Saviour finds positively nauseating; He says, “accordingly, because you are lukewarm and neither hot nor cold, before long I will vomit you out of My mouth” (Weymouth’s Trans lation). Above all things, do not be a lukewarm Christian. Paul is an excellent example of one who was once cold toward the Lord and later hot for Him, but never lukewarm. When be thought Jesus was an imposter he fought against Him; when he found that Jesus was the true Messiah he was imme diately heart and soul for Him. Christ can use a man like that. But there is no excuse for lukewarmness. Either Jesus Christ is Lord of all, or He is not Lord at all. 5. Exhortation. “Because thou sayest, I am rich, and in creased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind and naked: 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 eyesalve, that thou mayest see” (verses 17, 18). Notice the striking contrast between the conception that these people had of their own condition, and their actual state as Christ, the Omniscient One, saw it. Because they had great worldly possessions, they thought they were rich. Christ said: “You are poor.” The Laodiceans possessed none of the true riches. All their wealth was on earth and would soon pass away. They had no treasure laid up in heaven. They felt that they were happy people because “increased with goods.” Christ said: “Thou art wretched and miserable.” They boasted that they had need of nothing. Christ said: “You are blind and naked.” It is clear that these people, though they pro fessed to be Christians, really knew nothing of the grace of God in Salvation. They were depending on themselves and their material wealth rather than on Christ. The wealthiest man in this world, if he lack Christ is the poorest beggar in God’s sight. O, that self-righteous sinners could really see their true condition! Then surely they would come in all humility to the only One who can save, and bring healing to the soul. Christ counsels these people to “buy” things that are really worthwhile. How can these things be “bought” ? Certainly not with the money of this world. Isaiah gives us the answer: “Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price” (Isa. 55:1). Three things Christ mentions as of superlative value: “Gold tried in the fire”— this is a symbol of the righteous ness of God. This righteousness is given as a gift to the one who believes on Christ. As we look at the suffering our Saviour endured to achieve Salvation we can truly see that this “gold” was indeed “tried in the fire.” Then He speaks of white raiment. Here as in Revelation 19:8 it is likely that this expression speaks of the godly lives of the redeemed ones. After receiving God’s righteousness through faith, we are to live by faith, and through the power of the Holy Spirit main tain godly lives for His glory. The third thing is eyesalve with which to anoint the eyes. The Laodiceans manufactured eyesalve to anoint the physical eyes, but they needed the divine eyesalve— the Holy Spirit— to anoint their spiritual eyes. All of these are precious possessions which Christ is ready to provide to us freely if we will but appropriate them through faith. 6. Threat. “As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent” (verse 19). How beautiful to see that the Lord loves even these lukewarm, nominal Chris tians. So He threatens them with rebuke and chastisement— not as a means of vengeance, but rather to awaken them if possible to their true condition. However chastisement can still" be averted if they will do two things: repent with regard to past errors, and be zealous for Christ henceforth. The root from which the word zealous is derived means “to boil.” Zealous is therefore in striking contrast to lukewarm. Christ wants boiling men—men who are on fire for Him. 7. Promise. “ Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man heaT my voice, and open the door, I will come in to Page Eight
him, and will sup with him, and he with me. To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches” (verses 20-22). It should be carefully noted that this beautiful promise is to the individual. Even though Christ is shut out of this church, and selfishness and pride are enthroned, yet our Saviour is ready and waiting to have blessed communion with any individual who will open the door to Him. In fact He is pictured as waiting and knocking, earnestly seeking an en trance. While the primary picture here is that of Christ standing at the door of this unbelieving church, yet the familiar application of Christ standing at the door of the individual heart is equally appropriate. Before Christ can have an entrance to a church, He must have an entrance to the individual hearts of which the church is composed. To eat with a person is considered the closest type of fellowship. If you are ready to open your heart to Christ, He is ready to come in and to have the sweetest of spiritual communion with you. The overcomer is promised that he will some day sit with Christ on His throne, i.e., reign with Christ when, after His return, He sits on the throne of David as the promised King of Israel, and Lord of all the earth. Some make the serious error of assuming that Christ is now sitting on David’s throne in heaven and in this way is fulfilling the promises concerning the Messianic reign (Luke 1:32, 33, etc.). In fact this interpretation is a corner stone of the millennial position which denies that Christ will ever literally reign on the earth. But it is very evident that the fact that Christ now is sitting at the right hand of the Father does not by any means fulfill the many explicit promises of an earthly reign. The promise that Christ will reign on David’s throne has nothing to do with His heavenly session now, for David’s throne was ex clusively an earthly throne and never a heavenly one. Christ’s statement in verse 21 makes a clear distinction between the Father’s throne in heaven on which the Lord Jesus now sits, and His throne-— the throne of David on earth—where He will yet reign at His Second Coming. In this connection the words of Rev. A. R. Fausset in the Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Commentary are indeed cogent and deserve careful consideration: “ Two thrones are here men tioned, (1) His Father’s, upon which He now sits, and has sat since His ascension, after His victory over death, sin, the world; upon this none can sit save God, and the God-man Christ Jesus, for it the incommunicable prerogative of God alone (2) the throne which shall be peculiarly His as the once humbled and then glorified Son of man, to be set up over the whole earth (heretofore usurped by Satan) at His coming again; in this the victorious saints shall share (1 Cor. 6 :2 ). The transfigured elect Church shall with Christ' judge and reign over the nations in the flesh, and Israel the foremost of them; ministering blessings to them as angels were the Lord’s mediators of blessing and administrators of His government in settling up His throne in Israel at Sinai. This privilege of our high calling belongs exclusively to the present time whilst Satan reigns, when alone there is scope for victory (2 Tim. 2:11,12). When Satan shall be bound (ch. 20:4) there shall be no longer scope for it, for all on earth shall know the Lord from the least to the greatest. This, the grandest and crown ing promise, is placed at the end of all the seven addresses, to gather all in one. It also forms the link to the next part of the book, where the Lamb is introduced seated on His Father’s throne (ch. 4 :2 ,3 ; 5 :5 ,6 ). The Eastern throne is broader than ours, admitting others besides him who, as chief, oc cupies the centre.” Viewing Revelation 2 and 3 as a prophetic forecast of Church History, it is clear that Laodicea represents the faithless individual church of the last days, even as Phila delphia represents the faithful individual church. Sad to say there are today more and more churches like Laodicea and fewer and fewer churches like Philadelphia. However this should make the faithful redouble their efforts to serve the Lord and witness for Him in these perilous times. Let all those who “love His appearing” stand fast for Him and “fight the good fight” of faith. T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
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