Letter From God – Part  5:  Wake Up!

“Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have found your deeds unfinished in the sight of my God.”– Revelation 3:2

INTRODUCTION

In this fifth letter, is to a church in the city of Sardis, an ancient city in Asia Minor or what is now modern-day Turkey. Sardis was an important and prosperous city and archeological findings suggest that it had a thriving worship of pagan gods, much the like the other cities around it. It also had a large population of Jews as we learn from historical records of public debates and excavations of what was the largest synagogue in the region.

History tells us that it was one of the oldest and best defended cities in the region, and the wealthy capital of the ancient kingdom of Lydia. Just like the other churches, the church of Sardis has much to teach us 21^st Century believers.

DESCRIPTION OF THE SPIRITUAL CONDITION OF CHURCH IN SARDIS

The writer of the letter to the church of Sardis introduce Himself as He “who holds the seven spirits of God and the seven stars”  earlier interpreted in Revelation 1: 16, 20 as the seven angels and the seven churches.

He knew they all had one spiritual ailment or the other, though it was hard to tell from their external appearances. By holding the churches in His hand, He could feel their collective as well as the individual weight of each church. Thus, He knew which ones were spiritual heavyweight and which ones were lightweight.

God’s description was, as usual, prefaced with “I know.” With this church in Sardis, the focus, like two of the other churches that had also received letters – Smyrna and Thyatira – was on their deeds.

Unlike the earlier four churches however, there is no mention of any external opposition for this church. Neither is there any record of internal rebellion like those who held on to the teachings of Balaam or the Nicolaitans or Jezebel. The city had its idol worship and all kinds of detestable practices, but from the letter, this was not the problem of this church.

Notwithstanding the absence of persecution from without or heresy from within, none of the deeds of the Sardis church was found worthy of commendation. The description of their state is that of a golden featherweight that merely looked like real and heavy gold only on the outside. Unlike the other churches where the corrupting influences were in the minority, the church in Sardis had only a few who met God’s standards and approval. The majority did not. Hence, their most alarming diagnosis.

DIAGNOSIS OF THE SPIRITUAL CONDITION OF THYATIRA CHURCH

So far, the messages to the churches had been to warn them of conditions that could kill them. Unlike the earlier four churches however, the church in Sardis was not merely dying, but was diagnosed as “you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead.” – verse 2.

A dead church might either have lost all its physical members, or still have physical members who are dead spiritually. Whether the pews are empty or full, a dead church is not growing or involved in missions to the outside world. Where the members are absent, the glare of the paint on the church buildings might still impress and the floors swept clean.

Where the members are present, they report dutifully to church for every service, sing, pray, and give offerings. New members do not come in and old members might not go out, so the membership records still look good. Yet, the worship is cold and formal, deprived of the life-giving power of the gospel. And the Spirit of God has usually departed from their midst.

The church in Sardis was diagnosed with this terrible problem. They had no enemy named whether within or without its own walls. Yet, it was a church that thrived only on past glory and reputation and had become like the Pharisees that Jesus said “look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men’s bones and everything unclean” – Matthew 23:27.

Their pulse had been checked and found unresponsive. Though still filled with worshipers and appearing to have withstood the shocks that had affected the membership of others around them, the majority perfectly fitted Paul’s description of Christians who seemed quite religious but denied God’s power in their lives – 2 Timothy 3:5.

Another part of the diagnosis of this church was: “I have found your deeds unfinished in the sight of my God.” Unlike when they first believed, there was no longer any heartfelt service to God or man. No active searching of the Scriptures. No witnessing to lost souls. No exercise of faith, just a dutiful reporting for church service and numerous committee meetings. Their deeds basically recycled the same old rites in a stagnant, putrefying pond that had been robbed of the refreshing presence of the Holy Spirit.

Yet, this was not all. While the majority, by their complacency and compromise, had stifled the life out of this church, there was still more danger for this dead church. God had a minority within the congregation of whom that He said: “Yet you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes.”– v.4. He was concerned about the lives of these few ones, for He knew that it was only a matter of time before they also would have the life snuffed out of them and fall into the same dead state as the majority of the members.

PRESCRIPTION FOR THE SPIRITUAL CONDITION OF THE CHURCH IN SARDIS

Jesus, the Master Physician, knew the exact problem of this church, how they had arrived at their spiritual state, and how they could be revived. Whether dead or dying, He had the solution to their problem. Three main parts of the prescription are worthy of note.

In response to the diagnosis of death, He is the Resurrection and the Life, the One in whom all is made alive – 1 Corinthians 15:20-22. Lazarus had been dead and buried, yet He called Him out of his tomb to life again – John 11.  Jairus’ daughter died, and He raised her back to life again – Luke 8:49-56. And in the twinkling of an eye, those who died in Him will be raised up to life again at His second appearing –1Thessalonians 4:15-17.

It was this same Jesus who prescribed to the church in Sardis “Wake up!”He had spoken the words years earlier, and He said it again to the church. With Him, the death we go through in this life is not final. Whether physical or spiritual, He holds the keys of hell and death in His hands and can unlock it to let any of its captives go free – Revelation 1:18. He commanded the church in Sardis: “Wake up!“ in Matt. 13:41-43.  It is a reflection of what Jesus had said earlier.

But in addition to their dead state, there was also the prescription for the other danger that loomed large before them—that of the dying that could still be saved. He placed the responsibility to take care of this situation on those who had died and He had commanded to wake up. They were not to wake up only for their own benefit, but because they had urgent business to attend to.

There were things remaining in the church that were about to die—the inefficient, lifeless deeds of service that were offered to God and did not meet His approval even if in their eyes those deeds seemed good. And those things that were found unfinished in the sight of God, the church had the opportunity to correct, redo and complete according to the divine standards. It was urgent. To follow the prescriptions, they were urged: “Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; hold it fast, and repent.” – verse 3.

Compromise is sin to God and no one will be excused because of “I joined them because I couldn’t beat them.” The church in Sardis therefore had to repent from the compromise they had succumbed to of the faith that they had received. But, in addition, what were those things they had received and done at first that they were now asked to hold on to?

The letters to the four churches preceding that of Sardis give us an idea of these things. The 1^st church, the Ephesians church had been warned: “I know your deeds, your hard work… Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first.” –Rev. 2: 2,5. Similar to the prescription for the 3^rd church in Thyatira: “hold on to what you have until I come.”Rev. 2:25.  Apostle Paul lists certain things that must define their lives as children of God – Ephesians 5:3-7; 11, 14.

A WARNING TO 21^ST CENTURY BELIEVERS

And to us living today, again we are told: “Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”– v.6. Placed against Paul’s list above, many of our churches are dead, though still standing beautifully. Many of us are Christians stand in worldly compromise though professing to be followers of Christ.

Christ holds us in His hands and weighs us. He knows the living from the dead, no matter how our external appearances may fool others. If we are living on past grace, past experiences of faith, past records of Christian service, Christ bids us take the letter to the church in Sardis very seriously.

He meant what He said that only those who have not soiled their clothes will walk with Him, dressed in white, as the worthy, victorious ones. They are the ones of which He says: “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.” – verse 6.

THINK ABOUT THIS A. W. Tozer warned: “Religious complacency is encountered almost everywhere among Christians these days, and its presence is a sign and a prophecy. The great saints have all had thirsting hearts. Their longing after God all but consumed them; it propelled them onward and upward to heights toward which less ardent Christians look with languid eye and entertain no hope of reaching.” Are you dead or awake?

Stay blessed!

Please note that the preaching program on Sunny 88.7 FM – Tuesdays at 5:30 am has been temporarily put on hold. However, please continue to join us on Asempa 94.7 FM – Sundays at 5:30 am and YFM 107.9 – Sundays at 6:30 am for our Radio Bible Study, as well as on Sunny 88.7 FM every Sunday at 3:30 pm for Hymns and Their Stories.

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