The cry of the human heart is for love and acceptance. There is an irrepressible longing to belong, to have a true friend who sympathizes with us. Nothing else can satisfy the heart. Many have tried to fill this longing with popularity, wealth, education or position. But none of these have ever filled the most basic longing of the human heart—the longing to be loved and comforted, to be needed and respected. Billions have turned to the religions of this world to satisfy the great need of their hearts. But to most, this deep longing has never been satisfied. Bewildered and deceived, they move “on in a gloomy procession toward eternal ruin—to death in which there is no hope of life, toward night to which comes no morning.” The Desire of Ages, 36.
Christians have been promised that their need of joy and love, comfort and satisfaction would be met. God Himself has promised to ravish the heart of men with love and satisfy the longings of the heart. But even here, few have realized the reality of God’s promises. In this article we will look at why such wonderful promises are enjoyed by only a few, why only such a small number realize complete fulfillment.
Promises
“Come unto Me all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” Matthew 11:28. “Thou openest thine hand, and satisfiest the desire of every living thing.” Psalm 145:16. “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you.” John 14:27. “These things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves.” John 17:13.
One of the greatest promises in the Bible is found in this verse: “I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.” John 14:18. No one can find love if he is alone. That is why Jesus promised to “come to you.” The realization of love and being loved takes more than one person. That is why our great longing for love can only be fulfilled by having a companion.
We should be amazed that the One who is the Creator of love came to this loveless world and that coming here was the only way to bring us love and joy! The One who basked in the sunlight of His Father’s presence and received the love and admiration of all the angels came here to be despised. The One who was surrounded with admiring friends came to this cold and friendless world. Why did His come? He came to bring love to the unloved, joy to the sorrowing, health to the sick and peace to the restless and troubled heart. Oh, the wonder of His love! He came to understand what it means to be alone and friendless, so He could bring us friendship. He came to save us from hatred and loneliness and sin. The price of this salvation was infinitely expensive. We will never understand the cost until we see Christ in His glory and then realize that He left all that is lovely to come here and die for us.
To His Own
When Jesus came, He was treated as though He came to His enemies. No one, who was looking on, would have guessed He had come to His friends. His friends treated Him like an enemy. “He came unto His own, and His own received Him not.” John 1:11. How could it be? Those who were “His own” did not receive Him. Jesus was the central figure in the economy of the Jewish nation. He was the fulfillment of every sacrifice and ceremony of the Jewish sanctuary. But when He appeared, they refused to recognize Him—to surrender their ways to His way.
It was He—the unrecognized One, who made these marvelous promises that will satisfy the deepest longings of the human heart. He gave unsurpassed promises like this one: “If we surrender our lives to His service, we can never be placed in a position for which God has not made provision. Whatever may be our situation, we have a Guide to direct our way; whatever our perplexities, we have a sure Counselor; whatever our sorrow, bereavement, or loneliness, we have a sympathizing Friend. If in our ignorance we make missteps, Christ does not leave us.” Christ’s Object Lessons, 173. [All emphasis supplied.]
There it is, spelled out clearly. “Whatever our sorrow, bereavement, or loneliness, we have a sympathizing Friend.” That promise meets the need of the human heart. Every person longs for a sympathizing Friend. But the promise is given on this condition: “IF we surrender our lives to His service.”
When we realizes the possibility of unsurpassed love and friendship, of acceptance and understanding, we naturally want it. We are quick to want our hearts to be satisfied. The cry of the soul is: “Just give me this love, I want it.” That is what the woman at the well said, “Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not.” John 4:15.
Christ is quick to answer the request of such a one. He who put the desire for love in our hearts is waiting to satisfy our needs. “To every soul, however sinful, Jesus says, If thou hadst asked to Me, I would have given thee the living water.” The Desire of Ages, 194.
Right here, at this very point, is where a great struggle starts. Christ gladly claims us as His child and He loves to satisfy our longing heart. He came to this world to save just such ones, but, as the woman at the well, He has some things to show us. He wants to reveal Himself to us, but to receive of the water of life, we must give ourselves to Him—“surrender our lives to His service.” Surrender our sin, surrender our pride of opinion, surrender everything to Him—He (and us) will be satisfied with nothing less. So Jesus asked the woman at the well, about her husband and He hit the sore point. This is the point where many walk away from Christ and consequently, never receive the desired blessing. They want all the blessings of Christ’s presence, but they do not want to surrender their own way. They do not want their sin pointed out. They thereby refuse the gift of life.
Just as Jesus blessed the woman at the well, He longed to bless everyone—but the Jews refused to surrender themselves to Him so He could heal their infirmities. They wanted to receive love and admiration, but they did not want their own unloveliness pointed out, so it could be healed. They wanted to be loved and respected, but they did not love and respect others. “Instead of returning His love with gratitude, they thrust Christ from them.” The Spirit of Prophecy, vol. 3, 11. They rejected His love which is the only thing that would give them true happiness. They resisted Him, the giver of every good and perfect gift. Christ weeps for those who refuse His love. He knows the bitterness of loneliness and He longs to deliver us from it. “The tears of Christ as he wept over Jerusalem were for the sins of all time. The Jewish nation was a symbol of the people of all ages who scorn the pleadings of Infinite love. Those who profess to be the representatives of Christ upon earth, yet whose lives are a continual denial of Him, may read their own condemnation in Christ’s denunciation of the self-righteous Jews.” Ibid., 9.
Bold Professions
All the while the Jews were rejecting Jesus, they kept up a wonderful form of religion. “The Jewish nation were outwardly religious, priding themselves upon their sacred temple, the pomp of priests and the imposing ceremonies of the morning and evening services, gorgeous synagogues and sacrificial offerings.” Ibid., 19. So today, we can send out beautiful papers, hold magnificent meetings and have exciting worship services, but are we following the Lord’s instructions in the Spirit of Prophecy? Are we holding up the law of God? Are we becoming more like Him and less like the world? In spite of our religious activities, it appears that we are departing from God just like the Jews did. Unfortunately, this description of them fits us: “The Jewish religion with its magnificent display of temple, sacred altars, sacrificial pomp, mitred priests and impressive ceremonies, was but a superficial covering under which pride, oppression and iniquity held sway.” Ibid., 18.
The forms of religion will never keep us from destruction. A profession of Christ does not satisfy the wants of the soul. Our only remedy is to accept the One who, so often, does not come as we expect. He did not come the way the Jews thought He should—the way they taught from the scriptures that He “had” to come. He did not come to pamper their pride and convenience. So He was unrecognized and rejected. Jesus coming in an unexpected way reminds me of a story that I heard once.
There was a couple who so much wanted a son. One day a baby boy was born into their home. How happy he made his new mother and father. They lavished every gift that money could buy on their son. He grew to be strong and healthy. One sad day he was called away to war. He faithfully wrote his parents, and how they looked forward to his letters.
One day all letters stopped. Months went by with no word from their son and the sad parents supposed he was dead. Then, unexpectedly, they received a letter from the army that their son was discharged and would soon be home. Not long after, they received a phone call from their son. It was so good to hear his voice. He told them he would soon be home, but first he had one request. He wanted to bring a friend home with him. He said his friend had no home but his. His friend had been terribly injured in the war. He was maimed, a leg had been shot and had to be removed. His friend had half of his face badly burned. He explained to his parents that he would do all of the work of taking care of his friend, they only needed to agree to let him come. “I’ll call you back tomorrow,” the son said. “That will give you time to think about it.”
His parents thought about their sons proposal. They could not wait to have their son home—but an invalid? That would be an inconvenience. Certainly, there is someplace else their son’s friend could go, they reasoned. No, they did not want him to come. So they told him of their decision. “OK,” He said, “I wouldn’t want to bother you or be an inconvenience.”
In a week they received a letter from the armed services announcing the unexpected death of their son. He was actually the one who was maimed and burned. It was he, not another, who needed their love and attention. But he was unrecognized and unwanted.
We want Jesus to come and make us great and popular, to give us wealth and fame. We do not want Him to disturb our convenience and comfort. We seldom expect Him the way He comes—despised and rejected of men. Consequently, again today, He is unrecognized and unnoticed. He will not come where He is not wanted. Many, in thinking about their own happiness, end up rejecting Jesus. But when everything is said and done, just as this couple, all they find is grief. This couple thought they were doing the thing that would bring them the most happiness. They thought they did not want to be inconvenienced. But their selfishness brought them unexplainable grief and despair. That is the was sin is. It is very deceitful. It looks like the way to happiness, but it is the way to loneliness and despair. The way to happiness is in forgetting about our own comfort and thinking about others. How differently things would have been for this couple, if they would have forgot about their own convenience and helped someone else.
Jesus forgot about His own comfort to save us. If we are ever to be happy we must be that way too. Sin has fooled us into believing that the way of happiness is found in thinking of our self, our church, our image, our money—anything for self. Oh, the deceitfulness of the mystery of iniquity is terribly cruel and unexplainable! Even though Jesus did everything to save the Jews from grief and destruction, He could not, because they refused to put self aside and receive His love. They wanted their own way. They disregarded and disobeyed His counsel and by that they refused to be loved. Eventually, they rejected love itself. “The sin of Jerusalem was in the rejection of her then present mercies and warnings. As a tender father pities a loved but erring and rebellious son, so had Jesus compassion upon Jerusalem.” Ibid., 10.
Are we committing the same sin as the Jews did? The Lord in His great mercy has sent the message of revival and reformation, of mercy and warning, to the Seventh-day Adventist church. Has the message or the messengers been accepted? Has there been any change towards following God’s counsel in the Spirit of Prophecy? No! Instead, we want our own way. There has been a continual advancement towards the world. There has been a growing and open rebellion towards the Spirit of Prophecy. There has been a hatred for God’s messengers. The reality of the situation is grim, because, the church can no more reject the message today and be saved from destruction, then the Jews could safely reject Jesus. God does not want destruction to come to us, but we are refusing to come to Him so we could receive life. We are rejecting the messengers that God has sent. If we come to hate those who are giving the warning message, we will eventually be destroyed. What a terrible cup of iniquity we are filling up!
It is no wonder that the messengers are hated today! It has always been that way. “The prophets of God did not find favor with apostate Israel because through them their hidden sins were brought to light. Ahab regarded Elijah as his enemy, because the prophet was faithful to unfold the monarch’s secret iniquities. So, today, the servant of Christ, the reprover of sin, meets with scorn and rebuffs. Bible truth, the religion of Christ, struggles against a strong current of moral impurity.” Ibid., 12.
The warning is being given, pleading for God’s people to return to the old paths—to follow the Spirit of Prophecy. This warning is being continually rejected and scorned. Time is marching on. Someday the last warning will be given, the last call of mercy will be heard. “This is our day of mercies and privileges. In every age of the world there is given to men their day of light and privileges, a probationary time in which they may become reconciled with God. But there is a limit to this grace. Mercy may plead for years and be rejected and slighted; but there comes a time when mercy makes her last plea. The sweet, winning voice entreats the sinner no longer, and reproofs and warnings cease.” Ibid., 11. When will that time come? Oh, reader, we must respond to His mercy while Christ still pleads io our behalf, in the heavenly sanctuary.
If we will turn to Him with a full surrender, He will accept us. His love can never be explained or understood, it can only be experienced! It will be extended to the most unworthy, to the worst sinner. Before it is too late we must come to Him. We must put aside the bigotry against the message of reproof. God sends a warning message in love to the sinner. “If the Jewish people would have thrown off their bigotry and blind unbelief long enough to have looked into the depths of the loving, compassionate heart of Jesus, they could never have crucified the Lord of glory. But they were perverse and self-righteous.” Ibid., 14.
How Can I Give Thee Up?
Eventually, the sad day came when Jesus said: “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!” Matthew 23:37. Ye would not be loved. Ye would not be healed. Ye would not be saved. I would have healed you, I would have loved you, but you refused. Ye would not be gathered together.
Oh to be gathered together! To be one with God and with each other! This fulfills the great longing of the heart. But the Jews refused. Have not we refused? To have this love, that we so much want, the love must go two ways. For God to claim us as His children alone is not the finished product of love. Love must not only be received, it must be given! Jesus said, “If ye love me, keep My commandments.” John 14:15. Obedience is the fruit of love. We must not only be His child, but He must be our God, the Lord and Master of our lives, or love will never be fulfilled. That is the essential part of the new covenant relationship. “For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people.” Hebrews 8:10. In other words, I will be yours and you will be mine. We must be gathered together. That is God’s description of true love, true companionship and happiness. Notice, the new covenant is a two-way contract. But if we refuse our part of the agreement, the contract has been broken!
The problem has never been that God leaves us, but rather that we leave Him. “Christ will never abandon those for whom He has died. We may leave Him and be overwhelmed with temptation, but Christ can never turn from one for whom He has paid the ransom of His own life.” Prophets and Kings, 175. If there is a separation, it is because we have left Him and gone towards the world. We show that we have left Him be refusing to obey His counsel. We are not surrendered to Him if we disregard His messengers. When we set aside the Spirit of Prophecy we do not love Jesus. Many today have in reality rejected Christ by ignoring His counsel. We reject Christ when we do despite to God’s law and tell people they cannot overcome sin. “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.” Hosea 4:6.
Who is Their Father?
The subject of those who reject Him, brings up a question. Are they His people? Can those who join the world still be the sons of God? (Of course anyone can claim anything.) What about those people in Jesus’ day who rejected Him? Were they “His own”? Did they receive these promises of love and joy? They definitely did not receive the fulfillment of these promises because they crucified Jesus. Persecuting others could never bring love and joy! But were they His? Did He claim them as His children? No He did not! He plainly said who their father was. He said, “Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it. And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not.” John 8:44, 45.
When one is told the truth, and does not believe it, but believes a lie instead, he is in a deadly relationship with evil. When the sins of worldliness and pride are pointed out to a sleepy church—and the messenger is hated and defamed—who is the father (originator) of that? When the dangers of the “new theology” (that one does not need to overcome sin now) are pointed out, and the messengers are fired—who is the originator of that? When people mock at health reform, education reform and dress reform, who is the father of that kind of spirit? Is the Lord at the head of such things? People say, “The Lord is still at the helm.” What does that mean? Is He the One responsible for the total disregard of the counsels given in the Testimonies to the Church? Was it the Lord’s idea to bring NLP into the church? Is He at the helm of that atrocity? Was He at the helm when Jesus was crucified? When all truth and justice and fairness were laid aside at Jesus’ trial—who was at the helm? Was God the originator of Jesus (God’s) death?
When will Jesus say again as he did before: “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.” Matthew 23:37, 38. Until it is too late, we can never understand the horribleness of that desolation—total aloneness. It is mysterious that the human soul that was created for love and companionship would choose instead desolation and loneliness.
Love has always been a two way street. (The direction of the street for humans to walk on is obedience to God.) We need never worry that Jesus may not love us. He proved that He loved us on Calvary. Now He says to us: “If ye love Me, keep My commandments.” John 14:15. If we do not love Him, the covenant is broken. Without that love we would be miserable in heaven, because heaven is a place of love. The most loving thing to do would be to end our misery. But that is not what God wants!! He wants to save everyone! He wants us to turn from our backsliding so that He may give us peace and joy and life. Reader, please do not let Jesus go through the agony of being separated from you.
“It was the sight of Jerusalem that pierced the heart of Jesus—Jerusalem that had rejected the Son of God and scorned His love, that refused to be convinced by His mighty miracles, and was about to take His life. He saw what she was in her guilt of rejecting her Redeemer, and what she might have been had she accepted Him who alone could heal her wound. He had come to save her; how could He give her up?
“Israel had been a favored people; God had made their temple His habitation; it was ‘beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth.’ Ps. 48:2. The record of more than a thousand years of Christ’s guardian care and tender love, such as a father bears his only child, was there. In that temple the prophets had uttered their solemn warnings. There had the burning censers waved, while incense, mingled with the prayers of the worshipers, had ascended to God. There the blood of beasts had flowed, typical of the blood of Christ. There Jehovah had manifested His glory above the mercy seat. There the priests had officiated, and the pomp of symbol and ceremony had gone on for ages. But all this must have an end.
“Jesus raised His hand,—that had so often blessed the sick and suffering,—and waving it toward the doomed city, in broken utterances of grief exclaimed: ‘If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! . . . Jerusalem had been the child of His care, and as a tender father mourns over a wayward son, so Jesus wept over the beloved city. How can I give thee up? How can I see thee devoted to destruction? Must I let thee go to fill up the cup of thine iniquity? One soul is of such value that, in comparison with it, worlds sink into insignificance; but here was a whole nation to be lost . . . Christ’s great heart of love still pleaded for Jerusalem, that had scorned His mercies, despised His warnings, and was about to imbrue her hands in His blood. If Jerusalem would but repent, it was not yet too late. While the last rays of the setting sun were lingering on temple, tower, and pinnacle, would not some good angel lead her to the Saviour’s love, and avert her doom? Beautiful and unholy city, that had stoned the prophets, that had rejected the Son of God, that was locking herself by her impenitence in fetters of bondage,—her day of mercy was almost spent!” The Desire of Ages, 576–578.
Yes, our day of mercy is almost spent, too. Should we not turn with great earnestness to love and obey God? Or have we forgotten the things that belong to our peace? If we followed every one of His directions, how blessed we would be. How happy God would be. But instead it looks as if God’s professed people would like to destroy the messengers He has sent. Already one has been beaten by a conference pastor and local elders. More persecution is sure to follow. It may be now as in Jesus’ day, that those who are willing to follow Jesus will be very few! But how our hearts weep for the multitudes that have refused to come to Him and receive life! “But in blind prejudice they refused the mercies offered them by Jesus. His love was lavished upon them in vain, and they regarded not His wondrous works. Sorrow fled at His approach; infirmity and deformity were healed; injustice and oppression shrunk ashamed from His rebuke; while death and the grave humbled themselves in His presence and obeyed His commands. Yet the people of His choice rejected him and his mighty miracles with scorn. The Majesty of Heaven came unto His own, and His own received him not.” The Spirit of Prophecy, vol. 3, 19.
The great need of many hearts are not being met because of a refusal to love and obey God. God has enough love and mercy to satisfy every heart, but by our disobedience we have rejected His love. There are many discontented and lonely people because a full surrender of the heart has not been made to Jesus. Not only individuals, but whole churches (just as the Jews) are seeking for happiness at the broken cisterns of this world. Christ’s great heart of love is calling for you! “How often would I have gathered thy children together . . . and ye would not.”