by Terry Wane Benton<\/p>\n
To the Laodicean church, the Spirit said:<\/p>\n
“Because you say, ‘I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing’ – and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked<\/em>” (Revelation 3:17).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
To think we “have need of nothing<\/em>” and that our measurement of wealth and riches is correct might reveal that we have in mind the wrong kind of wealth and “need.” Is it material wealth? Does “need” only pertain to the body? Is that all we think is important? If so, there is a serious problem at work here.<\/p>\n
When God is concerned about the heart and spirit and our major concerns are material and earthly, we have a problem that will surely stunt our growth and blind us to what is truly important. If our minds are on “things on the earth<\/em>” instead of our minds being “set on things above<\/em>” (Colossians 3:1f) we have a condition that makes God sick enough to “spew us out of His mouth<\/em>.”<\/p>\n
The true condition is “wretched”. If we are satisfied, we are like a man who puts his hands on the plow and looks back, we are not fit for the kingdom of God. Our true condition is miserable, and we don’t even realize how miserable our condition really is. We are “poor” on the inside, lacking the eternal riches we should value in Christ above anything else. We are “blind” to what is wrong with our value system. The spiritual treasures in Christ should envelop and enclose our minds with the most prized garments of the soul and character. Spiritual blindness of the true condition of our souls is what makes God want to vomit. This is a wake-up call to the brethren of Laodicea and churches today. Do you see as the world sees? Or do you see what God sees? Is your evaluation the same as God’s evaluation? Are our eyes truly open?<\/p>\n
Where is your level of spiritual growth? To the Hebrews, the Spirit said “by this time you ought to be teachers<\/em>” (Hebrews 5:12f). Have you been in the church so long and even now cannot tell the scriptures a person needs to know to be saved? Have you settled on being a visitor to the assembly but not an involved teacher? Have you decided you don’t “need” to be involved and committed as teachers?<\/p>\n
Do you really think you “have need of nothing” spiritually? The Spirit says to wake up! “Awake from sleep!<\/em>“<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Terry Wane Benton To the Laodicean church, the Spirit said: “Because you say, ‘I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing’ – and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked” (Revelation 3:17). To think we “have need of nothing” and that our measurement of wealth and…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[410],"class_list":["post-65640","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-judgment"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":59564,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-silver-thermometer\/","url_meta":{"origin":65640,"position":0},"title":"The Silver Thermometer (Hailey)","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 24, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"by Homer Hailey via The Preceptor, Vol. 1, No. 2, Dec. 1951. It is easier to describe and evaluate the tangible than to describe or evaluate the intangible. Because this is so, the Lord's churches are often led to place undue emphasis on numbers added to their membership and to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":69722,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/i-have-need-of-nothing\/","url_meta":{"origin":65640,"position":1},"title":"I … Have Need of Nothing","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 8, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by L. A. Stauffer via Biblical Insights, Vol. 14, No. 9, September 2014 Life was great for the Laodiceans. Business was wonderful, prosperity was abounding, and they flourished with riches. They had the best chariots, top-of-the-line clothing, the finest food from the markets, and palatial homes with plenty of acreage.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":54142,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/count-your-many-blessings-but-use-them\/","url_meta":{"origin":65640,"position":2},"title":"Count Your Many Blessings — But Use Them","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 24, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"by Kent Heaton As a nation, we are blessed in measures far exceeding the majority of people in the world. The material wealth possessed by Americans may seem rather routine but in most countries owning a pair of shoes is like owning a rare jewel. Stores often are filled to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/counting-200x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":11663,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/money-matters\/","url_meta":{"origin":65640,"position":3},"title":"Money Matters","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 3, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: I Chronicles 29:10-18 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0We live in a society consumed with the desire for wealth \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Since money is a part of a Christian\u2019s life, we need to know how to properly regard money and wealth. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0We need to know how to properly handle money. II.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Wealth\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":85739,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/god-or-humanism\/","url_meta":{"origin":65640,"position":4},"title":"God or Humanism?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 19, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Benton How can one determine that humans are more important than anything if everything is just different forms of material accident? To be a humanist is to make humanity your god and devote religious belief to the superiority of man, and that becomes your dogma and tradition.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":93917,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/stand-firm-in-the-lord\/","url_meta":{"origin":65640,"position":5},"title":"Stand Firm in the Lord","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 13, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"by Hugh DeLong \"Therefore, my beloved brethren whom I long to see, my joy and crown, in this way stand firm in the Lord, my beloved\" (Philippians 4:1). Our relationship with the Lord comes with resistance from the world and the devil. Often, it isn't the 'big pushback' but the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65640","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=65640"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65640\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=65640"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=65640"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=65640"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}