SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 2/12/2015
9:53 AM
My Worship Time Focus: The Concern for the church at Sardis
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Revelation
3:1d-2b
Message of the
verses: “I know your deeds, that you
have a name that you are alive, but you are dead…For I have not found your
deeds completed in the sight of My God.”
Now the way that Christ wrote this letter was different
than the others for usually He gave the commendation before He gave the
concern, but not the case in this letter.
Remember the way that John MacArthur began his introductory comments on
this church which we quoted on our first SD for this church, that even when a
star dies it takes many years for those of us on earth not to see that it is
dead. Many people must have thought that
this church was alive and well when in fact Christ tells them that they are
dead. I would suppose that the people in
this church did not know that they were dead, but they were. MacArthur writes “Like so many churches today
it was defiled by the world, characterized by inward decay, and populated by
unredeemed people playing church.”
What is it that causes spiritual death in a church or for
that matter in the people who are the church?
Let us look at a few verses that will explain this: Ephesians 2:1 “And you were dead in your
trespasses and sins.” Paul, here is
telling those believers what they were before they came to know Christ as their
Lord and Savior, and that is that they were spiritually dead in their
trespasses and their sins, so it is sin that causes a person to be dead. Now I can take that a step further and that
is that all people who are born on this earth are born spiritually dead, they
are born with a sin-nature. The story
goes that I heard to help us understand this better, that a funeral director
friend of mine was asked one day by our pastor what would happen if he asked
one of his dead clients what kind of tie he would like to wear. Of course he would get no answer because he
was dead, at least his body was dead and he was not there to answer that
question. Where he was depended on whether
or not he had accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as His Savior and Lord. Point being that we are all born spiritually
dead because we are all related to Adam who sinned with his eyes wide open
while in the garden, not because of Eve who sinned because she was
tempted. Now let us look at a couple
more verses to show that being spiritual dead is a product of sin. “But He said to him, "Allow the dead to
bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim everywhere the kingdom of
God’ (Luke 9:60).” Here Jesus was
speaking of the spiritually dead. “for
this son of mine was dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been
found.’ And they began to celebrate (Luke 15:24).” This is from the parable of the Prodigal son.
“’But we had to celebrate and rejoice, for this brother of yours was dead and
has begun to live, and was lost and has been found’"” (Luke 15:32 another
verse from the Prodigal son parable.) When
you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He
made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions
(Col. 2:13).” But she who gives herself
to wanton pleasure is dead even while she lives (1 Tim. 5:6).” We know that we have passed out of death into
life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love abides in death (1
John 3:14).” I suppose that we could
compare this church and others like it to a museum where there are many stuffed
animals in a setting that looks like they are alive, but in fact they are just
stuffed.
Some of the ways that we can spot a dead church is when a
church rests on what has happened in the past and is doing nothing in the
present to tell others about Christ. They
are more concerned with liturgical forms than spiritual reality, or when the
church focuses on social ills rather than changing people’s hearts with the
gospel of Jesus Christ which is the only way thing that can change a person’s
heart, for in order to change a person’s heart they have to be born from above
with the power of the Holy Spirit giving them a call that they cannot say no to
a call that will change their life forever.
More evidence is that church is more concerned with material than
spiritual things or when it is concerned with what men think about what they
are doing as opposed to what Christ is about what they are doing. When it cares more about traditions instead
of what the Bible has to say, similar to the Pharisees when our Lord was on
earth. MacArthur concludes with writing “Now
matter what its attendance, no matter how impressive its buildings, no matter
what its status in the community, such a church, having denied the only source
of spiritual life, is dead.”
The deeds that this church was doing, as Christ stated
were not “completed in the sight of God,” however they had a good reputation in
the city they were in as perhaps the Pharisees did in their day had.
John MacArthur compares this church with the life of the
Old Testament hero Samson whose story is told in Judges, and I will not take
the time to explain why Samson is a good comparison to this church but take the
time to read about his life in Judges 13-16.
Spiritual meaning
for my life today: There are a
couple of things that I am doing that have something to do with this section of
Revelation. First of all I desire to
live for Christ every day, and I desire to have a clear conscience so that I
can do this, but sometimes my conscience is not clear and I have to determine
if it is Satan who is accusing me or if it is the Holy Spirit who is prompting
me to confess a sin in my life. Early
this morning when I could not fall back asleep I was reading a book by Warren
Wiersbe that is about the activities of Satan and he covered this subject and I
now better understand it. Now what this
has to do with this section is that I do not want to be like those in Sardis
for I desire to serve the Lord, yet sometime things seem to get in my way from
doing it, like being accused by Satan and believing it is from the Holy Spirit. The book Wiersbe writes is entitled “The
Strategy of Satan,” and in the fourth chapter, which is entitled “The Accuser,”
he has a sub-title entitled “Satan’s purpose To Bring an Indictment by God’s
Will.” He begins with these words “Satan
wants you to feel guilty. He wants you
to experience regret and remorse, but not
repentance.” Another thing that goes
along with this subject is from a prayer list that I have and use for our
pastors two days a week, and part of it came from my study in First and Second
Thessalonians where I learned how better to pray for our Pastors. The last point in an outline that came from
John MacArthur’s commentary comes from a quote in the book of Hebrews “Pray for
us, for we are sure that we have a good conscience, desiring to conduct ourselves
honorably in all things (Heb. 13:18).”
The writer of Hebrews is saying that we deserve you prayers because we
have a clear conscience, meaning “What does having a clear conscience
mean? There’s nothing accusing us is how
MacArthur answers this question.” I
would suppose that many of the people in the church at Sardis did have a clear
conscience because they were still dead in their trespasses and sin, not
knowing Christ as Savior and Lord.
My Steps of Faith for Today:
My desire is to love the Lord with all
of my heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to better understand and live in the
love He has for me.
Answer to yesterday’s Bible
question: “He remembered His covenant
with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.” (Exodus 2:24).
Today’s Bible
question: “What was Tertullus’s
occupation?” (This is a tough question
see Acts 24:1).
Answer in our next SD.
2/12/2015 11:07 AM
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