Poor, Blind, and Naked
Writer Author Sylvia Huffnagle
Christian Article
:
Exhortation
- Fiction No
Rev: 3:15-18: I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.
16: So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.17: 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: 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.
(I regret to say, I think this well describes the post-modern church today. I will attempt here to use scripture to show why I think the church, despite all its works is poor, blind, and naked.
Poor? Jesus says to buy gold from Him. According to the verses below, the judgments of the Lord, the law of the mouth, God’s Wisdom, God’s instruction, and the trying of your faith are the gold that Jesus wants to instill in you.
The judgments of the Lord would be to practice love form a biblical point of view, not man’s idea of love.
The law of the mouth would be all the admonitions in the Word about watching what you day and agreeing with God in what you day.
God’s Wisdom is laid out in the Proverbs and encompasses who we hang out with, what we feed into our soul and spirit, how we live, and how we treat God and man--what choices we make.)
Ps: 19:910: The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring for ever: the judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether. 10: More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.
Ps: 119:72: The law of thy mouth is better unto me than thousands of gold and silver.
Prov: 3:13-15: Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man that getteth understanding.
14: For the merchandise of it is better than the merchandise of silver, and the gain thereof than fine gold. 15: She is more precious than rubies: and all the things thou canst desire are not to be compared unto her.
Prov: 8:10-21: Receive my instruction, and not silver; and knowledge rather than choice gold. 1: For wisdom is better than rubies; and all the things that may be desired are not to be compared to it. 12: I wisdom dwell with prudence, and find out knowledge of witty inventions. 13: The fear of the LORD is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate. 14: Counsel is mine, and sound wisdom: I am understanding; I have strength. 15: By me kings reign, and princes decree justice. 16: By me princes rule, and nobles, even all the judges of the earth. 17: I love them that love me; and those that seek me early shall find me. 18: Riches and honour are with me; yea, durable riches and righteousness. 19: My fruit is better than gold, yea, than fine gold; and my revenue than choice silver. 20: I lead in the way of righteousness, in the midst of the paths of judgment: 21: That I may cause those that love me to inherit substance; and I will fill their treasures.
1Pet: 1:7: That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:
(Blind? Be anointed with eye salve? According to the verses below, I would say the eye salve is applied through repentance and it is to help you see your great need for God and the Savior. 2Peter says it best--in order to see well one must believe the promises, be diligent in the things of the Lord, practice what you learn, thereby acquiring virtue, temperance (self-restraint in the face of temptation or desire ), patience and godliness.)
Duet: 29:3-4: The great temptations which thine eyes have seen, the signs, and those great miracles: 4: Yet the LORD hath not given you an heart to perceive, and eyes to see, and ears to hear, unto this day.
Isa: 6:9-10: And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not. 10: Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed.
Isa: 56:10: His watchmen are blind: they are all ignorant, they are all dumb dogs, they cannot bark; sleeping, lying down, loving to slumber.
Ezek: 12:2: Son of man, thou dwellest in the midst of a rebellious house, which have eyes to see, and see not; they have ears to hear, and hear not: for they are a rebellious house.
Mt: 15:14: Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.
2Pet: 1:4-11: Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. 5: And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; 6: And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; 7: And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. 8: For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9: But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins. 10: Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall: 11: For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
(Naked? Jesus wants you attired with white raiment. So according to the scriptures below, the white raiment is the armor of light (truth and knowledge), the Lord Jesus Christ (applying His Spirit to each situation in life), the new man (the spiritual man--walks in righteousness, holiness, knowledge of God, charity, and perfectness which is a mentality of no shortcuts and no compromise when it comes to godliness and righteousness.)
Rom: 13:12: The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.
Gal: 3:27: For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.
Eph: 4:24: And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.
Col: 3:10: And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him:
Col:3:14: And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness.
Rev: 3:19-22: As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent. 20: Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. 21: To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne. 22: He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.
(To summarize, the church that is not poor, blind, or naked is not just actively reaching out to the lost, but they are putting on the Lord Jesus Christ Himself--that is they are earnestly heeding the scriptures--all of the wise admonitions, sound teachings, and biblical doctrine.
There is a big problem today even in churches that believe they are biblical and that is mostly in the area of understanding. Due to modern understanding, they have put an extra word in front of many scriptures and that word is MATURE. They read all those good teachings as if they were exacted of only the really mature.
This is a serious error for it is the reason the church is so sloppy, immature, and weak. Notice that Jesus, when addressing the churches in Revelation did not say, “Now I’m only talking to those who have been Christians for a long time and should know better.”
Why didn’t He say that? Because the kind of repentance He was seeking took care of the blindness and the deafness and the new birth took care of the nakedness. From that time forth the convert was to put on their new clothes. The more mature were to be on hand to assist the new converts in areas where that had not yet acquired full understanding or experience. But the new convert was supposed to have a new heart from day one.
© Sylvia Huffnagle
Editor's Comment:
About the Writer Author
State:
Pennsylvania
Country:
United States
Email:
huffnagl@verizon.net
Website:
www.straightpaths.truepath.com/about4.html
Profile:
Click here!
|
|
Most Recent From This Writer
Inspired Still - Designs by LaVellaK
Design Challenged? No worries! Among many design services I offer, I'll gladly design hats, t-shirts and more for you or your organized Special Event. Email me at justask@worthfinding.com for details!
Photgraphy & Design by LaVella Kraft
|
Select Article or Story
|