I advise you to buy from Me gold refined by fire so that you may become rich

Revelation 3:7-22

⁷ “And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write:

He who is holy, who is true, who has the key of David, who opens and no one will shut, and who shuts and no one opens, says this:

⁸ ‘I know your deeds. Behold, I have put before you an open door which no one can shut, because you have a little power, and have kept My word, and have not denied My name. ⁹ Behold, I will cause those of the synagogue of Satan, who say that they are Jews and are not, but lie—I will make them come and bow down at your feet, and make them know that I have loved you. ¹⁰ Because you have kept the word of My perseverance, I also will keep you from the hour of testing, that hour which is about to come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth. ¹¹ I am coming quickly; hold fast what you have, so that no one will take your crown. ¹² He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he will not go out from it anymore; and I will write on him the name of My God, and the name of the city of My God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God, and My new name. ¹³ He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’

¹⁴ “To the angel of the church in Laodicea write:

The Amen, the faithful and true Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God, says this:

¹⁵ ‘I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot; I wish that you were cold or hot. ¹⁶ So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth. ¹⁷ Because you say, “I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing,” and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked, ¹⁸ I advise you to buy from Me gold refined by fire so that you may become rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself, and that the shame of your nakedness will not be revealed; and eye salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see. ¹⁹ Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline; therefore be zealous and repent. ²⁰ Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me. ²¹ He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne. ²² He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’”

Just  a reminder to those who have been reading nuggets, or to inform anyone who is reading for the first time, as we look today at these last two letters to the churches in Revelation, my intent is not to provide in depth commentary or expert exegesis of these messages to the churches. Rather since the word of God is eternal and living my intention is to be obedient to the  instruction in the letters and "hear what the Spirit is saying" to the church and us individually today.

I won't spend much time on the message to the church at Philadelphia. Much like with the message to the church at Smyrna, Jesus offers no condemnation for the church at Philadelphia, and in contrast to Smyrna who Jesus said He would preserve through the trial that is coming, Jesus tells the church at Philadelphia that  He will keep them from the hour of testing that is coming on the whole world. Even so He encourages them to hold fast so they don't lose their reward. For us then we have this encouragment that whether He takes us through the trial or takes us out of the trial Jesus will never leave us or forsake us. In Him we have not only protection through  or deliverence from our trials, but in Him we have our reward.

Let's look now at the message to Laodecia.  Much like the message to the church at Sardis that we looked at yesterday this message to the church at Laodecia is one of the most ominous warnings. While the church at Sardis was told that they were spiritually dead, Laodecia is told that they are neither cold nor hot, but lukewarm. In Jesus eyes this lukewarm state is not an acceptable balance between hot and cold. It is an intolerable spiritual state which Jesus rejects saying " I will spit you out of My mouth."

So what is this condition of lukewarmness and how do we keep ourselves from it? Let's look at Jesus words of warning and rebuke. " Because you say, “I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing,” and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked, ¹⁸ I advise you to buy from Me gold refined by fire so that you may become rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself, and that the shame of your nakedness will not be revealed; and eye salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see.'

We understand from this that they had become self confident and self sufficient. They were content with what they had. This was not a contentment like Paul spoke of when he said "... I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. ¹² I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want."(Phillipians 4:11-12) Rather than a contentment found in the will of God, Laodecia was content with the things of the world.

Here's what we need to understand about being lukewarm. Spiritual lukewarmness does not happen as we are growing in Christ or as we are being drawn to Him. The Holy Spirit is symbolized by fire at times and that's part of what He brings to us, a fire for God. We don't heat up slowly in Christ and come to a lukewarm condition. A lukewarm spiritual condition is rather a sign that we have lost the heat or fire that we once had. We cool to lukewarmness. Jesus speaks of this also in Matthew 24:10-13  ¹⁰ At that time many will fall away and will betray one another and hate one another. ¹¹ Many false prophets will arise and will mislead many. ¹² Because lawlessness is increased, most people’s love will grow cold. ¹³ But the one who endures to the end, he will be saved.

Being lukewarm is not far from this state of cold love. Jesus even says " I wish that you were cold or hot". So there is an element of this lukewarm condition that is worse than being cold. That stems from the fact that the comfort we feel in lukewarmness comes from a contentment we have in the things of the world. This contententment and self satisfaction makes us less open to the leading of the Holy Spirit in our lives. It's been said that if you throw a frog into boiling water it will jump out, but if you slowly raise the temperature it will become comfortable  in the increasing heat. This is the  danger of being lukewarm spiritually, we become comfortable in the things of the world and there is an  increasing acceptance of lawlessness into our lives. Becoming more comfortable in the world puts us in danger of dying spiritually. 

Jesus says this, Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline; therefore be zealous and repent.  I advise you to buy from Me gold refined by fire so that you may become rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself, and that the shame of your nakedness will not be revealed.

Our true riches come only through Him. Our true righteousness is only in Him. We need to guard against contentment in the things of this world and like Paul find our contentment in Christ and in His will. 

Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ The Amen, the faithful and true Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God, Holy Spirit thank You for what You have done for me. Forgive me for any way that I have allowed my contentment with the things of the world or self satisfaction to allow my passion and fire for You to cool. Holy Spirit I pray that You will ignite that fire in me again, that to the extent my love has grown cold, You will reignite it.  I pray that Your fire God will burn up all that is impure and unholy in Your sight and I will be on fire for You. I thank You for Your promises, Your protection and Your provision. 

Amen