Read Revelation 3:1–6
Questions from the Scripture text: To which church’s messenger (NKJ “angel”) is this letter addressed (Revelation 3:1)? By what two parts of His description does the Lord Jesus describe Himself? What, of theirs, does He know? Why is this bad news? What was their reputation among men? What does He command them to do (Revelation 3:2)? What would they strengthen in this watchfulness? Why do those things need to be strengthened? In order to be watchful, what three things must they do (Revelation 3:3)? But what will the Lord do if they do not watch? What won’t they know? But, even in this case, what is the case for a few of them (Revelation 3:4)? What will the overcomer receive (Revelation 3:5)? What won’t Christ do? And what will He do? Whom does Revelation 3:6 address? What is this person to do?
What could be so wrong with a church that has a reputation for being spiritually alive? Revelation 3:1–6 looks forward to the hearing of God’s Word, publicly read, in the holy assembly on the coming Lord’s Day. In these six verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that a church that has a reputation for being spiritually alive may yet be almost dead and on the verge of having Christ come upon them in judgment.
The Lord Who is the solution. The Lord Jesus now addresses the preacher of the church in Sardis. They are going to need to return to receiving and hearing the Word (Revelation 3:3) as they did at first. And Christ identifies Himself to them as the One from Whom this receiving and hearing comes. The sevenfold Spirit that is before the throne (Revelation 3:1, cf. Revelation 1:4) proceeds from Him as the One Who gives right receiving of the Word. And the seven stars that are in His hand (cf. Revelation 1:16, Revelation 1:20) are the preachers whom He uses to bring His effective Word to His people. When a church is spiritually dying, it needs Christ to be “He Who has the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars.”
The complacency that is the problem. In Sardis’s case, it was not comforting, but alarming, that Christ knew their works. Others thought they knew Sardis’s works. They had a reputation for being alive (Revelation 3:1), but the reality was that they were not receiving, hearing, holding fast to, and repenting at the Word of Christ (Revelation 3:3). What does it matter if the rest of the churches and the world think we are alive, if Christ thinks that we are on spiritual life support (Revelation 3:2)?
The fact of the matter was that their standard was not that which is full (more literal than NKJ’s “perfect”) before God, but that which fluffed their reputation before men. What a temptation this constantly is! We become spiritually complacent, so long as men think well of us. So, let us remember that the Lord knows our works. This will keep us watchful (Revelation 3:2). Just as Jesus always sees us, so we must keep watch over ourselves. “Receive, hear, hold fast, and repent” is not a one-time thing at the beginning of the Christian life. It is the how we are to live along our entire way through this world.
They did not know how long it was until the window of opportunity for repentance closed (Revelation 3:3b), and neither do we. The Lord does not tell us the hour, so that we will not indulge in deadly, spiritual procrastination.
Whom the Lord will use. As churches become spiritually dead, despite having a reputation for being spiritually alive, the godly among them become marginalized. The implication in Revelation 3:4 was that the Sardis church knew whom Jesus meant by these “few names.” Indubitably, the rest of the church considered them too pietistic, for responding to the Word in the way Revelation 3:3 describes, and too scrupulous for caring so much about holiness in the way Revelation 3:4 describes. But Jesus walks in holiness, and if you are to walk with Him, you will have to walk in that holiness too. The Lord had spared to Sardis a few spiritually alive church members, and now the rest of the congregation needed to make good use of these gifts to their church and come back to walking with them who walked with Jesus.
What the Lord will give. It was not too late for those who repented to have white garments (Revelation 3:5) like those few names who had not backslidden. Jesus Himself was ready to clothe them, ready to fit them with holy character and conduct to suit them for glory. He was ready to show their names written in the Book of Life after all, and to confess their names before His Father. Do you see how ready Christ is to complete your redemption and bring you all the way to glory?! Be watchful! Remember! Receive! Hear! Hold fast! Repent! He continues to give ears to hear by His sevenfold Spirit. And His Spirit uses what He says to the churches by the mouths of the preacher-stars that are in Jesus’s hand. Come, backslider. Sit under that preaching, in dependence upon the Spirit, and be revived.
Of the four things that the passage says to do with the Word, which needs the most work in your life? Who might be those in your own church whose character and habits you should emulate to come back to walking with the Lord as they do? How are you using time before God’s face to strengthen yourself against putting to much stock in your (and your church’s) good reputation before men?
Sample prayer: Lord, forgive us for being satisfied with a reputation for being spiritually alive, rather than seeking in all things to satisfy You. Grant that we would be watchful, and return to receiving Your Word, hearing Your Word, holding fast to Your Word, and repenting at Your Word. Give us to do this before the opportunity is lost, and You have come in judgment. So, forgive us and sanctify us, we ask in Your own Name, AMEN!
Suggested songs: ARP32 “What Blessedness” or TPH504 “Rise, My Soul, to Watch and Pray”
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