To the Remnant

To the Remnant

Words of Faith 12-3-2020

Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy © 2020

Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com

Faith Fellowship Church - Melbourne, FL

www.faithfellowshipweb.com

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Revelation 3

   [4] 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. [5]  He who overcomes will, like them, be dressed in white. I will never blot out his name from the book of life, but will acknowledge his name before my Father and his angels. [6]  He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

     The church at Sardis was dead. Code blue. But the Lord gave a five-part Resuscitation Protocol-- Wake up, Strengthen what remains, Get back to work, Remember what you received and keep it, Be alert.

    Jesus also spoke to the remnant. Even in a dead church, there is always a remnant. “Yet you have still a few names in Sardis, people who have not soiled their garments, and they will walk with me in white, for they are worthy.”

    There is always a faithful remnant. We see this repeated in Scripture and in history. Sometimes the remnant is martyred, but often they are in careful hiding. In Sardis, only a few had not become soiled by the culture they were living in, and they were promised clothing that was unstained.

     But there was another promise. “I will never blot his name out of the book of life. I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels.” The Book of Life is referred to six times in the book of Revelation (Rev. 3:5; 13:8, 17:8; 20:12, 15; 21:27). This is the listing in the heart of God of all those who are saved by grace through faith. The promise is to never blot out the name of a born-again believer from the book of life.

       This raises a question. Can your name be blotted out? Jesus actually never says that He will blot out a name, only that He will not. Of course, God can do anything He chooses to do, but numerous scriptures attest to our eternal security with Jesus. In John 10:28-29, Jesus said, “I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.”

       A person who is truly born again remains born-again. However, the ultimate fruit or sign that someone is born-again is that they manifest Christ's power to overcome the world. This is the message that Jesus repeats to the churches.

      Jesus finished by appealing to “He who has an ear, Let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” We need to pray for our spiritual ears to be open. We cannot “rest on our laurels” as a church or as an individual believer.

      Lord God, no matter what happens around me, may I be found among the faithful. Keep me free of the soil of this generation, though I labor in the midst of idolatry. Keep my eye focused on You that I may walk with You unstained. In Jesus’ Name.

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© Jeffrey D. Hoy 2020

Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy - Faith Fellowship Church (EFCA)       

2820 Business Center Blvd.

Melbourne, Florida 32940 (321)-259-7200

Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com

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The Words of Faith devotion is published five days a week by E-mail excluding Federal holidays. Please feel free to forward this devotion to a friend who might be blessed by this devotion. Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture is quoted from the New International Version (R) of The Holy Bible. Copyright (c) 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved. Words of Faith (c) 1997, 2010 Jeffrey D. Hoy. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to forward this copyrighted material or use portions of it with appropriate notation of the source for non-profit purposes.