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Revelation
3:1-6
Imagine over-hearing
two people who are talking about you.
What do you really wish they’d say about you? What are the words you wish they’d
use? (She’s so kind. He’s so funny. She works so hard. He’s frighteningly
talented. She’s so pretty. He knows his Bible. She’s such a people person.) What do you wish you were known for?
Let’s ask it from a
different angle. What do you fear
they might say about you? (He
never shuts up. She thinks she’s
good but she’s not. He’s just
dull. She’s so moody. He’s thick. She’s fat. He’s weak.
She’s cold.) If those
words applied to you – which would cut the deepest?
Now, let’s think about
it another way. Realistically,
what do you actually think people say about you? How do you think you’re known?
Another way of asking
this is – What’s your reputation?
Look at verse 1. Jesus says to this church “You have a
reputation for being alive.” If
you’d lived in Turkey 2000 years ago and over-heard the church
conversations – that would have been the talk. “Sardis is happening.
Check out Sardis, it’s lively, it’s active, it’s full of
life.” That’s the reputation.
And wouldn’t it be
great if the buzz all around Eastbourne was that All Souls was
ALIVE. A lively, dynamic
church. Vibrant, active. Isn’t that the best reputation you
could hope for?
The word for
reputation in verse 1 is literally the word ‘name’. Sardis had a name for being
alive. But Jesus said they’re
alive in name only. This is
nominal Christianity. You know
what nominal Christianity is?
It’s when you’re a Christian in name only. That’s Sardis – a name for being
alive, in reality – dead.
Jesus met hundreds of
Sardis-like people in the first century.
They were called the Pharisees.
But Jesus called them white-washed tombs. Outside: brilliant, dazzling,
glorious. Inside: death.
But it takes Jesus to
see through the masks. Last week
we saw that Jesus has eyes like blazing fire. He sees reality. He
says to Sardis, as He says to each of these seven churches: “I
know.” There’s a lot of talk
around, says Jesus. But I know
your deeds.
Verse 1: You have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead.
Samuel Taylor
Coleridge wrote an epic poem: The Rime of the Ancient Mariner. In it he describes coming across a
ghostly vessel. It’s the original
death ship. Coleridge writes:
"Corpses man the ship; dead men pull the oars; dead men hoist
the sails; dead men steer the vessel."
According to Jesus,
that’s Sardis. Dead men preach
the sermons. Corpses sit in
pews. Corpses sing the songs. Corpses run the youth group. And they thought they were alive. It’s like something out of science
fiction. It’s the horror story of
all horror stories – the living One meets you and says, you think you’re
alive. No, no, no. I’m telling you you’re dead.
But why? What was so bad about this
church?
We don’t read about
rampant sexual immorality going on.
There’s nothing written here about idolatry. Nothing about false teaching. With the last two churches – Pergamum
and Thyatira – we saw some scandalous sins to deal with. You can imagine Jesus walking into
those rowdy church and bringing things to order. But as Jesus comes to Sardis it’s like
walking into a morgue. Sardis is
the church with the best reputation, but I think it’s clear Sardis is
actually the worst church of the seven.
There’s three
categories which the seven churches fit into. There’s the small struggling congregations like Smyrna or
Philadelphia which, if we were around at the time, we wouldn’t have given
a second thought to. But Jesus
praises them hugely. Then there
are notorious churches like Pergamum and Thyatira that have outrageous
scandals in the congregation. But
Jesus still has encouraging words to say to them. But then, thirdly, there are the impressive
churches – Ephesus, Sardis and Laodicea.
And the churches that looked the strongest come in for Christ’s
harshest criticisms. Ephesus – a
stronghold of good Bible-teaching, yet Jesus is about to remove the
church entirely because they’d lost their first love. Laodicea, we’ll see in two weeks, thought
of itself as rich. Jesus says
“You are wretched, poor, pitiful, blind, naked.” Jesus warns them “I am about to spit
you out of my mouth.” But Sardis
here is worst of all – they’re dead already. Here in Sardis are the nominal Christians – and they are
the worst! We naturally think
that Jesus would prefer a nominal Christian to a flagrant sinner. Well Jesus has harsh words to both,
but Sardis is worse that Pergamum, worse than Thyatira. Nominal Christianity, living on
reputation but having no spiritual life, is the worst position to be
in.
Do you have spiritual
life? Nobody naturally has
it. You’re not born with it. You have to get it from Jesus. But Jesus loves to give it. He comes, v1, holding two things. He has the seven stars – they
represent the angels of the seven churches. So Jesus is saying – I’ve got you guys in the palm of my
hand – I know all about you. Your
reputation doesn’t fool me. But
the other thing He holds is the seven spirits of God – or you could say
‘the Seven-fold Spirit of God.’
Here is the Holy Spirit, called Seven-fold because He is the
fulness of Spiritual life. And,
as we say in the creeds, the Spirit is the LORD, the Giver of life. Jesus can give the Holy Spirit to any
who come to Him. Jesus once said
to a Samaritan woman: “If you knew the Gift of God and who it is who
speaks to you, you would have asked Him and He would have given you
Living water.” There’s all the
difference in the world between living water – this life that Jesus
offers – and a religious mask.
Jesus sees through the church masks – He hates the church
masks. But He offers spiritual
reality. Tonight might be the
night for someone to say ‘Jesus, give me Your Spirit, make me
alive.’ Jesus definitely wants us
all to come alive. Look at verse
2:
2 Wake up!
It’s strange to ask a corpse to wake up, but
Jesus is the living One who was dead and now is alive forevermore. He can command the dead as though they
were just sleeping. And here you
can imagine Him rousing Sardis, raising His voice, shaking them awake.
Wake
up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found
your deeds complete in the sight of my God.
Here is the problem in
Sardis. Their deeds are not
complete in the sight of God. In
the sight of the world they had made it.
In the sight of God they haven’t made it, their deeds are not
complete.
Now what does that
mean? Does that mean that Jesus
is like Santa Claus, making a list, checking it twice, trying to find out
who’s naughty and nice. And some
people have filled up their list of good deeds and some people haven’t
filled up their list and they better watch out cos, verse 3, Jesus Christ
is coming to town. Is that what
this means?
Well no. Remember, Jesus is addressing the whole
church at this stage. It’s
the church that is dead (some people aren’t dead, see v4, but
Jesus is addressing the church as a whole here). It’s the church whose deeds are
incomplete. But what would that
mean.
Well one way of
figuring that out is by looking at the ‘deeds’ of the other
churches. Let’s have a look at
those.
Let’s look at the
deeds of the church at Ephesus.
Rev 2:2:
2:2 I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. [Look on to
verse 3]… 3 You have persevered and have endured hardships for
my name, and have not grown weary.
So the deeds of this church are about
on-going activity. A church is
meant to persevere in the deeds that Christ gives them, there’s meant to
be endurance and persistence.
Look at the next time when deeds are
mentioned, chapter 2:19. Here
Jesus says to Thyatira:
2:19 I know your deeds, your love and faith, your service and
perseverance, and that you are now doing more than you did at first.
So these deeds are the
service of the church in love and faith, and they are things that a
church is meant to persevere at and increase in.
In fact if you search
the whole Bible for the words ‘deeds’ and ‘complete’ you find that it
always refers to groups of people serving together. One example is in Acts where Paul and
Barnabas come back from their missionary journey and it describes this as
a completed deed. And it’s a
completed deed for the whole church who sent them. Taking the gospel out to the nations
is a deed that’s been committed to the church. And completing this deed will take a lot of hard work,
endurance and perseverence. But
here in Sardis there was only nominal Christianity. Sardis was living by its reputation
and these deeds entrusted to the church were left undone.
So what does Jesus
say. Does verse 3 read: “Get active! Start working like you’ve never worked before. Increase your giving, volunteer for
more ministries, begin another morning service, plant a congregation in
the next town, hire more Christian workers. Get busy.” Well,
that’s not quite how v3 runs is it.
Verse 3 does have the word repent in it, that’s true. Jesus wants things turned around. Things have got to change. But how are they going to change?
Look at v3 with me:
Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; obey it,
and repent.
Remember and
obey. Or better, Remember and
‘keep’ the word ‘obey’ is better translated ‘keep’. And remember and keep are two VERY
important Bible words. They come
up again and again in the Old Testament.
God saved a people in the Old Testament and gave them a
covenant. This covenant is like a
marriage - it’s a structured relationship and there are vows. God says “I will be your God, and you
will be my people.” And whenever
God’s people go off the rails, the LORD tells them “Remember how I
saved you. Remember how I
married you – how I gave you my covenant. Now keep the covenant. Live up to those vows that I made. Be my people. Keep the covenant.” And that word keep is a multi-coloured
word, it’s got lots of shades of meaning. Here are just a few.
The word the NIV translated as “obey” could mean “keep, observe, hold fast, pay attention to; keep under guard, keep in
custody; hold, reserve; maintain, keep firm.” That’s the word.
And that’s what people are meant to do with God’s covenant love. Remember it. Keep it. So Jesus
is saying here, Remember what you heard and received. Remember people of Sardis that the
covenant love of God has come to you too. Whenever the Gospel of Jesus Christ is proclaimed, people
are being summoned into this marriage-like relationship with God. If you’re a Christian you’ve been drawn
into God’s covenant love.
Remember this truth. Keep
it. Keep it, like you’d keep
precious jewels, like you’d hold onto loved ones in a crowd, like you’d
keep guard over a beseiged fortress. Remember this Gospel and keep it.
That’s the remedy for
a church whose deeds are incomplete.
Jesus doesn’t say ‘Get busy!’.
He certainly wants them to change. But this is how they’re going to change: First: Wrap your mind and your heart
around the Gospel. Remember it,
keep it.
In our service later,
we’ll have a wonderful opportunity to Remember. We will receive bread and wine and be powerfully reminded
that Jesus has given Himself to us.
He has made marriage-like vows to us. He has given us His body.
And as He passes around the cup He says “This is my blood of the
covenant.” In communion we are
being reminded of the covenant.
We’re reminded of this Gospel love. “We who are dead have been given life. Because Jesus – the living One, died
for us.” Later on we’re going to
strengthen ourselves with the Lord’s Supper. We will remember and get hold of the Gospel that gave us
life. That kind of Gospel
remembering and keeping is what will revive a church.
A Gospel-remembering
Church will be a deed-completing Church.
Reform begins with Remembrance.
Do you want to see real spiritual life break out in your
ministries? Perhaps you’re doing
some youth or children’s work. Or
perhaps you’re looking for opportunities to speak for Christ at school or
in the work-place. Look at the
commands in v3 – here’s the order.
First: Remember. Then:
keep. Then: repent. You can’t short-circuit it. You can’t turn things around without
remembering and keeping. But if
you remember and you keep – then things will turn around.
But if we’re
forgetful… Well, look at the second half of v3:
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.
Jesus often described
judgement day as a day when He will come like a thief. A thief makes no appointment. No thief drops in a calling card
saying ‘I will be visiting your house between 3 and 4 o’clock.’ No, a thief is unexpected.
And here, Jesus
threatens Sardis with the language of judgement day. He’s basically saying, “Watch out
Sardis or judgement day will come early for you.” This lack of life in Sardis is very
serious.
But v4, there is a
faithful remnant at Sardis.
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.
In the Bible, even in
the very worst times, God has a faithful remnant. And Jesus says,
literally in v4, “You have a few names in Sardis.” So back in v1 Sardis had a false
name for being alive, but here in v4, there are some in the church who
have a real name. Some in
Sardis live up to their name. For
some, the reputation is deserved.
And they have not
soiled their clothes. What’s that
mean? Interestingly when you look
this up in the Bible, the soiling of clothes is linked both to the
defilement of idolatry and of sexual immorality – which are certainly two
prominent sins in previous letters.
But here, the soiling of clothes is not actually spelt out in
terms of these particular sins.
The trouble with Sardis, as we have it here, is that they’re
living off a false reputation while failing to complete their service of
Christ. That’s the problem with
Sardis as far as these verses state.
Now maybe sexual sin and idolatry have naturally accompanied this
spiritual death. Or maybe their
spiritual death is itself the ‘soiling’. Either way, the spotlight here in Sardis is not on any
particular immorality. The
spotlight is on these faithful Christians. Even in the midst of a church like Sardis there are signs
of life. Never write off a church
– Jesus didn’t write Sardis off.
There are believers in even the most moribund churches.
And the promise for
these few in Sardis is the same promise as for all Christians. Do you see v5,
He
who overcomes will, like them, be dressed in white.
Here is a promise for all Christians. As John writes elsewhere the one who
overcomes is the one who believes in Jesus. (1 John 5:5). The
one who overcomes is simply a Christian – not a nominal Christian but a
Christian who actually trusts Christ, who has spiritual life. Every true Christian is one who
overcomes. And to every Christian
is the promise – we will be dressed in white.
White clothing means many things in the
Bible. It’s associated with the
priests of the Old Testament. So
the people who could draw near to God were people who dressed in
white. It’s associated with
purity, every stain and defilement will be gone. It’s associated with festivities, so
wearing white means going to a party.
It’s associated with victory – the king who wins the battle is
dressed in white. And it’s
associated with glory – think of Jesus’ transfiguration, His clothes were
whiter than any earthly garment.
So priestliness, festivities, victory,
purity, glory – all these things are associated with white robes. And remember these are promises. So we’re supposed to look forward to
them. We’ve looked back in remembrance, but we also look forward in
hope. And just as we’re meant to
wrap our heads and hearts around the Gospel, so we’re meant to wrap our
heads around these future promises.
Can you imagine putting on the white robe as a priest – ready to
enter the very presence of God?
Can you imagine putting on dazzling clothing ready for one heaven
of a party? Can you imagine
putting on the victors robes having conquered the world? Can you imagine being given brilliant
clothes to wear that represent to heaven and earth your spotless purity
in God’s sight? Can you imagine
being transfigured like Jesus was transfigured, clothed in glory more
dazzling than anything the world has ever seen? That’s the promise.
And there are two more promises added. Verse 5:
I
will never blot out his name from the book of life, but will acknowledge
his name before my Father and his angels.
Let’s look at these two briefly. “I will never blot out his name from
the book of life.” Funny how this
promise sometimes leads people to exactly the opposite conclusion. People sometimes become afraid that
they will be blotted out. But the
verse is telling us the Christian will not be removed from the
book of life. Perhaps the best
way to think about this is to go back in our minds to Exodus. Moses is on mount Siniai with the
LORD. The Israelites are at the
bottom of the mountain and very quickly they decide to worship false
gods. The LORD gets so angry He
says “Let me alone, so that I may destroy them and blot out their name
from under heaven.” (Deut 9:14).
But Moses wants to make atonement for his people, that the word he
uses. And he says to the LORD:
"Oh, what a great sin these people have committed! They have made
themselves gods of gold. 32 But now, please forgive their
sin--but if not, then blot me out of the book you have
written."
The LORD was angry enough to destroy His
people and He describes it as blotting them out of the book of life. Moses loved the people enough to say –
blot me out intead. Now God
didn’t take Moses up on his offer.
But He did take up Jesus’ offer.
Jesus too sought to make atonement for the people of God. God was angry enough to blot us
out. But on the cross, He blotted
out Jesus instead. And now, here
in Revelation 3 the risen LORD Jesus says, if you’re with Me, you’ll
never be blotted out. Jesus was
blotted out on the cross so that no Christian ever will be. That’s the promise. We have a name that will endure. We also have a name that will be known
in the highest circles imaginable.
Do you see the last bit of verse 5:
I
will acknowledge his name before my Father and his angels.
Think back to the thought experiment we began
with. You overhear two people
talking about you. Imagine they
are singing your praises. Now
imagine that they’re not just being kind, they know the facts and they
are praising your name. Now
imagine, that they are the people whose opinion you most respect in the
world.
It’s like the moment on Strictly Come
Dancing. (You see I don’t care
about my earthly reputation that’s why I can admit I watch Strictly Come
Dancing.) But you know the
moment. The celebrity has danced
their heart out, the crowd love it, Bruce loves it. But really what do they know. The celebrity is still on tenter-hooks
because, What do the judges think? And we all wait with baited breath and then the verdict is good. And their faces light up, they punch
the air and everyone cheers. It’s
a wonderful moment.
But that’s nothing! Nothing! Compared to verse 5. One day God the Son and God the Father are going to have a
very public conversation about you.
And the whole point is to sing your praises.
Imagine being in on that conversation. One day you will be. Imagine the introduction. “My
servant. My faithful. My Beloved.” Imagine the words of praise: “Endured, Overcome. Complete.
Clean. Dressed in White. Worthy.”
Who cares about
earthly reputation when one day you will be publicly vindicated by God
Almighty in front of a hundred million angels. How could you ever prefer to hide behind a mask of nominal
Christianity? Jesus sees through
it. And He offers you a much
better name. Christ offers you a
name that will endure forever, one that will be acknowledged not just
before kings and queens but before God and the glorious angels.
So wake up.
Strengthen. Remember. Keep.
Repent. And look forward
to the white robes – a dazzling future, and the eternal name – a heavenly
reputation.
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