Revelation 3:1-6

“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.  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.  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.  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 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.  He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’

Christ’s description of this church is sobering.  The church has the reputation of being alive, but Christ describes it as dead.  Man’s view and God’s view of churches is very different.  There is almost nothing positive said about this church other than that there are a few faithful believers that have not been contaminated.  God always has a remnant that stands for the truth. 

FAILING WORKS: The way men evaluate churches and the way Jesus evaluates churches looks very different in this passage.  The church in Sardis apparently looked impressive to man because of all their works.  It was likely active and had many different programs.  However, Jesus describes these words as being dead.  The admonition is to wake up because there were only a few works being accomplished that were of value and those were about to die too.  It would be interesting to know exactly what was going on in this church and what Jesus considered to be the difference between living and dead works.  We can say with some certainty that the living works were those that were empowered by the Spirit of God.  The transformation of lives through the power of the Gospel is something that only the Holy Spirit can accomplish.  Dead works are likely those that were being done in the power of the flesh and for the glory of man.  These things might impress other men and cause people to admire one another, but they do nothing to promote the worship of God.

FORGOTTEN WORDS: The call of Christ to this church is to remember and repent.  They had apparently forgotten the teachings of Christ and the apostles who proclaimed the Gospel to them.  They were not keeping the Word of God and following the instructions of Scripture.  Jesus does not tell us that this church was contaminated by immorality or idolatry like some of the previous churches.  They were just satisfied to do what, in their minds, were good works but they were dead works because they didn’t point to Christ, bring glory to the Father, or depend on the Spirit.  Only the Gospel has the power to bring life to people.  The church had been founded on the Gospel and lives had been changed by the Spirit of God through the proclamation of His Word.  These words had been forgotten and replaced with human reasoning and worldly philosophies that impress men but have no power to transform hearts.  They desperately needed to repent of their self-reliance and return to dependence on the Lord Jesus.  If not, Jesus promises to come like a thief against them and surprise them by judging them for their sinful lack of faith and pride.

FAITHFUL WALKS: There was still hope for this church because in their midst were a few people who had not given into compromise and were living lives of purity before God and others.  They had been transformed by the power of the Gospel and were now dressed in the righteousness of Christ.  They had refused to allow the soil of sin to contaminate their lives.  This faithful minority demonstrates that God is always at work and has a plan of redemption that is at work.  This is a true and permanent salvation that permeates to the very heart of man.  Those of us who have placed our faith in Christ and received His righteousness in place of our sinfulness will stand blameless before the Father, dressed in white, having our names forever recorded in the book of life.  Jesus will confess our names before the Father and the holy angels, and we will be welcomed into eternal fellowship with Him.

APPLICATION: Seek to evaluate our works from God’s perspective and not man’s.  Depend on the Spirit of God and the power of the Gospel not human effort and man-centered works.  No matter how difficult things may be in our surroundings, we can still be faithful and know that God recognizes are rewards all who truly trust Christ.