February 16, 2000
LIFE & WORK SERIES:
Sharing gospel with world begins with faithfulness
___Revelation 3:1-6, 14-22
___By Debra Hochgraber
___Women's Evangelism Consultant, BGCT, Dallas
___On this particular family vacation, I wanted to be just like my older cousin. She was in the sixth grade! All six kids had watched "Peter Pan" and had gone upstairs to play. She jumped onto the bed, announced she was Peter Pan, and pretended to fly, running around the room, leaping on and over everything in sight, calling us to follow. I knew we were not supposed to jump on the bed. Running and jumping were outside activities. But I joined in, as did our four younger siblings. It did not take long for my brother to knock over a lamp, hurting himself in the fall.
___Upon seeing our parents, my older cousin and I began to place blame on the guilty party. Yes, he would be disciplined, but so would we! Our disregard for rules of safety, aswell as our irresponsible actions in front of those who would follow our example, had led to his injury as well as the loss of something very valuable.
___Christ asked John to write to seven churches. These churches had many believers in their midst. Near the end of each letter, he reminds them of the promises awaiting those who have overcome. John himself had penned, "Who is it that overcomes the world? ... Everyone born of God, ... he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God" (1 John 5:4-5). Those among them who were born of God had salvation, but they needed to hear his Spirit telling them the consequences of their disobedience and irresponsible actions in front of a lost world. They needed to repent of their own sin. Many have received salvation, but the denial of the sin in their lives has broken their fellowship with the Father and the Son.
___The churches in Sardis and Laodicea had bought into the lies of the deceiver. One church believed that their bustle of activity was the Lord's work when it was merely a self-ordained calendar (Revelation 3:1-2). The Laodiceans were comfortable with what they had acquired in self-effort. Christ had spiritual treasures he desired they receive from him instead of settling for the counterfeits they could manufacture for themselves. This city, wealthy in business and banking, famous for manufacturing expensive wool, known for its ointments for eye diseases, was spiritually poor, naked and blind (Revelation 3:17-18).
___One of the most important roles of the church is to share the gospel with a lost world. As Christ looked at his church, he saw a lack of real love and faithfulness. He saw indifference to and involvement in immorality. He saw arrogance, complacency, self-satisfaction, disobedience--sin. He called for repentance. Repentance was absolutely necessary for them to rediscover a zeal for witnessing. Repentance would also be necessary for a lost world to pay any attention to their message.
___Christ looked at his church and saw some being faithful. He called them "worthy" (Revelation 3:4).
___Lord, let me not play a part in the eternal loss of any soul. Let me hear what your Spirit is saying.
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