"If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious," it is certain evidence of a divine change; for men by nature find no delight in Jesus. I do not inquire what your experience may have been, or may not have been; if Christ be precious to you, there has been a work of grace in your heart; if you love Him, if His presence be your joy, if His blood be your hope, if His glory be your object and aim, and if His person be the constant love of your soul, you could not have had this taste by nature, for you were dead; you could not have acquired this taste by learning, for this is a miracle which none but the God who is supreme over nature could have wrought in you. Let every tried and troubled Christian, who, nevertheless, does taste that the Lord is good, take consolation from this. "The upright love thee."
"A few Names even in Sardis."
"Thou hast a few names even in Sardis, which have not defiled their garments." Here we have special preservation. Mark it carefully. "Thou hast a few names." Only a few; not so few as some think, but not so many as others imagine. A few compared with the mass of professors: a few compared even with the true children of God, for many of them have defiled their garments. There were but a few, and those few were even in Sardis. There is not a Church on earth which is so corrupt but has "a few."
Take heart, Christians; there are a few in Sardis. Do not be quite cast down. Some heroes have not turned their backs in the day of battle; some mighty men still fight for the truth. But be careful, for, perhaps, you are not one of the "few." Since there are but "a few," there ought to be great searchings of heart. Let us look to our garments, and see whether they be defiled. And since there are but "few," be active. The fewer the workmen to do the work, the greater reason is there that you should be active. "Be instant in season, out of season." Oh! if we had hundreds behind us, we might say, "Let them do the work;" but if we stand with only "a few," how should each of those few exert themselves!
Stir yourselves up, then, to the greatest activity, for verily there are but a few in Sardis who have not defiled their garments. Above all, be prayerful. Put up your earnest cries to God that He would multiply the faithful, that He would increase the number of chosen ones who stand fast, and that He would purify the Church. Cry unto God that the day may come when the much fine gold shall be no longer dim; when the glory shall again return to Zion. Beg of God to remove the cloud, to take away "the darkness that may be felt." Be doubly prayerful, for there are but few in Sardis who have not defiled their garments.
Increase of Strength.
The troubles with which the plants of God's right-hand planting are assailed when they are saplings are very inconsiderable compared with those which blow about them when they become, like cedars, strongly rooted. When we grow strong, so sure as our strength increases, our sufferings, our trials, our labors, or our temptations, will be multiplied. God's power is never communicated to any man to be laid up in store. The food which is given to strengthen us, like the manna which was gathered by the Israelites in the wilderness, is intended for immediate use. When the Lord puts upon our feet the shoes of iron which He has promised us in the covenant, it is that we may walk in them—not that we may put them into our museum, and gaze upon them as curiosities. If He gives us a strong hand, it is because we have a strong foe to fight with. If He shall give us a great meal, as He did Elijah of old, it is that we may go for a forty-day's journey in the strength of that meal.