Devotionals

SARDIS She had no focus

by Henry Jaegers
10/25/16
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DAY THIRTY-FOUR

SARDIS

SHE HAD NO FOCUS

Revelation 3: 1-5

 “And unto the angel of the church in Sardis write; these things saith he that hath the seven spirits of God, and the seven stars; I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest and art dead.” (Revelation 3:1)

This is not the message that an outwardly busy and successful church wishes to hear. It is not the evaluation of men that determines the success of the church. Pretending is what Satan is all about. The church may offer a lot of fun and entertaining programs, but God’s evaluation of Sardis at the outset is that ”she is dead. ” Do you wonder what the church's reaction was when she heard this word from God. How does such a word motivate you as an individual, as you thought all along that you are a faithful servant of God?

I recall the story back in the Old Testament were the people thought that it was a good idea to disobey God, and build a structure, a religious structure that would reach to God. They thought their motive to do something religious would justify their disobedience. We know what happened at the tower of Babel. It started out with the words’ ”let us make a name for ourselves”. Perhaps this is how “deadness” begins. It says this is what we want to do and it doesn’t make any difference what God says. It was a bad idea back then and it is a bad idea today. Deadness begins by making a wrong choice and that means ignoring what God has to say.

That leads us to ask the question, what causes a church to become this way? In which way was it dead? There are many that we could name but we will start with a few. First deadness begins when the knowledge of God’s word is missing. Proverbs 29:18 states, “without vision, the people perish, but he that keeps the law. Happy is he.” What that verse means is, when there is no word or prophetic vision from God,the people do their own thing. They literally cast off restraints. When the word of God is not taken seriously then the substitution has to be made. Religious activity doesn’t cut it. Religion is merely a means by which man tries to find God. He knows nothing about. Idolatry. Idolatry begins in the imagination. We need more than that. We need the word of God. Sometimes we don’t want to hear that word because it forces us to change. So deadness begins by being dead to God’s word and message.

Then who is to blame for all of this? Perhaps it is the unavailability of leaders who believe God and his word. I heard someone say that there are three types of preachers. First, there are risk takers. Second, there are caretakers. Third, there are undertakers. The risk takers are those who firmly believe the word of God and trust God and move by faith to do as God speaks. I know from experience that caretakers (those who were only concerned about maintaining the status quo) eventually, given enough time, will wind up killing the church and become undertakers. So to begin, we consider the men in the church were called to lead and the quality of their lives. This was absent from the church. The presence and activity of the Holy Spirit in the church is the source of life. When this word of God is neglected or watered down, the spirit is no longer present. The word Ichabod (the glory has departed) is the name remaining over the church.