Message to the Church

Rev3:1-6 it says AMP:And to the angel (messenger) of the assembly (church) in Sardis write: These are the words of Him Who has the seven Spirits of God [the sevenfold Holy Spirit] and the seven stars: I know your record and what you are doing; you are supposed to be alive, but [in reality] you are dead.
2
AMP:Rouse yourselves and keep awake, and strengthen and invigorate what remains and is on the point of dying; for I have not found a thing that you have done [any work of yours] meeting the requirements of My God or perfect in His sight.
3
AMP:So call to mind the lessons you received and heard; continually lay them to heart and obey them, and repent. In case you will not rouse yourselves and keep awake and watch, I will come upon you like a thief, and you will not know or suspect at what hour I will come.
4
AMP:Yet you still have a few [persons’] names in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes, and they shall walk with Me in white, because they are worthy and deserving.
5
AMP:Thus shall he who conquers (is victorious) be clad in white garments, and I will not erase or blot out his name from the Book of Life; I will acknowledge him [as Mine] and I will confess his name openly before My Father and before His angels.
6
AMP:He who is able to hear, let him listen to and heed what the [Holy] Spirit says to the assemblies (churches).

The passage started by addressing the message to the church, which makes it concerns us directly as the Church.And it was striking When the owner of the church mentioned **"He knows our work" **which implies, He is aware of all that we do, the time we give for His work, our sacrifice, our patience, our commitment, tithes, offering , be it whatever the service we render is good or bad, further He said "We are suppose to be alive" this shows the expectation God has for us as a Church:we are suppose to carry life , carry light and be salt to the world but in reality we are dead, our deed is counted null or void, we have lived the opposite of what God expect us to be

In verse 2. God went further encouraging the believers ; who are the church, to keep awake and strengthen what remains" . The question I usually ask myself reading this passage is " what do I have remained in accordance to God's plan" in my life to strengthen. Is it my love? Faith? Purity? Righteousness? Etc. Can we check our lives and ask ourselves this question! What remains about us that God still find worthy that we should strengthen Or is it that there's nothing about us that God finds worthy ? In such a time like this " Have we sold out our purity, faith, love, righteousness, virtue etc . That God doesn't in you see anything meeting His requirement?

This is an avenue to look into our lives and be sincere with our relationship with God. Has our prayer and study lives grown cold? Do we in the sight of men look perfect but in reality , God finds nothing worthy from your life?After this short ponder, and realizing where we have failed.. can we call to mind what we have learnt that are pure, praiseworthy and has virtue in them, then obey and repent from our wrongs from our ways that are unpleasant to our creator.God forbid that God will come to us in the last day and meet us with nothing to show for the work He gave us to do.It will be a Great joy to know, there are many among us who has not given themselves to the way of the world , whom clothes are still white and God finds their work worthy in such a time as this.

The final message comes "but he who endures to the end" will He write his name in the Book of life and confess him to His father. He who endures to the end , it's great that we are strengthening the remain which God finds worthy but the question is " would we endure to the end" ? What matter most in being steadfast and holding to the end.Can we in a time like this, hold on to our good virtue till the end? Or will the system of the world snatch the worthy remains we have;. Can we in ridicule, intimidation, suffering still hold on o the end? Because those who gain that reward in the end are those who start and ends the race not those who start and give up along the way. Yes, there are times , things might seem challenging and you feel like giving up, there are times you will feel like you're losing , there times that the world will laugh at you for trying to hold unto that worthy thing which remains. No doubt, those moments always come and can't escape them. But just like Jesus who looked at the Joy that awaited him and took the shame on the cross. Can we look toward the Joy that awaits us in the midst of all this discouragement and hold fast! Can we focus on the reward and glory that awaits us rather than the pleasure that last for just a moment

Image
He who is able to hear, let him listen to what the spirit says , Jesus gave a parable about the sower, He said, seeds where thrown, some fell on the rocky ground, some on the pathway, some of the thorns and some on a good soil." Only the ones that fell on the good soil , germinated and produced, the rest died off. The good soil represented men who heard and increase learning, men who heard, listen and paid heed. Men who were wise .

This is a written note from my sermon today in our group fellowship