Distracted to Death

This morning we're in Revelations chapter 3.

Revelation 3 · chapter mention

If you're taking notes, the title of my message this morning is Distracted to Death.

And we're going to be looking at this letter that was recorded for the church in the city of Sardis.

If you're like me, you probably have never heard of Sardis or know nothing about Sardis.

So I'm going to try to give us some historical context.

I have a photo here to begin.

The city of Sardis, up on the top of this rock cliff, you see the remains of the city.

That's what it is today.

And so the city of Sardis among the Greeks had a little bit different reality.

The city was known as the capital city of the Lydian Empire.

And among the Greeks, Sardis had this reputation, a wonderful renown of being the great or the wealthy, the impregnable city against which none could strive and prevail.

See, the city of Sardis, they in the ancient world were the first ones to figure out how to purify both gold and silver.

And so just like today, if you would have figured out how to purify gold, you'd probably be pretty well off.

You'd probably have some pretty nice buildings, a pretty nice town to live in.

And so they had this wonderful fortress.

This fortress actually sits atop a 1,500-foot rock cliff.

It basically sat up there.

There was only one way in and one way out of this city.

It was a beautiful, it was splendorous, and it was renowned in that time for its power, for its protection.

Actually, the fortress in many ancient Proverbs was known to be described as a fortress of many warlike kings.

Kings like King Gages, whose power was so great that legend credited him with the possession of the gold ring of supernatural power.

Sound familiar?

Any Lord of the Rings fans?

This is where J.R.

Tolkien got his idea and concept for the Lord of the Rings.

It's a complete lie.

But it it reminded me of that when I read that.

One of the great stories of the city of Sardis, it's recorded in many ancient books and manuscripts, is this great battle that took place.

It took place in 547 BC, so 547 years before Christ, the siege of Sardis.

It was this great battle.

So I already kind of talked about how this fortress sat up on this 1,500-foot cliff.

Well, Cyrus the Great, he's the king of the Persian Empire, had led his army, had led his army up to this fortress to overtake it for its wealth, for its riches, for its mining of both gold and silver, and he couldn't overtake the city.

Fourteen days they tried and they had no success.

It was so well protected, and there was only one way in, and literally all of this money and resources, they were able to protect themselves and keep off the entire Persian army.

Actually, the king uh in uh the Lydian Empire had called for the Spartans to come to their aid, and they didn't even end up coming.

But they were still able to thwart off the enemy.

And on the 14th day of this siege, on the 14th day of this attack, a soldier of the Lydian Empire in the city of Sardis had let his guard down.

He was on the backside of the fortress, on the back side of the rocks that you see here, and he took off his helmet.

And when he took off his helmet, he set it on the edge or the wall of their compound, of their fortress, and it fell off the cliff.

And so now he had a decision to make.

He made a giant error.

A soldier is to never take off their helmet while on duty, and he doubled down on his mistakes.

At night, he lit a torch, went over the edge of the wall, because there was one secret passageway up the back side of this mountain.

And he went down with a torch at night and retrieved his helmet.

No harm, no foul, he thought.

He came back, finished his watch, didn't tell anybody what had happened.

But the enemy was watching.

A scout for King Cyrus' army was watching this, and he went and reported to him what had happened.

And the next night, the entire Persian army came up the backside, destroyed that one guard, opened up the gate, and in one night the entire city of Sardis fell to ruins.

They were pillaged and destroyed.

Sadly, much like this great city and this story, we see that the church of Sardis had an eerily similar path to death and destruction.

Let me pray as we jump into God's word.

God, we thank you for this morning.

God, I pray that you would speak through the power of your spirit through me, that your gospel would be faithfully proclaimed, that distractions would be put aside, that we would be able to feel your presence, that we have communed with the risen and raising Lord and King, who is good and gracious, who seeks for our life.

We thank you.

We ask that you be with your people this morning.

Name we pray.

Amen.

So we begin, chapter 3, verses 1 through 2, and it reads, 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.

I know your works.

You have a reputation of being alive, but 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.

So this language, the words of him who has the seven spirits and the seven stars, if you remember back to our first week in this study, this is the words of Jesus given through John and Revelation, and he is writing to the churches.

So this is simply recounting that statement that this letter today to the church in Sardis is inspired by Jesus Himself.

And he says, I know your works.

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

See, the church in Sardis was so busy.

It was so caught up in external circumstances, their work, their image, their reputation, self-indulgence, self-pleasure, self-preservation, that they failed to recognize that they were dead.

What a message for us this morning, a church in 2020.

It is so easy to become distracted today.

It is so easy to become distracted.

So this church had this outward appearance of life, but an inward reality of death.

Notice this is the only address to any of the seven churches that are in Revelation where there's not that sandwich critique.

There's not, hey, here's some things that you're doing well, but uh here's something that you need to correct.

Jesus kind of gets straight to it.

He says, I know of your reputation of works, but I tell you you're dead.

And why is that?

Well, unlike the other six churches that are addressed in Revelation, the church of Sardis was not named to be worshiping pagan gods or idols.

Still to this day, there was no found ruins of any temples to any Greek or Roman gods.

So in doing so, they were abstaining from pagan worship, these false gods, these external sins that would have been very plain to see.

And in doing this, they were kind of self-righteous and prideful in the fact that they weren't like the other cities.

They hadn't strayed to those types of sins.

And so they enjoyed a reputation of life and vitality.

Also, they were comparing themselves to the city that they were actually in.

The city of life and wealth and and strength.

They weren't like the sin of their city.

They were set apart.

They were the church.

And in doing so, they were fooled and distracted to the point where they were actually dead, even though they thought they were alive.

Those of you who know the book of James, it's a book of really wisdom from a pastor.

And he he tells us in chapter 2 that our faith is made evident by our works, right?

He says the faith without works is actually a dead faith.

But in this text, it seems like we have the opposite.

Jesus is saying, I know your works, I know your reputation, but I tell you, you're dead.

It seems to me to be the exact opposite of what James is saying.

And why is that?

How is Jesus able to say, I know your works, and you're dead?

Jesus is able to see past the outward facade, past the outward appearance.

And Jesus exposes their hearts.

And in his grace and mercy, he exposes their hearts and calls them to wake up.

We see a similar account that's kind of like this in Matthew chapter 7.

Matthew 7 · chapter mention

Jesus is talking, he says, Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.

And on that day, many will say to me, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and cast out demons in your name and do many mighty works in your name?

And then I will declare to them, I never knew you.

Depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.

That's Matthew chapter 7, verse 21 through 23.

Matthew 7:21–23

Jesus, like a good and gracious king, is calling his church to wake up.

And he goes on to say, Wake up and strengthen what remains.

What needs strengthened.

The church needs to return to the saving grace, the safe haven, the stronghold of the gospel.

See, they had a greater fear of man than what they had of God, which we're going to see in the following verses.

Before we move on to summarize verse 1 through 2, I would say that the church in Sardis had been distracted to death by their works.

The church in Sardis had been distracted to death by their works.

And in this distraction, Jesus calls them in verse 3 to remember.

Remember then what you 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 against you.

So he calls them to remembrance.

Remember what you had received.

What did they receive?

It was that good gospel message.

He says, Remember it.

Keep it.

Hold fast to it.

Cling to it.

Return to it and repent for your wandering.

Repent of your sin.

Turn back.

And in doing so, you will strengthen your faith.

You will strengthen yourselves.

So we see this warning.

He says, if you do not, if you do not wake up, notice this this second time he says, wake up to the church.

If you do not wake up, then like a thief in the night, not King Cyrus the Great, but rather King Jesus, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, will come against you at an hour in which you do not expect it.

It's easy for us to miss this frightening statement that it must have been when you read it as the church in Sardis.

Most of us in the middle of the night have never been woken up to our city burning, our houses being plundered.

But this happened to the city of Sardis.

And Jesus is calling them to wake up.

What language that is.

He uses this word like a thief in the night, an unwelcome visitor, an unexpected guest.

Like a thief in the night, he will return at an hour which they do not expect it.

And this thief in the night is used multiple times throughout scripture.

It's used to talk about the coming return of Christ Jesus our Lord, the coming judgment that is to come to the world.

And it's used multiple times.

We read later on in Revelation that Jesus is described when he returns with a sharp sword from his mouth, which will strike down the nations.

And he will rule them with a rod of iron.

And he will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty.

And on his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

So to summarize verse 3, as a true king to be feared, Jesus is calling the church to wake up, to repent, and return to the gospel.

To wake up before it's too late.

For death is at hand.

And we read on.

Verse 4 through 6.

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 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.

Yet you still have a few names.

Notice he's not even saying the church is going to survive.

He's addressing a few, a remnant, a select few.

Yet you still have a few names.

People who have not yet soiled their garments.

In my maybe depravity of mind, I get this funny picture of people soiling their garments.

Part of my job is to see adults soiling their garments all the time.

And it's not pleasant, it's a perk of the job, though.

And uh I get this picture in this text where it talks about being clothed in white.

And to this day, I don't have any paintings or pictures or mental pictures of us walking in glory down the streets of gold in white clothes with brown and yellow stains on our robes.

But Jesus is saying that people have soiled their garments.

And this is another way of saying that they have lived in fear of man over that of fear of God.

See, the church, in an attempt to avoid Roman persecution, was refusing to confess the name of Jesus.

And so they basically were shying from man.

What's going to happen to them?

What would they lose if they would be able to sell these goods?

And would they be able to have this influence on their city if they were faithful to confess the name of Jesus, which is extremely divisive, especially to the Roman Empire.

See, they were living in fear of man.

They're trying to seek self-comfort and self-peace, self-preservation.

And they were living without faithful proclamation of the gospel.

And Jesus says to them, the one who conquers, the one who is worthy, the one who is faithful to proclaim my name will thus be clothed in white.

Matthew 10, verse 28 and 32 through 33 reads, And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul.

Matthew 10:28

Rather, fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.

So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven.

But whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.

Church, the steadfast gospel proclamation and a reverent fear of our King is the saving power of the redeemed.

The steadfast gospel proclamation, the steadfast clinging to the gospel and a reverent fear of our king is the saving power of the redeemed.

And more than that, Jesus gives this great assurance to those who conquer, to those who are worthy.

He says, the one who conquers, I will never blot his name out of the book of life.

I will never blot his name out of the book of life.

What amazing assurance we're given in this text.

True believers remain faithful to confess the name of Jesus no matter what it costs them.

To summarize verse six, true believers remain faithful to confess the name of Jesus no matter what it costs them.

Would you say that's a mark of your life today?

Faithfulness to confessing the name of Jesus, no matter what it costs.

Relationships being hurt, workplace standings being affected, fear of man, fear of neighbor, fear of boss, fear of coworker, you name it.

Church, we are to remain steadfastly faithful to professing and proclaiming the name of Christ Jesus.

And we have this great assurance, if we do, he will be faithful to confess our name on our behalf to the Father.

So how did the church at Sardis get so off track?

How did they get this way?

I mean, honestly, how was it that they had all these works and this wonderful reputation of life and vitality that they weren't even able to recognize that they were actively dying?

Or that they were dead.

Or at the very least, their their works were filled with no power, no meaning.

I would submit that the church neglected to diligently keep watch of their own hearts.

The church had neglected to diligently keep watch of their own hearts, and slowly and steadily they began to move closer and closer to death.

And before they knew it, they rang death's bell.

See, man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.

Prophet Jeremiah says, The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately sick.

Who can understand it?

See, the church had neglected the keeping of the heart, and as a result, everything that came out of them in turn had gone bad.

Their actions, they were unpleasing before God.

They were not complete in the sight of God.

Their thoughts, they had become distracted to the point of death.

They had a failure to remember and believe and hold to the gospel truth that they had received.

Even their speech had gone bad.

They failed to faithfully profess the name of Jesus as King.

And so, like a race car without an engine, everything on the outside looked great, but it was worthless.

It was all vanity.

Church, we too must seek to diligently keep the heart.

If I was to point out the main idea of our text this morning, I'd take from Proverbs chapter 4, 23, where it says, Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.

Proverbs 4 · chapter mention

Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.

Vigilance meaning to keep careful watch, to guard, to protect, to nurture, to care for.

Keep your heart with vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.

Church, keeping the heart is of the utmost importance to the Christian walk, to the Christian life.

For from it flow life.

Or on the opposite, if we don't keep our hearts, from it flows death and destruction.

See, the Bible teaches that everything can be simplified down to the heart.

Everything flows from the heart.

Our thoughts, our actions, our words, and deeds.

So we must keep our hearts with all vigilance if it's to flow life.

John Flavel, he's a Puritan writer.

In his book, Keeping the Heart, I love this.

Quote, he says, the greatest difficulty in conversion is to win the heart to God.

And the greatest difficulty after conversion is to keep the heart with God.

See, the first part of that Jesus accomplished on the cross.

The greatest difficulty in conversion is to win the heart to God.

That's something you and I cannot do.

Christ did on our behalf.

He secured us.

He purchased our redemption at the cross.

And our role in that is to keep our hearts with God.

And it's the greatest difficulty after conversion.

We are prone to distraction.

We are prone to serve self and to chase after worldly goods and treasures and praise of man.

You and I know this to be very true.

For me personally, I don't know about Jew, but this text kind of scares me.

As a pastor, as a church planner and a missional church, and a church that likes to do a lot of things, to be active in people's lives, to be active in our city, to be active in our neighborhoods.

Man, we have a lot of things going on.

And so did this church.

And what did Jesus say?

You're dead.

You're dead.

And have I honored God with my mouth while my heart was far from him?

How many times have I neglected or have you neglected heart work for some other lesser pursuit?

Parents, you know this to be true.

If you expect to change a child's heart in one night and one act of loving discipline, you're going to be rudely mistaken.

It's a lifelong process.

It's a shepherding and careful, vigilant process of diligence and faithfulness and pattern and pattern and a ton of work to shepherd a child's heart.

But heart work is hard work.

Husbands, you know this to be true.

As the pastor of your home, it's a lot of work to shepherd the hearts of your home.

For your wife, would you rather serve her and love her by remodeling the bathroom, painting some walls, fixing that broken electric socket?

Or would you rather serve her by sitting down with her, intending to her heart, asking her what's going on in her heart and trying to shepherd it?

See, hard work is heart.

Hard work, heart work is hard work.

It's all so hard to say.

If we are to live, church, we must prioritize keeping the heart with all vigilance.

And this is our story this morning that we often neglect our duty to tend to our hearts.

We often neglect our duty to tend to our hearts.

So whether it be vain pursuits or fleeting pleasures or fainting comfort, we are far too easily distracted with the things of this world.

We're far too easily distracted with what we can see just in front of us, just around us, with the here and now.

And oftentimes we fail to put on an eternal mindset.

Church, we must be reminded this morning that the things of this world are fading away.

Day by day, they are closer to death and destruction.

Anything that distracts us or takes us away from keeping our heart is vanity.

It amounts to nothing.

It's wasting away.

C.S.

Lewis, in his book called The Screwtape Letters, he wrote, it's basically a series of letters from a character named Screwtape, and he's a demon.

And he's writing to his nephew demon on how to be a better demon, on how to better carry out the works of their boss, their Lord, the devil.

And he's quoted this is an amazing, amazing story of how the devil works in our lives.

It says, You will say that these things are very small sins.

And doubtless, like all young tempters, you are anxious to be able to report spectacular wickedness.

But do remember, the only thing that matters is the extent to which you separate the man from the enemy, the man from God.

It does not matter how small the sins are, provided that their cumulative effect is to edge the man away from the light and out into nothing.

Murder is no better than cards if cards can do the trick.

Indeed, the safest road to hell is the gradual one, the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turning, without milestones, and without signposts.

Your affectionate uncle, screw tape.

The only thing that matters is the extent to which you separate the enemy from man.

The only thing that matters is how you separate us from God.

And Satan seeks to do this by gentle, subtle, gradual turnings, slowly and slowly, distraction after distraction, lolling us to sleep.

See, distraction is one of Satan's most successful tactics at separating us from God.

And once we've been separated like a skilled hunter, he seeks to destroy us, to devour us.

We see this in the garden.

Satan successfully made Adam and Eve question if God was actually for him.

Satan in the form of a serpent comes to Adam and Eve and he questions for the first time this belief that God was actually for Adam and Eve.

He said, Did God really say to not eat of that?

Did he say to not eat of that tree?

Well, surely he knows that if you eat of it, you will know good and evil and you'll be like God.

And this tiny sliver of question is all that he needed to wedge himself between man and his creator.

Satan only needs a sliver to be able to separate us from God.

We must remain vigilant.

We must be alert.

We must remain watchful.

And so I asked this morning, would you describe yourself as vigilant?

Or like the soldier in our story?

Have you let down your helmet?

Have you let down your guard?

Have you forgotten that you are in a war?

Have you been lulled to sleep at your post?

1 Peter 5.8 says, be alert and of sober mind.

Your enemy, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.

1 Peter 5.8.

Like an unknowing prey, we are being stalked, lulled to sleep by wandering passions and distracted pursuits so that we might be destroyed.

Satan has been perfecting the art of lulling the hearts of men to sleep for 4,000 years.

And he does a really good job at it.

Church, there is a war that is going on right now, and it's not for the next president, it's not for the coronavirus cure.

It's not for the next NFL championship, MBA championship, you name it.

No, there's a war that's going on, and it's for the hearts and souls of men.

May we wake up from our ill-fated slumber.

May we be alert and vigilant and sober mind.

And I would humbly and lovingly submit this morning that if you don't feel like you're in a war, if you don't feel like there is a battle that is raging, then you just might be asleep.

You might just be lulled in your comfort and distraction.

My prayer is that you're not headed towards death, that we aren't, as a church, headed towards death.

We must remember the devil seeks to destroy us.

So how do we stay alert?

How do we stay watchful?

How do we remain vigilant and keeping our hearts?

This is our gospel conviction this morning.

As long as the heart is not set right by grace, no means can keep it right with God.

As long as the heart is not set right by grace, no means can keep it right with God.

Search, the truth is, apart from grace, our hearts could never be right with God.

Apart from the saving and redeeming power of the gospel, the fact that the tomb is no longer occupied, but it is empty, for our Lord has risen and defeated sin, death, and hell on our behalf.

We could never please God.

We needed a transplant of heart.

We needed newness.

And so we we look to the cross where the promise of Ezekiel chapter 36 is fulfilled, where it says, A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you, and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh.

Ezekiel 36 · chapter mention

He gives us a new heart.

We need to look to the cross and the steadfast faithfulness of our good and gracious King.

For Hebrews 12, we look to Jesus, the founder, the starter, the purchaser of our faith, and the perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising its shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

This is the good news this morning, church, that God not only sees us in our sinful depravity and our wickedness, but he rescues us through his son.

And through his triumphant victory over sin, death, and hell, after doing so, he took up his rightful place at the right hand of the majesty on high.

And he is now seated at the right hand of the Father, where he lives to make constant intercession for his people.

See, we reflect of the gospel message of the cross and the grave, but more than that, Jesus now takes permanent residence next to his father in a place and position of power and authority where Scripture tells us he is now seated, interceding on our behalf, praying on our behalf.

Romans 8.34 says, Christ Jesus is the one who died, and more than that, who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.

Our text this morning in verse 6 talks about that God will conf Jesus will confess our name before his Father and before his angels.

Hebrews 7 tells us that Jesus is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make constant intercession for them.

Can you picture that this morning, Church?

Jesus Christ, the King of kings and Lord of Lords, right now seated next to his Father in glory, interceding on our behalf, praying.

See, the atonement, the purchase of our sins, the justification of our sins was purchased at the cross in a one-time final act over sin, death, and hell.

But intercession that is going on right now is the day-to-day application of that atoning work.

That's what intercession means.

It's a moment-by-moment application of the atoning work of the cross.

And it's happening right now at this very minute.

What a thought to consider.

So, what do we do in this?

What's our role in this?

If Christ purchased us, Christ gave us a new heart, and by the Spirit's power we have been made alive with Christ because Christ is alive.

What role do we play in this?

My hope is to give you three practical ways of keeping the heart with all vigilance.

So, way number one, our practice.

We need to have a frequent renewal of our minds.

Frequent renewal of our minds.

As believers, we are commanded to love the Lord our God with all our heart, with all our soul, with all our mind, and with all our strength.

So we see that faith involves both knowledge and trust.

Knowledge which begins in our mind and trust which takes root and is tethered to our hearts.

See, our minds play an important role into keeping the heart.

Romans 12, 2 says, do not be conformed to this world.

Do not be distracted by this world.

Do not look like and made more like this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind.

That by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Be transformed by the renewal of your mind.

And so how do we keep the heart away from distraction, the heart away from wanderings and the pursuits of this world?

We must be renewed in our minds.

So I ask, are we being renewed in our minds, church?

Are we being transformed?

Are we being drained by the numbing of our minds?

I don't think it's coincidence that after a long day's work or a long week's work or a long day with the children or wherever you find yourself, our gut reaction is not to sit down and be renewed in our minds, to open up God's word or to commune with our Lord.

No, it's to turn to some mind-numbing task.

Whether it be TV or phone or news or a book, our minds are wandering and they're distracted.

See, our minds interpret what our eyes and ears see and hear, what we take in.

And so we would be wise as a church to exercise caution to what we are consuming.

But the heart cannot be kept with just head knowledge, because this mind knowledge must penetrate our hearts.

And so, number two, we need to have a frequent observation of the state of our heart.

A frequent observation of the state of our heart.

See, our hearts cannot be kept without frequent, careful examination.

How often do we sit down to examine our hearts?

We can pray like David in Psalm 139, where he says, Search me, O God, and know my heart.

Try me and know my thoughts.

You see, a regular observation of the state of our heart would supply us a wealth of things to be in prayer for, a wealth of things to consider, a wealth of things to make prayerful supplications to the Lord.

One practical way to observe the state or the condition of our hearts is to look at what is coming out of our mouths.

James III, in his uh address of wisdom, he says, out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks.

And so the mouth is a really good, it's really the mouthpiece of our heart.

It's a really good indicator of what's inside.

I love uh sports, and it seems like one of the common refrains is someone in sports saying something that they shouldn't have.

Usually it's through social media.

We just had this here in Cincinnati not that long ago, someone something got out that he did not want to have out, and what's always the response?

Oh, that wasn't me.

I'm actually a man or a woman of faith.

That that wasn't me.

And the Bible teaches us otherwise, that out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks.

So one good way to observe what's in our hearts is to observe what's coming out of our mouths.

Because from the overflow of the heart, our mouths speak.

Another way to observe our heart, the health of it, is to look at where we spend our resources.

Where do we spend the bulk of our time, our finances, our talent, our treasure?

A heart that is set on self will seek its own pleasures.

And church, our kingdom is not of this world.

Like the city of Sardis, the city of wealth and strength that is now in ruins.

Our kingdom is the kingdom to come.

And church, our hearts would be well served by exchanging our selfish pleasures for kingdom passions, for kingdom pursuits, to seek God's will over our own, to seek God's ways over our own.

And so I ask, whose kingdom are you living in?

Where are your time and talent and treasures spent?

It's a good indicator of our hearts.

In keeping our heart, we must learn to die to self and regularly seek Christ's kingdom first.

So, number two is a frequent observation of the state of our heart, and lastly, number three is a frequent diet of prayer and meditation on God's word.

Many of us have malnourished hearts from a lack of communion with our King.

Our hearts would be well served by daily rhythms of stillness before the Lord in prayer, empowered by his word.

We must daily feast and be fed on his word and communion with him by his spirit.

And I know this is a struggle.

If we read in Psalm chapter 1, we read this progression of how easy it is to stray away.

Psalms 1 · chapter mention

Talks this position between the righteous and the wicked.

It says, Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor even sits in the seat of scoffers, but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.

He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither.

In all he does, he prospers.

And the wicked are not so, but are like chafe that the wind drives away.

And therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous, for the Lord knows the ways of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.

But his delight is in the law of the Lord.

The righteous, he meditates on the law, the law, the word of God, both day and night, so that what he might be like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit and its season, and its leaf does not wither.

Doesn't sound like the church in Sardis, does it?

Anti ruins, this city of wealth and renown, and is dead.

So I asked this morning, would you say that day and night we are meditating on the word of our Lord?

Or the psalmist who goes on in chapter 119, verse 11 says, I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.

Can this be true of you?

That you are hiding God's word in your heart, that you are memorizing and meditating on and praying over the words of our Lord.

We must regularly feast on his word.

Another aspect of communion with our Lord is to go to him in prayer.

Philippians 4, 6 through 7 says, In everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your request be known to God, and the peace of God which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

The peace of God will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Church, to keep the heart, we must regularly find ourselves in prayer and meditation on his word.

Charles Spurgeon is quoted as saying, on his knees the believer is invincible.

On his knees, the believer is invincible.

And as we go to him in prayer, empowered by his spirit and empowered by his word, we should have a life marked by repentance.

A life marked of turning from our sinful ways and walking and coming back and remembering the good saving grace and power of the gospel.

Church, we must keep our hearts with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.

We must keep our hearts by a daily renewal of our minds, by a frequent observation of the state of our hearts and through frequent prayer and meditation with God and His Word and powered by His Spirit.

Let me pray.