Revelation 2:3-4

3 So call to mind the lessons you received and heard; continually lay them to heart and obey them, and repent. In case you will not rouse yourselves and keep awake and watch, I will come upon you like a thief, and you will not know or suspect at what hour I will come. 

Jesus doesn’t even tell these people to call unto Him. He proclaims that they are to arouse themselves. Where do we ever read in the Gospels that we are to call upon ourselves to walk in the ways of the Lord? But here all of a sudden this is how it is done? No! This is Jesus speaking to those whose hearts are not right and He is clearly speaking to them in a parable, unless hearing He should have to come and heal them. 

For this nation's heart has grown gross (fat and dull), and their ears heavy and difficult of hearing, and their eyes they have tightly closed, lest they see and perceive with their eyes, and hear and comprehend the sense with their ears, and grasp and understand with their heart, and turn and I should heal them. Matthew 13:15

Our Father had Ezekiel prophesy to us that after Jesus was raised from the dead that He was going to place His Spirit within us and cause us to walk in His ways, Ezekiel 36:27

And I will put my Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you shall heed My ordinances and do them.

You have to ask yourself why did Jesus have John write to these churches? Many will say that it was to warn them so that they could repent. But if that were true why does He never tell them to look towards the only power that could change them? Why would Jesus tell them to look to  themselves, or in other words look to anti-christ? Because anything other then our Father’s power is anti-christ. I honestly believe that He had John write these things to be a parable of sorts, so that the false teachers and wolves in sheep’s clothing would believe it was what they had to do. Jesus could do this because His true chosen ones have the Holy Spirit teaching them that it is all our Father’s power working through us. Jesus always spoke in parables to false religious people in the Gospels, why not now?

4 Yet you still have a few [persons'] names in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes, and they shall walk with Me in white, because they are worthy and deserving. 

Once again we see that Jesus is telling His truly chosen ones in Sardis, I have your back and I know all that is going on! Think of what a relief that hearing this is to these true believers. They are always hearing the leaders of the church bragging about what the church is doing, when they know that it is actually dead. They see men being elevated and praised and they have to be thinking, where is Jesus in all of this vain glory? And then Jesus has John write to them.