LAODICEA The Counsel to the church Revelation 3v18.
"I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear: and anoint thine eyes with eye salve, that thou mayest see."
The counsel of God is terse, sharp, and to the point. He speaks in language they would fully understand. He gets "under the skin" and exposes the very things that occupy their lives rather than the things of God. Laodicea was noted for three trades: banking, textiles and medicine. Through these trades in the city they made their fortune and the church had become too much involved in this. He uses the language that they could understand "buy of Me."....."buy from Me." (the Greek word "para") "buy alongside of Me." As you know how to trade in material things, so now learn to trade in spiritual things and the only source of that is Myself. The church at Laodicea was not dealing directly with the Lord for the spiritual products of the kingdom of God. Instead, they had become earthbound, giving attention to their own affairs, while still clinging on to the blessings of salvation for their future security. They had become spiritual parasites, heading for heaven, but living for earth.
The description of the Christian life is stated by Paul in Philippians 2v13 "work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in you, both to will and to do of His good pleasure." The Laodiceans knew nothing of this. Their posture was live for this world, and let God take care of the next. He counsels them "buy of Me"; they were buying and selling every day; now says the Lord start trading in spiritual things. This will cost you, it will cost you in terms of time and in terms of status and in terms of possessions but it will be worth your while. You are poor spiritually, I want you to be rich, you are naked spiritually, I want you to be clothed. You are blind spiritually, I want you to see. You are citizens of heaven; start living the life. Elsewhere he speaks of the "deceitfulness of riches" to which these people had devoted themselves. Paul describes what this means in 1st Timothy 6v7 " we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out." Material things have no value in the heaven to which we are going. So at the beginning of our lives and at the end of our lives material things are worthless. Elsewhere the bible makes it clear that material riches are "uncertain," they have a habit of disappearing. The Lord is saying here, give your lives to that which will last for eternity and in line with the material trade in which they are involved, so now turn it to real spiritual and eternal value. He does this under three headings.
- Buy of Me gold tried in the fire. The banking metaphor: This refers to the process of the refinement of gold, to remove all impurities and to improve the quality of the metal, and so increase it's value. Scriptures in many places refer to the spiritual life of the people of God as a process of refinement through which the Lord puts all His people. One who knew all about this process was Job who in the providence of God was asked to go through severe loss and suffering and his conclusion was "He knoweth the way that I take: when He hath tried me I shall come forth as gold." Job 23v10 The apostle Peter said in chapter 1v7 "the trial of your faith being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ." The same apostle described silver and gold as "corruptible things." What man places the greatest value on, in this world, namely gold and silver, Peter dismissed as simply corruptible things, things with no inherent eternal value. He was the living example of this when he said in Acts 3v6 "silver and gold have I none: but such as I have give I thee, in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk." Christ challenges us to develop real spiritual qualities, tested in the divine fires which will be to our eternal reward, rather than the paltry transient things of this world.
- Buy of Me white raiment. The textile metaphor: Clothing in scripture speaks of character; how we deport ourselves in public in real life situations. They were walking with stained garments, spiritually speaking. He talks of the "shame of their nakedness." They were obviously engaging in sharp practices, possibly for the sake of material gain. God wants His people to deal honestly, to live lives that honour Him rather than bring Him dishonor. Only by bringing our lives under the divine scrutiny will we be able to deport ourselves for His glory on this earth. It is a shame to be involved in His church, while indulging in dubious practice. In verse 20, which we will discuss later, He tells them exactly how this can be accomplished, by living in fellowship with Him. Can a man walk with God and practice evil? The answer is obvious, but it may cost me, and the challenge is to buy from Him.
- Anoint thine eyes with eye salve. The medical metaphor: Notice He changes from "buy" to "anoint." What He is talking about here is the spiritual illumination of the Holy Spirit and no Christian can buy that, since they already have Him in His fullness; it is just that they need to apply what they already have to their lives. Occupation with material things only hampers spiritual life and destroys spiritual vision. The apostle Paul prayed in Ephesians chapter 1 as follows "that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him: the eyes of your understanding being enlightened that ye may know what is the hope of His calling and what the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints and what is the exceeding greatness of His power to usward who believe." Ephesians 1v17-19 There is no need for any Christian to be blind to the things of God.
"Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in thy law" Psalm 119v18
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