Third, the Lord counsels the church in Laodicea to buy from Him eyesalve to anoint their eyes that they may see. The eyesalve needed to anoint their eyes must refer to the anointing Spirit (1 John 2:27), who is also the Lord Himself as the life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45). Because she has been distracted by the dead knowledge of letters, the degraded recovered church needs this kind of eyesalve for her blindness. For the eyesalve the Lord counsels her to buy; she must pay the price.
Spiritual insight is always related to the Spirit. We need more Spirit, not more knowledge. We do not need many doctrines—we need more Spirit to anoint our eyes and the depths of our inner being so that we may have insight to see things from within. With this eyesalve, this anointing, we may have both foresight and deep insight to see things thoroughly. Then we will say, “Lord Jesus, because I now see what a treasure You are, I am ready to pay any price.” Many Christians are unwilling to pay the price for Christ because they do not see what a treasure Christ is. They do not see the preciousness, the worth, and the value of Christ. But once our eyes have been anointed by the divine, spiritual eyesalve, we will realize that it is worthwhile for us to pay any price for Christ. If we would see this, we need eyesalve. This is so that we may have the sight to see the divine and spiritual things.
As we have pointed out, the gold, the garments, and the eyesalve are all Christ. Christ is everything; our need today is Christ. The intention of the ministry in the Lord’s recovery is to help the Lord’s people to be enlightened that they might see the value, worth, and preciousness of Christ, and by having this insight, they might be willing to pay any price to gain Him. It is worthwhile for us to pay the cost of our future, our destiny, and our whole life for Christ. If we would pay all this, the price is still too cheap. Our self, our future, and our life are all worth nothing. We actually pay nothing to gain Christ who is everything. Paul says that all the things he counted loss for Christ were just refuse, dog food (Phil. 3:8). In the church life in the Lord’s recovery, we are for the rich Christ. The goal of the ministry in the Lord’s recovery is to minister some ointment that people’s eyes may be anointed to see the preciousness of Christ and be attracted to Him. The degraded church needs eyesalve; she needs revelation, vision, and great grace.
As soon as we are willing to pay the price, to buy the eyesalve, we will see. The crucial matter is the willingness to pay the price. What we cannot put aside is the price. Whatever replaces Christ, is a substitute for Christ, or is even against Christ—whether it be our reputation, position, knowledge, wealth, desires, or thoughts—is the price. We need to buy the eyesalve, instead of excusing ourselves by saying that we have not seen the vision. We need to pray, saying, “Lord Jesus, by Your mercy I will buy the eyesalve. By Your mercy I am willing to pay the price.” If we say this to the Lord, the heavens will be opened, the scales will fall from our eyes, and we will see the heavenly vision.
In brief, the Lord counseled the believers in Laodicea to buy from Him gold, white garments, and eyesalve. The reason that the Lord charged them to buy from Him gold is that in the church in Laodicea there was much clay—many things other than God—but very little gold—very little of the element of God. With regard to white garments, the color white denotes purity, the absence of mixture, and garments refer to our walk and conduct. Hence, white garments signify a walk and conduct that express the purity of God. Eyesalve is for anointing the eyes. When the eyes have an ailment and are unable to see, there is the need to buy eyesalve to cure the eyes and make them bright again. In normal situations the inner nature of a Christian should be pure, and his outward living should be white and bright. All these three items require us to buy, to pay a price. God’s intention is to accomplish His eternal purpose through man. Thus, after the Lord calls us, we need to pay a price so that we may become useful to Him.