Itʻs Time to Wake Up

“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 found your deeds unfinished in the sight of my God. Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; hold it fast, 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.’” (Rev. 3:1-3 NIV)

1. causes our spirits to sleep. “As the Scriptures say, ‘God has put them into a deep sleep. To this day He has shut their eyes so they do not see, and closed their ears so they do not hear.’ Likewise, David said, ‘Let their bountiful table become a snare, a trap that makes them think all is well. Let their blessings cause them to stumble, and let them get what they deserve. Let their eyes go blind so they cannot see, and let their backs be bent forever.’” (Rom. 11:8-10 NLT)

2. To awaken our spirits, we need to to what we have seen and heard, and .

“Now it happened that while Apollos was in Corinth, Paul passed through the upper country and came to Ephesus, and found some disciples. He said to them, ‘Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?’ And they said to him, ‘On the contrary, we have not even heard if there is a Holy Spirit.’ And he said, ‘Into what then were you baptized?’ And they said, ‘Into John’s baptism.’ Paul said, ‘John baptized with a baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in Him who was coming after him, that is, in Jesus.’ When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul had laid hands upon them, the Holy Spirit came on them and they began speaking with tongues and prophesying. There were about twelve men in all.” (Acts 19:1-7 NASB)

“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. The one who is victorious will, like them, be dressed in white. I will never blot out the name of that person from the book of life, but will acknowledge that name before My Father and His angels. Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” (Rev. 3:4-6 NIV)