Revelation 3 | mysite

Revelation 3

The Dead, The Discouraged, and The Dispirited

To the Church in Sardis

“And to the angel of the church in Sardis write: ‘The words of him who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars.

“‘I know your works. You have the reputation of being alive, but you are dead. Wake up, and strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your works complete in the sight of my God. Remember, then, what you received and heard. Keep it, and repent. If you will not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come against you. Yet you have still a few names in Sardis, people who have not soiled their garments, and they will walk with me in white, for they are worthy. The one who conquers will be clothed thus in white garments, and I will never blot his name out of the book of life. 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.’

To the Church in Philadelphia

“And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: ‘The words of the holy one, the true one, who has the key of David, who opens and no one will shut, who shuts and no one opens.

“‘I know your works. Behold, I have set before you an open door, which no one is able to shut. I know that you have but little power, and yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name. Behold, I will make those of the synagogue of Satan who say that they are Jews and are not, but lie—behold, I will make them come and bow down before your feet, and they will learn that I have loved you. Because you have kept my word about patient endurance, I will keep you from the hour of trial that is coming on the whole world, to try those who dwell on the earth. I am coming soon. Hold fast what you have, so that no one may seize your crown. The one who conquers, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God. Never shall he go out of it, and I will write on him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down from my God out of heaven, and my own new name. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’

To the Church in Laodicea

“And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write: ‘The words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God's creation.

“‘I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see. Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me. The one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’”

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The church in Ephesus abandoned the love they had at first. It is essential that we spread the gospel out of love, and love our fellow Christians.

The church in Smyrna was undergoing severe persecution and just needed to continue being faithful.

The church in Pergamum had a deceiver that led them into sexual immorality. They needed to repent.

The church in Thyratira had a secret deceiver, and Jesus was going to personally punish her and her followers. It was too late for those people, those that did not succumb needed to just hold fast.

Now we come to the last 3 churches and they are The Dead, The Discouraged, and The Dispirited. This is the really depressing part.

“And to the angel of the church in Sardis write: ‘The words of him who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars.

Good things about the church in Sardis:

They have a reputation of being alive.
Some have not soiled their garments.

Bad marks for the church in Sardis.

They are dead.
Their works are not complete.

What the church in Sardis must do:

Wake up!
Remember what they received (the Holy Spirit) and heard (the gospel and the disciples’ teachings).
Keep the Holy Spirit, the gospel, the disciples’ teachings, and repent.

Warning for the church in Sardis.

Jesus will come like a thief in the night.They must be alive and vigilant all the time.

Promise for the church in Sardis for those that conquer.

They will be clothed in white.They will be pure.
Their name will not be blotted out in the book of life.Cities at that time kept a register of citizens.If someone committed a crime, they blotted his name out of the city register.It is likely that in times of persecution, the names of Christians were blotted out of the city register.Jesus has a better book – The Book of Life.If you are in the Book of Life, you are a citizen of Heaven, of God’s paradise.The names of the Christians in Sardis are in the Book of Life.Those that continued to worship pagan gods are not in the Book of Life.
Jesus will confess their name before the Father.Jesus will proudly announce you and his relationship with you before God.

Jesus relates to this church as the one that has the seven spirits. This refers to the Holy Spirit and the completeness of the Holy Spirit.

For a person to be alive, he has to have his spirit inside him. For a church to be alive, it has to have the Holy Spirit inside it. This church forgot what they received.

1 Thessalonians 1:5, “because our gospel came to you not simply with words but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and deep conviction.”

Did you feel different the moment you asked Jesus into your heart or asked God to fill you with his Holy Spirit? I did. I’ll never forget the day that my youngest step son snuck one of my 4 spiritual laws booklets and read it then prayed. He excitedly brought his oldest sister to the kitchen table and went over the whole booklet, then he said, “Pray this prayer at the end. It really works!” Michelle bowed her head and prayed the prayer. Then she said, “I can feel it! It really works!” One by one, my youngest step son led all his brothers and sisters to Christ using that little 4 spiritual laws booklet. Each and every one of them asked for God to fill them with his Holy spirit and each and every one of them said they felt different because of it.

Many churches today forget that the Holy Spirit is there. The Holy Spirit gets quenched. 1 Corinthians 12:3 says, “No one can say “Jesus is Lord” except in the Holy Spirit.” I am saying here and now that Jesus is Lord! Do you believe it? Say it if you believe it.

See there – the Holy Spirit is here and we are alive!

1 Corinthians 12: 7 says, “To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.”

Are you going to deny that? Are you going to disallow the manifestation of the Holy Spirit in you?

God forbid that any Christian should quench the Holy Spirit in him or any other Christian.

Every Christian gets the Holy Spirit. Ephesians 1:13-14 says, “In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.”

According to 1 Corinthians 12, there are these gifts or manifestations of the Spirit:

Evangelism (apostleship)
Teaching
Wisdom
Knowledge
Faith
Healing
Helping
Administration
Miracles
Prophesy
Discernment of Spirits
Tongues
Interpretation

In 1 Corinthians 12, Paul gives us some very good examples of how Christians are to regard other Christians in this regard.

Verse 15: “If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body.” In other words, one cannot say something like, because I am not an evangelist, I am not a Christian.”

Verse 21: “The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” In other words, no one can say, “We have no need of Prophesy,” or “We have no need of Tongues.”

Some people may say that prophesy and tongues has passed because 1 Corinthians 13:8 says that tongues, prophesy and knowledge will pass away. However, 1 Corinthians 13:10 tells us when that will happen – when that which is perfect comes – in other words, when Jesus returns.

You cannot say that there are no feet on your body or no hands. Likewise, you cannot say there are no people that speak tongues in the body of Christ, or no one that prophesies.

So there are a lot of dead churches today because the Holy Spirit is quenched. When I went to Seminary, some professors taught that the gift of prophesy and the gift of tongues had passed away. That is not scriptural and I have experienced in my life the manifestation of prophesy. There is also the opposite problem. There are churches that preach that every Christian will have a certain gift such as the gift of tongues. That is not scriptural, and I know it is not true. I know many good Christians that do not have the gift of tongues.

So, if you don’t want your church to be dead, allow the Holy Spirit to do His work and manifest His works in believers.

Now for the church in Philadelphia.

“And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: ‘The words of the holy one, the true one, who has the key of David, who opens and no one will shut, who shuts and no one opens.

There are some good things about this church.

They have an open door set before them.
They have kept God’s word.
They have not denied Jesus’ name.
They have patiently endured.

The negative about this church.

They have little power and they know it.This would make them discouraged.They are struggling against those that are called here, “The Synagogue of Satan.”
- Who are these “Synagogue of Satan” people?
- They are also mentioned in Revelation 2, verse 9.So there were at least 2 churches that were struggling against these people.
- It has been theorized that these were Jews that were persecuting them because the word, ‘synagogue’ is used.However, the word ‘synagogue’ simply means assembly and is used to refer to any kind of gathering.This word is used in Acts 16:13, to refer to a group of women gathered by a river.
- It has been theorized here that they were Jews, but that they are called liars because they are not true believers in God’s Messiah.This is not consistent with the rest of the New Testament.Jews are differentiated from Gentiles in the New Testament whether or not they are believers or not.It consistently calls Israelites, “Jews,” whether they are Christians or not.
- So, the text here tells us everything we need to know about them.They are those “who claim to be Jews though they are not, but are liars.”So, we know that these people are not Jews, but claim to be.Since the outset of the gospel, there have been those that claim that believers must also keep the law of Moses.We typically call these people Judaizers.
  - This becomes apparent in Acts 15:1, “But some men came down from Judea and were teaching the brothers, ‘Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.’”But the Apostles opposed these people – verse 2, “And after Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and debate with them, Paul and Barnabas and some of the others were appointed to go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and the elders about this question.”The decision of the apostles and elders of the church are in verses 28-29, “For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay on you no greater burden than these requirements: that you abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from what has been strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. Farewell.”
  - Paul encounters this problem again in Galatians 2:11-14, “But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. For before certain men came from James, he was eating with the Gentiles; but when they came he drew back and separated himself, fearing the circumcision party. And the rest of the Jews acted hypocritically along with him, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy. But when I saw that their conduct was not in step with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas before them all, “If you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you force the Gentiles to live like Jews?”
  - Paul Admonishes the Galatians to live by faith and not the works of the law in Galatians 5:2-6, “Look: I, Paul, say to you that if you accept circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage to you.I testify again to every man who accepts circumcision that he is obligated to keep the whole law.You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified[a] by the law; you have fallen away from grace.For through the Spirit, by faith, we ourselves eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness.For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love.”
  - These Judaizers are spoken of again in 1 Timothy 1:6-7, “Certain persons, by swerving from these, have wandered away into vain discussion, desiring to be teachers of the law, without understanding either what they are saying or the things about which they make confident assertions.”
  - Modern Judaizer sects are at it again.At first it may be the idea of going through the motions of the Jewish Festivals every year to understand what God’s message was in having the festivals.Or it might be the idea that one should keep the Mosaic dietary restrictions anyway for health reasons.The problem comes when people start saying that to be saved you need Jesus plus whatever.Or that to be a good Christian, you should adhere to all of the Law of Moses including the dietary restrictions, festivals, and other observances.
  - Paul said that a man:
    1. (1) first receives faith in Christ,
    2. (2) then is justified before God,
    3. (3) then immediately proceeds to keep God’s law.
  - The Judaizers said that a man:
    1. (1) first receives faith in Christ,
    2. (2) then keeps the law of God the best he can, and then
    3. (3) is justified…[ii].
  - Examples of Modern Judaizer Sects:
    1. Seventh Day Adventists
    2. Hebraic Roots Movement
    3. Messianic Judaism
  - Judaizing usually involves oppressing unsuspecting Christians with guilt trips, by asking things like "Don't you know yahweh's laws are forever?" or "Didn't you know there were much more than 10 commandments?". Then the poor Christian begins to follow suit and starts learning Hebrew, buys a menorrah, learns the the old laws, changes their diet, and starts honoring holy days. Before long, the person is nearly a full-blown Jew, with the exception of believing in Jesus Christ.To such poor Christians I must ask, do you not realize that the laws of the OT in the torah were given only and specifically to the Jews? Literally, they applied only to the Jews, and Gentiles were not bound by them what-so-ever.Ok, this being so, then how can you take laws that were LITERALLY not given to you, and LITERALLY did not apply to you, and say that because you're a SPIRITUAL (true) Jew, that these LITERAL laws, now LITERALLY must be followed, when they LITERALLY had nothing to do with you?
  - Abraham didn’t have the Mosaic Law.
  - God told Noah that he could eat everything that moved as long as it didn’t have it’s blood in it. Genesis 9:3-4, “Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. And as I gave you the green plants, I give you everything. 4 But you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood.”
  - The Law of Moses was for a specific nation of people and for a specific duration of time, which by the way is now past.
  - The only commandment of the 10 commandments that Jesus did not directly confirm was the commandment to keep the Sabbath, but rather he said, “The Son of Man is the Lord of the Sabbath.” (Matthew 12:1-8, Mark 2:23-28 and Luke 6:1-5).Early Christians observed the Sabbath at first, but later on moved their day of worship to the first day of the week, The Lord’s Day.Acts 20:7, “On the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread, Paul talked with them, intending to depart on the next day, and he prolonged his speech until midnight.”

Jesus relates to the church in Philadelphia as the one who holds the key of David. This comes from a Messianic prophecy in Isaiah 22:22,

“And I will place on his shoulder the key of the house of David. He shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open.”

Jesus holds the key to all things Jewish. What Jesus has shut up, no one shall open and what Jesus opens up, no one shall shut. The nation of Israel belongs to Jesus. Jesus says he has placed before them an open door that no one can shut. He knows that they have little strength. All they have to do is hold on to what they have and Jesus will make their adversaries fall down at their feet and acknowledge that Jesus loves them. Jesus will make them like a pillar in God’s temple. This is similar to Isaiah 22:23, “And I will fasten him like a peg in a secure place, and he will become a throne of honor to his father's house.”

Today, it is very easy to be discouraged about the success of the church. Here are some ways out of discouragement:

Realize that Jesus will open the door.He only expects us to hold on and keep going.We do not need to do fantastic things.Jesus will be the one that does fantastic things.
Grow through delegation.Find out who can do what and each person should do what they can do.
Grow through balance.Have a balance between your church life, work and your personal life.Take care of your health and your family.Look for opportunities to reach out to others personally as well as religiously.
Grow through prioritization.Step back and look at the big picture.What is most important?Work on that first.
Remember that avoiding discouragement is impossible and dealing with discouragement is always possible.
Praise God for the godly men and women that are faithful.
Rejoice with other Christians when they are blessed.
Help someone else that is discouraged.
Realize that God sees what we are doing and where things are at.Just like Jesus saw that the church in Philadelphia had little strength, he sees our weakness and he will give us what we need.

Let’s see how things are doing in Laodicea.

“And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write: ‘The words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God's creation.

The one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’”

What good things does Jesus say about the church in Laodicea?

Nothing. Jesus found absolutely nothing good about the church in Laodicea.

Negative things about the church in Laodicea:

They are neither hot nor cold.
They think they are rich and don’t need anything.
They do not realize that their spiritual state is wretched, pitiful, blind, and naked.

Jesus relates to them as “The beginning of God’s Creation.” The word for beginning here is “ARCHAE,” which is used in John chapter 1, verses 2-3, “He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made.” All things were made through him. Now, science has shown us how all things were made – with a BIG BANG. And, thanks to science, we can see how much he has made. It just goes on and on! They pointed the Hubble telescope to an area by the North star that was blank and just fixated on that for a while & guess what they found? Millions of more galaxies!!! Jesus certainly does not do things half-heartedly! This church was doing things half-heartedly. They were lukewarm. They were doing things without Jesus.

Jesus relates to them as the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation. Jesus is the faithful and true witness because he knows their true spiritual state. He can tell they are complacent. Jesus will rebuke and discipline them for this. Therefore, they must repent.

Jesus relates to them as the Amen. Amen was used in New Testament times as it still is today. It is a cheer, an emphasis. It is the “Right On!” It is the “YAY” of the day!

The church in Laodicea lost their Amen. In other words, they lost their spiritual mojo. Everyone knows from the Austin Powers movies that if you lose your mojo, you can’t do anything. That is why Jesus can’t find anything good about this church. They are not a hot drink, nor are they a cool drink. If they were one or the other, they would serve some purpose. But they lost their mojo, and they are lukewarm. So Jesus is going to spit them out of his mouth.

6 ways to tell if your church lost its mojo.

You depend on tradition. Tradition is more than the wearing of robes, the reciting of creeds, and the carrying of candles. Tradition is something that can pervade any church, regardless of its denomination or history. When we depend on tradition, we stop depending upon something else — the Bible and the Spirit. When that happens, we’re on a rapid descent to destruction. There is nothing wrong with tradition. There is something wrong with depending on tradition.
You tolerate sin (but it’s just the little ones of course). Sin is sin. And it’s bad. Don’t tolerate it. The church is to be a place of healing for sinners, but a Holy God doesn’t wink at iniquity. He sent His son to die for that iniquity. That’s the only reason the church welcomes sinners — because by God’s grace, sinners are reborn with Christ’s righteousness. Do not tolerate sin in your own life. Exercise church discipline upon unrepentant churchgoers. Tell people what the Bible says about sin. The sad thing is, those “little” sins often lead to bigger ones. Letting a few things slip leads to bigger cover-ups. It is beyond tragic when the church becomes a cover-up for repeat violators. What was just in the news this week (8-14-2018)? 300 Catholic church priests cited by a grand jury in Pennsylvania for sex abuse affecting over 1,000 children. The probe found systematic cover-up by senior church officials and the Vatican. This is what happens with a system that is based on the idea that when you sin, you can simply confess it to a so-called priest, go through some motions for penance, and that absolves you.
You see no fruit. When Jesus cursed a fig tree for its failure to produce fruit (Mark 11:12-14), he gave us a sobering lesson. Empty religiosity, devoid of fruit, needs to die. The parable of the fig tree doesn’t end with Jesus’ withering curse. The very next verse tells us that Jesus walked into the temple and began to dump the piggybanks and kick over the chairs of traveling animals stores. The spiritual complacency of these religious people had reached the place where they were letting animals defecate in the temple precinct, swindling the poor travelers who were coming to sacrifice, and making a total mockery of the entire event. If Jesus walked into your church, what signs of complacency would he need to root up and throw out? Where would his whip land? If your ministry is marked by a total lack of fruit, beware. Obviously, there are seasons in which fruit may not be forthcoming, but long-term barrenness is a problem.
You’re not pursuing spiritual growth. Spiritual growth is marked by an aggressive pursuit of God. We desire his fellowship, his people, and his word. A life that lacks prayer, Bible intake, and neglect of spiritual nourishment is a life that has slipped into complacency. It is a dangerous place to be for very long.
You focus inwardly, not outwardly. One of the surest signs of complacency is spiritual navel-gazing. A church that is self-absorbed is not a true church. Why? Because they are neglecting the very mission of the church — the mission to spread the good news and make disciples (Matthew 28:19; Acts 1:8). When a church is absorbed with just its own activities, its own problems, and its own people, it has become complacent.
You spend more time on politics and pot-luck dinners than on praise and outreach. C.S. Lewis wrote, “Security is mortals’ greatest enemy” But what kind of “security” are we talking about here? Complacency makes us feel secure, but feelings can lie. When security rots into complacency, and complacency eats into our soul, we are in grave danger. This is spiritual warfare, and we must be out on the battlefield.

Six ways to solve complacency in a church:

1) Reflect. Every week, take some time to examine my areas of Christian responsibility. List what is working well and what is not. Choose one area that can be improved and one thing to do to improve that area.

2) Think Ahead. In order to stay prepared, take some time periodically to think through what problems are coming to the church in the near future. Will the church need a bigger auditorium, more classroom space, more services, or does the church need to divide and plant a new church elsewhere?

3) Request Feedback. Get ideas from others not directly involved, as well as others helping your ministry.

4) Take New Ground. Look for new areas of ministry. This could be raising up new leaders for a local outreach project, becoming the chaplain of the high school football team, or planning a previously unscheduled volunteer appreciation event. Look for new ground. What doors is Jesus opening for us?

5) Pray. “Talking to men for God is a great thing, but talking to God for men is greater still.” – E. M. Bounds. As leaders in ministry, we must remain aware of how God is moving in our areas of responsibility. For me, this means that I must daily engage the Lord to replace my complacency in ministry with a zealous hunger for more of Himself.

6) Say, “AMEN!” Jesus closes this message telling the church in Laodicea to repent and be zealous. The first picture he gives is of the church being poor, naked, and blind. He tells them to “buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see.” In other words, they need to pay meticulous attention to their condition and take remedial actions.

If they don’t take action, Jesus will reprove and discipline them.

Then he says the verse that is quoted so often for invitations for people to personally accept Jesus as their Savior. Revelation 3:20,

“Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.” Jesus is not giving us a picture of the door to our heart here. This is a picture of the door to the church. Imagine a church full of people inside that are having communion, or having a pot-providence dinner. AND JESUS IS OUTSIDE KNOCKING ON THE DOOR! Or they might be electing new elders, or planning their Christmas musical. AND JESUS IS OUTSIDE KNOCKING ON THE DOOR! Or they are discussing what color the new carpeting should be. AND JESUS IS OUTSIDE KNOCKING ON THE DOOR! If anyone hears HIS voice and opens the door, JESUS will come in to him and eat with him, and he with JESUS!

What would it be like if Jesus came here physically and had dinner with us? We would be really excited, wouldn’t we?

I wonder if Jesus is actually there when we have communion…

What is that he said when he told us to do it?

“Do this in remembrance of me.”

Are we remembering Jesus?

Do we remember that he said, “Whenever two or more are gathered in my name, there I am also?”

Do we remember that?

Do we act as though Jesus is here in our presence?

And all God’s people said,

“AMEN!”

Song: Say Amen by Finding Favour

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