SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR
2/13/2015 8:59 AM
My Worship Time Focus: The
Commendation of Sardis
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Revelation
3:4
Message of the
verse: “4 ’But you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their
garments; and they will walk with Me in white, for they are worthy.”
I kind of got ahead of myself mentioning in our last SD
that there was no commendation for this church, but as we look at verse four we
can see that there is indeed a short commendation for this church which we will
talk about in this SD.
First thing I want to do is to quote a paragraph from my
first go around in the book of Revelation dated March 13, 2005: “The Bible teaches that once a person is
saved he is always saved, yet even a saved person can do things that are sinful
and at times will be disciplined for such behavior. The Bible speaks of people who are believers
who will receive a white garment, but there will be a smell of smoke in it
because they did not live a life that was at all pleasing to the Lord. A believer who practices holiness in his walk
with the Lord will receive a white garment that will not smell of smoke, for he
will be worthy as this verse speaks of.”
The section that I was writing about as far as the robes that smell of
smoke is found in the book of 1 Corinthians “If any man’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will
be saved, yet so as through fire (1 Cor. 3:15).” I find it difficult as I study these
churches, which I realize that there were these seven churches in John’s day
that Christ sent these letters to, I find it difficult to distinguish between
what is a real church in our day and what is not a real church in our day. For instance we have cults who state that
they are a church and what I find difficult is were these letters for them or
not. My best guess is that they are not.
We have stated, which came from the text that this was a
dead church and yet there were a few believers scattered about in this church
and for those we see this verse written for them. When I was listening to John MacArthur’s
sermon on this section he stated that he gets many letters from people who are
in dead churches today, so that means that there are many dead churches in our
world today. In the case of the church
at Sardis there were not enough true believers to change the fact that Christ
calls this a dead church. True to the
Lord He had not forgotten those who were true believers in this church for they
were faithful to Him. Another thing that
has crossed my mind and that is times were different in those days in that this
was probably the only church in Sardis so these true believers had little
choice in going there, unlike believers today who can leave a dead church and
attend one that is following the Lord.
Let us look at some verses to show that Christ does not forget His
own. “Then those who feared the LORD spoke to one another, and the LORD gave
attention and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before Him for
those who fear the LORD and who esteem His name. "They will be Mine," says the LORD
of hosts, "on the day that I prepare My own possession, and I will spare
them as a man spares his own son who serves him’ (Mal. 3:16-17).” “For God is not unjust so as to forget your
work and the love which you have shown toward His name, in having ministered
and in still ministering to the saints (Heb. 6:10).”
Now we will look at Romans 11:1-5 “1 I say then, God has not rejected His people, has He? May it never be!
For I too am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. 2
God has not rejected His people whom He foreknew. Or do you not know what the
Scripture says in the passage about Elijah, how he pleads with God against
Israel? 3 “Lord, THEY HAVE KILLED YOUR PROPHETS, THEY HAVE TORN DOWN YOUR
ALTARS, AND I ALONE AM LEFT, AND THEY ARE SEEKING MY LIFE." 4 But what is
the divine response to him? "I HAVE KEPT for Myself SEVEN THOUSAND MEN WHO
HAVE NOT BOWED THE KNEE TO BAAL." 5 In the same way then, there has also
come to be at the present time a remnant according to God’s gracious choice.” John MacArthur writes the following about
these verses: “That God preserves His
faithful remnant is a frequent theme of Scripture,” this is seen in these
verses.
We see that the description of those who were believers
in this church was “who have not soiled
their garments.” John MacArthur
writes “Soiled is from moluno, which
means ‘to stain,’ ‘ to defile,’ ‘to smear,’ or ‘to pollute.’ It was a word that would have been familiar
to readers in Sardis because of the city’s wool dyeing industry. ‘Garments’ symbolize character in Scripture
(e. g., Isa. 64:6; Jude 23). The
faithful remnant could come into God’s presence because they had not defiled or
polluted themselves, but manifested their godly character.”
We next see the reward that Christ will give those
faithful to Him and that is that they would walk in white with the Lord for
they are worthy. This is a symbol of
purity as we see in different places from Scripture, but I want to speak of one
here: “Mt 17:2 And He was transfigured before them; and His face shone like the
sun, and His garments became as white as light.” This came from the section where Jesus goes
up to the Mt. of Transfiguration shortly before His would be crucified.
Spiritual meaning
for my life today: I can see in this
section a real personal application that Christ has for His own, every last one
of His own. In the 17th
chapter of John, the chapter that contains the “High Priestly Prayer,” we see
that God had given the eleven disciples to Him in order that they might tell
others of Him, and then He goes on to mention those who His disciples would
bring to Him through their preaching and they would all be His. This is still going on and Christ knows all
of us who have come to trust Him as Savior and Lord and this makes it very
personal to me.
My Steps of Faith for Today: To better love the Lord with all of my heart,
soul, mind, and strength, and to better understand and live in the love He has
for me.
Answer to yesterday’s Bible
question: “An orator, or a lawyer” (Acts
24:1).
Today’s Bible
question: “Who could not understand how
a man could be born again when he was old?”
Answer in our next SD.
2/13/2015 9:57 AM
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