“Rock of ages, cleft for me, let me hide myself in Thee.” I cannot confirm that this hymn was written with Revelation 3:14-22 in mind, but it certainly fits. Agustus Toplady (what an interesting name) wrote this and it fit right in to our lesson on Sunday. Read this verse.
Nothing in my hand I bring, Simply to Thy cross I cling;
Naked, come to Thee for dress; Helpless, look to Thee for grace;
Foul, I to the fountain fly; Wash me, Savior, or I die.
This fits right in with the description of the church at Laodicea. Oh, wait. Not everyone who reads this was in class this week. Let’s get a little background and/or refresher. The church at Laodicea was probably the richest of the seven in chapters 2 and 3. The city was the production center of fine black wool textiles and clothing. It also boasted a medical school that developed an effective salve to treat eye problems. It also had a compromised water supply, so it built a six mile long aqueduct to pipe hot water from hot springs at nearby Hierapolis. It also piped cold water in from Colossae. (Ten miles)
So when Jesus dictated His message to Laodicea, He used these characteristics of the city to emphasize His meaning. Here is part of what He said. V. 17
“...you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked.”
They were, in Jesus’ eyes, wretched, miserable, poor, blind, naked. That just about contradicted the entire prospectus of the city and its citizens. Now check Toplady’s description.
Nothing in my hand I bring, Simply to Thy cross I cling;
Naked, come to Thee for dress; Helpless, look to Thee for grace;
Foul, I to the fountain fly; Wash me, Savior, or I die.
Now the miracle of the song is that when I got to class on Sunday, I did not have a hymn to sing. (We try to have a hymn every week. Sometimes they correspond with the lesson. Sometimes they just give us a chance to revel in the wonderful music that ministers to the church and gives us more insight into His love for us.)
Back to class. On the way, I heard a radio station playing “Rock of Ages” and asked the early attenders if they had an idea for a song. I asked, “How about ‘Rock of Ages?’” They agreed that it was a good one and so the Holy Spirit, I think, chose the song for us. I had spent over a month thinking and working on this lesson and no song had occurred to me.
“Naked, come to Thee for dress.” That fits right in with Jesus’ corrective command for the church. V.18
I advise you to buy from Me gold refined by fire so that you may become rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself, and that the shame of your nakedness will not be revealed; and eye salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see.
This supposedly rich church needed to go to the Lord for His gold, true riches. (Out of order for this meditation) And eye salve so that they could see their true condition. This seems to have inspired Toplady, buy “white garments,” not opposed to the black, but to cover their nakedness. Even black cloth, was insufficient to cover their moral deficiencies: nakedness. They needed the righteousness of Christ. (3:4, 5)
Just to finish our discussion, we will turn to Jesus’ initial comment to this church. V. 15
“I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot; I wish that you were cold or hot. 16 So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth.”
Recall the water supply for the city. The cold water was piped ten miles and the hot water aqueduct stretched six miles. You can imagine the quality of the water that spilled out of these two conduits. The hot was no longer hot, The cold had warmed to about room temperature.
A visitor to the city who was unaware of the quality of the water would by unpleasantly surprised at either option. And, the hot water was from springs that were high in minerals, particularly carbonate. Did you ever drink a glass of water with sodium bicarbonate, baking soda, dissolved in it? As our German friends would say, “Nicht so gut!” (Long U, guut) And if you think you are getting a refreshing gulp, you might just go “Pfew!”
Jesus said He would spue them out of His mouth. Hot and cold are not opposite extremes of devotion. They are complementary levels of usefulness. Hot water is good when you need hot. Cold water is good when you need cold. Lukewarm substitutes for either are unsatisfactory. Jesus said, “I wish you were useful, not nauseating.”
Thank you, Pastor Toplady for the reminder of our state and our need. And as John records, Jesus final advice was, “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” The medical school also had a salve for ear problems. Listen.
(Two links to the music and a description of his situation when he wrote the hymn are below.) Read all of the verses, especially the last one.
https://www.godtube.com/popular-hymns/rock-of-ages-lyrics-story-behind-hymn/
https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=rock+of+ages+hymn&view=detail&mid=0817E6ACA37206E38DAC0817E6ACA37206E38DAC&FORM=VIRE
15 ‘I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot; I wish that you were cold or hot. 16 So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will [b]spit you out of My mouth. 17 Because you say, “I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing,” and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked, 18 I advise you to buy from Me gold refined by fire so that you may become rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself, and that the shame of your nakedness will not be revealed; and eye salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see. 19 Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline; therefore be zealous and repent. 20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me. 21 He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne. 22 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’”
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Revelation+3&version=NASB
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