Hello, welcome back. Here we are Christian leaders Institute and I'm so glad that we are continuing on not just our discussion on revitalization. But in this wonderful text we have in Revelation 3. And I am going to start right off by reading that. It's just worth reading God's word over and over, I think the more we read it, the more that the Spirit brings to light. So I'm gonna read all six verses, our focus today is really going to be though on the back half of what is shared here. But I'm leaving, hoping even as I read the first half, that you're going to start hearing things that we've talked about already. And really, it'll be like, kind of coming alive for you. And you'll, you'll read, you'll hear it, I should say, with a greater sense of understanding and passion for revitalization. So here we go. To the angel of the church in Sardis write. These are the words of him who holds the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. I know your deeds, you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead, wake up, strengthen what remains and is about to die for I have not found your deeds complete in the sight of my God. Remember, therefore what you have received and heard, obey it, and repent. But if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief. And you will not know at what time I will come to you. Yet, you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes, they will walk with me dressed in white for they are worthy. He who overcomes will like them be dressed in white. I will never blot out his name from the book of life, but will acknowledge his name before My Father and His angels. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. Father, would you please add your blessing to this word that through your spirit, we might understand Lord, that which the natural mind is unable to comprehend to conceive. Lord, thank You for all my dear friends watching this and and going through this Lord in may your words be as fresh to our ears as it was when you shared them with John 2000 years ago, we pray this in Your name. Amen. All right. So back to Sardis. What we find here in this letter is a church that had fallen asleep. And even though it had a great reputation, it was mostly dead, its love. For the Lord had grown cold, it was indifferent, really to Christ and had blended in with the rest of the world. And Christ has these imperatives, that He gives kind of this desperate, urgent call for the church to wake up and do what it needed to do, of course, guided and led by the power of the Spirit. So as we think about it, there's really just two options. You know, imagine you're in Sardis. And this letter is read to the church, a public reading and said, you know, the Lord spoke to the apostle John, and this letter has now come to us and we read it. The moment that that letter is being done, read the church has one of two options, one, the church can stay dead. And I will talk in a minute that there's a threat of pending judgment against this church that's quite severe. But they can just they can continue to sleep. They can not wake up and we can see the you know, there's there's the end of the church that the spirit would be gone completely as we read. You know, Jesus is warning in other places in the book of Revelation about removing the lampstand removing the spirit completely from the church, who knows what it is, but they could maybe they face persecution, maybe they just die in Oblivion, who knows. But one option is we are not going to do anything. We like it the way it is. We've got this great reputation and we like living with one foot in the world and one foot in the church and I'm sure of just knowing sin nature and knowing human nature. I'm sure there were some people when this was read, they said oh, well it's not that bad. And you know, we you know You know, I mean, You can hear their voices. So one of the options was, hey, let's just, let's just keep doing what we're doing. Things really aren't that bad. And yet they would face judgment. The other would be to wake up, to do the hard work that Christ was calling the church to do to strengthen what re means, right? To remember the gospel to, to obey to repent, really, it was a challenge to just pursue God. And with that would come a great reward. And we're gonna talk about the judgment reward in a moment. But isn't it striking in this, that there's really only two alternatives presented to the church, there isn't a third, it's either you're going to follow Christ, or you're not. It's not like, well, you can, you know, be steeped in sin or follow God or kind of do nothing. And that's like a third option. You know, anything other than pursuing Christ is, is disobedience. And that's it. So there's no such thing whether I think, personally or at the church, there's no such thing as a neutral relationship with Jesus. You're either you're either heating up or cooling down, you're either moving towards or moving away, you're either speeding up or slowing down, you're either increasing in life and Christ is either welling up within you, or it's decreasing. That's it. So I think that's a reality that a lot of churches don't really want to wrestle with. That's like, Hey, it's okay. For now. You know, but when we boil it down to like, the two options, it's either judgment or reward. It's either faithfulness or disobedience. I mean, that's it. I mean, that's, that's just the reality that we all face. I mean, it's not just your church, your ministry, it's mine and everybody else's. So Jesus here, let's talk about the the warning he gives. This is a rough one. He says, If you do not wake up, so if you continue on as you are, I will come like a thief. And you will not know at what time I will come to you. So thief is a common metaphor in the New Testament. Jesus, it's either referring to like immediate punishment, or his second coming, you can find that in Matthew 24:43, or I Thessalonians 5:2. And this isn't the only letter where Jesus talks about coming like a thief. We're really kind of like impending judgment in Revelation 2:5 to the church in Ephesus, and in Revelation 2:16, to the church in Pergamum. The context is about this, like impending judgment that will come to the church suddenly, and unexpectedly, if it remains asleep. And again, can you you probably don't need me to say this. But again, you can hear a reference another reference to the city's history in which it was surprised and defeated by attackers in the middle of the night. Now, this is a tough one right here, listen to this. It says, I will come like a thief. Who was the one who was going to be coming against the church in Sardis? Isn't it Christ himself? He says, I will come like a thief. And you will not know at the time I come. It is Jesus Christ who threatens to overthrow the church and to bring about its end. It's Jesus himself, you know, who is going to you know, kind of pronounce final judgment on this. Wow. I mean, I mean, I know you know, we talked in the last lecture we talked about you know, the devil prowls around and and we have that scripture, but isn't it just so, I don't know. Terrifying that Jesus says, I'm gonna come. I'm the one if you don't wake up, I'm the one you need to fear from. Wow. Because the church had really stopped being the church and Christ would not allow for that any longer. So we've got a couple big things we've got to think about here. Okay, one, we have to live with a sense of urgency, we touched on that in the last lecture when we were talking about repentance. We have to, again, the grammar here, as I look at my notes, the grammar here, the Greek if you want to impress your friends and neighbors, it's the aorist imperative, which is used in repent, like, repent, repent, do it now. In the wake up is the same like, like, wake up, like this instance, this right now. This idea of again, like, we can't mess around with this, this isn't something we think about later, we've already touched on that so I'm not gonna hammer that home too much. But this idea of the house is on fire, we have to get out. Now, you know, you move with a sense of urgency. You don't say, well, when my show is over, you know, and then I have a snack. And I'll check my email, and then I'll go out and get out of the house and no, you do it now. Right? Because if we don't do it now. I mean, aren't we just like, kind of dismissing Christ, like, whatever? I know, you said you'd come. But when I get to it, I get to it. And the second principle we want to do is that this is more than just a good option. It's not like, hey, what do you guys think maybe we should pursue revitalization and that that's an option, we might want to do that we might want to think about that. Honestly, as I discussed revitalization with other churches, that is the kind of I see the most common response, like this, this would be a good thing. And it sounds interesting. And we'd like to, you know, we'd like to know kind of more about it. But you know, maybe we will maybe we won't, Christ demands that the church fulfill the work of revitalization, under penalty of judgment. Let me say that again, write that down, share it with those who are bucking against you, that Christ demands the church fulfill the work of revitalization under the penalty of judgment. And it's not just Sardis. Look at the other letters. It is an incredibly serious business of revitalization, that has Jesus's full attention, and it cannot be dismissed. It is a direct command, it is a non negotiable. From the head of the church remember the seven stars and the seven spirits. And failure to obey comes with the most severe consequences, the end of the church. I mean, that's, I don't know how much more severe we can get than that? And hasn't that very scenario been replayed out? Over and over and over? Again, I don't know if you would recall, back in one of the first lectures, we talked about the very sad statistics of necessity and revitalization. And how many 1000s of churches just in the US close every year, I mean, it was like 12-15,000, or an astronomical number. Now, not all of those are because of the churches have gone dead. There's there's various reasons for for churches closing. But I'd have to say, probably a good bulk of those did not hear the words of Sardis, and have our have reaped know the consequences. Just in my little network of churches in the last couple of years. We've had to shut down a few churches, for this very reason. There was the call for revitalization and the churches bucked it. And that was the end. And there's probably a couple more that are not far from there. And it's either revitalize or die, or stay dead as it says. Okay, let's move on. Because let's let's talk about the rewards. Let's talk about the good stuff. Because when we think of the rewards of revitalization, we might think, Oh, it's a healthier ministry, more people coming to Christ, more joy in doing ministry, seeing people grow in their faith, and it is those are all wonderful and rich rewards. But it's interesting that Jesus doesn't mention those kinds of things. He doesn't say if you do this, your attendance will double. If you do this, your baptisms will go up by 32% over the next three years. If you do, you know, he doesn't say anything like that. The focus is on on our personal relationship with him again, revitalization isn't about just recovering an institution. In fact, it's not about that at all. revitalization is about each and every person being renewed in their relationship with Jesus Christ. And we see that here, that's what his reward is all about. It's not about organizational satisfaction or accomplishment. It's all about the depth of the intimacy we will experience with Jesus Christ. And doesn't that make sense? I mean, like, Isn't Jesus Himself our like, ultimate reward. So that's what the focus is on here. And Excuse me a second here, I am going to take a sip of water here, my throat is getting really dry. You have the luxury of hitting the pause or stopping it, I don't so much right now. So thanks for giving me a moment there. Maybe you had a chance to stretch your legs or get comfortable. Let's talk about the rewards. So there's four promises made to those who overcome those who overcome the challenges of revitalization, those who go from sleeping to waking up, those who are are strengthened and who obey the gospel. Okay. The first is this. They will walk with Christ. They will walk with me, verse four, they will walk with me. And isn't that just like such a beautiful kind of image of the presence, the imminent overwhelming, just close, deep, personal presence of Christ, it really has like this kind of like echoes of Eden, where God would walk with Adam in the cool of the day. And also, if we go back to Genesis, Enoch, where God would love to walk with Him and be with him. You think about walking, you know, when you go for a walk, you don't walk with strangers, right? I mean, you could be on a busy street and walk alongside but to go for a walk with someone. It's either someone you know, or someone you want to get, to get to know better, you would say, Do you want to go for a walk? Can we walk together, even in walking is like just intimacy, there's a closeness, there's, there's, there's a time of sharing, there's a time of traveling along together. My wife and I, when we were getting married, there was a phrase that she had seen in a store window on a painting or, I don't know, plaque or something. And she liked it. And she told her friend and her friend made this beautiful thing for us. And we've had it ever since our wedding. And I love it and it says. take my hand and walk with me. The best in life is yet to be. And so that was kind of as we got married. That was the idea of like, leaving the altar of the church, walking down the aisle, take my hand walk with me, the best in life is yet to be and it's a promise kind of like, every day every year as our marriage has gone on, take my hand walk with me the best in life is yet to be not just like, Christ makes that same invitation but like on the such a much more grander, epic scale for us. And isn't it just so wonderful just how gracious Christ is. He says, To the church in Sardis now you walk. You walk in the world, but take my hand and walk with me. Be with me experience my presence, my my full, the fullness of my goodness and share in life with me and travel through life with me. Let me go through life with you. That is the reward that is the ultimate reward. Christ says, walk with me. I think it's just so beautiful and so amazing. That that is the reward. Second, it says they'll be clothed in white He who overcomes will like them be dressed in white and then is those who the few in Sardis, who had not compromised who had not soiled their clothes. So it says those who who overcome. They also will be dressed in white. Now in Revelation, white is used a number of times It's kind of like white robes. And it really is a wonderful visual image about covering our sin and our shame. These white robes are a symbol of purity, that were pure and that were spotless that we identified deeply with Christ. Galatians 3:27 talks about how we're clothed in Christ that He dresses us in His perfect life. What a powerful image what a powerful promise of reward that is, when you consider the current state of the clothes, the spiritual clothes that the people in Sardis are wearing. Do you recall what they are? The gross, the grossness of it. They're soiled in all their own, you know, urine, and feces. They're just soaked in, stained in that. In these pagan practices are unfaithfulness to Christ or disobedience. They're filthy. And here they are. In this verse, it says, forgiven, renewed, dressed in white. Friends, wherever we are, wherever we have been, we can return to God, we can return to Him, He will welcome us. And whether it's our own journey with Christ, or the ministry that we lead, there is no such thing as I have drifted too far. Christ could never do anything here. Yes, he can. He says, I will take those who are so disgustingly soiled, and I will then dress them in white. And it just teaches us there is no sin. So dark said Christ cannot cover. And isn't that exactly why he came, was to accept the mean, the whole incarnation, the death and resurrection, was in it to cover our sins and to to make us pure and white and spotless before him. And that is his reward. That is if we do this all, whether on a congregational level or a personal level, it will all be done with an it will be made as if we'd never done it. There's a wonderful promise here that our names will be in the book of life. He says, I will never blot out his name from the book of life. So there are two books kind of referenced here. Not here in miscellaneous texts, this one. But in Daniel 7, there's the book of sins, which is kind of like the book of all the people who have not followed God's ways. Without Jesus Christ, every single person's name would be in the book of sins. So there's the book of sins and, and Revelation 20, and talks about then, the book of life, which is eternal life. And now we can imagine that we're standing before God and at some point, these books are opened, and we wonder which name is which book is my name written in, it's either the book of sins from Daniel 7, or the book of eternal life from Revelation 20. And there's a promise that our names are in the book of eternal life that they are, our names are written in the blood of Jesus Christ, and the promise is they would not be removed. And this kind of brings to mind is ancient, kind of like their citizenship rolls. Kind of like a you know, you would you get would get removed from a citizenship rolls. If you had either died. Or if you had committed a great crime, you would lose your citizenship. And what's wonderful here is it says, if your name is in the book of life, it cannot be removed. It is. The King counts was one of your own. Heaven is your home. You're a citizen there, that's where you belong. And with Him for all eternity, those who overcome, oh, it's just such a wonderful thing. I mean, just we're thinking we're walking with Christ where we're clothed and white and the righteousness, the security of our salvation in the Lord Jesus. And then finally, rewarded, were presented before the Lord in heaven before the Father because I will acknowledge his name before My Father and His angels. So it's so wonderful. In the beginning it says, Your reputation you have the reputation of being alive, and the word reputation actually back in that is like name you have the name of being alive. But you;re dead. When we go to the end of this letter, it says, I will acknowledge his name. It's the same word onoma. That is in the Greek there is actually it's used four times in this letter. But there's this amazing thing of like, you had a name among men. But I will now give you a name before God. Wow. I mean, can you imagine that moment? Think about being an Olympic athlete, and you win a gold medal in a very popular sport, and just a whole world is watching and cheering and family and friends and just billions of people are watched your your accomplishments, you just think of like, how exciting that would be and how joyful and fulfilling. And yet how much even that experience would pale before this, that when you stand before the radiant, holy glory of God and 1000s upon 10,000s upon 10,000s of angels, and here Christ, confess our name, and call us his. I mean, imagine that, standing in front of the Father and hearing the words, mine, he's mine, she's mine. I mean, how humbling and overwhelming that moment would be being presented before the Lord. And this is where I think it's so important for us to kind of go back to that reputation versus reality. Which one do you want? Do you want the name before people? Or do you want the name before God? You know, I don't know how you hear that. How that's gonna challenge you. But I think we go for one or the other, you can only be living for one or the other. And certainly my hope my, my challenge is for you is to hear the to be just so inspired. To, to overcome to work through this battle for renewal in church and know that you're you will be presented in heaven before all the saints. So just want to finish with this last verse, which is how it ends. It says He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. So we have an option we can like I said, we can either do something about it or not. It says those though, who have the Spirit at work, let them really hear what God has to say for you. What's it What is God saying to your church today? When you go through the book of Revelation 3, the letter to the church in Sardis. I'm sorry, what are you hearing today? For, for yourself? May we not just have blind eyes and deaf ears to what the Holy Spirit is teaching us and leading us. So there's this wonderful gospel invitation friends, and I hope that through the Spirit you hear it is to wake up and to be strengthened. As you have been stalled, brother and sister, I just want to encourage you, you have been stalled for too long. God is calling you to something so much greater. And really what that is isn't just more happening in church or more people. He is calling you to a deeper experience of himself. He is inviting you to a restored life to your tired heart. And He is inviting you to the deepest satisfaction of your soul. And I pray more than anything, you will know that. Let me pray for you. In that very manner. Lord Jesus, thank you so much for who you are and your faithfulness to us. Lord, help us to take your words of warning seriously, and at the same time, Lord, help us to just be so encouraged by the promises and the rewards that you have laid out for us, Lord, for each and every person going through this lecture right now. I pray, Lord, you would fill them with such a joy of such a longing for your presence, and God that you would even even if they hear these words, God, you would give them a sense of that over them and in them and through them. God that you would draw them to you satisfy them Lord in ways that are new and fresh to them. Lord and all these things we give you thanks and praise strengthen us, that we may be your church. Obedient till the end, we pray this all in your name Jesus, amen.
Modifié le: lundi 8 avril 2024, 09:55