Brother Gary Sunday Morning 4/12/15

Brother Gary Sunday Morning 4/12/15

Rev 3:1  And unto the angel of the church in Sardis write; 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.

Rev 3:2  Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die: for I have not found thy works perfect before God.

Rev 3:3  Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. 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.

Rev 3:4  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.

Rev 3:5  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.

Rev 3:6  He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.

Sardis was one of the seven churches of Asia.  I was intrigued because it reminds me of the cities of the United States of America.  They are not all located by a beautiful river as Sardis was, but there are many things to enjoy in them. 

Sardis was a very wealthy city in a mountainous region located by a river.  It was the first city that they found that had silver and gold coins.  There was agriculture, livestock, imports, and exports.  It was the first city to have learned the art of wool dying.

It was beautiful and had much entertainment and pleasure.  It had a theatre and kings loved to live there.  It was a city of loose living.  It reminds me of the cities of the United States of America.  I say that because I am not a world traveler. 

Cities are known to sin.  Sin knows no boundaries.  You don’t have to live in Chicago to know great sin.  You don’t have to travel to Amsterdam to buy drugs.  We live in a perilous time.  We live in a sure time if God will help us with His Spirit and His Word.

This message to Sardis was from Jesus, the very son of God.  It was given to the ministry; we see by the sixth verse that it is also given to everyone that has an ear to hear what the Spirit has to say.

As tough as the times of Sardis were there are some positive things to say about the message this morning.  God told them that He knew their works.  God knows our deeds and our doings. 

We know that what we think about is what we talk about, what we do, and what we contemplate doing.  It is a sad testimony that Jesus gave to the Church at Sardis, “You look good on the outside, but there are some real needs on the inside.”

This is not the day to be afraid of difficult challenges, of stepping where angels fear to tread.  It is the last day, the day when we as the Church of God (wherever men and women are redeemed by the blood of the Lamb) that we want to walk worthy of the price that He paid for us.

The song says, “Let me be worthy of the pain that you suffered for my gain.”  As I thought this week of the sufferings of Christ and pled for divine healing by the suffering of the stripes that Christ did.  I believe that there is a greater depth to the thought of entering into His sufferings then, “I was sick, I was snubbed, or I will never get that promotion, because I am suffering like Jesus.” 

God has the best in store for every individual in this congregation.  The world will tell you that you will miss out because you are not dressed in modern ways.  No, you will miss out on a lot of things that before you die and in eternity you will be grateful for missing.

He suffered so that when you and I are in difficulty in life He can come and fellowship with us and help us to know the wonderful things He has in store for us, how much He loved us, and that this is the time we are set aside for a little season in life to reevaluate our priorities: how you spend your money, your time, and your thoughts. 

When you are suffering, you are not “living it up” as the world would say.  You feel weak and vulnerable; you wonder, “Is this something that would bring an end to my life?”  

These are not necessarily bad times but can be good because we evaluate what we have put a value on.  God has not allowed these times for us here just because we are the Paradise Church in a little town in Western Montana, but He has allowed it so that we are not just the church of God that looks right, but are the church of God in action.

May God help us to face the most difficult challenges that through the Lord Jesus Christ, we can be more than a conqueror.

The angel said to “Watch.”  I don’t know if anyone has termed me as being an eagle eyed preacher.  I don’t look around and try to see faults in people in my congregation.  That is not my personality.  But I want to be watchful.  There is an eye watching.  As a minister I need to be watchful.  I beg of you to pray that I be watchful that I sound the trumpet loud and long and clear. 

I want to sound the trumpet in a way that it is a certain sound.  We know the great danger of our garments to be spotted by the flesh.  You will find if I don’t get to it there is a snare that is out there.  It is a ‘party’ snare. 

I appreciate every invitation, don’t misunderstand me.  We live in ‘party America’.  It is said in the Word of God as surfeiting.  May God help me to be watchful, to have my eyes on the goal, to do everything we can so that we don’t need a tragedy to have a testimony.  We want to live so that we are on fire for God without a tragedy happening in our family.  We want our garments to be spotless and white; praise and prayer make them so. 

We want to have praise on our lips not because of the tangible things but that we can know God in living holy and keeping our garments unspotted by the world.  The first thing that the enemy wants to spot our garments with is surfeiting. 

I personally believe that the majority of the good clean things in life that can be enjoyed, hiking, riding a horse, playing a musical instrument… there is no sin in the thought.  But when individuals get carried away with it and with those things. 

It is sad how seldom people go to a public function with a bible, they pack booze, drugs, dressed so immodest that it is a reproach to look at them.  You let anyone take a Bible anywhere and they will walk a long ways around you when they see what you are packing.

I like to fly-fish.  I have a vest and a hat that make me look like I’ve been somewhere.  I can sit at Lake McDonald and sit there with my equipment.  People come by and want to talk to me, “Do you fly fish?”  It is almost like I am a baby they want to touch me.  When I leave my pole in the hotel and just have my bible, rarely people talk to me.

Fly-fishing is fun, but it will come to an end.  Everything of pleasure will come to an end. 

Strengthen those things that remain.  Everyone that has an ear to hear edify, strengthen, and encourage those that are doing their best to in America in 2015. 

When you find someone that is struggling, we will have struggles.  We are not waiting on the antichrist, he is here.  Anyone can look around and say, “I think they are having a hard time.”  Don’t talk to me unless you are praying and getting ready to do something.

Be watchful, strengthen those that are ready to die.  Many die because they are destroyed by the lack of perfection.  We can have needs and bring them to God.  We can say, “God we really need help with this.” 

You may be in a difficult scene in your life with some family member that has done you wrong.  You may have family that is in the divorce courts and you can see a root of bitterness spring up.  You may have family that is going to Babylon.  May we as the church help you to not get a bad attitude about it so that your prayers will not be hindered. 

God sends His word time and time again.  If you have measured and let yourself slip, if you found yourselves going down the wrong road and you repent and then find yourself lukewarm and traveling down that road a little ways, get to God and say, “God with your help I am not going there.”

Among families there can become friction, this one trying to put that one down; that one magnifying another’s problems.  If that happens, then get to God fast, “God I really need your help; two saved people cannot have a schism.”  There cannot be a middle wall of partition. 

We need to have an attitude, “Our children love each other, our family love each other, and we build up each other.  There can be no schism in the body.”  You may not all play the violin alike, but there can be no schism that one is better than another.  Hold that which is good; anything that has slipped repent of.

Wouldn’t it be terrible for you and me to get so carried away with surfeiting, cares of life, and pleasure that Jesus comes as a thief?  I don’t want to rain on a party or for you to not enjoy your graduation, or your anniversary party but we need to know how to keep our garments white.

“Thou hast a few names in Sardis that have not defiled their garments.”

Search me O God!  You don’t have to let your garments get defiled in the cities of the United States of America.  We don’t have to let the times affect our relationship with Christ. 

“They shall walk with me in white for they are worthy.”

There is nothing so important as keeping your garments white.  The only way to do that is to be worthy of the blood.  Be mindful of, “Unless I have God, His Son, and the Holy Spirit in the rightful place in my life I will get spots on my garment.  I will become defiled.” 

Sometimes people get defiled not by what they do but by what they have not taken a stand against and it has left a smudge on their garment.

“He that overcomes will … I will confess his name”

Overcome and Jesus will be interceding for you.  “He that has an ear.”  (I hope that you heard me this morning.  Only because I am the voice that has a message from God this morning.)  “Let Him hear what the Spirit has to say to the churches.”