Question 10:

What remedy did Christ offer the Laodiceans (vv.18-20)?

I read this passage and my immediate thought is that Jesus is telling us how to find salvation in the world of materialism. Buying Gold from Him is to listen to His words. Wearing white clothes is to be clean in the sight of God through Jesus by being his follower etc, but I think the key here is the passage "So be earnest, and repent". How many of us are not earnest in their repentance? How often do we say 'this thing that the Lord has bought to my attention, I need to give it up. Yes Lord, I hear you, thank you, I will not do that any more' yet go right ahead and do it again? In which case we are not being earnest. Our repentance is not repentance at all.

Question 9:

What sort of spiritual "wealth" do churches today imagine they have accumulated?

Many churches today rely a lot on pomp and ceremony. I attend a High Anglican service with my wife from time to time when we're in her home town. The whole time I'm there I feel totally unattached to God. For those involved in the ritual, they may find attachment to God, but I certainly don't. Different horses for different courses, naturally, but I have a concern that this question is related to this kind of 'spiritual wealth'. The assumption that 'they' have something that 'we' don't have. Done a robe, put on a dog collar and you're instantly 'more deserving' than 'them' for the kingdom of heaven. NOBODY is deservedly gets to the kingdom of Heaven.

The visible church, for all its Christian profession, was not truly Christian at all. Self-satisfied and superficial, it was composed (according to Jesus) of blind and naked beggars. But the tragedy was that they would not admit it. THey were rich, not poor, in spirit.

Question 8:

It is apparent that the Laodiceans were materially wealthy (v.17). What other kinds of "wealth" might they have assumed they had accumulated?

Jesus said "Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it." (Matthew 7:13-14).

I think this is clearly the case with the Laodiceans. They were rich in material goods, and thought that they were rich in spirit as well. The assumption is often that we are one of the saved, but nobody truly knows that they are saved. Accumulation of material wealth is a risk at getting in the way of life with Jesus.