A Reputation May Be In Name Only

To the angel of the church in Sardis write:  These are the words of him who holds the seven spirits of God and the seven stars.  I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead.  Wake up!  Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your deeds complete in the sight of my God.  Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; obey it, and repent.  But if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief and you will not know at what time I will come to you.  Yet you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes.  They will walk with me, dressed in white, for they are worthy.  He who overcomes will, like them, be dressed in white.  I will never blot out their name from the book of life, but will acknowledge his name before my Father and his angels.  He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
Revelation 3:1-6 NIV

In the last house I owned, I had a wood burning stove in the basement and there were times in the winter that I would be able to get it so hot in that particular living room, you could walk around in a t-shirt and shorts on when it was -30c and snow storming outside.  If I loaded it properly for the night, it would burn evenly and steadily until the morning when I would be able to stoke the embers and with proper reloading, it would be burning hot again shortly, for the rest of the day.

There are churches that have a reputation of having a great pastoral preacher but they don't do anything in the community as far as evangelism ,or care for the widows and orphans (for instance).  These churches have a reputation of being alive, but God knows that they are "dead".

Just like my fireplace in the morning, I would give it the time and care it needed to be able to get hot and do the work that I wanted and needed it to do for me and my family, God in His grace gives the dead churches an opportunity to "wake up" and do again what they did in the beginning.

However, the consequences of the fireplace and the churches are far different.  If I didn't rekindle the fire I would just turn up my oil burning furnace and we would be warm, but if the church that God identifies as "dead" don't "wake up", He will blot out their names from the book of life.  The situation is urgent and we should not take lightly what God has written.

Repentance is not just a matter of being sorry that we got caught doing something wrong, it's an acknowledgement that we have acted, thought, or said something wrong.  Changes then need to be made so that it would not happen again.  Not only that, but we are then also expected to repay as quickly as possible, whenever or wherever we fail.

The eternal benefits outweigh the earthly temporal ones that we might be enjoying now.

Lets remember (communion) what we have "received and heard", obey it and repent.

Psalm 9

I will praise you, O LORD, with all my heart; I will tell of all your wonders.  I will be glad and rejoice in you; I will sing praise to your name, O Most High.  My enemies turn back; they stumble and perish before you.  For you have upheld my right and my cause; you have sat on your throne, judging righteously.  You have rebuked the nations and destroyed the wicked; you have blotted out their name for ever and ever.  Endless ruin has overtaken the enemy, you have uprooted their cities; even the memory of them has perished.  The LORD reigns forever, he has established his throne for judgement.  He will judge the world in righteousness; he will govern the peoples with justice.  The LORD is a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble.  Those who know your name will trust in you, for you, LORD, have never forsaken those who seek you.  Sing praises to the LORD, enthroned in Zion; proclaim among the nations what he has done.  For he who avenges blood remembers; he does not ignore the cry of the afflicted.  O LORD, see how my enemies persecute me!  Have mercy and lift me up from the gates of death, that I may declare your praises in the gates of the Daughter of Zion and there rejoice in your salvation.  The nations have fallen into the pit they have dug; their feet are caught in the net they have hidden.  The LORD is known by his justice; the wicked are ensnared by the work of their hands.  The wicked return to the grave, all the nations that forget God.  But the needy will not always be forgotten, nor the hope of the afflicted ever perish.  Arise, O LORD, let not man triumph; let the nations be judged in your presence.  Strike them with terror O LORD; let the nations know they are but men.
NIV

PRAYER

My God you are my Savior, Redeemer and King.
You give me reason to be happy and to be filled with joy.
With you I have no fear of my enemies, You are on my side.

Justice and righteousness comes from you.
You govern with a rod of iron and fairness.
You are a stronghold for me and I trust in you.

Those that have hidden agendas will be caught by there own schemes.
I don't need to fear the plans of those who don't care about me because you will turn it right back on them.
O LORD, you will prevail, the wicked will return to dust and the righteous reign with you eternally.