By John Thiel, mp3

God Loved the Sinner

The love of God extended to us needs frequent consideration; why? Why do we need to think about the love of God all the time; frequently? The reality is that unless we do, we will miss receiving it because God’s love is an unobtrusive love. He never presses His love upon us. If we are sick mentally, spiritually or physically, God has given us love to heal us but we need to actually drink that in. In His unobtrusive love, consider how unobtrusive this is. Many times we just express the words of John 3:16 and we miss some precious elements within them.

John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son,

Who does God love? The world, that means every human being He loves so much that He was prepared to give them His only begotten Son; but will all the world benefit?

John 3:16 …that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. 18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.

God loved the world, He didn’t want it to be condemned; they were condemned already. The law already condemns every sinner but God loved the sinner that He gave His only begotten Son. He says, here is my love, receive it. It’s a love of light, a love of illumination, but people loved sin. They didn’t love the consequences, but they loved sin, so God says, if you want to be free from the consequences of sin, receive my love. Notice how unobtrusive this is. You can do what you like, but here is my gift. It is beautifully expressed in His words in Deuteronomy:

Deuteronomy 30:19 I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, [that] I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live: 20 That thou mayest love the LORD thy God, [and] that thou mayest obey his voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto him: for he [is] thy life, and the length of thy days: that thou mayest dwell in the land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.

Make a choice. I don’t force myself upon you. One of the most beautiful representations of this that He loves so much that He wants so desperately to save and yet not force Himself, is described in the experience of the terrible disappointment of the disciples. They misunderstood His work on their behalf. After they suffered the terrible disappointment of Christ’s crucifixion and they thought that was the end of all their hopes, they were walking on the road to Emmaus and they heard Him speaking to them. When they came to their home they actually pressed Him to come and stay with them. He was making the move to move on and leave them to go home, and they said, no, you come to our home.

Had the disciples failed to press their invitation, they would not have known that their traveling companion was the risen Lord. Christ never forces His company upon anyone. He interests Himself in those who need Him. Gladly will He enter the humblest home, and cheer the lowliest heart. But if men are too indifferent to think of the heavenly Guest, or ask Him to abide with them, He passes on. Thus many meet with great loss. They do not know Christ any more than did the disciples as He walked with them by the way. {DA 800.3}

This is enclosed in that statement, that if any man believeth in Him, he may have eternal life. I have placed it before you, I am coming past you, will you believe? If you don’t, I move on, but if you do, I will come and spend time with you, says the Lord. God loved every sinner that He gave His Son.

What Did God Give With His Son?

1 John 5:10 He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son.

People who do not really receive the Son, don’t receive what God gave them. What was it that He gave them?

1 John 5:11 And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12 He that hath the Son hath life; [and] he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.

When Jesus acted as though He was moving on from the disciples, by the fact that they insisted that He would stay with them was where they received their life. We must insist that the gift of Jesus Christ remains with us. What is contained in the gift of Jesus? Firstly, eternal life which is a very broad term.

Eternal Life

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?

Is there anything missing that God would give us? He gives us Himself in His Son. He is the ruler of the universe, He holds the stars in control. Anything that may frighten you on earth, He is master over as we know, master of earth and sea. He has given us everything. Why do we still have anxiety? Why do we still have furrowed brows? Do you know Christ’s gift so much that all anxiety, fear and everything is gone? All disease will not frighten you, you can receive the full aspect that all anxiety, all fear, everything is gone. Again, to receive Jesus Christ means what He said in John chapter 4 where He was speaking to the woman at the well:

John 4:10 Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God…

If you knew the gift of God; what was that? He gave Jesus; if you knew that.

John 4:10 …and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.

She said, what is this?

John 4:13 Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water…

The one that He was asking her for a drink of.

John 4:13 …shall thirst again: 14 But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.

What are we to do with the water that He comes to give? We are to drink and unless we drink we will thirst again but if we drink, it will be a well of water springing up. This is the call of Revelation to all of us, this was uttered to the woman at the well but here is the call to all of us.

Revelation 22:17 And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.

Can you see what God is saying? You can take a horse to water but you can’t make it drink; you might give it plenty of salt so it will be thirsty. The fact is, that it must come from us whether we will drink or not.

If we let go of Jesus we have nothing to hold on to. . . . Perpetual grace in ever-flowing streams is blessing those who will, if athirst, come unto Him and drink. {FLB 99.3}

Perpetual grace in ever-flowing streams, will flow for us to drink if we will. If athirst, come unto Him and drink. Hence, during this hour, we want to drink, we want to find the quenching of our thirst, so that whatever we are still bereft of, we will know how to quench that thirst. I have been spending many hours in sharing God’s word to many people and I still find people saying help. I still find people needing something that I should give them but those who have been in the ministry for a period of time have been given the water of life. Why are they still wanting me to go and pour it into them? Think about it. Let us try to understand what kind of thirst is the thirst that He will quench.

Amos 8:11 Behold, the days come, saith the Lord GOD, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD: 12 And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the LORD, and shall not find [it]. 13 In that day shall the fair virgins and young men faint for thirst.

What is the self-evident thirst here; to drink what? The Word of the Lord. Strange, we have it in the Bible, we have it in Sr White’s writings, and people are still famishing. Why are people thirsting all the time and finally will faint? Why is it that I am bereft of the life-giving stream that can bubble up within me, that I am crying help! I am in a desperate state, I am so thirsty, I am so hungry, and I can’t get enough? Why not?

He who seeks to quench his thirst at the fountains of this world will drink only to thirst again. . {FLB 99.4}

Have you ever drunk a whole heap of water and you are still thirsty? I know that very well when I was bricklaying and sweating profusely. I am drinking water and the thirst continues. Because we are drinking and we are still thirsty in spiritual terms, we read:

Everywhere men are unsatisfied. They long for something to supply the need of the soul. Ibid

We have need, and I am there craving for that quenching and where do I go? What do I do? I am actually blocking the flowing stream by my own daily mind occupation.

Only One can meet that want. The need of the world, “the desire of all nations,” is Christ. The divine grace which He alone can impart, Ibid

What’s that? Which He alone can impart. There is no other name, there is no other way, and there is no other religion, but a personal discovery of the real Jesus.

is as living water, purifying, refreshing, and invigorating the soul. . . Ibid

When a person is totally thirsty, he is actually running down in the electrolyte balances in his system and he needs re-invigorating. There is only One that can do that. The famine will come according to Amos that people will be running from one end of the earth to the other and will find no deep quenching draughts. They will no longer receive the word of the Lord. This has often puzzled me. Do not the Christian churches continue to preach? Indeed they do, but the soul is not satisfied; why? It is because what they are preaching causes you to want to go and be with them again and again and you don’t get your thirst quenched. You don’t know how to drink for yourself. This is the challenge that I face as a servant of God that when I preach God’s word, it is the word of the Lord that others must be able to drink and find the quenching of their thirst.

Not only do we hear the word of the Lord, but we are also given the skill of how to really drink and find quenching of our spiritual thirst. The day will come when it will be too late; probation will have closed; that is the famine. God’s faithful people will no longer be around to communicate that living word.

Isaiah 8:21 And they shall pass through it, hardly bestead and hungry: and it shall come to pass, that when they shall be hungry, they shall fret themselves, and curse their king and their God, and look upward. 22 And they shall look unto the earth; and behold trouble and darkness, dimness of anguish; and [they shall be] driven to darkness.

This is very close upon this planet. We are very close to this famine in the land. I see it around me, people are running from one end of the earth to the other through the internet to hear the word of the Lord and very few are finding true quenching. At such a time when it is too late, there are those who have learned to drink at the fountain that comes from opening their heart as the disciples did to the Jesus who would help them out of that darkness.

Daniel 11:45 And he shall plant the tabernacles of his palace between the seas in the glorious holy mountain; yet he shall come to his end, and none shall help him.

How close is that?

Daniel 12:1 And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation [even] to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.

Daniel 12:3 And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever.

Notice in verse 3, those who are written in the book, they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever. In this time of trouble, there are going to be a people who are going to be able to stand that when the trouble strikes and it’s a hell on earth, they will shine at that time.

Daniel 12:10 Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly: and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand.

Why will they understand? They will understand because they have been drinking at the well of living water. They shall shine because they have opened their hearts to the rays of the Sun of righteousness. As they come to the close of probation, at that dreadful time, when everything heads to its final destruction, during that time when everything is crumbling around, Malachi 4:2 is theirs:

Malachi 4:2 But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall.

While the rest of the world that has rejected the drinking from the fountain, they will be famishing and finally destroyed, God’s people who will shine, they are receiving the rays of the Sun of righteousness that heal, that sustain them through the destructive elements of that terrible time. As per Daniel chapter 12, they will be purifying themselves beforehand. The healing source, the rays that shine with healing upon God’s people must be well entrenched now. If I am not now experiencing the healing rays and the deep draughts of that water of life, I will then be thirsting and famishing.

Heading towards that time and already now, there are pressures that keep on mounting up. We wish they would go away but they won’t. They are only going to get worse. How are you succeeding now when pressures are so heavy that you can hardly manage to get through? Are you thirsting and is there something lacking? As the pressure mounts up, we must learn now to drink and have the fountain of life within us.

A form of godliness will not save any. All must have a deep and living experience. This alone will save them in the time of trouble before us. {TMK 303.4}

What is your experience at the moment? Are you drinking deep and making a living experience in your own personal life? This alone will save them in the time of trouble before us.

Then their work will be tried, of what sort it is. If it is gold, silver, and precious stones, they will be hid as in the secret of the Lord’s pavilion. But if their work is wood, hay, stubble, nothing can shield them from the fierceness of Jehovah’s wrath. Ibid

Those who are willing to make any and every sacrifice for eternal life will have it, and it will be worth suffering for, worth crucifying self for, and sacrificing every idol for. The far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory outweighs every earthly treasure and eclipses every earthly attraction. {TMK 303.5}

Here we have a vivid representation from the Spirit of Prophecy the testimony of Jesus, that if we want to survive when it is a famine in the land, it is now that we must have a deep draught, a deep living connection with that water of life. We must know how to deal with every crisis that I’m going to meet. My heart is burdened as I know this to be true, that people who think the Lord is going to help me out of this crisis it’s going to go away; no, the crisis won’t go away. It’s that the Lord will help me to survive through it, that is the issue. When we are looking to this world to find relief, we will be sorely disappointed. I have fear of that for some souls that have not yet grasped hold of what I am trying to communicate.

Look at your own experience and see where you are ready to fold up because of the pressures and crisis that have come upon you. See where you have received help at a given time, then what have you done to survive without somebody stepping in and helping you? Your own personal drinking is what is needed to be able to survive those horrible future crises that are coming our way. We need now the essential water of life to apply the healing. We need now to drink so that we are familiar with the drinking and finding our restoration in every given time of need.

We believe without a doubt that Christ is soon coming. This is not a fable to us; it is a reality. We have no doubt, neither have we had a doubt for years, that the doctrines we hold today are present truth, and that we are nearing the judgment. We are preparing to meet Him who, escorted by a retinue of holy angels, is to appear in the clouds of heaven to give the faithful and the just the finishing touch of immortality. When He comes He is not to cleanse us of our sins, to remove from us the defects in our characters, or to cure us of the infirmities of our tempers and dispositions. If wrought for us at all, this work will all be accomplished before that time. When the Lord comes, those who are holy will be holy still. Those who have preserved their bodies and spirits in holiness, in sanctification and honor, will then receive the finishing touch of immortality. But those who are unjust, unsanctified, and filthy will remain so forever. No work will then be done for them to remove their defects and give them holy characters. The Refiner does not then sit to pursue His refining process and remove their sins and their corruption. This is all to be done in these hours of probation. It is now that this work is to be accomplished for us. {2T 355.1}

How is it going to be accomplished? It will be accomplished by drinking, by partaking of the life-giving stream to wash and by letting the light shine in to cleanse now. We need the pure understanding of the Lord rising with healing in His wings and to understand the love of God that brings healing.

…this is the time, above all others, when we may look for light from heaven. It is now that we are to expect a refreshing from the presence of the Lord. We should watch for the movings of God’s providence as the army of Israel watched for “the sound of a going in the tops of the mulberry trees”–the appointed signal that heaven would work for them {5T 728.2}

The time when David was told, when the mulberry trees move, then I will give you the victory. What are we doing? Are we drinking? Are we receiving the indications of God’s healing, restoring energies now?

It is to the thirsting soul that the fountain of living waters is open. {5T 729.2}

Do you remember; I have got it here for you, I have given it to you and it’s pouring?

God declares: “I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground.” To souls that are earnestly seeking for light and that accept with gladness every ray of divine illumination from His holy word, to such alone light will be given. It is through these souls that God will reveal that light and power which will lighten the whole earth with His glory Ibid

To give the last cry to come out of Babylon, when that last cry is given, there is just a few more people to be gleaned and then all those who are God’s children will know by experience how to drink to help them through that terrible time of famine. How is it with our soul? Our Scripture reading gave us the precious focal point of what God is prepared to do – now.

Psalm 103:1 Bless the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within me, [bless] his holy name. 2 Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits:

What is the salient word here? Forget not, we forget so easily. We forget what we have once heard that has lifted our soul and we are back down in the darkness again. Forget not.

Psalm 103:3 Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases; 4 Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies; 5 Who satisfieth thy mouth with good [things; so that] thy youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

If we are not drinking at the right fountain, we will not be renewed as the eagle. Here is the message from our Scripture reading amplified in the same page of the book Faith I Live By that I was reading before.

Many are suffering from maladies of the soul far more than from diseases of the body, and they will find no relief until they come to Christ, the wellspring of life. . . . Christ is the mighty Healer of the sin-sick soul. {FLB 99.2}

The famine that is in the land that is spreading is the lack of living practical application of the word people are suffering from maladies of the soul. They need to come to Christ the well-spring of life. He is the mighty healer of the sin-sick soul. Here is the healing that we need. Can you see the stimulation of our meditation here today?

How is it with my soul? Have an honest look, how is it with my soul? When life’s perplexities come like a swelling and overwhelming flood upon me oppressively, can I stand, have I stood? Have I learned the skill of drinking of the healing waters of life, to help me through that horrendous time? Examine ourselves. Many are suffering from maladies of the soul. Am I? Am I revealing in my own examination the depravity of my soul which reveals that I cannot stand when things fall down around me? Then if that’s the case, I need to learn now to drink of the healing waters of life and to learn the exercises by which I will survive through whatever comes in the future.

What is it that is referred to as drinking of the water of life that will see us through that famine that He will pour water upon the soul in the famine? What is it? This is the answer. Please tune in for your own salvation’s sake. Here is the answer of surviving:

The Answer

Psalm 63:1 A Psalm of David, when he was in the wilderness of Judah. O God, thou [art] my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is;

Here is the picture; thirsty, suffering, deep inside there is dearth. You are putting on a good front, I am surviving thank you very much, but deep down no you aren’t. What is it now?

Psalm 63:2 To see thy power and thy glory, so [as] I have seen thee in the sanctuary. 3 Because thy lovingkindness [is] better than life, my lips shall praise thee. 4 Thus will I bless thee while I live: I will lift up my hands in thy name. 5 My soul shall be satisfied as [with] marrow and fatness; and my mouth shall praise [thee] with joyful lips:

Have you got an answer here? Where will you and I in these last days find the quenching of my thirst? To see thy power and thy glory, so [as] I have seen thee in the sanctuary. The sanctuary? The very distinctive message of Adventism is where Adventists will find their soul-quenching support. He will hide thee in His pavilion. They are there by faith receiving and embracing the pictures and the beautiful water of life as revealed in the sanctuary. To us today, the heavenly sanctuary is open. I have made sure of this for all of us. All the sanctuary studies, all the three angels’ message studies, are there for you to engage in. You don’t have to study them out for yourself; they are already there; all you need to do is to go over them and drink, but as you go over them, you will make experiences that you will never lose.

Revelation 11:18 And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth. 19 And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament: and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail.

This is all a description of the last scenes up to the close of probation. Before the close of probation the nations were angry. It is all going there towards that end and in that period of time, the temple of heaven is open and the believers of God after the disappointment went into the most holy place. There they saw Jesus said Sr White. There they found their strength. How important is your study of the sanctuary message now? When did you last look at it? Did you wait for me to raise it again, or are you studying it carefully? We know about the doctrine of the sanctuary; that is not good enough. It is not good enough that we know the doctrine; I must drink and see my Lord in the sanctuary. I must understand this because out of the sanctuary comes life flowing water.

Ezekiel 47:1 Afterward he brought me again unto the door of the house; …

This is talking about the temple.

Ezekiel 47:1 …and, behold, waters issued out from under the threshold of the house eastward: for the forefront of the house [stood toward] the east, and the waters came down from under from the right side of the house, at the south [side] of the altar.

If you read the whole chapter, it actually tells you that from the sanctuary, from the throne of God, flows the living waters. He is looking at the sanctuary and water was coming out from under the door.

Ezekiel 47:12 And by the river upon the bank thereof, on this side and on that side, shall grow all trees for meat, whose leaf shall not fade, neither shall the fruit thereof be consumed: it shall bring forth new fruit according to his months, because their waters they issued out of the sanctuary: and the fruit thereof shall be for meat, and the leaf thereof for medicine.

Here to Ezekiel the prophet is revealed the story of the gospel that comes from the heavenly sanctuary. It is a river that gets deeper and deeper and deeper and people can wash therein; people can drink of it and the fruits of the trees of righteousness will be produced because they are occupying their mind with the water that flows from the sanctuary. Our meditation must be fed from the sanctuary.

The life of Christ that gives life to the world is in His word. It was by His word that Jesus healed disease and cast out demons; by His word He stilled the sea, and raised the dead; and the people bore witness that His word was with power. He spoke the word of God, as He had spoken through all the prophets and teachers of the Old Testament. {DA 390.3}

This is what we were just reading.

The whole Bible is a manifestation of Christ, and the Saviour desired to fix the faith of His followers on the word. When His visible presence should be withdrawn, the word must be their source of power. Like their Master, they were to live “by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” Matthew 4:4 Ibid

When we come face to face with some of these statements we say oh yes, I haven’t been reading as I should have. I haven’t spent much time in the word. There is our answer when you have to say that. That is why we are thirsty.

As our physical life is sustained by food, so our spiritual life is sustained by the word of God. And every soul is to receive life from God’s word for himself. {DA 390.4}

Did you pick that up? We are to receive life from God myself.

As we must eat for ourselves in order to receive nourishment, so we must receive the word for ourselves. We are not to obtain it merely through the medium of another’s mind. Ibid

That is what I am doing right now. It is the medium of what I have meditated about that I am sharing with you; now it’s up to you.

We should carefully study the Bible, asking God for the aid of the Holy Spirit, that we may understand His word. We should take one verse, Ibid

Now follow carefully; this is how you are to eat. This is how you are to receive your spiritual nourishment.

…we should take one verse and concentrate the mind on the task of ascertaining the thought which God has put in that verse for us. Ibid

How many of you read through a whole heap of verses or through a whole heap of Spirit of Prophecy pages? When you do that, can you remember everything you read? No. What must you do? You must take the thoughts and make them your own.

We should dwell upon the thought until it becomes our own, and we know “what saith the Lord.” Ibid

The only reason why I am standing here over years of seeing depravity in the ranks of Adventism is because that is what I have done. When I don’t do it, I begin to wither. What I am sharing with you is exactly that. As I sit down and prepare myself to share God’s word with you, my belly is like a fountain; It comes one text after the other after the other because I have made those texts my own. That is what I need when I am in trouble. The Lord in His wonderful love has brought healing to my soul and I am standing here to plead with you to do the same thing. That is what Apostle Paul meant when he said, follow me as I follow Christ. Don’t follow me in terms of; John, please tell me what to do; no, follow me in looking at God’s word. You must do the same thing. In God’s wonderful way, He has given me the assistance to be able to put the word in front of people so that if they will diligently look at it and make it their own, they will have the picture in their mind. That is how the water becomes deeper and deeper running from the sanctuary.

Let us conclude with just one beautiful glimpse which is going to warm your heart and fill you with joy that when you need it most if you make it your own, you will have the water of life in the desert. This is just one exercise but there are many others. Let’s go simply to the exercise of the sanctuary where the water flows from.

The Sanctuary

In the sanctuary of the Hebrews there was a sacrifice. As you study the sacrifice that was made; the lamb that was slain for the sinner’s sins, we have this beautiful declaration that I must read and take the thought, ascertain what is the thought in this text and then dwell upon it until it becomes my own.

Hebrews 9:27 And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:

Have you got the thought? Where are you going? We all have to die. It is appointed to man once to die, but after that the judgment.

Hebrew 9:28 So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.

This is what you must make your own, as your own property; the thought in here.

Jesus came and was offered as the lamb was sacrificed in the court of the sanctuary. He died with my sins, He perished with my sins, but He rose again and He will appear the second time without sin unto salvation. Is that yours? Are you taking that thought; are you pondering upon it?

Let me help you. The thought that is contained in this Scripture, meditate upon it, make it your own; don’t just read it and say; now I know. No, the important thing is to drink, to actually find life giving energies, power. That can only happen as we drink. Remember the Lord puts this past us but it’s what we do with it that makes the difference. As we meditate upon the sacrifice, there is something to meditate about.

Amid the awful darkness, apparently forsaken of God, Christ had drained the last dregs in the cup of human woe. {DA 756.3}

As the people brought their lamb and they slaughtered the lamb, they didn’t think what the lamb was feeling did they? When Jesus hangs on the cross, we don’t actually feel what He is feeling until we meditate upon it. That is what it says, here is the beautiful meditation. He drained the last dregs in the cup of human woe.

In those dreadful hours He had relied upon the evidence of His Father’s acceptance heretofore given Him. Ibid

At the moment He said, my God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me? But now He was thinking, so must you.

He was acquainted with the character of His Father; {DA 756.3}

How many beautiful Bible texts have you read in the past of the character of the Father, and you can remember the love tokens that He has communicated to you?

He understood His justice, His mercy, and His great love. By faith He rested in Him whom it had ever been His joy to obey. And as in submission He committed Himself to God, the sense of the loss of His Father’s favor was withdrawn. By faith, Christ was victor. Ibid

Are you frequently meditating on this? I have read it many times before; how much time do you spend on that? There are lots of things you can think about in the church; this person isn’t so nice and that person has done wrong to me and this and that and the other thing and the next minute you have forgotten what I have just read. This is where our dearth comes from. It is written that while we occupy our mind with the dearth around us, we will famish. We are to drink and keep this indelibly printed in our mind so that when the final close of probation picture comes, I will have a well of water springing up in my mind. There it is, just one, the sacrifice of the sanctuary, but there is more to the sanctuary. There is more to think about. There is so much in the sanctuary, not just the sacrifice but the High Priest. There is much to meditate about.

Hebrews 3:1 Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling…

God is calling, do you remember? The Spirit and the bride say come, come and drink; brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling

Hebrews 3:1…consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus;

What is He saying? Consider Him; stop to look at Him in the sanctuary, the High Priest.

Hebrews 3:2 Who was faithful to him that appointed him, as also Moses [was faithful] in all his house.

What does this generate as you read this text? Moses; there is lots to think about there. Moses was faithful and now He is going to send another person in the place of Moses, that’s Jesus. As your mind meditates on these things because you have made them your own before, it all becomes so meaningful now.

Hebrews 3:15 While it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation.

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

What is flowing from the sanctuary? Jesus your High Priest; consider Him. As we are struggling with our perplexities, as they get thicker and thicker and I am left alone in the wilderness, Jesus is right there as my high priest and I have something to gaze upon. Something to appreciate that He is really, really there with me if I have been drinking and made these things my own. What is contained in Revelation as I have seen Him in the sanctuary?

Revelation 1:17 And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last: 18 I [am] he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.

Meditate on that Scripture. It is loaded with the precious thought that He, the Lamb, died and now He is risen and He is my personal High Priest. I Am now… I died and I have risen again. If you will become part of Me as I have come to the atonement with you, you will not perish. The overwhelming sense of the anxieties and the fears and the things that will happen to us as we go through these horrifying end time disasters, we will be wonderfully supported in that time. I have made the water of life my own. Here is the ear of faith in the midst of bereft trouble.

…Though now He is hidden from mortal sight, the ear of faith can hear His voice saying, Fear not; I am with you. “I am He that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive forevermore.” Revelation 1:18. I have endured your sorrows, experienced your struggles, encountered your temptations. I know your tears; I also have wept. The griefs that lie too deep to be breathed into any human ear, I know. Think not that you are desolate and forsaken. Though your pain touch no responsive chord in any heart on earth, look unto Me, and live. {DA 483.1}

This is our High Priest speaking. Every experience that will come our way, Jesus has been through. In the close of probation when He felt that that was the end, there was life and we will have life by the knowledge and by drinking of this beautiful word. Taking a Scripture, meditating upon it, making it my own while I dwell upon it and then I will have something.

Many are suffering from maladies of the soul far more than from diseases of the body, and they will find no relief until they come to Christ, the wellspring of life. . . . Christ is the mighty Healer of the sin-sick soul. {FLB 99.2}

As we are going through these experiences, we will no longer be in a state of sickness. We will no longer be in a state of depravity; we will be feeling the healing rays of God’s love. If we don’t drink we will sense no healing.

Do you remember how to drink? Take one Scripture and seek to discern the thought of God in it for you. Hold it and meditate upon it until you have made it your own. That is what it means to drink. Let us open our hearts to the magnanimous words of God which is what we are to do; drink. God is saying, I love you enough that I gave my only begotten Son for you. Make it your own. Meditate on it. I gave all heaven with Him, eternal life if you will receive Him. He died with your sins, hear Him cry your cry, where are you God, I have lost you. Now He is before me God says, representing you to me. What is He saying? What is Jesus saying about you and me? This is what we need to hold dear to our bosom and nothing will destroy our stability. We will be healed, we will be restored. This is what Jesus is saying as our High Priest to the Father.

John 17:24 Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am;

He Jesus wants you there.

John 17:24…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.

This is the love, life giving, healing love. This is Jesus speaking. Are you making Him in those words your very own? I want to conclude with Isaiah 43. This is the Father and you want to take Him personally.

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. 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. 3 For I [am] the LORD thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour….

Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego took those words for real, didn’t they? The fire did not burn them. You and I must stand through the horrendous future and as I take these things,make them my own and drink them as I have laid it out before you, then these words belong to you. Thus saith the Lord I have redeemed thee, I have called [thee] by thy name; thou [art] mine. You know it because the knowledge of Jesus in the sanctuary is yours. When you pass through the waters, through the rivers and through the fire, you have nothing to fear. Try to trust Him, rejoice in Him, drink Him in. This is my prayer, in Jesus’ name.

Amen.