Revelation 3:1-6 – “To the angel of 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. 2 Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have found your deeds unfinished in the sight of my God.3 Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; hold it fast, 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. 4 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. 5 The one who is victorious will, like them, be dressed in white. I will never blot out the name of that person from the book of life, but will acknowledge that name before my Father and his angels. 6 Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
“To the angel of the church in Sardis…” Sardis was a city placed where five roads met. It was a natural place for business and Sardis was very wealthy. It was located at the top of steep hill which served as a natural defense. So much so that the people of Sardis became complacent in their defense. They let down their guard and so were defeated as Cyrus the Persian defeated them in 549 BC by coming through what they did not think needed to be defended. It is bad that they allowed themselves to be defeated while they slept, but they allowed it again when Antiochus did it again in 218 BC. This steep precipice that the people of Sardis thought would keep them safe, so they did not defend, was the exact thing that was exploited to bring their defeat…twice. The people of Sardis were wealthy, lived a good life, and seemed to depend on the sharp cliff for their defense. So they were soft. They were not diligent to protect themselves. And so evil attacked and overcame them as they slept. It was when things were good that they became soft. Some troubles and tribulation would have benefited them.
“These are the words of him who holds the seven spirits of God and the seven stars.” The seven spirits of God is referring to the Holy Spirit. Isaiah 11:2 “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 the fear of the Lord.” In Revelation 1:20 it is revealed that the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches.
“I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead.” As previously said to the churches of Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum and Thyatira He now says to the church at Sardis “I know your…” Jesus, at all times, is living with His church. He said that He would always, no matter where we are or what we are going through, always be with us (Hebrews 13:5). Him being with us, even living within us, He knows us better than we know ourselves. He sees the good works we do and He sees the bad things we do. And He sees, He knows, when we have stopped loving, and stopped doing, the works He has given us to do. He tells the people of the church of Sardis that they have been able to fool people so that people think they are spiritually alive and doing well, but He knows their true spiritual condition and that they are dead. Wow!
“Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have found your deeds unfinished in the sight of my God.” Jesus told them to wake up, to be watchful. That must have struck a raw nerve in them. Their city had twice fallen to an enemy army because they were not watchful and now He is telling them that the reason they are in the spiritual state they are in is because they have not been watchful. Once again, this time with more dire consequences, they have fallen asleep. That is a tear your clothes, throw ashes in the air and smear your face with ashes moment. It is an “Oh God how did this happen again? I know better!” moment. It is a horrible thing when the right path is known but not travelled and then trouble befalls one on the wrong path. The cold horror of their condition and the reason for it must have been a cold hard blow.
Praise the Lord! Jesus come with truth and love. He has told them a truth, now He lovingly tells them “but wait, all is not lost!” They do have embers that have a little glow to them. If one stirs the final embers to bring back what was once a fire, the life of the fire can be restored. If left unattended, the fire will die and the ashes, and now dull and cold embers, will be thrown away. Jesus says to stir the embers. What do they need to do? They need to consider what they once did in the service of the Lord and what their hearts felt as they were living out love for their Savior. Jesus is telling them to wake up, to be careful and attentive to their walk, that their fire will burn brightly again. He is telling them to get back to work and finish the walk that He has called them to. Yes, He has warned them of something that could most assuredly happen, but like He did with Peter, John, and James, He called them to wake up. Jesus is faithful, we may inexplicably stop walking the walk that He has called us to, but He will always wake us to call us to start walking again. At least He will warn us and lead us. It is up to us to follow. We are not sleeping behind the wheel of a car being steered by the Lord. He gave us the ability to drive the car, He gave us the car, He gave us the fuel, He gave us the step by step directions, He gave us food for the journey, but Family, He does expect us to steer the car. He does expect us to follow His directions. This is clear if we are reading the Word.
“Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; hold it fast, 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 believers at Sardis are called to begin anew what they formerly were doing. They know what to do, just do it. Family, it’s not rocket science, do what we clearly know God has told us to do in His Word. That’s it. God has made it simple for us in Micah 6:8 “He has shown You, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of You but to do justly, to love mercy, And to walk humbly with Your God.” We are called to have faith in Jesus and to live in love (Mark 12:29-31). Jesus spoke a mystery of an unfathomable depth when He said that the all the Word of God hangs on these two commandments of love. For those who have strayed, who are struggling, your return to being a roaring fire is not complicated. Begin, and keep doing, the things you formerly did.
Again, God will not force the people of Sardis to love and follow Him. He is the one who gave mankind a free will. He says that if they do not heed His warning, then He will come like a thief in the night. People who are expecting, waiting and yearning for His return are not surprised, and not caught unprepared. They are ready and joyous. Those who are caught like a thief in the night are those who have never yearned for the appearance of the Lord, or who once looked and then stopped. That stopping is not abrupt, rather it is a slow poisoning, a gradual pulling away, a slowing down to a stop. The people of Sardis are encouraged to just start doing what they know to do and they will not be caught by surprise. The Lord would say the same thing to the church today. In God, who loves us so dearly, there is always hope! Praise the Lord!
Psalm 150:6 – Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord!
Micah 7:7 – But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me.
Micah 6:8 – He has shown You, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of You but to do justly, to love mercy, And to walk humbly with Your God.