SEVEN ‘FROM The HEART of JESUS’ LOVE-LETTERS to the SEVEN CHURCHES of REVELATION - To The Church of Sardis

Church #5 SARDIS:

REV 3:1-6
And unto the angel of the church in Sardis write; These things saith he that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars; I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead. ² Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die: for I have not found thy works perfect before God. ³ Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee. ⁴ Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with me in white: for they are worthy. ⁵ He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels. ⁶ He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.

“Sardis was situated almost directly south of Thyatira, in the direction of Smyrna and the sea. Its greatest days were behind it, but this once proud capital of the ancient kingdom of Lydia (later the western capital of the Persian Empire) was still, under Roman rule, an important center of the woolen industry.

“Abundant archaeological remains include a temple to Artemis, a huge gymnasium and the largest synagogue yet found in the ancient world, suggesting a Jewish community numbering in the thousands (Finegan 1981:177-78) . . . The problem of the congregation in John's time was not with the Jews, nor with the Roman Empire, nor with false prophecy, but solely with itself.”

The LORD tells the congregation at the church of Sardis that He holds the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars. We know what the stars are because they’ve already been identified: they are the leaders, or the pastors (“angels”) of these churches – and the LORD holds them in His hand. Then what is this, about “the seven Spirits of God”?? This is also mentioned in REV 4:5 and 5:6. There is just One Spirit of God, right? The Third Person of the Trinity – the Father, Son and Holy Spirit – so what is this about “the seven Spirits of God”?

In JOHN 14:16, the LORD Jesus speaks of the Holy Spirit:
And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever;

The word for Comforter in the Greek is: parakletos – or “comforter, advocate, counselor, helper, assistant, granter of strength. The Holy Spirit brings comforts (com – with; fortis – strength: “[bring] strength”) to the saints as “another Comforter” One Who is just like Jesus Who is our Comforter (JOHN 14:18), just as God the Father of all comfort (2 COR 1:3).

In ISAIAH 61:1-2a
The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; ² To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord . . .

Also consider ISAIAH 11:1-3a
And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots: ² And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord; ³ And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord . . .

And finally – JOHN 3:34-35
³⁴ For he whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God: for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him. ³⁵ The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into his hand.

We know that the number “seven” biblically speaking, means “completeness” and so, we understand that the Father has granted the complete power of the Spirit of God to the Son, and the Spirit of God is of course complete in Himself. And all the virtues, powers, unction, vitality, gifts and fruit of the Spirit are granted to us through Christ!

In every church we have seen so far, the LORD introduces Himself to the saints there with a title., a characteristic or an attribute that the church needs. Here He speaks of the very Spirit of God, He who holds the pastors in His hand.

How can a church ever be in need of the Spirit of God?? Let’s look at the second half of verse 1:

“. . . I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead.” The Greek word for “name” is onoma, from which we get the term nomenclature – it may refer to classification, or denomination interestingly enough. The LORD tells them that they have a name – or an “identity” or “reputation” that they live but are dead.

REV 3:2-3
² Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die: for I have not found thy works perfect [complete] before God. ³ Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent.

All is not hopeless however – the LORD tells them to be watchful and strengthen the things “which remain, that are ready to die . . .” Which means there are things yet remaining that aren’t dead, yet! There are times in our lives as Christians when our appetite for the Word of God seems to die off, when we no longer have a passion for prayer, no conviction of sin, nor care for the spiritually lost. The fire of the Holy Spirit seems only to smolder in our hearts – and yet there is still hope!

ISAIAH 42:3
A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench: he shall bring forth judgment unto truth.

Reeds grow along the edge of ponds and lakes; shepherds in biblical days would carve them into flutes and play music while watching over their sheep. Over time, they would become brittle and break – but no problem! They would just throw the useless flute away because reeds were plentiful! They would just grab another and carve themselves another flute!

But the LORD is gentle, loving, caring and is not willing to toss us aside if we become broken. He doesn’t throw us away as a worthless thing: we are bought with His precious blood, and we are made worthy and of worth, because of the price paid for us! He mends us, and continues to blow His Holy Spirit through us, and creates in us such spiritual music that the world could never make.

Flax is something used for wicks in lamps; they are tightly twined thin strips of cloth soaked in olive oil, and there would be times when the cloth used was soiled enough that it would sputter and smoke. Most would just throw that flax away and get a new one. Yet if you subject it to enough heat and keep the oil flowing, the dirt or grime would burn away, while the cloth, soaked in oil would be preserved.

If the fire of God’s Spirit doesn’t seem as hot as it once was, if the Light shining from the life of a Christian appears to dim, the LORD is well able to take the “smoking flax” that is us, and with a fresh flow of the Spirit and fiery but faithful trials, He is well able to fan the floundering flame into an inspiring inferno!

As in verse 3 of our text: all we need to do is be attentive – “watch”! and by the grace of God, “strengthen” those things that remain, but are not died off yet in us. We must “remember” just as Sardis is here commanded, as was Ephesus commanded to “remember from where [they] have fallen”. 

Only Sardis is to remember what they “had received and heard – to hold fast and repeat and repent”. Of the seven churches listed in these two chapters, Ephesus, Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis and Laodicea are all called to repent of something; only Smyrna and Philadelphia are exempt.

In our chronology of church history that we have been comparing these seven churches with, we last looked at Thyatira, which represented that time in which the Roman Catholic church dominated the world. Then early in the 16^th century – 1517 AD to be exact, all the way to the middle of the 17^th century (up to 1648 AD) the Protestant Reformation was born, lived and thrived. Tracing the historical view of this movement over the course of its more than 500 year lifespan, we find a remarkable parallel to Sardis.

The Protestant Reformation started off very, very well: godly men like Theodore Beza, Martin Bucer, Heinrich Bullinger, Thomas Cranmer, William Farel, John Calvin, John Knox, Martin Luther, William Tyndale, Huldrych Zwingli and countless others, hazarded their very lives in order to get the Word of God published in the native languages of their countries and preached the Gospel fearlessly.

Revival swept over Europe as people, for the first time in over 1000 years were able to read the Bible in their own languages! They were being liberated from the tyranny and oppression of the Roman Catholic church. This is not to say that there weren't Bibles available, but these were few in number, and in the hands of smaller church fellowships.

What may be under appreciated however, was that there were many people who migrated to the Protestant churches, not out of conviction or conversion but merely to escape the clutches of the Roman Catholic church. Within three generations the church became distinct in ten primary denominations: Anabaptists, Baptists, Reformed Churches, Calvinists, Arminianists, Presbyterians, Congregationalists, Anglicans, Lutherans and Puritans. Today there are literally hundreds of denominations, some comprising of millions of members, others only several hundred.

If one examines the spiritual condition of the major Protestant denominations today and their view of Scripture as a whole and specific doctrines of the Bible, many, if not most are in wretched condition. The Deity of Christ, the virgin birth; the inspiration, inerrancy and infallibility of the Scriptures, the necessity of being born again, the literal Second Coming as well as the exclusive claims of Christ are all questioned at best or outright rejected at worst.

Protestant ministers now include women or even lesbians; homosexuality is becoming more and more acceptable; abortion is seen by some as a sacrament; New Age beliefs and practices began to invade the denominations back in the mid 70’s. Today, many denominational churches are overrun by New Age, New Thought and Emergent philosophies. Universalist and Unitarian churches are experiencing a steady growth as Bible based denominational churches are declining.

REV 3:3b
If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee.

The LORD comes to those as a thief in the night to those who are not watching, to the spiritually deadened, to the sleeping and unprepared; we see in 1 THESSALONIANS a contrast between those who are watching, waiting and praying for the LORD’s Return, and those who are not:

1 THESS 5:1-9
But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. ² For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. ³ For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. ⁴ But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. ⁵ Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. ⁶ Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober. ⁷ For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night. ⁸ But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation. ⁹ For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,

Today the Protestant Churches in the majority say, “My LORD delays His coming.” – what does the LORD call such a servant as that? “. . . that evil servant . . .” (MATT 24:48). Many of the Protestant denominations, like certain Baptists and Presbyterians are amillennial – that is, they teach that Christ will not reign physically on the Earth in a kingdom established in the nation of Israel! Of these, many are Preterists – which state that prophecy is completely fulfilled already, and we are not living in the Last Days.

REV 3:4
⁴ Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with me in white: for they are worthy.

The Greek word used here for “few” is oligos, and it means “small, brief, few, of short duration in time, of slight degree, of little amount”. That is the percentage of the true believers in Sardis. So what of all the others, the majority there? What was their spiritual condition like?

Here is where the condition of Formalism comes in:

The outward form of Christianity is retained with all of its doctrines and beliefs intact, but with no inner effectiveness on the heart or in one’s life. The Word of God does not work effectively in them, not being “mixed with faith” (1 THESS 2:13; HEB 4:1-3) This is vain religion (JAMES 1:26), a form of godliness but without the power of the Holy Spirit governing the life (2 TIM 3:5). It's outward show without inward sanctification (ISAIAH 1:13; 29:13; MATT 15:8; 23:23)

And while this seems to be the majority of people’s condition there in Sardis, there are a few that have not defiled their garments – but on the contrary, these will walk in white with the LORD, not as those who have defiled their garments. Garments in Scripture have to do with one’s life, one’s witness, one’s spiritual condition:

In ZECHARIAH the high priest Joshua was dressed in filthy garments – but the LORD “caused [his] iniquity to pass away” and was given a change of raiment (ZECH 3:1-7). ISAIAH speaks of the garments of salvation which are owned by the LORD (ISAIAH 59:17) but are granted by grace to His own (ISAIAH 61:10).

Certainly, among the few, the minority of those within the Reformation, which among its millions of adherents over the last 500 years, still accounts for a great multitude of true believers, we have the likes of Martin Luther, William Tyndale and others previously mentioned, and later, John and Charles Wesley, George Whitfield, Jonathan Edwards, and later still Charles Spurgeon, Dwight L. Moody, Lewis S. Chafer, etc.

However, just as there are those who trust their salvation to their adherence to a particular denomination, rather than an allegiance of faith to the LORD Jesus Christ, that touches and transforms the life as well as the heart – we must also be careful of the same thing. No one is saved because they are a member of ELWC, nor as a member of Calvary Chapel or John MacArthur’s Grace Community Church.

We are only worthy – just as those few in Sardis were worthy, because of faith in Christ and Christ alone, which was the herald of the Protestant Reformation by the way: sola fide, sola gratia, sola Christos – or “By faith alone, through grace alone in Christ alone”.

REV 3:5-6
⁵ He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels. ⁶ He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.

Those who belong to Christ, they have the promise from the LORD Himself, that He will not blot their name out of the book of Life – which apparently is a roster of citizens that belong to the Kingdom of God; only those genuinely saved in Christ, who are born again will see and enter into the Kingdom of God (JOHN 3:3,5); those who are not born again, are not members of the Kingdom of God, do not have their names written in the book of Life and will, instead of being granted admittance to that Kingdom, they will be dispatched to damnation in the lake of fire (REV 20:15).