“ ‘I know your works. You have the reputation of being alive, but you are dead. 2 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. 3 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. 4 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. 5 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. 6 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’
DESCRIPTION
- Destination is Sardis and means "remnant" or "those escaping"
- City was built on a mountain, and it was an impenetrable fortress (acropolis)
- Patron god of the city was Cybele, an Asian mother-goddess
- She could raise the dead
- She was worshipped as the mother of all life and gods
- Worship included immoral practices
- A very luxurious city
- Apparently, the story goes that the city was impenetrable
- A slave notice a soldier lose his helmet over the side
- A little later he says the soldier appeared out of nowhere and retrieved the helmet
- He saw the soldier climb up the mountain and disappear into the rocks
- Then he saw the soldier back on the top with his helmet in hand
- When Antiochus lay siege to the city, the slave was capture, and exchanged his safety for the secret of the city
LITERAL
/ UNIVERSAL
- What is the point of the description of Jesus?
- It is the seven spirits of God and the seven stars
- The seven spirits, seven meaning completeness, refer to the Holy spirit
- The seven stars are the seven churches
- For some reason, God repeats part of the name that he used in the first letter. It could be that this is a sort of new beginning for the church coming out of the dark ages
- What do we learn about the church from the commendations?
- The church is really not commended
- It has a reputation for being alive, but it is dead
- What is the exhortation?
- They are told to wake-up. Because they are dead
- Their deeds are not complete (in some way they are superficial)
- As a result, they will be surprised when Jesus comes. They will not be ready. They will not be ready because the majority aren't true believers
- Religious people and people who call themselves Christians will not all be saved from the Great Tribulation
- They are exhorted to repent (one could argue both ways what it means to repent--it could be the big "R" for the religious, and the little "r" for the sleeping believer)
- The promise is those escaping and what does it mean "to walk with Jesus dressed in white"
- There are a few people who have not soiled their clothes
- They will be saved. They will have real life. Their sins will really be taken away
- Their names can never be blotted out from the book of life
PROPHETIC
- For the purpose of the historical-prophetic interpretation, Sardis is the "Church of the Reformation" and covers the period of AD 1517-1648 (or 1700)
- It begins with Martin Luther's posting of his Ninety-Five Theses and ends in 1648 with the signing of the Peace of Westphalia (or 1700)
- What do we learn from the condemnation?
- While the reformation fixed a lot of doctrine, it did not solve the other Nicolatian problem, the separation of the church from the state
- The reputation comes from the doctrine corrections
- The church is dead because it is spiritually not alive
- During this time
- The Lutheran church became the state church in Germany and Scandinavia
- The Anglican church became the church of England
- The Presbyterian church became the state church in Scotland
- In Switzerland, two churches separated the land, the Calvinists or Reformed church and the Zwinglian church
- All people born in these countries were baptized into the church as part of citizenship
- The majority of these churches were unbelievers
- They had good doctrine but spiritually dead bodies
- A lot of denominations were created, but the protestant church was just as dead
- The pastors were gov't jobs
- The religious leaders didn't even believe truth
- APPLICATION: Be wary of mixing religion and state but also understand the difference
- Citizenship was tied to religious identity
- Religion was controlled by the state and dead
- Nowadays people see the separation as protecting government, but it was to protect true faith
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