I am Rich
(Rev 3:14-22)
Many survival programs on TV show us buildings Roman mixed with the spirit of competition and sarcastic expressions, What if Jesus held a spiritual survival contest for the seven churches of Asia Minor? How would he evaluate the Church of Laodicea? Could it survive in the contest?
1. The Lord said, You are rich! The church in Laodicea developed early into a city of economic center because of its favorable geographical condition. It had many hot springs and public bathhouses even though the water it produced was tepid. It was also a city of fashion famous for its clothing and textile industry. The famous ophthalmic powder of Phrygia brought many colleges of pharmacy and medicines there. In this city, wealthy enough to rise again by itself from the great famine that devastated Asia Minor, a Christian church was built by Epaphroditus, one of Pauls disciples and his fellow minister. But the wealth of Laodicea brought worldly values into the church and instilled materialism there. At last, Jesus visited this church, which relied on its own power and ignored the Lord, the founder of universe as the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of Gods creation.
2 A silly church proclaims, 'I am rich.' The rich are categorized into two. 1) A tepid. They neither recognize Gods grace nor wants it desperately because of what they already have. They are neither depraved nor heredical, yet still interested in nothing. They dont care about anyone and anything. They are just tepid. The Lord is disgusted with this type of people and wants to spit them out of his mouth. 2) I-want-nothing. They say, 'Im rich. I want nothing. I dont need any help. Mind your own business.' They dont know how much they are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. They are actually distorted but think they are straight. They dont know what it is to be spiritually poor. They are spiritually blind before God and have nothing to bring to the heavenly kingdom. Hell is not the state of being rejected by God, but of our constant rejecting God. In Luke 16, theres a story of the beggar Lazarus and a rich man. All the rich man wanted in hell was a drop of water! After death, our placement in the heavenly kingdom or hell will never be changed. The poor rich man finally knew that the heavenly kingdom actually existed, but in his hell! A testimony book like The Heavenly Kingdom I Saw leads no one to the kingdom. Changing our worldly values with the Word is the key. Meanwhile Lazarus praised the Lord even while the dogs were licking his sores. He trusted the Lord in the midst of trials and was satisfied with what little he had. Thats how he enjoyed the heavenly kingdom on earth in advance.
3. We should be the one, about whom the Lord says, 'He is rich.' How can we be the one, about whom God says He is rich? 1) We need to buy the gold refined in fire. The gold is purchasable only in Gods store. To pay for it, we need to keep our solid heart refined through the fire of trial. 2) We need to buy white clothes. It means revealing our physical shame. Only by revealing our physical shame, can we cover our spiritual nakedness. 3) We need to buy salve and apply it to our eyes. What we see with our eyes blinded with worldly lust, fame, and selfishness is nothing but things perishable. However, when we are enlightened with the salve, we regard worldly things as valueless, and things that we used to ignore as holy. And our discrimination will disappear.
4. We should open our heart. God says to the church of Laodicea, 'Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline.' Thus he does with us. He tells us to long for worship, to repent, and open our heart. He is knocking on the door of our heart from outside. By opening the door, we can enjoy our deep spiritual intercourse with Him. Here is a confession from our community. A middle school student of our church was suffering from his father, who got drunk and beat his mom every day till the police stopped him. Unable to hold it in, this boy protested and swore at his father in vain. After coming to our church, he saw other people sharing their sufferings and realized Gods guidance for him. He is now praying that he will give priority to God in everything. Thus we can be healed of our deep rooted bitterness by making our heart the gold refined through Gods fire, looking only to God, and sharing our mindset with others. May the Lord bless us to open the door of our heart and be truly rich.
'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.' (Rev 3:20)
