John Thiel mp3
Hebrews 12:25 See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven: 26 Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven. 27 And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. 28 Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear:.
Understanding the Shaking
The message of this hour is “Understanding the Shaking”—or to enlarge the title a little more, understanding your experience as you meet the shaking time in your time.
We are covering the subject of the last days, the work of the three angels and the Revelation 18 angel in the sealing work of the 144,000 and the loud cry that is totally, totally associated with that. That was our last two discourses. The one now is to appreciate that over this whole period of time of the sealing from 1844-48 through to the close of probation, there is a loud cry that we covered last week which swells from 1888 onwards.
As this sealing work associated with the loud cry is taking place, simultaneously and inseparably connected with this is the shaking.
The Sealing and the Shaking
Here we see that the sealing work associated with the loud cry is very much part of the shaking experience.
“Just as soon as the people of God are sealed in their foreheads—it is not any seal or mark that can be seen, but a settling into the truth, both intellectually and spiritually, so they cannot be moved—just as soon as God’s people are sealed and prepared for the shaking, it will come. Indeed, it has begun already.” Bible Commentary, from Bible Commentary, Volume 4, page 1161.
No futuristic thing in this. This is a present circumstance that has been identified under inspiration. The sealing of the 144,000, settling into the truth both spiritually and intellectually, is an experience which, when it has taken place inside of each individual, then an experience of shaking takes place—shaking that has begun already before 1902.
The sealing work under the Three Angels’ Messages involving the loud cry which we have established was commenced in 1888 with the message of Christ and His righteousness—that presentation of Christ and His righteousness as it came by Waggoner and Jones in 1888—did something to the church. It affected a shaking.
The Voice from God
Here is what we are considering from our scripture reading: that the Lord gives messages. As He gives the messages, is it up to the people how they respond to that message—the voice from God? He actually sort of strongly comes home to our conscience.
Hebrews 12:25 See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven: 26 Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven. 27 And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain.
In a relationship with God’s pure truth speaking to us—and it’s interesting, what is the Revelation 18:4, saying? Besides the three angels and that other angel of verses 1 to 3, there is another voice, and this voice is a voice from heaven, saying, “Come out of her, my people.”
There are messages that come to the inhabitants of this planet ever since the beginning of the time of the end, under the three angels and under that other angel and that other voice—that call for people to respond. If they reject, if they oppose, what will happen? It says that there will be a shaking so that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. This is what we need to understand.
The Millerite Movement and the First Shaking
Examine detail in regards to the shaking experience. When we look back to the experience of the Millerite movement back in 1844, what William Miller was presenting from the pure word of God—was it accepted by the Protestant churches? They rejected it in the majority and it created a shaking.
The faithful people that accepted that, at the voice of the first and the second angels’ messages—the second angel’s message said, “Babylon the great is fallen”—and as a consequence of those messages, what happened? They were shaken out of the Protestant churches for believing that message. They left the Protestant churches. Why did they leave them?
The Principle Behind Shaking
Here is the principle that I want to place a nail in a sure place from Christ.
“There is to be a shaking among God’s people. It will be the result of refusing the truth presented.” CT 363.5
That’s the principle behind shaking. When the shaking takes place, why does it take place? As a result of certain people refusing the truth. That’s exactly the counsel of our scripture reading: be careful not to refuse it, because by refusing, as they did at Mount Sinai, there was a shaking so that only that which cannot be shaken would remain. There is the description of the shaking and we want a further understanding.
The Development of Seventh-day Adventism
There in 1844, ’45 through to ’48, the development of the movement of Seventh-day Adventism took place because the churches refused. We’ve gone into that detail in our previous study. In the ranks of those who had been shaken out into the movement of Seventh-day Adventism, what is written next? In the ranks of those people who have left the Protestant churches to accept—because they accepted the Three Angels’ Messages—what next happens?
The Laodicean Message
“November 20, 1857, I was shown the people of God, and saw them mightily shaken. Some with strong faith and agonizing cries were pleading with God. Their countenances were pale and marked with deep anxiety, expressive of their internal struggle.” Testimonies, Volume 1, page 179.3
She describes these faithful ones who were struggling with all their might and then she says further down:
“Some I saw did not participate in this work of agonizing and pleading. They seemed indifferent and careless. They were not resisting the darkness around them, and it shut them in like a thick cloud. The angels of God left these, and I saw them hastening to the assistance of those who were struggling with all their energies to resist the evil angels,” 1T 180.2
There is the shaking—certain people are striving hard to remain loyal, and the other ones are careless, and there is that shaking and separating.
“I asked the meaning of the shaking I had seen, and was shown that it would be caused by the straight testimony called forth by the counsel of the true witness to the Laodiceans. This will have its effect upon the heart of the receiver and will lead him to exalt the standard and pour forth the straight truth. Some will not bear this straight testimony. They will rise up against it, and this will cause a shaking among God’s people.” 1T 181.1
The Spirit of Prophecy has just told us exactly what the meaning of the shaking is. In the ranks of those who had been shaken out of the Protestant churches, there would be a shaking in the ranks of those who are receiving the message of the Laodicean in the last church period of Revelation Chapter 3. That is the message that applies directly to these people who had been shaken out by the first and second angels’ messages. As the message of the Laodicean—the message of the true witness to the Laodiceans—as this is to take root among the people, there are people that rise up against it. That causes the shaking in the ranks of those who’ve been shaken out of the churches of Protestantism.
Time for the Message to Do Its Work
As we continue from that time of the shaking out and then the Laodicean message, we arrive after 1888 to remind us of this. In 1856 Sister White wrote how important the Laodicean message was.
“I was shown that the testimony to the Laodiceans applies to God’s people at the present time, and the reason it has not accomplished a greater work is because of the hardness of their hearts. But God has given the message time to do its work. The heart must be purified from sins which have so long shut out Jesus.” Testimonies, Volume 1.186
This is a strange message to be given to the people who had accepted the first and second.
“As God gave this message, He had to give it time to do its work.” Testimonies, Volume 1.186
The message of Laodicea causes a shaking, but it’s going to be given time. Just because it’s going to cause a shaking, doesn’t mean the shaking happens very quickly. It happens over a period of time because God is giving the message time to do its work.
“I saw that this message would not accomplish its work in a few short months. It is designed to arouse the people of God, to discover to them their backslidings, and to lead to zealous repentance, that they may be favored with the presence of Jesus and be fitted for the loud cry.” Testimonies, Volume 1.186
There is the loud cry coming into the picture, and the shaking is taking place that leads up to that.
“As this message affects the heart, it led to deep humility before God. Angels were sent in every direction to prepare unbelieving hearts for the truth. The cause of God began to rise, and His people were acquainted with their position.” Testimonies, Volume 1.186
“If the counsel of the True Witness had been fully heeded, God would have brought forth His people in greater power. Yet the efforts made since the message has been given have been blessed of God, and many souls have been brought from error and darkness to rejoice in the truth.” Testimonies, Volume 1.186
Here we are seeing that the shaking which is created by the Laodicean message is not dealt with in a few short months. It takes time.
The 1888 Message and Two Parties
A period of years.
“A new life is coming from heaven and taking possession of all God’s people.” Selected Messages, Book 2, page 113.
The new life, as she’s referring to, is the 1888 message.
But divisions will come in the church. Selected Messages, Book 2, page 113.
What will happen in the church? Divisions. Remember the shaking. There it is. Divisions will come in the church. Two parties will be developed. The wheat and the tares grow together for the harvest.
“They will not be turned from the present message which is already lighting the earth with its glory.” Selected Messages, Book 2, page 113.
Direct reference to the 1888 message of the Revelation 18 angel. There is one company that is faithfully presenting the message and holding on to that message, and they will not be turned from that message, and the others—the other side of that splinter.
Not One in Twenty
This statement is directly associated with this shaking, separating experience.
“It is a solemn statement that I make to the church, that not one in twenty” Christian Service, page 41.1
This was written in 1893
“Not one in twenty whose names are registered upon the church books are prepared to close their earthly history and would be as verily without God and without hope in the world as the common sinner. They are professedly serving God, but they are more earnestly serving Mammon.” Christian Service, page 41.1
“This half-and-half work is a constant denying of Christ.” Christian Service, page 41.1
She is perplexed—is that shaking? Isn’t that a description of the shaking? In Sister White’s time, in 1893, quite a few years after 1888, because these two companies have been developing, now the two companies are identified: not one in twenty, the faithful ones and the unfaithful ones in the majority.
“I lay down my pen and lift up my soul in prayer that the Lord would breathe upon His backslidden people, who are as dry bones.” Christian Service, page 41.1
Sad story.
The Continuing Shaking After 1888
Here we are appreciating that shaking has been going on since the Laodicean message in the Adventist faith people. They come to 1888, and their two companies are developed in reaction to that message. Some reject it and others receive it. That’s the whole principle behind here. The shaking takes place because there is a rejection of a truth. Bear that in mind all the way through.
From 1888, the shaking has been separating people within the church until finally we come through 1904, where the shaking was still bad. There in 1904, if you were to look at the history, there was a real problem with the leadership problem in 1904. Then we got to the First World War in 1914, where the shaking intensified.
Sister White’s Decision
In 1902, here is a question that many people say: “Well, if there was to be a separation, why didn’t Sister White leave the church?” This is a letter that she is writing to her two sons, Edson and Willie White. What does she say here?
In the night season many things are passing before me. The word of the Lord to me is: “Look on these things, and meditate on them. You may claim the rich grace of truth, which nourishes the soul. Have naught to do with controversy and dissension and strife,” Manuscript Releases, Volume 17, page 63.2.
We’re trying to understand the shaking. Sister White is being shaken here. She’s writing to her sons, and the Lord is saying to her, don’t look at the dissension and the controversy, because two parties are developed now. As she’s listening to the leadership and she’s going to the different discussion groups, she is distressed. The Lord is telling her, “Have nothing to do with controversy and dissension and strife, which bring darkness and discouragement to your soul.”
Can you identify what you need to do just from that statement? Don’t get involved in discussion, in controversy, in dissension. Truth is clear. Truth is clear, pure, savory.
“Avoid”—now this is counsel of the Lord to her:
Avoid all council meetings where there is dissension, and where men will neither credit My words and obey My lessons nor heed your counsel. 17 MR 63.2
I am now making decisions. I must remain away from conference meetings. I must not attend camp meetings. The spirit of drawing apart, as the result of judging one another, has become so common, and the churches are becoming so leavened with this spirit, that I have no desire to attend these meetings. 17 MR 64.2
These are holy convocations in the church. What does she say? I’ve made my decision. I’m not going to attend them. Isn’t she coming out? Isn’t she coming out from that which the unity of the church is meant to be? She’s coming out from among them that are in dissension and argument because of the two companies that have shaken into.
I have no desire to attend these meetings. After returning from them, it is often weeks before I am able to take up my neglected work. 17 MR 64.2
then she describes these terrible things that are happening.
“I am thrown into perplexity over their course. I desire now to attend to my special work, to have no part in any of their councils and to attend no camp meetings, nigh nor afar off. My mind shall not be dragged into confusion by the tendency they manifest to work directly contrary to the light that God has given me. I am done. I will preserve my God-given intelligence. 17 MR 64.3
Who Will Stand the Test?
Who are the people who can stay firm and not be shaken?
“The time has come when everything that can be shaken will be shaken.” Review and Herald, June 18—paragraph 1 and 2, June 18, 1901.
A direct reference to Hebrews.
“We are in the shaking time. Be assured that only those who live the prayer of Christ for unity among His disciples, working it out in practical life, will stand the test.” Review and Herald, June 18—paragraph 1 and 2, June 18, 1901.
Who will stand the test?
Only those who are answering the prayer of Christ for unity among His disciples, working it out in practical life, they will stand the test. Review and Herald, June 18—paragraph 1 and 2, June 18, 1901.
The enemy will make most determined efforts to ensnare those who should be co-workers with Christ. All who seek to qualify themselves for the Lord’s work are the objects of Satan’s attacks. But the unity and love for Christ for which Christ prayed is an impregnable barrier against the enemy. When there is dissension, when each one seeks the highest place, the prayer of Christ is not answered. The enemy finds easy access. Review and Herald, June 18—paragraph 1 and 2, June 18, 1901.
It’s the understanding of this and here we are seeing the detail of what is behind the shaking, to understand it.
The First World War and the Shaking – 1914
What happened in 1914? The First World War and with all this, the dissensions that were taking place, the people were now in the opportunity of either standing together, pressing together, or being splintered and separated. Remember the statement was, not one in twenty whose names are on the church records. What happened in 1914? Not one in twenty remained loyal and faithful to the subject of the commandments of God in the First World War—were shaken out in that shaking event.
Watch what the Spirit of Prophecy lays out before us in the forecast of what would happen. As they were shaken out, just like the Adventists were shaken out in the time of the First and Second Angels’ Messages, now the people are shaken out.
I was pointed to the providence of God among His people and was shown that every trial made by the refining, purifying process upon professed Christians proves some to be dross. The fine gold does not always appear. In every religious crisis, some fall under temptation. The shaking of God blows away multitudes like dry leaves. Prosperity multiplies a mass of professors. Adversity purges them out of the church. As a class, their spirits are not steadfast with God. They go out from us because they are not of us, for when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, many are offended. Testimonies, Volume 4, page 87, paragraph 1
Many are offended. They reject the truth, and it causes this separation.
The Gold and the Dross
Sister White says the gold and the dross will be mixed together, and the gold does not always appear. But what brings it forward? What brings the gold forward? It says there, trial—trial and the perplexities will bring this to the forefront. In the First World War, the trial came. What happened to the gold?
This is where Sister White is identified what was urged upon them to break the law, to not keep the Sabbath properly.
Those who step by step yielded to worldly demands and conformed to worldly customs will not find it a hard matter to yield to the powers that be rather than subject themselves to derision, insult, threatened imprisonment, and death. Testimonies 5, page 81, paragraph 1.
That’s what happened in the First World War. They were threatened, and a lot of them were shot dead. What did the Adventists do? They compromised.
“The contest is between the commandments of God and the commandments of men. Testimonies 5, page 81, paragraph 1.
When that contest took place there, what is next?
“In this time, the gold will be separated from the dross in the church.” Testimonies 5, page 81, paragraph 1.
That’s exactly what happened. The gold was separated from the church because the dross was so many that the majority stayed, whereas the minority was separated. That is part of the shaking experience.
Amos 5 and the Remnant
What is the consequence of such a shaking according to Amos 5:2 and 3?
Amos 5:2 The virgin of Israel is fallen; she shall no more rise. She is forsaken upon her land; there is none to raise her up.
When the daughter of Zion, the virgin daughter of Zion is fallen, will she rise again? No. What’s left?
Amos 5:3 For thus saith the Lord God, the city that went out by a thousand shall leave an hundred, and that which went forth by an hundred shall leave ten, to the house of Israel.
What’s left? A very small company that is separated from the large. Then the counsel is:
Amos 5:4 For thus saith the Lord unto the house of Israel, ‘Seek ye Me and ye shall live. 5 But seek not Bethel, nor enter into Gilgal, and pass not to Beersheba.
Don’t go to these places of worship.
Amos 5:5 For Gilgal shall surely go into captivity, and Bethel shall come to nought.
You are being separated. Don’t go back there. Be a little company, as it says there: if only 100 are left after a thousand, if only 10 are left after 100, you are now My people that are going to be faithful. You’ve been shaken out.
History Repeated
The description of the shaking that we are looking at is nothing else but the experience of Jesus and His disciples in the Jewish church.
“As in the days of Christ, so it has been rejected in every succeeding generation. Again and again the history of Christ’s withdrawal from Judea has been repeated. When the reformers preached the word of God, they had no thought of separating themselves from the established church, but the religious leaders would not tolerate the light, and those that bore it were forced to seek another class who were longing for the truth.” Desire of Ages, page 232, paragraph 3:
What has happened to Jesus by the leaders will happen all the way through the years, and we are just looking at that in regard to 1914—same event.
The Shaking Continues
Since 1914, what about the company that was separated in 1914? What will continue to be taking place as a shaking experience?
“The Lord Jesus will always have a chosen people to serve Him. When the Jewish people rejected Christ, the Prince of Life, He took from them the kingdom of God and gave it unto the Gentiles. God will continue to work on this principle with every branch of His work. When a church proves unfaithful to the word of the Lord, whatever their position may be, however high and sacred their calling, the Lord can no longer work with them. Others are then chosen to bear important responsibilities. But if these in turn do not purify their lives from every wrong action…” An Upward Look, page 131, paragraph 3, which is a manuscript written in 1903—God’s Purpose for His Church.
That principle of remaining true to the pure truth, no matter what the pressure is—that principle is going to continue to be a testing point whether there’s going to be more shaking. According to this statement, what happens after the gold had been separated in the First World War and the shaking?
The New Converts and New-Modelling
The new converts—follow very carefully now what can and does take place within the ranks of those who were faithful in the First World War. What can take place and what has taken place in the shaking experience?
“What was the origin of the great apostasy? How did the church first depart from the simplicity of the gospel?” Great Controversy, page 384, paragraph 5.
The attention is taken right back to the early Christian church.
“By conforming to the practices of paganism to facilitate the acceptance of Christianity,” Great Controversy, page 384, paragraph 5.
What happened? They were apostatising.
“During the lives of the apostles, the church remained comparatively pure. But toward the latter end of the second century, most of the churches assumed a new form. The first simplicity disappeared, and insensibly, as the old disciples retired to their graves, their children, along with new converts, did what? They come forward and new-modeled the cause.” Great Controversy, page 384, paragraph 5.
“As the founders, those who possessed the true spirit of reform, pass away, their descendants come forward and new-model the cause. While blindly clinging to the creed of their fathers and refusing to accept any truth in advance of what they saw, the children of the reformers depart widely from their example of humility, self-denial, and renunciation of the world. Thus the first simplicity disappears. A worldly flood flowing into the church carries with it the customs, practices, and idols.” Great Controversy, page 385, paragraph 1.
The Very Small Remnant
Is this what happened to the early faithful gold that came out of the Seventh-day Adventist church? Have the children of the reformers new-modelled the cause? Have they come up with some new ideas that are not in harmony with the pure truth? I know that’s the case. The shaking continues.
Isaiah Chapter 1:9 Except the Lord of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom, and we should have been like unto Gomorrah.
With a hundred left, ten to the house of Israel—a very small remnant.
Revelation 12 and the Remnant
Here is where our understanding is illuminated by the history that we have just seen: the shaking out of the Protestant churches, the development of the Seventh-day Adventist denomination, then the First World War and the shaking that separated the gold from the dross in the church. That became a company of a church, an organisation, and they new-modelled the cause. All that’s left at the very end is what?
There we have a description of the history of—into the church there, and the church after Jesus was taken away is persecuted. Of course, all the other accounts like the seven churches and all the other prophecies that deal with the process of the history of the church in Revelation 5 and 6 is all taken up here in Chapter 12, because after Jesus was taken away:
Revelation 12:13 And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child.
He began to persecute the Christian church.
Revelation 12:14 And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time and times and half a time from the face of the serpent.
This we know very well that finished in 1798, that time, times, and the dividing of time. Now we come to the ongoing history:
Revelation 12:15 And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood.16 And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth.
The persecution of God’s people over the 1,260 years was alleviated by what? The earth. What was that? United States of America. Remember the land that came out of the earth? Here is United States of America, the history. There’s the Seventh-day Adventist Church that arose in America and that church, which is the Laodicean Church, the Church of Laodicea, as we’ve already read—that church is now called the woman.
Revelation 12:17 And the dragon was wroth with that woman and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.
Who does Satan make war with? Oh, he’s angry with the woman. Well, his anger with the woman caused the shaking, and there was a separation of her, and she gave birth to the seed. So the woman, the Seventh-day Adventist Organisation, gave birth to the Seventh-day Adventist Reform Movement—the seed and then he makes war with whom? With the remnant of her seed.
The shaking is now described to us in arriving at the very remnant, which we have just carefully followed through the shaking, leading up to this point in time where a remnant out of the Laodicean company—a remnant of the woman’s seed.
Revelation 3 and Spewing Out
This is repeated in the Laodicean message. In Revelation 3 is exactly that same segmentation. He’s talking to His members. Sister White said the Laodicean message belongs to the Seventh-day Adventist church.
He is writing to the woman, the church, the angel of the church, the leadership of the church, and He tells them that you are weak, you are rich and increased with goods, have need of nothing. “You don’t know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked. Therefore, I will spew thee out of My mouth.”
God gave time for this message. As He gave time from the time it was first given in 1850s, He took it right through to the First World War. He gave them all that time. But now He says, “I’m going to spew you out.”
What does it mean for Him to spew out the churches that remain in their wrong relationship with Him? Repulsing.
“‘Because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of My mouth.’ The figure of spewing out of His mouth means that He cannot offer up your prayers or your expressions of love to God. He cannot endorse your teaching of His word.” 6T 408.6
Do these churches that have rejected the pure truth, that have separated the faithful ones from among them and left only a very little remnant—do they continue to worship? Of course they do. But they have been spewed out, which means, while they continue to worship, He cannot endorse their teaching. He cannot present their religious exercises with requests that grace be given to them. That’s the harsh reality.
The Final Shaking and the Remnant
This final shaking where there is only the remnant of the woman’s seed left.
“Take a bold and unyielding stand for the truth and to sacrifice for God and His cause.” Early Writings, page 50.3.
She gets really distressed.
“Then I saw the judgments of the Almighty were already coming, and I begged the angel” Early Writings, page 50.3.
Sister White knew exactly where all this was leading.
I begged of the angel to speak in his language to the people. Early Writings, page 50.3
In the final shaking, the faithful little remnant—what can be done for the others? In this shaking time, there are people in different churches which comes into focus. The last loud cry that will be given through very difficult circumstances from the courts. The majority of people are not going to respond, according to the angel. They can’t. Even if there were thunders from Mount Sinai, it wouldn’t make any difference to them. He knows very well.
Amos 9:8 Behold, the eyes of the Lord God are upon the sinful kingdom, and I will destroy it from off the face of the earth; saving that I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob, saith the Lord. 9 For, lo, I will command, and I will sift the house of Israel among all nations, like as corn is sifted in a sieve, yet shall not the least grain fall upon the earth.”
There is the shaking. There is the loud cry affecting situations. There is the sealing of the 144,000. The shaking comes to a point where all that you have is the few little grains of wheat that are still left, and if they are falling, they can be picked up. Not the least grain will be lost.
We are today living in the picking up of a grain here or there. The rest of them, you can’t help them, according to the angel. A voice from Sinai couldn’t do it. Any specific angel talking to them wouldn’t do it. It can’t help them anymore. But the grain has to be found in the shaking.
May God help us to understand this whole process as I’ve tried to convey it here from these statements.
