[Special - Seven Churches] The Church of Sardis - A Letter of the Lord to the Church in Sardis (2)
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August 28, 2011 |
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 * The Church of Ephesus
* The Church of Smyrna
* The Church of Pergamum
* The Church of Thyatira
* The Church of Sardis
* The Church of Philadelphia
* The Church of Laodicea
A Letter of the Lord to the Church in Sardis (2)
"But you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their garments; and they will walk with Me in white, for they are worthy. He who overcomes will thus be clothed in white garments; and I will not erase his name from the book of life, and I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches." (Revelation 3:4-6)
The Lord, who has the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars, rebuked the Church of Sardis saying, "I know your deeds, that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead." He made such a remark because the members of the church thought they had received salvation, but they had nothing to do with salvation in the sight of the Lord. We have to examine our Christian lives through the lessons given by the Lord to the Church in Sardis.
1. Today's churches are in the same situation as the Church of Sardis
Among churches founded in the era of the Holy Spirit, there are many more churches than expected that have dead faith like that of the Church of Sardis. They have the name 'believers', but it is not easy to find those who keep the whole Sabbath and give full and proper tithes even though these are the basic actions of a Christian. But what makes us feel even sadder though, is that there are few pastors who teach believers to cast away sins and live by the word of God.
The shepherds who lead the flock must have true faith first and then testify to the living God with power and authority. But it is not really the actual situation occurring today. Many pastors teach with just theological knowledge. It is like a blind man who guides another blind man as stated in Matthew 15:14.
They don't have the amazing works of God or the power of prayer manifested. If fire of the Holy Spirit in a church were to be extinguished, then the souls there will not be so different from those of Sardis that were dead. They are nominally a church with a few members, but cannot experience revival and growth.
Matthew 7:21 reads, "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter." Let's say, you work faithfully for the kingdom of God and the righteousness of God and devote yourself to His works in your own way. But when you stood before God on the Day of Judgment, if God said "I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness," what would you do? It would be the tragedy of tragedies.
Even though we seem to lead earnest Christian lives and work and volunteer faithfully, if our inner hearts are not being changed, it cannot be said we have living faith. To have the living Christian life, that is, to have true faith, we must circumcise our hearts. Circumcision of heart is to cut out the foreskin of the heart in order to have a good and beautiful heart that God wants.
'To remove the foreskin of heart' means to cast away unrighteousness, lawlessness, and untruth according to the word that tells you not to do this and throw that away and keep the truth in accordance with the word telling you to do this and keep that. To the extent you live by the word of God and become sanctified, you can have true faith acknowledged by God.
2. But you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their garments
The Church of Sardis received a severe rebuke from God who told them to repent because they said they believed but they did not live by the word of God. But, the Lord said the church had a few people who had not soiled their garments, and that it was they who were worthy.
We cannot say the whole church was praised because the praise was intended for just 'a few' members of the church. The 'garment' symbolizes the heart of a man, so 'not to soil the garment' means not to soil the heart. In other words, by having faith in the truth and living by the word, you do not let the heart become stained with sin and evil.
Moreover, it also means cleaning the heart which was stained before knowing the truth by fighting against sin to the point of shedding blood. And also, it means not soiling the heart again once the heart has been cleansed from untruths and sins. It applies to those who try to be awake, pray, and keep true faith.
Even in the Church of Sardis where the members are about to fall into the pit because 'a blind man is guiding another blind man', but there were a few members who heard the voice with a good conscience and wanted to achieve what God wanted. The Lord says to such people in Revelation 3:4, "And they will walk with Me in white garments, for they are worthy."
Of course, saying they were worthy doesn't mean that they reached complete sanctification. When considering the faith of the whole Church in Sardis, there were a few who prayed and tried to keep the true faith, and that is what was worthy in the sight of the Lord.
Most of the members had dead faith in the Church of Sardis. It wasn't easy to keep faith in the city of Sardis, especially being among the congregation that befriended the world and was stained by sins.
In order to keep their faith, a few members of the Church in Sardis, who didn't allow for their garments to become soiled, must have prayed much more fervently than the others prayed. As a result, they could be recognized as worthy by the Lord.
3. They will walk with Me in white garments, for they are worthy.
A few who were recognized as "worthy" by the Lord in the Church in Sardis were worthy of receiving the blessing of being able to walk with the Lord in white garments. But here, we must be aware of the fact that "being with the Lord" and "walking with the Lord" are different.
No matter which dwelling place in Heaven we will go, it is possible for us to be with the Lord because the Lord can go any place in Heaven. Even in Paradise, the Lord will come to us and spend some time with us. But since those who are in Paradise have received shameful salvation, they feel too embarrassed to meet face to face with the Lord or walk with Him.
To 'walk with the Lord' has much deeper meaning than just being with Him. Only those in the Third Kingdom of Heaven, and more specifically, those in New Jerusalem, will be able to walk with the Lord in a true sense. To 'walk with the Lord' means to be accompanied by the Lord anywhere and at any time. Therefore to walk with Him in the heavenly kingdom, we must have proper qualifications.
The Lord is surely with the children of God who live in the truth. But He will walk with those who love God utmost. Those who cast off every form of evil and become sanctified. If the Lord is walking with someone, then His guarantee, authority, and power will be shown with him as clear evidence.
4. He who overcomes will thus be clothed in white garments; and I will not erase his name from the book of life
The Lord gave advice and a promise to a few of the believers in the Church of Sardis. He said, "He who overcomes will thus be clothed in white garments." Here, 'overcoming' refers to 'keeping faith and living in the truth.' The 'white garments' refers to the garment put on by all saved souls; it is a symbol of salvation.
The white garment here is not merely a symbol of salvation, but it is the white garment that is given according to the level at which one has become sanctified. The higher the level of sanctification that is achieved the brighter will be the white of the garment that they will wear. Thus, in the heavenly kingdom we will be able to see how holy a heart has accomplished on this earth just by seeing their garments.
We will also be able to recognize how great the rewards that were piled up when the person was on the earth through the ornamentation worn. That's because God, who repays according to what's done, gives beautiful decorations and ornaments according to his deeds on earth.
The Lord said, in addition to giving the white garments, the name of him who overcomes will not be erased from the Book of Life. (Revelation 3:5) Even if a man appears to be breathing, it doesn't mean that he is truly alive. A man can have true life only when his spirit, which used to be dead due to Adam's sin, is revived.
For those who don't accept the Lord and live in the darkness, their spirit is dead. So, when they die, they go to Hell, that is the eternal death. But when they accept the Lord Jesus Christ, and receive the Holy Spirit, their dead spirit comes to life and they gain eternal life. Their names will also be recorded in the Book of Life in Heaven.
That's why Revelation 20:15 says, "And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire." Only those whose names are written in the Book of Life can be saved. However, the fact that our name is currently written in the Book of Life doesn't guarantee our salvation. Only if our name is recorded in the Book of Life as God the Judge opens it up at the Great White Throne Judgment, can we reach salvation.
He says, "I will not erase his name from the book of life." Many believers today think that once their name is written in the Book of Life it is permanent and they can go to Heaven, even if they live as they want.
From the moment the name is recorded in the Book of Life, we begin the process on the way to receiving eternal life. But if we step off the way to the eternal life in heaven, the Holy Spirit can be quenched (1 Thessalonians 5:19), and our name will be erased from the Book of Life (Exodus 32:33).
The Bible also mentions that if we knowingly and willfully commit works of the flesh that are evident, including immorality, impurity, sensuality, and idolatry, we cannot inherit the heavenly kingdom (Galatians 5:19-21). The Bible also tells us about "sins leading to death." They are sins of 'blaspheming against the Holy Spirit,' 'speaking against the Holy Spirit' (Matthew 12:31-32), 'falling away even after partaking in the Holy Spirit and crucifying again the Lord and putting Him to open shame' (Hebrews 6:6), and 'sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth' (Hebrews 10:26).
The Bible records how we can receive salvation. But at the same time, it also records in detail how we may end up falling into death. Salvation is not decided at some single point in time. We must realize that it is an 'on-going' process until the Lord comes back.
Even if we are inside the boundary of salvation, we may go out of the boundary by our own free will. Conversely, even if we were out of the boundary, we may come inside the boundary of salvation at a certain point as well.
5. I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels
A few members of the Church of Sardis received the promise from the Lord saying, "I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels." At the Great White Throne Judgment, before God the Judge, we have to receive the recognition of the Lord saying, "This is a child of God." And such recognition of the Lord must be acknowledged by the angels as well.
There are angels sent by God to protect His children. But there are also angels that check each person no matter whether they are believers or not as recorded in Matthew 18:10. The angels search our deeds and hearts and even our minds and record and report them. The reports made by these angels will be used as proofs and evidences at the Great White Throne Judgment
The angels themselves may not come out to witness and acknowledge us on the Judgment Day. But, by the precise reports made by the angels, we must be acknowledged that we lived the life worthy for the children of God. Because angels are the ones who watch us at the closest proximity, their recognition is a must.
The Lord concludes His word by saying, "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches", just as He said to other churches. The Lord is appealing to the Church in Sardis once again, along with His sincere and longing heart for them to bear what they heard in mind and change.
The Church in Sardis had dead faith. If they hadn't repented and turned back, they would have had nothing to do with salvation. Now it was time for them to change their knowledge-faith into living-faith accompanied by deeds.
Also, they had to hold fast and overcome until the Lord comes back. Only then could they be clothed in white garments, the symbol of salvation, and they would receive glory and reward in Heaven according to their deeds on this earth.
But many churches of today don't realize this fact; they won't wake up from the spiritual slumber, and they have dead faith. What is worse, they don't have a shepherd who teaches the truth to them. They are like the blind following the guidance of a blind man.
Therefore, we should realize how blessed it is to have true faith and become a perfect bride of the Lord without any blemish, so that we will be able to always walk with the Lord in Heaven.
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