A Message for Laodicea

Read Colossians 4:16-18; compare Colossians 2:1-3. Thinking about Jesus' message to Laodicea (see yesterday's study), what correlations do you find with that of Colossians, which was to be read also in the Laodicean church of Paul's day?

Looking at the history of God's people through the ages, the same problems occur over and over. The prophets rebuked Israel for wanting to worship like the world and urged them to repent before it was too late. Isaiah even lamented, "How the faithful city has become a harlot!" (Isa. 1:21, NKJV) and urged the people to return to God for forgiveness and cleansing (Isa. 1:16-20). Both John the Baptist (Matt. 3:2, 8-10) and Jesus (Matt. 4:17, Matt. 12:33-37) called upon the Israelites to repent and bear fruit that would stand the test of the judgment in the last days. The apostles bore a similar message (Acts 2:38; Acts 3:19; Acts 17:30; 2 Cor. 7:9-10).

Compare the following passages: Isa. 60:1-3 with Rev. 18:1-4, and Isa. 62:1-5 with Rev. 19:7-8. What similarities exist between the messages in the two books?

God will unite heaven and earth. But because of the great controversy, that must be done in stages:

1. At Calvary, Satan lost any affection left toward him among the heavenly beings (John 12:31).
2. Through the judgment ministry of Christ in the heavenly sanctuary, God's people are "complete in every good work to do His will" (Heb. 13:21, NKJV) and fitted for heaven.
3. Through the millennial judgment and the final judgment after the millennium, all remaining questions are forever settled, and sin and unrepentant sinners are destroyed in the lake of eternal fire, which also cleanses the earth (Rev. 21:8).
4. Only with the end of sin can heaven and earth finally be united (Rev. 21:3).

What can you yourself (not looking at anyone else) do in order to remain faithful to God and to the truth He has given us? That is, what choices are you making that reveal who truly has your heart?