Revelation 3:18, “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”
By secular standards, true wealth is considered to be the accumulated gain one has horded to themselves. How sad though, that such a mindset has swept up the church, to the degree that many of today’s big name TV preachers tell the deceived masses that monetary gain is God’ s plan for them, and the surest sign of his blessing. Falsehood and lies I say. Look to our Lord, he had nowhere to lay His head, are we greater than Him? Here the inspired apostle pens the words of the glorified Christ, true counsel from Jesus’ heart. Here He gives us three things of value, three things that will truly enrich the life that is earnestly seeking after God. These are worth more than all this worlds riches combined.
1.) He counsels us to buy from Him gold, refined in the fire. This gold is the true, intimate knowledge of God known by all who would abandon themselves and seek Him in truth, true spiritual wealth, for the one who knows God is truly rich, not in the ways of this world which is passing away, but in eternal ways, those which shall last for eternity. The refining is the burning away of every desire but Him, all of our self-seeking, all of our asking of Him to gain for ourselves, instead of out of a humble desire and love for God.
2.) Next He counsels us to buy from Him white garments. Here is the true proof of a Christian, a holy heart and life. These are the pure garments of holiness, unspotted from the world, that every Christian is to be clothed with, for it is commanded of our God (1Peter 1:15-16) and it is required to enter Heaven’s gates, for without holiness we shall not see the Lord (Hebrews 12:14). We must be clothed in the wedding garments. The life of a Christian is marked by ongoing faith and obedience, for He that is truly born of God does not sin (has no sin as an option) (1John 5:18). The life of sin has been abandoned, we now pursue a life of holiness.
3.) Lastly He counsels us to buy form Him eye salve, that we may see, true spiritual illumination, that we may see our helpless state, and that we may bow our knee humbly before His majesty, in reverence and awe, surrendering our lives wholly to Him. We are either completely His, born of His spirit and dead to ourselves, or we are still under the sway of the evil one. We mustn’t let human reason and philosophy draw us away from the truth of what God’s word says.
Now you may ask, how is it that I buy these precious gems of the Christian life, how do I obtain what it is Jesus is telling me to purchase? The price is our lives, our desires, our wills. Renouncing the world and ourselves, and offering our lives as a living sacrifice to God Almighty, that He might do with us as He pleases. Our wills must be as His will, and He alone must be our desire. We must be willing to sell all to follow Him( Matthew 19:21). Then we will truly know Him, divine intimacy with the Lord of glory, Christ reining in our hearts, now and for all eternity.
In the love and truth of Christ, and for His glory alone, blessings Brother Ben
He Has Magnified His Word 