Revelation 3:17

Rev_3:17-18

Knowest not that thou art wretched.

A great mistake, and the way to rectify it

These Laodicean people were unhappily in such a state that you could not get at them. They were not so poor that they knew they were poor, and therefore when the poverty-stricken were addressed, they said, These things are not for us: we are increased in goods. They were blind, but they thought they saw; they were naked, and yet they prided themselves on their princely apparel, and hence it was hard to reach them. Had they even been outwardly worse, had they defiled their garments with overt transgression, then the Spirit might have pointed out the blot and convicted them there and then; but what was to be done when the mischief was hidden and internal?

I. First, let us think of the Church in Laodicea and listen to their saying; it may prevent us from reaching such a height of pride as to speak as they did.

1. The spirit of self-congratulation expressed itself in a manner strikingly unanimous. It was the general, unanimous feeling, from the minister down to the latest convert, that they were a most wonderful Church. They were heartily at one in having a high estimate of themselves, and this helped to keep them together, and stirred them to attempt great things.

2. This saying of theirs was exceedingly boastful. The present was all right, the past was eminently satisfactory, and they had reached a point of all but absolute perfection, for they needed nothing.

3. They were sincere in this glorying. When they said it they were not consciously boasting, for the text says, And thou knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked. They did not know the truth. How readily do we believe a lie when it fosters in us a high opinion of ourselves.

4. But now see what was their actual state: they were altogether mistaken. These intelligent persons, these wealthy persons, these instructed persons did not know themselves, and that is the grossest kind of ignorance. You remember the Tay Bridge disaster. There is no doubt whatever that the bridge was not fitted for its position, its ordinary strain was all it could bear; but nobody thought so. Undoubtedly the engineers reckoned it would stand any test to which it might be put, and therefore there was no attention given to it to make it any stronger and to provide against sudden disaster; and consequently when a specially fierce hurricane was out one night it swept it all away. That is just the picture of many a Church and many a man, because he is thought to be so pious, and the Church is thought to be so correct and vigorous, therefore no attempt is made for improvement, no special prayer, no cries to heaven.

II. Our Lords blessed counsel.

1. Note how He begins: I counsel thee to buy. Is not that singular advice? Just now He said that they were wretched and poor. How can they buy? Surely it suggests to us at once those blessed free grace terms which are only to be met with in the market of Divine love: Yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.

2. But next, what does He say? I counsel thee to buy of Me. Ah, they had been dealing with one another: they had been bartering amongst themselves. One brother had brought this talent, another that, and they had grown rich, as they thought, by a mutual commerce. Now, says Christ, compare yourselves with yourselves no longer: give up seeking of man, and buy of Me. It is the very foundation of grace--to be willing to buy of Christ.

3. Now see the goods which He describes. I counsel thee to buy of Me--what? Everything. It is true that only three wants of these people are here mentioned, but they are inclusive of all needs.

4. The counsel of the Lord is not only that we buy of Him everything, but that we buy the best of everything of Him. Gold is the most precious metal, but He would have them buy the best of it, gold tried in the fire; gold that will endure all further tests, having survived that of fire. Remember the raiment too, for that is of the best; our Lord calls it white raiment. That is a pure colour, a holy colour, a royal colour. We put on the Lord Jesus as our joy, our glory, our righteousness. And as to the eyesalve, it is the best possible one, for Jesus says, Anoint thine eyes with eyesalve that thou mayest see.

5. All this is the counsel of Christ, and the counsel of Christ to a people that were proud and self-conceited. (C. H. Spurgeon.)

The self ignorance of the Laodiceans

The secret of lukewarmness is disclosed in these words, Thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing. Shall we find fault with the words in themselves? Might they not be taken as an expression of gratitude? Might they not mean, The lines are fallen to me in pleasant places; yea, I have a goodly heritage? Now I would not deny that this may have been meant by the Laodiceans as the language of very exalted piety. Possibly, too, their neighbours might admit the claim, and regard them with admiration. But when we look closely into the words, two unpleasant things appear. First, here is no recognition of the Lord and His goodness; no lowly and grateful ascribing of all to His undeserved lovingkindness and bounty. If the Laodiceans had felt themselves debtors, they would at least have said, By the grace of God I am what I am--Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto Thy name be the glory. This second thing, too, becomes apparent, in examining the words, that they are a boast; a glorying in self, and not in the Lord; a quiet claim of superiority over other Churches; like the words of the Pharisee, God, I thank Thee that I am not as other men are. Their wretched and pitiable condition is presented to themselves in three aspects: as poverty, blindness, and nakedness. What a combination of ills! If you find a fellow-man in this plight, how you commiserate him. Each evil more than doubles the other. And then add inevitable nakedness--with its shamefulness and discomforts--and how woeful the condition! Well, here is a Church of Christ in that pitiable condition. There is material wealth, growing numbers, name and repute in society, many showy and coveted virtues that attract attention and admiration. But look for the faith, the love, the joy, the peace, the hope, the meekness, the piety, the holy zeal, the beneficence, the martyr-spirit, the self-forgetfulness and self-denial, in which the true wealth of a Church consists, and she has nothing. Inquire how much of heaven there is within her borders--how much of the power and joy of the Holy Ghost-and you discover that in the real, true sense she is bankrupt. This Church is blind as well as poor--blind in the eye that sees God. They said, We see, and believed it. But enter the region of spiritual truths and realities--bring up the doctrines of the gospel and the hidden wisdom, comparing spiritual things with spiritual--they are foolishness to the Laodiceans, neither can they know them, because they are spiritually discerned. If spiritual poverty in a Christian Church is sinful, so also is blindness. It is not misfortune, but fault. It need not be. The Saviour was anointed with the Holy Spirit that He might give sight to the blind, and He has lost none of His skill. One thing more characterises this Laodicean Church: instead of the rich and glorious adorning of thy fancy, thou art naked. Grace clothes the happy soul with the garment of salvation, and covers it with the robe of righteousness, so that we appear with acceptance in the presence of the majesty of heaven and earth; but Laodicea in its pride is naked as a beggar. And saddest of all, thou knowest it not: it is hidden from thine eyes. Could aught be more deplorable? (J. Culross, D. D.)

The Church of the Laodiceans

I. The opinion which the Laodiceans held of themselves. Thou sayest. It is not likely that the words which follow were spoken. The saying was in a cherished thought--not in a thought that comes in, if I may so speak, at one door of the spirit and passes out at another, but a thought that a man makes at home in his mind. He who speaks to the Laodiceans, hears this speaking; though the speaking be only thinking, He hears it; though only in feeling, He hears it. Oh, what a different thing life would be, if lived out under the eye of God, from what it now is as lived out under the eye of men! But, mark, every Church presents itself in a particular form to Jesus Christ. Every Church by its worship and communion and fellowship and work is, according to this text, saying something perpetually into the very ear of God. Now these people said, I am rich--rich not in material wealth, though that most likely was true. And they said, I am increased with goods: that is, I am become wealthy. There is a force in the word that gives the idea of their having gained this spiritual treasure by their own exertions, so that it was to their credit to have been thus spiritually rich. And have need of nothing; that is, they were perfectly satisfied. You see there is a sort of climax here: rich--become rich--having need of nothing. First the fact of wealth is stated, then the means by which it was obtained is indicated, and then the result. But now, what does all this mean in plain language? Christ intends to say to these people, that they were self-conceited and self-sufficient. The men who are great in their own eyes are men who have very little to do with God, and very little to do with the works of God; and the Christians and the Churches that are great in their own eyes are Christians and Churches that cannot be much in communion with Christ.

II. Their real condition, as described by one who knew it well. And knowest not that thou art wretched--literally, that thou art the wretched on--the wretched one out of these Asiatic Churches--the wretched one in all the Churches of Christ. The Laodicean Church thought itself to be the great one; and, to correct them, Christ is represented as saying, and knowest not that thou art the wretched one. A slave to vanity and to delusion, this Church was verily the wretched and the pitiable one, a true object for compassion.

III. The counsel. It is just the same with a man who professes to cultivate his mind, to increase his knowledge, and to add to his information--so soon as he begins to rest in what he has gained, and to call it wealth, and to feel rich in it, so soon he arrests his progress in getting to himself the treasures of information and of knowledge. This counsel, I say again, is offered to those who assume and assert that they do not need it. But what is here meant by the word buy?--I counsel thee to buy of Me gold tried in the fire. The word buy here does not mean to give an equivalent, but to part with this self-sufficiency, and to part with it for something valuable. We often see God bring a conceited man down to no faith at all in order to lift him up to the position of a true believer. What Christ suggests to these people is this, that they shall part with their self-conceit and with their self-sufficiency. By this gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich, we may understand sterling godliness as opposed to the form of godliness without the power. Of what use is a sham Christian? Of what benefit is an unreal Church? Things are precious only as they be true and thorough and entire. And white raiment that thou mayest be clothed, etc. Put into plain language, this simply means, get what is really valuable; put on what is really fair and true; and try to see things by a proper and spiritual discernment to be derived from above just aa they really are. (S. Martin.)

Shallowness in religion

Setting aside for a little the question what this lukewarmness or shallowness is, in the higher spiritual life of the soul, we are all of us perfectly well acquainted with those whose characters it marks in common life--shallow, surface, outside men. We see it in one man in the life of the affections. He is full of a ready, courteous, skin-deep kindliness of demeanour, which reaches down to no self-sacrifice, which implies no wearing anxiety for others, which reveals no deep, disturbing love, perhaps, for any one person upon the earth, nay, which perhaps is thoroughly compatible with absolute cruelty of heart. This character is one of utter shallowness; it is marked by an essential poverty in the life of the affections. They are called up by the lightest surface-touch, because to them the surface is all. They are mere land-springs of kindness, easy to break out after a summer shower, easy to dry up after a twelve hours drought. It is demonstration without depth, the brook of shallow love, babbling of its shallowness as it flows. Here is one of these shallow characters: now look at it from another point, and see it in the life of science. See the poor sciolist, with his ready smattering of all learning, veiling even from himself his universal ignorance. For what worth knowing does the man know? His readiness to acquire and his readiness to produce are of the very essence of his disease. Again, you may see the self-same character in the public man. He is the easy repeater of the watchwords of a party, the retailer of other mens aphorisms, the uncomprehending inheritor of a traditional policy. There is not in this man, perhaps, one atom of real knowledge, one acting of any deep principle which could govern, could strengthen, or could ennoble a public life. Here, then, in the ordinary life of this world--having put for the time the higher spiritual world aside--here is this familiar phase of shallowness. And now, how is it to be cured? How are we ourselves to get free from it? We must trace the cause of the evil. The master root of this vice is the selfishness of our fallen nature, working under the peculiar circumstances which belong to ease, to abundance, and to a refined civilisation. Men shaken daily together in the vast sack of common respectabilities round off from one another the sharp corners of their individuality, and thus the curse of shallowness is imparted, like some contagious disorder, from one to another; and all combine to banish, as the source of continual trouble, from their life of painted complacency, deeper and more real qualities. Here is the working of the evil and its cause; and now where is the cure to come from? Wealth cannot buy it; civilisation cannot give it; intellectual power cannot command it. Where then is the cure against all this degradation of humanity? In the Church of Christ, and in it alone, is stored the sufficient remedy. The Lord imparts Himself to the soul that will receive Him. This is the new life of the regenerate. This is the mystery of the new birth in its perfection, in the soul that follows after Christ. And so the shallownesses of his nature are swept away by the mighty burst; the rock is struck and the streams flow, and those whom the Lord has healed, witness of that healing to others. The emptiness of fallen man is filled full by the awful in-dwelling of the Incarnate God. I counsel thee to buy of Me. And what is needed to buy of Him? First, you must believe in the reality of the renewed life. How many fail here! They live in the perpetual dream that for the present they must be shallow, instead of believing in the mighty enfranchisement which the Eternal Son has wrought out for them. Oh, claim it for thyself, and claim it here. Next, join in desire, join in prayer, join in perpetual aspiration, your present life to the life of Christ. This is the great sacramental mystery of our new being. By the power of the Holy Ghost, Christ will work daily within you, if you will seek His working. Only thirdly, seek all this not as a mere apprehension of the understanding, for that will do no good, but seek it as part of a renewed life. Seek it in a life of greater brightness and greater obedience in service. (Bp. S. Wilberforce.)

The great and dangerous mistake of some professors

All flattery is dangerous; self-flattery is more dangerous; but self-flattery in the business of salvation, is the most dangerous of all.

I. That there are multitudes of such self-deceivers among professors.

II. The grounds and causes of this self-deceit among professors.

1. The natural deceitfulness of the heart, than which nothing is more treacherous and false (Jer_17:9).

2. Satan is a chief conspirator in this treacherous design.

3. The common works found in unregenerate souls deceive many, who cannot distinguish them from the special works of the Spirit in Gods elect (Heb_6:4).

4. To add no more, this strengthens self-deceit exceedingly in many, viz., their observations of and comparing themselves with others. Use 1 shall be for caution to professors. Before I tell you what use you should make of it, I must tell you what use you may not make of it.

(1) Do not make this use of it--to conclude from what hath been said, that all professors are but a pack of hypocrites.

(2) Do not make this use of it--that assurance must needs be impossible, because so many professors are found to be self-deceivers.

(3) Do not make this use of it--to conceal or hide the truths or graces of God, or refuse to profess or confess them before men, because many professors deceive themselves and others also by a vain profession. Use

2. Surely you cannot improve this point to a better purpose than from it to take warning, and look to yourselves, that you be not of that number who deceive themselves in their profession. (John Flavel.)

The unconverted sinners estimate of himself

I. The unconverted sinners estimate of his own condition.

1. I am rich. The word rich is here used in its most extended meaning, as descriptive of the possession of that which is of great value. I am rich. I possess much; and what I possess is well worth having. If the unconverted sinner has money, he is proud of it. He looks upon it as a great portion. But many of the unconverted have no money to be proud of. That circumstance, however, does not prevent them from finding out that they are rich. Perhaps they have respectable family connections, or they have a goodly personal appearance, or they possess superior talents. In any such case, the mind fastens with special complacency upon the circumstance, and feels all the satisfaction attendant upon the consciousness of being rich.

2. And increased with goods. These words embody an additional conceit of the unconverted man. He is rich, and his wealth is not in the course of decay; on the contrary, it is rising in its amount, it is accumulating fast. If he is a young man, he, peradventure, rejoices in the rapid growth and extensive range of his literary and scientific and professional acquirements, and his heart bounds within him as the strong hope arises of approaching distinction and fame. See, again, that man who has left behind him the gay period of youth, and has arrived at the years of maturity and wisdom. He is no longer what he once was. The fire of passion is moderated, and the greaser immoralities of early life are abandoned. From being a person of no character, he is become a person of good character. He is a prudent, a well-behaved, an honourable citizen.

3. And have need of nothing. In these words we are presented with the unconverted mans climax. The prosperity of his state has arrived at the superlative degree.

`II. The unconverted sinners real state.

1. He is wretched. Consider the original state of mankind. Think of its enjoyments, its privileges, its honours, its prospects. What a happy condition! and how wretched the condition which has succeeded! They might be free, but instead of that they are slaves to Satan, to the world, to their own lusts. They might be noble princes; but, alas! they are disgraced outcasts from the Divine favour. They might be kings and priests unto God; but they are doomed criminals, the branded victims of coming vengeance. Surely they are in a wretched condition; they have the Almighty Potentate of heaven and earth for their foe.

2. Miserable. It is intimated here, that when the mind comes to the consideration of the state of the unconverted, the appropriate emotion is pity. The thraldom they are held in calls for pity; the forfeiture they have incurred, the doom they have provoked, the self-deception they are practising, the false security they are indulging, the infatuation they are exemplifying, demand our pity.

3. Poor. If the tattered garment around the body be recognised as the symbol of poverty surely we have the symbol of a deeper poverty when the soul is enveloped in the unclean rags of self-righteousness!

4. Blind. Sinai overhangs him, but he heeds not the frowning mountain. One fairer than the sons of men, and chief among ten thousand, appears to him; but he evinces no sense of His attractions. The deformities of sin do not hinder him from embracing it. Though it be the noon-day of the Gospel, he gropes as one in darkness. The road which he travels is marked for his warning, as the way to everlasting misery and ruin, but he slackens not his pace. Can it be, then, that he sees? Would beauty have no power to draw a man, deformity none to repel him, or dangers to dismay him, unless he were blind?

5. Naked. This completes the picture of an unconverted state. The unconverted are naked in a two-fold respect--in that they want the garment of justification, and likewise the garment of sanctification.

III. Some inferences descriptive of the unconverted mans error.

1. It is a great error. It is just as great an error as possibly can be. It is not, for example, the error of the man who says it is an hour before noon, or an hour after noon, when it is actually just noon; but it is the error of him who declares it is midnight while he stands under the blaze of the meridian sun.

2. It is a surprising error. It is surprising from its very grossness. Man is so prone to err that the occurrence of small mistakes excites no astonishment; on the contrary, we look for it. But it is startling to find men calling bitter sweet, emptiness abundance, disgrace honour, and misery comfort and happiness. The error in question is the more extraordinary, when it is considered that there are such ample means of getting at the truth.

3. It is a pernicious error. Death is the consequence of adhering to this error--death in its most appalling form--the eternal ruin of body and soul.

4. It is an error which, by human means, is incorrigible. We say not that its correction is beyond the power of God. (A. Gray.)

Human need

Man is by nature the neediest of all beings. Nor is it, as some might maintain, his disgrace and the signal of his inferiority that he is thus needy, but rather the mark of his native glory and pre-eminence. For it points to the number and greatness of his faculties. The lower the creature, the less his need; for the more feeble his sensibilities, narrow his powers, and torpid his desires. But, from the most sagacious and strongest of the animal tribes, how vast the difference, in capacity of intellect and feeling, to man! And no less vast the difference of need. He draws from the earth, from the water, and from the air, to satisfy his appetites and to satiate his curiosity; he ransacks every kingdom of nature for his comfort and aggrandisement, and is not content. Is there, then, no satisfaction for a man? God has not made His noblest creature for a wretched failure and a miserable want. Let him bring into light all his abilities and desires--they are not too many or too strong; those of the higher nature as well as the lower; those that tend up to God Himself and heaven and immortality, as well as those that tend downwards and abroad to earthly things. Let him unfold them without fear. The vast supplies from the foreseeing Creator, in the treasury of His truth, are ready. Let him appropriate them to his need. Man is a being that does not need daily bread and clothing and shelter alone; but he needs truth, needs duty, needs love, needs God. The mistake is in trying to gratify fully his nature with such outward things, neglecting the spiritual. It is just this foolhardy and hazardous assurance of satisfaction in outward prosperity, that I apprehend, the author of our text means to expose. Man--whosoever thou art, content with sensual good and clinging to outward treasure--that is not the true gold with which thou fillest thy coffers. That is not the durable raiment with which thou art clad. There are riches of goodness for the heart. To sustain this exhortation, it is not necessary to speak in the exclusive ardour of one idea, but the sober proportion that takes in mans whole estate. He needs, by various education, to get possession of all his members and faculties. He needs to fabricate, needs to manufacture, needs to discover and invent, needs to trade, needs to accumulate; so that every industrial faculty may be brought out, every hand employed, every talent put in motion--nay, so that the community itself may not fail, but be civilised. In setting before you a moral and spiritual need, I certainly do not forget these personal, social, and political necessities, nor would shove them by an inch from their place; but, admitting the latter, maintain the supreme importance, the predominating position of the former. The dull caterpillar may be content with lying upon the ground, hardly appearing animated, like a lump or brown leaf, when the wings are actually folded up within, to bear it into the sunshine and among all the blossoms of the landscape. So a man may be content with a low, earth-bound life, a state of half-manhood, because unconscious of the heaven-bestowed capacities by which he might live above the world. But the mere force of nature will not unfold the man as it does the insect. He may discourage and keep down these wings of the soul. He may, by sin and his rebellious will, wound and mutilate them as they instinctively strive to expand. Yet he cannot remain for ever unconscious of their existence. He cannot exercise them in the mean ways of the world in which he treads. Lacking their true element and use, they will pine and wither with dissatisfaction and remorse. We need the principle of devotion to God and others good. We need the practice of the two great commandments of love to God and man. We need to be humble, need to be patient, need to be meek, to the Father above and our brethren below. We need these dispositions, not only as paying our debt to them, though they are our debt, but as the indispensable requisites of our own well-being. (C. A. Bartol.)

Moral wealth

I. Moral wealth is most foreign to the self-righteous. In morals, the richer a man thinks himself to be, the poorer he is. Pharisaic souls are in utter destitution.

II. Moral wealth is the great want of humanity. Men, whatever else they possess, are abject without it.

1. It is the only wealth that is intrinsically valuable.

2. The only wealth that enriches the man.

3. The only wealth that procures an honourable status in being.

4. The only wealth that secures a true and lasting interest in the universe.

III. Moral wealth is to be obtained only in connection with Christ. Jesus has the gold, the white garment, the eyesalve, the unsearchable riches.

IV. Moral wealth must be obtained by purchase. Buy of Me. You must give up something for it--ease, self-righteousness, prejudices, worldly gain and pleasures. You must sell that you have. (Homilist.)

The spiritually luxurious and proud

What is the condition of the individual Christian (so called) who is represented in the Laodicean Church? Is not this a description of one who is spiritually luxurious and proud? Do not confound the spiritually luxurious with the temporally luxurious. One spiritually luxurious Christian may be a man poor in this worlds goods. He may be the farthest removed from the worlds luxury. He may wear hair-cloth and walk with bare feet. His outward condition has nothing to do with his spiritual state. His supposed riches, his increase of goods, his need of nothing--all refer to his spiritual condition. He thinks he is full of the Divine life. He is one of the Lords favourites. He serenely looks down upon mankind from the high level of a spiritual nobility. He takes his delicious ease amid his good thoughts of himself, and has a lofty scorn for the common herd of Christians. He may be an observer of forms. He may go to church. He may bow his head reverently. He may even enter a brotherhood and take the vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience; or, on the other hand, he may be a neglecter of all public worship--above all the means of grace. They are good enough for the crowd, but he has no need of them. In either ease he considers himself a model Christian, and never thinks of applying to himself any of the Divine rebukes for shortcomings and inconsistency. You have often seen such. They are very varied in their earthly conditions, and also in their mode of exhibiting their conceit, but they all have the same satisfaction with themselves.

1. They are spiritually poverty-stricken. The spiritual wealth consisting of appreciation of the Divine promises, close communion with God, and the glorious visions of hope and faith, is altogether lacking. The wealth of sympathy and helpfulness, the wealth of energy for Christ and His salvation, has no representation in them.

2. They are spiritually naked. The grateful sense of indebtedness to a gracious Saviour, melting the soul and humbling it before Him, has never been felt.

3. They are spiritually blind. That is why they do not detect their nakedness. That is why they do not know their coin is all spurious and their wealth but poverty. (H. Crosby.)

What does God think of me

A young lady of thoughtful turn of mind once said to the late Dr. Jowett, Master of Balliol, Doctor, what do you think of God? For a while the doctor was silent, and then, with great solemnity and pathos, he replied, My dear, it is not what I think of God, but what does God think of me.

What we are before God

The Laodiceans said, We are rich and have need of nothing, but God said, Thou art poor and wretched and miserable. In the old tombs of our cathedrals there were frequently two figures on the monuments, one of the deceased king, or knight, or bishop, resting above in his full robes of state as he wore them abroad in life, and another beneath of a thin, emaciated skeleton, which recalled to the eyes of the beholder the realities of the grave below. It is well to have in thought this double imago of ourselves, what we are before the world, and what we are before God. (Free Methodist.)

Poor and needy

Dr. T.L. Cuyler tells us that when the richest American of his day was in his last fatal sickness, a Christian friend proposed to sing to him; and the hymn he named was, Come, ye sinners, poor and needy. Yes, yes, replied the dying millionaire, sing that to me; I feel poor and needy. Yet at that moment the stock markets of the globe were watching and waiting for the demise of the man who could shake them with a nod of his head.

I counsel thee to buy of Me.--

Christ giving counsel

Looked at broadly, these words intimate that the Lord has not given them up, however desperate their condition. To the hearing ear they sound like this, O Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself, but in Me is thine help. It will be found that the grace of Christ meets the Laodiceans at every point. Knowing their poverty, the Lord offers to provide them with true and durable riches--gold bright from the fire. The fire-purged gold represents those spiritual possessions in which the true wealth of a Church consists. What shall we count in under this head? Light is thrown on the question by what we are told (2Co_8:1-5) concerning the Churches of Macedonia. They were marked by deep poverty, but that poverty was conjoined with abundance of joy--the joy of the Holy Ghost, which had never failed them since they embraced the gospel; that joy of theirs was gold. Again, even in a great trial of affliction, the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded unto the riches of their liberality; that liberality of theirs was gold. Again, there was the outflow of love to their suffering brethren in Christ at a distance; they were willing to contribute to their help, even beyond their power: that love was gold. A Church that is rich in these things is rich indeed. Besides being poor, the Laodiceans were naked. So He invites them to make application to Him, and promises to give white raiment, etc. This represents and symbolises the saintliness of life in which saintliness of heart expresses itself. As the dress clothes the body, and answers to its form and size, so a saintly life is the garb, as it were, and expression of a holy heart. The well-doing in which we are not to be weary is not the mere doing of what is good, but of what is beautiful; and beauty of living is the outward of heartbeauty, as a smile is the outward of heart-cheer. Besides being poor and naked, they were blind; answering to the prophets description of the blind people who have eyes, or like those men who appealed to Jesus with the question, Are we blind also? Now we must settle it in our hearts that we can find what we need only in Christ, and nowhere else. Buy, He says, of Me. We must not merely look away from man, we must also look away from ourselves to Him. There is a peculiar and very delightful emotion produced in the mind by fine scenery; almost every one, I suppose, knows what it is. You sit in a room which commands one of the finest views in the country. Your face, however, as it happens, is turned away from the window. You shut your eyes and strive to call up the peculiar emotion to which I have referred. Of course you fail. All the striving in the world would be in vain. What, then? Rise from your chair, open your eyes, step to the window, gaze forth upon the scene outspread before you, and let it produce its own effect upon your mind. In like manner, in religion, we shall not succeed in getting the right feeling by our trying and striving, we must look out of ourselves to Christ. (J. Culross, D. D.)

Jesus, the heavenly counsellor

Uncertainty and doubt will make themselves felt in the history of all who have the journey of life to accomplish. We cannot wonder, then, that in the present day so many guides should present themselves, all professedly eager to help us in our great uncertainties.

I. The counsel Jesus gives.

1. Jesus counsels us what we are to believe. The faculty of belief is as certainly possessed by man as is the faculty of vision; the one is a physical and the other a mental power, but both are possessed by us, and both are to be exercised. Jesus says, I counsel thee what to believe. To believe in God, in His perfections, His power, wisdom, justice, grace, mercy, truth, love. In His providence and care over you, to believe in such a way as that we shall revere, obey, and love God. To believe in Jesus--Ye believe in God, believe also in Me--that I am what the prophets said I should be, the true Messiah. Believe in the fulness of My love, the sufficiency of My atoning work, My ability and willingness to pardon and cleanse, and in the absolute and unchanging truthfulness of all My words. Believe in the Holy Ghost; in His convincing, converting, renewing, sustaining, and sanctifying energy. Believe in the duties pertaining to personal life and godliness as I have revealed them.

2. I have met with not a few young folks who have been sadly perplexed with the question as to what they shall be. One has solved it by saying, I shall be a great merchant; my ships shall sail on many seas, and my servants and warehouses shall be exceedingly numerous. Another has said, Science shall be my study. A third has said, I will be a physician, and I will try to relieve the poor of their maladies. To all such the Heavenly Counsellor comes, and He does not say to such, How mistaken you all are, you must all change your decisions. Oh no, but He counsels the farmer as he sows to sow goodness, that when the reaping time comes he may reap the same. To the philosopher He counsels the study of the wisdom which is from on high, and which is full of good works; and to the merchant He says, Let goodness be the article in which you shall always trade; let it store your warehouses, fill the holds of your ships, and govern all your transactions. To all the Heavenly Counsellor says, Be good; have a good heart, a good conscience, a good intention, a good life.

3. This Heavenly Counsellor tells us also what we are to do. Activity, under His advice, is always to characterise us. The Lord Jesus knows as no one else the great evils of idleness, and how such evils must afflict and torment all who are slothful; and so against this sin He plainly counsels us. In the cultivation of inward holiness and in the development of righteous principles, in the hope of winning souls for heaven and God, work.

II. Christs counsels are all and always golden. So that not any mixture can be detected; they have all passed through, and been stamped in, the minting house of heaven. But how shall we know that these counsels are all golden?

1. In the first place, because of their genuineness. It matters not the test through which we put them, or the analysis they are subjected to; not all the testing in the world can either detect the least impurity or make them more genuine than they are. Who, I should like to know, seeks the good of every man, woman, boy, and girl, as Jesus does? And whose counsel when adopted has resulted in such untold good to millions of our fellow creatures as His? Yes, look at it how, when, and where you may, ring it as you please, weigh it, measure it, or bring any other test you please to bear upon the counsel offered by Jesus, and its genuineness will be made the more evident.

2. Because of the value of His counsels. All genuine things are not so valuable as gold; a violet is a genuine violet, but we dont part with gold for violets. The paper on which I am writing is genuine paper, but it is not of the value of gold. The counsel Jesus gives is not only as valuable, but more so than gold. Do you ask what the advice Jesus gives will procure? It will procure for us the favour of God, the approval of angels, and the esteem of all good men. It will procure for us peace within and purity without, enable us to live soberly, righteously, and godly here, and then to sit down in the kingdom of God above and to go no more out.

3. Like gold, they must be searched for. The name of the mine is the Bible, the implements with which we are to work are prayer, patience, and faith. By knee work and ceaseless industry they will be amply recompensed.

4. Because, like gold, they are to be used. Some people who keep a shop hang up His counsels in their parlours and drawing-rooms; it would be better if they would use them in their business. Some look at them when they put on their Sunday clothes, and then say adieu to them when Sabbath attire is laid away. Better if they would walk and move and live in the same all the week through. Then, like gold, if we use Christs counsels aright, they will increase more and more.

III. No one is entitled to expect this golden counsel for nothing. Men do not part with gold on such terms, nor does Jesus part with His counsels thus, and so He says, I counsel thee to buy.

1. We are to obtain this counsel in the first place by giving up all our sins. What an exchange I It is dross of the worst for gold of the very best kind. If a man were to come and offer gold and crowns, titles and lands, for old rags and bones, I feel sure there would not be many left in all the houses put together; and yet, whilst Jesus offers the gold of heaven if we will only forsake our evil ways and come to Him, how few are really eager to make the exchange.

2. Then in a sense we purchase the gold of heaven by using aright the quantity already given. It is by use the two talents become five, and the five talents ten. If we walk in the light already given, however faint and feeble it may be, it will conduct us to greater clearness and to more perfect vision. (J. Goodacre.)

Christs counsel to a lukewarm Church

He does not willingly threaten, and He never scolds; but He rather speaks to mens hearts, and their reason, and comes to them as a friend, than addresses Himself to their fears.

I. Now, I observe that the first need of the lukewarm Church Is to open its eyes to see facts. Observe that the text falls into two distinct parts, and that the counsel to buy does not extend--though it is ordinarily read as if it did--to the last item in our Lords advice. These Laodiceans are bid to buy of Him gold and raiment, but they are bid to use the eyesalve that they may see. No doubt, whatever is meant by that eyesalve comes from Him, as does everything else. But my point is that these people are supposed already to possess it, and that they are bid to employ it. No doubt the exhortation, anoint thine eyes with eyesalve that thou mayest see, may be so extended as to refer to the general condition of spiritual blindness which attaches to humanity, apart from the illuminating and sight-giving work of Jesus Christ. That true Light, which lighteneth every man that cometh into the world, has a three-fold office as the result of all the parts of which there comes to our darkened eyes the vision of the things that are. He reveals the objects to see; He gives the light by which we see them; and He gives us eyes to see with. Behold Me as I am, and the things that I reveal to you as they are; and then you will see yourselves as you are. So, then, there comes out of this exhortation this thought, that a symptom constantly accompanying the lukewarm condition is absolute unconsciousness of it. In all regions the worse a man is the less he knows it. It is the good people that know themselves to be bad; the bad ones, when they think about themselves, conceit themselves to be good. The higher a man climbs in any science, or in the practice of any virtue, the more clearly he sees the unscaled peaks above him. The frost-bitten limb is quite comfortable. Another thought suggested by this part of the counsel is that the blind man must himself rub in the eyesalve. Nobody else can do it for him. True! It comes like every other good thing, from the Christ in the heavens; and, as I have already said, if we will attach specific meanings to every part of a metaphor, that eyesalve may be the influence of the Divine Spirit who convicts men of sin. But whatever it is you have to apply it to your own eyes. Our forefathers made too much of self-examination as a Christian duty, and pursued it often for mistaken purposes. But this generation makes far too light of it. Apply the eyesalve; it will be keen, it will bite; welcome the smart, and be sure that anything is good for you which takes away the veil that self-complacency casts over your true condition, and lets the light of God into the cellars and dark places of your souls.

II. The second need of the lukewarm Church is the true wealth which Christ gives. I counsel thee to buy of Me gold tried in the fire. Now, there may be many different ways of putting the thought that is conveyed here, but I think the deepest truth of human nature is that the only wealth for a man is the possession of God. That wealth alone makes us paupers truly rich. For there is nothing else that satisfies a mans craving, and supplies a mans needs. That wealth has immunity from all accidents. No possession is truly mine of which any outward contingency or circumstance can deprive me. But this wealth, the wealth of a heart enriched with the possession of God, whom it knows, loves, trusts, and obeys, this wealth is incorporated with a mans very being, and enters into the substance of his nature; and so nothing can deprive him of it. The only possession which we can take with us when our nerveless hands drop all other good, and our hearts are untwined from all other loves, is this durable riches.

III. The third need of a lukewarm Church is the raiment--that Christ gives. The wealth which He bids us buy of Him belongs mostly to our inward life; the raiment which He proffers us to wear, as is natural to the figure, applies mainly to our outward lives, and signifies the dress of our spirits as these are presented to the world. I need not remind you of how frequently this metaphor is employed throughout the Scripture. There is nothing in the world valuer than effort after righteousness which is not based on faith. Buy of Me raiment, and then, listen to the voice which says, Put off the old man with his deeds, and put on the new man of God created in righteousness and holiness of truth.

IV. Lastly, all supply of these needs is to be bought. Buy of Me. There is nothing in that counsel contradictory to the great truth, that the gift of God is eternal life. (A. Maclaren, D. D.)

Gold tried in the fire.--

Tried gold

I. A precious commodity.

1. Gold represents the blessed Saviour, for He is the most excellent of beings.

2. Gold represents the gospel, for it is the most excellent of systems.

3. Gold represents the Christian graces, for they are the most permanent of treasures. Faith, hope, and love have a power to bless beyond this worlds wealth.

II. This precious commodity tried. Even philosophy itself has confessed that the gold of the gospel alone will sustain in the final conflict.

III. This tried and precious commodity is offered for acceptance It is strange but true that men reject salvation because it is freely offered. Pride resents the humbling conditions. Self-will tramples beneath its feet offered mercy.

IV. The glorious consequence of accepting. Soul riches are the true abiding wealth. (W. Burrows, B. A.)

Aggravated poverty of soul

If a mans gold prove counterfeit, his jewels painted glass, his silver lead or dross, he will not only be found poor when he comes to be tried, and want the benefit of riches, but will also have a fearful aggravation of his poverty, by his disappointment and surprisal. If a mans faith, which should be more precious than gold, be found rotten and corrupt, if his light be darkness; how vile is that faith, how great is that darkness! (J. Owen, D. D.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Rev 3:17-19. Because thou sayest, I am rich — In gifts and grace, as well as worldly goods; and increased with goods — Greek, και πεπλουτηκα, literally, And have enriched myself, by my own wisdom and virtue; and have need of nothing — Imagining thy state in religion to be very prosperous and happy; and knowest not — Dost not so much as suspect that thy religion is at all defective: that thou art — In God’s account; wretched, miserable, &c. — In a most deplorable condition, destitute of every desirable blessing. I counsel thee — Who art poor, and blind, and naked; to buy of me — Without money or price; gold tried in the fire — Living faith, purified in the furnace of affliction; that thou mayest be rich — In the enjoyment of God’s favour, and communion with him, and all the blessings consequent thereon. And white raiment — True and genuine holiness; that thou mayest be clothed — With the divine image and nature. And anoint thine eyes with eye-salve — Spiritual illumination; the unction of the Holy One, which teacheth all things; that thou mayest see — Mayest possess that acquaintance with God and things divine which is essential to true religion. As many as I love — Even thee, thou poor Laodicean. As if he had said, Do not imagine that what may seem severe in this address, proceeds from any unkindness to thee: far from it: love, that is, a regard to thine immortal interests, dictates the whole. O how much has his unwearied love to do! From this principle, I rebuke — For what is past: and chasten — That men may amend for the time to come. Be zealous, therefore — More so than thou hast ever been, and deeply repent — Of thy prevailing lukewarmness and indolence.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

3:17 Although Christians in Laodicea felt prosperous and self-sufficient (see study note on 3:14), Jesus accurately saw their wretched and miserable and poor spiritual condition.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Rev 3:17. Ὅσι λέγεις) This ὅτι is not connected with the preceding words, in which their own ὅτι is inserted, ὅτι χλιαρὸς εἶ; but with the following words, as the thing speaks for itself. Thus, ch. Rev 18:7, followed by ὅτι—διὰ τοῦτο.—πλούσιος) A few read ὅτι πλούσιος. Such a use of the particle ὅτι, for quoting the language of any one, is of frequent occurrence, but not in the Apocalypse.[55] See ch. Rev 5:12, Rev 18:7, etc.—πεπλούτηκα) I have used my riches, and with my gold I have provided for myself many things; for instance, garments. So the Septuagint, πεπλούτηκα, Hos 12:8.

[55] AC Vulg. retain ὅτι before πλούσιος. Bh Cypr. 241, omit it—E.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Rev_3:17-18. Ὅτι λέγεις gives the foundation for the συμβουλεύω following in the second part of the sentence, Rev_3:18.[1579] Hengstenb. incorrectly finds the reproach of lukewarmness grounded in Rev_3:17; this has occurred already in Rev_3:15.[1580] The construction is like that of Rev_18:7-8.

ὃτι recitative.

πλούσιος

ἔχω. The decision as to whether wealth in earthly money and property,[1581] or the fancied[1582] wealth in spiritual blessings,[1583] be meant,in no event both at the same time,[1584]depends not upon the (doubtful) prefiguration of Hos_12:9,[1585] nor upon the fact that the speech put into the mouth of the church must refer to possessions of the same kind, as the reply of the Lord (ΚΑῚ ΟὐΚ ΟἸΔΑς, Κ.Τ.Λ.) manifestly referring to spiritual treasures,[1586] but upon the fact that the self-witness of the church (ὍΤΙ ΠΛΟΎΣΙΟς ΕἸΜΊ, Κ.Τ.Λ.) must harmonize inwardly with the reproach of lukewarmness (Rev_3:15-16), and with the entire discourse of the Lord that follows. But this would not be the case, had the church fallen into the grossest mammon-worship, and entirely forgotten any higher need beyond that of their earthly riches. A church, on the contrary, which trusts in its spiritual riches, and still has the consciousness of having obtained these riches, will not be entirely without them,[1587] but is, of course, implicated in an arrogant self-deception concerning its spiritual wealth. The church is in reality not rich;[1588] for, if it were, it would not say so, as in Rev_3:17. [See Note XL., p. 184.] The three expressions ΠΛΟΎΣΙΟς ΕἸΜΊ

ΠΕΠΛΟΎΤΗΚΑ

ΟὐΔῈΝ ΧΡΕΊΑΝ ἜΧΩ, designate a gradation:[1589] the riches have so increased, that now at last there is no longer any need, but satiety has entered.[1590]

ΚΑῚ ΟὐΚ ΟἸΔΑς. Therefore a self-deception of the church, for the Lords knowledge[1591] is decisive.

ὍΤΙ ΣῪ ΕΊ. The ΣῪ has an emphatic position: just thou, thou who regardest thyself so rich.

Ὁ ΤΑΛΑΊΠΩΡΟς. This adjective occurs in the N. T., besides here, only in Rom_7:24. Because of his ΤΑΛΑΙΠΩΡΊΑ,[1592] one is ἘΛΕΕΙΝΌς, i.e., ἘΛΈΟΥς ἌΞΙΟς (worthy of pity).[1593] The article before ΤΑΛ. notes with similar emphasis as the ΣΎ before ΕἸ, that just the one thinking himself rich and elevated above all want is he to whom the ΤΑΛΑΙΠ. applies. First of all, the ΤΑΛΑΙΠ. and ἘΛΛΕΕΙΝ. stand in sharp opposition to the final words of boasting, ΟὐΔ. ΧΡΕΊΑΝ ἜΧΩ; then the ΚΑῚ ΠΤΩΧΌς to the ΠΛΟΥΣ. ΕἸΜῚ Κ. ΠΕΠΛΟΎΤ.; while the ideas of the ΤΥΦΛΌς and ΓΥΜΝΌς are combined with that of the ΠΤΩΧΌς, since spiritual poverty essentially identical with spiritual misery may be considered spiritual blindness and nakedness. Thus what the Lord judges concerning the true character of the church appears most definitely expressed in the three items ΠΤΩΧΌς, ΤΥΦΛΌς, and ΓΥΜΝΌς; hence the advice which now follows (Rev_3:18) revolves about the same, as the ΧΡΥΣΊΟΝ

ΠΛΟΥΤΉΣῌς applies to the ΠΤΩΧΌς, the ἹΜΆΤΙΑ

ΓΥΜΝΌΤΗΤΟς ΣΟΥ to the ΓΥΜΝΌς, and the ΚΟΛΛΟΎΡΙΟΝ

ἽΝΑ ΒΛΈΠῌς to the ΤΥΦΛΌς.

ΣΥΜΒΟΥΛΕΎΩ. Not without a certain irony,[1594] provoked by the arrogant imagination of the one so miserable and poor. Beng. finds in the expression an indication of estrangement, since it is only to strangers that advice, while to those who are ones own, a command, is given;inapplicable.

ἈΓΟΡΆΣΑΙ. The Roman-Catholic idea of a meritum de congruo can be derived from the ἀγράσαι only when by pressing the expression, and in opposition to the context (Rev_3:17, ΠΤΩΧΌς), an equivalent purchase price is in some way stated; and this is defined as good works,[1595] or as prayer, tears, repentance, good works.[1596] But if the spiritual good to be obtained from the Lord be once regarded as ΧΡΥΣΊΟΝ, the result is,especially according to the type of Isa_55:1,that the corresponding concrete idea of the ἈΓΟΡΆΣΑΙ is as readily designated as the purity of the ΧΡΥΣΊΟΝ by the metaphorical statement ΠΕΠΥΡΩΜΈΝΟΝ ἘΚ ΠΥΡΌς; and it is just as incorrect in the latter expression to think of a confirmation of faith in trouble,[1597] etc.,[1598] as to treat the ἈΓΟΡΆΣΑΙ in an unevangelical sense. In accord with the sense, Beng. explains: It costs no more than the surrender of the idea of ones own wealth.[1599]

ΠΑΡʼ ἘΜΟῦ: As the only Saviour. Cf. especially Rev_1:5; in regard to the white garments which are to be purchased of the Lord, cf. Rev_7:14.

ΧΡΥΣΊΟΝ. Spiritual good as that which actually makes rich (ἽΝΑ ΠΛΟΥΤῆΣῇς), in contradistinction to the poverty of the church. To interpret the ΧΡΥΣΊΟΝ as love,[1600] or as faith,[1601] is too special.

ΠΕΠΥΡΩΜΈΝΟΝ ἘΚ ΠΥΡΌς. ΠΥΡΎΩ = צָרַף, Zec_13:9. The ἘΚ represents the ΠῦΡ as the cause whence the ΠΥΡΟῦΣΘΑΙ proceeds;[1602] according to the sense, it is therefore correctly rendered purified by fire.[1603] The entire expression designates not wisdom inflamed with love,[1604] or tested faith;[1605] as, on the contrary, the exposition must be made, that it is only through faith that the ΧΡΥΣ. ΠΕΠΥΡ. ἘΚ ΠΥΡ. is won: but as the purified gold is completely pure and truly precious, so is the spiritual good to be obtained of the Lord unconditionally holy and true, and eternally enriching.

ΚΑῚ ἹΜΑΤΊΑ ΛΕΥΚΆ, Κ.Τ.Λ. Cf. Rev_3:4; Rev_7:14; Rev_19:8. Only in the figurative mode of presentation, and not in the proper sense, are the white garments to be distinguished from the gold, just as nakedness is in reality nothing but poverty. The remark of Ebrard is arbitrary, that the command is to be executed in the reverse order from that in which it is given. The ultimate end, to become rich, viz., in good fruits that have some value before God, is first named; for this, gold must be bought. But before gold can be considered, garments must first be purchased in order to cover the nakedness; and as the covering of the nakedness cannot be accomplished before the eyes are open, eyesalve must first of all be applied. But the gold is mentioned first only because, with respect to fancied riches and actual poverty (Rev_3:17), this is the nearest thought; but the succession of the particular items neither in Rev_3:17 nor Rev_3:18 is to be urged, since the ΤΥΦΛΌς and ΓΥΜΝΌς are connected with the ΠΤΩΧΌς, in Rev_3:17, in a different order from the corresponding members in Rev_3:18. Only the chief idea ΠΤΩΧΌς, and the corresponding clause in Rev_3:18, naturally precede.

ΚΑῚ ΜῊ ΦΑΝΕΡΩΘῇ. N. de Lyra: Before God and the holy angels. Beng.: Before God. But no such restriction is needed.

ΚΟΛΛΟΎΡΙΟΝ. In classical writers, ΚΟΛΛΎΡΙΟΝ. The word designates a substance brought to the long round form of a ΚΟΛΛΎΡΑ, roll (e.g., breadcake), which being mixed with various drugs was used for anointing the eyes.[1606] The Jewish designation (קילורית) קולורין agrees with the form ΚΟΛΛΟΎΡΙΟΝ. Here is meant, not the word of God itself,[1607] but the gift of the Holy Ghost which enlightens,[1608] offered indeed by means of the word, and that, too,[1609] already by the present word with its reproof[1610] and grace.[1611] Cf. 1Jn_2:27. Even here the prefixed ΠΑΡʼ ἘΜΟῦ applies,[1612] for the Holy Ghost is the Spirit of Christ, sent by him.[1613] The correct knowledge attained by such enlightening (ἽΝΑ ΒΛΈΠῌς) is, however, in fact, at the same time the true treasure, spiritual riches. Upon this depends the inner harmony in the co-ordination of the three points ΧΡΥΣΊΟΥ, Κ.Τ.Λ, ἹΜΆΤΙΑ ΛΕΥΚΆ, Κ.Τ.Λ., and ΚΟΛΛΟΎΡΙΟΝ Κ.Τ.Λ., as in Rev_3:17 ΠΤΩΧΌς, ΤΥΦΛΌς, and ΓΥΜΝΌς.

[1579] Beng., De Wette, Ebrard.

[1580] Cf. the connection of Rev_3:16 with οὕτως.

[1581] Andr., Areth., Aretius, C. a Lap., Beng., Ewald, Züll., etc.

[1582] λέγεις. Cf. Rev_3:9.

[1583] Beda, N. de Lyra, Rib., Alcas., Grot., Calov., Vitr., Eichh., De Wette, Hengstenb., Ebrard, Ew. ii., etc.

[1584] Stern.

[1585] Cf. Zec_11:5.

[1586] For a striking antithesis between earthly and heavenly riches is suggested (Rev_2:9).

[1587] As not being cold, it will not reject the Lord, the source of riches.

[1588] As it is not hot, and therefore does not have full fellowship with the Lord.

[1589] Cf. N. de Lyra, Grot., Beng., De Wette.

[1590] Cf. 1Co_4:8.

[1591] Cf. Rev_3:15.

[1592] Rom_3:16; Jam_5:1.

[1593] Suid.

[1594] Cf. Ebrard.

[1595] N. de Lyra.

[1596] C. a Lap., etc.

[1597] As the idea is, in fact, applied, e.g., in 1Pe_1:7.

[1598] Aret., Vitr., Stern, etc.

[1599] Cf. Vitr., Calov., etc.

[1600] C. a Lap.

[1601] Aret., Vitr., Hengstenb., etc.

[1602] Cf. Rev_8:11.

[1603] Luther.

[1604] i.e., fides formata. N. de Lyra.

[1605] Hengstenb.

[1606] Wetst.

[1607] Stern. Cf. Psa_9:19. Hence, in Tr. Siphra, p. 143, Revelation 2 : The words of the law are the crown of the head,collyrium, to the eyes. In Schöttgen.

[1608] N. de Lyra, Aret., Calov., Vitr., Hengstenb., etc.

[1609] Ebrard.

[1610] Rev_3:15 sqq.

[1611] Rev_3:19 sqq.

[1612] Cf. 1 John, l. c.

[1613] Cf. Act_2:33; Joh_16:7; Joh_16:14.

NOTES BY THE AMERICAN EDITOR

XL. Rev_3:17. οὐκ οἷδας ὅτι, κ.τ.λ.

Plumptre: As Mr. Carlyle has somewhere put it, in one of those epigrams that haunt ones memory, it is the hypocrisy which does not know itself to be hypocritical. It may be noted, as tending to confirm the assumption that the Gospel of St. John and the Apoc. were the work of the same writer, that this is the fault which in the former, again and again, he notes for special condemnation. Those who could not believe are less the object of his censure than those who, believing, feared to confess the Christ lest they should be put out of the synagogue (Joh_12:42-43).

Meyer — Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament — English translation by Peter Christie, edited by Frederick Crombie (T&T Clark, 1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Rev 3:17 . Priding herself not merely on the fact but (as is implied) on the means by which it had been secured ( viz. , personal skill, merit) and finally on the independent self-reliant position thus attained: a profuse certificate of merit, selfassigned. To conceit and self-deception the prophet wrathfully ascribes the religious indifference at Laodicea. “No one,” says Philo ( Fragm. p. 649, Mang.), “is enriched by secular things, even though he possessed all the mines in the world; the witless are all paupers.” The reference is to spiritual possessions and advantages. It is irrelevant to connect the saying with the material wealth and resources of Laodicea, as exemplified in the fact that it was rebuilt by its citizens after the earthquake in 60 61 A.D. without help from the imperial authorities (Tacit. Ann. xiv. 27). For one thing, the incident is too far back; for another, the Apocalypse is concerned not with the cities but with the Christian churches. Such an allusion may have been in the writer’s mind, especially if the church included in its membership prosperous and influential citizens, since complacency and self-satisfaction are fostered by material comfort. “If wealthily then happily,” in Laodicea as in Padua. Still, these weeds spring from other soils as well. An inefficient ministry ( cf. Col 4:17 ) and absence of persecution or of special difficulties at Laodicea probably helped to account for the church’s languid state. As John suggests, the church which is truly rich in spiritual and moral qualities does not plume itself upon them (Rev 2:9 ). οὐκ οἶδας , cf. the echo of this in Oxyrhynchite Logia , i. 3: τυφλοί εἰσιν τῇ καρδίᾳ αὐτῶν καὶ οὐ βλέπ [ ουσιν , πτωχοὶ καὶ οὐκ οἴδασιν τ ] ὴν πτωχιαν (?), where blindness and poverty and unconsciousness of both occur. σύ , emphatic; ἐλεεινός , “needing pity” rather than (as Dan 9:23 ; Dan 10:11 , LXX) “finding pity”; ταλ . ( cf. with Rev 3:19 , Sap. iii. 11: σοφίαν γὰρ καὶ παιδείαν ὁ ἐξουθενῶν ταλαίπωρος ), only here and Rom 7:24 in N. T., two passages representing the extremes of misery unconscious and conscious. ὁ κ . τ . λ . = “the embodiment of”.

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The spiritual misery of men is metaphorically expressed in three points: unto which are matched as correspondent those remedies which are offered, verse 18.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Self-sufficiency is the fatal danger of a lukewarm state (see on Rev 3:15).

thou sayest--virtually and mentally, if not in so many words.

increased with goods--Greek, "have become enriched," implying self-praise in self-acquired riches. The Lord alludes to Hos 12:8. The riches on which they prided themselves were spiritual riches; though, doubtless, their spiritual self-sufficiency ("I have need of nothing") was much fostered by their worldly wealth; as, on the other hand, poverty of spirit is fostered by poverty in respect to worldly riches.

knowest not that thou--in particular above all others. The "THOU" in the Greek is emphatic.

art wretched--Greek, "art the wretched one."

miserable--So one oldest manuscripts reads. But two oldest manuscripts prefix "the." Translate, "the pitiable"; "the one especially to be pitied." How different Christ's estimate of men, from their own estimate of themselves, "I have need of nothing!"

blind--whereas Laodicea boasted of a deeper than common insight into divine things. They were not absolutely blind, else eye-salve would have been of no avail to them; but short-sighted.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 17. I am rich] Thou supposest thyself to be in a safe state, perfectly sure of final salvation, because thou hast begun well, and laid the right foundation. It was this most deceitful conviction that cut the nerves of their spiritual diligence; they rested in what they had already received, and seemed to think that once in grace must be still in grace.

Thou art wretched] ταλαιπωρος Most wretched. "The word signifies," according to Mintert, "being worn out and fatigued with grievous labours, as they who labour in a stone quarry, or are condemned to the mines." So, instead of being children of God, as they supposed, and infallible heirs of the kingdom, they were, in the sight of God, in the condition of the most abject slaves.

And miserable] ο ελεεινος Most deplorable, to be pitied by all men.

And poor] Having no spiritual riches, no holiness of heart. Rich and poor are sometimes used by the rabbins to express the righteous and the wicked.

And blind] The eyes of thy understanding being darkened, so that thou dost not see thy state.

And naked] Without the image of God, not clothed with holiness and purity. A more deplorable state in spiritual things can scarcely be imagined than that of this Church. And it is the true picture of many Churches, and of innumerable individuals.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(17) I am rich.—The verse means, more literally, Because thou sayest, I am rich, and have grown rich, and in nothing have need, and knowest not that thou art the wretched (such is the emphasis) one, and the pitiable one, and beggarly, and blind, and naked. Thou art “the type, the embodiment of wretchedness.” The words should, I think, be taken as an amplification of the reason for their rejection. Christ was about to reject them for being in that tepid state which, beginning with self-satisfaction, led on to self- deception. They were rich in worldly goods (unlike the Church in Smyrna), but their very wealth led them into a quiet unaggressively kind of religion; they were proud also of their intellectual wealth; self- complacent because in comfortable worldly circumstances, and became puffed up with a vain philosophy, they learned to be satisfied with their spiritual state, and to believe the best of themselves, and then to believe in themselves. Hypocrites they were, who did not know they were hypocrites. They thought themselves good; and this self-deception was their danger. “For,” to use Prof. Mozley’s words, “why should a man repent of his goodness? He may well repent, indeed, of his falsehood; but unhappily the falsehood of it is just the thing he does not see, and which he cannot see by the very law of his character. The Pharisee did not know he was a Pharisee. If he had known it, he would not have been a Pharisee. The victim of passion, then, may be converted—the gay, the thoughtless, or the ambitious; he whom human glory has intoxicated; he whom the show of life has ensnared; he whom the pleasures of sense have captivated—they may be converted any one of these; but who is to convert the hypocrite? He does not know he is a hypocrite; he cannot upon the very basis of his character; he must think himself sincere; and the more he is in the shackles of his own character, i.e., the greater hypocrite he is, the more sincere he must think himself” (University Sermons, p. 34).

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

17. I am rich, and increased with goods] The words in the original are cognate, as it were, “I am rich, and have gotten riches.” If there be any distinction of sense between them, the second expresses pride in the riches being his own acquisition, in addition to self-complacency in the enjoyment.

For the sense, cf. Hos_12:8, where apparently the self-complacency in material prosperity lends itself to and combines with religious self-satisfaction. Hence it is not necessary to interpret these words either of material wealth, or of fancied spiritual wealth, to the exclusion of the other. St Jas_2:1-6 shews that in the first century, as in the nineteenth, the “respectable” classes found it easiest to be religious, to their own satisfaction.

that thou art wretched] Inadequate: read that thou art the wretched and miserable one, &c.: the one person truly to be called so, above all others—at least, above all the other six Churches.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

As many as I love I rebuke and chasten,.... The persons the objects of Christ's love here intended are not angels, but the sons of men; and these not all of them, yet many of them, even all who are his own by his Father's gift and his own purchase; and who are called his church, and sometimes represented as such who love him and obey his commands: the instances of his love to them are many; as his suretyship engagements for them, his assumption of their nature, dying in their room and stead, paying their debts, procuring their peace and pardon, bringing in a righteousness for them, purchasing their persons, his intercession for them, preparations in heaven, supplies of grace, and frequent visits in a kind and familiar manner; and as for the nature of his love, it is free and sovereign, everlasting and immutable, and it is matchless and inconceivable, it is strong and affectionate, and as his Father loved him; and such are rebuked by Christ, not in a way of wrath, but in a tender manner, in order to bring them under a conviction of their sin and of their duty, and of their folly in trusting in, or loving any creature more than himself, and of all their wrong ways; and they are chastened by him, not in a vindictive, but in a fatherly way, which is instructive and teaching to them, and for their good. This seems to refer to some afflictions which Christ was about to bring upon this church, by some means or another, to awaken her out of her sloth and security, and which would be in love to her, and the end be to rouse her zeal and bring her to repentance. Some think this respects the Gog and Magog army, which will encompass the camp of the saints, and the beloved city; but that will not be till after the thousand years' reign, and besides will be no affliction to them; rather it designs the unchurching them, signified by spewing them out of his mouth, Rev 3:16,

be zealous, therefore, and repent; zeal was what was wanting in this church; which is nothing else than hot, fervent, and ardent love, love in a flame; whereas she was neither cold nor hot, but lukewarm, Christ would have her be "zealous" for God; for his cause and interest, for his Gospel, ordinances, and the discipline of his house, and against everything that is evil; against all false worship, all errors in doctrine, all sin and iniquity; and to be zealous of good works, and in the worship of God, both private and public: and "repent"; in an evangelical way, of her lukewarnmess, remissness, and supineness; of her pride, arrogance, and vain boastings of herself; and of her self-sufficience, self-dependence, and self-confidence.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

17 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:

Ver. 17. Because thou sayest] Si dixisti, satis est, periisti, saith Augustine. He that thinks he knows anything, knows nothing yet as he ought to know, 1Co 8:2.

And knowest not] Whatever thou deemest and dreamest of thyself, as setting up thy counter for 1000 pounds, and working thyself into the fool’s paradise of a sublime dotage.

That thou art wretched and miserable, &c.] Semper inops, misera, infelix, rerum omnium egena as Favolius saith of Athens, and her inhabitants at this day under the Turk.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Because thou sayest, I am rich - So far as the language here is concerned, this may refer either to riches literally, or to spiritual riches; that is, to a boast of having religion enough. Prof. Stuart supposes that it refers to the former, and so do Wetstein, Vitringa, and others. Doddridge, Rosenmuller, and others, understand it in the latter sense. There is no doubt that there was much wealth in Laodicea, and that, as a people, they prided themselves on their riches. See the authorities in Wetstein on Col 2:1, and Vitringa, p. 160. It is not easy to determine which is the true sense; but may it not have been that there was an allusion to both, and that, in every respect, they boasted that they had enough? May it not have been so much the characteristic of that people to boast of their wealth, that they carried the spirit into everything, and manifested it even in regard to religion? Is it not true that they who have much of this world’s goods, when they make a profession of religion, are very apt to suppose that they are well off in everything, and to feel self-complacent and happy? And is not the possession of much wealth by an individual Christian, or a Christian church, likely to produce just the lukewarmness which it is said existed in the church at Laodicea? If we thus understand it, there will be an accordance with the well-known fact that Laodicea was distinguished for its riches, and, at the same time, with another fact, so common as to be almost universal, that the possession of great wealth tends to make a professed Christian self-complacent and satisfied in every respect; to make him feel that, although he may not have much religion, yet he is on the whole well off; and to produce, in religion, a state of just such lukewarmness as the Saviour here says was loathsome and odious.

And increased with goods - πεπλουτηκα peploutēka - “am enriched.” This is only a more emphatic and intensive way of saying the same thing. It has no reference to the kind of riches referred to, but merely denotes the confident manner in which they affirmed that they were rich.

And have need of nothing - Still an emphatic and intensive way of saying that they were rich. In all respects their needs were satisfied; they had enough of everything. They felt, therefore, no stimulus to effort; they sat down in contentment, self-complacency, and indifference. It is almost unavoidable that those who are rich in this world’s goods should feel that they have need of nothing. There is no more common illusion among people than the feeling that if one has wealth he has everything; that there is no want of his nature which cannot be satisfied with that; and that he may now sit down in contentment and ease. Hence, the almost universal desire to be rich; hence the common feeling among those who are rich that there is no occasion for solicitude or care for anything else. Compare Luk 12:19.

And knowest not - There is no just impression in regard to the real poverty and wretchedness of your condition.

That thou art wretched - The word “wretched” we now use to denote the actual consciousness of being miserable, as applicable to one who is sunk into deep distress or affliction. The word here, however, refers rather, to the condition itself than to the consciousness of that condition, for it is said that they did not know it. Their state was, in fact, a miserable state, and was suited to produce actual distress if they had had any just sense of it, though they thought that it was otherwise.

And miserable - This word has, with us now, a similar signification; but the term used here - ἐληινὸς elēinos - rather means a pitiable state than one actually felt to be so. The meaning is, that their condition was one that was suited to excite pity or compassion; not that they were actually miserable. Compare the notes on 1Co 15:19.

And poor - Notwithstanding all their boast of having enough. They really had not what was necessary to meet the actual needs of their nature, and, therefore, they were poor. Their worldly property could not meet the needs of their souls; and, with all their pretensions to piety, they had not religion enough to meet the necessities of their nature when calamities should come, or when death should approach; and they were, therefore, in the strictest sense of the term, poor.

And blind - That is, in a spiritual respect. They did not see the reality of their condition; they had no just views of themselves, of the character of God, of the way of salvation. This seems to be said in connection with the boast which they made in their own minds - that they had everything; that they wanted nothing. One of the great blessings of life is clearness of vision, and their boast that they had everything must have included that; but the speaker here says that they lacked that indispensable thing to completeness of character and to full enjoyment. With all their boasting, they were actually blind - and how could one who was in that state say that he “had need of nothing?”

And naked - Of course, spiritually. Salvation is often represented as a garment Mat 22:11-12; Rev 6:11; Rev 7:9, Rev 7:13-14; and the declaration here is equivalent to saying that they had no religion. They had nothing to cover the nakedness of the soul, and in respect to the real needs of their nature they were like one who had no clothing in reference to cold, and heat, and storms, and to the shame of nakedness. How could such an one be regarded as rich? We may learn from this instructive verse:

(1) That people may think themselves to be rich, and yet, in fact, be miserably poor. They may have the wealth of this world in abundance, and yet have nothing that really will meet their needs in disappointment, bereavement, sickness, death; the needs of their never-dying soul; their needs in eternity. What had the “rich fool,” as he is commonly termed, in the parable, when he came to die? Luk 12:16 ff. What had “Dives,” as he is commonly termed, to meet the needs of his nature when he went down to hell? Luk 16:19 ff.

(2) People may have much property, and think that they have all they want, and yet be wretched. In the sense that their condition is a wretched condition, this is always true; and in the sense that they are consciously wretched, this may be, and often is, true also.

(3) People may have great property, and yet be miserable. This is true in the sense that their condition is a pitiable one, and in the sense that they are actually unhappy. There is no more pitiable condition than that where one has great property, and is self-complacent and proud, and who has nevertheless no God, no Saviour, no hope of heaven, and who perhaps that very day may “lift up his eyes in hell, being in torments”; and it need not be added that there is no greater actual misery in this world than what sometimes finds its way into the palaces of the rich. He greatly errs who thinks that misery is confined to the cottages of the poor.

(4) People may be rich, and think they have all that they want, and yet be blind to their condition. They really have no distinct vision of anything. They have no just views of God, of themselves, of their duty, of this world, or of the next. In most important respects they are in a worse condition than the inmates of an asylum for the blind, for they may have clear views of God and of heaven. Mental darkness is a greater calamity than the loss of natural vision; and there is many an one who is surrounded by all that affluence can give, who never yet had one correct view of his own character, of his God, or of the reality of his condition, and whose condition might have been far better if he had actually been born blind.

(5) There may be gorgeous robes of adorning, and yet real nakedness. With all the decorations that wealth can impart, there may be a nakedness of the soul as real as that of the body would be if, without a rag to cover it, it were exposed to cold, and storm, and shame. The soul destitute of the robes of salvation, is in a worse condition than the body without raiment; for how can it bear the storms of wrath that shall beat upon it forever, and the shame of its exposure in the last dread day?

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Because thou sayest, I am rich: it was said before, that one reason why the condition of a formalist is worse than that of an atheist, or more openly profane person, is, because the former is ordinarily proud and self-conceited, and hath something to stop the mouth of his natural conscience with, which the other wanteth. This is made good in the instance of this lukewarm angel; he said he was rich in a spiritual sense, in his state as a Christian, in spiritual gifts and endowments.

And increased with goods; and every day increasing and growing richer.

And have need of nothing; and needed nothing to make him happy and blessed.

And knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked; in the mean time he was as miserable as one could be. These words used, are several words signifying persons under various bodily afflictions, and applied to signify this angel’s forlorn spiritual state, which, in the general, was wretched and miserable, and such as had need of mercy, wanting the true righteousness, wherein any could appear before God not naked, and wanting all true riches; and to complete his misery, he was spiritually blind, and knew not the sad circumstances he was under.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

17. Because may assign reason for the charge of lukewarmness in the last verse; or it may refer forward to next verse, and would correspond with a therefore inserted before I of Rev_3:18. Because thou sayest, etc., therefore I counsel, etc. The Lord’s counsel is infinitely better than their say.

I am rich—The question is raised by commentators whether these are boasts over material or spiritual goods. Earlier commentators, as Bengel, Stuart, and others, take the former view; later ones, as Hengstenberg, Dusterdieck, and Trench, the latter. We think the old is better. The true idea certainly is, that in reply to their boasts of earthly goods, our Lord advises them to secure the heavenly. For, 1. This accords with our Lord’s style during his earthly ministry. So Mat_6:19-20 : “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth;… but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven.” Of the rich fool, Luk_12:21, he says, “So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.” 2. This jubilant boasting is not the style of lukewarmness over its spiritual wealth, for the very idea of lukewarmness is indifference to spiritual things. So Stuart wisely and conclusively says, “There are, and have been, indeed, many spiritual boasters in the world; but then they are for the most part men of an enthusiastic turn of mind, and commonly have much fervor, such as it is; whereas the Laodicean Church are plainly characterized as worldling-Christians; grown lukewarm as to divine things.” To say that this Church was indifferent to spiritual things and yet thus fervently boasted of its spiritual goods, is a contradiction. Enthusiastic boasting and indifference are opposites. 3. It is evident that Laodicea was a flourishing city, growing rich under the munificence of the Roman emperors. There can be little doubt that the tide of wealth poured into the pockets and coffers of the Church: the natural danger, without great caution, would be to make her pecuniarily rich and spiritually poor. How easy it was to be liberal in feeling to the liberal paganism by which it was patronized, and to slide into doubt about the importance of being Christians! Quite as easy would it be to exult over the rich incomes flowing into their purses and filling their homes with luxury.

Rich… increased with goods… need of nothing—A glowing and towering climax.

Knowest not—Realizest not that, though in pocket a millionaire, in soul thou art a pauper! Our Lord demolishes the proud climax with a series of humiliating adjectives.

Wretched— Intrinsically miserable.

Miserable—The object of pity from others. By the best readings the first of these two adjectives, and perhaps the second, should have the article before it. The meaning then would be, thou art the wretched and pitiable one. Then the last three adjectives would follow as characterizing that one. Then the three poor, blind, naked, would balance against the previous rich, increased, and need of nothing.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing. The Epistle is still addressed indirectly to the Laodicean Church, directly to the angel. No doubt spiritual riches are immediately referred to; but spiritual pride and lukewarmness are frequently produced by worldly prosperity, such as that which Archippus (if he be the angel addressed; see on ver. 14) and the Church over which he presided enjoyed. It is not enough for the wealthy Christian to contribute a portion of his wealth, and then to consider his task done and his reward sure. Greater zeal than this is requisite before he can deem his duty discharged. Moreover, the greater the zeal that exists, the less will be the inclination to rely upon what has been accomplished, or to think it sufficient; for when all has been done we are still to call ourselves unprofitable servants. (Luk_17:10; cf. Hos_12:8, "I am become rich, I have found me out substance: in all my labours they shall find none iniquity in me that were sin And knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked; and knowest not that thou, even thou thyself, art the wretched one. The self-satisfied spiritual pride of the Pharisee caused him to regard with complacent pity the condition of the publican. But he was mistaken; he himself was the wretched one, who was to be pitied. So with the Laodicean Church. How different the conduct of St. Paul, who recognized his own wretchedness! (Rom_7:24, where the same word talaipwrov is used) The following words are adjectives. These Christians, in their spiritual pride, were miserable deserving of pity; poor in the wealth accumulated by zeal in God"s service; blind as to their real condition and their fancied spiritual safety; and naked of the cloak with which charity fervent love of God would have covered them.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Because thou sayest - Therefore "I counsel thee," &c. I am rich - In gifts and grace, as well as worldly goods. And knowest not that thou art - In God's account, wretched and pitiable.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

Observe here, 1. This church’s partial opinion of herself, her vanity and vain-glorious ostentation, accompanied with self-esteem: she said she had need of nothing.

Observe, 2. That this boasting and vain-glorious ostentation did very probably spring from, and was occasioned by, this church’s worldly prosperity: thou sayest, I am rich, and increased in goods. We are apt to mistake the warm sun for God’s blessing, and to apprehend when we are great that we are gracious; and because rich in goods, conclude ourselves rich in grace: but, alas! God lifts up the light of his common providence upon thousands whom he does not lift up the light of his reconciled countenance upon.

Observe, 3. Christ’s impartial judgment concerning this church of Laodicea, Thou sayest, thou art rich, and needest nothing: but I say, thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked.

Behold here, How some have little or no grace, who yet conceit they have much grace; as some reckon their temporal, so there are others that value their spiritual, estate, at many thousands beyond what it really is, and when upon a just balance of account they are worth nothing. Ah, miserable souls! empty and guilty, poor and pennyless in spirituals, wanting every thing, but especially a sight and sense of their poverty and wants.

Observe, 4. The counsel given by Christ to this church, very suitable to her condition: What pinches more than poverty? here is gold to enrich us. What shames us more than nakedness? here is a promise of raiment to clothe and cover us. What afflicts and grieves us more than blindness? here is eye-salve to anoint us.

But observe the order of the words, 1. Christ says not, I commanded thee, but, I counsel thee. O infinite condescension! the Lord Jesus does not always command like a king, but sometimes counsels like a friend; he counsels us by his Spirit, he counsels us by his ministers, he counsels us by our own consciences.

2. Christ’s counsel is to buy; that is, earnestly to desire, and sincerely to endeavour, the procuring such spiritual blessings as we want: we buy with our prayers, our tears, our endeavours.

3. The blessings offered, tried gold, that will bear the touchstone, that faith and holiness which will give thee boldness in judgment. White raiment, or the merits of the Mediator, which covers our shame and nakedness out of the sight of God. And eye-salve, or the grace of spiritual illumination, whereby we see the want and worth of these spiritual blessings.

William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

17. Because thou sayest, I am rich. Worldly prosperity had, probably, made the church indifferent. Knowest not that thou are wretched. Because rejected by the Lord. Poor. Destitute of the true riches. Blind. Blinded by the god of this world.

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

you are most miserable, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked

Jesus speaks of their spiritual condition as if he were speaking about their physical condition. AT: "You are like people who are most miserable, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked" (See: Metaphor)

Buy from me gold refined by fire so that you may become rich, and brilliant white garments so you may clothe yourself and not show the shame of your nakedness, and salve to anoint your eyes so you will see

Here to "buy" represents receiving things from Jesus that have true spiritual value. The "gold refined by fire" represents spiritual wealth. The "brilliant white garments" represents rightousness. And the "salve to anoint your eyes" represents the ability to understand spiritual things. AT: "Come to me and receive spiritual wealth, which is more valuable than gold that is refined by fire. Receive from me righteousness, which is like brilliant white garments, so that you will not be ashamed. And receive from me wisdom, which is like salve for the eyes, so that you may understand spiritual things"

translationWords

gold

fire

shame

anoint

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

17. οὐδέν. With AC; Text. Rec[138] reads οὐδενὸς with אB2P 1.

[138] Rec. Textus Receptus as printed by Scrivener.

17. ὅτι λέγεις. The construction here ὄτι λέγεις … καὶ οὐκ οἶδας … συμβουλεύω σοι … is unusually elaborate for this book.

πλούσιός εἰμι καὶ πεπλούτηκα. Lit. “I am rich and have gotten riches.” It was thought remarkable, &c., Tac. Ann. xiv. 27, that Laodicea was rebuilt, A.D. 60, after an earthquake without help from Rome of any kind. If there be any distinction of sense between the two words, the second expresses pride in the riches being his own acquisition, in addition to self-complacency in the enjoyment.

For the sense, cf. Hos 12:8, Καὶ εἶπεν Ἐφραίμ, Πλὴν πεπλούτηκα, εὔρηκα ἀναψυχὴν ἐμαυτῷ, where apparently the self-complacency in material prosperity lends itself to and combines with religious self-satisfaction. Hence it is not necessary to interpret these words either of material wealth, or of fancied spiritual wealth, to the exclusion of the other. St Jas 2:1-6 shews that in the first century, as in the nineteenth, the “respectable” classes found it easiest to be religious, to their own satisfaction.

σὺ εἶ ὁ ταλαίπωρος καὶ ἐλεεινός. “The wretched and miserable one” above all others—at least above all the other six Churches.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Because thou sayest. Connect, as A. V. and Rev., with what follows, not with what precedes. Some interpret I will spue thee out of my mouth because thou sayest, etc.

Increased with goods [πεπλουτηκα] . Rev., have gotten riches. The reference is to imagined spiritual riches, not to worldly possessions. Thou. Emphatic.

Wretched [ο ταλαιπωρος] . Rev., better, giving the force of the article, the wretched one. From tlaw to endure, and peira a trial.

Miserable [ελεεινος] . Only here and 1Co 5:19. An object of pity [ελεος] .

Poor [πτωχος] . See on Mt 5:3.

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.