The Church Of Sardis
Rev.3:
1 And unto the angel of the church in Sardis write; These things saith he that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars; I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead.
2 Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die: for I have not found thy works perfect before God.
3 Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee.
4 Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with me in white: for they are worthy.
5 He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.
6 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.
Men often substitute a religious life for a righteous life.
Being religious is mans way.
Being righteous is Gods way.
We find that men and churches fail to live righteous.
More live religious lives actions but not from the heart.
When mans heart is right then all phases of life will be righteous.
1 The Church.
1 And unto the angel of the church in Sardis write; These things saith he that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars; I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead.
This church is about forty miles east of Smyrna the old capital of Lydia.
Remember that God controls the seven Spirits and the seven stars.
Here is the problem the church was active but spiritually dead.
2. Gods concern
2 Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die: for I have not found thy works perfect before God.
3 Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee.
Forget the past and look unto God.
We need to update our lives with Christ.
He gives us the resources we need to do this.
Let the past be gone live today.
We need to live and serve him to the very best we can.
We need to be sober
1st Thessalonians 5: 5 Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness.
6 Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober.
We need to be solemn
Rev. 3: 11 Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.
Let no man take your crown.
We need to be serious
Rev,16: 15 Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.
Luke 12: 37 Blessed are those servants, whom the lord when he cometh shall find watching: verily I say unto you, that he shall gird himself, and make them to sit down to meat, and will come forth and serve them.
Indifference has no place in a Christian’s life.
All Christians should be serious about serving God at all times
Knowing the coming of Christ is at hand.
3. Cleanliness
Ver. 4 Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with me in white: for they are worthy.
There are two requirements to living as they did in Sardis.
Cleansing
This begins with Salvation
2nd Cor.5:
17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
We must maintain this through Jesus Christ.
We need a spiritual bath just like a shower is bath in every day life.
1st John 1: 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.
The word is our cleansing.
4. The Compensation.
Ver. 5 He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.
6 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.
We find here 3 promises.
Clothed in white raiment (Christ righteousness)
Name will not be removed from book of life (Salvation)
Christ will confess our sins before God (Heaven)
Open
Ver.66 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.
Listen to the word of God.
Learn from it.
At conversion men are changed.
We make our choices after that.
Phil.2: 12 Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.
