By John Thiel, mp3

The messages that have been currently conveyed from this pulpit have been prefaced by the words of the book ‘In Heavenly Places’:

I want you to fall in love with the Man of Calvary, {HP 354.3}

This term “fall in love” as used by the Spirit of Prophecy here, has deteriorated into an emotional, love-sick, sentimentalism in this generation, so that the true meaning of those words are all smudged in our mind. It is a term that is used that generates divorces nowadays, because people emotionally fall in love with one another governed by the passions of the flesh and love-sick sentimentalism. The old-fashioned meaning of falling in love is better illustrated in another page: Read the rest of this entry →

By John Thiel, mp3

We have been contemplating the great reconciling love of God. We have seen that He, the creator of the universe has sacrificed such an immeasurable amount. He, the pure God, came into impurity with us. The Father was there as we have read in Corinthians with Christ reconciling sinners, appealing to them through His sacrifice to love Him whom they did not love.

As we contemplated these amazing dimensions of God’s love and we saw what Jesus has done because of my sin, our sinfulness becomes magnified. This is one reason why many people don’t want the real Jesus. If you look at the real Jesus you will feel absolutely grotty. You will feel like you are a vile sinner, you will see yourself, you will abhor yourself and you will hate sin whereas before you may have enjoyed it. Why do we hate sin when we look upon the love of Jesus? We discover that that sin which I enjoyed caused the death and suffering of the divine one. Read the rest of this entry →

By John Thiel, mp3

Oh that our hearts are lifted up to our wonderful Creator and powerful guide that nothing will permit us to be disjointed by things that transpires on this planet. I would like to turn our attention to this wonderful God who loves us even when everything that we see about ourselves and we see in people around us looks hopeless, that He is there. He is in the midst of it all. The plight of humanity, ever since the fall, is one of unexpected sorrow and chaos. You look right back through the history and everywhere you look things started well and then they went chaotic. The chaos was severe. Then there was a little lull and then away it went again. Repeatedly through history chaos thickened on this planet. Chaos was described in Isaiah 59, both in the house of the church, the house of Israel and among the wicked. This is talking about God’s people in the church:

Isaiah 59:11 We roar all like bears, and mourn sore like doves: we look for judgment, but [there is] none; for salvation, [but] it is far off from us. 12 For our transgressions are multiplied before thee, and our sins testify against us: for our transgressions [are] with us; and [as for] our iniquities, we know them; 13 In transgressing and lying against the LORD, and departing away from our God, speaking oppression and revolt, conceiving and uttering from the heart words of falsehood. Read the rest of this entry →

By John Thiel, mp3

You may be wondering about the grammatical correctness of the title of this sermon. The meaning can be found in 1 John:

1 John 4:16 And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.

It is the noun of God. God is love. If God is love, what is love? Love is God. God’s love with whom we have to do. We have to do, every single one of us have to do with Him who is love. Everything we have studied in reference to Him is love, is what pertains to each one of us individually. Our danger is that we don’t have to do with Him in our own mind. I will go on doing what I choose to do in spite of the amazing love that God is.

Our scripture reading is very sobering as we consider God’s love with whom we have to do:

Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword,

The word of God is love. What does it do? It pierces into your and my very soul. It divides asunder soul and spirit. It actually penetrates into the joints and marrow.

Hebrews 4:12 piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

Do you like hearing the word of God that penetrates into your very intents where you have often felt, what does John know about me? John doesn’t know anything about anybody but only what the Lord reveals to him. The point is, that God knows everything. Everything!! Read the rest of this entry →

By John Thiel, mp3

We have seen that love cannot be quenched yet the love of many grows cold. What was the reason? Many had permitted the pleasures of the world, life’s cares and perplexities and the faults of others or their own faults and sins to distract them from receiving that love that cannot be quenched and actually pushed it out of their memory.

As we are living in these last days, the love of many waxes cold because iniquity abounds and as a consequence, the church that Jesus addresses in Laodicea in Revelation is that they are lukewarm. Their love has grown to that condition of lukewarmness, not hot love anymore. Read the rest of this entry →

By John Thiel, mp3

I cannot, dare not walk alone. Do you find yourself lonesome, in this world? Do you find yourself handling life’s cares and conflicts and responsibilities as a soul operator? And as time goes on, do you find that things are getting too much? You can’t cope anymore, ready to fold up? It’s all getting too much. The words have come to me often: If only there was someone with me, I’m all alone, someone to talk with, to counsel with, to understand me.

As there words are often spoken to me, I turn around and say, there is somebody, and I point them to such a one. Quickly the answer comes back: But I need someone to see and to touch and to hear and to speak with. How real is God to you? How important is this mentality of thinking, this subject that we are handling here today? How important is it for those who are living at this time of history? How important? A companionship, a constant, unbroken walking with God, an experience of knowing that there is somebody livingly really with me. How important is this subject for the people who want to be among the 144,000: the product of the three angels’ messages. To be translated from among the living, how important is this subject? We have a representative of this subject for the people living in these last days. It’s found in our scripture reading, he is found in our scripture reading:

Genesis 5:24. And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah, for 300 years. And Enoch walked with God: and he [was] not; for God took him.

Enoch walked with God. Who was Enoch that he should be a representative of us today? What did we read here? God took him. This is an important subject for you and me today:

By faith Enoch “was translated that he should not see death; … for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God.” Hebrews 11:5. In the midst of a world by its iniquity doomed to destruction, Enoch lived a life of such close communion with God that he was not permitted to fall under the power of death. The godly character of this prophet represents the state of holiness which must be attained by those who shall be “redeemed from the earth” (Revelation 14:3) at the time of Christ’s second advent. Then, as in the world before the Flood, iniquity will prevail. Following the promptings of their corrupt hearts and the teachings of a deceptive philosophy, men will rebel against the authority of Heaven. But like Enoch, God’s people will seek for purity of heart and conformity to His will, until they shall reflect the likeness of Christ. Like Enoch, they will warn the world of the Lord’s second coming and of the judgments to be visited upon transgression, and by their holy conversation and example they will condemn the sins of the ungodly. {PP 88.3} Read the rest of this entry →

By John Thiel, mp3

“Redeeming love has been my theme and shall be till I die.”

Is that your theme? It is mine and this is the theme that I will continue to make prominent in all the messages in the future. I want to ask you a question. If God came to you and asked you to do something that made not a skerrick of sense to you, would you do it? If He lay a requirement upon you that you cannot feel comfortable with because it goes right against your grain, what would you answer? Would you answer like some people have in my experience, please God, I’m not convinced on that point yet. When I’m convicted I can do it. I want to get some explanations to see whether it really is right or not.

I want you to exercise your mind on that question. Anything at all that God lays upon you and you cannot see within yourself that it is a good idea, it has some ramifications, it has some problems if I do it, what would you do? Would you say, alright God, you know everything and I don’t know anything, I will do just what you say because I love you. Is that what you would say? Read the rest of this entry →

By John Thiel, mp3

This series of messages has to do with falling in love with the Creator of the universe, with Jesus. All religion in Christianity is for this objective, that we would love God; but to love Him we need to get to know Him. And when you really know Him you will not be able to hold back your love to Him, unless you push Him away. This is our subject now, that there are people who actually reject God’s love. So we want to understand the things that quench our Love.

But there comes a thought straight away to my mind, Is there such a thing as love being quenched? Can you quench love?

Song of Solomon 8:7 Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it: if [a] man would give all the substance of his house for love, it would utterly be contemned. Read the rest of this entry →

By John Thiel, mp3

Scripture reading: John 13:34 A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.

We need to be daily strengthened by the deep love of God, {UL 159.6} 

For this reason it is in my heart to frequently display that deep love of God before the congregation. If it’s needed daily then we need it on Sabbath very much. We are here keeping the Sabbath to admire our God. To admire Him we must see something to admire; and it’s His love. It was the Apostle Paul’s earnest prayer that the people whom he ministered to could appreciate that love. Together with Apostle Paul this is my prayer. Read the rest of this entry →