Seeking for the help of the Lord,
I direct your prayerful attention to Revelation chapter 3, the
portion we read, and reading for our text, verse 4. Verse 4. Thou hast a few names,
even in Sardis, which have not defiled their garments, and they
shall walk with me in wine, for they are worthy." Revelation
3 and verse 4. At the end of the first chapter
in the Revelation, we have the explanation of the vision that
John had of candlesticks, seven golden candlesticks, and then
there were seven stars which were in God's hand. And the interpretation
was that these seven golden candlesticks were the churches and the stars
were the angels or pastors of those churches. There is a beautiful
picture. The Church of God, sinners as
they are, a collection of sinners, and yet set forth as golden candlesticks. In God's sight it is precious,
it is His bride, it is His Church, it is His people that He has
redeemed and that He shall have to be with Him forever. And His servants, They are in
his hand, and the Lord there is in the midst of the candlesticks,
in the midst of the churches. It is a beautiful, encouraging
picture for us, for all time, for the Gospel days, that the
Lord is where the gathering of his people are, and to him shall
the gathering of the people be. Well, then we have in chapters
2 and 3 letters to each of those churches, each of the angels
of the churches, the pastors of the churches. Now, those churches
literally did exist. But these letters, they are representative
letters of the church of all time, not just saying, well,
from this year to that year belongs the letter to the Ephesians. And then the next one, for the
next period of time, no, we may look, examine ourselves at any
time in history at what the Lord says of these churches. And there
is a difference. There is a difference in local
churches. Some, only two of those seven,
have not found anything that is spoken against them. The rest
of them, The Lord finds some fault. That's a sobering thought,
isn't it? Five out of seven churches the
Lord finds some fault with. What fault does the Lord find
with us? What a need there is for us to
search and try our ways and to examine as an individual local
church, which each one of these were, how do we walk, how do
we stand before God, are there those things that though we be
a true church, yet the Lord has reproofs for us? Or are we a
church that the Lord does not have any reproofs? Well, the
Lord knows and it needs us to examine ourselves by these letters
that are before us. Well, the letter in which our
text comes is to the church of Sardis. A church that the Lord
says that he knows their works. Many of them the Lord said that
he knew their works. In fact, I think all of them
he does. But he says of this church that
they had a name that they were alive and yet were dead. A name over the door a name as
if they were a true church, a living church, a live church unto God,
and yet really they were dead, a spiritually dead, a worldly
church, a church that was not glorifying God in the things
that it did and how it walked and is witness in the world.
And there's a solemn warning in verse two, be watchful and
strengthen, the things which remain that are ready to die,
for I have not found thy works perfect before God." And so there
is a warning, there is hope for this church, but there is a warning
to be watchful and to strengthen those things that remain. Something
did remain. Then they're given direction
in verse three, remember, therefore, how thou hast received and heard
and hold fast. Very often with the church, they
have been right at the beginning with God's individual people,
when he has quickened them from the worm of the morning, there's
been holiness, there's been right from the beginning, but then
they're backslidden. As it is said in another church,
they've left their first love. No longer is their first love
Christ, but they are trying to love the world and the things
of the world. And so she is to remember and
look back, and may we as church members do that, remember what
we were when the Lord first quickened us and first called us, how we
did receive the word, how we heard it. And here the exhortation
is to hold fast to that which we had at the beginning 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. So it is a church of which there
are most solemn things that are written against it. And yet in
our text, our text begins with these words, Thou hast a few
names, even in Sardis, which have not defiled their garments.
It's a real caution to us, really. We can
look at a church, and we can look at the outward gathering,
and look at the generality of people in that church, and we
say, what a terrible witness, and how far that church has gone
back. Many things we couldn't commend
and couldn't go along with at all, and yet there the Lord has
a few of his people, even in that church, you might say, why
don't they get out of that church? Why don't they go somewhere else?
Well, obviously the Lord still had his spirit here. And those
faithful few would have discerned that, and they weren't going
to desert, as it were, that place the Lord had his blessing to
be upon. We think of the Corinthian church,
when Paul writes to them, And there is many things wrong with
them, many things he reproves them. Party spirit, I'm of Paul,
I'm of Apollos. Paul says, who is Paul? Who is
Apollos? But ministers by whom ye believed. One sows a seed, another waters,
but it is God that gives the increase. And he had to reprove
them in that way. Are ye not carnal? partial when
you're going after men in a party spirit. Then they had one that
was committing fornication and allowed to continue in the church,
and the church turning a blind eye to him. Many things he reproved
them. When it came to the Lord's Supper,
they were abusing that as well. And yet it was a true church.
There were those that were in it the same as in Sardis. A few
names, not many, but a few, even in Sardis, will not defile their
garments. Great blessing to be amongst
the few. We are told that God's people
in the world are as salt, are as a sweet savour in the world. He are the salt of the earth.
And it can be so in a church as well. One or two that bring
a sweet savour of Christ. One or two that sigh and cry
over the things that are done in that church. And this church
is commended. You might say the church has
suffered to continue because of those. A few names. May our names be
amongst those few, in whatever church we are in, that have this
description, which have not defiled their garments, and they shall
walk with me in white, for they are worthy. Now really, what
is set forth before us here, this church was making a profession, The Lord says that they were
not living up to that profession. A name that they are livers,
that was their profession, and yet they were dead. But these
few, they were living up to their profession. Their garments of profession,
what people saw, when we go out, people see our garments, they
see what we are wearing. With these few, the garments
of their profession were not defiled. They were living as
a Christian, they were adorning the profession with grace, with
that which gave glory to Him that had called them. We are
exalted to show forth the praises of Him who hath called us out
of nature's darkness and into his marvellous light." Well, these were doing that. And specifically what they were
doing, really, they were walking with the Lord here below in the
Day of Grace. Psalm 84, we read, He shall give
grace and glory. No good thing shall he withhold
from him that walketh uprightly. And that is what we have here.
The Lord giving to these few grace, they were walking uprightly,
glorifying the Lord here below, walking with the Lord here. And
the Lord says, when time shall be no more, when death puts an
end to life, then you will walk with me in white in heaven, clothed
in my righteousness, spotless, faultless, before the throne. And the reason is that they were
worthy, counted worthy, through the Lamb of God and what the
Lord had made them. And that's what we have here.
in a simple way of joining together, walking with the Lord here, and
the sweet promise of walking with the Lord hereafter. And
so with the Lord's help I want to just briefly look firstly,
these few, these people, what they haven't done, that is they have not defiled
their garments, which have not defiled their garments. So it
is the first what they haven't done. Then secondly, what they shall
do. They shall walk with me in white. And then thirdly, the reason
The reason given is for they are worthy. But firstly, what they haven't
done. Now, many of the things that
we could look at of what they haven't done, we could look at
in a positive way of what they have done. But the way it's put
it before us here, is what they haven't done. Many of the Lord's
dear people would really tremble as to how their works were before
God. They would struggle to really
wonder, had they walked in the truth? Had they really the faith
of God's people? Did they really, really have
the love of God in their hearts? And that'd be really tried if
you put it in a positive way, in that way. But when it's put
in the way of our text, our text says they have not defiled their
garments. So that is something that they
have not done. Their profession has not been
muddy. has not been ruined. Besmired
with mud, defiled. A few days ago I went for a walk
in the woods near here, didn't realise it had so much rain and
I just wore walking shoes. When I came back, the last, all
my calves, two foot up my leg was covered, covered in dirt. The garments were defiled. The
next day I wore Wellington boots, and that prevented quite a bit
of that. But it was a walk, it was my walk. And the places where
I was walking, how I was walking, it ended up my garments, they
weren't clean anymore. And it didn't just mean as soon
as I walked and was on the road again, or if I came into my house
like that, then my garments were suddenly nice and clean. No,
that defilement stuck to me. It remained there. And so it
is with the people of God. You might think we can dabble
in things. Well, it doesn't matter if we
get a little bit defiled here and there because, well, give
a bit of time and that defilement will be taken away. Or maybe
we can make up with some other good deeds to balance those things
that have been done wrong. But the way it's put here, these
few names, they had not defiled their gum, defiled their profession. Well, what are the aspects of
the profession of the people of God? First one I'll mention
is the truth. Really, the Church of God is
custodian of the truth. God has given them the truth,
and they are to be faithful witnesses of the truth and of the Word
of God. What a solemn thing it is when
those who are said, well, we are Christians, and they are
dealing very economically with the truth, or not walking according
to the truth of the gospel. Are we defiled in that way? In
some way that we are walking not according to the Word of
God and we're defiled in that. Sometimes even the world can
see, they can see the inconsistencies and they can see how those who
have made a profession are not walking according to that profession. It does so much damage. So much damage. The world will
so easily take it up. You've only got to look at our
newspapers, and you get those that have made a profession,
and they're walking in ways of uncleanness, contrary to the
truth, contrary to the word of God, and many blaspheme because
of it. Many say, well, what do you expect? That's what religion is, and
that's what people would do. Epocrates. What a solemn thing
to have our garments so defiled that the world will look upon
us and say, I don't want to be like you. I don't want to be
a Christian if that's what a Christian is. But what about love? One of the
tokens that the Church of God has, we know that we have passed
from death unto life because we love the brethren. But when
the brethren are bickering amongst themselves, fighting amongst
themselves, the Word says, By this shall all men know that
ye are my disciples, indeed, in that ye love one another.
But what kind of a profession is it when what is seen outwardly
is everything but love, bitterness and backbiting? These that had not defiled their
garments, they had not defiled them in that way, walking towards
a brother, sister, in a way very inconsistent with love. But what about faith? The Church
of God is to be a church that walks by faith, not by sight,
the eyes upon the Lord. It is trusting in the word of
God, the Lord is in control, and though all around gives way,
though there is many troubles and distresses as there are in
the world at this present time, what is the witness of the church? Is it one of terrible fear, commotion,
the enemy is in control, Putin is in control, Or is it the Lord
is in control? That faith is like an anchor. In Hebrews we have it, that faith
is the anchor of the soul. It holds the soul fast, because
it trusts in the Word, it trusts in the Lord. Though everything
around might seem so contrary and so different, there is the
trial of faith. We feel very much our faith is
tried, and maybe in secret, and I would emphasize this here.
This is speaking of our garments. Many times the Lord's dear people,
they come before the Lord in their closet, and they have many
things they cannot understand, many things they'll bring before
the Lord. They might come before the Lord
like Asaph did in Psalm 73, where he saw the prosperity of the
wicked, they might have many things to tell in secret, like
with a husband and wife. They can, in secret, before each
other in the home, be open, confide one with another, their fears,
their distresses, their troubles, the difficulties that they have.
But that's a different picture that is portrayed outwardly to
the world. And so it is with the Church
of God. If she's a problem, a difficulty,
she takes it to the Lord. Or she shares it with the brethren. But she doesn't spread it before
the world and blacken her God before the world. I say that
to encouragement. of those who may be really in
the fires and tried and tempted and tossed, and have many errands
to the throne of grace and things they can't understand and can't
fathom, and may speak to the brethren one of another. No church that hasn't defiled its
garments. That's their outward profession.
She's a living church, it's an exercise church, it's a praying
church. He's not just a stoic that can
go through all manner of trials with no fears and nothing to
bring before the Lord. And so there is a difference
in this. Many things will go privately,
Lord interpret this. Tell me this. I don't want to
blacken thy name. I need thee to settle this matter,
to sort this thing out. And what a witness it is to the
church that she has a God to go to. And the reason why she
goes to him, because she doesn't want to defile her garments. The thing that pains her, that
may pain you, is that you will bring reproach upon the name
of the Lord. You say something, you do something,
and the Lord's precious name be blackened. And the thought
of that, it causes you pain and distress. And it is for that
reason you go to the throne of grace. Well, if your trial is
that your garments, your profession is not blackened, you're not
walking in a way where it is like the rest of this church
at Sardis no doubt were. What about the fear of the Lord? God is greatly to be feared in
the assembly of the saints, to be had in reference of all them
that are about Him. But when we have a church that
is just treating the Lord with familiarity, with contempt almost,
as if He was just like one of us. Thou thoughtest that I was
altogether such a one as thyself. The fear of the Lord is the beginning
of wisdom, and it will have an effect in an assembly. Those
that come in, or those that see us in our lives, will see a people,
this people. To this people, God is a real
God. He sees and knows, He hears. This people, they bear witness
of it, the reality of their God. But where the garments are defiled,
one is acting as if God didn't exist and wasn't noticing, wasn't
taking knowledge of what they were doing at all. What about
holiness? We're told, without holiness,
no man shall see the Lord. And again, in secret, every heart
knoweth its own bitterness. The unholiness within and is
a mercy if we can mourn over it and pray, like the hymn writer
says, though his outside be kept clean, he mourns the filth within. And he is the outside, the garments,
and by the grace of God, and I don't mean in this that we
can just be careless inwardly and just be smug to think that,
well, we haven't committed some gross sins outwardly, Because
truly, if the heart begins to go, it won't be long before the
outside is defiled. Well, David knew that as well,
with his adultery and murder. But may we be kept from those
unholy sins, those vile things that walked in and have been
by some, that have caused great scandals in the Church of God
and great sorrows and great griefs. And there would we go, except
by the grace of God. Many of us have gone perilously
close to it, and only by the Lord's mercy have we not been
left. And yet here is a people who
say, have not defiled their garments, or not walking like that Corinthian
church in open wickedness and sin, so that all see it. But then what about the church
in tribulation? The church is in a time of tribulation. The Lord says of his dear people
in Luke 22 and verse 28, the Lord says to his dear disciples,
ye are they which have continued with me in my temptations, And
I appoint unto you a kingdom, as my Father hath appointed unto
me, that ye may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, and
sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And it is a blessed thing if
we are found like the disciples, continuing with the Lord in his
temptations. The Lord, of course, is not here
below. The Lord is above. The word is
still said to his dear disciples and to his church that it must
be through much tribulation that we enter into the kingdom. How
do we act in tribulation? How do we act in the afflictions
that come upon us? I think you know with the account
in the book of Ruth with Naomi and how the Lord dealt very bitterly
with her. She lost her husband and she
lost her two sons. And yet the way that she acted
drew Ruth to her. You know, Naomi didn't cast off
her God. She acknowledged the Lord had
dealt bitterly with her. She'd felt it. But she still
claimed to him in such a way that Ruth says, that she wanted
Naomi's God to be her God. She wanted to be with her. That's
a great witness, isn't it? The garments of profession that
Naomi had in great bereavement and sorrow and difficulty were
such that made Ruth and Moabitess want to be as she was and to
have the God that she had. The Lord blessed her, blessed
her abundantly. You see the blessing of garments
not defiled. What if Naomi had spoken so evilly
against the Lord? He dealt with her unjustly, unfairly. What if she was to walk in a
way that blackened his name? that said to all round about,
my God is unfair. He's not kind, he's not gracious,
he's not merciful. There's no hope, none in him. What a solemn profession that
would be. What is our profession in tribulation,
in affliction, in sorrows, in griefs, You know, when the Lord first
permitted Satan to afflict Job, we read that in all these things
Job sinned not with his lips. Later on, he had many dealings
with the Lord. But in those first trials that
he had, the Lord gave and the Lord had taken away. Blessed
be the name of the Lord. Shall we not receive good at
the hand of the Lord, and shall we not receive evil? These are
the words that he said to his wife. And so these here, these few
names in Sardis, which have not defiled their garments, the thing
that they had not done, And I say again, if our concern, our desire
is that we do not grieve the Lord and we do not blacken His
name before the world, then we haven't defiled our garments. We may have many things that
we regret, many things we mourn over and repent before God. But where we can truly say before
the Lord that we do not wish to speak evil of him. Before
this world, we want our witness to be a right, a good witness. And when we struggle in our own
mind, then we take it to the Lord or share it with the brethren
and seek grace and help to glorify the Lord. That is what the church
is called for, to show forth his praise. This people have
I formed for myself, they shall show forth my praise. I want to look then secondly
at what they shall do. And what we are told in our text,
they shall walk with me in white. The whole picture here is walking. His walking here below is linked
with where we shall walk above. And certainly here, we're not
walking in white, we're not sinless, but above in heaven we will,
clothed in the righteousness of the Lord and washed in His
precious blood. We have the word set before us
in Revelation chapter 7 and verse 14. We have a verse going back
to verse 13. One of the elders answered, saying
unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? And
whence came they? And I said unto him, Sir, thou
knowest. And he said to me, These are
they. which came out of great tribulation,
and have washed their robes and made them white in the blood
of the Lamb. Therefore are they before the
throne." Again, he's washed their robes, washed their garments. But it is a spotless washing. You know, even in our best deeds,
all is stained and dyed with sin. But here is a picture of
a people that were in a body of death, as the Apostle felt
his to be, that were in mortality, but now in mortality, were in
corruption, and now in corruption, that were once had robes which
were not spotless, but they were washed in the blood of the Lamb. And there they are before the
throne. What a picture! Therefore are they before the
throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple.
They have sought to serve him here below, but much accompanied
by sin and burdens and infirmities. And he that sitteth on the throne
shall dwell among them. May we really realise this? Don't
expect sinless perfection here below. Don't expect what we shall
be in heaven now, not what we have, a body of death. The good
says the apostle Paul that I would, I do not. The evil that I would
not, that I do. O wretched man that I am. But
what a blessing by grace to actually have those things that you want
to do, but because of the infirmity of the flesh you can't. And those
things that you don't want to do and don't want to work in,
walk in, then yet again by sin and because of the flesh, you
do, you fall and walk in those. But here is this, what this people
shall do, they shall walk with the Lord in white. We can't picture,
can we, what that shall be. And we mustn't think, well, what
we want, we want to walk before the Lord now in white. We want
to be perfect and spotless now, to have a token of that which
is to come. No. These are they that came
out of great tribulation. What is a tribulation? So much
of it to do with our sin and Satan and the world and the flesh,
the groaning because of sin and tribulation. A tribulation the
world has, common with the people of God, but a tribulation the
people of God have, the world knows nothing of, that they groan
under sin. They know their sins, they mourn
because of them, and they seek and long for that holiness without
a stain. And heaven, where there shall
be no more death, no more sighing, no more sin, No more crying. No more Satan. And Christ shall be walked with
by a people that are now perfectly, purely and wholly. What they shall do. May we be amongst those that
shall do this. We shall walk with the Lord in
white. Do we walk with the Lord here?
Do we walk with Him in love, in faith, in the fear of the
Lord, in tribulation? Do we walk with Him? What a blessed
prospect to walk with this same God in white. Ye are they that are continued
with me in my temptations. May we be of those that walk
here below with the Lord, with his church, with his people,
in this present time state, in a way that glorifies the Lord
here, and that we shall then be with the Lord in heaven white,
walking with him. The precious blood of Christ,
that which is shed at Calvary, was shed to put away the sins
of the people of God. It is Christ's work to atone
for the sins of his people. It is Christ's perfect and spotless
life that is the robe of righteousness that's imputed to a believer.
That is what fits them for heaven. And that is what enables them
to stand faultless before the throne, that their sins are blotted
out and that they are not naked, but that they are clothed in
white robes. May the Lord Jesus Christ be
most precious to us in this. I want to look at this in our
last point. The reason why they are with
the Lord Reason why they walk with him in white, for they are
worthy. For they are worthy. In Revelation
5 and verse 12, we read this, or if we go back again to verse
10, read from verse 10. Thou hast made us unto our God,
kings and priests, I read from verse 9. They sung a new song,
saying, Thou art worthy to take the book and to open the seals
thereof, for Thou wast slain and hast redeemed us to God by
Thy blood out of every kindred and tongue and people and nation.
Thou hast made us unto our God, kings and priests, and we shall
reign on the earth. And I beheld and I heard the
voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts and
the elders, and the number of them was 10,000 times 10,000
and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, worthy is
the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and
strength and honor and glory and blessing. That is where the
worthiness is put. Worthy is the Lamb. Worthy is
Christ. And yet the people of God here
are spoken of worthy, worthy in Christ's righteousness. Worthy because they were what
they were on earth by God's grace. The Apostle Paul says, I am what
I am by the grace of God. No sinner that gets to heaven
will ever say, I attained this blessing because I was good,
I was worthy, it was my goodness, my righteousness, my efforts,
my work that brought me here. No, the cry shall be to grace. Grace, when the top stone is
put on, the last stone, the last one of God's people brought to
heaven, the cry shall be grace, grace. Unto it, every single
one, free, sovereign grace, unmerited favour, a gift from God. And everyone shall feel and know
that. This shall be one thing that
marks out the true Church of God. She shall be humble and
low in herself, but the crown placed on the Lord's head, owning
their salvation is of the Lord. Know Jonah when he was in the
world's belly and crying unto the Lord, He'd run away from
the Lord. The Lord had prepared the fish
and he'd swallowed him up. And out of the belly of hell
cried, I, my cry came up unto thy temple, holy temple. And he says, salvation is of
the Lord. And the Lord spake unto the fish
and had vomited him out on the dry land. How could Jonah have
done that? Jonah was utterly dependent upon
the Lord's, the Lord's mercy, providing the fish, speaking
unto the fish, bombarding him out, not in the sea, but on the
dry land. Salvation was of the Lord, and
every one of God's children, they will know that as well.
They are worthy because God has worked in them His grace, His
faith, His blessings, They have been upon this earth what the
Lord would have them to be, as a church, a church in the midst
of tribulation, a church that was relying on His grace and
relying upon His gifts of faith. And as they walked through this
world, that was their testimony, nothing in self, but all in Christ. It is not in me, it is in Christ. That shall be the testimony.
Now that's what Joseph said. That's what Daniel said when
called to interpret dreams. It's not in me, God. God shall
give Pharaoh an answer apiece. And may we be here below very
clear on that. And may we look solely to the
Lord, to his righteousness, to his grace. to His mercy and have
this blessed prospect that is before us, that one day, one
day we shall walk with the Lord in white. It's a beautiful promise,
a beautiful promise to these few names in Sardis, these few
in a church that otherwise was not glorifying its profession,
And it's a remarkable thing here, the Lord doesn't lump all of
the church together and say you're all one. No, He identifies these
individual members. They were glorifying the Lord. They had not defiled their garments. So may we be encouraged and seek
personally to walk rightly before the Lord by His grace. leaning
on his promise and looking to that time set before us in our
text. May the Lord add his blessing.
Amen.