Revelation 3:1-6 | In Name Only

Revelation 3:1-6 | In Name Only

Revelation 3:1-6
In Name Only

I. v. 1a Background on the church and Sardis.

1 And to the angel of the church in Sardis write, … (NKJV)

  1. There is no biblical account of how the church began in Sardis.
    1. Some have suggested that it is spun off from the work done in Ephesus, but there is no definitive statement recording its beginning.
  2. Sardis had a large Jewish population.
  3. Sardis was known as a city of wealth (gold) and apathy.
  4. Sardis had a natural defense system.
    1. This city had an interesting strategic location atop a steep cliff.
    2. The city sat 1500 feet above the valley and boasted three rock walls that could not be taken by invading armies.
    3. The only approach was to come from the south wall, which had a very steep, difficult path.
    4. The historian Herodotus explains how Cyrus took this city in his siege.
      1. The account goes that a Sardian soldier inadvertently exposed the citadel’s access when retrieving his helmet, which he had accidentally dropped over the steep cliff.
      2. One attentive soldier in Cyrus’s army watched this take place.
      3. Upon reporting the observation, the Persian army followed the route to the top of the citadel under the cover of night.
      4. The Sardian army was so certain that no one could make it up the cliff that they did not even have a single watchman on duty.
      5. This resulted in the fall of Sardis.
      6. “The rock on which Sardis was built was friable, more like close packed dried mud than rock. The nature of the rock meant that it developed cracks. A certain Mardian soldier called Hyeroeades had seen a Sardian soldier accidentally drop his helmet over the battlements, and then make his way down the precipice to retrieve it. Hyeroeades knew that there must be a crack in the rock there by means of which an agile man could climb up. That night he led a party of Persian troops up by the fault in the rock. When they reached the top they found the battlements completely unguarded.”[1]
    5. Their downfall stemmed from their apathy and trust in their natural advantages.

II. v. 1b Jesus reveals Himself to the Church.

1 And to the angel of the church in Sardis write, “These things says He who has the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars…”

  1. Seven spirits of God.
    1. Jesus speaks as the one who has the Spirit’s complete working.
    2. Seven in Scripture represents the number of completion or perfection.
    3. The Spirit is the third person in the Godhead and is seen, not exclusively but primarily, as the one who gives the power and the ability.
    4. The significance of this introduction is that this church, although having a name of being alive, was actually dead.
      1. If we are not being led and empowered by the Spirit, then our works will always be found lacking.
  2. The seven stars.
    1. The seven stars in Revelation 1:20 are the seven pastors of these churches.
    2. The imagery is declaring that Jesus is the Lord over His Church.
    3. He holds the leaders in His hand, and they are responsible to Him.
    4. This revelation is not as foreboding as it is in addressing some of the other churches, but it is a picture that declares His rightful place over the Church.
  3. What does our Lord have?
    1. The seven stars (pastors) and the complete working ministry of the Holy Spirit.
    2. What pastor or believer is not in need of the Spirit?

      “The life-giving Spirit was badly needed by the lifeless church in Sardis. What could be more exciting in any era than for Christ to ‘bring his hands together’ so that pastors are overflowing with the Spirit?”[2]

III. vv. 1b, 2b Jesus rebukes the Church at Sardis.

1 I know your works, that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead.2 Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die, for I have not found your works perfect before God.

  1. This church gets no compliment from the Lord.
    1. This is no small matter.
    2. This reminds me of those who will enter heaven with no works to offer the Lord.
    3. They will enter being saved, yet as through fire (1 Cor 3:15).
  2. Reputation for life, yet they were dead.
    1. We need to be concerned with Jesus’s opinion of us, not what others think.
    2. This church had a name, but the Lord knew what it was really like.
    3. Samson’s story lives as an example of having a name of power and being known as a tool of God, yet he was one who was dead.

      Judges 16:20-21 20 And she said, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” So he awoke from his sleep, and said, “I will go out as before, at other times, and shake myself free!” But he did not know that the LORD had departed from him. 21 Then the Philistines took him and put out his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza. They bound him with bronze fetters, and he became a grinder in the prison.

    4. Are you one who is relying on former works and reputation, but there is nothing currently spiritual going on?
  3. Works are not complete.
    1. They were examined by the one who assigned them the work and knows why they are lacking.
      1. The word perfect can also be translated in this manner: “your works to meet my approval.”
      2. We see that they met everyone else’s approval, for they had a name while they were alive, yet they were found lacking before the Lord.
    2. Are your works found perfect before the Lord?
      1. This is a tough question to answer without first digging a little deeper into the cause of the problem at the church at Sardis.
    3. What had happened to cause their works not to be found acceptable before the Lord?
      1. One clue is found in the way the Lord reveals Himself in v. 1. Jesus had the full working of the Holy Spirit in His life.
        1. We read in John 17:4 that Jesus had completed the work the Father had given Him to do.
        2. We also read in Luke 4:17-19 that the Holy Spirit was upon Jesus.
      2. From the way Jesus reveals Himself in v. 1 and knowing that the only way we can do the work the Lord has set before us is through the Holy Spirit, this church had ventured away from relying on the Holy Spirit to do the work the Lord had called them to.
      3. This dangerous possibility led Paul to rebuke the church in Galatia.

        Galatians 3:1-3 1 O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you that you should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed among you as crucified? 2 This only I want to learn from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? 3 Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh?

      4. There is an unfortunate pattern the church follows.
      5. We start off trusting the Lord and being led by the Holy Spirit, yet as time goes on, we become comfortable in our position and cease to rely on the Holy Spirit.
    4. We stop looking for the fruit of the Spirit and are looking for the fruit that is produced outside of the working of the Holy Spirit.
      1. Consider Galatians 5 and the promise of what a Spirit-led life looks like.
    5. Today in the church, many have ceased to look to the Lord and to the power of the Holy Spirit.
      1. We begin to live as though the Spirit is no longer needed.
      2. The power of God is substituted for what money, buildings, media, education, and programs can produce.
      3. The big need in the church today is for a fresh empowering of the Holy Spirit.
  4. Listen to the instruction Jesus gave the disciples about the need for the Holy Spirit’s work.

    Luke 24:49 Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high.

    Acts 1:8 But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.
    1. The Church is powerless to do the work of the ministry without the power of the Holy Spirit.
    2. We need the Holy Spirit like we need air.
    3. The same Greek word (pneuma) translated as “air” in Scripture is also translated as “Spirit.”
    4. Back to the question asked earlier, are your works found perfect before the Lord?
      1. Do you have the power of the Holy Spirit working in your life?
      2. Is your walk with God powerless? Does it lack joy and zeal?
      3. Then you probably are not walking in the fullness of the Holy Spirit.
    5. How does one receive the power of the Holy Spirit?

      Luke 11:13 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!
      1. We all need to be praying for the Lord to supply us with the power of the Holy Spirit.
    6. It excites me to think about what the Lord wants to do in your lives.
      1. Let’s covenant together to seek the Lord for the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives, every day and in every situation.
  5. This church had a name that they were alive, but in reality, they were dead; their works were found wanting.
    1. Sadly, many in the church today dismiss the need for the Holy Spirit and his giftings.
    2. Only some gifts function today.
    3. No need to look for the Holy Spirit’s fresh empowering.

IV. vv. 2a, 3a Jesus gives counsel.

2 Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die, … 3 Remember therefore how you have received and heard; hold fast and repent. Therefore if you will not watch, I will come upon you as a thief, and you will not know what hour I will come upon you.

  1. Watch
    1. This is to take heed lest through remissness and idleness some destructive calamity suddenly overtake one.
    2. We should be put on the alert, knowing what is coming upon those who sleep.
    3. The noted failure of the city of Sardis was in their failure to watch for the enemy.
    4. Similarly, believers in Sardis are depending on their previous experiences.

      “The Christians at Sardis were depending on past experiences, but what little remained from the past was ready to die. None of their works were perfect, complete, or fully performed. Everything done in and by the church lacked the anointing of God which alone could bring God’s work to its full expression. They needed to wake up, to strengthen those things that remained but were about to die. There was still hope that they could do this.”[3]
  2. Remember and hold fast
    1. Remember the early days of your new life in Christ, the power, the zeal, and the joy you used to have.
    2. Cling to those early days of faithfulness and do away with the lethargy and preoccupation with earthly passions and goals.
    3. Recall the way you sought the aid and power of the Lord to live and serve.
  3. Repent
    1. Have a change in thinking and practice.
    2. Repent for substituting the position, name, and programs for the working of the Spirit.
    3. We need the life that comes through the Spirit.
      1. Direct filling.
      2. Word.
      3. Prayer.

V.  v. 3b A warning from Jesus

3 … Therefore if you will not watch, I will come upon you as a thief, and you will not know what hour I will come upon you.

  1. Come as a thief.
    1. A thief brings destruction. This is why Jesus said, “Watch.”
      1. God will bring hard times on you if you don’t awake to His command.
    2. Sardis was a living example of not watching and being overtaken by a thief.
  2. This theme of Jesus coming as a thief is used in reference to end times when He will return to bring judgment on the earth.
    1. First Thessalonians 5:4-5 tells us that we who are in the light will not be taken by surprise but that those who are in darkness will be.

VI. vv. 4-6 The promise to those who overcome.

4 You have a few names even in Sardis who have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with Me in white, for they are worthy. 5 He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life; but I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels. 6 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

  1. vv. 4-5a Clothed with white garments.
    1. This symbolizes the righteousness given to the believer by the Lord.

      Revelation 19:7–8 7 Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready. 8 And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.

    2. It is the Lord’s desire that our lives be lived without any defilement.

      Ephesians 5:25–27 25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, 26 that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, 27 that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish.
  2. v. 5b Who has overcome?
    1. Jesus has.

      John 16:33 These things I have spoken to you, that in me ye may have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.

    2. Christians have.

      1 John 4:4 You are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.

      1 John 5:4-5 4 For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. 5 Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?

    3. Simply put, if you believe, you overcome and will partake in the next three promises.
  3. v. 5c Name securely written.
    1. To have our names written is a way to communicate the certainty of being accepted by the Lord.
    2. The significance of this book.
      1. Revelation 22:19 gives a similar warning.

        Revelation 22:19 and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the Book of Life, from the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.

      2. In Revelation 20:15, we are told that anyone not written in the book of the living will not inherit the Kingdom of Heaven and will be thrown into the Lake of Fire for all of eternity.
      3. Jesus said not to rejoice that demons are subject to us but to rejoice that our names are written in this book of life (Luke 10:20).
  4. Confessed before the Father.
    1. To be confessed before the Father means that Jesus will say I know him, I died for him, and he is accepted to heaven.
    2. Jesus said if we confessed Him that He would confess us before the Father.

      Matthew 10:32-33 32 Whoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I also confess before my Father who is in heaven. 33 But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven.

    3. “Confess – ④ to acknowledge something, ordinarily in public, acknowledge, claim, profess, praise ⓑ of profession of allegiance.”[4]
    4. Have you done this?

VII. Conclusion

  1. Are you coasting along in spiritual apathy?
  2. Are you alive tonight? Are your works found acceptable before the Lord?
  3. Are you assured of your place in heaven?

[1] William Barclay, ed., The Revelation of John, vol. 1, The Daily Study Bible Series (Philadelphia: The Westminster John Knox Press, 1976), 114.

[2] Kendell Easley, Revelation, vol. 12, Holman New Testament Commentary (Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1998), 54.

[3] Thoralf , ed., The Complete Biblical Library – Revelation, (Springfield, IL: World Library Press, Inc., 1988), WORDsearch CROSS e-book, 58.

[4] William Arndt et al., A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000), 708.

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