To the Church in Laodicea.

Revelation 3:14-22

Theme

Lukewarm Christianity.

This week’s lessons teach us about the importance of getting on fire for Christ.

Scripture

19"Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and repent. 20Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me."

–Revelation 3:19-20

Lesson

What is Jesus going to say to people like this? He is disgusted with them. He is about to spit them out of his mouth (v. 16). But surprisingly, after he has explained their state and how he sees them, instead of speaking harshly he stoops to offer counsel. And the reason he offers counsel is, as he explains in verse 19, because he loves them. For all their failures, this is nevertheless a church composed of his people whom he loves and whom he wants to bring to repentance.

These words are remarkably gentle. These self-satisfied materialists disgust him, but he still speaks tenderly to them, advising them to buy "gold refined in the fire," so they can become truly rich; "white clothes to wear," to cover their shameful nakedness; and "salve" to put on their eyes, so they can see (v. 18).

Refined gold is a biblical idiom for a life that has been purified from sin or a faith that has been strengthened through suffering. Job 23:10 says, "But he knows the way that I take; when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold."

Malachi uses the image to describe God’s work of judgment. He asks, in words well known to us through Handel’s Messiah, "But who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand when he appears? For he will be like a refiner’s fire or a launderer’s soap. He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; he will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver" (Mal. 3:2, 3). Peter speaks of the faith of believers being purified in this manner. "In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith–of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire–may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed" (1 Peter 1:6, 7).

"White clothes" convey the same idea. White stands for purity and the reward of living for Christ. A white garment was promised to the faithful in Sardis because they had not "soiled their clothes" (Rev. 3:4). Later in Revelation we find this counsel, obviously from Jesus himself: "Behold, I come like a thief! Blessed is he who stays awake and keeps his clothes with him, so that he may not go naked and be shamefully exposed" (Rev. 16:15).

Finally, "salve to put on your eyes, so you can see" is a picture of the healing we need so our natural spiritual blindness can be cured. The words remind us of the blind man of John 9 whose eyes were anointed by Jesus and who received sight (vv. 1-7). He was only a poor, blind beggar. He had no claim on Jesus at all. But when Jesus restored his sight the man began to grow in spiritual vision, calling Jesus, first, "a man" (v. 11); then, "a prophet" (v. 17); thirdly, a man "from God" (v. 33); finally, "Lord," at which point "he worshiped him" (v. 38). That is what we need if we are to have the spiritual sight that enables us to repent of our sin and come to Christ. John Newton, the former slave trader turned preacher, was as blind as anyone could be. But after he was converted he wrote of his experience, "Amazing grace!–how sweet the sound–That saved a wretch like me! I once was lost, but now am found, Was blind, but now I see."

What would get this church of self-satisfied, blind materialists to come to Jesus for the gold of upright character, the white garments of personal righteousness, and the salve that would enable them to see? Not Christ’s counsel alone. People receive good counsel every day and pay no attention to it. If anything would draw them to Christ, it would be apprehending what Jesus says next: "Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline" (v. 19). What draws is Christ’s love. But notice: this is a love expressed, not in indifference–that was the sin of the Laodicean church–but rather in honest rebuke and discipline. This verse is a close quotation of Proverbs 3:12, which says, "the Lord disciplines those he loves." It is because Jesus loves us that he prods us to repent.

And to be zealous! The New International Version translates this as "be earnest," which is right, but it obscures the unique sense of the word for this letter. The Greek word is zeleue, from which we get our words zeal, zealous and zealot. The literal meaning is "be hot" or "boiling," the exact thing these lukewarm believers were not. They needed to be heated up if they were to please Christ. They needed to be zealous in serving him.

Study Questions

• Why does Jesus offer counsel to the Laodicean church rather than harsh words?

• What does "refined gold" denote in Scripture?

• What idea is conveyed in Revelation by the image of white clothes?

• What do we need to have the spiritual sight to come to Christ?

Further Study

Study the passages mentioned in today’s lesson on how God refines his people like precious metals: Job 23:10, Malachi 3:2, 3, 1 Peter 1:6, 7.

Definition

Zealous: be hot or boiling.

This daily devotional study is from the Bible teaching of Dr. James Boice on the broadcast The Bible Study Hour. You may order the audio version of his studies here.