Revelation 3:1-6 - Dead or Alive? Sardis’ Wake-Up Call

Introduction

The Great Awakening was a spiritual revival that swept the entirety of the American colonies from 1740 to 1742. Three of the most famous preachers of that era were George Whitefield (1714-1770), John Wesley (1703-1791) and Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758). Even more significantly, in print Edwards was this revival’s most theologically astute champion as well as its most perceptive critic. This dual rôle with regard to the revival called forth some of Edwards’ finest books. Among these works are ones that are still regarded as Christian classics, of which the most notable is A Treatise Concerning Religious Affections (1746).

In the middle of the revival William Cooper (1694-1743), one of Edwards’ friends and the Congregationalist minister of Brattle Street Church, Boston, gave his perspective on what God was doing in his day.

The dispensation of grace we are now under, is certainly such as neither we nor our fathers have seen; and in some circumstances so wonderful, that I believe there has not been the like since the extraordinary pouring out of the Spirit immediately after our Lord’s ascension. The apostolical times seem to have returned upon us: such a display has there been of the power and grace of the divine Spirit in the assemblies of his people, and such testimonies has he given to the word of the gospel. …

A number of preachers have appeared among us, to whom God has given such a large measure of his Spirit, that we are ready sometimes to apply to them the character given of Barnabas, that “he was a good man, and full of the Holy Ghost, and of faith” (Acts 11:24). They preach the gospel of the grace of God from place to place, with uncommon zeal and assiduity [close attention]. The doctrines they insist on are the doctrines of the reformation, under the influence whereof the power of godliness so flourished in the last century.

The points on which their preaching mainly turns are those important ones of man’s guilt, corruption, and impotence; supernatural regeneration by the Spirit of God, and free justification by faith in the righteousness of Christ; and the marks of the new birth.

The manner of their preaching is not with the “enticing words of man’s wisdom” (1 Corinthians 2:4); howbeit, they “speak wisdom among them that are perfect” (1 Corinthians 2:6). An ardent love to Christ and souls warms their breasts and animates their labours. God has made those his ministers active spirits, a flame of fire in his service; and his word in their mouths has been, “as a fire, and as a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces” (Jeremiah 23:29).

[1]“Preface” to Edwards, Distinguishing Marks (Jonathan Edwards on Revival, 77, 78-79, passim). See also the comments of Thomas Templeton Taylor, “The Spirit of the Awakening: The Pneumatology of New England’s Great Awakening in Historical and Theological Context” (Unpublished Ph.D. thesis, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1988), 233-235. On William Cooper, see William B. Sprague, Annals of the American Pulpit (New York: Robert Carter and Brothers, 1857), I, 288-291.

Patmos and the Seven Churches

Sardis was a major city on the east-west highway between Rome and Persia

It was a pro-Roman, emperor cult city

It was virtually destroyed by an earthquake in AD 17 but was rebuilt and given new life with the aid of Emperor Tiberius (AD 14–37).

The most prominent building left standing today is the gymnasium

The church at Sardis listened to Jesus, and lasted until 616A.D. when the Sassanid invasion (early Muslims) destroyed Sardis and scattered the inhabitants.

I. Christ Sends the Spirit to Bring Life (Rev 3:1)

Has the Seven Spirits of God

Figurative way to describe the Holy Spirit in his fullness. (Sevenfold Spirit in Isaiah 11:2)

Isaiah 11:2 ESV

And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.

In Christ, we too have the Spirit

Romans 8:9 ESV

You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.

Holds the Seven Stars

If it is the pastors, what comfort like John 10, our leaders are secure in his grip (cf. John 10:28–29).

More likely, if it refers to the guardian angels of the church, it is a comfort because like Hebrews taught us, He is higher than the angels and is on his throne guiding and sending those angels to minister to those who will inherit salvation (cf. Heb 1:14).

Christ knows this church. He cares for this church. He is responsible for them. He sends them his messengers and and he sends his Holy Spirit\

John 14:16 ESV

And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever,

Acts 2:33 ESV

Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing.

Revival must come from the Father through Christ by the Holy Spirit.

John 6:63 ESV

It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life.

The Holy Spirit is the Lord and giver of life! - Nicene Creed

II. Christ Condemns their Spiritual Condition (Rev 3:1)

Jesus begins with correction rather than praise.

Reputation of being alive, but you are dead

Genuine Christians have life:

Was it because they would not confess Jesus before men? (Rev 3:5)

We don’t know for sure. What we do know is that they were Christians in name only (onoma = here reputation)

Exalting Jesus in Revelation Christ Confronts Those Who Have a Reputation but Are Dead (Revelation 3:1)

It is a sad thing when the only accomplishment (“deed”) of a church is what it names itself, especially if the reality shows that name to be a lie, as here. Their past deeds gave them a reputation among other churches for being alive for Christ, but their present deeds show a quite different picture (in accordance with their city’s history).… Just outside their city was a famous necropolis, or cemetery, with the graves of long-dead kings. The assembly at Sardis represented that cemetery more than a living church. (Revelation, 174)

III. Christ Wants Us to Recall the Word of Life (Rev 3:2-3)

Wake Up! - from lethargy and self-deception

Matthew 24:42–44 ESV

Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.

1 Peter 5:8 ESV

Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.

Strengthen what remains and is about to die

What remains is the genuine Christianity in the congregation; the life that is present.

Their works were lacking, not from a quantity that gain human approval, but a quality that gains God’s approval.

Matthew 7:21–23 ESV

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’

The temple of Artemis in Sardis was unfinished at the time, and Christ is saying this also describes their church.

Like an unfinished building that eventually crumbles, their church was about to die and crumble. The lampstand was about to be removed.

Remember what you received and heard

Not just to remember in an intellectual way, but to remember in order to act on it.

John 17:8 ESV

For I have given them the words that you gave me, and they have received them and have come to know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me.

Characteristics of revival preaching: 1) Need for the new birth/Regeneration, 2) Justification by Faith alone

Keep it and repent

Keeping the Gospel in such a way that they respond to the life-giving word with signs of life in their church and in their own lives.

Revelation 1:3 ESV

Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near.

Revelation 3:19 ESV

Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent.

If not, Jesus will come like a thief in judgment.

Because of its location, it was known for its invincibility. For example, a 2nd century writer Lucian compared the taking of Sardis to an impossible task. It was actually conquered twice in history: 1) By Cyrus of Persia (6th century B.C.) and 2) Antiochus the Great (3rd century B.C.). Both conquered it the same way, someone scaled the cliffs and snuck into the city at a weak point, and then opened the gates.

They would not have missed the allusion to these events when Jesus says, “I will come like a thief”

Revelation 16:15 ESV

(“Behold, I am coming like a thief! Blessed is the one who stays awake, keeping his garments on, that he may not go about naked and be seen exposed!”)

1 Thessalonians 5:2 ESV

For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.

2 Peter 3:10–12 ESV

But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed. Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn!

His coming is like a thief in the night to those who sleep or are dead, but to us who are waiting, he comes as a friend in the day

1 Thessalonians 5:4 ESV

But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief.

IV. Christ Commends the Faithful among Them (Rev 3:4)

“A few names” - play on the word “name” which was translated “reputation” above. These few names are the real deal. They are living in the power of the Spirit and holding fast to Christ. They have not soiled their garments with the idolatry of Sardis around them.

You know how it is with white clothing—it has a magnetic attraction to every stain in a five-mile radius. You can wear a black shirt for a week and it stays pristine, but put on something white and within five minutes you've somehow managed to spill coffee, drop mustard, and brush against a dirty wall you didn't even know existed.

“walk with me in white” - a picture of direct divine communion with with Jesus and the Father in the New Creation

Revelation 21:3 ESV

And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.

Revelation 21:23–24 ESV

And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb. By its light will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it,

“they are worthy” - they are worthy because they are in Christ

Revelation 1:5 ESV

and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood

Revelation 5:9 ESV

And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation

The tradition of the Roman triumphal procession is that conquering heroes were honored by citizens that lined the streets wearing white and then joined in the parade behind the heroes.

Those believing in Jesus will be worthy to join in the triumph of Jesus when he returns!

Even now, those few are a powerful witness and light to the world that the night is almost over and the day is coming!

Like an ember, when stoked, can get a blaze going. Telling the boys in Yosemite to knock that off!

We have the opportunity to be the means of revival in this city!

V. Our Life is Secure in Christ (Rev 3:5-6)

To the one who overcomes:

“clothed in white garments”

Revelation 6:11 ESV

Then they were each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brothers should be complete, who were to be killed as they themselves had been.

Revelation 7:9–14 ESV

After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.” Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, “Who are these, clothed in white robes, and from where have they come?” I said to him, “Sir, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

“I will never erase his name from the book of life”

In Greek, this expresses a negative idea that is meant to be stronger than the positive statement, “i will write his name in the book of life” It is not meant to teach that salvation is conditional or that there is a veiled threat in these words. On the contrary, it expresses mercy and love of God and Christ in bringing us securely and safely home.

Revelation 20:12 ESV

And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done.

Revelation 21:27 ESV

But nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life.

“I will confess his name before my Father and his angels”

Matthew 10:32 ESV

So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven,

Luke 12:8 ESV

“And I tell you, everyone who acknowledges me before men, the Son of Man also will acknowledge before the angels of God,

Tom Schreiner, Revelation, 182.

Here in Rev. 3:5 the confession is before both the Father and the angels. Thus we have the picture of a heavenly courtroom (cf. 20:11–15), the throne room, where God sits on the throne and angels congregate around the throne (chaps. 4–5). Those who conquer will be publicly vindicated and honored as they receive a great reward—namely, eschatological life.

Do you know who is vouching for you when you get to heaven? Jesus!

Let us hear what the Spirit says to the churches, to Trinity church.

Conclusion

Curchianity vs true Christianity

Exalting Jesus in Revelation Autopsy of a Dead Church (Revelation 3:1–6)

Many a church begins with a man, reaches out with a mission, becomes a movement, but ends up a monument or in the mortuary.

A dead church lacks missionary zeal.

It is an ingrown church.

When a heart stops beating, paramedics don't give up—they use a defibrillator. The electric shock looks violent, even dangerous, but it's the only thing that can restart a dead heart. God's Word works the same way in dead churches. It might seem harsh when Jesus says "you are dead," but that shock of truth is exactly what's needed to restart spiritual life. The Spirit takes the Word and jolts us back to life.

Trinity, God has made us first responders in this city. We're the ones he's called to rush in with the gospel that brings life.