THE CHURCH AT SARDIS "WAKE UP, O SLEEPER, RISE FROM THE DEAD." REVELATION 3:16
June 2010
Dear Friends,
"To the angel o f 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. Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your deeds complete in the sight of my God. 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. 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. He 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.” (See Revelation 3:1-6)
Sardis was a wealthy city atop a very steep (1500 feet) mountain and almost impenetrable by invading armies. But both in 549 B.C. and later in 214 B.C. it was overthrown because the guards fell asleep (a failure to watch) as the enemy scaled the cliffs under the cover of darkness. "Wake up, O sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you. Be very careful, then, how you live-not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil..." (Eph. 5:14-16) It was also a very pagan city with temple prostitutes and idolatry. It would be like trying to have church in the middle of a casino in Las Vegas.
"You have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead. Wake up (be watchful)!" Some commentators say that these seven different churches represent seven periods of church history as well as the actual churches there in Asia Minor at that time (A.D. 95-96). Some say Sardis represents the Protestant Reformation when the church was dead and brought to life again. But over the years the Protestant church has died in many ways as man-made traditions and ecclesiology has been substituted for the power of the Holy Spirit; "having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them." (2 Tim. 3:5) "They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men. You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to the traditions of men." (Mark 7:7-8) Church-going, nice, moral people may be spiritually dead. True Christianity is Jesus Christ living His life through us by the power of the Holy Spirit (John 15:5). It is supernatural power. Just as physical life is evident by signs such as breath, growth, appetite, new growth, passion, etc., true spiritual life has similar signs of the breath of God (the Holy Spirit), growth in Christ-like character, hunger for His Word, passion for Him and compassion for His people. "These are the words of him (Jesus) who holds the seven spirits of God (the Holy Spirit) and the seven stars." When Jesus left, He sent the Holy Spirit to indwell all born-again believers and the Holy Spirit always leads us into the Presence of Jesus so He can live His life through us.
“Strengthen what remains and is about to die..." This exhortation may be addressed to the spiritual leaders who do have "life" and a call to strengthen other true believers there in Sardis. Also the Protestant Reformation recovered much that had been lost from the early apostolic church and spiritual leaders were to strengthen others in these truths: Justification by faith alone (versus faith and works), the doctrine of the depravity of man (Rom. 3:10-17), the infallibility and authority of God& 39;s Word (versus church traditions and papal authority), the priesthood of all believers, that all people are individually responsible for their status before God so that mediation through any but Christ alone is unbiblical. Because they saw these teachings as stemming from the Bible, they encouraged publication of the Bible in the common language and universal education.
"For I have not found your deeds complete in the sight of my God." The Protestant Reformation recovered much but certainly not all that had been lost from the apostolic church, especially eschatology (the study of religious beliefs concerning all future and final events) and prophecy and all the gifts of the Spirit. Through the Pentecostal and Charismatic expressions of faith and the Third Wave of the Holy Spirit a revival of eschatology, prophecy and all the gifts of the Spirit are being restored to the church. Peter Wagner defines the three waves as follows: The first wave was at the beginning of the twentieth century with the rise of the Pentecostal movement beginning with the Azusa Street Revival. A second wave during the 1960s as the Charismatic movement spread throughout some Protestant denominations, as well as the Roman Catholic Church; and a third wave during the mid 1980s. (See 1 Cor. Chapters 12-14)
"Remember, 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." “The Lord warns them that one day He will return as unannounced as a thief in the night (a picture of the rapture) and that they, being unprepared (i.e., spiritually dead) will suffer the consequences: if the Lord Raptures born-again believers at the time when professing “Christians” have not received Christ as their Savior then these professing “Christians” will be subject to the Tribulation judgment and worse; if they do not finally turn to Christ for salvation in the Tribulation, these “tares” will be excluded from the Lord’s eternal kingdom.” Steve Griffith –Revelation Alive http://revelationalive.net/revalive.html Sardis is said to have been the first city in that part of the world that was converted by the preaching of the apostle John. It also may have been the first city that revolted from Christianity, and one of the first that was laid in ruins, in which it still lies, without any church or ministry.
"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. He who overcomes will, like them, be dressed in white." The clothes (or garments) here speak of both Christ& 39;s imputed righteousness and acts of righteousness of these true believers as seen in Rev. 19:8: "She was allowed to wear a bright, clean linen garment. (The linen represents the righteous deeds of the holy ones.)" There has always been a remnant of true believers throughout God& 39;s redemptive history as there was at this corrupt church at Sardis and as there is in God& 39;s church today.
"I will never blot out his name from the book of life, but will acknowledge his name before my Father and his angels. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches." The "Book of Life" contains the names of all living persons; and when a person dies without Christ, the name is blotted out. Believers have their names in the Lamb& 39;s Book of Life and can never be blotted out. Warren Wiersbe - With the Word "Nothing impure will ever enter it (heaven), nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb& 39;s book of life." (Rev. 21:27)
Questions for reflection and application:Be ready: On a scale of 1-5 are you and your church just going through "the traditions of men" (1) or do you feel you and your church are alive in the Spirit (5)? If you need to wake up, what will you do and when will you do it?
"Strengthen what remains and is about to die.” How can we help strengthen these truths that are dying out in many churches today? (See fourth paragraph above.)
Until He Comes,
Len and Kristen