The church at Sardis AD 1517 - AD 1648 Revelation 3:1-6 Sardis- The dead church This letter warns the members of the Sardis church, who had a reputation for being spiritally alive (when actually dead), that without genuine transformation, they would face Gods judgement. Lord, make me good, not too good, just good enough not to get a spanking. Thats how many Christians feel about personal holiness. Jesus said in Mark 7:6, Isaiah prophesied correctly about you hypocrites, as it is written: This people honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. These Christians were lacking true service, sacrifice, sanctification, and supplication. They once had these things, but now they were simply living off their former reputation as being a shining light, but were actually dead. A short history of the city: Sardis was the ancient capital of the Lydian Kingdom. It was 50 miles east of Smyrna, on the southeast highway from Pergamum and Thyatira. The city endured many wars, usually victorious because of its geographical location. However, the Persians, in 6th century BC, laid siege against the city. A Persian soldier observed a Lydian soldier retrieve his lost helmet, by descending the wall from cut-out steps. The Persians climbed the wall, in the same fashion, and conquered the city. It was said that a child could have defended the city from this kind of attack. But not so much as one observer had been appointed to watch that side because it was believed to be inaccessible. History repeated itself in 195 BC, when Antiochus the Great conquered Sardis by utilizing a sure-footed mountain climber. They hadnt learned their lesson. So this city had its defeats, yet it was believed to be almost an impregnable place. This probably rang true for Christians in the Sardis church. They were once strong, felt invincible, but were quickly overcome by Satan because of their lack of zeal and attentiveness. 700 years before the letter was written to Sardis, it was one of the greatest cities in the world. By the time the letter was written, the city was of little significance. The city also gave itself to the cult of emperor worship. It was also the center for the worship of Cybele. Cybele also became known as the Great Mother and was worshiped throughout the Hellenistic world. There was a temple there to Caesar and to the empress Cybele. And they worshiped Caesar as the son god and Cybele as the mother goddess. And their mother/son cult eventually found its way into Roman Catholicism and it mingled with the worship of Mary and Jesus. The description of Christ- v.1 from the one who has the Sevenfold spirit of God and the seven stars. We already covered this in part, but we know that there is only one Holy Spirit. The number 7 stands for fullness or completeness. This is the complete essence of the Holy Spirit. Isaiah 11:2 lists the seven titles of the spirit of God : 1) Spirit of the Lord 2) Spirit of wisdom 3) Spirit of understanding 4) Spirit of counsel 5) Spirit of power 6) Spirit of knowledge 7) Spirit of the fear of the Lord. The 7 stars are the seven angels of the 7 churches. Each church, representing that church age, has an angel assigned to it. V. 1 I know the things you do, and that you have a reputation for being alive- but you are dead. Once again, we are reminded that Christ sees everything. The church was defiled, it was spiritually dead. He was saying, that on the surface, they had a name. But underneath, they were rotten and decayed. Whenever spiritual deadness is mentioned in the NT, it is always associated with sin. Ephesians 2:1 once you were dead in your trespasses and sins. Colossians 2:13 you were dead because of your sins... These were spiritually dead sinners playing church. When a church is more concerned with its social status, its own traditions, material things, its own theology- rather than salvation through Jesus Christ and Christ alone- it is spiritually dead. V. 2 I find that your actions do not meet the requirements of My God. They were going through the motions. But their deeds were unacceptable to Christ. James 2:20 How foolish ! Cant you see that faith without good deeds is useless ? Apparentley they had been doing good deeds in the past, because just before this verse, Christ says, Wake up ! Strengthen what remains, for even what is left is almost dead. But even in this dead church, there is a commendation here. In v. 4 & 5 yet there are some in the church in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes with evil. They will walk with me in white, for they are worthy. All who are victorious will be clothed in white. I will never erase their names from the Book of Life, but I will announce before My Father and His angels that they are mine. This was a dead church full of unregenerate people, but there were a few Christians among them. The last part of this verse causes anxiety for some Christians. It sounds as if God places names in the Book of Life and erases them at random. Thats not what it means. He just made you a promise...not a threat. He just promised to NEVER erase your name ! Read Romans 8: 26-39. God placed your name in the Book of Life BEFORE the foundation of the world. Your salvation was sealed before the world began. He knew ahead of time that you would be saved by His grace. This can get into the doctrine of predestination- which is another subject for another day. But once you are saved, you are always saved. Once again, in the book of Romans, it says we STAND in Gods grace, once we are saved. We dont step in and out of it- we STAND in it ! The same grace that saved you, is the same grace that keeps you. How can you alone maintain your salvation, if you couldnt obtain it on your own in the first place ? You cant ! Christs death would be in vain for us all if it was left up to us to maintain it. Our debt was paid in FULL on the cross. Sins of past, present, and future were wiped away. There is a passage in Exodus 32:33 where God says to Moses whoever has sinned against Me, Ill blot him out of my book. This is not the Book of Life. That verse refers to an untimely death. God is saying, Ill take them out of the book of those who are alive. Its not the book of the redeemed. God might take someones life, but not their redemption. He will remove their life, but not remove their salvation. If that were so, the Bible would be contradicting itself all over the place. Look who He was speaking to- Moses. Was Moses not a sinner ? Absolutely ! Do you think Moses name was blotted out of the Book of Life ? Absolutely not. In Johns day, the king always kept a register. If someone committed a crime against the state or died, his name was erased. So the register of the city was always accurate of the living. Its the Book of the Living, not the Book of Life. Later on in Revelation, we will see other books being opened along with the Book of Life. And now the exhortation- v. 6 anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what He is saying to the churches. The ones who are dead in their trespasses and sins will be judged. There is no hiding in the church. Christ knows your condition. He knows your dead. As for the sleepy saints...wake up ! Strengthen what remains. Repent and recommit to your first love- Christ !
Posted on: Sat, 24 Jan 2015 07:00:43 +0000
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