Territory Closed by God

In addressing the Laodicean Church, the Faithful Witness declares the reason for His dissatisfaction with His people, listing some signs of apostasy. One of the accusations sounds like: "You are naked" (Revelation 3:17). And every son and daughter of God should personally examine this statement of Christ. Further, in verse 18, the Lord counsels buying from Him a means to cover this nakedness.

What types of nakedness do we know?

1. Physical nakedness — when a person is completely undressed or exposes body parts that provoke temptation or lust in the opposite sex.

2. Emotional nakedness — when a person sincerely shares the secrets of their soul with strangers, opening their thoughts and feelings, making themselves vulnerable, and allowing other people to be aware of everything happening in their personal life.

3. Spiritual nakedness in the light of the Bible — when a believing person has some unconscious or secret sinful addiction or lives in obvious sin, thereby opening their heart to the influence of evil spirits, which, upon entering, deprive the soul of the right to Eternal life. God will not cover a conscience defiled by sin with the garments of His righteousness until the person of the Laodicean period recognizes their sad state and follows the counsel of the Faithful Witness, entering into constant trading relationships with Christ (Revelation 3:18).

4. Nakedness can also refer to the natural state of someone or something, without unnecessary artificial additions or decorations. This can be something that human hands have not touched.

Nakedness can be visible and invisible to the eye.

When the first people were created, they were naked. They did not have the familiar clothing to us, but God's light covered their bodies as a symbol of the purity and righteousness in which Adam and Eve were created and sheltered. Sin deprived them of this unique clothing, and they saw that they were naked and were afraid. To somehow cover their nakedness, Adam and his wife made themselves clothes from fig leaves, believing that this would hide their problem. God rebuked people for the sin that made them naked in all respects and took care to give people leather clothes sewn from the skins of innocent animals killed for human sins. Thus, the rite of sacrifice was established, which was to constantly remind of the price that would be paid for human sin and the better Sacrifice that would be brought to deliver from the power of sin.

When the Lord brought His people out of Egypt, the world was opened to God's laws and ordinances through Moses. These rules regulated people's relationships with God and with each other. Part of these laws concerned the form of clothing, who and what should wear, and how open this garment could be.

Time passed, and in the middle of the 19th century, the Lord gave the world a message about Clothing Reform through the Spirit of Prophecy, very clearly and in detail explaining the criteria expected by Heaven from God's children. Living in the 21st century, we do not have new light regarding clothing wear that would cancel earlier ordinances. We are given common sense that allows us to correspond to God's standards in the context of modern culture without looking ridiculous or sexual. We are surrounded by a world that exerts steady influence and offers its values. Fashion dictates to us how and what to wear. Various media advertise goods that do not correspond to God's light. Through this, the enemy desires to damage our mind in this matter and impose his concepts and standards.

The church does not have a prescribed order for admitting people to worship in one form of clothing or another. You will be admitted to the assembly in any form if you are not completely naked. And you will not be expelled from the service if your appearance does not correspond to the Clothing Reform. Moreover, the light of this Reform is unfamiliar to many parishioners, and it is spoken about less and less from the pulpit, fearing to lose those who at least come this way. In God's churches in some regions of the world, there are ethical rules that are not supposed to be violated, and there is the influence of permanent church members who show newly arrived people from the world how it is customary to dress in this society.

The Lord stands above all human cultures and Himself determines what is decent and what is not, what can be exposed and what should always be covered.

Clothing is that closed territory and established boundary that no one can enter just like that. I myself decide what to wear and what to take off in this or that situation. There are people who have the moral right to violate these boundaries. These are my spouse, treating physician, and in some cases, rescue or security services.

God is very attentive to what and how I put on myself, and how appropriate it is. After all, I am His visible representative in this world, and my appearance should reflect holiness and purity.

However the world might try to erase these boundaries of holiness in my understanding, they remain unshakable in God's requirements. Moreover, God expects not only external conformity of my appearance to His requirements but also that my internal content be at the height of God's standards. These knowledge does not come by themselves. They must be sought, studied, and invariably observed. Faith comes from hearing, and hearing from the word of God (Romans 10:17).

By calling me naked, the Lord expects that I will accept His decision on this matter and enter into trading relationships with Him, be zealous in studying the light He has sent, and repent of my lukewarm state. He will never lower this bar below His criteria and will not make His light outdated or irrelevant.

Jesus accepts a coming sinner in any form but does not leave him as he is forever, but washes, clothes him in His garments, and teaches wisdom and holiness.

In my personal space, I have the authority and right to establish my own boundaries, deciding to make something a secret or to open something to someone. But what God has closed and declared indecent, I cannot expose with impunity.

I like God's constancy and definiteness. When I understood what He expects and requires of me, I stopped being afraid that He would someday change His ordinances or lower the level of trust. He always asks me to rise higher and comprehend something new, and the Lord is consistent in this growth, not forcing me to jump over the simple things that need to be studied to understand the more complex. Knowing what the light of the Clothing Reform tells about, it is already impossible to live contrary to the received knowledge, but unquestioning adherence to this light will cause fierce resistance and mockery even among coreligionists and even in the family. One must be prepared for this and should not be afraid of it.

It is more important to me to be clothed in God's eyes and have His approval than to be accepted in the world's eyes and think that God does not care how I look, but only what I am in the heart.

Your appearance, friends, should not cause admiration but respect. And God will take care of this when you firmly stand on this path.

Without independent study of this light, you will not be able to know God's will in this matter and will shift these boundaries not for the better, falling under the condemnation of the Faithful Witness.

Reflection Questions for this Chapter

1. Please read Hosea 4:6; Isaiah 1:16-18; Matthew 5:20; Isaiah 64:6; Revelation 3:16-19; 7:13-14; 16:15; 19:8; Genesis 2:25; 3:6-7,21; 47:42; Exodus 20:26; Isaiah 47:2-3; Deuteronomy 22:5; Ecclesiastes 9:7-8; 1 Peter 3:3-4; Proverbs 31:25; Testimonies to the Church, chapters 85, 88 in light of this chapter.

2. What other Bible verses came to your mind?

3. What did you understand from this chapter?

4. Have you studied the light about clothing reform in the "Testimonies to the Church"?

5. Does the Lord give some light just to have it recorded somewhere?

6. How does the Bible describe those who do not wish to study God's will and reject God's light?

7. Did you notice how much attention was paid to the clothing of priests and people?

8. Do you think the Lord pays attention to how and what we are dressed in?

9. Should you judge someone because their clothing does not correspond to the light revealed to you?

10. Is it important to understand that the question of clothing relates both to external clothing and to the internal state of the soul?

11. What benefit will I have if I am decently dressed but distant from the Lord in my thoughts?

12. Is the Clothing Reform given only for women, or does it also concern men?

13. What is the difference between decent and indecent clothing? (Proverbs 7:10)

14. Is it important not only to know and study God's light but also to live in it?

15. While studying the issue of Clothing Reform, is it worth remembering that without love I am nothing, and I have no benefit from any knowledge? (1 Corinthians 13:1-3)