Hi Everyone, 

I am writing today about a vision God gave me yesterday while at prayer.  I asked God if there were any messages for our church, because we were having a special event.  So he gave me this four part vision.  I am sharing this with you because I believe it applies to the American church as a whole.  We are all people, and we all experience many of the same things.

The Vision

First I saw milk being poured into a bag that holds about four gallons.  The bag is open at the top with a single wide strap.  It appears to be a leather like material, brown and opaque. However, the bag does not hold the milk.  The milk seeps slowly through the bag surface area, as if the material is semi-permeable.  The bag looks like it is sweating milk. As I saw this happening, I wondered to myself, “How can the milk be transported in this bag?  Will there be any milk left once it reaches its destination?

Next, I saw a ⅜” gauge cord or rope which was tied in a half-hitch knot.  A half-hitch is not a complete knot.  It takes two half-hitches to make one granny knot, and two half-hitches in opposite directions to make a square knot.  But all I saw was a half-hitch.  A perfectly worthless knot.  Not really a knot at all.

Then I see a man in a hooded sweatshirt pulling wool off a lamb.  The lamb had a thick, fairly long coat, but rather than shearing the sheep, the wool is coming off in handfuls.  There is no effort made.  The wool just simply falls off in chunks in the man’s hands.  This is certainly not normal.  To look at the lamb, you would say that it appears to be healthy, but obviously, the contrary is true.  The lamb must be in poor physical health if it is losing its coat in this manner.

In the last part of the vision, I saw another attempt at tying a knot.  This time the knot is being made with several strands of thread held together.  The threads are not the same length, so pushing the strands through the loop, to make a knot, is tricky.  The threads appear kinked and going in opposite directions.

This unfortunately is not a flattering or positive message, but one of rebuke.  The vision depicts incompleteness, disunity, dysfunction and poor health.  God’s messages are always honest, for God is true to himself and true to his word. “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord.”  Isaiah 55:8

This message may be hard medicine to swallow, but it is good for us nonetheless.

The Milk and the Bag

The milk represents the word of God.  “In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again.  You need milk, not solid food!  Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness.  But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.”  Hebrews 5:12-14

In the vision, the “leather” bag represents the believers.  The bag (the believers) cannot hold the milk.  It seeps out, because the walls are semi-permeable.  The milk or the word of God doesn’t stay with them, because the wall of the bag is weak.  They allow the world to come in and the word to escape.  There is no commitment to hold onto the word.  “I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.”  Psalm 119:11

“Take to heart all the words I have solemnly declared to you this day, so that you may command your children to obey carefully all the words of this law.  They are not just idle words for you--they are your life.”  Deuteronomy 32:46-47

We see too, that the bag or membrane that allows milk to flow out, will also let something in.  The world’s values come in when the bag or the (believer) does not have a strong wall of defense.  We know that according to Ephesians 6, the word of God is our offensive weapon.  With a semi-permeable wall there is no strength, no defense against the wicked one.  The wall of the bag, (the believer) needs to have the strength to fight the enemy, but without knowing the word of God, they just succumb. They need to know the word, for otherwise they are defenseless.  A believer who is overcome by the enemy, becomes a friend of the world.  “Do not love the world, or anything in the world. If anyone who loves the world, love for the Father is not in them.” 1 John 2:15

The Cord or Rope

A cord or rope is strong when its strands are together.  If you had two short ropes and wanted to have one longer rope, you would need to be able to tie them together in an effect way.  The square knot is ideal for this purpose, because the tighter the tension placed on the knot, the more secure it becomes.  An incorrectly tied square knot pulls apart when the two ends are pulled. This knot is called the “granny knot,” for obvious reasons.  The difference between the two knots is a simple thing.  Both are made with two consecutive half hitches, but a granny knot is made with identical half hitches going in the same direction.  There is no strength.  The square knot on the other hand is made with one half hitch in one direction followed by a half hitch in the opposite direction.  This gives it strength and security when pulled on in both directions.  

What we have in the vision is a single half-hitch.  It is an incomplete knot.  There is no strength and no real purpose to the knot.  There is no anchor or attachment, nothing to brace against.  In Revelations, Jesus speaks of a church whose deeds were “incomplete in his sight.”  It was the church at Sardis.

“These are the words of him who holds the seven spirits of God and the seven stars.  I know your deeds, you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead.  Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your deeds complete in the sight of my God.  Remember therefore what you have received and heard; obey it, and repent.  But if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what time I will come to you.”

“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.  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.  He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches."  Revelations 3:1-6

The Man in the Hooded Sweatshirt and the Lamb

I believe the man in the hooded sweatshirt is the Lord.  I believe the lamb represents us as believers.  Jesus is called the good shepherd.  In the vision, he is attending the lamb. A shepherd raising sheep expects to gain wool, and meat.  The friesland variety can give milk as well because they can lamb twins.

Jesus, the shepherd, inspects the lamb and finds that the wool comes out in chunks, or handfuls.  The lamb appears healthy, but upon inspection, it is not.  The Church in Sardis, has a reputation for being alive, but the Lord finds it dead.

Tying a Knot with Strands of Thread

We use the illustration of a 3 stranded cord, as being a sign of unity and strength.  In the vision, the threads, have passed through the eye of the needle, and are being used to secure a button to a garment.  After passing through the button shank and fabric several times, the ends are to be knotted and clipped.  The vision shows the ends of the thread are all different lengths, some of which are so short it makes knotting difficult.  The ends are also kinked, and going in different directions.  I believe this part of the vision, means that we as believers are not unified, and we are willfully going in different directions.  The kinked threads represent stubbornness, rebelliousness or insubordination.

Peace, brotherly love and unity are ingredients to a happy, healthy church, that is ready for the Lord’s coming.  Whether he comes in a revival or comes for the church, we need to be ready.

God is revealing that, the church may appear to be alive, and It may appear healthy, but God knows otherwise. He says, "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge."  Hosea 4:6   So he has made this known to us and it would behoove us to respond.

What instructions does the Lord give the Church at Sardis, to change their condition?

First the Lord says,  "Remember what you have received and heard."  Revelations 3:3   When we are born again, we receive the Holy Spirit.  We receive forgiveness for our sins, and we receive a right standing with God.  And we receive the gift of eternal life in the presence of the Lord.   These are the things we are to remember.  

What have we heard that we need to remember? We have heard the words of God, the testimonies of believers who have experienced God.  We have heard the words and promises from the Bible.  And we have heard the voice of God calling us to himself.  “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.”  John 10:27  These are the things we are to remember.

Secondly, the Lord says to obey what you have received and heard.  Obedience is paramount to pleasing God.  Jesus said, “If you love me, you will obey my commandments.”  John 14:15

Thirdly, the Lord says to repent. We must return to him with all our hearts.

Then he gives a warning:  “If you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what time I will come.”  Revelations 3:3

Our hope is to be like those at Sardis who did not soil their clothes.  "They will walk with me dressed in white, for they are worthy."  Revelations 3:4

I hope you will take this message seriously.  God is coming for a revival or coming to take us home.   Either way -  we must all be ready.

If this message helps you in anyway, please pass it along!  Thanks!   And be blessed.