RevelationStudy 7: Chapter 3, Verses 1-6
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness.”
Matthew 23:27
Sardis (about 30 miles south of Thyatira)
- Capital of the ancient kingdom of Lydia
- It was said to be impregnable
- However was conquered
- Located at the end of the Great Western Road that led to Susa
- City of great wealth and fame
- Wool industry was centered in Sardis
- It was full of sophisticated paganism
- In 17 A.D., it was destroyed by an earthquake and later rebuilt under Tiberius
- No persecution mentioned
- Reflects the secure position of the Jewish community
- Christians coexisted peacefully with the Jewish and Pagan communities, and their relationship with the world was comfortable
Concerning the Church at Sardis
“The enormous distance to even the nearest stars present an interesting possibility. If a star thirty light-years away from the earth exploded and died five years ago, we would not be able to tell by looking at it for another twenty-five years. Though no longer in existence, the light from that star would go on shining as if nothing had changed.
That illustration perfectly sums up the situation in many churches. They still shine with the reflected light of a brilliant past. Looking at them from a distance, one might think nothing had changed. Yet the spiritual darkness of false teaching and sinful living has extinguished the light on the inside, though some of their reputation may still remain.
Such a church was the church at Sardis. It was reputed to be alive, but the Lord Jesus Christ pronounced it to be dead.”
John MacArthur, Revelation, 108.
1) "To the angel of the church in Sardis write: He who has the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars, says this: 'I know your deeds, that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead.
“To the angel of the church in Sardis”
“He who has the seven Sprits of God and the seven stars” – Jesus Christ
- “the seven Spirits of God” – Reference back to the vision in Revelation 1:12-17
- Seven stars – the seven messengers
“I know your deeds, that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead.”
- Jesus knows us completely – what is in our heart.
- The deeds of the church at Sardis was enough to give them a reputation before men, but not before God.
Notice the break from the pattern that was seen in the first four churches.
2) Wake up, and strengthen the things that remain, which were about to die; for I have not found your deeds completed in the sight of My God.
Jesus told them to
1. “Wake up”
- γρηγορέω (grégoreó)
- I am awake (in the night), watch, (b) I am watchful, on the alert, vigilant
“There was no time for indifference; they could not just go with the flow, they had to reverse it. The believing remnant needed to look at what was happening in their church, evaluate the situation, get involved in changing things, confront sin and error, and make a difference.”
John MacArthur, Revelation, 114.
2. “strengthen the things that remain”
This is a reference to spiritual realities rather than people.
“Christ exhorted the true Christians at Sardis to fan into flame the dying embers of the remaining spiritual graces in their church.”
John MacArthur, Revelation, 114.
These things that remain “were about to die”
“for I have not found your deeds completed in the sight of My God”
- God is the one who should matter to us
- Sadly, we often care more about what other people think of us than what God thinks of us
3) 'So remember what you have received and heard; and keep it, and repent Therefore if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come to you.
3. “remember what you have received and heard”
Acts 13:48-49
When the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord; and as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed. And the word of the Lord was being spread through the whole region.
4. “keep it”
John 14:21
He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him.”
5. “repent”
Luke 13:1-5
Now on the same occasion there were some present who reported to Him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. And Jesus said to them, “Do you suppose that these Galileans were greater sinners than all other Galileans because they suffered this fate? I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. Or do you suppose that those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them were worse culprits than all the men who live in Jerusalem? I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”
Matthew 3:8
Therefore bear fruit in keeping with repentance.
“Therefore if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come to you.”
A Christ gives a pronouncement of judgment if they do not obey His exhortation.
“With His infallible knowledge, [Christ] pronounced the Sardis church to be dead. Like so many churches today it was defiled by the world, characterized by inward decay, and populated by unredeemed people playing church.
Spiritual death in the New Testament is always connected with its cause – sin.” “The church as Sardis was like a museum in which stuffed animals are exhibited in their natural habitats. Everything appears to be normal, but nothing is alive. Sin killed the Sardis church.”
John MacArthur, Revelation, 111.
4) 'But you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their garments; and they will walk with Me in white, for they are worthy.
There were some in the church who had given their life to Christ, and abstained from “soiling their garments” with sin.
“soil”
- μολύνω (molunó)
- I soil, stain, pollute, defile, lit. and met
- is used of sin smearing a person with its spiritual filth
“garment”
- ἱμάτιον (himation)
- a long flowing outer garment, tunic
- Used in the Scriptures to refer to character
White garments
Matthew 17:2
And He was transfigured before them; and His face shone like the sun, and His garments became as white as light.
And because of this, “they will walk with [Christ], for they are worthy.”
There were a few people in this church that were truly renewed; but it was not enough to keep Christ from declaring the church to be dead.
5) 'He who overcomes will thus be clothed in white garments; and I will not erase his name from the book of life, and I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels.
There are three truths here that apply to all Christians living everywhere through any time.
1. We will “be clothed in white garments.”
Revelation 19:7-8
Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready.” It was given to her to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.
Revelation 19:11-14
And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who sat on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and wages war. His eyes are a flame of fire, and on His head are many diadems; and He has a name written on Him which no one knows except Himself. He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, were following Him on white horses.
2. “I will not erase his name from the book of life”
Once your name is written in the book of life (you are saved), your name cannot be erased (lose your salvation)
Romans 8:38-39
For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
John 6:38-40
For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. This is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day.”
3. “I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels”
Matthew 10:30-33
But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So do not fear; you are more valuable than many sparrows. Therefore everyone who confesses Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father who is in heaven. But whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven.
Luke 12:8-9
“And I say to you, everyone who confesses Me before men, the Son of Man will confess him also before the angels of God; but he who denies Me before men will be denied before the angels of God.
6) 'He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.'
Charge to listen and obey.