Lesson 198. A Time of Crisis

A crisis is approaching—the crisis of the last days. It will be a special period that, for some, will become a time when their hearts fail them for fear; for others, a time to become even more defiled; for some, the end of all plans and a complete collapse; for others, the anticipation of interesting events; and for the rest, the end of earthly suffering and the expectation of the Second Coming.

Absolutely everyone who understands that everything happening in the world is deliberately leading us toward a global catastrophe already believes in this event called the ‘global crisis.’ Nature responds to people’s careless attitude toward its protection with cataclysms and natural disasters. The world of money has tied itself to the dollar, which is simply worth nothing but is artificially upheld by every country as something valuable, and it is printed nonstop around the clock to pay for all kinds of services and to buy the freedom of nations and people thirsting for enrichment.

Weapons capable of destroying the entire planet several times over are being produced in the world, and one day this military machine will be set in motion.

Diseases, epidemics, and viruses have adapted to the situation and no longer respond to medicines, carrying millions of lives to the grave.

Civilized humanity has become satiated with an abundance of varied information and is losing its taste for life and its sense of meaning.

And everyone understands that the world cannot last long this way. But no one knows what will happen.

But the most interesting thing is that God, through His messengers, also foretells the coming of the final crisis, which no one will escape; many people will perish in this troubled time, and only those whose names are written in the Book of Life will be saved. Encountering this time is inevitable. And protection will be given only to those who now choose God as their Lord and obedience to God’s law as their principle of life. The crisis will reveal all who have built their house of faith upon a firm foundation with strong materials.

When a house is built, engineers calculate every possible load on the structure of the building and provide instructions for the builders so that they understand which material to choose and how firmly to bind the parts of the structure together, so that everything will stand and withstand the external load during any natural disaster.

God is also preparing His people for the coming events of the last days. He offers all His thoughtful and thirsting children something special that will protect them during the crisis. And in all His gifts He offers Himself, desiring to have a special personal relationship with His children and to teach them to love one another with the true Love that they do not possess. He commanded that all His disciples have agape Love among themselves and believe in the power of God’s promises, so that they would ask Him to fulfill those promises in each person’s life.

God desires His people in the last days to possess agape Love, and Jesus counsels us to buy from Him special treasures that will make us rich, clothe us, and open our eyes. To tell Him that this is uninteresting or that there is no time for it is equivalent to spiritual suicide. For if God counsels something, it is worth listening first and then doing it. However, He does not simply give His gifts indiscriminately to everyone. He agrees only to an exchange of equal value. This testifies that I will not receive God’s treasures automatically as an addition to my salvation. I must give something for them. And if I have no interest in this, the Lord will spew me out of His mouth—or, more precisely, vomit me out. Consequently, my entire holy life will be so repulsive to Him that He will want nothing to do with me, and then He will declare to me that He never knew me. Such words will truly be dreadful to hear and experience.

My salvation has been appointed for me by God, and He is the Author of my deliverance from the power of sin and death. Jesus becomes my personal Teacher and Mentor. And He is more interested in saving me than I am. He has everything necessary for this, but without my consent God will do nothing, except that He will wait for me to understand this and show interest. God loves me and desires that I live—and live forever, live with Him in my heart. And He dreams of me: that when I learn the beauty of His character, I will love Him with all my soul, desire to learn still more about Him, and tell the whole world about Him. With what anticipation the Father awaits the opportunity to open His arms, take me into them, carry me, boast of me, and give me all the riches of Heaven so that I may possess them even in this life. How simple, how accessible, how near, and how interesting it all is!

Do I thirst for this relationship? Do I desire to have such a Friend? Do I need His precious goods?

For a time, I worked in trade, studied the market, and examined the interests and needs of buyers. And I noticed that if people do not need something, you cannot sell it to them for any amount of money; but if you present it as something good and useful and advertise it, they take your goods and willingly pay for them. And when a person needs something very much, he comes to you himself and asks you to bring the product and sell it to him. At times, a person is ready to pay even more than it costs.

Our love for one another and our conversations about it are the very best advertisement for God’s goods, which He counsels us to buy from Him. And if a thirst to possess these treasures of Heaven arises in me, I will be ready to pay any price to acquire them. But if I am not interested in this, I do not need it even as a gift. I will not even want to spend my time understanding what these Heavenly treasures mean and why I need them, for I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing without them. Or do you think that my life with God has been in vain and that I have learned nothing? Are you not viewing me with excessive prejudice? Do you think that I suffered for the Name of Jesus in vain and learned nothing through these trials?

A peach tree grows in my garden. When it was small, I rejoiced over one peach a year, and then two. Afterward, for several years in a row, the tree produced such an abundant harvest that its branches even broke under the weight of the fruit. But lately the peach tree has stopped bearing fruit and, despite my care, produces only leaves. I am very sorry, but I have cut it down, and I will plant a new tree in its place. I remembered how delicious the peaches used to be, but the plant occupied space, was diseased, and infected other trees. The decision to remove it was made and carried out.

Friends, I am afraid to say this, but I have a sense that many of God’s children will be spewed out of His mouth because of their ignorance and unwillingness to accept God’s blessings and buy what He counsels.

And what will such people do during the crisis? They will simply fall and not rise again. They will be lost forever. You may be among them! My worth is determined not by who I was in the past, but by who I am now, who I will become as I continue to grow, and what fruit I have today. The Love that I receive and give today is the best testimony of my life with God. My holiness today speaks better than any words; my thoughts and feelings this day give me the right to life. And the experience of past years supports me in my choices today and helps me avoid many mistakes.

Please, friends, do not pass by the Merchant in the message to Laodicea.

1. What useful things did you gain from this lesson?

2. What is a crisis? Do you believe that it is coming?

3. How can one prepare for the time of crisis?

4. Will I be under God’s special protection in the last days? What does this depend on?

5. Who do I need to be, and what do I need to possess, during the testing of my faith?

6. What should I do if I currently have no interest in God’s Laodicean plan, yet I want to be an overcomer during the time of trouble?

7. I love God, but will He truly spew me out simply because I was engaged in another ministry and had no time to learn about the message to Laodicea?

8. Will all my Christian experience be taken into account if I bear no fruit at the end of time?

9. Please read Ezekiel 18:20; Daniel 12:1; Psalm 9:9, 21; 139:23–24; Jeremiah 15:11; 2 Timothy 3:1–5; Mark 11:13–14, 20; Luke 13:6–9; John 15:1–2 in the light of our lesson.