Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Revelation 3:18
I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and [that] the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eye salve, that thou mayest see.
18. I counsel thee ] “There is deep irony in this word. One who has need of nothing, yet needs counsel on the vital points of self-preservation.”
to buy ] Cf. Isa 55:1: the counsel to a poor beggar to buy is of course meaningless, unless he can buy “without money and without price,” or, as the Hebrew of that passage more literally means, “for (what is) not money and for (what is) not a price.” Thus the word is not a mere synonym for “receive:” the sense is, “Thou hast nothing to give, but thou must give all that thou hast” (Mat 13:44; Mat 13:46). The nothingness of human merit is a reason against exalting self, but not a reason for sparing self: the Lord does not bid us say, “We are unprofitable servants: we cannot and need not do what it is our duty to do.” (Luk 17:10.)
gold tried in the fire ] Right in sense, though “fresh burnt from the fire” would be perhaps more literal: cf. Rev 1:15, where the same participle is used as here. The meaning of the “gold” is defined in the next words: it stands for spiritual “riches” of any sort.
white raiment ] As in Rev 3:4-5.
that the shame &c.] Cf. Rev 16:15.
and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve ] Read and eyesalve to anoint thine eyes. Collyrium was the common dressing for weak eyes, and could be applied by a barber (see Horace’s Satires, passim), but perhaps hardly by the patient himself.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire – Pure gold; such as has been subjected to the action of heat to purify it from dross. See the notes on 1Pe 1:7. Gold here is emblematic of religion – as being the most precious of the metals, and the most valued by human beings. They professed to be rich, but were not; and he counsels them to obtain from him what would make them truly rich.
That thou mayest be rich – In the true and proper sense of the word. With true religion; with the favor and friendship of the Redeemer, they would have all that they really needed, and would never be in want.
And white raiment – The emblem of purity and salvation. See the notes on Rev 3:4. This is said in reference to the fact Rev 3:17 that they were then naked.
That thou mayest be clothed – With the garments of salvation. This refers, also, to true religion, meaning that what the Redeemer furnishes will answer the same purpose in respect to the soul which clothing does in reference to the body. Of course it cannot be understood literally, nor should the language be pressed too closely, as if there was too strict a resemblance.
And that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear – We clothe the body as well for decency as for protection against cold, and storm, and heat. The soul is to be clothed that the shame of its sinfulness may not be exhibited, and that it may not be offensive and repellent in the sight.
And anoint thine eyes with eye-salve – In allusion to the fact that they were blind, Rev 3:17. The word eye-salve – kollourion – occurs no where else in the New Testament. It is a diminutive from kollura – collyra – a coarse bread or cake, and means properly a small cake or cracknel. It is applied to eye-salve as resembling such a cake, and refers to a medicament prepared for sore or weak eyes. It was compounded of various substances supposed to have a healing quality. See Wetstein, in loco. The reference here is to a spiritual healing – meaning that, ill respect to their spiritual vision, what he would furnish would produce the same effect as the collyrium or eye-salve would in diseased eyes. The idea is, that the grace of the gospel enables people who were before blind to see clearly the character of God, the beauty of the way of salvation, the loveliness of the person and work of Christ, etc. See the notes on Eph 1:18.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 18. I counsel thee] O fallen and deceived soul, hear Jesus! Thy case is not hopeless. Buy of me.
Gold tried in the fire] Come and receive from me, without money and without price, faith that shall stand in every trial: so gold tried in the fire is here understood. But it may mean pure and undefiled religion, or that grace or Divine influence which produces it, which is more valuable to the soul than the purest gold to the body. They had before imaginary riches; this alone can make them truly rich.
White raiment] Holiness of heart and life.
Anoint thine eyes] Pray for, that ye may receive, the enlightening influences of my Spirit, that ye may be convinced of your true state, and see where your help lies.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Buying being the usual way amongst men to procure what they want, it is not to be wondered at, that the procuring of that spiritual blessing here mentioned is expressed under this notion; though our buying of God spiritual good things be (as the prophet expresseth it, Isa 55:1) without money and without price. It is not to be doubted, but that which is here propounded to be bought (that is, obtained, and procured by such ways and means as God hath directed) is Christ himself, with all his benefits, in whom there is a sufficient spiritual supply for all our spiritual wants; that which to the soul will answer whatever gold serveth the body for; and which to the soul answereth what clothing is to the body, viz. righteousness, wherein a soul may stand before God; and that which will answer what salves are to the body for the cure of its wounds, viz. consolation, and healing of all spiritual wounds and infirmities; in short, whatever thou hast need of, considered either as poor, wretched, and miserable, or as blind and naked.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
18. Gentle and loving irony.Take My advice, thou who fanciest thyself in need ofnothing. Not only art thou not in need of nothing, but art inneed of the commonest necessaries of existence. He graciously stoopsto their modes of thought and speech: Thou art a people ready tolisten to any counsel as to how to buy to advantage;then, listen to My counsel (for I am “Counsellor,“Isa 9:6), buy of ME”(in whom, according to Paul’s Epistle written to theneighboring Colosse and intended for the Laodicean Church also,Col 2:1; Col 2:3;Col 4:16, are hidden all thetreasures of wisdom and knowledge). “Buy” does notimply that we can, by any work or merit of ours, purchaseGod’s free gift; nay the very purchase money consists in therenunciation of all self-righteousness, such as Laodicea had (Re3:17). “Buy” at the cost of thine own self-sufficiency(so Paul, Phi 3:7; Phi 3:8);and the giving up of all things, however dear to us, that wouldprevent our receiving Christ’s salvation as a free gift,for example, self and worldly desires. Compare Isa55:1, “Buy . . . without money and price.”
of methe source of”unsearchable riches” (Eph3:8). Laodicea was a city of extensive money transactions[CICERO].
gold tried in,c.literally, “fired (and fresh) from the fire,”that is, just fresh from the furnace which has proved itspurity, and retaining its bright gloss. Sterling spiritual wealth, ascontrasted with its counterfeit, in which Laodicea boasted itself.Having bought this gold she will be no longer poor (Re3:17).
mayest be richGreek,“mayest be enriched.”
white raiment“garments.”Laodicea’s wools were famous. Christ offers infinitely whiterraiment. As “gold tried in the fire” expresses faithtested by fiery trials: so “white raiment,” Christ’srighteousness imputed to the believer in justification andimparted in sanctification.
appearGreek,“be manifested,” namely, at the last day, when everyonewithout the wedding garment shall be discovered. To strip one, is inthe East the image of putting to open shame. So also to clothe onewith fine apparel is the image of doing him honor. Man can discoverhis shame, God alone can cover it, so that his nakedness shall not bemanifested at last (Col3:10-14). Blessed is he whose sin is so covered. Thehypocrite’s shame may be manifested now it must be so at last.
anoint . . . witheye-salveThe oldest manuscripts read, “(buy of Me)eye-salve (collyrium, a roll of ointment), to anointthine eyes.” Christ has for Laodicea an ointment far moreprecious than all the costly unguents of the East. The eye ishere the conscience or inner light of the mind. According as it issound and “single” (Greek, “haplous,“”simple”), or otherwise, the man sees aright spiritually,or does not. The Holy Spirit’s unction, like the ancient eye-salve’s,first smarts with conviction of sin, then heals. He opens our eyesfirst to ourselves in our wretchedness, then to the Saviour in Hispreciousness. TRENCHnotices that the most sunken churches of the seven, namely, Sardisand Laodicea, are the ones in which alone are specified no opponentsfrom without, nor heresies from within. The Church owes much to God’soverruling Providence which has made so often internal and externalfoes, in spite of themselves, to promote His cause by calling forthher energies in contending for the faith once delivered to thesaints. Peace is dearly bought at the cost of spiritual stagnation,where there is not interest enough felt in religion to contend aboutit at all.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
I counsel thee,…. Christ is a Counsellor, and is every way fit to be one, for he is the all wise God, the Ancient of days, and the Father of his people, and, as Mediator, the Wisdom of God; and he was concerned in the council of peace from everlasting; and when he was here on earth he gave counsel in person, and now he gives it by his Spirit, and by his word and ministers; and the substance of it is, to come to him for grace, life, and salvation; for pardon, peace, and righteousness; for spiritual light and knowledge, and every supply of grace; and his advice is always wholesome, good, and suitable, is hearty, sincere, and faithful, and is freely given, and is wise and prudent; and, being taken, infallibly succeeds; the counsel here given follows:
to buy of me gold tried in the fire; by which is meant either a more pure and glorious state of the church, such as was in the former period, or greater; or a larger measure of light and knowledge in the Gospel, which is better than fine gold; or some particular graces, and a comfortable exercise of them, as fervent love and strong faith, which is much more precious than gold; or rather, all spiritual riches in general, which are in Christ, and are unsearchable, solid, substantial and satisfying; are lasting and durable, precious, excellent, and incorruptible: and the buying of this gold is not to be understood in a proper sense, by giving a valuable consideration for it, for no such is to be given, but in an improper sense; it is a buying without money and without price; Christ and his grace are given freely; Christ of whom it is to be had and of him only, does not sell it, but he gives it to those that come to him for it, and desire to have it, and are willing to part with all, so they may but enjoy it; for that it is to be understood in such a sense, is clear from the character of the persons who are advised to buy, who were poor, or beggars, Re 3:17; the end of it is,
that thou mayest be rich; for though this church was rich, yet not in spirituals; and though she was rich in her own conceit, yet not really so: persons are not to be accounted truly rich who have only this world’s goods; none are rich but those who have an interest in Christ and his grace; and they who are poor in this world, and yet have grace, are really rich: the next thing advised to is,
and white raiment; that is, and buy white raiment, by which some understand the heavenly glory, robes of immortality, a being clothed upon with the house which is from heaven; this may be compared to raiment, for it is a glory, an immortality, an incorruption to be put on; and fitly enough to white raiment, for the purity and spotlessness of it; and being clothed with this, no nakedness, or shame of it will appear; and this is to be had from Christ, and in the same way as gold is to be bought of him; the design of this advice may be to quicken the desires of the church after heavenly things; though it rather seems to respect something suitable to her in this present state: wherefore others think that by it are meant good works, holiness of life and conversation; but these are never called white raiment, but even rags, yea, filthy ones, in the best; and whatever cover they may be from nakedness in the sight of men, they are no cover from it in the sight of God, nor do they preserve from shame and blushing: rather then by it is meant the righteousness of Christ, which may be compared to raiment; it is upon the saints, and is put upon them as such; it covers as a garment does, protects from injuries, keeps warm, beautifies and adorns, as raiment does; and it may be compared to white raiment for its purity and perfection; now this is to be bought of Christ, it is to be had of him, and is to be had of him freely, without money and without price; it is a free gift of grace; and even faith itself, which receives it, is the gift of God: the ends of giving this advice are,
that thou mayest be clothed, and [that] the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; the soul may be naked when the body is well clothed; and notwithstanding a man’s moral righteousness, he may not be clothed; they, and they only are clothed, who have on the righteousness of Christ; nakedness arises from want of, righteousness, which is only covered by the righteousness of Christ; and from hence also springs shame, which Christ’s righteousness hides:
and anoint thine eyes with eye salve; by which may be meant the word of God, particularly the Gospel; and anointing with it is making use of it for the gaining of light and knowledge: all without this divine revelation are in darkness, and such who reject the authority of it go astray; the Scriptures are the only directory, and rule of faith and practice; the law is a means of enlightening persons to see their sin and misery, and the danger they are in; and the Gospel is a light, whereby is beheld the glory of Christ, of his person and office, of his grace and righteousness, and of salvation by him; and this is the Gospel of Christ, and is to be had of him freely, even the saving knowledge of it. The Jews have adopted the very Greek word here used into their language, and apply it to the law; says R. Chija e, speaking of the law,
“Nyel tyrwlyq, “it is a salve for the eye”, a plaster for a wound, c. it is a salve for the eyes, as is written
Ps 19:8.”
or else the illumination of the Spirit is meant, by which the eyes of the understanding being enlightened, men see themselves, the impurity of their hearts and nature, the imperfection of their righteousness, their impotency to all that is spiritually good, and that they are lost and undone in themselves and by which they see Christ and salvation by him, that it is in him, and in no other, and that it is full and suitable, and for the chief of sinners, and that it is all of free grace, and that they have an interest in it; by this they have light into the doctrines of the Gospel, and have some glimpse of the glories of another world; and this is to be had of Christ, who gives his Spirit freely, and an understanding to know spiritual things: and the end of the advice is,
that thou mayest see; who, notwithstanding the conceit she had of herself, was blind; persons may have much human prudence, much knowledge in things moral, yea, in things evangelical, notionally, and yet be blind as to true spiritual light and experience; they only see spiritually and savingly who have the Spirit of God.
e Yalkut Simeoni, par. 2. fol. 96. 3. Debarim Rabba, sect. 8. fol. 243. 3. & Vajikra Rabba, sect. 12. fol. 155. 3.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
I counsel (). Present active indicative, old compound from , counsellor (Ro 11:34), as in Joh 18:14. Almost ironical in tone.
To buy (). First aorist active infinitive of (from , market-place), rich as they think themselves to be.
From me (‘ ). From my side, emphatic.
Refined by fire ( ). Perfect passive participle of (as in 1:15) and the metaphor carried on by , “fired by fire.” Purity by removing dross (Ps 66:10) like 1Pe 1:7.
That thou mayest become rich ( ). Purpose clause with and the ingressive first aorist active of , spiritual riches.
That thou mayest clothe thyself ( ). Purpose clause with and second aorist middle (direct) subjunctive of , to fling round one as in 3:5.
Be not made manifest ( ). Continued purpose clause with negative and first aorist passive subjunctive of .
Nakedness (). Late and rare word from , naked, in N.T. only here, 2Cor 11:27; Rom 8:35. Cf. Rev 16:15; Rev 20:13; 2Cor 5:2.
Eye-salve (). Diminutive of (coarse bread of cylindrical shape), object of , name for a famous Phrygian powder for the eyes made in Laodicea (Charles), Latin collyrium (used for eye-salve by Horace and Juvenal).
To anoint (). First aorist active infinitive (epexegetic) of , late compound (, , Strabo, Epictetus), to rub in, here only in N.T.
That thou mayest see ( ). Another purpose clause with and the present active subjunctive (keep on seeing).
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
I counsel [] . With a certain irony. Though He might command, yet He advises those who are, in their own estimation, supplied with everything.
To buy. Compare Isa 4:1; Mt 13:44, 46. Those who think themselves rich, and yet have just been called beggars by the Lord, are advised by Him to buy. The irony, however, covers a sincere and gracious invitation. The goods of Christ are freely given, yet they have their price – renunciation of self and of the world.
Gold [] . Often of gold money or ornaments. So 1Pe 1:18; Act 3:6; 1Pe 3:3. Also of native gold and gold which has been smelted and wrought (Heb 9:4). There may very properly be a reference to the extensive money transactions of Laodicea.
Tried in the fire [ ] . The verb means to burn, to be on fire : in the perfect passive, as here, kindled, made to glow; thence melted by fire, and so refined. Rev., refined by, fire. By fire is, literally, out of the fire (ejk; see on Chapter Rev 2:7).
White raiment. Rev., garments. See on verse 4.
Mayest be clothed [] . Rev., more literally, mayest clothe thyself. See on verse 5.
Do not appear [ ] . Rev., more literally, be not made manifest. See on Joh 21:1. Stripping and exposure is a frequent method of putting to open shame. See 2Sa 10:4; Isa 20:4; Isa 47:23; Eze 16:37. Compare also Mt 22:11 – 13; Col 3:10 – 14.
Anoint thine eyes with eye – salve [ ] . The correct reading is egcrisai, the infinitive, to anoint, instead of the imperative. So Rev., eye – salve to anoint thine eyes. Kollourion, of which the Latin collyrium is a transcript, is a diminutive of kollura a roll of coarse bread. See 1Ki 14:3, Sept.; A. V., cracknels. Here applied to a roll or stick of ointment for the eyes. Horace, describing his Brundisian journey, relates how, at one point, he was troubled with inflamed eyes, and anointed them with black eye – salve (nigra collyria. Sat., 1, 5, 30). Juvenal, describing a superstitious woman, says : “If the corner of her eye itches when rubbed, she consults her horoscope before calling for salve” (collyria; 6., 577). The figure sets forth the spiritual anointing by which the spiritual vision is purged. Compare Augustine, “Confessions, 7, 7, 8.” Through my own swelling was I separated from Thee; yea, my pride – swollen face closed up mine eyes…. It was pleasing in Thy sight to reform my deformities; and by inward goads didst Thou rouse me, that I should be ill at ease until Thou wert manifested to my inward sight. Thus, by the secret hand of Thy medicining, was my swelling abated, and the troubled and bedimmed eyesight of my mind, by the smarting anointings of healthful sorrows, was from day to day healed. ” Compare 1Jo 2:20, 27.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “I counsel thee,” (sumbouleuosoi) “I counsel you, as a church,” or congregation. The Son of God gives only good counsel or advice to erring churches, Act 20:27.
2) “To buy of me gold tried in the fire,” (agorasai par’ emou chrusion pepiromenon ek puros) “To buy from me gold that has (already) been refined out of the fire,” pure, true gold; this is an ironical reminder of their spiritual poverty, – to buy “from me” reminds them of their trust in themselves, though they were lacking in character, Pro 8:18; Pro 3:13-17; 1Pe 1:3.
3) “That thou mayest be rich,” (hina plouteses) “In order that thou mayest be or exist as rich,” truly rich, not having or holding a need. True wealth consists in what one is, as heir-and-joint heir with Christ; every true church laborer is rich, 1Co 2:9; Rom 8:17; Mat 6:19-20.
4) “And white raiment that thou mayest be clothed,” (kai himatia leuka hina peribale) “And (buy of me) white garments in order that thou mayest be (appear) clothed; in moral purity virtue uprightness, as if the master might come at any hour, Php_3:9; 1Pe 5:5.
5) “And that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear,” (kai me phanerothe he aischune tes gumnotetos sou) -And in order that the shame of your nakedness may not be manifested;” 2Co 5:3; Rev 16:15.
6) “And anoint thine eyes with eyesalve,” (kai kollurion egchrisai tous ophthalmos sou) “And I counsel thee to buy eye salve to anoint your eyes; the Divine remedy for sore-eyed visions, Pro 29:18.
7) “That thou mayest see,” (hina blepes) “in order that you may see,” have a vision or visions, have spiritual sight or discernment. Behold the white, ripe fields, Joh 4:35-39.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
(18) I counsel thee to buy.There is, perhaps, a touch of irony here. How could the poor and naked buy? But the irony has no sting, for the counsel but recalled the invitation of the prophet to buy without money and without price (Isa. 55:1).
Goldi.e., golden coin, tried, or, fired out of fire, and so free from alloy or dross. Trench suggests that gold here stands for faith. Does not, however, the self-deceiving state of this Church rather point to love as the missing grace? The Laodiceans were as those who had many graces in appearance; they were not unlike one who had gifts, tongues, understanding, liberality, but lacked that fervent love without which all was as nothing (1Co. 13:1-3); or, to use Trenchs own image, they were lacking in the only grace accepted as currency in the kingdom of God.
O merchantman at heavens mart for heavenly ware,
Love is the only coin which passes there.
But the possession of this love would bring their zeal out of the tepid into the fervent state. Such love, pure and fervent, could only spring from God, who would shed abroad His love in their hearts (Rom. 5:5).
White raiment.The putting on of apparel and the stripping of it off were tokens of honour and humiliation. (See 2Sa. 10:1; Isa. 67:2,3; Hos. 2:3; Hos. 2:9; Zec. 3:3-5; Rev. 16:15; Luk. 15:22.) The wedding-feast was at hand. The unclad would then be put to shame (Mat. 22:11-13). Let them be prepared against this by putting on Christ (Col. 3:10-14) and His righteousness (Php. 3:9), that the shame of their nakedness do not appearor, much better, be not made manifest.
Eyesalve.They were blind; they were proud of their intellectual wealth; they boasted of their enlightenment. (Comp. Col. 2:8.) Self-deceived, they thought, like the Pharisees, that they saw. (Comp. Joh. 9:40-41.) Better would it be for them that they should receive the anointing of the Holy One (1Jn. 2:20), which would teach them all things, and especially reveal to them their self-ignorance. This anointing might be painful, but the eyes of their understanding would be enlightened (such is the remarkably parallel thought in the Epistle to the Ephesians), and they would be enabled to see and appreciate things spiritual. (Comp. Joh. 9:7; Joh. 9:25; 1Co. 2:10-14; Eph. 1:18; Eph. 5:19.)
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
18. In view of their boasts of temporal wealth the Lord gives them counsel to secure eternal goods.
Buy They are rich by material trade; suppose they now “buy the truth and sell it not.” In view of their poor, blind, and naked condition, let them secure gold, eyesalve, and white raiment. Trench, though interpreting Rev 3:17 as boasting of spiritual goods, has here an excellent note, which clearly shows that he ought to have interpreted it of the temporal. “To the merchants and factors of this wealthy mercantile city he addresses himself in their own dialect. Laodicea was a city of extensive money transactions; Cicero, journeying to or from his province, proposes to take up money there. ( Ep. ad Div. Rev 2:17; Rev 3:5.) Christ here invites to dealings with him. He has gold so fine that none will reject it. The wools of Laodicea, of raven blackness, were famous throughout the world; but he has raiment of dazzling white for those who will put it on. There were ointments for which certainly many of the Asiatic cities were famous; but he, as he will presently announce, has eyesalve more precious than them (they?) all.” All this shows that the passage contrasts a spiritual wealth, in Rev 3:18, with a boast of temporal wealth, in Rev 3:17.
Gold tried in the fire Rather, from the fire, as if just withdrawn from the fire, and so fresh and brilliant.
White raiment Note on Rev 3:5.
Shame of thy nakedness Vivid image of the “shame and everlasting contempt” of the great moral exposures at the judgment day.
The images of spiritual wealth here are susceptible of specific application. The pure, well tried gold may represent faith, the condition of all salvation, and which, when pure and well tried by experience, becomes a fidelity, and a saving perseverance and ripening for heaven. The white raiment is the divine justification from faith, the robe of righteousness, which approves itself as white before men as pure and right and before God as acceptable for eternal life. The eyesalve is the spirit of discernment, the blended gift of the Spirit and of personal experience, by which things are seen as they truly are in the light of eternity.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire that you may become rich, and white clothes so that you may clothe yourself and so that the shame of your nakedness should not be revealed, and eye salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see.’
They were famed for buying expensive goods. Let them therefore now take notice and ‘buy’ what is of worth. The purchases mentioned here are like the purchases made from the water-seller in Isa 55:1, ‘without money and without price’. Jesus is advising them to obtain them from Him, bought at the cost of His own blood. They consist of:
the true gold, refined by fire, referring to purified lives lived in obedience to God, refined by tribulation and endurance;
pure white clothing, the righteousness of Christ which will cover them before God and hide their nakedness before the angels, and the resulting righteousness of good lives which is the result;
the truly valuable eye salve of the Spirit that they might see and understand the truth.
In Zec 13:7-9, when the shepherd has been smitten and the sheep have been scattered God promised to restore one third of the people, saying ‘I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried, they shall call on my name and I will hear them. I will say it is my people, and they shall say the Lord is my God’. And again in Mal 3:3 he says of the Lord’s messenger, ‘who may abide the day of His coming, and who shall stand when he appears? For He is like a refiner’s fire — he will purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, and they shall offer unto the Lord offerings in righteousness’ See also Pro 22:1. So the idea of refined gold is of people who have truly turned from sin to the Lord and offer Him righteous offerings, which in the New Testament sense means righteous prayers with thanksgiving and full dedication (Rom 12:1; Heb 13:15; compare Rev 5:8).
White clothing is regularly what heavenly beings are seen as wearing, suggesting purity, righteousness and acceptability to God. In the Old Testament God’s people are made white by God’s forgiveness (Isa 1:18); and by tribulation and martyrdom (Dan 11:35; Dan 12:10). In Rev 19:8 the fine clothing of Christ’s bride the church is ‘the righteous acts of the holy ones’, God’s people, for receiving the imputed righteousness of Christ necessarily results in righteous actions, but the clothing there is not specifically said to be white.
Those who are redeemed to God are given white clothing (Rev 6:11) as will be overcomers (Rev 3:4-5). And the gathering in Heaven of the people of God is in white clothing, because they have gone through great tribulation and have washed their clothes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb (Rev 7:9; Rev 7:13-14).
So the buying of white clothing refers (1) to the obtaining of cleansing and imputed righteousness through the cross of Christ, (2) to the resulting lives lived in purity, producing good thoughts, attitudes and actions, (3) to the enduring of tribulation for Christ’s sake, and (4) to the goodness of God in the provision of such clothing to the redeemed. There is a subtle suggestion that, while they pride themselves in the black clothing they produce, they need to consider their need for white clothing.
They boast about their eye salve so let them truly anoint their eyes with the true eye salve. To anoint their eyes with eye salve is to pray to God that He will open their eyes through the Spirit so that the eyes of their understanding may be enlightened (Eph 1:18), and they may understand His truth (Isa 35:5), and so that their eyes may not be dim, which will result from looking to the King Who reigns in righteousness (Isa 32:3). Thus they should look to their Maker with eyes that have respect to the Holy One of Israel (Isa 17:7).
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Rev 3:18. I counsel thee, &c. “I counsel thee, that, with a humble sense of thy condition, so extremely unhappy, thou apply to him, who alone is capable of helping thee: and as I require no price or equivalent for my treasures, but only a conviction of such an incapacity to make an adequate return for them; I advise thee in that way to buyof me a full supply for all thy necessities; blessingsmore desirable than gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest, indeed be rich before God in holiness and good works; white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed; adorned with every Christian grace and virtue, which can render thee lovely in the sight ofGod; putting on the Lord Jesus Christ. And whereas thou art blinded with such unhappy self-conceit, come, and anoint thy eyes with my sovereign eye-salve, that thou mayest see; for the illuminating grace of my Spirit will bring thee to right sentiments of thyself and of thy state, and teach thee to judge of objects according to their real worth.”
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
18 I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.
Ver. 18. I counsel thee ] Having first convinced thee,Rev 3:17Rev 3:17 , who before wert uncounselable; the Gibeonites sent not for Joshua till besieged; the Gileadites sought not after Jephthah till distressed; nor will men hearken after Christ till driven out of themselves.
To buy of me ] “Buy the truth and sell it not.” Make a thorough sale of sin and all (with the wise merchant) to purchase Christ the pearl of price, for whom St Paul (that great trader both by sea and land, 2Co 11:23 ; 2Co 11:25-26 ) counted all but dung and dog’s meat, Phi 3:7-8 . Diogenes taxed the folly of the men of his times (may not we the men of ours?) quod res pretiosas minimo emerent, venderentque vilissimas plurimo, that they undervalued the best things, but overvalued the worst.
Gold tried in the fire ] Precious faith, 1Pe 1:7 .
White raiment ] The righteousnesses of the saints, that of justification, and the other of sanctification.
And that the shame of thy nakedness ] But be covered as the priest’s nakedness was by his linen breeches. Nature teacheth us to cover our nakedness; therefore when a man hath committed a sin, he blusheth; the blood as it were would cover the sin. Aaron by making the golden calf had made the people naked unto their shame among their enemies,Exo 32:25Exo 32:25 . Maximilian the emperor, when he yielded up the ghost, gave charge that none should see his dead body naked. Erat enim omnium mortalium verecundissimus, saith mine author. Buy we this white raiment of Christ; so shall our sins never shame us.
Eyesalve ] That unction, 1Jn 2:20 . Light and sight, the saving, knowledge of heavenly mysteries.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Rev 3:18 . The counsel is conveyed in the dialect of the local situation. in the poor man’s market (Isa 55:1 , cf. Mat 6:19-20 ), significant words as addressed to the financial centre of the district. “From me,” is emphatic; the real life is due to man’s relation with Christ, not to independent efforts upon his own part. Local Christians needed to be made sensitive to their need of Christ; in Laodicea evidently, as in Bunyan’s Mansoul, Mr. Desires-awake dwelt in a very mean cottage. “Refined” = genuine and fresh, as opposed to counterfeit and traditional ( cf. Plato, Rep. iii. 413 e , 416 e ). For wrought upon the people of God by a divine Davidic king whose words are , see Ps. Sol. 17:47, 48. . Laodicea was a famous manufacturing centre, whose trade largely consisted of tunics and cloth for garments. The allusion is ( cf. below, on Rev 3:20 and Rev 16:15 ) to careless Christians caught off their guard by the suddenness of the second advent. or ( cf. the account of a blind soldier’s cure by a god [Aesculapius?] who bade him , Dittenberger’s Sylloge Inscript. Graec. 807, 15 f.), an eye-salve for tender eyes: an allusion to the “Phrygian powder” used by oculists of the famous medical school at Laodicea ( C. B. P. i. 52). To the Christian Jesus supplies that enlightenment which the Jews found in the law (Psa 19:8 ); “uerba legis corona sunt capitis, collyrium oculis” ( Tract. Siphra fol. 143, 2); “uerba legis corona sunt capitis, torques collo, collyrium oculis” (Vajikra R., fol. 156, 1). True self-knowledge can be gained only by the help of Christ, i.e. , in the present case mediated by Christian prophecy. Like Victor., Lightfoot ( Colossians , p. 44) interprets this allusion by the light of Eph 1:8 , Col 1:27 , as a rebuke to the vaunted intellectual resources of the Church; but there is no need thus to narrow the reference. It is to be observed that John does not threaten Laodicea with the loss of material wealth ( cf. Pirke Aboth , cited above on Rev 2:9 ) in order to have her spiritual life revived.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
Isaiah
FLIMSY GARMENTS
Isa 59:6
The force of these words of the prophet is very obvious. He has been pouring out swift, indignant denunciation on the evil-doers in Israel; and, says he, ‘they hatch cockatrice’s eggs and spin spiders’ webs,’ pointing, as I suppose, to the patient perseverance, worthy of a better cause, which bad men will exercise in working out their plans. Then with a flash of bitter irony, led on by his imagination to say more than he had meant, he adds this scathing parenthesis, as if he said, ‘Yes, they spin spiders’ webs, elaborate toil and creeping contrivance, and what comes of it all! The flimsy foul thing is swept away by God’s besom sooner or later. A web indeed! but they will never make a garment out of it. It looks like cloth, but it is useless.’ That is the old lesson that all sin is profitless and comes to nothing.
I venture to connect with that strongly figurative declaration of the essential futility of godless living, our second text, in which Jesus uses a similar figure to express one aspect of His gifts to the believing soul. He is ready to clothe it, so that ‘being clothed, it will not be found naked.’
I. Sin clothes no man even here.
Take the plainest illustrations of this truth first-the breach of common laws of morality, the indulgence, for instance, in dissipation. A man gets a certain coarse delight out of it, but what does he get besides? A weakened body, a tyrannous craving, ruined prospects, oftenest poverty and shame, the loss of self-respect and love; of moral excellences, of tastes for what is better. He is not a beast, and he cannot live for pure animalism without injuring himself.
Then take actual breaches of human laws. How seldom these ‘pay,’ even in the lowest sense. Thieves are always poor. The same experience of futility dogs all coarse and palpable breaches of morality. It is always true that ‘He that breaketh a hedge, a serpent shall bite him.’
The reasons are not far to seek. This is, on the whole, God’s world, a world of retribution. Things are, on the whole, on the side of goodness. God is in the world, and that is an element not to be left out in the calculation. Society is on the side of goodness to a large extent. The constitution of a man’s own soul, which God made, works in the same direction. Young men who are trembling on the verge of youthful yieldings to passion, are tempted to fancy that they can sow sin and not reap suffering or harm. Would that they settled it in their thoughts that he who fires a fuse must expect an explosion!
But the same rule applies to every godless form of life. Take our Manchester temptation, money or success in business. Take ambition. Take culture, literary fame. Take love and friendship. What do they all come to, if godless? I do not point to the many failures, but suppose success: would that make you a happy man? If you won what you wanted, would it be enough? What ‘garments’ for your conscience, for your sense of sin, for your infinite longings would success in any godless course provide? You would have what you wanted, and what would it bring with it? Cares and troubles and swift satiety, and not seldom incapacity to enjoy what you had won with so much toil. If you gained the prize, you would find clinging to it something that you did not bargain for, and that took most of the dazzle away from it.
II. The rags are all stripped off some day.
III. Christ will clothe you.
‘Buy’-how? By giving up self.
Fuente: Expositions Of Holy Scripture by Alexander MacLaren
Revelation
CHRIST’S COUNSEL TO A LUKEWARM CHURCH
Rev 3:18
After the scathing exposure of the religious condition of this Laodicean Church its members might have expected something sterner than ‘counsel.’ There is a world of love and pity, with a dash of irony, in the use of that softened expression. He does not willingly threaten, and He never scolds; but He rather speaks to men’s hearts and their reason, and comes to them as a friend, than addresses Himself to their fears.
Whether there be any truth or not in the old idea that these letters to the seven churches are so arranged as, when taken in sequence, to present a fore-glimpse of the successive conditions of the Church till the second coming of our Lord, it is at least a noteworthy fact that the last of them in order is the lowest in spiritual state. That church was ‘lukewarm’; neither cold ‘- untouched by the warmth of the Spirit of Christ at all – ‘nor hot’ – adequately inflamed thereby.
That is the worst sort of people to get at, and it is no want of charity to say that Laodicea is repeated in a thousand congregations, and that Laodiceans are prevalent in every congregation. All our Christian communities are hampered by a mass of loose adherents with no warmth of consecration, no glow of affection, no fervor of enthusiasm; and they bring down the temperature, as snow-covered mountains over which the wind blows make the thermometer drop on the plains. It is not for me to diagnose individual conditions, but it is for me to take note of widespread characteristics and strongly running currents; and it is for you to settle whether the characteristics are yours or not.
So I deal with Christ’s advice to a lukewarm church, and I hope to do it in the spirit of the Master who counseled, and neither scolded nor threatened.
I. Now I observe that the first need of the lukewarm church is to open its eyes to see facts.
I take it that the order in which the points of this counsel are given is not intended to be the order in which they are obeyed. I dare say there is no thought of sequence in the succession of the clauses. But if there is, I think that a little consideration will show us that that which comes last in mention is to be first in fulfilment.
Observe that the text falls into two distinct parts, and that the counsel to buy does not extend- need, and it is ordinarily read as if it did – to the last item in our Lord’s advice. These Laodiceans are bid to ‘buy of Him’ ‘gold’ and ‘raiment,’ but they are bid to use the ‘eye salve’ that they ‘may see.’ No doubt, whatever is meant by that ‘eye salve’ 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. And, taking that point of view, I think we can come to the understanding of what is meant.
No doubt the exhortation, ‘anoint thine eyes with eye salve, 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 threefold 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. He shows us God, immortality, duty, men’s condition, men’s hopes, and He takes from us the cataract which obscures, the shortsightedness which prevents us from beholding things that are far off and the obliquity of vision which forbids us to look steadily and straight at the things .which it is worth our while to behold. ‘For judgment am I come into the world,’ said He, ‘that they which see not might see.’ And it is possible that the general illuminating influence of Christ’s mission and work, and especially the illuminating power of His Spirit dwelling in men’s spirits, may be included in the thoughts of the eye salve with which we are to anoint our eyes as, whence context seems to me rather to narrow the age of the meaning of this part of our Lord’s counsel. For these Laodiceans had the conceit of their own sufficing wealth, of their own prosperous religious condition, and were blind as bats to the real facts that they were miserable and poor and naked.’ Therefore our Lord says: Anoint thine eyes with eye salve, that thou mayest see – recognize your true state; do not live in this dream that you are satisfactorily united to Myself, when all the while the thread of connection is so slender that it is all but snapped. 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. It is the men in the van of the march that feel the prick of the impulse to press farther: the laggards are quite content to stop in the rear. The higher a man climbs, in any science, or in the practice of any virtue, the more clearly he sees the unsealed peaks above him. The frost-bitten limb is quite comfortable. It is when life begins to come back into it that it tingles and aches. And so these Laodiceans were like the Jewish hero of old, who prostituted his strength, and let them shear away his locks while his lazy head lay in the harlot’s lap: he went out ‘to shake himself’ as of old times, and knew not that the Spirit of God had departed from him. So, brethren, the man in this audience who most needs to be roused and startled into a sense of his tepid religionism is the man that least suspects the need, and would be most surprised if a more infallible and penetrating voice than mine were to come and say to him, ‘Thou – thou art the man.’ ‘Anoint thine eyes with eye salve, that thou mayest see’; and let the light, which Christ pours upon unseen things, pour itself revealing into your hearts, that you may no longer dream of yourselves as ‘rich, and increased with goods, and having need of nothing’; but may know that you are poor and blind and naked.
Another thought suggested by this part of the counsel is that the blind man must himself rub in the eye salve. 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 ‘eye salve’ 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. Translate that into plain English, and it is just this, by the light of the knowledge of God and duty and human nature, which comes rushing in a flood of illumination from the central sun of Christ’s mission and character, test yourselves. 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. Whilst I would not say to anybody, ‘Poke into the dark places of your own hearts in order to find out whether you are Christian people or not,’ for that will only come to diffidence and despair, I would say, ‘Do not be a stranger to yourselves, but judge yourselves rigidly, by the standard of God’s Word, of Christ’s example, and in all your search, ask Him to give you that ‘candle of the Lord,’ which will shine into the dustiest corners and the darkest of our hearts, and reveal to us, if we truly wish it, all the cobwebs and unconsidered litter and rubbish, if not venomous creatures, that are gathered there. Apply the eye salve; 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. And so instead of, as many commentators do, suggesting interpretations which seem to me to be inadequate, I think we go to the root of the matter when we find the meaning of the wealth which Christ counsels us to buy of Him in the possession of God Himself, who is our true treasure and durable riches.
That wealth alone makes us paupers truly rich. For there is nothing else that satisfies a man’s craving and supplies a man’s needs. ‘He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver, nor he that loveth abundance, with increase’; but if we have the gold of God, we are rich to all intents of bliss; and if we have Him not, if we are ‘for ever roaming with a hungry heart,’ and though we may have a large balance at our bankers, and much wealth in our coffers, and ‘houses full of silver and gold,’ we are poor indeed.
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 man’s very being, and enters into the substance of his nature; and so nothing can deprive him of it. That which moth or rust can corrupt; that which thieves can break through and steal; that which is at the mercy of the accidents of a commercial community or of the fluctuations of trade; that is no wealth for a man. Only something which passes into me, and becomes so interwoven with my being as is the dye with the wool, is truly wealth for me. And such wealth is God.
The only possession which we can take with us when our nerveless hands drop all other goods, and our hearts are untwined from all other loves, is this durable riches. ‘Shrouds have no pockets,’ as the grim proverb has it. But the man that has God for his portion carries all his riches with him into the darkness, whilst of the man that made creatures his treasure it is written: ‘His glory shall not descend after him.’ Therefore, dear brethren, let us all listen to that counsel, and buy of Jesus gold that is tried in the fire.
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 Scriptures, both in the Old and the New Testament – from the vision granted to one of the prophets, in which he saw the high priest standing before God, clothed in filthy garments, which were taken off him by angel hands, and he draped in pure and shining vestures – down to our Lord’s parable of the man that had not on the wedding garment; and Paul’s references to putting off and putting on the old and the new man with his deeds. Nor need I dwell upon the great frequency with which, in this book of the Revelation, the same figure occurs. But the sum and substance of the whole thing is just this, that we can get from Jesus Christ characters that are pure and radiant with the loveliness and the candour of His own perfect righteousness. Mark that here we are not bidden to put on the garment, but to take it from His hands. True, having taken it, we are to put it on, and that implies daily effort. So my text puts this counsel in its place in the whole perspective of a combined Christian truth, and suggests the combination of faith which receives, and of effort which puts on, the garment that Christ gives. No thread of it is woven in our own looms, nor have we the making of the vesture, but we have the wearing of it.
There is nothing in the world vainer than effort after righteousness which is not based on faith. There is nothing more abnormal and divergent from the true spirit of the New Testament than faith, so-called, which is not accompanied with daily effort. On the one hand we must be contented to receive; on the other hand we must be earnest to appropriate. ‘Buy of Me gold,’ and then we are rich. ‘Buy of Me raiment,’ and then – listen to the voice that 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.’ That buying is explained by the great gospel invitation, long centuries before the gospel – ‘Ho! every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, . . . buy, and eat, . . . without money and without price.’ It is explained by our Lord’s twin parables of the treasure hid in a field, which, when a man had found, he went and sold all that he had and bought the field; and of the pearl of great price which, when the merchantman searching had discovered, he went and sold all that he had that he might possess the one.
For what is all that we have? Self! and we have to give away self that we may buy the riches and the robes. The only thing that is needed is to get rid, once and for all, of that conceit that we have anything that we can offer as the equivalent for what we desire. He that has opened his eyes, and sees himself as he is, poor and naked, and so comes to sue in forma pauperis , and abandons all trust in self, he is the man who buys of Christ the gold and the vesture. If we will thus rightly estimate ourselves, and estimating ourselves, have not only the negative side of faith, which is self-distrust, but the positive, which is absolute reliance on Him, we shall not ask in vain. He counsels us to buy, and if we take His advice and come, saying, ‘Nothing in my hand I bring,’ He will not stultify Himself by refusing to give us what He has bid us ask. ‘What things were given to me; those I counted loss for Christ. Yea! doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord.’ If we, with opened eyes, go to Him thus, we shall come away from Him enriched and clothed, and say, ‘My soul shall be joyful in my God, for He hath clothed me with the garments of salvation; He hath covered me with the robe of righteousness.’
Fuente: Expositions Of Holy Scripture by Alexander MacLaren
buy. The members of the church of this dispensation have nothing to buy and nothing to pay with; our salvation is the free-grace gift of God.
the. Omit.
fire. Compare Hag 2:8. Zec 13:9. Mal 3:3.
be clothed = clothe thyself.
do not appear = be not (App-105) made manifest (App-106). Compare Rev 16:15.
see. App-133.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Rev 3:18. , I give counsel) But if the Superior Being in the meantime lays aside His power, that very fact may possibly be the mark of a mind the more estranged, as if the servant is rebuked by his Lord, and the Lord says, I advise you to take heed to yourself. We give advice even to friends, but not while we rebuke them.- ) The Hebrew is sometimes rendered in the Septuagint by .-) namely , to buy, for the purpose of anointing. [This is the last thing. Riches with clothing precede.-V. g.] Celsus speaks at largo on eye-salve.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
counsel: Psa 16:7, Psa 32:8, Psa 73:24, Psa 107:11, Pro 1:25, Pro 1:30, Pro 19:20, Ecc 8:2
buy: Pro 23:23, Isa 55:1, Mat 13:44, Mat 25:9
gold: Mal 3:3, 1Co 3:12, 1Co 3:13, 1Pe 1:7
that thou: Rev 2:9, Luk 12:21, 2Co 8:9, 1Ti 6:18, Jam 2:5
white: Rev 3:4, Rev 3:5, Rev 7:13, Rev 16:15, Rev 19:8, 2Co 5:3
the shame: Rev 16:15, Isa 47:3, Jer 13:26, Dan 12:2, Mic 1:11, Nah 3:5
anoint: Joh 9:6-11, 1Jo 2:20-27
Reciprocal: Gen 3:10 – because Gen 9:21 – and he Exo 28:42 – breeches Exo 32:25 – naked Num 31:23 – abide 2Ch 28:19 – made Judah Psa 45:13 – clothing Psa 72:12 – For Psa 119:18 – Open Pro 3:14 – General Pro 8:5 – General Pro 8:18 – durable Pro 9:4 – General Isa 20:4 – shame Isa 29:18 – the deaf Isa 42:7 – open Isa 42:18 – ye deaf Isa 46:12 – Hearken Isa 59:6 – neither Isa 64:6 – all our Jer 2:23 – How canst Lam 1:8 – they Eze 16:7 – whereas Eze 16:36 – and thy Dan 12:10 – shall be Mat 6:23 – If Mat 7:7 – and it Mat 9:12 – They that be whole Mat 22:11 – which Mar 8:23 – spit Mar 10:30 – an hundredfold Luk 1:53 – and Luk 6:42 – see Luk 12:44 – that he will Luk 15:22 – the best Luk 16:11 – true Joh 4:10 – thou wouldest Act 8:22 – pray Act 11:26 – were Rom 2:19 – art confident Rom 10:3 – to establish 1Co 3:15 – work 1Co 10:12 – General 2Co 1:21 – anointed Eph 3:8 – unsearchable Heb 11:26 – greater 1Jo 1:6 – If Rev 7:9 – clothed
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
THE DIVINE MERCHANTMAN*
I counsel thee to buy of Me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.
Rev 3:18
No doubt the scene depicted in these words was suggested by the market-place or bazaar of some great Eastern city. There appears in the market-place the Divine Merchantman, the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. It is His own description. Not even did He leave it to an Apostle to so describe Him. Notice what His wares are.
I. The offer of gold.The first that He offers to you and me is gold. Gold is the symbol of power. Why do men care for gold? It is simply because it gives them power, and it gives position, and it gives influence. No man, except the mere money-grubber, the mere miser, cares for gold simply to finger it. So Christ says, You want power. I am prepared to give you power. I am prepared to give you a power greater and mightier in its influence than the gold of Ophir. As many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God. Christ is made unto us not only wisdom and righteousness, but He is made unto us power; and so we read of the Christ being the power of God, and the Apostle Paul, who was face to face with the greatest world-power of the age, the Roman world-powerSt. Paul preached to the Roman people and to the people subject to them that the power of the Christ is the power of God, and the gospel is the mightiest power that the world has ever seen.
II. The offer of purity.But the second thing He offers to us is purity. White raiment, that the shame of thy nakedness [thy moral nakedness] be not manifest. Men want what God knows all men have lostpurity. You remember how Sir Galahad, the knight of purity of Arthurs Round Table, how Tennyson sings of him that his strength was as the strength of ten because his heart was pure. Power and purity linked together. Christ offers you not only pardon for sin but what we want besides, and that is innate purity; the cleansing of the very centres of our moral life. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Ah! the strength of purity, and the strength that comes to a man when he feels that God has put away the sin and created in him a clean heart. The joy of it, instead of having to fight with this evil beast, this wild passion, to be able to stand and feel that God has actually purified the heart.
III. The offer of penetration.And then He offers us penetration. Eyesalve that our eyes may be opened. What a strange thing for sharp, keen-witted men to be wanting their eyes opened! You are very keen and shrewd and clear-sighted as regards business, and yet blind as regards the most important business transaction of lifeyour eternal salvation. What shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul? Think of that kind of profit and loss. Where is your keenness? You need eye-salve that your eyes may be opened; the anointing of the Holy Ghost that you may see straight and clear. The one great important thing in life is to seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness. Yes, and we are putting God second, if we are putting Him anywhere at all. Self first, business first; God nowhere at all. Oh, that your eyes might be opened!
IV. Buy of Me.Buy of Me. What does it mean? A business transaction, a definite transaction. Have you been to Christ for a definite business transaction with Him about your soul? Buy of Me. It means an exchange. That was the old custom of buying: an exchange of property for property. So is this buying. I give myself to Christ; He gives Himself to me. Wondrous exchange! A poor sinner, blind, miserable, naked, impure, with powers weakened and sinful, I give myself to Him. He wants me, just as I am. Nothing in my hand I bring, Simply to Thy Cross I cling. And He gives me Himself. I will come in to him, we read in the twentieth verse of this very chapter, and you shall have My power, My purity, My own anointing that shall open our eyes that we may see what God has for us as men redeemed in Christ.
Archdeacon Madden.
Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary
Rev 3:18. The counsel follows. I counsel thee to buy of me gold refined out of fire, not that gold which cannot stand the fire of the great day, but the true gold of My kingdom, purified by being burnt in the furnace of trial, that thus thou mayest be rich; and white garments, that thou mayest appear clothed when I come; and eye-salve to anoint thine eyes, that thou mayest see (comp. Joh 9:6). The three things mentioned are in obvious contrast with those spoken of in Rev 3:17, although they are not mentioned in the same order. For buy comp. Isa 55:1.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
3. Exhortation 3:18-19
Since they considered themselves to be rich but were spiritually poor Jesus urged them to "buy," implying self-sacrifice, the things they really needed (cf. Isa 55:1). Instead of real gold they should buy "gold refined by fire," namely, pure spiritual riches (cf. Psa 66:10; Pro 17:3; Zec 13:9; Luk 12:21; 1Ti 6:18; Jas 1:3-4; Jas 2:5; 1Pe 1:7; 1Pe 4:12-13). Instead of the black garments that were popular in Laodicea they should buy "white garments" that symbolize righteous conduct (Rev 19:8). [Note: Mounce, p. 127.] Instead of the eye salve that the Laodiceans produced and sold they should purchase spiritual "eye salve," probably a reference to the Word of God that enables us to see life realistically (cf. Joh 9:6; 1Jn 2:20; 1Jn 2:27).
The Lord reminded His readers that He said what He did because He loved them (cf. Pro 3:11-12). They should, therefore, be zealous (Gr. zeleue, cf. zestos, "hot," Rev 3:15-16) and repent (i.e., repent with zeal). The only way cold people can become hot in their love for the Lord is to repent (i.e., do an "about face").