We have discovered so far that there are many aspects of Christ our righteousness and justification by faith that are often misunderstood or misinterpreted. Our subject for this chapter is probably the most difficult of all to understand. It is found in Revelation 3:17-19, which is what we often call the Laodicean message. These texts are part of the message of Christ our righteousness, and in fact one of the most important aspects of it.
The text reads: “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: 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. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.” This is only a portion of what we call the Laodicean message, but we will focus upon it because of the aspect that relates to Christ our righteousness.
“The Laodicean message has been sounding. Take this message in all its phases and sound it forth to the people wherever Providence opens the way. Justification by faith and the righteousness of Christ are the themes to be presented to a perishing world.” 7BC 964. Notice that Laodicea says they are rich and in need of nothing. The True Witness, who is Christ according to Revelation 1:5, does not agree with their self-assessment. He counsels them to buy white raiment that they might be clothed, that the shame of their nakedness does not appear.
The Scripture declares that white raiment is the cure for our nakedness, and the white raiment is symbolic of the righteousness of Christ. As soon as we talk about Laodicea, many people become negative and do not want to listen. They automatically take it as severe criticism, and they cannot bear criticism; and that makes it difficult to communicate with people about this message.
Nevertheless, in the heart of the message the Lord says, “As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten.” This is not a message of criticism; it is a message of love and of great concern to those who are having difficulty with shame, which is closely connected to guilt. What is the shame of our nakedness as it is called here in these few verses?
“What is the shame of this nakedness and poverty? It is the shame of clothing ourselves with self-righteousness, and of separating ourselves from God, when He has made ample provision for all to receive His blessing.” 7BC 965. This is not an easy thing for us to see concerning ourselves. We can always see it in others, but we think it does not apply to us. We are in a shameful condition, thinking we are clothed, but our clothing is made up of our own works and self-righteousness.
“Many are Laodiceans, living in a spiritual selfdeception. They clothe themselves in the garments of their own righteousness, imagining themselves to be rich and increased with goods and in need of nothing, when they need daily to learn of Jesus, His meekness and lowliness, else they find themselves bankrupt, their whole life being a lie.” 7BC 962.
It is one thing to lie with our lips, but it is another thing to lie with our lives. These people are in danger of being spiritually bankrupt, yet they clothe themselves in the garments of their own righteousness. To make it worse, they do not understand that they have done this. They are deceived and say they are rich, that they have beautiful garments and do not have to worry, and they seem to be quite complacent; although there is some shame attached to it.
Self-righteousness is self-deceptive. I can write the words and you can read them, but from that point on there is a problem. I go to church on the right day, pay my tithes and offerings, believe the Lord is returning soon, believe doctrinal truth, and therefore I say it cannot be speaking of me. The True Witness simply says that we are clothed in self- righteousness; and while we say we are rich, we do not seem to understand that we are spiritually poor and spiritually naked.
The Lord who commanded His disciples to clothe the naked, would surely try to take care of this problem that we have, would He not? Clothing both the spiritually and physically naked is the heart and soul of Christianity. He is concerned about this condition.
We may gain insight into this matter in the experience of Adam and Eve. “And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.” Genesis 3:7. There was some kind of shame involved after they had transgressed.
“And he [Adam] said, I heard Thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself. And He said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?” Verses 10,11. As you read on in that chapter, it tells you what God did about their nakedness. “Unto Adam also and to his wife did the Lord God make coats of skins, and clothed them.” Verse 21. God offered a sacrifice. An animal died, unless you can skin an animal without killing it. God offered a sacrifice and clothed them. As soon as they transgressed they knew they were naked, and they felt embarrassed and tried to cover themselves.
“This robe of light was a symbol of their spiritual garments of heavenly innocence. Had they remained true to God it would ever have continued to enshroud them. But when sin entered, they severed their connection with God, and the light that had encircled them departed. Naked and ashamed, they tried to supply the place of the heavenly garments by sewing together fig leaves for a covering.” COL 311. Do you suppose they found innocence in doing that? They were still hiding, they were still ashamed, they were no longer innocent, and they ran from the light.
Continuing with the quote: “This is what the transgressors of God’s law have done ever since the day of Adam and Eve’s disobedience. They have sewed together fig leaves to cover the nakedness caused by transgression. They have worn the garments of their own devising, by works of their own they have tried to cover their sins, and make themselves acceptable with God. But this they can never do. Nothing can man devise to supply the place of his lost robe of innocence. No fig-leaf garment, no worldly citizen dress, can be worn by those who sit down with Christ and angels at the marriage supper of the Lamb. Only the covering which Christ Himself has provided can make us meet to appear in God’s presence. This covering, the robe of His own righteousness, Christ will put upon every repenting, believing soul.” Note that it says nothing about our righteousness there. It says He will place the robe of Christ’s righteousness upon every repenting, believing soul, not upon every flawlessly performing Christian, as some have believed.
As you begin to understand what took place there in the Garden of Eden and how this came about, you begin to see that man tries to provide what he cannot provide. “When they listened to the voice of the tempter, and sinned against God, the light of the garments of heavenly innocence departed from them; and in parting with the garments of innocence, they drew about them the dark robes of ignorance of God.” 1BC 1084. There was light, there was knowledge in the first robes, and there was innocence. There was knowledge of God. When they parted with the garments of innocence, they drew about them the dark robes of ignorance of God.
The quote continues: “The clear and perfect light that had hitherto surrounded them had lightened everything they approached; but deprived of that heavenly light, the posterity of Adam could no longer trace the character of God in His created works.” A unique darkness came when they sinned, and no longer did they have those perceptive powers. They could not see God in His created works. There came upon them a robe of ignorance concerning God, and immediately they were afraid of Him and ran to hide; and yet He was a God of love. He has always been and will always be a God of love. He never changes. But now they were suspicious and thought that God would get even. Now, in ignorance of God’s true character, they ran in fear from the light and hid in darkness. They lived in fear because the light had departed.
“The fig-leaves represent the arguments used to cover disobedience.” 1BC 1084. Do you ever justify your sins? Lord, I didn’t mean to do that. I would not have sinned today if I had slept better last night, or if my wife had not become angry with me, or if our children had not been out of hand. We have hundreds of arguments, don’t we?
The quote goes on to say, “The fig-leaves represent the arguments used to cover disobedience. When the Lord calls the attention of men and women to the truth, the making of figleaves into aprons will be begun, to hide the nakedness of the soul. But the nakedness of the sinner is not covered. All the arguments pieced together by all who have interested themselves in this flimsy work will come to naught.”
Do you ever argue with God? Do you ever debate with Him to cover your disobedience? We pray that way all the time, even in our pulpits. When in our prayers we thank God that we are not like other people because we do this and this and this, we are arguing with God. We love to argue with Him, weaving fig leaves into aprons, trying to gain stature with God who still loves us and who has always loved us. We have not chased Him away by our sins.
This God Who comes to offer us salvation is the Seed of the woman. We somehow forget and seem to misunderstand that He is a God of love; and we run in fear to hide, and say, “Don’t speak to me!” That robe of light was a robe of heavenly innocence. In that innocence there was a true knowledge of God. In our nakedness, there are only garments of our own devising, our own works, and garments of ignorance of God. The garments are our arguments used to cover disobedience. Do you realize that perhaps the greatest evidence that we are still naked, that His robe of righteousness is not ours, is that we present arguments to cover our disobedience? Every time you begin to explain your sins in prayer to God, you are saying you do not have the robe of innocence, and you do not believe that Christ is your righteousness. This is hard for us to understand for we have become fearful of God as soon as we discover we are naked, as did Adam and Eve. We experience shame and guilt and we flee from God. We try to justify self and argue every invention we can think of trying to make ourselves look good, as though God has to be convinced, or as if we must twist His arm in order for Him to save us.
Is your God like that? Does Jesus love us because He died for us, but God hates us because we are sinners? Do we have a loving heavenly Father? Some people cannot even pray to the Father. They are afraid; and so they pray “Dear Jesus” as though the Father would chase them away. We must always come in Jesus name, but we must pray to the Father. But we are afraid! The greatest misunderstanding in this problem is that I can do something to cover my nakedness and guilt. If somehow the Lord by His Spirit could teach me that I can do nothing about this, what a blessing it would be. But in our fear and our desperation, in our darkness of misunderstanding God, we seek to save ourselves by our arguments and selfjustification. I have nothing in me, I have no potential, I have no capability, and there is no possibility of any kind that I can cover my own nakedness. I am incapable like a little child.
The sad part about this is that we believe we can cover our nakedness, and we indulge in this. The Jews did this many years after they knew better. “For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness [there is the darkness], and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.” Romans 10:3. As soon as you try to establish yours, you also establish your ignorance of His. They go together. You cannot separate them. This ignorance is not caused by God, but by our own choice.
We try to cover our nakedness by our own devices and excuses. But the True Witness says we are to buy of Him so that we may be clothed, and that the shame of our nakedness does not appear. Is He in error? Is the True Witness a false witness? Is the Laodicean message a Satanic message from the deceiver? Or does God truly love us; and is this the God of love speaking? He says we are to buy of Him the clothing we need; but we say we must do something. He says that what we must do is to believe that He will provide it for us.
Adam and Eve had a difference of opinion with the Creator in Genesis chapter 3, for it says they made fig leaves and sewed them together for garments. But God provided coats of skins to clothe them. We must put off our own filthy garments and put on Christ’s robe of righteousness. Adam and Eve were confronted with the very same decision as everyone of us; and for six thousand years people have been making these decisions. Some people say you must have both fig leaves and skins of animals. Can that be? The Lord did not say that in Genesis and He does not say it in Revelation. Where do you find it? He says the only thing that can cover you is His robe that He has provided. The Lord God made coats of skins and clothed them. He did not sew together fig leaves.
Jesus says we are to buy white raiment of Him. You cannot obtain it in any other place in the world. There is no other place except that He provides it. You must confront yourselves with His alternatives and His ideas. It is either our raiment or His; it is never both ours and His. Either I tear mine off and throw it away and wear His, or I wear my own and have nothing to do with His.
In previous chapters we have been emphasizing the terms Christ our righteousness and justification by faith. These terms tell us that righteousness is found in someone else other than self. The term substitute and surety is talking about the righteousness of another person, and we must make His righteousness ours, and must claim it for ourselves by faith. We have been suggesting we must look elsewhere other than to self, which is exactly what both Revelation 3 and Genesis 3 say. All the teachings of righteousness say we must look some other place and that you cannot find it in a sinner. Yet this is what many refuse to do so often.
The sinner persists in arguing that he can do something. Sinners argue that we are saved by both faith and works, and they offer a gross misunderstanding of James to establish their selfdeception. James merely presents a way to determine if your faith is genuine. If it is, it will produce good works. James still says you are saved by faith alone. There is no way our works can cover us. You do not find innocence in good works, no matter how perfect those works are. You do not find light in your own good works, no matter how perfect your works are. We must have these good works, but these we cannot provide. I can only receive the robe of righteousness from Christ by faith, without works. I cannot make my own and I cannot have half mine and half His. Without His, all our works will fail to cover us no matter how completely we do the job. You can work a lifetime flawlessly and still be naked. Adam and Eve provided something for themselves and assumed they were not naked. They were producing a kind of robe by their works, and they thought they were covered. The Lord asked, “Why are you hiding if you are covered?”
So you can put on something and still be naked, because it is more than a physical nakedness. There is something in the heart and the soul that troubles us. There is a shame of nakedness. There is an ignorance of God and so we flee from Him. We live in darkness and not in light, and there is not innocence, but guilt, in our souls. You can go ahead and sew fig leaves for the rest of your lives, and you can live many years, but still be naked. You can stand up and say, “I believe in Christ our righteousness, and I believe I am clothed in His righteousness.” But you have made the whole thing yourself; and the Lord says you are still naked.
Adam and Eve were still naked after all their work. In no way were they innocent. They were hiding, still in darkness, still misunderstanding God, still ignorant of His character. God was not a God of anger. He might have been displeased but He was not angry with them. Does He not quickly forgive? He immediately offered a sacrifice to take away their sins. He offered them forgiveness, and yet they were afraid.
“It is the darkness of misapprehension of God that is enshrouding the world. Men are losing their knowledge of His character. It has been misunderstood and misinterpreted.” COL 415. Do you know we still do not know Him very well? There is a quick way to establish how well you know Him. When you have sinned the same sin you have committed many times, how quickly do you pray? You probably say to yourself, “He will not hear me if I pray. I have sinned too many times.” Do you hide and cower and believe that He is far off? Many times you have thought to yourself that your prayers do not go beyond the ceiling. So many young people think they have committed the unpardonable sin. All this is darkness concerning the knowledge of God. He is not like that! The God who sent His Son all the way from heaven to earth to live with us, to become human, does not leave because of our sins. If we were still sinners when He died for us, would He not live in us now that we are reconciled through the death and resurrection of Jesus? Somehow God is a strange, nebulous, unknown Person to us; and yet it is life eternal to know Him and His Son. We do not see God in Jesus very clearly.
This problem concerning the lack of knowledge of God is the cause of the credibility gap between those who have various theories of Christ our righteousness. Some begin to understand that their own robe of righteousness is foolishness and ridiculous, and know that they cannot provide righteousness at all. As they suddenly see the light of the character of God and His beauty, and that He provides the robe of righteousness, they become ecstatic, elated, and thrilled as if finding a first love again. But others who have never come to that realization will stand off and say they cannot understand what is so exciting about Christ our righteousness. They look upon those who have been enlightened as if they were Pentecostals. They claim to believe in Christ our righteousness, but they do not get excited about it. They do not know that they sit in darkness. Our churches are split into two groups: those who sit in darkness, and those who sit in light. A terrible credibility gap exists between the two groups. No matter how hard you try to explain the truth on this subject, people still sit in darkness.
I recall preaching in a small church on the book of Galatians for several weeks in prayer meeting. A man about forty years of age had been attending for a few evenings, suddenly one night the lights came on. He came to me after the meeting and scolded me for having withheld this light. He rebuked me strongly and said, “Why have you done this terrible thing to us? Why did you withhold this truth for so long?” So I took him back briefly to the previous studies and then I asked, “Is what I told you tonight any different than what I’ve been telling you all these weeks?” He would not accept the fact that during those past sermons he either would not or could not see. When he finally did begin to see, he accused me of depriving him of light. Yet the light was shining all the time. There are also many who say they see the truth on this subject, but in reality do not. They clothe themselves in their own righteousness and think they are safe; but if God would manifest Himself they would run to hide in darkness someplace to escape Him, establishing they really have not found it.
Some people find a great light, as the Bible says. “The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined.” Isaiah 9:2. The light of the knowledge of the glory of God [His true character] beams down upon them.
Another text refers to the same thing: “Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and His glory shall be seen upon thee. And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.” Isaiah 60:1-3. The Gentiles—the heathen and the unbelievers—will come. Note that it did not say His people will come. They think they already have the light, so they do not come to the light when it shines forth in all its beauty.
Isaiah chapter 58 talks about the good works that we are to do, which includes loosening the bands of wickedness, undoing heavy burdens, feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, and helping the poor. When you do these things, verses 8-10 takes place. “Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of the Lord shall be thy rereward. Then shalt thou call, and the Lord shall answer; thou shalt cry, and He shall say, Here I am…And if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noonday.” Prospering spiritually and abundantly is the promise of the Lord. Why? Because of this great light. When the sun comes up, things begin to grow and flourish.
When I lived in Canada I talked to a man who farms in Peace River, which is way up north where it never becomes dark in the months of June and July. He told me in June that he already had huge tomatoes growing. I asked him how he got such big tomatoes at that time of year; and he said it was because the sun shines all day and all night. When the light shines twenty-four hours a day, everything grows fast. Their growing season is short, but they have long days. People who have long days can grow as much or more as those who have shorter days because there is so much light. And so it is that when the light from the Lord begins to shine into our hearts, great things happen to us.
Those who think their spiritual garments must be partially woven by themselves see the illustration about the fig leaves and the animal skin to be absurd. They do not realize the infinite difference between fig leaves (symbolic of selfrighteousness) and coats of skin (symbolic of Christ’s righteousness). Using Bible terms, what is the difference between nakedness and white raiment? What is the difference between Christ’s righteousness and my righteousness? The Bible refers to Christ’s righteousness as white raiment, a wedding garment, and a pearl of great price without flaw. His righteousness is without spot or wrinkle. There is nothing more perfect than the righteousness of Christ.
What is my righteousness? It is “filthy rags, all as an unclean thing.” Isaiah 64:6. “There is none righteous, no not one.” Romans 3:10. “Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean?” Job 14:4. In other words, how can the unrighteous produce any degree of righteousness? The Bible calls our lack of righteousness “nakedness.” You put something on but the nakedness is still there—still in darkness, still fig-leaves, still self-deceived, still self-effort. Which would you prefer, the Pearl of great price or your own nakedness? When I say I must have my own works to be saved, I am saying I do not like or need the Pearl of great price.” Many are content with their own righteousness. It takes a unique perception to want only His righteousness. To like your own is a terrible thing. How can we like filthiness? Pride is a deceptive thing, for it brings me to the point where I do not see clearly the difference between human righteousness and Christ’s righteousness. I want to keep my own, and I argue and justify my own; and the Lord asks us why we do that. He offers us something better, but we still want our filthy garments.
It is difficult for us to comprehend our own nakedness. We must realize that it is more than right actions that justify the soul. Justification is not just a legal transaction where God says you are set right. With justification there must come an innocence that all is right with God, a perfect peace where God has taken our burdens away, and where the mind is totally free. It is like being lifted up and walking on air. Is it any wonder some people get so excited? All is at peace, and Christ did promise us that peace. But we go on and on, wretched and miserable and trying to act like we have peace; and the True Witness asks, “Why are you wretched and miserable in your nakedness when I want to give you My robe of righteousness? Buy of Me white raiment. Take away the wretchedness and misery. Let Me give you something precious.” And you say, “But I like my own.” And He asks, “Why do you like your own when I offer you something infinitely better?”
Job, reasoning about justification, asked, “but how should man be just with God? If you will contend with Him, He cannot answer him one of a thousand [questions].” Job 9:2. In other words, I cannot answer God at all if He argues with me.
In verses 14 and 15 of that chapter, Job reasons, “How much less shall I answer Him, and choose out my words to reason with Him? Whom, though I were righteous, yet would I not answer, but I would make supplication to my Judge.” I would not answer Him and retort. I wouldn’t dare. I do not have the words to speak; even if I were righteous.
In verses 20 and 21 of the same chapter: “If I justify myself, mine own mouth shall condemn me: if I say, I am perfect, it shall also prove me perverse. Though I were perfect, yet would I not know my soul: I would despise my life.” There is nothing good in me.
Finally in verse 28, “I am afraid of all my sorrows, I know that thou wilt not hold me innocent.” I will not find innocence by trying to justify myself. He must give me that perfect peace and that innocence.
Paul reasons: “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy.” Titus 3:5. He also reasons: “And be found in Him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law.” Philippians 3:9. Not having my own, but only the marvelous righteousness found in Jesus.
The bottom line is that we must experience what John the Baptist experienced when he declared, “He must increase, but I must decrease.” John 3:30. We always want to reverse this. We say, “If I am righteous, I must increase and He must decrease.” Some theorists of Christ our righteousness draw graphs to represent this idea. How ridiculous can we get?
He must increase and I must decrease—always! As long as I live, Christ must become all in all to me. I must always be decreasing, always going down. I can never increase myself. That would be the wrong thing to do. Yet, Laodicea tries to do that.
In addition, we need to dispel the darkness with light. I must become innocent and get rid of this darkness regarding God’s character. Can I produce light? It is impossible. He is the light of the world. I am not. Unless He shines into my heart, I will never find innocence, and I will never understand Him.
In this process called justification, I must find innocence and I must find light. These I can never produce by my good works. Laodicea goes on without them, and they go on not understanding the height and depth and breadth of His great love.
Jesus commented upon this in the experience of restoring sight to the man born blind. He met with the Pharisees and had this discussion with them: “And Jesus said, For judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not might see; and that they which see might be made blind. And some of the Pharisees which were with Him heard these words, and said unto Him, Are we blind also? Jesus said unto them, If ye were blind, ye should have no sin: but now ye say, We see; therefore your sin remaineth.” John 9:39-41.
We have this same problem. We continue to tell the world that we have the light. We tell them that we see, but that they are in darkness. And because we say we see, our sin remains and we are blind. Many will insist that they see because of our marvelous doctrines. Yes, but do you have the light in Jesus? Our truths can be perverted when not centered in Christ; and what terrible things we have done to what we call truth, because our truths are so often not found in Jesus. He is the truth. There is no other truth except Christ. The Jews held to a Christless law until He had to come and tell them that the law is to love God supremely and to love one another as He has loved us. And it is not the way you think you should love. The way Jesus loved is the only correct interpretation of the law.
Christ is telling all Christians that they are to keep the truths as He kept them, to believe them as He believed them, and to teach them as He taught them; not as you think they are. The Sabbath in Christ is a vastly different thing than just keeping the right day. Tithing in Jesus is most unusual. The prophecies in Christ are so different. The standards in Christ are most unusual. Few people have ever heard, or even thought about, truth as it is in Jesus. The light has not come until Jesus comes in. Many walk in darkness, but they do not believe they are in darkness.
“I have been shown the greatest reason why the people of God are now found in the state of spiritual blindness is that they will not receive correction.” 3T 254. Your argument is not with me, or another church member of any church. Your problem is with Jesus, the True Witness. It is His idea that we are naked. He is the one who speaks. You can argue with Him if you want to, but I do not choose to do that myself. If I am sitting in darkness, according to His understanding of it, I cannot say I understand. If He is the light, I cannot dispute with the light when I sit in darkness. He sees because He is the light. I do not see because I am in darkness. Therefore, He understands my condition, and I do not; and I must receive correction. It is not criticism. It is correction.
Jesus says, “As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten.” Revelation 3:19. The first thing we must understand about God is that when He speaks like this, He loves me. He said He came to bring sinners to repentance, not the righteous. Do I hear the call if I say I am righteous? Do I understand His love if I say I need no rebuke? Not a bit. We can lock His love out of our comprehension by some of these opinions we have that are contrary to those of the True Witness. Jesus wants us to hear His rebuke because He loves us and wants to save us from the end of the road we are traveling. He says, “Please hear My voice and repent.”
At the heart of everything in Christ our righteousness is repentance. Why will I find any confidence in my miserable self-righteousness? Why? How can I love filthy garments? How can I go on not sensing my uncleanness? How can I go on in guilt and fear and misery and wretchedness and say I have peace? How can I go on in all my misunderstandings of God and His love and say I am not in darkness but in light? How can I go on in all this deception and say I am right? And yet we do. When the lights come on (and they will not come on until you open the door), He gives you the choice to live daily in light or darkness. He will not break the door down. He will knock a long time (and we should be grateful for that), but He will not break the door down.
Laodicea is inside the door, and Jesus is outside. Laodicea lives in shame on the inside, and peace and innocence are outside. He tells us to open the door, and the innocence, the light, the peace and the joy will come in; and the wretchedness and misery and nakedness will all flee away. And when that happens to you, you will, like Isaiah, say, “Woe is me!” And God will send an angel with a “live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar: And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.” Isaiah 6:6. When the light comes on, I see how naked I am and I repent; and I say, “Woe is me.” Then God takes away all the shame, all the disgrace, all the uncleanness. Thy light has come. Come and be blessed.
Friend, the Lord has been waiting a long time. He is waiting because He loves Laodicea. He is waiting for us to discover that we are not innocent anymore. Over and over again we discuss our guilt, our misery, our lack of innocence. We ask: What do I yet lack? We have doubts and uncertainties; we argue with God; we seek to justify self. And all the time the Lord says, “You don’t have to live like that. I don’t want My children living in that condition. Let Me in. Let Me give you light so that you will know I am a God of love. Let Me give you innocence so that even the guilt is gone, as well as right deeds coming in. Let Me be your white raiment, and what joy you will have. Let Me take away the misery and the wretchedness, and give you happiness and peace and innocence and joy and light. What a happy life you can live then.”
He is not going to continue knocking eternally. Someday we must recognize the facts that the True Witness has brought to us. We must accept what He says, and what we are, and what He is, and embrace Him with all our hearts. And then our light will break forth as the morning and we will shout songs of praise and gladness and halleluiahs, and then the Lord Jesus will come. And to us He will say after all this, “Well done good and faithful servant, enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.” May you hear those sweet words soon is my prayer in Jesus name.