One of the things about having children or working with children (as many of you will this week at VBS) is that you find out how much you have to help them. Sometimes they ask for help because they don’t want to do something, but other times they genuinely need help, don’t they? Sometimes they simply cannot do something on their own.
In today’s passage, we’re going to hear about what Jesus has done for us. We’re going to hear about how He has given us clean clothes rather than dirty clothes. We’re going to learn how He’s opened a door for us that was shut to us, one that we could not open.
We’re going to learn that we have spiritual blessings and promises because of the work of Jesus. We’re also going to learn that we need to hold on to those blessings.
Today’s sermon is entitled “Holding on to What We Have.”
Let’s pray together before we go any further.
(prayer)
Ok, let’s look at our passage today, then see three behaviors that we should take on.
Look at Revelation 3:1-13:
1 “Write to the angel of the church in Sardis: Thus says the one who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars: I know your works; you have a reputation for being alive, but you are dead. 2 Be alert and strengthen what remains, which is about to die, for I have not found your works complete before my God. 3 Remember, then, what you have received and heard; keep it, and repent. If you are not alert, I will come like a thief, and you have no idea at what hour I will come upon you. 4 But you have a few people in Sardis who have not defiled their clothes, and they will walk with me in white, because they are worthy.
5 “In the same way, the one who conquers will be dressed in white clothes, and I will never erase his name from the book of life but will acknowledge his name before my Father and before his angels.
6 “Let anyone who has ears to hear listen to what the Spirit says to the churches.
7 “Write to the angel of the church in Philadelphia: Thus says the Holy One, the true one, the one who has the key of David, who opens and no one will close, and who closes and no one opens: 8 I know your works. Look, I have placed before you an open door that no one can close because you have but little power; yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name. 9 Note this: I will make those from the synagogue of Satan, who claim to be Jews and are not, but are lying—I will make them come and bow down at your feet, and they will know that I have loved you. 10 Because you have kept my command to endure, I will also keep you from the hour of testing that is going to come on the whole world to test those who live on the earth. 11 I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one takes your crown.
12 “The one who conquers I will make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he will never go out again. I will write on him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God—the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from my God—and my new name.
13 “Let anyone who has ears to hear listen to what the Spirit says to the churches.
Ok, let’s learn three behaviors to which Jesus was calling these two churches, and to which we are called as well.
First, we should . . .
I. Be alert.
We must remember that Jesus is speaking to seven churches in Asia Minor. In today’s passage, He’s speaking to the fifth and the sixth churches: the church in Sardis and the church in Philadelphia.
In verse 1, Jesus gives a really tough comment about the church in Sardis.
He says, “I know your works; you have a reputation for being alive, but you are dead.”
Wow! That hurts, right? Jesus is basically saying, “Y’all are fakers! People think that you’re ok, but I know that you’re not.”
Notice what Jesus calls them to do since they are not really alive in their faith.
In verse 2, Jesus says:
“Be alert and strengthen what remains.”
Let me ask you something, church:
Are there areas in your life where people may think you’re doing well but you really aren’t?
Are there areas of our church where it may seem like everything is ok, but it’s really not?
Well, what should we do? We should be alert! We should pay attention! We should make an effort to improve what needs improvement.
Jesus continues in verse 2:
“ . . . strengthen what remains, which is about to die, for I have not found your works complete before my God.”
Jesus continues in verse 3:
“Remember, then, what you have received and heard; keep it, and repent.”
Church, we must remember what we have.
We have the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
We have God’s commission to go and make disciples.
We have God’s greatest commandment to love Him and love others.
We must not let go of these things. We must hold on to what we have.
Notice that the church in Sardis was in such bad shape that Jesus said, “Hold on to what remains.”
Apparently, they had slipped to such a place that they had lost or forgotten what they had.
Church, may we never slip to that place. Let us not forget what we have. Let us not abandon what we have. Let us be alert!
If we realize that we are losing grip on what we have, then we must turn back to Jesus and grip tightly to Him and His blessings.
Notice what happens if the church in Sardis is not alert. Verse 3 says:
“If you are not alert, I will come like a thief, and you have no idea at what hour I will come upon you.”
Remember, church, as we learned last week, God’s grace is wonderful. At the same time, His judgement is fierce.
The church in Sardis was called to be alert, and so are we.
The second behavior to which we are called is to . . .
II. Be cleaned.
Look again at verses 4-6:
4 But you have a few people in Sardis who have not defiled their clothes, and they will walk with me in white, because they are worthy.
5 “In the same way, the one who conquers will be dressed in white clothes, and I will never erase his name from the book of life but will acknowledge his name before my Father and before his angels.
6 “Let anyone who has ears to hear listen to what the Spirit says to the churches.
When Jesus speaks here of defiled clothes, He’s speaking about making ourselves dirty by walking in sin.
You see, without God, we are dirty from sin. We are defiled.
Isaiah 64:6 says, “All of us have become like something unclean, and all our righteous acts are like a polluted garment . . . ”
Jesus said there were a few in Sardis who have not defiled their clothes. This statement means that most had defiled their clothes with sin.
Church, we must understand that our sin keeps us far from God.
Romans 3:23 says, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”
We cannot stand in the presence of God with sin and defilement.
However, Jesus doesn’t only speak about defiled clothes, does He? He also mentions white clothes.
When Jesus speaks about walking in white, He’s speaking about being clean of sin.
In Isaiah 1:18, God says, “Though your sins are scarlet, they will be as white as snow; though they are crimson red, they will be like wool.”
It’s hard to keep stuff white, isn’t it?
I have a couple of pairs of all white shoes, and I am constantly cleaning them.
People will put in a lot of effort to make their teeth white.
When you have white clothes, you have to take care of them in a special way to try to keep them white.
It’s difficult to keep things pure white.
However, Jesus speaks here of those who walk with Him in white.
He also says in verse 5 that the one who conquers will be dressed in white clothes.
Well, how do we get the white clothes? How do we conquer?
Well, of course, Jesus is the one who cleanses us!
1 John 1:9 says, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
In Psalm 51, after King David had sinned greatly, He said to God in Psalm 51:2, “Completely wash away my guilt and cleanse me from my sin.”
We don’t take away our own sin and defilement; God does it through the work of Jesus Christ!
This is why when John the Baptizer saw Jesus at the beginning of His ministry, He said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29)
We do not cleanse ourselves, and we do not conquer by ourselves.
Romans 8:37 says, “ . . . in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.”
1 Corinthians 15:57 says, “But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!”
Friends, we must understand that our sin defiles us and brings us death. However, through the power of Jesus, we can be cleansed and we can be conquerors.
To those who are cleansed and who conquer, our names will be written in and never erased from the Book of Life.
We can talk more about the Book of Life at our next Digging Deeper on Wednesday nights. We’ll talk about it more later in the Book of Revelation as well.
For now, let us recognize that the Book of Life contains the names of those who have given their lives to Jesus, belong to Jesus, and will never be taken from Jesus.
We are cleansed through Jesus, and we conquer through Jesus.
So, let us be cleansed.
“Let anyone who has ears to hear listen to what the Spirit says to the churches.”
Finally, we should . . .
III. Be prepared.
We see these final verses concerning the Church in Philadelphia (of course, not the American city in the USA).
Notice just a few bits of information about this church:
Notice in verse 8 that Jesus says that they “have but little power.”
We need to recognize that this is true for every church.
The Church in Philadelphia could not open the door of salvation, and neither can we. We need Jesus to open the door for us.
Apart from Jesus, we can do nothing. He has the power; we do not!
In verse 9, we see evidence that there is a synagogue of those who think they are faithful Jews but are not.
This so-called “synagogue of Satan” is causing trouble with the Church in Philadelphia, but Jesus will deal with them.
Now, pay attention to what starts to unfold in verse 10.
Jesus is warning the church that something is coming.
He says in verse 10:
“Because you have kept my command to endure, I will also keep you from the hour of testing that is going to come on the whole world to test those who live on the earth.”
Now, we don’t know exactly what this hour of testing looks like. As with other elements in this passage, we’ll look at this more later, but notice that . . .
(1) . . . this time will be difficult (as it’s referred to as an “hour of testing”),
(2) . . . it will be worldwide,
(3) . . . and some will be spared from it (at least the Church in Philadelphia).
So, Jesus is warning them (and by the power of the Holy Spirit, He is warning us) that a worldwide time of testing is coming. We should be prepared.
Jesus follows up on what He said about the hour of testing by saying, “I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one takes your crown.”
Jesus wanted them to be prepared for the reality that He was coming back, and we should be prepared as well.
As we prepare, we should hold on to what we have.
That’s our bottom line for today:
Bottom Line: Our church must hold on to what we have.
Well, what do we have, church?
We have the mission of Jesus to go and make disciples.
We have the command of Jesus to love God and love others.
We have the hope and promise that Jesus will return.
We have the peace of God that surpasses all understanding.
We have the command to love one another.
We have joy in the midst of suffering.
Most of all, we have Jesus Himself.
Until the day He returns, let us hold on to what we have in Jesus.
When we do (look at verse 12), Jesus says, “The one who conquers I will make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he will never go out again. I will write on him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God—the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from my God—and my new name.”
To those who are prepared for the return of Jesus, to those who are conquerors in Jesus, to those who hold on to what we have, we will have a place in the presence of God and the city of God forever.
Challenge yourself in this one way:
Weekly Challenge: Ask yourself what must be done to be prepared.
How do you prepare for the return of Jesus? How does our church prepare for the return of Jesus?
(Gospel presentation)
(closing prayer)
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