Revelation 3:1–2  

“ ‘I know your works. You have the reputation of being alive, but you are dead. ² Wake up, and strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your works complete in the sight of my God.

The mild & meek and suffering and loving Jesus turned around in his glorious powerful figure with fire flame in his eyes, voice like a thunder speaking to the seven churches via John the apostle.

In Revelations 3,  Jesus criticized and warned the church in Sardis to wake up from spiritual complacency. The church they thought they were alive, but Jesus blatantly told them in the face. They are dead. Therefore, Jesus exhorted them to keep what is right in their lives and repent. And if they don’t repent, Jesus is going to come in an hour, they don’t expect, and they will be taken off the book of life. (Revelation 3:1–3)

The words used by the Lord before his return in this period of time is full of fire and expectations and blunt speaking in the sense of speaking the truth in love. Only people who loves you enough, will tell in your face what’s wrong with you. Pastors or churches trying to accommodate the culture of the world will lose out big time in the end.

A pulpit that doesn’t provide the piercing word of Christ that cleanses our souls, the fire of God to stir us, is the main culprit to spiritual complacency

I just put out a video on the spiritual complacency, and how to resolve that. Spiritual complacency, in my mind, is largely from the lack of expository preaching to the hearts and minds, and the souls of the people.  I believe puppet is the main culprit among other things surrounding which may be challenging, like church polity and constraining circumstances like long commute, etc. But largely a pulpit that doesn’t provide the piercing word of Christ that cleanses our souls, the fire of God to stir us up into actions, is the main culprit to spiritual complacency. A sermon that focuses on largely the horizontal distance of exemplary sermon is the least helpful to the congregation and all the redemptive history sermon preachers would know what I’m talking about. But preaching exemplary sermons, one make reference primarily to the horizontal relationship between one another. Redemptive historical or RH preachers hate the “do’s and don’ts”  sermon because they are so lack of fire because its all man will power. They are devoid of the vertical transcendent power, and the glory of God. This is very much like, a Arminianism kind of self-help, self-determination, self will kinds of prayer kind of  sermons.

They are saved and we are brother sisters in Christ, but it is very hard to do what the Lord asked for example in the book of Revelations, his expectation, his desire for a blameless bride. Spotless, bright, and a beautiful bride for the bride groom, the return of Christ. It is impossible! People get exhausted, and the next thing you know they slipped into spiritual complacency. The worst thing is people in complacency do not know that they are actually in one. It takes a jerking out and it needs a pulpit that preaches the transcendent God to empower, to feed the sheep with real transcendent God kind of sermons, which is really redemptive historical.
Jesus said ” If you don’t repent, I will come back in an hour that you do not expect, like a thief. Jesus called him up, saying you have a reputation of being a life, but you were dead.” Look at the words he said straight in your face he said, “you have a reputation….”, it’s almost being cynical, but that is the reality. The church needs the kind that speaks to the reality of the hearts, and not just to the likes of our minds. V2 Jesus said wake up and strengthen what remains and it’s about to die, for that not find your works complete in the side of my God. Jesus is warning the churches to wake up and strengthen what is remaining and it’s about to die, that is scary. If we don’t realize that complacency is a deadly disease with whatever we still got left, we will eventually die as well and that’s not the way to proceed in our spiritual journey with Christ on this side of the world.

May God bring us fire, will renew war and revival. Amen.