Autopsy of a Dead Church

What little that remains must be strengthened, built back up. Why? Because it “is about to die.” Specifically, Jesus says, “I have not found your works [which “I know,” v. 1] complete before My God.” Though the quantity of their works was deficient, it is more likely that it was the quality of their works that was most lacking. They had grown content with a mediocre, halfway, comfortable, and convenient Christianity. Their faith was not radical; it was almost invisible. The lost among whom they lived, worked, and prayed saw nothing different or unique about them. The culture did not oppose them; it simply ignored them as of no real consequence or significance. They were so weak in their confession of Christ that they bothered no one. Like the unfinished temple of Cybele in their city, they too were incomplete in what Christ saved them and called them to be.

Like the church at Ephesus (2:5), our Lord calls those at Sardis to “remember.” The idea is that they will continually call something to remembrance. And what are they to remember? The gospel! They need to continually recall the truth of the gospel they had “received and heard.” The church “had received the faith as an abiding truth at the moment faith came by hearing” (Mounce, Revelation, 94). Again and again, daily, they needed to preach the gospel to themselves. Again and again they needed to remind themselves of what Christ had done for them through His bloody cross and glorious resurrection. He lived the life they should have lived. He died the death they should have died. He experienced the wrath of God that should have been theirs. He paid the penalty for sin that they should have paid. And He gave them the gift of eternal life they do not deserve and wrote their name in the book of life where it can never be erased (3:5). Why hesitate to confess such a Savior? Why compromise gospel truth and shame this King? To do so will be like treason. They must remember!

With the command to “keep it,” Jesus encourages the church to hold on, to guard what they received and heard. The truth of the gospel and the truths that flow from it are easily lost. It is a precious treasure that should never be taken for granted. We must never let it slip away.

The fact is, we never drift toward anything worthwhile. Never. We never slide into truth, but we can slide into error. You slide and slip into theological liberalism. You slide and slip into moral compromise. No, we never drift anywhere worth going. Furthermore, you do not want to drift and add to the gospel. And you don’t want to slip and subtract from the gospel. Stay where you are. Keep it. Hold on. Guard it. Never let it go. Stay with what you received and heard when you put your faith in Jesus.

I fear many Christians have an inadequate understanding of biblical repentance. They know they repented from their sin when they were converted, but they fail to understand its ongoing place in a healthy Christian life. Repentance, a change of mind resulting in a change in attitude and action concerning sin, is to be our companion throughout our Christian life and pilgrimage. We never grow out of it or mature beyond it.

It appears the church at Sardis had forgotten the grace of repentance. As a result, they were in danger of receiving an unexpected visit from Christ. This imagery of Jesus coming like a thief is found several times in Revelation (3:3; 16:15) and other places in the Bible (Matt 24:42-44; Luke 12:35-40; 1 Thess 5:2; 2 Pet 3:10). Here it is referring not to His second coming for all but rather a coming in judgment against His church. This is a striking image and a powerful yet grace-filled warning. Jesus is instructing them, “Repent now! There is no promise that you will have time later. My surprise coming in judgment may catch you unprepared.”

REVELATION 3:4

Our Lord provides an accurate and honest evaluation of His church through the omnipresent and omniscient Holy Spirit, as well as through His own eyes, which “are like a fiery flame” (1:17). He identifies some, not many, “who have not defiled their clothes.” The picture is one of spiritual contamination of their Christian witness by accommodating to the current and faddish trends of the pagan culture and its sinful life. A small minority stood strong for Jesus, both in confession and conduct. They bucked the trends, swam against the current that was engulfing members of their community. Taking this stand most certainly would be costly in the days to come. However, it will be gloriously worth it in the new age that is coming. They will walk in the purity of white clothing provided by Christ, symbolic of their justification and holiness of life. Mounce explains,

In Revelation 7 the great multitude wearing white robes (vv. 9-10) is led by the Lamb to springs of living water (v. 17), and in chapter 14 the 144,000 “follow the Lamb wherever he goes” (v. 4) . . . it would appear walking “in white” is a way of describing those who are justified. (Revelation, 95)

They are His, and He knows them by name, one by one.

REVELATION 3:5-6

The “victors” are provided a threefold promise for their fidelity to Christ. First, they will be clothed in His perfect righteousness, symbolized by their white clothes (see 4:4; 6:11; 7:9,13; 19:14). This is their justification accomplished, their sanctification in progress, and their glorification that is soon to come. He will dress us, for we could never dress ourselves. Once more He does for us what we do not deserve and cannot do for ourselves!

Second, He promises never to erase their names from the book of life. Jim Hamilton speaks to this issue with clarity and insight:

To be faithful to confess Jesus’ name, whatever it costs, is to conquer. Jesus promises white garments, and he promises that those who conquer will never have their names blotted out of the book of life. There are a number of references to the book of life in the Old and New Testaments (cf. Exodus 32:32; Psalm 69:28; Isaiah 4:3; Daniel 12:1, 2; Luke 10:20; Philippians 4:3; Hebrews 12:23). The value of having one’s name written in the book of life is seen in what Jesus said to his disciples in Luke 10:20: “Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.” In the curse on the Minim [Christian “heretics”], the Jews in the synagogue may call for the names of Christians to be blotted out of the book of life, but Jesus promises the church in Sardis that those who confess his name will never have their names blotted out of that book. (Revelation, 109)

Third, Jesus promises to confess these who are clothed in His righteousness before the Father and His angels. He will acknowledge their names as evidence that He knows them and claims them as His own. They were not ashamed of Him, and He is not ashamed of them. Jesus will tell His Father, “Danny belongs to me. He is mine.” The angels of God will hear the same message. The promise that our names are permanently affixed signatures in the book of life is a promise that should move us, motivate us, and compel us, out of “grace gratitude,” to complete our works, bear our witness, stay clean, and pursue purity that reflects the transforming work of Christ. After all, coupled with the promise of verse 5, we have the wonderful declaration of Matthew 10:32: “Therefore, everyone who will acknowledge Me before men, I will also acknowledge him before My Father in heaven.” However, go on and read verses 33-34 for good measure! They provide the warning often neglected that is the companion to the promise:

“But whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father in heaven. Don’t assume that I came to bring peace on the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.”

I close our study of this letter with the insights of one of my favorite Bible teachers, Chuck Swindoll. He is a fountain of wit and wisdom. So often he is “spot on” in his exposition and application even when there is necessary pain involved. Read carefully what this faithful Bible teacher has to say:

Finally, a dead church lacks evangelistic and missionary zeal. Turned inward on their own needs, preferences, and comfort, unhealthy churches give halfhearted attention to the conversion of the lost. In contrast, living churches devote time, resources, and energy to both local evangelism and worldwide missions.

In the message to Sardis, we saw Christ revealed as the Life-giver. He alone grants spiritual vitality to those with a comatose or dying faith. In light of His urgent alarm to Sardis, all of us who tend toward spiritual stupor must turn from stale religious routine and embrace the abundant life only Jesus Christ can provide. He extends a sincere invitation to you right now. If you feel the stiffness of spiritual rigor mortis setting in, take Christ’s words to heart: wake up and declare your devotion. (Insights, 70)

Swindoll is right. Wake up! Now! Declare your devotion to Christ. Now! Please do not delay. Do not wait until it is too late.