SARDIUS (Dead Church) - Revelation 3:1-6

 

Sardis – The Dead Church

Revelation 3:1-6

 

SARDIS – A.D. 1520 – Tribulation

(Protestant Reformation).

THE SALUTATION

“And to the angel of the church in Sardis write,

‘These things says He who has the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars: “I know your works, that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead (3:1).

 

This was John’s seventh command to write.

7 Spirits of God – This refers to Isaiah 11:2 and Zechariah 4:1-10, where the reference is to the Spirit’s fullness. Jesus Christ is represented in His church through the Holy Spirit.

7 stars – The angels of the seven churches are identified as the elders or pastors of the seven churches; the delegates or messengers of the churches of God (Revelation 1:20; 2:1, 8, 12, 18; 3:1, 7, 14). Hebrews 13:2 may have reference to itinerate preachers rather than angels. Jesus Christ is the Sovereign Lord, mediating His rule through godly leaders (1 Timothy 3:1-7; Titus 1:5-9).

THE CONDEMNATION

Your works – The explanation of their deficiency appears to be that they preferred to trust the State in a time of economic need instead of God. If people leave a church with the mysterious feeling of “worship” but have not been brought face-to-face with Jesus Christ in a personal way, they have been worshiping in a dead church. Sardis could not fool the omniscient Lord Jesus who knew their deeds.

You have a name that you are alive – Sardis had the outward appearance of being alive, but its inward appearance was dead. Everything appears to be normal, but nothing is alive. Sin killed the Sardis church. Steadfast obedience is a result of a day-by-day submission to the will of God.

You are dead – Spiritual death in the New Testament is always connected with its cause, which is sin (Ephesians 2:1; Luke 9:60, 15:24, 32; Colossians 2:13; 1 Timothy 5:6; 1 John 3:14). There is nothing worse than a dead church!

THE COUNSEL

Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die, for I have not found your works perfect before God (3:2).

 

Be watchful – There was no time for indifference. They could not just go with the flow; they had to reverse it. The remedy for lethargy and routine religion is an awakening to the imminence of the return of Christ. (Matthew 24:42)

Strengthen the things which remain – Christ exhorted the true Christians at Sardis to fan into flame the dying embers of the remaining spiritual graces in the church.

I have not found your works perfect before God – Their deeds were insufficient and unacceptable in God’s sight. They were the pointless, lifeless motion of corpses, and their good works were merely grave clothes of the unregenerate. The Sardis church was living a lie (Daniel 5:27).

Remember therefore how you have received and heard; hold fast and repent. Therefore if you will not watch, I will come upon you as a thief, and you will not know what hour I will come upon you (3:3).

 

How you received and heard – They needed to go back to the truths of the Word of God, remembering the gospel and teachings of the apostles (2 Peter 3:15-16). They needed to reaffirm their belief in the truth about Christ (1 Timothy 6:20). They needed to establish a solid doctrinal foundation to serve as a base for renewal.

Hold fast and repent – They needed to keep the truths of Scripture, and with remorse and sorrow the believers at Sardis were to confess and turn away from their sins.

THE WARNING

As a thief – The picture of Jesus coming like a thief always carries the idea of imminent judgment (Matthew 24:43; Luke 12:39; 1 Thessalonians 5:2, 4; 2 Peter 3:10; Revelation 16:15). The Lord will come and destroy the Sardis church if there is no revival. This is the warning of judgment that faces all dead churches at Christ’s return. The second reference in the 7 epistles to the return of Christ means that there will be Sardis-like churches in the world when He does return.

THE PROMISE

You have a few names even in Sardis who have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with Me in white, for they are worthy (3:4).

 

A few names in Sardis – In the dead church at Sardis, a few true Christians were scattered like flowers in a desert (Malachi 3:16-17; Hebrews 6:10; Romans 11:1-5).

Not defiled their garments – Defiled, soiled (μολύνω molúnō, Gk.) means to “defile, besmear or soil as with mud or filth (1 Corinthians 8:7; Revelation14:4).” Garments symbolize character in scripture (Isaiah 64:6; Jude 23), and the faithful remnant could come into God’s presence because they had not defiled or polluted themselves, but they manifested their godly character.

Walk with me in white, for they are worthy – Because they refused to defile their garments, Christ would replace those humanly preserved clean garments with divinely pure ones (Revelation 7:14). The white robes of purity Christ promises here and in verse 5 are elsewhere worn by Christ Himself (Matthew 17;2; Mark 9:3) and the holy angels (Matthew 28:3; Mark 16:5; Acts 1:10). Those who have a measure of holiness and purity now will be given perfect holiness and purity in the future.

He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life; but I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels (3:5).

 

He who overcomes - We overcome by steadfastly maintaining the works of genuine Christianity.

Clothed in white garments – In the ancient world, white garments were worn for festive occasions such as weddings. True Christians will wear theirs at the marriage supper of the Lamb (Revelation 19:7-9). White robes were also worn by those celebrating victory in battle. All true Christians are victorious through Christ over sin, death, and Satan. Those who have a measure of holiness and purity now will be given perfect holiness and purity in the future.

I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life – The Book of Life refers to the book of the living, the record of those who are alive (Psalm 69:28, Philippians 4:3). The threat is not eternal damnation, but physical death. Christ, the King of Heaven, promises never to erase a true Christian’s name from the roll of those whose names were “written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.” (Revelation 13:8).

Before my Father and before the angels – Christ will affirm that they belong to Him (Matthew 10:32; Romans 8:28-29). We are eternally secure in Christ.

“He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says the churches” ’ (3:6).

 

What the Sprit says to the churches:

1. The spiritually dead Christians playing church needed to heed Christ’s warning of impending judgment.

2. The indifferent believers needed to wake up before it was too late to save their church.

3. The faithful few could take comfort in the knowledge that their salvation was eternally secure.

Until Christ returns, it is not too late for other dead churches to find the path to spiritual renewal.

The character of the church at Sardis is a fair outline of the church period from A.D. 1520 – Tribulation (Protestant Reformation). This is the period when Martin Luther, John Calvin, and a number of other reformers protested against the false teaching, tyranny, and claims of the Papal (Roman Catholic) Church. This came to a crisis when Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses on the church door at Wittenberg, Germany on October 31^st, 1517 A.D. These Theses were directed against baptism, absolution, indulgences, and penance.

The tragedy of the Reformation churches that earned for them the condemnation by the Lord of being “dead” was twofold:

1. They became state churches. Martin Luther, for example, sought the approval of the political leaders, and eventually the Lutheran Church became the state church of Germany, as did others throughout Europe. The danger of this is that the church then includes the entire population, thus eliminating the need for personal acceptance of Jesus Christ and an emphasis on the individual’s relationship to God. Another danger is the tendency to please the government rather than God.

2. The Reformation churches did not sufficiently change many customs and teachings of the Church of Rome. Infant baptism was continued, although there is no scriptural verification for it. Sprinkling was also continued, and ritualism, including some elements of the sacraments, was perpetuated

The reformers swept away a lot of ritualistic and doctrinal rubbish, but fell into lifeless formalism. The churches were full of activity, but they had little that spoke of spiritual life and power. Protestantism with its divisions and deadness shows clearly how far short it comes of God’s ideal of the Church and Christianity.

PARABLE OF THE HIDDEN TREASURE (Matthew 13:44)

The man is the Lord Jesus Himself, and the treasure represents a godly remnant of believing Jews, which will exist again after the church is raptured (Psalm 135:4). They are hidden in the field, or dispersed throughout the world, and in a real sense unknown to any but God. Jesus is pictured as discovering this treasure, then going to the cross and giving all that He had to buy the world (2 Corinthians 5:19; 1 John 2:2). Redeemed Israel will be brought out of hiding when her Deliverer comes out of Zion and sets up the long-awaited Messianic Kingdom.

 

 

MYSTERY OF ISRAEL’S BLINDNESS (Romans 11:25)

The blindness is temporary, and will continue only until the fullness of the Gentiles arrives. The fullness of the Gentiles refers to the time when the last member will be added to the church, and when the completed body of Christ will be raptured home to heaven (Romans 11:16-18). Jews will be converted throughout the Tribulation Period, but the entire elect remnant will not be saved until Christ returns to earth as King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

 

 

 

©2012 Kenute P. Curry. All rights reserved.