I COUNSEL THEE TO BUY OF ME GOLD, TRIED IN THE FIRE

The unpalatable state of ‘neither hot nor cold’, found in this assembly by the Lord, was most repugnant to Him. To be tepid was a condition of indifference to the things of God and of Christ Himself. It could neither be condoned nor continued. Some­thing needed to be done, otherwise swift judgement in the removal of the testimony would ensue. Powerlessness with God and uselessness to men, leaves a believer, let alone an assembly, exposed to divine chastisement.

The root cause seemed to arise from the material prosperity of Laodicea itself being a wealthy city renowned for its bankers and merchants, for both of whom gold was the main commodity. It had led to a self-sufficiency that would not be aroused to any feeling of need but rather took to boasting of having a lack of nothing. This spirit prevailed in the assembly also and brought about its pathetic spiritual state of independence and failure to see their actual poverty.

That the Lord offered them to exchange the gold of Laodicea for His own gold, ‘tried in the fire’, seems rather ironic and to them possibly insulting, but He does, and it is His gold that they need. He is saying that they have chosen the false and perishing riches of the world and rejected the riches that are heavenly and eternal. We know how easy it is to be deceived!

The Lord counselled His disciples that they would do well to, ‘Sell that ye have … provide yourselves … a treasure in the heavens … for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also’, Luke 12. 33, 34. How desperately we need that counsel again today in our materially-minded society, in order that we might yield up the lesser for the greater. We need to find the true riches of commitment and devotion to Christ so that the con­stant enticement to material prosperity will be seen for what it is. God forbid that we might lose the spirituality that others have brought us into, at such cost to themselves. Let us, today, ‘buy into’ His offer of true gold, gold that has no imperfections or disappointments but will always yield true wealth. This is the gold that will be tried by the fire and remain, 1 Cor. 3. 12, 13.