Remember

Revelation 3:3, “ kRemember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and lrepent. If therefore thou shalt not hwatch, I will [1]mcome on thee nas a thief, and nthou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee.” 1

I.   Remember

     A. Held

     B. Heard

II. Repent

     A. Home

     B. Happy

III. Remiss

     A. Hour

     B. Help

Introduction:  We have heard from Jesus so far about the churches in Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamos, and Thyatira.  Ephesus lost her first love.  Smyrna had misrepresented her works and were proud of themselves instead of being truthful with God.  Pergamos decided to go back to her old ways which were against God.  Thyatira had become smitten with the ways of perversion and decided to be OK with whatever God was not agreeable to.  We will examine each of the churches that we have heard about so far.

Ephesus…  We refer to the churches as her because we are the bride of Christ.  A wife who once was in love with her husband at first but is now against her husband is not a wife anymore.  If she doesn’t remember why she married her husband in the first place, try as He might a marriage where only one is still participating will not last.  She must remember that she loves Him!

Smyrna…  A wife who promises one thing yet does another and then blames her husband for the decisions that she herself makes doesn’t want to be a wife anymore.  She must lovingly remember the day that they took their vows to God and each other.  She must be willing to speak and to listen.  If she overcomes her time of temptation the marriage will be stronger than it was at the beginning.

Pergamos…  A wife who sides with others who are against what she knows her husband is for is not going to help remove those obstacles which might trip her up.  She has either gotten familiar with them or she is looking for a different life.  The things that are good for the marriage are now the things that she has decided not to trust in anymore.  She must remember how it felt when they were together.

Thyatira…  Often someone comes into the marriage and the wife is seduced into thinking that perhaps what her husband really stands for isn’t what she wants anymore.  Maybe things would be better if…  Seduction comes in all types of lies and deceptions.  She must remember that love is forever, and lust is a detour that destroys what was solid.  If she does, then the marriage will not be in danger of collapse and everybody will see what a marriage that illuminates love looks like.

Today we start a new chapter and discover another church.  After today we will only have two more churches to cover in this series.  Decisions will be made.  We are already mentioning Merry Oaks having a revival in the last week of September.  I pray that each in this church will truly have a time of revival.

Jesus said about the church which we will discover today had a name that lives yet they were dead.  Can dry bones live?  A dead church needs a revival.  We are discussing Ezekiel in our evening services.  Listen as we jump ahead to Ezekiel 37:3, “3 And he said unto me, Son of man, ecan these bones live? And I answered, O Lord God, fthou knowest." [2]  Can we live again???

Scripture:  The Scripture today is Revelation 3:3. Please stand for the reading of God’s word.

Prayer:  Please be seated.

Message:  Keep your Bibles open and follow as we hear verse one.  “And unto athe angel of the church in bSardis write; These things saith he that hath cthe seven Spirits of God, and dthe seven stars; I eknow thy works, that thou hast a name fthat thou livest, and fgart dead.” [3]

We had Anita with us a few weeks back.  She donated the AED or Automatic External Defibrillator from BASF whom she works for.  Then she came and gave us a course on the new CPR or Cardio-Pulmonary Resuscitation.  As a retired EMT, I was successful in resuscitating several people.  One of them was my own mother who lived some two years after she was revived.

When a person is resuscitated there is an immediate difference.  Life returns to a lifeless body.  When Jesus revived Lazurus it was not simply bringing breath to one that had stopped breathing.  It was a new beginning to a body that was lifeless for days.

Jesus holds the seven stars.  There is nothing that is illuminated that is not illuminated by Jesus.  His truth sets you free because there is nothing hidden anymore.  Jesus holds the seven Spirits of God.  Just as Jesus does nothing except that which His Father directs and approves, The Holy Spirit does nothing outside of the direction of Jesus.

For Lazurus it was not simply to bring beating back to a heart that had stopped.  Resuscitation is amazing and is certainly a miracle, but revival is more.  Revival brings on a different life than there was before because the spirit of man has been replaced by the Holy Spirit.  Sardis was a dead church that had once been alive for Jesus.  What happened?

As we read on, we learn what happened to Sardis.  They had become distracted by the things that were going on around them and had forgotten Matthew 6:33-34, “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; sand all these things shall be added unto you. 34 mTake therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.” [4]

Jesus wanted them to remember.  If they could do that then they would come back stronger than they had been before.  Jesus keeps His faith in us even when we become distracted and turn away from Him.  “2 Be hwatchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die: for I have not found thy iworks perfect before God.” [5]  Keep looking to Jesus because He never takes His eyes off you.  He sees life where there is no life, and He will bring us back when we look to Him.

Remember…  That is the first word of our focal verse and the title of this message.  When you receive something, you hold onto it.  It is yours.  Salvation from eternal separation with God The Father was once held tightly by those in Sardis.  When they received the pardon that Jesus paid for, they heard the truth and they were set free but just as the children of Israel in the wilderness, they became distracted and remembered the wrong things.

Repent is something we do when we first become Christians.  We turn from the evil one who has led us astray and take a new course with Jesus as our Air Traffic Controller, or heaven traffic controller.  What happens when you get off course?  Jesus told them to repent.  They were headed in the right direction, but they forgot their destination was our eternal home.  Once they were happy.  Remember that happiness is not the destination but is the frame of mind that you decide.  Paul learned that happiness or contentment meant that by going through hard things, we get stronger in our faith.

Instead of learning from the distractions and going through them, the people in the church at Sardis were becoming comfortable heading in the wrong direction.  Repent back to your correct course!  Remember that you are going home.  This world has nothing to do for eternity with God.

Jesus went on to tell them that if they remained remiss and lost sight because they no longer kept watch that when He returned, they would not know when He had even come.  When we are in trouble we should be on the lookout for help from where we know it will come.  When Jesus was tempted by the evil one, He fought off the devil with scripture.  That is where our help is.  We find strength in God’s Word and His name is Jesus.

Not everyone in the church at Sardis was corrupt.  There was that remnant that remained faithful.  “4 Thou hast a few onames even in bSardis which have not pdefiled their garments; and they shall walk with me qin white: for they are rworthy. 5 sHe that overcometh, the same tshall be clothed qin white raiment; and I will not ublot out his name out of vthe book of life, but wI will confess his name before my Father, and xbefore his angels.” [6]

Prayer: 

Invitation:  We all have decisions to make each day.  Once we become a Christian the world does not relent in its pursuit of unhappiness.  The constitution gives us the right to pursue happiness.  That doesn’t mean that we will decide to be happy.  The devil does everything in his power to make us think that we can do better.

To listen to all the propaganda that is being thrown at us is sometimes more than a person can take without being affected.  It will turn you around unless you stay grounded in that which will never change.  When you became a Christian, you received the Holy Spirit that allows you to understand in ways that you were not able to understand before.  What else did Jesus say to us?

“6 yHe that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.” [7]  Notice that Jesus is not talking to everyone.  Let us hear what Jesus is saying to the churches.  That is a plural word there.  He might not be understood by all who call themselves church.  This is Jesus talking to the individual local churches.  “He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.”  What is He saying to us?  What is He saying to you?  To hear Him we must close our ears to those who would confuse.  Who is the author of confusion?  You know!

What can we do?  What must we do?  Let us pray that God prepares us for revival that will change lives.  Now is the time to do business at His altar.  Remember the way home as we sing the invitational hymn #...

k So ver. 11. Comp. 1 Tim. 6:20. 2 Tim. 1:13.
l ver. 19.
h See Matt. 24:42.
m ch. 2:25. n ch. 16:15. See Matt. 24:43.

n ch. 16:15. See Matt. 24:43.

[1] The Holy Bible: King James Version (Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version., Re 3:3). (2009). Logos Research Systems, Inc. 
e Comp. 1 Cor. 15:35.
f See Deut. 32:39. & John 5:21. & 2 Cor. 1:9.
[2] Ibid., Eze 37:3). (2009). Logos Research Systems, Inc.
a ver. 7, 14. See ch. 1:20.
b ver. 4. ch. 1:11.
c See ch. 1:4.
d See ch. 1:16.
e See ch. 2:2.
f So 1 Tim. 5:6.
f So 1 Tim. 5:6.
g See Eph. 2:1.
[3] Ibid., Re 3:1). (2009). Logos Research Systems, Inc.
s So 1 Kin. 3:11–14. Ps. 37:25. Mark 10:30. 1 Tim. 4:8.
m ver. 27, 28, 31, 34. See 1 Sam. 9:5 (English). So Ps. 55:22. Phil. 4:6. Heb. 13:5. 1 Pet. 5:7.
[4] Ibid., Mt 6:33–34). (2009). Logos Research Systems, Inc.
h See Matt. 24:42.
i Comp. Acts 14:26 (Gk.).
[5] Ibid., Re 3:2). (2009). Logos Research Systems, Inc.
o ch. 11:13 marg. So Acts 1:15.
b ver. 4. ch. 1:11.
p Jude 23. So ch. 14:4.
q Matt. 28:3. ver. 5, 18. ch. 4:4. & 6:11. & 7:9, 13, 14. & 19:14. So Eccles. 9:8. 2 Esdr. 2:39, 40.
r See Matt. 22:8.
s ver. 12, 21. See ch. 2:7.
t So ch. 19:8.
q Matt. 28:3. ver. 5, 18. ch. 4:4. & 6:11. & 7:9, 13, 14. & 19:14. So Eccles. 9:8. 2 Esdr. 2:39, 40.
u See Ex. 32:32.
v ch. 13:8. & 17:8. & 20:12, 15. & 21:27. & 22:19. See Phil. 4:3.
w So Matt. 10:32.
x Luke 12:8.
[6] Ibid., Re 3:4–5). (2009). Logos Research Systems, Inc.
y ver. 13, 22. See ch. 2:7.
[7] Ibid., Re 3:6). (2009). Logos Research Systems, Inc.