Heavenly Buying

Because you say, "I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing;" and know not that you are wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked; I counsel you to buy from me gold tried in the fire, that you may be rich; and white clothing, that you may be clothed, and that the shame of your nakedness not appear; and anoint your eyes with eye-salve, that you may see." Rev. 3:17, 18

These words, I need scarcely remark, are addressed to the church of Laodicea. The seven churches in Asia Minor are thought by some to represent so many distinct phases or appearances of the church from the Lord's ascension to his coming a second time in glory. But, whether it be so or not, one thing is certain, that the messages addressed to them are pregnant with the richest instruction; that they are adapted to the needs and exigencies of the church of God in all time; and that they form a part of the inspired word of truth, of that treasury out of which the Holy Spirit applies promises, precepts, and counsels, as the church of God from time to time needs.

Of all these churches, that of Laodicea seems to have been most deeply sunk, to have departed most widely from the right ways of the Lord. But we are not to suppose that the church of Laodicea had drunk in erroneous principles. We have no charge brought against her that she had fallen into error or heresy. She, no doubt, maintained the truth; but how did she maintain it? In form, but not in power; in the letter, but not in the spirit. She had all the requisites of a church, as to external forms; but the life-giving Spirit of God was sadly lacking. Yet, with all her declensions and all her decays, she was doubtless a church of God; for she is addressed as such. The Lord gives counsels, such as he gave her, to those only that are his.

But she had departed from the state in which she was when first named in the New Testament, for we have her honorably mentioned about thirty years preceding this time in the Epistle to the Colossians (Col 4:13-16.) Those thirty years had witnessed a great change in her. Many of her gracious members had been taken home; and circumstances had introduced into her communion those who appeared to be, but were not, partakers of the grace of God. Thus, though she maintained all the external appearance of a church of God, the eye of eternal Purity and Omniscience detected in her those symptoms which marked her decay, and probably were the prelude to her utter removal. In considering these words, we may look—

I. At the state of the Laodicean church.

II. At the good and wise counsel that the Lord gives her.

I. The state of the Laodicean church. With respect to the state of the Laodicean church, we may observe that there was her REAL state, and there was her FANCIED state. These did not agree. In her own opinion, she was "rich, and increased with goods, and had need of nothing." But the Lord knew her to be in a very different state, actually and experimentally, from what she thought of herself, and the standing she maintained among her sister churches. He knew, that with all her pretensions, she was really "wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked." Let us, then, take a glance at her fancied state, before we enter more minutely into her real state.

A. What she says of her FANCIED state, she no doubt uttered in the honesty of her heart. Like a person in a consumption, she was unaware of the malady preying upon her vital organs—she sincerely believed she was what she appeared to be. It was the language of sincerity, though it was the language of mistake. She had no eyes to see her real spiritual condition, no tender conscience to feel it, no spirit of discernment to be aware of it. When therefore, she said she was "rich, and increased with goods, and had need of nothing," she really believed that things were with her as she professed them to be. But the Lord's eye viewed her far, far differently.

1. This, then, was the language of her lips, "I am RICH." But what made her utter these words? Doubtless she had a sound knowledge of the doctrines of grace; and holding them firmly in her judgment, and knowing that the church was enriched with all heavenly treasures in Christ, she therefore laid claim to a personal interest in these riches. Thus merely because she held the doctrines of grace, she believed she was "rich" in God's favor, "rich" in the mercies that God bestows on his people in Christ Jesus. But she was completely ignorant all the time of her desperate bankruptcy. In this she resembled what often takes place naturally. How many a merchant or tradesman bears the character of possessing great wealth! No, he himself, from lack of a knowledge of his affairs, of the state of his books, and of his outstanding bills, may believe himself to be what he is generally thought—a man of property and substance. But a crash comes, and his name is in the Gazette.

Such appears to have been the state of the church at Laodicea. Because she had a knowledge of the doctrines of grace; because she maintained the ordinances of God's house; because she had not fallen into open sin; because she had not drunk into error or heresy; because she maintained her standing among the churches; because they highly extolled her as a church which contended for the truth as it is in Jesus, she took all these 'external appearances' for 'inward divine realities'; and therefore, in the language of honesty, though in the language of self-deception, she said, "I am rich." 'Look at me,' she boldly said, 'I maintain an exalted standing among the churches of God; I hold firmly the doctrines of grace; all the treasures of Christ are therefore mine.'

2. "And increased with goods." Not only did she boast that she was rich, as not doubting her saving interest in God's everlasting love, and as being blessed with heavenly riches in Christ Jesus; but she went a step further—"I am increased with goods." She possessed a sound and clear judgment; she perfectly knew truth from error; who were the ministers of God, and who the ministers of Satan; who preached with power, and who preached in the letter; who were right in the things of God, and who were wrong. She had a keen eye to discover the first breakings out of heresy, and she had a clear knowledge in her judgment what were the operations of God in the soul.

Outwardly too, she was in a flourishing condition. She could boast, perhaps, of 'a talented pastor;' had probably many wealthy members; had large accessions, and was spreading on the right hand and on the left. And having this 'carnal prosperity', she could boast, "I am increased with goods." Her members too had many spiritual gifts; some could pray, some exhort, some open up Scripture, some converse on the things of God. Thus all seemed prosperity, while there was rottenness at the very heart's core.

3. But besides all this, she could go even a step farther, and say, she stood in "need of nothing." She was not sensible, as the people of God deeply are, of her poverty, need, and necessity. She had "need of nothing." She had that unwavering assurance, that undoubting confidence, that firm standing in the things of God, to which nothing could be added. She needed no more knowledge; for she had the perfection of knowledge in herself. She needed no communications of grace to her soul. As long as she maintained the 'doctrine' of grace, she wanted nothing of the 'power' of grace. She needed no heavenly testimonies, no divine smiles, no sweet assurances from the Lord's own lips, no breakings in of the light of the Lord's countenance upon her soul, no gracious whisperings, "I have loved you." She had no temptations to be delivered from, no snares to be broken, no idols to be purged out of her heart, no worldly spirit from which to be cleansed. She had "need of nothing." She was so firm in her own standing, so wise in her own conceit, so built up in pride, ignorance, and presumption, that she could look God in the face, and tell him that she had "need of nothing." Can we believe—could we believe, if it were not the express testimony of God—that ever a church of God could be in this self-deluded state? Yes! doubtless, there are hundreds of churches in this land on whom the Laodicean stamp is as deeply marked, and who are as completely eaten up with pride and wrapped up in delusion as ever the church of Laodicea was!

B. But what was her REAL state? Her fancied state was one thing—her real state was another. She was like a patient who goes to a physician; and the physician's eye sees in a moment the real state of the case. He examines his chest, and listens attentively to those sounds that unpracticed ears cannot discover; and he perceives the man is afflicted with some heart or lung disease, of which he himself and his family are completely ignorant. He thought perhaps it was some trifling ailment; that he should be well in a day or two, and would soon pursue his usual business. He was not aware of the real nature of the disease; he knew not the dangerous state of the case.

So spiritually. The church of Laodicea was saying, "I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing." 'I have everything that a church of God should have—I am everything that a church of God should be.' But O, how differently did the eyes of Omniscience see her, from what she fancied herself to be! And what was the judgment which the voice of Omniscience pronounced upon her? "You know not"—there was the misery! She knew it not! It was hidden from her eyes! She had no light to see it; she had no life to feel it. Had she but known it, there would have been some escape for her. Had she but mourned under it, then the Lord would have healed her disease. But this was the fatal symptom of the malady that was preying upon her vitals—she knew it not! She was not aware of her real state—the veil of ignorance, blindness, and self-delusion, was spread over her—and she knew not how she stood in the sight of him with whom she had to do!

1. "And know not that you are WRETCHED;" that is, she was altogether destitute of everything in God's eyes that constitutes true riches. With all her pretended wealth, she was but a beggar, a "wretched" beggar, such as we meet in the streets—all filth, rags, and tatters. And yet, she said, she was "rich!" Spiritual insanity possessed her. She was like some maniac, enclosed in an asylum, who fancies himself a king. He takes the straw spread for his couch, and plaits it into a crown, and from the wood laid for his fuel cuts a scepter; and when he has put his straw diadem upon his head, he wields his wooden scepter, and swells, and struts, and mimics the majesty of kings. Alas! alas! his deluded mind makes him fancy himself a monarch, when he is but the tenant of a madhouse! Who would not pity such an object? If we went within those gloomy walls, would we not pity him, and pity him the more, because he fancied himself a king, while he was but an imprisoned slave?

So was it with the church of Laodicea. She said she was "rich, and increased with goods, and had need of nothing;" and from laboring under this delusion was a "wretched," pitiable object. Have you not sometimes visited the bed of a person dying of consumption? You have seen death stamped upon his brow, and you have been told by his physician that a few weeks or days will close the scene. Yet when you have spoken to him, he has told you all his plans; he has talked of returning health; and how soon he hoped to go abroad again as usual. Perhaps you lacked faithfulness to tell him what you knew; but did not your heart bleed all the more to see him wrapped up in such a delusion? And was it not sinking to your soul, when you knew that he was dying and that in a few weeks the grave would close over him, to hear him talk of returning health, and of his schemes never, never to be fulfilled?

So with the Church of Laodicea. She was pluming herself upon her health, while disease was preying upon her vitals! She was "miserable" for that very reason—an object of compassion to be bewailed over—because she had so sunk from her first state—because she was deceiving and deluding herself, and believing she was what she was not.

2. But besides this, she was "POOR." And why was she poor? Because she lacked that which alone is true riches. What are true riches? The manifestations of God's mercy to the soul, the smiles of his countenance, and the whisperings of his love; the work of his grace, the operations of his Spirit; the power, savor, and unction that accompany divine blessings; the teachings, leadings, and guidings of the Lord the Comforter; the sweet bedewings that he drops upon humble, broken, and contrite hearts. The man who has these things is rich; not in himself, for he always will be poor and needy in himself; but he is rich, because the Lord is favoring his soul with that blessing which "makes rich and adds no sorrow with it;" because the rain and dew of heaven drop upon his heart, and make him fruitful in every good word and work; because the Lord is enriching his soul with grace, and leading him on to glory. These, and these things only constitute true riches.

And what is it to be "poor?" To have all these things in profession, and none in possession; to have a sound creed, and know nothing by divine teaching; to hear experimental preaching, and be completely devoid of experimental religion; to love, or profess to love God's servants, and yet have no real knowledge of the things they bring forth; to attend the place where God's people meet, hear the truths that God's servants preach, speak of the things that the Lord's family know, and all the time be unacquainted with any one of them by divine manifestation—this is to be "poor." And such was the state of the church at Laodicea. She was poor—doubly poor, because she said she was rich, and yet inwardly devoid of those blessings in which alone true riches consist.

3. She was also "BLIND"—blind to her own state; blind to her sunken condition; blind to the majesty, holiness, and purity of God; blind to the grace and glory of Jesus; blind to see herself as he saw her, and to know herself as he knew her.

4. And "NAKED"—not clad in Christ's righteousness to cover her shame, not furnished with the ornaments and graces of the Spirit, not decked with jewels such as the bride adorns herself with when she is made fit for the bridegroom (Isa. 61:10); not clothed with humility and the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, or any one of those fruits which the Holy Spirit brings forth in broken and contrite hearts.

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