Yesterday we looked at the geography and history of Sardis – which paralleled the issues Jesus addressed in the church located there. Today we’re going to look more closely at what had happened spiritually.
I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead.
Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your deeds complete in the sight of my God.
Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; obey it, and repent.
But if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what time I will come to you.
Yet you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes. They will walk with me, dressed in white, for they are worthy.
He who overcomes will, like them, be dressed in white. I will never blot out his name from the book of life, but will acknowledge his name before my Father and his angels.
Revelation 3:1b-5
This church, like the city in which it was located, was dying a slow death. It’s glory years were in the past. They had a reputation which did not match the current reality. The once-hot fire of their faith and obedience was now dying embers. The truth they had received had been forgotten, ignored, pushed aside.
In fact, the church was full of people who never really embraced the truth with all their hearts. It was full of dead men walking.
Jesus called this church to repent. He warned them that His coming would be swift and unexpected – and they would face judgment. He said that there were only a few people in this church who had remained faithful – who were worthy to be dressed in white and be acknowledged before the Father. The implication: the rest were never really alive – they were never His to begin with.
I am convinced that many of our churches today are populated with the living dead – people who have never truly cast themselves upon the grace of God and been radically and supernaturally changed. This problem seems especially prevalent among those who have been given legacies of faith – their grandparents and/or parents were devoted followers of Jesus. They know lots of Bible phrases, perhaps they have memorized hundreds of verses in AWANA programs as children. They have attended thousands and thousands of services through their lifetimes. They have lived “good, moral, Christian lives” – but they are blinded by their self-righteousness and fail to see the depth of their need. They have embraced Christian culture… but they’ve never truly embraced Jesus Christ. Some churches may have only a few individuals who fit this description. Some, like Sardis, may be populated almost entirely with them – and the church as a whole is truly dead.
It is interesting to me that, as in the other letters, Jesus says, “I know your deeds” – and yet he has nothing good to say to them. The reason? Their deeds have not been found “complete” in God’s sight. Apparently, they had done some things… but they weren’t complete.
As individuals and corporately as churches we can do good works and miss the point. You can work in a soup kitchen every day of your life. You can clean the church every week. You can carefully watch the list of “do’s” and “don’ts” that you believe defines a “good Christian,” being careful to look the part. You can wear yourself out with “good works” and actually be found lacking! Unless we have been transformed from the inside out by Jesus Christ – unless our good works flow from a deep gratitude in our hearts for what God has done for us, rather than trying to prove our righteousness or earn His favor – our righteousness amounts to nothing more than filthy rags. (Isaiah 64:6)
Jesus’ prescription for this dead church? Remember the truth, obey it – and repent!
Study the Word – read it not with a forgetful passing glance but with attention and reflection, considering what it says. (James 1:23-25) Obey it. See the truth about who you are apart from Christ – how desperately you need His saving work on your behalf. Recognize the depth of your sin, turn away from it, cast yourself on His grace.
Only when we do this are we worthy – our own goodness leaves us dressed in filthy rags, but when we cling to His righteousness, He dresses us in white.
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Art used (with permission) by Pat Marvenko Smith, copyright 1992. To order prints visit her “Revelation Illustrated” site, http://revelationillustrated.com.
After our Wells for Widows project, I was so amazed at the number of you who responded and the amount of comments and emails I received thanking me for letting you know a specific way you could serve.
