The church at Sardis is an interesting church to look at. The letter to them did not describe any particular mistake that they were making. No imorallity mentioned. No idolitry mentioned. No tolerating of deception was mentioned either. So why did Jesus accuse them of being dead, when they were viewed as being alive.
Jesus is:
He who has the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars(the seven angels to the churches).
In the 1st Chapter of Revelation, verse 4, these seven Spirits are before Jesus' throne. In Chapter 4, verse 5, they are seven lamps of fire burning before the throne. In Chapter 5, verse 6, they are seven Spirits that are sent out into all the earth. If they are sent out into all the earth, it has to be for the purpose of making sure that the churches fullfill their mission, which is to proclaim the Truth of the Gospel to all the nations. Jesus said in Matthew Chapter 24, verse 14, " And the gospel of the kingdom shall be preached into the whole world for a witness to all the nations, and then the end shall come." So Jesus will not return until the whole world has a chance to hear the Truth that leads to eternal life. The only people who will not recieve eternal life, are those who refuse the Truth to be saved.
Warning:
1) Jesus knows their deeds, that they have a name that they are alive, but they are dead. Jesus tells them to wake up, and stenghthen the things that remain, which were about to die. He has found their deeds to be incomplete in the sight of His God.
The thing that has made them dead can very well be that they have become complacent. This is very common in many churches today. They have become comfortable within their own walls. They participate in weekly services of good verbal worship of God, but not using what should be preparation to take what they have learned to those who have not heard. Scripture has stated that their are those who worship God with their words, but by their actions they deny Him. The church of God should be a moving train, but in many cases, it is stuck in the station.
2) Jesus procedes to tell them that they must remember what they have recieved and heard and keep it and repent (turn) from what the are currently doing.
Sometimes what you are doing, is what you are not doing. I think what the believers in Sardis were doing, was having great collective worship, but in their lives outside the church were not reflecting to those around them, the love and character of God.
3) Jesus tells them that if they do not wake up, that He will come like a thief, and that they would not know at what hour He would come upon them.
Praise:
Jesus said that there were a few in Sardis who had not soiled their garments and they will walk with Him in white, for they are worthy.
The only thing that makes a person worthy, is if Jesus becomes their righteousness, and that is by choosing to make Him your Savior. I wrote about this in earlier bloggs. So, I wonder if there were many in the church in Sardis, who were Christians in name only and had not actually been born of above. Paul wrote in his 2nd letter to the Corinthians, Chapter 13, verse 5, " Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you - unless indeed you fail the test?" There are many people, even in the world today, who belong to many different factions of Christianity, who being born into a family that attends that church, may just go through certain religeous motions, but never really surrendering their lives into Jesus' hands. Now 2000 years later, has it become for many, just religious practices and not an actual tranformation. Do we even hear anymore, as Jesus taught, that we must be born of above.
Overcomers reward:
They will be clothed in white garments and Jesus will not erase their names from the book of life. He will confess their name before His father and His angels.
The part of this statement that always intrigued me, was that Jesus would not erase their name from the book of life. Remember, the overcomers are all who stay faithfull until the end. One way to explain this is to say that anyone ever born had their name written in the book of life. Anyone whose name is not found recorded in the book of life, at the white throne judgement at the end of Jesus millenial reign, will be cast into the lake of fire (Revelation 20:15). No human was ever intended to end up there. The lake of fire was originally intended for Satan and the fallen angels. Peter wrote in his second letter, chapter 3, verse 9, " The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient towards you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance." So when a person dies, having rejected Jesus' offer to have eternal life and live in His kingdom, then their name is erased from the book of life.
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