A Cocktail of Blessing and Judgment Part 2: Revisiting Laodicea
This side of eternity there are no absolute blessings or judgments. We are far from perfect and this life continues to be plagued by the realities of sin, suffering, and evil. God’s blessings and judgments fall both on believers in the church and unbelievers in the world but with different purposes. The Lord, who is ruling all things for the good of those “ who love Him and are called according to His purpose ” shakes up a perfect cocktail of encouragements and rebukes, designed to provoke unbelievers in to seeking Him and train Christians in preparation for heaven. We do not derive maximum benefit from the Lord’s rebukes and judgments by denying their reality with a gospel of “‘ Peace! Peace!’ - when there is no peace ”. Rather we grow spiritually when we “humble ourselves under the Lord’s mighty hand”, receiving the gracious blows of Providence as coming from the hand of a loving Father and praying that the Holy Spirit would use them to make us more like Jesus. Read Part 1 here . L