There is a statement that talks about barbed arrows that we will enlarge so we will not become discouraged by this work of the holy angels and of the Father in heaven through Jesus Christ. The condition in which the Laodicean members of Gods church find themselves is in Revelation.

Revelation 3:14 And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God; 15 I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. 16 So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. 17 Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:

Here are a Christian people. They are living in the last days of earth’s history and they claim to indeed to be followers of Jesus Christ.  But there is something that they do not know.  The consequence of them not knowing is that they don’t really know Jesus.  They think they do.  They do not know that they are wretched, miserable, poor, blind and naked.  If they did know this, how would they regard Jesus?

The science of salvation cannot be explained; but it can be known by experience. Only he who sees his own sinfulness can discern the preciousness of the Saviour.  {DA 494.4}

The Laodicean people could not discern the precious of the Saviour.  They couldn’t see how poor and blind they were.  This takes us back to the Pharisees.  They did not discern the Saviour.  Not even the disciples could discern the realities of the Saviour, the preciousness of him.  It was not till after his death that they saw it.  Why do people not see this?  It is because they still feel very smug about themselves.  One of the characteristics of the Pharisees is that they were very bigoted.  They were very judgemental.  We too can be judgemental if we don’t really see our true condition, we become very bigoted and very judgemental on others.  This is the condition of the Laodicean people.  They are the people of the judgement.  Because they are the people of the judgement, they are ready to judge because they know Jesus is in the most holy place judging the people but not knowing their true condition they can become very judgmental on others.  We are living in the time when God is trying to reach our hearts.  He has a people that do not know what is marring their life. Because they don’t know, they can’t appreciate the preciousness of the Saviour.

What is God trying to do to arouse them?  He tried to do it to the Pharisees.  The Pharisee felt no conviction of sin.  The Holy Spirit could not work with him.  His soul was encased in a self-righteous armour which the arrows of God, barbed and true-aimed by angel hands, failed to penetrate. Is there any a time on this planet that we don’t need the help of Christ?  Therefore at every step along our walk we can only feel our need of Christ if we know our real condition every step along the way.  I used to sing hymns of consecration such as Dear Lord and Father of mankind forgive our feverish ways.  Why should I continue to sing those kind of hymns?  I’ve already confessed my failure.  I discover if I will permit the Lord to keep on doing what he wants to do for me, he will show me more that I need to learn.  I must continue to feel my sinfulness so I can continue to reach out for my Saviour so I can be saved.

It is only he who knows himself to be a sinner that Christ can save.  He came “to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised.” Luke 4:18. But “they that are whole need not a physician.” Luke 5:31. We must know our real condition, or we shall not feel our need of Christ’s help. We must understand our danger, or we shall not flee to the refuge. We must feel the pain of our wounds, or we should not desire healing.  {COL 158.1}

These wounds that are trying to be inflicted upon me by these barbed arrows are carefully aimed by the angels at the very item of my life that needs to be identified so that it actually hurts.  This statement is reiterated.  This is the main point of our study that I want to drawer your attention to.

They tremble at the Word of God, for to them it is a living reality. They study, they search for the hidden treasure. They open their understanding and heart to receive, and they pray for heavenly grace, that they may obtain a preparation for the future, immortal life.  {TDG 169.1}

As the heavenly torch is placed in his hand, man sees his own frailty, his infirmity, his hopelessness in looking to himself for righteousness. In himself there is nothing that can recommend him to God. He prays for the Holy Spirit, the representative of Christ, to be his constant guide, to lead him into all truth. . . .  {TDG 169.2}

If this is the reality inside of you? Can you ever turn upon any brother or sister in the church and begin to attack them for their sin?  Can you do that if the torch is shining upon your own life? The compassion Jesus had for the sinner is because he suffered for the terrible degradation put on him if we look at the sin that goes against us in the church.  It amazes me to see brother judging brother.  That tells me that they have no knowledge of their own sinfulness.  The more we are aware of our own sinfulness, we will have compassion for others.

A bare assent to the truth is not Bible religion. . . . There are many Christians whose hearts are encased in a self-righteous armor that the arrow of the Lord, barbed and true, aimed by angel hands, would fail to pierce. {TDG 169.3}

Now it’s a personal thing.  Not the Pharisees, but many a Christian.

The Armour of the Laodicean

We feel so comfortable because we are Gods people.  We have made an experience in the past and we are now able to work and share God’s Word, and help my brother and sister who are worse than me.  That is the mentality of the Laodicean Christian.

The truth glides off, and the soul is not wounded. Man must first seek God for himself, then the Holy Spirit will take the precious truth, far above the price of rubies, as it falls from the lips of Jesus, and convey it, a living power, to the obedient heart. The truth, received in the heart becomes a quickening power, awakening every faculty. It is a divine influence that touches the heart and creates the heavenly music that flows forth from the lips in pure thanksgiving and praise.  {TDG 169.3}

The truth as it is in Jesus, where Jesus suffered my depravity, that truth is something that will go on doing its work to continue to show me how sinful I actually am.  Then how can I be at all harsh upon any other brother in the church?  It’s impossible because the barbed arrows are sticking in me.

The barbed arrows of the Lord, sent by an angel’s hand, come to such ones; but they are not wounded. So far have they departed from correct principles that they are blind. They listen to convincing truths, spoken with great earnestness, but still they do not reform; for they have turned aside and warded off every salutary impression.  {1MR 272.2}

There are certain impressions that we take that are comfortable but then we take an impression that sticks deep and you don’t want it, you ward it off.  This is our danger.  When Jesus was with the disciples every time he said something that would unveil them or his sufferings, they didn’t like it.  Peter didn’t want to hear it and neither could Judas.  Both types of Christians will have to go through it.  If we will be like Peter, we will permit the thing to gouge me so that we like when Jesus was in gethsemane, Peter found his salvation.

This is our only hope.  Without feeling our wounds or true condition, we cannot be saved.  The nearer you come to Jesus and the more you let his beautiful truth to work on you, you will see your sinfulness.  The disciples rebuffed it and one became his enemy.  We should not do this sub-conscious armoury of preventing the barbed arrows that pertain to a particular thing that the Lord is trying to show me.  Rather that we should take it with gladness, oh thank you Lord even though it hurts.  A barbed arrow has to be cut out and replaced with new tissue.  This is what the Lord wants to do for us with his nature.  In the place of self we will have the divine nature.

2 Peter 1:2 Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord, 3 According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that [pertain] unto life and Godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: 4 Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

More and more fully do we become partakers of the divine nature. Through the knowledge of Jesus and my depravity I will keep fleeing to him more and more unto that perfect day.  This is our great need in this time in which we are living that we will be filled with the compassion and love of Jesus by the fact that we see ourselves so deplorably sinful. Who will join the church triumphant?  The members of the church militant who permit this to happen, who will let the barbed arrows make them Christlike.  So compassionate, so kind and loving to their fellow brothers and sisters and to their fellow world around them, so much like Christ, that they will join the church triumphant.  We are living in the time when the Lord wants to finish his work in producing the church triumphant.  A people so affected by Christ that they have nothing that looks down on another person.

In every succeeding generation the patronising leaders of the church have turned upon the faithful ones and then those faithful ones do it again.  One generation after another.  We need to learn from this that we will not follow that course after our forefathers have been faithful reformers so that we also begin to persecute people that are not faithful reformers.  We hail back to those who were faithful reformers, we can stand on principle but look down on those that are not and start to persecute them instead of being compassionate and winning souls by showing the truth and letting the truth be aimed at us by the angels.  The beautiful power of the Holy Spirit undresses the soul and replaces it with his own righteousness and makes him see his own deplorable condition so he can open his heart and God changes his life.

Amen.