seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Revelation 3:1 “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. 2 Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have found your deeds unfinished in the sight of my God. 3 Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; hold it fast, 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.
4 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. 5 The one who is victorious will, like them, be dressed in white. I will never blot out the name of that person from the book of life, but will acknowledge that name before my Father and his angels. 6 Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
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Here's the link to the commentary I read. There is still a lot of commentary I did not post here. There is a lot of information about the "Book of Life". Please follow the link and read it all.
The church in Sardis: At the time Jesus spoke these words to John, the ancient city of Sardis had seen its best days and had started to decline. Yet it was a wealthy city, situated at the junction of several important roads and trade routes. The connection between Sardis and money — easy money — was well known in the ancient world.
“It is of interest to note that the first coinage ever to be minted in Asia Minor was minted in Sardis in the days of Croesus. These roughly formed electrum staters were the beginning of money in the modern sense of the term. Sardis was the place where modern money was born.” (Barclay)
Sardis: This city was also a city well known for its softness and luxury. It had a well-deserved reputation for apathy and immorality. In Sardis there was a large, stately temple to the mother goddess, Cybele. From the ruins of that temple we can see that its main columns were 60 feet (20 meters) high and more than 6 feet (2 meters) in diameter. This mother goddess was honored and worshipped with all kinds of sexual immorality and impurity.
Sardis: The combination of easy money and a loose moral environment made the people of Sardis notoriously soft and pleasure loving. “The great characteristic of Sardis was that, even on pagan lips, Sardis was a name of contempt. Its people were notoriously loose-living, notoriously pleasure-and luxury loving. Sardis was a city of the decadence.” (Barclay)
I know your works: As Jesus said to each church, He also said to Sardis. What a church is and what a church does is never hidden from Jesus.
That you have a name that you are alive: Jesus knew the church at Sardis had a name — that is, a reputation — of life and vitality. If you looked at the church of Sardis, you would see signs of life and vitality. In the church of Sardis, like the city of Sardis, everything seemed alive and good.
“We are not to get the impression that Sardis was a defunct affair with the building a wreck, the members scattered, the pastor ready to resign. It was a busy church with meetings every night, committees galore, wheels within wheels, promotion and publicity, something going on all the time. It had a reputation of being a live, wide-awake, going concern.” (Havner)
Dead: Despite their reputation of life, Jesus saw them for what they really were. But you are dead shows that a good reputation is no guarantee of true spiritual character. Despite their good appearance, Jesus saw them as dead.
Dead: This indicates no struggle, no fight, no persecution. It wasn’t that the church at Sardis was losing the battle. A dead body has lost the battle, and the fight seems over. In this letter Jesus didn’t encourage the Christians in Sardis to stand strong against persecution or false doctrine, probably because there simply wasn’t a significant danger of these things in Sardis. Being dead, the church in Sardis presented no significant threat to Satan’s domain, so it wasn’t worth attacking.
Sardis was “A perfect model of inoffensive Christianity.” (Caird cited in Mounce) Their problem was not scandalous wickedness, but a decent death. Their image said “alive,” but in substance they were dead.
Be watchful: This first instruction from Jesus told them they need to examine and protect, strengthening what they have. The things which remain tells us that though the spiritual condition of the church of Sardis was bad, it wasn’t hopeless. Spiritually, there were things which remain that could be strengthened. Jesus had not given up on them, and though it was late (that are ready to die) it was not too late.
In its history, the city of Sardis was easily conquered twice before. It wasn’t that the attacking armies overwhelmed Sardis, but because overconfidence made them stop being watchful. The spiritual state of the church in Sardis was a reflection of the city’s historical character.
I have not found your works perfect before God: This shows that their works, though present, had not measured up to God’s standard. The presence of works isn’t enough because God requires a particular intent and purpose in all of our works. They should be done with a heart and in a manner that show them to be perfect before God.
Clarke on I have not found your works perfect: “They performed duties of all kinds, but not duty completely. They were constantly beginning, but never brought anything to a proper end.”
Therefore if you will not watch, I will come upon you as a thief: Jesus warned them of the great danger in failing to watch. If they ignored His command to be watchful, then Jesus would come upon them as a thief, at a time completely unexpected.
You have a few names even in Sardis who have not defiled their garments: Even among the dead Christians in Sardis, there was a faithful remnant, but only a few names. In Pergamos (Revelation 2:14) and in Thyatira (Revelation 2:20) there were a few bad among the good; in Sardis there were a few good among the bad.
Even in Sardis: Even shows that in some ways it was remarkable that there were a few names still faithful to the Lord. It may have been remarkable because of the city’s notoriously immoral reputation. Even in a city that wicked, some among the Christians had not defiled themselves by joining in sin.
Who have not defiled their garments: Jesus referred to defiled garments because in the heathen worship of the day, the pagan gods could not be approached with dirty clothes. The analogy works for the worship of Jesus because He gives His people white garments.
“As sin is expressed under the notion of nakedness, so holiness is expressed under the notion of a garment.” (Poole)
And I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life: By this, the overcomers were assured of their heavenly citizenship. In the ancient world, death or a criminal conviction could blot out the name of an ancient citizen from the city’s book of the living, which was the city register.
“In ancient times cities kept a register of their citizens; and when a man died, his name was removed from the register. The risen Christ is saying that, if we wish to remain on the roll of the citizens of God, we must keep our faith flamingly alive.” (Barclay)
What the Spirit says to the churches: Sardis teaches us that we must beware of our success. The city was wealthy and knew easy living, but it made them soft and spoiled. Sardis also teaches us that we be watchful at our strongest points. Sardis thought it was unconquerable, and so it was conquered. Where we say “I would never do that” is the exact place we must guard against.
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First of all, as I wrote this the TV news is reporting on the funeral arrangements for the Pope who passed away Easter Evening. My condolences.
Recently I had to ask a very dear friend if they Believe. I live in a 55+ community and there seems to be a lot of people having serious health issues. Although my Hubby is recovering [thank you], others have fallen. Anyway.... my dear friend said they question "If Jesus was so kind... why would God be so mean?" They asked me how could I believe in Jesus when the church is so wicked. He was talking about the priests and preachers preying on the congregants. He was talking about priests and preachers raping children. He was talking about nuns beating Jesus into the children. He was talking about how people who had just lost everything to a hurricane or tornado were told to stay out of the local church because they had just cleaned the carpets.
My only answer was... "that's not Jesus... that's religion".
The commentary points out the church's Inoffensive Christianity. Wow..
Does that mean that everyone, except gay, surgically enhanced, active rapists, and people who are too poor to dress to proper standards, can became a church member, or even a church leader to please their mom and get the free housing, everyone was ok in church and even run the joint.... no one would say anything?
Does that mean that you can join the church without accepting Jesus as the Messiah or at least making a public Profession of Faith?
Does that mean that you can be a big part of the Christian Church without being a Christian?
Are we so afraid of losing the tithe that pays the bills and keeps the lights on, that we are willing to let the church turn into a brothel?
Does that mean that the church no longer says "Jesus is the only way"?
It's one thing when the church begins in a brothel, that's a victory... it's quite another when the priest or the preacher turns the church into a brothel by raping the children or making lascivious advances towards the women in the church. Pigs... acting like pigs.... and the church was "thriving".
Jesus told the people at the church in Sardis they weren't acting like Christians. They might be busy all the time, they might be coating the walls with molten gold and singing the latest gospel hits with the loudest band and charitably holding church services in the nursing homes, but they weren't acting like Christians.
Jesus seems to be saying, Verses 4 & 5, that just because you put on a clean dress, just the right makeup and hairdo, you are still worshipping the world and not Jesus. Getting dressed up and going to church is no bigger deal than getting dressed up and going out to dinner. It's a chore... a diversion... or a cost of doing business to some who claim to be an essential part of living a Christian life.
A lot of people think that if you just go to church regularly you will go to heaven.
A lot of people also think it's ok to have an abortion, if you just can't afford to raise another child.
A lot of people think they have to "get right with God" before they will be good enough to be in the church.
A lot of people think the church is no place for people who are gay, surgically modified, or tatted up, or poor, even though they Believe and have actually made a public Profession of Faith.
You want to get all gussied up and sing the latest songs in a place that is "all inclusive", then book a hall.
The Christian Church is supposed to be a place where Christians can find other Christians. It's a safe place to worship the Lord.
Some so called "Christians" need their toes stepped on. They are twisting the Gospel. They are deciding who can worship and who can't.
Some people are blaming the church because they lost their Salvation. The church has gone so "inoffensive" some people never found real Salvation in the first place.
A church that doesn't want to offend people by teaching them Jesus is the ONLY WAY, is just a building. You might as well visit the library regularly.... and maybe check out a book or two so you look scholarly.
Jesus said Sardis was all dressed up but had no place to go. They weren't worshipping Jesus or His Father. They were there to be seen without offending anyone.
I think Jesus is saying.... "Religion is fleeting. Preachers and priests quit. You can live without religion. Religion is just like-minded people communicating. But when you become a Christian, you will always be a Christian."
Jesus is the only way!
You can't get eternal life by putting on a white coat!
You can't get eternal life by practicing "Inoffensive Christianity".
