We are going to come back to Isaiah 11, but I am continuing our series on the seven churches of Revelation.
So for the time being you may want to keep a finger there because we are going to return back to Isaiah 11.
But please go to Revelation chapter 3. Please go to Revelation chapter 3.
And we're up to the next church in this series which is the church in Sardis.
The church in Sardis is the title for the sermon tonight.
Now notice there in Revelation chapter 3 verse number 1, Revelation chapter 3 and verse number 1 it says,
And unto the angel of the church in Sardis writes, These things say of he,
Now notice the next phrase, that have the seven spirits of God and the seven stars.
Now we know what the seven stars are. You may recall that represents the pastors, the pastors of the church.
And it says, now the seven spirits of God. You say, well I've never heard of the seven spirits of God and I wouldn't be surprised if you haven't.
But it keeps going there, I know thy works, that thou hast a name, that thou livest, and art dead.
So hold on, they've got a name that lives, but the church is dead, the Lord says.
So there's a few things I want us to consider at this point in time.
I want to sort of start touching upon the seven spirits as we keep going through this.
And then we'll touch upon the fact that they've got a name that livest and is dead.
Now I want you to just turn to Revelation chapter 4. Please turn to Revelation chapter 4 please.
And verse number 5. And I just want to show you a few things about the seven spirits of God here.
You're probably saying, well isn't there one Holy Spirit or are there seven Holy Spirits?
Or are there seven variations of the spirit of God? How do we understand this?
Well let's just get a few thoughts here.
Revelation chapter 4 verse number 5, it says,
And out of the throne, that's out of the throne of God, so this is obviously in heaven, proceed lightnings and thunderings and voices.
And there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven spirits of God.
So once you know that the seven spirits of God are before the throne of God right there, right?
And they're being used as an illustration, you've got these seven burning lamps there,
before the throne of God, representing the seven spirits of God right there.
Now one thing that you need to understand as you go through the book of Revelation,
it's very, what's the word I'm looking for? It's very, what's the word?
Cryptic.
Cryptic, yeah it is cryptic, but it's also very, you use a lot of illustrations.
Okay, sorry what was that?
Symbolic.
Very symbolic, that's what I'm looking for, that's the word I'm looking for.
It's very symbolic.
Obviously you can see these seven lamps of fire representing the seven spirits of God,
you've got the seven stars representing the seven passes, you've got the seven candlesticks representing the seven churches.
And so I want you to keep this in mind that it's very symbolic, okay?
There's a lot of illustrations of a greater truth.
What does these seven spirits of God represent? Are they just a burning lamp?
Is the church just a candle? No.
Is a pastor a literal star? No.
Again, these are symbolism of something greater.
Please go to Revelation chapter five, go to the next chapter.
Revelation chapter five and verse number six.
And it says,
So now, when you look at this picture here, you see a lamb as he has been slain.
Is this an actual sheep that's walking before the throne?
No.
The lamb that was slain of course is the lamb of God which take away the sin of the world which is of course Jesus Christ.
And so you can see again a symbolism of a lamb that has been slain.
And I think this is quite interesting because I do believe just like when Christ was resurrected from the dead,
he was in his new glorified body, but he still could show his disciples the nail prints in his hands.
He could still show them the tour of the side, you know, where the spear pierced through his side.
And so, even though when we receive new resurrected bodies, you know, our bodies aren't going to contain our earthly scars.
You know, it's not going to contain any kind of deformities or defects.
No, it's going to be a perfect body.
There's something special about the body of Christ that even in his resurrected states, he still shows the marks.
And this is why when you see Christ in heaven, it is as though he had been slain.
You can still see the piercings that he suffered on his body for it to be an everlasting testimony of what Christ has done for us.
But let's keep going there.
What else do we learn about this lamb?
It says,
Having seven horns.
Oh, wow.
Does Jesus Christ have seven horns sticking out of his head?
What else?
And seven eyes.
Hold on.
Does Jesus have seven eyes?
As you are, again, symbolism.
What are these seven eyes?
It says,
Which are the seven spirits of God sent forth into all the earth.
So we learn something interesting else about the seven spirits of God.
That they represent God's eye.
God's eyes upon this earth.
It goes throughout the whole earth.
The seven spirits of God.
And of course, it's being sent forth there by the lamb.
It's the eyes of the lamb, as it were.
And don't forget, when you think about a horns, you know, seven horns in the Bible, many times, the horn represents authority.
It means power.
And so Jesus Christ not only is a lamb slain, but is a lamb with power, with authority, and is able to see the entire earth, okay, by those seven spirits of God that are mentioned there.
What are the seven spirits?
Well, if you can please now turn to John chapter 14.
Keep your finger there in Revelation chapter 4.
Turn to, say there in Revelation, sorry, chapter 3, and go to John chapter 14.
John chapter 14.
Are there seven spirits of God in the sense that we think of the Holy Spirit of God?
Are there seven kind of Holy Spirits out there?
Well, the Bible says in 1 John 5-7,
For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost, and these three are one.
All right, so we learned something interesting.
About the Holy Ghost, obviously there's one Holy Ghost, there's one Father, there's one Son, that's where you get the three, but they're one God.
All right, so that's very clear.
There's one Father, there's not multiple fathers, there's one Son, there's one Jesus Christ, there's not multiple Jesus, and there's one Holy Spirit.
There's not multiple Holy Spirits, okay?
But it says seven spirits, well let's understand, is it true that there are seven spirits of God?
Of course it's true, because it's written there in the Bible, okay?
But how do we understand this in the light of understanding that there's one Holy Spirit as well?
Well, just another thing that I want you to turn here is John chapter 14, because some people have some unusual beliefs on the Holy Spirit.
You know, there's been more than one person that I've come across, I mean there's been several people that I've come across,
that basically teach that the Holy Spirit of God is not really a person.
It's not a He, as it were, it's not really someone that you can interact with.
They'll teach that the Holy Spirit of God is just this power, this sort of impersonal power of God, and that's known as the Holy Spirit of God.
But this is why I want you to turn here to John 14, 16, these are the words of Jesus Christ, and it says,
That He may abide with you forever.
Once again we see the trying nature of God here.
Jesus Christ speaking, praying to the Father that another Comforter will come.
And of course that other Comforter is referring to the Holy Spirit, because it says there in verse 17,
Even the Spirit of Truth, actually, before I read verse 17, I want you to notice what it said there after it said,
I give you another Comforter, that He, hey, the Comforter is a He, that He may abide with you forever,
Even the Spirit of Truth, whom the world cannot receive, look at this,
because it saith Him not, neither knoweth Him, but ye know Him, for He dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.
Notice how Jesus Christ speaks about the Holy Spirit of God, the Spirit of Truth.
He, Him, right? The Holy Spirit is a person.
We serve one God in three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
But not only does Jesus Christ use these personal pronouns, He and Him, it's singular.
He is one. Him is one.
And so I just want to show you that there is one Holy Spirit of God.
So you say, well, what are these seven spirits? Well, let's turn to another passage, please.
Please, actually, yeah, go to...
What passage did I get you to turn to?
Okay, so I did get, okay, sorry.
Please go to Luke chapter 4 now. Please go to Luke chapter 4.
Sorry, Brevin, I thought I got you to turn somewhere else.
You turn to Luke chapter 4.
You know, we have further confirmation in the Bible that there is one Holy Spirit.
The Bible tells us in Ephesians 4, 4, what you're turning to Luke for.
In Ephesians 4, 4, it says,
There is one body and one Spirit, even as ye are called in our hope of your calling.
So there is one Spirit. There is one Holy Spirit.
Now notice this about Luke, in Luke chapter 4, verse 16, about the Lord Jesus Christ.
Luke chapter 4 and verse number 16.
I want you to look at this because Jesus Christ, he goes into the synagogue on the Sabbath day
and he starts reading a portion from the book of Isaiah.
All right, and look what he says here.
We're not going to be looking at this portion from Isaiah,
but we are going to go back to Isaiah 11 where we got the reading from.
But it says in Luke 4, 16,
And it came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up,
and as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day
and stood up for to read.
For there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Isaiah.
So that's the book of the prophet Isaiah.
And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written.
So that's about to read from the book of Isaiah.
And of course, he's speaking about himself.
If you know the context of the story, he's speaking about himself.
It says here in verse number 18,
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me.
Hold on, how many spirits are the Lord upon Jesus?
One, right? The Spirit of the Lord is upon me.
Now, what does this help him do?
It says, because you have anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor.
You see, by the power of the Holy Spirit,
Jesus Christ was able to preach to the poor,
preach the gospel to the poor,
and have sent me to heal the brokenhearted.
And so he's able to be a comforter in that sense,
to help those that have a broken heart.
And then it keeps going, to preach deliverance to the captives.
And recovering of sight to the blind.
Hey, the Spirit of God also gives me the power to heal the sick,
to set at liberty them that are bruised,
to preach the acceptable year of the Lord.
Do you notice that? When Christ came to this earth,
the ability, the power that he had to do these miracles,
to preach with authority, came by the power of the Holy Ghost.
Now, what's beautiful about the Holy Spirit
is that we've been given this Holy Spirit
to indwell each believer in the New Testament.
And so whenever you come behind the pulpit to preach God's Word,
or whenever you go so wanting to preach God's Word,
you know, you want to get into the habit of asking God
to fill you with that same Holy Spirit.
That you can preach the words of God, just like Jesus Christ did.
All right, now turn to Isaiah 11, where we had the reading from.
Turn to Isaiah chapter 11 and verse number 1.
We now have another prophecy in Isaiah about the coming of Christ.
Now, there are some portions in the chapter, in this chapter,
that is about the millennial reign of Christ,
but you'll soon see that this first part in verse number 1
is about Christ's first coming, okay?
Because it says here in Isaiah 11 verse 1,
And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse,
and a branch shall grow out of his roots.
So we know this is speaking about a prophecy of Christ, all right?
He comes from the stem of Jesse, he comes from that lineage of King David.
And then it says in verse number 2, look at this,
And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him.
Hey, is that the same Spirit that came upon the Lord Jesus Christ
when he read that passage in Isaiah?
Of course it is.
But you also notice a few things here.
It says,
The Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
the Spirit of counsel and might,
the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord.
So notice this, when we talk about the Spirit of God,
notice that there are different characteristics
or attributes that make up this Spirit.
This Spirit gives us different abilities.
It teaches us different things,
the things that we read here in verse number 2,
that has to do with the same Spirit of God that fell upon Christ.
So let's look at this again.
Do we notice seven characteristics?
We'll look at verse number 2,
And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him.
The first characteristic that we learn about this Spirit that came upon Jesus
is that it is of the Lord.
It is deity, okay?
The Holy Spirit is not just some power,
it is deity, it is of the Lord, okay?
This is why, you know, you have the Father, the Word and the Holy Ghost,
and these three are one.
The first characteristic that we learn about the Holy Spirit
is that it is of the Lord, it is deity.
This is a person that makes up the triune nature of God.
So that's number one.
The next thing that we learn is the Spirit of wisdom, okay?
And so this Holy Spirit, if you want to grow in wisdom,
you must be in touch with the Holy Spirit of God,
and this is why it's so wonderful that we have him indwell us,
and that he can teach us from the Word of God.
So it's the Spirit of wisdom and understanding.
There's a third attribute.
The third attribute is a Spirit of understanding.
And so we can learn the great truths, the deep things of God, and understand.
It makes sense, all right?
There are so many people that read the Bible,
and it just makes no sense to them, okay?
Because you must be saved, you must have the Holy Spirit of God
indwelling each one of you in order to understand the Scriptures.
So that's three attributes.
Then it says the Spirit of counsel, okay?
That's the fourth attribute.
And so, brethren, if you need counsel,
you know, sometimes our life is falling apart,
and we look for a counselor.
Hey, who is the first counsel that we should go to?
The Lord God.
That is the fourth characteristic that we learn about the Lord here.
The Spirit is a Spirit of counsel,
one that we can go to, one that, hey, when we need help,
we call upon the Spirit and ask the Lord for that counsel.
What's the fifth attribute?
And might.
Hey, when we're feeling weak,
when we're feeling depressed and cast down,
and we need the strength of God,
hey, the Holy Spirit also gives us the power of God's might.
So we have a fifth characteristic there.
It says the Spirit of knowledge, okay?
The ability to obtain knowledge, okay?
To, again, feed yourself from God's Word.
You know, there are different...
You know, we look at a few things here.
They might look similar.
Wisdom, understanding, knowledge, all right?
So knowledge is what we're trying to attain.
We're trying to become wiser or more knowledgeable,
which we want to obtain more information.
And the way we obtain information is by understanding.
The application of that knowledge is wisdom.
When you take what you've learned
and you apply it in your everyday life,
you are now being wise
because you're actually applying what you have learned, okay?
So you've got the Spirit of knowledge,
which is attribute number six.
And then it says, and of the fear of the Lord.
Hey, that's attribute number seven,
the fear of the Lord.
Hey, we all should have a healthy dose of the fear of God.
The Bible says that the fear of the Lord
is the beginning of knowledge or the beginning of wisdom, okay?
And so you can see immediately there,
when it's talking about the Holy Spirit coming upon Jesus
and giving him the ability to preach
and to do some great works,
you can see here in Isaiah 11,
seven characteristics that determine
who this Holy Spirit of God is.
And you know, this is the only place in the Bible
that makes any sense
with this idea of the seven spirits of God,
seven characteristics of the Holy Spirit.
And so brethren, if you need to increase in wisdom,
understanding, knowledge, if you need counsel,
if you need might, if you need a fear of the Lord,
then you need to go to the Holy Spirit of the Lord
and ask him to fill you with these things,
to be filled with the Spirit
so you can walk in the same vein
that Jesus Christ walked with the Holy Spirit of God
empowering him and giving him these seven characteristics
to be able to accomplish his mission.
He keeps going there in Isaiah 11, verse number three.
And shall make him of quick understanding
in the fear of the Lord,
and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes,
neither reprove after the hearing of his ears,
but with righteousness shall he judge the poor
and reprove the equity of the meek of the earth,
and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth,
and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked.
Notice how we start with the first coming of Christ
and then we end with, in verse number four,
you know, we continue there, verse number three and four,
or ultimately verse number four
about the second coming of Christ,
where he's got this rod that comes out of his mouth
and we saw earlier, we saw in the previous series,
that the, you know, the two-edged sword
that proceeds out of the mouth of Jesus Christ
is what destroys the Antichrist and his armies.
All right, can you please go to Revelation chapter three?
Revelation chapter three.
So I hope I've shown you the seven spirits of God
is the one Holy Spirit,
but seven attributes or seven characteristics
that make up that Holy Spirit of God.
All right, now, what else did we learn there in verse number one?
Now, the Lord says, I know thy works.
So is this a church that has done great works?
Of course, they've done works, okay?
And then it says, and thou hast a name that thou livest.
Now, when it says here a name,
many times in the Bible, when you're referring to just a name,
it can also mean reputation, okay?
Or a good report.
You know, you're trying to obtain for yourself a good name,
what you're trying to say is,
I'm trying to have a good reputation.
This church has a good reputation, all right?
It's a name that they live by.
You know, they live by their reputation.
They live by their good reports.
But it says, and are dead.
The church is a dead church.
In other words, in the past, it had a good reputation.
In the past, it's done some great works.
And it's tried to live off the past.
Hey, we've done great things in the past.
But Jesus Christ says now, in the present, you are dead.
You've got a great name, but now, there's no pulse, okay?
It's not functioning.
It's a dead church.
Now, what do you think about that?
And aren't dead? It's a dead church.
Would you want to be part of a church
that Jesus Christ calls dead?
But it's one of the candlesticks.
It's one of the seven golden candlesticks.
I agree.
I would not want to be in a church
that Jesus Christ says is dead, okay?
I mean, it's great that it's had a great past.
It's great that it's had a good reputation.
But what about now?
You know, what about now?
You know, it's living off its reputation of the past.
Now, notice the next few things here, verse number two.
Verse number two.
It says, now, look, the church is not completely and utterly dead, okay?
Because Jesus Christ says this in verse number two.
Be watchful and strengthen the things which remain.
All right.
So, what do we learn here?
So, there are still things that remain in this church
that Jesus Christ says, look, strengthen, watch.
Don't let the things that remain fall away.
Basically, if you let these things that remain fall away,
you will be completely dead.
And I believe the candlestick will be removed out of that church.
But notice it says, that are ready to die.
So, even the few good little things that are still left in this church,
it's almost dying away.
And so, Jesus Christ says, look, you've got a few little things
that you're still doing good.
Strengthen those things.
Watch for those things.
Don't let it die like all the other things that have died in your church.
And then he says, for I have not found thy works perfect before God.
Now, it's quite interesting that he uses the word perfect here.
You know, the word perfect means complete, okay?
Listen, you know, they're doing some level of works,
but God says, look, you're not really doing everything
you should be doing as a church.
And I think this is quite interesting when we talk about
the seven spirits of God, going back to that,
because many times in the Bible,
the number seven represents the number of completion.
You know, many times you'll see that kind of philosophy.
Seven, seven representing like, you know,
we often think about the seven colors of the rainbow.
Or in music, we think about the seven notes that make up music.
You know, seven has a lot of attributes as far as sort of a number of completion.
And so it says, look, you know, you're not whole,
you're doing some works, you've got some little things,
but you're not whole.
And I think this is the whole reason why we look at the Holy Spirit of God
with these seven attributes.
And what this church really needs is for the Holy Spirit to do a work
in the heart of that church, to kick start that church once again,
to bring it back from the dead as it were.
But there's a little bit of a pulse, right?
Strengthen the things which remain.
You know, it's like you present this body,
it's declared medically dead, and then you just check for a pulse.
You go, hold on, there's just, there's something there, right?
There's something small, all right?
There's something that can bring this church back to life.
And so this church has been encouraged,
even though it's been considered dead,
it's been encouraged to continue even with the little things that it has.
Verse number three.
It says,
And repent.
So notice that.
Jesus Christ has given them time to repent.
He goes,
He says, remember the good preaching you've had in the past.
Remember the good things that you've heard before.
Hey, this church had that good reputation.
Their works was good preaching.
Their works was great works being done.
Jesus Christ says, hey, remember the great things you've done in the past,
the things that you've heard, the things that you've received,
and hold fast, repent, go back to those old ways.
Don't continue down this new path.
Whatever new path this church has gone down.
And it might be that this church may have had a change of pastures, potentially.
It may have been maybe a generational change.
Maybe in the past this church was serving the Lord,
and they had a great generation of people,
and maybe that next generation comes through,
and they're just not on fire for the Lord.
They're just going through the motion.
Their heart's not really into it.
You know, the works are dropping off.
You know, the body's starting to die as it were.
Jesus Christ reminds them, look, go back to your past.
When you had that good name, you had the good teaching,
great things that you've heard.
Remember those things.
Repent.
Go back to the old way of doing things.
And then it gives them a warning if they don't do this.
If, therefore, thou shalt not watch,
I will come on thee as a thief,
and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee.
Hey, what does that sound like?
These words, I will come as a thief.
Thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee.
Does anyone want to give me their thoughts?
What could that be referencing?
Not sure?
All right.
Keep your finger there.
And please go to 1 Thessalonians chapter 4.
1 Thessalonians chapter 4, please.
Now, Jesus Christ is telling this church,
if you don't go back to your old paths,
okay, you don't go back,
then I'm going to come upon you as a thief.
Now, does that sound like a positive thing or a negative thing?
Negative.
Absolutely.
All right, if you don't repent,
I will come as a thief,
and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee.
Now, let's go to 1 Thessalonians chapter 4 and verse number 13.
1 Thessalonians chapter 4 and verse number 13.
Now, what we're looking at is the second coming of the Lord,
because you may recall Jesus Christ speaking
that he's going to come as a thief in the night, okay?
And it's the same language that is being used here, you know,
that we also see there in Revelation chapter 3.
But I want you to just pick up a few things here.
In verse, 1 Thessalonians 4, 13,
But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren,
concerning them which are asleep,
that you sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.
So God is speaking here,
Jesus Christ is speaking about those, the Christians,
that have passed away.
You know, that they've died in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Jesus Christ is telling us that we should sorrow not
as others which have no hope.
You see, the unbelieving world,
they've got no hope for the future.
They don't know what lies after eternity.
They don't know what lies after death.
But when it comes to Christians, we know.
We know that when a believer dies,
we're the Lord Jesus Christ,
and we should not sorrow in the same way
that those that are unsaved sorrow.
Verse number 14,
For we believe that Jesus died and rose again,
even so them which sleep in Jesus,
will God bring with Him.
Hey, the brethren that have died in Jesus,
they're with God right now.
When God returns, He's going to bring them with Him.
Verse number 15,
For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord,
that we which are alive and remain
unto the coming of the Lord,
shall not prevent them which are asleep,
or will not go before them which are asleep.
Those that have passed away in Christ,
they're going to be resurrected
just before those that are still living upon this earth.
Verse number 16,
For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven
with a shout,
with the voice of the archangel,
and with the trump of God,
and the dead in Christ shall rise first.
Then we which are alive and remain
shall be caught up together with them in the clouds
to meet the Lord in the air.
And so shall we ever be with the Lord,
wherefore comfort one another with these words.
Hey, these words ought to give us comfort.
Any loved ones that are saved,
they've passed on,
they've gone to be with the Lord,
we're going to see them again one day in the clouds
with Jesus Christ.
It should give us a lot of comfort.
Hey, we know this is a passage,
it's the most famous passage on the rapture,
the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.
But one thing that people often do,
they disassociate what we read there
in verse chapter 4 at the end of it,
and they kind of separate chapter number 5.
But chapter number 5 goes straight afterwards.
Look at it, look at chapter 5, verse number 1.
But, but what?
I mean, do we just start a new thought,
a new sentence with the word but?
No, but is a conjunction, okay?
What we're studying here in chapter number 5
is referring back to the coming of the Lord in chapter 4.
But of the times and the seasons, brethren,
ye have no need that are right unto you,
for yourselves, look at this, know perfectly
that the day of the Lord so cometh
as a thief in the night.
So when Jesus Christ comes back,
is he coming back as a thief?
Well, that's what it says there.
Okay, it says in the thief as a knight.
Now, going back to what we read
in Revelation chapter 3,
where Jesus Christ says,
if therefore thou shalt not watch,
I will come on thee as a thief.
And we saw, hey, that's a negative connotation.
The fact that they're not repenting,
the fact that they're not going back to their old ways,
that their punishment is that
Christ will come back as a thief
and they shall not know what hour
I will come upon thee.
Now, if we keep reading here,
it says here in verse number 3,
it says, now, when we look at this idea
of Christ coming as a thief in the night,
is this a positive connotation
or is it negative?
We saw that it's negative
in the book of Revelation.
Now, if the Bible is consistent,
it's also going to be negative
in 1 Thessalonians chapter 5, okay?
Now, if you're not sure what I'm talking about,
let's just keep going there, right?
It says this,
to whom is the Lord coming
as a thief in the night?
Look at verse number 3.
And when they shall say,
when they shall say,
now, brethren, who's they?
We have Paul right into the Thessalonian church.
When he's right into the church,
the church says, they.
Who's he referring to?
Well, obviously, he's not talking about the church.
He's not talking about believers.
He's talking about the unsaved world.
Look at this.
When they shall say peace and safety,
then sudden destruction
cometh upon them, look at this,
as travail upon a woman with child,
and they shall not escape.
But then he says this,
but ye, brethren,
so this is another group,
ye, brethren, are the believers,
ye, brethren, are not in darkness,
that the day should overtake you as a thief.
So what do we learn there?
He says to the unbelieving world,
to them that say peace and safety,
Christ is coming back as a thief to them.
Right?
You don't know when the thief comes.
You know, they're not watching
for the coming of the Lord.
Hey, but ye, brethren,
are not in darkness.
Right?
The thief comes in the dark.
The thief comes at night.
But you, brethren,
you're not in darkness,
that the day should overtake you as a thief.
In other words,
it's not going to overtake you as a thief.
You know, for believers,
the coming of Christ is not one
that should be seen as a thief in the night.
It is for the unbelieving world.
That idea of Christ coming back as a thief
is a negative attribute
to those that are not watching,
to those that are not saved.
All right?
Look at verse number,
if you're not sure what it,
look, look at verse number five.
But, sorry, it says here in verse number five,
ye are all the children of light,
and the children of the day.
We are not of the night, nor of darkness.
Therefore, let us not sleep as do others,
but let us watch and be sober.
For they that sleep, sleep in the night,
and they that be drunken,
are drunk in the night.
So the Bible's referring to the unbelieving world
as sleeping, not watching for Christ,
as drunk.
You know, obviously, if you're drunk,
your senses aren't there,
you're not watching for the coming of Christ.
That's a negative connotation
to those that are in darkness,
to those that are not saved.
But for those that are saved,
we are in the light,
we are children of the day,
and the thief does not come in the daytime.
The thief comes at night,
in reference to a negative connotation
with the unbelieving world.
All right.
Now, let's go back to Revelation chapter three, please,
and verse number four, please,
and verse number three.
Sorry, Revelation three and verse number three.
Revelation chapter three and verse number three.
So I just want to show you a few things there.
Christ coming as a thief in the night
is negative for the unbelievers, okay?
For us, we're children of the day.
Christ will not come to us
as a thief in the night.
Now, this is what's super interesting about this passage,
is that the majority of independent fundamental Baptists
will say the rapture of the Lord Jesus Christ
is as a thief in the night.
They'll say, look,
Christ can come back at any moment.
We don't know when he's coming
because he's coming back as a thief in the night,
and we just have no idea he can come back at any time.
But when believers are saying this,
who are they lumping themselves into?
They're lumping themselves into the unbelieving world.
The thief in the night is coming that way.
It's a negative connotation.
It blows my mind because, you know,
preachers say these things.
He's coming as a thief in the night,
you know, trying to make it positive
when it's actually negative.
It's negative in the Bible.
If Jesus Christ comes back to you as a thief,
that's not good.
That's not good for you, okay?
You're almost saying,
I'm not saying they're not saying this,
I'm just saying they're almost saying,
hey, we're like the unbelieving world, okay?
But we're meant to be children of the light.
We're children of the day.
We're not to be surprised by the thief in the night.
But one thing that we learn here, brethren,
is that Christians,
I'm not saying that Christians can lose their salvation.
Of course not.
I'll never teach such things like that, okay?
I'm not saying that,
but Christians that aren't watching,
Christians that aren't walking
in accordance to God's ways,
they can pick themselves up
and place themselves in the position
with the ungodly world
where Christ will come back
as a thief in the night
and they've just got no idea
about the coming of Christ.
That they just can't see any signs
that Christ is coming back
and they'll be caught unawares.
They'll be caught unawares.
But yeah, it's amazing because,
and brethren, let me just say this,
I love our pre-Trib rapture brethren.
I love them.
If they're saved, you know,
if the church teaches the right gospel,
I love them.
I don't want to fight with them, okay?
Honestly, I don't.
You know, there are many great Christians
that are pre-Tribbers,
but they're wrong on this doctrine.
It's amazing because if you just compare
these two passages
which speak about Christ coming as a thief,
it's a negative connotation.
Why would you want to call
the coming of Christ as a thief
when we're children of the light?
This is why we believe as a church
that the rapture is post-Trib pre-wrath,
meaning that we will be aware.
Why?
Because we'll see the beginning of sorrows.
We'll see the abomination of desolation.
The antichrist raised himself,
exposed himself, claimed to be God.
Hey, there's going to be the period
of the great tribulation.
Hey, there's going to be a celestial darkening
where the sun turns dark,
the moon turns to blood,
and the stars fall from heaven.
Of course, when all these things take place,
lift up your head for your redemption draw of nigh.
We're expecting Jesus Christ to come back.
It's not going to be,
oh man, I wasn't expecting that.
It's going to be like,
hey, you know what?
We've gone through this great tribulation.
We've seen the celestial darkening.
Hey, now the next thing we're waiting for
is for Christ to show himself
because we're not children of the dark.
We're children of the light.
We should be made aware.
We should know when these events take place
that Christ is coming back.
But notice the believers in this church,
you know what?
They've been lumped with the unbelieving world
in that sense
where they just do not have the vision.
They do not have the clarity,
the understanding of the coming of Christ.
And they're going to not be prepared
for that time to come.
Back to Revelation 3, verse number 4.
Revelation 3, verse number 4.
Now, I like verse number 4 and verse number 5.
This is something that I preach about a lot
because I realize that a lot of Christians
get mixed up and messed up on this doctrine.
But I want you,
before I read verse number 4 and 5,
I just want to explain to you
a very basic concept.
The moment that you're saved,
your position before the Lord is perfect.
The moment you're saved,
you've been washed by the blood of Jesus Christ,
you've received the imputed righteousness of Christ,
Christ who kept the Lord perfectly,
you stand positionally before God
in that righteousness.
This is why you cannot lose your salvation.
To say you can lose your salvation
is to say that the righteousness of Christ
is not enough.
Hey, His righteousness is enough.
It's all that was necessary for us
to be redeemed
and to be in the presence of the Lord.
Our position does not change.
That's one part of our Christian life.
The next part,
sometimes Christians get this confused,
they mix it up.
It's not our position,
it's our walk.
Okay?
We, you know, yes, we're saved.
The next thing that we need to do
is to walk in accordance to God's ways,
to be in fellowship with the Lord,
to grow in wisdom,
to grow in understanding,
to do the works for God.
And you know what?
And God wants us to do great works,
but the works you do as a Christian
has nothing to do with your position before God.
Your position is based on Christ alone,
but your walk with God is based
on whether you're walking in the new man,
walking in the spirit
and not walking after his flesh.
That is your own personal walk.
That is your own personal works,
keeping the walk of God righteous before him,
in fellowship with the Lord God.
All right?
These are two concepts you must understand.
You must keep them separate.
Don't mix them together
because that's what the,
that's what the false prophets love to do.
They love to mix the walk with salvation
and say, well, you can only be saved,
yeah, you've got to believe in Jesus,
but you've also got to walk righteously
or you're not saved.
You know, that's another gospel.
Now you're mixing works with faith.
So you've got to keep these two ideas separate.
And when we look at verse number four,
this is about your walk.
And then when we look at verse number five,
this is about your position.
Okay?
So let's have a look at this.
Verse number four.
It says,
So these are garments that can be defiled
or not defiled.
All right?
Now it says here there has a few names even inside us.
So we know this is a dead church,
but Jesus Christ says, look,
there's a few in your church
that have not defiled the garments.
The reason this church is not completely dead,
the reason there's still a bit of pulse left
is because there's just a few people left in the church
that have not defiled the garments.
What does that mean?
Look at this.
So when it says and they shall walk with me in white,
what are we talking about?
The position before the Lord
or our walk with the Lord?
Obviously our walk with the Lord, right?
Not our position.
You see, this is a saved church,
but the majority of the church-going people
are just dead in spirit.
Right? They're just doing nothing for the Lord.
Yeah, maybe they're bodily turning up,
but they just don't have a love for the Lord.
The Lord says, look, you've got a few people.
Hey, you might have two or three people in your church
that are still walking with me.
Hey, they're still worthy to walk with me.
They've not defiled the garments.
So this is what I want you to think about.
You know, I'm thankful we have blessed up at this church.
I'm thankful we have new life at this church
on the Sunshine Coast.
But what if, you know, and, you know,
you know, when I say to you that I love my brethren
that I preach to, I mean it.
I mean that.
You know, I don't, you know,
I don't think that we're the only great church in Sydney
and I don't think our new life at this church
is the only great church in that area.
You know what? If there's a church
that loves a little bit, believes on Christ,
they've got the right gospel, you know what?
I'm encouraged by them.
I want to be an encouragement to them.
I want to be a blessing to my brethren
even if they're not part of this church.
All right? Now, here's the thing.
Sometimes people, and I've had different conversations with people.
If this is you, I'm not having a go at you, okay?
But people say, look, I've just left that church
because it's just a dead church.
All right, but what did we learn about this church in Sardis?
It was a dead church.
And God has given them time to repent, all right?
And he says, look, there has a few names even in Sardis.
Why has Christ not taken this candlestick away from this church?
Because there's still a few faithful people in that church.
There's still a few people walking with the Lord.
And Jesus Christ is encouraging these few
that are worthy of his fellowship.
They've not defiled their garments.
They're continuing strong in servitude of the Lord.
And so, of course, listen, because we sin every day,
those garments get dirty every day, okay?
But what do we do when we sin?
When we sin, we should go to the Lord, confess our sins.
Sorry, Lord, I've done it again.
You know, I'm a weak man, I was weak in the flesh.
You know, please forgive me.
Please wash my garments of light.
You know, I want to walk with you.
You know what, we need to be children of the Lord.
We need to continue walking in that light
to have the fellowship with God.
And that's how you're not defiled your garments.
Not that you'd never sin,
because we are going to sin till the day we die,
but the fact that when they do get defiled,
you go for the Lord, confess them,
have them washed all over again.
But don't forget, this is your walk.
This is not your position.
You're not losing your salvation
because your garments get a little bit spotted
as you walk through this world, all right?
So my point, brethren, is this.
And maybe I'm talking to those that are online listeners.
And maybe you say, hey, you know what, Pastor,
I just don't have a good church.
Well, is there a church in your area
that is the least preached in the right gospel?
Is there a church in your area
that is a legitimate church started by another church,
a man that's been ordained in that position?
You know, even, but they're pre-trippers.
They're saying there's a thief in the night, Pastor Kevin.
All right, all right, so did they.
So did these people that were thinking
Christ would come as a thief in the night, okay?
Oh, but the Zionists.
Oh, but they're not, you know, they're just,
they don't preach the same way.
They're not the dispensationalists or whatever.
Well, you know what?
Maybe you can be one of those few names in that church
that are walking worthy of Jesus Christ.
Hey, you might be that pulse
that gets that dead church started all over again,
that gets it fired up all over again.
You might be that small flame
that brings a great bushfire, a great burn, a great zeal,
a great passion for the Lord in that church once again.
You know what? That's what it takes.
It just takes a few individuals to stand up and say,
you know what, I'm going to serve God faithfully.
And you can encourage other people around you
as they see you, they see that zeal of the Lord in you.
You know, don't forget when Christ says
about removing the candlestick,
it's not necessarily the flame has been blown off.
Because when you think of a candlestick,
you know what, whether there's a flame or not,
it's still a candlestick.
The thought that I get about this church is,
yes, in the past it was burning bright.
It had a strong fire.
But at some point that flame blew out.
Hey, but that wick, there's still something in that wick.
There's still some red embers in that wick, right?
And sometimes, you know, it just needs a bit of oxygen.
It just needs a bit of going.
And those little sparks, they can burn once again.
This candlestick has not been removed.
It's just not burning the way that it should.
But praise God for the few, the few faithful
that are in that church that Jesus Christ can still use
that are worthy of his walk.
So my point is this.
It's important that we're in church.
You know, yes, find the best church in your area.
Get plugged into your best church.
But even if all you've got is a dead church.
Hey, if they're preaching from the King James Bible,
they're right on the gospel, right?
They're not against soul winning,
then get plugged into the best church you can.
And try to be one of these few
that can maybe kickstart this church once again.
Bring life, bring fire back into the heart of this church.
So we took at verse number four, that's about our walk.
Some are walking with the Lord,
the majority are not walking with the Lord.
They're far from the Lord, which is why it's a dead church.
Okay, we'll look at verse number five.
It says,
He that overcometh, now we've already belayed this point
many times,
but he that overcometh, we've already seen this,
is the one that is saved.
The one that has trusted Jesus Christ as the Son of God.
They've placed their faith on him,
is the one that overcometh.
So what is this about then?
Our walk or our position?
Well, it's definitely about our position
because it's those that are saved.
That doesn't change.
Once you're saved, you're always saved.
It says, He that overcometh, look at this,
the same shall be clothed in white raiment.
So notice that.
Verse number four speaks about garments that can be spotted
and verse number five speaks about white raiments.
Hey, this white raiment can never be spotted
because once you have overcome, you've trusted Christ.
This white raiment is not your righteousness.
It's the righteousness of Christ.
It's your position.
It can never change.
Praise God for everlasting life.
Praise God that Jesus Christ has paid for it all.
You know, 2,000 years ago when he was nailed to that cross,
my past sins, my present sins, my future sins
were all paid by Jesus Christ.
He became sin for me.
He became the curse for us.
This is why we're clothed in the righteousness of Christ.
Look at this.
So if you're saved, you've been given a white raiment
that will never be spotted,
not like the one that you walk with in verse number four.
It says, And I will not blot out his name
out of the book of life.
Your name can never be taken out of the book of life.
Once saved, always saved.
But I will confess his name before my Father
and before his angels.
Amazing.
Anybody that's been saved.
One day when we get to be before heaven,
Jesus Christ is going to stand before the Father
and before all the angels of heaven
and confess your name, my name.
Hey, you know, Father, this man or this woman
is one that has trusted in me.
They've placed their faith on me.
They walk in the white raiment of my righteousness.
Wow, could you imagine being presented before God
and all the heavenly hosts?
Jesus Christ is naming you, you know, giving you,
you know, honor for being someone
that has trusted him as Savior.
Verse number five is your position.
It never changes.
Your white raiment can never get dirty.
It's the righteousness of Christ.
Verse number four is a garment that can get dirty
as you walk after this, you know, in this world.
We get, you know, we try to keep clean.
We try to keep pure.
Brethren, the thought of foolishness is sin.
You just think about something stupid you've sinned already.
Okay, I mean, not just necessarily what you do,
but what your heart meditates on,
you know, what your mind is on.
These can be sins as well.
But verse number four, as I said, it's your walk.
Verse number five, it's your position.
Please don't mix these things up.
Many churches do.
They mix these things up, and before you know it,
they're preaching some workspace, false gospel
that sends people to hell.
Now, when it says in verse number,
I think there was something that, oh yeah,
if you go back to verse number four,
there was something else that I wanted to mention.
It says at the end of verse number four,
and they shall walk with me in white,
for they are worthy.
Okay, so they're worthy of what?
The walk.
They're worthy of the fellowship.
Okay, because they've not defiled themselves
like the others in the church.
Now, can you keep your finger there,
and please go to 1 Corinthians chapter 11.
1 Corinthians chapter 11, please.
1 Corinthians chapter number 11.
And, you know, not long ago,
we had the Lord's Supper back in April.
And I just want to bring a few thoughts here
connecting together for you.
It says in 1 Corinthians chapter 11, verse 27.
1 Corinthians chapter 11, and look at verse number 27.
It's the teaching here on the Lord's Supper.
And it says in verse number 27,
Wherefore, whosoever shall eat this bread
and drink this cup of the Lord,
look at these next words,
unworthily shall be guilty of the body
and blood of the Lord.
Then it says in verse number 28,
But let a man examine himself,
and so let him eat of that bread
and drink of that cup.
So what did we learn there?
That if you're unworthy,
you should not participate on the Lord's table.
Okay, so what did we learn here?
We learned that being unworthy
has to do with our walk, all right?
So first thing you need to do,
if you're going to participate in the Lord's table,
number one, you must be saved.
Your position has to be right before the Lord, okay?
Standing in the righteousness of Christ,
nothing can change that.
But the next question that we ask,
and this is why, you know, at least in this church
we have a moment of silent prayer.
A lot of churches do this.
A moment of silent prayer
is that we would be brought back
to being worthy in our walk with the Lord, okay?
Because as I said, we sin all the time.
We sin every day, unfortunately.
And before we take of that cup and take of that wine,
a man should examine himself
and say, man, am I walking worthily
with the Lord Jesus Christ?
Am I in light or am I in darkness?
Have I been walking with the Lord?
Do I have unconfessed sin?
So we have that moment of silent prayer
that we can consider potentially unconfessed sin
that we may have,
confess that before the Lord God,
be cleansed, and then we can be back
walking worthily of him.
And then we should participate
of that Lord's table.
But I just want to show you those parallels there.
The idea of walking and being worthy
of participating of the Lord's table.
Can you please go to Ephesians chapter 2?
Ephesians chapter 2 and verse number 8.
Ephesians chapter 2 and verse number 8, please.
Now these are very famous passages.
I'm sure many of you use this as one of your verses
as you go and preach the gospel,
your plan of salvation.
But in Ephesians 2 verse 8, you all know this.
For by grace are you saved through faith.
Amen.
Hey, we're saved because of the grace of God.
All right?
And how are we saved through faith?
How do we attain the grace of God
by putting our faith and trust on Jesus?
Then it says this.
And not of yourselves.
It is not of you.
There's nothing you can do to be saved.
It is only the grace of the Lord that saves you.
It is the gift of God.
It's free.
It's a free gift.
Look at verse number 9.
Not of works.
Lest any man should boast.
Hey, salvation is not based on your works.
Oh, I know I'm saved because I walk.
You know, I'm just a righteous man.
Well, you're not saved then.
Because it's not of works.
Anyone that thinks,
oh, I'm saved because look at how good I am.
You're not saved.
Because it's not of works.
It's of faith.
Faith on Jesus.
Okay?
So we teach that.
You know, we teach it.
It's not of works.
We teach it all the time.
Okay?
Again, we're looking at verse 8 and 9.
This is about your position.
This is about salvation.
But listen, once you are saved, right?
And this church inside us.
Yes, you're saved.
Great!
But then what?
Look at verse number 10.
For...
Again, for is a conjunction.
It's not the start of a new thought.
It's continuing the same thought.
For we are his workmanship
created in Christ Jesus
unto good works.
Does God want us to do good works?
Absolutely!
That's why we've been created in Christ Jesus.
That's why we are the new creature.
So we can do the good works.
But does the good works save you?
Of course not.
It's not of works.
So what are the good works?
Your walk.
Not your position.
Your walk.
Alright?
Let's keep going there.
So...
Notice this again.
For we are his workmanship
created in Christ Jesus unto good works.
Look at this.
Which God have before ordained.
Look at this.
That we should walk in them.
Notice again, the walk
has to do with your works.
Hey, you should walk in them.
But what if you don't?
Are you saved?
Of course you're saved.
Because it's not of works.
Salvation is your faith in Christ.
But now that you are saved,
you should walk in accordance to God's ways.
You should do the works.
Because that's what Christ has created you to do.
He's put that new creature in you.
That you would not walk after the flesh,
but you walk after the spirit
and do the works of the Lord.
That you would serve him.
And brethren,
as long as we have
a few names even inside us.
A few names maybe in Blessed Above the Church.
That are walking worthily of the Lord.
Then it's a candlestick that Jesus Christ can use.
I never want to be a church that is considered dead.
Alright?
But listen, even if we got to a point of death,
I want you to think about this.
Hey, but if I walk worthily,
if me and just a few people
walk worthily,
then there's a pulse in this body.
That there's a flame that can be relit
and we can energize and get this church started
all over again.
Based on the reputation we've had in the past.
You know again, we look at these stories.
We look at these things that are said about churches.
So we can learn from this.
So we'll be encouraged by these things.
You know,
and again I guess I'm talking to the Christians online.
If you are in church and you're like,
Man, I wish I was at Blessed Hope.
I wish I was at New Life.
You might just be that pulse,
keeping that church alive.
So don't leave.
If it's the best church in your area,
don't leave.
You walk worthy of the Lord Jesus Christ.
He looks down and sees what you're accomplishing for Him
even though you might be stuck in a dead church.
Alright, so brethren, in conclusion,
verse number 6,
Revelation chapter 3, verse number 6,
as they often end.
Hear that half an ear,
let Him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.
What is the Holy Spirit saying to you tonight?
You know what I know what the Holy Spirit is saying.
Hey, it's great that you're saved.
It's great that positionally before the Lord
you receive the righteousness of Christ.
Hey, you've been clothed in white raiment.
But my next question is,
how are your garments?
How are your garments that you walk in?
You know, every day of your life.
How do they look right now?
Are they spotted?
A little bit dirty?
You know, could you say that,
hey, no, they've not been defiled.
They're clean.
Hey, when they do get dirty past the Kevin,
I take it to the wash immediately.
I bow before the Lord and say,
Lord, please forgive me.
Help me to continue to walk in your paths.
So I keep it nice and clean.
Is that you?
Or do you have garments that are defiled?
You know, how is your walk of the Lord?
Are you walking worthy of Him?
What would Jesus Christ say about you,
for you are worthy, for they are worthy
to be in my fellowship.
You know, where do you stand right now?
You know, praise God, I know I'm saved.
But I also know that I'm not always walking
the way that I should.
You know, and we can all relate to that
because none of us walk perfectly.
None of us, none of us will ever live a life
that is sinless and without mistake
until we receive a new resurrected body.
But Reverend, I just want you to remind you,
you are an important part of the church.
You are so vital, you're so important.
Each individual person is so important to the church.
An entire church could be dead.
You might be the only ones keeping them alive.
So let me encourage you, you keep serving the Lord.
You keep your eyes fixed upon Jesus Christ,
not worrying about how the rest of the church is going.
You remain faithful walking after the Lord Jesus Christ.
You remain worthy for Him.
Okay, let's pray.