R1605 The Incomplete Church

Welcome to The Encouraging Word featuring the Bible-based preaching of Dr. Don Wilton and a message today on the incomplete Church. Whether it be the Church or us as individuals, we want to be complete in Christ. I pray you'll consider discovering more at our website today, online.org, with all the resources.

That's T-E-W online.org. And now today's teaching with Dr. Don Wilton. Okay, I want you to get your Bibles out. This is so critical. Get your Bibles and turn to Revelation chapter 3. So we're in the last book of the Bible. You know, how many times do you not hear people talk about the book of Revelation, right? And the book of Revelation is about end times and Jesus has got a special word for us. And he begins in Revelation with three chapters there where he talks to believers.

He talks to the Church. And today you're going to hear a word quite a lot when I speak. And I want to just share it with you. Okay, so let me get it out here. Revelation chapter 3, and I want to show you this word before I read the whole passage.

Is that fair enough? Before I read this passage to you, I want to read to you where this word comes from. How God put me on this because Jesus used this word. Okay, so it's in verse 2 of Revelation chapter 3.

I want you to see this for yourself. This is what Jesus said to believers, to the Church. Wake up, strengthen what remains and is about to die. For I have not found your deeds complete in the sight of God. Wake up. This is a powerful statement here. Guys, I'm really praying that the Spirit of God is going to help you to get a hold of this.

Wake up, strengthen what remains and is about to die. For I, Jesus said, have not found your deeds complete in the sight of God. Now why would he say this to a group of believers in a place called Sardis? S-A-R-D-I-S. It's right there in Asia and I'll tell you a bit about Sardis in a minute, about this town, this city.

It's very interesting, it's very appropriate. There was a group of believers there who worshiped the Lord, who belonged to Jesus. So what did Jesus say to them?

Let's read the whole picture here around that word complete. To the angel of the church in Sardis, Jesus said, right, 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 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 what time I will come for you.

Yet you've got a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes. They will walk with me dressed in white for they are worthy. He who overcomes will, like them, be dressed in white and I will never blot that person's name out of the book of life, but will acknowledge that person's name before my father and his angels. So he who has an ear, you have an ear to hear, let the spirit, you listen to what the spirit, what God, what Jesus is saying to the churches. Okay, so that word, Jesus, Jesus said to these believers, said, you, I know what you're doing, I see your deeds, but you are incomplete.

That word incomplete means fall short of being complete. Actually yesterday, while I'm sitting there enjoying some college football, because I love college football, or it might have been the week before, doesn't matter because you often hear, I heard a commentator speaking about a quarterback who was having a great game and he said, that has to be the most complete quarterback I've ever seen. That was the word he used. Now, what did he mean by that? Well, you know, being an expert in quarterbacks, I guess this man who knew what he was talking about understands what it takes.

You know, it involves everything, how you quarterback, your movements, your disposition, your observation, your ability, your action, it all comes together, that's a complete quarterback. When Jesus said to the church, I know your deeds, I see you, and you're not complete. In fact, Jesus went further than that, said, you got a reputation. Everybody out there thinks that you're doing the right stuff, but I know better than that because I see your heart. I want you to just think about this for a minute. So let's put this on me. Can I put this on me?

I don't know where else to go with it. So you're listening to me right now and I'm, I'm preaching, I'm teaching you the word of God, right? You're watching me, you're listening me, you're looking at me, and am I preaching to you complete or incomplete?

I'm telling you, you would find it hard to judge that and you're not supposed to, but God knows. So it seems to me if I'm preaching complete, it means I'm preaching without regard to being popular or saying the right things to please somebody, or because I want to impress somebody, or some other motive. Maybe when I got up to preach, I knew that there was a family member or somebody else who was going to be worshiping live streaming today and they were in Australia and I know that they watching, so man am I going to be on my best today because they watching.

I'm going to say some cute things and stomp around a bit and throw a few things just to impress them. That's incomplete because yes I am, I'm preaching, I'm telling you God's truth, but I've got other motives. Can you feel that? So if I'm to preach complete, the challenge to me is I've got to be sharing, opening the Bible today because God called me to do this, because God called me to be at First Baptist Parliament, God called me, I know that, I'm convinced, but far more than that, because I am convicted about the Word of God, because I have no other motive other than to lift higher the name of Jesus, I've got no other motive than to love on you, I've got I have got no other motive than to take God's Word and believe that God is going to speak to you and that you're going to give your heart to Jesus, that's my motivation. How many fakes are there folks? Come on now, just turn on your TV, you know we've about had it up to here, they're fakes in politics, politicians, what about in the church? How many times do you and I turn on the TV and watch some person on TV, they their motive is not the Word of God, their motive is to sell a book, their motive is for gain, personal gain, it's not the gospel, hey would you mind if I stop that analogy right now? So Jesus here looks at them and he says, I have not found your deeds complete, you got that? In the sight of God, so now let's try and understand this, this is how we're going to try and understand it. First of all, how did Jesus speak to them?

From what perspective? Two ways according to this passage, first he spoke to them through the fullness of his person, what does that mean? So Jesus is saying this to these believers at Sardis and he's speaking to them from the perspective of his fullness as a person, as God, God Father, God Son, God Holy Spirit, so he says, he tells us here, he says these are the words of him who holds the seven spirits, in whom are the seven spirits, what are the seven spirits?

Anyone know? You got to go to Isaiah chapter 11 verse 2, you'll see the seven spirits there, and then you'll read about them in the book of Revelation, many other passages, what are the seven spirits? I wrote them down, spirit of the Lord, spirit of wisdom, spirit of understanding, spirit of counsel, the spirit of power, the spirit of knowledge, and the spirit of the fear of the Lord, those are the seven spirits of God. Jesus said, I'm speaking to you out of the fullness of who I am. Guys, this is powerful stuff, this is the distinct expression of God, this is God's meaningful operation. By the way, I'm not getting into this right now, we'll do it another time, but the number seven is the perfect number, right throughout scripture. The number seven means fullness, it actually means completeness, it means everything that God is. So he's looking at the church and he's saying, you're operating at a number, I don't know, but it's not perfect. And I'm speaking to you from the fullness of my person, which I confer upon you. By the way, the number seven just recurs, so seven means fullness, what are the seven horns?

That's the fullness of power. So when you read about the seven eyes, what does that mean? That means fullness of insight, God has perfect insight, he sees perfectly, he grants power perfectly. So what are the seven lampstands? Well, you can go to chapter one and verse 20, read it in chapter one, verse 20, it's all there. What are the seven lampstands? He tells us that's the seven churches. And so the Bible goes on and on, that number seven is very important. He says here, these are the words of him who holds, the seven contains, is, the seven spirits of God, and then he adds, and the seven stars. Well, he just wants us to know something else. Number one, that he's speaking to the church out of the fullness of his person, but number two, he's speaking to the church through the channel of his messengers.

Hey, did you see the beginning of this? Every one of these churches to the angel of the church, to the angel to the messenger. Do you know that from the beginning of time, God has always appointed leaders in the church, messengers. Go back to Abraham, if you like, Joshua, Samuel, David, Paul, Peter, Mark, John, Timothy, remember these names? By the way, who are most of the books of the Bible named after? You ever heard of the book of Daniel?

How about the gospel according to Matthew? So what is Jesus saying? Is he saying, I'm speaking to you through my channel, the messengers who are perfect.

No, no, no, he wasn't saying that. So what does God do with messengers? God, number one, appoints them. God anoints them. God assigns them. God sends them. God's always done that.

That's his modus operandus. So here's God, okay, here's God. God, seven spirits, the fullness of his person, and he uses messengers to carry that message. All right, so let's just take anyone, take the gospel of Matthew. Is he telling us to listen to Matthew or Paul? No, he's saying, I've authorized my messenger to be the channel to bring this to you human beings.

You got that? This Bible, God used people that he had anointed and appointed and assigned and sent to write this down. God breathed upon them. They just simply wrote it down so we could read it because all scripture is inspired by God.

Okay, now just wind that back a little bit. Here we are at the church of Sardis. How did Jesus speak to them? Through the fullness of his person and through the channel of his messengers.

That's what he did. And he's talking to Sardis. What about Sardis? Let me tell you, quick, chop chop, Sardis.

Sardis was an incredible place. It was actually built on a big hill, very wealthy, lots of money, and it was built up on a hill. So the crooks, robbers and foreign this and that couldn't get ahold of them. They were considered impregnable.

They had everything. So Jesus looking down on Sardis, the believers, he's saying, yeah, you got everything. But something happened in 133 BC, the Romans conquered that area. Do you know what happened to them in AD 17? AD 17, big earthquake. Yeah, they were impregnable, but an earthquake took them down. So along comes Tiberius, the Roman Caesar, he rescues them, and they all say, hail Caesar, and they start worshiping the god Cybele, C-Y-B-E-L-E, the goddess Cybele, not too different from Artemis, the goddess Cybele.

Jesus is looking at them and he says, here's the problem. You all began to consider yourselves impregnable. You had everything. You had wealth.

You sat on a hilltop. You had a reputation. However, I know your deeds and you're incomplete. Be careful. You're listening to Dr. Don Wilton, our teacher here on the encouraging word, powerful words of challenge and conviction. And we'll be back with the rest of today's message with Dr. Wilton in just a moment, so don't go away. But Dr. Don wants me to remind you we're here for you. We'd love to pray with you and for you. May you find yourself, as we all should, convicted by the truth of God's word to not be content to stay the way we are, but to make a change. If you'd like to have someone praying with you or for you, our phone number is 866-899-WORD.

That's 866-899-9673. And we're available 24 hours a day to talk or listen or pray or connect with great resources. You'll find many of those resources on our website as well at www.tewonline.org. That's www.tewonline.org. While you're there, follow Dr. Don and his socials and sign up for the daily encouraging word devotional. You'll be glad you did.

That's www.tewonline.org. Now back to today's message with Dr. Don Wilton. As I know, you're sitting behind a smokescreen, earthquakes coming. Everybody else is impressed. God says, I'm not, because I know you're incomplete.

You need to wake up. So what does he tell them? He tells them three things, just three things. He just puts it on them.

I'm going to give it to you. One, two, three. This is what he tells those believers. He says, first of all, you were alive. I see you believers. You were alive. Many of you born again of the spirit of God. You were alive.

You were complete. You were living for me. And by the way, and I love this because when he gets down later on verse four, he says, I want you to know there's still a bunch of you that are. He's not throwing the baby out with the bath water here.

Jesus wasn't condemning all of them. You say, many of you still are. You haven't soiled your clothes. You haven't succumbed. He says you were alive. Second thing he says, but some of you become fake.

You become fake. You're not complete. You're preaching with an ulterior motive. You're walking across the road to help that person with an ulterior motive. You're coming to church.

That's not the real reason you're coming. You're incomplete. And the third thing he says, you're dead.

That word there means incomplete. And in fact, what Jesus says, you are about to die out because if you don't do what I'm going to do, I'm going to come like a thief in the night. And if you don't hear me, you're dead.

You'd be left behind. That's what Jesus was saying to them. So what was Jesus' solution? What was his solution to this?

Hey, how did Jesus say you can fix your incompleteness? Three things. Number one, remember.

Don't you love that? Remember where you've come from. Remember what you've heard, what you've received, what you've read. Just remember. How can we, isn't that a fantastic thing Jesus tells in that?

That's beautiful. He says, I'm going to tell you how to fix your sin problem. Number one, remember. It's time for you to just go back to the drawing board.

Okay, so if you're married and your marriage is just not doing quite as well, can I tell you a good way to get it back where it needs to be? Just remember. Say remember what? Remember when you were dating? Remember when you first saw each other? Hey, do you remember when you used to get in your motor car and you would drive six hours to go and see her through the middle of the night and it didn't matter? And now you won't even go to the grocery store to pick up some eggs.

What's your problem? Just remember. Remember how the sparks flew? Remember how you used to tell each other that you loved one another?

I love you. Hey, is that killing you right now? Why don't you and your wife? You don't need to go to a therapist. Why don't you and your wife sit down one day, give each other an hour to write a list of all the things that you once did for your spouse and then come back and then share that with each other. You'll be going, oh, ooh, that hurt.

Oh, me. Just remember, Jesus was saying, listen, go back and remember. You know, my daughter Shelley came home for a very short visit, served Samaritan's Purse in Africa in a difficult place. Had no idea when she did come that her grandfather would die and go to heaven. What a blessing in that, that she saw him just before he passed away. You know, I was sitting today and I don't carry my phone with me when I preach, but my little phone, you got one of these thingamajiggies here?

I do. And I felt it buzz and I looked at it and it was my daughter. She's the apple of my eye. Basically said, Daddy, I landed back in Africa. I don't know what to do.

I mean, it wasn't why I was preached. So I looked and I found a smiley face. You ever done one of those with hearts in it? Because that's my daughter. Bingo. Send a heart to her. Hope it gets there in the middle of Africa. Now we're praying maybe her luggage will arrive and all that good stuff. What does remember got to do with that? You know, she battled for over three days to get back to Africa, had every kind of obstacle going, stuck here, stuck there.

It was unbelievable. But at least she can remember. You know what she's remembering right now? Yeah, she's remembering her home. She's remembering green things with her food.

She's remembering how much her daddy loves her. When you remember, it fuels your fire. Keeps you going.

Gives you a new charge, right? Jesus said, Excuse me, you're not complete. Remember, number two, obey. So if you're a married couple and you've remembered the way you were, second thing you need to do is obey what you were. Get back to it. What's the matter with you?

It's not rocket science here. Jesus was saying, Go back. Remember what I've done. Remember my instructions.

Obey it. And number three, repent. Repent. Just tell Jesus you're sorry for your sin.

It's not too late. There could be people around you, voices in your head even saying it's too late, but God's love is greater than anything you have done or seen or said. Anything you feel has separated you from God. God's love is using this broadcast to pursue you, to let you know that Jesus is ready to meet you right where you are. I pray that you'd open your hearts, not just to the teaching you've heard from Dr. Wilton, but from Dr. Don as he steps into the studio for these final closing thoughts. Are you ready to give your heart and life to the Lord Jesus Christ? Why don't you pray this prayer with me right now? Dear God, I know that I'm a sinner, and I know that Jesus died for me on the cross. Today, I repent of my sin, and by faith, I receive you into my heart. In Jesus' name. My friend, I welcome you today into the family of God.

This is exciting news. If you just prayed that prayer with Dr. Don Wilton and gave your life to Christ or rededicated your life, oh, how we'd love to join with you in the next steps. We have resources Dr. Don has prepared just for you, absolutely free, that you can ask for at 866-899-WORD.

That's the number. Jot it down, not just now during the program, but we're available at 866-899-9673 any time, day or night, to talk or pray or listen or connect you with some great resource. Speaking of resources, if you go to our website, www.tewonline.org, that's www.tewonline.org, one of the special resources is a fresh book from Laura's story called I Give Up. Discovering the paradoxical peace and joy of surrendering your will and giving God control. In this four-part study, Laura uses her own story to explain why giving up is important, whom we are submitting to, how to go about doing it, and the effects of this decision on the lives of the people around us. I Give Up, The Secret Joy of a Surrendered Life by Laura Storey is available for your gift of $18 and support to The Encouraging Word this month. Limited quantities available. The Encouraging Word is a viewer and listener supported ministry. Thank you for listening today. Our time's gone for today, but between now and tomorrow at the same time, let's stay connected on our website at www.tewonline.org or feel free to call our toll-free number at 866-899-WORD.