Revelation - The Message To The Church

Subject: The Church at Sardis

by Rick Welborne

Revelation 3:1-6 (NKJV)

1 "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.

2 Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die, for I have not found your works perfect before God.
3 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.
4 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.
5 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.
6 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches." '
–In 550 BC Sardis was the capital city of a great kingdom called Lydia. King Cyrus, king of the Medes and the Persians wanted to conquer Sardis because of all its wealth.
–Sardis was the first city to make gold and silver coins. Sardis looked impossible to conquer because it was built on the side of a mountain. Very steep cliffs. 1500 ft. walls.
–At the top of cliffs was a fort which served as a gate to the city. King Cyrus offered a great reward to anyone who could conquer this city.
–History tells us that one of Cyrus’s soldiers saw a helmet fall from the fort down the mountain. He saw the guard take a secret path to go get the helmet.
–This soldier led Cyrus’s army to the secret path, over the wall into the city while everyone was sleeping and opened the gate.
–The Persians conquered Sardis that night. Cyrus took $600 million dollars worth of treasure from the city in 548 BC.
–When Jesus told the church at Sardis to be watchful they would have understood what He was saying because of their history and their city being taken.
Review of the Previous Churches
Ephesus: The church that left its first love (Rev. 2:1-7)
Smyrna: The church that was persecuted (Rev. 2:8-11)
Pergamom: The church that lived where Satan lived (Rev.2:12-17)
Thyatira: The church that tolerated Jezebel (Rev. 2:18-29)
–Today we will look at the church at Sardis which had dead people in its pews.
–Each message to the churches starts with a description of Jesus and in Sardis it says: 'These things says He who has the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars"
–I believe the NKJV has it right when it has Spirits in capitol letters because many scholars believe (and so do I) that this represents the seven different aspects of Holy Spirit.
–Notice again the capitol letters in the verse regarding the aspects of Holy Spirit.
Isaiah 11:2 (NKJV)
2 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.
–Count them...The Spirit of anointing resting upon Him, wisdom, understanding, counsel, might, knowledge, and fear. If you disagree you have the right to be wrong!
–Holy Spirit is closely linked to the seven churches and pastors...the number seven shows fullness, wholeness, and completeness...these seven churches represent the whole church.
–Likewise the seven Spirits represent the fullness and perfection of God...Holy Spirit. In Him we find everything that the church needs...why we always welcome Him here!
1. To the pastor and to the church at Sardis Jesus says that you have a major problem...you are dead!
Revelation 3:1 (NKJV)
1 "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. 
–The church at Sardis was spiritually dead. The church at Sardis was like the town...it was depending on its past reputation...churches remember way back when...
–Sardis was once a great and powerful city until Cyrus conquered it...the city lost its glory. Likewise the church at Sardis had once been strong but now most were dead.
–Here is the sad thing about those in the church...they did not even know that they were dead. Kind of reminds us of Samson in the Old Testament.
Judges 16:20 (NKJV)
20 And she said, "The Philistines are upon you, Samson!" So he awoke from his sleep, and said, "I will go out as before, at other times, and shake myself free!" But he did not know that the LORD had departed from him.
–You may still be singing, lifting your hands, maybe even praying in a tongue you have memorized, but not be aware that the Lord has departed from you because of sin.
　
2 Timothy 3:1-5 (NKJV)
1 But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come:
2 For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,
3 unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good,
4 traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,
5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!
–Another problem Jesus had with them was that their works (deeds) were not perfect or complete.
Revelation 3:2 (NKJV)
2 Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die, for I have not found your works perfect before God.
–Again like the city...started building a temple to the goddess Diana and never finished it. The church there would never follow thru with the things they started doing for the Lord.
–How about you...do you quit everything you start? Do you give up when it doesn’t go the way you expected? Do you blame God for continually changing your "ministry"?
–Another problem was that the church people were walking around with dirty clothes. A few had kept their clothes clean but most had not.
Revelation 3:4 (NKJV)
4 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.
–Whatever could this mean...it meant that most of the church members were living sinful lives...their clothes had been stained by the sins of the flesh and the world.
2. To the pastor and to the church at Sardis Jesus was saying I have a solution for you.
Revelation 3:2-3 (NIV)
2 Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your deeds complete in the sight of my God.
3 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.
–He tells them to wake up and to repent: Repentance is what it has always been...turning from your sin and turning to God. Some think it is just turning from sin. Wrong!
–Some think it is turning to God and still holding on to there sin. Wrong! They were compromising with the world. No persecution because there was no difference between them and the sinners around them.
　
　
Ephesians 5:14 (NKJV)
14 Therefore He says: "Awake, you who sleep, Arise from the dead, And Christ will give you light."
–Next they were to strengthen what remains...how do we do that? We return to God, return to His altar, and return to being filled with Holy Spirit power!
–They also needed to remember what they had heard and obey it...many want new revelation when they have never made a commitment to obey God’s original revelation...His Word.
–Pastor, I need a Word from the Lord...I need an encounter with Him...I need Him to show up...Can I tell you that your greatest possibility of finding Him is at His house.
3. To the pastor and to the church at Sardis Jesus says I have three promises for you.
Revelation 3:5 (NKJV)
5 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.
–Notice the qualifier and notice that the promises were not to every church member: The promises were only for the overcomers.
–I know not everyone loves basketball and some of you may not even know what March madness is but I love March because of the college basketball playoffs.
–Even though your team (or mine) makes it into the final four...it is still so exciting. Some made it into the NCAA, while others made it into the NIT...mine made into the NOT!
–The point here is that they had to qualify to get there and they qualified because they continued to play, to compete, to sacrifice, and ultimately to win.
–I believe Jesus is saying the same thing to us...to be a qualifier you must be willing to endure hardship, remain faithful, to give yourself as living sacrifices...
–This idea of Universalism is definitely not biblical...the truth is, not everyone gets in contrary to popular opinion...not every church member gets into heaven.
–God did not approve of Gideon’s army...out of 32,000 only 300 were chosen. Malachi thundered against the evils of his day. Did the people repent and obey God?
–Most of them did not repent. Instead they defended themselves. They said, "How have we sinned?" They denied that they had robbed God of tithes.
–But a few (God always has a remnant) listened to Malachi. Those who feared the Lord talked to one another and encouraged each other to do what was right:
Malachi 3:16-18 (NLT)
16 Then those who feared the LORD spoke with each other, and the LORD listened to what they said. In his presence, a scroll of remembrance was written to record the names of those who feared him and always thought about the honor of his name.
17 "They will be my people," says the LORD of Heaven’s Armies. "On the day when I act in judgment, they will be my own special treasure. I will spare them as a father spares an obedient child.
18 Then you will again see the difference between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not."
–We all need to walk worthy (though technically none of us are) of the One Who died for us. His blood is what makes us righteous and makes our garments white.
Colossians 1:10 (NKJV)
10 that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;
–Jesus’ second promise for the overcomer was that their names would not be blotted out of the Book of Life!
–Let me see if I get this: You overcome and your name will not be blotted (erased) from the Book of Life and if you do not overcome your name will be erased.
–I love when people tell me about this verse, "Well, that is what Jesus said but that is not what He meant. He was speaking hypothetically."
–Ok, let’s assume that is true...that here in Revelation Jesus didn’t mean what He said. Explain this for me...All thru the Word (the Words in red) how do we discern when Jesus was serious or just speaking hypothetically?
Caution: If we, because of our denomination or camp, have to change the interpretation of what Jesus said so clearly to fit our beliefs...we may want to rethink the doctrine we propagate.
Exodus 32:32-33 (NKJV)
32 Yet now, if You will forgive their sin--but if not, I pray, blot me out of Your book which You have written."
33 And the LORD said to Moses, "Whoever has sinned against Me, I will blot him out of My book.
Jude 1:5 (NKJV)
5 But I want to remind you, though you once knew this, that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe.
–I will confess the overcomer before My Father and His angels. I believe overcomers tell others about Jesus.
Matthew 10:32-33 (NKJV)
32 "Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven.

33 But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven.