I please God to bless us together
tonight as we consider his word. Let us turn to the book of the
Revelation and chapter 3 and we'll read verses 16, 17 and
18. The book of the Revelation chapter 3 and reading verses
16, 17 and 18. So then, Because thou art lukewarm, and
neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth. Because thou sayest, I am rich,
and increased with goods, and have need of nothing, and knowest
not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind,
and naked, I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire,
thou mayest be rich, and white raiment, that thou mayest be
clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear,
and anoint thine eyes with eye salve, that thou mayest see. We should not read part of this
second and third chapter in Revelation and think well I'll read that
particular piece and perhaps that refers to me because these
words which were spoken to the Apostle John on the Isle of Patmos
were commanded that all these letters to each of the churches
should be read to all the churches so that although there were particular
elements referring to a particular church, both bad things and good
things, yet it was important that they read all that was spoken. And it would be good for us to
do the same, to read the first three chapters perhaps in Revelation,
because the first one is helpful in giving us a very good introduction,
and the second and third chapters, and just see as we read down
the comments which are made in reference to the things that
we don't do or the things that we do wrongly and the things
that we do which are right and it will be helpful I'm sure in
our spiritual life to be able to go through these things to
analyse ourselves the Word of God encourages us to examine
ourselves It's not always a very pleasant thing to do because
we find very often we're not as good as we thought we were.
In actual fact we find there are far more faults than we thought
there were. And so it's a good thing to read
and to meditate on these chapters because we should recognise that
we do have to stand before a holy God who looks right into our
hearts and observes everything there. And there may be those
things, there probably are those things which we never really
thought about, never perhaps observed, never perhaps realised
that such things were wrong or such things needed to be attended
to. And so may we be encouraged and blessed in reading all these
first three chapters and be able to assess ourselves and to be
not only corrected and instructed but also encouraged. The Word
of God is all three and we pray it may be therefore a blessing
to us. But tonight in particular we
have this very last church referred to as Laodicea. We don't read
very much about it in the Word of God, just a couple of references.
Whereas on some of the others, there's much more reference.
But here we have this address to the Laodicean church. And
the angel of the Lord speaks in this way and he says, I know
thy works. Well, of course, the Lord knows
all of our works, doesn't he? He knows everything that we do.
He knows everything that we don't do. And we shouldn't forget that
James tells us that faith without works is dead. We can't just
say, well I believe this and just go home and settle down
and take it easy. That's no evidence of the true
faith of God. That's why we have such words
in scriptures to direct us to that which is right and to test
whether what we think is faith is true faith, because true faith
has a gracious impact upon us. And so here the Spirit of God
says, I know thy works. He knows your works and my works. He knows our lack of works as
well. And he also says that thou art
neither cold nor hot. And that's a solemn statement,
isn't it? And the Lord says, I would that thou wert cold or
hot. one way or the other, but just to be lukewarm. And that really is the condition
of the church we've got today. Lukewarm, neither cold nor hot. It's a sad state, isn't it? It's
a sad state the church has come into, and yet how true it is. And so he tells us, thou art
neither cold nor hot, I would that thou wert cold or hot, so
because thou art lukewarm and neither cold nor hot, I will
spew thee out of my mouth." And that's a very solemn consideration,
isn't it? To think that those things are
not acceptable with God. But then he goes on to explain
the reason for that. Because thou sayest. Again, let us examine ourselves
under these words. Because thou sayest, I am rich
and increased with goods and of need of nothing, and knowest
not that thou art wretched and miserable and poor and blind
and naked. And I suppose the Spirit of God
led me to this work, need. It's an interesting word, isn't
it? Just to think about need, it
really means want or requirement. Need. Well, we may look at ourselves
and we may say, well, what is our need? Are we content? And do we think
that we don't have a need? That's really what the apostle
is speaking of here. and have need of nothing have
need of nothing that means satisfied with everything that we're doing
well if you and I are satisfied with the things that we're doing
we can be absolutely sure we're wrong because we can never be
satisfied with the things that we're doing, because there will
always be many things that we have not done, and many things
that we've done wrongly, and many things that we've left undone.
And so here, the Word of God tells us, Thou sayest, I am rich,
and increased with goods, and have need of nothing. And then
he tells us, and knowest not, and knowest not. And this, in
a strange way, is a positive evidence which emanates from
a negative statement. And knowest not that thou art
wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked. There's five points there, five
things to consider as to whether the Spirit of God has shown us
such a condition as this. It's not to be able to say, well,
I'm rich, and I've increased in goods, and I don't have any
need. It's to be shown that we do have a need, and a very great
need, because of our true condition before God. Remember, God is
holy, and we, by nature, are unholy. And it will be a blessed
favor if the Holy Spirit of God shows to you and me that We are,
therefore, in and of ourselves, a wretched person. You may say,
well, just explain that. Yes, I will. To know that we are a wretched
sinner, it means that we have disobeyed God. Although we have
so many words of instruction in the Word of God, yet we find
we have disobeyed God. And that's why we would understand
the words of the Apostle Paul when he wrote to the Romans.
Remember the Apostle was a gracious man, wasn't he? And what does
he come and tell us? He tells us this, O wretched
man that I am. Is that the Apostle Paul speaking?
Yes it is. example for us to realize that
the Apostle was shown himself before God and as he stood before
God he couldn't say I am the great Paul I've done this and
I've done that and I've gone here and I've gone there he comes
down and he says Oh wretched man I am well I wonder whether
the Spirit of God has led us into that position and to that
condition it would be a good thing if it is so, because it's
an indication that the Lord is dealing with us. Again, it's
important to realise that the Apostle didn't stop there. You see, some people are content
with a negative religion. The Apostle Paul wasn't. And
the grace of God will make us not satisfied with a negative
religion. It may be very true, like it
was with the Apostle. O wretched man that I am! But
he wants to know, who shall deliver me from the body of this death? He didn't want to be left in
this state of wretchedness. Where was the way out? Where
was the escape? Where was the secret? He tells
us. I thank God, through Jesus Christ
our Lord, So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God,
but with the flesh the law of sin. Well, can we thank God tonight
for the Lord Jesus Christ, who does deliver his people when
they're wretched, undone condition, lost and ruined in the fall,
yes, hopeless in and of themselves, wretched to feel ourselves. Blessed be God, you see, that's
a very Positive evidence of the work of God in our hearts Here
it's spelled out in this last address to this church at Laodicea
when the Lord comes and speaks these words and Have need of
nothing says the unbeliever says the false professor and No, it's
not that they are wretched. What a good thing then if you
and I are have been shown that before God we are, like the Apostle,
a wretched man, a wretched sinner, but our eyes don't rest on ourselves. Pour not on yourself too long,
lest it sink thee lower. Look to Jesus, firm and strong,
mercy, joy and power. My friends, you and I will not
find any satisfaction looking at ourselves. We will, looking
up to the Saviour, It would be a blessed relief, a blessed outlet
to realise that the Saviour has died to atone for our sins. And therefore such a word like
this, if we can prove that, well, thanks be to God, He has shown
me that I am wretched. It doesn't stop there. Remember
that's the first statement. and that they are wretched and
miserable. Why are we miserable? Why are
people miserable? People like to think they're
not miserable. People like to think that they want to enjoy
themselves in the things of this world. Why do people commit suicide? Why do people commit suicide?
Because they're miserable. Because they're miserable. They
don't find any satisfaction in the things in this life and therefore
they commit suicide to try and escape the miserableness of life. Well they won't of course because
they'll end up in hell because don't forget that suicide is
self-murder and no murderer will ever enter into heaven. It's
a very sad and solemn consideration. And so to realise that we are
by nature miserable Miserable. And how are we to be brought
up from that condition? Miserable. Again, we look around
us perhaps and we see failures here and we see failures there.
Well, if we're feeling miserable because of that situation, we
wish we were better and we wish we'd succeeded more and done
this and done that, let us set our hearts and affections upon
things above. You see, if you and I just look
on the things of time, we'll find misery there. If we look
to the things of eternal glory, we will find joy and happiness
there. So, let us not be despondent. We may be very miserable because
of our failures, and that's good. That's good, but remember that
the Lord has died, yes, and he's risen again. a conqueror over
sin, death, hell and the grave. And so to realize that we can
understand this and therefore we do know. It's not that we
don't know. No, it's not. Yes, we do know
that we are wretched and we do know that we are miserable, left
to ourselves and as we are by nature. If the Spirit of God
has shown us that, it's a good mark. It's a mark of His love
toward us. He hasn't left us to be satisfied
with our life, to be proud of it. Just like we read here, I
am rich and increased with goods and in need of nothing. And we
didn't realise what a terrible state we were in. But what a
blessing if the Spirit of God has shown us our need. Come back
my friends again and again to your and my need. What is that
need really, in a nutshell? It's very simply put. To know my Jesus, crucified,
by far, excels all things beside. And that, my friends, will satisfy
your and my need. Yes, what a need we have, and
it won't be satisfied outside. of the knowledge of the Lord
Jesus Christ, otherwise we will be in this condition, which we
read of here, that we are wretched and miserable. And then he comes
on and says, and poor, poor. Well, those of you who've been
able to come to the prayer meetings will perhaps remember that we've
been going through the Sermon on the Mount, those words that
Jesus spoke so very clearly when he was on the earth. And he speaks
in that sermon and he tells us this. The first thing that he
says, he opened his mouth and what were the first words? Blessed
are the poor, not the poor naturally, the poor in spirit. That's as
we see ourselves before God. Blessed are the poor in spirit. And so if the Spirit of God has
shown us that we're very poor in ourselves, that means we don't
possess very much in the way of blessings, in the way of favours. We feel ourselves to be really
poor and we acknowledge it before God. We have to come and say,
Lord, I am a poor man. Well, remember what the psalmist
said. Yes, this poor man cried and the Lord heard him and delivered
him out of his distresses. He didn't say, this rich man
cried, this poor man cried. And here we have this statement,
blessed are the poor in spirit. And what's the promise to such?
For theirs is the kingdom of God. What a promise, isn't it? What a blessing if the Spirit
of God has shown to us that we are spiritually poor, but we
have a need. And the Lord satisfies that need
by revealing Himself unto us as the all-sufficient Saviour. And so we are told here, knowest
not that thou art wretched and miserable and poor, and then
Blind. Blind. What does that mean? You know what a blind man is,
don't you? A blind woman? They can't see anything, can
they? They can't see their way. They don't know how to go from
one place to another, and they need to be led. Well, the significance
of that is that you and I are spiritually blind. until the
Holy Spirit opens our eyes. And so here we have this statement,
and knowest not that thou art blind. When the Holy Spirit comes
and shines upon us and opens our eyes, all things become new. The Word of God appears a different
book because we're able to read it with new eyes, opened eyes,
and we see there the great and wonderful plan of salvation.
So tonight, have our eyes been opened, opened by the blessed
Spirit of God, so that such a word spoken here, and knowest not
that thou art blind, Well, we may be able to say with that
one of the scriptures, one thing I know, whereas I was blind,
but now I see. That's a positive evidence, an
evidence of God's work in our heart. And remember, real religion
is in the heart. It doesn't just stem from our
head. It penetrates down into the heart and it has an effect
upon us. And so here is this great and
glorious truth that we do realise that we are blind. We have been
blind. Yes, we never saw. And thou art wretched and miserable
and poor and blind and naked. Yes, we have nothing to cover
us. We may try and hide. You know
we have that description it's a very solemn word that when
the end of the world comes and when fire and brimstone will
fall down from heaven and there'll be great earthquakes and great
fire and people will cry to the rocks to cover them it won't
be any good the rocks won't cover them because they will be there
to be seen by Almighty God and they won't be able to hide. They
won't be able to cover their nakedness. So we might say, well
what do we need? We need a covering. We need a covering to cover our
nakedness. And it's not our own filthy rags
because that's our righteousness by nature. It's no covering at
all. It's of no goodness. It's just
filthy and defiled. The things that we've tried to
cover ourselves with, we've tried to cover up everything. No. We
need. We need the righteousness of
the Lord Jesus Christ. What a blessing if the Spirit
of God has shown us that we need that. And not to think that we
are covered. And so we have these five statements,
and no it's not. Thou wretched and miserable and
poor and blind and naked. Well, bless God tonight, if the
Holy Spirit has shown to us that we are by nature just this wretched,
miserable, poor, blind and naked. The Lord has come and done that
for us, which we could not do for ourselves. Again, a wonderful
evidence of the work of God in the soul. When the Lord comes,
and does it for us that we couldn't do for ourselves. And he blesses
us, and encourages us, and favours our souls. Well, the word goes
on. The Lord's word, he comes in,
and if we should still be like this tonight, we're thinking
we're okay, well, we haven't got any need of anything else,
and we're satisfied with our religion, and we're ticking all
the boxes every day, and we're so proud of what we're doing,
What if the Holy Spirit comes and this is what it says, I counsel
thee. This is the word of God. God
comes and counsels us. Isn't it amazing that almighty
God should, put it this way, be patient enough, kind enough
to come and to reason with us, counsel with us. Council with
us perhaps we're reminded of those words which the the Lord
spoke through the Prophet Isaiah in that first chapter in Isaiah
where the Word of God came and to Isaiah like this Isaiah states
come now oh It's good. You know when we heard God's
Word come now Not tomorrow. Not the next day. Come now. The
Spirit of God has shown you and me our need. We will come now. And let us reason together. The
Lord gives us counsel. He comes alongside us. He counsels
us. What wonderful favour to think
that the great God of heaven is willing to counsel such a
and undone and lost sinner, I counsel thee. Let us reason together, saith
the Lord, though your sins be as scarlet, though they're very
bad sins, they shall be white as snow, though they be red like
crimson, they shall be as wool. And then he says, if ye be willing,
and obedient. You should eat the good of the
land. But if you refuse and rebel, you shall be devoured with a
sword for the mouth of the Lord has spoken it. These are blessed
words, but they're very solemn words, aren't they? They're blessed
and solemn words. And may you and I hear these
words tonight. I counsel thee. Just like these
words spoken by Isaiah, come now, come now. Well, may we hear the blessed
counsel of God. Oh, it's very valuable. It's
very wonderful to think that the Lord does counsel us. And so we have these words here
tonight. I counsel thee. And what's the
counsel? To buy of me gold. tried in the
fire, that thou mayest be rich. And white raiment, that thou
mayest be clothed. And that the shame of thy nakedness
do not appear. And anoint thy eyes with eyesalve,
that thou mayest see. Well, we may hear, buy of me
gold. And we may think, well, how am
I going to do that? How am I going to buy? Well, just remember what Isaiah
said. In chapter 55, these are the
words. Ho, everyone that thirsteth. And if the Spirit of God is working
in our hearts and coming alongside us and counselling us, we will
then be thirsting after God, the living God. Ho, everyone
that thirsteth. Come ye to the waters, the water
of life. And he that hath no money, What
are we to do? Come buy and eat. Come buy wine and milk without
money and without price. The great, wonderful blessing
is the Gospel is free. Oh, what a mercy that is, isn't
it? If you and I had to pay for our salvation, we'd never merit
it. We'd never obtain it. We'd never
satisfy the demands of a holy God. The Lord Jesus Christ has
paid all that was necessary. I counsel thee to buy of me gold,
tried in the fire. That means the pure things of
God. That means the grace of God. That means the favour of God,
to come to God and to buy and to receive freely. It comes like
this, doesn't it? and ye shall receive." Yes, knock and it shall be opened
unto you. We've read here about knocking,
haven't we? How good it is when you and I come and knock at the
door and seek that it might be opened and we might receive that
which is good and see the great and glorious way of salvation
open up to us through the open door. Oh, buy of me gold tried in the
fire. Now this isn't false gold, this
is not mixed with the world. Gold tried in the fire is gold
that is pure and gold that is tested. And what a favour when
you and I come to this place and seek for the pure truth of
the Gospel. The pure gold. We don't want
to mix it with the things of the world. Our mind, our natural
mind does. Those of you who were here on
Friday will remember, again in the Sermon on the Mount, the
words of Jesus, ye cannot serve God and mammon. And how extensive
that word mammon was. and how true it is that you and
I cannot serve the Lord and Mammon. We might try to. We'll fail. We cannot have two masters. We cannot have two masters. And
so what a blessing it is for us tonight if we are blessed
with this desire to come to the Lord, to pray unto him as he
comes to us and invites us Buy of me. Buy of me. Just like these words in this
55th chapter, that we come, buy wine and milk without money and
without price. So if you and I are bankrupt,
which the Spirit of God will show us, and that we haven't
got anything of any value, all we've got is sin. Sin. We're encouraged to come just
as we are. Just as we are. Come to the Saviour. I came to Jesus as I was. Weary and worn and sad. Oh what a blessing it is. Jesus
knows all about us. And so here we have such a statement
as this. I counsel thee to buy me gold
fried in a fire that thou mayest be rich. The knowledge of Christ
is more precious than gold. Oh, this is the true gold of
the gospel, the knowledge of Christ. And you see, if you and
I are blessed with this knowledge, we are rich, not only in this
life, we are eternally rich. Because once in Him, in Him forever. What a mercy then for us if we
are blessed with this wonderful favour, that we are enabled to
buy this gold, this knowledge of Christ, and that we are therefore
rich, eternally rich. No greater blessing, oh how it
surpasses the riches of time. Time riches fade away. the riches of glory will only
grow brighter as you and I near that celestial place. And so
says the Spirit to John the Apostle on the Isle of Patmos, never
forgotten time was it, as he speaks these words, that thou
mayest be rich and white-raiment, that thou mayest be clothed and
that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear." Well, there's
only one robe that will fit us, there's only one robe that will
cover us, and that's the complete righteousness of the Lord Jesus
Christ. He died to give us His righteousness. It is a great truth and a wonderful
thought to know that that righteousness is put upon us. The Spirit of God uses these
words, imputed. It's put upon us. And there is
an exchange. And the Lord takes away all our
sin, on the one hand, and there we are then, naked. And He comes
and covers us with His righteousness. Spotless, pure. We won't have
to take it off. We won't have to discard it.
It's forever new. What a mercy then, if we are
clothed with that. And so we are to come to the
Lord. And white raiment, that thou
mayest be clothed, that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear. And then he says, and anoint
thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see. And you may
think, well, that's a strange expression, isn't it? Well, I
believe it's like this. When we are blessed with spiritual
sight, that which opens our understanding is the I-Self, which is really
the Word of God. The Word of God, and what a blessing
it is. And anoint nine eyes, that means
turn to the Word of God, and read the Word of God, that it
may bring joy to our hearts, And I serve that they may see,
you see, the great truths which are contained in the Word of
God. Well, it would be a great blessing
if you and I favoured like that. And the Apostle speaks of these
things when he wrote to the Galatians. And in the sixth chapter of the
Galatians, he tells us these words when he says, Be not deceived. God is not mocked. For whatsoever
man soweth, that shall he also reap. Now, the Lord gives us
his word. Don't listen to the devil. Be
not deceived. The devil will say, well, you
needn't worry about these things, you're okay. And that's a fact
you're doing pretty well, you're quite rich really, because you've
done this and you've done that. My friends, what a lack there
is. We need to know the blessing of God in our soul by the evidence
of his work which shows to us that we are therefore wretched,
miserable, poor, blind and naked, and that The Lord has enabled
us to come freely and to buy this great blessing of this gold,
the knowledge of Christ, and to receive the wonderful favour
of His righteousness and have our spiritual eyes open to read
the Word of God and to believe these great truths. And remember,
be not deceived, God is not mocked. For whatsoever man soweth, that
shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh. That's the thing the devil wants
you and me to do. To sow to our flesh, and we easily
do it, left to ourselves, pray against it. Because if we do
just that, shall the flesh reap corruption. And what does that
really mean? The end of that is eternal death,
eternal life in hell. There are many wonderful buts
in the word of God. But he that by the grace of God
soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. Now you and I tonight will be
found in one of those places doing one of those things. There's no middle path. There's
only a right and a left. Let us not be found sowing to
the flesh. Let us be found sowing to the
Spirit. And by the grace of God, as that
is so, we shall inherit, not because we deserved it, we shall
inherit the great and wonderful gift of eternal life. And in that eternal state, we
shall be with that great and glorious Saviour, who has come
to redeem our souls from the pit of despair perhaps, definitely
the pit of destruction, the one who has given his life, laid
down his life, so that you and I might receive life. Well, the Apostle goes on and
says, And when he says that, we are
to notice, behold, I stand at the door and knock. If any man
hear my voice, we've heard the voice tonight of God, have we
not? If any man hear my voice and open the door, I will come
in to him and will sit with him and he with me. To him that overcometh
will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame
and am set down with my Father in his throne." And don't forget,
we overcome through the blood of the Lamb. That's how we overcome. No other way. That's why the
blood of Christ is precious. That's the only way that you
and I overcome. In the last verse, He that hath an ear, let him
hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. We'll bless God
tonight, if God has opened our ears to hear his word, so it's
had a gracious and blessed effect with us, so that we have the
evidence that we are born again in the Spirit of God, and therefore
our souls are alive, and that they are spiritually blessed,
and that forevermore, And therefore, by his grace, we shall be found
in everlasting bliss with the Saviour for all that he's done
to redeem our souls. Oh, what a favour it is. May
we praise God from whom all blessings flow. Amen.