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Revelation tonight to read of
the church in Sardis, which is chapter three, verse one. And I'm jumping ahead a little
bit. This is now church number five,
because on the Sunday mornings, you're listening to these messages
week by week. So I'm trying to not duplicate
but to give you tonight and Lord willing next week, uh, the, the
closing churches so that you'll cover the most of them. I think
we'll be missing one, but, uh, you'll be covering the most of
them. Uh, if I do it this way. So tonight we're looking at Sardis
chapter three, verse one and onto the angel of the church
in Sardis, right? These things saith he that hath
the seven spirits of God, and the seven stars, and I know thy
works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and are dead. Be watchful and strengthen the
things that remain, that are ready to die, for I have not
found thy works perfect before God. Remember therefore how thou
hast received and heard, and hold fast and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch,
I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what
hour I will come upon thee. Thou hast a few names, even in
Sardis, which have not defiled their garments, and they shall
walk with me in white, for they are worthy. He that overcometh
the same shall be clothed in white raiment, And I will not
blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess
his name before my Father and before his angels. He that hath
an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. Now, I am reminded of the communion
service coming up on Sunday, and it's always good to prepare
the way for that. It is a very special occasion
in the Lord's Church when we remember the two symbols which
the Lord has given us to remember him, his death, his sacrifice
on Calvary. And the Lord knows how prone
we are to get away from the very basics of redemption and the
cross work and to move to other things. And the Lord keeps bringing
us back every time at a communion service to the essential work
of redemption at the cross. And of course, that's the bread
and butter of the Christian life. It's not only the way people
get saved, but it's the way we feed. It's the way we get nourished. And the communion table is described
as the Lord's Supper because it does nourish us spiritually. Now, that tiny little bread wouldn't
nourish our body very much, and that little tiny drink of juice
wouldn't do much for our thirst, but it is a way by which the
Lord brings us back to focus and to meditate upon his sacrifice
at Calvary. And I'm a great believer in Christians
preaching the cross to themselves. It's the remedy. And we're going
to learn that tonight as we get into this church at Sardis that
was a bit sickly and in need of great care. So shall we pray
it in the opening that the Lord will prepare our hearts and help
us to Just come, especially on Sunday, with prepared hearts
to receive that spiritual nourishment. Oh God, our Father, we thank
Thee tonight for the Lord Jesus, our crucified Savior. We thank Thee that He is our
everything and all-sufficient Savior, that in Him is every
spiritual blessing in heavenly places. And we need no other. We need no other sacrifice. We
need no other Redeemer. And we are thinking tonight,
as we read your word and as we pray, we are thinking of the
table you've ordained. And we thank thee that your people
here, month by month, come back to that, and that they are reminded
and that they do feed upon the death, the crosswork, the sacrifice
of the Lord Jesus. We're thankful that we don't
do what Roman Catholics think they do, to drink actual blood
or to eat the actual bread of Jesus. We know that cannot be. But Lord, you've ordained this,
that we remember Thee in a spiritual manner, and that we have right
thoughts and right understanding, and that we discern the body
of Christ, even in the very act of receiving the bread and cup.
And I pray that you will bless your people here and all who
join in that service Sunday afternoon and teach us, Lord, teach us
what it means to not only be a Christian, what it means to
be under the blood and under the righteousness of the Lord
Jesus, but what it means to feed on thee and to meditate constantly
upon the death, the suffering, and the victory of the Lord Jesus. We do rejoice tonight that at
the cross, dear Lord, you got the victory, that you overcame
the devil, that you overcame every opposition, And in truth,
you offered up yourself and gave up your life on that cross. And you had power to lay it down
and power to take it up again. And you did so in power. And you were a priest upon that
cross, offering up yourself as an all-sufficient sacrifice.
And so we are thankful and we are resting and rejoicing in
the finished work of the Lord Jesus. Now, I pray that you will
strengthen your people here. Thank you for each believer.
Thank you for each brother, each sister, each one who fellowships
in this church and beyond in family circles. And we're praying,
O Lord, that you will minister to your people in a very personal
way. We pray for each one that is
pressing on, striving against sin, struggling, going upstream
against every temptation, and seeking grace to go on with God
in the face of every difficulty. Thank you for answering so many
prayers for your people. What victories you've given,
what blessings you've bestowed upon your people, because they
have asked in faith, and Lord, you've been gracious to give
them the answers. And we continue to pray and continue
to ask. And we pray for any with health
needs that you will minister mightily and wonderfully. Thou
art Jehovah Rophi. And we pray that thou will prove
to be the healer of thy people, to be the sustainer of thy people. and that you will carry them
along in every time of need. We give praise for the birth
of the little baby to Aaron and his wife, and we thank thee for
this little child. We also pray for Fletcher. We
pray for this little boy and the procedure that he has gone
through. We ask, O Lord, that it will be a good success that
he will heal and that he will be in renewed health almost instantly
after this surgery. and that you would recover his
strength and bless his family and be with them in all their
needs. We pray for your blessing upon
your people. We ask for those that need your
touch. Think of the elderly, that you
will be gracious unto them. and minister to them wonderfully. Now bless us tonight. Help us
to search your word with delight. Help us to take in that you are
such a compassionate, caring shepherd over your church. And
give us hearts like thine to care and to love your people
all the way. Oh, hear us and help us now. in the name of our Lord Jesus.
Amen. Amen. Revelation chapter three, verse
one, we're coming to the sickly church tonight, Sardis. And it's A sad church in reality,
because we're told in verse 2 that it's about to die, and it would
be a dismal thing to be a part of this congregation. There wouldn't
be a lot of joy. There wouldn't be a lot of praise
and triumphant singing. There would have been a downcast
spirit. And you would have to treat this
congregation as very low spiritually. It's almost like you need to
put up a hospital sign and say that this church is under last
day's care because it's about to die. And you'll see the call
in the opening verse here, unto the angel of the church and start
us right. These things saith he that of the seven spirits
of God, In the seven stars, I know thy works, and thou hast a name
that thou livest and art dead. Be watchful. Now let's take that
as the great message for such a church that is in a low spiritual
condition and needs to be revived to new health and to new strength. And you can see that every church
needs tremendous care. And that never ceases to amuse
me. I have been in church work since I was, well, the first
congregation I was in charge of, I was 22 years old. That's
46 years ago. And I was placed in charge of
a little congregation, a bit like this, while I was a student. And I was studying through the
week, caring for the church, on Sundays, midweek meeting,
just like this. And all of these years that I've
been involved in churches, whether they be in Northern Ireland,
Canada, or visiting churches like I'm doing now, you learn
the many faceted needs of God's people. And some are almost jumping
over the top, and others are really lying down sickly and
need reviving. And here's a picture of a church
that really needs a lot of care. Now I noticed there are three
remedies that are mentioned, three things that need to happen
to see this church revived. And it says here in verse three,
remember therefore how thou hast received and heard. We'll put that as one, put those
two together. Receiving and hearing, we'll
put those as number one. And then the second thing, and
hold fast. Then the third one, and repent. And then it goes on to develop
that right through the message to this church. So to see a church
renewed and revived and strengthened, there has to be, we need to pray
for a good receiving of the word. and a feeding upon the Lord. Receiving and feeding. Now, some congregations get to
the point where they really can't receive spiritual food. because
they've become so unbelieving, so liberal, so modern-minded,
and they don't take the Bible just as God's book speaking straight
to their own hearts, and they don't treat the Bible as God's
direct message to their own souls. They've got so many question
marks, so many other notions that it really blocks the word
coming and doing them any good. And so we need to pray that God
will keep his people receiving the word simply, directly, and
with faith, believing the word. Now, sometimes people have difficulty
with preachers and with ministers, but way above that, they have
to listen to God speaking to their own hearts. Now, in feeding
such needy souls, there needs to be a constant diet, a little
at a time. Not everybody can receive the
same amount of food at one time. Not everybody has the capacity
for a loaded plate of food. Some just have to nibble. And
when people are ill, when people are low physically, you give
them a little bit at a time. It'll be like bringing a prisoner
of war out of a starvation diet and expecting them to feed. You'd
probably do more harm feeding too much. And so pastors, preachers,
and Sunday school teachers need to learn, just feed constantly. a little bit here, a little bit
at a time, get that home, get that into their system, and let
it do its works. You remember how the Lord fed
Israel six days a week with the manna? Every morning it came
fresh, and Israel ate their daily portion, and then it stank. They
couldn't take too much. If they doubled up through the
week, it stank, couldn't eat it. However, on the sixth day,
they doubled up and that fed them right through until the
beginning of the next week. That was God's way of feeding
his people a little at a time. And that's why you need to come
to church to every meeting. That's why it's good for God's
people to be at every meeting where the word is read and expounded,
because you get a constant diet. It needs also to be a gospel
diet. And that is, it should be focusing
on Christ's cross work. I like this text you have on
your pulpit here. Woe is unto me if I preach not
the gospel. I like that. It's a good reminder. And God's people need the gospel
over and over. And the communion table reminds
us of that. It is God's will that we continually
get back to Calvary. And as I mentioned, it is a good
thing for a Christian to preach the cross to yourself. What do I mean by that? Well,
I'm a preacher, so I spend a lot of my time studying, preparing
messages and sermons, and I'm focusing a lot on trying to grasp
what Christ accomplished on the cross. All the terms, redemption,
satisfaction, propitiation, and reconciliation, atonement, those
are great big statements. But you have to go back to what
is God's planning? What was God's intent? What did
God wish for his people when he sent his son to die on the
cross? And so you have to try and digest
all of that and then give it out again to the people. And
again, some can receive strong doctrine, some cannot. And you
have to be willing to preach it in its definitions and statements
and in its simplicity. and just lay it out, but it's
still a diet of the cross. And I've always noticed a people
who are strong on the cross will be strong in everything else.
Their faith will be strong. Their determination to live for
God will be strong because they have had the cross work of the
Lord Jesus propounded and preached onto them week by week. Now,
another little thing about the diet, and that is it should be
applicatory. It should be devotional. It shouldn't
be so academic that it misses the heart. And on a Tuesday night,
my method would simply be to just talk. Just talk my heart
out. and to lay before you the diet
of the gospel, little by little. Now if you go down to verse six
in chapter three, you will see how the emphasis is on hearing. Let him, he that hath an ear,
let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. Now to speak devotionally, means
you take the doctrine and you say, this is where it applies
to you. This is what this means in your life, in your heart,
and in your home. And it is, therefore, a personal
word. And just like the person on a
hospital bed, ill, you give personal care. And you would encourage
them to eat, encourage them to rest and to sleep, encourage
them to take the medication personally and the remedies personally.
And likewise, we should do that in the Lord's church, because
so often we have the attitude, that's for somebody else, that's
for another person. But when you come to church,
whether it's Sunday or Tuesday, you want to say, Lord, you have
a word for me today, and it should be a devotional word that will
apply to my heart. And to do that, preachers need
to speak very plainly and very clearly. And that's where the
work lies, by the way. That's where you can't just come
saying the same thing every week. You have to have a word in season. So would you pray for that? This
is another pointer for prayer, that this will be a church that
will care even for the weakest Christian, for the most troubled
Christian, or even the most tempted Christian. And let's face it,
all of God's people are tempted and all face horrific opposition
to walk the other direction or turn away from God. And we need
to pray, Lord, let this be a place of feeding where the word is
received. And you know that the parable
where the word was sown on the different types of ground and
only on the good ground was the word sufficiently in the soil
that it brought forth a harvest. And that's what we need to pray.
Lord, to strengthen the church, make us strong feeders to feed
and receive the word by faith and by grace. Now let's move
to the second remedy. We're looking at verse three
and there's has received and heard and hold fast And so here
is an attitude of holding fast. And again, this is something
that you would say to someone in a very weak medical condition. You would say to them, I know
you're in pain and I know you're suffering, but hold on, hold
fast. Don't surrender. You hang in
there and we'll get this turned around. And well, we are to,
as Christians, Likewise, encourage one another to hold fast. Don't give up. Don't go back. And to hold fast, of course,
it means we have no interest in worldly things, no interest
in modern ways, and we do take interest in the strong things
that make us strong. Now, what are those strong things
that make a Christian strong? They are, of course, doctrine.
Doctrine. And as Christians, we all need
doctrine. Doctrine are like anchors that
fix us in the midst of the storms of life. And the doctrine that
we hope to, of course, is the Westminster Confession of Faith.
I hope you have a copy of that. I hope you read it. The lighter
version is the Shorter Catechism, which is intended to teach boys
and girls. And what a wonderful thing to
memorize that in our presbytery in Northern Ireland. They have
certificates for children who learn all 107 questions and answers
in one sitting. They have to do it all in one
go. And it takes them probably a couple of years to learn it,
learn it well enough that they can not only know the last one,
but go back to one and all the way through. And it's like a
library of doctrine. And it is a tremendous strength. And these are the things that
enable us to hold fast. I like John's definition of love. Let's go back to 1 John 5 and
verse 3. For this is the love of God,
that we keep his commandments, and his commandments are not
grievous. And in the Lord's church, we
need the commandments, the Lord's commandments. And of course,
the summary of them is in the Ten Commandments that were given
to Moses in Mount Sinai. And they are the very foundation
of our Christian living. And if we care for one another,
we will memorize the Ten Commandments, we will live by them, be an example
of living out God's commandments in our hearts, and say, by our
lives, they're not a grief to me. They're my delight. I delight
in the law of the Lord, and in his law do I meditate day and
night. And so by these means, Christians
can hold fast. And so we need to pray about
that tonight, that Christians will be taught, grounded, and
that they will hold fast in the midst of the troubles of life. The third remedy that's given
here in verse three is repentance. And we need to pray for a deepening
repentance. With God, the way up is down. That's the great chief lesson
in the Christian life. And when we humble ourselves,
he gives us more grace. And when we come and sit at Jesus'
feet in all our need, the Lord ministers to us, comforts us,
and strengthens us. And in the souls of believers,
this repentant attitude must deepen. And that's the purpose. of ministry in the church. Now, what do we mean by deepening
a person's repentance? When we become a Christian, we
have repented, of course, of our sins. You can't become a
Christian without repenting of sin, past sins, and all the worldly
ways that you lived. You repent of all ungodliness. But what about the next day and
the day after and the year after? Well, we should be learning to
hate sin all the more. And if you're a growing Christian,
you will say, I hate sin tonight more than I did a year ago, or
five years ago, or when I was just newly converted. I hate
sin, and I hate worldliness, and I am repentant. I have a
repentant attitude toward all of those things. And that's the
ministry of the Holy Spirit in your heart. The more of the Holy
Spirit in your life and heart, the more repentant you will be
of evil. One of the symbols of the Holy
Spirit is the dove. And the dove is a small bird,
probably smaller than a pigeon, and its hallmark is its mourning. Its call is very mournful. And that's a picture of a Christian.
We mourn over sin. The Lord Jesus says, blessed
are they that mourn. And that's a mourning over ungodliness
and uncleanness. So that when we see sin around
us in the world, we lament that. That's not something we get fun
out of. It's not something that switches us on. It's something
that grieves our heart. We lament over sin in the world
around us. Sin in the home, when children
do the wrong things, say the wrong things, become rebellious.
All of that is grievous to godly parents. And then, of course,
when there's sin in the church, it is a great grief to the whole
congregation. And we pray Lord, give our brother
or our sister a spirit of repentance that they will confess, return,
and call again upon the Lord. And that brings us to the confession
of sin. Now, I want to come back to this
matter of preaching the cross to ourselves. When I talk here
about having a repentant attitude, Doesn't mean you become so despondent
and downcast. No, there ought to be in your
heart a note of victory. Because every time you confess
sin, you go to the cross, and we know that at the cross, the
Lord Jesus got the victory. He put to flight the powers of
darkness. Would you read with me Colossians
chapter two and verse 13. The book of Colossians chapter
two and verse 13. Here's what our Lord did at the
cross. Fearing one another and forgiving one another, if any
man have a quarrel against any, even as Christ also forgave you,
so also do ye. And above all these things put
on charity, which is the bond of perfectness. Sorry, I'm at
chapter three. Chapter two, verse 15. Verse 13 is where I want to start. Colossians 2.13, and you, being
dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, have he quickened
together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses, blotting
out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was
contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his
cross, and having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a show of
them openly, triumphing over them in it." Now, to preach the
cross to yourself is to preach the accomplishment of our Lord
Jesus and how he, like a great conquering, mighty victor, overcame
his enemy and our enemy and have brought us blessing upon blessing. And when we repent of the world,
we preach the cross to ourselves and we seek, pray, Lord, give
me the victory that you purchased for me at the cross. That's a
great prayer to pray. Lord, give me the victory that
you received at the cross. And that brings tremendous blessing
and tremendous power into your own soul. And so the cross lifts
our burdens, leads us into liberty, and it kills our sin nature. It puts down temptation, and
it makes us to triumph. and to get stronger and stronger. Now again, we think of the communion
on Sunday afternoon, and let's pray tonight that the Lord will
work this in everyone and in each one of us. Lord, do a work
in my heart this coming Sunday at the communion table. Make
it a time when I really revisit Calvary. when I see what my Lord
Jesus accomplished in his death and rejoice in it and rest in
it and come to live my life in the power of it, not in my own
strength or attempting to do better by myself. Now, what we've had here tonight
are remedies for a sickly church, Sardis, and they apply to us. because there's none of us strong
enough. There's none of us spiritually
healthy enough. We all have weak spots and we
need to be strengthened. And so let's take these to heart.
Let's pray for one another. And let's pray for all who attend
that they will be brought into this care. And we're all to be
watchful. And I think there's no better
place to be watchful over the church than in prayer, in the
prayer meeting. And we pray, Lord, keep this
church from temptation. Keep it from error. Keep it in
the Bible. Keep Christians full of faith
and make us prayerful and make us repentant of the world. These are all prayers that God
will bless and God will answer as he ministers to us tonight.
And I trust on the Lord's day as well.
Remedies for a sickly church
| Sermon ID | 527251111405537 |
| Duration | 35:31 |
| Date | |
| Category | Prayer Meeting |
| Bible Text | Revelation 3:1-6 |
| Language | English |
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