[JFR]
In this presentation we will consider the church of
Asia that falls within the time frame that we just
finished in Dr. Carroll’s book, The Trail of Blood.
This church will be the church located at Sardis.
Sardis represents the church age at the end of the
protestant reformation in the 1500's, up to the time of
the great awakening in the 18th century.
A great work had been started in the reformation to
separate from the error of Rome and to live according
to God's true Word. But instead of carrying on this
great work, the reformers submitted to the protection
of civil authorities and became subject to the state.
And we are now seeing the result of this failure of the
reformers to move forward in truth, with many of the
original protestant churches re-uniting with the
Roman Catholic Church.
Jesus confirmed in this letter that the works of this
church weren't perfect, which points to the reformers
not FULLY separating from the errors of the Papal
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Church. There are so many professing Christians
who do not study Bible prophecy, and yet Jesus
warns us that if we do not watch, then He will return
(at the second coming) like a thief. And He is coming
as a thief to those who are lost.
How will you know when and how Jesus will return
if you don't study Bible prophecy? We are living in
the end times, and we need to grasp the importance
of end time Bible prophecy, so that we will not be
deceived.
Satan is pulling out all the stops to deceive us before
Jesus returns, so we need to be rooted in God's Word,
studying like we've never studied before, to find out
the truth. We need to be watching and eagerly
waiting for our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.
Now let us consider the Church at Sardis, the 5th of
the Seven Churches of Asia.
Revelation 3:1-6
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.
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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.
(KJV)
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Sardis is city with two parts, an upper part of the city
built on almost impregnable cliffs, and a lower part
of the city. The city had a strong Jewish presence,
which was hostile to its Christian inhabitants.
The city of Sardis founded about 1200 B.C. and was
the capital of ancient Lydia.
King Croesus (560-546 B.C.) was the last ruler
of Lydia, defeated by Cyrus the Great in 546 B.C.
In Sardis, gold and silver was first minted into coins.
Cyrus made Sardis the western terminus of the royal
Persian highway.
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Alexander the Great granted the city independence in
334 B.C., but after he died, his general Antigonus,
subjected it in 322 B.C.
Later it became a part of the Seleucid Empire ruled
by a Seleucid governor.
Following the Roman conquest, the city became part
of the Roman Empire in 189 B.C. and a dependency
of Pergamum until 133 A.D.
The Christian church diocese remained in the city
even after Muslim occupation (A.D. 716).
The Mongul Timur (Tamerlane) destroyed the city
A.D. 1403.
The city was an established city of idolatry. In the
city was a temple to the goddess Cybele, called, “the
mother of the gods”. Worship of this Greek god was
vile and debasing, ending in a wild orgiastic
celebration following three days of mourning.
In the midst of this city, a small Christian church
maintained an existence until at least the
15th century.
Jesus referring to chapter one, identifies Himself
with the seven-fold ministry of the Holy Spirit.
(Isaiah 11:2-5).
Isaiah 11:2-5
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2 And 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;
3 And shall make him of quick understanding in
the fear of the LORD: and he shall not judge after
the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the
hearing of his ears:
4 But with righteousness shall he judge the poor,
and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth:
and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his
mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay
the wicked.
5 And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins,
and faithfulness the girdle of his reins.
(KJV)
Jesus is complete in His ministry to this church; the
Holy Spirit has given this church the power to have
victory. Jesus is in complete charge of His church:
He not only dispenses the Spirit, but He has the stars
or churches in His hand.
Many scholars question whether this church ever had
a
commendation.
Christ
is
exposing
this
church. The churches work gave it a reputation of
being a living church. The works of the Sardis
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church demonstrate the church is not alive at all but
only gives the impression of being alive.
This message is warning to all Christians, Jesus
knows the true intention of hearts and our works. He
understands the motivation of our work.
Sardis had a reputation, but the reputation was
false. The church was not a living church but a dead
church. It was a church of appearance only; the
works of the church merely gave it an impression.
This church is the prophetic foreshadowing of the
Reformation movement. Following the pagan
church age of Rome, foreshadowed as the church of
Thyatira, the Reformation attempted to restore
biblical Christianity. Martin Luther and other
reformers who initially placed a great emphasis on
scripture stressed Romans 1:17, “But the righteous
shall live by faith” but their intentions soon fell to
political temptations.
In Germany, for example, the lords wanting to break
free from Rome’s grip adopted Luther’s
cause. Luther’s movement, later known as
Lutheranism, became the state Church of Germany.
This again eliminated the need for personal salvation
but offered state salvation. By being a citizen of
Germany, one was automatically a Lutheran.
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The same happened in England and the Netherlands
as the nations rejected Roman church rule and
substituted national state churches.
The Reformation also failed to correct many of the
false unbiblical doctrines which had become part of
the Church such as baby baptism and the Eucharistic
sacrifice which teaches Jesus Christ being sacrificed
again
and
again
at
communion
(transubstantiation). The Reformation church had a
reputation for being a living church but was dead.
Jesus Christ has a five-step plan to correct the
problems in the Church of Sardis. This plan to correct
the course applies to anybody who has outward
appearance of works but is inwardly dead.
1. Be watchful… Complacency is the opposite of
being watchful. The first thing Sardis needs to do is
stop being complacent and be on a state of alert. The
ancient city of Sardis had near impregnable fortress
that taken twice because the city was complacent in
its security once in 546 B.C. and 218 B.C.
2. Strengthen… Translated from the Greek
word, sthrivzw Sterizo, means to make stable, place
firmly, set fast, fix. Jesus instructs this church and the
believer to firmly establish the sound aspects of the
church. Once the believer becomes aware of their
sliding condition, they need to respond and prevent
any further sliding.
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3. Remember…. Another step to correct action is to
look to the start. Jesus counsels the Church
at Ephesus to do what they did at first. (Revelation
2:5) Here Christ instructs Sardis, to look back the
process of their conversion. When they first heard and
received the Gospel. Many struggling believers can
help solve their struggle by looking back at their walk
and retrace their steps from their conversion. Examine
where they got off track and go back and start
again. Jesus instructs Sardis to go back and take hold
of their initial conversion and take hold of it.
4. Hold fast… Sardis needs to go back to the
foundational event, and “Attend carefully to it”. The
problems of the Reformation are they went beyond
their foundation of scripture to secure political
security.
5. Repent… The final course of correction for Sardis
is to “Change their mind” which comes from the
Greek word, metanoevw Metanoeo .
If you will…. If Sardis refuses to implement this
course of action, they will be surprised by Christ’s
judgment. Christ extends grace to his servants, He
gives us time to correct our walk, but there comes a
point of chastening when Jesus Christ must take
action for the benefit of His church and the believer.
Hebrews 13:5-7
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5 Let your conversation be without covetousness;
and be content with such things as ye have: for he
hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.
6 So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper,
and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.
Jesus Christ warns Sardis the consequences of “Not
watching”. If Sardis does not watch, they will be
taken unaware by Christ’s appearing. Throughout the
Gospels Jesus stresses the need for the believer to be
careful and keep watchful eye for His “Imminent
return.”
In the parable of the 10 virgins, five are prepared for
the bridegroom and five are not. When the
bridegroom comes the five foolish virgins are busy
trying to buy oil for their lamps in the marketplace.
The five wise virgins leave and go to the wedding, the
five foolish later try to enter the wedding but are kept
out, because the bridegroom does not know
them. Jesus warns His church to be ready.
Matthew 25:13
13 Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor
the hour wherein the Son of man cometh.
(KJV)
In this prophetic foreshadowing the state churches are
warned, that unless they watch they, like the foolish
virgins, will be ushered into the tribulation period.
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Jesus makes a distinction, not everybody has fallen to
the complacency at the church of Sardis.
There are still sincere believers who make up this
Church. Melito Bishop of Sardis demonstrates
Christ’s words had an impact on the Church. Melito
was bishop of Sardis during the reign of Marcus
Aurelius (A.D. 161-180). He wrote many books
defending the faith.
Sardis in fact had a Christian presence until the time
of the Mongol conqueror Tamerlane (A.D. 1403) The
saved Sardis will be with Christ. They are described
as wearing white, which Revelation tells us represents
the righteous acts of the saints (Revelation 19:11)1
Six times the book of Revelation refers to the “Book
of Life” (Revelation 3:5, 13:8, 17:8, 20:12,15, 21:27,
22:19) Some have used the term “I will not blot” as
justification that one can lose their salvation.
1
http://www.truthnet.org/Christianity/revelation/Revelation3/
Conclusion
The biggest problem with the Reformers is that they
were unable to get far enough away from the Catholic
Church to be able to be true churches. That is the
reason why we have so many Protestant churches that
still perpetuate the doctrines of the Roman Catholic
Church.
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The best that true churches can do is to preach and
teach show the way to the truth of God’s Word.
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