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 again and again. 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: _Isaiah 60:1–3 with Revelation 18:1–4, and Isaiah 62:1–5 with Revelation 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:
At Calvary, Satan lost any affection left toward him among the heavenly beings (John 12:31).
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.
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).
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?
Supplemental EGW Notes
The Son of God stooped to uplift the fallen. For this He left the sinless worlds on high, the ninety and nine that loved Him, and came to this earth to be “wounded for our transgressions” and “bruised for our iniquities.” Isaiah 53:5. He was in all things made like unto His brethren. He became flesh, even as we are. He knew what it meant to be hungry and thirsty and weary. He was sustained by food and refreshed by sleep. He was a stranger and a sojourner on the earth—in the world, but not of the world; tempted and tried as men and women of today are tempted and tried, yet living a life free from sin. Tender, compassionate, sympathetic, ever considerate of others, He represented the character of God. “The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, . . . full of grace and truth.” John 1:14.
Surrounded by the practices and influences of heathenism, the Colossian believers were in danger of being drawn away from the simplicity of the gospel, and Paul, in warning them against this, pointed them to Christ as the only safe guide. “I would that ye knew,” he wrote, “what great conflict I have for you, and for them at Laodicea, and for as many as have not seen my face in the flesh; that their hearts might be comforted, being knit together in love, and unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgment of the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ; in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
“And this I say, lest any man should beguile you with enticing words. . . . As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in Him: rooted and built up in Him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving. Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. For in Him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. And ye are complete in Him, which is the head of all principality and power.”
Christ had foretold that deceivers would arise, through whose influence “iniquity” should “abound,” and “the love of many” should “wax cold.” Matthew 24:12. He had warned the disciples that the church would be in more danger from this evil than from the persecution of her enemies. Again and again Paul warned the believers against these false teachers. This peril, above all others, they must guard against; for by receiving false teachers, they would open the door to errors by which the enemy would dim the spiritual perceptions and shake the confidence of those newly come to the faith of the gospel. Christ was the standard by which they were to test the doctrines presented. All that was not in harmony with His teachings they were to reject. Christ crucified for sin, Christ risen from the dead, Christ ascended on high—this was the science of salvation that they were to learn and teach.—The Acts of the Apostles, pp. 472, 473.
The above quotations are taken from Ellen G. White Notes for the Sabbath School Lessons, published by Pacific Press Publishing Association. Used by permission.