Though Laodicea was famous for its eyesalve, this was not the spiritual eyesalve the Lord tells the church to use. The eyesalve of the world is not the solution for the church - only His special, heavenly eyesalve can satisfy the needs which you and I have in our daily journey towards heaven. Only the heavenly eyesalve can help us see clearly the pathway in which we are to tread.

The Bible tells us that the health of our spiritual eyes is very important; if these are doing well, everything else will be fine: “The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light” (Matthew 6:22).

For us living in the Laodicean period, in order to keep our eyes in good health, we are counseled to anoint them with eyesalve bought from Jesus who is the depositary of all graces.

“The eye is the sensitive conscience, the inner light, of the mind. Upon its correct view of things the spiritual healthfulness of the whole soul and being depends.”1

The Laodiceans have an eye problem; they think they can see - and physically they can, but not spiritually. They have riches and comfort but their conscience is benumbed by the cares of life, so they are more concerned to have the applause of the world than the approval of God.

Those living in this period tend to have some knowledge about spiritual things, but they have no deep knowledge of their own condition; they cannot see very clearly - their depth perception is blurry. Christ is outside, knocking at the door of the church, but the door is opened by individual believers.

The message of the True Witness is given to the whole church, but the acceptance of it must be a personal matter. Individually we must hear the Lord’s voice and personally open the door of our heart, then the Lord will come to us and His presence will be the healing salve for our eyes.

“The ‘eyesalve,’ the Word of God, makes the conscience smart under its application; for it convicts of sin. But the smarting is necessary that the healing may follow, and the eye be single to the glory of God. The sinner, beholding himself in God’s great moral looking glass, sees himself as God views him, and exercises repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.”2

Thus, in the light of God’s Word we are to examine ourselves, detect sin under any guise, and flee by faith to Jesus. “The name of the Lord is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe” (Proverbs 18:10). It is God’s Word which imparts that wisdom and grace to enable us to discern between the evil and the good; it is God’s Word that gives faith in Jesus, for “faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17).

The following questions can help us diagnose the health of our eyes (conscience): When was the last time I read through the whole Bible? When was the last time I read through one book of the Spirit of Prophecy? How much time am I devoting to read God’s Word? How much time am I devoting to the reading of academic books, secular magazines, catalogs, and other kind of literature? How much time am I spending on the Internet? How much time am I spending watching movies? Is it possible for me to invest more time reading the Bible?

If you see that you need to spend more time reading the Bible and Spirit of Prophecy, it means you just starting to receive the eyesalve of God.

If the Holy Spirit is speaking to you at this moment, listen to this still, small voice, and God will speak to you every moment. Then you are going to feel how wonderful and joyful it is to commune with our heavenly Father. Nothing else can give you the same satisfaction and happiness.

Do you know that by reading three to four chapters every day you can finish reading the Bible in one year? You don’t have to wait until the beginning of next year to start - you can start today.

Nowadays there are so many sources of information and, as the wise man said, there is no limit to the making of books, but to study other books while sacrificing the study of God’s Word is weariness of the flesh (Ecclesiastes 12:12).

There are even many devotional books, but how can we spend time with some of them in place of the ones we know to be fully inspired, without the risk of losing sight of the things which really matter in our walk with Jesus?

Other books may have beautiful contents, but they lack that transforming power which accompanies the inspired word - if we read such books more than God’s Word we will turn our eyes inward to our own little world and will lose the spiritual sight.

Why is it so important that those living in these last days in the period of Laodicea see things clearly, as they really are? We need strong, sharp discernment, because “in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away” (2 Timothy 3:1-5).

“Satan himself is converted, after the modern order of things. He will appear in the character of an angel of light. Through the agency of spiritualism, miracles will be wrought, the sick will be healed, and many undeniable wonders will be performed. And as the spirits will profess faith in the Bible, and manifest respect for the institutions of the church, their work will be accepted as a manifestation of divine power.”3

“Such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light” (2 Corinthians 11:13, 14).

“For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables” (2 Timothy 4:3, 4).

Today, when we look back upon all the events of history, we see the success that Satan has gained in perverting the teaching of the Gospel message. Strange, uncertain interpretations of the Holy Scriptures, and the numerous controversial theories regarding biblical faith that we meet in the Christian world - these are plots designed by our great enemy, who invented them to confuse people’s minds, so that they would not be able to discern the truth. And all the differences and separations existing among Christian churches, to a considerable extent, are explained by the deep-rooted customs to pervert the Scriptures to support some favorite theory whereby people “became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened” (Romans 1:21).

Instead of thoroughly searching God’s Word with humble hearts trying to know His will, many people just want to find something unusual and original.

“The last great conflict between truth and error is but the final struggle of the long-standing controversy concerning the law of God. Upon this battle we are now entering - a battle between the laws of men and the precepts of Jehovah, between the religion of the Bible and the religion of fable and tradition.

“The agencies which will unite against truth and righteousness in this contest are now actively at work. God’s holy word, which has been handed down to us at such a cost of suffering and blood, is but little valued. The Bible is within the reach of all, but there are few who really accept it as the guide of life. Infidelity prevails to an alarming extent, not in the world merely, but in the church. Many have come to deny doctrines which are the very pillars of the Christian faith.”4

There is hope for the Laodiceans

What is especially sad about the Laodiceans is that they are not even aware of their condition. TheTrue Witness warns,“Thou . . . knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked” (Revelation 3:17). They think they are rich and in need of nothing, but the Lord says they are poor, blind, and miserable. Many churches in the world today appear to be successful - they have large membership rolls, buildings, schools, buses, and even TV channels, but the problem with many is that they are just as blind as the religious crowd found in Matthew 13:15, “For this people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.”

Nonetheless the Lord shows the way for healing: “The Laodiceans . . . were not entirely blind, else the eyesalve would have done nothing to restore their sight, and enable them to discern the true attributes of Christ. Says Christ, By renouncing your own self-sufficiency, giving up all things, however dear to you, you may buy the gold, the raiment, and the eyesalve that you may see.”5

The price may seem too high, but if I could see with the eyes of faith, I would realize that, remarkably, the price is too low. I actually pay nothing to gain Christ who is everything; He is all I need.

“He who places himself where God can enlighten him, advances, as it were, from the partial obscurity of dawn to the full radiance of noonday.”

“True sanctification means perfect love, perfect obedience, and perfect conformity to the will of God. We are to be sanctified to God through obedience to the truth. Our conscience must be purged from dead works to serve the living God. We are not yet perfect; but it is our privilege to cut away from the entanglements of self and sin, and advance to perfection. Great possibilities, high and holy attainments, are placed within the reach of all.”6

The Lord rebukes us in His love. If we willingly accept it; it will be an eyesalve to cure our blindness.

We must be willing to devote ourselves entirely to God; as mentioned earlier, this is the condition pointed out by Jesus when He said: “If therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light” (Matthew 6:22). Therefore our desire must be to discern the truth and to obey it at whatever cost. Then we will have divine enlightenment. “If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself” (John 7:17).

The heavenly eyesalve (God’s Word) will:

• Give us clearness to understand.7

• Enable us to detect sin under any guise and abhor it.8

• Help us to discern the necessities of the time.9

• Enable us to discern spiritual things.10

• Enable us to distinguish between truth and error.11

• Help us to distinguish the Spirit’s workings from that other one that produces license and fanaticism.12

• Enable us to see and shun Satan’s wiles.13

• Enable us to see the glories beyond.14

• Enable us to see our own defects of character.15

• Make us see truth and obey it.16

• Give us discernment as required to enter heaven.17

• Help us detect buried truth.18

• Help us to fasten our eyes on God.19

• Enable us to discern God’s will.20

The days in which we are living are full of falsehood and deceitfulness, “perilous times” (2 Timothy 3:1), when heresies will shake the church. Not only that, on a daily basis, we also have to face situations in the work place, in relationships, in school, in church and everywhere we go, and only the heavenly eyesalve can give us sufficient knowledge to make right choices, to discern and choose according to God’s will. Therefore we need to read God’s Word more than ever before, because right there we have the answers to all our questions.

Since Laodicea was famous for its eyesalve, it probably was very hard to convince its inhabitants that they had to buy some eyesalve from outside. Here is the key for us to understand that we have to buy something from outside of ourselves. No matter how good we think we are, no matter how rich we think we are, we cannot be satisfied with our condition, we still must depend completely in God.

According to the instruction given in Hebrews 12:2, we need to be “looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

Our salvation begins and ends with the Lord. He plainly declares: “Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else” (Isaiah 45:22). Salvation is only in Christ. “Jesus saith unto [Thomas], I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” (John 14:6). Anyone who looks anywhere else for salvation will be sadly disappointed one day, because as Acts 4:12 says, “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” Our salvation, our new life, begins with keeping our eyes on the Lord - and it is to continue that way, “looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith.” As soon as churches or individuals begin to take their eyes off the Lord and look elsewhere, they begin to lose their spiritual eyesight.

It is impossible to have Jesus and bear no fruit; it is impossible to have Jesus and walk in darkness.

“Some may say it is exalting our own merits to expect favor from God through our good works. True, we cannot buy one victory with our good works; yet we cannot be victors without them. The purchase which Christ recommends to us is only complying with the conditions He has given us. True grace, which is of inestimable value, and which will endure the test of trial and adversity, is only obtained through faith and humble, prayerful obedience.”21

“We must be awake to see our wrongs, to search for our sins, and to put them away from us.”22

May the Lord open our eyes to see the beauty of His Word in such a way that we may say: “Lord Jesus, because I now see what a treasure You are, I am ready to pay any price, though I realize that I actually can pay nothing to gain You, who are everything I really need.” Amen.