Wake Up ☀️, Strengthen 💪, and Walk in White🚶 | Revelation 3:1-6  📖

Welcome to Ontario Community Church, where we are encouraging, equipping, and engaging lives for Christ.

I'm Pastor Patrick Daly, and today you'll be hearing week 8 of our sermon series through the Book of Revelation.

We've been on quite a journey through these seven churches.

We started with the church in Ephesus, the church that lost its first love.

Then we went to Smyrna, a church that was faithful despite persecution.

Pergamum dealt with infiltration and compromise.

And this last week, we were in Thyatira, looking at the danger of tolerating false teaching while still growing in love.

Today, we arrive at the fifth church, Sardis.

And this one hits different.

Sardis had something that looks and appears wonderful on the surface.

In fact, this church had a reputation for being alive.

People looked at this church and they probably thought, wow, they're really thriving.

But the words of Christ are shocking.

You have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead.

Think about that for a moment.

A church can look successful, be active, and vibrant on the outside while being spiritually lifeless on the inside.

That's a sobering reality.

And it's one that every church, including our own, needs to hear and to be mindful of.

Here's what makes this letter so powerful.

Christ doesn't just diagnose the problem.

He doesn't just say, you're dead and walk away from the church.

No.

In fact, he introduces himself as the one who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars.

In other words, he's saying, I have exactly what you need.

I love you.

And I hold the fullness of the Holy Spirit.

That is the heart of the message.

It's not condemnation for the sake of condemnation.

It is a wake-up call from Jesus Christ, our loving Savior, who wants to breathe new life back into this church.

Christ is providing a clear path forward, a way back from spiritual death to genuine, spirit-filled life.

And this sermon will challenge you to ask some honest questions.

Am I just going through the motions?

Or am I truly alive in Christ?

Are my good works flowing from the Holy Spirit?

Or am I operating on my own strength?

And most importantly, what does it mean to wake up spiritually?

If you've ever felt like your faith has become routine, or if you've noticed that the passion and joy you once had seems distant,

or if you're just simply ready for a fresh movement of the Holy Spirit in your own life, then this message is for you.

One more thing before we dive in.

As you listen, pay attention to the connection between Revelation and the Old Testament prophet Isaiah.

There is this beautiful thread, this connection, that ties together Christ's identity in Revelation with the ancient prophecy about the Messiah.

It's going to open up Scripture in a whole new and life-giving way.

Let's listen together to today's message.

Wake up, strengthen, and walk in white.

Well, good morning, everyone.

I didn't hear you very well.

All right.

Well, it's great to hear you.

I was like, it's a little bit quiet this morning.

That's all right.

You guys are waking up.

And we just had that interactive reading where it was talking about being awake.

So not only is it talking about being alert, but we also got to have a little fun here where we're talking about,

let's literally be awake here at this time.

Let's turn our Bibles to Revelation chapter 3 here.

Revelation 3 · chapter mention

We're continuing our sermon series through the book of Revelation.

As we have been going through the seven churches in Revelation,

it's important for us to know that these are not only historical churches,

but they are situations for us to learn from,

that we can see specific situations these churches went through,

and we have to be mindful of them.

We have to be alert in this specific context.

We find that when Christ is speaking to these seven churches,

he is establishing his authority.

He also establishes his comfort.

I mean, when we went through the church in Ephesus that lost its first love,

the church in Smyrna, right?

The church that was essentially the suffering church.

Then we had infiltration.

This last week, we went over Thyatira, where we talked about...

Excuse me.

Yeah, we went over Thyatira, and now we're in Sardis.

It's very interesting to see how the Word of God,

it speaks to us.

There's so much connections.

There's context that we have to consider,

as well as the culture at hand.

So we're going to go ahead and read from Revelation 3, verses 1 through 6.

Revelation 3:1–6

Are we all there, church?

Yes, all right.

So we're going to go ahead and read together.

To the church in Sardis, let's read.

And to the angel of the church in Sardis, write,

the words of him who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars.

That's very important, church.

I know your works.

You have the reputation of being alive, but you are what?

You are dead.

Wake up and strengthen what remains and is about to die,

for I have not found your works complete in the sight of my God.

Remember, then, what you received and heard.

Keep it and what?

Depends.

If you will not wake up, I will come like a thief,

and you will not know what hour I will come against you.

Yet you have still a few names in Sardis,

people who have not soiled their garments,

and they will walk with me in white, for they are worthy.

The one who conquers will be clothed thus in white garments,

and I will never blot his name out of what?

The book of life.

I will confess his name before my father and before his angels.

He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

Wow.

Six verses here.

We already have a lot of depth that's going on.

So, we begin off where Christ is introducing himself,

like he introduces himself to all of these churches here.

But it's interesting, we see right away,

the one who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars.

Well, when we've looked previously, the seven stars is representing the,

you have the messengers, right?

You have the churches talking about the completedness, right?

That Christ has the authority, right?

We know that seven is a representation of completedness.

What about seven spirits, though?

You read that, you're thinking, well, what in the world are these seven spirits?

What is going on here?

Because we know that as Christians, we have the triune God,

the Father, Son, and the Spirit.

What about these seven here?

These seven spirits here?

It's talking about the completedness of the Holy Spirit.

And I actually want to go ahead and go to, there's a scripture in there, Mateo.

It's from Isaiah in here.

And I want to show you this from the get-go,

because this is something that is very amazing here.

It's a connection with Isaiah chapter 12, verses 1 through 2.

Isaiah 12:1–2

Some of you may know this verse right off the bat, right?

There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse and a branch.

You guys remember this one, right?

When we're talking about the Christmas season, the Advent season, right?

It's talking about how Christ is going to come from, right?

The bloodline that's happening.

What about that next verse there?

The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, right?

It's talking about how Christ is going to have the Holy Spirit,

the fullness of the seven spirits.

In other words, we have lots of qualities of ourselves, right?

We're not just angry.

We're not just sad.

We're not just happy individuals.

There's a lot that's to us personally.

In the same way, when it comes to the Holy Spirit,

there's lots of attributes, lots of descriptions of the Holy Spirit.

And we see that this connection in Revelation is what is connected in Isaiah.

The Spirit of the Lord, right?

So there's one.

Wisdom, understanding, counsel, might, knowledge, and the fear of the Lord.

These are all describing the completedness of the Holy Spirit.

Let me repeat that again.

It's not seven spirits.

It's seven attributes, seven descriptions that are talking about the fullness of the Holy Spirit.

Can I get an amen?

Do you understand?

Again, this is showing the different attributes, the descriptions of the Holy Spirit.

And it's beautiful language when you see that Christ is talking to this church in Sardis.

Because Christ is providing this church that is seemingly dead, seemingly dying,

and is going to provide the Holy Spirit as the helper, as the comforter.

We see that these seven words, right?

The Spirit of the Lord, right?

It's talking about the presence of the Lord, the presence of the Holy Spirit, right?

When we think about our Lord and our God, the triune God,

how important it is for the Lord, the Holy Spirit, to be here in this place,

much like any other church.

That's so important.

The other one, the Spirit of wisdom, seeing things from God's perspective, right?

And God's perspective is beyond our understanding, right?

Sometimes we get insight from the Lord, the wisdom of God.

That is beyond us.

And it's like, wow, what amazing insight, right?

We have the spirit of understanding, right?

Which is comprehending the deeper things of God.

In doing the research on this, in reading of Revelation chapter 3,

Revelation 3 · chapter mention

when we're talking about these different numbers and symbols and whatnot,

it can be very confusing.

And it's important for us to come to the Lord and ask that we can have that spirit of understanding,

to understand the word of God and how it is connected within each other.

We have the spirit of counsel, right?

That's also important, to be guided in the direction and the will of God.

The spirit of might, the power and the courage to follow God's direction, right?

We need to boldly go out and follow in the footsteps of Christ.

The spirit of knowledge, right?

Where the Lord, the Holy Spirit knows our hearts and our intentions.

And he shows us how we can respond to a closer encounter and deeper relationship with him.

And then, of course, the fear of the Lord, right?

You see that in the Old Testament very often,

which is talking about the awe and the wonder of our Lord and our God.

So these are the seven spirits here.

Let's go to the observation, the what is happening here, right?

So going back to the text, right?

Christ is establishing himself as the authority,

but also he's providing the Holy Spirit to this church that is dying.

This church that is seemingly dead.

That is an amazing thing.

We can think even of how in Scripture,

how many of you remember in Scripture how Christ will seek after the lost sheep, right?

Many of us, we see that as an individual person.

And here we're seeing a situation where Christ is providing help and aid for a church.

And that's a beautiful thing that God provides what we need if we are a dying church.

May that never be.

May we be a alive church, an alert church.

And may we be having the fullness of the spirit in this church.

But just to know how wonderful that is,

that Jesus Christ provides the Holy Spirit into churches that are dying,

especially like what's happening here.

So Christ is speaking to the church in Sardis.

So the church then is known for, and we're going into verse 1 and 2, right?

I know your works.

I know the things that you do.

You have a reputation for being alive.

Well, that's good to be known, right?

To be known as an alive church, right?

We think of churches that are thriving,

and there's so many wonderful things that are happening.

But wait a minute.

What's it say?

You have a reputation for being alive, but you are dead?

Well, the important thing about this is that appearances are not everything, right?

We may see, you may know someone,

that it looks like everything is going well on the outside,

but on the inside something is going very differently.

Well, when we think of individual people,

we have to think of this church where it appears everything is going good on the outside.

But what is happening on the inside, right?

So we have that that's going on.

Verse 2 then.

Wake up and strengthen what remains.

To wake up.

Not only is it speaking of an awakening, but it is to be alert.

Pay attention.

To keep watch.

Right?

To wake up and to strengthen, right?

Is to make firm, to solidify.

In other words, this church needs to pay attention and see,

to allow for the Holy Spirit to work in and through it.

Right?

There's a lot of good things that churches can do.

Even nowadays, we have got to have the leading and the guiding of the Holy Spirit.

That's very powerful and it's an important reminder for us.

We think about these things.

Wake up and strengthen what remains and it is about to die.

That's some harsh language.

Let's be honest here.

But yet, Christ is providing a way, right?

So Christ is commanding to wake up and strengthen their works.

It says in the text here,

I have not found your works complete in the sight of my God.

So their works are incomplete before God because they're missing the spiritual aspect for the good things that they're doing.

That's important.

To be led by the triune God.

To be led by the Holy Spirit to do good works.

Let the Spirit flow through you.

That's important for us.

And so it goes on then.

And then we see here, Christ is actually providing a path here.

If we look back at verse 3, the first word it says there is to remember.

Remember then what you have received and heard.

So how do you become more alert?

How do you have an awakening as it were?

Remember what you have received and heard.

Hearing the word of God, the gospel message.

To be reminded of these things.

How many of you have seen that movie?

It's been around for many years.

If you haven't seen it, your homework is to go home and watch The Lion King.

How many of you guys have seen that?

You all should be raising your hand, especially you guys online.

You've seen The Lion King.

And you see that scene where Simba's dad is coming out and he's saying,

Remember who you are.

And it's such a powerful scene where it's like, man, you've got the music going on.

And it's this call to remember who he is because he kind of ran off, right?

He ran away.

Now he finds his friends with lots of songs and singing and dancing and growing up for sure.

But that scene, that call to remember who he is.

We can see that as an echo, kind of as an example of what we're seeing, what Christ is saying for this church.

To remember the gospel message.

Remember the main thing.

The death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ is the thing that we should not forget.

And unfortunately, very unfortunate, that is what they were forgetting.

The basic things.

The fundamental things.

The things that matter the most.

Is that this church is to believe in the gospel message.

Sardis.

We also think of us today.

We are to not forget that gospel message, right?

To remember then what you've received, right?

We receive salvation from Jesus Christ.

And what we have heard.

The message of Jesus Christ.

Amen.

Does that make sense?

Right?

So the next thing then is to keep it.

Right?

It's just like how we've talked about so much in scripture is to let the light shine, right?

We're going to let the light of Christ shine.

We're going to hold dear to our salvation.

We're going to hold dear into what we have been taught.

So that we don't forget who we are in Christ.

That we are a new creation.

That God is setting us on this path to become more like him.

We're talking not only about spiritual transformation, but life transformation.

That happens here on the earth, but God continues to mold us every single day to be more like him.

And I don't know about you.

That is such an important and incredible thing that happens from the Lord.

That we go through this sense of transformation.

And so in here, keep it, right?

To remember, to keep, and to repent.

Now that's kind of an interesting one.

Why is that showing up there?

We have to remember the word, the importance of the word repentance.

Metanoia, metanoeo, is to change your mind.

Before you become a Christian, your mind is to be changed about who Jesus Christ is.

That he is more than just a cool teacher with long hair.

That he's not just a guru that is walking around the Middle East with sandals.

That he's Savior.

That he's Lord.

That he is the way, the truth, and the life.

Talk about a changing of your mind.

That is when we receive salvation, but it doesn't stop there.

We continue to repent.

Our minds, our hearts are to continue to be changed.

They are to continue to be transformed as we are being more molded.

And that's so important, right?

So remember who you are.

Remember what you have received.

Hold fast to it.

Remain in Christ.

And to continue to repent in here.

That's so important for us.

And then finally, in here there's a...

I don't have that on the slide here.

If you will not wake up, I will come like a thief.

You've probably heard that in Rihanna songs, but it's actually from scripture, right?

Like a thief in the night.

I know that's a lyric that pops up every so often in pop culture, but it's a biblical one.

So you know what?

Hey, we're going to take it, right?

It's so important.

Coming like a thief.

That it's important for us to know that Christ will come at an hour that we do not know.

And that's important for us.

Especially when we're looking at the end times.

When we're looking at Revelation, you see all of these news articles and these blog posts and these social media influencers who are saying,

the end of the world is going to happen on August 15th, 2027.

What?

No.

Right?

One of my favorite...

And maybe one day I'll show you the book.

There's a book that I was shown a couple years ago where it says,

88 Reasons Why Christ Will Come Back in 1988.

And I imagine the sale for that book was really through the roof in 1987.

I don't know about what happened in 1988.

If you have a copy of the book, I'd like to have it.

You know, I'd like to actually read what these 88 Reasons are.

And you know, the heart is there, right?

To be alert.

To be prepared.

For the return of Christ.

For the end of the world.

That's something that we should prepare for.

But the important thing is we don't know the time and the hour.

And we find that so much in Scripture.

No one knows the time.

We can't predict it.

But we still have to live in preparation and anticipation for Christ's return.

And so in this, he's saying, hey, look, if you will not wake up, if you won't pay attention,

if you won't let the Spirit of God enter into this church, I will come like a thief.

That's speaking of this Son of Man coming at an unknown hour.

We have then the promise.

The white garments and the book of life.

Where it says in verse 4,

Yet you still have a few names in Sardis, people who have not soiled their garments.

And they will walk with me in white, for they are worthy.

That's kind of interesting.

You get this kind of image of wearing white robes, right?

You think of like in the 1990s when all of the boy bands were singing and dancing and they were wearing all white, right?

Or you can think of gospel singers or whatever it may be.

You don't want to have, you know, a red wine stain or a grease stain on that, right?

And so this kind of image that we're thinking about is, it's a very real image.

They're not staining their clothes, so to speak.

They are walking in white.

They are walking with the Lord.

And that kind of imagery we see throughout Scripture, right?

The notion of filthy rags, right?

Or dirty clothing.

And how Christ makes that article of clothing white again.

Now, I don't know about you.

You guys are doing laundry.

Don't you hate when you have a stain?

I have a shirt.

It used to be one of my favorite shirts.

I could not for the life of me get that stain out.

I had to get rid of that shirt.

And it's the worst thing, right?

When we're living every day and you're like, man, I don't know who or where, who put that pen in there?

It had to have been my kids or it could have been silly me, right?

Or I don't know how my clothes look like that when I'm washing it.

But we think of this imagery, though, of dirty clothes, as it were, and being clean once again.

That imagery of white.

And so in this, being clothed in white and the name not being blotted from the book, that's such a powerful imagery, right?

You think when you go to a wedding, right?

You're going to a wedding feast, as it were.

I mean, I hope you write your name in the book, right?

Someone who's visiting and celebrating.

To have your name written in the book is something of great significance.

We think of that in our own everyday culture, but we also have to think of the importance of having our name written in the book of life and that it won't be blotted out.

What powerful and beautiful language.

And then further in there, where Christ will confess his name before the Father and angels.

Now that's pretty powerful stuff, right?

Can you think about that?

An imagery where Christ is saying, this person is dressed in white.

Their name is written in the book of life.

Let's celebrate that together.

What an amazing cause for celebration.

We have to think of that kind of imagery.

And how important it is for us to allow for the Holy Spirit to work in and through us, right?

So what do we do with this?

Let's go to the interpretation slide.

The lessons that we can learn, right?

Is doing good works.

It's good to do good things.

But we need to be led by the Spirit, right?

The leading and guiding of the Holy Spirit in doing good in the name of Christ.

Just asking the Holy Spirit to be with us as we minister to people.

As we speak to people.

As we live our lives in honoring and glorifying the Lord.

We have got to have the Spirit.

So Sardis looked alive, but they lacked the movement of the Spirit of God.

And the same way, I pray that for our church and for really every church to be led by the Spirit when we do good.

And it's important for us to know that Christ acknowledges the outward and the inward appearance.

Right?

God knows our heart.

How is your heart?

How is it towards the Lord?

A lot of us, you know, for some of us, you may have been raised in dressing in your Sunday best, right?

The appearance has got to look good, right?

You're going to have the sense of reverence before the Lord, and that's a good thing.

But you also have to equally ask yourself, how is your heart before the Lord?

How is your inward state before Christ?

That's an important thing.

May we as a church and as individuals be alert.

And may there be a spiritual awakening, a leading and guiding of the Holy Spirit.

And may we be strengthened in that.

Building upon the foundation that exists in Christ.

So, ask yourself the question then, have I been doing good without the Spirit?

Only you can answer that, but something to think about.

The second thing then is awakening requires us to what, church?

Remember, keep, and repent, right?

Remember what you have received, the gospel, right?

Keep what you have in your heart, trust and follow in the Lord.

And to repent is to continue to be transformed and to continue to change your mind as you journey in faith.

I want to show you, there's a, our next slide here is from Psalm 119, verses 55 through 60.

Psalms 119:55–60

And this is actually, this is very interesting.

We see in here, the psalmist is showing this pattern here.

I remember your name in the night, O Lord, and keep your law.

This blessing is falling to me that I have kept your precepts.

The Lord is my portion.

I promise to keep your words, right?

Verse 58, I entreat your favor with all my heart.

Be gracious to me according to your promise.

And when I think on my ways, right?

Remember, metanoia, the changing of mind.

When I think on my ways, I turn my feet to your testimonies.

So not only is it the changing of mind, but it is the action that is upon the changing, right?

Many of us, we might have heard repentance as you've got to turn.

I've heard some people use the language of it's got to be a spiritual U-turn, right?

Well, this, we see both of them happening.

The changing of the mind and the turning of your feet.

So this language, what we see in this psalm is this happening in Scripture in the Old Testament.

I just thought that was very interesting in there.

And so going back to the interpretation, right?

Let us, if we are spiritually dead or dying, but yet we're still doing good things,

may we remember the gospel.

May we remember who we are in Christ.

May we keep what we have in our heart and not forget it.

You know, sometimes when you see someone that you know is a Christian,

but yet they're so bitter and angry.

They have this sense of like, what happened to you?

Maybe if you have been in that situation or you know someone,

maybe it's a call for them to remember who they are.

Because I can tell you, when someone becomes a Christian,

a brand new believer in Christ,

the excitement, the enthusiasm,

the simplicity,

when they say things like,

I know that Jesus saved me.

I know that Jesus loves me.

It's just simple.

But yet there's such enthusiasm and such love and dedication toward the Lord.

May we never go and forget that.

How much the Lord loves us.

And I think very often we do have that tendency to forget.

Because we get bombarded by the culture in which we live in.

We get bombarded by the news media and experiences

and sin that happens in the world.

But how important it is for us to remember

the greatest love

in this earth and beyond

is the love that Christ has for you.

May we never forget that.

May we never forget the salvation that Christ has for us.

And let us keep it in our heart.

May we trust and follow.

May we continue to change our mind.

May God comfort us.

May God be there with us.

Because it takes a lot for us to realize

God will never fail us.

Even though people do.

That leads us to the third one

where it says that overcomers

are clothed,

written,

and confessed with Christ.

Can we go back to that slide?

real quick. There we go. Clothed, written, and confessed with Christ. Christ's honor,

Christ honors those who remain faithful to him. They will be clothed in white.

We think of that language. We think of the victory in Christ, the celebration

and being with him, but also the sense of purity. What beautiful language, right?

Okay, that's the clothing. The other one is names being written securely in the book of life

and being confessed with Christ. Again, I can't help but think about what that would be like

to have Christ himself confess your name in front of the angels and before the father.

This public acknowledgement, as it were, that's a crazy thought for sure.

But we also have these promises, these clean garments. I want to show you this next slide here.

It's from Zechariah.

And this is interesting because this is showing very similarly what we're going over.

Joshua was standing before the angel. What was he clothed with?

Filthy garments, right? The angel said to those who were standing before him,

remove the filthy garments from him. And he said to him, behold, this is important.

I have taken your iniquity away from you and I will clothe you with pure vestments.

Isn't that interesting?

And I said, let him put on a clean turban on his head. So they put on a clean turban on his head

and clothed him with garments. The sense of purity, the sense of cleanliness, as it were.

Let us not forget when we think of garments that are filthy, it's a representation of sin.

And to be clothed in white is the iniquity being removed.

What a beautiful language we can think of.

That God cleans us, as it were.

And so, in this,

how do we live this out?

This goes to our application then.

How should we then live?

Well, the first thing and foremost, I always preach and teach here.

The most important thing that you can do is to believe in the Lord.

Believe in the Lord and be saved.

Believe in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

And to be born again in the Spirit.

When you think of the Gospel of John,

you have the scene of Nicodemus where he's asking,

how can someone be born again?

Right?

And Christ answers by saying,

you're going to be born of flesh and of spirit.

So that's why you put,

that's why I put,

believe in the Lord and be born again in the Spirit.

Right?

That's so important for us.

Let the seven-fold Spirit guide you.

That's leading us to the second one.

Right?

To grow in Christ and to be led.

When we talked about,

can we go back to that Isaiah thing?

Isaiah verse?

We look at these languages,

these words describing the seven-fold,

right?

The descriptions,

the attributes of the Holy Spirit.

This should help us not only grow in understanding the Word of God,

but understanding how the Spirit will comfort us,

be there with us as a helper.

Right?

The Spirit of the Lord is God's presence,

right?

As I was mentioning,

wisdom,

God's perspective,

these are different things that help us in our growth journey.

May you consider

how the Spirit of God is going to help you

grow in your faith to become more like Christ.

It really is beautiful.

I mean,

you can,

we can just leave this up here,

right?

And think about these things.

Encountering God deeply,

being guided in God's will,

understanding the deeper things of God.

all of these things.

And how would we understand it

if we didn't look towards Isaiah?

We would just say,

okay,

it's the seven spirits,

and then move on.

But there's so much more depth in that.

And so,

these are the qualities that Sardis lacks,

and these are the qualities that Christ brings to churches,

but also brings to us as individuals.

And we praise God for that.

Can we get an amen on that?

I mean,

how powerful is that?

And so,

ask yourself,

how can the sevenfold Spirit lead me to grow in Christ?

Right?

Believe in the Lord,

grow in Him.

Let's go back to that application slide then.

And finally,

as I've always mentioned,

do good in the name of Christ.

I've said that so many times here.

But may you be led by the Spirit in doing so.

Because sometimes,

sometimes as you're doing good,

the Spirit of God is going to have you talk to a specific person,

saying a specific thing.

Right?

Or,

sometimes,

someone will come to you

out of the blue.

I remember when,

many years ago,

when Amber and I,

when we were in California,

we had made many friends at this church.

It doesn't exist anymore.

It was called Temple Baptist Church of Fullerton.

And unfortunately,

the church did die.

It's no longer,

and a very tragic thing that had happened.

One of the members,

if I call her out,

she'll probably,

she'll,

knowing her,

she'll probably watch this.

She knows who she is.

Came

here

when I first started preaching.

very,

not a lot of communication,

but knew enough to

feel moved by the Spirit

to get in a car

and come all the way over here

to see when I first started preaching here.

And it was

an incredible thing.

I'm like,

that was a movement of the Spirit,

especially when

she came up to me and said,

look at how God

continues to work

even though our church doesn't exist.

Now that hit me.

And that brought tears

to my eyes.

Because I remember

how difficult it was

with the death of a church.

But yet,

those friendships,

those relationships

continue even to this day.

We have to think,

being led by the Spirit.

As we

minister to people,

as we are ambassadors

for Christ,

as we

are present

with people

and we speak truth

and we

are dealing in love

with people

and all these different things,

let us ask the Spirit

to guide us

to say the right words

because sometimes

we don't have the right words

to say.

Sometimes we don't even know

what to say.

Trust in the Lord

to lead and guide you

in the process.

We are saved

so that we can do good

in the name of Christ.

These works

are not a replacement.

It is not an excuse

for us to ignore

the Spirit.

So let us

have that ear

open

to listen to God

and to

allow for the moving

of the Holy Spirit.

And I challenge

for you,

look for one person

or one opportunity

where you can display

the goodness of God

or perhaps

as we are talking

so much about

the Spirit of God,

maybe

the fruit

of the Spirit

because you shall know them

by their fruit.

Love,

joy,

peace,

just those three,

right?

We have

patience,

kindness,

goodness,

faithfulness,

gentleness.

These are things

on how

we can

love other people.

when we are,

because we live

in an everyday world,

everyday people.

Ask yourself

those kind of questions.

Who will experience

the goodness of Christ,

the leading of the Holy Spirit

through me?

I pray

that you can think of

or the Spirit

will lead you

to find

one person,

maybe this week,

that you can talk to

and you can

be present with

and share

in the light

of Christ

with others.

That is so

important for us.

We have to think

of all these things

and as we

consider

this church

in Sardis,

I pray

that we

may be alert,

that we may

be awake.

not just

alert

and prepared,

but that the Spirit

of God

will move

in and through

each and every

one of your lives,

but also

through this church.

May you

experience

God,

have a close

encounter with Him,

be moved

by the Holy Spirit.

May there be

an awakening.

We talk

so much,

many churches

talk about revival

and renewal,

may it be done

so.

May the Spirit

of the Lord

lead and guide

us to

work

in the ministry

to bring people

to Christ,

to share

in the gospel

message with

others,

how important

that is

and certainly

our prayer

should be that

our church

will never be

like Sardis,

amen?

So important

for us to

keep that in

mind.

and so

let's pray

together.

Father God,

we thank you

for this time

and this opportunity

for us to gather

together as we're

going over Revelation

Revelation 3:1–6

chapter 3

verses 1 through 6.

what great

mystery,

what great

power and

might you

have

to know

that your

son,

he's in

control

and he

provides

the fullness,

the seven

fold spirit

to us.

It may be

hard for us

to understand,

but we just

ask,

Father,

in a simplistic

way,

that we

live in

love like

your son

Jesus Christ

and we

are led

by the

Holy Spirit.

May we

all have

that relationship

with you

first and

foremost.

May we

grow in

you.

May we

be moved

to do

good in

the name

of Christ

being led

by the

Spirit

to transform

culture,

our community,

our families.

May we

rely on

you for

this.

And may

we as

a church

be known

for our

love and

dedication

for you

and your

word and

do good

in your

name,

but may

we also

be known

as a

church

that is

led by

your

Spirit.

And I

pray,

Father,

if there's

any sort

of resistance,

we know

that when

we speak

so much

about the

working of

the Holy

Spirit,

it's hard

to understand.

I just

pray for

softened

hearts,

for changed

minds,

and for

this place

to be

alive.

We thank

you for

your word

and we

thank you

for this

wonderful

lesson,

this wonderful

truth that

we can learn

from the

church in

Sardis.

We thank

you so

much.

It is in

the name

of Jesus

Christ that

we pray and

we all say

together,

Amen,

church.

Amen.

Thank you

for tuning

in to

Ontario

Community

Church.

I hope

that this

message

stirred

something

in your

heart

today.

You know,

one of the

most challenging

things about

the letter

to Sardis

is that it

forces us

to look

beyond

appearances.

We live

in this

culture,

in this

world,

that values

image and

reputation

and even

outward

success.

But Christ

isn't

interested in

how things

look just

on the

surface.

In fact,

he is more

interested in

seeing where

your heart

is at.

Christ does

not leave

Sardis or

leave any

of us

without any

hope.

He offers

the fullness

of his

spirit,

the seven-fold

spirit of

God,

or in other

words,

what we

call the

Holy Spirit.

Christ gives

us a path

to remember

the gospel,

to hold

fast to it,

to keep it,

to remain

in it,

and to

continue to

repent or,

as I mentioned

in the sermon

today,

to be

transformed.

If this

message

resonated

with you,

would you

do me a

favor?

Share it

with someone

who might

need to

hear it.

Maybe you

know someone

who needs

to be

reminded of

the gospel

of Jesus

Christ.

Maybe there's

someone that

you can pray

for that

the Holy

Spirit will

fill their

life and

move them

to respond.

Here's my

challenge for

you this week

and it builds

upon what we

talked about

in the sermon

today.

Don't just

be active

in your faith.

Be alive

in the Spirit.

Ask the Holy

Spirit to

reveal areas

where you've

been operating

on your

own strength

rather than

relying on

Him and

His power.

Invite Christ

into those

areas.

Invite the

Holy Spirit

to fill

your life.

Let Him

lead.

Let Him

guide.

Let Him

work in

and through

you.

You can

visit us

at

OntarioCommunityChurch.org

for more

resources,

including our

sermon archive,

which has

Bible studies

and congregational

notes from

this message

and other

messages as well.

Everything is

available on

our website

for free.

This next week

we will be

looking at the

sixth church

in Revelation,

Philadelphia.

This is one

of only two

churches that

receives no

rebuke from

Christ, only

accommodation

and encouragement.

We'll explore

what it means to

have an open

door that no

one can shut,

to keep Christ's

word even when

you have little

strength, and to

be kept from

the hour of

trial.

It is a message

of hope and

endurance that I

think we all

need to hear

today.

May God bless

you.

do you

Thank you.