Revelation 3:1-6 - The Undefiled
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· 94 viewsFCF: How do we make our faith credible to a society that wants nothing to do with the faith of our fathers? The answer is to have the courage to contend for an undefiled faith. Because we are called to have an undefiled faith we must take risks for what we believe and know to be true.
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Scripture Introduction
Main Point: Because we are called to have an undefiled faith we must take risks for what we believe and know to be true.
In recent years, much of my time has been spent with other leaders who are trying to understand how the different generations relate to one another. An older generation came of age during a time of a Judeao-Christian consensus in our nation. The goal of this older generation was to create a “moral majority” that could influence politics and shape our nation. My generation came of age during a time of great skepticism and doubt about the authenticity of religion and it’s leaders. My generation starting to look for answers in other directions and wanted to create a more pluralistic and open society and culture and we became a “minority” of believers who traded away control for “credibility.” And, the generation coming behind me has entered into a time like we have never known before. A time when being “credible” is more important and harder than ever before. For most of us we are faced with a very pressing question:
Application Consistent Outline
How do we make our faith credible to a society that wants nothing to do with the faith of our fathers?
The Book of Revelation, with its powerful prophetic foresight, prepares for the questions of such a younger generation with this letter to the congregation in Sardis. These are a young generation of believers who once were part of an acceptable majority of faith adherents but now as disciples of Yeshua were part of a persecuted minority whose status ranged somewhere between criminals of the Empire of Rome to heretics worthy of banishment from the synagogue.
For the believers in Sardis to make the historic faith of Yeshua credible is an immense challenge that contains timely guidance for us. With all the immense pressures they were facing how do they keep faithful among the faithless. The answer is in living out their convictions with undefiled faith.
Ha-Foke-Bah Hebrew
Ha-Foke-Bah English
Let’s read together this portion of Scripture
To the angel of Messiah’s community in Sardis write: “Thus says the One having the seven spirits of God and the seven stars: I know your deeds—you have a reputation for being alive, but you are dead.
Wake up, and strengthen what remains that was about to die. For I have not found your deeds complete in the sight of My God.
So remember what you have received and heard—keep it, and repent. If you will not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come upon you.
“But still, you have a few people in Sardis who have not stained their clothes. They will walk with Me in white, because they are worthy.
The one who overcomes thus will be dressed in white clothes; I will never blot his name out of the Book of Life, and will confess his name before My Father and His angels.
He who has an ear, let him hear what the Ruach is saying to Messiah’s communities.
Around this time last year, I was at lunch in Downtown Houston with a room for a full of professional businesses leaders and aspiring leaders. It was the Christian business' men's fellowship. And, I was there was to hear a friend and a Board Member of Beth El Shalom Mark Lanier speak.
Mark is not only an accomplished trial lawyer, but he is an author, speaker, and servant at his local church and supporter of the Gospel around the world. I went because I thought Mark would deliver a fantastic exposition on a particular text of Scripture. Perhaps discuss some tremendous discoveries that have been brought to his library. Instead, I found myself listening with high intent as he talked about his young years as a trial lawyer. A time when faith was challenged by the faithless and the risks he took s to keep his faith undefiled.
As a young lawyer, he was working for another law firm and learning the ropes as a new lawyer. He actually grew up wanting to be a pastor, but his own pastor encouraged him to pursue law. Mark did well as a young trial lawyer. He was succeeding and winning significant cases. He had caught the eye of many influential and powerful people, but he also found the eye fo those who did not share his faith convictions.
On one particular afternoon, Mark was closing up his files and workload and getting ready to head home to be with his family. It just so happened that his boss, the principal partner of this law firm, saw Mark getting ready to leave. So he went over to Mark and said, "You know Mark, you are a great trial lawyer, but you are not an A+ lawyer, yet you are just a solid A lawyer." Mark, who is very teachable and open to instruction, said, "What do I have to do to be an A+ lawyer?" His boss said, "You put your family ahead of your work., that is causing you to not rise to your full potential."
Mark is not only an accomplished trial lawyer but he is an author, speaker and servant at his local church and supporter of the Gospel around the world. I went because I thought Mark would deliver an amazing exposition on a certain text of Scripture or discuss some amazing discoveries that have been brought to his library but instead I found myself listening intently as talked about his young years as trial lawyer, how his faith was challenged by the faithless and the risks he took s to keep his faith undefiled.
At that moment, Mark knew this man could put his future in jeopardy. His reputation, his career. But he knew there was so much more in danger than just his job. Mark wanted a family and believed he was called to love his bride above his career, and this would break a solemn conviction he held. And, Mark believed that God called him to this career and that all his hopes of making a positive impact on the legal system in America could be in jeopardy by what he did next. For Mark, all he had learned in school and church about God's attributes, power, and provision would boil down to the next decision.
Could he afford to keep his faith undefiled from the contamination the world was urging him to approve?
As a young lawyer he was working for another law firm and learning the ropes as a new lawyer. He actually grew up wanting to be a pastor but his own pastor encouraged him to pursue law. Mark did well as a young trial lawyer. He was succeeding and winning significant cases. He had caught the eye of many influential and powerful people but he also caught the eye fo those who did not share his faith convictions.
Was an undefiled faith worth what it would cost?
On one particular afternoon, Mark was closing up his files and workload and getting ready to head home to be with his family. It just so happened that his boss the major partner of this law firm saw Mark getting ready to leave. So he went over to Mark and said, “You know Mark, you are a great trial lawyer but you are not an A+ lawyer yet you are just a solid A lawyer.” Mark who is very teachable and open to instruction said, “What do I have to do to be an A+ lawyer?” His boss said, “You put your family ahead of your work and that is what is causing you to lag behind and not rise to your full potential.”
Mark's situation was not unique to him, of course. In all ages, God's people are pressured to pollute the purity of their faith. The pressures come from an array of sources: bosses, finances, competitors, friends, relatives, and congregations, as well as our own desires for success and significance. Mark faced such pressures. You have faced them. The disciples at Sardis faced them. These pressures face anyone who seeks to live out an undefiled faith in a world of sin.
In that moment, Mark knew this man could put his future in jeopardy. His reputation, his career. But he knew there was so much more in jeopardy than just his job. Mark wanted a family and believed he was called to love his bride above his career and this would break a solemn conviction he held. And, Mark believed that God called him to this career and that all his hopes of making a positive impact on the legal system in America could be in jeopardy by what he did next. For Mark, all he had learned in school and church about God’s attributes, power, and provision would boil down to the next decision.
In all ages God’s people are pressured to pollute the purity of their dedication to God. The pressures come from an array of sources: bosses, finances, competitors, friends, relatives, and congregations, as well as our own desires for success and significance. This couple faced such pressures. You have faced them. Daniel and his friends faced them. These pressures face anyone who seeks to live an undefiled life in a world of sin. That is why the Bible, in order to help us face these pressures, speaks so plainly about the risks, reasons, and rewards of holiness.
That is why this letter to Sardis is so important, despite the apparent problems at Sardis, ultimately Yeshua wants to help his people face these pressures, and so he speaks so directly about the risks, reasons, and rewards of having an undefiled faith.
Could he afford to keep his faith undefiled from the contamination the world was urging him to approve?
The Risks of Contending for your Faith.
Was an undefiled faith worth what it would cost?
The letter to the disciples at Sardis makes it clear many had already defiled their faith. The book of Revelation as a whole is practical enough to tell us that having an undefiled faith is going to take courage. The problems at the congregation in Sardis are only a microcosm of what will become a world-wide problem when the false religion of the anti-christ appears on the stage of world history.
Yeshua is direct enough to tell us to play “heads-up baseball.” Get prepared. Pay attention. The Ball is going to come your way. As a coach, I have seen what happens when a ball meets the face of player unaware. And what is likely to come your way as a faithful believer is risks.
To the angel of Messiah’s community in Sardis write: “Thus says the One having the seven spirits of God and the seven stars: I know your deeds—you have a reputation for being alive, but you are dead.
The risk of contending for your faith ()
The background of the city of Sardis is very revealing. Sardis was an important city in Asia Minor and served as the capital of the Lydian empire for more than a 100 years until the cities watchmen fell asleep. No joke. The watchmen of the city were not playing heads-up baseball and Cyrus the Great snuck soldiers in and took the city by night and two hundred years later another Military leader did the same thing. The city was also home to the dispersed Jewish community. It was one of the few cities we know for sure people went after the Babylonian invasion. The prophet Obadiah () mentions this city by name in Hebrew as Sepharad. The Jewish community had come to peace with its foreign neighbors even building a synagogue right next to a Greek Gymnasium. But in AD 17 the city was hit by an earthquake that leveled it to the ground and though Emperor Tiberius tried to refinance its revival it never rose again to its stature it had before. It had a storied reputation but it was no longer what it once was.
The disciples of Yeshua who lived in Sardis would have faced immense risks to their faithfulness. Like all the other congregations they would have faced pressure from pagan religion to call Caesar Lord and they would have faced pressure from thy synagogue to renounce Yeshua as Israel’s predicted Messiah and true Savior or be banished from the Jewish community and loose the protection the synagogue shielded them and their families with from Roman persecution. Keeping their faith undefiled by the pressures of the world around them would take great risk. For many the risk was not worth the cost.
To the angel of Messiah’s community in Sardis write: “Thus says the One having the seven spirits of God and the seven stars: I know your deeds—you have a reputation for being alive, but you are dead.
Although Yeshua expresses Himself as having full divine priesthood (seven stars) and power (seven spirits), the disciples living their were hollowed shells of what was once a powerful faith. They like Sardis, had a storied reputation but internally they were unimpressive, dim, dead. Not all but the majority of the Disciples of Yeshua were so in name only.They were nominal.
We don’t know exactly what caused them to become so nominal that Yeshua has nothing to commend about this congregation. All we can do is speculate that perhaps they were nominal for the same reasons many are today.
Sloppy Agape
Born Into It
Pretty Legalism
Inoffensive Faith
Having a name is not enough to have an undefiled faith.
What are the risks?
Nominal believers do not take risks. And there are risks. What are the risks? Some idea of the risk involved is stated right here at the end of
To the angel of Messiah’s community in Sardis write: “Thus says the One having the seven spirits of God and the seven stars: I know your deeds—you have a reputation for being alive, but you are dead.
Risk reputation being smeared by the faithless. No longer would they be known as the most inoffensive Christians in Rome. Now, they would be know as those who oppose the empire, who don’t cower when the synagogue threatens to banish them.
Risk relationship separation from the faithless. No longer would they be the token “Christian” at the work party. They might not be the most liked person at the school meeting or in the local running club.
Risk resentment from those who did not want them to “impose” their beliefs on others.
Illustration: The risk John McCain took as a POW. .
These risks are so familiar to us and so bathed in the aura of good old fashioned religion or gospel religion we may no longer be able to connect with their importance.
I cannot help but relate them to the accounts of John McCain in the 2008 presidential campaign. Regardless of political affiliation, everyone acknowledged that he was a true war hero. We should remember why.
He was the son of a high-ranking naval officer, but he graduated fifth from the bottom of his class at the Naval Academy. The future looked bleak for such a graduate, so he took the risk and volunteered for combat duty as a Navy pilot in the Vietnam War. On his twenty-third mission, he was shot down. In the crash, he broke both arms and a leg. He was then captured and put in a primitive prison where his wounds could not properly heal. When his captors discovered the identity of his father—and that McCain was military “royalty”—they offered him the opportunity to be released, but only if he made certain compromises. There were others who made such compromises.
They said, “You’ll get out of this hell, out of this pain, out of this disgrace, if you will just testify to our gracious handling of you.” McCain refused to defile himself by betraying his country and fellow prisoners with such a lie. As a consequence, he spent five and a half years in prison with over half in solitary confinement, and with his wounds not only improperly treated but used as a means to torture him. John McCain’s experience reminds us that, in the real world, just because you take a risk for your faith does not guarantee good results.
Bryan Chapell, The Gospel according to Daniel: A Christ-Centered Approach (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2014), 16–17.
The Gospel according to Daniel: A Christ-Centered Approach What Are the Risks?
These facts are so familiar to us and so bathed in the aura of Sunday-school story time that we may no longer be able to connect with their reality. I cannot help but relate them to the accounts of John McCain in the 2008 presidential campaign. Regardless of political affiliation, everyone acknowledged that he was a true war hero. We should remember why. He was the son of a high-ranking naval officer, but he graduated fifth from the bottom of his class at the Naval Academy. The future looked bleak for such a graduate, so he took the risk and volunteered for combat duty as a Navy pilot in the Vietnam War. On his twenty-third mission, he was shot down. In the crash, he broke both arms and a leg. He was then captured and put in a primitive prison where his wounds could not properly heal. When his captors discovered the identity of his father—and that McCain was military “royalty”—they offered him the opportunity to be released, but only if he made certain compromises. They said, “You’ll get out of this hell, out of this pain, out of this disgrace, if you will just testify to our gracious handling of you.” McCain refused to defile himself by betraying his country and fellow prisoners with such a lie. As a consequence, he spent five and a half years in prison with over half in solitary confinement, and with his wounds not only improperly treated but used as a means to torture him. John McCain’s experience reminds us that, in the real world, doing the right thing is no guarantee of good results.
Why mentions the risks?
Why mention the risks?
Decisions not to defile your faith really can involve terrible risk.
Why state this again? Because when we are removed from the pressures, we may find it easy to say that we would not struggle to risk security and success to maintain faithfulness to our nation or to our God. But it is not that easy! And the Lord cares enough about us to put this clear message in Scripture: contending to keep your faith undefiled is risky business.
In there is this great scene at the throne of God
Bryan Chapell, The Gospel according to Daniel: A Christ-Centered Approach (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2014), 17.
After these things I looked, and behold, a vast multitude that no one could count—from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues—was standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands
They are praising God but one of the elders in heaven, we will discuss who this person might be in a couple of weeks asks a question
Then one of the elders answered, saying to me, “Who are these dressed in white robes, and where have they come from?” I said to him, “Sir, you know.”
The answer, these are the beginning of the tribulation martyrs:
Then he said to me, “These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
If we do not know this or will not face such harsh realities, then we are not ready to face the challenges that our going to lay in front of our path.
I don’t want to minimize the risk of contending for an undefiled faith. The Bible does not and I don’t want us to either. You may never face real war conditions or go on the mission field and face potential martyrdom. Yet, you may be asked to compromise your family like my friend Mark was being asked to do. By the way, he did not compromise on his family and now almost 6 billion dollars later in successful lawsuits he says, “I’ll settle for just being an A level lawyer.”
You may make a stand and not keep that job. That also happens. But like my good friend Tim always tells me, “Michael I can lay my head on my pillow and sleep knowing I did what was right by God.”
The message of revelation tells us that there will come a time when every follower of the Messiah will be asked to make a stand, to take risk to keep their faith undefiled. I know that kind of idealism is easily preached and hard to live by. So I want to give you some reasons to take risk and to not defile your faith.
The reasons to not defile your faith ()
If there are such risks to keeping an undefiled faith, then we need to know why the risks are worth it all. Why not simply make the work of the faithful easy?
Bryan Chapell, The Gospel according to Daniel: A Christ-Centered Approach (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2014), 19.
The first reason is because defilement distracts from building a life of eternal value ()
The
Wake up, and strengthen what remains that was about to die. For I have not found your deeds complete in the sight of My God.
Behind this statement stands the unfinished temple of Artemis at Sardis. The people of that city had started to build this temple but then they got distracted by the cares of life and worries of the world and they just stopped construction.
Yeshua says that the temple of your life is not complete. The bricks are still being laid. Sure the work may be hard and costly but an undefiled faith builds a life of eternal value and not just temporal value.
If you don’t think that way - undefiled faith is building a life of eternal value - whatever pressure you are currently facing will cause you to quit construction. You will give up and give in for what is expedient and what is easy. It’s time like this we need to remember the courage of Nehemiah to build a wall holding a shovel in one hand and a sword in the other. And what was Nehemiah’s reward, he became reformer of Israel’s faith but more importantly he showed us that taking risks for an undefiled faith builds more than rock and stone but a life of eternal value.
The second reason is defilement deteriorates the power of our Witness ()
So remember what you have received and heard—keep it, and repent. If you will not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come upon you.
These three words “Received” and “heard” and “keep” are the watch words of faith. All through out the Scriptures God people have always been told one simple message.
The simple message is that our faithfulness to the Gospel serves as a witness to those near us. By standing up for our convictions for risking whatever it takes to have an undefiled faith we are demonstrating our confidence, trust and belief in the Lord. But more than that, we are demonstrating that this world and all it has to offer is not comparable to all that Messiah has already done and promises to do for us in the future.
When we defile our faith deteriorates the power of our witness. I think about Daniel who kept himself from the king’s food, kept himself undefiled because of his faith. Sure there were people who accused him of being a fundamentalist, not accommodating, unwilling to change, not progressive enough but because he did not defile his faith, his faith became a witness for the faith of his fathers. A faith that other jewish people were abandoning, a faith that the Babylonians were laughing at.
By standing up for his faith rather than defiling it, he declared to the world that our God is more precious than anything this world has to offer.
The third reason is because defilement distances God’s people from His protection ()
So remember what you have received and heard—keep it, and repent. If you will not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come upon you.
There are many things to fear in this life but the thing to fear the most is when Yeshua says he will come like a thief against you.
The thief imagery has a long theological history with Yeshua and usually it is associated with his invisible return and the need to remain vigilant and undefiled in our faith - - the thief, the wicked servant, the ten virgins, the talents, all center on vigilance and whether or not one is protected or unprotected when Messiah shows up to hold people accountable.
The image recalls how Cyrus took the city by surprise and toppled it, or how Antiochus the Great did the same thing because of of its lack of vigilance.
There is ambiguity about what this means? Will he come and take what is most precious from you or will he come and take you home? At a maximum it means there are terrible consequences for defiling your faith. Just like Israel became defiled through idolatry and sin and faced deportation and exile. At a minimum, defilement of your faith only leads to further harm.
Illustrate: The Rock Climber Code on the Wall
Apply: One reason the careless defilement of faith cannot be permitted is that it only leads to further harm. Defilement distances God’s people from his protections and in a very real real sense puts us at odds with Him. If we do not stand by our convictions today, how can we expect his blessing on us tomorrow. The pleasure of sin, the ease of life, the things of this world only have a temporary value
One reason the careless defilement of holy commitments cannot be permitted is that it only leads to further harm. Defilement distances God’s people from his protections. If we do not practice holiness today, his standards do not protect us tomorrow
Bryan Chapell, The Gospel according to Daniel: A Christ-Centered Approach (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2014), 21.The pleasure of sin, the ease of life, the things of this world only have a temporary value
By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. Instead he chose to suffer mistreatment along with the people of God, rather than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin.
Instead he chose to suffer mistreatment along with the people of God, rather than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin.
The Prosperity says - no matter what, God will bless me.
The Legalistic says - I will do better next time.
To both groups I would say “no, he will not” and “no, you will not.”
The Gospel of the Messiah - I am accepted by God at the infinite cost of the one who holds the seven stars and possesses the fulness of God’s Spirit, therefore I am called to keep my faith undefiled.
The folks at Sardis and maybe many of us forget the very essence the heart of the Gospel that Yeshua is telling them, “It is almost dead.” Do you remember that heart of the Gospel, remember how you would have done anything not to try to earn God’s acceptance but because you already knew you had God’s acceptance in the Messiah. Do you remember how you wanted to keep you faith unstained, the same way you want your car after a good car wash to not get dirty right away so you avoid all those puddles, muddy roads, etc. But here is the thing, you can’t keep your care forever undefiled all you can do is go back constantly to get it re-cleaned, the only way to stay undefiled is to constantly go back to the one who alone can cleanse you, Yeshua.
Whether our present trials are personal, private, moral, financial, ministerial, or familial, if we are not preparing for tomorrows battles by being refreshed in His grace today, we will become just the next group of believers who are believers in name only either tilting towards sloppy agape or legalism.
My fundamental problem with the prosperity gospel and legalism is that they both suffer from the same problem, they put off being undefiled until a later time. Later is too late, the time is now.
The reward of contending for your faith.
The risk of contending for your faith and the thought of being removed from God’s divine protection would seem arbitrary and capricious if Yeshua did not say what he says next. At all times, the Bible’s call to an undefiled faith reflects our God’s desire for us not to walk away from the goodness he wants to provide in our lives—goodness that accompanies faithfulness. There are rewards for and undefiled faith that we need to understand. The first is his acceptance.
Bryan Chapell, The Gospel according to Daniel: A Christ-Centered Approach (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2014), 22.
“But still, you have a few people in Sardis who have not stained their clothes. They will walk with Me in white, because they are worthy.
Acceptance as a Friend
The second is his transformation.
The one who overcomes thus will be dressed in white clothes; I will never blot his name out of the Book of Life, and will confess his name before My Father and His angels.
The one who overcomes thus will be dressed in white clothes; I will never blot his name out of the Book of Life, and will confess his name before My Father and His angels.
Transformation into Glory
The last is his unmerited accolades.
The one who overcomes thus will be dressed in white clothes; I will never blot his name out of the Book of Life, and will confess his name before My Father and His angels.
The one who overcomes thus will be dressed in white clothes; I will never blot his name out of the Book of Life, and will confess his name before My Father and His angels.
rev 3
Unmerited Accolades.
What Yeshua promises us here is amazing. He is drawing from three unique images to convey the reward of an undefiled faith. Did you notice the three images. They are powerful, look at them again.
“But still, you have a few people in Sardis who have not stained their clothes. They will walk with Me in white, because they are worthy. The one who overcomes thus will be dressed in white clothes; I will never blot his name out of the Book of Life, and will confess his name before My Father and His angels.
The first image is of Enoch who by faith walked with God. Remember the writer of Hebrews said, “he walked with God, did not taste death, he was commended as pleasing to God” () but Yeshua merges the image of Enoch with one of his own teachings about a prodigal son who after realizing how defiled he became said in his heart, “I will return to my father and say, “I have sinned against heaven and in your presence. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.” And then the Father robes Him. But Yeshua merges a third image its the image of the judgment of the sheep and the goats where he confesses those who are really His and those are not and what is the difference between the two? Those who belong to him have the evidence of a relationship with Him by how they treat other people and have kept their faith undefiled.
There are no pie in the sky promises here, just the promise of a faith that is undefiled, a faith that is deeper than a name, a faith that is rooted in His grace. There is just the promise that if you have been faithless or if your faith is undefiled you can be a “prodigal Enoch” today.
I have heard many scholars say that this letter to Sardis contains one of the most severe threats ever. What I hear is an offer of grace, I hear the true Elder Brother Yeshua saying, “Come out of the world, come out of the compromise, come to the Father’s House and walk with me again.” I hear an offer of unimaginable grace.
Conclusion
d
When I was going to Bible College at Moody, I worked part of the day, went to school part of the day, volunteered at my local congregation and led a missional chavurah out of our apartment. At my work, at Lifeway bookstore, I loved talking to customers and I will never forget one story I heard that taught me much about the nature and foundation of an undefiled faith.
There was once a l-train worker who, though a stalwart believer, was injured working at one of the l-train stations. His injuries left him an invalid. Over the years he watched through a window beside his bed as life passed him by. He watched men of his own age prosper, raise families, and have grandchildren. He watched, but he did not share the rewards or the joys of others with whom he had once worked. He watched as his body withered, his little house on the south side crumbled, was often broken into, over-run at times by rats and bugs, and his life wasted away.
Then one day when he was quite old a university student heard about his story and wanted to interview him, he started by asking the obvious question, “I hear that you tell people your faith in God and his love for you as sustained you all these years,” said the young man. “How can you believe such things with what has happened to you? Don’t you sometimes doubt God’s love?”
The old man hesitated and then smiled. He said, “Yes, it is true. Sometimes Satan comes calling on me in this fallen down old house of mine. He sits right there by my bed where you are sitting now. He points out my window to the men I once worked with who are still strong and active, and Satan asks, ‘Does Jesus love you?’ Then Satan casts a jeering glance around my tattered room as he points to the fine homes of my friends across the street and asks again, ‘Does Jesus love you?’ And then at last Satan points to the grandchild of a friend of mine—a man who has everything I do not—and Satan waits for the tear in my eye and then he whispers in my ear, ‘Does Jesus really love you?’ ”
“And so what do you do in response?” asked the student?
Said the old man, “I take Satan by the hand and, in my mind, I lead him to a hill called Calvary. There I point to the thorn-tortured brow, to the nail-pierced hands and feet, and to the spear-wounded side. Then I ask Satan, ‘Doesn’t Jesus love me?’ ”
The cross is the place where undefiled faith finds its true power. Had any of us stood at the foot of the cross and seen the horror, we would have cried out to God to stop the suffering. But God knew better. He did not stop the cruelty until the life of the One who hung there had bled away. The agony did not mean that God failed nor that the faith of the One who died was weak. There was great suffering, but in the suffering was a purpose so loving, so powerful, and so good that our eternity changed as a result—our sins were washed away and we can be clothed in white and walk with him and be called “worthy.”
When our focus remains on the cross, our faith may be challenged but it can remain undefiled. Such a faith does not depend on earning God’s favor, it does not rely on emotional intensity, it does not rely on a hollow name it and claim it, or on a certainty that every story has to have a happy ending.
Bryan Chapell, The Gospel according to Daniel: A Christ-Centered Approach (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2014), 70.
True undefiled faith trusts that God knows and is doing what is right, because of one simple reasons alone: He gave us the one who holds the seven stars and has fullness of Spirit, Yeshua.