I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.
Ver. 18. I counsel thee] Having first convinced thee,Revelation 3:17, who before wert uncounselable; the Gibeonites sent not for Joshua till besieged; the Gileadites sought not after Jephthah till distressed; nor will men hearken after Christ till driven out of themselves.
To buy of me] "Buy the truth and sell it not." Make a thorough sale of sin and all (with the wise merchant) to purchase Christ the pearl of price, for whom St Paul (that great trader both by sea and land, 2Co 11:23; 2Co 11:25-26) counted all but dung and dog's meat, Philippians 3:7,8. Diogenes taxed the folly of the men of his times (may not we the men of ours?) quod res pretiosas minimo emerent, venderentque vilissimas plurimo, that they undervalued the best things, but overvalued the worst.
Gold tried in the fire] Precious faith, 1 Peter 1:7 .
White raiment] The righteousnesses of the saints, that of justification, and the other of sanctification.
And that the shame of thy nakedness] But be covered as the priest's nakedness was by his linen breeches. Nature teacheth us to cover our nakedness; therefore when a man hath committed a sin, he blusheth; the blood as it were would cover the sin. Aaron by making the golden calf had made the people naked unto their shame among their enemies,Exodus 32:25. Maximilian the emperor, when he yielded up the ghost, gave charge that none should see his dead body naked. Erat enim omnium mortalium verecundissimus, saith mine author. Buy we this white raiment of Christ; so shall our sins never shame us.
Eyesalve] That unction, 1 John 2:20. Light and sight, the saving, knowledge of heavenly mysteries.