My Dream and The Church in Sardis
by Ron Wilkerson
I am not going to address this message as one from a
theological perspective or even bore you with details regarding the historical
aspects of this church once located in Asia Minor. I will tell you that this place did in fact
suffer a catastrophic fate in their time.
For now the discernment
which I sought from the Lord and He gave me in a dream last night, confirmed in
prayer this very morning.
WARNING: Some Christians will not like what I am about
to say. If you are offended easily, I
would rather you keep reading but take this as forewarning that the Word of God
I place in this post will make you uncomfortable. For those who want to see God’s Word and what
He is telling us in this generation then please keep reading.
The dream: I was a soldier and there was another soldier
with me, dressed in camouflage. I was armed with an M-16 assault rifle and the
other soldier was unarmed. Now, picture
a large corn field 1 mile long x 1 mile wide.
Me and the soldier came to this field and there was a path about 15’ wide
that was mowed down to grass level in a yard.
Looking across you could see the other side of this field. The imminent impression was that one must
pass through this field from Point A to Point B to find safety. We were being tracked and I was the only one
armed. The face of the one tracking us
was a familiar friend although he was an enemy of our goals. This enemy apologized as both I and the
soldier were beginning to cross the path to safety. He wounded me about ¼ of a mile into my
journey and I turned to look at him hurt that he would do this to me. He then shot my companion who was unarmed
from a long distance of ½ mile. This
scene replayed multiple times last night, the last time being surreal to the
point of distress. However, of the four
times this played out, the soldier made it to the other side as I sought to
protect him with my rifle. At least I
thought he was going to be safe. As I
was drawing my last breaths and had shot the enemy behind us, I was attempting
to follow my fellow soldier and see him to safety. When I reached ½ mile I was looking into the
distance and saw more danger ahead before my companion soldier could reach the
other side. I began to fire my rifle to
clear the way; that was when I drew my final breath and died. I did all that I could to bring him to
safety. I awoke.
The Interpretation:
I was in the world but not of this world. The familiar face shooting at us was once a
friend of mine who had a name that He was a Christian but was in fact not a
true follower of Christ. This is why I
was surprised in my dream that he was shooting at us and three times he took
down my companion soldier in Christ. He is
symbolic of Satan who comes in to the fold of Christ as a wolf pretending to be a sheep. I was a soldier in Christ armed with God’s
Word, symbolic by the rifle I carried and Satan had his own rifle which he
carried and shot with much greater precision than myself.
The soldier and I were traversing this life and I was
showing him the way to Everlasting Life via this path which was straight and
narrow in the midst of a wide field.
This was to be a tough battle, one in which there was a constant
struggle to survive.
THE WARNING: *This comes straight from Jesus Gospel’ and
His Revelation to John; it spoke to me concerning our day and time.
Matthew 10:34-39 "Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did
not come to bring peace, but a sword. "For I came to SET A
MAN AGAINST HIS FATHER, AND A DAUGHTER AGAINST
HER MOTHER, AND A DAUGHTER-IN-LAW AGAINST HER
MOTHER-IN-LAW ; and A MAN'S
ENEMIES WILL BE THE MEMBERS OF HIS HOUSEHOLD . "He who loves
father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or
daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. "And he who does not take his
cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. "He who has found his life
will lose it, and he who has lost his life for My sake will find it.
*I admonish you
brethren, the Lord did not come initially to bring you peace. He came to suffer so you could live
forever? He did not come so that we may
sit and watch our favorite television shows for hours on end. He did not come so that we might live in a
democratic republic to enjoy the pleasantries of society. Nor did He come so that we might spend our
time in ignorance of His Word. Remember,
it was He who said, “WORK OUT YOUR SALVATION WITH FEAR AND TREMBLING”. This fear which He spoke of was not one of
looking over your shoulder all the time in fear that you displease Him, it is a
reverent fear of KNOWLEDGE THAT HE GAVE UP HIS SON TO SUFFER FOR YOU. DEATH!
You don’t pay service to Jesus Christ, your
only WAY to HEAVEN, you might just find out that you never really TRUSTED IN GOD FOR YOUR SALVATION!
There will be
evidence in your life if you are truly saved!
Revelation 1:1-3 The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show to His
bond-servants, the things which must soon take place; and He sent and
communicated it by His angel to His bond-servant John, who testified to
the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that
he saw. Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of the prophecy,
and heed the things which are written in it; for the time is near.
Revelation 1:8 "I am the Alpha
and the Omega," says the Lord God, "who is and who was
and who is to come, the Almighty."
*When Jesus first walked the earth, there was nothing in Him
physically that we should admire His looks.
He was average in physical stature, just a normal looking human
being. Only He was God within! Now look at His appearance after taking on
His former Glory again when He returned to Heaven VICTORIOUS… I love it!
Revelation 1:12-15 Then I turned to see
the voice that was speaking with me. And having turned I saw seven golden
lampstands; and in the middle of the lampstands I saw one like a son of
man, clothed in a robe reaching to the feet, and girded across His chest with a
golden sash. His head and His hair were white like white wool, like snow; and
His eyes were like a flame of fire. His feet were like burnished bronze,
when it has been made to glow in a furnace, and His voice was like the
sound of many waters.
*John’s response, likely the same as you and I…
Revelation 1:17-20 When I saw Him, I fell at
His feet like a dead man. And He placed His right hand on me, saying, "Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last, and the living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive
forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades. "Therefore write the things which you have seen, and the
things which are, and the things which will take place after these things.
"As for the mystery of the seven stars which you
saw in My right hand, and the seven golden lampstands: the seven stars are the
angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.
To the point of the matter here which is the church in
Sardis. The Lord tells us something here
and it is a warning. Revelation 3:1-2 "To the angel of the
church in Sardis write: He who has the seven Spirits of God and the seven
stars, says this: 'I know your deeds, that you have a name that you are alive,
but you are dead. 'Wake up, and strengthen the things that remain, which were
about to die; for I have not found your deeds completed in the sight of My God.
This is very serious. If you are simply showing up to church each
week paying God lip service and not SEEKING GOD, the be warned you may have a
name that you are alive, but in fact you are dead.
Seeking God can be many things at
once or component parts. You may search
Him in the Word, The Holy Bible, you may pray, you may be feeding the homeless
in Jesus name, etc. These are all valid
ways of seeking God, however all of them should be evident in the believer
throughout their walk. These are
seeking, finding, and serving. These are
the least we can do. There are fruits of
the Spirit which we will discuss later.
For now, use these three as your barometer to see if there be any parts
which need life. Revelation
3:3 'So remember what you have received and
heard; and keep it, and repent.
Therefore if you do not wake up, I
will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come to you.
This
is exciting and yet scary at the same time.
It is a warning to me and you to constantly be on guard for our enemy
seeks to devour us and he is oh so subtle!
The
2nd coming is moments away on God’s clock. Don’t get caught not watching for Him!
I
love you all and pray that we all will realize how serious God was when He gave
us His Word. It is not to be left
sitting on your book shelf, it is to minister life and renew your mind, to give
you confidence in eternal life, and to motivate you to give your life’s work to
Him!
Until
next time my friends.
Shalom.
Very good lesson.
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