The Letter to Sardis

Wake Up

Call to worship Psalm 145:3–7 “Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise; his greatness no one can fathom. One generation commends your works to another; they tell of your mighty acts. They speak of the glorious splendor of your majesty— and I will meditate on your wonderful works. They tell of the power of your awesome works— and I will proclaim your great deeds. They celebrate your abundant goodness and joyfully sing of your righteousness.”

Old Testament Ezekiel 18:21–23 ““But if a wicked person turns away from all the sins they have committed and keeps all my decrees and does what is just and right, that person will surely live; they will not die. None of the offenses they have committed will be remembered against them. Because of the righteous things they have done, they will live. Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked? declares the Sovereign Lord. Rather, am I not pleased when they turn from their ways and live?”

New Testament Rev. 3:1-6

Revelation 3:1–6 NIV

“To the angel of the church in Sardis write: These are the words of him who holds the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead. Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have found your deeds unfinished in the sight of my God. Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; hold it fast, and repent. But if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what time I will come to you. Yet you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes. They will walk with me, dressed in white, for they are worthy. The one who is victorious will, like them, be dressed in white. I will never blot out the name of that person from the book of life, but will acknowledge that name before my Father and his angels. Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

We have been studying the Revelation of the Apostle John. we began with John’s vision of the risen Christ as the Son of Man, dressed in a white robe girded with a golden belt whose feet shown like polished bronze. John was told to write down the messages that he was given to send to the Seven churches in Asia Minor. We have been looking at their strengths and weaknesses today we are going to see what was written to Sardis.

Sardis was a rich town located on a strategic trade route in relation to the other cities in Asia Minor. One of the kings was named Croesus. there was a saying as rich as Croesus that according to William Barclay has been as passed down through the ages. The city was on a high plateau that had only a narrow entrance that was easily defended. Croesus had decided to declare war on the Persians. he consulted an oracle to ask if he should go to war. The oracle’s response was if you cross the river a great nation will be destroyed. Croesus took that to mean that he would be successful. He crossed the river and was routed in the battle. He fled back to his mountain fortress. The Persian king Cyrus waited for fourteen days. He promised a great reward to anyone who could find a way into the city. According to the Greek Historian Herodotus, a Persian soldier was watching the walls and noticed one of the Sardis soldiers drop his helmet. He saw the helmet land near the bottom of the mountain. The soldier disappeared, but returned shortly with his helmet in hand. The Persian determined that there must be a fissure in the wall that would allow access to the fort. that night he led a small band to the wall and found a place where they could climb up the wall. Croesus’ troops were so confident in the safety of their fort that no guards were posted while they slept and they were completely destroyed.

In this letter Jesus is introduced as the one who holds the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. If you recall when we began the study we identified the seven spirits as attributes of the Holy Spirit. We recognize God as a triune God; Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit having the attributes.The Spirit of the Lord, the Spirit of wisdom, the Spirit of understanding, the Spirit of counsel, the Spirit of power, the Spirit of knowledge, and the fear of the Lord. Seven attributes, but one Spirit. The seven stars represent the seven churches to which the letters are addressed.

This letter unlike the others begins with the negative or condemnation. They have a reputation for being alive but are dead, spiritually dead. The first command in this letter is to “Wake Up” It is appropriate based on the story of how Sardis was destroyed while they slept. Richard Gibbons tells the story of a young man who came to know the Lord. He was on fire, he bought a Bible and went to church. He followed along while the pastor preached and when the pastor made a point he shouted “Amen” *people around him looked with disgust that he would disrupt the service that way. The pastor made another point and he shouted “Amen brother, Preach it.” One of the elders approached him and asked him to be quiet. He responded “I’ve found Jesus and I can’t be quiet.” The elder responded “ Well you didn’t find him here, be quiet.”

That would not happen here, we welcome amen’s in our services. They might help someone else who is struggling to stay awake. You have probably laughed at some of to ways to wake someone up from a deep sleep that are portrayed on TV. From tickling someones nose or feet, to pulling them literally out of the bed, to pouring water on them. People in the armed force are familiar with revel y being played. Another way to look at waking up is when something becomes so routine that we are not aware of what we are doing. When I was in school we had one of those phrases that we repeated. they didn’t always make sense or were they without sometimes hurting others feeling. the phrase was to tell someone to “wake up and die right.” Young people don’t think of death happening to them its when we get older and realize how final death is and how it affects those around us.

The second command is to strengthen what remains. My first thought was how I was recently in physical therapy and I know others of you have been as well. As we age our bones, joints and muscles start to weaken and we need to exercise to improve or strengthen our bodies. Another example is how see people on TV filling sand bags to shore up or create dams in hope of preventing flooding during heavy storms. Perhaps you have done that. We need to strengthen our faith, our resolve to know the Lord. To study our Bible’s and reach out to God in prayer so that we can know him better. Our lives are not over there is still more for us to do.

The third command is to remember how you recieved Jesus in the first place. It seems to be human nature to start to take things for granted, to relax and not take time for Bible reading and prayer. You might remember how important worship was to you when you first became a Christian.

The fourth command is to repent. I know that you have heard me say that a lot lately. It is in the scriptures. Romans 3:23 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” Paul said it, John said it, and Jesus said it. Therefore it must be important and we can’t say it too often. To repent is to be truly sorry for what you have done. Not being sorry that you got caught. When children are playing and their is an alteration we adults try to repair the situation by telling them to say that they are sorry. Two little girls were playing and the older one was swinging a toy and it hit her sister. Of course the injured one screamed and mother came running. She asked what happened and told the older sister that she hurt her sister badly and to tell her she was sorry. After the apology the younger sister went back to playing and singing a happy song. The older sister assessed the situation and said I take back my sorry she wasn’t hurt that bad. Repentance is not negotiable. We want to put values of sin Is it a big sin, a little sin, it might even be one that we think cannot be forgiven. Sin is sin, it doesn’t matter. God hates all sin and we need to repent.

The fifth command is to keep awake. that doesn’t mean that we never sleep. It means that we are to stay alert, not get caught up in the sin that is all around us. Jesus says that he will come like a thief in the night without warning. We don’t know when, but we do know that He is coming.

Jesus does offer some commendation. He says that there are a few people who have not soiled their robes. they will walk with him and be clothed in white. this reminds me of the story of Lot when he lived in Sodom. Abraham bargained with God asking him if he would not destroy Sodom if there were 10 righteous men in the city. And God said that he would not destroy it. God sent an angel to rescue lot and his family. The were told to leave immediately and not look back. Lot’s wife looked back and she became a pillar of salt. We remember that to this day. Jesus says that those who stay faithful will not have their names blotted out of the book of life. He will acknowledge them before his Father and his angels. Think about that Jesus and God sitting on their thrones talking about their human children.

The letter ends just like the others, “ whoever has an ear to hear let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”