Thus far, the reading of God's
Holy Word. It is the last part, or the part
in the middle of verse 4 that I wish to draw your attention
to. They shall walk with me in white. It's also on the front
page of your hymn sheets. They shall walk before me in
white. In the Scriptures, white garments
are a symbol of righteousness and of holiness and of purity. It is of a perfect deliverance
from sin and of corruption. It is a beautiful blessing to
these few a promise of being with the Lord in heaven, away
from this veil of tears, to see Him as He is, and to be perfect,
sinless, spotless, clothed in His robe of righteousness, and
amongst that innumerable multitude in heaven. It is a most blessed
promise and blessed expectation of the people of God, and His
promise to hear a few names that are in the church at Sardis. We know that such blessings are
by grace and of mercy, not of works, lest any man should boast. And yet the Lord has said that
it is by their fruits ye shall know them. And the Lord has much
solemn things to say concerning the place where these few were. And I want to look this afternoon
Firstly, at the state of the church where these few that were
pronounced blessing are in, because it's very obvious that this word
does not apply to all of this church. and then what the church
was exhorted to do in its state and its condition. Then we look
at the few, the few that are spoken of, that are blessed here,
and the threefold promise that is promised them. Each one of us that have made
a profession, we have joined the one church on earth And no
doubt many verses we gather this afternoon, we come from various
local churches where we are a member of that church. The letters sent
to the seven churches of Asia, sent to the pastors of seven
churches, they're typical of the churches in the New Testament
age. And we need to really examine
ourselves as individual members of the church, remember the blessing,
is to a few, and so they are pulled out as a number of that
church rather than the church as actually one mass of a whole.
So there is a number, those others in the church, that the Lord
has some solemn things to say concerning. They had begun well,
they'd put on an open profession, they had a name of church, and
Yet a very, very sad decline. The Lord could look at them and
say, yes, they still had the outward profession, but their
garments, the outward walk was defiled. They were no longer
walking as a true church should and close with the Lord. And
yet these few that are in it were marked out as different. And we should really think, well,
as members of a church, as part of the whole. Where do we come
in this? Are we amongst the few that are
commended that their outward works, their garments, their
profession was still worthy of the name of Christ? Or are we
amongst those that have gone away from our first love? We've
departed from the trust in Christ, we've departed from a walk that
is worthy of the name of the blood-bought family of God. We are not showing forth the
praises of Him who hath called us out of nature's darkness and
into His marvellous light. Well, the Lord has a word to
the pastor of this church and to the church, what they are
exhorted to do, and it's good for us, for me, and for you. to look at what they're exhorted
to do. The first thing was to recall,
to remember from whence they'd fallen, or really remember how
they had begun. And it's good for us to remember. I think back to when I was first
called, and the zeal, the love of the Lord, the wanting to separate
from the world, to come out from among them and be separate, to
cleave to the people of God, to speak with them, to speak
of the things of God, to hear the Word of God. You know, I
think of how I desired every opportunity I could to hear the
Word of God. Wherever they gathered together,
wherever there was a group, then I desired to be with them and
to remember how it was with us, how we feared the Lord, what
a tender conscience we had, what joy we had in the things of God,
how we desired holiness and that we hated sin when it rose in
our hearts, when it presented before us, it rose as a black
thing, an ugly thing that we desired to flee from, how we
began to walk in the Word and in prayer, men, women of prayer,
and of fellowship with those that were spiritually minded
and loved and sought out those who loved to speak of the things
of God. We're to remember that, and dear
friends, I'd exhort you, some of you, can remember many, many
years back to think, to meditate of how it was when the Lord first
began with you, and it may be members of a very active and
of a local church, and you might think, well now I'm not part
of that church, and these things don't apply to me, but they do,
you are part, every called one is part of the true Church of
Christ, and you have an influence on those round about you, they're
in the home, And so they are exhorted here, be watchful, watch
what your condition is, watch what is going on, hold fast that
which thou hast. He doesn't say to this church,
they've lost everything, there is something still retained,
hold it fast. And then they were to repent
when they realised of those things they departed from, to confess
it before God, to repent, to turn, and to turn back again
and seek again the old paths and again that first love to
cleave unto Christ and to look unto Him and to strengthen those
things that remain. Strengthen prayer, strengthen
that fellowship one with another and communion one with another
to walk in a way that glorifies the Lord Jesus Christ. This church
at Sardis they were exhorted here to not give up, not say
there is no hope, but to look at their state and condition
and to take that warning that there might be a real change
wrought in them. Where there were those, there
were those here, these few that are mentioned here, that were
different. They hadn't followed that downward
decline that that church had followed. It's really quite an
encouragement in many, many ways. Sometimes we might think, well,
we're so discouraged by all that is round about us and we get
very low and it's easy to follow that path. But here it says,
no, the Lord is watching. He knows those that desire to
be different and that actually grieve the things that they see
and hear and walk in. and desire it to be different
and they are mentioned here as there's promise made to those
that are different and I would really say to you and encourage
those of you that seek that spiritual conversation, that fear the Lord,
that desire, that The pilgrim home there might not just be
a home of Christians in name, but it might be really a Christian
home, really fellowship one with another, and known for men and
women of prayer, of zeal for the Lord, of love for the Lord
and His people, and be encouraged, those of you that desire that,
and that seek to walk in it in your little way. And may it be
that others join with you, unencouraged in that. You know, you've had
those in the home. I will remember many years ago,
Vera Tolhurst. I think she was 103 when she
went to be with the Lord. And she used to have an evening,
a night time. She used to get up and she'd
walk along the corridor. And to those that were sick and
nearing their end, And you stand at their door and she'd pray
for them. And you know the zeal she had for the Lord, the love
for the Lord. And there's been those amongst
you, and I believe there are those with you now, that do have
that zeal and love and desire to really edify and strengthen
those round about you. And I'd really encourage you
in it for your own soul's comfort and for the good of those round
about you as well. Here below, these few, they walk
with the Lord. And yet in this sad church, with
so little fruits of it, there they were found. There they were
found. And it may be, those of you,
maybe others that may hear me this afternoon, may say, well,
I'm in a church, and I'm amongst the people, and it grieves me.
I'm so sad at what goes on and it really pains my heart. I remember
years ago in Australia we were walking on the beach and as a
family and we had these ladies come up to us and they said to
us, are you Christians? And they started speaking to
us and they just poured out their heart how that the church that
they were going to had just declined further and further. and now
they're having days for dogs and pets and they bring all sorts
of things into the Church of God and they said we just sit
at the back of the church and we weep and we cry and it's so
sad a thing that a church that once began well can go so far
away but we need to watch our own hearts but if we're in that
situation may we be encouraged the Lord takes notice The Lord
knows of the sorrows that we may feel. Now, what it is said
of this few, the blessing is they shall walk with me in white,
but in reality what they're doing now, they're walking with the
Lord in tribulation. If it were said of Lot, that
Lot vexed his righteous soul day by day with their unrighteous
or unlawful deeds, those few in this church here, those that
feel pained and sad and grieved. The Lord knows them, He knows
the path. When He was upon earth, He said,
How long shall I suffer you? How long shall I be with you?
Where did He suffer most? From the scribes, the Pharisees,
those that were religious in His day. And yet there were those
that truly loved Him, followed Him. They were despised by the
others. And yet the Lord loved them.
And we are told here how they overcame. They overcame the lethargy. They overcame the discouragements. They pressed toward the mark
and they were blessed by the Lord. There's a threefold promise
here. Not only shall they walk with
the Lord in white, but their names are in the Lamb's Book
of Life. they're not to be blotted out
there, they're securely there, and that's why those fruits are
found with them here below and in the church here below. The
Lord has clearly said that without me he can do nothing, from me
is thy fruit found, and if you and I are to bring forth fruit,
it's cleaving close to the Lord, it is being part of that living
vine, The branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide
in the vine, neither can ye, except ye abide in me. What an
exhortation to cleave to the Lord in tribulation! He shall
give grace and glory, no good thing shall he withhold from
them that walk uprightly. The two things, they go together. And as we near our journey's
end, may our desire be like we had with thee, fellow, delve
in church, that no man take our crown, that we be looking for
that heavenly land, desiring those white garments. And as
we've walked in tribulation with the Lord here, to walk with him
in white. And he has said here as the third
part of this blessing, that he shall confess, I will confess
his name or their names before my father and before his angels. is the most blessed prospect,
dear friends, before a dear believer in Christ Jesus. Those that trust
in His precious blood, those in whom the Lord has begun a
good work and is carrying it on, remember that promise, they
shall still bring forth fruit in old age, that includes you,
dear friends. Fruitfulness, still a union to
Christ, still the Lord speaking through you, to those round about
you, encouraging, strengthening them in the ways of the Lord. And so may this word be an encouraging
word to you, a word that lifts up your spirits and revives that
fellowship. Then they that fear the Lord
spake often one to another. A book of remembrance was written
upon those that feared his name, that spake one to another. They
shall be mine, says the Lord. when I make up my jewels, O to
be amongst them, and blessed in that way. May the Lord bless
this word to you, and may we be found amongst this few, for
they shall walk with me in white. Amen.