I still long for Jesus to come back to this earth, as I did over a decade ago back at Mission College that day the truth of His return first awakened my dull senses. I am sure that you desire the same thing. If you have read through this series of essays, you may now see a bit more of the reason why He delays. Jesus Himself longs to return more than anybody on earth has ever desired Him to return, but in infinite patience, He waits until His church is ready to receive Him. He will continue to wait as long as necessary, until the church reflects His glorious character, and the gospel has gone to every people group on the planet.
Jesus, in His infinite wisdom, has given us a message that will prepare us to carry the gospel to the world, and that will make us ready to welcome Him in the clouds. He inspired John to write the book of Revelation in such a way as to draw our attention to this message. Over 150 years ago, that message began to bring an awakening to the church, but the individuals comprising the body of believers did not thoroughly cooperate with the message to the Laodicean church. Today the message remains, latently potent with all of the power of the gospel itself. It waits for us to read it and heed it. Jesus waits for us to read it and invite Him into our hearts on a scale that has never before occurred.
One quote from Ellen White lingers in my mind as I consider this subject. “What is justification by faith? It is the work of God in laying the glory of man in the dust, and doing for man that which it is not in his power to do for himself.” Testimonies to Ministers, page 456. If God lays our glory in the dust, our power is shattered. If He does for us that which it is not in our power to do for ourselves, Christ is in us, the hope of glory, and the mystery of God is being finished. The Laodicean message is central to the gospel, and is custom made for the special issues and temptations that confront the church of Christ in these last days.
I have personally found that experiencing the power of the Laodicean message is simple, and is possible. It is not easy, and I have found that the excitement has worn off and revealed that I needed much more contrition and repentance than I had experienced. I would commend to you as well the Laodicean message.
Reader, if you desire to have power in your life as never before, if you desire to have Jesus dwell in your heart and to hasten His glorious return, the Laodicean message is for you.
There are many ways to study one passage of Scripture and experience its power. Personally, I took the word-by-word approach to studying Revelation 3:14-22, and found my communion with God to be growing daily. I went through the Laodicean message one word at a time, seeking to understand the meaning of that word, and to see how it fit into the rest of the message. I looked up other places in the Bible that word was used, and even wrote and amplified version of the verses, based on what I found in other passages of Scripture. The process took me several weeks, but it was worth every minute! It should have probably taken me several months, for the full effect of the message to be realized in my life.
God has given us this special passage of Scripture for our good. He has called us to an intimate communion with Him. He offers us, the members of this wretched and pitiable church, promises that He has not offered to anybody else in history. Only the overcomers in Laodicea are promised to be able to sit in the throne with Jesus, as He sits in the throne with His Father. Only Laodicea is offered the opportunity to dine with Jesus.
Heeding the message to Laodicea can be very simple. You, reader, can read those words over and over again, and pray that God will teach you through them. You can read until you are bored, and then read some more until you are anything but bored! You can, through the message to Laodicea, open your heart to Jesus, and enjoy the fulness of salvation He came to give. My friend, I commend to you the Word of God. I commend to you the Laodicean message. May God bless you.
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