Christ’s Beloved Church

However poorly we may think of the church of Laodicea and however poorly we may speak of this people, it is always worth remembering that the Lord loves His church and preserves it in this world. It has endured a great many trials and is now passing through the fire of the great controversy. Satan’s attacks have not diminished, but have adopted a new strategy that successfully charms sincere souls and leads them away from the true paths.

Jesus stretches out His pierced hands to His people and draws everyone to Himself, as though saying that only in Him and only with Him will we be able to stand amid the abundance of temptations and sins. In rebuking His church in its lukewarm condition, the Lord does not leave us in this miserable state, but offers the very best way out, which will make us overcomers and after which He will grant us to sit with Him in His throne. What is this great love of God capable of! He raises a sinful person from the very bottom in order to make him great throughout the entire universe and give him the highest authority. No logic or justice can contain this mercy of God. He not only forgives my sins, but also desires to make me so rich that throughout eternity I will be able to enrich everyone around me who wishes to receive.

How can this love of God be understood? Where can its manifestations be seen? How can the union of infinite mercy and lawful justice be comprehended?

In the life of Jesus Christ, we can see one very bitter experience. As He approached Jerusalem and looked upon it from the height of the mountain, He began to weep, lamenting and exclaiming that if the hour of God’s visitation had been understood and accepted, its devastation and destruction would not have taken place. How many times did the Lord stretch out His loving hands to His people in order to deliver them from the power of sin! How many of His messengers and prophets did He send to His people in order to warn them of destruction and save them for eternal life! How many prayers did He offer for the apostate Jews who sought His life and wanted to destroy Him! And the Lord was ready to forgive all of this, reveal His mercy, and give cleansing power so that these people might come to their senses and turn from their iniquities to righteousness.

Jesus came to save His people from their sins, and He did so. Through His sacrifice, all sincere and seeking souls repented and accepted the new way of salvation.

When Jesus wept over Jerusalem, His heart did not burn with a desire to destroy that city and the wicked people living in it. He dreamed of their salvation, prayed for it, and did everything possible so that everyone might be saved. The Lord did not experience the slightest joy that these people would have to perish for their iniquity. He warned them about the consequences of sin and told them about the sorrow that would befall those who refused to accept God’s plan for their salvation, but instead confidently continued along their own way, rejecting God’s mercy and grace. And what could the Lord do for these hardened hearts? He could only offer them the better way, but He did not drag these people after Him by force. In opening the way of salvation, the Lord gently invited them to come to Him. He said: ‘Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest’ (Matthew 11:28).

The same thing is taking place in our day. The Lord sees how an abundance of information has engulfed us and led us away from the true path. Foreseeing this sorrowful condition, He prepared in advance the best plan for our salvation and our deliverance from the lukewarm condition. And now the time has come when this plan has begun to operate. The Lord likewise addresses us gently, inviting us to come to Him, establish a trading relationship with Him, be zealous in our repentance and conversion, and follow the path that the Lord has chosen for the overcomer.

Jesus knows the condition of His beloved church. And He permits all of us to pass through this stage of spiritual growth. He desires us to mature specifically in Laodicea so that afterward we may move from this stage of faith into a closer relationship with Christ. Having been born again for God’s Kingdom, I cannot leap straight into a personal relationship with Christ while bypassing the lukewarm church. This is not part of God’s plan. But He desires that, while in the lukewarm condition, I recognize my need of Him and thirst for what He offers.

His hands are stretched out toward me to bless me and give me everything I truly need. He sends His messengers and prophets to draw my attention to His message. He opens my understanding so that I will not harden my heart because I fail to understand the importance of what is taking place. All His host stands ready to pour out God’s blessings upon me in abundance at my request. The Holy Spirit is ready to guide me into the true way, teach me love, and place a joyful spirit within my heart. On God’s side, everything is open and everything is ready to make both me and His entire church overcomers. His grace is more than sufficient for all of us. But He can do nothing without our permission and our interest in His message. He can find a person who, having understood the essence of the message to Laodicea, will be able to explain all its details in understandable language and show step by step how what is offered may be received. But ultimately, the last word remains with me. Will I desire to accept what God so greatly wishes to give me through His servants and through His message?

The Lord has done everything possible and has prepared my entire path as an overcomer so wonderfully that nothing needs to be added to it; I can only take what belongs to God and enjoy the victory. Through His prophet He asks, ‘What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it?’ (Isaiah 5:4). And what will I say to Him in response to all His efforts and appeals? Must He really hear from me an answer such as this: ‘Forgive me, Lord, but I have a better way for my salvation and victory. I am grateful to You for Your care, but forgive me, I do not want to change anything in my life. I am satisfied with my plan for becoming an overcomer’?

Do you think there is some other message for such people? Will the Lord devise something unique that is not yet in the Bible? I know your answer. As you read these lines, you agree that God is right, but simply agreeing that God is righteous and true does not solve the problem of the lukewarm condition. It is solved only when I accept everything that the Faithful Witness counsels me to buy from Him.

And what is the Lord to do when He sees our backs turned toward Him and sees His message being neglected? He can only weep in response to such disregard and continue seeking those who will value everything He offers. With what joy He opens His arms to those who respond to His message and take uncertain steps along the path of the overcomer. The Lord accepts everyone who, in one way or another, thirsts to receive the Heavenly blessings prepared by the Lord, and not by men.

He has not rejected His church, but continues to love it and gently calls each of us to come to Him and abide in Him, learning from Him to love one another. Can you imagine how the Lord will pour out His blessings upon those who respond and accept His message! All Heaven will be set in motion to minister to those who have decided to leave the lukewarm condition and are ready to know Christ and taste the fruits of His victory.

Jesus has already overcome, and His victory is ours.

1. In the light of this lesson, please read Isaiah 1:18; 5:4; 30:18; Jeremiah 31:3; Zechariah 1:3; Matthew 23:37; Luke 15:4; 19:41; Romans 8:38–39; Ephesians 5:25; Philippians 1:6.

2. What other Bible verses came to your mind?

3. What did you understand?

4. Why does the Lord continue to love the church despite its lukewarm condition?

5. Do I see in the rebuke to Laodicea a manifestation of God’s love and a solution to the problem, rather than condemnation?

6. Do I believe that the Lord has already prepared everything necessary for my spiritual healing?

7. Why does the Lord continue to appeal to me patiently, again and again?

8. Am I causing the Lord to weep over me today as well?

9. Am I able to see future overcomers in my brothers and sisters, rather than only their shortcomings?

10. Why does the Lord do nothing against a person’s will?

11. What does leaving the lukewarm condition mean to me personally?

12. Do I believe that the Lord is able to bring me to complete spiritual victory?

13. Am I repeating the mistake of the inhabitants of Jerusalem by rejecting God’s visitation?

14. What should a person do if he suddenly learns that Jesus is weeping over him?