Revelation Episode 4: Letters to the Churches- Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea, Part 1

Jesus scorns Sardis' superficial lip service to God and utters a dire warning to repent before impending judgment. Abiding in God's word is essential.

- Podcast Transcript - 

Wes

Welcome to the Two Journeys Bible Study Podcast. This podcast is just one of the many resources available to you for free from Two Journeys ministry. If you're interested in learning more, just head over to twojourneys.org. Now on to today's episode. This is Part 1 of Episode 4 in our Revelation Bible Study Podcast entitled Letters to the Churches: Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea where we'll discuss the letter to the church at Sardis in Revelation 3:1-6. I'm Wes Treadway and I'm here with Pastor Andy Davis. Andy, what are we going to see in these verses that we're looking at today?

Andy

Well, the church at Sardis is the dead church. Jesus says, "I know you have a reputation of being alive, but you're dead." And so, we're going to talk about the sad reality of a dead local church and how a church can get to be that way and by contrast, what does a living church look like? So, it's going to be a very sobering and a very important study.

Wes

Let me go ahead and read verses 1-6 from Revelation 3 as we begin.

And to the angel of the church in Sardis write: 'The words of him who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars.

"I know your works. You have the reputation of being alive, but you are dead. Wake up, and strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your works complete in the sight of my God. Remember, then, what you received and heard. Keep it and repent. If you will not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come against you. Yet you have still a few names in Sardis, people who have not soiled their garments, and they will walk with me in white, for they are worthy. The one who conquers will be clothed thus in white garments, and I will never blot his name out of the book of life. I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels. He who has an ear let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches."

What does it mean that Christ holds the seven spirits of God in his hand? What do the seven stars represent and what is the significance of Christ holding them in his hand?

Andy

All right, so the seven spirits we learned from the very beginning of the Book of Revelation, because there's a Trinitarian greeting, and so the letter is given from the Father and the Son and the seven spirits before the throne. We also have the seven spirits before the throne in Revelation 4. This is the Holy Spirit. Why the seven spirits? Some go with the concept of a seven-fold Spirit or the perfect Spirit or the comprehensive and complete Spirit. In any case, I think there's little doubt exegetically that the seven spirits refer to the Holy Spirit of God and all of his manifestations and his ministries and the various aspects of what he has come to do. In what sense does Jesus hold the Spirit in his hand? It's because there's an intimate connection between the Holy Spirit and Jesus Christ. It is the Spirit who anointed Christ and made him the Messiah.

It was by the Spirit's power that Jesus did all of his miracles and did all of his teachings. He did nothing apart from the will of the Father, and he did nothing apart from the power of the Holy Spirit. He was never independent from the Father or from the Spirit. He also said in the night before, in his words to his apostles the night before he was crucified as recorded in John 13-16 and then his prayer in John 17, he says a lot about the counselor, the Holy Spirit whom he's going to send. And he said, "When the counselor comes whom I will send to you from the Father" (John 15:26). And so, Jesus has the Spirit in his hand in that he has the power to pour out the Spirit of God or the Spirit of Christ upon the church. And so, it is in Jesus' power as our mediator to give or to grant the Spirit to the church.

And it is only by the power of the Spirit that a church like Sardis can be healed and made energetic and alive. It is by the Spirit that a church is alive and bears fruit for all eternity. Secondly, it says he holds the seven stars in his hand. And again, the seven stars I think represent the messengers, the angels, so to speak of the church. And I think this is a human messenger, probably a preacher or pastor of the church. And he holds the seven stars. They represent the seven churches, and he holds in his hand those that are responsible for ministering to each of these local churches. He's sovereign over them and he is there to protect them but also to discipline and train them as well.

Wes

What is Christ's overall assessment of this church and why is the issue of appearance versus reality so vital for the church to learn today?

Andy

Well, in every one of these seven letters, he begins by what he says he knows. He knows them, and here he says, "I know your deeds." He's looking at their deeds, their works, their fruit. And Jesus said, "By their fruit, you'll know them" (Matthew 7:16). It's a very strong image that I have here in John 15:1,6 (paraphrase). Jesus said, "I am the vine, and my Father is the vine dresser. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit... Those branches fall to the ground and wither and die and they're picked up and thrown in the fire and burned." It's a picture of a fruitless professor of faith in Christ or a fruitless church. And so here he says, "I know your deeds," or we could say in that language, "I know your fruit and I know what you do. I'm looking at your works and I can tell by your deeds, by your works that though you have a reputation of being alive, you're dead." And so, this is the dead church. That's what he begins by saying to them.

Wes

What should we make of the command, "Then wake up." If a church is a dead church, how can they live again?

Andy

Well, first let's talk about the idea of reputation. "I know that you have a reputation of being alive" (Revelation 3:1). A church can coast on its reputation for a long time. It could be wealthy; it could be prominent. We are the first Baptist church in Durham. And so, the forebears or ancestors at our church thought it best to identify themselves that way. There may have been other Baptist churches, but we were the first, this kind of thing. And there may well have been some pride involved in that, et cetera. But for a while our church was the most prominent social institution in Durham. And so, it was very significant. So, a church like that, not necessarily ours, but a church like that can have a very prominent role in the community but be spiritually dead. They have a reputation and there may have been some great godly leaders in the past, but have they continued?

And so as I was thinking about this podcast we were doing, I was thinking about my own opportunities that I've had to visit significant churches all over the world, and to think about their famous ancestors like Martin Luther's church at Wittenberg where he nailed the 95 Theses, or John Calvin's church in Geneva, or Jonathan Edwards' church in Northampton, or even Charles Spurgeon's church in London. I've been to all of those.

I would say the only one of those four that I've been to that continues to have a vibrant and fruitful evangelistic ministry is Spurgeon's church. The others, it's dubious if not openly dead or liberal or a museum. And so, it's very, very sad how a church can be coasting for a while on its reputation, but it really is dead. And so, Jesus commands that they wake up, that they heed this stinging rebuke from Jesus, "You are dead." And that they would cry out, and he actually says, "Strengthen what remains and is about to die."

So, there's some there, we're going to talk about them that are still walking with the Lord, but they're not in any way in authority in the church. They're not dominant in the church, they're just members of that church. But whatever, where the necrosis hasn't spread, the death hasn't spread. He's urging them to wake up, to come to their senses, to realize the danger they're in and cry out against themselves and cry out to Christ to pour out the Spirit on them.

Wes

It really does seem like this is a pivotal moment in the life of this church to heed this warning and to, as it says, "Strengthen what remains and is about to die." What does the phrase "I have not found your deeds complete in the sight of my God," imply? What does God consider complete?

Andy

Well, I think the idea is based on Ephesians 2:10, "We are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance that we should walk in them." Now, any genuinely Spirit-filled, humble Christian man or woman knows we don't walk in all of them. We wish we did. We wish we could do them all. So, every one of us can hear this and be rebuked by it. I have not found your deeds complete in my sight. Only Jesus was able to say to his heavenly Father, "I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do." I mean a 100%, I did everything you wanted me to do, Father.

"Only Jesus was able to say to his heavenly Father, 'I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do.' I mean a 100%, I did everything you wanted me to do, Father."

We can't say that we know. And so, I'm convicted by that statement, "I have not found your deeds complete in my sight." But the idea is that there is a boundary of ministry that was assigned to this church, and there were good works to do within that field that they should be working. And they have significantly not done them. The deeds are greatly lacking. And so, he says, "I've not found you doing the works that I left you to do."

Wes

What three commands does Christ give to cure them of their deadness? And what threat does he give if they don't wake up?

Andy

"Remember what you have received and heard, obey it and repent." These are the things he tells them to do in verse 3. So, it's similar to the church at Ephesus. They have to remember, think back to how things were. Maybe there are some older members there that remember when the church Sardis wasn't a dead church, when it was building that reputation that they're still coasting on now. Remember how it used to be. Remember other aspects of doctrine and of the word of God. Remember these things and obey the word of God.

So, that would be commands to I think fundamentally the two journeys, to be holy and to be evangelistically active and fruitful. I think it comes down to that, the two journeys that this ministry that we're doing here is named for.   My guess is that they're deficient in both areas. They're not holy and they're not growing in grace in the knowledge of Christ, and they are not shining the light of the gospel there in Sardis.

So, he wants them to obey the commands to be holy and to share the gospel, and all the other commands that are relevant to the Christian life and to a healthy local church. So, obey those commands and repent, grieve over your sins. See them for what they are, own them. Take ownership and turn from them. Turn away from those patterns and turn to God in brokenness and repentance.

Wes

What about the threat? What threat does Christ give if they don't wake up?

Andy

Well, he threatens, I think though he doesn't actively say it here. He says in another one of the letters to the seven churches, "I'm going to come like a thief" (Revelation 16:15), and I think bring judgment. He's going to take them out. Maybe some will literally die. And in any case, we could imagine that the church will cease existing, that he'll remove the lamp stand. So, if you don't wake up, I'm going to come suddenly. This is basically your last warning. I'm going to come like a thief. There are no more warnings. You had your warning and then suddenly it'll all be over.

Wes

What does verse 4 then teach us about the church at Sardis, and how does it relate to the command in verse 2?

Andy

You have a few people there in Sardis who have not, he says, "soiled their clothes." So, that implies an immoral lifestyle of filthy, pagan lifestyle. These are all seven churches are set in Asia Minor in a Gentile-dominated area. And so, there's paganism all around. There are pagan offerings, there's meat sacrificed to idols, there's ritual prostitutes, male and female. There's all this kind of defilement. And then there's just the defilements of the world that go on all the time, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, of the boastful pride of life. These are the things that soil us.

And he says there's some people there that have not soiled their clothes. You're not living like that. They're living Christian lives. They will, he says, walk with me, dressed in white for they are worthy. Now this idea of being dressed in white is very, very important.

I think the idea of wearing white robes comes up again and again in the Book of Revelation, not just in these letters to the churches, but later as well. The martyrs are given robes, white robes, et cetera. You know in Revelation 7, the worldwide harvest, they're dressed in white robes, standing around the throne and celebrating. The white robes represent, in my opinion, the covering we sinners get by faith in Christ, covering of our shameful nakedness, covering of our sins. And it says in Psalm 32:1, "Blessed is a man whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered." The covering offered to us is the blood and righteousness of Jesus Christ. That's the white robe. And so, the idea is that we sinners who repent of our sins and all of us have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. If we repent, we will be clothed in white with the imputed righteousness of Christ and will be seen to be perfect by our Holy Father.

So, they will walk with me. That is in day-to-day, moment-by-moment in fellowship and in heaven forever, dressed in white, covered with all of their sins covered by faith in Christ. For they are worthy, meaning that God has qualified them, as it says in Colossians, "to share in the inheritance of the saints, in the kingdom of light" (Colossians 1:12). We are qualified to do it. It's like how could sinners like us be qualified? We are worthy to receive heaven. It's like, well, that's only because of grace, but it does use that language. They'll walk with me dressed in white for they are worthy.

Wes

Now how is this promise repeated and really expanded in verse 5? And what does it mean that the names will never be blotted out of the book of life?

Andy

Right. So, the offer is extended in the usual pattern in these letters to the seven churches, he who overcomes. So, I just think often of the final words that Paul wrote to Timothy in 2 Timothy 4:7, "I've fought the good fight. I've finished the race; I've kept the faith." So, you think about that and there is a race to be won. The author of Hebrews tells us like a marathon, a race to be run day by day. We're supposed to "lay aside every hindrance and the sin that so easily entangles and run with endurance" (Hebrews 12:1) this race. We're also supposed to fight temptations. We're supposed to kill them. We're supposed to put sin to death by the Spirit. And if we do that, we will have overcome. We will be more than conquerors through him who loved us. We have conquered sin. And to everyone that overcomes, he says, "I'm going to give them that similar imputed righteousness."

They'll walk with me dressed in white for they are worthy. And he says, "He who overcomes will be like them dressed in white" (Revelation 3:5). And so, the idea is we'll spend eternity seen to be perfectly righteous in Jesus. And how beautiful is that? And he says, "I will never blot out their names from the book of life." Now this is a very, very important concept, because in Revelation 20, everyone whose name was not found written in the Lamb's book of life was thrown into the lake of fire. So, we're talking about salvation. To have your name written in the Lamb's book of life, when the 72 that Jesus sent out on mission in Luke 10 came back. They came back with a tremendous report of even the demons being subject to them and to their word. And Jesus said, "Do not rejoice that the demons are subject to you, but rejoice in this, that your names are written in heaven" (Luke 10:20).

So, that's the idea of being forgiven, being adopted, being part of the family of God. He says, "I will never blot out your names." In other words, it's written in indelible ink. It can never be removed. Now some have misunderstood this saying, "However, others- he will blot out their name from the book of life." It's like he can write and un-write, and then later he'll write you back in again. And that's what we would call a free will or Armenian view.

There's no assurance of salvation, so the idea is you could have your name blotted out based on if you go from now into sin. And you're unrepentant, you die in that state, then I will blot out your name from the book of life. It doesn't teach that anywhere. There is no such teaching anywhere. It is just a taking of this statement and mirror imaging it or doing a photographic negative and saying, "Well, there must be some people that he will blot out from the book of life." There is no such category, so I think that's what that means.

Wes

Now there is a striking statement at the end of this verse, verse 5. It says, "I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels." I can't even imagine what it would be like to have Jesus acknowledging my name before the Father and the holy angels. What does that mean and what does that mean specifically to you, Andy, as you meditated on this verse?

Andy

Well, it goes in my mind, I go to John 10 where it says he knows his sheep by name, he calls them by name and they know him and they follow him, and he'll give them eternal life and they will never be snatched out of his hand. He knows them by name, he calls them by name.

And so, the idea is that intimate love relationship. And not only does he know their name, but he speaks their name to the Father effectively. Wes is with me; Andy is with me. They're okay. They're in and I'll speak for you. And you can imagine if you don't have the mediator speaking on your behalf, you'll not be admitted in like in the terrifying statement away from me, I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers, or the parable of the five foolish virgins.

And they come later having bought their oil too late and they're banging on the door, and he says, "I don't know who you are. I'm not letting you in." And so, if he doesn't know you, you're not in. But he says, "I will speak his name before the Father," and there's an honor in that. "This is my servant Job with whom I am well pleased," you know that statement. Imagine Jesus speaking your name before the Father, and that's a tremendous honor.

Wes

What's the overall lesson from the church at Sardis and what final thoughts do you have for us today as we wrap up here in verse 6?

Andy

Well, to me, the overall lesson is the dynamism of spiritual life. Living things need to stay alive. They need to keep feeding, and the food of our faith is the word of God. So, we start with that. Take in the word of God. Churches that die, they die because they've turned away from the word of God. They don't preach it anymore. They don't teach it. They don't live it. They don't honor it. They don't tremble at it anymore. It starts there. Everything starts and ultimately ends with the ministry of the word of God in a local church, in an individual lives. So, if you don't want to die, if a local church doesn't want to die, then it needs to be faithful to the word of God and it needs to put it into practice, not just hear the word like James says, but be an effective doer of the word by faith and not lie and deceive yourself.

"Living things need to stay alive. They need to keep feeding, and the food of our faith is the word of God. So, we start with that. Take in the word of God."

So, fundamentally, hearing, cherishing, trembling at believing in the word and then living it out, that's how you don't die as a local church. But we know that there are local churches that are shutting down all over the nation, eight to 10,000 local churches, statistics tell us a year. And so that's churches I think, that have turned away from the word of God and turned away from faithful obedience to it. I think fundamentally, any local church, any seminary, any Christian college, any mission agency, any Christian benevolence agency that cares for the poor and needy, any of those entities that turns its back on the inerrant and perfect word of God turns its back on its own future and will die eventually. So, it all comes down to ultimately faithfulness to the word of God.

Wes

It's a strong warning for us to hear and to heed as we consider life together in the local church. This has been Part 1 of Episode 4 in our Revelation Bible Study Podcast. We want to invite you to join us next time for Part 2 of Episode 4, entitled Letters to the Churches; Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea, where we'll discuss the letter to the church at Philadelphia in Revelation 3:7-13. Thank you for listening to the Two Journeys Podcast and may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.