Revelation 3:1-6
A Message to the Church in Sardis
12-18-2022
The city of Sardis, Capital of Lydia, a center of commerce, coins first minted there, carpet and woolen industry located there. Only a shell of its former self. The church had taken on the characteristics of the city. One author wrote, “The church had become a thermometer that registered the temperature of the city instead of a thermostat that changed the temperature of the city.” It is to this church that had become complacent that the Lord Jesus writes. Just as surely as the city of Sardis was dying, so was the church of Christ in that city. Jesus has no word of commendation, but He does not leave them without words of counsel.
The letters from Jesus to the 7 Churches can be viewed three ways:
Practically – They are literal letters to real churches with real issues.
Prophetically – They speak to the church in different periods of church history.
Personally – They have a message for every believer who will hear and heed. Every letter was written for the Body of Christ today.
The Worker – v1 I know your works…
Your name is alive, but you are dead. Alive on the outside and Dead on the inside. You are doing the work but the work has no benefit for you. You going through the motions but there is no meaning on the inside. People can see the things you have done, but you find no value in your accomplishment. These are they who can sing in an arena in the morning and go home lonely in the evening. These are they who can make thousands laugh in the stadium and go home only to contemplate suicide. These are they who preach the living Word of Grace each Sunday and yet have never placed their trust in the Savior.
I have not found your works perfect before God! Jesus said Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect! Meaning – Your work is not enough! Works will not save your soul! Doing the deed is not enough. Saying the prayer is not enough. Reciting the scriptures is not enough. Singing the song is not enough. Beating the drum is not enough. Teaching the lesson is not enough. Ushering the worshipper is not enough. Signing the checks is not enough. Sweeping the floor is not enough. You are alive on the outside but dead on the inside. Remember how you received and heard. Romans 10:17, Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. Hebrews 4:2, the gospel preached unto us, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it. Remember! You gotta mix it with faith! Remember that Salvation is by hearing and receiving the living Word.
The Watchful – v2 be watchful…
Strengthen the things that remain! Some things are ready to die, but they are not dead yet! Have you ever heard of dying on the vine?
A vine is the part of a plant that supports the fruit as it is growing. When the fruit is ripe and ready to be eaten, the fruit is taken off the vine. If the fruit is left too long on the vine after it ripens, it starts to spoil and rot and wither away. So, if something is "dying on the vine" then it was not used during its peak season and is starting to wither away and spoil.
Jesus said, If you don’t watch v.3, “I will come upon you as a thief and you won’t know the hour!” – Jesus said it before in the Gospel of Matthew 25:13 “So, therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh." Saint Peter says, 2 Peter 3:10 “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night.” Saint Paul says, 1 Thessalonians 5:2 “But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them”
Jesus says to the Church, Watch and strengthen the things that remain! Paul says, in 1 Corinthians 13:13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. Be watchful and strengthen your faith, strengthen your hope, and above all strengthen your love. Hold Fast to your faith! Now, faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Hold fast to your hope! Which is Christ in you the hope of Glory. Hold fast to your love! Jesus said: “As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love.” Pastor Chip Ingram once said, “Love is giving someone what the need the most, and deserve the least, at great personal cost.”
The Worthy – v4 for they are worthy…
There are some in the church who have not defiled their garments! They shall walk with Me in white! For they are Worthy! They are not worthy because of their work. They are worthy because of grace!
They shall walk with Me in white! In Revelation 7 one of the elders asked, “Who are these arrayed in white robes, and where did they come from?”
“These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore, they are before the throne of God, and serve Him day and night in His temple.”
I will not blot his name from the Book of Life! Because Revelation 20 says that whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. Jesus said to His disciples, don’t rejoice that I gave you power to cast out demons, but rejoice that your names are written in Heaven! Jesus has declared you, “Worthy!” and He knows your name!
I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels. In Luke 12, Jesus says, “whoever confesses Me before men, him the Son of Man also will confess before the angels of God. But he who denies Me before men will be denied before the angels of God… and when you are question by the authorities, do not worry about how or what you should answer, or what you should say. For the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say." I don’t care what men say about me, Jesus says I’m Worthy!
