite Father ministers to the life of every living thing. Christ came to the earth “as He that serveth.” Luke 22:27. The angels are “ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation.” Hebrews 1:14. The same law of service is written upon all things in nature. The birds of the air, the beasts of the field, the trees of the forest, the leaves, the grass, and the flowers, the sun in the heavens and the stars of light–all have their ministry. Lake and ocean, river and water spring–each takes to give. {Ed 103.2}

We are locked into relationships by the Creator of the universe. Even all nature is dependent upon each other in relationships.

As each thing in nature ministers thus to the world’s life, it also secures its own. “Give, and it shall be given unto you” (Luke 6:38), is the lesson written no less surely in nature than in the pages of Holy Writ. {Ed 103.3}

As the hillsides and the plains open a channel for the mountain stream to reach the sea, that which they give is repaid a hundredfold. The stream that goes singing on its way leaves behind its gift of beauty and fruitfulness. Through the fields, bare and brown under the summer’s heat, a line of verdure marks the river’s course; every noble tree, every bud, every blossom, a witness to the recompense God’s grace decrees to all who become its channels to the world. {Ed 103.4}

Just by the stroke of a pen it opens up a huge field of science, and the scientists know that everything is interrelated one to another. They teach you the cycles of dependence. The leaves of the tree receive to give us oxygen. They receive from us our waste products so that they in turn can produce and give us life products. It is phenomenal in its study. But in the relationship of the Godhead to all that, there is one who is identified:

The Word

John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 The same was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men.

Here is introduced to us another giving relationship. He, God, was not alone as one person creating. As it is written, He had a partner. Here He is. And you notice that in the source of relationship of life passing on one to another, He is the source, He is the light of men. All things were made by him. We read here of the source of all this relationship:

Hebrews 1:1 God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, 2 Hath in these last days spoken unto us by [his] Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;

This is one text that catches a lot of people by surprise who don’t know the Bible. They don’t know there are many inhabited worlds out there. Jesus is the one by whom these worlds were created. He is the one who is the source of all the interrelationships of the planets, the worlds and all nature. The Word.  When we say: the Word; straight away, this is communication, isn’t it?  He is the Word, the communicator of God to everything that is created.  He is the communicator of all true relationship principles. Here is a very important scripture to correctly understand so that we don’t put anything else on the word than what it is meant to be. Speaking of the Word, it says, Who is the image of the invisible God. The invisible God is revealed in Him:

The Invisible God

Colossians 1:15 Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: 16 For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether [they be] thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: 17 And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.

By Him all things consist – including relationships. The word the firstborn, how poorly that statement is used. It is usually used to suggest that Jesus was born, but the word firstborn, if you do a word study in the Scriptures, doesn’t only mean that the person has been born; it is a meaning that identifies the pre-eminence above everyone else. It doesn’t necessarily mean to be born. It means that the person is above and before everyone else. That is God. He is above and before anyone and anything else. He is the firstborn of every creature, of all things that were created, of even the visible and the invisible. He was the firstborn; the firstborn of even that which He created – the relationships. He was the firstborn of all relationships, the Source and the Example, the Pattern of all relationships. He was the link in relationships of all the creations of God. This can be illustrated as you read the Bible about the angels. Who was Jesus the Word to the angels? He was the firstborn of the angels. He is called Michael the Archangel.

The angels saw Him as one of them. In fact, Lucifer thought that he was just as good as Michael the Archangel, because he thought Jesus was an angel. If you study very carefully what is written in the Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy, you see that Lucifer was so close to God the Father that he thought he was no different to Jesus. In fact, he thought that Jesus was getting too high an honour to himself. He thought the Father wasn’t fair. That is how much Jesus was an angel – the firstborn of all angels. So in all creation, Jesus is the firstborn. He is the firstborn so that every part of creation senses Him as part of them.

So long as all created beings acknowledged the allegiance of love, there was perfect harmony throughout the universe of God. {PP 35.1}

Relationships were blended perfectly as long as there was allegiance to Him who loves.

It was the joy of the heavenly host to fulfil the purpose of their Creator. They delighted in reflecting His glory and showing forth His praise. And while love to God was supreme, love for one another was confiding and unselfish. {PP 35.1}

That is the source of all relationships – supreme love to God. The word confiding, that is an experience. Do you like to confide in somebody? That was the existing love while everybody was directly in tune with the very source of that relationship.

There was no note of discord to mar the celestial harmonies. {PP 35.1}

What a blissful meditation.

But a change came over this happy state. There was one who perverted the freedom that God had granted to His creatures. Sin originated with him who, next to Christ, had been most honored of God and was highest in power and glory among the inhabitants of heaven. Lucifer, “son of the morning,” was first of the covering cherubs, holy and undefiled. {PP 35.1}

Ellen White then describes this holy angel next to Christ. This beautiful relationship that existed was thwarted by Lucifer who vied and broke down the tender cord of relationship. Now, when God created man on this planet, what was His relationship with man?

Face-to-face, heart-to-heart communion with his Maker was his high privilege. {Ed 15.1}

The Old Serpent

Face-to-face relationship, heart-to-heart, this was the privilege of man’s relationship with His Creator. But again, there comes the intruder, that old serpent who slithers in between relationships. He slithers in between the man and his wife. Interesting, isn’t it? It is still the same today. He slithers in between the man and his wife, and he starts to sever a relationship between Eve and Adam, and then, through that, between God and man. Consider something very interesting. A relationship has been broken; that heart-to-heart relationship, that confiding love, has been crushed. What does the source of all relationships do now? Our meditation is, Jesus the Source and Pattern of how many relationships? All relationships. Here is a relationship that you didn’t think about. He was a source of this relationship:

Genesis 3:15 And I will put enmity between thee [the serpent] and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

What are you reading about here? You are reading about a relationship. What is He a source of? He is a source of a relationship of enmity. Did you ever think of that? He, the source of all relationships that work together harmoniously, is a source of a relationship of enmity. How does that work? When you read His words in Matthew 10, you can see that that is exactly what Jesus expressed – a source of enmity:

Matthew 10:34 Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. 35 For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law. 36 And a man’s foes [shall be] they of his own household.

Enmity from God? from Jesus Christ? “I have not come to have a good relationship with everybody. Anybody who is going to respond to me is going to find enmity, even within the family circle.” Whilst everybody is striving so hard to have love in the family, Let’s all compromise together and have a lovely time together; Jesus says, No, I have not come to create that; I have come to create a sword. Have you ever heard of the expression, “Can you get on with your mother in law?”? You think, That is a horrible thing to say; but here it is, this scripture.

Matthew 10:35 …I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law.

He is the source of all relationships, and that means all, even bad ones. But how? We have to come out of this meditation in a very clear scriptural explanation, because He is the source of good, not evil, so what is the problem? In the beautiful fellowship of heaven, there was somebody who broke the relationship between himself and God, and between God and the holy angels. Is God responsible for that enmity? It has to be clear in our minds as to what Jesus is actually saying. How did He create enmity? The woman whom Satan had deceived would conceive a seed, the line along which it is written somebody would be born, The seed of the woman.

Joseph had a problem with his fiancé, She is pregnant.

Matthew 1:20 But while he thought on these things,

While he said to himself, I better get rid of her; it’s a risk here, a relationship risk.

Matthew 1:20 …behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is

Not of man, but

Matthew 1:20 …of the Holy Ghost. 21 And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins. 22 Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, 23 Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.

A relationship would be forged with sinful man by the birth of the seed of the woman, who was Emmanuel – God with us – so that He, God, could save His people from their sins. This is the way that this relationship development was to take place. He Himself the source of all relationships would create in sinful man an enmity with those that are attached to evil – an enmity with evil. He would create it by coming and becoming the firstborn even of sinful man. This is a relationship concept that we want to spend time to appreciate. This relationship that He forged with sinful man is beautifully expressed in the following scripture:

John 1:9 [That] was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.

Who? He was the light that lights every man that comes into the world. Who does that include? When you see a drunken, dreadful person, Jesus is the light to that person too. For every man that was born into this world, Jesus is the light in that person.

John 1:10 He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.

Although He is the light of every man, man doesn’t know.

John 1:11 He came unto his own, and his own received him not.

This is a relationship that He came to forge, but which people didn’t even realise. Many people of whom He is the light, didn’t receive the light in them;

John 1:12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, [even] to them that believe on his name: 13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. 14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

A Relationship is Being Forged

A relationship of what? A relationship of enmity, by this seed. I will put enmity between thee, Satan, and the woman, in this way: A seed would be born of the woman, and that seed is Jesus Christ, the firstborn of the fallen woman. Wonder of wonders, God amalgamates with sinful man – a relationship that is something a lot of people don’t take into consideration; a relationship of God with sinful man. How did He enter into that relationship? By the tenderest silken cord that man understands. When a woman takes up a baby in her arms, how does she feel? Don’t those silken cords vibrate? He, God, came to the woman and made her silken cords vibrate. This is a woman who loves the Lord but is a sinner like all of us. The church, the woman, is a fallen church, but God comes to vibrate those cords of love. It is by this process that he became the first begotten even of fallen man.

Hebrews 1:6 And again, when he bringeth in the firstbegotten into the world, he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him.

Here is the word again; God brought into the world the first begotten of every creature. The firstbegotten even of fallen man. I would like us to dwell a little longer on this – The first begotten of every man.

He, the Majesty of heaven, the Son of the living God, the One equal with the Father, came to our world to stand by the side of fallen beings, through His sacrifice giving value to humanity. Lower and still lower He stepped in humiliation, until it was impossible for Him to descend any lower. For our sake He suffered and died. {2SAT 210.1}

We who are groveling around in relationship problems, He came to the lowest, to be there in relationship with us, so that there is nothing that you experience, nothing, in relationship conflicts and problems that Jesus isn’t there with you. Nothing. This touches my heart every time, and it is such a pity that so few in the other churches around us dwell on this subject. Let us dwell on it a little longer. Let us savour it. Let us open our hearts to it during this conference. Let us look at Him and appreciate Him in His relationship to create enmity between the serpent and those who are attached to him.

Hebrews 2:9 But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death,

What is the definition of death? “The wages of sin is death.” (Rom. 6:23). Jesus came to suffer the wages of sin, death.

Hebrews 2:9 … crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man. 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:

A relationship.

Hebrews 2:11 …for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren,

Should He be ashamed? Of course He should. Sinners, grotty people, why should I deal with you, He could say. But He was not ashamed to call them brethren. You sinner, I am your brother, not only because I say I am your brother, but look at Me, I am groveling with you in the dirt of your sins. Not mine, yours. That is what makes it even more powerful. Never think for a moment that He sinned. He who is so perfect groveled in my sin, as He was hanging there on the cross. “My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?” Gethsemane, study it in detail.

Hebrews 2:12 Saying, I will declare thy name unto my brethren, in the midst of the church will I sing praise unto thee. 13 And again, I will put my trust in him. And again, Behold I and the children which God hath given me. 14 Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death…

Do you have to die, because you have sinned? Yes. He partook of the same so that

Hebrews 2:14 …he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;

Here lies the enmity between the devil and Him, between the woman and the serpent. Jesus, the woman’s seed, would actually come and suffer the very sources of death and break the power – He would create enmity in the heart against the devil, through this process;

Hebrews 2:15 And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. 16 For verily he took not on [him the nature of] angels; but he took on [him] the seed of Abraham.

Was that Adam before the fall, or after the fall? Abraham was after the fall. Jesus took that seed.

Hebrews 2:17 Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto [his] brethren,

In how many things? In all things.

Hebrews 2:17 …that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things [pertaining] to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. 18 For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted. 

Relationship – succor. When a mother hears the baby crying, she wants to succor him. How does a mother succor a little breast-fed baby? She puts it into her bosom, and the child is succored. That is how close the tender tie is that Jesus came to forge.

Hebrews 4:15 For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as [we are, yet] without sin.

He had the feelings that needed succoring. He longed for succor, the companionship of human nature. Wonderful mediation. This is the essential for our relationship with God. How much did He suffer with you and me? We were discussing together the kinds of battles we Germans have got, and it’s just too hard, isn’t it? I just can’t stop myself from going the wrong path. Just look to Jesus, He was more than a German. He had every nation’s problem in His experience.

Hebrews 5:7 Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared; 8 Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered; 

By what? Do you like it? I gave a study on the detail of the sufferings of Christ, and the particular person that was interested in me helping out the people, said, Why do you share this with them? They don’t want to hear about suffering! He was upset because I was sharing about the fellowship of Christ’s sufferings. He said, They don’t want to hear of sufferings, all this suffering, suffering, suffering. I said, Well, if you don’t learn to suffer with Jesus, you are never going to be saved.

A Relationship of Suffering

Jesus learned to be the Christlike person He was by the things which He suffered.

Hebrews 5:9 And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him;

Do you notice that He forged a relationship that the serpent hated? The serpent saw he had man in his own clasp. Now, Lucifer who wanted to rule the universe saw, I’ve got them, I’ve got the third of the angels, and here comes this forger of enmity between me and man.

The fact that Jesus was on this earth as a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, that in order to save fallen man from eternal ruin, He left His heavenly home, should lay in the dust all our pride, put to shame all our vanity, and reveal to us the sin of self-sufficiency. Behold Him making the wants, the trials, the griefs and sufferings of sinful men His own. {1SM 253.3}

Fellowship? Relationship? He is the source of relationship with the suffering of sinners.

Can we not take home the lesson that God endured these sufferings and bruises of soul in consequence of sin? {1SM 253.3}

I don’t know if this does to you what it does to me, but it is an unending source of love-bindings between me and God. I am bound to God in the most silken cords of love. My heart vibrates when I think of this message. He, God, endured the sufferings that you and I are suffering. And as we are living in the last days, they are getting more intense. Jesus says, Please, overcome as I overcame; I overcame with all your sufferings. Take hold of this, brethren and sisters. This is our hope. As you are struggling, as I am struggling with all of these human defects that are ours, He became perfect by suffering. Stop trying to avoid suffering. Enjoy it, because Jesus came to be with you in it. I love suffering. I am not a masochist, but I love suffering because Jesus is in it with me. Our soul is ravished when we are imprisoned with Him. That is the ravishing, that He is there imprisoned with us. There He was at Gethsemane. “If it be possible, let this cup pass from me. No, I’ll stop there.” “You are heading straight into a hopeless state; you are imprisoned in the prison house of Satan, Jesus.” But He just hanged on tight. Whatever your prison house is, be ravished with the beauty of Jesus with you.

If he drank of the cup of suffering, he must open his breast to the griefs and woes and sins of humanity. {ST, November 25, 1889 par. 2}

His breast, where those silken cords lie.

Christ submitted to insult and mockery, contempt and ridicule. He heard His message, which was fraught with love and goodness and mercy, misstated and misapplied. {1SM 253.2}

Imagine how He felt. He came here only with love, and He gave a message of wonderful kindness to us. What happened to Him? His message was misapplied and misstated. How do you feel when some people do that to you? The very thing you wanted for them they twist into something negative; it breaks your heart, doesn’t it? That is what happened to Him.

He heard Himself called the prince of demons, {1SM 253.2}

From His own church,

…because He testified to His divine Sonship. His birth was supernatural, but by His own nation, those who had blinded their eyes to spiritual things, it was regarded as a blot and a stain. {1SM 253.2}

“He was born out of wedlock!” A blot and a stain. He was affected by all that.

There was not a drop of our bitter woe which He did not taste, not a part of our curse which He did not endure, that He might bring many sons and daughters to God. {1SM 253.2}

O, what a relationship. If we haven’t got this relationship correct, the very center of all relationships, then we are doomed, there is no hope. You can never find your way out, never. This is the meditation that is the very hub of the wheels. This relationship of suffering to the very tenderest breast experience, what was it done for?

Romans 8:31 What shall we then say to these things?

The language of the Bible is so direct to our consideration.

Romans 8:31 …If God [be] for us, who [can be] against us?

He has come right there into the very depths of my sinful, groveling experience. If God is close in my relationship of this, who can ever be against us? Lucifer might want to be against you, but he is already a defeated foe.

Romans 8:32 He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? 33 Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect? [It is] God that justifieth. 

If you have been blamed for something, as Jesus was blamed; why should it sink in? Jesus was blamed for wisdom; you are being blamed for it. He was disfellowshipped; when you become disfellowshipped and disowned for Jesus’ sake, does that matter? Nothing matters. All that matters is that I am part of Jesus. That’s all. If they say all sorts of horrible things against you, so what? Why should it hurt you? This fell upon Christ.

Romans 8:34 Who [is] he that condemneth? [It is] Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?

What can separate me in this wonderful fellowship and relationship?

Romans 8:35 … [shall] tribulation,

No.

Romans 8:35 …or distress,

Not at all.

Romans 8:35 …or persecution,

Of course not.

Romans 8:35 …or famine, or nakedness,

You know, we believe in dress reform; when Jesus was hanging on the cross, what did He have on? Just something around the loins, that’s all. He was naked; He, this holy Being.

Romans 8:35 …or peril, or sword? 36 As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. 37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. 38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,

In the last days it is going to get worse yet, but whatever comes,

Romans 8:39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

The relationship – nothing can separate from that, if the relationship is in place. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us.

In our behalf Christ made an infinite sacrifice. He laid aside His kingly crown and royal robe, clothed His divinity with humanity, and came into our world to teach men and women the laws of life and salvation, which they must carry out to the letter in order to have everlasting life in the kingdom of glory. {2SAT 194.3}

To the letter.

Satan claimed that it was impossible for human beings to keep God’s law. In order to prove the falsity of this claim, Christ left His high command, took upon Himself the nature of man, and came to the earth to stand at the head of the fallen race, in order to show that humanity could withstand the temptations of Satan. He became the Head of humanity, to be assaulted with temptations on every point as fallen human nature would be tempted, that He might know how to succor all who are tempted. On this earth He worked out the problem of how to live in accordance with God’s standard of right. Bearing our nature, He was true to God’s standard of righteousness, gaining the victory over Satan. He was tempted in all points like as we are, yet He was without sin. {2SAT 194.3}

Whatever you can think of that has happened to you in the past, whatever you can think of that is going to happen to you in the future, whether it be relationship problems, or character defects that manifest themselves in you, you have a relationship available that will carry you through to overcome to the letter, to live obediently, not to lose your temper, not to lose your cool, not to disobey anyone of God’s commandments, as you embrace this relationship.

The Woman’s Seed and the Serpent’s Seed

In concluding, we want to spend a little longer on understanding the line of the seed that Jesus was the firstborn of, and see that right through, as we go through all the various studies of this conference, you are already geared in that direction. He was the elder brother, the Lamb that was slain from the beginning of the world. All that we have read He already knew, but when He came He experienced it. It can be traced from the very beginning of the children of the woman. Who was born to Eve? Cain and Abel. They were both the woman’s seed for a start. But what happened? They were to come and worship God, and they were to come with their sacrifice. Cain came with his, and Abel came with his. Which one was accepted? Abel’s. Why? Because He came with Jesus, the Lamb. Cain came and thought, Why are we going through all this hard time? He blamed God for it, and he said, I can do it myself; and he came along with his own product. Here was the beginning of the enmity between the serpent’s seed and the woman’s seed.

There lies the line-up of these two seeds, right from the very beginning to the very end. We are studying the end time situations of this:

He [Cain] chose the course of self-dependence. He would come in his own merits. {PP 72.1}

Cain had the same opportunity of learning and accepting these truths as had Abel. He was not the victim of an arbitrary purpose. One brother was not elected to be accepted of God, and the other to be rejected. {PP 72.4}

That was what my brother said. He said, John, you’ve always been a goodie-goodie. You’ve always loved the things of God; I have never loved them. So I am cut out for this part, and you are cut out for that part. I said, You don’t know what battles I am fighting. You think you are the black sheep of the family? I suffer the same as you, but I’ve made a decision; you can do the same. In those days he thought he was cut out, like Cain. No, they both had their opportunity to open their hearts to the One who lights every man that comes into the world.

Abel chose faith and obedience; Cain, unbelief and rebellion. Here the whole matter rested. {PP 72.4}

Cain and Abel represent two classes that will exist in the world till the close of time. {PP 72.5}

The serpent’s seed and the woman’s seed, by choice.

One class avail themselves of the appointed sacrifice for sin; the other venture to depend upon their own merits; theirs is a sacrifice without the virtue of divine mediation, and thus it is not able to bring man into favor with God. {PP 72.5}

The class of worshipers who follow the example of Cain includes by far the greater portion of the world; for nearly every false religion has been based on the same principle–that man can depend upon his own efforts for salvation. {PP 73.1}

The great majority is the serpent’s seed, and the tiny little company of Abel are the woman’s seed. Relationships? Yes, we see it very clearly. As Cain slew Abel, so what happens all the way down the line? Abel was the class that represented the woman’s seed, Jesus Christ, and Cain the other one. What has happened all the way through? Jesus is here speaking of the Pharisees, the ministers of God at that time:

John 8:37 I know that ye are Abraham’s seed; but ye seek to kill me, because my word hath no place in you.

How do you kill a person in God’s church today?

John 8:38 I speak that which I have seen with my Father: and ye do that which ye have seen with your father. 39 They answered and said unto him, Abraham is our father. Jesus saith unto them, If ye were Abraham’s children, ye would do the works of Abraham.

You would be of the woman’s seed.

John 8:40 But now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth, which I have heard of God: this did not Abraham. 41 Ye do the deeds of your father. Then said they to him, We be not born of fornication; we have one Father, [even] God. 42 Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me. 43 Why do ye not understand my speech? [even] because ye cannot hear my word. 44 Ye are of [your] father the devil,

You are the serpent’s seed

John 8:44 …and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.

The leaders of the church militant proved themselves, by choice, to be Cain’s line. What did they do? They did exactly what Cain did, and they did it, not to Abel, but to the woman’s seed – Jesus Christ. This is the relationship of enmity. There are two classes to the very end. If they did it to Jesus, what will they do to any of us who have decided to be subject to Christ’s way? The greater portion of them is the serpent’s seed. Listen to the words of Jesus,

Matthew 28:20 …lo, I am with you alway, [even] unto the end of the world. Amen. 

This is a relationship with the one who is with us to the end of the world; a relationship with our elder Brother. What was that relationship? John 17:20-23: Father, I will that they may be one, even as we are one, I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one. That is the woman’s seed. Revelation 12:17: With whom did Satan come to make war? Not with the woman, not with the seed, but with the remnant of her seed. Here is the subject of the last days. This is what it is all about. The woman’s seed shrank into the remnant of her seed. Mark this very closely as we contemplate this throughout this conference. Relationships in the last days are no different to what they were in the past, but it is worse, that’s all. Even the woman’s seed will only leave a remnant; and it is the remnant of her seed that Satan is angry with, to destroy it. This is our experience if we are part of the woman’s seed today.

Before Christ came in person to reveal His Father’s character, Satan thought that he would have the whole world on his side. And today the enemy is still playing the game of life with everyone. {2SAT 194.4}

Do you like to be a pawn in Satan’s hands? He is playing a game. Wake up, brothers and sisters. As you go through your battles, he is playing games with you.

He seeks to bring in dissension and division. But if we are partakers of the divine nature, we will stand as a united whole. {2SAT 194.4}

That is the challenge. These things are for us to embrace, be the cost what it may. I always say to people, If you are really in a life-and-death struggle, does time matter, to spend time with the Lord? Jesus is the spring and pattern of all our relationships. He is the spring and pattern of our experience in these last days. This is our consideration. Take this, meditate upon it, and really prepare your heart to receive the full outpouring of the Holy Spirit in His word at this conference. Jesus, the spring and pattern of all relationships, will hold us close to His bosom because He has opened His breast to our sufferings. He will hold us close there in such a strong relationship of enmity with evil and its adherents.

Let us, with the apostle, confirm our silken cords of love with Him. What was it that Apostle Paul wanted to do, and sacrifice everything to have?

Philippiens 3:7 But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. 8 Yea doubtless, and I count all things [but] loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord:

Sacrifice everything for that knowledge.

Philippiens 3:8 …for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them [but] dung, that I may win Christ, 9 And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:

This is now the important part:

Philippians 3:10 That I may know him,

To know somebody means to have a relationship with him;

Philippians 3:10 …and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;

May this be our decision and our choice to confirm that silken cord of love with Him.

Amen.