The Church in Sardis

1“And to the angel of the assembly in Sardis write: “He who has the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars says these things: “I know your works, that you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead. 2Wake up, and keep the things that remain, which you were about to throw away, for I have found no works of yours perfected before my God. 3Remember therefore how you have received and heard. Keep it, and repent. If therefore you won’t watch, I will come as a thief, and you won’t know what hour I will come upon you. 4Nevertheless you have a few names in Sardis that did not defile their garments. They will walk with me in white, for they are worthy. 5He who overcomes will be arrayed in white garments, and I will in no way blot his name out of the book of life, and I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels. 6He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the assemblies.

As she went out, a mother asked her two sons not to make a mess of the house. In particular, she told them not to jump, because they could get hurt jumping from high places. But the boys loved pretending to be Superman, so even though their mother had asked them, they could not hold back and tied cloths around their necks. Taking turns, the children climbed up onto the dressing table, shouted, and jumped off again and again, and they had a wonderful time.

The cosmetics their mother had arranged were all rolling on the floor, the wastebasket had been kicked over, and the whole house ended up a mess. The children thought that if they cleaned up in time for their mother’s return she would not know, so they hurried to tidy the house. When their mother came back, they surveyed the house, which looked as clean as if they had done what she said, and thought this would be enough to fool her.

But the mother saw at once that the children had climbed up high and had rearranged the dressing table. She knew it from the sweat running down their foreheads, their knees bruised from jumping, and the cosmetics that were not back in their places. Her heart was not on the tidy house; she cared about how much the children respected what she said. So however much the children want to fool their mother, they cannot fool her. It would have been better if the children had been honest instead of trying to fool their mother.

Believers who do not obey God’s word are like these children too: because they do not really know what God wants, they have no idea what they have done wrong. They think God has no idea what thoughts, words, and deeds they are living with, but the Spirit of God is always with believers, so God knows everything.

Sadly, believers think God is shut up inside the church and the Bible. So they live as they please in the world, and then when they come to church they act holy. But God is always with believers, so he is not fooled. A believer who believes that God is alive and almighty must always be careful in what they say and do, humble themselves, and live a wise life that lifts God up. What God wants from us is nothing grand. He only wants us to live as his children. He only wants to see us living honestly by the word, yet we are not even doing that.

What I am truly thankful for is that God knows it all: when his children weep because life is hard, and when they are happy over small things. He knows it all when they try hard because, though they fall short, they want to do better, and when they feel sorry that they could not do better even after doing their best. That is why we are receiving and enjoying blessings greater than what we have devoted to the kingdom of God. God does not want some great result from us, so he gladly receives our small devotion. We who serve such a God as our Father should come to understand through the Bible what our Father’s will is, and show him our faith by striving to live a holy life.

Sardis, the capital of the kingdom of Lydia in western Asia Minor and a city of trade and of soldiers, lies 85 kilometers east of Smyrna. Its walls in particular made it an impregnable fortress, never once conquered in its history except in the days of Cyrus of Persia and Antiochus III of Syria. So people’s lives there were stable; the city was famous for dyeing and jewelry craft, and it was also the first place to mint and use coins of gold and silver.

In Sardis the religion of the goddess Cybele flourished. Many Christians had fallen for this idol, and that is why Jesus Christ rebuked it as a church that was alive and yet dead. The goddess Cybele is known as the mother goddess of the mountain gods. She was worshiped throughout Asia Minor, and the Roman emperors worshiped Cybele as a goddess of abundance. Later, when Christianity grew in power, her temple was destroyed and St. Peter’s Basilica came to be built on its site. Criticism of Cybele even influenced the witch hunts of the Middle Ages. From that you can see how many people worshiped this goddess.

It is simply astonishing to see Christians who believed in the one God worshiping Cybele and worshiping the emperor as well. They worshiped God and also offered sacrifices to the goddess Cybele, which shows how badly wrong their faith was. If we know this background and then think about what he said to the church in Sardis, we will be able to understand it a little more easily.

To the church in Sardis, Jesus Christ called himself the one who has the seven Spirits and the seven stars. It is a symbolic picture of him working together with the “seven Spirits,” the Holy Spirit, and the “seven stars,” that is, the angels who help the seven churches. Jesus sacrificed himself to save sinners. Jesus Christ, who overcame death, rose again, sat down on the throne, and is at work for people’s salvation. And the Holy Spirit is the one who is at work so that God’s word is fulfilled.

So by showing the church in Sardis that he has the seven Spirits and the seven stars, he was letting it know that in the end only Jesus Christ can bring the church in Sardis back to life, and that only if they rely on Jesus and repent can they live, with the help of the Holy Spirit. In the eyes of Jesus, the church in Sardis is now spiritually dead because of sin. But if only they rely wholly on the Holy Spirit, they could be restored.

In those days, founding a single church was not as easy as it sounds. Even so, because of the devotion of the believers who founded the church in Sardis, Jesus would not have been able to give it up easily. He wanted to establish the believers in Sardis firmly if they held on to the word of Jesus Christ and repented; that is probably why he told them to wake up and strengthen the things that remain, which were about to die. He was telling them to remember the joy they first had, and to recover the faith that had once been thankful for the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

But the church in Sardis, which had no spiritual discernment, failed to show God a whole faith. Still, something remained like a small ember, so he gave it a chance, telling it to repent and turn back before he came as a thief.

Proverbs 8:22-32

22“Yahweh possessed me in the beginning of his work, before his deeds of old. 23I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, before the earth existed. 24When there were no depths, I was born, when there were no springs abounding with water. 25Before the mountains were settled in place, before the hills, I was born; 26while as yet he had not made the earth, nor the fields, nor the beginning of the dust of the world. 27When he established the heavens, I was there; when he set a circle on the surface of the deep, 28when he established the clouds above, when the springs of the deep became strong, 29when he gave to the sea its boundary, that the waters should not violate his commandment, when he marked out the foundations of the earth; 30then I was the craftsman by his side. I was a delight day by day, always rejoicing before him, 31rejoicing in his whole world. My delight was with the sons of men. 32“Now therefore, my sons, listen to me, for blessed are those who keep my ways.

Friends, as you read this word, don’t you think it is wonderful? Jesus Christ is letting us know how great he is. Jesus, who was there before heaven and earth were created, is now telling you, his creatures, that he loves you. We look at the world rather than at such an Almighty One, yet he forgives us and tells us in detail what he has done.

Can you believe that one so almighty is at our side? Jesus Christ tells of the work of creation one step at a time, and he is speaking with a heart that earnestly longs for people to believe these facts.

Proverbs 8:30

30then I was the craftsman by his side. I was a delight day by day, always rejoicing before him,

In Proverbs 8:30 comes the word that he was the craftsman by God’s side and created heaven and earth and people together with him. For us who believe in God, that word is an amazing blessing and a miracle. Along with it, he said that blessed are those who keep his ways. He is promising that if only we live by the word of God, who created the whole universe and everything in it, he will give us the blessing of salvation.

If you believe this word just as it is, you will be able to see many miracles through your life and experience how beautiful God’s grace is. Jesus was there from everlasting; he made the heavens, marked out the foundations of the earth, and created all things. He willingly gave his life for sinners who had fallen into death, and that is a grace nothing could ever repay. If you truly believe this word, you will never doubt, complain, or act foolishly. And you will not betray God for the sake of a life worth less than dust.

Revelation 3:1

1“And to the angel of the assembly in Sardis write: “He who has the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars says these things: “I know your works, that you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead.

Jesus Christ spoke fearful words to the church in Sardis. He said that it thought it was alive, but in his eyes it was dead. Put simply, it is a rebuke: the church boasted that it had faith, but in his eyes that was not faith, and it was not a church that held the whole word.

Faith that God does not recognize is not faith. If Jesus Christ has not recognized the faith of the believers in Sardis, they will not be saved. People think about salvation, judge it, and decide it from their own point of view, but salvation belongs to Jesus Christ from beginning to end. In other words, only by having faith that God recognizes can anyone be saved.

After playing to their hearts’ content, the children thought that if they just cleaned up the house, their mother would not know. Thinking she could not see, they thought it did not matter how they had played as long as the house was clean. When their mother rebuked them for not listening to her, they talked back, asking whether it was not enough that the house was clean. This is also the way believers think. It is the same as thinking that God will not know however they live day to day, and that even if he does know, it is enough just to go to church. Those children had no respect for their mother in their everyday lives. That is why they could lie, and why they ignored the love of a mother who worried they would get hurt jumping off. So they could not understand their mother when she rebuked them for not listening. Of course the house can be cleaned, but the behavior of children who at root did not listen to their mother, and the attitude of a child who would not admit wrongdoing to the end, will not win the mother’s trust.

Can you say with confidence that you are living the life of faith well? Because believers are forgiven of their sins by the precious blood of Jesus, they would not dare say that they could be saved because they repented, or were blessed because they devoted themselves. And now Christ says that the believers in Sardis have not been saved, yet they are sure they have been saved.

Look at this, and you can see how strong their human righteousness is, and that they do not know what salvation is. They probably think they know the word, have made the church grow, and are doing well at caring for the poor. But Jesus knows everything about how they live day to day, so he said there was a problem with their faith. For he knows whether what they are doing now is done out of thankfulness for God’s grace, or done to show off their own righteousness.

People who like to be treated with honor at church mistake it for faith when they are satisfied with their own deeds. They think that surely this much will be enough for God to recognize their faith. They think the offerings and devotion they have given are faithfulness itself, so they are gripped by the thought that God will bless them. All of that is human thinking and self-satisfaction, and it comes from a faith that seeks worldly blessings, so it is not the truth.

Faith offered out of true thankfulness to God is faithful to death and yet does not know it has been faithful; it gives everything and yet does not think it has given. It is natural to come to worship with a heart that adores God, but if something keeps you from coming, it is not right to be afraid that God will punish you. Such faith is tied to the world’s blessings rather than being whole faith, so it is empty.

Of course, I say this taking it as given that we must do our best to be present at worship. It is a wonderful thing that by worshiping we can give glory to God, and that we can dare to call the Almighty our Father. If we know that the name of believer is a holy position from which we can lift up praise to the Creator, we will value God’s word more and be careful in what we say and do.

The same goes for offerings. An offering given out of fear that God will take away your property is money thrown away for nothing. God the Creator lacks nothing. We must have a steward’s faith, which knows that everything we have now is what God has entrusted to us. Only then does the faith arise that sets apart what is God’s and gives it to God, and only then can we have an honest faith.

Not long ago, I was told that because our church building is small and our members are few, we must have no money, and that they felt sorry for us. I also heard someone boast that the church they attend has thousands of members and a building so big you could get lost in it. Believers today think a church is only a proper church if its building is big. So people flock to megachurches and keep their own burden as small as possible. It is truly sad that they mistake the great number of members for their own faith and think of the huge building as the fruit of their own devotion. Of course, if many believers gather, a bigger building may be needed, and to do the church’s work, we must give offerings and serve beyond our strength.

But all of this is needed in order to preach the gospel; the building and the number of members are not one’s own faith. Jesus said that where two or three are gathered together in the name of Christ, that is the church, and that where they are gathered together in his name, he will be there with them. Outward growth is needed too, but it is more important for believers to stand firm on the word of truth. We must be the Lord’s fruit that does not fall even when Satan shakes hard. My earnest hope is that the megachurches will work hard to proclaim the truth to their many members. Then the Korean church will stand firm and keep going.

When I began my ministry, I became interested in the fact that Jesus took his disciples with him for three years. What he told his disciples during those three years was to repent, that they must believe in God wholly, and that the kingdom of heaven belongs to those who take it by force, so they should be faithful to death.

But the question is why it took so long to teach this. Jesus taught his disciples the word intensively for three years, and yet in the end all of them failed to keep their faith. Seeing that, I thought that even three years is short for a person to throw off their nature and be born again through the word. You must be saved, so you must understand the word rightly; and to spread the gospel, you must learn the word over and over. It may seem that you hear and learn the same word every time, but you must keep at it until the word is written completely on the tablet of your heart.

What I have realized in ministry is that it takes a great deal of time to teach believers the word. I have seen that it takes believers a long time to grow with the help of the Holy Spirit. I came to think that this difficulty is why churches teach deeds before the word, to reach their goal of revival. Because churches do not teach the word properly, those who preach cannot preach properly, and those who listen cannot properly receive Jesus.

The church in Sardis boasts of its faith, but Jesus does not recognize it. Seeing this, our church too should stop for a moment on the road it has been walking and think once more about what faith God wants. When Jesus now calls the church in Sardis dead, he is not talking about their bodies being dead; he is saying they have no faith that takes Christ as King. For they lived their life of faith putting absolute value on their own gain.

The church in Sardis was a church that had grown enough for people to recognize it. It was also very active, so people who saw it working so busily would not have been able to judge its sin rightly, as Jesus did.

Revelation 3:2

2Wake up, and keep the things that remain, which you were about to throw away, for I have found no works of yours perfected before my God.

The word to keep the things that remain, making them firm, means that they should throw off their listless, formal faith and recover the word of truth they first received, that is, the faith that filled them when they founded the church in Sardis. When they founded the church in Sardis, they would not have been focused on rewards and the world’s blessings. They worked hard to live the life of faith by God’s will and the word of truth, but as their lives grew prosperous, their faith became diluted before they knew it. That is why you must repent every day, to set right a faith that is crumbling through human righteousness and a prosperous life. Earnestness fades as wealth grows because hope has not been set on heaven. If, rather than setting your heart on this passing world, you become a servant of God who works for the eternal kingdom, you will not be shaken however much you own in the world.

Revelation 3:4

4Nevertheless you have a few names in Sardis that did not defile their garments. They will walk with me in white, for they are worthy.

In the church in Sardis, which was growing spiritually dark, God left believers whose faith was spiritually full. Those believers grieved over the faith of others that was rotting, and did their very best to live by the word of truth. While the others were exalting themselves and growing proud, these believers armed themselves with an even humbler faith so as not to defile the garment of faith, and they served and worshiped God alone.

The believers who worked to guard the church with full faith would have urged those who were wavering under the world’s temptations to keep the faith together with them. They pleaded with them through the word, but those people had already given their hearts to idols and closed their hearts and ears, so the faithful had no other way than to pray to God for their salvation. Hardship of the flesh can be helped with material things, but spiritual corruption is held down by the power of Satan, so however hard others help, people once gripped by evil do not easily turn back.

In the Bible, people are always divided into those who stand spiritually on the side of Cain and those who stand spiritually on the side of Seth. These two streams have never once mixed, but neither have they ever been cut off. The descendants of Cain did not hesitate to sin, so they had great power to rule the world and great wealth. That is why they could attack and torment the descendants of Seth, who tried not to sin. Lamech, seventh from Adam, and his children also became the forefathers of those with outstanding talents and great wealth in the world.

Now in the church in Sardis too, those who are doing well in the world have the louder voice. But God has always protected his spiritual children who keep the faith and serve him, and he has blessed their faith. In the church in Sardis only a few wore white and kept the faith, so they would have been lonely. However hard they tried to keep the church from going astray, they had no power, and people with worldly power stood in their way, so they would not have been able to do anything. They thought they were utterly insignificant because they had nothing, but God commended them for not defiling the garment of faith. And he rejoiced that they were believers with worthy faith. So the faith God sees is different from what people see.

Through the church in Sardis we can see that however much wealth there is, if it does not become a tool of faith, it is not a blessing but a curse. Believers do not need to be poor on purpose. If God has entrusted us with ability, whether wealth, knowledge, or power, we must use it as a tool of faith.

Jesus Christ will confess before God and the angels the believers who did their best not to defile their white garments even while persecuted, and he will lead them on the way of eternal life. If we look only to Jesus, who promised to be with believers who kept the faith even at the risk of death, we have no need to fear any suffering or persecution. Life is not something in which people can enjoy peace and rest just by trying hard. So if we entrust our lives to Jesus and keep the faith, we can enjoy peace and rest.

Anyone whose faith Jesus recognizes will have their name written in the book of life and will live enjoying God’s glory in the eternal kingdom. Believe that if your name is not written in the book of life, you will never enter heaven, and hold a faithful faith now. God will remember your name and send the heavenly host to guard you so that your faith does not collapse.

To have your name written in the book of life, you must keep God’s law now. If you throw away human righteousness and live keeping the law God has given, your name written in the book of life will shine all the more. Do not be greedy to get ahead fast in the world. Even if you go a little more slowly, if you are faithful in faith so as not to defile your white garments, God will give you a blessing that cannot be taken away.

May you always worship God and so receive the blessing of having your name written in the book of life. I bless you in the name of Jesus Christ.