I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see.

Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and repent. Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.

Revelation 3:18-20

The message to the church of Laodicea was clear.  Get tested and tried faith, get righteous acts, and get healing for your sight, so you can see.Many see the church today as a modern Laodicea.  Some go so far as to call this the “Laodicean Age”, indicating that this entire time that we are living in is a demarcation of time that the Lord Jesus foresaw and spoke through the Apostle John to write about in His letter of the Revelation.

But, in whatever aspect this is taken, so much as the church today is like the church in Asia in the city of Laodicea, the message, the counsel of Jesus, is the same.

We must have faith.  Peter wrote this,

That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:

1 Peter 1:7

Gold tested by fire is spoken of as not just faith, but the tried faith, the proven faith, the tested faith.  It has removed the impurities and has stood.  Even as Jesus in the wilderness withstood the temptations of the devil himself and the accuser left the Lord for a time, so when we stand, submitting ourselves to God, resisting the devil, he flees from us.

This is a real faith, with real signs following.  Many claim to have faith, but the real test comes in a storm.  Does it stand or does it fall?  That which falls was not faith, and that which remains was.  If there was some faith, and some remains but some falls, or some faith mixed with doubt, so that it was not strong enough, then we strengthen what remains and stand again.

But, regardless, the church must learn faith, must have her faith tested, refined, and purified.  Then, she will be rich towards God, having pure gold.

She must be taught faith, for faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen (Hebrews 11:1).  It is the access to the heavenlies, the operative element in the entrance of God’s Kingdom.  It is the only prescribed agency for the working the works of Jesus, which were the Father Himself’s works.  It is the only means for salvation and the only connection to the power of the Blood of Christ and His promises which we have.

It was given to her to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.

Revelation 19:8 NASB

White linen stands for the righteous acts of the saints.  These are not the works to get to God, but those works, in His presence and in His favor, that He has prepared for us in advance, that we might carry out in Christ.  They are not the dead works of a religious spirit attempting to get to or please God, but they come from a seated, grounded faith, out of the Heart of God, through obedience to His Name and His Word, through His Blood and Spirit, so that the world may know we are His.

Without the righteous acts, doing the will of the Father, we have no entry to the Kingdom (Matthew 7:21).  This is not “saved by works”, but are works springing from being born again and filled with His Spirit.  As James writes, it is not for one to have faith only and another works, for faith without works is dead!  The man who loves Christ will do them, while a man may attempt to put forth all the labors of the man doing them through faith, and though on the outside may appear to do the same, to him they are dead.

But, as they were counseled and proclaimed forth by Christ Himself, we both teach and proclaim them ourselves, to a church without “clothes”.

And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works:

Hebrews 10:24

And,

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

Ephesians 2:10

And finally, eye salve for the eyes, so that they might see.  Unless one is born again, they cannot see the Kingdom (John 3:3).  Yet, from this verse, just because one is born again does not mean they can necessarily see the Kingdom, but only that the requirement of Jesus has accomplished.

Do we see His domain?  Do we see Him ruling and reigning with all authority in the heavens?  (Matthew 28:18).

Do we see the angels?  Do we see the working of miracles?  Do we see anything of His Kingdom, the invisible secrets, hidden from the foundation of the world that Jesus came to reveal to those who would follow Him?

Do we have prophetic vision to see the past, present, and future?  Do we have spiritual insight to see like Peter when someone is in the bond of iniquity, and in the gall of bitterness, as was the sorcerer who wanted to buy the gift for money?  Do we perceive faith in a man to be healed, as they did at the gate Beautiful?  Do we perceive with our spiritual senses that we are born again, that we truly are saved, and that we are a new creation, no longer mere men, but something whole divine?

Does the following verse apply to you?

But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.

1 Corinthians 2:9

If it does, then you need eye-salve, because the very next verses put it in the proper context…

But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.

1 Corinthians 2:10-12

God does have a truth for us to know.  These things are knowable by us.  Even as Paul received them by revelation and so wrote the scriptures, we do not endeavor to write more scripture, but why would God not reveal them to us, so that it may be said of us as it was to Peter, “Flesh and blood has not revealed this unto you, but my Father who is in Heaven.”

There’s something fresh about when God reveals even truth you already know to you directly.  There is something distinct and real when you hear it first hand, and no longer have to be taught by men.

We have no need of new scripture, but we merely need believers who will believe, and in knowing the truth understand God’s great and awesome love.

His Name is Yah, and He is a mighty flame.