Awake Glorious Bride and Shake Off the Dust – Part One

What Church Are You?

What church are you? I am not asking you what denomination you may belong to. I’m literally asking you about the person of You!

It is such a common theme among Christians to affiliate themselves with a Church building or a denomination but rarely do we meet people that have taken the time to think about themselves as being “the church.” We hear, “You should come to my church.” or “At my church, we do this…” or “My church is best known for its worship music, drama” etc. Whatever the message may be, it’s rarely (if ever) about their person as being the church of Christ.

In this post series, I am going to share some scriptures about four specific types of churches and you may be surprised to find that none of them have anything to do with a building or denomination, but rather about the people themselves and where they are in their lives. As you read about these churches (people groups), I encourage you to really take the time to do a self-examination about what church you believe you are.

In the Bible, Jesus addresses seven churches in the Book of Revelation and gives a very stern warning to them followed by a promise of salvation. Of the seven churches, the people He addresses fall into one of four categories.

1. The Dead Church

2. The Sleeping Church

3. The Sleep-walking Church

4. The Glorious Church

Scripture tells us that our loving Savior, Jesus Christ, is coming for His glorious church—a people clothed in the garments of righteousness. In His infinite grace, mankind has been given this soulish thing called ‘free will’. Along with this ‘free will’ is an opportunity to do a self exam and make a decision as to what church you choose to become. If you find yourself as a partaker of the dead, sleeping, or sleep walking church, it’s an honest starting place. You get to make the decision to turn away (repent) from those mindsets and set your mind and heart on the goal of becoming the Glorious Church. God clearly states in His word that we can repent and reap the rewards. There is absolutely no condemnation for those who love Jesus and want to get on track with Him. It is only the lack of repentance that leads to the harsh reality that if we are not the Glorious Church, we will have missed it all together and we will fall into the category of “You called me Lord, Lord, but I never knew you.” and we can cry out all we want saying, “but Lord, we prophesied in your name, we cast out demons in your name, we did all these great works” and He will say, “I never knew you.” Below is the scripture:

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you, depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’ (Matthew 7:21-23)

However! Jesus did not stop there…He continued speaking:

“Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock; and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock” (Matthew 7:24-25)

Take note of Jesus’ words ‘whoever hears these sayings of Mine’ as we continue.

“But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand; and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell and great was its fall.” (Matthew 7:26-27)

Jesus was making it known in the above scriptures that those who had been led astray by false teachings and false prophets would have a chance to repent and return to His sound doctrine. He warned the people to beware of the false prophets who come in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. As for the false prophets and teachers (Pharisees), as well as those who fell under their teachings/doctrines, if they did not repent, they would not be entering the kingdom of heaven.

“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thorn bushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore by their fruits you will know them.” (Matthew 7:15-20)

The entire reason God (Yahweh) sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to this earth when He did is because mankind had gotten to a point of total spiritual destruction as a result of not only their sins and idol worship, but also for those under deception by the scribes and Pharisees who were responsible for teaching them the ways of Yahweh. God knew this would happen (as it had been foretold for centuries) and in keeping a promise He made to Himself to not destroy the world again as in the days of Noah, He sent a deliverer, Jesus Christ, to restore Truth and reconcile us back to God from our fallen state. True repentance, however, was required. People had to make a decision to turn from the ways they had been taught under the bondage of deception and follow Jesus. Beloved, it is the same exact for us today! Let’s now look at the first of four type of people groups (aka churches):

The Dead Church

“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. Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die, for I have not found your works perfect before God. 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. 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. 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. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’”

If you have read the above scriptures in Revelation before and figured it was only for those particular people who lived in Sardis, which at that time was the capital of Lydia, then it is time to clean out your spiritual earwax and listen to what the Spirit is saying to the ‘people’. God did not allow the apostle John to be taken up into the heavenly spiritual realms and have Jesus and the angels reveal to him what was to come if it was only for that particular time frame. He was speaking to people in all generations to come with the same mindset and heart as those in Sardis.

About Sardis: Remember that the Roman Empire was in control over the region at the time of Jesus’ ministry. In Sardis, many people were actively worshiping the Roman Caesar and of Artemis, the goddess of fertility. It was also a place where the largest synagogue had been built. About 1200 years before Jesus came, Sardis had become the prominent capital of the Lydian kingdom. The citizens of Sardis enjoyed safety and prosperity beyond measure. The city was well fortified, and the Practolus River provided them with fresh water and gold. The natural resources in the area were highly esteemed by other provinces in the area. Unfortunately, their pride and overconfidence in their resources eventually took its toll. The city’s guards became careless and slothful in their duties as watchmen. They didn’t perceive the need for vigilance or reinforcement and the Persians attacked them in 549 BC. This surprise attack nearly destroyed the city. Years later, they were attacked again by the Greeks, who used the same tactics employed by the Persians (again, they were not watchful in their duties). After an earthquake devastated Sardis in 17 A.D. the city was only partially rebuilt. At the time of John’s letter, around 53 A.D., Sardis’s resources and reputation were rapidly declining. But Sardis’s leaders refused to accept the signs of death all around them. Instead, they clung to the city’s historical triumphs and insisted that Sardis would once again rise to its former glory. In blissful ignorance, they refused to acknowledge the degrading effects of their own indulgence and neglect and continued to prop up their decaying city with tales from past victories. The people knew well the history of their city at the time Jesus’ letter to John was given to them. Not only did the letter have personal relevance to them, it had spiritual importance. Sardis means “those escaping” or “that which remains.” After reading John’s letter, the believers at Sardis were left with a choice. They could continue to follow the way of their city’s history, tradition, and culture—or the church could follow the way of the Lord.

The message Jesus gave to the church in Sardis is the same for those who think and believe as they did and it is a sobering one. Just as He knew their works intimately and was aware of the facade they displayed to the world, so He knows ours. Modern day Sardis believers have effectively built a winning brand for themselves in their community. By all outward appearances they are a vibrant powerhouse, but inside they are lifeless.   Listen with your spiritual ears again the the word in Revelation 3:1-7:

“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. Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die, for I have not found your works perfect before God. 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. 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. 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. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’”

“But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only. But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. For as in the days before the flood; they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. Then two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and the other left. Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming. But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and and not allowed his house to be broken into. Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.” (Matthew 24:36-44)

If you feel in your heart and spirit that you can relate to any part of what Jesus refers to as the dead church, I encourage you to pray and ask Him for forgiveness. Openly confess the areas of your life you can relate to. Perhaps you proudly attend a church that has gotten caught up in how big they are, how important they are in their city, how much ‘good works’ they do, and yet they don’t see that they are spiritually dead or dying. They put on a good show but what are they doing for the kingdom of God in accordance to His will? How are they preparing you for that which you have been called? Perhaps it is you who is more concerned about your facade in how your community (church family, workplace, friends, or family) sees you but deep inside you are spiritually thinking there has got to be more. You recognize that your intimate relationship and fellowship with Jesus and the Holy Spirit is lacking. Is your life more about keeping up with customs and vain traditions, wealth, power, status? These are all things to ponder and ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to you so you can make a decision to overcome and be clothed in white garments. No one professing to love Jesus would want to get his/her name blotted out of the Book of Life, but it can happen. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says.

In part 2 of this series, we will address the Sleeping Church. Until then, be blessed and encouraged because you are loved.