“The Letter to Laodicea: ALL IN” (Revelation 3:14-22)

What Is Your Spiritual Temperature?

In the movie, “War Room,” Miss Clara asks the question her real estate agent, Elizabeth, “How is your prayer life? Is it hot or cold?” Elizabeth answers, “It is not hot or cold, but somewhere in the middle… but I would say I know the Lord. I am a spiritual person just like anybody else.” How about you? What is your spiritual temperature? How is your relationship with the Lord?

I think many of you in this room have seen this famous painting, The Light of the World, painted by William Holman Hunt, based on Jesus’ words in Revelation 3:20, “Look! I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to you and eat with you, and you with me.” In this painting we see the door is overgrown with dead weeds, symbolizing it hasn’t been opened for a long time – perhaps never opened before. The shut door has no latch, no handle, no keyhole – it can only be opened from inside. The door to our hearts has to be opened from within, through repentance and faith. We often hear the story about this painting and this particular Bible verse, Revelation 3:20, at the evangelical meeting. We are then encouraged to invite Jesus into our hearts by praying a sinner’s prayer. That experience itself can be a very meaningful and defining moment of our life. But, being a Christian is much more than saying a sinner’s prayer. We often focus on the first half too much (asking Jesus to come into our heart), and neglect the second half (eating with Jesus – daily fellowship!). Being a Christian is about a friendship – an ongoing fellowship with Jesus Christ, the Word of God. Today we will focus on the second part – what it means to have fellowship with Jesus in three aspects: cognitive, volitional and relational.[1] My prayer is that today’s message may stir a stronger desire to know Christ better and love Christ more.

Cognitive: Hearing the Word

First, to have fellowship with Jesus means to hear His Word. We think we hear his word all the time. But let us be honest. When was the last time you really stopped and listened? When was the last time you really felt Jesus was speaking to you? When was the last time you wept over your sins and cried out to Jesus, “Lord, have mercy on me. I am a sinner”? Just as we eat bread daily, we ought to eat God’s word daily.

This morning we confessed the Apostles Creed together. But if we really believed in God as Creator of heaven and earth, then that means we would become his creation. That means God is the Potter, and we are the clay. That means God is the Lord and we are his servants. If we really believed in Jesus as God’s only Son, Lord and Savior, then that means we are wrenched, lost, blind sinners. If we really believed in the Holy Spirit, then that means we are the hopeless and the powerless who need new heart, new spirit, new wills and affections. Probably Laodicean Christians thought they would believe in God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. They thought they would know the Lord. Although their spiritual temperature was not that hot, they would say, “I am a spiritual person just like anybody else. I guess I am doing ok. In fact, overall I am satisfied with where I am now. I need nothing. I don’t want change” (cf. v. 17a). But then, they really heard Jesus say, “Don’t you know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind and naked?” (v. 17b)

We find the same response again and again when people really hear God’s word. Isaiah said, “Woe to me! For I am lost! For I am a man of unclean lips!” (Isa 6:5) Peter felt down at Jesus’ feet and said, “Leave me, Lord! I am a sinful man!” (Lk 5:8) John Wesley said, “I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone for salvation; and an assurance was given me that He had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death.” Nowadays I hear God’s word through the voice of Jeremiah. Every morning I hear how great our God is and how sinful I am – God’s greatness and man’s weakness. And I pray, “Lord, have mercy on me! Thank you for your words. They are my joy and my heart’s delight!” How about you? How do you hear God’s word?

Volitional: Doing the Word

Second, to have fellowship with Jesus means to do His Word. The problem of Ladicean church was their lack of wholeheartedness. They intellectually agreed with biblical doctrines and believed in God. Jesus didn’t rebuke their false teaching. The thing is they merely heard the word, but didn’t do the word. They were able to be rich because they compromised. They were able to avoid persecution and live peacefully because they compromised. They might think they were keeping the good balance, but from Jesus’ perspective they were lukewarm. Jesus said, “You are neither hot nor cold. I will spit you out of my mouth” (16).

I think what Jesus said to Ladicean church is still relevant today. In his book All In, Mark Batterson rightly points out, “We want joy without sacrifice. We want character without suffering. We want success without failure. We want gain without pain. We want a testimony without the test. We want it all without going all out for it.”[2] What we can learn from the story of Laodicean church is this: There are no different levels, or classes of disciples. It’s hot or cold. It’s all or nothing. We may say, “I’m all in.” But how do we really know that we’re all in? One of the best and surest ways is to see our calendar and bank statement. They don’t lie. How we spend our time and our money are the two best barometers of our true priorities.

So how do you do God’s word? I love the way Dr. King put it: “If it falls your lot to be a street sweeper, sweep streets like Michelangelo painted pictures, like Shakespeare wrote poetry, like Beethoven composed music; sweep streets so well that all the host of heaven and earth will have to pause and say, “Here lived a great street sweeper, who swept his job well.”[3] We deepen our relationship with the Lord every time we put him first and choose to do his word. Remember your workplace or school is your mission field. Your family, friends, and neighbors are your congregation. So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God! (1 Cor 10:31)

Relational: Abiding in the Word

Third, to have fellowship with Jesus means to abide in His Word. The word “abide” is relational by nature. We abide in something, somewhere, or somebody. So the first two – hearing the word and doing the word – have more to do with our personal relationship with Jesus. But the third aspect – abiding in the word – is beyond our individual self. Laodicean church seems to fail to practice this. They seem to be more individualistic and inwardly focused. They say, “I have everything I want. I need nothing.” But we know when are inwardly focused, we become self-sufficient, indifferent, complacent, lukewarm. So by his grace God always stretches us beyond our individual self, beyond our comfort zone. If we really pay attention to God’s word, he always nudges us to contact somebody, visit somebody, invite somebody, help somebody, forgive somebody, pray for somebody. As we do this, we see ourselves become vulnerable. But at the same time, we also see ourselves and somebodies we have reached out become God’s body together. Somebody to God’s body.

When my grandfather was in ministry, he had a congregation of 700, and he knew everybody’s name. The secret was his prayer life. Every morning he lifted each of them up to the Lord. So he knew who their children were, who their spouses were, and the trials they went through every day. Nowadays God is nudging me to do the same. I feel stretched, but when I pray for all the saints (Eph 6:18), God pours out his love, teaches me to whom I should contact, what to say, and how to minister to that person. How about you? How is God stretching you today particularly in relational aspect?

All In

Christians are the ones who are defined, shaped, transformed by the word of God. Christians are the ones who hear the word, do the word, and abide in the word. C.S. Lewis describes our Christian journey in this way: Imagine yourself as a living house. You ask Jesus to come into your house. Jesus begins to rebuild the house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on … But then He starts knocking the house in a way that hurts enormously and does not seem to make sense. So you ask, “What on earth is He doing?” The answer is He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of — throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were going to be made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace. He intends to come and live in it Himself.[4]

We are made to have fellowship with Jesus. We are made to be his temple, his palace. This is the day of salvation. Invite Jesus to come into your heart today. If you already did, let him into the inner court, your hidden room, that he may rebuild the house and eat with you every day.

“I am no longer my own, but thine. 

Put me to what thou wilt, rank me with whom thou wilt.
Put me to doing, put me to suffering. 

Let me be employed by thee or laid aside for thee,
exalted for thee or brought low for thee. 

Let me be full, let me be empty.
Let me have all things, let me have nothing. 

I freely and heartily yield all things
to thy pleasure and disposal. 

And now, O glorious and blessed God,
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, 

thou art mine, and I am thine. So be it.
And the covenant which I have made on earth, 

let it be ratified in heaven. Amen.”

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[1] I must give credit to Kevin J. Vanhoozer, who gave me insight on what it means to be a Christian. For more details please read his article, “Core Exercises,” Christianity Today (November 2018), 46-50.

[2] Mark Batterson, All In (Zondervan: Grand Rapids, Michigan, 2013), 77.

[3] Ibid., 96.

[4] Ibid., 166-67.

“Giving Thanks Always… but How?” (Ephesians 5:15-21)

100 People

If we could shrink the earth’s population to a village of 100 people, what would it look like? It would look something like the following:[1]

• 31 Christians, 23 Muslims, 16 people who would not be aligned with a religion, 15 Hindus, 7 Buddhists, 8 people who practice other religions
• 86 would be able to read and write; 14 would not 
• 40 would have an Internet connection
• 78 people would have a place to shelter them from the wind and the rain, but 22 would not 
• 91 would have access to safe drinking water; 9 would not

So if you are able to read and write, and have an internet connection, and have a place to live and access to clean drinking water, you would probably be in the top 10%. But too often we don’t feel like we are privileged. Too often we don’t feel like we have that much to be thankful for. But in today’s scripture the Apostle Paul says, “Give thanks always and for everything” (20). The question is, “How can we give thanks always and for everything? Is it really possible?”

Who Am I?

The answer is YES, because of two reasons. First, we can give thanks always and for everything because of who we are in Christ. Paul says in verse 8, “For once you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light.” Christians are those who are delivered from darkness and transferred into light (cf. Isa 9:2; Col 1:13; Acts 26:17-18). The Bible says that we were (completely!) dead in our sins. We used to follow the ways of this world and refuse to obey God. We used to follow the passionate desires and inclinations of our sinful nature. We used to live without power, without hope, and without God. But in his great mercy God took the initiative. He first reached out to us, called us, and embraced us. He took our sin and made us alive in Christ. God did all this on his own, with no help from us! Christianity is not about self-help. It is not about self-improvement. Some people think if they stopped doing one or two bad things, and took up two or three good others, then they would become good Christians. Some think if they became a little bit better than now, then they would become good Christians. But that’s not Christianity. Christianity is all about “born-again.” It is all about new life in Christ.

In Jesus’ time there was a group of people who were claiming to be righteous in their own opinion. They were called the Pharisees. On one occasion Jesus healed a man born blind. It happened to be a Sabbath day when Jesus opened his eyes. That really bothered the Pharisees. And they grumbled, “This man Jesus is not from God because he does not keep the Sabbath.” So they interrogated and threatened the man healed to renounce Jesus. But as he kept explaining what happened to him, the eyes of his heart were increasingly open. At first, the man said to the Pharisees, “The man called Jesus opened my eyes” (John 9:11). Then later, he said, “He is a prophet” (17). Then he said to Jesus at the end, “Lord, I believe!” and he worshipped Jesus (38). And Jesus said to the man, “I entered this world to render judgment – to give sight to the blind and to show those who think they see that they are blind” (39). The Pharisees overheard this and grumbled, “Surely we are not blind, are we?” Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains.”

Christians are those who once were blind, but whose eyes now are wide open! This statement exactly describes who I am. I always grew up in the church as a pastor’s kid. On the outside I was a good kid, a good student, a good man. But on the inside were full of 3 D’s: Doubt, Darkness, Despair. That was me. In particular, in my early college years I was constantly wandering and searching. Though I studied hard, worked hard, deep inside I always felt like something was missing, I was restless, I was thirsty. I tried to avoid a time for reflection or quietness, because that did reveal my inner emptiness – a hole inside of me. So I kept myself busy. I studied. I worked. I travelled. I dated. I joined the military to run away from God’s presence. But God even was there. Actually, he was waiting for me, opening his arms to his disobedient son all day long. I fell ill with an endemic disease, “Dengue Fever” in East Timor and was going through the valley of the shadow of death. But then I was miraculously healed. Since then, particularly for the next three years God spoke to me, shaped me, molded me, gave me a new heart. Finally, I had a feeling of coming home – a sense of forgiveness and reconciliation with God, with others, with myself; a sense of purpose, direction and goal; a sense of wholeness. And a sense of restlessness and hopelessness were gone! God gave me new 3 D’s: Dawn. Deliverance. Delight. He put a new song in my heart. So I am eternally grateful.

Jesus said, “Whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life” (John 5:24). If we really have passed from death to life, turned from darkness to light, from the power of Satan to God because of Jesus, how can we remain silent? We will rejoice and exult in him. Yes, we can give thanks always for everything when we know who we are in Christ.

Who Is God?

Second, we can also give thanks always when we know who God is. The Bible says God made heaven and earth. God made you and me. Because he made us, God loves us. God cares for us. Jesus said, “And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith?... Surely your heavenly Father already knows all your needs” (Mt 6:30, NLT). The Bible says, “He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all--how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?” (Rm 8:32)  

We are ungrateful because we don’t know God. We worry, we fear, we sin because we don’t know God. The Prophet Hosea cried out to Israel, “Let us know; let us press on to know the LORD!” (Hs 6:3) That’s the answer to all questions. When we know God, we trust in him and we can give thanks to him no matter what. I think the story of Pastor Sohn Yang Won can be a good example. After Korea was liberated from Japan, Korean peninsula was very unstable because of ideological differences. For several weeks Pastor Sohn’s town was occupied by the communists’ rebels. The rebels arrested Christians, including Pastor Sohn’s two older sons at their college and killed them. At his sons funeral he shared “9 things to be thankful for”:[2]

1.  My God, I thank You, for having allowed martyrs to be born in the family of sinners such as mine.
2. My Lord, I thank You for having entrusted me, out of countless believers, with such precious treasures.
3. Among my three sons and three daughters, I thank You for my blessings through which I could offer You my two most beautiful children, my oldest and second oldest sons.
4. I thank You for the martyrdom for two of my children, when the martyrdom of one child in itself is much more precious than I could bear.
5. I thank You for the martyrdom of my sons who were shot to death while they were preaching the gospel, when dying peacefully on his deathbed in itself is a tremendous blessing for a believer.
6. I thank You for my heart is at peace as my sons, who had been preparing to go and study in America, are now in a place that is much better than America.
7. God, I thank You for giving me a heart of love for repentance of the enemy who murdered my sons and compelling me to adopt him as my own son.
8. My Father God, I thank you for there will now be countless more sons of heaven through the fruit of the martyrdom of my sons.
9. I thank and thank Our Lord Jesus Christ, who has given me these eight truths in times of such adversity, the joyful heart seeking faith and love, and the faith that provides me with composure.

Today there is Pastor Sohn Memorial in his town. There we see his Bible, hymnal book, sermon notes, and so on. And there is an old white offering envelope that says, “Thank-offering: 10,000 won” (which is almost equivalent to his 10 year’s salary). Pastor Sohn made this thank-offering on the first Sunday after his sons funeral. When we know who God is, and because of who God is, we can give thanks to him always even in times of trouble.

Open My Eyes Lord!

Paul’s exhortation, “Give thanks always for everything” is available to everyone. But before this exhortation, Paul first prays for the Ephesian Christians that the eyes of their heart may be opened and enlightened (cf. 1:18). We need the same prayer: “Lord, open my eyes that I may see you who died for me. Lord, open my eyes that I may see you who rose again. Lord, open my eyes that I may see you who are now sitting at the right hand of the Father!” I love how Charles Spurgeon shares his spiritual eye-opening experience:[3]

Oh! I looked until I could almost have looked my eyes away. There and then the cloud was gone, the darkness had rolled away, and that moment I saw the sun; and I could have risen that instant, and sung with the most enthusiastic of them, of the precious blood of Christ, and the simple faith which looks alone to Him!

Friends in Christ, God can make his light penetrate and turn the darkness of your own life into the brightest day, if you will let him. So look to Jesus, not to yourself, not to your pains. Look to Jesus, and you will live. Look to Jesus, and you will eternally give thanks to him and praise his name for ever and ever! Amen.

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[1] “100 People: A World Portrait,” https://www.100people.org/statistics_100stats.php?section=statistics

[2] Sohn Yang Won, “Love Your Enemies,” https://thelittlelightofmine.wordpress.com/tag/sohn-yang-won/

[3] From Spurgeon’s Autobiography, “The Great Change- Conversion” http://www.romans45.org/spurgeon/misc/abio011.htm

“The Letter to Philadelphia: Opportunity” (Revelation 3:7-13)

Three Men

Perhaps some of you have heard the story of three men who were working on a stone pile at a construction site. A curious passerby was eager to discover what was going on. He asked the first worker, “What are you doing?” “Chiseling stone,” was the reply. Trying for a better answer, he asked the second worker, “What are you doing?” “Earning a living.” Another unsatisfactory answer. He asked the third worker, “Sir, what are you doing?” He dropped his sledgehammer, stood erect, and with a gleam in his eye exclaimed, “I’m building a great cathedral!” On the surface all these three men seemed to be doing the same job, but only one of them saw how his work fit into a larger, greater vision.[1]

The Purpose of Life, the Purpose of the Church

Some of you may wonder, “How does today’s passage, Jesus’ letter to Philadelphia written 2,000 years ago, relate to us and our church?” Some of us are struggling with health issues. Some are worried about paying bills or debts. Some are juggling busy schedules. As a church, we are struggling with small membership and few resources. But how does today’s scripture help us who wrestle with these practical problems? In order to answer this question, we need to first go back and be reminded what the purpose of Revelation is. Its purpose is to open the eyes of our hearts and to see things - our life and our church –  from an eternal, heavenly perspective. This heavenly perspective practically helps us to deal with life’s difficult trials.

If we read the Book of Revelation very closely, we cannot but ask these two following questions: “What is the purpose of life?” “What is the purpose of the church?” First, what is the purpose of life? It is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever! (cf. Westminster Catechism). Then, what about the purpose of the church? It is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever! In Revelation 2 and 3, we hear Jesus’ pastoral letters sent to the seven churches in Asia, which were suffering and struggling. But then, in Revelation 4 we turn from the church on earth to the church in heaven. We see a throne at the center of the universe. The Eternal Father sits on his throne, surrounded by the church in heaven. A great multitude that no one can count, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the lamb. They cry out in a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” “Amen! Praise and glory and wisdom and thanks and honor and power and strength be to our God forever and ever. Amen!” (7:10-12) We see the church in heaven glorify God and enjoy him forever and ever. The church exists to glorify God.

What Does It Mean to Glorify God?

But what does really mean to glorify God? The word glorify (Kabod in Hebrew, and doxazo in the Greek) means to reflect. According to the Bible, to glorify God means to reflect how awesome, how great God is through our actions and attitudes. In Matthew 5:16 Jesus said to his disciples, “Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.” We glorify God when we point others to God through how we think, how we say, and how we act. We can glorify God in the way we treat others, in the way we eat, in the way we dress, in the way we post on our facebook. Basically, every choice we make is an opportunity to glorify God (cf. 1 Cor 10:31). John Wesley rightly said, “Do all the good you can. By all the means you can. In all the ways you can. In all the places you can. At all the times you can. To all the people you can. As long as ever you can.” We glorify God when other people can see him because of the way we live our lives. In John 15:8 Jesus said, “When you produce much fruit, you are my true disciples. This brings great glory to my Father.” When we bear the fruit of the Spirit in our daily life, we reflect God’s image. And people see it. People see God. That brings glory to God.

In the same way, when the church bears the fruit of the Spirit, when the church becomes a loving church, joyful church, peaceful church, patient church, kind church, good church, faithful church, gentle church, self-controlled church, people see it and are drawn to God. That brings great glory to God. In this respect, the church of Philadelphia was a God-glorifying church. Philadelphia church was a small congregation with little strength. At that time there was a serious conflict between church and synagogue in Philadelphia. Jewish Christians were excommunicated from the local synagogue. They had little power, little resources, were persecuted, and had not made a major impact on the city, whereas Jewish leaders in the local synagogue were wealthy, influential, had the authority over many things. Although Philadelphia Christians had a little power, they remained faithful. They endured persecution and hardships. They obeyed Jesus’ word and didn’t deny him. And now Jesus commends them and promises them, “Those who are in the synagogue will come and fall down at your feet. They will acknowledge that you are the ones I love” (9). In other words, those who were against Philadelphia Christians would come to realization and repentance. Some of them would come back to God. Indeed, Philadelphia Christians pointed other people, even their opponents, to God through their faith and their love and their suffering. They did glorify God.

Making Much of God

John Piper once asked the following question at one conference (“Getting to the Bottom of Your Joy,” Passion 2011), “What’s at the bottom of your joy (what makes you happy)?” All of our joys have a foundation. Let me give you an example. Recently, Lydia got her report card – all A’s. That made her very happy. Suppose I would ask, “Lydia, why are you happy about making an A on a test?” She would say, “Because it helps me to get into school to be a teacher.” Then I would ask, “Why do you want to be a teacher?” She would say, “Because I want to help children.” I would ask, “Why does that make you happy?” If we continue this “why – because” conversation, we get to the bottom of what makes us happy. At the bottom there are two possibilities of our joy: making much of me, or making much of God. Self or God.

Are you making much of you or making much of God? In his book Jesus>Religion, Jefferson Bethke says, “Too often, instead of acting like mirrors pointing back to Jesus, we try to act like billboards, advertising ourselves.” It’s quite possible that I am still at the bottom and I love to be made much of, while doing all the good works. In my first ministry as youth pastor, I got burnt out after first six months. As I look back, the main reason why I got burnt out that soon was because I didn’t know the purpose of the church, because I didn’t see the big picture. To me, the church was a working place. I worked very hard. I was expected to lead young adult group on Sundays. I did more. I led a small group leader’s meeting during the week. I went out to the street for evangelism. The young adult group grew in numbers. I got the praise of the pastor and church leaders. So I worked harder. But when rough times came, when the group didn’t grow in numbers, when the commendation died down, I just burnt out. We worship. We make disciples. We evangelize. But why are we doing all this? Why do we meet daily for our prayer meeting? Why do we have a church bazaar? What’s at the bottom of what makes us happy? The church exists to make much of God, not make much of us. The church exists to glorify God through worshipping him, equipping his people, and evangelizing the world.

Open Doors

Dennis Byrd was a professional football player. He was an up-and-coming defensive superstar for the New York Jets. On November 29, 1992, Dennis was about to sack the quarterback. But then he collided with a teammate and his spinal cord was snapped. In a split-second, his football career ended. He was paralyzed from the neck down. From a worldly perspective, Dennis was no longer able to reach his potential. But in God's eyes, Dennis Byrd is capable of much more than sacking quarterbacks. In God's eyes, Dennis Byrd is capable of giving him glory, and Dennis has done that in a tremendous way. At all the times he could Dennis told the media that Christ was his source of strength and comfort in his time of tragedy. The doctors announced to the media that Dennis may never walk again. But less than a year after tragic collision, millions of television viewers watched Dennis Byrd walk out to the middle of the Meadowlands Stadium while 75,000 fans stood cheering in ovation. The miracle in his life is not that he broke his neck and walked again. The true miracle is that he did glorify God in times of trouble.^[2]

We are made, we are able, we are called to glorify God wherever we are in our spiritual journey. If we are on the right track, we can glorify God by remaining faithful just like Philadelphia church. If we have drifted away from God’s paths, we can glorify God by repenting and coming back to him. Our Christin journey is from “my way” to “God’s way.” Our Christian life is a God-centered life, God-glorifying God. Let us be faithful; Jesus is coming soon. Let us repent while the door of salvation is wide open. Let us glorify God through what we are and what we have. “Not to us, O LORD, not to us, but to your name give glory, for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness!” (Ps 115:1)

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[1] Steven J. Cole, “Lesson 21: God’s Eternal Purpose and You” (Ephesians 3:9-13), https://bible.org/seriespage/lesson-21-god%E2%80%99s-eternal-purpose-and-you-ephesians-39-13

[2] Preaching Today, “Paralyzed Athlete Brings Glory to God,” https://www.preachingtoday.com/illustrations/2006/january/16302.html

“The Letter to Sardis: Reality” (Revelation 3:1-6)

Mickey Cohen

Mickey Cohen was a famous Los Angeles gangster of the late 1940s. When he made a public profession of faith in Christ, Cohen became the talk of the town. But for some reason he didn’t leave his gangster lifestyle. So as time passed, some of his Christian friends began to wonder and finally confronted him. But Cohen protested, “You never told me I had to give up my career. You never told me that I had to give up my old friends. There are Christian movie stars, Christian athletes, Christian businessmen. So what’s the matter with being a Christian gangster? If I have to give up all that—if that’s Christianity—count me out.” Cohen gradually drifted away from Christian circles and ultimately died lonely and forgotten. Chuck Colson notes in this way: “Cohen was echoing the millions of professing Christians who, though unwilling to admit it, through their very lives pose the same question. Not about being Christian gangsters, but about being Christianized versions of whatever they already are—and are determined to remain.”[1]

Nominal Christianity

Today we explore Jesus’ 5^th pastoral letter – the letter to Sardis. The church of Sardis had a reputation for its vitality and zest. The church was always busy with the different activities, programs, and projects. Its congregation was stable and growing. The church had no lack of money, talent, or human resources. Those who were visiting the church of Sardis would exclaim, “What a live church you have in Sardis!” Outwardly, the church of Sardis had every indication of life and vitality. But we need to remember this: “Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart” (1 Sam 6:7). Jesus saw through all their activities and looked at their hearts, saying, “I know your works. You have the reputation of being alive, but you are dead” (v. 1). Sardis church members belonged to Christ in name, but not in heart. They were actively working, but they didn’t have an active relationship with Christ. They were nominal Christians.

The Lausanne Committee for World Evangelism defines a nominal Christian as “a person who has not responded in repentance and faith to Jesus Christ as his personal Savior and Lord.” They can sing the hymns. They can recite the Lord’s Prayer and the Apostle’s Creed. They can say the confession and join in the prayers. But their minds wander and their hearts are far from God. They are preoccupied with all the things they have to do and all the things they want to do. In Isaiah 29:13 the Lord says, “These people come near to me with their mouth, and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.” In 2 Timothy 3:5 Paul warns Timothy about nominal Christians in this way: “They will hold to an outward form of godliness but deny its power. Stay away from such people” (ISV). Nominal Christians are formalists and hypocrites. In Jesus’ time, there was a large group of nominal Christians, whose name was the Pharisees. They did tithing, gave alms, said long prayers, and disfigured their faces to fast. They did all this to gain a reputation for being religious. But it was nothing more than a public show. Jesus said to them, “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men’s bones and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness!” (Matt 23:27-28). Probably when the church of Sardis was established, it was filled with people who loved Jesus. But as time passed, slowly and gradually, their love grew cold, their passion faded away, their energy got exhausted. Finally, they have reached the point that they experienced no life in the church. They have become a dead church.

The Remedy

Can a dying or dead church like Sardis live? The answer is “YES”! Our Lord Jesus rebukes the hypocrisy of Sardis Christians (and our hypocrisy), and then he gives the remedy. He says, “Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die… Remember what you have received and heard; obey it, and repent!” (vv. 2-3a) Here I want you to pay attention to these 5 imperatives: “Wake up! Strengthen what remains! Remember! Obey! Repent!” Here I also want you to pay attention to who the main recipients of the message are. Jesus addresses these commands to the whole church, but particularly to a certain group of minority, the remnant. In verse 4 Jesus says, “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.” There was a godly remnant left in the dead church of Sardis. They were the “holy seed.” They were “a stump in the land.” They were the church within the church.

In his redemptive history God has always spared his godly remnant and fulfilled his promises through them. When the world was filled with wickedness and violence, God spared Noah and his family. When the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah was so great and their sin was grave, God rescued Lot and his family. And now when the church of Sardis was dying and almost dead, God spared his faithful, committed remnant. But because of their depressing circumstances the remnant became weary, unstable, spiritually sleepy. So now the Lord Jesus commands them, “Wake up! Strengthen what remains! Remember! Obey! Repent!”

What Do You Remember?

Among these 5 imperatives, I want to stress the power of remembrance. The remnant in the church of Sardis is told to remember. Today Sardis church is dying or dead, but there were times when they were growing in numbers and spiritually, and enjoyed a vital relationship with Christ. When you look back on a long and glorious history of our church (your home church), what do you remember? What can we learn from our past history? For me, personally, my spiritual heritage that I always remember and keep going back to is Early Morning Prayer. There I met the God of my grandparents, the God of my parents. There I met my God. So I always remember it and guard Early Morning Prayer with my life. It’s very important to remember what we have received and heard, and obey it, and repent today.

In John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress Christian arrives at the Interpreter’s house. The interpreter shows him several things for his spiritual benefit. One of them was a man in the iron cage. Christian asked, “Who are you?” The man said, “I once appeared to be a good and successful Christian. I thought I was on the way to the Celestial City and was happy at the thought of getting there.” Christian said, “But what are you now?” The man answered, “Now I am a man of despair because I left off to watch and be sober and gave rein to my lusts. I sinned against the light of the Word and goodness of God. I tempted the devil, and he is come to me. I have grieved the Spirit, and He is gone. I have so hardened my heart that I cannot repent.”[2] This story is actually based on Hebrews 6:4-6: “It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age, if they fall away, to be brought back to repentance.” So the author of the Book of Hebrews says in the Spirit, “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts” (3:15,4 :7). Today is the day of salvation. Today is the right time to remember, obey, and repent!

Be Filled with the Holy Spirit!

When Jesus says, “Remember what you have receive and heard,” ultimately it refers to the Holy Spirit himself. The remnant in the church of Sardis had received the Holy Spirit. They had tasted the Holy Spirit. But now they almost quenched the Holy Spirit. So Jesus says to them, “Wake up!” “Strengthen!” “Remember the Holy Spirt you had received!” “Obey him!” and “Repent!” In a word, “Be filled with the Holy Spirit!” That’s the best remedy. Who can wake us up and revive us again? The Holy Spirit! Who can breathe into our lifeless worship and make it alive? The Holy Spirit! Who can rescue a dying church and revitalize it once again? The Holy Spirit!  

I love the vision of the river of life in Ezekiel 47. Ezekiel is taken to the entrance of the temple. Then he sees water pouring out from the Temple porch to the east. At first, the water is ankle-deep. Then, it is up to his knees. Then, it is up to his waist. Then now the water has become a river over his head, water to swim in. Then Ezekiel sees wherever the river goes, everything becomes alive. This is who the Holy Spirit is and what the Holy Spirit does. He is the Spirit of Life. He is the life-giving Spirit. Let us filled with the Holy Spirit, not just ankle-deep, or knee-deep, or waist-deep, but over our head. Let us plunge into the river of the Holy Spirit. A boring static church can be refreshed by the Holy Spirit. A sleepy church can be awakened by the Holy Spirit. A dead church can be made alive by the Holy Spirit!

O Breath of Life, come sweeping through us,

Revive your church with life and power;

O Breath of Life, come, cleanse, renew us

And fit your church to meet this hour![3] Amen.

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[1] Craig S. Keener, The NIV Application Commentary: Revelation (Zondervan, 2000), 147-48.

[2] John Bunyan, Pilgrim’s Progress (Charles Foster Publishing Co., 2014), 35-37.

[3] “O Breath of Life” UMH 543