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[0:00] Welcome to Ontario Community Church, where we are encouraging, equipping, and engaging lives for Christ. I'm Pastor Patrick Daly, and today you'll be hearing week 8 of our sermon series through the Book of Revelation.

[0:14] We've been on quite a journey through these seven churches. We started with the church in Ephesus, the church that lost its first love. Then we went to Smyrna, a church that was faithful despite persecution.

[0:28] Pergamum dealt with infiltration and compromise. And this last week, we were in Thyatira, looking at the danger of tolerating false teaching while still growing in love.

[0:40] Today, we arrive at the fifth church, Sardis. And this one hits different. Sardis had something that looks and appears wonderful on the surface.

[0:51] In fact, this church had a reputation for being alive. People looked at this church and they probably thought, wow, they're really thriving. But the words of Christ are shocking. You have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead.

[1:05] Think about that for a moment. A church can look successful, be active, and vibrant on the outside while being spiritually lifeless on the inside. That's a sobering reality.

[1:17] And it's one that every church, including our own, needs to hear and to be mindful of. Here's what makes this letter so powerful. Christ doesn't just diagnose the problem.

[1:29] He doesn't just say, you're dead and walk away from the church. No. In fact, he introduces himself as the one who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars.

[1:41] In other words, he's saying, I have exactly what you need. I love you. And I hold the fullness of the Holy Spirit. That is the heart of the message.

[1:52] It's not condemnation for the sake of condemnation. It is a wake-up call from Jesus Christ, our loving Savior, who wants to breathe new life back into this church.

[2:05] Christ is providing a clear path forward, a way back from spiritual death to genuine, spirit-filled life. And this sermon will challenge you to ask some honest questions.

[2:20] Am I just going through the motions? Or am I truly alive in Christ? Are my good works flowing from the Holy Spirit? Or am I operating on my own strength?

[2:31] And most importantly, what does it mean to wake up spiritually? If you've ever felt like your faith has become routine, or if you've noticed that the passion and joy you once had seems distant, or if you're just simply ready for a fresh movement of the Holy Spirit in your own life, then this message is for you.

[2:52] One more thing before we dive in. As you listen, pay attention to the connection between Revelation and the Old Testament prophet Isaiah. There is this beautiful thread, this connection, that ties together Christ's identity in Revelation with the ancient prophecy about the Messiah.

[3:10] It's going to open up Scripture in a whole new and life-giving way. Let's listen together to today's message. Wake up, strengthen, and walk in white.

[3:23] Well, good morning, everyone. I didn't hear you very well. All right. Well, it's great to hear you. I was like, it's a little bit quiet this morning.

[3:33] That's all right. You guys are waking up. And we just had that interactive reading where it was talking about being awake. So not only is it talking about being alert, but we also got to have a little fun here where we're talking about, let's literally be awake here at this time.

[3:48] Let's turn our Bibles to Revelation chapter 3 here. We're continuing our sermon series through the book of Revelation. As we have been going through the seven churches in Revelation, it's important for us to know that these are not only historical churches, but they are situations for us to learn from, that we can see specific situations these churches went through, and we have to be mindful of them.

[4:14] We have to be alert in this specific context. We find that when Christ is speaking to these seven churches, he is establishing his authority. He also establishes his comfort.

[4:26] I mean, when we went through the church in Ephesus that lost its first love, the church in Smyrna, right? The church that was essentially the suffering church. Then we had infiltration.

[4:37] This last week, we went over Thyatira, where we talked about... Excuse me. Yeah, we went over Thyatira, and now we're in Sardis. It's very interesting to see how the Word of God, it speaks to us.

[4:51] There's so much connections. There's context that we have to consider, as well as the culture at hand. So we're going to go ahead and read from Revelation 3, verses 1 through 6. Are we all there, church?

[5:02] Yes, all right. So we're going to go ahead and read together. To the church in Sardis, let's read. And to the angel of the church in Sardis, write, the words of him who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars.

[5:16] That's very important, church. I know your works. You have the reputation of being alive, but you are what? You are dead. Wake up and strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your works complete in the sight of my God.

[5:34] Remember, then, what you received and heard. Keep it and what? Depends. If you will not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know what hour I will come against you.

[5:48] Yet you have still a few names in Sardis, people who have not soiled their garments, and they will walk with me in white, for they are worthy.

[5:59] The one who conquers will be clothed thus in white garments, and I will never blot his name out of what? The book of life. I will confess his name before my father and before his angels.

[6:13] He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. Wow. Six verses here. We already have a lot of depth that's going on.

[6:23] So, we begin off where Christ is introducing himself, like he introduces himself to all of these churches here. But it's interesting, we see right away, the one who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars.

[6:39] Well, when we've looked previously, the seven stars is representing the, you have the messengers, right? You have the churches talking about the completedness, right? That Christ has the authority, right?

[6:50] We know that seven is a representation of completedness. What about seven spirits, though? You read that, you're thinking, well, what in the world are these seven spirits? What is going on here?

[7:02] Because we know that as Christians, we have the triune God, the Father, Son, and the Spirit. What about these seven here? These seven spirits here? It's talking about the completedness of the Holy Spirit.

[7:13] And I actually want to go ahead and go to, there's a scripture in there, Mateo. It's from Isaiah in here. And I want to show you this from the get-go, because this is something that is very amazing here.

[7:25] It's a connection with Isaiah chapter 12, verses 1 through 2. Some of you may know this verse right off the bat, right? There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse and a branch. You guys remember this one, right?

[7:36] When we're talking about the Christmas season, the Advent season, right? It's talking about how Christ is going to come from, right? The bloodline that's happening. What about that next verse there?

[7:48] The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, right? It's talking about how Christ is going to have the Holy Spirit, the fullness of the seven spirits. In other words, we have lots of qualities of ourselves, right?

[8:02] We're not just angry. We're not just sad. We're not just happy individuals. There's a lot that's to us personally. In the same way, when it comes to the Holy Spirit, there's lots of attributes, lots of descriptions of the Holy Spirit.

[8:15] And we see that this connection in Revelation is what is connected in Isaiah. The Spirit of the Lord, right? So there's one. Wisdom, understanding, counsel, might, knowledge, and the fear of the Lord.

[8:30] These are all describing the completedness of the Holy Spirit. Let me repeat that again. It's not seven spirits. It's seven attributes, seven descriptions that are talking about the fullness of the Holy Spirit.

[8:44] Can I get an amen? Do you understand? Again, this is showing the different attributes, the descriptions of the Holy Spirit. And it's beautiful language when you see that Christ is talking to this church in Sardis.

[8:57] Because Christ is providing this church that is seemingly dead, seemingly dying, and is going to provide the Holy Spirit as the helper, as the comforter.

[9:09] We see that these seven words, right? The Spirit of the Lord, right? It's talking about the presence of the Lord, the presence of the Holy Spirit, right? When we think about our Lord and our God, the triune God, how important it is for the Lord, the Holy Spirit, to be here in this place, much like any other church.

[9:28] That's so important. The other one, the Spirit of wisdom, seeing things from God's perspective, right? And God's perspective is beyond our understanding, right?

[9:39] Sometimes we get insight from the Lord, the wisdom of God. That is beyond us. And it's like, wow, what amazing insight, right? We have the spirit of understanding, right?

[9:50] Which is comprehending the deeper things of God. In doing the research on this, in reading of Revelation chapter 3, when we're talking about these different numbers and symbols and whatnot, it can be very confusing.

[10:04] And it's important for us to come to the Lord and ask that we can have that spirit of understanding, to understand the word of God and how it is connected within each other. We have the spirit of counsel, right?

[10:17] That's also important, to be guided in the direction and the will of God. The spirit of might, the power and the courage to follow God's direction, right? We need to boldly go out and follow in the footsteps of Christ.

[10:29] The spirit of knowledge, right? Where the Lord, the Holy Spirit knows our hearts and our intentions. And he shows us how we can respond to a closer encounter and deeper relationship with him.

[10:43] And then, of course, the fear of the Lord, right? You see that in the Old Testament very often, which is talking about the awe and the wonder of our Lord and our God. So these are the seven spirits here.

[10:54] Let's go to the observation, the what is happening here, right? So going back to the text, right? Christ is establishing himself as the authority, but also he's providing the Holy Spirit to this church that is dying.

[11:09] This church that is seemingly dead. That is an amazing thing. We can think even of how in Scripture, how many of you remember in Scripture how Christ will seek after the lost sheep, right?

[11:24] Many of us, we see that as an individual person. And here we're seeing a situation where Christ is providing help and aid for a church. And that's a beautiful thing that God provides what we need if we are a dying church.

[11:39] May that never be. May we be a alive church, an alert church. And may we be having the fullness of the spirit in this church. But just to know how wonderful that is, that Jesus Christ provides the Holy Spirit into churches that are dying, especially like what's happening here.

[11:59] So Christ is speaking to the church in Sardis. So the church then is known for, and we're going into verse 1 and 2, right? I know your works. I know the things that you do.

[12:10] You have a reputation for being alive. Well, that's good to be known, right? To be known as an alive church, right? We think of churches that are thriving, and there's so many wonderful things that are happening.

[12:23] But wait a minute. What's it say? You have a reputation for being alive, but you are dead? Well, the important thing about this is that appearances are not everything, right?

[12:40] We may see, you may know someone, that it looks like everything is going well on the outside, but on the inside something is going very differently. Well, when we think of individual people, we have to think of this church where it appears everything is going good on the outside.

[12:56] But what is happening on the inside, right? So we have that that's going on. Verse 2 then. Wake up and strengthen what remains.

[13:09] To wake up. Not only is it speaking of an awakening, but it is to be alert. Pay attention. To keep watch. Right? To wake up and to strengthen, right?

[13:21] Is to make firm, to solidify. In other words, this church needs to pay attention and see, to allow for the Holy Spirit to work in and through it.

[13:33] Right? There's a lot of good things that churches can do. Even nowadays, we have got to have the leading and the guiding of the Holy Spirit. That's very powerful and it's an important reminder for us.

[13:47] We think about these things. Wake up and strengthen what remains and it is about to die. That's some harsh language. Let's be honest here.

[13:59] But yet, Christ is providing a way, right? So Christ is commanding to wake up and strengthen their works. It says in the text here, I have not found your works complete in the sight of my God.

[14:13] So their works are incomplete before God because they're missing the spiritual aspect for the good things that they're doing. That's important. To be led by the triune God.

[14:25] To be led by the Holy Spirit to do good works. Let the Spirit flow through you. That's important for us. And so it goes on then.

[14:36] And then we see here, Christ is actually providing a path here. If we look back at verse 3, the first word it says there is to remember.

[14:48] Remember then what you have received and heard. So how do you become more alert? How do you have an awakening as it were? Remember what you have received and heard.

[14:59] Hearing the word of God, the gospel message. To be reminded of these things. How many of you have seen that movie? It's been around for many years.

[15:10] If you haven't seen it, your homework is to go home and watch The Lion King. How many of you guys have seen that? You all should be raising your hand, especially you guys online. You've seen The Lion King.

[15:20] And you see that scene where Simba's dad is coming out and he's saying, Remember who you are. And it's such a powerful scene where it's like, man, you've got the music going on.

[15:34] And it's this call to remember who he is because he kind of ran off, right? He ran away. Now he finds his friends with lots of songs and singing and dancing and growing up for sure.

[15:46] But that scene, that call to remember who he is. We can see that as an echo, kind of as an example of what we're seeing, what Christ is saying for this church. To remember the gospel message.

[15:58] Remember the main thing. The death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ is the thing that we should not forget. And unfortunately, very unfortunate, that is what they were forgetting.

[16:10] The basic things. The fundamental things. The things that matter the most. Is that this church is to believe in the gospel message. Sardis.

[16:20] We also think of us today. We are to not forget that gospel message, right? To remember then what you've received, right? We receive salvation from Jesus Christ. And what we have heard.

[16:31] The message of Jesus Christ. Amen. Does that make sense? Right? So the next thing then is to keep it. Right? It's just like how we've talked about so much in scripture is to let the light shine, right?

[16:45] We're going to let the light of Christ shine. We're going to hold dear to our salvation. We're going to hold dear into what we have been taught. So that we don't forget who we are in Christ.

[16:55] That we are a new creation. That God is setting us on this path to become more like him. We're talking not only about spiritual transformation, but life transformation. That happens here on the earth, but God continues to mold us every single day to be more like him.

[17:13] And I don't know about you. That is such an important and incredible thing that happens from the Lord. That we go through this sense of transformation. And so in here, keep it, right?

[17:25] To remember, to keep, and to repent. Now that's kind of an interesting one. Why is that showing up there? We have to remember the word, the importance of the word repentance.

[17:37] Metanoia, metanoeo, is to change your mind. Before you become a Christian, your mind is to be changed about who Jesus Christ is.

[17:48] That he is more than just a cool teacher with long hair. That he's not just a guru that is walking around the Middle East with sandals. That he's Savior.

[18:00] That he's Lord. That he is the way, the truth, and the life. Talk about a changing of your mind. That is when we receive salvation, but it doesn't stop there.

[18:11] We continue to repent. Our minds, our hearts are to continue to be changed. They are to continue to be transformed as we are being more molded.

[18:25] And that's so important, right? So remember who you are. Remember what you have received. Hold fast to it. Remain in Christ. And to continue to repent in here.

[18:39] That's so important for us. And then finally, in here there's a... I don't have that on the slide here. If you will not wake up, I will come like a thief.

[18:51] You've probably heard that in Rihanna songs, but it's actually from scripture, right? Like a thief in the night. I know that's a lyric that pops up every so often in pop culture, but it's a biblical one.

[19:01] So you know what? Hey, we're going to take it, right? It's so important. Coming like a thief. That it's important for us to know that Christ will come at an hour that we do not know. And that's important for us.

[19:14] Especially when we're looking at the end times. When we're looking at Revelation, you see all of these news articles and these blog posts and these social media influencers who are saying, the end of the world is going to happen on August 15th, 2027.

[19:30] What? No. Right? One of my favorite... And maybe one day I'll show you the book. There's a book that I was shown a couple years ago where it says, 88 Reasons Why Christ Will Come Back in 1988.

[19:46] And I imagine the sale for that book was really through the roof in 1987. I don't know about what happened in 1988. If you have a copy of the book, I'd like to have it.

[19:57] You know, I'd like to actually read what these 88 Reasons are. And you know, the heart is there, right? To be alert. To be prepared. For the return of Christ.

[20:07] For the end of the world. That's something that we should prepare for. But the important thing is we don't know the time and the hour. And we find that so much in Scripture. No one knows the time.

[20:19] We can't predict it. But we still have to live in preparation and anticipation for Christ's return. And so in this, he's saying, hey, look, if you will not wake up, if you won't pay attention, if you won't let the Spirit of God enter into this church, I will come like a thief.

[20:38] That's speaking of this Son of Man coming at an unknown hour. We have then the promise. The white garments and the book of life.

[20:53] Where it says in verse 4, Yet you still have a few names in Sardis, people who have not soiled their garments. And they will walk with me in white, for they are worthy.

[21:04] That's kind of interesting. You get this kind of image of wearing white robes, right? You think of like in the 1990s when all of the boy bands were singing and dancing and they were wearing all white, right?

[21:17] Or you can think of gospel singers or whatever it may be. You don't want to have, you know, a red wine stain or a grease stain on that, right?

[21:27] And so this kind of image that we're thinking about is, it's a very real image. They're not staining their clothes, so to speak. They are walking in white. They are walking with the Lord.

[21:40] And that kind of imagery we see throughout Scripture, right? The notion of filthy rags, right? Or dirty clothing. And how Christ makes that article of clothing white again.

[21:55] Now, I don't know about you. You guys are doing laundry. Don't you hate when you have a stain? I have a shirt.

[22:06] It used to be one of my favorite shirts. I could not for the life of me get that stain out. I had to get rid of that shirt. And it's the worst thing, right? When we're living every day and you're like, man, I don't know who or where, who put that pen in there?

[22:23] It had to have been my kids or it could have been silly me, right? Or I don't know how my clothes look like that when I'm washing it. But we think of this imagery, though, of dirty clothes, as it were, and being clean once again.

[22:39] That imagery of white. And so in this, being clothed in white and the name not being blotted from the book, that's such a powerful imagery, right?

[22:52] You think when you go to a wedding, right? You're going to a wedding feast, as it were. I mean, I hope you write your name in the book, right? Someone who's visiting and celebrating.

[23:04] To have your name written in the book is something of great significance. We think of that in our own everyday culture, but we also have to think of the importance of having our name written in the book of life and that it won't be blotted out.

[23:17] What powerful and beautiful language. And then further in there, where Christ will confess his name before the Father and angels. Now that's pretty powerful stuff, right?

[23:29] Can you think about that? An imagery where Christ is saying, this person is dressed in white. Their name is written in the book of life.

[23:40] Let's celebrate that together. What an amazing cause for celebration. We have to think of that kind of imagery. And how important it is for us to allow for the Holy Spirit to work in and through us, right?

[23:58] So what do we do with this? Let's go to the interpretation slide. The lessons that we can learn, right? Is doing good works.

[24:09] It's good to do good things. But we need to be led by the Spirit, right? The leading and guiding of the Holy Spirit in doing good in the name of Christ. Just asking the Holy Spirit to be with us as we minister to people.

[24:25] As we speak to people. As we live our lives in honoring and glorifying the Lord. We have got to have the Spirit. So Sardis looked alive, but they lacked the movement of the Spirit of God.

[24:39] And the same way, I pray that for our church and for really every church to be led by the Spirit when we do good. And it's important for us to know that Christ acknowledges the outward and the inward appearance.

[24:56] Right? God knows our heart. How is your heart? How is it towards the Lord? A lot of us, you know, for some of us, you may have been raised in dressing in your Sunday best, right?

[25:10] The appearance has got to look good, right? You're going to have the sense of reverence before the Lord, and that's a good thing. But you also have to equally ask yourself, how is your heart before the Lord?

[25:21] How is your inward state before Christ? That's an important thing. May we as a church and as individuals be alert. And may there be a spiritual awakening, a leading and guiding of the Holy Spirit.

[25:36] And may we be strengthened in that. Building upon the foundation that exists in Christ. So, ask yourself the question then, have I been doing good without the Spirit?

[25:49] Only you can answer that, but something to think about. The second thing then is awakening requires us to what, church? Remember, keep, and repent, right?

[26:02] Remember what you have received, the gospel, right? Keep what you have in your heart, trust and follow in the Lord. And to repent is to continue to be transformed and to continue to change your mind as you journey in faith.

[26:18] I want to show you, there's a, our next slide here is from Psalm 119, verses 55 through 60. And this is actually, this is very interesting.

[26:28] We see in here, the psalmist is showing this pattern here. I remember your name in the night, O Lord, and keep your law.

[26:42] This blessing is falling to me that I have kept your precepts. The Lord is my portion. I promise to keep your words, right? Verse 58, I entreat your favor with all my heart.

[26:55] Be gracious to me according to your promise. And when I think on my ways, right? Remember, metanoia, the changing of mind. When I think on my ways, I turn my feet to your testimonies.

[27:09] So not only is it the changing of mind, but it is the action that is upon the changing, right? Many of us, we might have heard repentance as you've got to turn.

[27:20] I've heard some people use the language of it's got to be a spiritual U-turn, right? Well, this, we see both of them happening. The changing of the mind and the turning of your feet. So this language, what we see in this psalm is this happening in Scripture in the Old Testament.

[27:37] I just thought that was very interesting in there. And so going back to the interpretation, right? Let us, if we are spiritually dead or dying, but yet we're still doing good things, may we remember the gospel.

[27:55] May we remember who we are in Christ. May we keep what we have in our heart and not forget it. You know, sometimes when you see someone that you know is a Christian, but yet they're so bitter and angry.

[28:09] They have this sense of like, what happened to you? Maybe if you have been in that situation or you know someone, maybe it's a call for them to remember who they are.

[28:22] Because I can tell you, when someone becomes a Christian, a brand new believer in Christ, the excitement, the enthusiasm, the simplicity, when they say things like, I know that Jesus saved me.

[28:38] I know that Jesus loves me. It's just simple. But yet there's such enthusiasm and such love and dedication toward the Lord.

[28:49] May we never go and forget that. How much the Lord loves us. And I think very often we do have that tendency to forget. Because we get bombarded by the culture in which we live in.

[29:03] We get bombarded by the news media and experiences and sin that happens in the world. But how important it is for us to remember the greatest love in this earth and beyond is the love that Christ has for you.

[29:18] May we never forget that. May we never forget the salvation that Christ has for us. And let us keep it in our heart. May we trust and follow. May we continue to change our mind.

[29:31] May God comfort us. May God be there with us. Because it takes a lot for us to realize God will never fail us.

[29:44] Even though people do. That leads us to the third one where it says that overcomers are clothed, written, and confessed with Christ.

[30:02] Can we go back to that slide? real quick. There we go. Clothed, written, and confessed with Christ. Christ's honor, Christ honors those who remain faithful to him. They will be clothed in white.

[30:19] We think of that language. We think of the victory in Christ, the celebration and being with him, but also the sense of purity. What beautiful language, right?

[30:33] Okay, that's the clothing. The other one is names being written securely in the book of life and being confessed with Christ. Again, I can't help but think about what that would be like to have Christ himself confess your name in front of the angels and before the father.

[30:54] This public acknowledgement, as it were, that's a crazy thought for sure. But we also have these promises, these clean garments. I want to show you this next slide here.

[31:10] It's from Zechariah. And this is interesting because this is showing very similarly what we're going over.

[31:23] Joshua was standing before the angel. What was he clothed with? Filthy garments, right? The angel said to those who were standing before him, remove the filthy garments from him. And he said to him, behold, this is important.

[31:40] I have taken your iniquity away from you and I will clothe you with pure vestments. Isn't that interesting? And I said, let him put on a clean turban on his head. So they put on a clean turban on his head and clothed him with garments. The sense of purity, the sense of cleanliness, as it were.

[32:05] Let us not forget when we think of garments that are filthy, it's a representation of sin. And to be clothed in white is the iniquity being removed.

[32:19] What a beautiful language we can think of. That God cleans us, as it were. And so, in this, how do we live this out?

[32:33] This goes to our application then. How should we then live? Well, the first thing and foremost, I always preach and teach here. The most important thing that you can do is to believe in the Lord.

[32:48] Believe in the Lord and be saved. Believe in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. And to be born again in the Spirit. When you think of the Gospel of John, you have the scene of Nicodemus where he's asking, how can someone be born again?

[33:02] Right? And Christ answers by saying, you're going to be born of flesh and of spirit. So that's why you put, that's why I put, believe in the Lord and be born again in the Spirit.

[33:14] Right? That's so important for us. Let the seven-fold Spirit guide you. That's leading us to the second one.

[33:26] Right? To grow in Christ and to be led. When we talked about, can we go back to that Isaiah thing? Isaiah verse? We look at these languages, these words describing the seven-fold, right?

[33:43] The descriptions, the attributes of the Holy Spirit. This should help us not only grow in understanding the Word of God, but understanding how the Spirit will comfort us, be there with us as a helper.

[33:59] Right? The Spirit of the Lord is God's presence, right? As I was mentioning, wisdom, God's perspective, these are different things that help us in our growth journey.

[34:11] May you consider how the Spirit of God is going to help you grow in your faith to become more like Christ.

[34:23] It really is beautiful. I mean, you can, we can just leave this up here, right? And think about these things. Encountering God deeply, being guided in God's will, understanding the deeper things of God.

[34:38] all of these things. And how would we understand it if we didn't look towards Isaiah? We would just say, okay, it's the seven spirits, and then move on.

[34:50] But there's so much more depth in that. And so, these are the qualities that Sardis lacks, and these are the qualities that Christ brings to churches, but also brings to us as individuals.

[35:03] And we praise God for that. Can we get an amen on that? I mean, how powerful is that? And so, ask yourself, how can the sevenfold Spirit lead me to grow in Christ?

[35:19] Right? Believe in the Lord, grow in Him. Let's go back to that application slide then. And finally, as I've always mentioned, do good in the name of Christ. I've said that so many times here.

[35:32] But may you be led by the Spirit in doing so. Because sometimes, sometimes as you're doing good, the Spirit of God is going to have you talk to a specific person, saying a specific thing.

[35:44] Right? Or, sometimes, someone will come to you out of the blue. I remember when, many years ago, when Amber and I, when we were in California, we had made many friends at this church.

[36:02] It doesn't exist anymore. It was called Temple Baptist Church of Fullerton. And unfortunately, the church did die. It's no longer, and a very tragic thing that had happened.

[36:13] One of the members, if I call her out, she'll probably, she'll, knowing her, she'll probably watch this. She knows who she is. Came here when I first started preaching.

[36:30] very, not a lot of communication, but knew enough to feel moved by the Spirit to get in a car and come all the way over here to see when I first started preaching here.

[36:49] And it was an incredible thing. I'm like, that was a movement of the Spirit, especially when she came up to me and said, look at how God continues to work even though our church doesn't exist.

[37:02] Now that hit me. And that brought tears to my eyes. Because I remember how difficult it was with the death of a church. But yet, those friendships, those relationships continue even to this day.

[37:18] We have to think, being led by the Spirit. As we minister to people, as we are ambassadors for Christ, as we are present with people and we speak truth and we are dealing in love with people and all these different things, let us ask the Spirit to guide us to say the right words because sometimes we don't have the right words to say.

[37:41] Sometimes we don't even know what to say. Trust in the Lord to lead and guide you in the process. We are saved so that we can do good in the name of Christ.

[37:54] These works are not a replacement. It is not an excuse for us to ignore the Spirit. So let us have that ear open to listen to God and to allow for the moving of the Holy Spirit.

[38:13] And I challenge for you, look for one person or one opportunity where you can display the goodness of God or perhaps as we are talking so much about the Spirit of God, maybe the fruit of the Spirit because you shall know them by their fruit.

[38:33] Love, joy, peace, just those three, right? We have patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness.

[38:45] These are things on how we can love other people. when we are, because we live in an everyday world, everyday people. Ask yourself those kind of questions.

[38:58] Who will experience the goodness of Christ, the leading of the Holy Spirit through me? I pray that you can think of or the Spirit will lead you to find one person, maybe this week, that you can talk to and you can be present with and share in the light of Christ with others.

[39:22] That is so important for us. We have to think of all these things and as we consider this church in Sardis, I pray that we may be alert, that we may be awake.

[39:43] not just alert and prepared, but that the Spirit of God will move in and through each and every one of your lives, but also through this church.

[39:56] May you experience God, have a close encounter with Him, be moved by the Holy Spirit. May there be an awakening.

[40:08] We talk so much, many churches talk about revival and renewal, may it be done so. May the Spirit of the Lord lead and guide us to work in the ministry to bring people to Christ, to share in the gospel message with others, how important that is and certainly our prayer should be that our church will never be like Sardis, amen?

[40:36] So important for us to keep that in mind. and so let's pray together. Father God, we thank you for this time and this opportunity for us to gather together as we're going over Revelation chapter 3 verses 1 through 6.

[40:54] what great mystery, what great power and might you have to know that your son, he's in control and he provides the fullness, the seven fold spirit to us.

[41:13] It may be hard for us to understand, but we just ask, Father, in a simplistic way, that we live in love like your son Jesus Christ and we are led by the Holy Spirit.

[41:25] May we all have that relationship with you first and foremost. May we grow in you. May we be moved to do good in the name of Christ being led by the Spirit to transform culture, our community, our families.

[41:44] May we rely on you for this. And may we as a church be known for our love and dedication for you and your word and do good in your name, but may we also be known as a church that is led by your Spirit.

[41:59] And I pray, Father, if there's any sort of resistance, we know that when we speak so much about the working of the Holy Spirit, it's hard to understand. I just pray for softened hearts, for changed minds, and for this place to be alive.

[42:19] We thank you for your word and we thank you for this wonderful lesson, this wonderful truth that we can learn from the church in Sardis. We thank you so much.

[42:33] It is in the name of Jesus Christ that we pray and we all say together, Amen, church. Amen. Thank you for tuning in to Ontario Community Church.

[42:44] I hope that this message stirred something in your heart today. You know, one of the most challenging things about the letter to Sardis is that it forces us to look beyond appearances. We live in this culture, in this world, that values image and reputation and even outward success.

[43:01] But Christ isn't interested in how things look just on the surface. In fact, he is more interested in seeing where your heart is at. Christ does not leave Sardis or leave any of us without any hope.

[43:15] He offers the fullness of his spirit, the seven-fold spirit of God, or in other words, what we call the Holy Spirit. Christ gives us a path to remember the gospel, to hold fast to it, to keep it, to remain in it, and to continue to repent or, as I mentioned in the sermon today, to be transformed.

[43:36] If this message resonated with you, would you do me a favor? Share it with someone who might need to hear it. Maybe you know someone who needs to be reminded of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

[43:47] Maybe there's someone that you can pray for that the Holy Spirit will fill their life and move them to respond. Here's my challenge for you this week and it builds upon what we talked about in the sermon today.

[44:00] Don't just be active in your faith. Be alive in the Spirit. Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal areas where you've been operating on your own strength rather than relying on Him and His power.

[44:13] Invite Christ into those areas. Invite the Holy Spirit to fill your life. Let Him lead. Let Him guide. Let Him work in and through you. You can visit us at OntarioCommunityChurch.org for more resources, including our sermon archive, which has Bible studies and congregational notes from this message and other messages as well.

[44:35] Everything is available on our website for free. This next week we will be looking at the sixth church in Revelation, Philadelphia. This is one of only two churches that receives no rebuke from Christ, only accommodation and encouragement.

[44:53] We'll explore what it means to have an open door that no one can shut, to keep Christ's word even when you have little strength, and to be kept from the hour of trial. It is a message of hope and endurance that I think we all need to hear today.

[45:09] May God bless you. do you Thank you.