Thursday, June 22, 2017, 8:33 a.m. – The Lord Jesus put in mind the song “Wake Up!” Speak, Lord, your words to my
heart. I read Revelation 3:1-6
(ESV).
“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.’
Jesus is speaking here to the
church in a specific location, at a particular time in history, but this could
apply to the church today, too, and in any location. Yet, this can also apply,
at least in part, to us individually, as well. So, as we read this passage of
scripture, we should prayerfully consider how this might apply to you and to
me, and to our local fellowships of believers in Jesus Christ, or to the church
universally across America or the world.
By Reputation Only
The church has a reputation
of being alive, but they are dead, or they are mostly dead, it would appear. So,
what does alive or dead look like?
Well, if you were to ask a
group of Christians in America if they believed their church was alive, and to
describe what that looks like, what do you believe they would say? I believe the
majority would describe “alive” as having to do with the music being lively and
loud, the preacher being funny and entertaining or culturally relevant, church
being fun rather than boring, and there being plenty of activities and fun and
entertaining events. And, “dead” to them would be a church that was too
serious, that was boring and not fun and entertaining, that didn’t blend in
with the culture of the day, and that spoke too much on repentance, obedience,
and submission to Christ.
Obviously that is not what
this passage of scripture is talking about, or it may actually be the reverse
of how the majority of Christians in America might describe “alive” and “dead,”
with regard to their local fellowships.
In other words, “alive,” in
this context, has to do with being spiritually alive, which has very much to do
with repentance, obedience, and submission, and with taking God and his word
very seriously. Yet, it also has to do with the joy of the Lord, the peace of
Christ, and walking in fellowship with Him. As well, being “dead” (or mostly
dead) has to do with being spiritually dead, which may mean that they focus too
much attention on externals, and on meeting felt needs, and on entertaining the
masses, to the exclusion of repentance, obedience and submission to Christ and
to his cross. And, to the exclusion of taking God and his word seriously, and
applying its truths to their daily lives. Yet, inclusive of worldly attitudes
and behaviors, and even encouraging such behaviors by teaching a false grace
gospel, which gives its adherents free license to continue in sin without guilt
and without remorse.
Many people who call
themselves Christians, or many Christian churches, have the presumption of
spirituality (being of the Spirit of God) based on the name Christian or the
name church, or because they might be “good deed doers,” but it may be only
performance. In other words, they may honor God with their lips, but their
hearts may be far from God. Their “spirituality” is in form only, but not in the
practice of godly and holy living. They clean up nice on the outside, and they
have the appearance of godliness, but they deny its power by their lifestyles. They
have bought into a false grace gospel which teaches them that God does not
require repentance, obedience or submission, and thus they think they have free
rein to continue in willful sin against God and still have the promise of
eternal life with God.
Wake Up!
So, the call here is to wake
up from your spiritual slumber, and to revive what still has life in you, but
which is about to die completely. So, how do we do this? Well, first off, we
have to pray, seek God’s face, and ask him to show us what is mostly dead in
our lives, and what needs to be brought back to life. We probably already know
what that is, if we are paying any attention to our spiritual lives at all, but
we may need the Lord to point these things out for us, if we have not been
paying attention to how our lives may have slipped away from our pure devotion
to Christ, and how we may have become entrapped by the world and by sinful attitudes
and behaviors once again. It is possible to become desensitized to evil and to
the Spirit’s voice speaking to our hearts, to where we can become complacent
and apathetic or lazy about our spiritual walks with Christ, so that we need
the Spirit of God to show us where we need to be brought back to life.
When the Spirit of God, thus,
points these things out to us, and shows us how we have gotten off track, and
where we need to get back on point, then we need to repent of our sins, turn
away from them, and turn back to following our Lord in obedience and in
surrender to his will for our lives. We must realize here that “Lord” is not
just a title or a name given to Jesus to signify that he is God, but that it means
“owner-master.” And, we are his bond-slaves (willing submission). He is the
owner of our lives, and he is the one to direct our paths and to guide the
course of our lives, not us. We are not on this earth for our own enjoyment and
pleasure, but we are here to honor God with our lives, and to do what he has
called us to do and to be.
If we choose to keep going
our own way, though, doing what we want, and still addicted to sinful behaviors
and attitudes, God will use divine discipline in order to judge, correct,
rebuke, chastise and scourge us, and in order to get us to turn from our sinful
ways, and to get us to come back to him in full submission. And, we don’t know
when this will take place. And, we can’t even be certain that we would survive
such a judgment. Yet, if we are conquerors through Jesus Christ, who loves us,
and we give up our sinful practices, and we follow our Lord in obedience, then
we will have our eternal rewards in heaven with God. But, if we refuse to
repent, and if we continue to practice sinning, the Bible teaches that we don’t
have the assurance of eternal life with God (Jn. 6:35-66; Ro. 8:1-14; Lu.
9:23-25; Eph. 5:1-21).
Walk in White
Yet, not every individual,
and not every church congregation which professes the name of Jesus is mostly
dead and in need of repentance and revival. There are those who believe in
Jesus throughout the world who are not soiling their garments, i.e. who are not
in the practice of willfully sinning against God and giving in to the sinful
desires of their flesh. They walk with Christ in purity (decency, integrity) of
heart, mind, attitude and behavior.
They live in unadulterated
fellowship with their Lord. They are spiritually alive, and they follow their
Lord in obedience. They walk in a manner worthy of the calling they have
received from the Lord, “to please Him in all respects, bearing
fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened
with all power, according to His glorious might, for the attaining of
all steadfastness and patience; joyously giving thanks to the
Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints
in Light” (See: Col. 1:9-12; cf. Eph. 4:1-3; Phil. 1:27-28; 1 Thess.
2:11-12).
And, this is how we should
all live, who profess the name of Jesus. But, if you are among the “mostly dead”
spiritually, then you need to turn from your sins today, trust Jesus Christ
with your life, and choose to walk from this moment forward in a manner worthy
of your calling, in purity of heart, mind, attitude and behavior.
Wake Up! / An Original Work / November
25, 2011
Based off Ephesians 5:1-21; Revelation 3:1-6
Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead.
Your God awaits you to do what
He says to you.
Be not conformed to your selfish will.
Trust in the Lord. Do what He says.
He will give you victory.
Do not walk in darkness;
Come into the light of love.
Listen to your Savior calling
You to obey all His teachings.
Repent of your sin, and
Christ will shine His love on you.
He waits patiently for you to
Heed His whispers to your heart.
Will you hasten to obey Him;
Not from Him depart?
Live your life from this day forward,
Walking in His love and mercy.
Let Him cleanse you of all your sins.
Dwell with Him today.
Do not insult God’s grace to you.
Do not make light of your sin.
Let the light of His truth come
And free you from within.
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