"For
I would have you know how greatly I strive for you, and
for them at Laodicea..." Col. 2:1.
"I
bear him witness, that he hath much labor for you, and
for them in Laodicea... Salute the brethren that are in
Laodicea... And when this epistle hath been read among
you, cause that it be read also in the church of the
Laodiceans..." Col. 4:13,15,16.
"Not
that I have already obtained, or am already made perfect:
but I press on, if so be that I may apprehend that for
which also I was apprehended by Christ Jesus. I count not
myself yet to have apprehended: but one thing I do,
forgetting the things which are behind, and stretching
forward to the things which are before, I press on toward
the goal unto the prize of the of God in
Christ Jesus. Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be
thus minded..." Philippians 3:12-15.
We will
hold those Scriptures in mind. In these closing verses of
the third chapter of the book of Revelation, we reach the
concluding phase of the first movement of the risen Lord
toward the consummation of divine purpose in this age.
Throughout this time we have sought to have the great end
of God for His Church overshadowing everything, kept
clearly in view, because what we have here, in the first
part of this great book and in the last chapters, is the
great purpose of God in our salvation.
Paul, as we
have read this evening, said that he was on full stretch
to apprehend that for which he had been apprehended by
Christ Jesus. And then, without defining exactly what
that was; that object, that purpose... he did add
"the prize of the on-high calling of God in Christ
Jesus". It was unto that that he conceived himself as
having been apprehended by Christ Jesus. Not only to be
saved but to be brought to a great and glorious destiny
in and by Christ Jesus. He calls it 'the prize of the on-high calling'. The end of this present part of the
book of the Revelation, which book is bringing us very
near to the goal, the intention of the book is to get the
Church ready for the end, for the great time of crisis in
view. At the end of this first part of this book which
has to do with the Church, we are told what it was that
Paul meant by the prize of the on-high calling. This is
it: "To him that overcometh I will give to him
to sit with me in my throne, as I also overcame and sat
down with my Father in His throne". That is the
great object and goal for which people are saved and
apprehended by Christ Jesus; to a place of sharing with
Him, their Lord, the throne of government of this
universe. That is the meaning of Christianity. That is in
the heart of the Lord in giving the gospel, in appealing
to men. It is that, dear friends, that is in view in our
Christian lives. Nothing less than that. A great calling,
an on-high calling, a wonderful prize: throne-sharing
with Christ in government.
Well, it is
of course quite significant, is it not, that that is the
last note in this phase in this section of the book. And
we can say, because it is quite true, that it has been
that, that has governed all that has gone before. The
wonderful presentation of the Lord Jesus in person in
chapter one was in order that by showing His victory, the
glory of His risen person, the standard should be set.
And then through all these seven messages to the seven
churches, as representing by their very number the whole
Church in all ages - in all that is said through these:
This thing is governing, this end is overshadowing, it is
to this that everything is moving, the judging and the
condemning and the demand to put away everything that
would thwart that end and the encouraging and the
confirming and the exhorting in relation to other things
that will help toward that end. The End governs
everything - the on-high calling, the prize of the
of God in Christ Jesus. That is in view.
That explains everything. It explains all the Lord's
dealings with His people. If at all times when the Lord
is dealing with us we could but pause and be quiet and
think "what's the meaning of this, why this?"
and allow ourselves to entertain this great governing
truth: He's getting us ready for the throne. He's doing
something now that relates to that glorious end; He's
paving the way, He's preparing us, He is cancelling out
things in us that would hinder our progress toward that
end. He is seeking to inculcate and develop in us the
things that will hasten us toward that end. If only we
could be convinced that that is exactly what it all
means, it would be a tremendous help.
Now, you
notice that the Lord in these letters says that quite
clearly to His people. We were thinking earlier in the
day about that suffering church, that suffering church,
called to be faithful unto death. The Lord simply told
them in plain language that their tribulation was all
with a spiritual and divine purpose and quite clearly to
prepare them, to qualify them for their great eternal
destiny. And that's how it is.
I think,
dear friends, perhaps our obsession with the importance
of this life is often a great limitation upon our
appreciation of the heavenly calling. We make FAR
too much of this life from one standpoint, from another
perhaps we don't make enough of it. From one standpoint
we make far too much of it, that if we don't see
everything accomplished here and now in this lifetime and
all our hopes and expectations realized, then we're
disappointed beings. The Lord never looks at it like that
at all. Never has anything been made perfect in the
lifetime of any one believer except the Lord Jesus. It is
like that. On the other hand perhaps we do not make
enough of the TREMENDOUS importance of what the
Lord is trying to do with us IN this lifetime.
However, be that as it may, there is this that stands
over our lives now, these lives here, it's this
tremendous heavenly calling unto which we have been
apprehended by Christ Jesus. But unto the realization of
that or what Paul calls the 'attaining' unto that;
certain things are necessary. And in this message to the
church in Laodicea the Lord makes perfectly clear what is
essential in the final issue - this Man. And He does that
in the first place by presenting Himself in certain
terms. You notice how He introduces Himself here: "These
things saith the Amen, the faithful and true Witness, the
Beginning of the creation of God". That may not
be very clear as to what it really means. Well, I suppose
everybody is quite clear on the first, if you aren't,
then you're terrible hypocrites for I've been hearing a
lot of 'amens' tonight. That prayer drew out many 'amens'
tonight. And we're accustomed to using that word, is it
just a word? Is it just something we tack on at the end
or at a certain point? Is it a habit, a custom? What DO
we mean? No, we understand that the meaning of that word
"amen" is verily, truly, positively, YES! We
mean it! "These things saith the Amen..."
the Amen. The One in Whom and about Whom there is no
uncertainty or indefiniteness.
My dear
friends, if you and I at all value our salvation, we owe
it to Him Who was so THOROUGH in the work that
He did for our salvation. Where should we be if He had
been indifferent about our salvation? If it had been a
willy-nilly matter with Him whether we were saved,
whether He was neither cold nor hot about this; where
should we be? No, everything about that work of
redemption sees Him as One Who, without any reserve
whatsoever, or two minds, divided heart, GAVE Himself for
our sin that He might redeem us unto God and from all
iniquity. He did not stop half way, thank God. He did not
suffer Himself to be turned aside or to be influenced by
secondary interests; not at all. He is the girded Servant
of the Lord. He came, as we have sung, from the mansions
of glory having laid aside His robes of comfort and
ease... girding Himself as a servant He's come forth, on
business and thorough-going business. He's finished the
work. These things saith such a One. "The
faithful and true witness..."
The
faithful and true Witness, you see these are strong,
emphatic words. He has been faithful, absolutely
faithful. The apostle Paul called upon Timothy to
remember Jesus Christ who before Pontius Pilate gave His
testimony faithfully. Yes, He was a faithful witness and
a true... the point is, and the underlining is that
everything here is emphatic, it's positive, it's
definite, it's real, it's utter! It is unreserved.
"The
beginning of the creation of God..." How does
that come into this? Well, first of all we've got to get
that word "beginning". It is not the word that
means the first of the creation; that He was the first
one created and then there were a lot more after Him
created. It is not that word at all, [it is] the Greek
word "arche" which means the source of
everything, the fountain head of everything, the One in
whom and from whom everything has come and Who is Himself
the Standard and Model of everything. That is what we
mean when we speak of an 'archi-tect' - one who produces
the model, out of whom comes that which is to be; the
source of everything. And that's the word here, the
beginning of the creation of God. How? See Him coming
forth - for it says that in Him and through Him and unto
Him were all things created, ALL things were
made by Him, that's the Scripture. Was He lackadaisical
in the creation? Was He careless in it? When the thing
was completed, the evening of the sixth day, was there a
lot left to be desired and a lot that needed improving
upon? No, the verdict is, "it is VERY
good", it is very good. The Divine verdict. He had
done His work thoroughly and well, He had applied Himself
to it.
What we
now, even in a wrecked creation, a ruined creation, can
trace of His creative fingers impresses us with the
wonder of it, the wonder of the Mind there, the wonder of
the Power there, all there. My point is, dear friends,
that this is only one further, it's the third phrase that
bears upon this one thing: you're dealing with Somebody
Who is very thorough! Thorough in creation, thorough in
redemption and thorough in His own person and His own
witness. And that is how He is introduced to Laodicea as
though He would say "this and this alone will bring
you to the end". Such a spirit, such a mind, such a
devotion, such a thoroughness, such an amen disposition
is ESSENTIAL if you're going to reach the end.
You have got to mean business! You've got to mean
business to reach that goal and obtain that prize. That's
perfectly clear as the basis of His speaking to Laodicea
and He goes on then to show the Laodicean's attitude of
mind and heart will never get THEM there, never
get them there. "I have this against thee, thou
art neither hot nor cold..." There's ALL
the difference between sitting with Him in His throne and
being spewed out of His mouth and those are the
alternatives resting upon this matter of downright and
utter committal, devotion and persistence unto God's
great End. Like that.
Then He
analyzes this thing and in so doing indicates some
things, other things, more things, essential to the
attaining. Notice: "because thou sayest I am
rich and have gotten riches and have need of
nothing". Laodicea was a very wealthy city, it
was the great banking centre of Asia minor, and which,
and out from which, all the wealth of the province
flowed. And the Lord took hold of that, they were proud
of their wealth in Laodicea, the world was, but in the
church at Laodicea there was a complacency, a
satisfaction, a sense of being quite sufficient - of
having got there and there was not much more to do about
it "rich and increased in goods and have need of
nothing". The Lord says "That will never
get you to the prize, that will never get you to the
prize. One ESSENTIAL if you are to come to that
for which I have apprehended and chosen you, one
essential is and must remain, a sense, a deep sense of
your own insufficiency, of your own need, of there still
being FAR more in Christ than ever YOU
have discovered or possessed." It's this sense, deep
sense, of spiritual need which is essential! ANY
kind of gratification or satisfaction that you haven't
much further to go or to gain... you're content with the
little that you've got or perhaps you want a little
more... but here is the spirit of the great apostle
"and we've discerned it over Laodicea and I would
have you know, I would have you know of my travail, my
conflict for them of Laodicea".
Dear
friends, anything in the nature of settling down with
less than God's FULL content of Christ as our
calling, will rob us of the prize - will rob us of the
prize. It will just be the people who are deeply, DEEPLY
conscious that they have not attained neither are they
already complete but who have YET everything to
gain in Christ, however much they may have. That is the
spirit, the mind, the disposition that is here demanded
of Laodicea: "So I counsel thee because thou
knowest not that thou art wretched, miserable, poor,
blind, naked: I counsel thee first of all to buy of me
gold refined by fire, that thou mayest become rich".
This is not buying salvation. Salvation is without
money and without price. If there is something to be
secured, it is not salvation by our effort or our works
or even our earnestness. Not that, that's of grace, but BEING
saved we are saved unto something that will draw us out
and extend us to the full in the matter of faith. And it
is in the fire, in the fire that faith is refined and
will be the currency by which the crown is won. I'm not
going to dwell upon all the details here; I just want you
to catch the spirit of this without an exhaustive
exposition.
"Thou
knowest not that thou art poor, thou knowest not that
thou art blind... I counsel thee buy of me eyesalve to
anoint thine eyes, that thou mayest see." Thou
knowest not that thou art blind; here again is a local
touch taken up in connection with one of the temples in
Laodicea there was a famous medical school and from that
medical school all over the Greek and Roman world an
eyesalve went. It was famed for this ointment for eye
trouble. Everybody knew what this meant in Laodicea and
yet, and yet, right there in the precincts of the place
where the world was getting its natural eyes healed, the
church was blind. Spiritual blindness was there.
"Knowest not that thou art blind?" Let us say
right away without too many words, an absolute ESSENTIAL
of reaching that end of God is to have a vision, to have
a spiritual vision. I ask you my dear friends, every one
of you personally now, to challenge your own hearts; have
you got a spiritual vision? Are you drifting on from day
to day? Are you going on without a mighty incentive for
the divine eternal purpose? Are you in the shadows or in
the dark as to what it all means, and what the end is
intended to be? Or is there before you, before your
enlightened spirit, a clear vision of what God has
determined as the issue of all things and has called you
into in fellowship with His Son? Are you CLEAR
about it?
You know
quite well that no one ever gets anywhere without a
vision. An artisan will never get anywhere without a
vision, no one will ever make any progress unless they
clearly see what they are after, what they are aiming at.
In any realm of life in order to get somewhere you want
to know where it is and what it is you're going to. Here,
an essential is that you should see! The whole force of
these letters and the presentation of the Lord Jesus is a
REVELATION that is going to MASTER our
being; a revelation of Jesus Christ that shall capture us
and draw us on and make us people of a purpose, people
who KNOW where we are going and what we are
going after. Are you like that? Have you got the vision
of God's eternal purpose in Christ for the Church into
which you have been called by His grace? Have you got the
vision? Is that something that is coming down into your
life continually? Are you tired of hearing that phrase
"the eternal purpose... the eternal purpose"?
Has it lost its music, its charm, its captivating power?
Ah, that's Laodicea you see; lost vision. Lost vision.
That is ESSENTIAL to our eyes.
"I
counsel thee to buy of me eyesalve that thou mayest
anoint thine eyes that thou mayest see." What
do you mean when you talk like that figuratively and
symbolically "buy of me eyesalve"? Well, again
I've only to take you back to such familiar words in
Paul's letter to the Ephesians "That He would
grant unto you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the
knowledge of Him... the eyes of your heart being
enlightened that you may KNOW what is the hope of his
calling" there it is! Buy eyesalve? That means
lay yourself out with all your being before God that the
Holy Spirit will open the eyes of your heart; give you to
see what God means for you as a part of His Church. Buy
eyesalve.
"Knowest
not that thou art... naked: I counsel thee to buy of
me... white garments, that thou mayest clothe thyself,
and that the shame of thy nakedness be not made
manifest". Again, there it is here, this thing,
as a manufacturing centre for a beautiful fleece which
they cultivated in their surrounding fields and made
wonderful garments which were world famed. A glistening
fleece of Laodicean manufacture. They knew what it meant.
Here, in a place where everybody knew of this beautiful
garment's material, that people were proud of wearing
those Laodicean garments, right in the presence of them
all as the Lord looked at them, He saw them naked, but
they didn't know it, they didn't know it. "Knowest
not that thou art naked?" He saw them as they were
by nature and you know dear friends, when our eyes are
opened about ourselves, the one thing we want is to get
covered up somehow. As soon as Adam's eyes were opened
the one thing he wanted was to get covered up, he went
and hid himself. And we know ourselves, and of course you
know what I'm talking about, when we begin to know
ourselves in the light of God, one thing we feel to need
is "Oh, for a covering. Oh, for a hiding... Oh, to
get out of the way, out of the scanning of those eyes, if
only we could hide ourselves from ourselves!" This
is no pleasant view when we begin to see ourselves... but
they didn't know it, that's how they were, that's how God
saw them but they had no sense of nakedness, they were
priding themselves in the garments of their own flesh,
their own making.
Again the
Lord says quite clearly, if you are going to reach the
end, you must have a very, very poor opinion of yourself
and realize your absolute need of a clothing that you
can't make for yourself; the white raiment of Christ's
own righteousness. That's your only way to the end. So
Paul says "that I may gain Christ, not having a
righteousness of mine own, but the righteousness which is
of God through faith" - that's the white
raiment. We've got to sense our need of that because of
our deep and overwhelming sense of our own
unrighteousness. These are the people that are on the way
to the throne. Any sense whatever or degree of
self-righteousness, of being at all fit, will put us out
of the running for the prize. This may be comforting for
most of us but this is, after all, the gospel isn't it?
And it all just amounts to this, that on the one side of
this great argument, the Lord is saying you've got to be
a people who are characterized by such a strong sense of
need, which only the Lord Jesus can supply. You've got to
be a people like that if you're going to get there to the
place we are called. How different this is from the whole
world's attitude, why, the world's attitude is always
certain fitness, certain ability, certain
self-sufficiency and self-importance to receive the
prizes.
It's not
the spirit of the world to feel absolutely unfit and
unworthy and worthless! That's not the spirit of the
world but this is the spirit of Christ and this is the
spirit called for. "As many as I love, I reprove
and chasten." These people are a chastened
people. Well, some of us know a little about that... what
it is to be chastened. "But as many as I love, I
reprove and chasten" then the appeal:
"be zealous..." be zealous! That word
simply means be on fire, be burning, be not like that
stream that runs alongside of Laodicea which is not a hot
stream nor a cold stream... It was well known what He
meant, there it was, a river just by the city, of tepid
water - neither one thing nor the other. "Be not
like that but be zealous, be hot therefore and repent,
behold I stand at the door and knock..." We could
dwell much upon that but it has been dwelt upon so much,
it just means this: that where conditions obtain such as
these - no sense of the need of Him, no sense of our own
undone condition and helpless condition - well the Lord
is outside of that, He's not inside that at all, He's
outside of that. But He says I stand at the door and
knock... that knocking may mean many things, many
things... the Lord is trying to get on the inside by many
a form of knocking and then this: "if any man open
the door... I will come in... will sup with him, and he
with Me." Looking
at that word 'sup', I find there are three words, one
that applies to the Greek breakfast which was but a bit
of bread and a drink and that sufficed. Another was
another little larger meal that they had during the day;
but there's another word which is used for the FULL meal
of the day and that is the one here. "I will come in
and there will be a full meal." You see, everything
that you look at in this part of the Word is something
positive isn't it? Something full that the Lord is after,
not something partial, not just the early morning scrap
with which you start the day but the FULL meal! He's
after fullness. "I have come in and there will be
fullness." It's all that!
Well, He
calls for us to be of THAT mind, of THAT
spirit, of THAT disposition, for again He says
it's just the people who have but One Thing... this ONE
thing I do... leaving the things which are behind, all
the things and having only One Thing, "this one
thing I do leaving the things which are behind I press
toward the mark of the prize of the of
God in Christ Jesus".
Oh, dear
friends, don't be satisfied with less than God meant for
you when He saved you. Don't settle down to something
that is not His FULL thought for you. Don't you
be robbed of your prize by any compromises of any kind or
any carelessness. Be you an "amen" man, an
"amen" woman. May our churches be like that, be
like that, that everybody can say, "Those people
know where they're going, what they're after, there is no
doubt about them, they're on business bent! They're not
just a people either drifting or just having meetings,
they're a people who are marked and characterized by a
sense of a great Meaning, a great Purpose." The Lord
make us like that.