Buy From Me Gold

Let's go ahead and start today by turning to Genesis 2. Let's go ahead and turn over there to begin today. You know, the first two chapters of Genesis, we see some of the earliest records of mankind's history.

Moses, we know, was inspired to record the events that took place during creation.

And not only that, the events that took place inside the Garden of Eden.

And so in verse 10 of Genesis 2, we'll skip, you know, just slightly through the first part of Genesis 1 here. But Genesis 2 and verse 10, what we see is a generalized location of the Garden of Eden, you know, provided through a description of the river which entered it and the four rivers ultimately that exited it or that came out of the Garden of Eden itself. Genesis 2 and verse 10 says, Now a river went out of Eden to water the garden, and from there it parted and became four riverheads. The name of the first is Pishon. It is the one which skirts the whole land of Havela, where there is gold, and the gold of that land is good. Bedelium and the Onyx stone are there. The name of the second river is Gihon. It's the one which goes around the whole land of Kush. The name of the third river is Hiddikal. It's the one which goes toward the east of Assyria. The fourth river is the Euphrates. And so we see these general set up of these rivers from the Garden of Eden. Four riverheads ultimately departed. Pishon, Gihon, Hiddikal, and the Euphrates. Of the four rivers, only two of those are known to us today and are generally, I would say, universally agreed upon. The Euphrates, which you're familiar with, right? River that runs through modern day Iraq, as well as the Hiddikal. But we know the Hiddikal by a different name. It's the river that Daniel was standing on the banks of when he received his vision in Daniel 4, known today as the Tigris. So the Tigris in the Euphrates are the two rivers that we at least know of these other... of these other... of these four rivers, rather.

But the other two are completely and totally unknown. Both of these rivers, Tigris and Euphrates, run through modern day Iraq. And the locations and identities of the other two are greatly debated.

You know, there are some that Josephus actually says it's the Ganges River, and India is one of them. So that widens out the space of that area quite a bit. Others have theorized the Nile, or rivers in Ethiopia and Sudan. We don't know for sure. But what we do know is that after Adam and Eve were cast out of the garden, it's into this general area in which they... and their descendants entered into. And realistically, it would not be long after they're being cast out that someone noticed, hey, there's gold in themthar hills, as they say, right? Havela! Right? It talked about the land of Havela, that they had gold, and the gold of that land was good. And it's quite possible as they were looking in the streams in that area, or it's quite possible as they were going through in the rivers, they found these bits of gold. But what we know is that we look back over mankind's history, and mankind has always had a love affair with gold.

Always had a love affair with gold. As a precious metal, it's one that's been sought after and one that's been used since the beginning of human history. There's actually evidence of its use culturally in the Middle East going back as far as 4000 BC, which would mean that shortly after being cast out of the garden, mankind began working in gold. Now, we don't know. Maybe that took place somewhat during the garden, too. We don't know. We don't know. We don't have record of that. But one of the things that we do see is that, quite likely, not long after man's removal from the garden, that gold began to be used culturally. From that time in human history, it's primary use based on agricultural evidence or archaeological evidence, was for ornamental jewelry, funeral regalia. So, as people were buried, they would often be, you know, have gold placed around their heads in certain patterns as things as they were buried. And then, unfortunately, in pagan worship practices, which is what we see taking place as they come out of that area. And there's a reason for that. Gold's a metal that's unlike any other. Gold has a luster. Once you know it, you've seen it, you know it. I mean, it just has a very specific luster to it. It shines in a certain way. It's also naturally malleable. It's soft. It's able to be formed, really, without a whole lot of extra processing. And what's interesting about gold that's different than any other metal is it doesn't corrode. It doesn't tarnish. And it doesn't oxidize like other metals. So, for example, copper, you know, over time, copper turns green. Over time, copper will become green. It'll oxidize. Think the Statue of Liberty, right? Over time, it becomes kind of this weird greenish color.

Iron rusts, turns orange, gets all crumbly and starts to pit, starts to ultimately be corroded out. Gold doesn't do that. It retains its luster. It retains its character through a variety of environments and over time. And as such, due to these characteristics, gold was frequently associated with the gods. It was viewed by the Egyptians and the Greeks as a divine material, one that held divine power, represented and symbolized immortality and wealth. Egypt was actually the first culture to use it as a medium for trade. They actually were also one of the first ones to begin truly working that metal. They developed gold leaf. They also developed a way to make alloys out of it called electrum, which was roughly a 60-40 combination of gold and silver that they used for currency. But you know what happens when you begin to use something for currency? As soon as something has value, as soon as it's intrinsically either valuable on its own or it has a certain perceived value, there will inevitably always be an attempt to counterfeit that item. There will always be an attempt to pass it off as something that it's not in the hopes of gaining advantage over the other person. It is a story as old as time.

It's truly a story as old as time. When something has value, when something is either intrinsically valuable or has perceived value, mankind will seek to counterfeit that thing. Interestingly, this is something God's very explicit on with the people of Israel. If you want to turn over to Leviticus 19. Leviticus 19, as we kind of build the background here for where we're going today, Leviticus 19 and verse 35, we see the intent that God had for his people.

We'll see in this section how they were to operate with the nations around them, or at least with respect to the nations around them, how they were intended as a people to be different. They were intended to be open. They were intended to be transparent. They were intended to be authentic.

Especially as these instructions came on the heels of instructions regarding the strangers and the aliens in the land. Leviticus 19, 35 and 36. God says, you shall do no injustice in judgment. In other words, God says, look, if you're going to make a judgment here, you judge your people and you judge a stranger and a foreigner the exact same way. You don't judge the stranger and the foreigner differently because they're a stranger and a foreigner.

You use justice. You ensure that there is justice in your judgment. You ensure that in measurements of length and width and volume, that you will have honest scales, honest weights, an honest ephon, an honest hen. If somebody comes to you and buys 20 pounds of wheat, you don't use a fake weight and give them 15 and pretend it's 20. God says, do justly.

Ensure that you are open, that you are transparent, that you are authentic. You're not supposed to have one set of weights for one group of people and a different set for another. You don't take advantage. Now, why is that? Why were they expected to be authentic? Because God is authentic, and they are His people. Our yes is to be yes and our no is to be no. That is the authenticity that God expects. So what's interesting when you talk about it in this capacity, when you're looking at this concept, is now that you have gold being used as a currency, people started getting some pretty interesting ways of trying to pass things off that weren't gold. They would take large chunks of lead, because you know gold's heavy, right? Gold's got a great deal of density. They would take these large chunks of lead and they'd cover it with gold foil, like bunches of layers of gold foil, to where as long as you put enough layers on there, and if somebody wasn't looking too close, well, it was heavy and it was shiny, and that might buy you a lot of wheat. So they had to develop a method to determine whether or not something was real or not, whether or not something was genuine or authentic or not. And the method that was used to determine that was developed by the Babylonians, and we still use it today, it's called the fire assay.

During the process of the fire assay, a material is subjected to about 2000 degrees of temperature, just shy of 2000 degrees, and the gold begins to liquify. You've seen this, you know, you see it in movies as they're forging metals. You heat the metal up and eventually it becomes a liquid, loses its initial form, and you can begin to work with it. Well, in the gold assay, when you melt that gold down, if there's things that start rising to the surface or there's other things at the top that aren't gold, well, you know that you've been handed a piece of gold that is not pure.

You know that you've been handed a piece of gold that suddenly is a lot less gold than that person was telling you was there. Skim them purities off the top, though, and ta-da! You have a very pure bit of gold. And so the Babylonians developed this method that we still use today because it's the least expensive and the quickest method of assaying whether gold is really gold. It's the easiest way of doing it. The problem is, if it's a necklace or a ring, it's not a necklace or a ring when it's done, right? It destroys the item that you're assaying to ensure that you find out its genuineness or not.

But if it has a lot of dross floating on the top, if it has a lot of things floating on top, it's not pure. It's not authentic. It's not fully gold. But if it was solid gold and it looked good and the proofed gold would then be poured into a mold and allowed to cool, and then essentially they could exchange that gold for various goods and services and things in those days.

In fact, a little aside, when we go to Ghana, up until the 19th century, they were actually using gold as currency in Ghana. It's kind of cool. They have these little weights that you can find sometimes in the marketplace. They call them a shanty gold weights. And they were brass, but they were used to weigh out amounts of gold to pay for things. One of these days, I'm going to find one of those that's authentic. I've seen a few fakes, but I'm going to find one of the old ones and have that as something for the shelf, so to speak.

We'll turn over to Revelation 3, and we'll get to where we're headed today. This is mostly backdrop. This is mostly setting the stage for where we're trying to go today, and that's Revelation 3. We went through this in our Bible studies locally.

We went through this with the ones that we did in 22, which were the seven churches. We talked a little bit about this section of Scripture, but I had a specific question from someone on this particular section, and it was a requested message. So we're going to go through, and we're going to look at that today. Revelation 3, verse 14, and we're going to go through and read until verse 22.

Revelation 3, verse 14 to 22, as we look at this message to the church in Laodicea. It says, the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write, these things says the amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God, says, I know your works, that you were neither hot nor cold, says, I could wish that you were cold or hot, so then, because you're lukewarm and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of my mouth, because you say I am rich, have become wealthy and have need of nothing, and do not know that you're wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked.

And then the scripture that was being asked about specifically, verse 18, I counsel you to buy from me gold, refined in the fire, that you may be rich, and white garments that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed, and anoint your eyes with eyesab that you may see. It says, as many as I love, I rebuke and I chasten, therefore be zealous and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock, and if anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I says I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with me.

To him who overcomes, I will grant to sit with me on my throne, as I also overcame, and sat down with my father on his throne. And then as many of these end, verse 22, he who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. You know, you take a look at the context and background of Laodicea. We'll go into just a little bit of this, because it's pertinent to what we're looking at.

Laodicea was originally a fortress, so initially it was just a military outpost out in the middle of the Laocas Valley, kind of a crossroads there in Asia Minor, about 45 miles southeast of the city of Philadelphia. And while it was a great spot for a military outpost, because you could see armies coming up into some of the capital locations, the city that ultimately developed there over the years was not in an ideal spot for a city. In fact, it had no natural water source of its own. We've talked about this. It had to have water piped in from the nearby cities of Colosia and Heropolis. And so you have this situation where you've got a city that's suddenly growing and bustling in this less than ideal spot, and a whole lot of people that need water. And so there was a water contract put into place. By the time of the Apostles, the city had a major economic center that was known for its banking and its money lending. And that was so much so that when Cicero traveled from Rome into Asia Minor on his travels, he didn't want to carry all the gold with him from Rome. Because, you know, it's not a good idea in those days. And so he had letters of credit that were given to him by people in Rome, and he waited until he got to Leo to see it, to cash him, because they had the money to actually cash his letters of credit. So it was an area that had become a major economic center known for banking and money lending. They traded in a number of items. This black wool that was special to the area, as well as an ISAV that was developed in a local temple there. And of course, the merchant traffic that was in and out through their banking system. The city was destroyed in 17 AD by an earthquake, again in 61 AD, and both times the city was able to rely on itself to rebuild the city. It did not have to accept help from Rome. They had the enough money to do it on their own. You know, there's a truism in this message that Jesus Christ is providing to this church in Laodicea, and it's a truism that rings true today as well.

When times are quote-unquote good, man perceives that they don't need God. When times are good, man has very little need for God. It isn't until those times become challenging and it isn't until those times become difficult that suddenly God comes back into the picture. And that is part of the message here that we are seeing to Laodicea. Laodicea believed that they could do it all on their own. They could do it under their own strength, their own willpower, as a result of their own efforts, their own money. And then the message to the church in Laodicea, what we see is a juxtaposition that is developed here. That while a person can be considered successful by human standards, they can be judged to be a failure spiritually, and vice versa. The converse of that is true. Those judged by societal standards to be failures, unsuccessful, poverty-stricken, can be among those that are the most spiritually wealthy. And so we see this juxtaposition put into place. Notice verse 17 again, because you say, I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing. In this scenario, they're looking and saying, we've got it at all! We don't need anything!

We don't need anything at all. We have everything that we would ever need. And God says, no, no, you don't. You're missing something pretty critical. He says, you don't even realize that you're wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked. And he says, verse 18 again, the requested question here, I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich.

So the question was posed. It was asked if a message could be prepared on what exactly this gold that's refined in the fire that we are to be seeking to buy from God is.

What is this gold that is to be refined in the fire? So spoiler alert, Scripture doesn't actually specifically say what it is. Thank you and good afternoon.

No, I'm kidding. But, but that said, we can, by using precept on precept and concepts and principles, I think we can make a pretty reasonable inference as to what it is that God is getting at. So in the time that we have left here today, I'd like to address this, try to meet this request, and see what we can do from Scripture to answer this particular question. So title of the split today is buy from me gold. Buy from me gold. So as we seek to answer this question and we start to ask ourselves, what is it exactly that we are to be buying from God, to be purchasing from Him, to be redeeming from Him as that word is in Greek, it's important again to consider these particular letters did not take place in a vacuum. There is overlap. There's overlap between not just the letters that were written to those churches, those seven churches in Revelation, but there's also overlaps and concepts that were present in letters that were written to individuals in this particular area and in this region as well that I think can help provide a little bit of context. So for example, you don't need to turn there, but Laodicea was experiencing the exact opposite situation that the people from Smyrna were experiencing. Okay. Revelation 2 in verse 9, the letter to Smyrna states the following. God says, I know your works, tribulation, and poverty, but then in parentheses He says to those in Smyrna, though you are rich. So once again, Smyrna is on the total opposite spectrum. They're looking around going, we are destitute! We have nothing! We have absolutely nothing, and God goes, but you have everything. You have everything that's actually important. You just don't have the societal standard of what this is. You have everything else that's important. So there is this clear juxtaposition that's being established in these messages to the church of physical poverty, which the word in Greek really means destitution.

It means absolute abject poverty. Not just like, I'm having a hard time making ends meet. No, it's like destitution is the idea here in this word. And spiritual riches, and then physical riches, having every possible need and want ever taken care of, and spiritual poverty. So there's this connection being made. And I want to be very clear. That is not to say that this establishes a correlation, and that people with money have no spiritual... well, that is not what this is saying. Okay, so I want to be very clear on that. What it is saying is that there is a tendency of human nature. There is a tendency of human nature, and that these two situations, this specific situation in human history, and the two churches at this time in history, the context, there is very clear messaging from Jesus Christ on this topic. So interestingly, there's another set of letters that were given to the region. If you want to start flipping over to the book of Colossians, the book of Colossians, who is, you know, one of Laodicea's closest neighbors, the book of Colossians, we're going to pick it up in Colossians 2. And these set of instructions that we're going to find in here were instructed to be read and shared in Laodicea, and they bring up this same concept, this same general idea. We don't really have record of whether or not they were ever read there. We don't know. We assume they were, that they probably got a little bit of this as well. But if you turn over to Colossians, we'll see some of this same concept being addressed in Laodicea's immediate neighbors. So Colossians 2, and we'll go ahead and pick it up in verse 1. Colossians 2 verse 1, and we'll read through verse 3, says, For I want you to know what a great conflict I have for you, and those in Laodicea. Again, regional letter here in some ways, because of the proximity between these two cities. And frankly, Colossia was a much bigger city at the time this one was written.

For many as have not seen my face in the flesh, that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love and attaining to all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the knowledge of the mystery of God, both of the Father and of Christ, in whom, verse 3, notice this, in whom are hidden all of the treasures of wisdom and of knowledge, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and of knowledge. So Paul, as he's writing this letter, is making it abundantly clear to those in Colossia where true riches are found.

Later, in Colossians 4 and verse 16, he actually specifically requests that when this epistle is read among those in Colossia, that it also be read to those in Laodicea. And that likewise, in Epistle 2, Laodicea, which we're not sure if we have record of. It's not canonized, at least at this point. I heard somebody was telling me in Eugene today that there's a theory that it was the letter to the Ephesians that was just read to Laodicea. I'd never heard that, but certainly possibility. But that an epistle to Laodicea would then be read to them as well. But Paul tells those in Colossia that the hidden treasures of true treasure of wisdom and knowledge, these things come from the Father and they come from Christ. And that kind of lines up a little bit with Christ's words in Matthew 6. If you turn over there real quick, Matthew 6, Christ reinforced this concept to his disciples. He talked about physical, spiritual wealth. He talked about a principle that's really important for us to keep in mind. Matthew 6, to keep this principle in mind as we consider what is physical wealth and what is spiritual wealth. Matthew 6, we'll pick it up in verse 19. Matthew 6, 19 says, Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven where neither moth nor rust destroy and where thieves do not break in and steal. And then the principle in 21, where your treasure is there your heart will be also.

So where your treasure is there your heart will be also. Now, it's a truism, isn't it?

If we're not careful, that can be absolutely true. If we amass, for example, a large portfolio of stocks or a big pile of cash, gold, you know, whatever it might be, our mind is there. It's thinking about that because we don't want it to get wrecked. We don't want it to get stolen. We don't want it to, you know, if the markets are a little bit wonky, we're watching it. We're looking at the portfolio. We're like, oh man, how much should I lose today? Or how much did I gain today? Right? Our hearts can be in those places sometimes if we're not careful because we're worried about the performance of that portfolio. We're worried about protecting it because that's our retirement, because that's where we're going, you know, our life, etc., whatever that might be.

But the principle here is that the treasures that we lay up here on earth, they're subject to degradation. They're subject to destruction. They're subject to theft. But if our efforts and our treasures are spiritual, if they are the things, the hidden treasures of wisdom and knowledge that come from God, if it's these things that are being discussed here that cannot be corroded, that cannot be rusted or moth eaten, that can't be stolen, those things are eternal.

Those things are forever, truly forever, because those things come from God. They come from God.

They're stored up as we develop them through the growing of our relationship with Him, through these true riches, this authentic salvation that comes only through Christ, and the process by which He's perfecting and He's maturing each of us. Through our obedience, through His grace, through this process that God's utilizing in our lives to prepare and to refine us spiritually. As we begin to lay up these things of God, as we begin to build these things of God, these are the things we need to be considering. Malachi 3, back into the Old Testament here in Malachi, Malachi 3 discusses the reward of the wicked, and it talks about the reward of the righteous.

And it actually, in chapter 2, there was this exclamation that kind of closes chapter 2 here in Malachi, which is, where is the God of justice? He says, you know, the wicked prosper and the righteous perish. Where is this God of justice? Malachi 3, in verse 3, kind of in answer to this question and in answer to this line of thought, He talks about the coming messenger. He talks about God. He talks about what God does and who He is in our lives. Malachi 3, in verse 3, says, He, speaking of God here, will sit as a refiner and a purifier of silver. He will purify the sons of Levi and purge them as gold and as silver, that they may offer to the Lord an offering in righteousness. You know, we are refined by God just as gold and as silver. God works the impurities out of us. He works the impurities out of us, but it's not a simple process. It's not a simple process. Just like in gold and silver, the original material is heated up to the point of liquefaction.

Heated to the point of liquefaction. It goes from a solid to a liquid. And in that process, in that heat and in that fire, that metal yields up its impurities to be removed by the refiner.

That dross that's floating on the top, those things that come out of us sometimes, when we least expect it. Things we say and go, whoo! That didn't sound like God. You know, those types of situations. But then those impurities are removed by the refiner, and what we see is we have a pure and clean metal left in its place. This pool of liquid metal in its place that has that luster, has that shine. You know, it used to be said that the refiner would know when the metal was done being refined, when they could look down into that crucible and see their face in it, when they could see their reflection in the metal that they were working, they knew it was finished. They knew it was pure and it was refined at that point, because they could see themselves in it.

You know, it's a similar concept that we see outlined in Proverbs 17 in verse 3. It says, the refining pot is for silver, the furnace is for gold. It says, God tests, or the Lord tests, the hearts. In this process, in this refining process, God is working on discerning our heart. He's working on understanding as to whether we'll serve Him or if we're going to serve ourselves. If we're going to serve Him or if we're going to serve the world, or as we know, a man can't have two masters, so will we serve him or will we serve something else? That's what God's seeking to find out through this refinement process, through what He is doing in our lives to refine us. Skip now just a little bit into verse 16.

Is this interesting here when we see this kind of this discernment in action, so to speak. Malachi 3 and verse 16 says, Then those who feared the Lord spoke to one another. The Lord listened and heard them. And so a book of remembrance was written before Him for those who fear the Lord and who meditate on His name. Verse 17, the Lord of hosts here says, They shall be mine on that day or on the day that I make them my jewels, and I will spare them as a man spares his own son who serves Him. He says, verse 18, Then you shall again discern between the righteous and the wicked between one who serves God and one who does not serve Him. See this discernment process, this refinement process is what God is doing in our lives to determine where our heart lies, whether it is truly aligned in service with Him or whether the focus is somewhere else. I think what's a huge thing that should take out of this that should give us an incredible amount of pause is that God's listening to the words that we speak to one another.

That when we gather together, those who feared the Lord spoke to one another, and it says, God the Lord listened and heard them. That He is hearing our communication with one another. What an incredible concept that while we're gathered together, while we're talking about things with one another, that He's paying attention to that. Not only that, there's a book of remembrance being written as a result of those conversations. That He is remembering these things. It's being written before Him so that the names of those who fear the Lord, those who meditate on His name, can be remembered. Because God has a plan for those individuals. He's listening to find out whether that communication bears His fruit. Whether it's apples of gold in settings of silver, and it says God will claim those individuals. Those who serve Him. Those who are His. In fact, the word here, if you look in Malachi, it says, where's it at? Verse, I'm sorry, I lost it. Oh, right here in verse 17, where it says, on that day that I make them my jewels. That word in Hebrew means special treasure. It means personal possession that is special. That is a personal treasured possession. It doesn't just mean jewel. It means something that is just absolutely treasured and personal.

These individuals, ultimately, that have been purified and have been refined. These individuals whose wealth is laid up in heaven with their God. Let's turn over to 1 Peter 1, verse 6. 1 Peter 1 and verse 6. 1 Peter 1, verse 6, and we'll read through verse 9.

Talks about this process that builds this spiritual wealth in our life. And it's a process that comes down sometimes through hardship. And I honestly, I would say probably more frequently through hardship and difficulty in trial than less frequently when it comes to building this particular spiritual wealth. But in verse 6 of 1 Peter 1, he says, Verse 9. I'm sorry, verse 8.

Peter makes the point here about the hardship and the difficulties that we experience, the trials that we face, that the genuineness, the authenticity, we might say, of our faith is illustrated. That in the process of these challenges, this Greek word actually here that's testing is dokimion. It literally comes from a metallurgical context. It is talking about taking a metal and testing it to find out if it's really what it says it is. Is it really gold? Melt it down and find out is what this word is talking about. And in many ways, that is the hardship and the trials that we face. God saying, melt it down and find out. Is it what it says it is? Through these difficulties, the truth of our faith is illustrated. But Peter goes on to say that it's a faith that is actually more precious than gold that perishes. It is more precious than the most precious metal that we have on this planet. Our faith is more precious than that.

And that faith that we have, it is tested and it is proven through fire. It is tested and is proven through challenges and through difficulties. And it says that it is found, once tested, to praise and honor and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, even though we haven't seen Him, even though we haven't seen His face directly. It says, whom we love. We rejoice with inexpressible joy and glory at the coming receipt of the end of that faith, which is our salvation. Only then can we be spiritually wealthy. Only then can we be rich. Or as the Greek in Revelation 3 and verse 18 implies, to become rich rather than be already. It's talking about becoming rich. It's a process.

As we have wisdom, as we have knowledge, as we have faith, these things that have been discussed as treasures, as we have the characteristics of God and our communication, of righteousness, our salvation, all these things can be symbolized by gold that is refined in the fire. Why? Well, because they are those things which are pure. They are the things which are pure because they're the things which are of God. What do we mean by that? Wisdom, which comes from God. As long as it is wisdom which comes from God, and it's not been tainted by man, it's not been tainted by Satan's devices, it is pure. It is the pure, refined gold, the pure, refined treasure that is there.

Knowledge, as long as it hasn't been tainted by Satan or tainted by carnal human nature. Faith, all of these things are pure. They're all things that are refined, that are pure, that are lustrous, that are shining, so to speak. I want to make sure—be careful with this, I guess—I want to make sure it's not wrong to build wealth in this life. Nothing wrong with that. There's nothing wrong with building wealth in this life. Money, in and of itself, is amoral. I want to be clear, not immoral. Amoral. It doesn't have morals. In and of itself, money does not have morals.

Money is wielded by the person who's holding it in their hand. The morality of it is dependent upon who holds it. But one of the things that we have to be able to recognize, and we have to understand, is our absolute worthlessness without God. Our absolute worthlessness without Him. That all the money in the world means absolutely nothing if it impacts or it negates our relationship with Him. It means zero if it gets in the way of that relationship. Passage. What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul? And that is the issue that Laodicea was facing. That's the problem that is being addressed. They were rich. They were loaded. Laodicea was loaded. They had need of nothing materially. Need of nothing materially. But spiritually, God said they were wretched, they were miserable, they were poor, they were blind, and they were naked. And God desired them to see their condition, to be able to open their eyes and realize what their true selves were. And so He counseled them to anoint their eyes with real eye salve. Not this stuff you can get at your temple, but anointing with real eye salve. This stuff that actually works. He wanted them to be clothed in the white garments of righteousness and purity and ultimately to buy from Him the gold that was purified and refined in the fire. Not material blessings, not or not material wealth, not things like that.

But that they might actually become authentically rich, authentically wealthy. The people of Laodicea's treasure was laid up here on this earth. It was laid up right here, and that's where their heart was. It was right here. It was not in heaven. It was not with their God. So, brethren, a couple questions that I have for you today as we begin to close here. Firstly, are we making these regular deposits? Are we making regular deposits, so to speak, to that treasure? Are we putting in the effort and the work to be able to make those regular deposits? And then along right in line with that, where is our heart? Where's our heart? Is it here? Is it there? Where's our heart?

I'd like to close today in Philippians 4 and verse 19. You know, as we kind of look at these things that have been mentioned as treasures that come from God, wisdom and knowledge, ultimately, the characteristics of God, the fruit of God, so to speak. I want to close in Philippians 4 because one of the things that's interesting with this section, Paul's closing this letter to the brethren in Philippi, and he's thanking them for their generosity. I mean, Paul's very much thanking them for their generosity and the care that they provided him when he needed it in his ministry, the care that, you know, they provided towards other brethren in support of the gospel so that Paul actually could go out and preach the gospel to this region. But he's thanking them for the effort that they made and the support that they provided. Philippians 4 and verse 19, as he kind of concludes this idea of the generosity, kind of begins here in verse 10, but we'll pick it up in 14. I'm sorry, 19 of Philippians 4, 19, says, And my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus, that God would provide all of their need through the riches that he provides, through the gold that they were building and that they were buying from him through that relationship, that they were provided as a result of the building of that relationship. And God means that. Brethren, he means that. All of our need. Everything spiritually that we could ever need, God provides us. He gives us, as we work with him, as we build that relationship, as we yield ourselves to him, when we keep our heart in the right place and we're looking for opportunities to love others, to care for other people, to support one another spiritually. Those are the true riches. Those are the true spiritual riches.

Let's maintain that focus. Let's keep that focus on charity and on generosity to one another, not just physical, material things, but encouragement and strengthening one another spiritually. But let's work, too, to maintain and build our relationship with God. And brethren, let us be very careful not to fall into the same trap that the people of Laodicea fell into.

So, let's maintain that focus on charity and to build our relationship with God.