Brother Kenneth Yoder
Revelation 3:1 And unto the angel of the church in Sardis write; These things saith he that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars; I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead. 2 Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die: for I have not found thy works perfect before God, 3 Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee. 4 Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with me in white: for they are worthy. 5 He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels. 6 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.
The most well known of the letters in Revelations is written to the church at Laodicea. They were in a lukewarm condition, being neither hot nor cold, and because of that condition the Lord threatened to spew them out of His mouth. The church at Laodicea and its message from our Lord is used to characterize the conditions that you and I face.
As we study the message to Sardis, we will see a similarity to the spiritual condition of Laodicea. Both of these congregations had degraded to a lifeless, lukewarm spiritual condition. This is the predominate spiritual condition that characterizes many congregations. Many people are putting their energies, interest, and attention in other things rather than the things of God. The conditions that are descriptive of Sardis more accurately describe the conditions that we are faced with than those at Laodicea. At Laodicea it seemed as if the whole church had drifted into lukewarm-ness. There is no hint that anyone in Laodicea had escaped the lukewarm condition. Everyone was called upon to repent. There was nothing to commend the people for, and for that reason I do not believe it accurately describes our condition today.
Someone may ask, "Why?" Because at Sardis there were a few who had escaped the prevailing condition. I believe that there are a few people among us who have not been overcome by this condition. Many have cooled off, become lukewarm, and drifted into a lifeless spiritual condition, but not everyone has. Not everyone has given up a prayer life and living close to God.
There are many pressures trying to get us to conform to surrounding conditions. It takes a close walk with God to withstand all the pressures of this world and still be what God would have us to be. Thank God, though, there are some who have successfully withstood these temptations and remained on fire for God. This is the reason I believe Sardis more accurately represents or describes our condition today.
In Sardis, there was such deep spiritual lethargy that people were Christian in name, but not in reality. We find this is the atmosphere in which some of us must worship God. Many congregations, sad to say, are lifeless places. The singing and preaching are lifeless. The prayer meetings are too, but we have to serve God and live for Him regardless of the prevailing conditions.
How can we stay spiritually alive? This is the question I want to help answer. We can walk with God even as Enoch walked with God, Enoch lived in a time that is called the great apostasy of the Antediluvian world. Antediluvian means "before the flood." The generations that lived before the flood experienced a world-wide apostasy, a time in which all men were turning from God.
Thank God, there was a man in the midst of that apostasy who walked with God. Enoch lived at a time when few men served the Lord. Enoch's life for God no doubt influenced his great-grandson, Noah, to stand as the only righteous man in his generation. Enoch and Noah help us to realize that we don't have to succumb to the prevailing spirit of the age, and that we can walk in the midst of a polluted and defiled world and keep our garments clean.
Why are so many people succumbing to the spirit of the age? Because it is easier and it relieves the pressure. When you are holding a standard of righteousness, there are tremendous pressures to bear. Pressure is felt from people who consider you fanatical for standing firm and faithful to God.
Pressure can come from our own family. It is a tragic thing, but some live for God until their children become adults and then begin to drift away. We should not compromise for any of our children. If our children choose the wrong path and decide to live apart from God and violate the principles of God's Word so that our paths of life drift apart, then we should stay in the narrow way. God's fellowship is greater than any human fellowship.
There are many pressures to resist, and it is easier to compromise because it relieves the pressure and makes you feel less strained. Some people mistake this for liberty, but they are two different things.
Some say, "Since I've given up the principles of old-fashioned holiness, I don't feel nearly so strained." Compromise has the same effect as opening a valve to release the pressure from a kettle so full of steam that it is ready to explode: the pressure is gone. The person feels more relaxed and begins to think, "Isn't this wonderful?" He starts to glory in the things he ought to be ashamed of.
If we compromise one principle of God's holiness so that we can have it easier, we're not fit for the kingdom of God. If we accommodate ourselves to the spirit of this age, Jesus said that He will blot our names out of the book of life.
These seven letters were written to seven congregations within a narrow region called Asia, not the continent of Asia, but the Roman province of Asia. Yet the conditions in each congregation were different one from another. Some of these congregations were just twenty-five to thirty miles apart. One could go from congregation to congregation and find tremendous differences in spiritual condition.
So it is today, you will find a vast difference in spiritual conditions in different congregations. These congregations at Sardis and Laodicea were in cities at that time which were prosperous, and prosperity had taken its toll on those churches. The prosperity of our culture and materialism (the love of things) certainly has affected our churches.
These two congregations seemed outwardly to be in good condition. There was no mention of either persecution or of false teachers, as there was in some of the other letters. Many times we are blind to the real reason there is no opposition. Sometimes the reason we are not having any difficulties is simply because we are not standing for anything. Often we have compromised the differences and have accommodated ourselves to the standards of the world. One of the differences between Sardis and Laodicea was that Sardis had a few in their midst who had preserved a vital living experience with the Lord.
In these letters, Jesus addressed each church by one or more of the characteristics of the opening vision of Revelation in chapter one. He addressed Himself in various ways to various congregations, and the way in which Jesus described Himself usually had reference to the spiritual condition of that congregation.
Notice what He said to the church at Sardis in Revelation 3:1, "These things saith he that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars; I know thy works... ." There is but one Spirit of God, but the word "seven" is used in the sense of completeness or fullness. The expression "seven Spirits of God" refers to God's complete knowledge.
In Revelation 5:6 we read, "And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth." This Lamb is our Savior, Jesus Christ. The seven Spirits of God is used interchangeable with the seven eyes; the seven eyes are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the world.
Zechariah 4:10 tells us, ". . . .They are the eyes the Lord, which run to and fro throughout the whole earth." Second Chronicles 16:9 tells us, "The eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth looking to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him." God's don't miss anything. God knows all about every one of us, whether we are spiritual or not, and how deep that spirituality is.
To begin this letter in this manner was Jesus' way of saying, "I know all about the church at Sardis." He said, ". . . thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead." This is what Jesus knew concerning their true condition. He knew that they had a reputation without the reality of an experience with God. This is not only true of individuals, but there are entire congregations simply playing church.
Another translation says, "You have an outstanding reputation for being alive, but in the sight of God you're dead." It's a tragic thing when our reputation is contrary to what God really sees. We can gain a reputation by doing certain things, but God knows the true condition of our hearts. The spiritual decay of a church is not always obvious, I have gone to places where people were measured up in outward standards, but were spiritually dead. A religion that is merely in appearance is of no value at all.
Someone may contend that God is concerned with the outside. I agree! I am not of that number who believes that the outside is of no concern to God. I believe God is concerned about it, because the outside ought to reflect the inside. I also know, however, that the emphasis of God's Word is not on the outside. You can go into a congregation, and it may not always be obvious how deeply corrupted the people are. They may be keeping up a good moral life and living in conformity to many traditions and standards, but inwardly they may not be rightly related to God or to each other.
I have been in places where everyone just "seemed" like they loved each other. They were very friendly, but brotherly love is something more than being friendly. I have discerned that the fellowship in certain congregations is not very deep. It is only on the surface.
By deep fellowship, I mean a deep confidence in one another. How can we discern if people lack confidence in one another? If someone testifies and nobody enjoys his testimony, or if certain people sing a good song and it is conspicuously quiet, often the reason is because they don't have confidence in each other. We can appear fine to the onlookers, and yet what God sees may be entirely different. We can appear outwardly to be alive when really we are dead. We can have the appearance of real salvation without the reality, and it is simply a pre-tense of playing church.
Verse 2 says, "Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die: for I have not found thy works perfect before God." The next thing I want to say concerning the reasons I believe the conditions at Sardis more accurately describe us today is that Sardis was not entirely beyond hope. If you believe that we have already passed the point of no hope, then I disagree with you. I have heard people preach about Laodicea being the condition of our day and time. When people really believe it, they usually have little or no hope for an awakening. The effects, this has on their zeal in their labors for the kingdom of God is very noticeable.
This church at Sardis was not beyond hope, it was not too late to awaken from their spiritual lethargy. The remaining life could yet be revived. That is the hope Jesus gave them, ". . , strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die. , . ." He was simply warning this congregation that unless an awakening and a revival occurred, the small remaining life that was among them would become victim to a lifeless condition. He meant that there was still spiritual life in that church and there were still a few who had not defiled their garments,
I believe God has His remnant today; in fact, I know some of them by name. I know personally some who have not succumbed to this condition and who have decided to really live close to God, no matter what others do. My burden for the past several years has been to stir the few who still have an open ear to the call of the Spirit of God, who still have spiritual life in them.
I study how to cultivate spirituality and lift people closer to God. My burden has been to encourage and strengthen those who are still alive in the Lord. I am doing my best to "strengthen that which remains." I am not ready to quit the fight or to surrender the battle.
There will be those, thank God, who will never be defiled by such things. They care not the way the majority goes. They may always be in a minority as the few at Sardis, but those few will not defile their garments. Some have warned me that I was cutting off my opportunity to minister to people. If that be true, then I will just minister to a few or none before I will defile my garments.
Every one of us feels the pressure to give in to these things. At times we feel pressured by our families and other times even from our congregations. Let me warn you once again, we are going to be tested, so let us strengthen our determination to remain undefiled. I repeat, my burden is to encourage and strengthen those who are still alive but are ready to die.
A dear friend who loves the Lord came to me and was so discouraged because there are so many pressures to withstand. I understand the saints when they say, "I am discouraged." I understood them to mean they are tired of fighting. There are some just about ready to give up. We need to strengthen that which remains and urge them to do as Jesus said, to "hold fast."
We ought to do what Paul did, when he urged Timothy to fan the flame and get it burning again. We read in II Timothy 1:16, "Wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God, which is in thee by the putting on of my hands." Paul was referring to Timothy's ordination when he laid hands on him. God imparted to Timothy a spiritual gift, and Paul said to stir up the gift. The words "stir up" come from a word in the Greek meaning "to stir up a fire."
One translation says "fan the flame." When I was a teenager at home, it was my job to build a fire in the mornings. We did not have an automatic furnace, so I tried my best to build a good fire that would last all night. Sometimes it didn't, and I had to start a new fire, which was a lot of trouble. If I would see a few glowing coals in the morning, I sighed a sigh of relief, knowing that if I'd be careful, I could kindle a fire by putting on my dry kindling and stirring the coals. In a short time, I would have a good fire going.
There are people who are discouraged because they have been in the battle and are nearly worn out. I'm saying to strengthen that which remains, and get on fire for God again. Don't just sit down and succumb to the conditions around you. Get up and get on fire. There are some preachers that God has given a gift to preach, but have been so beaten down, discouraged, and kicked around that they almost feet like quitting. Let's not quit! Let's find a place of humility before God and let the Holy Spirit stir deep within our souls again. Let's become re-fired in the things of God.
Jesus said, ". , . I have not found thy works perfect before God." That expression means that the church had a reputation of good works, yet before God their works were unacceptable. Let me remind you, though you already know this, it is how we appear before God that counts. Others may look on us and consider our works as good, but God often sees they are incomplete and inadequate. Those who are still alive need to strengthen the spiritual life which remains and get on fire for God themselves, or this lifeless condition will overwhelm them also.