Light Shining through Darkness
Notes
Transcript
Today is Epiphany Sunday. I have begun to pray heavily for God’s vision to be made know for this church. I am asking you to join me in this. I believe that this year will be a turning point for our congregation. I feel a stirring going on. This stirring is neither good or bad. And I don’t think that we are meant to know for certain what will happen in the future. I know some of you will try to figure it out. I know some of you have your own ideas on the way things should be, so do I. But what if we are all wrong? Well, here we are in a new year. And I pray that we are walking through doors that only Jesus can open. I hope we walk through the door that leads us into His blessings and rewards.
Pray and Read Revelation 3:1-13
“And to the angel of the church in Sardis write: These are the words of him who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars: “I know your works; you have a name of being alive, but you are dead. Wake up, and strengthen what remains and is on the point of death, for I have not found your works perfect in the sight of my God. Remember then what you received and heard; obey it, and repent. If you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come to you. Yet you have still a few persons in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes; they will walk with me, dressed in white, for they are worthy. If you conquer, you will be clothed like them in white robes, and I will not blot your name out of the book of life; I will confess your name before my Father and before his angels. Let anyone who has an ear listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches. “And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: These are the words of the holy one, the true one, who has the key of David, who opens and no one will shut, who shuts and no one opens: “I know your works. Look, I have set before you an open door, which no one is able to shut. I know that you have but little power, and yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name. I will make those of the synagogue of Satan who say that they are Jews and are not, but are lying—I will make them come and bow down before your feet, and they will learn that I have loved you. Because you have kept my word of patient endurance, I will keep you from the hour of trial that is coming on the whole world to test the inhabitants of the earth. I am coming soon; hold fast to what you have, so that no one may seize your crown. If you conquer, I will make you a pillar in the temple of my God; you will never go out of it. I will write on you the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem that comes down from my God out of heaven, and my own new name. Let anyone who has an ear listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches.
The thing to know about Sardis is that they were greatly populated and wealthy urban city.
They had huge population
Their biggest building in the city was a temple to Artemis and it was huge! It was the eighth largest in the world at the time. It was roughly twice as big as the Parthenon in Athens, Greece.
Their civic center was a massive gymnasium used for sports, community events and education. It had the traditional open air theater and stadium for sporting events. There were many athletic fields and spacious courts, a swimming pool all done with beautiful architecture.
Their third biggest building was the Jewish Synagogue. This city was very open minded in terms of religion, philosophy and entertainment.
John writes to the church this prophecy, words from Jesus to the church stating that they seemed alive, but actually they were dead. The thing that interestingly proves this prophetic word true is that we know very little about the church themselves. We have no record of good deeds done, no list of martyrs who stood strong for their faith, no great story of people coming to know Christ and joining this congregation.
So, one could assume that these Christians just assimilated into their culture and way of life easily. They are told through the words of this prophecy to “Wake Up!” They are warned that they need to strength what remains of their ministry for they are at the point of death. Their works, are not pleasing to God. They have not perfectly followed God’s will. They needed to return to basics, remembering their beliefs and repent of their sins. If they don’t, they will be unpleasantly surprised at Christ’s return. It was noted that there were a few faithful remaining in the church.
The church of Philadelphia had a few kinder words spoken to them. As a matter of fact the church here was the house church of the bishops for the region. Great leaders and writers came from this area. Maybe you have heard of St. Ignatius who wrote a few classic Christian literature. Polycrap was a bishop in the area. Both he and Ignatius were disciples of the Apostle John who wrote this book of Revelation. Also, both of them were martyred.
To this church, great prophetic words are spoken. We an imagery of an open door. Now, don’t get this confused to the door that Jesus stands and knocks; that word is spoken to the next church in this chapter. They are told that Jesus stands at the door knocking, hoping that they will let Him in. The Open door that is mentioned in verse eight is to go out of and work in the power of God. If they keep God’s word, does His will and conquer evil, they are promised greatness in the New Jerusalem.
Yet, what is interesting is that these letters were not send individually to each of the churches. No, it is said, and we can read it for ourselves, that this whole book of Revelation of Jesus Christ was sent completely to each of these seven churches in all. They were able to read the words of prophecy not just for their church, but for other churches also. As it says in verse 6, and in verse 13, and after each of the letters; “Let anyone who has an ear listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches.”
So what was the Holy Spirit saying to the churches with these letters? Be strong in the Lord and conquer evil. Endure until the end, for Jesus is coming soon. Follow God, and God alone! Let your works show evidence in that which you believe. Open the door to Christ, your heart’s door and the door to the church. If you are on fire with the Spirit and righteous in all you say and do, great will be your reward in heaven. The message is specified for each church to hear, yet each tells the truth that every church needs to hear.
What kind of letter would be written about us today? We are a medium sized church in a medium sized town. There are a few faithful in ministry. Some of them are lukewarm. Some have grown cold, and a few are on fire. But we are not finished. We are not at the end just yet. That is the good news. The bad news is, we are dying. We are not dead yet. I believe that God has placed an open door for us. But are we ready to walk through? Some are still waiting for things to go back to normal. Some think that the inside looks fine, that everything is as it should be, but it is not. There are some who see the outside world in a new way and have new passions and dreams. Yet, they need someone maybe older, or maybe more knowledgeable to walk with them through the open door. Some, who are on the outside, honestly don’t see much good on the inside so there is no desire to enter. Some don’t see an open door. There are people on the inside who like their circle who are comfortable and honestly don’t want change. Some on the outside are too terrified or hurt to even think about looking through the open door.
When the doors to the church were opened the most, the church building was a community center. It was common to come through the doors multiple times a week. But times have changed and our culture isn’t center around the church any longer. There really shouldn’t be any fault laid with any one group or individual, because it is just the way it is today. So here is an interesting question to ponder?
What does it look like for the church to influence culture instead of it being the other way around?
What does our community need from the church? That is the open door! Jesus is at the door way, not us! Jesus guards the door. Through His eyes, we can see our world in need.
Do you dare go through the door into something new? Do you hear Jesus calling you into something new? What is God calling for this church? He knows our good works. But are we truly alive? Are we truly awakened?