Revelation 3-Do you have an ear?

To the Church in Sardis

1To the angel of the church in Sardis write:

These are the words of the One who has the sevenfold Spirit of God and the seven stars.

I know your deeds; you have a reputation for being alive, yet you are dead. 2Wake up and strengthen what remains, which was about to die; for I have found your deeds incomplete in the sight of My God. 3Remember, then, what you have received and heard. Keep it and repent. If you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know the hour when I will come upon you.

4But you do have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their garments, and because they are worthy, they will walk with Me in white. 5Like them, the one who is victorious will be clothed in white garments. And I will never blot out his name from the book of life, but I will confess his name before My Father and His angels.

6He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

The number seven in the Bible is the number of completeness, therefore Jesus is describing Himself.

The seven stars are the seven churches.

Revelation 1:20: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and through these letters, when Jesus speaks to the angels of the seven churches, He speaks not to one individual, but to the entire church through that individual.

“I know your deeds”, “What a church is and what a church does is never hidden from Jesus.” (Guzik)

“We are not to get the impression that Sardis was a defunct affair with the building a wreck, the members scattered, the pastor ready to resign. It was a busy church with meetings every night, committees galore, wheels within wheels, promotion and publicity, something going on all the time. It had a reputation of being a live, wide-awake, going concern.” (Havner)

“The church of Sardis was at peace – but it was the peace of the dead.” (Barclay)

Jesus told them there was still hope!

Be watchful!

Works can never get you right before God. I believe they were lacking, they had a weak heart condition, they were lacking love.

Hold fast to the things seen and heard, to the word of God. 

Paul said in 1Th 2:13And we continually thank God that in receiving the word of God from us, you did not accept it as the word of men, but as the true word of God. And this is the word which is now at work in you who believe.

Jesus warned them; “If you do not wake up, I will come like a thief”....

In Pergamos and in Thyatira there were a few bad among the good; in Sardis there were a few good among the bad. (Guzik)

“..you do have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their garments, and because they are worthy, they will walk with Me in white.”

“As sin is expressed under the notion of nakedness, so holiness is expressed under the notion of a garment.” (Poole)

A promise from Jesus; “And I will never blot out his name from the book of life, but I will confess his name before My Father and His angels.”

“In ancient times cities kept a register of their citizens; and when a man died, his name was removed from the register. The risen Christ is saying that, if we wish to remain on the roll of the citizens of God, we must keep our faith flamingly alive.” (Barclay)

Rev 20:12And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne.

And there were open books, and one of them was the book of life. And the dead were judged according to their deeds, as recorded in the books.

Rev 20:15And if anyone was found whose name was not written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. 

“6He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”

Do you have an ear, or are you listening?

Blessings, David