Where do you stand pt. 4/4

Today is the final day we identify the ranks. Where do you stand? It is a question we all, myself included, must ask. And we cannot afford to be easy on ourselves. We are children of light according to 2 Thessalonians, so why hold onto the darkness. We as the Ecclesia are not exempt from judgement; we will all stand before the Bema seat and receive our rewards based on what we have done here on this battlefield (Romans 14:10, 1 Cor 15:9-10). Where have we stored our treasure?(Mathew 6:19-21) We cannot lose our salvation, but we can forfeit our inheritance.

 Beyond that, if you do not sow the seeds of freedom and life, who will? The captive are out there, You have the power of the Holy Spirit within you, and you have the orders from our King to go out and bring the Word of freedom to them.(Luke 24:4-48, Mark 16:15, Acts 1:4-8)

With that let us look upon the final 3 ranks

Revelation 3:1-6

And unto the angel of the church in Sardis write; These things saith he that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars; I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead.

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

³ 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.

⁴ 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.

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.

⁶ He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.

Here is one of two churches about which nothing good is said. There is nothing beyond the fact that they are just dead. They have a name and hold themselves to that name, but there is no life in it. Do you hold to a name? It could be baptist, catholic, or christian. The name you hold does not matter, unless you have the relationship our Captain. It is not what you know it is Who you know. Do you believe in God and Jesus, great, but not enough. James 2:19 says, "Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well; the devils also believe, and tremble." Believing in Christ is different than a relationship, asking Him  into your life to be your King and confessing your sins.

 Do not be confused with the blotting out of the book of life. This is not a statement saying you can lose your salvation. In ancient times a book was kept that held the names of all residents of a city. When a person was born their name went into the book. When they died, their name was blotted out. This book I believe contains the names of all that Christ died for, but if one dies without Him, their name is blotted out. On the other hand, if they have received Christ their name is not. 

Revelation 3:7-13

⁷ And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write; These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth;

⁸ I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name.

⁹ Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee.

¹⁰ Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.

¹¹ Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.

¹² Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name.

¹³ He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.

This is one of the 2nd church about which nothing bad is said. Simply we must ask ourselves if we stand amongst this rank. Do you keep His word? Do you deny our Kings name, not necessarily in voice, but in your actions?  "Those who say they are Jews and are not" There is a strange heresy spread throughout our ranks that the because Israel denied Christ as the Messiah it forfeit it's Covenant. This is completely false. When the Abrahamic covenant was established, God alone walked between the sacrifice, Abraham was asleep, therefore there is no condition on Israel's part.  

Revelation 3:14-22

¹⁴ And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God;

¹⁵ I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.

¹⁶ So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.

¹⁷ Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:

¹⁸ I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.

¹⁹ As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.

²⁰ Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.

²¹ To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.

²² He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.

This is the 2nd church about which nothing good is said. Do you find yourself here, believing you have everything you need and relying solely upon yourself for sustenance? Do you consider yourself to have reached the top and have no more need of anything? When we believe we have arrived, and have attained all there is to attain, be careful. It is a place of settling, our guard is down, and we become lazy. If we are lazy we cannot fight, we cannot free the captive. We don't make time to speak with our King, or to seek out His word. Our King detests this so much he literally vomits them out.  Do you find yourself amongst this Rank.

Why are the last few days of identifying the ranks so important. If you read over the letters, NOTICE, each church had a view of themselves that was wrong. Smyrna thought they were poor, but Christ said "Thou art rich." Laodicea thought they were rich, but Christ said," Thou art poor." We are called to a mission, to a war. This is not an academic exercise, this is not a fun training event, this is life and death to a point that we cannot comprehend. How close are we to eternity? One heartbeat. We know not when our time will come, but it will come. And then our fight is over. When it happens will we stand tall and hear, "Well done good and faithful servant"? Will we receive many rewards, only a few, or nothing? I keep thinking of Schindlers List. At the end he breaks down, looking at a button saying,"Why did I keep this, this would have paid for 2 more" and goes through how many more Jews little trinkets he kept could have bought. He then loses it saying," One more, I could have saved one more." Will we find ourselves here, saying,"One more, I could have saved one more"? We are here, now, everyday is a day to sow seed for the King. To take this fight to the enemy, to give the Word of freedom, and life. Do you long for our King, do you love Him, do you speak His word to others and declare His name in your mouth and actions? I challenge you with all sincerity and urgency I can muster to know where you stand.