1“Write this letter to the angel of the church in Sardis. This is the message from the one who has the sevenfold Spirit of God and the seven stars: “I know all the things you do, and that you have a reputation for being alive—but you are dead. 2Wake up! Strengthen what little remains, for even what is left is almost dead. I find that your actions do not meet the requirements of my God. 3Go back to what you heard and believed at first; hold to it firmly. Repent and turn to me again. If you don’t wake up, I will come to you suddenly, as unexpected as a thief. 4“Yet there are some in the church in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes with evil. They will walk with me in white, for they are worthy. 5All who are victorious will be clothed in white. I will never erase their names from the Book of Life, but I will announce before my Father and his angels that they are mine. (Revelation 3 NLT)
“You have a reputation for being alive, but you are dead.” Oh how true this can be for so many individuals and so many churches. These words cut us to the quick as we begin to really absorb what Jesus is saying to us. He speaks about “looking” alive and “acting” alive and doing all the right things to seem alive – but we are dead. We are dead because we are spiritually dead – not that we are not “spiritual” but that we are spiritually dead; and we are spiritually dead because the Holy Spirit does not live within us. We all have a calling. We all have a purpose. We all have, as scripture refers to it, a first love; and that is Jesus, the Christ of God who lived, died, and was resurrected – and in so doing placed all who will belive in right standing with the Most High God and defeated the power of sin and death in our lives. Do you believe this?
“You have a reputation for being alive, but you are dead.” Oh how true this can be for so many individuals and so many churches. These words cut us to the quick as we begin to really absorb what Jesus is saying to us. He speaks about “looking” alive and “acting” alive and doing all the right things to seem alive – but we are dead. We are dead because we are spiritually dead – not that we are not “spiritual” but that we are spiritually dead; and we are spiritually dead because the Holy Spirit does not live within us. We all have a calling. We all have a purpose. We all have, as scripture refers to it, a first love; and that is Jesus, the Christ of God who lived, died, and was resurrected – and in so doing placed all who will belive in right standing with the Most High God and defeated the power of sin and death in our lives. Do you believe this?
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