seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Revelation 3:1 “To the angel[a] of the church in Sardis write:
These are the words of him who holds the seven spirits(b) 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.
These are the words of him who holds the seven spirits(b) 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.
a. Revelation 3:1 Or messenger; also in verses 7 and 14
b. Revelation 3:1 That is, the sevenfold Spirit
Back to the easy English commentary this morning....
Verse 1 Sardis was about 30 miles south of Thyatira and 50 miles east of Ephesus. It was on the side of a mountain. Below it there was a large plain. It was in a good position for an army to defend. It had been a powerful and rich city. But it was not still as strong as it had been. Today, we might say that such a city is ‘living in the past’. In other words, the city’s most successful phase had ended.
The Lord tells them to be awake and to watch. In the past, armies had twice defeated Sardis. They were able to do this because nobody watched. So, the Lord warns the church that, like the city guards, the church must keep awake. In other words, the Christians need to be aware of what is happening. And they need to be ready for Jesus’ return.
It was as if the church in Sardis was dead. But some things there did not seem to be dead. A sleeper may seem dead until he wakes. But, unlike a dead body, a sleeper is not hopeless. He is still alive. The church seemed dead. But perhaps it was more like a sleeper. Perhaps it could recover, like a man who wakes. The church must start to do the work of the Lord again. It must turn from its wrong actions. The Lord was not happy with it in its present state.
Christ tells the Christians to remember what they had received. They had heard the gospel and they believed it. They received new life from God. They served the Lord and they did his work. But now they did not still serve the Lord as they used to do.
Most members of that church did not live as Christians should. They did the same things as other people. Their belief made no difference to their lives. They were behaving like people who make their own clothes dirty.
There are three parts to the promise for those who overcome. They will wear white clothes. Their names will be in the book of life. Jesus will tell the Father and the angels that they are his.
The church in Sardis used to be a lively church. In other words, the members used to have strong faith. But by this time, it had lost its life. This means that their faith had become weak. This process was slow. They did not see it happen. The church still seemed to be full of life (faith). But the Lord saw what it was really like. He could see that the church was dead. In other words, most of the Christians there had hardly any faith. So, they did not live as they should.
The Lord tells them to be awake and to watch. In the past, armies had twice defeated Sardis. They were able to do this because nobody watched. So, the Lord warns the church that, like the city guards, the church must keep awake. In other words, the Christians need to be aware of what is happening. And they need to be ready for Jesus’ return.
It was as if the church in Sardis was dead. But some things there did not seem to be dead. A sleeper may seem dead until he wakes. But, unlike a dead body, a sleeper is not hopeless. He is still alive. The church seemed dead. But perhaps it was more like a sleeper. Perhaps it could recover, like a man who wakes. The church must start to do the work of the Lord again. It must turn from its wrong actions. The Lord was not happy with it in its present state.
Christ tells the Christians to remember what they had received. They had heard the gospel and they believed it. They received new life from God. They served the Lord and they did his work. But now they did not still serve the Lord as they used to do.
Most members of that church did not live as Christians should. They did the same things as other people. Their belief made no difference to their lives. They were behaving like people who make their own clothes dirty.
The ‘white clothes’ are the result of the good things that Jesus did. He gives to them the reward that he earned. They do not deserve it because of anything that they have done. They obtain it because they believe in Christ. What they believed changed their lives.
There are three parts to the promise for those who overcome. They will wear white clothes. Their names will be in the book of life. Jesus will tell the Father and the angels that they are his.
This is from blueletterbible.org.
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, being 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)
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.
Dead 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 doesn'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.
The church in Sardis was "A perfect model of inoffensive Christianity" (Caird). Another commentator says, "It was not scandalous wickedness, but decent death; the form retained, the heart gone."
I can imagine... while I'm reading this.... a young believer.... afraid to tell anyone about the Gospel because they might offend them.
Why are we so afraid to offend people? Are unbelievers afraid to offend us? They should be..... but they're not. Why should we even believe that our Good News is offensive? Has Satan gotten that strong in our ears? How could John 3:16 be offensive? God loves us... He's adopted us... He's getting our rooms among the "many mansions" ready... and He wants us to go tell everyone so they can be adopted too! What's so offensive?????
The church may be bringing in new music.... new lighting.... new curtains... new everything.... but if they are beating a tired old rug instead of spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ the Messiah to everyone... then they are dead.... is it the same old sermon.... same old stand up and sit down.... same old "open your books to".... same old "let's skip that because it's unbelievable and why bother".
Wake UP.... Jesus is coming back.... and He's going to gather us up.... we need to get excited.... we need to be telling people.... we need to be as excited as a small child on Christmas Morning... every single day! He'll help us if we ask Him. He'll be delighted to help us wake up our faith.... He'll help us take that bushel basket off our lamp.....
