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SERIES: THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST, WEEK 15

TITLE: THE DEAD CHURCH

TEXT: REVELATION 3:1-6

INTRODUCTION: (1) THE CRITERIA FOR JUDGING WHETHER A CHURCH IS ALIVE OR DEAD BY MANY TODAY IS PRETTY SUPERFICIAL.

*NORMALLY EXTERNAL AND APPEARANCES ARE THE RULE OF THUMB.

** FOR EXAMPLE, A CHURCH THAT IS ALIVE IS BIG, A LOT OF PEOPLE ATTEND ITS SERVICES.

*** A CHURCH THAT IS ALIVE IS ACTIVE, THERE ARE A LOT OF PROGRAMS, A LOT OF ACTIVITIES, A LOT GOING ON, ESPECIALLY GREAT MUSIC.

**** A CHURCH THAT IS ALIVE HAS A GREAT FACILITY OR IS IN THE PROCESS OF A BUILDING PROGRAM.

(2) A CHURCH THAT IS ALIVE HAS A GOOD SIZED PAID STAFF TO RUN THE PROGRAMS AND MEET THE NEEDS OF THE PEOPLE AND THEY HAVE A LOT OF MONEY TO WORK WITH, A BIG BUDGET.

* AND BASICALLY BIG IS BETTER, BIG IS SUCCESS, AND ACTIVITY, ENTHUSIASM AND POSITIVE ATTITUDES EQUAL SPIRITUALITY.

** OUTWARD PHYSICAL APPEARANCE, PROGRAMS, A POSITIVE MESSAGE AND INTERESTING SUCCESSFUL PEOPLE ARE A PART OF AN IMAGE OF SUCCESS AND STATUS IN A COMMUNITY.

*** BUT LET ME SAY THAT THE LORD’S EVALUATION OF A CHURCH HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH EXTERNALS, BUT THINGS GOING ON IN THE HEARTS OF IT’S PEOPLE AND SPIRITUAL LIFE IS CONVEYED BY THE FRUIT OF OBEDIENCE AND FAITHFULNESS.

(3) IN FACT, A CHURCH MAY HAVE ALL THE THINGS I’VE JUST MENTIONED AND BE DEAD AS FAR AS THE LORD OF THE CHURCH IS CONCERNED.

* AND CONVERSELY, IT MAY BE ALIVE WITH ALL THOSE EXTERNAL THINGS, BUT CHRIST’S CRITERIA FOR JUDGING DEADNESS AND BEING ALIVE HAVE TO DO WITH INTERNAL SPIRITUAL MOTIVATION DIRECTED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT THROUGH THE WORD OF GOD.

** CHRIST’S CRITERIA FOR JUDGING WHETHER A CHURCH IS ALIVE OR DEAD IS RADICALLY DIFFERENT FROM THE STATUS QUO TODAY.

*** AND THAT CRITERIA CAN BE EXPRESSED IN WHAT THE LORD SAID TO THE PROPHET-JUDGE SAMUEL IN I SAMUEL 16:7.

**** IT SAYS IN REGARDS TO LOOKING FOR A KING: BUT THE LORD SAID TO SAMUEL, “DO NOT LOOK AT HIS APPEARANCE OR AT THE HEIGHT OF HIS STATURE, BECAUSE I HAVE REJECTED HIM; FOR GOD SEES NOT AS MAN SEES, FOR MAN LOOKS AT THE OUTWARD APPEARANCE, BUT THE LORD LOOKS AT THE HEART.”

(4) NOW THE POINT OF THIS TRUTH IS GOD DOES NOT JUDGE FROM THE WAY THINGS LOOK, HE GOES TO THE HEART, THE INTERNAL ISSUES, THE REALITY OF IT ALL.

* WHICH LEADS US TO OUR TEXT FOR TODAY. FOR THE CHURCH AT SARDIS HAD A REPUTATION, A NAME, THAT THEY WERE AN ACTIVE CHURCH.

** BUT THE LORD OF THE CHURCH, WHO KNOWS THE DEEDS OF THE CHURCH, HAD A TOTALLY DIFFERENT VIEW OF THIS CHURCH.

*** AND HIS SOVEREIGN AUTHORITATIVE TRUE EVALUATION WAS, THEY WERE DEAD.

**** NOW MAN’S EVALUATION DETERMINED BY EXTERNAL OBSERVATION WAS THAT THIS CHURCH WAS ALIVE, AN ENERGETIC BODY OF SAINTS. (OUTWARD APPEARANCES CAN BE DECEIVING).

(5) BUT CHRIST’S ASSESSMENT WAS THEY WERE DEAD. WHAT A CONTRAST! WHAT A DIFFERENCE! WE’RE TALKING A NIGHT AND DAY DIFFERENCE.

* AND THE LORD OF THE CHURCH WILL GIVE THIS CHURCH A SERIES OF COMMANDS IN WHAT THEY NEEDED TO DO, AND IF THEY DIDN’T, OUT LORD WOULD COME IN JUDGMENT LIKE A THIEF.

** AND THIS IS A WARNING FOR ALL CHURCHES, AND CHRIST’S SHEEP WHO MAKE UP THE CHURCH. WE CAN LEARN A LOT FROM THE CHURCH AT SARDIS, A DEAD CHURCH.

**** AND THAT’S WHAT I’VE TITLED OUR TEXT TODAY, THE DEAD CHURCH. AND UNDER THAT THEME WE’LL LOOK AT 4 THINGS TODAY.

(6) NO. 1 THE CORRESPONDENT OF THIS MESSAGE, CHRIST, V. 1; NO. 2 THE COMMANDS CHRIST GIVES TO THIS CHURCH, VV. 2&3; NO. 3 THE CHASTE, SPEAKING OF THE REMNANT AT SARDIS WHOM HAD NOT SOILED THEIR GARMENTS, V. 4; AND NO. 4 THE COMMITMENT BY CHRIST TO THE OVERCOMERS OF THIS CHURCH, VV. 5&6.

* AND WITH THOSE POINTS AS OUR OUTLINE, LOOK AT V. 1 WHERE WE’LL SEE OUR FIRST POINT TODAY, THE CORRESPONDENT. LOOK AT REVELATION 3:1 PLEASE.

I. THE CORRESPONDENT, V. 1

A. NOW THE CORRESPONDENT OF THIS LETTER IS CLEARLY JESUS AND JESUS GIVES THIS MESSAGE TO JOHN WHO IS TOLD TO WRITE, THEN JOHN GIVES IT TO THE ANGEL OR MESSENGER OF THIS CHURCH, THEN TO THE CHURCH.

* SO IT’S JESUS TO JOHN, JOHN TO THE ANGEL OR MESSENGER AND THE ANGEL OR MESSENGER TO THE CHURCH, SPECIFICALLY THE CHURCH AT SARDIS.

** NOW THE ANCIENT CITY OF SARDIS, THE MODERN CITY OF SART IN TURKEY TODAY, WAS ONE OF THE GREAT CITIES IN THE ANCIENT WORLD, CAPITAL OF THE WEALTHY LYDIAN KINGDOM.

*** AESOP, THE FAMOUS WRITER OF FABLES, MAY HAVE BEEN FROM SARDIS.

**** IT WAS A CENTER FOR WOOL PRODUCTION AND THE GARMENT INDUSTRY; IN FACT, SARDIS CLAIMED TO HAVE DISCOVERED HOW TO DYE WOOL.

1. THE CITY’S PRIMARY OBJECT OF WORSHIP WAS THE GODDESS CYBELE, THE SAME GODDESS WORSHIPPED AT EPHESUS AS ARTERRIS OR DIANA.

* IT’S INTERESTING THAT HOT SPRINGS NOT FAR FROM SARDIS WERE CELEBRATED AS A SPOT IN WHICH THE GODS MANIFESTED THEIR SUPPOSED POWER TO GIVE LIFE TO THE DEAD – AN IRONIC NOTE FOR A CITY WHOSE CHURCH WAS DEAD.

** NOW IN JOHN’S DAY AT THE END OF THE FIRST CENTURY, SARDIS WAS PROSPEROUS BUT DECAYING, IT’S GLORY DAYS LONG PAST.

*** AND THAT’S SOME QUICK BACKGROUND ABOUT THIS CITY WHERE THIS LOCAL CHURCH WAS LOCATED.

**** NOW AS WE GO BACK TO V. 1 THE LORD JESUS IDENTIFIES HIMSELF AS THE ONE WHO HAS THE SEVEN SPIRITS OF GOD AND THE SEVEN STARS.

2. AND WE KNOW WITHOUT DOUBT THAT THE SEVEN STARS ARE THE ANGELS OF THE SEVEN CHURCHES FOR REVELATION 1:20 SAYS: “AS FOR THE MYSTERY OF THE SEVEN STARS WHICH YOU SAW IN MY RIGHT HAND, AND THE SEVEN GOLDEN LAMPSTANDS: THE SEVEN STARS ARE THE ANGELS OF THE SEVEN CHURCHES, AND THE SEVEN LAMPSTANDS ARE THE SEVEN CHURCHES.”

* NOW THESE SEVEN ANGELS ARE IN THE RIGHT HAND OF THE LORD HERE FOR HE HAS SOVEREIGN POWER AND AUTHORITY OVER THEM.

** AND THEN MOST SCHOLARS BELIEVE THAT THE REFERENCE TO THE SEVEN SPIRITS OF GOD TALKED ABOUT EARLIER IN REVELATION 1:4 IS A DESCRIPTION OF THE HOLY SPIRIT, THE NUMBER 7 USED REPEATEDLY IN REVELATION MAKING REFERENCE TO THE HOLY SPIRIT’S PERFECTION AND FULLNESS AND HIS POWER.

*** AND CERTAINLY GOD THE HOLY SPIRIT IS THE PERSON OF THE GODHEAD WHO GIVES LIFE TO THE CHURCH AND REVIVAL TO A DEAD CHURCH.

**** AND IT’S PROBABLY BECAUSE OF HIS VITAL MINISTRY IN THE CHURCH OF BRINGING LIFE CONVICTIONS AND DIRECTION, THAT CHRIST MENTIONS HIM TO THIS DEAD CHURCH.

3. NEXT NOTICE IN V. 1 THAT CHRIST KNOWS THE DEEDS, THE WORKS, THE BEHAVIOR OF THIS CHURCH AS HE DOES OF ALL THE CHURCHES AND ALL OF OUR LIVES.

* AND THAT’S EITHER COMFORTING OR CONVICTING OR BOTH THIS MORNING TO BELIEVERS. IT’S COMFORTING IF OUR DEEDS ARE IN LINE WITH HIS HOLY WILL OR CONVICTING IF THEY ARE OUTSIDE OF HIS WILL.

* AND THEN LASTLY IN V. 1, NOTICE HOW CHRIST CUTS TO THE CHASE. HE SAYS, I KNOW YOUR DEEDS, YOUR WORKS “THAT YOU HAVE A NAME THAT YOU ARE ALIVE.”

** NOW HERE THE WORD “NAME” IN IT’S USE WOULD COMMUNICATE THE SENSE OF THE REPUTATION OF A PERSON AND HERE IT IS APPLIED CORPORATELY TO THE CHURCH.

*** THE CHURCH HAD THE REPUTATION OF A LIVING VITAL, ENERGETIC BODY OF BELIEVERS.

**** BY EXTERNAL OBSERVATION THIS WAS THE CONCLUSION. THEY WERE A CHURCH THAT WAS ALIVE, THAT WAS THEIR REP.

4. BUT IN A SHORT PHRASE CHRIST SHATTERS THAT IMAGE BY SAYING, “BUT YOU ARE DEAD.” WOW!

* CHRIST WRITES ICHABOD ACROSS THE DOOR OF THIS CHURCH, THE GLORY HAS DEPARTED.

** DEATH REIGNED IN THIS CHURCH, IT WAS A DEAD CHURCH, IT LOOKED ALIVE, BUT IT WAS A SPIRITUAL GRAVEYARD.

*** THE REPUTATION THAT SARDIS HAD ACQUIRED WAS A REPUTATION WITH HUMAN BIAS, BUT NOT WITH CHRIST.

**** AND THIS DISTINCTION BETWEEN REPUTATION AND REALITY, BETWEEN WHAT HUMAN BEINGS SEE AND WHAT GOD SEES IS RADICALLY DIFFERENT.

5. AND IN THE END IT ONLY MATTERS WHAT THE LORD THINKS, THAT’S WHY WE NEED TO BE GOD-PLEASERS AND NOT MEN-PLEASERS, READ GALATIANS 1:10.

* WELL, THE CHURCH AT SARDIS WAS NOT A GOD PLEASING ALIVE CHURCH, CHRIST’S HOLY ASSESSMENT WAS THEY WERE DEAD, WALKING ZOMBIES.

** BECAUSE OF THAT BEGINNING IN REVELATION 2 HE GIVES THEM A SERIES OF 5 COMMANDS, 5 STEPS TO SPIRITUAL REVIVAL.

*** SO LOOK AT V. 2 PLEASE WHERE WE’LL START TO SEE OUR 2’D POINT, THE COMMANDS.

II. THE COMMANDS, (READ V. 2)

A. NOW CHRIST LAYS OUT FOR THEM A PATH, A TRACK TO SPIRITUAL REVIVAL OR RESTORATION BY GIVING THEM 5 COMMANDS, 5 STEPS TO FOLLOW. THERE ARE 5 VERBS IN THE IMPERATIVE MOOD IN THE GREEK IN VV. 2&3 THAT JUMP OUT AT US.

* AND I’M GOING TO PRACTICALLY CALL THEM 5 STEPS TO REVIVAL THAT A CHURCH CAN APPLY AND BELIEVERS THAT MAKE UP THE CHURCH CAN APPLY.

** NO. 1 THEY NEED TO WAKE UP AT THE BEGINNING OF V. 2, TO BE WATCHFUL.

*** THEY NEEDED TO WAKE UP FROM THEIR SPIRITUAL SLUMBER. THEY HAD FALLEN ASLEEP ON THE JOB.

**** THEY NEEDED TO LOOK AT WHAT WAS HAPPENING IN THEIR LIVES, EVALUATE THE SITUATION, GET INVOLVED IN CHANGING THINGS AND CONFRONT SIN AND ERROR AND MAKE A DIFFERENCE, ROMANS 13:11 SAYS: (READ IT).

1. AND BELOVED, THE FIRST STEP TOWARD REVIVAL IS WAKING UP TO THE SITUATION AND HAVING AN HONEST AWARENESS THAT THERE IS SOMETHING WRONG.

* NO. 2 THE 2’D IMPERATIVE VERB IS TO STRENGTHEN, TO STRENGTHEN THE THINGS THAT REMAIN.

** AND THE GREEK WORD FOR STRENGTHEN IS STEIRZO WHICH LIT. MEANS TO MAKE STABLE, TO ESTABLISH, TO PLACE FIRMLY, TO SET FAST, TO FIX.

*** AND THE N.T. TEACHING FOR ALL CHURCHES IS THAT THEY BE FULLY ESTABLISHED, READ ACTS 16:5.

**** AND A FULLY ESTABLISHED CHURCH IN THE FAITH UNDERSTANDS IT’S MISSION. AND THAT IS THE GOAL FOR OUR LIVES AND CHRIST’S CHURCH TO BE FULLY EQUIPPED, FULLY ESTABLISHED.

2. AND SPECIFICALLY AT SARDIS ESTABLISH THE THINGS THAT REMAIN THAT WERE ABOUT TO DIE.

* AND THINGS HERE IN THE GREEK IS A NEUTRAL NOUN AND DOES NOT REFER TO PEOPLE, BUT TO SPIRITUAL REALITIES.

** CHRIST EXHORTS THE BELIEVERS AT SARDIS TO FAN THE FLAME THAT WAS ALMOST OUT SO THE FIRE WOULD NOT DIE OUT. LET YOUR FAITH BURN BRIGHTLY AGAIN BY BEING ESTABLISHED IN THE WORD, IN PRAYER, IN YOUR FAITH.

*** AND NOTICE WHAT CHRIST SAYS IN THE REST OF V. 2, “FOR I HAVE NOT FOUND YOUR DEEDS COMPLETED IN THE SIGHT OF MY GOD.”

**** NOW GET THIS, THE CHURCH AT SARDIS WAS PERFORMING DEEDS; BUT THEY WERE GOING THROUGH THE MOTIONS.

3. FOR THOSE DEEDS WERE NOT COMPLETE DEEDS, THEY WERE FALLING SHORT IN GOD’S HOLY SIGHT WHICH JUDGES NOT ONLY DEEDS OR WORKS, BUT THE MOTIVES BEHIND THE DEEDS OR WORKS.

* WHY DO WE DO WHAT WE DO? WHAT IS OUR MOTIVATION? WHAT IS OUR PURPOSE? TO LIFT UP SELF, TO GET A PAT ON THE BACK, TO BE SEEN OF MAN, GUILT, LAW, WHY DO WE DO WHAT WE DO?

** THE ANSWER SHOULD BE LOVE. THE MERCY OF GOD IN OUR LIVES MOTIVATES US OUT OF LOVE TO WORK FOR CHRIST BECAUSE OF OUR RELATIONSHIP TO HIM BY HIS SOVEREIGN GRACE, READ II CORINTHIANS 5:14&15.

*** NOW OUR DEEDS WILL BE WHAT THEY NEED TO BE, THEY WILL MEASURE UP AS WE ARE ESTABLISHED IN THE FAITH, WE WILL LOVE CHRIST MORE AND OUR WORKS WILL BE PURE WORKS FOR HIM.

**** NOW MOVING ON WE’LL SEE A THIRD IMPERATIVE IN V. 3, A THIRD COMMAND. LOOK AT V. 3 PLEASE.

B. READ V. 3. NOW THE THIRD STEP TO REVIVAL IS TO REMEMBER, TO REMEMBER WHAT YOU HAVE RECEIVED AND HEARD.

* WHICH MEANS THEY NEEDED TO REMEMBER THE TRUTHS OF THE WORD OF GOD, TO REMEMBER THE TRUTHS OF THE GOSPEL, AND ALL THOSE TRUTHS WILL BE A MOTIVATION TO RETURN, THEY WILL HAVE A REKINDLING EFFECT.

** BELOVED, REMEMBER THE TRUTHS OF THE WORD OF GOD ABOUT GRACE, MERCY, LOVE, GOD’S HOLINESS, GOD’S FAITHFULNESS, GOD’S KINDNESS AND EVEN GOD’S WRATH ARE MOTIVATORS AND A PATH TO REVIVAL.

*** REMEMBERING HOW GOD SAVED US AND FORGAVE US IN THE GOSPEL HAS A POWERFUL IMPACT, AND OF COURSE THAT IS ONE OF THE GREAT TRUTHS BEHIND THE LORD’S SUPPER.

**** REMEMBER THE CROSS, REMEMBER THAT JESUS IS COMING BACK. AND REMEMBERING THESE TRUTHS SHOULD HELP US AND MOTIVATE US WHEN WE’RE DOWN.

**** BUT JUST REMEMBERING IS NOT ENOUGH.

1. FOR THE 4TH STEP, THE 4TH COMMAND IN V. 3 IS KEEP IT. WE MUST REMEMBER TRUTH AND SUBMIT TO IT, THERE MUST BE OBEDIENCE.

* WE MUST REMEMBER AND GO BACK TO THE TRUTHS OF SCRIPTURE, BUT WE ALSO NEED TO KEEP THOSE TRUTHS.

** FOR EVEN ORTHODOX THEOLOGY APART FROM OBEDIENT LIVES WOULD NOT BRING ABOUT RENEWAL AND REVIVAL. JAMES 1:22 SAYS: (READ IT).

*** SO WE MUST BE DOERS OF THE WORD AND NOT HEARERS ONLY.

2. AND THEN THE 5TH AND FINAL STEP HERE FOR REVIVAL IS TO REPENT.

* NOW YOU MIGHT BE THINKING, RAY, SHOULDN’T THAT BE STEP NO. 1. WELL, NORMALLY I WOULD SAY YES, BUT FOR THIS DEAD CHURCH TO BE REVIVED THEY WOULD NEED TO GO THROUGH THE FIRST 4 STEPS, AND THOSE STEPS WOULD LEAD THEM TO REPENTANCE OF THEIR WICKED WAYS.

** IN OTHER WORDS, WAKING UP, BEING ESTABLISHED, REMEMBERING AND KEEPING WOULD LEAD THEM TO REPENTANCE, WOULD BRING REVIVAL, REMEMBER THEY WERE A DEAD CHURCH.

*** AND COMMAND 5 TO REPENT MEANS TO COME WITH REMORSE AND SORROW AND CONFESS AND TURN AWAY FROM THEIR SINS.

**** IT’S AS IF THEY NEEDED STEPS 1-4 TO GET TO 5. BUT NO. 5 ALONG WITH THE OTHER 4 COMMANDS WOULD BRING REVIVAL.

3. BUT NOTICE THE WARNING IN THE REST OF V. 3. “IF THEREFORE, YOU WILL NOT WAKE UP, I WILL COME LIKE A THIEF, AND YOU WILL NOT KNOW AT WHAT HOUR I WILL COME UPON YOU.”

* NOW IF THIS CHURCH DOESN’T WAKE UP, AND THE WAKE UP CALL CONSISTS OF THE 5 COMMANDS GIVEN BEFORE THIS, THE LORD WILL COME LIKE A THIEF TO DEAL WITH THIS CHURCH.

** AND I DON’T BELIEVE THE WARNING HERE HAS TO DO WITH CHRIST’S 2’D COMING, BUT IS THAT THE LORD WOULD COME AND REMOVE THEIR LAMPSTAND, REMOVE THE CHURCH FROM EXISTENCE AS CHRIST THREATENED TO DO TO THE CHURCH AT EPHESUS.

*** FOR TO THE CHURCH AT EPHESUS IN REVELATION 2:5, OUR LORD SAID: “THEREFORE REMEMBER FROM WHERE YOU HAVE FALLEN, AND REPENT AND DO THE DEEDS YOU DID AT FIRST; OR ELSE I AM COMING TO YOU AND WILL REMOVE YOUR LAMPSTAND OUT OF ITS PLACE – UNLESS YOU REPENT.”

**** AND AS WE GO BACK TO THE CHURCH AT SARDIS, THE PICTURE OF JESUS COMING LIKE A THIEF CARRIES THE IDEA OF IMMINENT JUDGMENT.

4. NOW YES, JESUS WILL COME LIKE A THIEF IN THE RAPTURE, BUT HERE THIS WARNING IS CONDITIONAL, IF THEY DON’T REPENT HE WILL COME. IF THEY DO REPENT HE WILL NOT COME.

* AND THE 2’D COMING OF CHRIST IS NOT CONDITIONAL. HE IS COMING READY OR NOT IN THE FULLNESS OF TIME LIKE HE DID IN HIS FIRST COMING, HIS FIRST ADVENT.

** SO THIS IS A WARNING OF IMMINENT JUDGMENT UPON THIS CHURCH IF THEY DON’T REPENT.

*** NOW WITH THAT IN MIND, THERE IS SOME GOOD NEWS IN THIS LETTER, AND IT’S FOUND IN V. 4 WITH THE CHASTE, THOSE WHO WERE UNDEFILED. LOOK AT V. 4 PLEASE.

III. THE CHASTE, (READ V. 4)

A. NOW THE WORD CHASTE, THAT WE DON’T USE A LOT IN OUR CULTURE TODAY MEANS UNSULLIED, UNDEFILED, PURE. WE CAN USE IT IN THE PHRASE CHASTE WHITE SNOW OR PURE WHITE SNOW.

* AND I USE THAT WORD HERE TO TALK ABOUT THE REMNANT OF BELIEVERS AT SARDIS, FOR THERE WERE A FEW PEOPLE AT SARDIS WHO HAD NOT SOILED THEIR GARMENTS.

** NOW THE WORD SOILED OR DEFILED LIT. MEANS TO STAIN, TO SMEAR, TO POLLUTE.

*** IT WAS A WORD THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN FAMILIAR TO READERS IN SARDIS BECAUSE OF THE CITY’S WOOL DYING INDUSTRY WHICH I MENTIONED EARLIER.

**** NOW GARMENTS OR CLOTHES CAN COMMUNICATE CHARACTER IN SCRIPTURE. AND PUTTING THESE WORDS TOGETHER THERE WAS A CHASTE FAITH REMNANT, A FEW BELIEVERS WHO HAD NOT BEEN POLLUTED OR POLLUTED THEMSELVES IN THIS CHURCH, BUT MANIFESTED GODLY CHARACTER.

1. THEY WERE NOT DEFILED AND DEAD. AND SPECIFICALLY CHRIST SAYS OF THEM IN THE REST OF V. 4, “THEY WILL WALK WITH ME IN WHITE, FOR THEY ARE WORTHY.”

* AND THOSE PEOPLE WHO HAVE NOT DEFILED THEMSELVES, WHO ARE WORTHY IN THAT SENSE, MADE WORTHY AND CLEANSED BY CHRIST WILL WALK WITH HIM IN WHITE IN THE FUTURE.

** THEY ARE MADE FIT FOR ENTRY INTO GOD’S KINGDOM CLEANSED BY CHRIST, THE ONE WHO WASHES OUR ROBES AND MAKES THEM WHITE IN HIS BLOOD, REVELATION 7:14.

*** SO THOSE WHO HAVE A MEASURE OF HOLINESS AND PURITY NOW, GIVING EVIDENCE OF GENUINE SALVATION, WILL BE GIVEN PERFECT HOLINESS AND PURITY IN THE FUTURE, CLOTHED IN THE PURE WHITE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF CHRIST.

**** AND BASICALLY THIS REMNANT AT SARDIS WERE THE TRUE OVERCOMERS, TRUE BELIEVERS, AND TO THESE PEOPLE CHRIST MAKES A COMMITMENT IN VV. 5&6, OUR LAST POINT TODAY, THE COMMITMENT. LOOK AT V. 5 PLEASE.

IV. THE COMMITMENT, (READ V. 5)

A. NOW CHRIST MAKES A PROMISE, A COMMITMENT TO OVERCOMERS, AND TRUE OVERCOMERS ARE BELIEVERS, READ I JOHN 5:4&5.

* NOW THE OVERCOMER HERE AT SARDIS WOULD CONSIST OF THE FAITHFUL REMNANT IN V. 4 AND THOSE WHO PARTICIPATED IN THE REVIVAL PROCESS TALKED ABOUT EARLIER, FOR TO REMAIN IN SPIRITUAL SLUMBER AND DEADNESS MOST LIKELY SHOWS A CONDITION OF NEVER BEING MADE ALIVE, SPIRITUAL DEADNESS, LOSTNESS.

** AND THE COMMITMENT IS 3 FOLD, THERE ARE 3 PROMISES. NO. 1 THEY’LL BE CLOTHED IN WHITE GARMENTS AS WE TALKED ABOUT IN V. 4, WHITE GARMENTS REPRESENT PURITY AND HOLINESS.

*** AND CHRIST HERE PROMISES TO CLOTHE CHRISTIANS IN THE BRILLIANCE OF HIS ETERNAL PURITY AND HOLINESS.

**** NO. 2 CHRIST FURTHER PROMISES THAT HE WILL NOT ERASE THE OVERCOMERS NAME FROM THE BOOK OF LIFE.

1. AND THIS IS A PROMISE, NOT A THREAT. A CHRISTIAN’S NAME CANNOT BE ERASED FROM THE BOOK OF LIFE. GOD DOESN’T NEED AN ERASER, HE MAKES NO MISTAKES.

* NOW OFFICIALS IN GOVT. IN THAT DAY KEPT A REGISTER OF THE CITIZENS OF THEIR CITY AND IF SOMEONE DIED, OR COMMITTED A SERIOUS CRIME, THEIR NAME WAS ERASED FROM THAT REGISTER.

** AND UNLIKE HUMAN GOVT. OFFICIALS, CHRIST, THE SOVEREIGN KING OF HEAVEN, PROMISES NEVER TO ERASE A TRUE CHRISTIAN’S NAME FROM THE ROLL OF THOSE WHO’S NAMES WERE “WRITTEN FROM THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD IN THE BOOK OF LIFE OF THE LAMB WHO HAS BEEN SLAIN.” REVELATION 13:8.

*** CHRIST DOESN’T OPERATE THE WAY HUMAN OFFICIALS OPERATE, AND THE BOOK OF LIFE CONTAINS THE NAMES OF CHRIST’S ELECT WHO WERE CHOSEN BEFORE THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD.

**** AND CHRIST’S ELECT WILL BE ETERNALLY PRESERVED AND WILL PERSEVERE BY GRACE. OUR NAMES WILL NOT AND CANNOT BE ERASED, WE ARE ETERNALLY SECURE IN THE GRACE OF CHRIST, READ PHILIPPIANS 1:6, JOHN 10:27-29, II TIMOTHY 4:18 AND ALL OF ROMANS 8.

2. NOW A QUICK FOOTNOTE, THE BOOK OF LIFE TALKED ABOUT 7 TIMES IN THE BOOK OF REVELATION AND IN PHILIPPIANS 4:3 IS NOT TALKED ABOUT IN EXODUS 32:33 WHERE THE LORD TALKS ABOUT BLOTTING SOMEONE OUT OF HIS BOOK.

* THE BOOK IN EXODUS 32:33 IS A BOOK OF THE LIVING, THE RECORD OF THOSE ALIVE, NOT THE BOOK OF LIFE WHERE THE NAMES OF GOD’S ELECT HAVE BEEN LISTED.

** BUT FOR TIME SAKE, I MUST MOVE ON TO THE THIRD PROMISE, AND THAT IS CHRIST WILL CONFESS THE OVERCOMERS NAMES BEFORE HIS FATHER AND BEFORE HIS ANGELS.

*** AND THIS IS JUST A PUBLIC AFFIRMATION TO THE FATHER AND TO HIS ANGELS AS WITNESSES THAT THESE OVERCOMERS BELONG TO HIM.

**** FATHER, I DIED FOR THEM, I MADE THEM CLEAN, I SAVED THEM, THEY ARE MINE AND THE HOLY ANGELS WITNESS THIS CONFESSION.

3. AND THIS AFFIRMATION GOES ALONG WITH WHAT CHRIST SAID EARLIER IN HIS FIRST COMING IN MATTHEW 10:32 WHICH SAYS: (READ IT).

* AND ALSO IN LUKE 12:8 JESUS SAID: “AND I SAY TO YOU, EVERYONE WHO CONFESSES ME BEFORE MEN, THE SON OF MAN WILL CONFESS HIM ALSO BEFORE THE ANGELS OF GOD.”

** AND THIS CONFIRMS A CLEAR THREAD IN SCRIPTURE THAT TRUE BELIEVERS CONFESS CHRIST. READ ROMANS 10:9&10.

*** AND CHRIST WILL CONFESS TO HIS FATHER AND TO HIS ANGELS THAT THOSE WHO HAVE CONFESSED HIM BELONG TO HIM AND HE IS AFFIRMING THAT HERE IN V. 5, AND THAT IS THE 3’D PROMISE.

**** NOW QUICKLY LOOK AT V. 6 PLEASE AND I’LL COMMENT ON IT AND WRAP THINGS UP.

B. READ V. 6. NOW THE LETTER TO SARDIS ENDS LIKE THE OTHER 6 WITH AN ADMONITION TO LISTEN UP, TO PAY ATTENTION.

* BELOVED, THE CHALLENGE IS TO TAKE HEED TO GOD’S VOICE IN THE SCRIPTURE WHICH COMES THROUGH THE INSPIRING MINISTRY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT.

** AND THIS CHALLENGE IS TO ALL CHURCHES. FOR CHURCHES IS PLURAL HERE AND EVERY CHURCH OF ALL TIME NEEDS TO LISTEN UP AND APPLY THESE TRUTHS GIVEN BY THE SPIRIT OF GOD.

IN WRAP UP AND APPLICATION (1) I CONCLUDE WITH A QUOTE FROM JOHN MACARTHUR THAT ANSWERS THE QUESTION, WHAT ARE THE DANGER SIGNS THAT A CHURCH IS DYING?

* HE SAID AND I QUOTE: “A CHURCH IS IN DANGER WHEN IT IS CONTENT TO REST ON ITS PAST LAURELS, WHEN IT IS MORE CONCERNED WITH LITURGICAL FORMS THAN SPIRITUAL REALITY, WHEN IT FOCUSES ON CURRENT SOCIAL ILLS RATHER THAN CHANGING PEOPLE’S HEARTS THROUGH PREACHING THE LIFE-GIVING GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST.”

** “WHEN IT IS MORE CONCERNED WITH MATERIAL THAN SPIRITUAL THINGS, WHEN IT IS MORE CONCERNED WITH WHAT MEN THINK THAN WHAT GOD SAID, WHEN IT IS MORE ENAMORED WITH DOCTRINAL CREEDS AND SYSTEMS OF THEOLOGY THAN WITH THE WORD OF GOD, OR WHEN IT LOSES ITS CONVICTION THAT EVERY WORD OF THE BIBLE IS THE WORD OF GOD HIMSELF.”

*** “NO MATTER WHAT ITS ATTENDANCE, NO MATTER HOW IMPRESSIVE ITS BUILDINGS, NO MATTER WHAT ITS STATUS IN THE COMMUNITY, SUCH A CHURCH, HAVING DENIED THE ONLY SOURCE OF SPIRITUAL LIFE, IS DEAD.”

**** BELOVED MAY WE TAKE HEED TO THOSE WARNINGS AS A CHURCH AND AS CHRIST’S PEOPLE.

(2) AND IF THERE IS DEADNESS AND COLDNESS MAY WE WAKE UP, STRENGTHEN THE THINGS THAT REMAIN, REMEMBER, KEEP AND OBEY THE WORD AND REPENT.