To the Church in Sardis
1"To the angel of the church in Sardis write:
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. 2Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your deeds complete in the sight of my God. 3Remember, 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. 4Yet 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. 5He 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. 6He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
Dig Deeper
Years ago I heard of a school that had an incredible reputation. The teacher who had started that school had even had a major motion picture made about their exploits as a teacher, and he had subsequently started his own school. The school was often put forward as a model for the way things should be done. They had flashy technology and quite a bit of media coverage. There was just one problem, though. It was all a show. When you actually visited the school, it became pretty obvious to a seasoned observer that the school was not living up their claims. In fact, it didn’t seem that the school was actually accomplishing anything that they were claiming others schools could do if they would purchase their rather expensive program. It was all smoke and mirrors with no substance.
There are many churches in our day in a similar state. They are trendy and seem alive. They constantly produce books, programs, curriculums, and materials that other churches lap up like thirsty dogs. Yet, they have no true spiritual life in and of themselves. They survive on reputation, flash, and meeting the felt needs of their congregants rather than truly feeding them spiritually. This was similar to the situation in Sardis. It was a popular church with the reputation of being alive. That was simply not the reality, though. They had a great reputation with the world around them, but Christ knew better
3:1 - Christ announces Himself as the One who holds the seven spirits (or seven-fold spirit) of God and the seven stars. Christ holds all things in His hand including the rulers of the church. The elders at Sardis must have needed reminding of this because they were at the reigns of a dying church. They had a great reputation but were, in fact, dead. The church in Sardis appears to have become quite fashionable and popular. There is no evidence that they were under any persecution at all. The evidence seems to indicate that the church in Sardis had almost completely compromised with the culture around it until there was little distinction between it and the surrounding culture. The life of a church does not necessarily consist of the "coolness" of the youth ministry or music ministry, or the speed of numerical growth or even baptisms in the church. This church seemed to be busy, growing, and alive, yet Christ says that it is, in reality, dead.
3:2-3 - Christ warns them to wake up and strengthen what remains. Sardis was a city that was built on a mountain and seemed impregnable, yet it had been taken unawares twice in its history and captured by enemies. This was paralleled with the state of the church. The church had not been completely written off by Christ but they were warned to take no delay in strengthening what remained. Sardis was doing deeds but they were not complete in the sight of God.
All of this activity made it seem as though the church was alive and on-fire, but this was all illusion. They lacked the zeal to have anyone actually commit full-blown heresy, but they also lacked the doctrinal depth of conviction to produce persecution or intolerance. The church at Sardis was fitting in with the culture around them quite nicely. Christ admonishes them to remember the gospel that they had received and heard; and tells them to obey it, and repent. If they do not wake up, Christ promises that He will come like a thief, and you will not know at what time I will come to you. Again, it is important to note that this is not a threat of the Second Coming. Christ is warning them that they will be included in His coming judgment of apostate Israel.
3:4-6 - There were some faithful souls in Sardis who had not soiled their clothes, and become secularized. They are told that they will walk with Christ, dressed in white, for they are worthy. The righteous saints are pictured wearing white in the Revelation on seven separate occasions (3:5, 18; 4:4; 6:11; 7:9, 13: 19:14). Wearing white is an obvious symbol for cleanliness and righteousness. The ultimate origins are the sun-like brightness of the glory cloud. Those in white are recreated in the image of God and are clothed with Christ (Gal. 3:27; Eph. 4:24; Col. 3:10).
The overcomer is promised that he will be dressed in white and will not have his name blotted from the book of life. This is a very real threat from Christ. Those who fell into heresy, immorality, or secularization would have their name removed from the record of those who were redeemed by Christ. Christ will never throw us from His kingdom, but we can remove our own names from His book of life based on our own apostasy. The overcomers in Sardis are informed that Christ will acknowledge his name before my Father and his angels. In essence, many in Sardis were denying the true doctrine of Christ before their community. To those, Christ says that He will not acknowledge them before God. They were more concerned with the praise of men than of God, and so would not receive the praise of God when they would really need it.
Devotional Thought
The Christians in Sardis are told, in essence, that if they deny Christ, He will deny them before God. Are you more concerned with serving God or with what others think of you? Are you more motivated by obedience to God or a fear of man? What can you do today to disregard the opinions of men and serve God?
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