letter to the church at sardispsalmstudy.org/testamentnew/27revelation/church05-sardis.pdf ·...

Letter to the Church at Sardis

Jim MacGregor AMDG

Table of Contents

LettertotheChurchatSardis.......................................................................................................1TheLetter.......................................................................................................................................................................3TheSetting.....................................................................................................................................................................3ChurchHistory..............................................................................................................................................................4Jesus’Title......................................................................................................................................................................5Jesus’Commendation..................................................................................................................................................6Jesus’Complaint...........................................................................................................................................................6GodLooksfortheInwardLife....................................................................................................................................................................8GodLooksforOurHeartandCompassion........................................................................................................................................11

Jesus’Counsel.............................................................................................................................................................14Jesus’Command..............................................................................................................................................................................................14Jesus’Threat.....................................................................................................................................................................................................16Jesus’Promise..................................................................................................................................................................................................17Jesus’Promise-PeoplewithUnsoiledGarments....................................................................................................19Jesus’Promise-WhiteGarments..................................................................................................................................21Jesus’Promise-TheBookofLife..................................................................................................................................22Jesus’Promise-ConfessOurNamesbeforetheFather........................................................................................25

Jesus’Promise-TheChallenge................................................................................................................................................................25TheChallenge-Growth....................................................................................................................................................25TheChallenge-Compassion...........................................................................................................................................27TheChallenge-Unity........................................................................................................................................................28TheChallenge-Emotion..................................................................................................................................................30

Jesus’Warning................................................................................................................................................................................................32Summary.....................................................................................................................................................................32

David Flusser

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1 Composite image “Seven Churches of Asia” with caption from http://www.jeffangiegoh.com/wp-

content/uploads/2011/08/SevenChurches.jpeg, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d0/Seven_churches_of_asia.svg/2000px-Seven_churches_of_asia.svg.png, and http://www.eastbrookchurch.org/content.aspx?content_id=378164&site_id=10809.


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The Letter “And to the angel of the church in Sardis write: ‘The words of him who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. I know your works. You have the reputation of being alive, but you are dead. 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. 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. 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. 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. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’” (Revelation 3:1-6/ESV)

The Setting Sardis, modern Sart, was on the junction of the principal highways that connected Ephesus, Smyrna, and Pergamum and was on the main communications route between the Aegean and the inland. Located inland it was built on a small, elevated plateau that rises sharply above the Hermus Valley. On all sides but one, the rock walls are smooth, nearly perpendicular and absolutely unscalable. 2 The only access is on the southern side by a very steep and difficult path. It was the capital of the kingdom of

Lydia and one of the oldest and most important cities of Asia. Sardis was a Roman administrative center for that part of the world. The city had a reputation for being a complacent façade of power and confidence without any basis in fact - perhaps, as the 20th century expression has it, a sort of political and social “tinsel town.” 3 Most architectural evidence of religious sites at Sardis dates only from 17 AD, because the city suffered a devastating earthquake in that year. The Roman authorities had almost the entire city leveled, and earlier Hellenistic structures disappeared. Nevertheless, the city was later revived with new Roman buildings, and it became part of a strategic network of highways that connected it with all parts of the province. At John’s time some religious groups still maintained vestiges of their Lydian and Hellenistic forerunners. By the second century AD there was a renaissance of older Persian and Anatolian cults by groups who wanted to rediscover their ancient and mythical past as a source of pride and superiority toward the Romans. By the second century AD, Sardis became a large, prosperous city,

2 Vernon McGee, J. “Revelation 3,” Revelation Chapters 1 - 5 (Thru the Bible ) (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson,

1995. William M. Ramsay, The Letters to the Seven Churches (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1985) p. 355. 3 Image “Temple of Cybele and Apollo” from

http://www.wingsofeaglesct.com/REVELATION/REV_IMAGES/SardisArtemis.jpg.


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with a population of between sixty thousand and one hundred thousand people, including a flourishing Jewish community. 4

Sardis had the temple of Cybele and Apollo (brother and sister) whose ruins are still there. Cybele was the goddess of the moon, and Apollo was the god of the sun. 5 The city had a powerful cult of Cybele that was sanctioned by the Roman Senate. It was a horrible cult whose followers would work themselves into an emotional frenzy and mutilate themselves, symbolic of Cybele’s lover’s self-castration. John wrote that Sardis had “still a few names … people who have not soiled their garments.” Those were those Christians had not wandered from the truth, and who did not participate in the excesses of the Cybele cult. 6 Perhaps Jesus and John knew some by name who were

famous for holding onto the truth of the Gospel and for powerful and practical godliness. They were - and are today - “few” in comparison to the multitudes of unbelievers in the world. 7 When John wrote his letter to Sardis, it was still a wealthy city but degenerate. There was no life or spirit there. The once great people of that city had become soft, and twice they had lost their city to invaders because they were too lazy to keep watch. The Christian church had likewise lost its vitality and was a spiritual corpse instead of a living church. 8

Church History Nothing is known of the origin or end of the Christian community at Sardis. Perhaps its founding may have related to Paul’s earlier stay at Ephesus (Acts 18-20). The name of the founder of the Christian community at Sardis may be preserved in a tradition of the Greek Church. One of the Greek calendars names a certain Clement as the first Gentile to believe in Christ, later to become bishop of Sardis. This Clement is sometimes identified either as one of the seventy-two whom Jesus sent on a missionary journey (Luke 10:1-20), or as one

4 Richard S. Ascough, Ed.” Religious Rivalries and the Struggle for Success in Sardis and Smyrna,” Canadian

Corporation for Studies in Religion (Waterloo, ON, Canada: Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 2005) pp. 6-7. 5 Vernon McGee, J. “Revelation 3,” Revelation Chapters 1 - 5 (Thru the Bible ) (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson,

1995. 6 Edward Musgrave Blaiklock, “Sardis” in The Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible, Volume Five Q-Z,

Merrill C. Tenney, ed. (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1976) pp. 276-278. Bible Gateway, “The Message to Sardis,” Accessed July 2018, https://www.biblegateway.com/resources/commentaries/IVP-NT/Rev/Message-Sardis.

7 John Gill, Revelation 2 and 3, John Gill’s Exposition of the Bible, The Bible Study Tools Staff, ed. Accessed July 2018, http://www.biblestudytools.com/commentaries/gills-exposition-of-the-bible/revelation-2-1.html. Image “Attis and Cybele” from http://www.churchofchrist-cg-az.com/images/Galatia-Attis-Cybele.jpg. The image shows the goddess Cybele (with drum and lion) and her consort Attis.

8 William Barclay, The Revelation of John Volume I (Louisvile, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2004) p. 126.


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of Paul’s fellow workers, mentioned in the Epistle to the Philippians (Philippians 4:3). His identity, however, has never been clearly determined. 9

John viewed Sardis as having the reputation of being alive, but actually dead, perhaps reflecting its civil reputation for being a city known for show but not substance. The churches at both Ephesus and Sardis had apparently degenerated spiritually from their initial condition (as Ephesus had - Revelation 2:4) 10 However, Ephesus could still be salvaged, but Sardis was almost a “terminal case.” Evil in the other churches had been the exception, not the rule. Evil in the church at Sardis had been the rule, not the exception. The works of the church at Sardis were pro-forma and not from the heart filled with the Spirit. They were a works-oriented church whose works were for show, were hollow, and were not motivated by true charity. 11 Unlike the other churches, Jesus had no words of commendation for them - only complaint and counsel.

Jesus’ Title “And to the angel of the church in Sardis write: ‘The words of him who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars.’” (Revelation 3:1/ESV)

Jesus identified Himself as the one “who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars.” In Revelation 1:4 the seven Spirits before the throne of God represent the Holy Spirit. Here the Jesus Himself claims the Spirit of God, one with the Jesus who sends the Spirit and who is present with his church through the Spirit. 12

That Jesus has the “seven spirits of God and the seven stars” represents His total knowledge, wisdom, and power. Nothing is hidden from Him. Scripture attests to that as may be seen in the quotes below. Although we can only infer why Jesus selected the various titles to be used when addressing each church, it does seem that this title for Sardis serves as a curt reminder that He has total knowledge and power and can follow up on His condemnation and punish the church should it refuse to repent and follow His counsel. Scripture tells us that God is all-powerful and all knowledgeable.

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. (Genesis 1:1/ESV) O Lord, you have searched me and known me! You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar. You search out my path and my lying down and are

9 Dietmar Neufeld, “Jewish Communities in Sardis and Smyrna,” Religious Rivalries and the Struggle for Success

in Sardis and Smyrna, Richard S. Asclough, ed. Canadian Corporation for Studies in Religion (Waterloo, ON, Canada: Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 2005.) p. 28. Catholic Saints.Info. “Saint Clement of Sardis,” Accessed July 2018, http://catholicsaints.info/saint-clement-of-sardis/. Orthodox Wiki. “Apostle Clement.” Accessed July 2018. https://orthodoxwiki.org/Apostle_Clement. Yes, I ask you also, true companion, help these women, who have labored side by side with me in the Gospel together with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life. (Philippians 4:3/ESV)

10 But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. (Revelation 2:4/ESV) 11 Matthew Henry, Revelation 3, Commentary on the Whole Bible (Concise), The Bible Study Tools Staff, ed.

Accessed July 2018. http://www.biblestudytools.com/commentaries/matthew-henry-concise/revelation/3.html. 12 Louis A. Brighton, Revelation (St. Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House, 1999) p. 86. “And I will ask the

Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you. … But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.” (John 14:16-17, 26/ESV) “But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me.” (John 15:26/ESV)


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acquainted with all my ways. Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O Lord, you know it altogether. (Psalm 139:1-4/ESV) Great is our Lord, and abundant in power; his understanding is beyond measure. (Psalm 147:5/ESV) The Lord of hosts has sworn: “As I have planned, so shall it be, and as I have purposed, so shall it stand, that I will break the Assyrian in my land, and on my mountains trample him underfoot; and his yoke shall depart from them, and his burden from their shoulder.” This is the purpose that is purposed concerning the whole earth, and this is the hand that is stretched out over all the nations. For the Lord of hosts has purposed, and who will annul it? His hand is stretched out, and who will turn it back? (Isaiah 14:24-27/ESV) “… For nothing will be impossible with God.” (Luke 1:37/ESV) “For nothing is hidden that will not be made manifest, nor is anything secret that will not be known and come to light. Take care then how you hear, for to the one who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he thinks that he has will be taken away.” (Luke 8:17-18/ESV) Nothing in all creation is hidden from God. Everything is naked and exposed before his eyes, and he is the one to whom we are accountable. (Hebrews 4:13/ESV)

The seven stars that Jesus holds (Revelation 1:16), represent the seven angels of the seven churches (Revelation 1:20). By mentioning the seven stars here Jesus His lordship over the angels of the churches. He reminds his Church that through the Spirit and by means of the angels he communicates his Word here and throughout Scripture. 13

Jesus’ Commendation Jesus had no commendation for the church at Sardis.

Jesus’ Complaint “I know your works. You have the reputation of being alive, but you are dead. 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.” (Revelation 3:1-2/ESV)

Before discussing Jesus’ complaint to the church at Sardis in detail, let us first look at Jesus’ use of “my god” in the verse, “… I have not found your works complete in the sight of my God.” (Revelation 3:1/ESV). Jesus can be referring only to Himself and His relationship to His Father (i.e., “my god”). 14 It is not likely that John interposed himself in the first person as Jesus’ surrogate in addressing the church at Sardis. Of course, Jesus finds the works of the church at Sardis to be short of what is required. There is no church or individual Christian who has not done some wrong or left some good undone. Remember what Jesus said about being called “Good Teacher”: “Why do you call me good?” Jesus asked him.

13 Louis A. Brighton, Revelation (St. Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House, 1999) p. 86. “And I will ask the

Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you. … But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.” (John 14:16-17, 26/ESV) “But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me.” (John 15:26/ESV)

14 “I and the Father are one.” (John 10:30/ESV) The expression “in the sight of my God” is found in most English translations, in the original Greek, and in the Latin Vulgate. The only versions that I could find which used the shortened phrase “in the sight of God” are Luther’s German Bible, the Tyndale Bible, and the Geneva Bible.


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“Only God is truly good.” (Luke 18:19/ESV). Jesus can approach each of us with the same language. His complaint was true, in an exceptionally strong sense, of the church at Sardis. 15

Jesus’ complaint appears to be that the “dead” church at Sardis became devoid of spirit and worked through a “checklist” of works without any spiritual motivation. They were motivated only to “go through the motions.” Perhaps they wanted to “feel good” about themselves and were proud of their biblically based accomplishments. They may have dutifully imitated the description of the works of the early Church that they knew about, and that we read about in the Acts of the Apostles. We can

imagine that the church was very active with works, doing all with good order, such as governing themselves, adhering to apostolic examples of works, holding worship services, making wonderful music, providing the sacraments, and willingly contributing time, talent, and treasure for the works of the church. However, offerings and prayers are not pleasing to God when they are only the observance of duties and not expressions of the heart’s loving adoration. 16 We learn from Proverbs that the Lord evaluates our motives. Jesus teaches us about the wrongness of spiritless works and once castigated the Scribes and Pharisees for the hypocrisy of such behavior. Paul contrasted his mission and his preaching with that of others who were teaching pleasant doctrines and doing good works for other motives. 17

All the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the spirit. (Proverbs 16:2/ESV) “Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.” (Matthew 6:1-4/ESV) “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness. So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and decorate the monuments of the righteous, saying, ‘If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ Thus you witness against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets. (Matthew 23:27-31/ESV)

15 Albert Barnes, Revelation 3, Barnes’ Notes, Accessed July 201,

http://biblehub.com/commentaries/barnes/revelation/3.htm. 16 G. Campbell Morgan, A First-Century Message to Twentieth-Century Christians (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book

House, 1902) pp. 136-138. 17 Image “Dead Spirits” from http://www.robertneralich.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/aPoeSpirits.jpg.


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And he said to them, “You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God.” (Luke 16:15/ESV) And in the hearing of all the people he said to his disciples, “Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes, and love greetings in the marketplaces and the best seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at feasts, who devour widows’ houses and for a pretense make long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.” (Luke 20:45-47/ESV) “If on the Sabbath a man receives circumcision, so that the law of Moses may not be broken, are you angry with me because on the Sabbath I made a man’s whole body well? Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment.” (John 7:23-24/ESV) And what I do I will continue to do, in order to undermine the claim of those who would like to claim that in their boasted mission they work on the same terms as we do. For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. So it is no surprise if his servants, also, disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their deeds. (2 Corinthians 11:13-15/ESV)

God Looks for the Inward Life “… You have the reputation of being alive, but you are dead. 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.” (Revelation 3:2/ESV)

God looks for the inward life, and only for the outward as it continues to be the expression of the inward. 18 We learn that from the record of Samuel anointing David and from Jesus’ teaching about the inward life and the sources of evil. King David sang of what He wants from us - our hearts. God told King Solomon and the prophets the same. Jesus teaches this, and the writer of Hebrews echoed His teaching. 19

But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” (1 Samuel 16:7/ESV) In sacrifice and offering you have not delighted, but you have given me an open ear. Burnt offering and sin offering you have not required. Then I said, “Behold, I have come; in the scroll of the book it is written of me: I delight to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart.” (Psalm 40:6-8/ESV) For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; you will not be pleased with a burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. (Psalm 51:16-17/ESV) Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. To draw near to listen is better than to offer the sacrifice of fools, for they do not know that they are doing evil. (Ecclesiastes 5:1/ESV)

18 G. Campbell Morgan, A First-Century Message to Twentieth-Century Christians (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book

House, 1902) pp. 136-138. 19 Other Scripture verses that address this same theme are: 1 Samuel 15:22; Psalm 50:8-9; Proverbs 21:3; Jeremiah

7:22-23; Micah 6:6-8; Matthew 12:7; Matthew 23:23; Mark 12:33; and, Hebrews 10:4-10.


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“What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices?” says the Lord; “I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of well-fed beasts; I do not delight in the blood of bulls, or of lambs, or of goats. … Bring no more vain offerings; incense is an abomination to me. New moon and Sabbath and the calling of convocations - I cannot endure iniquity and solemn assembly. Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hates; they have become a burden to me; I am weary of bearing them. When you spread out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you; even though you make many prayers, I will not listen; your hands are full of blood. Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes; cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice,

correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow’s cause.” (Isaiah 1:11, 13-17/ESV) “I hate, I despise your feasts, and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies. Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them; and the peace offerings of your fattened animals, I will not look upon them. Take away from me the noise of your songs; to the melody of your harps I will not listen. But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.” (Amos 5:21-24/ESV) And he called the people to him and said to them, “Hear and understand: it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth; this defiles a person. … But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. These are what defile a person. But to eat with unwashed hands does not defile anyone.” (Matthew 15:10-11, 18-20/ESV) For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said, “Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, but a body have you prepared for me; in burnt offerings and sin offerings you have taken no pleasure. Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come to do your will, O God, as it is written of me in the scroll of the book’” When he said above, “You have neither desired nor taken pleasure in sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sin offerings” (these are offered according to the law), then he added, “Behold, I have come to do your will.” He does away with the first in order to establish the second. And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. (Hebrews 10:4-10/ESV; c.f., Psalm 40:6-8)

The church at Sardis exhibited everything that appeared to be Christian, but, there was nothing in Sardis that could satisfy the heart of Jesus. 20 The following are three examples of what may have been wrong.


House, 1902) pp. 136-138. Image “Samuel and David” from http://christianimagesource.com/david_and_samuel__image_2_sjpg1305.jpg.


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First, their celebration of the Table may have been pro-forma and akin to the prophets’ complaint that Israel performed Old Testament sacrifices without a loving spirit. 21

In sacrifice and offering you have not delighted, but you have given me an open ear. Burnt offering and sin offering you have not required. (Psalm 40:6/ESV) For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; you will not be pleased with a burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. (Psalm 51:16-17/ESV) “For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.” (Hosea 6:6/ESV) “Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.” (Matthew 9:13/ESV; c.f., Hosea 6:6) 22

Second, the church’s body may have made a good, healthy appearance but the “eye” of the church’s body lacked light. 23

… the precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes … (Psalm 19:8/ESV) “The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!” (Matthew 6:22/ESV) “Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eye is healthy, your whole body is full of light, but when it is bad, your body is full of darkness. Therefore be careful lest the light in you be darkness. If then your whole body is full of light, having no part dark, it will be wholly bright, as when a lamp with its rays gives you light.” (Luke 11:34/ESV)

Third, and perhaps most importantly, the church may have suffered from self-satisfaction; with being just content to “live and let live,” “do as the Romans do,” and care for themselves.

Paul warned the church at Corinth about the “live and let live” and “do as the Romans do” attitudes of ancient Israel: Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come. Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall. (1 Corinthians 11-12/ESV)

We just read Matthew 6:22. Let us now explore possible additional meaning to the eye as the lamp of the body - reflecting the heart - by looking at the verses preceding and following Matthew 6:22 (verses 19-21 and verse 24). The meaning of the eye as the lamp of the body may be that how we see reality determines whether we are in the dark or not. If we are laying up treasures in heaven and not earth, we are walking in the light. If we are serving God and not money, we are walking in the light. 24

“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is,


House, 1902) p. 137. 22 For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings. (Hosea 6:6/ESV) 23 G. Campbell Morgan, A First-Century Message to Twentieth-Century Christians (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book

House, 1902) pp. 137-138. 24 John Piper, “The Eye Is the Lamp of the Body - A Meditation on Matthew 6:19-24,” Desiring God (Articles),

Accessed July 201, http://www.desiringgod.org/articles/the-eye-is-the-lamp-of-the-body.


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there your heart will be also. … No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.” (Matthew 6:19-21, 24/ESV)

God Looks for Our Heart and Compassion “… You have the reputation of being alive, but you are dead. 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.” (Revelation 3:2/ESV)

All of our acts must be from the heart. For example, our worship and worship music begin in the church, but they must be sent up to Heaven. If an offering, a prayer or a hymn is simply an expression of pleasant feeling, there is no worship in it. But if we give, pray, or sing with a spirit of worship, adoration, and glorification of God, then our voices find their way into the presence of God. 25

And he sat down opposite the treasury and watched the people putting money into the offering box. Many rich people put in large sums. And a poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which make a penny. And he called his disciples to him and said to them, “Truly, I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the offering box. For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.” (Mark 12:41-44/ESV; c.f., Luke 21:1-4) 26

Our prayers are to be offered from the heart. Scripture tells us that prayer is like incense. The altar of incense described in Exodus 30 is a type of Jesus in that the daily burning of the incense represented His continuous intercession for us before the throne of God - as our Intercessor whose prayers never stop ascending to God on our behalf. King David referred to our prayers being accepted by God as incense. Paul and the Epistle to the Hebrews told us that Jesus is our Mediator. In Revelation we read that the prayers of the saints are like incense rising to God and are carried by angels before God.

“You shall make an altar on which to burn incense; you shall make it of acacia wood. … And you shall put it in front of the veil that is above the ark of the testimony, in front of the mercy seat that is above the testimony, where I will meet with you. And Aaron shall burn fragrant incense on it. Every morning when he dresses the lamps he shall burn it, and when Aaron sets up the lamps at twilight, he shall burn it, a regular incense offering before the Lord throughout your generations. You shall not offer unauthorized incense on it, or a burnt offering, or a grain offering, and you shall not pour a drink offering on it.” (Exodus 30:1, 6-10/ESV) Let my prayer be counted as incense before you, and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice! (Psalm 141:2/ESV) For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus … (1 Timothy 2:5/ESV) But in fact the ministry Jesus has received is as superior to theirs as the covenant of which he is mediator is superior to the old one, since the new covenant is established on better promises. (Hebrews 8:6/ESV)


House, 1902) p. 139. 26 Jesus looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the offering box, and he saw a poor widow put in two

small copper coins. And he said, “Truly, I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them. For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.” (Luke 21:1-4/ESV)


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Therefore he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant. (Hebrews 9:15/ESV) … You have come to God, the Judge of all, to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel. (Hebrews 12:23-24/ESV) And when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. (Revelation 5:8/ESV) When the Lamb opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. Then I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them. And another angel came and stood at the altar with a golden censer, and he was given much incense to offer with the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar before the throne, and the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, rose before God from the hand of the angel. Then the angel took the censer and filled it with fire from the altar and threw it on the earth, and there were peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning, and an earthquake. (Revelation 8:1-5/ESV)

Jesus set the example of how to pray with heart and compassion in His prayer at the Last Supper, the “High Priestly Prayer” (John 17). In John 17 we have the most fully recorded prayer of Jesus. It is truly our “Lord’s prayer” in that He prayed as our Mediator, as our Intercessor, and as an instruction and encouragement for our prayers. The Lord’s Prayer as we commonly know it was one He taught us to pray, but did not pray Himself, because He did

not need to pray for the forgiveness of sin. This prayer recorded in John 17, the “High Priestly Prayer,” was properly and specifically His. In the “High Priestly Prayer” Jesus prays for Himself (vv. 1-5) and prays for those that are His. This prayer includes both the general pleas with which he introduces his petitions for them (vv. 6-10) and the particular petitions that they might be kept (vv. 11-16), sanctified (vv. 17-19), united (vv. 11, 20-23), and glorified (vv. 24-26). 27

We are to be motivated to live in the presence of God and to do His work out of love for Him and each other. Elihu told Job and his other friends that God hears the humble and ignores the proud. The psalmist sang of God protecting those who trust and obey Him. King Solomon wrote that God does not answer those who disregard the poor, and that the prayers of the disobedient are an abomination. Isaiah preached that God will ignore the prayers of the unrepentant. Jesus teaches us about sincere, heartfelt prayer. James taught about asking God to meet our needs and not to indulge our luxuries.

But none says, ‘Where is God my Maker, who gives songs in the night, who teaches us more than the beasts of the earth and makes us wiser than the birds of the heavens?’ There they cry out, but he does not answer, because of the pride of evil men. Surely God does not hear an empty cry, nor does the Almighty regard it. (Job 35:10-13/ESV)

27 Image “Heart and Compassion” from https://fromtheheartogod.files.wordpress.com/2014/07/compassion-11.jpg.


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He turned the sea into dry land; they passed through the river on foot. There did we rejoice in him, who rules by his might forever, whose eyes keep watch on the nations - let not the rebellious exalt themselves. Selah. Bless our God, O peoples; let the sound of his praise be heard, who has kept our soul among the living and has not let our feet slip. For you, O God, have tested us; you have tried us as silver is tried. (Psalm 66:6-10/ESV) Whoever closes his ear to the cry of the poor will himself call out and not be answered. (Proverbs 21:13/ESV) If one turns away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer is an abomination. (Proverbs 28:9/ESV) … but your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear. (Isaiah 59:2/ESV) He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.” (Luke 18:9-14/ESV) You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. (James 4:3/ESV)

The church at Sardis may have lacked compassion. It probably had plans and programs, but no growth into knowing and being like Jesus. There was likely no growth individually of the church as a whole into a spirit of faith in the salvation work of Jesus, the strengthening of the Christian life, and the spreading of the Gospel. There may have been no compassion for souls, and no fellowship with the sufferings of Christ. Rather, much have been done to exhibit the goodness of the church before people rather than before God. There may have been greater anxiety about their reputation in Sardis and of neighboring churches than about their reputation in heaven. 28

Jesus teaches us that compassion is the sense of the entire law and Prophets, and He demonstrated His compassion on people who were spiritually lost and both physically and spiritually hungry. He teaches us that love of neighbor is one of the two greatest commandments, and that they reflect all of Scripture. He teaches us about compassion in the parable of the Good Samaritan. Paul taught us about being compassionately loving, helpful, and forgiving to each other.

“So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.” (Matthew 7:12/ESV) When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. (Matthew 9:36-38/ESV) And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first


House, 1902) p. 154.


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commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.” (Matthew 22:35-40/ESV; c.f., ) “And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’” (Luke 10:30-35/ESV) Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. (Galatians 6:2/ESV) Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. (Ephesians 4:32/EV) Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. (Colossians 3:12-13/ESV)

Jesus’ Counsel “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. 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. 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. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” (Revelation 3:3-6/ESV)

Jesus’ counsel holds a command, a threat, and a promise relative to keeping His commandment. The church at Sardis was challenged to understand what Jesus wanted. We are also challenged today to understand what he wants from us and what the evidences might be of our responding according to His will.

Jesus’ Command “Remember, then, what you received and heard. Keep it, and repent.” (Revelation 3:3/ESV)

Jesus’ command is more than strong advice. It is a command to remember His commands, to obey them, and to repent. It is an absolute mandate to remember the Gospel and put it, not our own desires, into practice. His command is directed not only at the body of the church, but also to individual members. Jesus demands that we have substance over form in our lives. That is, the works must be grounded in the spiritual realty of our faith in and love for Him. He did not condemn the acts performed by the church at Sardis. Rather, He condemned their doing them from a motivation that was other than love of God and other people. For all we know, that may have been the most perfect church one could have when judged only by its observables. Jesus always has one message for what we might call formalism - for emphasizing orthodox form over Gospel substance. We learn the following about formalism from Jesus, Paul, and James.

And he sat down opposite the treasury and watched the people putting money into the offering box. Many rich people put in large sums. And a poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which make a penny. And he called his disciples to him and said to them, “Truly, I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the offering


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box. For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.” (Mark 12:41-44/ESV; c.f., Luke 21:1-4) 29 But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people. For among them are those who creep into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and led astray by various passions, always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth. Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these men also oppose the truth, men corrupted in mind and disqualified regarding the faith. But they will not get very far, for their folly will be plain to all, as was that of those two men. (2 Timothy 3:1-5/ESV; c.f., Exodus 7:11) 30 For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical. But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. His praise is not from man but from God. (Romans 2:28-29/ESV) For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.” Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness … (Romans 4:2-5/ESV; c.f., Genesis 15:6) 31 The apostle paul taught us to listen to and heed our spiritual leaders. How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?” So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ. (Romans 10:14-17/ESV; c.f., Isaiah 52:7; Isaiah 53:1) 32 So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. (James 2:17-18/ESV)

Jesus does not ask that we give up outward expressions of faith and worship. We are not to abandon heartfelt ceremonies of music and worship that are helpful in speaking to God. He has no criticism for these things. Rather, He permits such rites providing that they are expressive of our faith and love of God. The true ideal of worship is for us to commune with God. The forms of worship are, of themselves, of little importance. Jesus does not

29 Jesus looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the offering box, and he saw a poor widow put in two

small copper coins. And he said, “Truly, I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them. For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.” (Luke 21:1-4/ESV)

30 Jannes and Jambres are names traditionally given to the Egyptian magicians who contended with Moses and Aaron and were discomfited by the Hebrew leaders in the Book of Exodus in the Hebrew Bible. Their names are not fond in the Bible. Then Pharaoh summoned the wise men and the sorcerers, and they, the magicians of Egypt, also did the same by their secret arts. (Exodus 7:11/ESV)

31 And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness. (Genesis 15:6/ESV) 32 How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings

good news of happiness, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, “Your God reigns.” (Isaiah 52:7/ESV) Who has believed what he has heard from us? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? (Isaiah 53:1/ESV)


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call the church at Sardis - and us - to abandon our forms of worship and service, but to ground them in our inner life. 33

Jesus’ command is directed not only at the body of the church, but also to individual members. Although He later cites “a few names in Sardis, people who have not soiled their garments” we must understand that He implicitly condemns individuals who are not like those of His chosen “few names.”

Jesus’ Threat “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.” (Revelation 3:3/ESV)

Jesus’ threat is more than strong incentive. It is an absolute threat of awful retribution for not putting the Gospel into practice instead of our own whims. Scripture tells us that God’s threat is accompanied by a promise. 34 All we have to do is trust and love Him, and the obedience will follow.

”For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble. The day that is coming shall set them ablaze,” says the Lord of hosts, “so that it will leave them neither root nor branch. But for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings. You shall go out leaping like calves from the stall. And you shall tread down the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet, on the day when I act,” says the Lord of hosts. (Malachi 4:1-3/ESV)

Jesus answered him [Judas, not Iscariot], “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.” (John 14:23/ESV)

Malachi mentioned the “sun of righteousness.” Note that the sun can have two effects. It can burn and destroy a plant rooted in dry ground (“set them ablaze”), and it can nourish a plant with roots being fed by fresh water (“rise with healing”). We read of the healthy tree and the chaff in Psalm 1.

Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away. Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous; for the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish. (Psalm 1/ESV)


House, 1902) p. 142. 34 We read about the difference between God’s Law and Gospel promises in the earlier discussion of in Jesus’

Counsel to the angel of the Church at Pergamum. Image “Thief in the Night” from https://cisphil.org/baltazar/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/thief_in_the_night.jpg.


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Jesus teaches us that we are to be on our guard, because we do not know when He will come again. Jesus even warned Peter to watch and pray, perhaps so that he would come to no harm at His arrest. Paul reinforced Jesus’ teaching by warning against a false sense of security in the World’s offerings.

“But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only. For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. … Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.” (Matthew 24:36-39, 42-44/ESV; c.f., Mark 13:32-37) 35 “Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” (Matthew 26:41/ESV) “But watch yourselves lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and cares of this life, and that day come upon you suddenly like a trap. For it will come upon all who dwell on the face of the whole earth. But stay awake at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are going to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.” (Luke 21:34-36/ESV) For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. (1 Thessalonians 5:2-3/ESV)

Jesus’ Promise “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. 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.” (Revelation 3:4-5/ESV)

Jesus’ promise is more than any reward we can imagine. The joy we shall experience at receiving His reward is greater heavenly joy than we can imagine. It is the ultimate reward for trusting Him, not ourselves, and putting the Gospel, not our own desires, into practice. We can only scrape at its surface by learning what Jesus, Paul and John tell us about life before the Throne of God and in the presence of Jesus as our Ruler.

And Jesus said, “I am [the Christ], and you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven.” (Mark 14:62/ESV)

35 “But concerning that day or that hour, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the

Father. Be on guard, keep awake. For you do not know when the time will come. It is like a man going on a journey, when he leaves home and puts his servants in charge, each with his work, and commands the doorkeeper to stay awake. Therefore stay awake - for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or in the morning - lest he come suddenly and find you asleep. And what I say to you I say to all: Stay awake.” (Mark 13:32-37)


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But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him …” (1 Corinthians 2:9/ESV; c.f., Isaiah 64:4) 36 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” (Revelation 21:3-4/ESV; c.f., Isaiah 35:10; Isaiah 51:11; Isaiah 65:19) 37 Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever. (Revelation 22:1-5/ESV)

John wrote of two attitudes toward Jesus’ coming. They are boldness on the one hand and shame on the other. And now, little children, abide in him, so that when he appears we may have confidence and not shrink from him in shame at his coming. (1 John 2:28/ESV) The different attitudes reflect the condition of those who wait for Him. If we are abiding in Him, then at His coming we shall have boldness and joy. If we are not abiding in Him, we shall be ashamed before Him. If, when thinking of Jesus’ coming, it is a happy thought and music to our souls, then we are we fulfilling our works before God. If on the other hand, when thinking of Jesus’ coming, we wish for the postponement of His coming, it is because our relation to Him is only overt and formal rather than spiritual and living. 38 Jesus teaches us this.

“So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 10:32-33/ESV) “For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.” (Mark 8:38/ESV) “For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed when he comes in his glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels. But I tell you truly, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God.” (Luke 9:26/ESV) 39

36 From of old no one has heard or perceived by the ear, no eye has seen a God besides you, who acts for those

who wait for him. (Isaiah 64:4/ESV) 37 And the ransomed of the Lord shall return and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their

heads; they shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away. (Isaiah 35:10/ESV) Isaiah 51:11 is identical. I will rejoice in Jerusalem and be glad in my people; no more shall be heard in it the sound of weeping and the cry of distress. (Isaiah 65:19/ESV)

38 G. Campbell Morgan, A First-Century Message to Twentieth-Century Christians (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1902) pp. 146-147.

39 “… there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God.” (Luke 9:26/ESV) is a difficult passage.


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Jesus’ Promise - People with Unsoiled Garments “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. 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.” (Revelation 3:4-5/ESV)

The image, “few names in Sardis, people who have not soiled their garments,” probably referred to those who had not participated in the rites of Cybele. At those rites candidates for priesthood castrated themselves. At one major festival a bull was castrated and sacrificed, and new initiates were “baptized” in its blood. The cult events were noisy and ecstatic affairs that attracted many people. Only women and castrated men were allowed to attend the main celebrations of the goddess, which were less religious ritual and more wild orgies that were indecent and depraved. Influential people protected participants in the pagan rituals from prosecution. Many of the worshipers were organized into fraternities and enjoyed some social status and influence. Many important people flocked to them. 40 The “few names in Sardis, people who have not soiled their garments” reminds us of God’s promise throughout history since ancient times of salvaging a remnant of believers from the rest of the people. God selected Noah and his family as the believing remnant of the human race. Joseph saw Jacob’s family as a remnant of the Promise that God had saved by Joseph’s actions. Isaiah and Jeremiah prophesied that God would save the remnant of Judah. Paul, referring to God’s words to Elijah about a remnant, identified Jesus’ believers as the new remnant of the Gospel.

So the Lord said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens, for I am sorry that I have made them.” But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord. … Then the Lord said to Noah, “Go into the ark, you and all your household, for I have seen that you are righteous before me in this generation.” … He blotted out every living thing that was on the face of the ground, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens. They were blotted out from the earth. Only Noah was left, and those who were with him in the ark. (Genesis 6:7-8; 7:1, 23/ESV) 41

Calvin interpreted this idea to mean two things. First, Jesus was instructing Peter, and us, to tend to his work for

Him and not be concerned about what He has in mind for others. Second, we are to want to know what God wants us to do and “watch and pray” as Jesus told us (Matthew 26:41; Luke 21:36). John Calvin, John Chapter 21, Calvin’s Commentary on the Bible. Internet Sacred Text Archive (ISTA), Accessed July 2018. http://www.sacred-texts.com/chr/calvin/cc35/cc35010.htm.

We may wonder about whether or not the meaning of Jesus’ words, when he spoke to Peter about John on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, could be interpreted in retrospect as pertaining to appearing in John’s vision. Peter turned and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them, the one who had been reclining at table close to him and had said, “Lord, who is it that is going to betray you?” When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, “Lord, what about this man?” Jesus said to him, “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow me!” So the saying spread abroad among the brothers that this disciple was not to die; yet Jesus did not say to him that he was not to die, but, “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you?” (John 21:20-23/ESV)

One commentator interprets these ideas of “will not taste death” and “If it is my will that he remain until I come” to mean that one of the apostles, like John, lived to see the destruction of Jerusalem, and thus became witnesses of the truth of Christ’s words and of the inexorable punishment that comes upon those that deny Him. Paul E. Kretzmann, Luke Chapter 9, Popular Commentary of the Bible, Accessed July 2018, http://www.kretzmannproject.org.

40 Anders Sandberg, “The Cult of Magna Mater,” The Catholic University of America, Accessed April 27, 2016, http://www.ukraine.com/forums/religion/1646-cult-magna-mater-anders-sandberg.html.

41 Image “Noah’s Family” from https://thumbs.dreamstime.com/x/noah-s-family-15788044.jpg.


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So Joseph said to his brothers, “Come near to me, please.” And they came near. And he said, “I am your brother, Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt. And now do not be distressed or angry with yourselves because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life. For the famine has been in the land these two years, and there are yet five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvest. And God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors. So it was not you who sent me here, but God. He

has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house and ruler over all the land of Egypt.” (Genesis 45:4-8/ESV) God promised Elijah that after the slaughter of the Baal worshipers, he would save a remnant of believers. “Yet I will leave seven thousand in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him.” (1 Kings 19:18/ESV) And the surviving remnant of the house of Judah shall again take root downward and bear fruit upward. For out of Jerusalem shall go a remnant, and out of Mount Zion a band of survivors. The zeal of the Lord will do this. (2 Kings 19:30-31/ESV; c.f., Isaiah 37:31-32) 42 In that day the remnant of Israel and the survivors of the house of Jacob will no more lean on him who struck them, but will lean on the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, in truth. A remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob, to the mighty God. (Isaiah 10:20-21/ESV) Thus says the Lord of hosts: “They shall glean thoroughly as a vine the remnant of Israel; like a grape-gatherer pass your hand again over its branches.” (Jeremiah 6:9/ESV) Then I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their fold, and they shall be fruitful and multiply. (Jeremiah 23:3/ESV) But what is God’s reply to him? “I have kept for myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.” So too at the present time there is a remnant, chosen by grace. But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace. (Romans 11:4-6/ESV; c.f., 1 Kings 19:18) 43

We are to understand His promise “To the one who conquers” to the church at Sardis, to the other churches, and to us in this way. Jesus is the one who conquers, and He will give to those who believe in Him a share with Him in the victory that the Father promised Him. “To the one who conquers” also refers to Christians who prayerfully, with God’s help, resist the subtle temptation to adhere to non-scriptural societal values and ethics.

42 Isaiah 37:31-32 has the identical text. 43 “Yet I will leave seven thousand in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has

not kissed him.” (1 Kings 19:18/ESV)


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Jesus’ Promise - White Garments “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.” (Revelation 3:5/ESV)

Jesus promised members of the church at Sardis who “conquer” this: They “will be clothed thus in white garments, and I will never blot his name out of the book of life.” The white garments do not represent the purity of Jesus but rather the works of His saints that He purified to make them acceptable before God. We read of this elsewhere in Revelation:

Then they [the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne] were each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brothersshould be complete, who were to be killed as they themselves had been. (Revelation 76:11/ESV) And he said to me, “These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” (Revelation 7:14/ESV) “... and some of the wise shall stumble, so that they may be refined, purified, and made white, until the time of the end, for it still awaits the appointed time. ‘ (Daniel 11:35/ESV)

Job questioned whether or not man’s works could be pure before God. Isaiah told us that obedience to God will result in our salvation, and that self-righteousness makes us unclean. Jesus tells us to have a pure heart.

“Can mortal man be in the right before God? Can a man be pure before his Maker?” (Job 4:17/ESV) I will greatly rejoice in the Lord; my soul shall exult in my God, for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation; he has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself like a priest with a beautiful headdress, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. (Isaiah 61:10/ESV) We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away. (Isaiah 64:6/ESV)

Daniel saw the saints in white in his vision. Then they [the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne] were each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brothersshould be complete, who were to be killed as they themselves had been. (Revelation 76:11/ESV) And he said to me, “These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” (Revelation 7:14/ESV) “... and some of the wise shall stumble, so that they may be refined, purified, and made white, until the time of the end, for it still awaits the appointed time. ‘ (Daniel 11:35/ESV) “At that time shall arise Michael, the great prince who has charge of your people. And there shall be a time of trouble, such as never has been since there was a nation till that time. But at that time your people shall be delivered, everyone whose name shall be found written in the book. ... Many shall purify themselves and make themselves white and be refined, but the wicked shall act wickedly. And none of the wicked shall understand, but those who are wise shall understand.” (Daniel 12:1, 10/ESV)

Jesus teaches us that our hope in our salvation can make us pure before God. Paul and John also taught that.


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“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” (Matthew 5:8/ESV) Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God. (2 Corinthians 7:1/ESV) And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure. (1 John 3:3/ESV)

All in all, we may be joyful at the prospect of our appearing in Heaven, clothed with splendor, as Jesus, Moses, and Elijah did once on earth in His Transfiguration. The psalmist and Daniel also wrote of God’s splendid appearance.

And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James, and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light. And behold, there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him. (Matthew 17:1-3/ESV) 44 Bless the Lord, O my soul! O Lord my God, you are very great! You are clothed with splendor and majesty, covering yourself with light as with a garment, stretching out the heavens like a tent. (Psalm 104:1-2/ESV) As I looked, thrones were placed, and the Ancient of Days took his seat; his clothing was white as snow, and the hair of his head like pure wool; his throne was fiery flames; its wheels were burning fire. (Daniel 7:9/ESV)

Jesus’ Promise - The Book of Life “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.” (Revelation 3:5/ESV)

It is comforting to faithfully and prayerfully believe the promise to never blot one’s name out of the Book of Life. King David sang of the “scroll of the book.” The Book of Life was seen in Daniel’s vision and addressed later in Revelation.

Then I said, “Behold, I have come; in the scroll of the book it is written of me: I delight to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart.” (Psalm 40:7-8/ESV) A stream of fire issued and came out from before him [the Ancient of Days]; a thousand thousands served him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him; the court sat in judgment, and the books were opened. (Daniel 7:10/ESV) “... and some of the wise shall stumble, so that they may be refined, purified, and made white, until the time of the end, for it still awaits the appointed time. ‘ (Daniel 11:35/ESV) “At that time shall arise Michael, the great prince who has charge of your people. And there shall be a time of trouble, such as never has been since there was a nation till that time. But at that time your people shall be delivered, everyone whose name shall be found written in the book. And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. ... Many shall purify themselves and make themselves white and be refined, but the wicked shall act wickedly. And none of the wicked shall understand, but those who are wise shall understand.” (Daniel 12:1-2, 10/ESV) Then they [the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne] were each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brothersshould be complete, who were to be killed as they themselves had been. (Revelation 6:11/ESV)

44 This story is repeated in Mark 9:2-4 and Luke 9:28-31.


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And he said to me, “These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” (Revelation 7:14/ESV) ... and all who dwell on earth will worship it [the beast], everyone whose name has not been written before the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who was slain. (Revelation 13:8/ESV) “The beast that you saw was, and is not, and is about to rise from the bottomless pit and go to destruction. And the dwellers on earth whose names have not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world will marvel to see the beast, because it was and is not and is to come.” (Revelation 17:8/ESV) And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. (Revelation 20:12/ESV)

We are to understand His promise in this way. Jesus is the one who conquers, and He will give to those who believe in Him a share with Him in the victory that the Father promised Him. “To the one who conquers” also refers to Christians who prayerfully, with God’s help, resist the subtle temptation to adhere to non-scriptural societal values and ethics.

Jesus promised the church at Sardis to keep the name of the “one who conquers” in the Book of Life. The Book of Life is an ancient reference to those whom the Lord, by name, will accept into His heavenly Kingdom. Reference to a book was made from the time

of Moses, through the times of prophets, to the times of Jesus, Paul, and the writer of Hebrews. 45

So Moses returned to the Lord and said, “Alas, this people has sinned a great sin. They have made for themselves gods of gold. But now, if you will forgive their sin - but if not, please blot me out of your book that you have written.” But the Lord said to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against me, I will blot out of my book. But now go, lead the people to the place about which I have spoken to you; behold, my angel shall go before you. Nevertheless, in the day when I visit, I will visit their sin upon them.” (Exodus 32:31-34/ESV) You have kept count of my tossings; put my tears in your bottle. 46 Are they not in your book? (Psalm 56:8/ESV) Add to them punishment upon punishment; may they have no acquittal from you. Let them be blotted out of the book of the living; let them not be enrolled among the righteous. (Psalm 69:27-28/ESV; c.f., Exodus 32:31-32) 47 My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them. (Psalm 139:15-16)

45 Image “Lamb’s Book of Life” from https://wwyeshua.files.wordpress.com/2015/02/lambs-book-of-life.png. 46 It is difficult to say exactly when the first tear bottles (lachrymatories) came into being, however, we can be

certain that the legends began in antiquity. They were fairly common in Roman times, around the time of Christ, when mourners filled small glass bottles or cups with tears and placed them in burial tombs as symbols of respect.

47 So Moses returned to the Lord and said, “Alas, this people has sinned a great sin. They have made for themselves gods of gold. But now, if you will forgive their sin - but if not, please blot me out of your book that you have written.” (Exodus 32:31-32/ESV)


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Then those who feared the Lord spoke with one another. The Lord paid attention and heard them, and a book of remembrance was written before him of those who feared the Lord and esteemed his name. “They shall be mine,” says the Lord of hosts, “in the day when I make up my treasured possession, and I will spare them as a man spares his son who serves him. Then once more you shall see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve him.” (Malachi 3:16-18/ESV) And he said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing

shall hurt you. Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.” (Luke 10:18-20/ESV) Yes, I ask you also, true companion, help these women, who have labored side by side with me in the Gospel together with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life. (Philippians 4:3/ESV) But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the

righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel. (Hebrews 12:22-24/ESV)

We see more references to the “book of life” throughout Revelation. 48 … and all who dwell on earth will worship it, everyone whose name has not been written before the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who was slain. If anyone has an ear, let him hear: (Revelation 13:8-9/ESV) The beast, which you saw, once was, now is not, and yet will come up out of the Abyss and go to its destruction. The inhabitants of the earth whose names have not been written in the book of life from the creation of the world will be astonished when they see the beast, because it once was, now is not, and yet will come. (Revelation 17:8/ESV) Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. (Revelation 20:11-15 /ESV) Nothing impure will ever enter it [the New Jerusalem], nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life. (Revelation 21:27/ESV)

48 Image “Jesus and the Book of Life” from http://www.temkit.com/08-Bible-Prophecy/Knowing-

Prophecy/images/book-life.jpg.


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Jesus’ Promise - Confess Our Names before the Father “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.” (Revelation 3:5/ESV)

Jesus also promised to confess the name of the “one who conquers” before His “Father and before his angels.” Jesus gives us both that promise and the consequence of not believing in Him. Paul reiterated Jesus’ promise.

“So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 10:32-33/ESV; c.f., Luke 12:8 -9) 49 … because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. (Romans 10:9/ESV)

The alternative to receiving Jesus’ promise is receiving His condemnation, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’ (Matthew 7:21-23/ESV)

Jesus’ Promise - The Challenge “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. 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.” (Revelation 3:4-5/ESV)

Jesus’ promise in Revelation 3:4-5 also presents a challenge. We mentioned earlier that the church and its individual members - then and now - are challenged today to understand what evidence we might give of our responding according to Jesus’ will. Let us discuss four possible evidences of being a healthy church: growth, compassion, union, and emotion. 50

The Challenge - Growth

A healthy, spirit-moved church grows both internally and externally. Members grow in the Word - in their knowledge, understanding and application of the Gospel in their daily lives. They respond to the Gospel by trying to have lifestyles that reflect their belief. The Sacrament strengthens them in their faith. They worship, pray, and sing together. By their lives, they become “the only Bible that another might ever read.” 51 They encourage and strengthen each other and make their Gospel encouragement and strength open to people outside their Christian community. Philip,

49 “And I tell you, everyone who acknowledges me before men, the Son of Man also will acknowledge before the

angels of God, but the one who denies me before men will be denied before the angels of God.” (Luke 12:8 -9/ESV) (Romans 10:9/ESV)

50 G. Campbell Morgan, A First-Century Message to Twentieth-Century Christians (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1902) p. 151.

51 Image “Church Growth” from http://www.lrba.org/clientimages/20083/church%20growth.jpg.


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a disciple, preached to the public who were attracted by both the message and the signs that he performed. While we do not expect to work signs such as are suggested in the context of the early Church, we do exhibit the signs of the Gospel in our lives to be observed by others. Jesus encouraged, strengthened, and used His church in Damascus to complete Paul’s conversion. Paul wrote about exposing our faith as the light to one another and to outsiders. Even these few examples can make us wonder who is seeing each of us as “the only Bible that they will ever read.”

Philip went down to the city of Samaria and proclaimed to them the Christ. And the crowds with one accord paid attention to what was being said by Philip when they heard him and saw the signs that he did. (Acts 8:5-6/ESV) So Ananias departed and entered the house. And laying his hands on him he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road by which you came has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and he regained his sight. Then he rose and was baptized; and taking food, he was strengthened. For some days he was with the disciples at Damascus. And immediately he proclaimed Jesus in the synagogues, saying, “He is the Son of God.” And all who heard him were amazed and said, “Is not this the man who made havoc in Jerusalem of those who called upon this name? And has he not come here for this purpose, to bring them bound before the chief priests?” But Saul increased all the more in strength, and confounded the Jews who lived in Damascus by proving that Jesus was the Christ. (Acts 9:17-22/ESV) But when anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible, for anything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says, “Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.” Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ. (Ephesians 5:13-20/ESV; c.f., Luke 1:78-79; Isaiah 26:19; Isaiah 51:17; Isaiah 60:1) 52

There are other reasons for the Church growing in the faith. Members and outsiders see the love and care, forgiveness and acceptance that we demonstrate. People will come, grow and worship when the main purpose of pouring out to God is the central theme of worship and not just accommodating a style, or putting on a performance.

“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:34-35/ESV) Jesus answered him [Judas (not Iscariot)], “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.” (John 14:23/ESV)

52 “… because of the tender mercy of our God, whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high to give light to those

who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.” (Luke 1:78-79/ESV) Your dead shall live; their bodies shall rise. You who dwell in the dust, awake and sing for joy! For your dew is a dew of light, and the earth will give birth to the dead. (Isaiah 26:19/ESV) Wake yourself, wake yourself, stand up, O Jerusalem, you who have drunk from the hand of the Lord the cup of his wrath, who have drunk to the dregs the bowl, the cup of staggering. (Isaiah 51:17/ESV) Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. (Isaiah 60:1/ESV)


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The Challenge - Compassion

Compassion is a key part of spirituality. The definition of compassion is “a feeling of deep sympathy or sorrow for another who is stricken with misfortune, accompanied by the strong desire to alleviate the suffering.” 53 The spirit of the Church is the spirit of Jesus. The spirit of Jesus is that of loving compassion. We are not to come together as a life style, economic, ethnic, or social support group. Although mutual support is important we are to have compassion not only for each other but also for others around us in our communities. We cannot buy off our personal responsibility only by making donations to charitable organizations. Although such donations are important, we are also to be involved in some way with our communities. Every church should be an asylum for the lost, a refuge for the broken-hearted, a home of welcome for society’s “rejects.” We can be that not only by our donations to but also by our involvement with charitable organizations, hosting and participating in events, and volunteering for service. We have to remember that Jesus had no home and had only the clothes that He wore. He had food and some shelter from supporters. Despite being poor in the way the World saw Him, He went about giving God’s blessings of teaching, healing, and even feeding. Paul taught about our relationships with one another and with the World.

And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the Gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.” (Matthew 9:35-38/ESV)

Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never

be wise in your own sight. Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. (Romans 12:9-21/ESV; c.f., Proverbs 20:22; Proverbs 25:21-22) 54 Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. (Galatians 6:2/ESV)

53 Oxford Dictionaries, “compassion,” Accessed July 2018,

http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english/compassion. Image “Compassion” from http://www.chris4life.org/uploads/cke_images/iStock_000016852516_Large-1-.jpg.

54 Do not say, “I will repay evil”; wait for the Lord, and he will deliver you. (Proverbs 20:22/ESV) If your enemy is hungry, give him bread to eat, and if he is thirsty, give him water to drink, for you will heap burning coals on his head, and the Lord will reward you. (Proverbs 25:21-22/ESV)


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Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. (Ephesians 4:32/ESV)

The Challenge - Unity

Disintegration leads to death. We may not allow our congregation and our churches communally to fracture themselves into discrete groups with agendas focused only on themselves. Perhaps the foremost, succinct statements of this are found in Paul’s letters to the Galatians and Colossians.

For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise. (Galatians 3:27-29/ESV) Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all. (Colossians 3:9-11/ESV)

The church cannot survive if it is filled with factions. Lack of unity is proof of a lack of life. “We are truly one because God’s Spirit made the Church one in Christ. True unity is neither created nor destroyed by our actions. Rather, Paul exhorts us to treasure this unity and to act accordingly.

Ephesians 4:4-6 are poetic, possibly a quotation from an early Christian hymn or creed. It teaches that the Church’s unity is rooted in the Trinity: one Spirit; one Lord; one Father.” 55

I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 56 There is one body and one Spirit - just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call - one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. (Ephesians 4:1-6/ESV) And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ … (Ephesians 4:11-13/ESV) Only let your manner of life be worthy of the Gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the Gospel … (Philippians 1:27/ESV)

55 The Lutheran Study Bible (English Standard Version) Rev. Edward A. Engelbrecht, ed. “Notes on Ephesians”

(St. Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House, 2009) p. 2022. Image “Unity and Community” from http://edenislepublishing.info/columbiasc/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/2013/08/1community_rev-copy-600x250.jpg.

56 The quotation from an early Christian hymn or creed (Verses 4-6) starts at verses 4 with “There is one body and one Spirit …” Thomas Smith, “Paul’s Hymn of Glory,” The Great Adventure, Accessed July 2018, http://biblestudyforcatholics.com/pauls-hymn-glory/.


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A lack of Christian unity is expressed in the chorus of the song “Lord, Teach Us to Pray.” 57

Lord, Teach us to pray It’s been a long and cold December kind of day With our hearts and hands all busy in our private little wars We stand and watch each other now from separate shores We lose the way.

To retain our unity we are to continually return to God’s Holy Word, deepen our understanding of faith as Christians, and be able to speak about our faith to others. There is no room for differences within Christianity when those differences depart from the Gospel. At times, we will disagree with other Christians, but if we allow Scripture to be the authority then we will be united, even if we do not agree on every detail. We are called to be of one mind, but we are sinful people with limited understanding. 58 Paul recognized that there will be disputes among Christians. Acts 15 gives us an example of how to resolve differences prayerfully asking the Holy Spirit for guidance. Acts 15 tells the story of the Council of Jerusalem that resolved issues regarding circumcision and the conversion of Gentiles. Acts 15 recounts the dispute over whether or not to require that Gentile Christians be circumcised and obey the Mosaic Law. The Jerusalem Church was a Jewish one shaped by Moses, the customs of Israel, and by Jesus’ teachings. The Antioch church was as Gentile as the Jerusalem church was Jewish. The Council at Jerusalem AD 48 resolved the dispute over circumcision recognizing the mission of Christians to the whole inhabited world, with its preponderance of Gentiles (or non-Jews) and the needlessness of circumcising gentiles. The Christians of Antioch spoke a different language, had been shaped by a different culture, lived a different ethic and lifestyle, had a completely different set of problems and priorities. The decision was announced by James, 59 but it was not arrived at by James, or any other council member, alone. Rather, the entire assembly arrived at the decision. James spoke for the entire assembly basing his words on the testimony given by Peter, the prophets, and specifically Amos.

And all the assembly fell silent, and they listened to Barnabas and Paul as they related what signs and wonders God had done through them among the Gentiles. After they finished speaking, James replied, “Brothers, listen to me. Simeon has related how God first visited the Gentiles, to take from them a people for his name. And with this the words of the prophets agree, just as it is written, ‘After this I will return, and I will rebuild the tent of David that has fallen; I will rebuild its ruins, and I will restore it, that the remnant of mankind may seek the Lord, and all the Gentiles who are called by my name, says the Lord, who makes these

57 Joe Wise, “Lord, Teach Us to Pray,” It’s a small world - String of thoughts, Accessed July 2018,

http://belho.blogspot.com/2008/10/lord-teach-us-to-pray.html, 58 While we are united in the Gospel of Christ, sincere, Bible-believing Christians may reach different conclusions

on other matters. The discussion of this, which deals with the specific beliefs of Christian denominations about certain matters (e.g., baptism, communion), is outside the scope of this paper.

59 This was James the son of Alphaeus, one of the twelve apostles, sometimes called the brother of the Lord. The other James, the son of Zebedee and brother of John had been killed by Herod (Acts 12:2 ). This James was the brother of Jude, and the same that wrote the epistle that bears his name. It is unclear if he was the overseer (i.e., “elder”) of the church at Jerusalem. We get the impression that he presided over the council, although the speeches made in the council do not appear to have been directed to him.


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things known from of old.’ [Amos 9:11] Therefore my judgment is that we should not trouble those of the Gentiles who turn to God, 20 but should write to them to abstain from the things polluted by idols, and from sexual immorality, and from what has been strangled, and from blood. For from ancient generations Moses has had in every city those who proclaim him, for he is read every Sabbath in the synagogues.” (Acts 15:12-21/ESV)

The Apostle Paul wrote extensively about unity in the Church. I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment. For it has been reported to me by Chloe’s people that there is quarreling among you, my brothers. What I mean is that each one of you says, “I follow Paul,” or “I follow Apollos,” or “I follow Cephas,” or “I follow Christ.” (1 Corinthians 1:10-12/ESV) I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit - just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call - one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. (Ephesians 4:1-6/ESV) And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ … (Ephesians 4:11-13/ESV) Only let your manner of life be worthy of the Gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the Gospel … (Philippians 1:27/ESV) If anyone teaches a different doctrine and does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness, he is puffed up with conceit and understands nothing. He has an unhealthy craving for controversy and for quarrels about words, which produce envy, dissension, slander, evil suspicions, and constant friction among people who are depraved in mind and deprived of the truth, imagining that godliness is a means of gain. (1 Timothy 6:3-5/ESV) Have nothing to do with foolish, ignorant controversies; you know that they breed quarrels. (2 Timothy 2:23/ESV)

The Challenge - Emotion

Emotion is “A natural instinctive state of mind deriving from one’s circumstances, mood, or relationships with others. It is an instinctive or intuitive feeling as distinguished from

reasoning or knowledge.” 60 Where there is life there is emotion. Scripture attests that the presence and work of the Holy Spirit is emotional. For example, when we believers exercise faith, the Spirit of God supplies joy and peace. Holy emotions depend upon the Holy

Spirit’s work. Much of the World supposes that the highest stratum of life is the one that is most emotionless. That idea is false. We know that we are alive because we weep, sing,

60 Oxford Dictionaries, “emotion,” Accessed July 2018,

http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english/emotion.


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laugh, mourn, and suffer. The dead have no tears, laughter, music, mourning, nor suffering. 61

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope. (Romans 15:13/ESV) And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ. (Ephesians 5:18-21/ESV)

For Christians the foremost examples of emotion in the Bible are found in the stories of Jesus’ tearful sorrow before raising Lazarus from the dead and His justified anger over the desecration of the Temple. The story of Pentecost and the first Christian sermon is also charged with emotion (Acts 2).

Now when Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet, saying to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled. And he said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” Jesus wept. So the Jews said, “See how he loved him!” (John 11:32-35/ESV) And Jesus entered the temple and drove out all who sold and bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you make it a den of robbers.” (Matthew 21:12-13/ESV; c.f., Isaiah 56:7; Jeremiah 7:11) 62

Jesus has little use for the church without tears and laughter. We cannot have tears without laughter and vice-versa. Churches cannot have compassion without also having joy. The church that lives, thrills with emotion, is full of laughter and tears, perpetually breaks into song, and is silent again in the silence of pain. The experience of the individual members is realized within the unity of the Church. 63

After Jesus’ Resurrection, He met some disciples on the road to Emmaus. They did not recognize Him. They were sad. And he said to them, “What is this conversation that you are holding with each other as you walk?” And they stood still, looking sad. Then one of them, named Cleopas, answered him, “Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?” And he said to them, “What things?” And they said to him, “Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, a man who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how our chief priests and rulers delivered him up to be condemned to death, and crucified him. But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things happened.” (Luke 24:17-21/ESV) Jesus did not criticize them for their sadness. He understood it. He explained the salvation story to them and His role in it.

61 Image “Emotion” from http://www.landmarkpentecostal.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/schedule-1140x4601-

1140x460.jpg. 62 “… these I will bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer; their burnt offerings

and their sacrifices will be accepted on my altar; for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.” (Isaiah 56:7/ESV) Has this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, I myself have seen it, declares the Lord. (Jeremiah 7:11/ESV)

63 G. Campbell Morgan, A First-Century Message to Twentieth-Century Christians (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1902) pp. 154-155.


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On the morning of the Resurrection the women left the tomb to tell the disciples of Jesus’ Resurrection. They had mixed feelings of fear and joy. So they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples. (Matthew 28:8/ESV) Jesus had compassion on the crowd because they were hungry. “I have compassion on the crowd, because they have been with me now three days and have nothing to eat.” (Mark 8:2/ESV)

A church that does not exhibit the foregoing four possible evidences of being healthy - growth, compassion, union, and emotion - is dead like the one at Sardis. 64

Jesus’ Warning “He who has an ear let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” (Revelation 3:6/ESV)

The letter to the church at Sardis ends with a statement admonishing them and us: “‘ … He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. …’” That was a note of a warning to all seven churches - and his universal Church - to heed Jesus’ words. Most of the letter is an indictment of the church for evil in the church as being the rule rather than the exception. The works of the church at Sardis were pro-forma and not from the heart filled with the Spirit. They were a works-oriented church whose works were for show, hollow, and not motivated by true charity.

Summary Unlike the previous churches, Jesus had no words of commendation for the church at Sardis. 65 The churches at both Ephesus and Sardis had apparently degenerated spiritually from their initial condition (c.f., Revelation 2:4 and Revelation 3:1) 66 However, there was a difference between the two. Ephesus could still be salvaged, but Sardis was almost a “terminal case.” Evil in the other churches had been the exception, not the rule. Evil in the church at Sardis had been the rule, not the exception. The works of the church at Sardis were pro-forma and not from the heart filled with the Spirit. They were a works-oriented church whose works were for show, hollow, and not motivated by true charity.

Jesus challenges His Church and its individual members to understand what evidence we might give of responding according to His will. There are four possible evidences of being a healthy church in which the church at Sardis was deficient: growth, compassion, union, and emotion. A church that does not exhibit those four possible evidences of being healthy - growth, compassion, union, and emotion - is dead like the one at Sardis. Jesus’ Church should have plans and programs. But it should also have growth into knowing and being like Jesus. There must be growth, individually and as a congregation, into a spirit of faith in the salvation work of Jesus, the strengthening of the Christian life, and the spreading of the Gospel. There must be compassion for souls, and fellowship with the sufferings of Christ. We are to exhibit the goodness of the church before God rather than before people. We are to have less anxiety about our reputation in the community and


House, 1902) p. 151. 65 Jesus also had no words of commendation for the church at Laodicea. 66 But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. (Revelation 2:4/ESV)


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among neighboring churches than our reputation in heaven. Jesus’ command - “Remember, then, what you received and heard. Keep it, and repent - is an absolute mandate to remember the Gospel and put it, not our own desires, into practice. His command is directed not only at the body of the church, but also to individual members. His threat - “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.” - is more than strong incentive. It is an absolute threat of awful retribution for not putting the Gospel instead of our own whims, into practice. All we have to do is trust and love Him, and the obedience will follow. Jesus answered him [Judas, not Iscariot], “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.” (John 14:23/ESV)

letter to the church at sardispsalmstudy.org/testamentnew/27revelation/church05-sardis.pdf ·...

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