By John Thiel

We have a very important guideline for us.

Ecclesiastes 12:10 The preacher sought to find out acceptable words: and [that which was] written [was] upright, [even] words of truth. 11 The words of the wise [are] as goads, and as nails fastened [by] the masters of assemblies, [which] are given from one shepherd.

The words of the wise are given from one shepherd. All the words of the wise in the scriptures are inspired by the Holy Spirit and the come from one shepherd. Who is that? Jesus Christ. He is the great shepherd of the flock. Those words of the wise are as goads or as nails fastened by the masters of assemblies. The words that have been inspired have been given from one shepherd and it is the responsibilities of the masers of the assemblies to fasten them in as nails as nails fastening these words.

The Masters of Assemblies

Throughout the ages there have been assemblies of God’s people and there are those who have been chosen to be masters of those assemblies and to take the words of the wise and fasten them in a sure place in the minds of the people. I find these words relevant and applicable just now. We have been gathered because we have been made aware that we are living in the last dregs of earth’s history. We know that as the world is rapidly heading to destruction that the majority who claim to be Christians are not following God as exactly as he says. We are also in danger as is anyone else of not following God as exactly as he speaks to us. Why should we be different? We need to understand why we are here.

Zephaniah 2:1 Gather yourselves together, yea, gather together, O nation not desired. 2 Before the decree bring forth, [before] the day pass as the chaff, before the fierce anger of the LORD come upon you, before the day of the LORD’S anger come upon you. 3 Seek ye the LORD, all ye meek of the earth, which have wrought his judgment; seek righteousness, seek meekness: it may be ye shall be hid in the day of the LORD’S anger.

We will see we are already in the day of the Lords anger and many are sailing along thinking it’s all lovely when it’s not. We are living in very serious times. If we are going to be the people who meekly and humbly respond to God’s word before the decree bring forth, before the day passes as a chaff, gather yourselves together, seek righteousness, seek meekness, it may be that you will be hid in the day of the Lords anger. That leaves a bit of a shade of concern doesn’t it? Maybe. The only reason why anyone is going to be saved in the day of the Lord’s anger is if they really submit to the counsel of the Lord.

What was the day of the Lord’s anger in the day of Noah? Come into the ark. Those that didn’t go into the ark how did they fend? Today the Lord has given us his counsel and if we don’t listen to it the day of his anger will come and there is no way out. That is reality that the Lord has brought us together for the purpose to seek righteousness and to seek meekness. It seems a burden sometimes that we come such a long way with small babies from the cosy home and disrupting things.

Joel 2:15 Blow the trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly. 16 Gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the children, and those that suck the breasts: let the bridegroom go forth of his chamber, and the bride out of her closet. 17 Let the priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, Spare thy people, O LORD, and give not thine heritage to reproach, that the heathen should rule over them: wherefore should they say among the people, Where [is] their God?

Call a solemn assembly. Gather the people, the children and the babies and come there and be sanctified. As it said in Zephaniah, it may be that the Lord will hide and protect us. The minister should cry spare thy people. Come with fasting. We are coming in this fashion. We are going to be fellowshipping together in more ways than one. We are here to seek righteousness and meekness. Here are some important words from our master shepherd that this master of assemblies is going to lay out. What are the words that come from our shepherd that we must nail securely in our understanding? How thirsty are you for the Lord? Do you yearn and pant for him?

Isaiah 55:1 Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.

55:2 Wherefore do ye spend money for [that which is] not bread? and your labour for [that which] satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye [that which is] good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness.

55:3 Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, [even] the sure mercies of David.

55:4 Behold, I have given him [for] a witness to the people, a leader and commander to the people.

If we are going to hearken diligently to the Lord will you go to sleep during the meeting? Take this word and make it real to ourselves. This is the word from the Lord as such a time as this. Blessed are they who hunger and thirst after righteousness. Come says Jesus, hearken to the waters. To be diligent is not just to be alert when hearing it is to be there on time. It is to be faithful to our duty. It is to be alert, diligent to every remnant of Gods statement to us. When I hear the sure mercies of David, you know what sort of person David was. He was a man after Gods own heart but when he was a terrible sinner he broke and broke again. No matter what wicked an action we have done in our experience, the sure mercies of David are part of the everlasting covenant the Lord wants to make with us if we are not Laodicean in our mentality. When we realise that we are in desperate need, why should we be any different to other so called Christians around us who are not following Gods ways? We are in desperate need that unless we are diligent we will not be in the proverbial ark. It says in reference to David, behold I have given him for a witness to the people, a leader and a commander to the people. The language of God’s word, the words of the wise from one shepherd needs to be nailed in a sure place right now. We need to be firmly entrenched in our understanding that we are not here as though we are just coming to a conference this is a life and death exercise. How close to the end do you believe we are? Is it a life and death issue? Are we going to be slack in the slightest?

Come, Incline Your Ear

Look at David, he is a commander, he is one you will learn from.

Ezekiel 34:23 And I will set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, [even] my servant David; he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd.

34:24 And I the LORD will be their God, and my servant David a prince among them; I the LORD have spoken [it].

34:25 And I will make with them a covenant of peace, and will cause the evil beasts to cease out of the land: and they shall dwell safely in the wilderness, and sleep in the woods.

What is this talking about? The beasts of Daniel and Revelation. If we will come to him, the Lord will make a covenant of peace with us and cause the evil beasts to cease out of the land in regards to their devouring behaviour upon gods people. He is going to protect them. What is required? To come and plead for that. To be diligent and to play close attention to what the Lord is saying so that what he has promised and that we will dwell safely in the wilderness and sleep in the woods. Is that comfortable? As God is dealing with those beasts God’s people will dwell safely in the woods. This is what God wants to secure for us to show us what that means. To experience the blessing that he has for us, remember the serious statements. The latter rain may be falling on hearts all around but may not be recognised or received. If we don’t lose one rain drop here is what we are to do.

Joel 2:12 Therefore also now, saith the LORD, turn ye [even] to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning:

2:13 And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the LORD your God: for he [is] gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil.

2:14 Who knoweth [if] he will return and repent, and leave a blessing behind him; [even] a meat offering and a drink offering unto the LORD your God?

2:15 Blow the trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly:

God will bless us if we come to him in the right mind set that has been put in to position by the nail of the wise words that the master of assemblies is to secure. This is the responsibility that rests upon me right now to make sure that not one of us gets side tracked from what we are here for. Why should we rend our hearts, why should we be fasting? You know what we understand by fasting, true health reform, denying our appetites for the lush things of the world, the true fast is to eat only that which is good for you and to discard all things bad. Why we should we be here so diligent doing this to rend our hearts and not our garments. Why?

In every church gathering for worship, Satan is there also, to use every element that he can use in human nature to serve his purpose. He will use to bring in unbelief, evil surmising, and [he will endeavor] to get up side issues to divert the mind from the living issues; and [so] the Lord Jesus has warned us to watch and pray [lest] ye enter into temptation. {12MR 26.1}

God is in his assembly but we are living on Satan’s battle ground and he will do his uttermost to distract your mind from diligence and careful attention. Satan will say look at that fellow over there, he is not paying attention. Your eyes will drift and Satan will stir you into annoyances o fathers. We need to be diligent as Satan is there to distract. When it comes to functioning together everyone will be asked to do a joy and some won’t do it and Satan will distract your joy on the Lord as things are not happening as they should or the duty God lays upon us we become slack about we do in our own time and things start to become tedious because things are prompt. Is God a God of order?

Joel 2:14 Who knoweth [if] he will return and repent, and leave a blessing behind him; [even] a meat offering and a drink offering unto the LORD your God?

Do you want the Lord to leave a blessing behind you? He will when we do what he says. To counter all of Satan’s sophistries, we need to be diligent of what he says to make our encampment a blessing. The counsel of our shepherd that we want to nail in a sure place.

1 Peter 3:8 Finally, [be ye] all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren, [be] pitiful, [be] courteous:

3:9 Not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing: but contrariwise blessing; knowing that ye are thereunto called, that ye should inherit a blessing.

Here is the precursor to the blessing. We are to come to him with all our heart to deal with our sinful nature and to rend our heart and to come with fasting and hungering and thirst. As we come to function together and relate with one another to do this successfully, joyfully, fellowshipping together, be all of one mind. Set your mind to these beautiful goads and nails. Have compassion one for another. We will need compassion one for another because people make mistakes. While they make mistakes, if those mistakes are capitalized on, it will destroy your peace. We are to love as brethren and be pitiful and courteous. What is courtesy? Being helpful, being kind, that is courtesy. If someone loses their focus and rails, do you rail back again? Bear it quietly, blessing instead. Am I addressing realities here? Is this what happens? Disgruntling spoils the word and Satan tears people to pieces and the blessing the Lord wants to render is muddied. We are here to drink the water of life and there are people that trample the water and make it muddy for others to drink. Let us not do that. Let us get beautiful clear water from the spring of righteousness. To receive God’s blessing we have a personal work.

There is no help for man, woman, or child, who will not hear and obey the voice of duty; for the voice of duty is the voice of God. {SD 175.3}

That doesn’t sound very inspiring? Is that right? It doesn’t sound inspiring to our flesh. Duty? I want to hear the lovely voice of god. Duty is the lovely voice of god. Anyone of us who has been given a duty to do, we are to be diligent to do that duty as we are hearing and obeying the voice of God.

1 Corinthians 14:33 For God is not [the author] of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints.

14:33 For God is not [the author] of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints.

Nothing must be left slack. If there is somebody bringing you to order, don’t regard it as an imposition on your shoulder. Sometimes we need to commanding angels and the commanding angel says do this please and the other angel does it.

Work we must, and work cheerfully. We often neglect to work at the very time when our help is most needed and when a prompt attendance to duty would bring glory to God. {1MR 238.1}

Gods glory will be ours to enjoy as we diligently follow our program.

Meetings for conference and prayer should not be made tedious. The meeting should open at the appointed hour if possible, be there few or many present. 451 {CCh 250.2}

Amen.