Grace Christian Fellowship: Christian Teachings from Revelation

Revelation 3 "Dead or Alive?"

"And to the angel of the church in Sardis write, These things says He who has the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars: "I know your works, that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead. Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die, for I have not found your works perfect before God. Remember therefore how you received and heard; hold fast and repent. Therefore if you will not watch, I will come upon you as a thief, and you will not know what hour I will come upon you. You have a few names even is Sardis who have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with Me in white, for they are worthy. He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life; but I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches." (Revelation 3:1-6)

How is it possible that a church can be dead, and yet still look like it is alive from the outside? What does Jesus mean when He calls them dead? What does it mean to be a "dead church"? To a sailor on the sea a "dead calm" is when the wind stops blowing and therefore the ship cannot make any progress. In the same way a dead church is one in which the wind of the Holy Spirit has stopped blowing and therefore no forward progress can be made. We talked last week about the difference between dead works and good works. Good works are those things that people see us do that make them want to praise God and give Him glory. Dead works are things that we do so that people will think that we are good. Repentance from dead works is foundational to our faith. As long as we trust in our own efforts to be good, we are not trusting in the grace that Jesus Christ gives so freely to us. As long as we are more concerned about what people think than about what God thinks, we are no better than the hypocrites that Jesus rebuked.

The Holy Spirit constantly blows through the church like a breeze through an open window. On hot days I often open the window in my office to let a cool breeze flow through. It is really nice, but sometimes it is hard to control. Every once in a while a gust comes along and blows the papers off the desk or knocks over my cup or messes up my hair. So lately instead of opening the window I am tempted to turn on the air conditioner instead. The air conditioner blows at a steady rate that keeps the room cool and doesn’t upset anything. We try to do the same thing in our churches. We like the benefits of the Holy Spirit, the spiritual guidance, the comfort, the power for healings and miracles, the unity and fellowship it brings, but we don’t want to be bothered by the disturbances that the Spirit creates. Because the Spirit is God, and therefore not something that we can control or order around, there will be times when the Spirit will blow through to stir us up out of complacency, or blast through to convict us of sin. The Spirit is never satisfied with our program unless God gets all the glory. But we get frustrated because our program gets upset and decide to close the window, manufacture our own wind and end up with a dead church. Jesus told Sardis, "I have not found your works perfect before God." How can this be? God is the one who prepares good works beforehand for us to walk in! How could the works that He prepares for us to do be found lacking? Because the works that they were doing were not the one’s that God had prepared. They were doing their own thing and calling it God’s work.

How do we keep the Spirit fresh in our church? How do keep from blocking His work? Jesus tells the church in Sardis three things that they need to do to be a church that really is alive. First, Jesus tells them, "Remember therefore how you first received and heard." The greatest way to keep the Spirit working fresh in the church is to constantly see Him working in the lives of new people. Each time someone receives the gift of grace for the first time, it reminds all of us of when we first received that gift. Being a father really helps me to appreciate this. Watching Gracie reminds me again and again of what Keita was like when he was a baby. I am amazed at how many things I have forgotten about Keita’s baby years, but seeing Gracie learn to crawl, or take little steps holding onto the chair remind me all over again of what happened before. As we watch the "Baby Christians" in our church it is such a joy to be reminded of God’s grace again and again. Infancy is a time of firsts, first answers to prayer, first time to feel the presence of God during worship, first time to experience the joy of understanding a new scripture, first time to be used by God to help someone else. Mature Christians experience these things all the time, but somehow it is much more exciting to see these firsts. When I walk to the kitchen to get a snack, Rie doesn’t run to get the video camera. But when Gracie starts taking her first steps she will. Remember how you received and heard, just like these new Christians. Perhaps over the years you have closed the windows to the Spirit and just settled into a comfortable Christianity? Remember the exciting things that God did in your life when you first believed, how He turned your life upside-down and gave you a fresh start. God would love to complete the good work that He has started in you.

The second thing that Jesus tells the church in Sardis to do is to "Hold Fast". He says in verse 2 to "be watchful". The word means to get up out of bed, like when you hear a burglar or something. Sometimes after I am tucked into bed, just when I am comfortable and ready to sleep my wife asks me a terrible question. "Did you remember to lock the door?" I hate this question because I can never remember whether or not I did or didn’t. If I say that I did and roll over and go to sleep then she will lie there worrying until I get up and go check it. And of course when I think that perhaps I didn’t and go check it is usually locked. Be watchful! You cannot check if the door is locked from inside your bed, you have to get up and go do it. The temptation when we are in spiritual difficulties is to stay in bed, but the Lord says to wake up and be on the look out. This hold fast is another word that means "to pay very close attention." We should always pay close attention to what the Spirit is doing in our lives and in our church. Is the Spirit knocking on your door? Get up out of bed and go check it! Is the Spirit guiding you to give of your time, to get more serious about studying the word, to talk to your friend about the Lord? Get up out of bed and go check it! "But I am not sure… what if it is not really the Spirit?" Well, you will never know until you get out of bed. Wake up spiritually and give Him your full attention. Gracie tends to get up very very early now, and we like to let her do her own thing on the floor while we catch a few more minutes sleep. Once in a while there is a strange noise and we will pop our heads up to see if she is okay. This is not really parental supervisions but we reason that between the both of us half asleep she has got one fully functional adult watching her. Are you awake, paying close attention to the Spirit working in your life, or are you half asleep with one ear half listening in case something happens? Jesus says that "if you will not watch, I will come upon you as a thief, and you will not know what hour I will come upon you." The difference between faithful and unfaithful servants is whether or not they are watching for their masters return. If you are not paying close attention to the Spirit then Jesus will come back when you least expect it. But if you are holding fast, watching carefully then you will be ready when the Lord comes.

The third thing that we must do to keep the Spirit blowing in our church is to repent. The church in Sardis had forgotten what it was like to be born again, turned upside-down and inside-out by the Spirit and given a fresh start. They had forgotten what it was like to be a wretched sinner saved by the simple gift of grace. As they forgot this, their works became more and more important to them not knowing that those works were really dead. They became self-satisfied, content that they were worthy of God’s acceptance because of all the works that they did. In fact so complacent that they could not be bothered to get up to check if something might be wrong. They no longer paid attention to the Spirit and so little by little the Spirit no longer tried. The key to overcoming for them is to repent. To turn away from dead works and self-satisfaction and once again receive grace from God. That is the key for any church in which the Spirit is dead. It is true that two things always preceed any revival; prayer and repentance of sin. That is true in churches and that is true in individuals. If you are convicted by what you have heard about the church in Sardis today, repent, turn away from your sin and pray to the Lord making confession. He is faithful and just to forgive you and cleanse you from all unrighteousness.

All those who overcome, who repent from their dead works and trust solely in the grace of the Lord, shall be clothed in white garments. Isaiah spoke truly, "All our righteousness is a filthy rags" Only Jesus can clothe us in true righteousness, His righteousness. Jesus also promises that He will not blot out his name from the Book of Life. Instead Jesus will confess his name before His Father. What is this book of life that the Bible talks about. As far as I know there are three books in heaven that will be brought out on judgement day. In one of the books are all the righteous things that men have done. In the other book are all the evil things that men have done. And the last book is the Lamb’s book of Life. At that final judgement the books will be opened and without fail every single person who is judged will be found guilty and deserving of death. It will be a sad day when all the humanists and atheists will find out that they were not good enough and that God really does exist. All the Mormons and Muslims will discover that despite their diligence and zeal they aren’t able to measure up. The Buddhists and Hindus will be surprised to find that even though they followed their karma they needed to follow the one true Lord. And many people who have thought that they were Christians all their lives will be astonished that all their works were dead from the beginning and nothing can make their filthy rags clean except the blood of Jesus Christ. It truly is only by grace that we can enter the presence of God and stand.

This great book of life is a list of names of those who can stand in the presence of God because they have been washed in the blood of the Lamb. I think that we need to pay close attention to what Jesus says. "He who overcomes…I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life;" There was one brief moment of history when the names of every single person every born or to be born was included in the Book of Life. Because Jesus died on the cross for the sins of the entire world. He took all of those sins upon Himself so that all who believe on Him should not perish but have everlasting life. But sadly, there are many who chose not to believe, not to repent and not to receive the free gift of grace. And Jesus is forced to blot out their names from the Book of Life. Each of these people will stand before the judgement seat of God and hear the guilty verdict and have nothing to answer back with. Exhibit A is the book of sins and Exhibit B is that book of righteousness that is far too thin. But each of the people that are not blotted out, who received the gift of grace, who repented from dead works and believed in the Lord Jesus Christ they will hear Jesus Himself call out their name. Just like the others we will stand before the judgement seat and find that the book of sins is much bigger than the book of our righteousness, but before a guilty sentence can be pronounced Jesus will open His book and confess our name before His father and the angels and our guilt will be swept away.

Revelation 3:7-22 "Countdown to Liftoff"

As we study through the book of Revelation you will come to understand more and more that we are living in the last days. No one can tell you how many years from 1999 it will be until the second coming of Jesus Christ. But the word does tell us what the end times will be like, things to look for, and how to be ready. Most importantly the Bible teaches in many places that when Jesus comes it will be quickly. "Behold, I am coming quickly!" I read in a magazine a quote from a villager who had survived the recent war in Kosovo. He refused to give his name to the journalist until he actually saw American troops. This man had learned from experience that just because people cry out "Peace, Peace" it doesn’t mean that the killing is over. By the time the "Peace talks" were finished most of the country had been destroyed. The smart try to ride the fence as long as possible, only committing to one side or the other when it looks like a sure thing. But know this, by the time you hear that Jesus has come, it will be too late. Either you will be rising up in the air to meet Him or you will be on the ground regretting it. There will be no chance for a last minute decision. Today, we will look at the last two churches that Jesus sent messages to. One of these churches will rise up to meet Jesus in the air and the other will be left behind. Listen closely so that you will be in the right group.

"And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write, ‘These things says He who is holy, He who is true, "He who has the key of David, He who opens and no one shuts, and shuts and no one opens": I know your works. See, I have set before you an open door, and no one can shut it; for you have a little strength, have kept My word, and have not denied My name. Indeed I will make those of the synagogue of Satan, who say they are Jews and are not, but lie- indeed I will make them come and worship before your feet, and to know that I have loved you. Because you have kept My command to persevere, I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth. Behold, I am coming quickly! Hold fast what you have, that no one may take your crown. He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go out no more. 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 out of heaven from My God. And I will write on him My new name. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches." (Revelation 3:7-13)

The city of Philadelphia was not one of the major cities in its region. In fact it was more of a frontier town. It was a fortified city meant to stop any invading force long enough for the bigger cities to prepare their defense. And yet it is to the church in this relatively unimportant place that Jesus writes His most complimentary letter. In fact there is nothing that He has against this church at all. Jesus says first, "See, I have set before you an open door, and no one can shut it;" What is this open door? Throughout the New Testament the writers use an "open door" to mean an opportunity. At NASA they use a similar phrase when they rocket a spacecraft into the heavens. They have a "launch window", a period of time when all the conditions are right for the mission to be a success. Likewise in our lives there are times when God will open doors for us and also close doors. Paul wrote a number of times that God had "opened a door" for him to preach in a specific place. I really understand how he felt as the door has opened up for me to preach the gospel in Nagoya. But sometimes it seems that the doors shut as well. Sometimes, we are very disappointed because the thing that we have worked and prayed so hard for doesn’t work out. It must be heartbreaking for the Lord as well. But just like the mission controller at NASA, if the spacecraft is not ready by the last seconds of the launch window, there is no other choice but to scrub the mission. What if mission control sent the rocket into space anyway after the window had closed? The mission would fail. It would be doomed from the start. What if he sent the spacecraft up even though it was not ready? Again it would fail. God never asks us to do anything impossible. So when there is no chance for success, when the time has passed, He closes the door. God doesn’t set us up for failure. Instead knowing that it is too late, He removes the opportunity.

But He says to Philadelphia, "See, I have set before you an open door, and no one can shut it;" This is not just an opportunity, but an open ended opportunity. This launch window will be open and remain open. I believe that the door that was opened to this little church on the edge of the frontier was the door of missions. Like Paul to preach the gospel to the ends of the earth, to take the good news to the next towns. Jesus tells us three things about this church that show us why the door cannot be shut. First of all He tells us that they have a "little strength" They have "microdynamics". In this day of "mega-churches" it would seem that the last thing we are looking for in a church is a "little strength". Isn’t bigger always better? Isn’t it much more cost effective to make a powerful organization? Aren’t the best churches the ones that have "superstar" pastors and worship leaders? Jesus says "No". I find it intriguing that He doesn’t say they have no strength, but that they have a little. If you were to take a take a fishing cruise out on the ocean and run into a storm, would you rather have the captain of the boat brag to you that his ship is strong enough to handle any weather, that he is so experienced that there is nothing to fear. Or would you prefer that he admit that he is scared too and that the wisest thing to do is to head back as soon as possible. If you go hiking in the mountains and get lost, is it better to admit that you’ve made a mistake and call for help, or push on trusting to your own abilities. In these cases the wisest course is to admit how weak we are compared to the forces of nature. We have some strength, but realistically speaking it is tiny compared to wind, or wave, heat or cold. In the same way, compared to the power of God our own strength is tiny, no matter how strong we seem to be. The church in Philadelphia knew that it was weak and that was really a strength because it kept them dependant on the Lord.

The second thing that keeps the door open for spreading the gospel is that they have kept God's Word. This means that they believe that the Bible is a message to them from God, His Word, that they trust that what it says is true, and that they live their lives by what it says. Throughout these letters Jesus has been telling the churches that they should hold fast to what they have already received, the Word. To go back to the spacecraft metaphor, the Word is like a navigational computer. Without the Word we have no idea where to go and will have a hard time reaching our destination. In fact most likely we will end up flying in circles. Jesus won’t open the door to us if we are not keeping His word but our mission would be doomed to fail. But as long as we are keeping God's Word the door will always be open for us.

The third thing that keeps the door open is not to deny the name of Jesus Christ. This seems very basic to us. And yet it is the very reason why the church in Europe and America is so much weaker now as a missionary church than it was one-hundred years ago. When a church questions the validity of the Bible and starts to make decisions based not on what God’s Word says, but upon human wisdom, it very rapidly loses its faith in Jesus. You cannot believe in Jesus and reject His Word. Each time you reject a teaching of the Bible you are really rejecting Jesus, saying that He is not really Lord. The final step of this trap is when the church denies that Jesus is Lord at all in an effort to be more open and understanding to the world.

As long as the church is proclaiming loudly that Jesus Christ is Lord, that the Bible is His Word and deserves to be followed, and that same church is relying not on its own strength but that of Jesus, Himself, the door will remain open and the gospel will be preached throughout the whole world. But as soon as any of these three requirements are missing, that door slams shut. Just as mission control would not send out a space shuttle with only one engine or with faulty navigation equipment, our Lord Jesus will not send out a mission unless it is going to be a success.

"And to the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write, ‘These things says the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God: I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth. Because you say, ‘I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing’ – and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind and naked – I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore 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 dine with him and he with Me. To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches." (Revelation 3:14-22)

At last we come to the church of Laodicea, famous for being neither cold nor hot. Imagine coffee on your desk that you forgot to drink before you went to the meeting and now you come back and it is still there. Or how about a glass of milk that you poured ice cold out of the carton but couldn’t drink because the phone rang and by the time you got done and realized that it was there it had warmed up. We like hot drinks, we like cold drinks, but lukewarm. Yech! Jesus thought the same way about Laodicea, they tasted so bad in His mouth that he wanted to spit them back out. The reason why? Because they were the exact opposite of the church of Philadelphia. Laodicea was not a "microdynamic" church, a church of little strength. They were a big, powerful church. They said, "I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing." But Jesus points out their true status, "wretched, miserable, poor, blind and naked." If they have no need how can they be true witnesses of Jesus Christ to others?

Jesus said to the church in Philadelphia, the church that was taking the gospel through the open door, that because they persevered, He would also keep them from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth. The church that will meet Jesus in the air, who will be raptured out before the Great tribulation is the church that proclaims the Lordship of Jesus Christ, keeps the Bible as His Word, and depends on His power not their own.
The church in Laodicea is not given that same assurance. But Jesus does give them a chance to repent. He says to them, "Behold I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him and he with Me." The door of opportunity, the launch window to be used by God to spread the gospel, is closed to all those who are only relying on themselves. But Jesus is not satisfied with that, He knocks again and again on that door to get your attention. Will you hear his voice today? Will you forever be on the launchpad but never have your rockets burning? Repent, be zealous (boiling over), trust in Jesus as your true strength, keeping His Word, proclaiming His name. Open the door and Jesus will come in and never leave.

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