"BE WATCHFUL AND STRENGTHEN THE THINGS WHICH REMAIN..."

Revelation 3:1 “And to the angel of the church in Sardis write, ‘These things says He who has the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars: “I know your works, that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead.”

The Holy Spirit, in it's whole complexity and perfection (called by Jesus the seven Spirits), and the angels of the seven churches from Asia Minor (“The mystery of the seven stars which you saw in My right hand, and the seven golden lampstands: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands which you saw are the seven churches.” - Revelation 1:20 ) belong to Jesus Christ. He is holding the “seven stars” in His right hand, which means that He has authority over the churches and they are also important to Him.

Jesus is sending this message to the church, which in His eyes, is not the list of people that completed the membership form, but those who truly return to Him and were born again. If we judge by what we see in the physical, we might say that those who attend church on regular basis, are spiritually alive, but Jesus sees beyond appearances and knows if we live leaded by the Holy Spirit or by our flesh. He knows everything about us and nothing is hidden from Him.

The problems that Jesus is highlighting in the seven churches, are common to all churches along the history, including to those in our days. Hypocrisy was and still is very present in churches and in many Christians lives. It is so common that most of the times we don't even realize we are hypocrites, while we try to seem more holy than we really are, just to look good to other people. It would be really helpful to never forget that God knows our hearts and all our secrets and we should be more concerned about what He sees in us and in our behavior, than about other people opinions.

Revelation 3:2 ”Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die, for I have not found your works perfect before God.”

Are we saved by works? No way! We are saved by grace, but “faith without works is dead” (James 2:26). Our works and behavior, are the result of our spiritual level. It is up to us to be watchful, to analyze our spiritual state and then to strengthen our faith as we walk on God's path. Our spiritual state dictates what we think. If most of the time we meditate upon God's Word, His ways, love and care, we live lead by The Holy Spirit; but if our thoughts are mainly about our problems, other people and all that is worldly, we are carnal and we are just deceiving ourselves if we think we are on the right track. Dear Lord please help us see the truth about ourselves and correct what needs to be corrected.

Revelation 3:3 ”Remember therefore how you have received and heard; hold fast and repent. Therefore if you will not watch, I will come upon you as a thief, and you will not know what hour I will come upon you.”

What can we do? It is important to stop and remember what did we receive when we came to Jesus and what it means that Jesus is the Lord of our lives. Faith comes by hearing and so does doubt. Hearing the Word of God, produces faith in our hearts. On the other hand, by hearing and paying attention to what the world has to say on the matter, we start to doubt that God's power and miracles can work for us, and our faith will be replaced by doubt.

We need to hold fast on our faith and be quick to repent once we realize we sinned against our Lord. Forgiveness of sin comes only after we sincerely repent. We have to recognize the sin, regret it and renounce it by asking God's help to not repeat it. If the fact that we did sin is not causing us to be really sorry, we have a big problem. Only a hard heart becomes insensitive to sin and if that happens, it should alarm us. We keep a soft heart, by being watchful, paying attention to what is going on in our heart. Jesus says that He will come upon us “as a thief ”. None of us knows when will leave this earth, so we better be ready at any moment, keeping a clean, soft heart and a pure conscience. Praise God that through Jesus Christ we received all we need to do that.

James 1:6-8 ”But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; 8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.”

Faith is the opposite of doubt and the two, can not co-exist. Doubt causes us to wave between belief and unbelief. We should have faith in God's help, care, love, provision, best solution to every bad situation we are facing and in the truth of His Word and promises. But if we listen to the enemy's voice or our reasoning, instead of the Holy Spirit, our trust might be soon replaced by uncertainty and lack of confidence that God wants to help us out, heal us or perform any miracle for us. Not even the most powerful men of God can not say that they are fearless and have not even one second of doubt, worry or concern, when they face a very though situation. But, the more we mature in the Spirit, the less it will take to strengthen up our faith. By remembering God's help and miracles when we faced previous desperate situations and also the Bible verses that reveal God's will in the matter, we will be able to replace doubt with faith. As we start to pray using God's promises, we are increasing our confidence that we will receive what we are asking for. We strengthen our faith by proclaiming God's Word, knowing that we know that is true for us today. ( You may read more on the matter at click here: “Are the Old Testament Promises for Us, the Gentiles, too?”

Revelation 3:4-6 ”You have a few names even in Sardis who have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with Me in white, for they are worthy. 5 He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life; but I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels. 6 “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”’”

God is always keeping a remnant of sincere believers, that serve Him with all their heart, even if the majority doesn't. Even if they are in small number, they refuse to follow the big crowd and they are fully committed to the Lord and try their best to live right, following the Bible and the lead of the Holy Spirit. What makes them different? Their true desire to follow Christ and His leadership in every area of their lives. We can be like them, doing what it takes to keep “our spiritual garments” clean. With the help of the Holy Spirit, we will be able to not sin on purpose and to overcome temptations, by being focused on God's Word and not on the lusts of the flesh. As Paul said about himself:

1 Corinthians 9:27 ”But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified.”

Jesus will dress us up in white garments, if we remain in Him and His Word remains in us (John 15:7). We can't be branches in the vine, that is Jesus, if we live under the leadership of our flesh and not of the Holy Spirit.

The meaning of “to be worthy” in Revelation 3:4 (according to Thayer's Greek Lexicon), is to deserve Jesus' fellowship and all the blessings connected with it. We will deserve to spend eternal life with Jesus in Heaven, if we live for Him all the way.

Revelation 2:10 b ”Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.”

Jesus says that He will “ not blot out the name from the Book of Life” of the one who will be worthy and will overcome. That means that there is the possibility to have the name erased from it. Jesus is talking to born again Christians that got their names written in the Book if Life and He reaffirms that we have to live right till the end, to make it to Heaven. If Jesus will not confess our name before Father God and His angels, we will not be covered by His righteousness, which means that our sins will not be forgiven. As a result, we will pay for them by being separated from God for eternity, which is the second death.

Oh Lord, please help us keep our spiritual ears wide open and sensitive to the voice of the Holy Spirit, fulfilling what You tell us to do and living in obedience to You every day, because we want to conclude our journey on this earth, in your arms.


Carmen Pușcaș