(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

Amen, today we're continuing to talk about the seven churches in Asia and we're here to talk about the church in Sardis. Now in chapter two you had four churches listed and in chapter three you have three more making a total of seven, but it's interesting how these two chapters are kind of structured the same way in a sense because if you think about it, they both start out with the church that's a little bit of the has-been church because if you remember the church at Ephesus had lost their first love, they need to get back to that. Well now we're going to talk about the church in Sardis which has a name that they live but they're dead. So again, kind of a has-been. Then we move on from there to the church of Philadelphia which, like the second church in chapter two, is also a church about whom God has nothing negative to say. Smyrna in Philadelphia and then after that we get to the church in Laodicea which is the lukewarm church, right? They're neither cold nor hot and that kind of connects a little bit to what we saw with Pergamos and Thyatira where they had some right things and some right doctrine and works but then they were also mixing in a lot of worldliness and a permissive attitude toward sins like fornication and idolatry and so they're kind of half in half out in a sense, one foot in the world and so you can see how these chapters are structured somewhat in the same way. So remember these are seven literal churches that existed a couple thousand years ago and they serve as a pattern for us today because at any point in time our church could become like any of these seven churches and we want to make sure that we don't go down a dark path because no church is above this. In fact, in general, churches are born, they live, and they die, okay? Churches don't typically last forever and maybe in theory you could say that they could last forever but guess what, they just don't. Just like people are constantly born and live and die and get replaced, that's the same way it is with churches and typically churches that have been around for hundreds and hundreds of years, they just get more and more dead and more corrupt and more rotten because it's just time for something new at that point, okay? And that's just the way it is. Be like if we just kept somebody alive for 180 years or something, right? Using machines or technology or something. Obviously that doesn't exist but that person wouldn't be very productive at that point, would they, right? Because they're way beyond the normal lifespan or expiration date of a human being. And so that's why we constantly need new churches to start up because my dad used to tell me this when I was a kid. He said never go to the first Baptist church in a town because it's had time to become liberal and that is usually true. But let's look at the church in Sardis in particular. First of all, he starts out in verse number one with the typical greeting where he reveals some attribute about himself. Of course this is Jesus Christ talking and he says in verse number one, under the angel the church in Sardis writes, these things saith he that hath the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. I know thy works that thou hast a name that thou livest and art dead. Now the seven spirits of God. What are we talking about? Well in chapter one there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne which are the seven spirits of God. Obviously that's symbolic. But the seven spirits of God are talking about seven aspects of God's character or seven aspects about who God is. Obviously we know that God is a trinity. He's three persons, one God, Father, Son, Holy Ghost. So what are these seven spirits? It's just seven aspects, seven components, seven parts of who he is or aspects of his personality if you will, or of his character or what he's like, okay? Now here's the thing about that. Jesus Christ is divine, right? Jesus Christ is God in the flesh and when we see that Jesus Christ has the seven spirits of God, this shows that all of the aspects of God's character, everything about what God is like resides in the Lord Jesus Christ. The Bible says, in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. But not only is Christ just as divine as God the Father or just as divine as the Holy Spirit, but he has the same character as God the Father and God the Holy Spirit, meaning that there's not this dichotomy between Father and Son where God the Father is this God of wrath that just sort of wants to torch everybody and then Jesus Christ is the one who's compassionate and merciful. But no, God in general is compassionate. God in general is a God of justice. Both of these aspects are found in both Father and Son because Jesus and the Father and the Holy Spirit, they all have these same aspects to their character. And so we don't want to pit Father against Son, that's very foolish. The Bible says the Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the world. The Bible says God so loved the world, and that's specifically referring to God the Father, God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. And so just as loving as Jesus Christ is, God the Father is just as loving. Don't try to pit Old Testament God against New Testament God, Jesus versus the Father. That's foolish. God is God. And both the Father and the Son are already maxed out when it comes to love, holiness, justice, righteousness, any of these aspects. Now if you would, go back to Isaiah chapter 11. It's interesting because it talks here about Jesus Christ having the seven spirits of God, but if we go back to Isaiah chapter number 11, we actually find a list of seven spirits, which is probably not coincidental. And so let's look at that list, especially because this list is about Jesus Christ, and especially because it's about the second coming of Jesus Christ. And so it's very relevant to looking at the book of Revelation. But the Bible says in Isaiah chapter 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. Now of course, Jesse is the father of David. So this is a way of saying that this Messiah is going to be the son of David, because he's coming out of the branch of Jesse. It says in verse 2, and the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him. So count with me, right? Spirit of the Lord, that's one, shall rest upon him. The spirit of wisdom and understanding, that's two, three. Spirit of counsel and might, four, five. Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord. So there are seven spirits right there. And it says, 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 with equity for 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. So again, this is an Old Testament passage prophesying the second coming of Jesus Christ. And when Christ comes in his kingdom, what we call the millennial reign of Christ, the Bible says here that he is going to be lifting up some and putting down others, right? He's going to be lifting up the poor and the meek and the wicked. He is going to be slaying, right? He's going to be destroying. He is going to be ruling, as we saw in Revelation chapter two, with a rod of iron. And so when Jesus Christ comes back, much of his task is going to be to judge and bring punishments. Not only is it all sweetness and light, but there is sweetness and light involved as we go forward here. It says, and righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins and faithfulness the girdle of his reigns. The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb and the leopard shall lie down with the kid and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together and a little child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear shall feed. Their young ones shall lie down together and the lion shall eat straw like the ox and the sucking child shall play on the whole of the asp and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice den, it's a type of snake. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. So the Bible is describing this idyllic time of peace on earth, but obviously before that happens, God has to clean a house and specifically, who's going to be doing that? It's going to be the Lord Jesus Christ. You know, as we go deeper into the book of Revelation and we find out about all of the cataclysms that are going to be taking place on this earth, the Bible talks about people hiding themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains and saying to the mountains and rocks, fall on us and hide us from the face of him that sits upon the throne, watch this, and from the wrath of the Lamb. Not the wrath of God the Father, the wrath of the Lamb of God, right? Because again, Jesus Christ has the same character as God the Father. He has the seven spirits of God. He didn't just only get the spirit of forgiveness, spirit of love, spirit of peace, no, he got all of the package deal in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. And so yes, God is a God of love, compassion, grace, and forgiveness, but he's also a God of justice, holiness, and wrath. And don't try to separate God and say, well, you know, God the Father is like that, Old Testament God's like that. No, it's just God, my friend. God is God and Jesus Christ is God in the flesh. And so the Son of God has all of the character of God the Father. It says in verse two, the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him. Now what is the spirit of the Lord specifically? Obviously that's just talking about the Holy Spirit in general, but also in this case when it's in a list of six other things, maybe this could be seen as just the spirit of who God is intrinsically, his uniqueness, because there is no one like God. Spirit of the Lord, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord. These are all attributes that Jesus Christ would exemplify to the max, right? Because the Bible says that God gave not the spirit by measure unto him. So if you would go back to Revelation chapter three with that in mind. So Jesus Christ is fully divine. He said that he's the first, he's the last, he's the Alpha, he's the Omega. And so he is the creator of the world. We don't want to downgrade him somehow as less divine than God the Father, because he is every bit as divine as God the Father. So he says in verse number one here, after he gives that introduction about who he is, he says, I know thy works that thou hast a name that thou liveth and art dead. So what he's saying is you have a reputation for being a church that's doing great works and is alive and thriving, but you're dead. You're living in the past. You're riding on your past reputation and your past achievements. But to judge you presently, you're a dead church. So he says, be watchful and strengthen the things which remain that are ready to die, right? There's still a little bit of life left in this church. So find those parts that are still living the things that are ready to die and strengthen those things for I've not found thy works perfect before God. Remember therefore, just like he told the church at Ephesus, remember therefore from whence thou art fallen and repent. Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard and hold fast and repent. I'm going to come back to verse three, but let's jump down to verse four for just a moment. It says thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments and they shall walk with me in white for they are worthy. Now what we see here is that this church is a pretty messed up church because for him to say, well, you have a few names even in Sardis. That term even in Sardis makes it sound like that's even kind of surprising that there's anybody in this church that's on fire for God, that's living right, that's serving God. He's like, man, even in Sardis, there are a few names that have not defiled their garments. So the church is pretty dead. It's got some serious problems, but there are a few faithful people that are there and they're still doing well and it says they shall walk with me in white for they are worthy. Notice that he's not telling them, hey, you guys stop going to that church. You shouldn't even be going there. Get out of there. Go somewhere else. He's praising them for even though they are in a dead church, they're still serving God and doing their best. And this is a lesson that a lot of people out there in internet land need to learn is that God commands us to go to church, okay? We are supposed to go to church, the Bible says, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as the manner of some is, but exhorting one another and so much the more as we see the day approaching, we don't need less church today in 2023, we need more church. And so if God is telling us not to forsake the assembly, don't forsake the assembly. But here's what you'll have people tell you, even here in the United States where there's a Baptist church on every corner, you'll have people telling you like, oh, well I just don't go to church because there's no good church in my area. First of all, I really doubt that that's true. Unless you live in some super rural area, some super small town, there's going to be a pretty good church area. If you live in a big city or something and people will be like, no, I've tried them all, they're all bad, well then maybe you're setting the bar a little bit too high because here God's looking at a pretty messed up church here in Sardis and yet he's not rebuking people for going there. He's not saying, you know, what are you doing in that dead church? He's just praising them for doing right in the church that they have. I mean, look, they live in Sardis. They're not necessarily going to commute over to Philadelphia. They're not necessarily going to be able to commute over to Smyrna or one of these other places. They live in Sardis and they go to church in Sardis and they're doing the best they can with what they've got and that's what God expects us to do. You'd be a lot better off being right with God by just going to church in your area, the best church in your area, than to just stay home and be like, oh man, all the churches, you know, they're just too liberal, they're too watered down, it's too dead, they don't have any soul winning or whatever. Well hey, you got to do with what you got. I would always go to the best church in my area. Now look, obviously there are a lot of churches that I wouldn't necessarily enjoy going to, I wouldn't necessarily care for, that I would maybe find a lot of things about them that bothered me, but you know what, if that was the best church in my area, I would go and be faithful and participate and do the best I could in that church. I would do everything I could to be a blessing to that church and get along with people and make it work. I would do the best that I possibly could because that's what I've got and staying home is just not an option. I don't know what, where did this idea come from that staying home is somehow an option? You know, God tells us not to forsake the assembly. You know, the least we could do for our Savior that died for us is to get our butt down to church a couple times a week and just warm a pew. Like how hard is it to just show up and sit there and be there? You know, and yet it's just, oh wow, you know, you don't understand what the churches are like in my area. I know it's a jungle out there, my friend. But guess what, Sardis wasn't that cool of a church either. And yet you have people there where God sees what they're doing, God's pleased with them, God's gonna reward them because they're doing the best they can with what they've got. And again, look, if I were going to a watered down, lame church and there were a great church down the street or in the same town, hey, I'm always going to go to the best church in the area. You know, I'd go to the church that's going to be the best church because life's too short to be in a lame church. I want my family hearing the best possible preaching. I need my wife and kids to be hearing sound biblical teaching and preaching. And so I'm always going to go to the best church in my area. But you know what? You'd probably be surprised to know how low I would lower the bar if it meant just going versus not going. I'll pretty much go period, OK, because I'm just not going to stay home. I'm just not going to do it. I would go, you know, well, what if yes, because staying home just isn't an option. You go to the best church in your area. And look, if you're willing to commute to a better church, so much the better. Hey, I don't think there's anything wrong with driving a little further to go to something better. Staying home and you say, well, I got the faithful word live stream. Look, that's not church. And look, I'm all for people listening to my service online and I'm glad people listen to my service online. But that isn't church and doesn't substitute going to your local church in your area and physically attending church. It's important that you actually do that and say, well, what's the difference? Well, here's the difference. One's right and one's wrong. That's the difference. You know, it's sort of like a man and a woman who live together and they're married versus a man and woman who live together and they're not married. You know, a lot of, there's a lot of similarities there, but there's one big colossal difference. One of them's right and one of them's wrong. Okay. And here's what makes it right to go to church. It's obeying God. And here's what makes it wrong to forsake the assembly. It's disobeying God. Any questions? Right. And you say, well, I get just as much out of it at home. Oh, well, I'm so glad that you get as much out of living with a woman than you would if you'd been married to that woman. But guess what? It doesn't make it right. You got to obey the Lord, right? And he wants us to be physically showing up, attending church, assembling together with God's people. And you know, when you look at these churches in Revelation two and three, they've got some serious problems. I mean, remember that woman Jezebel, and she's calling herself a prophetess and she's seducing the servants of God. I mean, all of this junk with idolatry and fornication going on in the church. And yet God's not done with these churches. God's still giving them space to repent. God's still trying to work with them. Sardis has a name that they live and are dead, but God is still using them. God is still blessing the individuals in that church that are doing right. And so we don't want to just give up that easily. In fact, just don't give up at all. You just go to church. Now it is true that sometimes people who are living in foreign countries literally don't have a decent church in their area. That can be the case. But I'm talking primarily to a United States audience. You know, the vast majority of people that are listening to me are in the United States. And I'm telling you, if you're in the US, there's an acceptable church for you to go to. I mean, look, I talked to a guy one time. A guy called me. He lived on an island, OK, off the coast of Scotland, this tiny island. And he was like 90 years old. And he called me. This is in the first year of our church's existence. This guy called me up in 2006 and he was trying to encourage me. He said, you've got to go on, Stephen, don't quit. And so he was telling me this and he said, he said, I'm on an island. I literally live on an island. And he said, I have two options for church. He said, I've got the Baptist Church that's using the NIV and I've got the Presbyterian Church that's using the King James. Which one do I go to? I said, go to the Presbyterian Church with the King James because I don't want to listen to the NIV. It's not even the word of God. It's too corrupt. Now, look, that's a pretty bad choice. But guess what? He's in church, you know, and look, there are a lot of problems with Protestant churches. But you know what? God's going to bless that guy for being in church then to just be staying home. Okay. And so you got to do something. Okay. And that's what the Bible is saying. And you say, well, I don't agree with. But here's the look at these seven churches. Look at the problems that some of them have. And yet God is praising the people who are doing right in those churches. But what does he have to say about the people who have forsaken the assembly? Nothing positive. Okay. And so he says in verse one here, I know thy works that thou is a name that thou liveth and are dead. And you know, in many ways, this is the old IFB. And don't get me wrong, because there are a lot of so called old IFB churches out there that are still great churches, not just okay, but they're great. I mean, they're red hot preaching, soul winning churches, they're on fire for God. And you know, they may not have our exact beliefs or be friends with us or even like us. But man, there are some great churches out there in that movement. But let me just generalize, that movement has a name that it lives and is dead in a lot of ways. I mean, there's just a lot of churches in that movement that are just declining. The preaching is declining, the soul winning is declining. They're scaling back their soul winning, they're doing less, not more. The preaching is getting watered down, churches are getting smaller. It's all old heads. And and it's just, that's just that's just the reality. Now I'm sure you could point to wonderful exceptions. And I agree with you that there are a lot of great old IFB churches. And don't be offended by me calling them the old IFB because that's what they call themselves now. By the way, it's funny, there's a there's a group on there's this huge group on Facebook that like, I don't know, 20 some thousand members or 30 some thousand, it's like we're the old IFB, you know, so they've embraced that title, apparently. But here's the thing about that. You know, they have a name that they live in or dead. You know, I hope that many churches in the old IFB would be watchful and strengthen the things that remain that are ready to die. And I think that a lot of these churches in the old IFB could be revived, they could be fired up once again, they could be jump started. And so you know, if we have some zealous children of God out there that are going to these type of churches, you know, maybe God could use them to reinvigorate the soul winning program, maybe start up so many not to argue with the pastor about doctrine or try to straighten them out on end times prophecy or something, you know, but try to get soul winning started. Right? Try to get them out knocking doors again. Maybe just help invigorate that program, or at least participate in it or and if it has ceased to exist, see if you can start it up again and get it going. Be watchful and strengthen the things which remain that are ready to die. Because God looks down at this dead church and he says, I've not found your works perfect before God. Remember, therefore, how thou hast received and heard and hold fast and repent. You know, it's easy for any of us to start living in the past, and just thinking about glory days, instead of actually forging ahead and doing new works for God. I'm really not interested in sitting around talking about all the achievements of 15 years ago, or 10 years ago, or five years ago, like, Oh, man, the good old days. Now, what I'm interested in is what our church is doing in 2023. I'm interested in what we're going to do in 2024, God willing, but really, I don't have a lot of interest in just continually thinking about and rehashing all the great achievements of the past. Because the thing is, we want to make sure that we're moving forward and not becoming just a has been of a church, right? We want to keep moving forward. And so I remember when I was in Bible college, there'd be so many preachers that would get up and just keep telling the same stories over and over again from decades earlier about these great outpourings of the Holy Spirit and, and just all these people getting saved and just all these great works and how they were greatly used by God on this trip and this thing and that. And then I'd go down to the library because I like to listen to a lot of audio preaching. And so I'd go down to the library and they had a lot of cassettes that you could check out the library. You could check out five at a time. I was just always checking out five every day. Every day I went to school, I'd check out five new tapes, go in, swap them out for the next five, next five, next five. But you know what I started to notice is that these guys were on like a four year rotation with some of their sermons because they, you know, the typical college students there for four years and I just kept hearing those same stories and the same stories and the same stories. And you know what I kept thinking to myself is, you know, I want to see some of this now. I want to hear something like this that's happening today, not when you were 20, when you were 25. What about right now? You know, if you just wielded the great power of God 30 years ago, it's funny how I don't see you wielding it now. Where, you know, where's the Lord God of Elijah, right? Where is the evidence now instead of having to harken back decades to tell us a story about being used greatly by God. We don't want to ever become some washed up has-been who sits around talking about the past. The thing that, whatever's done is done, okay? What matters now are the mission strips that we're planning for the future, the soul winning that we're going to do this year. And by the way, that's not just for our church. How about your personal life, right? Look forward. Do great things for God in the future today, tomorrow, whatever you did yesterday, great. But sitting around and thinking about it too much can just make you become a little bit of a has-been. And so you don't want to just ride on that past glory. I mean, here's the thing. Our church has a big reputation. You know, we could really slow down for years before people figured it out, you know, and we'd just be riding on all of our past glory and all the past reputation. That's not what we're going to do, right? We're going to keep on ramping things up and keep on pushing it hard, keep on preaching hard, soul winning hard, planning new mission strips and doing it all. We don't want to live in the past. But he says, fix this, right? Repent, fix it. He says, if therefore thou shalt not watch, now what does it mean to watch? To watch in a biblical context means to be awake, to stay awake, alert and knowing what's going on. He says, 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. Now obviously this is talking literally to that church back then about their literal situation, but there's also a little bit of symbolism for the end times here, isn't there? Because the Bible talks about Christ's second coming being as a thief in the night. And he says, watch therefore for you know not what hour your Lord doth come and so forth. Here's what I find kind of funny, is that the old IFB which has a name that they live and are dead in general, are the same ones that think that Christ's coming is going to come upon us as a thief in the night. Isn't that ironic? Okay, and here's why it's ironic, because God's coming was never going to be as a thief in the night to those who are saved and paying attention. Because the Bible flat out said in 1 Thessalonians chapter 5, but ye brethren are not in darkness that that day should overtake you as a thief, ye are all the children of the 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. And so the Bible says, let's watch, we're not in the dark about the end times, right? We are not in darkness that that day should overtake us as a thief. Yes, we know that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night, but you know what else the Bible says about the day of the Lord? Not only does it say that it comes as a thief in the night, it also says that it will not come until the sun and moon are darkened. Sun shall be turned into darkness and the moon into blood before the great and terrible day of the Lord come. And so therefore, you know, we that are awake, we that know these things, when we see these things begin to come to pass, we will look up and lift up our heads knowing that our redemption draweth nigh. Because we know that these are the things that must come to pass before Christ's second coming. Of course, the old IFB says, well, Christ can return at any moment. Christ can return at any moment. Well then, you know, why do we need to watch? Or it sounds like he's going to come like a thief in the night to everybody then. If he can come at any moment, we'd all be surprised. We'd all be like startled. Like if we were in bed, what if you're just in bed and all of a sudden someone's breaking into your house? That's a rude awakening. It's startling. It's shocking to you. Whoa, whoa, whoa. What's going on? You know, especially people like me, I sleep pretty deeply, okay? I mean my wife's probably going to be the one that shoots the intruder, okay? She'll probably just wake me up just to deal with the body. She'll probably just already have it taken care of by the time I even figure out what's going on. But the point is, the thief in the night, you don't know when he's coming. And he shows up and it's shocking and ugh. But for us that are saved, we're looking for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. We're watching and we know the signs of the times and we can see these things and we know what to look for and what things are going to begin to come to pass. And of course those in the old IFP have sometimes accused us of, they say, well, you know, you guys aren't pre-trips so you're putting a date on the rapture. Really what date is that? Does anybody know the date? Because for all I know, Christ's second coming could happen in this decade or it might not even happen in this century. For all I know, Christ's second coming could be 200 years from now or it could be 20 years from now or it could be, you know, I don't know, it could be five years from now. I don't know. So nobody set a date. That's a straw man, okay. But yes, we don't know the day nor the hour, but did God say, well, you'll never know the day or the hour. Well, how about after it happens? Will we know the day or the hour then after it's over? Or what about when we're actually on that day and the sun and moon are darkened and all these things are happening? Like, do you think then we could say, yeah, this is it. Well, how dare you set a date? It's like, well, what if it's today? So you know, you don't want to go overboard with that. Obviously, we don't know the day or the hour. We have no clue, but we do know the times and the seasons and when we see these things begin to come to pass, then we will look up for our, he says, I mean, look, I didn't make this up. Look up for your redemption draws nigh when you see these things begin to come to pass. That's what I'm going to do, okay. The old IP is just looking up when none of those things are coming to pass. They're just constantly just, you know, it's like, hey, relax, buddy. We might be here a while, okay. Your neck's going to get sore if you're just lifting up your head and looking up, just, you know, rack up all the credit cards and let the devil pay for them mentality or whatever, because it could be today. It could be tonight. Well, that's just simply not true. And you're going to end up paying that bill. I literally that that's real. I literally heard that in a sermon. But he says in verse four, the last few names, even in Sardis, which have not defiled their garments and they shall walk with me in white for they are worthy. He that overcometh. So now we're getting to the last point in the formula, the he that overcometh, right? Because he starts out by saying something about his character or something about who he is. And then he talks about what the church is doing right, what they're doing wrong. In this case, the church seems to be doing a lot wrong because he doesn't really have anything positive to say except, hey, there's some cool people at that church. But as far as the church in general, the only good thing about it is it's past, it used to be cool. Okay. And so they need to straighten things out and they're on life support and they need to resuscitate those last few things that are still remaining. But then he gets to the end where he has this he that overcometh statement. And again, let me just repeat this just in case. Overcoming here is referring to being saved. It is not referring, because a lot of people will try to twist this and say, well you got to overcome temptations and obstacles and you got to overcome sin and you got to do all, like they try to make it out that you have to do all these works to be in this category. But keep your finger here and just go back to 1 John chapter 5, 1 John chapter 5. Because we have to understand the Bible in its context. We don't want to just define overcome as whatever we want, right? Overcome has a meaning in the Bible, in this part of the Bible. When we're dealing with this author of the Bible, specifically the Apostle John is who is writing this. The same person who wrote 1 John is the same person who wrote Revelation. And here's what he says about overcoming. He says in verse 4, for whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world. And this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. It's not works, it's faith. It's not, you know, overcoming temptations and quitting our sins and doing the right thing. No, no, no, it's faith. And then he just spells it out in verse 5. Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God. What's the Bible saying there? It's a rhetorical question, meaning it is no one else. The only person who overcometh is the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God. Don't come up with a different definition for what it means to overcome. That's the definition according to John. It's no one else, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God. This is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. Now, how is believing in Christ overcoming the world? Well, because of the fact that this world has an agenda to get us not to believe in Christ, right? They want to convince us any way that they can to not believe in Christ, right? So they want to convince us that the Bible isn't true or that the universe came from nothing or that, you know, science has disproven the Bible or some stupidity like that. They're going to come at you with all of these different objections and problems, so called with the Bible. Or they'll try to get you to believe, well, you know, salvation is not that easy. You have to do all these works. You know, you got to follow the commandments or, you know, whatever. And they could teach you all of these other things that are out there. And the world's agenda is not for the gospel. You know, TV's not promoting the gospel. The radio stations aren't promoting the gospel, unless it's specifically some kind of a Christian radio station. But you know, the worldly radio stations, TV channels, magazines, Hollywood movies. I mean, do you go to a Hollywood movie and it's like, wow, the whole plan of salvation was right there in the movie. You know, if anything, first of all, they'll typically just ignore the things of God. But if a movie does talk about the things of God, it'll be some kind of a workspace salvation that they come at you with or some twisting of the gospel or twisting of who God is. And all of it, Hollywood, TV, Madison Avenue, you name it, the public school system, is the public school system just like, all right, let's just get one thing straight, kids. Salvation is by faith in Christ. And he that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life. But he that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him. All right, have a great day at school today, kids. Is that how they start out the day? And so therefore, to believe on Christ, you must overcome these obstacles that the world puts before you. They're not physical obstacles, they're spiritual obstacles to try to make it difficult or hard for you to believe. But here's the thing, the gospel is so powerful, it cuts through all that. And people still get saved every day. And God has built his church and the gates of hell are not going to prevail against it. As an institution, again, each particular church tends to be born, live and die. But the church as an institution goes on forever. And so the Bible says here in 1 John 5 that it's faith that is what it means to overcome. Now go if you would do Revelation chapter 3. Now again, this makes perfect sense because in chapter 2, we saw that he that overcometh gets to eat of the tree of life, which obviously grants eternal life, right, gives it more mortality. The he that overcometh shall not be heard of the second death, right? Well that makes perfect sense. The second death is talking about going to hell. You overcome, you're not going to hell. If you overcome, you eat of the tree of life, right? Now sometimes he'll say, well, if you overcome and do this other thing, then you'll get these other bonus package, okay? But here he says, he that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment. Now that makes sense because later in the book of Revelation, when all of the saved get to heaven, white robes are given unto every one of them. So that makes sense that he that overcometh is clothed in white raiment. But then it says this, I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my father and before his angels. Now again, we want to make sure that we properly understand this verse because some people will try to twist this verse to say you can lose your salvation and say like, hey, well, you got to overcome or he's going to blot you out there, buddy. But here's what the Bible is actually teaching. If you study your Bible cover to cover, here's what you will never find, okay? Start in Genesis, go to Revelation. Here's what you're not going to find. You're never going to find someone's name being added to the book of life. And so a lot of people have this idea that the moment that you get saved, you know, Gabriel just pulls out a pen and just writes your name in the book of life. But guess what? That is found nowhere in the Bible. Nowhere does the Bible teach that the moment you get saved, your name is written in the book of life. In fact, the Bible teaches the exact opposite of that. And I'll show it to you right here. Flip over if you would to Revelation chapter 13 verse eight, we're going to look at 13 eight and 17 eight, okay? Let's look at 13 eight and 17 eight. The Bible is talking about people worshiping the antichrist, worshiping the beast. And it says in Revelation 13 eight, and all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him whose names are not written in the book of life of the lamb slain from the foundation of the world. There could be two different possible ways to understand that. You could say, you know, were they written from the foundation of the world or is the lamb slain from the foundation of the world? Yes. Because Christ is the lamb slain from the foundation of the world, but also they were written in the book of life from the foundation of the world. But you know what? That's not a strong enough evidence. Let's go to chapter 17 verse eight and see a stronger piece of evidence. Let's go to Revelation 17 verse eight. The Bible says the beast that thou sawest was and is not and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit and go into perdition and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, meaning they shall be amazed whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world when they behold the beast that was and is not and yet is. Now this verse is unequivocal because it says that they were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world. So the names have been in that book since the foundation of the world. Okay? The Bible is saying that back in the foundations of the world is where those names were written in the book of life. Not the moment you got saved, but rather from the foundation of the world, your name is written in the book of life. So we never see any instance of someone being added when they get saved. But here's what we do find, lots of instances, or at least a few instances of people being removed. So you don't have any addition going on. You only have subtraction going on. Okay? The names are written from the foundation of the world and there's only subtraction that takes place. So that's why when the person who gets saved, the person who believes on Christ, their name is not removed. Their name is not blotted out. Okay? Everybody's name starts out in the book of life. Every single person who lives, their name is in the book of life. It's only subtraction that takes place. So therefore at the end of the book of Revelation, for example, we have the famous verses in the end of chapter 22. You don't necessarily have to turn there, but it says, you know, if you take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, like if you were to edit the book of Revelation and cut things out, he says, then I'll take away your part out of the book of life and out of the holy city and from the things which are written in this book. So he says, Hey, if you take away from God's word, I'll take away your part out of the book of life. In Exodus chapter 32 verses 31 through 33, God says that those who sin against him will be blotted out of his book. Okay? Here's the thing. We as human beings all start out in the book of life when, and this makes perfect sense for a lot of reasons. Here's one of the reasons why, because the Bible is crystal clear that if a, if a baby or a little toddler who's too young to understand these things dies, they automatically go to heaven. Well, it makes sense. Their name's in the book of life. They automatically go to heaven because they have not yet reached an age of accountability where they are accountable. You know, the apostle Paul said in Romans seven, you know, without the law, I was alive once. And he says, but then the commandment came and sin revived and I died. Right? So we all started out as just an innocent living creature. Then when we grow up and understand right from wrong and, and we're no longer innocent and we sin and we understand what these things even mean, well then, you know, now all of a sudden we're dead in our trespasses and sins. And then when we believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, we're resurrected spiritually and now we're saved, right? And so here's the thing. This is how a person's name gets removed from the book of life. Okay? If a person dies without ever believing on the Lord Jesus Christ, if a person dies without Christ, their name is removed. Or if a person becomes a reprobate, even while they're still living, what is a reprobate? Reprobate means reject somebody for whom it is too late, somebody who's past the hope of salvation. If a person becomes a reprobate, their name is blotted out even while they're still alive. If they die without Christ, their name is blotted out. Okay? So basically God's not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. Unsaved people out there, unsaved people out there in their twenties, thirties, and forties, their names are still in the book of life until they either die without Christ or lose their final opportunity to be saved. That's when their name is removed because names don't go in. They only come out and you know, go ahead and search the scriptures. Find me a place where people are being added when they get saved. You won't find it, but you'll find multiple mentions of people being removed. Now it makes perfect sense that he says all those people who are worshiping the antichrist in chapter 13 verse number, what was it? Verse number eight and 17, eight. Is that what it was? 13, eight and 17, eight in those verses, the context in both places was these people are worshiping the antichrist, their name's not in the book of life. That makes sense because once you worship the antichrist, you're a reprobate. The Bible flat out said that if anyone worship the beast and his image and received the mark of his name or the number of his name, the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation shall be tormented day and night and the presence of the holy angels and the presence of the lamb. The Bible's crystal clear that in the end times, obviously the antichrist is not around right now. He hasn't been revealed. There are many antichrists, but the big capital a antichrist isn't here yet. But when he comes, those who received the mark of the beast and worship him are done. They're done. Well, it makes sense that their names aren't in the book of life. They're toast. It's over for them. So if somebody's name isn't in the book of life, it's over for them. Whereas 90 some percent of unsaved people out there, you know, there's still hope. That's why we're out every day trying to reach people with the gospel of Jesus Christ, because there's still a lot of people that can be reached. The majority of people could still potentially be reached with the gospel. And so I just want to explain that when he says here, if you overcome, he doesn't say him that overcometh, I will add his name to the book of life. He says him that overcometh, I won't blot it out. The default is life because God's not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. The default is life. It's only those people who have sinned against God and then not accepted his gift of salvation. That's when God ends up having to blot these people out. That's what happens. So the Bible says that he that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment. And I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my father and before his angels, because of course the book of life is going to be opened at that great white throne of judgment, right, and people whose names are not in the book of life are cast into the lake of fire and brimstone. It says in verse six, he that hath an ear, let him hear what the spirit sayeth unto the churches. And again, let me just emphasize, this isn't just a message for one church, like, oh man, I feel kind of weird, you know, reading Sardis' mail here. No, because it's for he that hath an ear. Even though it's about that church, even though it's directed at that church, it's for he that hath an ear. And this is where the foolishness of hyper dispensationalism comes in that says, well, you know, that scripture is not talking to us. You know, it's only, it's only Romans through Philemon that's talking to us. But no, in reality, the entire Bible is talking to us. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the spirit sayeth unto the churches. You know, all of the Bible, all of the Word of God is profitable for doctrine in the New Testament. Now, obviously, there are some changes from Old to New Testament, but it's all profitable. It's all edifying for us. We need all of it. And so we would do well in 2023 at Faithful Word Baptist Church to take a look at the church at Sardis and say, hey, what can we learn from this? And I think the big lessons that we can learn are, number one, we don't want to live in the past. I don't care how much sowing you've done in the past or how many great works your church has done in the past. We need to do something new. We need to move forward and not dwell on the past. Number one, but number two, even if your church is dead, even if the church does go south or get watered down, do not forsake the assembly. Now, you may switch churches, but not going to church anywhere is not an option. Switching to a better church, go for it. But staying home shouldn't even be an option. Let's, Barad's, have a word of prayer. Father, we thank you so much for your word, Lord, and we thank you so much for this example of Sardis. Lord, help us not to go down that road, but help us to remain zealous for you and alive and thriving as a church, Lord, so that we could have our greatest days ahead of us and not behind us. And in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.