Resisting the Slumbering Spirit - by Jim Tharp, 2008

And to the angel of the church in Sardis write: 'The words of him who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. I know your works; you have the name of being alive, and you are dead. Awake, and strengthen what remains and is on the point of death, for I have not found your works perfect in the sight of my God. Remember then what you received and heard; keep that, and repent. If you will not awake, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come upon you. Yet you have still a few names in Sardis, people who have not soiled their garments; and they shall walk with me in white, for they are worthy. He who conquers shall be clad thus in white garments, and I will not blot his name out of the book of life; I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.' (Rev. 3:l-6).

Many churches, as well as individual Christians, are afflicted with the Sardis Syndrome today. They have a reputation of being alive, but their inner life and strength do not match their claims to know the Lord. Their talk is full of Scriptures, but their walk is weak and wobbly.

The church in Sardis is called to repentance. It is called to an awakening. Awake (v. 2) is a command. God is calling the Sardis church to revival. A minority is walking in the Spirit of holiness - they have not soiled their garments - they have not compromised with the world, nor have they succumbed to the gravity of the flesh. They have resisted the temptation to join the majority to succumb to spiritual drowsiness, which leads to slumber. 

Spiritual slumber is a deep sleep reached gradually over a period of time by failing to respond to the leadership of the Holy Spirit. Christians can reach a point in their process of resistance to the Spirit's stirrings within them until they lose the sense of hearing. That is why the Lord Jesus in His messages to the seven churches (Rev. 2:1 - 3:22) closes each message with this warning: He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

All of us can recall early mornings when the alarm clock called us to awaken from our slumber, get out of bed and face the day. But most of us can also recall times when we resisted the call. Maybe it was not an alarm clock, but a parent's call, or maybe even our own conscience urging us to face responsibility and get going. But the comfort of a warm bed, the need of more rest, the dread of facing the day - all this built up a resistance to responsible action. So we just rolled over and went back to sleep.

In calling the Sardis church to repentance and an awakening, the Lord Jesus makes a promise to the one who conquers (v.5). He wanted His followers in Sardis who were slipping into spiritual drowsiness to realize they were in a major spiritual battle, one they were losing. But if they would repent of their selfish, irresponsible yielding to a slumbering spirit, they could be overcomers and move back into spiritual power and life in the Spirit.

Oh, how our enemy hates revival! He'll fight an entire denomination over the subject. Just let a pastor and a few board members get partially awake and begin to realize the need for revival, and Satan will unleash a thousand demons to overhaul their thinking and put a screeching halt to any effort that might wake up that congregation. Many programs and ministries being promoted today, however meaningful and relevant, are mere compromises Satan has made with congregations to prevent the Spirit-anointed revival that would have exploded and defeated the kingdom of darkness.

Let us hear the words of Jesus as He sounds a warning to believers facing the end-times: But take heed to yourselves lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and cares of this life, and that day come upon all who dwell upon the face of the whole earth. But watch at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that will take place, and to stand before the Son of man (Luke 21:34-36).

Let us not miss Jesus' prescribed way of escape: praying! We overcome all of the enemy's temptations through prayer. And we overcome his most subtle temptation of drowsiness, which leads to slumber, by prayer - Spirit-anointed prayer, persistent prayer, joyous prayer, bold prayer, fasting and prayer.

My dear brothers and sisters of this twenty-first century, we must awaken to the realization that we are all facing a major strategy of the enemy to chloroform the very atmosphere we breathe - the schools we attend, the television we watch, the literature we read, the worship services we attend, the conversations we have in our legitimate and necessary intercourse with the world - to deaden our spiritual sensitivities and conform us to the spirit of this present age. I never like to give the devil credit, but I must recognize his cleverness in seeking to maneuver me into a state of drowsiness so that I might grieve, quench or ignore the Holy Spirit in some way. He knows if he can sedate us to a state of slumber, we will not have an ear to hear the voice of the Spirit.

In order to resist the spirit of slumber, I suggest that we all wake up each morning, praying, Holy Spirit, breathe on me! Then get up and go about expecting definite leadings - constraints and restraints, inspiration and direction, blessings and burdens.

Pray often. Praise Him and give thanks. Watch for opportunities to witness. Rejoice in everything. Let's enjoy our relationship with the Holy Spirit in which we listen for His voice, obey His leadings, receive His new fillings and live for His times of refreshing and revival.