John Thiel mp3 The Gathering of Gods Jewels Conference
We have covered our first two meditations that God regards us His people as His treasure. All through history, His church Israel, even if they were very sinful, they were His treasure and we saw how His treasure is formed as we looked at the development of a pearl.
Now we want to look at the formation or the development of the crystal carbon centred jewels because among God’s jewels. The pearls, precious stones, rubies, diamonds, opals, jasper, you name it, they are all part of God’s casket of jewels with all their different qualities and manifestations. All these different gemstones are not formed in exactly the same way. We saw it already, pearls developed completely differently to the precious crystals.
In God’s treasure we recognise individuals with totally different experiences unique to themselves. Every precious stone has an experience of a different development. What is the experience that forms a precious stone in God’s casket? What is the experience?
Diamonds
We will use the formation of a diamond. Most crystal formations that are jewels are formed under heat and pressure but diamonds are under more extreme than any of the others and the Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy speak of diamonds in God’s treasure.
Diamonds are constituted of carbon. Carbon makes up coal as well but coal has been treated differently to the carbon that makes up a diamond. Diamonds form deep down in the earth, estimated at about 150 kilometres down. They are therefore under extreme pressure. The estimation is 725,000 pounds per square inch and the temperature is 1,500 degrees celsius for this carbon element to develop into a diamond. Then by volcanic activity, they are pressed upwards to the surface in what is called kimberlite pipes.
There is the pressure that it comes from underneath, presses up the volcanic magna into pipes called kimberlite pipes and so you can imagine the kind of experience that this carbon makes under such pressure so deep down in the earth with such high temperature. Extremely, extremely severe. Can it be that God’s treasure, His people, undergo such a metaphorical formation? Let us examine God’s Word as to the formation of these jewels, these diamonds for God.
Job 30:26 When I looked for good, then evil came unto me: and when I waited for light, there came darkness. 27 My bowels boiled, and rested not: the days of affliction prevented me. 28 I went mourning without the sun: I stood up, and I cried in the congregation. 29 I am a brother to dragons, and a companion to owls. 30 My skin is black upon me, and my bones are burned with heat. 31 My harp also is turned to mourning, and my organ into the voice of them that weep.
Job is describing the intensity that he was being put under. Did you notice there he talked about heat? He talked about the dreadful pressure that he was going through.
Job 23:10 But he knoweth the way that I take, when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.
Gold is also formed in some form of terrible pressure so the trial that God’s people go through are indeed a trial that develops the jewel.
Isaiah 4:33 And it shall come to pass, that he that is left in Zion, and he that remaineth in Jerusalem, shall be called holy, even every one that is written among the living in Jerusalem: 4 When the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and shall have purged the blood of Jerusalem from the midst thereof by the spirit of judgment, and by the spirit of burning.
That’s an interesting language. Those that are left in Zion. Those that are left in God’s church have gone through judgment and burning. So yes, there is an experience that is metaphorically described in the formation of diamonds and jewels.
Psalm 88:6 Thou hast laid me in the lowest pit in darkness, in the deeps.
What did we just read? What did we just learn about the diamond? Deep down in the deep pits of the earth. ‘Thou hast laid me in the lowest pit in darkness and in the deeps.’
Psalm 88:7 Thy wrath lieth hard upon me, and thou hast afflicted me with all thy waves.
This is the experience of the formation of precious jewels. What a beautiful intonation that comes in here now that although the Lord takes God’s His people through the formation of extreme pressure in the pit, much burning yet He says:
Isaiah 54:11 O thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not comforted, behold, I will lay thy stones with fair colours, and lay thy foundations with sapphires. 12 And I will make thy windows of agates, and thy gates of carbuncles, and all thy borders of pleasant stones.
Isn’t that profound? Isn’t the Bible descriptive? As you look at the formation of stones, pearls, it’s all through suffering and God says – alright, although you are afflicted, although you are tossed and suffering, you will come forth sparkling.
Isaiah 54:17 No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their righteousness is of me, saith the LORD.
For them to develop that righteousness, for them to develop that precious pearl, as we saw already, the pearl has gone through formation in the sufferings of the flesh. Here the sufferings of people under pressure, and the heat is, as I said, the Word of God in the consideration of the formation of His jewels is so descriptive and so realistic that when we go and we look back at the harshness of our experiences, we don’t need overwhelmed. We’re not comforted as we read. You’re going through these experiences. There’s no comfort in them, but you’re going to come forth colourful. Beautiful.
Psalm 34:19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivereth him out of them all.
He doesn’t just deliver us out of the horrible experience, He uses the whole the horrible experience, He uses the pressure, He uses the heat to form beautiful sparkling characters. As the Word of God and under inspiration puts forth that we are brought from the quarry of the world, come souls, candidates for God’s treasure chest, for God’s diadem, for God’s crown.
They come from traumatic backgrounds of heat and pressure and as they come and are gathered and brought by the Lord for purification, they appear according to the pressure that they’ve come out of. They appear rough. They appear uncourteous. But as we know, we use the term, they might be rough diamonds. This is what we need to understand, the gem in the rough. In the Lord’s work, in missionary work, in my whole experience I’ve had to bear this in mind.
Never to be put off by the rough exterior of the ones that are paying attention to the handout that is being given through this ministry. They have come from traumatic backgrounds, and that’s why they behave the way they do, but there’s something very precious inside.
Some with whom you are brought in contact may be rough and uncourteous, but do not, because of this, be less courteous yourself. He who wishes to preserve his own self -respect must be careful not to wound needlessly the self -respect of others. This rule should be sacredly observed towards the dullest, the most blundering. What sort of a rule should we follow to the blundering to the to the dullest kind of people, the rule of honouring them with self -respect. This rule should be sacredly observed. What God intends, what God intends to do with these apparently unpromising ones, you do not know. He has in the past accepted persons no more promising or attractive to do a great work for him. His spirit, Moving upon the heart has roused every faculty to vigorous action. GW 122.3
Are you picking up what is being stated here? The person is a rough diamond. The good aspects in that person, covered by a rough, blundering external, God is able to do something with them. He intends to do with these apparently unpromising ones something of this nature. ‘He has in the past accepted persons where His spirit moving upon the heart has roused every faculty to vigorous action.’
Reflect back on your own experience. There have been good traits inside of us that have been roused by God into vigorous action. Before they were dormant, they were lying under a rough exterior, but God has aroused those vigorous faculties.
The Lord saw in these rough, unhewn stones precious material, which would stand the test of storm and heat and pressure. God does not see as man sees. He does not judge from appearances, but searches the heart and judges righteously. GW 122.3
Did you pick something up? If people who have been under extreme pressure, under extreme heat, and are brought from the quarry of the world, that hardened carbon that has And put through such pressure is going to be able to stand the storms and the heat and pressure that God’s people have to go through at the end. They’ve got it, they’ve been hardened already. That’s what this is saying, can you see it? Here’s the true digger for precious stones. He recognises the gemstone underneath the rough surface.
If we will walk humbly with God, if we will work in the spirit of Christ, none of us will carry heavy burdens. We shall lay them upon the great Burden Bearer. Then we may expect triumphs in the presence of God, in the communion of His love. From the beginning to the end every camp meeting may be a love feast, because God’s presence is with His people. 6T 63.2
But even in the rough they are precious in the sight of God by the fact that heat and pressure has made them what they are in the rough, how will they stand after God has refined them? No pressure can break them because they’ve already been strengthened through the pressure. Therefore, a diamond is indestructible. They will be just as indestructible as God’s true children.
Let people receive the light as presented in the Word of God, in truth, and there will be a steadfastness of purpose that will enable them to stand erect in moral independence amid difficulties and danger. A character is formed, barricaded by truth—a character that will abide the day of trial and test before us, however dark may be the pressure, however severe the tribulation that the day of God’s preparation may bring forth. The principle of righteousness works outward from within and makes itself felt. CT 241.5
The people that are brought out from the quarry or from the deep, from the depths of the earth, they have a quality about them, although they are rough on the outside. And that quality, as they are carefully hewn, we are going to go into that detail about the polishing and the cutting experience. When they have come through that, they will be precious stones because they were already prepared for that cutting and polishing by being so hardened in the quarry of the earth.
Let’s reflect back into our own life. Oh, how many times I’ve heard different ones telling me their sad experiences before they came to the message that we had. You got a rough background? Have you been treated in a harsh way? Can you reflect back into your own experience? You were hewn from rough treatment, yes? Have you come through? That’s why you’re here. The Lord has taken us from the severe experiences of our past and we often say oh those treatments that we have received have left a terrible mark on me. Don’t look at it that way. You have been hardened to bear the hardness of the future. Look at it that way. You’ve come through so far now. Have you got an assurance that you’re going to get right through to the end? If you’ve already gone through hard times in the past, while you weren’t even illuminated by God, you have been strengthened by the pressure and the heat. Experiences of extreme pressure. Severe heat. Have you been hardened? Like a diamond? Then accept that as a virtue. Don’t decry your past. Don’t say, “Oh, if only I would have had a better beginning.” No. If it’s been extreme, if it’s been under pressure, and in these last days, everybody just about can look back to extreme, hard, hot pressure, because we’re living in the very last days. Accept it as a virtue. Alright, you might be rough on the outside, but you’re something special. There is an internal gem that has been developed in the heat. It just needs to be finally polished and cut.
Ministers have been presented to me, with their course of action and their character before they were converted. 9MR 61.2
Did you like that? To be part of God’s church, to be a gem, we may have gone through such things that have made us hard, incorrigible, unbending, stubborn. Don’t decry this as though it was a dream. It is needed in order to fill important positions of trust in the cause of God. The incorrigible stubborn nature that put in its correct setting is needed to meet the pressures and the heat.
There must be a transformation of character. The leaven must work in the human heart, until every action is in conformity to the will of God, and they are sanctified; then they become the most valuable. It is this very kind of individuals that God can use in the different branches of His work. 9MR 61.2
If things have developed inside of you that makes you stubborn, that makes you incorrigible, that makes you very firm and decided in your own direction, when the Lord works upon you to polish you, to develop your character, to bring forth the colours, then the strength of this gemstone is of such a nature that God can use.
The individuals that God can use in different branches of the work because they won’t crumble under the pressure. Is it sinking in? As we become transformed by God’s love, you have an internal fortitude that will not crumble under the future heat and pressure. An internal fortitude. That’s what is meant with the hardness of the diamond.
God does not accept men because of their capabilities, but because they seek His face, desiring His help. God sees not as man sees. He judges not from appearances. He searches the heart, and judges righteously. “To this man will I look,” He declares, “even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word.” He accepts and communes with His lowly, unpretentious followers; for in them He sees the most precious material, which will stand the test of storm and tempest, heat and pressure. HP 68.4
He sees it because that’s what they came from. A diamond in the rough and a diamond after refinement is just as strong. Is that right? The roughness that has produced the diamond is a roughness or a firmness that is needed when the diamond is beautiful. This leads us to the subject that is to follow.
The next studies we will have a look at:
- Jesus as the pearl
- Cutting and polishing experience
While God regards jewels in the rough as precious, He wants to make them even more precious.
Christ says to man, You are mine. I have bought you. You are now only a rough stone; but if you will place yourself in My hands, I will polish you, and the luster with which you shall shine will bring honor to My name. No man shall pluck you out of My hand. I will make you My peculiar treasure. On My coronation day, you will be a jewel in My crown of rejoicing. HP 267.3
The Divine Worker spends little time on worthless material. Only the precious jewels does He polish after the similitude of a palace, cutting away all rough edges. This process is severe and trying; it hurts human pride. Christ cuts deep into the experience that man in his self-sufficiency has regarded as complete and takes away self-uplifting from the character. He cuts away the surplus surface, and putting the stone to the polishing wheel, presses it close, that all roughness may be worn away. Then, holding the jewel up to the light, the Master sees in it a reflection of Himself, and He pronounces it worthy of a place in His casket. Blessed be the experience, however severe, that gives new value to the stone.20 HP 267.4
New value, it’s already a valuable stone, just not in refinement, that’s all. A stone that is quarried from the world has already gone through its severe experiences. When the severe experience of cutting and polishing takes place, as I just read, they can bear that. Can you bear it?
The idea that we are picking up from this conference is that if I’ve come from the quarry of the world and I’ve already managed to keep on going, I haven’t gone along and committed suicide, I haven’t gone along under pressure to just throw the bundle in, I’ve stayed under the pressure to where I am now with the illumination of God. Whatever He’s going to do to me, I can bear that. Yes? He’s got to polish me some more. He’s got to get me so perfectly so that as he cuts and he polishes those facets in the diamond, I can bear that. Yes you can because you’ve come through to this point in time. will finally gather together.
