I take it that the order in which the points of this counsel are given is not intended to be the order in which they are obeyed. I dare say there is no thought of sequence in the succession of the clauses. But if there is, I think that a little consideration will show us that that which comes last in mention is to be first in fulfilment.
Observe that the text falls into two distinct parts, and that the counsel to buy does not extend--though it is ordinarily read as if it did--to the last item in our Lord's advice. These Laodiceans are bid to buy of' Him gold' and raiment,' but they are bid to use the eyesalve' that they may see.' No doubt, whatever is meant by that eyesalve' comes from Him, as does everything else. But my point is that these people are supposed already to possess it, and that they are bid to employ it. And, taking that point of view, I think we can come to the understanding of what is meant.
No doubt the exhortation, anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see,' may be so extended as to refer to the general condition of spiritual blindness which attaches to humanity, apart from the illuminating and sight-giving work of Jesus Christ. That true Light, which lighteneth every man that cometh into the world, has a threefold office as the result of all the parts of which there comes to our darkened eyes the vision of the things that are. He reveals the objects to see; He gives the light by which we see them; and He gives us eyes to see with. He shows us God, immortality, duty, men's condition, men's hopes, and He takes from us the cataract which obscures, the shortsightedness which prevents us from beholding things that are far off, and the obliquity of vision which forbids us to look steadily and straight at the things which it is worth our while to behold. For judgment am I come into the world,' said He, that they which see not might see.' And it is possible that the general illuminating influence of Christ's mission and work, and especially the illuminating power of His Spirit dwelling in men's spirits, may be included in the thoughts of the eyesalve with which we are to anoint our eyes.
But the context seems to me rather to narrow the range of the meaning of this part of our Lord's counsel. For these Laodiceans had the conceit of their own sufficing wealth, of their own prosperous religious condition, and were blind as bats to the real facts that they were' miserable and poor and naked.' Therefore our Lord says: Anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see--recognise your true state; do not live in this dream that you are satisfactorily united to Myself, when all the while the thread of connection is so slender that it is all but snapped. Behold Me as I am, and the things that I reveal to you as they are; and then you will see yourselves as you are.'
So, then, there comes out of this exhortation this thought, that a symptom constantly accompanying the lukewarm condition is absolute unconsciousness of it. In all regions the worse a man is the less he knows it. It is the good people that know themselves to be bad; the bad ones, when they think about themselves, conceit themselves to be good. It is the men in the van of the march that feel the prick of the impulse to press farther: the laggards are quite content to stop in the rear. The higher a man climbs, in any science, or in the practice of any virtue, the more clearly he sees the unscaled peaks above him. The frost-bitten limb is quite comfortable. It is when life begins to come back into it that it tingles and aches. And so these Laodiceans were like the Jewish hero of old, who prostituted his strength, and let them shear away his locks while his lazy head lay in the harlot's lap: he went out to shake himself' as of old times, and knew not that the Spirit of God had departed from him. So, brethren, the man in this audience who most needs to be roused and startled into a sense of his tepid religionism is the man that least suspects the need, and would be most surprised if a more infallible and penetrating voice than mine were to come and say to him, Thou--thou art the man.' Anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see'; and let the light, which Christ pours upon unseen things, pour itself revealing into your hearts, that you may no longer dream of yourselves as rich, and increased with goods, and having need of nothing ; but may know that you are poor and blind and naked.
Another thought suggested by this part of the counsel is that the blind man must himself rub in the eyesalve. Nobody else can do it for him. True! it comes, like every other good thing, from the Christ in the heavens; and, as I have already said, if we will attach specific meanings to every part of a metaphor, that eyesalve' may be the influence of the Divine Spirit who convicts men of sin. But whatever it is, you have to apply it to your own eyes. Translate that into plain English, and it is just this, by the light of the knowledge of God and duty and human nature, which comes rushing in a flood of illumination from the central sun of Christ's mission and character, testyourselves. Our forefathers made too much of self-examination as a Christian duty, and pursued it often for mistaken purposes. But this generation makes far too light of it. Whilst I would not say to anybody, Poke into the dark places of your own hearts in order to find out whether you are Christian people or not,' for that will only come to diffidence and despair, I would say, Do not be a stranger to yourselves, but judge yourselves rigidly, by the standard of God's Word, of Christ's example, and in all your search, ask Him to give you that candle of the Lord,' which will shine into the dustiest corners and the darkest of our hearts, and reveal to us, if we truly wish it, all the cobwebs and unconsidered litter and rubbish, if not venomous creatures, that are gathered there. Apply the eyesalve; it will be keen, it will bite; welcome the smart, and be sure that anything is good for you which takes away the veil that self-complacency casts over your true condition, and lets the light of God into the cellars and dark places of your souls.
