Mostly Dead Means There's Still Hope!
The Book That Promises a Blessing!
A study of the book of Revelation
by Pastor Frank Rice
Revelation 3:1-6
After a “long” winter we may look at our trees, shrubs, grass and other plants that at one time wore green, and wonder if they’re ever going to come to life again! We understand that it takes some longer than others to show signs of life. Plants are not the only things that we examine for signs of life! Doctors, healthcare givers, coroners, and casual observers also look for signs of life. Jesus examines the church at Sardis for signs of life! After careful observation He declares this one “mostly dead!” There is hope if they will respond!
I. Jesus Introduces Himself Appropriately to His People (V. 1a).
v We’re introduced to the city where Jesus’ people live, Sardis, and the church body to which they belong.
1. This city was commercially prosperous and militarily strategic. Although attacked multiple times, it was only captured twice in unusual and covert fashion.
2. The temple to the goddess Artemis on the acropolis, though impressive and imposing, was never fully completed.
3. The necropolis or cemetery of “a thousand hills” could be seen seven miles away. It featured hundreds of burial mounds.
4. “No city of Asia at that time showed such a melancholy contrast between past splendor and present decay as Sardis.”
v The Lord Jesus introduces Himself in descriptive terms in order to set the stage for His challenge to His people.
1. Jesus has the seven Spirits of God. We’ve read this curious phrase before, referring to the fullness of the Spirit of God.
2. He also has the seven angels, the seven stars which are most likely messengers or pastors in the churches. They are His.
II. Jesus Assures His People He’s Aware of Life in the City (V. 1b)!
v The Lord Jesus usually begins with a commendation. There is no good thing for which He can commend them! This is ominous!
v The Lord Jesus seems to begin a commendation but...
1. He assures them, as He has the previous churches, that He’s fully aware of their activities.
2. He asserts that they have a name or reputation for being alive or active, and it sounds like He is going to commend them.
3. He then states the reality; their reputation is bogus. He sees below the surface and pronounces them dead (mostly dead). Sardis has been called “a perfect model of inoffensive Christianity,” not a complement!
4. It had once experienced the presence of the Spirit. They’d walked in the Spirit and been responsive to Him. Evidently they’d grieved, quenched, and resisted Him to their shame.
5. The coroners report may have included the following: They were always looking back, glorying in past accomplishments. They were insensitive to their own spiritual condition. They were comfortable, content, confident, complacent, and careless; the perfect recipe for spiritual disaster and death. It is not persecution that kills the church but prosperity!
III. Jesus Counsels His People to Address the Situation (Vv. 2-3)!
v “Five imperatives occur in these verses, all of them focusing on the need for spiritual vigilance.” (Osborne)
v Jesus’ prescription for spiritual recovery requires committed action on their (our) part! (Grace is available but must be appropriated!)
1. They (we) must become watchful, vigilant, and stay alert! Apathy, carelessness, overconfidence, and complacency had lulled them to sleep and left them completely vulnerable!
2. They (we) must shore up what remains and is on the verge of collapse; they’d not followed thru on their commitments. Imperfect works are incomplete works; they did not finish what they started.
3. They (we) must remember (call to mind & act upon) the truths that they (we) have been taught and acted upon previously!
4. They (we) must hold fast (hang on to & not let go) to the truth that sets men free! (Like a climber ascending a steep slope?)
5. They (we) must repent (change our thinking & behaviors) in order to comply with our new life in Christ.
v Jesus warns them that He’ll come suddenly and unexpectantly! There are dire consequences of refusing to follow His prescription.
IV. Jesus Does Not Abandon Them, But Encourages Them (Vv. 4-6)!
v Jesus points to some among them, people and ministries that had not corrupted their spiritual lives, even in a city like Sardis (v. 4).
1. It is possible to live a godly life in the midst of ungodliness.
2. Those who do so will be honored with His presence. White apparel was and still is a symbolic of purity and victory.
v Jesus assures His people, contrary to what some were saying; true believers cannot and will not be abandoned (v. 5).
1. They’ll NOT have their names removed from the Book of Life! The security of the believer was never intended to be a license to do whatever one wants but an assurance that those who’ve trusted Christ will make it to the finish line and be welcomed into glory!
2. They’ll NOT be denied recognition in the courts of Heaven!
v Jesus again calls them (us) not to ignore the Spirit’s appeal (v. 6).
1. This challenge goes out to individuals (“he who has an ear”)!
2. This challenge goes out to bodies of believers (“churches”)!
Mostly dead means there is still hope, if those listening are willing to hear and respond to what the Spirit is saying to them.