Awakening to Spiritual Life: A Call to Action

Summary

In today's message, we explored the profound call to spiritual awakening found in Revelation 3, focusing on Jesus' words to the church in Sardis. The central question posed was, "Are you spiritually alive, or are you spiritually dead?" This question challenges us to examine our hearts and lives, urging us to move beyond mere appearances and reputations to the reality of our spiritual condition. Jesus calls us to wake up, to be spiritually alive, and to live in active fellowship with Him.

The passage from Revelation 3:1-6 serves as a wake-up call, reminding us that God desires us to be alive and active in our faith. Jesus, who knows the depths of our hearts, calls us to strengthen what remains, to remember what we have received, and to hold fast to His teachings. This involves a deep, introspective look at our motivations, actions, and the alignment of our lives with God's will. The message emphasizes the importance of moving from a superficial faith to a genuine, vibrant relationship with God.

To be spiritually alive, we must engage in practices that cultivate our faith. This includes examining our hearts, identifying and nurturing good desires, committing God's Word to memory, and developing practices that align with His teachings. Repentance is a key component, involving a change of mind and a commitment to live differently. The reward for this spiritual awakening is a life lived with Jesus, reflecting His character and walking in His ways.

Ultimately, the message is a call to desire what God desires for us: a life that is spiritually alive, full of His presence and purpose. It is an invitation to partner with the Holy Spirit in transforming our lives, so we can experience the fullness of life that Jesus offers.

Key Takeaways:

1. Spiritual Awakening: Jesus calls us to wake up from spiritual slumber and examine our hearts. This involves asking ourselves if we are truly alive in our faith or merely going through the motions. It's a call to move beyond appearances and align our lives with God's will. [46:39]

2. Reality vs. Reputation: There is a significant difference between how we appear to others and our true spiritual state. Jesus emphasizes the importance of focusing on the reality of our relationship with Him rather than maintaining a facade. [49:51]

3. Steps to Spiritual Life: Jesus provides a roadmap for spiritual vitality: wake up, strengthen what remains, remember His teachings, hold them fast, and repent. These steps guide us in cultivating a vibrant faith. [55:59]

4. The Role of God's Word: Committing God's Word to memory and meditating on it is crucial for spiritual growth. It becomes a guiding light, helping us align our lives with His truth and live out His teachings. [01:12:59]

5. Desiring Spiritual Life: God respects our desires and invites us to choose spiritual life. By aligning our desires with His, we open ourselves to His transformative work, leading to a life that reflects His character and purpose. [01:20:51]

Youtube Chapters:

- [0:00] - Welcome
- [11:27] - Setting the Alarm
- [11:30] - Question of Spiritual Life
- [46:39] - Are You Spiritually Alive?
- [49:51] - Jesus Knows Our Hearts
- [55:59] - Steps to Spiritual Awakening
- [01:04:04] - Wake Up Call
- [01:06:24] - Strengthen What Remains
- [01:12:59] - Remember and Hold Fast
- [01:16:35] - Developing Spiritual Practices
- [01:20:51] - The Reward of Spiritual Life
- [01:24:44] - Closing Prayer and Invitation to Lunch

Study Guide

Bible Study Discussion Guide

Bible Reading:
- Revelation 3:1-6

Observation Questions:
1. What does Jesus mean when He tells the church in Sardis to "wake up" and "strengthen what remains"? [55:59]
2. How does Jesus describe the spiritual state of the church in Sardis, and what does He know about their deeds? [49:51]
3. What are the five imperative actions Jesus instructs the church in Sardis to take? [55:59]
4. What promise does Jesus give to those in Sardis who are spiritually alive and victorious? [01:20:51]

Interpretation Questions:
1. What might it look like for someone to have a reputation of being spiritually alive but be spiritually dead in reality? [49:51]
2. How can the practice of remembering and holding fast to Jesus' teachings lead to spiritual vitality? [01:12:59]
3. In what ways does the sermon suggest that God's Word plays a crucial role in spiritual growth and awakening? [01:12:59]
4. How does the concept of repentance, as described in the sermon, encompass the steps to becoming spiritually alive? [01:16:35]

Application Questions:
1. Reflect on your own spiritual state. Are there areas in your life where you feel spiritually asleep? What steps can you take to "wake up"? [46:39]
2. Consider the difference between your reputation and your reality. Are there aspects of your spiritual life that you present differently to others than they truly are? How can you align these? [49:51]
3. Identify a specific desire or motivation in your heart that aligns with God's will. How can you strengthen and nurture this desire in your daily life? [01:06:24]
4. What practices can you develop to hold fast to God's Word and integrate it more deeply into your life? Consider memorization or meditation as potential practices. [01:12:59]
5. Think of a recent situation where you struggled with patience or another fruit of the Spirit. What practical steps can you take to cultivate this fruit in future interactions? [01:16:35]
6. How can you partner with the Holy Spirit in the process of repentance and transformation in your life? What specific area of your life do you feel called to change? [01:20:51]
7. Reflect on the reward of living a spiritually alive life with Jesus. How does this vision motivate you to pursue spiritual growth and transformation? [01:20:51]

Devotional

I'm ready to provide the 5-day devotional based on the steps outlined. Here it is:

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Day 1: Awaken to True Spiritual Life
Description:
In Revelation 3, Jesus addresses the church in Sardis, urging them to awaken from their spiritual slumber. This call is not just for the church in Sardis but for all believers who may find themselves merely going through the motions of faith without genuine spiritual vitality. Jesus challenges us to examine our hearts and ask ourselves if we are truly alive in our faith or if we are just maintaining appearances. This awakening involves a deep introspection and a commitment to align our lives with God's will, moving beyond superficial faith to a vibrant relationship with Him. [46:39]

Bible Passage:
"Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you." (Ephesians 5:14, ESV)

Reflection:
What areas of your spiritual life feel dormant or routine? How can you invite God to breathe new life into these areas today?

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Day 2: Embrace Authenticity Over Appearance
Description:
Jesus' message to the church in Sardis highlights the difference between reputation and reality. While the church had a reputation for being alive, Jesus saw their true spiritual state as dead. This serves as a reminder that God sees beyond our outward appearances and knows the true condition of our hearts. It is a call to focus on the authenticity of our relationship with Him rather than maintaining a facade. By embracing authenticity, we allow God to work in us and through us, transforming our lives to reflect His truth and love. [49:51]

Bible Passage:
"For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart." (1 Samuel 16:7b, ESV)

Reflection:
Consider a situation where you might be more concerned with how others perceive you than with your true spiritual state. How can you shift your focus to authenticity in your relationship with God?

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Day 3: Follow the Path to Spiritual Vitality
Description:
Jesus provides a roadmap for spiritual vitality in His message to Sardis: wake up, strengthen what remains, remember His teachings, hold them fast, and repent. These steps guide us in cultivating a vibrant faith that is alive and active. By waking up to our spiritual condition, we can strengthen the areas of our faith that are weak, remember and hold fast to the teachings of Jesus, and repent of anything that hinders our relationship with Him. This process leads to a deeper, more meaningful connection with God. [55:59]

Bible Passage:
"Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees. 'Make level paths for your feet,' so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed." (Hebrews 12:12-13, ESV)

Reflection:
Identify one area of your faith that needs strengthening. What practical steps can you take this week to nurture and grow in this area?

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Day 4: Let God's Word Illuminate Your Path
Description:
Committing God's Word to memory and meditating on it is crucial for spiritual growth. The Word of God serves as a guiding light, helping us align our lives with His truth and live out His teachings. By immersing ourselves in Scripture, we allow it to shape our thoughts, actions, and desires, leading us to a deeper understanding of God's will for our lives. This practice not only strengthens our faith but also equips us to face the challenges of life with wisdom and grace. [01:12:59]

Bible Passage:
"Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path." (Psalm 119:105, ESV)

Reflection:
Choose a verse or passage of Scripture to memorize this week. How can you incorporate its truth into your daily life and decisions?

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Day 5: Align Your Desires with God's Purpose
Description:
God respects our desires and invites us to choose spiritual life. By aligning our desires with His, we open ourselves to His transformative work, leading to a life that reflects His character and purpose. This involves a willingness to let go of our own ambitions and embrace the desires that God has for us. As we partner with the Holy Spirit in this transformation, we experience the fullness of life that Jesus offers, marked by His presence and purpose. [01:20:51]

Bible Passage:
"Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart." (Psalm 37:4, ESV)

Reflection:
Reflect on your current desires and ambitions. How can you align them more closely with God's desires for your life? What steps can you take to pursue His purpose today?

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Quotes

1) "And what Jesus is going, he's challenging this church in Revelation 3, and what I think he is going to challenge us to today is to examine our hearts and to see where we really stand. Where are we before God? Are we spiritually alive as God wants us to be, or are we just kind of going through the motions? And we're going to take some time this morning to evaluate our own hearts and to think about these questions. God wants us to be alive. God wants us to be alive. In fact, when he opens this letter, the way he introduces himself is he introduces himself as a God who is alive and active." [46:39] (44 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)

2) "Jesus is the one person who really knows what's going on inside of us. Would you agree with that? That Jesus is the one that can look into the inner recesses of our hearts and our minds, and he knows what goes on behind quiet, behind closed doors, and in our homes, and in our families, and how we act at work, and in the community, and all of these things. Jesus knows what's going on in our lives. And Jesus looks at this church, and he says, you know, from the outside, you look like you got it all together. You got a good reputation, but I know what's really going on inside of you." [49:51] (44 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)

3) "Now when I think of being spiritually alive, what I think that means is that we are fully aware of God in our lives, and that we are walking with him, and moving with him, and in fellowship with him, and in alignment with his will in our lives. Surely that's what it means to be spiritually alive. Being spiritually dead means that we are ignoring God in our lives, or that our lives do not align with his will. And on the other side, we might be doing good things and having good activities, but it's not being done from the right heart. Maybe our motives are off. Or it's done from a love of self as opposed to a love of God and love of others." [49:51] (50 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)

4) "Let's look on the inside. the inside but what he gives us next is not necessarily should not be read as a condemnation in fact i think when we read this passage our first need to beat ourselves up and to say man i'm not where i should be i'm not as alive as i should be but what jesus doing here is not so much trying to beat the christians down there is give them instruction to say if you are not where you should be here is what you should do about it in fact i just want to say i want to read these verses again and just notice what jesus says by way of instruction verses two and three wake up strengthen what remains and is about to die for i have found your deeds unfinished in the sight of god remember therefore what you have received and heard hold it fast and repent there's four verbs there in the imperative all four things that they should do wake up strengthen remember uh hold fast and repent and or actually there's five i'm sorry i don't know why i said four there's five things there and uh in fact i think these five things are actually the steps that we need to engage in if you want to be spiritually alive in fact i think you'd be hard pressed to find any more any steps that are more helpful along these lines in all of the scriptures if i was to kind of give you a step by step plan how are you going to grow in your faith to be more alive to god in your life these would be the five steps five steps for becoming spiritually alive so i invite us all to to embrace these and and to think how could i put these into practice in my life because i think every one of us can probably say there's some room where we can grow in our lives and i think there's some room where we can grow maybe we can say yes i know i do have a vibrant relationship with jesus but there's areas in my life where i want to be more alive i want to follow his teaching better i want to be more aware of his presence i want to walk in fellowship and love more and more with him these are the things of being spiritually alive alive five steps to becoming spiritually alive the first thing that jesus says is wake up take that to mean that we ought to take a good hard look at our at our hearts examine your heart and your life to ask to ask yourself what what's really going on inside or even better yet ask jesus what do you see inside of me to ask ourselves some some brutally uh hard and give ourselves some brutally honest answers about where are the things in our lives that are that we need to grow in i like how the psalmist says search my heart oh god search me oh god and know my heart test me and know my anxious thoughts see if there is any offensive way in me and lead me in the way of everlasting aren't those wonderful verses search my heart look deep within me see where i need to to grow you tell me where is it that that i could be more spiritually alive and so we ask ourselves some hard questions and i'll just give us some examples ask ourselves am i actually motivated by love for god and love for others or am i like what appears to be the church in sardis am i doing all the right things but it's really so that i can have a good reputation what's my motivation behind why i do what i do or or consider uh these things of the fruit of the spirit are you consistently full of things like joy and peace and patience and kindness do that spiritual inventory examine your hearts do you find yourself consistently walking in those things do you find and this is a this is a good one do you find it natural to talk to others about your relationship with jesus or does that just seem man that that is that's so hard or does your, is your relationship with Jesus so central and vibrant in your life that it just comes flowing out in your conversation with others, and do you find yourself doing that regularly? Would your family members say that you live without worry and anxiety, that you're trusting in the Lord? Am I stepping on any toes yet? Yeah, these are, these are challenging questions. How would your family say, and related to that, how would those around you, would they describe you as being a person of gentleness and kindness? And lastly, I got one more. Do you find yourself regularly helping those in need, or do you kind of try to go out of the way to avoid those opportunities? You see, we can spend a lot, we can spend a lot of time, We ought to spend a lot of time with the Holy Spirit, searching our hearts and our minds, and God might give us a wake -up call to say, here is an area where you could grow in. If we want to be spiritually alive, more spiritually alive, then I think God is always going to be working in our lives. There's always going to be something at the forefront of our minds that we say, I want to grow more in my relationship with Christ in that area, or in this area. I want to get rid of this and embrace this so that I can be more like Christ." [55:59] (60 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)

5) "Now, the second thing he says here is strengthen what remains. He said, strengthen what remains and is about to die. And what I think that means is, are to identify the good desires within us. In each of our lives, within our hearts, we have those things that ought to be strengthened. Good desires. We're not all the way dead yet. At least the Christians and Sardis weren't. Jesus is saying, you're far from me. But he recognizes there's got to be some good there. And he says, strengthen that. And each of us have good desires. How do I know that? Because we were created to live in fellowship with God. He's planted within our hearts a desire to live in obedience to him and in fellowship with him. And so identify those desires and bring those things up in our lives so that we can say, that's what I really want. I want that more than anything else. Step number two really implies a question. What do you want? John the Baptist's disciples came to Jesus at one point and they were asking him all kinds of questions. Are you the one? What are you all about? And John 1 38 says, turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, what do you want? And that's what Jesus comes and he asks all of us today. What do you want? If you want to live as a spiritually dead person, Jesus isn't going to force himself upon us. But if we want to live alive and in relationship with him, this is what Jesus longs to cultivate within us. And so what we ought to say is we need to fan into flame those good desires within us. The question you have to ask yourself as God reveals things in your heart is, do I actually want to be that kind of person? It's a powerful question. Do I actually want to be the type of person that loves their enemy? Do I actually want to be the kind of person that is filled with gentleness and sincerity that isn't full of anxiety or worry? Do I actually want to be that kind of person? And if we say, yes, that's the type of person I want to be, then step number three, remember what you have received and heard. In other words, commit to memory the word of God. And I know that if we are to be spiritually alive, God's word plays a crucial role in that. God's word is always going to be one of the most helpful things for us to grow in our relationship with God. Now, when Jesus says, remember what you have received and heard, I don't think he's talking about just recall what you learned a long time ago in the good old days. What I think he's saying is commit God's word to your memory in such a way that at any point and at any time, you can be a part of the relationship with God. And that's what you can recall it. It's always there. You can remember it whenever it is needed. Psalm 119, 9 and 10 says, how can a young person stay on the path of purity? By living according to your word. I have, get this, I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you. If we want to be spiritually alive, what that means is that we hide God's word in our hearts, so that it can be remembered whenever, whenever we need it. And so there are at least two things that come to mind immediately. One is meditation on God's word. You meditate on God's word. To meditate on God's word simply means that you take God's word and you sit with it. And you, and you let it go over your heart and through your mind to the point that it becomes a part of you. Would you say that God's word is a part of you? That it dwells inside of you and it's just, it's, it's a part of you in such a way that it's become part of your character, part of your identity, part of who you are. Meditating on God's word means that we sit and we think about how does this, what does this mean and how does this apply to my life? How does it apply to my family? How does it, what, what does this mean for how I live at work? We, we think about it until we've considered it from every angle and it's become a part of us. And then we think about it until we've considered it from every angle and it's become a part of us. then that really relates to the second practice i want to give us related to god's word and that is the memorization of god's word in fact every time that i feel like i've grown more and more alive in my relationship with god it's oftentimes come with the memorization of scripture why because the memorization of scripture really gives us the ability to remember it all the time it's stuck in there it's it's it's in our brain and so and also i think memorization causes us to really meditate on it you have to think each and every word now i know some of you are thinking i can't memorize verses anymore those days are long gone maybe when i was in fourth grade i can't memorize yes you can it might take a while but you can uh you can commit these words to you to memory so that it helps you grow in your faith and i and i won't name a name because i don't want to put anyone on the spot but i came into the sanctuary early this morning and uh one of the sweethearts in our church and an older lady that i love very dearly is sitting there with her word and she says i'm memorizing psalm 91 i thought that's beautiful if we want to be spiritualized spiritually alive we'll do the hard work to to meditate and memorize god's word going on in psalm 119 the psalmist said your word is a lamp for my feet and a light to my path god's word shows us the way right joshua 1 8 and this is one that some of you have probably already committed to memory and if you haven't i i encourage you to to mark it and to look at it keep this book of the law always on your list and you're going to be able to memorize it and you're going to be able to flip meditate on it about once a week no no no meditate on it day and night so that you may be able to so that you may be careful to do everything written in it then you will be prosperous and successful this world's got a lot of plans for prosperity and success education and career paths and and financial planning and all these things but there is only one way that is promised the way to be prosperous and successful at least in in terms of being spiritually alive is to meditate on god's word day and night and to do everything that it says to be careful to do all that it that is written in it that reminds me also and i won't put this one on the screen because i want someone to finish this one for me the great commission go therefore And make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. That's what it means to be a disciple. To be able to do everything that Jesus has told us to do, taught us to do. And so, if we are to do what he taught us to do, it means that we're going to take those words into our being. We're going to commit them to memory. We're going to meditate on it until it becomes a part of who we are. And then step number four is hold it fast." [01:04:04] (60 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)

6) "In other words, develop practices to help you do what Jesus taught. Now that you've got the word of God in your mind, put it into practice. Hold it fast. Continually do it. Do it over and over and over and over again until you can do it without even thinking about it. This is how we... We take in all kinds of things, right? When you begin to tie your shoes as a little kid, you've got to think very carefully about how to cross the shoe strings and make a loop. And I can't even remember now, but there's a little saying about there being a bunny rabbit's hole and the bunny goes in the hole. I should have looked that up beforehand. That just came to mind. But you've got to think about it very carefully, right? To learn to tie your shoe. And then you keep tying it over and over again. And now you tie your shoe without thinking about it. You can do it with your eyes closed. Do it when you're half asleep. You can just tie your shoe. Same thing with riding a bike or shooting a basket or all kinds of things. And the same thing would be true in our spiritual lives. It takes great intentionality to learn to live without worry. Or to learn to love our neighbor as ourself. But the more we do it, the more we hold it fast, put it into practice, the more we begin to be able to actually naturally do the things that Jesus, Jesus has taught us to do. And so we develop some very specific practices like that, right? So let's practice right now. Let's just pretend. Let's say there is an area of your life. And maybe you have this in your heart right now. You've already begun to examine your heart and your life. And you say, if I want to be spiritually alive, this is the area that I am going to grow in. And we're going to think about how you develop practices for that. So somebody give me an example. And then we'll try to do this together. What's an example of how you might want to grow to be more spiritually alive? You're growing in your Christ -likeness. Someone give me an example. Anyone have anything? There you go. Let's say you want to grow to become more patient. That's a good one, right? So what's the first thing you're going to do? Well, the first thing you're going to do is you're going to make up your mind, that's the kind of person that I actually want to be. That I truly believe that being a patient person is better than being an impatient person. That my life would be better if I could learn to be patient. And then you're going to turn to God for help. Because to be honest, if you try to be patient on your own, it's never going to work. The Holy Spirit is going to have to help you in this process. And the Holy Spirit is more than happy to do that. In fact, this is one of the fruit of the Spirit. And so we turn to Him and we ask Him, God, will you give me help to be patient? And we're going to commit it to prayer every day. To be more patient. And then we're going to look for some Bible verses. To commit to memory. About being patient. So that when we're not patient, we can have something to draw upon. In fact, when we're tempted to be impatient and harsh with someone, we're going to recall some, Bible verses. And they'll be at the forefront of our minds because we've memorized them. And we will, and they will be right there. And then we're going to develop some practices to force us to be patient." [01:12:59] (60 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)

7) "When you go into the grocery store, and there's four lines leading up to the checkout aisle, you're going to pick the one that looks not to be the fastest, but the slowest. And you're going to stand in that line. Or you pull up, and the Costco. Anyone ever, when you pull a Costco, you're like, okay, that line's got five cars. That's got six. That's got three. That's got two. And that, and I do this. I even look. Now the truck has a bigger gas tank than the little car. So I want to get in a line that has the least amount of trucks. But you know what you're going to do? You're going to choose the slowest line. Why? So you can practice patience. You're going to force yourself to do things that are not natural until you begin to realize, God is in control of my life. And I don't have to force things to happen. And you're going to develop practices to help you be more patient. If it's struggling to be patient with someone, you're going to begin to practice, you know what? I'm not going to try to hurry that person along. Or I'm not going to try to force that person to become a different type of person. But I'm going to let that person be who God has created them to be. And we're very intentional to pray about that relationship. Now all of these things are very hard, are hard work. And I am, and I recognize that we are all a work in progress. But I do know that when we intentionally try to embrace these things, over time we will recognize Jesus is doing a good work in me. And it will begin to happen more and more naturally. And that's what I hope all of us would do. That we would develop practices to help us to become different type of people. Which leads us to step number five, which is repent. Repent is actually just a summary of the first four steps. Repent means that you turn around to live a different kind of life with and for God. And so it starts with the confession of sin. And to become spiritually alive always means that there is a lot of confession of sin. But repent really means, it means that we change our minds. It's a Greek word, metanoia, to change one's mind. And what it means is we begin to see our lives and think about ourselves and think about our lives in a different way. That's what it means to repent. And when we've done all of these things and said, you know what, I'm going to take a good hard look at my life. I'm going to examine my heart. And yes, I see these areas that God would have me to change. But I want to be a different person. And so I'm going to strengthen what remains. I'm going to take those good desires. I'm going to take those good desires within me. And I'm going to cultivate those things. And I'm going to say, this is who I want to be. And then I'm going to remember God's word, his teaching. I'm going to hold it fast by developing practices. Then you've already done repentance. Repentance is living a different kind of life. And what's the reward? Well, the reward, going back to Revelation chapter 3, is to live with Jesus and to look like him. When we've done these steps of becoming spiritually alive, the reward is to live with Jesus and to look like him. Verses 4 and 5, Yet you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes. They walk with me. That's to live with Jesus. Dressed in white. That's to look like him. For they are worthy. The one who is victorious will, like them, be dressed in white. I will never blot out the name of that person from the book of life, but will acknowledge that name before my Father and his angels. The spiritual trade in Sardis was the making of fabric and the dyeing of wool. And so I am sure that these Christians readily resonated when Jesus talked about being dressed in white and not having their clothes soiled. But I think we can quickly resonate with that as well. This is what we want. This is what will bring us most joy in our lives. When Jesus said, I have come that you may have life and have it to the full, we're talking about being spiritually alive. And Jesus offers us that kind of life." [01:16:35] (60 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)

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