Revelation 3:1-6
"I know your works. You have the reputation of being alive, but you are dead. 2Wake up, and strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your works complete in the sight of my God. 3 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. 4Yet 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. 5 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. 6 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches."
It is no secret by now that I love catchy titles for my Blogs. I found one no better fitting than this, as it is pretty cut and dry. Oh, and by the way, I wanted to apologize for my scarcity in writing consistent blogs, but I have already done that in the past. I shall refrain from apologizing this time under the guise of summer time being upon us...
I know that many of us in the past have probably dismissed the book of Revelation as being something too complex for our minimal finite minds to possibly comprehend. Contrary to what you might think, it is not all just apocalyptic in nature. Granted the majority of it does deal with Christ's second coming and His millenial reign upon this earth. I find the first 3 books that the Apostle John wrote quite challenging. They are written to the seven churches in Asia. For the sake of this Blog, I would like to address only one of those churches: The Church in Sardis.
The church at Sardis was prounounced as being DEAD. It appeared to be alive, had a reputation of being alive, looked spiritually vibrant on the outside, but was spiritually lifeless. The church was Christian in name only. I am reminded of the Matthew 23:27 passage that says, "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness."
Now before you go accusing me of being all doom and gloom and negative, this is not my intent. We have Grace through Jesus Christ. We can never shy away from the fact that there is absolutely nothing we can do to deserve the free gift of salvation and righteousness in Him. However, these letters were written to the churches for a reason. They were to light a candle of fire under their behinds in order to WAKE THEM UP. CAN I HEAR A WAR CRY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
If you read the Revelation passage above, it wasn't too late. Eventually it will be when He comes back as a thief in the night, but until then... It is time for self evaluation my friends. The time is short and the way is narrow that leads to Him. Those that are found worthy will walk with Him in White Garments. Those that conquer. Conquer What? SIN and the ways of this world. I find myself fighting more and more every day against satan who lurks about seeking whom he may devour. If you aren't fighting against satan, you might just already be dead.
I have several close friends that are funeral directors. They have a job that I couldn't even fathom partaking in. They get the calls in the middle of the night to come pick up peoples loved ones that have passed on. Some from natural causes, some from illness, others from suicide, and many from accidents. It is their responsibility if the relatives want to have an open-casket, to embalm and adorn the body in the best way possible. No matter how you shake it, the body that is lying there is still a corpse with no life left in the bones. Oh, we have to give credit for the job the funeral directors perform, but they can't breathe life into those bones. Though there are some that might have accepted Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior, on this earth they have ceased to exist. This is much like the church of Sardis. To God, it was as if the church in Sardis was a beautifully adorned corpse.
My friends, have you soiled your garments? Are you living your life in filthy rags? Further yet, are you lying in repose in public for all to see? You might be beatifully adorned, but are you still a corpse? The one and only person that can breathe life into your dead bones is Jesus Christ. As always, if you want to know more about having a personal relationship with Him, I would be glad to share.
CAN I HEAR A WAR CRY, WAKE UP.......................
"I know your works. You have the reputation of being alive, but you are dead. 2Wake up, and strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your works complete in the sight of my God. 3 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. 4Yet 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. 5 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. 6 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches."
It is no secret by now that I love catchy titles for my Blogs. I found one no better fitting than this, as it is pretty cut and dry. Oh, and by the way, I wanted to apologize for my scarcity in writing consistent blogs, but I have already done that in the past. I shall refrain from apologizing this time under the guise of summer time being upon us...
I know that many of us in the past have probably dismissed the book of Revelation as being something too complex for our minimal finite minds to possibly comprehend. Contrary to what you might think, it is not all just apocalyptic in nature. Granted the majority of it does deal with Christ's second coming and His millenial reign upon this earth. I find the first 3 books that the Apostle John wrote quite challenging. They are written to the seven churches in Asia. For the sake of this Blog, I would like to address only one of those churches: The Church in Sardis.
The church at Sardis was prounounced as being DEAD. It appeared to be alive, had a reputation of being alive, looked spiritually vibrant on the outside, but was spiritually lifeless. The church was Christian in name only. I am reminded of the Matthew 23:27 passage that says, "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness."
Now before you go accusing me of being all doom and gloom and negative, this is not my intent. We have Grace through Jesus Christ. We can never shy away from the fact that there is absolutely nothing we can do to deserve the free gift of salvation and righteousness in Him. However, these letters were written to the churches for a reason. They were to light a candle of fire under their behinds in order to WAKE THEM UP. CAN I HEAR A WAR CRY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
If you read the Revelation passage above, it wasn't too late. Eventually it will be when He comes back as a thief in the night, but until then... It is time for self evaluation my friends. The time is short and the way is narrow that leads to Him. Those that are found worthy will walk with Him in White Garments. Those that conquer. Conquer What? SIN and the ways of this world. I find myself fighting more and more every day against satan who lurks about seeking whom he may devour. If you aren't fighting against satan, you might just already be dead.
I have several close friends that are funeral directors. They have a job that I couldn't even fathom partaking in. They get the calls in the middle of the night to come pick up peoples loved ones that have passed on. Some from natural causes, some from illness, others from suicide, and many from accidents. It is their responsibility if the relatives want to have an open-casket, to embalm and adorn the body in the best way possible. No matter how you shake it, the body that is lying there is still a corpse with no life left in the bones. Oh, we have to give credit for the job the funeral directors perform, but they can't breathe life into those bones. Though there are some that might have accepted Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior, on this earth they have ceased to exist. This is much like the church of Sardis. To God, it was as if the church in Sardis was a beautifully adorned corpse.
My friends, have you soiled your garments? Are you living your life in filthy rags? Further yet, are you lying in repose in public for all to see? You might be beatifully adorned, but are you still a corpse? The one and only person that can breathe life into your dead bones is Jesus Christ. As always, if you want to know more about having a personal relationship with Him, I would be glad to share.
CAN I HEAR A WAR CRY, WAKE UP.......................
RSS Feed
