Well come back with me please
to the letters to the churches in the early part of Revelation
chapters two and three. We're today at the start of chapter
three looking at the letter to the fifth of the churches. Let
me remind you these are letters to churches 1925 years ago, about
AD 95, led us to seven real geographical historical churches in what we
now know as Western Turkey, in an arc, starting at Ephesus and
then going up to Smyrna and then to Pergamos and then to Thyatira,
and then to Sardis, which is where we are today, and then
to Philadelphia, and then to Laodicea. It's an ark in western
Turkey. You can visit those places today.
These were seven real, symbolical churches, but the message from
the Lord Jesus Christ, who is our God glorified in heaven.
These messages apply to all true churches throughout history,
from Christ's ascension until he returns. And here we are,
1925 years on, as members of that Church of Christ in this
world. Why members of the Church of
Christ in this world? We only know because of this.
We believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. We don't just believe
that a man called Jesus existed. We believe that the man Christ
Jesus, who was born in Bethlehem 2,000 years ago, that that man
is the Son of God, the Messiah of God, the Christ of God, who
came to be substitute and surety for a people, a multitude that
no man can number, that God the Father gave to the Son before
the beginning of time. And in time, Christ came to make
those people qualified for the kingdom of God, for the heaven
of God. How did He do it? By redeeming blood, by His death,
that God who is the source of all life came to die He who is
the source, without him there is no life, and yet he is the
one who was dead. He says, I am alive forevermore
and was dead. He died, why? To redeem his people,
to pay the ransom price to the justice of God for the sins of
his people, to redeem his people from the curse of the law. Cursed
is everyone who continues not in all things written in the
book of the law to do them and we haven't for all have sinned
and come short of the glory of God and the soul that sins it
shall die but he came as substitute and surety to die in the place
of his people and the church is that manifestation of the
kingdom of God in this world in the world which is the kingdom
of Satan the kingdom of Antichrist and let me remind you again I
don't mind saying this every single week it is the theme of
what we come to, it's the basis of our worship. The line of separation,
of demarcation between the kingdom of God and the kingdom of this
world is the righteousness and justice of God. In this world,
the righteousness and justice of God is utterly irrelevant.
Nobody wants anything to do with it or to know anything about
it. But in the kingdom of God, it is the central, key, vital,
irreplaceable thing. You must have the righteousness
of God. Follow holiness without which
no man shall see the Lord. And it's established in the Lord
Jesus Christ, in Him coming. He who was in the form of God
and thought it not robbery to be equal with God came. He left
that glory to one side for one purpose, to come for the joy
which was set before Him. The joy was the people, his people,
his bride, his children, with him in eternal glory. Father,
I pray that these whom you have given me might be with me where
I am and that they might behold my glory. Is that not a glorious
prospect? Are you a believer this morning?
Are you a Christian? Do you call yourself by that
name of a Christian? This is your hope. that you will
behold the glory of the God-man, of the Lord Jesus Christ, who
has accomplished salvation with his own precious blood by becoming
man for us. So that the requirements, the
righteous requirements of the law and justice of God are fully
met in Christ. And how do we fulfill the law?
By belief, by faith in Christ. He has done it all with his redeeming
blood. Now then, what a glorious thing
that is. What a wonderful thing that is, to know that you're
not just a member of a religious social club, but that you believe
a truth wholeheartedly, and you know it is that truth that has
made you right with God, the truth of what Christ has done.
Not your believing, but what you believe in. Get that straight. Not your believing, that's not
a work that you do, what you believe in is what Christ has
done. Now you would say that is all
wonderful but look at the visible professing church in the world
down history and you will see that that which is visible and
professing and calling itself the church is comprised of the
true and of the false. At any time, to greater or lesser
degrees, the visible professing church is comprised of the true
and of the false. Jesus told a parable of the wheat
and the tares. Come the harvest, shall we pluck
up the tares, the weeds, the false, the false wheat? No, he
said, leave it, lest you pull up the wheat at the same time.
The church in this world is always a mixture of the true and the
false. There are some churches and some people within churches
who are in good spiritual health, according to these letters from
Christ. There are some, even those that are true, who are
in poor health. Smyrna and Philadelphia, which
we'll see next week, God willing, Smyrna and Philadelphia were
in very good health, he has nothing, nothing negative to say to them.
Ephesus was good in lots of ways but it was in mortal danger because
you know the one thing that's needful is love for Christ Love
for Christ. Without love for Christ, you
have lost your first love. Without love for Christ, as 1
Corinthians 13 tells us, you're just a noise. You're just a religious
noise. You are not worth anything. But
in Him, in Him is life and light and eternity. Ephesus had lost
that first love. Be quick, come back, take heed,
he says to them. The churches at Pergamos and
Thyatira were good in many, many ways. Good works, good service,
faithful to the gospel of Christ, but they had serious flaws concerning
the tolerance of error and false teachers. We won't go over them
again now. But they were good, but for these
serious flaws that they had. But when we come to the fifth
church, which is Sardis, This is in very, very poor condition,
yet it is still one of the seven symbolical churches. Isn't it
amazing? The church is the manifestation
of the kingdom of God in this world, and Sardis was in a dreadful
condition, and yet it's still one of the seven. Let me read
it to you. And unto the angel of the church
in Sardis write, These things saith he that hath the seven
stars of God, and the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. I
know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest and art
dead. Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that
are ready to die, for I have not found thy works perfect before
God. 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. 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. 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. He that hath an ear, let him
hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. It's very blunt,
it's very brief, it's very much to the point. It was in a sad
condition. It was in a condition of, to
all intents and purposes, death, death. He highlights, doesn't
he, in this letter, amongst the believing people of God, one
of the seven churches, doesn't it highlight the strength of
sin? Doesn't it highlight and show
up the weakness of the human condition, even with the influence
of gospel truth and the Spirit's presence? How weak is the human
condition, even in those that profess faith in Christ? All
of these letters are for our instruction, to guide us and
inform our faith and our conduct in this world. So let's follow
the pattern that we have done so far, but with a slight difference.
So we'll begin by looking at the speaker. This is the one
who is speaking. Unto the angel of the church
in Sardis, the angel of the church is the messenger to the church,
is the pastor of the church of Sardis. God gives a pastor to
each church. There might be others that help,
but there is a pastor. He is the one who gets the message
from God for those people. To the one who is the pastor
of the church in Sardis, write, these things says who? Says he
that hath the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. I know
thy works. If you look over into verse four
of chapter one of Revelation, you will see there about grace coming and peace from Him
which is and which was and which is to come and from the seven
spirits which are before the throne of God. It is not saying
that there are literally seven spirits of God. There's one spirit
of God, one Holy Spirit of God. It's speaking of the perfection
of the spirit of God, of the being of God, of the Godhead,
the seven spirits of God. in him is utter perfection. These
things saith he that hath the seven spirits of God." This is
God speaking, from the very core of the Godhead, if you like.
And he's got the seven stars as well. The seven stars, verse
20 of chapter 1 of Revelation, the seven stars are the angels
of the seven churches, the seven candlesticks of the churches,
but the seven stars in His hand, the men to whom He gives the
message of the gospel, He has them. They're His. They're His. It's His church. It's His bride
for which He will come back and take to be with Him in glory.
This is the One who is speaking. It is Christ who sees all things. You know, we saw last time, he
has eyes of burning fire. He sees. He walks in the midst
of his churches. This is the one eternal God,
the first and the last, who died, who died to redeem. This is the
one who has the sword of the Spirit, the sword of the Spirit
of God, the sharp two-edged sword. What's the sword of the Spirit
of God? It's the Word of God. It's this book. It's the message from God to
his people, a message of redemption accomplished. God in whom, by
Christ manifesting God to us, are hid all the treasures of
wisdom and knowledge. He calls us no longer servants
but friends. What does one do to one's friends? Shows them, shares them his secrets. He's shown us the mystery of
the gospel of grace. And Peter says we have this word,
this sure word of prophecy, until the day star appear in our hearts. What's that? When we go to be
in glory, we do not need a physical written book. This is the word
of God. This is the manifestation of
Christ in this world. But in glory, this will be replaced
by Him Himself, by Christ Himself, by the One who is the Day Star,
the perfect, perfect representation, manifestation, communication
of everything that God is to His people whom He has redeemed
and taken to be with Him in glory. This is the all-seeing Almighty
Judge, who has the seven, the perfection of God's Spirit, who
possesses the seven stars, the pastors, that His message, by
His chosen instruments, might be the message from God. This
is it. This is how He works. When He
speaks, it is God who is speaking. You know, when God speaks, you
don't argue back. You don't argue back, yes, but
you said this and that and the other. Romans 3.19, Romans 3.19,
look it up, that every mouth may be stopped. Every mouth.
When the law comes from God and speaks in the heart of a sinner,
if it's a sinner to whom God is speaking, their mouth is stopped. They have nothing to say. They
know they have nothing to say. They know they're found guilty
before God. They know that God would be just
in His holiness to cast them into hell for eternity right
there and then. But they hear that God is a God
of mercy and of grace. No, we cannot argue with God. Romans 9, 19 says, who hath resisted
his will? The answer, nobody, of course.
Who can resist the will of God? Nobody. He is God. So then, verse
6, he that has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to
the churches. Has he given you an ear to hear
him? This is the voice of God speaking
through his word, by his Spirit. If he's given you an ear to hear
it, then you better listen, and listen carefully. And not only
listen carefully, but act upon what you hear. Act upon it. Do some self-examination. Act
upon it. You know when Jesus said to the
disciples at the Last Supper, one of you shall betray me. And
they didn't all sit there going, oh, we're pretty sure it's Judas.
We know it's him. He's going to be the one. We've
been observing. We've been having a few chats
in the background, and we know it's going to be him. Do you
know what they said? Lord, is it I? Is it I? I can scarcely
believe this. I can't believe this. We've been
with you. How could any one of us betray?
Is it I? Is it I that would do that? This is what needs to be
our spirit. This is what needs to be our demeanor as we come
to messages like this. So then, that's who's speaking,
it is God, again, who is speaking to his church. But think of the
situation now, it's AD 95, give or take a year or two. The scriptures
are complete, except for this book of Revelation. It's 60 years
and more since Christ ascended to glory. There's only one apostle
left alive, as far as we know, the Apostle John, the writer
of the Revelation. There are some churches that
are thriving in living faith. They're feeding on Christ. He
is that heavenly manna that came down. Churches that are in living
heart union with Christ, they are feeding on Him. He is the
manna, that heavenly manna come down, the bread of heaven. I
am the bread of life, said the Lord Jesus Christ. They're in
healthy spiritual condition. They're loving Christ. They're
feeding on his word. They're rejoicing in him. They are seeking to do his will. Some churches are being compromised
because he said there will be false teachers that will come
upon you. Some are close to extinction.
Sardis is one of the latter, a church that looks like it's
close to dying completely. It's a prosperous city in the
ark of the seven churches. In verse 1 it says, you have
a name that you live. It has a name. The risen Lord
says to this church in Sardis, oh you've got a reputation. What
do we mean by that? Well, imagine the situation.
In the good church that was in Smyrna, the only thing it's warned
of is that it is going to experience some severe persecution. There
might even be martyrs amongst them. Many will be thrown into
prison for their faith. It's a healthy hail, hearty church,
trusting Christ, loving Christ. But one of the members and his
family finds that for some reason, for reason of business, he's
going to have to relocate his family to the area of Sardis.
And another believer says to him, oh, we'll really be sad
to lose you, but never mind. There's a really good church
at Sardis. I've heard all about it. There's
a good church there. It has a very good reputation.
There are people there because They've got living faith, they've
got love for Christ, they're growing in grace and mutual support.
You've got a good reputation of a church there. There's enthusiastic
service for Christ and commitment. But Christ, who sees and knows
the situation intimately, he pronounces a different assessment.
He says you've got a reputation. You have a name that you live.
but you're dead. He doesn't say you're close to
death, he says you're dead, you're dead. The pastor and the members
in general profess to be a church but are judged by Christ to be
dead. What a stark What a dreadful,
shocking statement to hear from the Lord of Glory. You claim
to be a church with a good reputation. You're dead. You're dead. You're
devoid of any real characteristics of Christ's people in this world. You know how it is when, in politics,
we're always hearing that some commentator said this about the
government, and it's a really good point that they make. And
what happens immediately? The government has rejected this
claim by these people. The government has dismissed
this claim by these people. You can't dismiss this claim.
You can't dismiss this judgment of Christ. He has judged them
as dead. Their works, verse 2, be watchful
and strengthen the things that remain, that are ready to die.
He says in verse 1, I know your works, but I have not found your
works perfect before God. I have not found your works perfect
before God. They were not found perfect.
You say, well surely none of our works are perfect, they're
all tainted with sin, our righteousnesses are as filthy rags, which is
absolutely true, but do you know by faith in Christ the Scriptures
assure us that God accepts our works. Ecclesiastes chapter 9
and verse 7, God now accepteth thy works. By faith in Christ,
clothed with the garments of salvation, The imperfect, sin-tainted,
fleshly works of God's people are sanctified in Christ's redeeming
blood. But the works of these people
were not found perfect. Because why? No faith there. No true faith there. They are
works of faith that are accepted. They're driven by soul-sight,
the sight of the soul, which is faith, which is the gift of
God, not of yourselves. Many of the professors of faith
in Sardis had no real faith, and so their works were dead,
they were imperfect. You see, it says in Hebrews 11,
5 and 6, and I'm missing a bit out of it, but I'm not taking
anything out of the sense of what I'm saying. By faith, Enoch
had this testimony, that he pleased God. Enoch, a sinner, pleased
God. How did he please God? Without
faith? It is impossible to please him.
Enoch pleased God by faith. by what he believed in, as do
all the people of God. All the people of God, always,
only, please God by faith in Christ. As we look to Christ
and lean on Him, that which is imperfect, God now accepteth
thy works. Show us what the work is that
we should do. You know this, I quote it almost every week
just lately. What's the work that we must do to do the works
of God? Ask the Jews of Jesus. John 6, 29, this is the work
of God. that you believe on him whom he sent. That you believe. What had gone wrong at Sardis?
Belief. Their first love had waned. Belief
of the truth. Sanctification of the Spirit
and belief of the truth. Their belief had waned. The pastor
had become negligent and lazy and slothful. And he'd faded
away from feeding the church with gospel truth. and he hadn't
stuck to him and him crucified, to Christ alone and him crucified. That's what the pastor should
do. You know what Paul said to the Corinthians? I determined,
he said, when I was among you, I determined not to know anything
other than Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Oh, isn't that a bit
narrow, we'll say religious folks? Do you know that Jesus Christ
and Him crucified is the whole counsel of God? Oh, we preach
the whole counsel of God. We try to preach from this part
of the book and that part of the book. Yes, very, very good.
But if you're not preaching Christ, you're not preaching the whole
counsel of God. Paul said that to the Ephesus, that first church. On the beach at Miletus, Acts
20, he said, I have not shunned to declare unto you the whole
counsel of God. Well, how have you declared the
whole counsel of God, Paul? Because I determined when I was
among you to know nothing else than Jesus Christ and Him crucified. That is our message. It's a message
of being made right with God for eternal glory. You want to
go to heaven, don't you? You don't want a lost eternity
of hell. How are you going to be there?
It's because of Christ. Christ and Him crucified. This
is the message. But like Ephesus... These people
at Sardis, their first love had grown cold. You have lost your
first love. Oh, what a fatal condition that
is. There were a few, it says there
are a few names, verse four, you have a few names, even there
it's in a terrible condition, but there are still, this is
why it's still one of the churches. There are a few names there who
had remained faithful, who demonstrated that their names were written,
look, in the Book of Life. You've got a few names, their
names are written in the Lamb's Book of Life. But even they were
in danger if they didn't take heed to the message of proving
to be false all along. So what had gone wrong? And what
do we have to watch out for? And all true churches, what do
we have to watch out for that we don't go down the road that
Sardis had gone down? What had gone wrong at Sardis?
I would suggest it's this, a gradual conformance to the pattern of
the world around them. Sardis was a prosperous city,
like so many where these churches were, a prosperous city, a trading
city, the things of the world would have been very attractive,
the things of the world would have been very enticing. They
were all around, they got on with their neighbors, they had
good conversations with their neighbors, and gradually, gradually,
gradually, they had conformed to the pattern, to the thinking,
to the desires, to the aspirations, to the covetousness, the idolatry
of the people all around them. They'd become negligent in study
of God's Word. It's the Word that teaches us.
Man shall not live by bread alone, the things of this world alone,
but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. They'd
become negligent concerning study. They'd become negligent about
the preaching of the Gospel. Their prayer had become lax and
undisciplined and untrue to God's Word. They hadn't prayed in accordance
with the will of God. They hadn't sought the will of
God and sought His face. They drifted from what Paul calls
in 2 Corinthians 11 and verse 3, the simplicity which is in
Christ. The simplicity which is in Christ. There was a neglect of true fellowship. The church had become more like
a worldly social club with a religious slant on it. There had been a
loss of love for Christ. You know it's so important? As
the Lord Jesus said to Peter, before he ascended to glory.
Peter, do you love me? He said it three times. Yes,
Lord, you know that I love you. You know how weak I am, but you
know that I love you. Jesus warned, Matthew 24 verse
12, the love of many shall wax cold, shall become cold. The
love of many shall wax cold. Why shall the love of many wax
cold? Because they take their eyes off Him. How are we to proceed? We saw it in Hebrews on Wednesday
evening, Hebrews 12 verse 1. Let's go forward looking unto
Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. Because to you
who believe, says Peter, He, Christ, is precious. Is He precious
to you? Is Christ precious to you? You
know, precious things are things that you would be so, so heartbroken
to lose. You would be devastated to lose
that which is precious to you. It might be a piece of jewellery
that somebody dear gave you, and if you lose it, oh, it tears
your heart, but it's only a piece of jewellery, but it's what it
symbolises that causes the pain. But with Christ, to His believing
people, He is precious. To lose Him would be dreadful.
They can put me in prison like they did to John Bunyan, but
I've still got Him. He's precious to me. They can
take me to the scaffold to be martyred, but if I've still got
Him, I've got everything. There is nothing that I don't
have that I need, for I have eternal life in Him. But like
Ephesus, here at Sardis, that love had waned. In some, it had
proven to be non-genuine. Verse 3, he says to them, remember
therefore how you have received, remember what it was like when
you professed faith, the captivation of your heart with grace, seeing
that you are a sinner condemned justly, and seeing the redemption
that is in Christ Jesus for all his people, and seeing him look
and say, this I have done for you. I have died, I have shed
my blood for you, that you might be made the righteousness of
God in me. And seeing that, and believing
it by faith, the gift of God, and embracing it, and knowing
that I am cleansed from the power of sin, that I am dead to sin,
I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet no longer I, but
Christ lives in me, and the life which I now live, I live by the
faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for
me. Oh, when your heart was given to Christ in faith. Give me your
heart, says Proverbs 23, 26. My son, give me your heart. This is what God says to his
people as he brings them the gospel. Give me your heart. Choose
you this day whom you will serve. He makes his people willing in
the day of his power. Oh, what gratitude there was
for salvation. Do you remember that? Are you
a child of God who believed? Do you remember? You didn't just
go along to tick the membership box for those people you wanted
to associate with. You embraced Christ, if you're
true. You embraced him and everything
that he'd done for you with gratitude. Why me, Lord? When there are
so many others better than me, why me? He gave himself for you
because he'd given you faith to believe it. You see, always
in the history of the professing people of God, it is clear that
the reason for ultimate failure to achieve the goal of faith,
what's the goal of faith? Do you have faith? What's the
goal of your faith? Is it not heaven? Is it not intimate communion
for eternity with God who has saved you, with the Lord Jesus
Christ whose glory you long to behold? The thing that gets in
the way of that is unbelief. What do we read in Hebrews chapter
3, verse 19 at the end of it, giving them as an example The
dangers of unbelief, we see they could not enter in because of
unbelief. Unbelief. The root cause of the
deadness of the church at Sardis was unbelief. I know we always
have to pray, Lord I believe, help thou my unbelief. But at
Sardis it was serious unbelief. It was What we saw again on Wednesday
in Hebrews chapter 12, the sin which so easily besets us. We're so prone in the flesh to
the sin of unbelief. Help thou mine unbelief. They
had drifted from wholehearted trust in God, embracing Christ,
loving Christ, seeking to serve Christ, committed to his cause,
hope of the triumph of God's kingdom. into conformity with
the world around them. That's where they'd slipped.
They'd become conformed to the world around them. It's a danger
that we're all prone to. It's a danger that we need to
be on guard for. It's a danger that we need to
heed the warnings in Scripture concerning but all is evidently
not lost. There's an exhortation here.
Verse four, there are still a few. You have a few names, even in
Sardis, where it's so bad, there are a few who are still the true
people of God. It would seem, I'm speculating,
but it would seem that the pastor was true, but had slipped. For
why else would Christ address the letter to him if he's not
a true child of God? He's just slipped. He's a true
child of God, but he slipped. He needs to listen. He's been
given ears to hear. He needs to listen and to commit,
to preach to the congregation, to build up what little true
faith there seemed to be. To take that which there was
that was solid and true and build it up and strengthen it. To remain
alert, verse two, be watchful and strengthen the things which
remain. Focus on the things that remain of true faith. What was
he to do, this pastor? Preach God's truth. Use the sword
of the Spirit. Apply it before the church there
at Sardis completely dies. Think back. Remind them, those
that are faithful. Remind them, those that claim
to have believed the truth. Those that claim to have relished
the gospel. Remind them. Show them their
need of repenting. Repent. Rethink. Turn around
from your direction, you're heading headlong for hell, cleave to
Christ. Seek his presence. Commit to
his service. Claim his promises. He has promised. Look in verse 4, what he's promised. They shall walk with me in white,
for they are worthy. He has promised eternal glory
to his people. The things of this world will
grow strangely dim in the light of his glory and grace. The things
of this world which had enticed them away will grow strangely
dim. They will prove to be broken
systems that cannot quenched the thirst. I tried the broken
cisterns, Lord, but all their waters failed. And even as I
stooped to drink, they mocked me as a whale. Show them what
broken cisterns this world is. Show them the glory of Christ,
the fountain of living waters, the sinless perfection that there
is in Him, the way in which His people are made worthy by grace
and clothed with the garments of salvation. And confirm God's
eternal purposes of grace to those who believe the gospel
of grace. You see, he says, lest I blot
out his name, verse five, I will not blot out his name from the
book of life, the implication being there that if you don't
repent it will be blotted out, but the fact is that the names
of the people of God truly are never blotted out of the book
of life, but those who presume falsely that their name was there
will find in truth that it never was there. Christ is coming. We need the Spirit. We need to
remain true to Him and the gospel of His grace. We need that oil
in our lamps. You know, give me oil in my lamp,
keep me burning, sang that old chorus. And it's talking about
the virgins and their lights ready for the bridegroom coming
for the wedding late at night. And there were some who had been
negligent and slothful and hadn't gone and prepared and made ready
and bought the oil that they needed for their lamps. And the
others had, they were the wise ones. And the foolish ones at
the last minute went when they heard the bridegroom coming.
Give us oil for our... No, no, no, you've been neglectful.
Don't leave it until it's too late. When is the day of salvation,
I ask you? When is the day of salvation?
Answer, the scripture makes it clear. Today is the day of salvation. Today, if you will hear his voice. Harden not your heart, as they
did in the provocation. Because beware, If we're slothful
as a church or individually, if we're slothful in drifting
into conformity with this world around us, he says, beware. He says, I've told you to repent.
Verse three, 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. If they fail to heed Christ's
exhortation, if they continue as they have become without repentance,
and the same applies to any professing believer today, Christ will come
in judgment and remove their candlestick, remove their witness
in this world, conform them to that which they've been conformed
to, the world around, outside of Christ. But he won't come
with a fanfare, not with a great trumpet announcing his coming. He will come like a thief, he
says. How does a thief come? If you're burgled at night, you
don't hear a knock at the door and a ringing of the bell. Oh,
we're the local burglars. We've come to take your possessions
off you. No, they creep in quietly while you're asleep. And they
take the things that you've got. And you wake up in the morning,
you find all those things have gone. No, he says, I'll come
like a thief, quietly. subtly, imperceptibly, that their
apparent death as a church will be confirmed, if they do not
repent, if they carry on. And you say, well, show us some
evidence of that. Well, we live in a country which is brimful
of such evidence. How many churches in this land
where once Christ was faithfully preached and the gospel faithfully
proclaimed, where he was served Enthusiastically, how many have
disappeared in the last hundred years? Countless. Countless. Many of you watching and listening
now used to go to churches, congregations, in buildings, where there was
a faithful pastor preaching the truth of God's Word, and now
you're alone in your home using the internet. We bless God and
praise God for it, but that's the fact. They drifted, they
drifted from the truth, they drifted from the gospel of God's
grace, and Christ removed their candlestick. Our prayer as a
church, our prayer as individual believers, Lord keep us, teach
us, chastise our unbelief, maintain your truth among us until you
come back for your people. Amen.