Revelation for Now & Future Part 8

Revelation 3:1–6 ESV

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.’

Sardis information

30 miles SE of Thyatira

Military stronghold

Capital of the Lydian kingdom

Known for its textiles

Claimed invention of wool-dyeing

Topography

Atop a plateau 1500’ rock walls

Virtually impregnable

Later, by the time of Revelation, the city had redeveloped at a lower location. (Defeated in 549 B.C. Cyrus & 195 B.C. by Antiochus)

Religion of Sardis

Pagan temples to Cybele & Artemis

A huge temple to Artemis has been excavated

The hot springs in Sardis were said to bring the dead to life via Cybele.

Sardis was also famous for its decadence:

Worship debasing

Orgies to Dionysus

Emperor Worship

Omniscience “I know”

Revelation 3:1 ESV

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.

What does He know?

Reputation

The literal translation of the Greek word “ονομα” is “Name”.

Yet in this context we are referring to the reputation or connotation carried by the name.

In essence, the Lord desires for the church to understand its reputation and its reality.

Adulation/ Praise

Revelation 3:4 ESV

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.

The reputation of Sardis is a good one.

Alive

Some churches “live” on their past.

Some churches reminisce.

The church had taken on the character of its city.

“The Real Praise”-

People who did not waiver or soil themselves.

Revelation 7:14 ESV

14 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.

Rebuke “I know differently”

Reality

Dead

The city of Sardis had seen better days and diminished.

The church was an emulation of the city.

This is a bit more intense of a criticism than what was given to the other churches.

Command

Revelation 3:2–3 ESV

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.

Wake Up - Be Aware!

Death is imminent!

Lacking you are!

Repent!

What you:

Received

Heard

Warning

Revelation 3:3 ESV

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.

Don’t make me come to you!

Overcome

Revelation 3:5 ESV

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.

Clothed in white

Revelation 6:9–11 ESV

9 When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne. 10 They cried out with a loud voice, “O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” 11 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 7:13–14 ESV

13 Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, “Who are these, clothed in white robes, and from where have they come?” 14 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.

A name that remains in the “Book of Life”

Revelation 21:27 ESV

27 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.

A Name confessed before God.

Matthew 10:32 ESV

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

Walking Away, but IN:

Can a church die? Can the Lord refresh it?

Let your reputation/name be your reality.