Our first adventure raising chickens involved a
single “hen” given to us by a friend that my son (3 years old at the time)
named, “Pork Chop.” We thought that was such a brilliant name that we’ve let
him name every animal we’ve owned since! As I said, it was supposed to be hen, but as
it began to go through “chicken puberty,” something strange began to
happen. It started making these
god-awful crowing noises. Before long,
it was breaking out in full on cock-a-doodle-doo’s! Our “hen” turned out to be a rooster! That story reminds me that things are not
always what they appear to be. This is
also the story of many so-called “Christians” today: they are not what they
appear to be. They may call themselves “Christians”
but they don’t cock-a-doodle-doo Jesus!
The church a Sardis was such a group of
people. They had a reputation for being
one thing but where in reality another.
In Revelation 3:1-6, Jesus,
knowing what and who they really were, gave the church at Sardis a wake up call
to repent or face judgment. This is
exactly what Churches and believers who think they are one thing but are in
reality another need today: a wake up call!
My prayer today is that God would give us as a church and as individuals
such a wake up call. May we beg God reveal
to us where we truly stand before Him and to help us repent of any sin and
complacency in our lives.
[3:1] “And
to the angel of the church in Sardis write: ‘The words of him who has the seven
spirits of God and the seven stars. “‘I know your works. You have the
reputation of being alive, but you are dead. [2] Wake up, and strengthen
what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your works complete in the
sight of my God. [3] Remember, then, what you received and heard. Keep it,
and repent. If you will not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not
know at what hour I will come against you. [4] Yet you have still a few
names in Sardis, people who have not soiled their garments, and they will walk
with me in white, for they are worthy. [5] The one who conquers will be
clothed thus in white garments, and I will never blot his name out of the book
of life. 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.’ (Revelation
3:1-6 ESV) How is this passage a wake-up call to God’s people? It reminds us that…
I. Jesus Alone
Knows Our True Reality (1)
Our perception of reality may or may not be
reality. The church at Sardis had the “reputation” or “name” of “being alive,”
but was in reality was “dead.” They thought they were one thing, but were in
reality another. This reminds us that
churches and people can deceive
themselves about who and what they really are.
In other words, our perception of our reality may not be reality. Jeremiah
17:9-10 says, “[9] The heart is
deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? [10] “I
the LORD search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his
ways, according to the fruit of his deeds.”
Jesus alone is the One who sees and knows a
church’s and a person’s true reality. This
has been a major point in every letter to the churches, that Jesus “knows” them better than they know
themselves. The description of Christ
here as Him who holds “the seven spirits
of God and the seven stars” also serves to communicate this truth.
The Pharisees were another group of people who
thought they were one thing, but were in reality another. In Matthew
23:27-28, Jesus would rebuke them as well, saying [27] “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are
like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full
of dead people's bones and all uncleanness. [28] So you also outwardly
appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and
lawlessness.
I wonder how many people here today identify with
that terrifying reality? We have the
reputation for being one thing, but are in fact another. We think we are one thing, but are in fact
another. Before you exonerate yourself
of such a description, remember that thinking this doesn’t apply to you was
exactly Sardis’ problem! They thought
they weren’t dead! Only Jesus knows the
true reality of where we stand with Him.
May God give us courage to pray as David did in Psalm 139:23-24: [23] Search
me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! [24] And see if
there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!
II.
Our Complacency is Not a Joke to Jesus (3b)
Complacency is a cancer to the church. By it I mean a lack of vigilance and passion
for Christ and His mission. For you to
understand why I use the word “complacent,” I want to show you seven ways in which
this passage describes the deadness of
this church. First, to be dead here
means to be mostly dead. “Dead”
is a summary of this church’s spiritual state as a whole, but it does not mean
that there is no life in this church, because the church is told to “strengthen what remains and is about to
die” (2) and that there are “still a
few names” who have not “soiled their
garments” (4).
Second, being dead is being deceived. As we said earlier, they thought they were one
thing but were another. Thirdly, to be
dead is to be asleep. They are told twice to “wake up” (2,3). One
commentator states that they had “become
lethargic about the radical demands of their faith.” The imagery here is of a watchman who had
fallen asleep on while on duty. Fourth, to be dead is to have insufficient works in both quantity and quality. He says that their works were found to be
incomplete in His sight (2). They had
been weighed, measured, and found wanting.
Fifth, to be dead is to have
forgotten truths that are essential.
This is what is implied in their being charged to “remember” what they had received and heard (3). The sixth thing that is means for this church
to be “dead” is to have garments that are “soiled.”
That a few have not soiled
their garments implies that the majority
of the others have soiled their
garments. This probably means they had so fully compromised with the pagan
culture that they were considered “soiled”
by it. They reeked of worldliness. And the final thing that is means for a
church or a group of people to be “dead” from
this passage is to have a lack of witness. I
say this because of the absence of any mention of persecution (in a town with a
large Jewish and pagan influence) and the allusion to Matthew 10:32-33 in verse 5.
[32] So everyone who
acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in
heaven, [33] but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my
Father who is in heaven. (Matthew
10:32-33 ESV) The clear implication
of this allusion is that there are many who are not acknowledging Christ before men.
So the church as Sardis is described as a nearly dead,
deceived, sleepy, insufficient, ignorant, soiled, and silent bunch of people.
That picture is not a laughing matter, and Jesus promises to judge them if they
fail to wake up and repent. He will come
“like a thief” against them. This means that He will judge this church suddenly and unexpectedly. A thief
doesn’t RSVP and tell you what hour he is coming!
Jesus’ warning reminds me of His words in Luke 12:35-40: [35] “Stay dressed for action and keep your lamps burning,
[36] and be like men who are waiting for their master to come home from
the wedding feast, so that they may open the door to him at once when he comes
and knocks. [37] Blessed are those servants whom the master finds awake
when he comes. Truly, I say to you, he will dress himself for service and have
them recline at table, and he will come and serve them. [38] If he comes
in the second watch, or in the third, and finds them awake, blessed are those
servants! [39] But know this, that if the master of the house had known at
what hour the thief was coming, he would not have left his house to be broken
into. [40] You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour
you do not expect.”
Would Jesus condemn us for our lack of
vigilance? Have you become comfortable
and complacent spiritually? Complacency
and Apathy is one of the biggest problems plaguing the church is America
today. We’ve been rocked to sleep by the
cares of this world to the point where we are more passionate about the reality
show that’s coming on Tuesday night than we are about our neighbor hearing the
gospel. We also face little persecution
for our faith. Could it be that it is
because we look enough like the rest of the world that we don’t draw any
concern? May we wake up and remember
that we have a King and mission more important than anything else in our
lives. May we also hear the seriousness
of these consequences for not repenting of complacency.
III.
Our Perseverance is the Only Reality that is
Acceptable to Jesus (2-3a, 4-6)
This point is taken from the five imperatives (commands) given in verses 3-4 and the three promises given in verses 4-5. The five commands given (I think the last
three are how they are supposed to do
the first two) are meant to call this church out of their spiritual slumber and
deadness. They told to “wake up,” to “strengthen what remains,” to “remember” what they have received and
heard, to “keep” (or obey) that, and
to “repent.” This is their wake-up call, and ours as
well.
This wake-up call would have a special
significance for the church in this city.
Sardis was an impenetrable military stronghold with 1500-foot walls on
three of its sides. It had never been
taken in conventional warfare. As a
matter of fact, “capturing Sardis” had become a slogan for accomplishing the
impossible. But as impenetrable as this
city appeared to be, it had been sacked twice due to negligent watchmen (in
546 BC by Cyrus and in 214 BC by Antiochus III).
The church is also given three promises to the conquerors, who have “not soiled their garments,” which call them persevere as
well. They will first be clothed and walk with Jesus
in “white garments” (4-5a). White garments are the attire of heaven in
the book of Revelation. They are a way of
describing those who are justified and who have faithfully endured
persecution. Revelation 7:14 says that these garments are white because they
have been washed in the blood of the Lamb.
The second promise is that the conquerors names
will never be blotted out of the book of life.
Now in Revelation there are “the
books” which seem to be a record of the deeds of everyone who has ever
lived and then there is the “book of
life” which seems to be a record of the people of God, or those who have
eternal life (Revelation 13:8, 17:8,
20:11-15). I don’t take this to mean
that a name can be blotted out, but to actually be a positive guarantee of
assurance for those who persevere that is stated negatively. The
point is not that a name can or cannot be blotted out, but that those who
conquer will never be erased from the Lamb’s book of life. It’s an allusion to Daniel 12:1-2 and is another promise of eternal life for the
conqueror. Finally those who persevere
will have their names confessed before God the Father and His angels. Again, this is an allusion to Jesus’ words in
the gospels and implies that those who conquer have been faithful to confess
Jesus before men.
Perseverance is the only reality that is
acceptable to Jesus. This is a call to
vigilance on the part of God’s people.
We must not drift into complacency and become negligent watchmen for our
Lord. Grant Osborne makes this statement
in his commentary on this passage: “The
heart of watchfulness…is to acknowledge the supremacy of Christ in everything.”[1] I think that is an appropriate way to think
about this call to spiritual vigilance.
I hope that this has been a message that is both
convicting and encouraging. We should be
convicted over the complacency in many of our lives, mine as well. However, we should also be encouraged because
as bleak as the situation was in Sardis, it was not beyond repair. Neither is your situation! James
4:8 reminds us in times like these that if we will draw near to God that
God will draw near to us. Understanding
what Philippians 2:13 says, that “it is God who works in you, both to will
and to work for his good pleasure,” I think A. W. Tozer’s prayer is an
appropriate application of this message:
“O God, I
have tasted Thy goodness, and it has both satisfied me and made me thirsty for
more. I am painfully conscious of my
need of further grace. I am ashamed of
my lack of desire. O God, the Triune
God, I want to want thee; I long to be filled with longing; I thirst to be made
more thirsty still. Show me Thy glory, I
pray Thee, so that I may know Thee indeed.
Begin in mercy a new work of love within me. Say to my soul, “Rise up, my love, my fair
one, and come away.” Then give me grace
to rise up and follow Thee from this misty lowland where I have wandered for so
long. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”[2]
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