As noted in chapter 2:21, Jesus gave even Jezebel time to repent, though she didn't deserve it. Jesus warned her minister that if he didn't correct her error, He would. He gives people a chance to repent. If they don't, He takes the next sterner measure. Ultimately, if they don't repent, He will cut them off.

Had that messenger been doing as chapter 1:3 says, he wouldn't have been in trouble. Seemingly, he just let himself drift without correction. We might wonder: "Why didn't Jesus just go directly to those people?" Instead He sent to the Messenger and told him to correct that which was wrong.

The reason is that Jesus is the Head of the Church, and He always works through channels that he has ordained. Now that doesn't mean that He won't deal with individuals except through the ministry. But ministers are accountable to the Lord for their Churches. If, for instance, Jesus gets on the case of your minister about you, he will give account to God, but you will regret it if your conduct causes him to have to mourn over you.

Verse 4: Jesus is concerned with what defiles. We can be saved, but afterwards we can become defiled by sins. The word 'defiled' means to be made less than what we once were; to be corrupted from what we once were. If, for instance,  believers hold a root of bitterness, their bitterness defiles them. Also, in Matthew 15:18, Jesus said that the bad things that come out of man's heart defiles him. They make him less pure than he was. If one makes a habit of lying, he becomes known as a liar. That has corrupted him from what he once was. When he was born he was not a liar, though he may have practiced lying from early childhood.

Some people have sung, "Just build me a cabin in the corner of glory land." Hey, man, there isn't any little cabin in any of glory land. If we get into heaven, God and all His angels are going to know it. Also see 2 Peter 1:10-11. "Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall: For so an entranceshall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ."

Note the "Key of David" in verse 7. The Key of David is fervent devotion and commitment to God Almighty. Jesus certainly demonstrated that He had that. He could have asked God for more than twelve legions of angels. He didn't have to go to the cross, He could have refused it. But He was so devoted to God Almighty that He was willing to lay down His life. He said: "I have the Key of David."

In John 8:29 Jesus said that He always did those things that pleased the father. He said He had never spoken "on His Own", that He always said what God gave Him to say. Thus, He was actually the Word of God in action. When He spoke, it was the Word of God. Thus, I am persuaded that the Key of David is such fervent, uncompromised devotion to God.

When we become born again, we are right with God through Christ. But there is a step of privilege beyond the initial experience. That is when we begin to 'operate' with the Key of David. It is when Jesus begins manifesting the 'sure mercies of David' on our behalf.

David received that as a reward from God. David said, The Lord shall set me up, upon a rock, now shall my head be lifted up above my enemies round about me. Praise God. We should see that the Key of David has a tremendous benefit for those who live under its auspices. In effect it seems that Jesus was saying, "I'm the one that gave David his motive." God offered such a key to Saul, the first king of Israel, in that He gave him another heart. But Saul wasted his opportunity.

Also, God appeared to Solomon three times, and he was blessed for David's sake, but he turned to idols and missed it! Just because people have the things of God available, doesn't mean they always take advantage of them. James notes that the doer of God's Word shall be blessed in his deed. How vital it is for us to be doers of God's Word, because that positions us so that the greater blessing of God can have their full expression in us.

We may get a blessing from God, and yet not live close to Him like we should. We can get answers to prayer, even miracles, yet still not be 'tight' with the Lord, in the sense I'm using here. Victory is promised to those who walk after the Spirit; they will not fulfill the lusts of the flesh (Galatians 5:16).

In verse 9 Jesus said that He would make them come and worship before that Messenger's feet, and to know that "I have loved thee." Oh, what promises to the overcomer!

Jesus called the Great Tribulation an hour, because it's a short span of time, limited to seven years. In chapter 2:10 Jesus mentioned tribulation for the saints at Smyrna, in the form of persecution, but He was not talking about the Great Tribulation of Matthew 24:21. Had you lived in the days of the saints at Smyrna, and suffered as they did, wouldn't you have thought the hard things you suffered was great tribulation? If they threw you into a dungeon, and ripped you with red hot iron, ripped out your finger nails and three days later tormented your wounds to make you hurt more, wouldn't you have thought that was tribulation? It was. But the Great Tribulation of common reference is to be worse than that!

Jesus urged them to hold fast what they had that no man take their crown. Then He promised that the overcomer will become a pillar in the Temple of go, and shall go no more out. He promised to write upon the overcomers His new Name, and the name of the City of God. Imagine parading on the streets of glory with Jesus' Name on you! that is a mark of ownership, for overcomers. Then again He said, "He that over comes." Verse 13.

It shouldn't be a surprise that the devil will demand his followers to take the Mark of the Beast. He always tries to imitate God. The Name that Jesus will write on overcomers signifies His absolute ownership. Even so, the Mark of the Beast signifies absolute ownership by the devil. That's the reason that if people take the mark of the Beast, there is no salvation for them; they are lost.

Now let's return to the question: How does one 'buy gold' from Jesus? one may think of various ways. Someone said: "If we seek the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, all these things will be added unto us." Also, per Romans 14:17-18, the Kingdom of God is righteousness, joy and peace in the Holy Ghost. True. Now how do you buy? Per chapter 3:15, Jesus said He knew their works, so they had been doing some things. Notice that Jesus said "Buy it." That is a different category than to ask for it.

When one buys something, they have the full right of possession. I think Jesus was saying, "I want you to buy of Me so that you will have full right of possession, and not just an empty claim." As I pondered this, I could not think of any reference in the Bible about anyone buying gold from the Lord. Then the Lord began to revel things to me about it.

When one buys merchandise, they must pay the merchant the price that he asks for it. Well, when we buy things from the Lord, in a sense, we pay the price required to obtain them. For one thing, we must pay the price of studying His Word in order to learn it. We must pay the price of faithfully following Jesus daily in order to be His disciple.

As I thought along these lies, the Lord gave me to understand that many things that I have from Him are treasures. I did not obtain them without the foregoing price. They are priceless treasures. I trust that they are comparable to the gold that he counseled Laodacea to buy from Him. He has given me much in physical, material things, praise the Lord. But the greatest, the real treasures, that I have bought from Him are spiritual. Such things as what the Lord taught me about claiming my house for the Kingdom of God, Acts 16:31.

He also taught me things about marriage that are precious gems of 'gold', at least to me. Such as the interaction between husband and wife (note merely physical or or in mortal ways) in times of difficulty or special need. When such Divine 'gold' is in your marriage, God's supernatural power in that 'God blessed union' ministers to you. My wife and I possess such gold because we have paid the price for it by obedience to God. That is treasure.

Again, when God shows you personally how to believe Him for things of your need or desire; that is 'gold'. When the Lord shows you how things work by the Holy Spirit, that is 'gold.' For example, the Lord taught me how to send forth His power to one of my sons. Later, I realized that I could do it for all of my children and grand children. When I did, His power worked wonderfully in them. I didn't know I could do that, or how to do it until He taught me. I bought it through obedience and faith, and perseverance. To Him be all the glory.

Many believers struggle about their unsaved loved ones. But the Lord can show YOU how to deal with yours, if you will buy it from Him. That is gold indeed. It is precious and enduring. It works through the Lord, and in that sense, it is laid up in heaven. The Lord Jesus told us to lay up treasures in heaven. When your treasure is laid up there, material things in this world matter, but they are not predominant focal points. Hold loosely to things in this world, so that you may hold firmly to eternal treasures in heaven.

The Laodaceans thought in terms of material prosperity, but Jesus said those things were not treasures of His choice. They were poor, wretched and miserable. They were so occupied with material things that they seemed to have but little concept of spiritual things. As to 'buying eyesalve from the Lord, when the Lord opens our eyes of understanding to see Divine things, that is an application of Divine eyesalve. Along with it He gives us understanding of how those things work.I am sure that most believers have had times when the Lord made something of His Word personally real to them. For instance, your salvation. You should know by personal revelation from God that you ARE saved!

Also, in Matthew 7:7-9 Jesus used three words in regards to asking for things from God. Ask, seek, knock. All three imply a price to be paid, in terms of exercising faith for answers. Most of us prefer the more simple "ask" than the more involved "seeking and knocking," because it seems to be easier. But some things we ask require more than ordinary praying. In some cases, it requires persevering in prayer until you know that God has responded to your request. Some things the Lord makes real to you is through the personal experience of it. In the Baptism with the Holy Spirit, the act of speaking with other tongues reveals its reality and benefit to you.

The Holy Spirit Himself is a treasure! Not one that we lay up, but one that we receive from God as a gift. He is not a thing, such as gold, or material substance. He's the third Person of the trinity. We receive a measure of Him, and that measure is treasure indeed! We also ought to treasure our salvation, it cost the Lord Jesus His life to give it to us. We ought to treasure the Word of God. Also we ought to treasure the ability to pray in faith.

When the Lord reveals to you how to do that about things of concern, that is treasure of gold. When the Lord shows you how to talk to bad thoughts, or to bad symptoms in your body: when we learn to 'talk' to them as Jesus taught, that's gold from God. Such gold doesn't expire when you use it, it just gets more valuable to you. Scripture makes some general statements to every believer, but each of us can have our own personal experience of them. We all have similarity of experience in salvation, but our experience should seem unique to us.

Laodacea seems to have missed such things. They got their attention on material things, which left them lukewarm. Jesus warned that He would spue them out of His mouth if they didn't repent. He had much better things in mind for them than that. He wanted them to be rich in things that He is rich with. Mercy, Truth, Love, Holy, Godly living. He also wants to give believers understanding; He wants to give us revelation. He wants to show us the treasures of God, things that Jesus came to die on the Cross to give to us. They are important to Jesus, and they ought to be important to us.

The Laodaceans were makers of an eye salve that was helpful for eye problems. Thus, they understood the Lord's terminology. Their industry showed that they were intelligent, but they supposed that they didn't need anything. They looked at things in the natural and supposed that material things proved everything was all right. Many people today think in a similar way. If they sense no pressing need, they are indifferent towards eternal and spiritual concerns. That attitude caused the Laodaceans to become luke warm. They weren't really seeking the Kingdom of God first, they were just kind of going along. They seem to have thought that they 'had it made' and had nothing to be concerned about.

The Lord Jesus counseled them to buy from Him; that is to 'pay the price' for spiritual results. A mere claim of spiritual possessions is not acceptable to the Lord. God wants us to 'have the goods.' Thus, the 'price' of true discipleship is required, in order to possess what can only be gotten through such faith. Mere religious ritual and ceremonial formalities are not acceptable to the Lord. It's not acceptable for the Lord's people to claim that they are Christians, but live like unbelievers.

When the Christians were put into the arena with the lions, they 'paid the price' by martyrdom. They didn't just claim to be Christians, and they refused to worship heathen gods. They had been living the life of a Christian before they were arrested.

Verse 20: Jesus will accept an invitation to enter an open heart and He will sup with us, and we with Him. I perceive that means that when we do things that please the Lord, He enjoys them with us. For instance, if we do good work and get commended for it, Jesus enjoys our sense of victory with us. The Lord commends us with an awareness of His Presence when we do what is right in His sight.