Revelation Chapter 3
VERSE 18 “I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see.”
This verse contains the Lord’s remedies for the ills of Laodicea. He suggests three needed procurement's:
1. gold refined by fire,
2. white garments,
3. eye salve.
The first of these is so that we might be RICH in the true sense.
The second is so that we will not be EXPOSED.
The third is to give us sight (spiritual sight).
In one sense, these three items summarize three of Pastor Russell’s basic teachings.
How to become truly rich: He taught the Church’s share in the offering for sin (*the Sin-Offering) —the obtaining of the Divine Nature itself through the sacrifices necessary for character development so that we could partake in the blessing of all the families of the earth. (Gal. 3:16, 29)
How to be properly clothed: He stressed throughout his ministry the need for reliance on the robe of Christ’s righteousness and the need for our not relying on our own strength or wisdom because the arm of flesh will fail us.
How to gain spiritual sight: He also taught the need for humility to discern not only the harvest truths, but the application of them in our daily lives.
GOLD REFINED IN THE FIRE immediately brings Mal. 3 to mind. The lesson is spirituality at the cost of the sacrifice of self. The TRUE RICHES, which this brings, is character-likeness to Jesus and the resulting glorification at the end of our courses. 1 Pet 1:7 is an important cross-reference. In it we also see the trial of faith by fire being more precious than natural gold —because it brings forth the true gold.
WHITE GARMENTS would, to the natural Laodiceans, be an import! Their home-grown product was clothing of BLACK wool. The nakedness of Verse 17, remember, was not total lack of covering, but, rather, inappropriate or ill-kept clothing (soiled, spotted, dirtied through contact with the world). The reference seems to be to SELF-JUSTIFICATION which (Isa 64:6) is filthy rags.
The lesson seems to be that we should cherish the goodness that we have received from Christ Jesus by NOT THINKING WE ARE BETTER just because we have RECEIVED WHAT IS BETTER.
EYE SALVE was the tool of Jesus in the healing of the man blind from birth (John 9:6). Its recipe was the combination of dirt and Jesus’ spit. The lesson seems unmistakable and in harmony with the previous two symbols. The eye salve which we must apply to self is the Holy Word (truth, water, from the mouth of our Savior) mixed with the attitude of humility (dirt). This salve will help us function in the brotherhood to which we have been called. Without this brotherly love and cooperation, we are blind. (1 John 2:9-11). (New Albany Notes on Revelation)
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*The Sin-Offering: See “The Consecration of the Priesthood” Part 3, and “The Great Day of Atonement”, Part 2
We will see how these three items needed to over-come are explained by the Southern Wisconsin class in our next post.
