And Jesus said, “Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn of Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart and you shall find rest unto your souls, for My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”
Welcome to the Speak Life Church Podcast. I’m Reverend Kenn Blanchard, and this week, we’ve got a message about control, Bible study about the Book of Revelation — we’re going to be ending the Church of Sardis, finishing that up —and, we’ve got music from Sister Sarah. All this and more, coming up next.
The Bible says in Proverbs 18 and 21, that life and death are in the power of the tongue. Here, we choose to speak life. We are a 100% online ministry created to restore and strengthen the family, provide hope for those in need, and offer a nontraditional place of worship of the Lord Jesus Christ, using technology to be anywhere. All are welcome, including those souls still searching for what they believe in. My name is Kenn Blanchard. Welcome.
This week I’ve got a message about control. You know, control kind of is a huge thing for everybody. You might not think it’s you, but I can guarantee there is some elements of it that even you want. It’s a life thing. It’s a normal thing. Many of us are unhappy right now over many things. I’m not going to say anything that will change that except for maybe that “God Is.”
Happiness is dependent upon what it happening now in your life. It’s temporal. It’s temporary. It’s fleeting. Some of us are waiting for things to change. Others are changing the things that we can — little things like cleaning up around the house, painting, building things, practicing new things.
Straighten the stuff out. I’m in that boat. I’m practicing more with my new guitar. I’m trying to finish and write a book about the joy that God gives. I’m taking advantage of this teleworking option. I’m a little bit anxious, worried that I don’t know what tomorrow will bring, but I do know holds tomorrow. I’m mending fences and reaching out to people I haven’t spoken to in awhile — politics aside, social media aside.
Believe it or not, your current situation isn’t unique. Would you believe that you’re not alone in the way that you feel if you’re feeling some kind of way right now? We may not all be in that same boat, but we are all in the same storm. After years of filling my cup with more and more, trying to control the matters of my life, I’ve realized that I’ve got to learn how to stop and let go, and let God. I am so much more at peace, so much happier, so much “stress-less” knowing that God has my tomorrow.
Control. Anybody got control issues? Control is typically a reaction to the fear of losing it. People who struggle with the need to be in control often fear being at the mercy of others, and this fear may stem from something that happened to you in your past when you were totally helpless and vulnerable. Maybe you just got some disproportionate and unhealthy issues that you want more of everything. Sometimes, those of us that experienced some abuse, some neglect, look for ways to reign in control of that so that it doesn’t happen again.
So, it can be from traumatic or abusive life experiences. It can be from a lack of trust. It can be from just plain old anxiety which happens if you breathe, fear of abandonment. You might have some self-esteem issues. There might be some personal beliefs, some values that you don’t have, some lack of faith. Maybe you’re trying to be perfect. Perfectionism and the fear of failure run hand-in-hand. And maybe you’re just emotionally sensitive to some stuff that’s going on. And there’s a lot of stuff that’s going on. You want to micro-manage and orchestrate something in other people.
Maybe you want to get a little bit more rigid in your routine. You want to change your diet. You might want some more order. Those are all things that have control in them. Psalm 33:8-22 says, “the Lord watches over those who obey Him.
Those who trust in His constant love. He saves them from death. He keeps them alive in times of famine. We put our hope in the Lord. He is our Protector and our Help. We are glad because of Him. We trust in His Holy Name. May Your Constant Love be with us, Lord, as we put our hope in You.” (I believe that’s the New Living translation.)
The wise among us recognize your struggles because we had them, too. The wise among us seek to share advice, probably unsolicited, because we care, but believe it or not, there is nothing new under the sun. King Solomon had that totally right. But, who controls this dag-gone storm? You know the answer. God. Colossians 1:17 says, “He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.” For those who have been to church a few times, I’m sure you’ve heard the story of when Jesus was in a boat and a storm came up. You’ll find it in Mark 4:35-41, Matthew 8:23-27, and Luke 8:22-25.
It sounds a little something like this:
On the same day when evening had come, He said to them, “Let’s cross over to the other side.” Now, when they had left the multitude, they took Him along, in the boat, as He was. Other boats were also with Him, and a great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat so that it was already filling, but He was in the stern, asleep on a pillow. They awoke Him, and said, “Teacher! Do you not care that we are perishing?”
Then, He arose and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Peace. Be still.” And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm, but He said to them, “Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?” And, they fear exceedingly, and said to one another, “Who can this be that even the wind and sea obey Him?”
They said to each other, “What kind of man is He? He speaks to the wind and the waves and they obey Him.” Matthew 27 says, “but the men marveled (in the King James version) saying, ‘What manner of man is this that even the wind and the sea obey Him?”
How cool is that?
See, what we really need to do right now in our situation is to stop striving and start abiding. You know what the truth is. You know who God is. You know how you are in the world. You know how far you’ve fallen. You know where you’re at. There’s no joke. Right now, we all crave control, but the remedy for all of that is to be with God, to pray, to be honest, to tell Him how you feel, to say what’s wrong and confess that you like being in control. After all, you are made in His Image. But, you’re not Him, are you?
No. You’ve got to recognize who you are, too. I know you want to please Him, because I do. I had to recognize that I need Him in my life. I’m not going anywhere without Him. Lord, help me and us to surrender control to You each and every day. Help us to trust You deeply. Help us, Lord God, not to fear surrendering control. Help me to remember that You hold everything in Your Hand.If you’re having trouble surrendering through prayer alone, I find out that you can try by taking a piece of paper and writing down the things that are holding you down, holding you tightly. Once you get all that stuff out of you, pray about them individually. You know, trusting in God is a lifelong process.
You don’t get wise without being stupid first. You don’t get wise without having experiences first. You don’t get wise that you can sit back and share information, unless you’ve done some stupid stuff that God has allowed you to come back on. Like so many things in this Christian faith, there’s a choice that we make everyday. We have to learn how to let go of figuring out all the “whys” of life and just trust God and understand Him more and more than we ever could. And, after you let go, I guarantee you’ll feel better. You will be that happier that you’re looking for. You will see how far you have to go, though, once you let go. Once you get closer to God, you will see all your imperfections and it will make you humble, but humble, being in true humility, is a good thing because God resists the proud.
So, once you let yourself hang out there, that you’re not all that and a bag of chips, that you got some stuff wrong with you, folks will look at you strangely because you’re honest. They’ll look at you strangely because you admitted it. They’ll look at your strangely because you’re self-deprecating, but they don’t matter because they don’t have a Heaven to kick you out of or a Hell to put you into. Being closer to God is all that matters in this world. The song says: When we walk with the Lord in the Light of His Word, what a glory He sheds on our way. While we do His Good Will, He abides with us still, and with all who will trust and obey. Let us pray.
Eternal God, our Father, Heavenly Father, the only One True God, Creator of Heaven and Earth, Lover of our souls, it’s in the Name of Your Son, Jesus that I bow before You now, that I close my eyes and lower my head before You, that I ask, Lord God, You will forgive me of everything I’ve done and allow your servant to be heard. Somebody right now is seeking help, and may they, through this time, find it through You. Bless us, Lord God, and keep us and we will be kept. Touch us, and allow Your Presence to be felt now. Somebody is lonely. Somebody is anxious. Somebody is frustrated. Somebody is angry. Somebody is mad. Somebody is going through a tough time, and they need You, Lord God. They’ve tried everything else, but You. Help us to trust You and obey. Help us to let go of the control issues that we have and to trust You. Heal the brokenhearted. Put a smile back on our face. Give us the joy that has nothing to do with this world. Give us the joy that surpasses all understanding. Give us Jesus. Holy Spirit, lighten our burdens. Lighten our eyes. Lighten our spirit. This is Your servant’s prayer for Your people. In the name of Your Son, Jesus, I ask this thing. Amen.
That was a group I snagged off of Youtube called, Kaoma Chende. I am hoping that you have the chance to check out speaklifechurch.net this week or last week, or maybe even today. It’s our website and the home of all of our stuff. Facebook is cool and all, but you know, sometimes they can censor you how you get to things, and before you know it, you never get to the website. So, if you’re looking for the show notes, they are provided for you at speaklifechurch.net.
Also, I want to invite you to our very first Zoom prayer meeting, which is going to happen on the 14th of October, 2020 at 8:30p.m. EST. The invite can be found on Facebook and on the show notes for this episode. And, if you don’t get any of those, you can call me and I will send it to you myself: (202)579-9435. But, I’m hoping that I’ll get at least one or two of you. We’ll pray. We’ll talk. We’ll laugh. We’ll share what God has done for us, have a little testimony time, only thirty minutes. It’ll just be our trial under fire using technology, to reach out, maybe I haven’t talked to you in person before. I would love to see you. I’m looking forward to this time. October 14th at 8:30p.m.
And, if you can’t make it, it’s okay, just send me a note though, and let me know that you would like to. We just pulled this date out of the air. It’ll be after work, for most people, and maybe you can make it. If there is something you would like me to pray for in the interim, feel free to send me an email, to call me, or maybe you’re ready to make a move right now, and come to God. I know you’re not with me right now. You don’t see me right now, but did you know that if you would confess with your mouth — that means say it out loud — that the Lord Jesus is the Christ, and believe in your heart that God raised this Man from Nazareth from the dead, that you will be saved.
For with the heart, one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth, confessions are made unto salvation. You could never be saved by trying to be a good person. Nor can you be saved through any other amount of good works and things that you do here in this world. The Bible tells us that for by grace we have been saved by faith, and not of ourselves. It is a Gift of God, not of works lest any man should boast.
You and I can only be saved by confessing our sins and placing our faith in God’s Son, Jesus, who died for us and paid for our sins on the Cross. We must surrender our lives to Him, placing Him in charge of every area of our lives because we now belong to Him.
Both John the Baptist and Jesus Himself began their preaching with the words, “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.” To repent means to change one’s mind or to turn. You know, the journey of a thousand miles begins with one step. No matter which direction you’re going in, to turn around only takes one. I’m asking you right now, that if you don’t have Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, if you don’t know about this God thing that I’ve been talking about, if you don’t understand but you want a change, you want something to happen in our life, that you would stop right now, and ask God to hear your prayer.
Ask Him to forgive you of everything you’ve done, and allow the Holy Spirit to come into your life. Ask Him for the free gift of eternal life. Say, “I believe in Your Son, Jesus. I don’t really quite understand all this stuff that’s been said to me over and over and through life, but I believe that You exist. I believe that You sent Your Son to die for me.” See, God promises that all who receive Him, that those who believe in His Name, He gives the right to become Children of God. God does hear and accept all who come to put their faith in Him.
There is no more need to fear death because Jesus broke that whole thing. He paid it all. Jesus didn’t remain in the grave. He rose from the dead after three days. Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. You will be a new creature. Old things will pass away.
All things will become new. Your faith will come by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. All the stuff I’ve just said prior and always through this thing are the Words of the Lord. If you prayed, if you decided to follow God, if you decided to allow Jesus to be your Savior, then your journey as a Child of the King of Kings has just begun. God bless you. Looking forward to speaking with you in the future.
Give me a call: (202)579-9435 or email me at [email protected].
{Hymn “Softly and Tenderly” sung by Sister Sarah here}
Thank you, Sarah.
Let’s go to the Book of Revelation. We’re talking about the Church of Sardis — Revelation 3:1-6. You know, Christ’s nature was reveled to Sardis. Time period wise, this was the capital city of Lydia, Sardis was. After the death and resurrection of Jesus the Christ, in this book, in Sardis, this church, he reveals two characteristics of Himself. He calls Himself The Seven Spirits and The Seven Stars. The Seven Spirits refer to the Holy Spirit who Jesus said is Truth.
The Stars are the angels of the churches. This church had more than adequate opportunities to know the truth and to obey the Lord if they had heeded His warning. The natural explanation of the deficiency appears to be that they preferred to trust the state instead of God. The Church of Sardis received the shortest commendation from our Lord than any of the other churches. In fact, some biblical scholars do not include any commendation for this church, but lists the commendation as a condemnation because of the way it ends. It says: “I know your deeds.” This may well refer to the early stages of the Reformation when Martin Luther and others chose to defy Roman authority, even at the risk of their own lives, to obey the Bible’s teaching on salvation by faith. “You have a reputation,” it says, probably referring to the fact that the Reformation Church had a reputation, as a faithful church particularly in the early days of the movement, of being “alive,” in the case there was some life in the church. If you remember, last week, I talked about my own experience with my church that it wasn’t always dead.
Those who place their faith in Jesus Christ made the church alive. It should be noted, though, that the act of placing one’s trust in Jesus Christ and receiving His Salvation does not guarantee us consistent obedience to the Holy Spirit. It’s a daily thing you have to do. I mean, you can wake up some days and just be disobedient. You can wake up some days and just be in the flow. It’s a work in progress. You have to submit, personally, to the Will of God. We have so many choices, and it’s really easy to somebody, even a church person, to go off kilter. Christ did condemn this church, though. He says, “but you aren’t dead.” I already said that, but I got good news for you, yes, I do. There are five things that God says that if you do them, He’ll make you acceptable again.
The first is to wake up! It’s an expression that points to a serious deficiency in the teaching of some of the early church people. The word our Lord uses here is used in other passages of Scripture to indicate the attitude of life that should characterize His children in view of His Promise to return. We should be talking more about Biblical prophesy and separation. Prophetically instructed Christians are more apt to be separated, consecrated Christians, than those unaware of the promises of our Lord’s Second Coming. We’re talking about this Revelation piece right now because from all intents and purposes, things look a little closer today than they did twenty years ago, that the Lord is coming back.
Number two: strengthen what remains. This is a no-joke kind of thing, like, duh! There’s a whole bunch of depravity right now, number three, we need to lean more on the Authority, on the Word of God. Number four is we need to remember, therefore, what we have received and heard. We need to obey, as we spoke about earlier, and number five is we need to repent. So, the five things are:
- Wake up.
- Strengthen what remains.
- Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard.
- Obey it.
- Repent
Repentance not only involves an act of turning to God, but of having a submissive heart. See, it’s one thing that after He slaps you down, you fall on your face that you say, “Alright! I surrender!” It’s a lot better if you do that before that happens, seeking His Will and His Teaching in all truth.
Christ had a big warning to Sardis. He said, “If you don’t wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know of the time I will come to you.” One of the worst things that can happen to us here, is that we think we have all the time in the world. “I’ll get my life together when I get older.” “I’ll get my life together after I get married.” “I’ll get my life together after I get through school.” “I’ll get my life together after I get a house.” Whatever you put before God is a bad thing. You don’t know when He’s coming. You don’t know when your life will end. You don’t know that you could live a whole lot better if you would just give your life to God now. How much joy are you missing? How much pain are you enduring that you don’t have to?
I’m not saying that you won’t have some stuff happen to you after you give your life to Christ, because all the Christians listening to me right now know that in this world, you will have tribulations. You’re going to have some stuff, but it’s a whole lot better to go through it with God than to go through it without. And, like my church, He says to this church, “Yet, you have a few people in Sardis who have now soiled their clothes. They will walk with Me dressed in white for they are worthy.” There are some individuals, even now, who remain faithful even through all the crazy stuff that’s going on. I want you to be like that, to be faithful to God regardless of what’s going down. The Lord has promised that all who are faithful to Him during persecution will “walk with Me dressed in white for they are worthy.”
A lot of us have never tasted the sting of persecution for the cause of Jesus Christ. We’ll stand aside and be thrilled at the Judgment Seat of Christ when those who have endured are rewarded.
Christ’s challenge to Sardis, as to all the others, is directed to the individual. He or she who overcomes, as we have already seen, is a direct reference to those who have been born again by faith in Christ. I want you to check out 1 John 5:1-4: He who overcomes will, like them, be dressed in white. It refers to the righteousness of Christ with which we are clothed when we are born again (2 Corinthians 5:21). Scripture says, “I will never blot out his name from the Book of Life, but will acknowledge his name before My Father and His angels.” This indicates the security with which a believer is held against the Day of Judgment that’s described in Revelation 20:11-15 that we haven’t gotten to yet. That Book of Life is the book that contains the names of all living individuals. It is possible to have one’s name blotted out in that book for three reasons.
One, sinning against God.
Two, not being an overcomer, which is synonymous with being born again, or putting one’s trust in Christ, and three, for taking away from the words of the prophesy of Revelation. In short, anyone who has sinned against God has his or her name blotted out of the Book of Life upon death. And then our Lord concludes, in this book,
“He who has an ear let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”
Whether or not you have heard is determined by whether or not you have heeded His warning to be born again.
The way to guarantee that — that your name will never be blotted out of the Book of Life — is to get on your knees and ask God, right now, to cleanse you of your sin and save you as we asked earlier and gave you the opportunity. It’s not too late. Still think about it if you’re not.
Next week, we’re going to hit the Church of Philadelphia (Revelation 3:7-13.) Amen? Wow! Time is flying. Thank you for listening, downloading, and subscribing to the Speak Life Church Podcast. I’m Reverend Kenn Blanchard, and I want to thank you personally for listening and for your prayers. I’m hoping to meet you online on the 14th of October, if you can. Now, unto Him who is able to do exceedingly, abundantly above all that we ask or think according to the power that worketh in us, unto Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end.
May the Lord bless and keep you. May Heaven’s Face continue to shine upon you and give you great peace. Until that great day when there is no dawn and there is no sunset, my friend, my sister, my brother, I will see you at the Feet of Jesus. Until next time, God bless.