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Voddie Baucham - Jesus Calls The Church of Sardis to Repent · Voddie Baucham Sermons

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: What about this other picture of white garments? Listen to
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: this from Craig Keener notes that in Asia Minor, there
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: were many instances of writings that have been found that
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: say that individuals who would come to these pagan temples
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: who had soiled garments would be turned away, that they
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: could not come in, that they could not worship because
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: their garments were not cleaned. Again and again and again,
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: we see this picture of white garments throughout the book
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: of Revelation. And we'll see it again and again and again.
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: It refers to the purity of the people of God,
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: to the purity of their works. But then there's this
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: other phrase that he uses. They not only have white garments,
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: but he says they are worthy. That word worthy is
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: used in 411, 5254, 59512. Every time it's used, it
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: refers to Christ and Christ only. This is the only
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: time in Revelation that this word is used and it
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: refers to the followers of Christ. What has he said?
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: You have a few names in Sardis, people who have
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: not soiled their garments. They will walk with me in
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: white for they are worthy. they will in the future
• 1:20
  Speaker 1: walk with me in white because they are worthy. What
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: is Jesus referring to here? Is Jesus saying that these individuals,
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: based upon something in and of themselves, have lived.
• 1:35
  Speaker 2: Their lives in such a way.
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: That they're going to walk with me because of what
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: they've done? Or, look at the tenses here again. You
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: still have a few names in Sardis, people who have
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: not soiled their garments.
• 1:49
  Speaker 2: They haven't.
• 1:50
  Speaker 1: They are faithful right now because they haven't soiled their garments.
• 1:53
  Speaker 1: They will walk with me in white. They're going to
• 1:57
  Speaker 1: walk with me in white. But there's something in the
• 2:00
  Speaker 1: middle between you haven't soiled your garments in the past
• 2:04
  Speaker 1: and you will walk with me in white in the future.
• 2:07
  Speaker 1: Jesus says that's not in question. He has no doubt
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  Speaker 1: that they're going to walk with him in white. Why?
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  Speaker 2: Because they are worthy. And they're going to remain worthy. Why?
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  Speaker 1: Because it is an alien worthiness. It is an alien righteousness.
• 2:25
  Speaker 1: It is the purity and holiness and righteousness of Christ
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  Speaker 1: himself who is upon them. You see, these individuals have
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  Speaker 1: a reputation that they're alive, but they're actually dead.
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  Speaker 2: Why are they dead?
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  Speaker 1: Because the Spirit of the living God does not rest
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  Speaker 1: on the church. These other individuals have an actual name
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  Speaker 1: and a real name. Why do they have a real name?
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  Speaker 1: Because the Spirit of the living God does rest on them.
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  Speaker 1: They do belong to Him. Their garments are clean because
• 2:54
  Speaker 1: of the righteousness of Christ. They are going to walk
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  Speaker 1: with Him in white. Christ knows this.
• 2:59
  Speaker 2: Why?
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  Speaker 1: Because His righteousness has become their righteousness. That's what it
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: means to be saved, saints. My garments are not soiled.
• 3:17
  Speaker 1: It almost didn't even feel right to say that because
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  Speaker 1: I know me.
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  Speaker 2: Amen? I am clean before God. How can any human
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  Speaker 2: being say that? You can't. You can't apart from the
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  Speaker 2: righteousness that we find in Christ. You can't. I will
• 3:38
  Speaker 2: walk with him in white. How can I say that?
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  Speaker 2: How arrogant is that?
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  Speaker 1: That I believe that I'm going to keep myself clean
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  Speaker 1: enough and pure enough to walk with him in white.
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  Speaker 2: No, that's not what I said.
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  Speaker 1: Because just like the cleanness of my garments are not
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  Speaker 1: a result of my own works, my walking with him
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  Speaker 1: in white is not a result of my own works even.
• 4:08
  Speaker 1: It is him who works in us both to will
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  Speaker 1: and to work for his good pleasure. The reason that
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  Speaker 1: Christ is confident that they will walk with him in
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  Speaker 1: white is because he not only saves but he keeps. Amen?
• 4:28
  Speaker 1: What does he say to the church? He calls the
• 4:31
  Speaker 1: church to repent and this is important. This is very important.
• 4:36
  Speaker 1: He says that the church is dead but that there
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  Speaker 1: are individuals who still have life. Notice that there's a
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  Speaker 1: difference between this and what we find in Ephesians chapter two.
• 4:48
  Speaker 1: In Ephesians chapter two, we're dead in our trespasses and sins.
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  Speaker 1: He's talking about us individually. Here, he's talking about a
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  Speaker 1: church corporately. So he's talking about the overall state of
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  Speaker 1: the church in Sardis. And yet there is a remnant
• 5:03
  Speaker 1: in that church that is dead overall.
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  Speaker 2: What does he say to the church? Four things, really five. One,
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  Speaker 2: wake up.
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  Speaker 1: He invites believers to a spiritual response different from the
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  Speaker 1: city whose Acropolis has fallen because of its lack of
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  Speaker 1: military readiness.
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  Speaker 2: Wake up. Be alert. That's what he says.
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  Speaker 1: And it's a direct reference to the Acropolis and how
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  Speaker 1: it was taken.
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  Speaker 2: Wake up.
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  Speaker 1: Know that you are not invincible. Know that it is
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  Speaker 1: possible for you to be destroyed. Know that what I'm
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  Speaker 1: saying is true.
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  Speaker 2: Wake up.
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  Speaker 1: Wake up from your, not just your slumber, but wake
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  Speaker 1: up from your arrogance and your confidence because you think
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  Speaker 1: that because you're not being persecuted by the Jews or
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  Speaker 1: the Greeks and people are actually coming into your church
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  Speaker 1: that you're okay when the fact of the matter is
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  Speaker 1: they're coming because you're dead and they have nothing to fear.
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  Speaker 1: You know, in some ways, the church ought to be
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  Speaker 1: the scariest place on planet Earth.
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  Speaker 2: Amen.
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  Speaker 1: Amen. Why should a person who is a sinner, who
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  Speaker 1: is openly and blatantly sinful, ever feel comfortable and confident
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  Speaker 1: walking into a place where the holy and righteous God
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  Speaker 1: and judge of the universe is worshiped by those whose
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  Speaker 1: garments have been made white? Secondly, he says, strengthen what
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  Speaker 1: remains and is about to die. Strengthen what remains and
• 6:43
  Speaker 1: is about to die. You know, we must recognize that
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  Speaker 1: there is always a tendency for sin to spread like yeast.
• 7:03
  Speaker 1: As one pastor has said, you've never heard of glovey mud.
• 7:09
  Speaker 1: What glovey mud?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah. You put a glove into mud, the mud doesn't
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  Speaker 1: get glovey, but the glove always gets muddy.
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  Speaker 2: Sin does that. Don't we see that with our children?
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  Speaker 1: We can bring our children around people who are walking
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  Speaker 1: in godliness, and we just sit there and.
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  Speaker 2: Go, ooh, why doesn't some of that rub off?
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  Speaker 1: But you let them spend 15 seconds around people who
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  Speaker 1: are doing stuff they're not supposed to do.
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  Speaker 2: And what happens? They're gone.
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  Speaker 1: If you can't say amen, you ought to say ouch.
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  Speaker 1: That's what happens. He says, strengthen what remains and it's
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  Speaker 1: about to die. This stuff spreads like gangrene. You see,
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  Speaker 1: when you're in a church that is filled with compromise,
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  Speaker 1: here's what has a tendency to happen. Folks, we're here
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  Speaker 1: and the Romans like us. And the Jews like us.
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  Speaker 1: And we have favor in this community and we are growing.
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  Speaker 1: Now somebody stands up and says, yeah, that's because you're
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  Speaker 1: not preaching the gospel in a way that would offend
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  Speaker 1: the Jews because you're not preaching the whole counsel of God.
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  Speaker 1: And you're not standing against the Roman cults in a
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  Speaker 1: way that would offend them.
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  Speaker 2: There's no power here. There's no life here. Oh, really?
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  Speaker 1: Did you look around and see how many people we have?
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  Speaker 1: Who are you to say there's no life here? God
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  Speaker 1: is obviously blessing us because we're growing and we're not
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  Speaker 1: being persecuted. So you just go on somewhere. Don't raise
• 8:48
  Speaker 1: your hand if you've ever experienced that before. Strengthen what remains.
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  Speaker 1: God gives hope here. Remember what you have received and heard. Folks,
• 9:02
  Speaker 1: this points directly back to the gospel. How often have
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  Speaker 1: we heard phrases like this in reference to the gospel?
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  Speaker 1: We cannot but proclaim what we have seen and heard.
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  Speaker 1: He says here, remember what you've seen and heard. Remember what?
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  Speaker 1: Remember the gospel.
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  Speaker 2: Wake up.
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  Speaker 1: Strengthen what remains. Remember what you've seen and heard. Remember
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  Speaker 1: the gospel. Remember the gospel that you used to preach
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  Speaker 1: until you got your hands slapped and then found a
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  Speaker 1: way to preach in a way that didn't offend other people.
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  Speaker 1: Remember that gospel and there's hope for you. And then
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  Speaker 1: he says, keep it.
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  Speaker 2: Keep it.
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  Speaker 1: Why does he say that? Because we always have to
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  Speaker 1: work to keep it. There is always a tendency to
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  Speaker 1: let it go. We don't like getting our hands slapped.
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  Speaker 1: We don't like being called names. We don't like being
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  Speaker 1: maligned in the culture. So our natural tendency is always
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  Speaker 1: to move away from the fullness of the gospel and
• 10:01
  Speaker 1: it starts very small we redefine terms so that we
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  Speaker 1: don't have to be offensive to people we hide certain
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  Speaker 1: truths so that we don't have to be offensive to
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  Speaker 1: people we emphasize Some things as opposed to others so
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  Speaker 1: that we don't have to be offensive to people.
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  Speaker 2: Finally, he says, repent. Repentance is the battle cry of
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  Speaker 2: every Christian. Turn. Turn from your sin. Turn to the Lord.
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  Speaker 2: That's the picture. Repent. Wake up.
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  Speaker 1: Strengthen what remains. Remember what you've seen and heard, keep it,
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  Speaker 1: hold on to it, and repent.
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  Speaker 2: Repent.
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  Speaker 1: How many of you know that it's not quite enough
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  Speaker 1: to just move in another direction? If we don't acknowledge
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  Speaker 1: our sin as sin and intentionally turn in the opposite
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  Speaker 1: direction of our sin. There is no restoration.
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  Speaker 2: Repent. A change in attitude that leads to a change
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  Speaker 2: in behavior.