Blog Archives
5. Are We Saved By Works?
By John Thiel, The Last Generation Challenge Series, mp3
Scripture reading: Hebrews 4:1 Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left [us] of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it.
It appears that we are upholding works. That we want to be saved by the works of keeping the Sabbath correctly. But this is not so. Read the rest of this entry
Self Versus God’s Love – Part 1
By John Thiel, mp3
What is the will of God? We are often appealed to give God our will and to obey Him and to submit to Him. We often miss what actually is His will because we concentrate a little awry.
1 Thessalonians 5:16 Rejoice evermore. 17 Pray without ceasing. 18 In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.19 Quench not the Spirit. Read the rest of this entry
Withhold Nothing
By John Thiel, mp3
As we live in this time of earth’s history, we are coming close to the moment when all that we possess will be lost, and according to the Scriptures, our wealth is worth nothing in the day of God’s wrath.
Houses and lands will be of no use to the saints in the time of trouble, for they will then have to flee before infuriated mobs, and at that time their possessions cannot be disposed of to advance the cause of present truth. I was shown that it is the will of God that the saints should cut loose from every encumbrance before the time of trouble comes, and make a covenant with God through sacrifice. If they have their property on the altar and earnestly inquire of God for duty, He will teach them when to dispose of these things. Then they will be free in the time of trouble and have no clogs to weigh them down. {EW 56.3} Read the rest of this entry
Understanding God’s Will of Love
By John Thiel, mp3
Scripture Reading: 1 Thessalonians 5:16 Rejoice evermore. 17 Pray without ceasing. 18 In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.
Legalistic Austerity
How real is the hymn – One Thing I of the Lord Desire. Do you? Such desire, such yearning to be pure to be clean. As we go on week by week and year by year under this message, we still find something that falls short and we need cleaning and washing. We don’t know what it is any more to come into a complete and fulfilling victory that we would stop sinning. We appreciated last week that God has illuminated us with an understanding that it is the will that needs to be placed upon God’s will. Today I want to go further in understanding God’s will of love. A heart that has fallen in love with God, it yearns to do God’s will; is that not right? I love God so much I want to… that is my desire. That is what this hymn was describing; I want to be in perfect harmony with God’s will yet because sin is there, it is a condition in us.
Romans 7:21 I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. 22 For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: Read the rest of this entry
Christ Suffereth Long
By John Thiel, Beholding Christ Series, Part 7, mp3
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. 35 By this shall all [men] know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.
Jesus did not meddle in the mind of another person in his human inter-relation with others. He had such respect for the minds and the perceptions of his inferiors that He never railroaded their mind sets. He had a mind that lowered itself into the presence of his inferiors.
Philippians 2:5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:
In their presence he did not force his mind even though it could have been a temptation to do so as they were inferior to his elevated mind. When you look upon Jesus with that kind of vivid representation of himself to our mind, what do you behold? What is it of someone who is superior does not force his superiority into another person’s mind? What is that? Read the rest of this entry
Eighteen Years of Subservience
By John Thiel, Beholding Christ Series, Part 9, mp3
Luke 2:51 And he went down with them, and came to Nazareth, and was subject unto them: but his mother kept all these sayings in her heart. 52 And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man.
An Old Story
When we behold Jesus we are looking at the old, old story. We are beholding our Lord and Saviour in the developmental stages of his life. Jesus the son of God descended from his lofty throne with his father into a state of painful unconsciousness to be born ultimately after nine months into a little baby unconscious of his surroundings. How this little baby Jesus gradually awakened to his family to learn and understand what the Jewish family was doing. The mother teaching the child of the things that the very child when still in heaven was conveying to this planet but now had to learn it all over again from mother. From the age of twelve Jesus fully appreciated from then onwards what all the temple worship and sanctuary activities were all about as he beheld and awoke to his true position as the Lamb of God. From the age of twelve he developed further right on through to the age of thirty. We are filled with awe to consider there was such condescension to come to such a level as a little baby from the heavenly courts. We wonder and marvel at the amazing condescension. Read the rest of this entry
Our Commitment to the Three Angels’ Messages
By John Thiel, mp3
How close is it to the coming of Jesus? We have become vividly aware that we are indeed at the very last of the generation that is to see Jesus coming. All that Jesus foretold is culminating and I have a deep sense that during this year and the next, we will be meeting some very serious circumstances. We have been given the assistance of the angels but it is up to us whether we will actually be in tune with them. I would like to spend time with you this hour in considering our commitment to the three angels and their messages and that other angel of Revelation 18.
We are often fascinated in reference to angels, as our Scripture reading expressed – “Are they not ministering spirits?” Angels are actually ministering for us, especially those who are the heirs of salvation. They are “ministering spirits, sent forth to minister” to us. One aspect of their ministry is to communicate light from heaven to us. We see this in the words of the angel of Revelation 1:1 where the message was conveyed from Jesus via the angel to John the revelator and in Daniel 9:20-23 you have Gabriel speaking being sent from heaven to administer light to Daniel. Read the rest of this entry
Christ in History – Letter’s About Jesus including Pontius Pilate’s wife Claudia
SOME DOCUMENTS REGARDING THE LAST EVENTS IN CHRIST LIFE, EXTRACTED FROM HISTORICAL CHRONICLES.
THE IMPERIAL ARCHIVES SPEAK!
WHARA TE PONO
(Seek after Truth)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Originally published by Liberty Publishing Association, Christchurch, New Zealand.
D. Nicolici
WHAT EVIDENCE OF CHRIST DOES THE PAGAN LENTULUS GIVE?
(Contents of a letter sent by Publius Lentulus, Governor of Judea, to the Roman Emperor Tiberius);
“To His Majesty and to the Honoured Senate of Rome: Greetings from the Senate Lentulus, Governor of Judea!
“I have learnt what you desired to know and am now telling you by this letter. Living here is a man who enjoys a great reputation as a God-fearing person and whose name is Jesus Christ. People call Him Prophet of the Truth, but His Disciples hold that He is the Son of God.–that is to say, the Son of Him who created the heaven and earth and all that has ever existed, exists, and will still exist in all eternity. In Connection with Him, O Emperor, there have been rumours every day of miracles performed by the said Jesus Christ. By a single word He heals the sick and raises the dead.
“He is of medium height and of astonishing beauty. His glance is majestic and inspires a feeling of reverence, love, and fear in all those who look upon Him. His hair has the colour of ripe pistachios–that is, reddish, falls tresses upon His shoulders, and parts in two in the middle of the head in the Nazarene manner. His forehead is high and expresses innocence and calm. In His rosy-coloured face neither a spot nor a wrinkle appears. His nose and His mouth give rise to no criticism, and His dense beard is similar to His hair–long, and parted in two in the middle.
“His look is imposing and serene. He possesses sparkling eyes. The light shining forth from his face is like sunshine, so that it is impossible for anyone to behold Him too long. This radiance arouses fear, but as soon as He starts teaching and advising, He does it with so much sorrow that He evokes love and veneration among His listeners. It has been said that He never laughs, but that His eyes are always tearful. His hands are externally beautiful. When He speaks He is most pleasant. He very seldom contacts high society. As regards His teachings, by them He attracts all Jerusalem. He masters perfectly every science, without having studied even one of them. He walks bare-footed and bare-headed. Everywhere it is said, until now, such a man has never been seen in these places. Read the rest of this entry
To Know Nothing but Christ
By John Thiel, mp3
I want you to fall in love with the Man of Calvary, so that at every step you can say to the world, His “ways are ways of pleasantness, and all” His “paths are peace” (Proverbs 3:17). . . . {HP 354.3}
It is my burden that everyone who hears the words I proclaim will fall in love with Jesus. There was one who did fall in love with Him. He is the one of our scripture reading. What someone does when they have fallen in love with somebody is expressed here:
1 Corinthians 2:1 And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God.
They can’t help but talk about that person. The apostle Paul says, I don’t come to you with oratory, with the wisdom that is engendered in those who are the public speakers.
1 Corinthians 2:2 For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.
In our last study I shared the falling in love with Jesus that when somebody falls in love with Him I quoted:
With whom are our thoughts? Upon whom do we love to converse? Who has our warmest affections and our best energies? If we are on the Lord’s side, our thoughts are with Him, and our sweetest thoughts are of Him. {2T 262.2}
If we believe in Jesus, we will love to think of Him, love to talk of Him, love to pray to Him. He is supreme in our affections. We love that which Christ loves, and hate that which Christ hates. . . . {OHC 338.3} Read the rest of this entry
144,000 – Translated Without Seeing Death
Question: If the sealing of the 144,000 commenced in 1848, and some of that number have died and will be resurrected in the “special resurrection”, how can it be said that the 144,000 are translated without seeing death? If order to find the answer to this question, we must be willing to read the Word of God and the Spirit of Prophecy very, very, carefully, and to take it exactly as it reads. We open the consideration with the following statements:
Revelation 14:1 And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty [and] four thousand, having his Father’s name written in their foreheads. 14:2 And 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: 14:3 And 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.
Revelation 15:2 And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire: and them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, [and] over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God. 15:3 And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvellous [are] thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true [are] thy ways, thou King of saints. Read the rest of this entry
The Flood
The descendants of Seth were called the sons of God and the descendants of Cain were called the sons of men.
The descendants of Seth were called the sons of God; the descendants of Cain, the sons of men. As the sons of God mingled with the sons of men, they became corrupt and, by intermarriage with them, lost, through the influence of their wives, their peculiar, holy character, and united with the sons of Cain in their idolatry. Many cast aside the fear of God and trampled upon His commandments. But there were a few that did righteousness, who feared and honored their Creator. Noah and his family were among the righteous few. Cc36.6
Genesis 6:1 And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them,
6:2 That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they [were] fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose.
The sons of God saw how beautiful the daughters of Cain were and they took them as wives but through the influence of their wives they were corrupted. The sons of God lost they’re godly character and they joined in the general apostasy. Until at last, there was only a few who remained worshipers of God. There was Methuselah and some others who died before the flood and there was Noah and his family. These were the only ones left. Read the rest of this entry
The Operative Aspect of the Personal Word
By John Thiel
God wants us to bask. To bask in what? In the fact that no matter how frail and weak we may be, if we come to Him in contrition and in true dependence upon Him, He is a Father that smiles upon us. He is a Father that wants our salvation and He has given us Jesus to bask in the sunshine of His mercy. We are to drench ourselves with that healing comfort that comes from Him. We are confronted with making these choices that we would be able to live a life in the New Year better than the last year, a life of eternal value. We need to make choices all the time. The choice we make needs to be appreciated. Read the rest of this entry
The Son of Righteousness
By John Thiel
How real is it to you and valuable for us to frequently express ourselves of the value of our relationship with Jesus and to identify the realities and the sense of need of those realities? How much do we trust in Him? Is He dearer than all the earth beside? The way to test that is when He asks us to do something and there are other things to detract us whether we will let the detractions go. That is the way to see if that is true.
How the Wheat and the Tares are Separated
By John Thiel
What is the purpose of our existence as a separate group of Christians that doesn’t harmonize with churches around us? What pertains to the life of God’s people in the last days? We are over one hundred years beyond the beginning of the time of end. The time of the end commenced in 1798 as we all know.
Acquainted With Our Enemy’s Devices
By John Thiel, mp3
It is our focus to become acquainted with our enemy’s devices to know what we are actually fighting and what is going on in the literal battle with the evil one. Our scripture reading reveals our danger.
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