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Chapter 7 THE SPIRIT OF CHRIST
(Rev 3:1-6 KJV) "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."
John was commanded by the Spirit of God to write a letter to all of these churches to let them know where they stood with Christ. I believe in this day we will see the same thing through prophets who come with a message from the Lord to warn churches and to edify them in how the Lord looks at them. Do you not want to know how the Lord sees us? Because these letters are eternal words of God, I believe all of this is operating today and is given as a warning. Human nature has not changed in 2000 years. To each of these the Lord gives a promise -- if they will overcome. We also must know there is something to overcome so we can receive of the Lord.
We have first been taught as believers that we must overcome the world. Then we are taught about our enemy that must also be overcome. The last area that everyone must learn about is how to overcome ourselves. When the church has learned this, then we will be made ready for the marriage of the lamb. As believers we do not have anything to fear with the devil. We bind him, throw him out and by the blood of Jesus, he is gone. But I still have "me" to contend with every day. Even after a wonderful time of prayer and praise with the Lord, you can then walk out of your prayer closet and have someone confront you with an issue. Immediately you’re hooked! Painful? Yes! But it is reality! Daily, we are called to walk in the fruit of the Spirit, in forgiveness and humility with people who do not overcome the world, the flesh, and the devil.
The way the Lord is doing this today is simply with His truth. But we do not know it until He shows it and reveals it!
Sardis = means red one (Esau – flesh; self-centered; gave up his birthright and died spiritually)
Verse 1 – seven spirits of God – We looked at this earlier and told you that Jesus will come to you in whatever revelation you need at the time. To this church the Lord says, I have come to you in the fullness. For whatever you needed I was there, and you received of me. You walked in wisdom, understanding, counsel, might, knowledge, fear and truth (Isa.11:2).
It is not enough just to walk in the Spirit. We must know what it is He is doing; otherwise we have no idea what is happening in our life and why we cannot relate to others. But the seven-fold spirit of God will enable me with all I need to live so I can relate to God and others. I will be able to walk in the fruit of the Spirit when I am discerning the work of the Spirit in my life. The Bible tells us in Heb. 5 that if we are going to be mature spiritually our senses must be trained to discern. Every situation that is allowed in your life is simply for your training and admonition, in preparation for eternity. You can take for granted everything you want in this life, but it is going to make a difference in eternity.
What do you need today from the Lord?
Wisdom=skill Understanding=knowledge Counsel=advice, purpose Might=strength, power Knowledge=awareness, discernment Fear=reverence, humility, obedience Truth=God’s perspective, instead of yours
None of this is natural. It all is worship to the Lord. And it is the revelation of Jesus Christ to His church for overcoming.
This is the way He has come to Sardis. They have had revival; they have had revelation; this is a charismatic church with the fullness flowing, but they died (verse 2)! HOW? This is happening today. “For the wages of sin is death.” There is only one way to die spiritually once you have known the power and presence of God. SIN!
(Rom 6:6-8 KJV) "Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. {7} For he that is dead is freed from sin. {8} Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him:"
(Rom 6:13 KJV) "Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God."
It is a continual offering -- yielding to the Lord and not to the natural. That doesn’t mean the natural will not leak through. But if we aren’t daily giving ourselves to Him, we will fall into sin. Only when we yield daily to Him can His righteousness be revealed. It is not you. You cannot produce it, but that which is alive within you must be given Lordship.
How did they die? (Rom 6:14 KJV) "For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace."
If you stay under law you will die. Everywhere the law is ruling your life, you will die. Your life must be ruled by the spirit. Your life is a living sacrifice to please Him. That means you will not please everyone else.
(Rom 6:15-16 KJV) "What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid. {16} Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?"
To who are you enslaved? Freedom will come only when you stop living under the legalistic standard put over you by man. Yes, it will cause conflict. Yes, people will think you are too spiritual. But in reality you will walk in freedom and they will still be bound. What does it take not to be slaves to sin? To obey with your whole heart. And that is what Father is doing with His church: Getting us to look at our hearts to find mixture, compromise, and works of the flesh.
(Rom 6:17-23 KJV) "But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you. {18} Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness. {19} I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness. {20} For when ye were the servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness. {21} What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? for the end of those things is death. {22} But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life. {23} For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."
(Rom 8:1-4 KJV) "There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. {2} For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. {3} For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: {4} That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit."
When you walk in the spirit of life in Christ Jesus, you will have victory over the law of sin and DEATH. (Verse 3-4) When you realize how much liberty exists by walking after the spirit, you will not give up and you will do all it takes to maintain it.
(Rom 8:5-8 KJV) "For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. {6} For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. {7} Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. {8} So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God."
(Rom 8:14 KJV) "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God."
So how did the church of Sardis die? By walking more in the flesh than in the spirit. They did not walk in a renewed mind. Why have the generations before us died off, not to see the fulfillment of God’s Word? Because they did not continue in the Spirit. Until the spiritual mind rules, you are in danger of spiritual death.
To avoid spiritual death (Rev.3:2-3), become watchful how you live your life. Most people are not watchers; they are not alert to what they say or how they live. The evidence of that shows when you are alone. Do you do things you would not do around others? Why? Why are we not consistent? Jesus says, “I will come when you are least expecting it.” That is why I have said His showing up suddenly it won't be based on what we have done. But in the meantime we remain watchful with our walk, our talk, our attitudes our heart, our responses.
Where do we get the strength to watch? It is the Spirit of God -- one of the seven spirits -- spirit of might, strength and power. It requires continual acknowledgement of Him over all our ways. And when we blow it, we repent. A continual life of repentance enables us to hold on. Many will fall away because they do not have a life of repentance. We must pray, “Father grant me a spirit of repentance, today.” Otherwise, we lose what we have.
(Verse 4) “Some have not defiled their garments.” This says you do not have to be affected by what everyone else does. His life in you is sufficient unto the day of His coming. If everyone else around me falls, I can still remain alive in Him. “Walking in white.” First of all, they are still walking -- not in the flesh-- but in the revelation of who He is for my life. (white = light).
Verse 5 - (Rev 19:7-8 KJV) "Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honor to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. {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."
Jesus will present us to the Father, but He will not wait until after our death. Once we are walking in righteousness we will know the Father. I do not believe Jesus will marry his bride and then on the day of the wedding introduce us to the Father who wants to know us now (verse 6). |
Biblical Counseling for Leaders
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