There was a time in this country where a handshake or “your word” were good enough.
If you shook hands or said I promise, or I will do something you would be trusted to accomplish the task, pay the bill whatever. Your name meant something, it represented something…you were only as good as your name.
In the church of Sardis we run into that problem, they had once had a name, a good reputation but they allowed it to fade
Revelation 3:1-6
“And to the angel of the church in Sardis write,
‘These things says He who has the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars: “I know your works, that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead. 2 Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die, for I have not found your works perfect before God. 3 Remember therefore how you have received and heard; hold fast and repent. Therefore if you will not watch, I will come upon you as a thief, and you will not know what hour I will come upon you. 4 You have a few names even in Sardis who have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with Me in white, for they are worthy. 5 He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life; but 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.” ’
As we begin this epistle of Jesus to the church of Sardis we see one of the titles from Chapter 1 why is this title important?
Revelation 3:1
“And to the angel of the church in Sardis write,
‘These things says He who has the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars: “I know your works, that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead.
They have a name that is a carry over from their past….kind of “what have you done for me lately?” thing. At one point they were alive and thriving…not unlike Ephesus who forgot their first love Sardis had forgotten who they were and all that the Lord had done. They forgot about sharing their faith, that had gotten so beat up by the world, they had forgotten who they were and whose they were and the excitement that comes with knowing you are truly loved by God.
What were you like when you first came to Jesus?
It is so very easy for that to happen in our world. Life is busy, life can wear you down, beat you up and before you know it, you are barely making it through the day.
Revelation 3:2,3a
2 Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die, for I have not found your works perfect before God. 3 Remember therefore how you have received and heard; hold fast and repent.
When people are weary and beat up, it is easy to see where they are and to give them a quick, peppy quip to get them to “snap out of it.” If we don’t pay attention here it would be easy to think that is what Jesus is saying here…”come on, pull yourself together. Pull yourself up by your own bootstraps, repent of how far you have fallen and pull it together, grab onto what you remember was a blessing and a joy and go back to that!!
Jesus is saying that but not without help….what do I mean? The title he chooses here is because he knows where they are, how broken and weary they have become but he will come as a judge if they don’t take Him up on his offer!
What offer?
“He who has the seven Spirits of God”
He is telling them, I see how weary, worn out and beat up you are but I have come to refill you with the Holy Spirit if you will allow me. The spirit that is full of power, bearing love, peace, joy, leading you into all truth and allowing you to move in the gifts again…if you are willing…Jesus is genuinely concerned for this church as He is all the churches that is why the letters are written and He knows if they are not willing to be refilled with the Holy Spirit they may not make it.
Revelation 3:3b
Therefore if you will not watch, I will come upon you as a thief, and you will not know what hour I will come upon you.
This was particularly impacting to Sardis. Sardis was considered and impregnable city. It had cliffs on three sides and the front gate was heavily protected for any adversary. But Cyrus led his army of Medes to overrun the city…King Croesus of Sardis felt safe have the pathway to the city blocked. The cliffs guarding the city were made of clay and due to erosion had created small crevices. One night a small band of soldiers from Cyrus’ army were able to scale the mountain, crawl through open spaces in the wall and conquer the city before they knew what was happening. This was called coming as a thief in the night. It happened twice to the city of Sardis. The people of Sardis felt so confident in their cliffs they neglected the wall and were not watchful for the quickly the enemy over ran them.
We have the story of the foolish and wise virgins and when the bridegroom suddenly appears the foolish virgins were not prepared and were left behind.
Paul wrote this to the church of Thessalonica, 1 Thessalonians 5:1-6
But concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you. 2 For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. 3 For when they say, “Peace and safety!” then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape. 4 But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief. 5 You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness. 6 Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober.
We need to always be diligent about our walk with Christ, if we are not moving forward, then we are moving backward and so much hits us so often to push us back, we need to be watchful, focused and guard our reputation that all know we are Christ-followers and carry His name. He wants us always full of His Spirit so we can touch the lives of others and be full of every good thing ourselves
Revelation 3:4-6
You have a few names even in Sardis who have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with Me in white, for they are worthy. 5 He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life; but 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.” ’
I know this seems hard to think about but it is easy for the world’s mentality to get into the church. To find ourselves walking away from Christ but if we are daily being filled with the Spirit it will not happen as it seemed some did in Sardis, they kept their “word” reputation (which is what the word “name” means here). As they stood for Jesus, so Jesus will stand for them…
Matthew 10:33
But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven.
I know this seems harsh but each of us were created for a purpose by God and it is only following Him that we fulfill our purpose. None of the things of this world can satisfy, I know many of you have tried them but they have left you empty. I know some are still trying them.
Please lay them down this today and pick up His name again, allow Him to fill you new with His holy Spirit…we all need refreshed every day, and sometimes when we are so beat up, worn out, or simply frustrated that it is hard to keep that reputation up but God will fill you again this morning and place his name on you again or for the first time…be filled with Him and all he has for you again so that everyone will know who you are!