By John Thiel

Many times when we reflect on a thus saith the Lord, we associate it with a command or direction in life we are to follow and we infrequently see it as follows in this study.

Romans 13:11 And that, knowing the time, that now [it is] high time to awake out of sleep: for now [is] our salvation nearer than when we believed. 12 The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light. 13 Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying. 14 But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to [fulfil] the lusts [thereof].

How do you feel about yourself with this statement? The night is far spent. This was written many years ago and how does it stand now? How close is the coming of Jesus and how ready are we? We are living at the end of the time of the end.

The rapidly diminishing space of time between us and eternity should more deeply impress us. Every day that passes makes one less left us to complete our work of perfecting character…. {OHC 346.5}

How is your character? How much more time do we need to perfect our character?

The day is at hand. For the lessons to be learned, the work to be done, the transformation of character to be effected, the time remaining is but too brief a span. {Ed 184.2}

As we consider what these statements are generating in our heart, searching as to my readiness and character that must be developed to the point that when Jesus comes, we know that we need to be perfect. We are living at the end. Already we can see things that are happening that are going to consume this planet.

2 Peter 3:11 [Seeing] then [that] all these things shall be dissolved, what manner [of persons] ought ye to be in [all] holy conversation and godliness,

3:12 Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?

3:13 Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.

3:14 Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless.

Hebrews 12:14 Follow peace with all [men], and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:

These meditations can discourage. Do you ever feel discouraged as you look at your life? Do you feel encouraged at the knowledge of this or perturbed especially as you look at yourself? In reference to a thus saith the Lord, what is to be our consideration in the light of this? We have to be without sin and holy and there is little time left, not enough to develop the character that we need.

Time remaining is too short a span. There is a concept that we fall into a deplorable spiral of a sense of hopelessness. But now in the light of that, what is a thus saith the Lord about the overwhelming sense of your inability? No matter how diligent you have been in the past, we have to be diligent to be found what? Blameless. How diligent have you been and how blameless do you feel? We need a thus saith the Lord for every subject that we come upon to correctly relate ourselves. While there is a thus saith the Lord to be blameless and you feel you can’t achieve it, as you are making such slow progress, here is a thus saith the Lord.

Isaiah 43:1 But now thus saith the LORD that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called [thee] by thy name; thou [art] mine.

43:2 When thou passest through the waters, I [will be] with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.

Is there any mind activity at such a statement? We’ve just gone through a mind activity of how am I going to get there but what is He saying to us here? Have you got any idea what He is saying? Who is speaking here? Your and my creator. What else comes out of this? I have redeemed thee. What does your mind pick up of what you are meant to be at His coming if He is your creator? How did He create us in the first place? In His own image. He has created us so we can be higher than the angels and be in the position as closer than the angels were before we fell.

God has a huge aspiration for each one of us if we would heed a thus saith the Lord. If I feel bereft of any hope of gaining that character and blamelessness at His coming, He says I’m the one that formed thee, is anything too hard for me? What is He able to do?

Hebrews 7:25 Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.

Thus saith the Lord, I have created and formed thee, what am I able to do? I can save you to the uttermost. I must be diligent to be found of Him without spot and blameless. If he is going to save me and has the capability, I must be diligent. How is this transaction going to take place?

Hebrews 5:6 As he saith also in another [place], Thou [art] a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.

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;

5:8 Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered;

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

5:10 Called of God an high priest after the order of Melchisedec.

What is this saying? How are we by a thus saith the Lord are going to be made perfect and saved? It is important that we read these scriptures and apply them to our individual selves. How is the Lord going to do this work of making me blameless? As He is our intercessor, what is the content of this showing you how? We are to learn obedience by the things which we suffer as Jesus had to suffer. In that suffering, did He need someone to help Him? What did He diligently do? He cried to God to save Him from death. If you don’t become blameless, are you going to be saved from death? At the end of the world we will be destroyed.

Jesus came to this planet and He engaged in a diligent prayer life of crying unto Him that could save Him from death. He is able to save them to the utter most. Who did the Father save to the uttermost? Our high priest and that high priest is pleading our cases to save us. What did our high priest achieve for us? He was made perfect and became the author of being made perfect.

What should you be doing to gain perfection? We should be pleading with the Lord as Jesus did. He is our high priest and He cried unto Him that could save Him from death. I’m called upon to be diligent but have you been avidly trying this? What am I meant to be doing? Haven’t you been diligent in trying to do this? Have you cried to Him and laboured hard? How successful are you as you’ve been doing this? There is something I must understand of Jesus and continually keep it before me.

What is Available for Me

God wants our minds to expand. He desires to put His grace upon us. . . . We are to be one with Christ as He is one with the Father, and the Father will love us as He loves His Son. We may have the same help that Christ had, we may have strength for every emergency; for God will be our front guard and our rearward. He will shut us in on every side. {AG 259.5}

Is that what He did for Jesus? Jesus came through victorious and never sinned. Remember what the lesson is for us? To him that overcometh as I overcame I will grant to sit in my throne as I sit in my Father’s throne. He wants our minds to expand on focusing on trying to so hard but in our human ways of activity we say I have to do this and I forget clean about looking to Jesus. I forget clean about the fact He is with me. I am struggling trying to reach perfection clean forgetting I can’t succeed. I need to expand my mind that we are to be one with Christ as He is with the Father and that we may have the same help that Christ had.

The emergency is right now. We haven’t got enough time to perfect character and I need something that is going to deal with that emergency. My high priest, I’m looking to Him and what do I see? He was right there where I am. Every step of my experience in the emergency I need to see and experience Him.

If we will but keep our eyes fixed on the Saviour, and trust in His power, we shall be filled with a sense of security; for the righteousness of Christ will become our righteousness. . . . {AG 259.3}

As I’m going through my dilemma I see Jesus with me but only as I fix my eyes on Him. Unless I do this, the righteousness of Christ doesn’t become mine because I’m struggling for mine own righteousness. We shall be filled with a sense of security as the righteousness of Christ will become our righteousness. Have you had an experience in which you were focused on Jesus in the sense of your dilemma and you were filled with a sense of security? As you gaze upon Jesus, the light flows in and if you stop gazing upon Jesus and look at your problems, how do you feel? It is an intelligent beholding, our minds must expand. We must see Jesus in my experience. If I see that there is a beautiful sense of security. It’s there but when you look away you have trouble again. I got a sense of security one day when I felt lost. I was overwhelmed and when I was in that situation and I thought I was gone, the Lord reminded me that when I preached to others and they were in the deplorable sense I was in, what did I teach them?

The Lord caused me to expand my mind. He caused me to think the compassion I had for the soul I was trying to help, to reach out to that soul and give them the experience of the atonement of Jesus. As the Lord made me think of that, it struck me I am there right now too. I was in the Gethsemane experience and Jesus was beside me. It released me from any sense of condemnation. Was it presumption? No, I believed in my Lord and you are relieved from the sense of insecurity. That is what happens when you look to Jesus. What happens when you continue to look to Him? Will we ever come out of that? These negative sensations that we feel when we look to our condition that we are in and remember ours sins, when you remember your sins, how do you feel about yourself? When you remember your evil ways, are they living reality to you?

Ezekiel 36:31 Then shall ye remember your own evil ways, and your doings that [were] not good, and shall loathe yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities and for your abominations.

When you loathe yourself, do you feel like you are saved? When you loathe yourself for your iniquities and abominations, as it comes back to you, as an overwhelming sensation of something you did yesterday, why didn’t I learn? I still fell flat on my face.

Christ has made every provision for us to be strong. He has given us His Holy Spirit, whose office is to bring to our remembrance all the promises that Christ has made, that we may have peace and a sweet sense of forgiveness. {AG 259.3}

What? A sense of security, a sweet sense of his forgiveness. As Christ has made provision in what we have been reading, look at Him crying unto Him that can save Him from death. In the sense of emergency, if I don’t stop sinning I’m not going to be saved. I’m in an emergency and as I’m in that, His righteousness beams upon me. As I look at Jesus, I’m looking at my experience in Him. If I keep on looking at Him I will see the power that comes and also forgiveness. Are you going to yield to despair or to Jesus?

When temptations assail you, as they surely will, when care and perplexity surround you, when, distressed and discouraged, you are almost ready to yield to despair, look. {AG 259.4}

When you lose sight of that and you are overwhelmed of your deep sense of your unworthiness. When I’m in a deep sense of discouragement and ready to yield to despair, will I yield?

O look, to where with the eye of faith you last saw the light; and the darkness that encompasseth you will be dispelled by the bright shining of His glory. When sin struggles for the mastery in your soul, and burdens the conscience, when unbelief clouds the mind, go to the Saviour. His grace is sufficient to subdue sin. He will pardon us, making us joyful in God. {AG 259.4}

As I hang dependently, repenting on His bosom and I can’t see myself getting there go the Saviour. That is the joy of the Lord.

Many are spiritually weak because they look at themselves instead of at Christ. . . . Christ is the great storehouse from which on every occasion we may draw strength and happiness. Why, then, do we withdraw our eyes from His sufficiency to look on and bemoan our weakness? Why do we forget that He is ready to help us in every time of need? We dishonor Him by talking of our inefficiency. Instead of looking at ourselves, let us constantly behold Jesus, daily becoming more and more like Him, more and more able to talk of Him, better prepared to avail ourselves of His kindness and helpfulness, and to receive the blessings offered us. As we thus live in communion with Him, we grow strong in His strength, a help and a blessing to those around us. {AG 259.2}

Is it possible to be blameless when Jesus comes? Can you see a possibility? As you are crying, He is crying. As you are overwhelmed with your sins? He was overwhelmed with your sins and as He cried, the Father lifted Him up. That is the righteousness of Christ in living engagement.

Amen.