Revelation 3:1-6 Letter to Sardis 3 “Write to the angel of the church in Sardis: “The One who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars says: I know your works; you have a reputation for being alive, but you are dead. 2 Be alert and strengthen what remains, which is about to die, for I have not found your works complete before My God. 3 Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; keep it, and repent. But if you are not alert, I will come like a thief, and you have no idea at what hour I will come against you. 4 But you have a few people in Sardis who have not defiled their clothes, and they will walk with Me in white, because they are worthy. 5 In the same way, the victor will be dressed in white clothes, and I will never erase his name from the book of life but will acknowledge his name before My Father and before His angels. 6 “Anyone who has an ear should listen to what the Spirit says to the churches. As church, may we never get to a place where outwardly we look OK but our pulse is just about nonexistent. God can and will raise the dead. It is our hope that He would do so because we cannot raise ourselves. This is not just future either, it has to be initially or at first because we are clearly told in Scripture that we "were dead in our trespasses and sins... But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved). Ephesians 2:1,4,5
Although Jesus starts by telling them "you have a reputation for being alive, but you are dead" they cannot be completely dead because He then tells them, "Be alert and strengthen what remains, which is about to die, for I have not found your works complete before My God. Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; keep it, and repent." If Jesus were to check your spiritual pulse today what would He discover? There are those in the church with barely a pulse and some with NO pulse at all but they look like healthy parts of the Body. It's so easy to get caught up in church activity that you never realize you're not not actually part of the church. What do hear the Spirit saying to you? Can you hear "repent"? It's what we are called to do from the beginning and continually for the rest of our days until He either calls us home or He returns for us. We cannot raise the dead but we can continue to faithfully teach and preach the Word of God and He will do the work we cannot. Only those who belong to Him have the ability and responsibility to hear what the Spirit is saying to the Church. How will you respond in light of His truth today?
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