John Thiel mp3
To deal with the subject of the close of probation for Sabbath keepers, we need to understand correctly the Gospel. We must turn our thoughts to the work of Jesus Christ in the plan of salvation, understand the fall of man, and know by experience the hopeless condition of a sinner and the power of sin over them, and how we are to be saved from this condition by Jesus Christ who came to save us.
What is meant by the salvation of Jesus? Is He able to really save us from sin? When the question is asked in Hebrews where it says that He is able, we may wonder, is it really possible?
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.”
Jesus is able to save us how much? To the most, to the uttermost. The question that poses itself here is, what is the uttermost? Let’s read the words of Jesus in reference to this.
Matthew 5:48 Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.
What are we to be? Perfect, even as our Father is perfect—perfect as God. God is speaking specifically to the Hebrews, the believers. God speaks abundantly:
Leviticus 19:2 Speak unto all the congregation of the children of Israel and say unto them, you shall be holy; for I, the Lord your God, am holy.
We are to be saved from unholiness, from impurity, from imperfection, to holiness, to righteousness, to perfection.
1 Peter 1:15 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.
What is the uttermost? To be holy in what? In all manner of conversation. All manner. Does that leave anything out? Perfection, holiness, righteousness is exactly as the Bible puts it—nothing missing.
Jude tells us this abundantly in Jude 1:24. There’s just one chapter in Jude.
Jude 1:24 Now unto Him that is able to keep you from falling and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy.
The holiness, the perfection that we are to gain is one in which we do not fall, in which we are faultless. The statement was that He is able to save us to such a position, to the uttermost. He is able to keep you from falling. He is able.
Now this raises that continual question that has been expressed over the years by many people; to be perfect like God—that is impossible. “I may as well give up now; I’m never going to get there.” This is what is being uttered, the question that is being posed, and yes, to the mind, this is impossible. Jesus made it quite plain to the disciples. Jesus had just said that it is easier for a rope to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to be saved. That poses a huge question in the minds of those who heard it – who then can be saved?
Mark 10:26 And they were astonished out of measure, saying among themselves, Who then can be saved?
Aren’t you and I astonished when the Bible says you’ve got to be perfect like God? Astonished out of measure. How can I? Jesus comes in with a very pertinent answer.
Mark 10:27 And Jesus looking upon them saith, With men it is impossible, but not with God: for with God all things are possible.
All things. He can; He is able. It is possible for Him to save the most hopeless case to perfection.
People say, “Okay, yes, we know He can do that. One day when He changes our sinful body, we’re going to be made perfect in heaven.” Yes, but just a moment. What is God able to do for us now here on this earth?
Titus 2:11 For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly…
Where? In heaven sometime? No:
Titus 2:11… in this present world.
Then the typical answer is, “Well, yes, in this present world we can be covered by Christ’s righteousness.” Well, yes, we can be, but we are also to live righteously. And does that mean sinlessly? This is the big question always: Is sinless righteousness, sinless perfection, possible here in this present world?
1 Peter 2: 21 For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps: 22 Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth: 23 Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously:
We are to follow Christ’s example. To do what? Who did no sin? Yes, we have sinned, but that’s what Jesus came to save us from—to learn from Jesus how to live a sinless life and reach a sinless perfection. Yes, He is able. We have read it. The Scripture is rampant with this, and the expectation for the 144,000 is that they have no fault, that they have no guile in their mouth.
The question is, why do people not gain such a thing?
Matthew 9:27 And when Jesus departed thence, two blind men followed him, crying, and saying, Thou Son of David, have mercy on us. 28 And when he was come into the house, the blind men came to him: and Jesus saith unto them, Believe ye that I am able to do this? They said unto him, Yea, Lord. 29 Then touched he their eyes, saying, According to your faith be it unto you.
The problem why people cannot reach perfection is that they don’t really believe that they can. Jesus asked, “Do you believe that I am able to do this—that I have promised to do, to present you faultless before the throne of God? To live in this present world with a perfect, holy, righteous life? Do you believe that I can do that? According to your faith, so be it unto you.” Many people stagger at this concept.
Romans 4:20 He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; 21 And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform. 22 And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness. 23 Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him; 24 But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead; 25 Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.
He (Abraham) staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strong in faith, giving glory to God.” What was that? He staggered not. He was strong in faith, giving glory to God. “And being fully persuaded that what He had promised, He was able also to perform; and therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness. Now it was not written for his sake alone that it was imputed to him, but for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on Him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead, who was delivered for our offenses, and was raised again for our justification.”
Can you see the challenge to believe what God has promised? According to what we have been reading, God has promised that we should be perfect as He is. That is what Jesus came to do—to save us to the uttermost. Do we believe it or do we stagger?
This whole work of salvation is something which hangs on God’s beautiful promises. It says here that there are a people who do not believe this. They say, “You will never be perfect.” They worship God; they have a form of godliness, but what do they deny?
2 Timothy 3:5 They have a form of godliness but deny the power thereof. From such, turn away.
To believe that God has the power to make me perfect, sinless, righteous, is to accept His power. Then comes the question; how? How are we ever going to get there? Because we need to understand God’s operation so we can cooperate with Him. How does that happen? These are all important scriptures now because this is the introduction of how probation closes for Sabbath keepers. We cannot study that subject without understanding these principles.
Zechariah 4:6. Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, this is the word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel, saying, not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts.
Zerubbabel was confronted by an impossibility, and God came to show him in vision the manner by which his impossibility would be resolved—not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord.
What does that mean? His Spirit.
2 Corinthians 3:18 But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass or a mirror the glory of the Lord.
Remember what God’s glory is; it’s His character. We are changed by beholding that character. We are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord. Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit. We are to be changed from our own sinfulness to God’s beautiful character—from character to character by the Spirit of the Lord. This is further expressed in John 1:
John 1:12 But as many as received Him, Jesus Christ, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name, which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
The Holy Spirit is to produce and create in humanity God’s perfect glory character—to become perfect sons of God.
John 3:5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. 8 The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.
Scripture clearly shows that God is able, through His Spirit, to produce a people on earth who will believe in His power and submit to it. Ultimately, by His Spirit, individuals will reach a condition of growth from glory to glory, much like a baby growing through childhood into perfect manhood. As Jesus Himself became a baby and grew to adulthood, the way it’s expressed in Hebrews 5 puts it very neatly for us all to appreciate where we are to be.
Hebrews 5:5 So also Christ glorified not himself to be made an high priest; but he that said unto him, Thou art my Son, to day have I begotten thee. 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; 8 Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered; 9 And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him;
He was born a human being here on earth. Jesus was born, obeyed like we are to be born again. He learned obedience by the things which He suffered, and He was made perfect. We are to become as perfect as Jesus was, as sinless as He was. This was all due to the power of the Spirit.
This is the case for everyone, but then God orchestrated events so that He would raise a people. A community was involved—the twelve apostles—through whom Jesus prepared His church. As we pursue this meditation of reaching that perfection through His work of the Holy Spirit in a people, we turn to Ephesians. Here are the gift patterns by which God is going to achieve His plan for us:
Ephesians 4:11 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; 12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: 13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:
We are to grow up into that perfection of Jesus Christ by the work of the Holy Spirit. When you go to the history of God’s church the apostles were there, and they received the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. As they received that, then they went out and proclaimed the message to the people around them. The people were benefited by what the Holy Spirit did to the apostles.
The disciples prayed with intense earnestness for a fitness to meet men in their daily intercourse, to speak words that would lead sinners to Christ. Putting away all differences, all desire for supremacy, they came close together in Christian fellowship. They drew nearer and nearer to God, and as they did this, they realized what a privilege had been theirs, being permitted to associate so closely with Christ. AA 36
The experience of the disciples brought them to the point where they received the full outpouring of the Holy Spirit. This is what is called the early or former rain. The church, united and filled with the Spirit, grew to perfection—that was God’s ultimate conclusion.
We want to explore the work of God’s people from the former rain to the latter rain and the close of probation.
Acts of the Apostles,” pages 54 and 55. It reads like this: “
Under the figure of the early and the latter rain, that falls in Eastern lands at seedtime and harvest, the Hebrew prophets foretold the bestowal of spiritual grace in extraordinary measure upon God’s church. The outpouring of the Spirit in the days of the apostles was the beginning of the early, or former, rain, and glorious was the result. To the end of time the presence of the Spirit is to abide with the true church. AA 54.2
Here lies the challenge for every believer in Jesus Christ; are we part of that true church? Until today, the promise of the former and the latter rain is expressed in Joel. What was involved here?
In the Remnant Whom the Lord Shall Call
Joel 2:28 And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions: 29 And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit. 30 And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke. 31 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come. 32 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the LORD hath said, and in the remnant whom the LORD shall call.
Here is the Scripture for our time. How do we know it’s for our time? Because hasn’t the sun been turned into darkness already? Hasn’t the moon been turned into blood ever since the closing work of the judgment hour message from 1844 onwards? Haven’t there been wonders in the heavens and the earth—blood and fire and pillars of smoke? Aren’t we seeing that? Haven’t we seen it ever since the atomic bomb has been unleashed, the first time in Hiroshima. It is at this time that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be delivered; for in Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, and in the remnant whom the Lord shall call—the remnant. So, what is the purpose of the latter rain? Here are important guidelines for understanding what the latter rain is meant to achieve: the Holy Spirit, through whom we are to be perfected.
At that time, the latter rain, or refreshing from the presence of the Lord, will come to do what? To give power to the loud voice of the third angel and prepare the saints to stand in the period when the seventh last plague shall be poured out. It is the latter rain which revives and strengthens them to pass through the time of trouble. Their faces will shine with the glory of the light which attends the third angel. EW 86
The work will be similar to that of the day of Pentecost. As the “former rain” was given, in the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at the opening of the gospel, to cause the upspringing of the precious seed, so the “latter rain” will be given at its close, for the ripening of the harvest. GC 88 611.1
The Holy Spirit commenced the work in His church to bring them to the point of growing until they will be like God, like Jesus, their head. This is all that I had been introducing our minds. This is the work of the Holy Spirit to bring to perfection the grain, the people. Notice that the latter rain comes for refreshing.
Many have in a great measure failed to receive the former rain. They have not obtained all the benefits that God has thus provided for them. The Holy Spirit is given in the former and the latter rain. These are the benefits that God is able to present to the people. They expect that the lack will be supplied by the latter rain, when the richest abundance of grace shall be bestowed. They intend to open their hearts to receive it. They are making a terrible mistake. The work that God has begun in the human heart in giving His light and knowledge must be continually going forward. Every individual must realize his own necessity. The heart must be emptied of every defilement and cleansed for the indwelling of the Spirit. It was by the confession of sin, by earnest prayer and consecration of themselves to God, that the early disciples prepared for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. The same work, only in greater degree, must now be done. Then the human agent had only to ask for the blessing and wait for the Lord to perfect the work concerning him. Testimony to Ministers page 507.
Can you see this work of perfection being discussed here?
It is God who began the work, and He will finish His work, making man complete in Jesus Christ. But there must be no neglect of the grace represented by the former rain. Only those who are living up to the light they have will receive greater light. Unless we are daily advancing in the exemplification of the active Christian virtues, we shall not recognize the manifestations of the Holy Spirit in the latter rain. It may be falling on hearts all around us, but we shall not discern or receive it. Testimony to Ministers page 507.
In Acts, you will notice that the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, the refreshing, is actually directly connected with gaining perfection.
Acts 3:19 Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord.
The former rain comes in and commences the work of perfecting and it must be an ongoing process which produces confession and repentance and putting away the past and continuing to develop and to come to a point where we do not neglect the grace of the former rain and live up to the light that we have received so that we can receive greater light and then reach what God wants us to reach—His own righteousness. And that means blotting out, according to Acts 3:19. Blotting out our sins—totally blotted out.
There are some who, instead of wisely improving present opportunities, are idly waiting for some special season of spiritual refreshing by which their ability to enlighten others will be greatly increased. They neglect present duties and privileges and allow their light to burn dim while they look forward to a time when, without any effort on their part, they will be made the recipients of special blessing by which they will be transformed and fitted for service. AA 54
To be serving the Lord, I need to be transformed, and people are looking for some future time instead of understanding the present responsibilities to reach that perfection.
Today you are to have your vessel purified that it may be ready for the heavenly dew, ready for the showers of the latter rain. For the latter rain will come, and the blessing of God will fill every soul that is purified from every defilement. Evangelism 702
How are we understanding as we are progressing here through these quotes? To come to the latter rain through the work of the former rain, which is the Holy Spirit working, changing us, transforming us into perfection. As we come to the latter rain, which is the final outpouring of the Holy Spirit, what does it say? It will only come upon those whom God will fill—every soul that is purified from how much defilement? From every defilement.
Here we see that the concept that it is impossible to live an undefiled, sinless life is shutting people out from receiving the latter rain and the finishing work. The three angels’ messages are to produce a people that are going to be sealed in their foreheads, and then when they have finished, probation closes.
By their lack of devotion and piety and their failure to reach a high religious standard, they make other souls contented with their position. People contented with their position not reaching a higher standard. Men of finite judgment cannot see that in patterning after these men who have so often opened to them the treasures of God’s Word, they will surely endanger their souls. Jesus is the only true pattern. Everyone must now search the Bible for himself upon his knees before God, with the humble, teachable heart of a child, if he would know what the Lord requires of him. However high any minister may have stood in the favor of God, if he neglects to follow out the light given him of God, if he refuses to be taught as a little child, he will go into darkness and satanic delusions and will lead others in the same path. Not one of us will receive the seal of God while our characters have one spot or stain upon them. It is left with us to remedy the defects in our characters, to cleanse the soul temple of every defilement. Then the latter rain will fall upon us, as the early rain fell upon the disciples on the day of Pentecost. 5T 214.1-2
To receive the latter rain, what must happen? Not one of us will ever receive the seal of God while one spot or stain is upon us. We are to remedy the defects in our characters, to cleanse our temple of every defilement. Then the latter rain will come upon those people. In other words, the work of the former rain is to produce such a people that the latter rain can come and complete the work.
There we have a very vivid representation of the time of the latter rain, which is to be the completing of a people who will become perfect.
Unless we are daily advancing in the exemplification of the active Christian virtues, we shall not recognize the manifestation of the Holy Spirit in the latter rain. It may be falling on hearts all around us, but we shall not discern or receive it. If we do not place ourselves in an attitude to receive both the former and the latter rain, we shall lose our souls, and the responsibility will lie at our own door. TM 507-508
The latter rain is going to be poured out and is being poured out. But there is a tragedy here; the people who do not believe that we can be without sin and do not put their work into harmony with the work of the Holy Spirit, they will miss out at the time of the latter rain. They will not even recognise it, let alone be benefited by it. Here we conclude with some important quotes to really make it abundantly clear why Sabbath keepers, why Seventh-day Adventists, who do not participate in this work, who do not even believe that they can be made perfect, are going to find their probation closing by rejecting the latter rain, because they cannot even recognise it.
As the storm approaches, a large class who have professed faith in the third angel’s message but have not been sanctified through obedience to the truth abandon their position and join the ranks of the opposition. By uniting with the world and partaking of its spirit, they have come to view matters in nearly the same light. When the test is brought, they are prepared to choose the easy, popular side. Men of talent and pleasing address who once rejoiced in the truth employ their powers to deceive and mislead souls. They become the most bitter enemies of their former brethren. When Sabbath keepers are brought before the courts to answer for their faith, these apostates are the most efficient agents of Satan to misrepresent and accuse them and by false reports and insinuations to stir up the rulers against them. GC 608
Tell me, do these people who have not been sanctified through obedience to the truth and unite with the world, when the test is brought, do they become hopelessly lost? Is this the close of probation for them? Obviously, because they can’t receive the latter rain that is actually going to be poured out to the others.
God’s people are going to be standing in the courts, giving the last call. In the courts, there will be thousands who will hear who have never heard before. The very people who were supposed to be giving that message but have not believed in its purifying exercises will turn against these faithful people in the courts.
Probation closes for Seventh-day Adventists who have once been together with the faithful. They don’t believe and accept the work of purification. But those who receive, they have the power and the light, and they work, and they give the call. That’s Revelation 18:1-4, the Revelation 18 angel that gives the message that has been dropped by the people who were supposed to be the third angel people. Of Babylon at the time brought to view in this prophecy, it is declared this is the Revelation 18 Angel.
Her sins have reached unto heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities. She has filled up the measure of her guilt, and destruction is about to fall upon her. But God still has a people in Babylon, and before the visitation of His judgments, these faithful ones must be called out that they partake not of her sins and receive not of her plagues. Hence, the movement symbolized by the angel coming down from heaven, lightening the earth with his glory and crying mightily with a strong voice, announcing the sins of Babylon. In connection with this message, the call is heard, ‘Come out of her, my people.’ These announcements, uniting with the third angel’s message, constitute the final warning to be given to the inhabitants of the earth. GC 604.1
Watch the remnant, the little remnant that we read of in Joel. He is to be with Jerusalem and the remnant. Watch the remnant now. They have been pushed out by their brethren, and these other brethren become their most bitter enemies.
I heard those clothed with the armor speak forth the truth with great power. It had effect. Many had been bound, some wives by their husbands and some children by their parents. The honest who had been prevented from hearing the truth now eagerly laid hold upon it. All fear of their relatives was gone, and the truth alone was exalted to them. They had been hungering and thirsting for truth. It was dearer and more precious than life. I asked, ‘What had made this great change?’ An angel answered, ‘It is the latter rain, the refreshing from the presence of the Lord, the loud cry of the third angel. EW 271
You notice then that the latter rain, the Revelation 18 angel, the other voice from heaven, combining with the third angel’s message, is the final work to produce a people to come out of Babylon and be faithful. But who is it given by? Who are giving the message? It is the little remnant, the faithful people. They are giving the message. All that have been misguided and are still wanting to follow the Lord, they will be called out. By whom? By the remnant.
When the third angel’s message closes, mercy no longer pleads for the guilty inhabitants of the earth. The people of God have accomplished their work. They have received the latter rain, the refreshing from the presence of the Lord, and they are prepared for the trying hour before them. Angels are hastening to and fro in heaven, and angels returning from the earth announce that His work is done. The final test has been brought upon the world, and all who have proved themselves loyal to the divine precepts have received the seal of the living God. Then Jesus ceases His intercession in the sanctuary above; He lifts His hands and with a loud voice says, ‘It is done!’ And all the angelic hosts lay off their crowns as He makes the solemn announcement, ‘He that is just, let him be unjust still; and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still; and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still; and he that is holy, let him be holy still.’ Every case has been decided for life or death. Christ has made the atonement for His people and blotted out their sins. The number of His subjects is made up. The kingdom and dominion and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven is about to be given to the heirs of salvation, and Jesus is to reign as King of kings and Lord of lords. GC 613.2
Did you follow the quotes carefully and identify the sequence of the close of probation? Who received the latter rain and gave the loud cry? It is the people who have appreciated the need of cleaning their lives from all impurities. It is the people who, by the grace of God, have put away their wrongs and purified themselves from all iniquity and imperfections. They receive the latter rain, and then they give the loud cry.
But what have their brethren done? Their brethren have not been able to recognise the work because of their false understandings and their rejection of the work of the former rain to take them to perfection. They don’t believe that. They have heard it; they were Adventists, but they don’t believe it. As they come to the test—and we know where those tests came to Adventists in the First World War and there in 1888, when the Revelation 18 angel came—they rejected it. They rejected it because they could not recognise the Holy Spirit, and for them, probation has closed because they will reject the loud cry as well.
It is only those people in Babylon who have been misguided by these false doctrines and teachings, but who wanted salvation, that will see it as they hear the little remnant proclaiming the last message: “Come out of her, my people.” Those people will then come out and be sealed. This is the progressive probation closing events ever since 1844 to the very end. Probation closes for Sabbath-keeping three angels’ message people before it closes for the people that they have to call out.
May God help us to believe that He can make us pure and sinless, because if we don’t believe that, how can we make progress under the work of the Holy Spirit in the former rain that leads us to confession of sin and our sinfulness and of our faults? Then the Holy Spirit can fulfill His work with us. It is my prayer that we will be among that people that are spoken of in Revelation 14:1—the 144,000 standing on the sea of glass, and they have no fault; they have no guile. This is the work that we must be cooperating in to put away all of our sins. Confess them so that the refreshing of the latter rain will take us up and help us to stand to give the last call to the others out there.
May God help us that we will not only get to know the sequence of events but understand our personal walk with this subject. It’s my prayer. Amen.
