TP 28 WEEKLY

On this Saturday edition of Truth Matters with Dr. Cheryl Davis, she continues the Revelation series. The series started in the book of Daniel several months ago and is now progressed into the book of Revelation as we study the seven churches of Asia.

The books of Daniel and Revelation, as well as other scripture, are considered companion narratives of end-time prophecy. Dr. Davis' topic today is the seven churches of Asia. The seven churches are located in present-day Turkey. They literally existed at the time that the Apostle John wrote the book of Revelation and are comprised of seven letters that Jesus wrote to these churches. The letters were meant primarily for these early churches. However, the message in the letters are as relevant today for the church as they were at the time they were written. Now, Dr. Cheryl Davis with today's lesson, The Church of Sardis, the church that had spiritually fallen asleep. Hello, I'm Dr. Cheryl Davis, and this is Truth Matters.

Thank you for listening. And last time we were together, we surveyed the church of Thyatira. We ended in chapter two of Revelation in John's letters to the churches in chapters two and three. Last time in looking at the church at Thyatira, the Lord found some good things to talk to them about. They were faithful, they were loving, they were loyal, they were long-suffering, and also there was evidence of maturity within the church. But just like Jesus to give commendation, Jesus always gives an option for repentance.

There is always a way out here and even to the church of Thyatira. But those that did repent and those that overcame, he gave a strong promise that he would give power over the nations, that he shall rule them with a rod of iron, and they shall be dashed to pieces like the potter's vessels, as I have also received from my Father, and I will give him the morning star. So these are promises that those that would hold fast what you have until Jesus came, he pushed them to be faithful. But moving on to chapter three, we get into the first six verses where John is writing the letter to the church at Sardis. Let's begin in chapter three, verses one through six. And to the angel of the church in Sardis write, These things say he who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. I know your works, that you have a name, that you are alive, but you are dead. Be watchful and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die, for I have not found your works perfect before God. Remember, therefore, how you have received and heard.

Hold fast and repent. Therefore, if you will not watch, I will come upon you as a thief, and you will not know what hour I will come upon you. You have a few names, even in Sardis, who have not defiled their garments, and they shall walk with me in white, for they are worthy. He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blab out his name from the book of life, but 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. Each time that we break down these letters, first we look at the destination of the letters, so this time will not be any different. The destination of this letter is to the church at Sardis. Just to really get into some historical info about the city before we digest the letter, the city of Sardis was considered to be one of the most impregnable cities of its day, much like Babylon. And when I say impregnable, what I mean is that the city was unable to be penetrated from an outside force. It was like a fortress.

It was on lockdown, very secure. Sardis was located about 1,500 feet above the valley floor, on top of a mountain spur, and there was a fortress around the city. The greatest king of Sardis was named Croesus, a man remembered for his great will. Unfortunately, it was his overconfidence in the security of his city that caused its downfall. Croesus, against better advice, went to war against Cyrus, king of Persia. He was defeated and driven back to his city that he thought was safe.

But Cyrus was smart. He knew the art of reconnaissance. The Persian soldiers camped outside of Sardis and saw a Sardinian drop his hat at the top and then appear at the bottom of the wall to retrieve it. So he knew, or Sardis and his men knew, that there was a secret passage to get into the city. They raided the city late at night and opened the gates from the inside.

There was no guard posted at the gates, a sign that they had faith in their fortress. One hundred years later, the city was destroyed a second time the same way. When I hear the story, I think about the old saying, fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me. This will be important in looking at the letter and its message to the church at Sardis. The letter to the church at Sardis is the fifth letter that was written by John, inspired by his visions on the isle of Patmos.

Sardis is known as being the first center for the minting of gold and silver coins. And the city was defeated by a surprise attack. In addition to looking at the destination of the letter, each time we look at the designation of the Lord. And in verse one, and to the angel of the church and Sardis write, These things says he, and he is the Lord, who has the seven spirits of God and who has the seven stars. Each time we talk about the seven spirits of God, the reference to these seven spirits is in Isaiah chapter 11, verse 2.

The spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord. These are the seven spirits of the Holy Spirit, referring to the Holy Spirit in its fullness. There were seven churches and a sevenfold ministry and presence of the Spirit. The Holy Spirit was active in all seven churches to which Christ wrote letters.

And we know that by them having lampstands. He also held seven stars, which are the seven angels or pastors of the seven churches. And this is mentioned in Revelation chapter 1, verse 20. He has the Holy Spirit and control over the pastors of the seven churches.

And control what I mean by way of the pastors submitting themselves to the will of the Holy Spirit and allowing the Holy Spirit to work through them in order to bless the churches. But to the letter of Sardis, it is not like the feedback sandwich that Christ gave Thyatira. Here in this letter, he begins with a very sharp denunciation of the church. In verse 2, he says, You have a name that you are alive, but you are dead. It's pretty profound.

It's pretty serious. And the fact that you have a name that you're alive and you're a peer and you're breathing, but really spiritually you're dead. The church is denounced for its outward profession, but it's inward deadness.

I'm going to say that one time. The church is denounced for its outward profession of faith, but it's inward deadness. And what this really is is nominal Christianity. Nominal Christianity means is a person who is a Christian in name only. Sardis was full of nominal Christians.

It was more of a mausoleum than a church. And nominal Christianity is critiqued in scripture a number of times. In the Old Testament, we find it in Isaiah chapter 29, verse 13. Therefore, the Lord said, Inasmuch as these people draw near me with their mouths and honor me with their lips, but have removed their hearts far from me and their fear toward me is taught by the commandment of men. So here this is nominal Christianity speaking and honoring the Lord with their lips.

But in their hearts, they are far from them. We also see another critique of nominal Christianity in the New Testament in Matthew 23, verses 27 through 28. And here Jesus is talking to the scribes and the Pharisees. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you are like whitewashed tombs, which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead man's bones and all uncleanliness.

Even so, you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness. So it's very clear they had an outward appearance of following Christ and being a Christian, but on the inside where it really matters that they were dead. The church is not only denounced for its outward profession of faith and inward deadness, the church is denounced also for its incomplete works. In verse 2, it says, I have not found your works perfect before God.

Perfect means finished, complete, fulfilled. Their works were occurring, but they were not complete. They were like religion that never got past the infant stage. They never grew to maturity in Christ. But with that denunciation, Christ gives the church at Sardis a direction. Because really at the church of Sardis, there were three groups of people. There were the unsaved. There were the carnal Christians who acted like they were not saved. And then there were the remnants of Christians who were true and authentic, those who love God and were trying to make the church what it should have been. This really reminds me of that verse in verse Peter 4.18 that says, if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?

Really, you know, Christ is speaking to the church overall, but looking at these three categories of Christians, we see that even in our modern churches today where they're unsaved, they're carnal Christians, and then there's a remnant of a true small group of people that are really carrying the church spiritually. In verse 2, Jesus tells them, be watchful, strengthen the things which remain that are ready to die. Remember how you received and heard, hold fast and repent.

So let's look at these directions. The first one meaning be watchful, become vigilant. And vigilant means that you're keeping a continuous watch.

You are anticipating some type of event. When I think about being vigilant, I think about 1 Peter chapter 5 verse 8 where it says, be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Let's turn over to Ephesians chapter 5 verse 14 that says, Therefore, he says, Awake, you who sleep arise from the dead, and Christ will give you light. So this is really calling the church to become watchful, to wake up, to become vigilant, knowing that there's an enemy out there that is roaming. However, to be anticipating the return of Christ, which really that's how this applies to the modern day church today, is that we should be vigilant and looking for the return of Christ. But really, Jesus is saying to them, you are about to lose everything that you have.

There is a little bit left and you may lose that too, if you do not wake up. In addition to be watchful, he's telling them, strengthen the things which remain that are ready to die. So he's telling them to really become vigorous.

When things are, when you think about plants that are about to die, we either give them more water or more fertilization. But in this case, the church, there were parts of the church that were ready or that were about to die, dying on the vine in a sense. And he's telling them that you need to be vigorous, you need to wake up and be vigilant, but also you got to restore life. Those that are true believers in the church must be vigorous in strengthening the remnant that remains. In chapter 3 verse 4, it says, There are a few here who have not defiled their garments. We know that there is a remnant within Sardis.

There were a few that had not defiled their garments. Therefore, that is the source of the vigorous life that would come into the church. Those that were alive could encourage the others by reading, teaching the word and living by example. In addition to telling them to be watchful, to strengthen, also he said, Remember how you have received and heard.

He's telling them to become victorious. Remember what you have received and heard. Physical death in a person is the separation of the spirit from the body. The same is true in the death of the church. When the Spirit of God leaves the body of Christ in a particular church, that church dies.

Examine your own life. Examine your own church in the light of Sardis. Try to avoid nominal Christianity. Have a vibrant heart, not just a vibrant mouth as it comes to giving God honor and glory with your lips.

Make sure that your heart is purified and that you live a holy and righteous life that is acceptable, that you're offering yourself as your reasonable sacrifice. And until next time, where we'll get into the next church in the next letter of Philadelphia, I'm Dr. Cheryl Davis with Truth Matters. Next week, The Truth Train takes our study from the Church of Sardis to the Sixth Church, the Church of Philadelphia, the Church of the Open Door. Our study of the seven churches is historical in nature. However, with each church mentioned in the book of Revelation, Jesus shares not only a spiritual and moral evaluation of each of the seven, but he also shares a redeeming message of hope, restoration and forgiveness if these churches will return to him.

The words Jesus expresses to the seven churches were only relative at the time, but are respective for today's church as we are indeed a reflection of the seven churches. If you would like to reach Truth Matters with Dr. Cheryl Davis, you can do so by email at CherylDavis at ProjectTruthMatters.com and regular mail at P.O. Box 159, St. Paul's, North Carolina, 28384. Please connect with us on Facebook and listen to a recent podcast of the Revelation series online at ProjectTruthMatters.com. This has been Truth Matters with Dr. Cheryl Davis.