Sorry…it has been a while! In an attempt to catch up I would like to combine the last 3 churches into one post!
Dead or Alive
In the study of the Church in Sardis, the Lord sends the message to, “Wake Up!” This church was a very popular church with a good reputation, but the Lord was seeing through all of the externals and saw that they were really dead! Dead? Yes, this church is spiritually dead! They were busy doing the work of a church, but they themselves were mostly dead. You mean that people who are not saved can do things in the church? Yes they can, and by God’s grace and power he uses those people in spite of their unregenerate heart. Is this common today? There are a group of churches that are busy doing great community work and “doing church” very effectively from the worlds eyes. However, the people are dead. They are doing things from a wrong motive and are not teaching the right gospel. Oh, you will hear the name of Jesus Christ in their message, but only as a great example on how to live our lives. It is a sad thing because so many people in America look for the church that is doing thing and is busy, and they don’t pay enough attention to the teaching of a church. It is amazing to me that there are people out there that will read the same Bible and will teach using the same curriculum, but will not get the same thing out of it. Notice what the Lord said, “repent!” The same command has been his call since the beginning. Praise God that he opened my eyes to see my need for repentance and that I have the message to give. There is one word of caution I would throw out. Paul says to work out our salvation with fear and trembling and to test yourself to see that you are in the faith. Jeremiah says that the heart is desperately wicked and deceitful. So, knowing our heart is this way, it is possible that our hearts have deceived us in to thinking we are in the faith, but we are actually not. The message here for those people in the passage is the same as in the end of the Sermon on the Mount. Repent and if you refuse; the Lord will say, “Depart from me, I never knew you.” If this is not a wake up call, I don’t know what will be. I pray the Lord will open all of our eyes to see our hearts and give us the faith to act with the appropriate response. He will be coming “like a thief”! There is one other word of encouragement. He tells the true believers that they will receive the crown of life. Their clothes are not soiled, and their names will never be blotted out of the Book of Life.
Hold On
For the Church in Philadelphia, he gives a word of encouragement! Again, showing he is sovereign and intimately involved in the lives of his people, the Lord assures them that he knows their situation and that they have little strength left. In the midst of their little strength, they have still kept his word. What a reminder that the Lord has given us everything we need for life and godliness. It may not seem like we have enough, but that is a promise from our Great Father. May we have enough faith to live by that promise! He tells them that their reward for keeping his word is the relief from the coming trial. He tells them to hang on…he is coming and has great things in store for them! If you are in the midst of a difficult situation/trial, please find encouragement from the words the Lord has given to the Church in Philadelphia!
Lukewarm
Finally, to the Church in Laodicea the Lord has some harsh words. He calls the church lukewarm. To understand this completely you have to know a little bit about the city in which this church was located. They were in a place where water was not readily available, so they had to pipe it in from some nearby towns. They had a town by them that had nice and cool springs running, and another that had hot springs. However, by the time the water got to Laodicea it was lukewarm. The visitors to the city would spit it out when they first took a drink. This is how the Lord felt about the people in this church! They were lukewarm/non-committed/coasting/fence riding Christians. They claimed to be rich, which in fact they may have been physically rich; this most likely led to their state of being lukewarm. However, the real state of their hearts is revealed: wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked. Wow! That would be hard to swallow, but I think it is also true of us American believers! That may be harder to swallow. The church in America due to the wealth and lack of persecution is full of people who are not totally committed. They just add church and God on to there lives when it is convenient. They are content just being saved and have no desire to grow or serve. They are happy just filling their spot in the pew and enjoying the “benefits” of being a Christian without having to put too big of an investment. If this describes you then take the counsel the Lord gives this church. He tells them to make some investments into their spiritual condition. He uses the word “buy” and then gives three word pictures for what they need to be prioritizing. He tells them that He is more concerned about their spiritual wealth, righteousness, and purity. He gives them the command to repent! He wants so much more for your life then just the status quo! He is standing at the door knocking….will you let him in?
Live in light of the cross,
Pastor Matt
