REVELATIONS 3:4

Sometimes at a cursory glance, you can be made to think that this is a lost cause and that the enemy has the upper hand. The closer we come to the coming of the Lord is the more the enemy will mobilize his forces to destabilize and disfigure the church. He leaves no stone unturned as he tries to maim and completely obliterate the church. Not being able to succeed in his demolition expedition, he does everything within his power to make the church insipid and anemic.
It is his avowed intention to invalidate us and make us irrelevant. It is his pernicious will for us to tone down and not be so loud and vocal about Jesus when everybody else seems to be getting so much louder and aggressive about what they practice and believe. The enemy demands that we be ordinary and nauseatingly accommodating. However, this we resolutely resist, especially in these end times.
I remain inspired and encouraged by Jesus’ words in reference to some, in the half-dead church of Sardis. He was diligent in pointing out “thou hast a few names in Sardis which have not defiled their garments: and they shall walk with me in white; for they are worthy” (Revelation 3:4). It seemed dismal and blighted, but all was not lost. It is most comforting to know from the Holy Writ that God always has a remnant – a few names, those who refuse to cower or compromise, who chose to stand tall, refusing to bow or give in to the evil powers of darkness. May the Almighty help us to keep up our resistance against the enemy even today!
Let there be among us a few who will commit themselves never to become spoiled or contaminated by the seductions and enticements of a crooked and perverse society. May we fiercely belong to this cadre of believers who persistently declare “for Christ we live, and for Christ we die.” Without question, their minds were made up, even in the midst of a church culture that was prevailingly worldly and spiritually dead. They thrived spiritually. They kept their focus. They remained intentional about keeping faith and devotion alive. Though in the minority, they held on. They just knew they couldn’t give in. Saints, we cannot give in now! We must remain intentional about not letting the fire placed within us go out. We note the expression used in the passage, “thou hast a few names even in Sardis . . .” Even in the most discouraging and disheartening of environments we can overcome, flourish and thrive. There are yet a few – still holding on!
May you and I seek to ensure that we are a part of the consecrated remnant, whose names shall never be blotted out of the book of life. He graciously said to his discouraged prophet, Elijah “Yet I have me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him” (1 Kings 19:18). The devil must know that we will never bow or surrender. We will not defile our garments. The consecrated minority will triumph.