By John Thiel
We need to often be reminded of the word as there are so many different circumstances that our minds are occupied with and it’s easy to drift away from every living word that comes from God. We need to refresh our memories of the value and importance of the word where you have benefited by heeding the word.
Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. 2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness [was] upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
In the beginning was a mass of water and when God saw this he produced something there.
Psalm 33:6 By the word of the LORD were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth. 7 He gathereth the waters of the sea together as an heap: he layeth up the depth in storehouses. 8 Let all the earth fear the LORD: let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him. 9 For he spake, and it was [done]; he commanded, and it stood fast.
Here this abyss, this place of no form was spoken to and one day after another of God’s word produced after six days a beautiful planet with life and verdure and glory. On the sixth day God looked at everything and behold it was very good out of empty watery mass.
Psalms 14:2 The LORD looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, [and] seek God. 3 They are all gone aside, they are [all] together become filthy: [there is] none that doeth good, no, not one.
Is that a similar situation in a different sphere of the world today? Empty, void, no good, sin and carnage. Here is the condition of the human condition.
Isaiah 1:6 From the sole of the foot even unto the head [there is] no soundness in it; [but] wounds, and bruises, and putrifying sores: they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment.
God looks upon the spiritual state of this planet and upon the people and what does he see? Wounds, bruises, chaos, carnage, and empty. Is this a problem to God? Was it a problem for God to see the empty planet with water and no life in it? What happened? He commanded and things began to happen. Is it a problem for God to see humanity in its depraved state? It’s not a problem to God. He can do exactly the same with this depraved condition of humanity. There is a statement that frightens many a sinner. Many a person feels they want to be saved but they look at their own condition with God and say I don’t think I’m ever going to get there. Here is a statement God makes to those who are in sin.
1 Peter 1:13 Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; 14 As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance: 15 But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; 16 Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.
Can you see yourself being holy like God is holy? Look at your lives. Look at your past. Is it possible for you to think that you can be perfect, holy and sinless? Can you believe it? Without sin, holy like God is holy? That is what God has said. What did he say? Be ye holy as I am holy. In Christendom today Christianity says you can never be perfect, you have to wait till Jesus comes. He is going to do a magical action and then you will be perfect. They somehow do not understand that the chaos of the human dilemma today that sinners can be dealt with the same way as God dealt with the empty world and produced light. Do you recall the valley of dry bones? What was there? What did God command Ezekiel to do? Speak to them. Preach the word. As he prophesied flesh came onto the bones. He said prophesy again and as he spoke the word breath came into those bones, a mighty army. There was a story of the story of a condition of dead bones. By proclaiming the pure word of God like creation it was to recreate the word. This is what we need to gain. Do we believe the record that God commanded and it stood fast? Do we believe that God created the world like that?
Hebrews 11:3 Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.
The world is having trouble with this today. The large number of people can’t believe the world was created by the word of God. They believe in evolution. The fool thinks that way. People find it difficult to believe that the statement of God’s word can create and that he can speak and it can happen. Do I really believe that something that you can’t see can be produced by the word of God? Can you see that you can be holy? Can you see it? No. We are told to be perfect.
Matthew 5:48 Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.
I hear people say I can’t. He is saying I should be perfect as my Father in heaven is perfect. I am to be holy as he is holy. I am to live a life of purity without sin. Can you see yourself doing it? Do you believe that God spoke and created the world out of emptiness? By faith we believe that God made things out of nothing. No spirituality, no sinlessness. Do I believe that God’s word can do it? That he can bring something out of nothing?
Leviticus 20:7 Sanctify yourselves therefore, and be ye holy: for I [am] the LORD your God. 8 And ye shall keep my statutes, and do them: I [am] the LORD which sanctify you.
Here we stand in a terrible sinful condition and as you are told to go forward and keep the commandments it says here, sanctify yourselves. Make yourselves holy. Can I? As we look at our condition and Gods perfect holiness we stand in a sense of abject hopelessness. We can’t see that we can change. We can’t see it but what is written in Romans?
Romans 8:24 For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? 25 But if we hope for that we see not, [then] do we with patience wait for [it].
Go back to the empty earth. If you saw that mass of water empty, could you see that something was going to come out of it? When you see yourself so sinful, so failing, so hopeless, so empty of real victory, can you see that you will ever change? It’s the same thing. But you believe that God created the world in six days by speaking. What are you meant to do? You are meant to believe what God says in our condition by his speaking. This the big test for every one of us. To believe that what I’m reading is reality. Sometimes we are looking to what we can see instead of what we are hoping for. We battle along in the things we can see and we can see only mistakes, sins, failure, weakness and looking at that we become discouraged. Where is faith and hope? We are to go beyond what we can see. We are saved by hope that we will be holy but we don’t see it as we rely on the word.
When Jesus was on earth, he walked on the sea and he walked to the disciples and the boat. Peter said if it’s you then tell me to come out on the water to meet you. The word of Jesus saying come made it possible for Peter to walk on the water. When the paralytic was lying there and Jesus said did you want to become whole? He said yes but no one can carry me. Jesus said rise up and walk. The paralytic could have said you have to lift me up and I can’t walk. What did he do? He acted on the word. When Lazarus was in the grave for four days Jesus said Lazarus come forth. What happened? Out he came all wrapped up. If Jesus says your sins are forgiven you, what should you do? I’m too sinful I can’t see my sins are forgiven. Do you take the word and believe and act as though you have not sinned? This is the same scenario. When the word comes to me and says be ye holy, I need to remind myself continually that I need that word so I can be holy. We need to be refreshed again and again. Don’t look at the hopelessness of our cases, look at the word and take it seriously for ourselves. Do I believe in the power of God’s word? If I do, why do I carry burdens? Come unto me all ye that labour and I will give you rest. Oh for the belief that God spoke and it was done applicable to the morass of human sinfulness. What does the bible tell us to do in reference to our life? It says it in Deuteronomy that the children of Israel complained to Moses and said why did you cause us to starve out in the desert?
Deuteronomy 8:3 And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every [word] that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live.
He suffered you. You can’t see you are righteous, he left you hungry. May God have mercy upon us to believe that what he says can be absorbed and be a reality to me. When he says be ye holy then believe it. Oh how few people want to believe. I want you to live by every word that proceeds out of my mouth he says.
In His promises and warnings, Jesus means me. God so loved the world, that He gave His only-begotten Son, that I by believing in Him, might not perish, but have everlasting life. {DA 390.5}
Every time the thought overwhelms you that you are not going to make it, see your sinfulness, listen to the word. He gave his only begotten son that I by believing in him will not perish but have everlasting life.
The experiences related in God’s word are to be my experiences. Prayer and promise, precept and warning, are mine. “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me.” Galatians 2:20. As faith thus receives and assimilates the principles of truth, they become a part of the being and the motive power of the life. {DA 390.5}
I have given you manna, I have let you go hungry so that when you are so hungry that food that I have given you when you assimilate it will bring power and impart life to you.
The word of God, received into the soul, molds the thoughts, and enters into the development of character. {DA 390.5}
Every time you see something that is not right about you, get hold of God’s word relevant to that. Let God’s word tell you by warning or promise and assimilate it and see what happens to you. I’m sure you have made experiences like that. This is why I would like you to share to night experiences. In the future we have to reapply the word all the time.
God will make the most precious revelations to His hungering, thirsting people. They will find that Christ is a personal Saviour. As they feed upon His word, they find that it is spirit and life. The word destroys the natural, earthly nature, and imparts a new life in Christ Jesus. {DA 391.1}
They will find it is spirit and life. If you don’t feed upon it, what will you find? Hunger. Many people like sin and God’s word shatters what people like.
The Holy Spirit comes to the soul as a Comforter. By the transforming agency of His grace, the image of God is reproduced in the disciple; he becomes a new creature. Love takes the place of hatred, and the heart receives the divine similitude. This is what it means to live “by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” This is eating the Bread that comes down from heaven. {DA 391.1}
Love takes the place of hatred, and the heart receives the divine similitude. This is what it means to live “by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” This is eating the Bread that comes down from heaven. {DA 391.1}
Christ had spoken a sacred, eternal truth regarding the relation between Himself and His followers. He knew the character of those who claimed to be His disciples, and His words tested their faith. {DA 391.2}
This is written in regard to the crisis. When God comes with the real truth, many people don’t believe it and they walk away. He tested their faith. When someone says you can be without sin, sinless, they say no I don’t believe it.
He declared that they were to believe and act upon His teaching. All who received Him would partake of His nature, and be conformed to His character. This involved the relinquishment of their cherished ambitions. It required the complete surrender of themselves to Jesus. They were called to become self-sacrificing, meek and lowly in heart. They must walk in the narrow path travelled by the Man of Calvary, if they would share in the gift of life and the glory of heaven. {DA 391.2}
The test was too great for the seventy disciples. This is the same today. To really go all the way with a thus saith the Lord is the bit that people don’t really want. Yet that is how God created the world in the first place. It is the only way he is going to recreate us for eternal life. What is this beautiful gospel?
Romans 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.
We want to believe it. We want to take hold of every word that proceeds out of God’s mouth. Believe it and make it my own and see what beautiful verdure God will create in your life. You will experience it.
Amen.
