As I was in the shower, trying to fend off a cold,
not feeling 100%, I thought about what I would put on; something warm and comfortable.
I have a favorite pair of slacks that I had only worn once, so I thought I
would slip those on; the Holy Spirit spoke to me saying, “put on clean clothes”
…
I understood that there was more to this, so I tried
to think of this in a spiritual sense.
But I still wasn’t getting it.
Then the Holy Spirit related it to me like this: why, after you have
come to the knowledge of the truth (salvation by grace through the gift of
faith) would you turn back to “works of righteousness” and put on filthy
garments.
Rev 3:1 To the
angel of Messiah’s community in Sardis write: “Thus says the One
having the seven spirits of God and the seven stars: I know your deeds—you have a reputation for being alive, but
you are dead.
Some
reformation churches; postmodern churches; contemporary mega-churches
Rev 3:2
Wake up, and strengthen what remains that was about to die. For I have
not found your deeds complete in the sight of My God.
Strengthen what is left of
the Gospel in the churches, turn away from works unto righteousness… Your works
will never be good enough. Church
requirements and doctrines such as membership or tithing, sacramental events
like baptism, fasting’s, long prayer, or prayer gatherings, events intended to
move God; artificial sanctification – consecrations, garments, foods or not, abstentions
(certain activities, sexuality within marriage) hair, jewelry…
Rev 3:3 So remember
what you have received and heard—keep it, and repent.
Pro_23:23 Buy the truth, and sell it not; also wisdom, and instruction,
and understanding… having received the
testimony of Messiah Yeshua…faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of
God; keep the simplicity of the Gospel, do not add to or take away from the
Gospel of Grace through Faith!
If
you will not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what
hour I will come upon you.
Joh_10:1 “Amen,
amen I tell you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs in
some other way, is a thief and a robber.
If you do not come to God,
through the finished work of Christ crucified, died and buried; resurrected
after three days and nights, then you are adding to Him as though Messiah is
insufficient and you have rejected the “gift” of grace that brings salvation.
Rev 3:4
“But still, you have a few people in Sardis who
have not defiled
their clothes. They will walk with Me in white, because they
are worthy.
The
implication here is that the others have defiled garments…how?
Isaiah 64:6 But we are all as the unclean thing, and all our righteousness’s
are as a menstruation cloth. And we all fade as a leaf; and our
iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.
Rev 3:5 The one who overcomes thus will be dressed in white clothes;
I will never blot his name out of the Book of Life, and will confess his name
before My Father and His angels.
1Jn_5:4 For
everything that has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that overcomes the world, our
faith. 5:5 Who is he who overcomes the
world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of
God?
Rev 19:8 And to her was granted that she
should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.
It is not a righteousness they have merited
by works or perceived holiness, they have become partakers of Messiah Yeshua. They
have become “the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus”. The Lord our Righteousness!
Mat 7:21
“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord!’ will
enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.
Mat 7:22
Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, didn’t we
prophesy in Your name, and drive out demons in Your name, and perform many
miracles in Your name?’
Mat 7:23
Then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you. Get
away from Me, you workers of lawlessness!’”
These
were looking not to the Works of Christ as their sufficiency, but signs and
spiritual acts and gifting’s as evidence that they knew Him… But the Lord counts
them as lawless. How can He call them
lawless? If you are not under grace, you are judged under the Law! They thought they had earned His favor by
their works… Sounds like a large part of the church today, especially those who
are reaching after the youth.
They
are being taught extreme fasting’s, meditation, spiritual formation, long seasons
of prayer and worship, sacrificial giving and required teaching or
schooling. These children are being
introduced to another spirit that manifests in many ways leading them to
believe they are following the Holy Spirit.
But they have been deceived because they are not being given a firm
foundation in the Gospel of Grace through the gift of Faith.
I
will post a part 2 regarding Fasting today and a false sense of holiness. Look for it soon. Shalom, shalom chaverim.
