TRUE FELLOWSHIP WITH CHRIST

Revelation 3:1-22
Key Verses: Revelation 3:19, 20

“Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and repent. Here I
am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the
door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.”

Last week we listened to Jesus who spoke to the churches in Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum,
and Thyatira. This week we will listen to Jesus who spoke to the churches in Sardis,
Philadelphia and Laodicea. Jesus wants to have eating fellowship with us. This passage that
the Risen Jesus has given us is very spicy. We can try to put a sweet and sugary coating to
disguise the spicy-ness. But when we bite into it, it is still very spicy, too spicy to be
disguised. By faith, let us not spit out what the Risen Jesus has given us. May God help us
to digest it and have true fellowship with him through this message.

1. Wake up! (3:1-6)

Look at verse 1. “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.” Jesus holds the seven spirits of God, which
stands before the throne of God. He also holds the seven stars who are the angels of the
seven churches. Jesus is the owner and ruler of his Creation. He is the owner of the church
in Sardis and its leader. The Risen Jesus who is seated at the right hand of God carefully
searches hearts and minds and repays each person according to his DEEDS. The Risen Jesus
searched the church at Sardis and said, “You have a reputation of being alive, but you are
dead.” This was Jesus’ judgment on the church at Sardis. However they wanted to defend
themselves before him, Jesus found they were spiritually dead. This teaches us that we
must not live according to the opinion of others, or even our own. It is Jesus’ judgment of
us that matters. It means that we must live before Jesus no matter what. If we have to be
in Jesus and then we have to be in Jesus. What if Jesus comes and looks at us, what can we
say to him? What if we are found dead? What if we don’t even know we are dead because
we are sleeping? It is shocking. But JESUS IS COMING SOON! HE IS COMING SOON! AMEN.
COME, LORD JESUS (Rev. 22:20). Therefore, we must wake up from our spiritual slumber.

Look at verses 2 and 3, “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.” It was time for them to wake
up. It was time for them to remember Jesus’ words and obey them absolutely. It is also
time for us to wake up. We have become relativistic in obeying Christ. We obey Jesus as far
as it is safe, reasonable, and beneficial. How far do we obey Jesus? As far as the risks feel
manageable. As far as we feel comfortable. Then we feel stuck. We feel dead inside. Jesus
wants us to wake up from our relativism toward his words. He wants us to be courageous in
obeying Jesus’ words. Then, we can live abundant lives that come from absolute faith and
obedience in Jesus’ words. We will enjoy all kinds of adventures with Jesus’ help. But we will
be found alive in him. That is life-giving. Otherwise, Jesus will come to us not as a helper
nor as a Savior, but like a thief, suddenly and unexpectedly.

Look at verse 4, “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.” Jesus was sorry that the
church at Sardis was full of spiritually dead people stricken by the spiritual disease of sin
and relativism. Yet he found God’s remnant who kept their absolute faith toward God’s
words. They did not soil their clothes with relativism or humanism. They studied the Bible
sincerely and put God’s words into practice, risking their lives to obey the truth of God. They
were worthy of God’s high calling to be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. Jesus
promised them that he would keep them holy and pure to the end. He again urged those
who were dead to experience God’s holiness and purity. It meant to challenge a new life of
faith. Thank you for hearing the words of Jesus who spoke to the church at Sardis. Still it
may seem abstract and theoretical. So, let me share with you an example.

St. Augustine of Hippo was a rebellious young man who felt dead day and night. It was
because he lived in sin with a woman for many years and even had an illegitimate child and
indulged in the sect of Manichæism out of his rebellion toward God’s absolute truth. He was
one of the spiritual dead. Who would care for him? Jesus did. Jesus sent his servants:
Monica and Ambrose. Ambrose helped him to read the Bible and Monica prayed for him
persistently. Soon he heard Jesus’ wake-up call from the last part of Romans ch. 13, “The
hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now
than when we first believed. The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put
aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us behave decently, as in the
daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in
dissension and jealousy. Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not
think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature.” He decided to obey Jesus’ words
immediately and absolutely. He then became Saint Augustine, a bishop of Hippo who wrote
two great books, “Confessions,” and “The City of God.” Do you feel dead? Wake up! Hear
and obey Jesus’ words! Repent of your relativism toward Jesus’ words. Risk yourself and
experience Jesus’ help. Who knows but you will be raised as the next St. Augustine in the
st
21 century?

2. Hold on to what you have (3:7-13)

Look at verse 7, “To the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: These are the words of
him who is holy and true, who holds the key of David. What he opens no one can shut, and
what he shuts no one can open.” Jesus is the One who can handle the key of the door to
heaven. If we believe his power and authority to keep the door open to heaven, we must
stop looking at the doors to hell, but start looking at the open door to heaven. It means we
must stop thinking about the things of men, but start thinking about the things of God.
Please, stop loving the world, but start loving God.

It was hard for the Christians at Philadelphia to love God wholeheartedly because of daily
chores, distractions, persecution, natural disasters and so on. But Jesus said to them, “I
know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my
name (8).” It is amazing to see that despite all kinds of responsibilities and trials they
obeyed God’s words absolutely and did not compromise with the world. Missionary Bob Von
Moss is an American missionary to Mongolia; recently he served his first English worship
service in Mongolia. How could he leave all the excitements in America and go to Mongolia?
But he said in his mission report, “We can be fruitful when we enjoy meaningful Bible verses
and become like a fruitful tree planted by the river.” I realized that he is happy wherever he
goes because of his love for God and God’s words. Jesus loves those who keep his
command, though the world does not know or does not care. Jesus loves those who love his
words and obey them without excuse. Jesus loves those who are courageous enough not to
deny his holy name in compromising and terrifying circumstances. When he loves back his
obedient children, he loves them back, to the end and completely: he will even make the
liars acknowledge his love for his obedient children. Thinking about the Christians at
Philadelphia again, Jesus gave them his command to endure patiently. They obeyed that
command, though it was not easy. Then, Jesus promised to keep them from the hour of
trial.

Jesus knew their obedient heart. Therefore, he gave them another command with another
promise. “I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your
crown” (11). Any Christian can testify that it is not easy to continue to obey Jesus’
commands step by step to the end. Maybe even the Philadelphians had to overcome their
sinful desire to drop this most recent command: “Hold on to what you have!” It seemed so
boring, time-consuming, uncertain and unreasonable. But the truth is that no one can pick
and choose among Jesus’ commands according to his preference. We must overcome our
picky attitude toward Jesus’ commands. We must overcome our seasonal and moody
attitude toward Jesus’ commands. Jesus promises in verses 12,13,“Him who overcomes I
will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will he leave it. I will write on him
the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is
coming down out of heaven from my God; and I will also write on him my new name. He
who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” Maybe the Christians in
Philadelphia could not enjoy a fun-filled and secure life on earth at that time. But Jesus
encouraged them to look forward to find permanent security in the kingdom of God. Living
in an insecure and uncertain world is troublesome. Our true hope is in the promise of God:
In the kingdom of God Jesus will wipe away our tears. Our living hope is in God’s amazing
power that enables us to complete our life of faith on earth until the day of Christ Jesus
(Phil. 1:6). Therefore, we must hold on to what we have until we see Jesus face to face. We
must study the Bible deeply and keep his words with no excuse. We must keep his
command to endure patiently. Most of all, we must keep his world mission command
faithfully, “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the
Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have
commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Before this
command, we might feel choked. We feel choked because we do not feel secure to obey this
risky, challenging mission. But we also want to be very brave in obeying Jesus, who is our
only strength and security. May God help us to keep his command to endure the cross of
mission patiently in the hope of eternal security in the kingdom of God. May God send out
100,000 missionaries to the ends of the world by 2041.

3. Here I am! (3:14-22)

Look at verse 14, “To the angel of the church in Laodicea write: These are the words of the
Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation.” Jesus is the Amen. He is
faithful and true. On the other hand, the church in Laodicea was lukewarm – neither hot nor
cold. He said to them in verses 16, “So, because you are lukewarm – neither hot nor cold –
I am about to spit you out of my mouth.” Figuratively speaking, at that time, the spring of
the church in Laodicea should have been either bracingly cold or piping hot. But the water
was tepid. So, Jesus was about to spit it out. But wait! He decided to engage in the sincere
love of God that changes tepid water into fresh, drinkable water. How was he going to
transform this tasteless? He rebuked them by saying “You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired
wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor,
blind and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become
rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to
put on your eyes, so you can see (17,18).”

Let us read verses 19 and 20, “Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest,
and repent. Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens
the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.” Buying from Jesus might mean
that we must welcome Jesus into our hearts and eat with him. Two things are clear to me:
We are supposed to meet Jesus face to face and buy something from him. In other words,
we are supposed to have true fellowship with him. As for me, the best description of true
fellowship with Jesus is from 1 John 1:6, 7, “If we claim to have fellowship with him yet
walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is
in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies
us from all sin.” If we claim to have true fellowship with Christ and yet claim to be without
sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us, just like the Christians in Laodicea; they
claimed that they were not sinners and did not need a thing from Jesus and would not buy
anything from Jesus. When Jesus came to the door, the Laodiceans kicked him out into the
street, like some unwanted solicitor or traveling salesman. But Jesus is the Amen, the
faithful and true witness, and the ruler of God’s creation. He remains at the door and
knocks. This terrible situation started because the Laodiceans did not realize their spiritual
wretchedness, nakedness and blindness. They said, “I am rich. I have acquired wealth and
do not need a thing.” Wow! They must be earnest and repent! They needed Jesus’ true love,
and they needed his earnest rebuke and discipline.

What is our will? What is God’s will? What is true fellowship with Christ? In Revelation 1-3,
true fellowship with Christ comes through hearing Jesus’ words and submitting our wills to
the will of God. Let me start this way. I am interested in telling Jesus and you and others
what I believe in this passage. But according to this passage, I can’t fool Jesus. Jesus knows
what I truly believe about him will be manifested in my decision and by what I do. Jesus
rebukes me, “Be diligent in these matters; give yourself wholly to them, so that everyone
may see your progress. Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if
you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers” (1 Tim. 4:15,16). You, too, can say
many things to Jesus and me about what you believe and what you understand about this
passage. But I challenge you with this question: What do you choose to do in 2009? Be
earnest! Jesus knows that what you really believe will be made plain in what you do.
Brothers and sisters, no more deception before the Risen Jesus! Brothers and sisters, no
more excuse before the Risen Jesus! Let us read today’s key verses 19 and 20, “Those
whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and repent. Here I am! I stand at the
door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with
him, and he with me.”