1 00:00:02,600 --> 00:00:06,320 Good morning, everyone. Calvary Chapel, Westmoreland, 2 00:00:06,320 --> 00:00:08,680 Amen. Thank you so much for everyone 3 00:00:08,680 --> 00:00:11,800 being here today. We, our sister, gave us a very, 4 00:00:11,800 --> 00:00:16,040 very gracious welcome to everybody, including those who 5 00:00:16,040 --> 00:00:18,160 are behind prison walls. So we don't have to repeat that 6 00:00:18,160 --> 00:00:20,760 this morning. So we can just get ready to go 7 00:00:20,760 --> 00:00:23,160 into the word of God. Thank you so much just to Karen 8 00:00:23,160 --> 00:00:25,400 for doing that. So let's just get ready to go 9 00:00:25,400 --> 00:00:29,520 into the word of God. Let's pray, Father, once again 10 00:00:29,520 --> 00:00:33,840 we come before your presence, Lord, just asking for what only 11 00:00:33,840 --> 00:00:40,320 you can give, looking to hear what only you can say, and 12 00:00:40,320 --> 00:00:42,640 looking to be done what only you can do. 13 00:00:45,000 --> 00:00:47,600 Father, we need you this morning. 14 00:00:49,760 --> 00:00:52,680 We don't even need me to be here this morning, Father, and it 15 00:00:52,680 --> 00:00:57,000 means nothing if you don't show up, Father. 16 00:00:57,000 --> 00:01:00,640 We pray this morning that You would open our eyes to hear 17 00:01:02,000 --> 00:01:05,120 these precious things, Lord, that are written in Your word, 18 00:01:06,160 --> 00:01:15,280 not only for our encouragement, but to warn us, to exhort us, 19 00:01:17,400 --> 00:01:20,120 and to cause us, O God, to be more like You. 20 00:01:22,120 --> 00:01:25,320 Father, I pray that You would bless everyone that's here even 21 00:01:25,320 --> 00:01:28,640 now. Open each and every one of our 22 00:01:28,640 --> 00:01:34,560 hearts so that we can receive Your word and that it would 23 00:01:34,560 --> 00:01:38,160 bring forth fruit. Lord, that would be pleasing to 24 00:01:38,160 --> 00:01:43,320 you. Now, Father, hide me behind the 25 00:01:43,320 --> 00:01:48,000 cross. No one needs to see me, no one 26 00:01:48,000 --> 00:01:51,280 needs to hear me. But I pray God that Your voice 27 00:01:52,600 --> 00:01:57,680 will come through with power, with articulation and clarity 28 00:01:57,680 --> 00:02:02,840 and authority and that we receive it as it is. 29 00:02:02,840 --> 00:02:07,680 And that is the word of God. In Jesus holy name we pray, 30 00:02:08,720 --> 00:02:15,280 Amen. So this morning we are going to 31 00:02:15,800 --> 00:02:19,120 start in the 3rd chapter. We start the 3rd chapter. 32 00:02:19,120 --> 00:02:23,560 We've finished the first of the first two chapters and we're now 33 00:02:24,080 --> 00:02:28,880 at the Church of Sardis. I'm going to read through these 34 00:02:28,880 --> 00:02:32,040 six scriptures and then we'll go back and we'll make comment 35 00:02:34,000 --> 00:02:40,000 where the Lord says this and to the Angel of the church and 36 00:02:40,000 --> 00:02:48,720 Sardis write these things, says he who has A7 spirits of God and 37 00:02:48,720 --> 00:02:53,720 the seven stars. I know your works, that you have 38 00:02:53,720 --> 00:02:56,800 a name, that you are alive, but you are dead. 39 00:02:58,440 --> 00:03:03,520 Be watchful and strengthen the things which remain that are 40 00:03:03,520 --> 00:03:07,840 ready to die, for I have not found your works perfect before 41 00:03:07,840 --> 00:03:11,280 God. Remember, therefore, how you 42 00:03:11,280 --> 00:03:16,920 have received and heard. Hold fast and repent. 43 00:03:18,160 --> 00:03:21,840 Therefore, if you will not watch, I will come upon you as a 44 00:03:21,840 --> 00:03:27,000 thief, and you will not know what hour I will come upon you. 45 00:03:28,760 --> 00:03:34,160 You have a few names even in Sardis, who have not defiled 46 00:03:34,160 --> 00:03:40,280 their garments, and they shall walk with me in white, for they 47 00:03:40,280 --> 00:03:44,920 are worthy. He who overcomes shall be 48 00:03:44,920 --> 00:03:49,880 clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from 49 00:03:49,880 --> 00:03:54,440 the Book of Life, but I will confess his name before my 50 00:03:54,440 --> 00:04:02,080 Father and before his angels. He who has an ear, let him hear 51 00:04:02,080 --> 00:04:05,920 what the Spirit says to the churches. 52 00:04:06,360 --> 00:04:15,640 Thank you, Jesus, for that word. AW Tozer once said this. 53 00:04:16,440 --> 00:04:22,760 Churches can be busy, active and well organized while being 54 00:04:22,760 --> 00:04:29,520 spiritually dead. The activity of programs, the 55 00:04:29,520 --> 00:04:34,720 busyness of the people with the multiple ministries without 56 00:04:34,720 --> 00:04:41,160 fruit can have the appearance of life while being flat lined and 57 00:04:41,160 --> 00:04:45,360 be dead. If you remember, Jesus cursed 58 00:04:45,360 --> 00:04:49,240 the fig tree not just because it didn't have fruit, but because 59 00:04:49,240 --> 00:04:51,320 it gave the appearance that it had fruit. 60 00:04:55,560 --> 00:05:00,160 There are only two churches that's in this whole 7 churches 61 00:05:00,160 --> 00:05:03,880 that he writes letters to, that he gives absolutely no 62 00:05:03,880 --> 00:05:08,120 commendation to, gives no praise report for. 63 00:05:08,960 --> 00:05:12,400 One of them is the Church of Laodicean and we'll talk about 64 00:05:12,400 --> 00:05:17,600 later, and the other is this church, the Church of Sardis. 65 00:05:19,160 --> 00:05:22,240 Well, please let me warn you before we go into talking about 66 00:05:22,240 --> 00:05:24,600 the Church of Sardis. And I've always said, if you've 67 00:05:24,600 --> 00:05:29,360 ever heard me say this, that when we come to the Word of God, 68 00:05:31,000 --> 00:05:33,440 there's two things that we can bring to the Word. 69 00:05:33,440 --> 00:05:41,640 We can either bring a rake, which rake things to us, or we 70 00:05:41,640 --> 00:05:45,720 can bring a pitchfork that throws things away from us, 71 00:05:45,920 --> 00:05:50,640 throws us elsewhere. I pray that when we go before 72 00:05:50,640 --> 00:05:54,080 the word of God, we come into the word of God for all of these 73 00:05:54,080 --> 00:05:58,800 churches, although there are things that are marked as not 74 00:05:58,800 --> 00:06:01,640 praise reports for these churches, but things that the 75 00:06:01,640 --> 00:06:05,160 Lord has condemned them for. Let us not look at these 76 00:06:05,160 --> 00:06:08,760 churches like, oh boy, those poor people, those terrible 77 00:06:08,760 --> 00:06:12,840 people, those dishonest people, those loveless people, those 78 00:06:12,840 --> 00:06:17,040 corrupt people. But let's look at each and every 79 00:06:17,040 --> 00:06:21,400 one of those churches and cause us, may cause us to examine 80 00:06:21,400 --> 00:06:27,360 ourselves, not just as a church as a whole, not just as Calvary 81 00:06:27,360 --> 00:06:32,600 Chapel Westmoreland, but let us examine ourselves as a church, 82 00:06:32,720 --> 00:06:40,840 ourselves individually. What am I hearing in this that I 83 00:06:40,840 --> 00:06:45,720 myself need to be alert to, that I need to repent for, that I 84 00:06:45,720 --> 00:06:50,120 need to turn for? What is the Holy Spirit saying 85 00:06:50,200 --> 00:06:54,200 to me in addition to what He's saying to the churches? 86 00:06:54,200 --> 00:07:00,480 What is He saying to me? I pray that you that we all will 87 00:07:00,480 --> 00:07:04,960 do that because as we go through these, we find plenty that the 88 00:07:04,960 --> 00:07:09,840 Holy Spirit will find in our own lives or in our own hearts that 89 00:07:09,840 --> 00:07:16,760 He can warn us about and cause us to be able to turn from those 90 00:07:16,760 --> 00:07:19,320 things. Because we serve a loving God. 91 00:07:19,320 --> 00:07:23,520 We serve a caring God, we serve a merciful God that it doesn't 92 00:07:23,520 --> 00:07:26,280 matter what we've been doing or how long we've been doing it, We 93 00:07:26,280 --> 00:07:30,760 can turn from those things. We can repent and turn from 94 00:07:30,760 --> 00:07:34,720 those things. His arms are always open wide 95 00:07:34,720 --> 00:07:38,000 for us to come back to Him, just like a parent. 96 00:07:41,960 --> 00:07:44,560 So we needed to hear that this morning as we go through this 97 00:07:44,960 --> 00:07:47,720 because it can be very tempting to look at that church as being 98 00:07:47,720 --> 00:07:51,000 isolated from ourselves. But actually he's speaking to 99 00:07:51,000 --> 00:07:52,960 each and every one of us as we go through this. 100 00:07:54,920 --> 00:07:57,840 So just to give a little background about this church, 101 00:07:57,840 --> 00:08:04,040 Sardis that was mentioned to be a, a dead church. 102 00:08:05,240 --> 00:08:08,360 And we don't have to go far by when we're, you know, to, to 103 00:08:08,360 --> 00:08:11,520 hear why this church is considered dead. 104 00:08:11,520 --> 00:08:13,720 We won't have to go for we won't have to go beyond the first 105 00:08:13,720 --> 00:08:17,080 verse. But the background of Sardis is 106 00:08:17,080 --> 00:08:21,880 that it is located 30 miles South of Authoritaria for 107 00:08:21,880 --> 00:08:23,720 defense. For defense purposes. 108 00:08:24,240 --> 00:08:30,400 Sardis is built on a hill about 1500 feet on top of a hill. 109 00:08:31,520 --> 00:08:35,080 And it had suffered, but after it suffered an earthquake back 110 00:08:35,080 --> 00:08:38,760 in AD 17, the city was completely destroyed. 111 00:08:39,600 --> 00:08:43,559 It was later rebuilt by Rome, the Roman Empire, Tiberius 112 00:08:43,559 --> 00:08:47,920 Caesar, for whom a temple was actually built there in his 113 00:08:47,960 --> 00:08:50,560 honor. And of course, they did Pagan 114 00:08:50,560 --> 00:08:56,400 worship there in that temple to the the emperor Caesar. 115 00:08:57,400 --> 00:09:00,720 It was once the capital of the Kingdom of Lydia. 116 00:09:00,800 --> 00:09:05,560 Sardis was a wealthy and powerful, but a sinful city. 117 00:09:06,440 --> 00:09:09,080 It was well known for its textile industry. 118 00:09:09,080 --> 00:09:13,280 It was well known for gold and, and, and silver. 119 00:09:13,280 --> 00:09:17,360 There was a river that ran through Sardis that had silver, 120 00:09:17,440 --> 00:09:20,880 that had gold in that particular river and, and it was known for 121 00:09:20,880 --> 00:09:24,120 that. In fact, coinage itself was said 122 00:09:24,120 --> 00:09:29,920 to be invented there in Sardis. But like just about all the 123 00:09:29,960 --> 00:09:34,320 other Asian, those Asian minor cities that we looked at and the 124 00:09:34,320 --> 00:09:38,160 ones that we will look at, they had their issues with idolatry, 125 00:09:38,160 --> 00:09:40,960 they had their issues with sexual immorality. 126 00:09:41,760 --> 00:09:44,800 And of course, Sardis was no different than those. 127 00:09:46,160 --> 00:09:49,080 No different. Now in Sardis, they did worship 128 00:09:49,640 --> 00:09:51,920 a particular goddess or goddesses. 129 00:09:51,920 --> 00:09:54,240 They worship the goddess of Artemis. 130 00:09:55,120 --> 00:09:57,920 And if I think, if I'm not mistaken, wasn't there recently 131 00:09:57,920 --> 00:10:04,640 an aircraft or some kind of space capsule that's been 132 00:10:04,640 --> 00:10:06,440 launched from here named Artemis? 133 00:10:07,040 --> 00:10:14,080 Very interesting name. And the other is, is Sybil or 134 00:10:14,160 --> 00:10:17,640 Sibeli, that the goddess, the God, the God, the goddess called 135 00:10:17,640 --> 00:10:20,240 Sibeli. Now being surrounded by these 136 00:10:20,240 --> 00:10:24,760 pagans, by being surrounded by all this idolatry, the Church of 137 00:10:24,760 --> 00:10:31,160 Sardis failed to let their light shine in this dark place. 138 00:10:31,160 --> 00:10:37,640 They failed to allow the salt to keep its flavor. 139 00:10:37,640 --> 00:10:40,920 In fact, their salt had lost their flavor. 140 00:10:41,560 --> 00:10:46,160 And as we look at verse one, we kind of see what the problem was 141 00:10:46,160 --> 00:10:50,440 with this church. Verse one says into the Angel of 142 00:10:50,440 --> 00:10:55,080 the Church of and Sardis write these things says who is coming 143 00:10:55,080 --> 00:10:56,880 from. Remember we said last week who 144 00:10:56,880 --> 00:11:02,000 said, who said? Well, the one who's speaking 145 00:11:02,000 --> 00:11:07,560 here is the one who has the seven spirits of God and the one 146 00:11:07,960 --> 00:11:13,040 who has the seven stars in his hand, the seven spirits of God. 147 00:11:13,040 --> 00:11:17,120 Now we hear the name, the word 7 mentioned quite a bit in the 148 00:11:17,120 --> 00:11:20,760 word of God. The word actually there is a if 149 00:11:20,760 --> 00:11:23,000 those of you who are in the numbers and things like that 150 00:11:23,000 --> 00:11:27,160 word, the number 7 actually is symbolic for completion, 151 00:11:28,400 --> 00:11:32,360 symbolic for perfection finished. 152 00:11:36,200 --> 00:11:40,000 But here the the the seven spirits that he's talking about 153 00:11:40,000 --> 00:11:43,760 here is Speaking of the fullness of the Holy Spirit. 154 00:11:44,200 --> 00:11:48,640 It's a description taken from from John's vision, you know, 155 00:11:48,640 --> 00:11:53,320 back in one and four, you know, back in Revelations chapter 1 156 00:11:53,560 --> 00:11:57,760 and verse four, he talks about the seven spirits of God and he 157 00:11:57,760 --> 00:12:03,280 talks about it again over in the verse 20 of chapter 1. 158 00:12:04,560 --> 00:12:10,080 It's a complete character of God, the fullness of all of His 159 00:12:10,080 --> 00:12:14,760 power through the Holy Spirit. This reference of the Holy, of 160 00:12:14,760 --> 00:12:17,680 the Holy Spirit is of the Messiah, and it's explained over 161 00:12:17,680 --> 00:12:21,560 in the book of Isaiah, Isaiah Chapter 11. 162 00:12:21,800 --> 00:12:27,360 It talks about the Messiah and how he'll come filled with the 163 00:12:27,360 --> 00:12:29,200 Holy Spirit. He'll come filled with the 164 00:12:29,200 --> 00:12:33,960 Spirit of God, and he mentions the sevenfold Spirit there in 165 00:12:33,960 --> 00:12:39,080 Isaiah Chapter 11. He says this, the Spirit of the 166 00:12:39,080 --> 00:12:41,920 Lord, and this is the spirit that has fallen upon them. 167 00:12:42,200 --> 00:12:45,400 It's the Spirit of the Lord, the Spirit of wisdom and 168 00:12:45,400 --> 00:12:49,240 understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of 169 00:12:49,240 --> 00:12:54,120 knowledge and the fear of the Lord, the honest, the reverence 170 00:12:54,600 --> 00:12:55,680 of the Lord. What? 171 00:12:55,680 --> 00:12:59,160 These are the things that we're missing in the Church of Sardis 172 00:12:59,160 --> 00:13:04,800 that caused them to be considered dead and in our own 173 00:13:04,800 --> 00:13:08,280 lives that we don't have the presence of the Holy Spirit. 174 00:13:09,720 --> 00:13:16,320 Our walk in Christ can be dead. Our experience can have a dead 175 00:13:16,320 --> 00:13:18,760 experience. You know, James said that the, 176 00:13:19,000 --> 00:13:22,200 the, the body without the Spirit is dead. 177 00:13:22,960 --> 00:13:27,840 Well, the body of Christ without the Spirit of Christ is dead. 178 00:13:31,760 --> 00:13:36,560 We need the Holy Spirit. You know, I can understand why 179 00:13:36,720 --> 00:13:40,680 when the disciples were with Jesus on that last day, when 180 00:13:40,680 --> 00:13:45,920 they watched him ascend, I can understand how their hearts 181 00:13:45,920 --> 00:13:50,520 could have could drop. But because he said to them 182 00:13:50,520 --> 00:13:53,840 prior to that, he says, I'm going to go. 183 00:13:53,960 --> 00:14:00,680 But when I go, I am going to send you another helper who was 184 00:14:00,680 --> 00:14:06,720 with you and shall be in you. Oh, thank God for the Holy 185 00:14:06,720 --> 00:14:09,560 Spirit because he is the one who stayed. 186 00:14:09,880 --> 00:14:14,440 He's the one who's ever with us because he's ever in us. 187 00:14:16,680 --> 00:14:19,280 But what happens when that Spirit is quenched? 188 00:14:19,280 --> 00:14:22,600 What happens when that spirit is grieved and there's no 189 00:14:22,600 --> 00:14:25,800 manifestation of the Spirit working in our lives? 190 00:14:27,840 --> 00:14:32,720 We become like dead man. It's almost like Ezekiel. 191 00:14:33,480 --> 00:14:36,520 The bones that he preached to were dead until the Spirit 192 00:14:36,520 --> 00:14:42,000 entered those bones. We need the Holy Spirit in our 193 00:14:42,000 --> 00:14:46,200 own lives, and I pray that we acknowledge the fact that every 194 00:14:46,200 --> 00:14:50,640 single day we should be asking for a fresh feeling, a fresh 195 00:14:50,640 --> 00:14:53,960 feeling of the Holy Spirit, a newness of the Holy Spirit in 196 00:14:53,960 --> 00:14:58,160 our lives every single day to help us with the knowledge, to 197 00:14:58,160 --> 00:15:02,400 help us with counsel and might, to help us have the fear of the 198 00:15:02,400 --> 00:15:07,720 Lord to obey His word. Every day. 199 00:15:07,720 --> 00:15:12,280 We need the power of the Holy Spirit working inside of us to 200 00:15:12,280 --> 00:15:15,360 help us to walk out this Christian life. 201 00:15:15,520 --> 00:15:19,560 We can't do it without it. We can't do it without it. 202 00:15:22,600 --> 00:15:28,040 So in so in Sardis, the, the church had basically ceased to 203 00:15:28,040 --> 00:15:32,320 function under the power and the fullness of the spirit. 204 00:15:32,360 --> 00:15:35,680 But then it also says that he's a, that the seven stars he 205 00:15:35,680 --> 00:15:38,480 mentions the seven stars he needs in this case is the 7 206 00:15:38,480 --> 00:15:39,960 angels. He's talk, you know, he's 207 00:15:39,960 --> 00:15:43,640 talking about the, the, the, the, he's talking about the, 208 00:15:43,640 --> 00:15:46,640 the, the messengers of the church. 209 00:15:46,640 --> 00:15:51,840 He has the pastors and the elders of the church under his 210 00:15:52,000 --> 00:15:54,120 authority. He has them. 211 00:15:54,120 --> 00:15:56,600 These are the, the ruling elders of the church. 212 00:15:57,400 --> 00:16:01,280 As is mentioned over in chapter one verse and verse 16. 213 00:16:01,560 --> 00:16:03,760 It's important that the church leaders are filled with the 214 00:16:03,760 --> 00:16:07,920 power of the Holy Spirit. And we, we should serve, always 215 00:16:07,920 --> 00:16:12,760 serve under the power and being led by the Holy Spirit. 216 00:16:14,000 --> 00:16:17,040 It's the only way that we can do this ministry or do anything in 217 00:16:17,040 --> 00:16:19,280 this ministry, the only way that this ministry can be fruitful, 218 00:16:19,800 --> 00:16:23,120 as if we are led by the power of the Holy Spirit. 219 00:16:24,280 --> 00:16:27,680 So it was the fullness of the Holy Spirit who fell upon the 220 00:16:27,680 --> 00:16:29,800 apostles on the day of Pentecost. 221 00:16:30,160 --> 00:16:34,000 And, and the New Testament churches were born out of the 222 00:16:34,000 --> 00:16:39,320 Spirit, but this church, this church had a reputation for 223 00:16:39,320 --> 00:16:43,000 being alive based on the past, but it was dead. 224 00:16:43,000 --> 00:16:46,880 Look at what what he says here in verse, in verse 2 with a 225 00:16:46,880 --> 00:16:49,880 bottom of verse 1, he says, I know your works, that you have a 226 00:16:49,880 --> 00:16:52,680 name. This is the bottom of verse one 227 00:16:53,120 --> 00:16:55,880 that you have a name, that you have a name that you are alive, 228 00:16:56,040 --> 00:16:59,800 but you are dead. And then he says here that you 229 00:16:59,800 --> 00:17:01,520 know well if you have a reputation. 230 00:17:01,520 --> 00:17:04,839 And sometimes we see people who have a reputation in the faith, 231 00:17:04,839 --> 00:17:07,240 they have a reputation in the church, they have a reputation 232 00:17:07,599 --> 00:17:10,359 and and and ministry. We can see that and we can just 233 00:17:10,359 --> 00:17:14,119 assume that those people are alive in the spirit. 234 00:17:15,520 --> 00:17:20,960 But just for reputation does not mean life does not mean life 235 00:17:21,800 --> 00:17:23,440 doesn't matter what our reputation is. 236 00:17:23,440 --> 00:17:26,280 The truth of the matter is, what's working in our hearts? 237 00:17:27,520 --> 00:17:28,880 What's really working in my heart? 238 00:17:29,000 --> 00:17:32,040 What's working in my heart When I come here on a Sunday or a 239 00:17:32,040 --> 00:17:33,840 Wednesday? What's working in my heart When 240 00:17:33,840 --> 00:17:37,320 I leave my home every day and I'm out among other people, 241 00:17:37,360 --> 00:17:40,520 What's in my heart? What's leading me? 242 00:17:40,800 --> 00:17:43,920 Am I being led by the Spirit or am I being led by my flesh? 243 00:17:45,760 --> 00:17:48,920 Do I respond to things based on the Spirit or do I respond to 244 00:17:48,920 --> 00:17:53,880 things based on my flesh, my own understanding, leaning on my own 245 00:17:53,880 --> 00:17:59,160 understanding? Those are things that as a 246 00:17:59,160 --> 00:18:04,400 Christian that we have, we have access to this power, this power 247 00:18:04,400 --> 00:18:06,440 that dwells in us. We have access to it. 248 00:18:06,720 --> 00:18:15,640 So why not call on that power, be led by that power, so this 249 00:18:15,640 --> 00:18:21,000 church have that reputation. What's really important for a 250 00:18:21,000 --> 00:18:22,880 church? They probably had it. 251 00:18:22,920 --> 00:18:24,680 They looked that way from the outside. 252 00:18:25,400 --> 00:18:27,440 You know, it was a church that looked like it was alive. 253 00:18:27,720 --> 00:18:30,720 It was probably a church that was polished, had a polished 254 00:18:30,720 --> 00:18:34,360 praise and worship ban. It was probably a church that 255 00:18:34,360 --> 00:18:37,760 had a pastor that was charismatic or progressive 256 00:18:39,440 --> 00:18:43,160 preaching, secret friendly messages, or because there was 257 00:18:43,160 --> 00:18:47,400 such a massive group of attendees for that church. 258 00:18:47,720 --> 00:18:51,760 And you can go on TikTok and you can go on X or you can go on 259 00:18:51,760 --> 00:18:55,240 Facebook and you can see all these churches that look like 260 00:18:55,240 --> 00:18:58,000 they're so popular, just so happening. 261 00:18:58,200 --> 00:19:00,560 And people were just like flogging to these churches 262 00:19:00,560 --> 00:19:03,680 because of the marketing that these churches do. 263 00:19:03,680 --> 00:19:07,000 But what's really leading that church? 264 00:19:07,000 --> 00:19:10,360 Is it the Holy Spirit or is it the flesh of someone with good 265 00:19:10,360 --> 00:19:15,880 eye, with good marketing ideas? Because the Spirit is 266 00:19:15,880 --> 00:19:24,880 everlasting, but the flesh dies. The flesh dies Lord Jesus, but 267 00:19:24,880 --> 00:19:27,880 without the power and the anointing of the life given 268 00:19:27,880 --> 00:19:30,200 Spirit. It's just going through the 269 00:19:30,200 --> 00:19:34,120 motions. There's no real life, no real 270 00:19:34,120 --> 00:19:37,200 life. So Jesus addresses this issue of 271 00:19:37,200 --> 00:19:41,040 this dead church, and he also did it with the Pharisees. 272 00:19:41,040 --> 00:19:43,920 If you remember, he talked about how the Pharisees over in 273 00:19:43,920 --> 00:19:47,600 Matthew 2023, he talked about how the Pharisees look so good 274 00:19:47,600 --> 00:19:50,880 on the outside. He talked about how they were 275 00:19:50,880 --> 00:19:53,560 like whitewashed tombs or they shined. 276 00:19:53,560 --> 00:19:56,720 And, and I'll never forget Pastor Clark's description of 277 00:19:56,720 --> 00:20:00,000 when he was in Israel. And excuse me, he's in. 278 00:20:05,480 --> 00:20:09,200 He saw the tombs, he was on the hill and he saw the tombs parts, 279 00:20:09,200 --> 00:20:10,080 the clock. Where was that? 280 00:20:11,040 --> 00:20:12,880 Where you saw the tombs? And you look down and you saw 281 00:20:12,880 --> 00:20:15,360 the tombs on the, from the hill and how they were glistening. 282 00:20:16,080 --> 00:20:18,600 You're on the Mount of Olives. And he saw the he, he could look 283 00:20:18,600 --> 00:20:22,120 down and, and into Jerusalem and he saw the, the tombs and how 284 00:20:22,120 --> 00:20:24,080 they were glistening and how they were white. 285 00:20:24,640 --> 00:20:28,320 But meanwhile, the Bible says that inside they were full of 286 00:20:28,320 --> 00:20:34,200 dead men's bones, full of corruption, full of deceit, full 287 00:20:34,200 --> 00:20:39,840 of defilement, the good on the outside, but on the inside it 288 00:20:39,840 --> 00:20:46,640 was nothing but dead. And then in verse 2, he says 289 00:20:46,640 --> 00:20:52,960 here, so he kind of gives a a way to deal with these issues. 290 00:20:52,960 --> 00:20:56,480 He says be watchful and strengthen the things which 291 00:20:56,480 --> 00:21:00,520 remain, things that are ready to die for. 292 00:21:00,520 --> 00:21:05,480 I have not found your works to be perfect before God. 293 00:21:05,840 --> 00:21:09,360 When a church is dead, spiritual activity ceases. 294 00:21:09,640 --> 00:21:12,040 The work is not perfect. That means that the work is not 295 00:21:12,040 --> 00:21:14,800 complete. The work is unfulfilled. 296 00:21:14,800 --> 00:21:16,960 It's not it's it's unfinished work. 297 00:21:17,480 --> 00:21:21,720 Maybe this was a a church who at at one point was very zealous 298 00:21:21,720 --> 00:21:25,040 about getting out and sharing the gospel, very zealous about 299 00:21:25,040 --> 00:21:29,800 rendering social service help to to people, very zealous about 300 00:21:29,800 --> 00:21:34,640 reaching the lost. But as a spirit is no longer 301 00:21:34,640 --> 00:21:37,840 functioning within these people, it's not manifested. 302 00:21:37,960 --> 00:21:40,280 Those things don't become important anymore. 303 00:21:41,520 --> 00:21:45,400 They lose the the desire to go out and share the gospel. 304 00:21:45,960 --> 00:21:49,160 They lose the boldness to stand in front of someone who's 305 00:21:49,160 --> 00:21:53,080 opposing them and to stand and talk on, to stand on the Word of 306 00:21:53,080 --> 00:21:55,960 God. You lose the boldness for you 307 00:21:55,960 --> 00:21:59,000 lose the enthusiasm. You lose the energy to want to 308 00:21:59,000 --> 00:22:04,600 go out and just do a work that the Lord initially gave you the 309 00:22:04,600 --> 00:22:08,680 zeal to do. Now those things start to wane. 310 00:22:10,120 --> 00:22:14,360 Church becomes slothful, it's not move to go out and do those 311 00:22:14,360 --> 00:22:18,200 things anymore. No longer seeks holiness when 312 00:22:18,200 --> 00:22:20,000 the Spirit of the Lord is not active. 313 00:22:20,280 --> 00:22:23,680 Holiness is not something that that the church will pursue. 314 00:22:24,920 --> 00:22:28,120 So we always have to check ourselves to see where are we at 315 00:22:28,280 --> 00:22:33,360 in terms of seeking holiness. Where are we at with that. 316 00:22:34,760 --> 00:22:39,720 But he says be watchful. That means wake up, wake up, 317 00:22:40,840 --> 00:22:48,400 wake up, become aware, become alive, wake up in the spirit, 318 00:22:48,600 --> 00:22:54,760 wake up to what the Lord is saying to you, wake up, he said. 319 00:22:54,800 --> 00:22:59,080 Be watchful and wake up from that slumber. 320 00:22:59,320 --> 00:23:04,920 The worst thing that can happen to a church is that it loses his 321 00:23:04,920 --> 00:23:11,040 life or its power and no one is even aware and no one is even 322 00:23:11,040 --> 00:23:13,080 aware. I was talking with Pastor Clark 323 00:23:13,080 --> 00:23:16,040 the other day and and then we were praying together and 324 00:23:16,040 --> 00:23:21,120 talking and, and I was just reminded as I was studying 325 00:23:21,120 --> 00:23:26,200 through this that one of the saddest statements in the Bible 326 00:23:28,320 --> 00:23:37,640 is over in the book of Judges, chapter 16, verse 20, and Bible 327 00:23:37,640 --> 00:23:40,680 is speaking is speaking about Solomon, Samson speaking about 328 00:23:40,680 --> 00:23:47,560 Samson who had lost his way, who had fallen into sin. 329 00:23:49,000 --> 00:23:53,480 But he was strong. But after he allowed this woman 330 00:23:53,480 --> 00:23:59,120 to cut his hair, he lost his power, He lost the presence of 331 00:23:59,120 --> 00:24:04,840 the Holy Spirit. And the Bible says this, the 332 00:24:04,840 --> 00:24:08,960 Bible says this, that after he had lost that power, he was 333 00:24:08,960 --> 00:24:12,840 sleep. And when the enemy came in upon 334 00:24:12,840 --> 00:24:16,000 him, he thought that he could still do what he had done 335 00:24:16,000 --> 00:24:18,400 before. When the presence of God was 336 00:24:18,400 --> 00:24:22,080 with him, he thought he could still get up, and he can shake 337 00:24:22,080 --> 00:24:25,640 and, and he can go and destroy and, and, and, and still defend 338 00:24:25,640 --> 00:24:29,760 himself. The saddest statement in the 339 00:24:29,760 --> 00:24:33,240 Bible was this. But he did not know that the 340 00:24:33,240 --> 00:24:37,000 Lord had departed from him, did not know. 341 00:24:39,080 --> 00:24:45,000 If we don't know that the Holy Spirit is not functioning in US, 342 00:24:45,400 --> 00:24:49,680 temptation can take us. The enemy can send attacks 343 00:24:49,680 --> 00:24:53,880 against us and overtake us, because we can't defeat those 344 00:24:53,880 --> 00:24:59,480 things in our flesh. And that's why we have to always 345 00:24:59,480 --> 00:25:02,480 be aware. So we have to always seek the 346 00:25:02,680 --> 00:25:08,440 the power of the Holy Spirit before anyone comes up here and 347 00:25:08,440 --> 00:25:10,440 teaches anything out of the word of God. 348 00:25:10,640 --> 00:25:17,160 We're back there praying and asking the Lord to please Holy 349 00:25:17,160 --> 00:25:22,880 Spirit, manifest yourself. Holy Spirit, you be the one to 350 00:25:22,880 --> 00:25:26,840 do this. You teach this, lead us, guide 351 00:25:26,840 --> 00:25:29,880 us through the Scriptures. It doesn't matter who's there's. 352 00:25:29,880 --> 00:25:32,720 There's seminaries that are full of people who can study this 353 00:25:32,720 --> 00:25:35,800 word and be able to give a good interpretation of what this 354 00:25:35,800 --> 00:25:38,720 means. But without the Holy Spirit, it 355 00:25:38,720 --> 00:25:44,520 means nothing to the here. The Holy Spirit is the teacher. 356 00:25:44,600 --> 00:25:47,400 The Holy Spirit is the one that reveals knowledge and truth. 357 00:25:48,920 --> 00:25:53,480 We need the Holy Spirit always. Always. 358 00:25:53,560 --> 00:25:56,320 Sardis was asleep and had become complacent. 359 00:25:56,720 --> 00:26:00,200 That means they became satisfied, content with routine. 360 00:26:01,160 --> 00:26:04,600 I always tell when I, when I train people in basketball, 361 00:26:05,360 --> 00:26:10,120 always tell them there are four enemies that every athlete has, 362 00:26:11,200 --> 00:26:13,920 but they're also four enemies. These are the same 4 enemies 363 00:26:14,120 --> 00:26:19,160 that every church has, which are the same 4 enemies that every 364 00:26:19,160 --> 00:26:23,800 Christian has. And I've committed this and, 365 00:26:23,800 --> 00:26:27,200 and, and I've worked on this with kids all the time because 366 00:26:27,200 --> 00:26:29,680 you need to know when one of these enemies are attacking 367 00:26:29,680 --> 00:26:32,360 them. And the enemies are as follows. 368 00:26:32,360 --> 00:26:37,640 First of all, the enemy of fear. You cannot play basketball being 369 00:26:37,640 --> 00:26:40,200 afraid. You can't participate in it. 370 00:26:40,200 --> 00:26:43,360 You can't participate in any sport being afraid, but neither 371 00:26:43,360 --> 00:26:48,960 can the church function in fear, unless it's the fear of the 372 00:26:48,960 --> 00:26:53,240 Lord. Laziness. 373 00:26:54,360 --> 00:26:57,560 Any athlete that's lazy will not grow. 374 00:26:57,880 --> 00:27:00,440 A church that's lazy will not grow. 375 00:27:00,800 --> 00:27:04,880 A Christian that is slothful will not grow. 376 00:27:06,840 --> 00:27:13,040 Pride. Pride is that thing that you 377 00:27:13,040 --> 00:27:15,200 have that you don't even know that the other things aren't 378 00:27:15,200 --> 00:27:19,120 there. You're so prideful you don't 379 00:27:19,120 --> 00:27:22,080 even know that you're lazy. You're so prideful that you 380 00:27:22,080 --> 00:27:24,240 don't even know that you're afraid. 381 00:27:24,240 --> 00:27:29,720 You're so prideful you don't even realize that things have 382 00:27:29,720 --> 00:27:33,520 been have been changed and you have dropped. 383 00:27:33,520 --> 00:27:39,680 You have not grown. You have not been that person 384 00:27:39,680 --> 00:27:44,960 who runs after holiness anymore because you become prideful. 385 00:27:45,440 --> 00:27:51,440 You don't even pray because we we become prideful and we can 386 00:27:51,440 --> 00:27:56,840 all fall into these things, be too prideful to pray, too 387 00:27:56,840 --> 00:28:00,720 prideful to seek God. And then the 4th, 1 And this is 388 00:28:00,720 --> 00:28:06,760 the one where the Church of Sardis fell into which many of 389 00:28:06,760 --> 00:28:09,880 us fall into. I have fallen into this 390 00:28:10,480 --> 00:28:14,520 complacency that means you're satisfied with where you are. 391 00:28:17,040 --> 00:28:19,960 If there's one thing that any of us as a Christian have to be 392 00:28:19,960 --> 00:28:24,200 aware of, it's being complacent. To ever get to a point where 393 00:28:24,200 --> 00:28:27,280 we're complacent, we feel we don't have room to grow anymore. 394 00:28:28,440 --> 00:28:31,720 I don't have to come to service that much anymore. 395 00:28:33,040 --> 00:28:37,160 I've already read that I don't have to listen to it again. 396 00:28:39,960 --> 00:28:42,600 I'm already comfortable with exactly where I'm at in my 397 00:28:42,600 --> 00:28:44,560 faith. I don't have to grow anymore 398 00:28:45,920 --> 00:28:51,160 complacency, being satisfied with just the way things are. 399 00:28:51,160 --> 00:28:55,360 And that's how this church was and didn't even know that it was 400 00:28:55,360 --> 00:28:57,920 under the attack of a vicious enemy. 401 00:28:58,480 --> 00:29:03,200 Didn't even know. Unfortunately, many of us, many 402 00:29:03,200 --> 00:29:07,640 churches, many Christians, become victims of complacency. 403 00:29:08,560 --> 00:29:13,720 It comes upon you so fast, but it also comes subtle, and we 404 00:29:13,720 --> 00:29:16,920 don't even realize that we're dealing with these things. 405 00:29:19,280 --> 00:29:24,360 But when a church is only concerned with reputation, or 406 00:29:24,360 --> 00:29:27,320 they're only concerned with filling seats and only concerned 407 00:29:27,320 --> 00:29:33,360 with popularity, when that happens spiritually, they die. 408 00:29:34,400 --> 00:29:37,800 They no longer seek souls, they just seek members. 409 00:29:38,360 --> 00:29:42,040 They no longer desire to grow spiritually, but just seeking to 410 00:29:42,040 --> 00:29:44,840 grow financially. They are no longer seeking the 411 00:29:44,840 --> 00:29:46,560 things that are above, but they're now. 412 00:29:46,560 --> 00:29:48,640 It's just seeking the things that are upon the earth. 413 00:29:50,440 --> 00:29:53,480 Desire to be friends with the world instead of being the 414 00:29:53,480 --> 00:30:00,080 servants of Jesus Christ. When we seek to please men, then 415 00:30:00,080 --> 00:30:02,040 we're no longer the servants of Christ. 416 00:30:03,640 --> 00:30:05,440 We're no longer the servants of Christ. 417 00:30:05,680 --> 00:30:10,160 And then he tells us, he says, straighten the things he says 418 00:30:10,160 --> 00:30:12,080 strengthen, I'm sorry, strengthen the things which 419 00:30:12,080 --> 00:30:15,680 remain that are ready to die. We got to do an inventory of 420 00:30:15,680 --> 00:30:20,360 ourselves, do a thorough inventory of ourselves and, and 421 00:30:20,360 --> 00:30:23,320 find out what's there that remains. 422 00:30:23,960 --> 00:30:25,280 What are the things that are still good? 423 00:30:25,280 --> 00:30:26,680 Do I still like to go to Bible study? 424 00:30:26,800 --> 00:30:30,080 Do I still like to pray? You know, do I still have this 425 00:30:30,080 --> 00:30:33,200 love for, for for the Lord and for other people? 426 00:30:33,240 --> 00:30:37,080 What's in me that I can strengthen? 427 00:30:38,960 --> 00:30:44,120 Do I have a desire for for for souls that I need to strengthen 428 00:30:44,120 --> 00:30:46,760 it? Do I have a desire to study the 429 00:30:46,760 --> 00:30:48,040 word? I need to strengthen it, 430 00:30:48,320 --> 00:30:50,600 Strengthen those things that remain. 431 00:30:52,120 --> 00:30:58,640 And he says, I found that your works before God we're not found 432 00:30:58,640 --> 00:31:00,680 to be perfect. They were not found to be 433 00:31:00,680 --> 00:31:02,760 complete. And then he says, remember 434 00:31:02,760 --> 00:31:07,040 therefore how you have received. Now some versions may say, and 435 00:31:07,040 --> 00:31:11,040 this is in verse 3. Some versions may say, remember, 436 00:31:12,040 --> 00:31:17,760 or you know, it may say, remember therefore how you have 437 00:31:17,760 --> 00:31:22,160 received and heard, or remember what you have received and 438 00:31:22,160 --> 00:31:26,840 heard. Either way, it's that deposit of 439 00:31:26,840 --> 00:31:31,560 truth that was deposited into you that you once heard, that 440 00:31:31,560 --> 00:31:36,040 you once believed, and you received it with a manner that 441 00:31:36,040 --> 00:31:40,480 was of great zeal and great all and reverence for the Lord. 442 00:31:40,960 --> 00:31:43,560 You received it with enthusiasm and faith. 443 00:31:45,360 --> 00:31:48,800 Need to go back to that and remember that time that we we 444 00:31:48,880 --> 00:31:51,320 that we received the word of God every time we had an 445 00:31:51,320 --> 00:31:52,760 opportunity. We received it with this 446 00:31:52,760 --> 00:31:57,480 enthusiasm. We received it with this all 447 00:31:57,480 --> 00:32:00,880 that is coming from the mouth of God. 448 00:32:01,360 --> 00:32:04,880 When we lose that all, when we lose that zeal, when we lose 449 00:32:04,880 --> 00:32:10,640 that enthusiasm, eventually we lose our desire for the word all 450 00:32:10,640 --> 00:32:14,840 together. So he says, remember therefore 451 00:32:19,600 --> 00:32:22,400 how you've received it or what you've received and heard. 452 00:32:22,760 --> 00:32:26,360 And then he says, hold fast. Once you remember how you 453 00:32:26,360 --> 00:32:29,920 received that word of God, once you remember what you received, 454 00:32:30,320 --> 00:32:34,160 grab onto it. Grab onto it tightly and hold on 455 00:32:34,280 --> 00:32:37,600 to it tightly. You know no, no be. 456 00:32:37,640 --> 00:32:42,440 Have a firm grip on it, guard it, guard it and continue to 457 00:32:42,440 --> 00:32:46,520 obey those things. Even though apathy was all 458 00:32:46,520 --> 00:32:51,720 around this church and apathy was, was, was penetrating the 459 00:32:51,720 --> 00:32:54,360 walls of this church just like it could be here. 460 00:32:54,360 --> 00:32:58,240 You know, there could be apathy here as well as enthusiasm here. 461 00:32:58,240 --> 00:33:04,120 But the but but when we are able to grab hold firmly on the word 462 00:33:04,120 --> 00:33:07,880 of God and we're able to guard those things that we've heard 463 00:33:07,880 --> 00:33:10,600 and continue to obey those things regardless of what's 464 00:33:10,600 --> 00:33:13,920 going on around us, we can continue to grow and be a 465 00:33:13,920 --> 00:33:19,640 blessing to somebody else and be a blessing to someone else. 466 00:33:21,160 --> 00:33:23,600 In other words, he's saying to this church and he's saying to 467 00:33:23,600 --> 00:33:29,560 us, be steadfast, be unmovable and always abounding in the work 468 00:33:29,680 --> 00:33:34,400 of the Lord because any work that we do in the Lord is never 469 00:33:34,400 --> 00:33:37,000 in vain. There's always fruit. 470 00:33:39,000 --> 00:33:42,480 A dead church or a dead Christian must realize that a 471 00:33:42,480 --> 00:33:46,440 change is necessary. So we must examine ourselves and 472 00:33:46,440 --> 00:33:49,120 see what it is that we've become complacent. 473 00:33:49,120 --> 00:33:53,360 Where have we become complacent? Where have we become lazy? 474 00:33:53,480 --> 00:33:57,400 Where have we become fearful? Where are we with those things? 475 00:33:57,560 --> 00:34:00,240 What is leading? What are we doing that we're 476 00:34:00,240 --> 00:34:03,440 leading it with our flesh instead of leading it by the 477 00:34:03,440 --> 00:34:05,960 Spirit or being led by the Spirit of God? 478 00:34:07,280 --> 00:34:11,560 Where are those things? We have to be aware because 479 00:34:11,560 --> 00:34:14,400 sometimes the appearance of the church becomes more important 480 00:34:14,560 --> 00:34:16,719 than other things. The the the appearance of the 481 00:34:16,719 --> 00:34:19,920 building, the tradition, the way things used to be. 482 00:34:20,360 --> 00:34:22,239 That's one of the things that can kill a church. 483 00:34:22,520 --> 00:34:24,159 Well, this is just the way we always done it. 484 00:34:25,480 --> 00:34:30,000 This is what we've always did. You know, we'll when those 485 00:34:30,000 --> 00:34:33,840 things start to override what the scripture says, that's a 486 00:34:33,840 --> 00:34:36,320 problem. That's a problem. 487 00:34:38,199 --> 00:34:42,880 Be overly involved in divisive political parties or material 488 00:34:42,880 --> 00:34:46,960 gain or blending, just wanting to blend with the culture. 489 00:34:48,960 --> 00:34:52,639 Having more concern about those things than the concern to stand 490 00:34:52,639 --> 00:34:55,960 on God's Word, sharing the gospel, winning souls, and 491 00:34:55,960 --> 00:35:02,520 growing and holiness. That's when there's a danger of 492 00:35:02,520 --> 00:35:08,280 a church dying, when it no longer seeks holiness, no longer 493 00:35:08,280 --> 00:35:14,960 has a desire to seek holiness. And then over here in verse 4, 494 00:35:17,680 --> 00:35:19,560 I'm sorry, Let's look at the bottom of verse 3. 495 00:35:19,840 --> 00:35:23,760 It says, therefore, if you will not watch, if you will not 496 00:35:23,760 --> 00:35:29,200 watch, if you will not hold fast, OK, It says that they He 497 00:35:29,200 --> 00:35:33,880 will come upon you quickly as a thief. 498 00:35:33,880 --> 00:35:36,360 He will come upon you as a thief, and you will not know the 499 00:35:36,440 --> 00:35:44,360 hour that I will come upon you. But the grace of our God tells 500 00:35:44,360 --> 00:35:50,280 us that we can repent. That's what he tells us. 501 00:35:50,280 --> 00:35:58,680 We can repent even if we're in these areas of lack, these areas 502 00:35:58,680 --> 00:36:02,800 that have become dead or become cold in our Christian walk. 503 00:36:04,920 --> 00:36:08,440 When we concentrate, we meditate on those on on the word of God 504 00:36:08,440 --> 00:36:12,520 and the Holy Spirit then touches our hearts and let us know, you 505 00:36:12,520 --> 00:36:15,760 know, you have backed off from this or you don't pray as much 506 00:36:15,760 --> 00:36:18,520 as you used to, or you don't read your word as much as you 507 00:36:18,520 --> 00:36:23,200 used to, or you don't, you know, allow or or or or or appreciate 508 00:36:23,200 --> 00:36:26,680 the fellowship with like minded people the way you used to. 509 00:36:26,680 --> 00:36:30,360 Your, your group has changed. Your influence has changed. 510 00:36:31,640 --> 00:36:37,480 When you realize those things, the Lord says repent, repent. 511 00:36:38,840 --> 00:36:41,400 This is awesome because see, there are some things in the 512 00:36:41,400 --> 00:36:44,320 world that you can be associated with. 513 00:36:44,560 --> 00:36:48,480 And the moment you do something that's contrary to what they 514 00:36:48,480 --> 00:36:51,800 like or what they believe or what they think, you're done. 515 00:36:53,040 --> 00:36:56,000 You're done. You're gone. 516 00:36:56,000 --> 00:36:59,400 Your name is off the road. You're no longer invited to the 517 00:36:59,400 --> 00:37:02,120 socials. You're no longer getting called 518 00:37:02,120 --> 00:37:06,760 to the picnics. I've experienced that with some 519 00:37:06,760 --> 00:37:12,320 family members. You know, you're done. 520 00:37:12,320 --> 00:37:16,280 But Jesus says repent as a church or individually, we can 521 00:37:16,280 --> 00:37:18,320 repent. That means we can turn from 522 00:37:18,320 --> 00:37:20,320 those things. We can change your minds and we 523 00:37:20,320 --> 00:37:24,080 can change our directions. I love what David says to us in 524 00:37:24,240 --> 00:37:30,560 in, in, in in Psalm 119 and, and and 59, he says, I thought about 525 00:37:30,560 --> 00:37:32,760 my ways. I thought about what I was doing 526 00:37:33,400 --> 00:37:37,320 and I turn my feet toward your testimonies. 527 00:37:37,920 --> 00:37:45,480 But then over in Psalm 51, he says, Lord, do not take your 528 00:37:45,480 --> 00:37:53,640 Holy Spirit from me. David knew he sinned. 529 00:37:53,640 --> 00:37:57,360 He knew he had blown it. He knew he messed up, and he 530 00:37:57,360 --> 00:37:59,600 knew that there was going to be a consequence for the things 531 00:37:59,600 --> 00:38:01,920 that he's done. There was going to be judgment 532 00:38:01,920 --> 00:38:04,800 for those things, David said. Lord, I can deal with anything 533 00:38:04,800 --> 00:38:11,400 else that you want to do to me, but please don't take your 534 00:38:11,400 --> 00:38:20,840 spirit from me in church. I would say that's the way we 535 00:38:20,840 --> 00:38:25,920 should value the Spirit of God. It's precious. 536 00:38:27,320 --> 00:38:32,320 It's precious the fact that we as believers have the Holy 537 00:38:32,320 --> 00:38:35,320 Spirit living in us. The Bible says that the moment 538 00:38:35,320 --> 00:38:39,080 that you believe the Spirit of His Son came into your heart. 539 00:38:41,240 --> 00:38:47,480 The moment we believed, we have that and it should be precious 540 00:38:47,480 --> 00:38:51,120 to us. It should be sought after. 541 00:38:51,120 --> 00:38:54,320 It should be our relationship with the Holy Spirit should be 542 00:38:54,320 --> 00:39:00,720 strengthened. He says, if you don't, then he's 543 00:39:00,720 --> 00:39:02,920 coming quickly and he's bringing judgment. 544 00:39:02,920 --> 00:39:06,240 This is not this judgment that's going to happen at the last day. 545 00:39:06,360 --> 00:39:10,560 We're talking about a judgment that he will bring as a 546 00:39:10,560 --> 00:39:13,080 chastisement. And thank God that he loves us 547 00:39:13,080 --> 00:39:17,320 enough that he wants to chastise us when we're wrong, when we're 548 00:39:17,320 --> 00:39:19,400 off. And then in verse four, he says, 549 00:39:19,520 --> 00:39:21,840 I have a few things. He said there's a few names even 550 00:39:21,840 --> 00:39:27,440 in Sardis who are not defiled, who have not defiled their 551 00:39:27,440 --> 00:39:29,640 garments. I have a few. 552 00:39:29,720 --> 00:39:32,440 There's a few people there that have not defiled their garments, 553 00:39:33,360 --> 00:39:35,000 he said. And they shall walk with me in 554 00:39:35,000 --> 00:39:39,080 white, for they are worthy Jesus. 555 00:39:39,480 --> 00:39:42,720 Jesus always has a remnant. There's always a remnant of God, 556 00:39:43,360 --> 00:39:45,360 no matter where we go, no matter who we're with. 557 00:39:45,360 --> 00:39:49,960 There's always a remnant of God in Christ. 558 00:39:50,120 --> 00:39:53,360 Even if we do sin, we can be cleansed. 559 00:39:53,520 --> 00:39:57,200 Even if we do defile our garment, we can be cleansed 560 00:39:57,200 --> 00:40:00,480 again. I love the fact that we have 561 00:40:00,480 --> 00:40:04,320 first John 1:00 and 9:00. That tells us basically that if 562 00:40:04,320 --> 00:40:08,520 we confess, if we humble ourselves and confess that this 563 00:40:08,520 --> 00:40:11,600 is where we are, this is the sin we've committed, we are in 564 00:40:11,600 --> 00:40:13,800 agreement with God that we're off. 565 00:40:15,000 --> 00:40:18,960 He says if we do that, He says He all we have to do is confess 566 00:40:18,960 --> 00:40:22,120 it. Repent, confess it. 567 00:40:22,520 --> 00:40:26,480 He said that He will forgive and He will cleanse. 568 00:40:26,960 --> 00:40:30,640 He will cleanse us from all unrighteousness because He is 569 00:40:30,640 --> 00:40:36,880 just and He is righteous. So he's admonishing these, these 570 00:40:36,880 --> 00:40:40,680 few who have not defiled their garments, He's who have not 571 00:40:40,680 --> 00:40:43,880 soiled their garments. He's encouraging them to remain 572 00:40:43,880 --> 00:40:46,600 faithful, that the church could be revived. 573 00:40:46,680 --> 00:40:49,000 See, the church could be revived with just a few people. 574 00:40:50,480 --> 00:40:53,800 You all remember back in the Old Testament in in Genesis, how, 575 00:40:54,280 --> 00:40:58,960 how, how Abraham basically bartered with the Lord and said 576 00:40:58,960 --> 00:41:05,200 Lord, if there's 10 that's in this city that will pray, will 577 00:41:05,200 --> 00:41:07,040 you not destroy it for 10 people? 578 00:41:07,160 --> 00:41:09,200 And he said, I will not destroy it for 10 people. 579 00:41:09,200 --> 00:41:12,000 He was talking about destroying Sodom and Gomorrah for their 580 00:41:12,000 --> 00:41:15,240 sexual immorality. Even as bad as that was, if 581 00:41:15,240 --> 00:41:18,160 there were 10 people there that would have prayed, that city 582 00:41:18,160 --> 00:41:22,840 could have been spared. I totally I I personal 583 00:41:23,280 --> 00:41:27,560 personally believe that the reason why our country has not 584 00:41:27,560 --> 00:41:32,320 been just totally destroyed is because of churches and people 585 00:41:32,320 --> 00:41:37,680 and Christians that are praying got a president that's reading 586 00:41:37,680 --> 00:41:41,040 the Bible. You have Congress people that's 587 00:41:41,040 --> 00:41:43,240 reading the Bible. You have personalities that's 588 00:41:43,440 --> 00:41:46,800 reading the word of God. If it wasn't for people who were 589 00:41:46,800 --> 00:41:50,680 praying, I believe this country will probably have been already 590 00:41:51,160 --> 00:41:57,360 destroyed. 10 people serious could have saved Sodom and 591 00:41:57,360 --> 00:41:59,960 Gomorrah, but there wasn't 10 that pray. 592 00:42:00,240 --> 00:42:05,960 God can always use even a small remnant, even a small remnant. 593 00:42:06,200 --> 00:42:09,480 And then we go to verse 5. We're about to come in praise 594 00:42:09,480 --> 00:42:10,920 and worship team, please come forward. 595 00:42:12,840 --> 00:42:16,120 In verse 5, He says he who overcomes shall be clothed with 596 00:42:16,120 --> 00:42:19,240 white garments. That's awesome. 597 00:42:19,360 --> 00:42:21,120 He'll be clothed with white garments. 598 00:42:21,280 --> 00:42:25,040 And I will not blot out His name from the book of life, but I 599 00:42:25,040 --> 00:42:31,320 will confess His name before my Father and before his angels. 600 00:42:33,200 --> 00:42:36,880 So here in verse 5 we see that Jesus gives this church, and He 601 00:42:36,880 --> 00:42:41,160 gives us 3 promises. Those who overcome, those who 602 00:42:41,160 --> 00:42:44,840 are victorious, those who are conquerors of Christ, He gives 603 00:42:44,840 --> 00:42:47,960 us 3 promises. And the first promises is he 604 00:42:47,960 --> 00:42:51,600 says that he will, He will give us a white garment. 605 00:42:51,600 --> 00:42:53,880 We will be clothed in white garments. 606 00:42:54,040 --> 00:42:56,520 Garment always has to do with our character. 607 00:42:57,280 --> 00:42:59,680 Garment always deals with the character of God. 608 00:43:00,440 --> 00:43:03,560 So he says, I'll give you the, I'll give you a white garment, 609 00:43:03,560 --> 00:43:07,080 meaning that he will give us a garment of purity, a garment of 610 00:43:07,080 --> 00:43:09,560 righteousness, a garment of glory. 611 00:43:10,200 --> 00:43:12,560 It denotes the fact that we are the redeemed. 612 00:43:13,080 --> 00:43:15,560 And if we're already redeemed, then we should say so. 613 00:43:15,560 --> 00:43:17,720 The Bible says, let the redeemed that the Lord say so, right? 614 00:43:18,440 --> 00:43:22,080 So we shouldn't be ashamed of being the redeemed of the Lord, 615 00:43:22,080 --> 00:43:24,400 but we should be bold about it and we should say so. 616 00:43:24,840 --> 00:43:29,960 Isaiah 61 and 10 says, For he has clothed me with the garments 617 00:43:29,960 --> 00:43:34,480 of salvation, he has covered me with the robe of righteousness, 618 00:43:35,280 --> 00:43:38,600 and then he gives a second promise over in he he gives 619 00:43:38,600 --> 00:43:42,880 second promise. He says He will not blot out the 620 00:43:42,880 --> 00:43:45,480 overcomers name from the book of life. 621 00:43:46,200 --> 00:43:48,520 Now this does not mean that one can not. 622 00:43:49,000 --> 00:43:52,880 This isn't saying here that one can lose their salvation that he 623 00:43:52,880 --> 00:43:56,240 will blotch some names out. No, but he's actually talking 624 00:43:56,240 --> 00:44:00,360 about what he says over here in in chapter 20 of Revelations 625 00:44:00,760 --> 00:44:05,760 verses 20, verses 12 through 15, he says, and I saw the dead, 626 00:44:05,760 --> 00:44:10,360 small and great standing before God and books were open and 627 00:44:10,360 --> 00:44:14,640 another book was open, which is the book of life. 628 00:44:15,280 --> 00:44:18,520 And the dead were judged according to their works by the 629 00:44:18,520 --> 00:44:21,160 things that were written in the books. 630 00:44:21,840 --> 00:44:24,000 The sea gave up its dead who were in it. 631 00:44:24,160 --> 00:44:27,360 And death in Hades delivered up the dead who were in them and 632 00:44:27,360 --> 00:44:30,880 they and they were judged each one according to his works. 633 00:44:31,120 --> 00:44:34,320 Then death in Hades were cast into the lake of fire. 634 00:44:34,720 --> 00:44:39,680 This is the second death, and anyone not found written in the 635 00:44:39,760 --> 00:44:45,040 Book of Life was cast into the Lake of Fire. 636 00:44:45,320 --> 00:44:50,560 So he's telling us, he's telling us that there is a list that we 637 00:44:50,560 --> 00:44:52,680 can be on, that we will never be erased from. 638 00:44:53,880 --> 00:44:55,600 We can never be erased from that book. 639 00:44:56,080 --> 00:44:57,800 Your name is in it. It's there. 640 00:44:58,800 --> 00:45:02,240 It's there for eternity, and that is the Book of Life. 641 00:45:03,000 --> 00:45:06,600 He told his disciples when he gave them power to cast out 642 00:45:06,600 --> 00:45:09,960 devils and to heal, and they came back and they were talking 643 00:45:09,960 --> 00:45:13,200 about how much authority they had over the demons. 644 00:45:13,640 --> 00:45:17,120 And Jesus said, no, don't rejoice because you have some 645 00:45:17,120 --> 00:45:20,840 authority over some demons, He said, but rejoice because your 646 00:45:20,840 --> 00:45:24,640 name is written in heaven. We have a lot of things that we 647 00:45:24,640 --> 00:45:26,080 may have accumulated here on this earth. 648 00:45:26,080 --> 00:45:29,640 We may have had a lot of accomplishments, whether it's in 649 00:45:29,640 --> 00:45:33,080 the faith or otherwise, but the truth of the matter is the most 650 00:45:33,080 --> 00:45:36,640 valuable thing that we have is the fact that our names are 651 00:45:36,640 --> 00:45:40,040 written in the book of life and no one can erase it. 652 00:45:40,680 --> 00:45:45,480 They will never be erased. And then the third thing, the 653 00:45:45,480 --> 00:45:49,720 third thing, he says he will confess the overcomers name 654 00:45:49,720 --> 00:45:52,440 before his Father and before his angels. 655 00:45:53,360 --> 00:45:55,560 These are heavenly angels that he's talking about, these spirit 656 00:45:55,560 --> 00:45:58,840 beings, the celestial beings. But what an encouraging thought 657 00:45:58,840 --> 00:46:02,720 it is that Jesus Christ, the King of glory, the one who 658 00:46:02,720 --> 00:46:10,920 created heaven and earth and the end of the earth, He Himself, He 659 00:46:10,920 --> 00:46:14,920 said one day that he will acknowledge and announce our 660 00:46:14,920 --> 00:46:20,120 names before His Father and before the angels, that we, 661 00:46:20,320 --> 00:46:26,080 bold, overcoming, enduring, faithful conquerors belong to 662 00:46:26,080 --> 00:46:28,200 Him. What an encouraging thing. 663 00:46:28,360 --> 00:46:30,280 That's what we have to look forward to. 664 00:46:31,160 --> 00:46:37,000 We are on a list that we can never be taken off of, and we 665 00:46:37,000 --> 00:46:40,840 are loved by a God who will never turn His back on us. 666 00:46:41,640 --> 00:46:48,080 Jesus says that he will never leave us nor forsake us if we're 667 00:46:48,080 --> 00:46:50,680 not ashamed to confess Him before men. 668 00:46:50,680 --> 00:46:55,800 He will not be ashamed to confess us before his Father and 669 00:46:55,800 --> 00:47:01,440 before his angels. And then just simply says in 670 00:47:01,440 --> 00:47:06,400 verse 6, he who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to 671 00:47:06,400 --> 00:47:11,160 the to the churches. If you've heard it, let it get 672 00:47:11,160 --> 00:47:19,200 into your heart, believe it, obey it, take it with you, seek 673 00:47:19,280 --> 00:47:22,400 the Holy Spirit, the help of the Holy Spirit. 674 00:47:22,640 --> 00:47:29,320 Value the power, the presence of the Holy Spirit, a valued 675 00:47:29,320 --> 00:47:34,560 anointing of the Holy Spirit, the wisdom that we get by 676 00:47:34,560 --> 00:47:38,160 listening and being led by the Holy Spirit. 677 00:47:38,880 --> 00:47:41,640 But maybe there's areas in our lives that we have allowed 678 00:47:41,640 --> 00:47:43,480 ourselves to become complacent in. 679 00:47:44,560 --> 00:47:48,560 Maybe there's areas of our lives that we have allowed to almost 680 00:47:48,960 --> 00:47:52,400 die. Maybe there's things that we've 681 00:47:52,600 --> 00:47:55,360 kind of walked away from in our lives and we have not been as 682 00:47:55,360 --> 00:47:59,880 zealous and the Holy Spirit has been trying to talk with us 683 00:47:59,880 --> 00:48:02,120 about this to kind of point those things out. 684 00:48:02,120 --> 00:48:04,960 I definitely have one that the Lord talked with me about 685 00:48:05,120 --> 00:48:11,360 myself. So I'm asking that if that is 686 00:48:11,360 --> 00:48:14,400 you as the praise and worship team, we'll play the last song 687 00:48:14,480 --> 00:48:17,600 after communion. I pray that as you sit, as you 688 00:48:17,600 --> 00:48:21,600 sit there or stand there, that you take that time to repent. 689 00:48:22,560 --> 00:48:25,320 Once the Lord brings it to your attention, you know what it is, 690 00:48:25,320 --> 00:48:26,920 just like I know how my what mine is. 691 00:48:27,480 --> 00:48:36,840 Take that time to repent. So Father, we do thank you for 692 00:48:36,840 --> 00:48:38,480 your word, we thank you for your message. 693 00:48:38,480 --> 00:48:42,040 We thank you for your truth. We thank you, Lord, that you 694 00:48:42,040 --> 00:48:45,440 love us so much that you would give us these things in your 695 00:48:45,440 --> 00:48:48,800 word and talk to us. These are real things that 696 00:48:48,800 --> 00:48:51,760 happens to real churches just like it can happen to us. 697 00:48:52,880 --> 00:48:59,000 Father, I pray that as you sent Jesus Christ your Son, to be our 698 00:48:59,000 --> 00:49:05,240 sacrifice, and that as He ascended back to be with you, 699 00:49:05,240 --> 00:49:12,640 Lord, He left with us His Holy Spirit, who indwells us, who 700 00:49:12,640 --> 00:49:15,720 keeps us, who walks with us, who teaches us. 701 00:49:16,160 --> 00:49:20,040 I pray that we never grieve Him or that we never quench it, so 702 00:49:20,040 --> 00:49:25,560 that He will always be active, manifested in our lives, and 703 00:49:25,560 --> 00:49:31,600 that we will seek the holiness, Lord, that the holiness that you 704 00:49:31,600 --> 00:49:36,680 give us opportunity, Lord, to walk in as Christians because we 705 00:49:36,680 --> 00:49:42,680 know that the Holy Spirit comes to give witness to You and to 706 00:49:42,680 --> 00:49:47,400 Your Word. The truth is open by way and 707 00:49:47,400 --> 00:49:51,080 revealed through your Holy Spirit, Lord, and we thank you 708 00:49:51,080 --> 00:49:55,440 for that. On the night in which Jesus was 709 00:49:55,440 --> 00:50:02,880 betrayed, he took the bread, and after he gave thanks, he broke 710 00:50:02,880 --> 00:50:04,640 it. And he said, take and eat. 711 00:50:04,640 --> 00:50:09,680 This is my body which is broken for you. 712 00:50:14,920 --> 00:50:19,560 Eat this as often as you eat it. Eat it in remembrance of me. 713 00:50:24,400 --> 00:50:26,960 And then he took the cup and he said, this is the cup in the new 714 00:50:27,720 --> 00:50:34,600 of my blood in a new covenant. And it was shed for the sins of 715 00:50:34,600 --> 00:50:38,160 many. We are still cleansed by the 716 00:50:38,160 --> 00:50:41,960 blood that was shared, that was shed by Jesus Christ. 717 00:50:43,080 --> 00:50:49,160 Those who are new Christians and new believers, their sins are 718 00:50:49,640 --> 00:50:54,120 washed clean by the blood that was shed 2000 years ago. 719 00:50:56,200 --> 00:51:00,800 Our sins that we commit from time to time, that stains our 720 00:51:00,800 --> 00:51:05,920 garments are still cleansed by the blood that was shed by Jesus 721 00:51:05,920 --> 00:51:10,320 Christ. He said drink this and as often 722 00:51:10,320 --> 00:51:13,520 as you drink it, drink it in remembrance of me. 723 00:51:17,200 --> 00:51:20,760 For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup you do. 724 00:51:20,760 --> 00:51:23,400 Show the Lords death until he comes. 725 00:51:23,680 --> 00:51:25,920 Amen. The Lord bless you all.