ISAIAH 55:4 - "The Commander Arriving"

"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field." (Matthew 13:44) Are you sold out for Jesus? You do know that He is coming back; right? There is something wrong with many in the church today; they are not sold out for God. In the Letter to the Church of Sardis, which is found in Revelation 3:1-6; Jesus is declaring a very strong warning to the church, and their deadness. He starts out by declaring who He is: "These things saith He that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars;". This declaration is to show that this particular word, that although it is being given to the Church of Sardis, it can actually apply to all the churches; because the root cause of each and every "Nevertheless", "You Must Be", "Few Things Against", and To Him That Overcometh", is all based upon this one principle; Are You Really Sold Out For God! He continues in verse 1: "I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead". Okay; I make no claims to be an authority on anything within the church, and I am not a Pastor of any church; so what I am going to say, even though it is a very touchy subject, I feel lead to share it; but I have witnessed firsthand that it is divisive. What Jesus is saying in this first verse is very, very important to understand; to "have a name that thou livest", means that you are a Believer in Christ. It means that at one time or another in your life, you accepted Christ into your heart, and became a Child of God; that you were alive in Him. It was by believing in the Name of Jesus that you were given Eternal Life; however, thou "art dead". This is hard for some to accept, but it is true; some of us will not make it. I know that those of us that believe in "Not being able to loss our salvation", do not accept this line of teaching; but it is not my line, that is being taught; it is His. In verse 2, He declares what is causing the death: "Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die: for I have not found thy works perfect before God". See, here is the catch phase: "Thy Works"; because we know that "It is by Grace that we are saved, not of works", so the whole idea that works should matter, does not even take root in the hearts of some. These are not works that brought us to salvation, but these are works that salvation has brought to us. It really is only natural to have a hunger to serve God, and to be sold out for Him; after all, there is nothing left in this present life, that could ever begin to compare to what is ahead. In the parable of the Sower found in Matthew 13, Jesus explains some of the things which can cause those that hear the Word, receive it in there hearts, and then fall away. The first example He gives does not apply to the Believer; that is the seed that feel by the wayside; in verse 19, He says that they never understood what was sown in there hearts, and anything that was sown in there the enemy came and snatched it away. This would be a person who would accept Jesus in their heart for the wrong reason; like to have joy, or peace, or to feel God's love; He gives those things to us, but that is not the reason that Jesus died on the cross. The second example is very similar in nature, because this one hears the Word, receives it, but never really fully gives their heart over to Him; but for a moment they were filled with joy, because of the salvation they received, and then as soon as life got hard, or there friends and family turned their backs on them, they fell away; over a period of time, they are even found being offended by the cross. The third example is the most common within the church today; this is the person who hears the Word, receives it, and believes that they are Born Again Christians; however, over a period of time, they become unwatchful, and they let the things of this world creep into their lives and choke off the things of God: 'They Becometh Unfruitful'; this is not a good place to be!!! The right seed, is the one that fell on good ground; this is a heart that is willing to receive it. This is the person that is actually letting the Word of God enter into the 'Ears of their mind, so that it can be seen by the Eyes of their heart'; and He says in verse 23, "He that heareth the Word, and understaneth it; which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some a hundred fold, some sixty, some thirty." Back to Rev 3:3; Jesus declares: "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." This is very critical for us as Christians in this world toady; we have to be very watchful of all that is going on around us, in us, and through us. If we allow ourselves to be surround by anything that is not of God, it can grab hold of our lives when we least expect it. If we allow ourselves to get out of fellowship with God, or with other believers, we can find ourselves retreating into a life of darkness, and becoming a bad testimony of Jesus. If we fail to let God work through our lives, we will not really experience what power and might He has given us by His Spirit, to overcome sin, tribulation, or anything else that this world can throw at us; we will not be able to share Jesus with others, if we are not willing to share Jesus with others. Then in Rev 3:4, Jesus declares: "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." This defiled their garments thing is pretty deep, and I will not touch on it much today, (soon), but the point Jesus is making here, is that they have not been washed fully by His Blood; why? Because there is unconfessed sin in their lives which has not been dealt with. Sin that is left undealt with can cause us to be defiled, and the 'White Garments which are Washed in the Blood' are no longer spotless. We must confess our sin to God, as soon as He makes it clear to us that it is there, and that it is causing us to be pulled away from Him. Remember this: God is Holy and can not fellowship with sin; and the Holy Spirit within us, He is God; so if you are holding onto sin, guess Who is not holding onto you... Please try to listen what Jesus is saying in verse 5: "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." Enough said!!! "He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches."