John Thiel mp3
Scripture Reading: Romans 8:22 For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. 23And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body. 24 For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? 25 But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.
The Lord has given me a very important motive to share this message with you today. There’s a purpose behind this message, which is introduced to us.
Isaiah 40:1 Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. 2Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned: for she hath received of the LORD’S hand double for all her sins. 3The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. 4Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain: 5And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.
The Lord has said to us, “Comfort ye, comfort ye, my people.” The Lord has spoken to me that this is so important as we are living in these times to find comfort. But the question is, what is meant by the Lord comforting us in the light of the context of this scripture? “Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low; and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain.”
Anciently, when a king journeyed through the less frequent parts of his dominion, a company of men was sent ahead of the royal chariot to level the steep places and to fill up the hollows, that the king might travel in safety and without hindrance. This custom is employed by the prophet to illustrate the work of the gospel. Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low. When the Spirit of God, with its marvelous awakening power, touches the soul, it abases pride, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God is cast down, and every thought is brought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. Then humility, which is the valley, and self-sacrificing love, so little valued among men, are exalted as a loan of worth. This is the work of the gospel of which John’s message was a path. The mountains will be brought low. Pride and human glory low. And the valleys of humility will be uplifted. DA 135.1
The work of reformation here brought to view by John—the purging of the heart and mind and soul—is one that is needed by many who today profess to have the faith of Christ. Wrong practices that have been indulged in need to be put away. Fruit meet for repentance. When this work is done in the experience of God’s believing people, all flesh shall see the salvation of the Lord. GA 249.2
And this is this last little statement: “When this work—pride, the mountains of pride being brought low—that the true sense of humility is brought into its correct position.” When that is the experience of God’s people, then all flesh will see. “Comfort ye, my people,” there is something that we need in this leveling of the playing field, as we say, that the mountains have to come low and the valleys have to come high. There is an experience in this that needs comfort.
To look for such comfort is where I want you to come with me to the story of Jacob. The title of our divine service is “Jacob—Israel—144,000.” Those words are to be understood. We want to come to the story of Jacob and understand what kind of comfort can be found when your pride is being put down. The journey of Jacob is an object lesson for the time in which we are living at the end of this world. Let’s go to Jeremiah and pick up the story of Jacob.
Jeremiah 30:5 For thus saith the LORD; We have heard a voice of trembling, of fear, and not of peace. 6 Ask ye now, and see whether a man doth travail with child? wherefore do I see every man with his hands on his loins, as a woman in travail, and all faces are turned into paleness? 7 Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob’s trouble; but he shall be saved out of it.
The picture that is described here is the time of Jacob’s trouble. It is something that is the experience of every person in this description here. That a man does travail with child. Those of you, the sisters here who have had babies, know the travail of that. This is a terrible experience that every person knows, every woman knows; it’s going to pass.
It is important to realise that this message, this experience of Jacob, looked so hopeless, but according to what we were just reading here, it is, “He shall be saved out of it.” There was comfort in the midst of what? Of a terrible pale-making experience. Every face is turned into paleness. There is something for the people of God dwelling in the time of the end that makes them pale, that makes them feel miserable, that is as severe as a woman in travail. The experience of God’s people in the time of the end:
I saw that the four angels would hold the four winds until Jesus’ work was done in the sanctuary. And then will come the seven last plagues. These plagues enraged the wicked. Christian Education and Training page 100, paragraph 3.
Can you see the title of our sermon today? Jacob’s Trouble, Israel, 144,000. There it is, this time of Jacob’s trouble, as we read it there in the Bible. The Spirit of Prophecy has placed the whole picture in one stroke of a pen, that when Jesus finishes His work in the sanctuary above, the plagues will begin to unfold, and the wicked will turn upon God’s people, blaming them for the plagues.
I don’t know whether you’ve noticed that this Sunday activity that’s taking place in Catholicism at the moment, but they are saying that we should rest on Sunday to prevent global warming. And we know how global warming is something that has to do with the plagues that are coming. The sun will become hotter, etc., etc., in the plagues. The people that are not going to be faithful to Sunday who are going to say, “We can’t participate with this; it’s the mark of the beast,” they will be regarded as the ones who are not preventing these plagues. The four angels are holding the winds so that God’s people can be prepared for that time.
The message of the sealing of the 144,000
We mentioned it there. The journey that Jacob went on is an object lesson for us that the angels are holding the winds of strife to carry us into preparation.
Revelation 7:1 And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree. 2 And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God: and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea, 3 Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads. 4 And I heard the number of them which were sealed: and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel.
These four angels that then usher in the time of Jacob’s trouble. Consider with me the 144,000. You know, I grew up in the Seventh-day Adventist Church, and this subject always troubled me. I didn’t feel worthy that I could be among the 144,000. Just didn’t feel worthy.
Revelation 14:1 And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Zion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father’s name written in their foreheads. 2And I heard a voice from heaven, as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of a great thunder: and I heard the voice of harpers harping with their harps: 3And they sung as it were a new song before the throne, and before the four beasts, and the elders: and no man could learn that song but the hundred and forty and four thousand, which were redeemed from the earth. 4 These are they which are not defiled with women; for they are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth. These were redeemed from among men, being the first fruits unto God and to the Lamb. 5 And in their mouth was found no guile, for they are without fault before the throne of God.
Do you measure up? Are you without fault before the throne of God? I couldn’t see myself being before the throne of God without a fault so I needed comfort. We need comfort. “Comfort ye my people.” He talked about their sins being reached. Now comfort them. Here is this daunting sensation that comes upon us, especially that verse 5:”They have no guile in their mouth before God.”
This daunting experience kept on being a backdrop in my experience until I discovered Jacob and Jacob’s trouble. And that’s what I want to share with you—the comfort that I found from Jacob and his sons. Remember what we were just reading there in Revelation 7? His 12 sons were part of the 144,000—the symbols of the sons—because there were 12,000 out of each of these. So looking at the story of Jacob and his sons, what do you see? Jacob? What did he do? He was caught. His name, Jacob, was the word—the meaning was supplanter, someone who deceived. And his sons, weren’t they faulty? Weren’t they sinful? They sold their brother Joseph to the Egyptians. There is something that is important to come into the equation of the 144,000 that needs to comfort us, and this comforted me. There is another mention made about these people, these 144,000. For them to exist without fault and without guile in their mouth, what had to happen to them?
Revelation 7:13 And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they? 14And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. 15Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple: and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them..
Why are the 144,000 without fault? Why? Because they came out of such a tribulation that has caused them to wash their robes and make them white in the blood of the Lamb—wash their characters. That’s what our Sabbath school lessons are all about—washing and building up your character. Our past, our journey that we have commenced, we have sinned; we haven’t got truth in our lips, etc., etc. We are not without fault, but the comforting message is that we may come through this time of trouble and be thoroughly clean, washing our robes so that we can then stand on the mount, and there they are without fault.
Everything in our past that comes to haunt us. I want to really bring this point home. The mistakes that you have made in the past, the sins that you have committed in the past that you become convicted of will haunt you one day. It happened to Jacob. What Jacob did in supplanting, in deceiving his father, that he had to run for his life because Esau was going to kill him. Just made it. And as he was running, he slept overnight. The Lord came to him with what’s called Jacob’s Ladder to comfort him. “Okay, you’ve done wrong, but I’m going to help you.” Jacob continued his journey toward his uncle’s place, Laban. When he had spent his time with Laban, he himself was deceived several times. The past comes to haunt us. That we may look—I’ll tell you quite plainly, I’ve already been through a lot of this. I was asked this morning about my journey. When I look back over my life, I was ready to despair when we are haunted by our past. We often come to the point where we throw in the towel. You know, that’s a term: we throw in the towel, yeah? Give up. Many young people today are throwing the towel in. There are many young people that are committing suicide. How can you be comforted when you see yourself in it? Just imagine what poor Jacob was going through.
He knew that his brother Esau was coming, and he split his family up, some in one direction and some in the other, so if he got some, the others could escape. Now he had sent them all about, and it was evening; it was dark, and there he was praying.
Having sent his family away that they may not witness his distress, Jacob remains alone to intercede with God. He confesses his sin and gratefully acknowledges the mercy of God toward him, while with deep humiliation he pleads the covenant made with his fathers and the promises to himself in the night vision at Bethel and in the land of his exile. Great Controversy page 616.5
The vision of Jacob’s Ladder, yes? The crisis in his life has come. Everything is at stake. As I’m reading this, just place yourself in that. We’re going to be doing that a few times now. When the crisis comes in your life, all your past comes up with a big wave of overwhelming despair, as it did with him here. The crisis of his life has come. Everything is at stake. These words are not just words; they are experience. Everything is at stake. Everything looks like it’s falling apart. In the darkness and solitude, he continues praying and humbling himself before God. Suddenly, a hand is laid upon his shoulder. He thinks an enemy is seeking his life. With all the energy of despair, he wrestles with his assailant. As the day begins to break, the stranger puts forth his superhuman power. At his touch, the strong man seems paralysed. And he falls, but how?
A helpless, weeping suppliant upon the neck of his mysterious antagonist. Jacob knows now that it is the angel of the covenant with whom he had been in conflict. Though disabled and suffering the keenest pain, he does not relinquish his purpose. Long has he endured perplexity, remorse, and trouble for his sin. He must have the assurance that it is pardoned. The divine visitant seems about to depart, but Jacob clings to him, pleading for a blessing. The angel urges, “Let me go; for the day breaketh.” But the patriarch exclaims, “I will not let Thee go, except Thou bless me.” Great Controversy page 616.5
Many have made a mess of their lives like Jacob, but they have confessed as he did. What is in it for us?
Satan had accused Jacob before the angels of God, claiming the right to destroy him because of his sin; he had moved upon Esau to march against him; and during the patriarch’s long night of wrestling, Satan endeavored to force upon him a sense of his guilt, in order to discourage him, and break his hold upon God. Jacob was driven almost to despair; but he knew that without help from Heaven he must perish. He had sincerely repented of his great sin, and he appealed to the mercy of God. He would not be turned from his purpose, but held fast the Angel, and urged his petition with earnest, agonizing cries, until he prevailed. GC88 618.1
Satan was right there. The terrible mind-destroying experience that he went through—Jacob’s trouble—Jacob was driven almost to despair
As Satan accuses the people of God on account of their sins, the Lord permits him.” GC 88 618.3
I want you to understand what I’m reading here: this is ahead of all of us. I might testify to you, I’ve already been through a lot of it because we’re living so close to the end. The foretaste of Jacob’s trouble is in my system. What did I just read? Satan is so much at work. He doesn’t want us to be victorious. He wants us to give up, and he points to our sins that we have done in the past, and he makes you feel—you know, he’s the one who’s doing this work. He is bothering you. He’s putting the cloud, the dark cloud of his terrible temptations on top of your mind, and you are coming to a thought in your mind that this is hopeless; I’ve got no way out.
Do you know that experience? I know it very well. The Lord had to send a magpie to encourage me. When—this is the point here—hopeless. When we have to hope, I’m reading a quote from Sister White: “When we have to hope, comfort us.” As I said, it comforts me.
The angel was fighting, and he was fighting with the angel, and then he realised who he was, and he hung on to him. “I’m not going to let You go. I need Your blessing.” What was it?
Genesis 32:27 And he said unto him, What is thy name? And he said, Jacob. 28And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed.
Jacob means the supplanter. The marginal reading says, “Prince of God.” That’s what Israel means.
Jacob, Israel, and the 144,000—there is the connection. What must we do when we are overwhelmed with despair as we discover the details of our undone condition? What must we do? What Jacob did.
To be a laborer together with God, you have delighted in the truth. Hope against hope because the Holy Spirit is striving with you. This Day with God page 38.5
Is that your experience? Believe it still. She’s writing to somebody who’s going through this terrible experience.
Crooked paths for your feet because of temptation, but resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw nigh to God, and He will draw nigh to you. This Day with God page 38.5.
This is what we must do. This is the comfort that I’m sharing with you that’s going to carry us through the time of crisis that comes to every true Christian. Jacob was wrestling. Don’t give up. Keep on going, no matter what Satan hurls at you. No matter how overwhelmed you are. Do what Jacob did. Confess, repent. Put away those things. Acknowledge. Then something happens that happened to him. What kind of wrestling did Jacob exercise? What kind of wrestling do we have to exercise? Jacob’s kind. You didn’t really know what you were doing. You were betrayed. You were doing things in your ignorance. God does not cast you off, but who have returned to Him with true repentance.
While Satan seeks to destroy this class, God will send His angels to comfort and protect them in the time of peril. The assaults of Satan are fierce and determined, his delusions are terrible; but the Lord’s eye is upon His people, and His ear listens to their cries. Their affliction is great, the flames of the furnace seem about to consume them; but the Refiner will bring them forth as gold tried in the fire. God’s love for His children during the period of their severest trial is as strong and tender as in the days of their sunniest prosperity; but it is needful for them to be placed in the furnace of fire; their earthliness must be consumed, that the image of Christ may be perfectly reflected. To Be Like Jesus – Page 329
Sister White wrote that in her time. Will require a faith that can endure.
The season of distress and anguish before us will require a faith that can endure weariness, delay, and hunger—a faith that will not faint though severely tried. To Be Like Jesus – Page 329
The period of probation—this period that we still have—the angels are still holding back.
The period of probation is granted to all to prepare for that time. To Be Like Jesus – Page 329
That’s our time now. That’s why I’m sharing this message with you, so that you might understand what’s coming and you’ll be able to survive.
Jacob prevailed because he was persevering and determined. His victory is an evidence of the power of importunate prayer. To Be Like Jesus – Page 329
Remember the importunate widow? Just kept on coming. Didn’t give up. Importunate prayer.
All who will lay hold of God’s promises, as he did, and be as earnest and persevering as he was, will succeed as he succeeded. Those who are unwilling to deny self, to agonize before God, to pray long and earnestly for His blessing, will not obtain it. To Be Like Jesus – Page 329
These are serious words. Wrestling with God. How few know what it is. How few have ever had their souls drawn out after God with intensity of desire until every power is on the stretch when waves of despair, which no language can express, sweep over your suppliant. How few cling with unyielding faith to the promises of God—how few. And that’s the call; that’s the comfort that when we do that, we will come through. God loves us in the midst of all this as He loved Jacob. So here is the meaning of what I read in Revelation 7:13 and 14. What did I read there? That these have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
You want to really understand what that means? It means going through this terrible time. The blood of Jesus is what He shed as He went through this terrible time. As we know that I’m not worthy to be among the 144,000, but I’m learning from Jacob; I’m learning from Jesus. I’m going to cling to Him, and I’m not going to let Him go. I’m going to repent, and I’m going to let Him correct my life, and Satan will have to withdraw. These 144,000, they sing a new song. They sing a new song before the throne, a song which no man can learn apart from the 144,000. It is the song of Moses and the Lamb—a song of deliverance. They’ve gone through this terrible time. None but the 144,000 can learn that song, for it is the song of their experience. hat was that? Jacob’s. An experience such as no other company have ever had.
“These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth.” These, having been translated from the earth, from among the living, are counted as “the first fruits unto God and to the Lamb” (Revelation 15:2, 3; 14:1-5.) “These are they which came out of great tribulation”; they have passed through the time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation; they have endured the anguish of the time of Jacob’s trouble; they have stood without an intercessor through the final outpouring of God’s judgments.—The Great Controversy, 648, 649 (1911). LDE 268.4
Are you being comforted? This is reality. This is not a pie in the sky, by and by. This just believe in Jesus and it’s going to be alright. No, it is what we have just been reading about Jacob. It wasn’t alright, but he had to hold on.
Summary
The day is coming, and for some it has already begun. I’m one of them. Our past comes to haunt us. Waves of despair which no language can express sweep over the soul. Remember what I have read here, what I’ve shared with you. When it comes your way, remember you’ve been warned. Waves of despair which no language can express sweep over us. Although we’ve already repented.
Had our Bible been written by uninspired persons, it would have presented quite a different appearance and would have been a discouraging study to erring mortals who are contending with natural frailties and the temptations of a wily foe. CC 7.5
This statement comes from the previous paragraph that says that it is one of the best evidences of the authenticity of the scriptures that the truth is not glossed over, nor the sins of its chief characters suppressed. How many biographies have been written? Pioneers of faith: Jacob, David, Solomon. What descriptions of evil were about them, but they were God’s children. This is what encourages us. This is the comfort.
That we might be discouraged by hearing all those beautiful characters, and we don’t know what they’ve been through. Those who are contending with natural frailties and the temptations of a wily foe. But as it is, we have a correct record of the religious experience of marked characters in the Bible history. Men whom God favored and whom He entrusted great responsibilities were sometimes overcome by temptation and committed sins. And even as we at the present day strive, waver, and frequently fall into error, but it is encouraging to desponding hearts to know that through God’s grace they could gain fresh vigor to again rise above their evil. CC 7
You hang on to the Lord, and He will carry you through. That even if Esau wants to come along and kill you, nothing to worry.
