Revelation: Church at Sardis

Revelation:  Church at Sardis

The church in Sardis Revelation 3:1-6
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.  Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain that are ready to die:  for I have not found thy works perfect before God.  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.  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.  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.  He that hath and ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.

Attribute:  He that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars.

This church is hanging on by a thread.  There is just a few things that remain that is worth anything and they are told by the Lord to strengthen those things for they are ready to die.  Their works before God has NOT been perfect and they need to:

 Remember how they have received and heard the Word of God.  They are to go back to their first love.  When a person first receives Jesus they want to learn all they can about Him and walk close to Him.  They have let other things between them and the Lord and the Lord wants them back.
 Hold fast to it.  The Lord is telling them to hold fast to His Word and to act on it.  Not let it go.
 and Repent back to the things of the Lord.

In verse 2 He tells them:
 to be watchful 1127 Greek gregoreuo keep awake, be vigilant, to arise, arouse.  When we pray for people who are lost, or people who knew the Lord and have walked away like this church has we pray for an awakening for them.  To wake up! and be alert to their situation and the deceits of the enemy.  WAKE UP!   BE SOBER and BE VIGILANT because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walks about, seeking whom he may devour.  1 Peter 5:8
 and strengthen the things which remain.  Strengthen is from 4741 sterizo which means to be steadfast;  to turn resolutely––to be decided, to be fixed, inflexible, constant and unshaken, to confirm, set, stablish

There are only a few people who are worthy to walk with the Lord in white.

The attributes given to this church is what is need to revive them and to bring them back to life in Jesus.

Seven is the number of perfection.  We are told to be perfect:  Matthew 5:48  Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.
Seven stars: again this means light; shedding light to see and to know what is the truth.  Even in darkness God is shedding His light for people to repent and to turn to Him.  He wants everyone to come to know Him because He loves each and every one of us!

Seven Spirits of God:  Isaiah 11:2  “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;”

  The Spirit of the Lord:  First off a church or a person needs to do is to repent and turn to the Lord.  Seek His will for congregation or self and serve Him.
  Spirit of Wisdom:  According to Proverbs 8 Wisdom is easy to get.  She says she lifts her voice wherever people are and calls to them to listen to Her.  Reading through this chapter we find there is no reason for a person to lack Wisdom.  Wisdom by definition is skillful, it is prudence:  knowing right from wrong and staying away from the wrong and doing what is right.
  Spirit of Understanding:  This is comprehension, discerning.  Job 28:28  “And unto man he said, Behold the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding.”  A lack of this kind of understand was morally culpable (that is guilty, criminal, deserving of censure or moral blame) and resulted in sin and even more drove away God’s compassion for person who did not have it.  A lack of this wisdom is why people do and justify the wrong they want to live in.
Spirit of Counsel:    Advice, purpose, plan.  God has advice--His Word for us; He made us with and has a purpose and a plan in mind for us.  We need to seek His Word and Him in prayer.
  Spirit of Might:  This is force of valor, victory, mastery.  It means to be a powerful warrior and champion.  He has made us all this and strong in Him.  We are victorious in Christ:  1Corinthians 15:57 But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.  
  Spirit of Knowledge:  This is cunning, learning, insight.  40 out of the 91 times used in Proverbs it is associated with wisdom.  Proverbs 24:3-5 “Through wisdom is an house builded; and by understanding it is established.  And by knowledge shall the chambers be filled with all precious and pleasant riches.  A wise man is strong; yea, a man of knowledge increases strength.”  God holds unbelievers and Israelites responsible to know Him.
  Fear of the Lord:  moral reverence.  
This fear acknowledges God’s good intentions:  Exodus 20:20 And Moses said unto the people, 'Fear not:  for God is come to prove you, and that His fear may be before your faces, that ye sin not.'  
It will motivate and delight even the Messiah: Isaiah 11:2-3 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.'  
It is produced by God’s Word: Psalms 119:38 Stablish thy Word unto thy servant, who is devoted to thy fear.   Proverbs 2:5 Then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of the Lord.  
It makes a person receptive to Wisdom and Knowledge:  Proverbs 1:7; 9:10.  
The Fear of the Lord may be lost by despair of one’s own situation (Job 6:14) or by envy of sinner’s (Proverbs 23:17).  
This fear restrains people from sin, it gives confidence, and helps rulers and causes judges to act justly and it results in good sleep.
I suggest reading through Proverbs chapter 8.

Sardis and anyone today that is lacking; needs to repent and seek the Seven Spirits of God.  And he that overcomes
Reward:  “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.”
Addendum:  Proverbs Chapter 8 (Holman Christian Standard Bible)

V1 Doesn't Wisdom call out?  Doesn't Understand make her voice heard?
V2 At the heights overlooking the road, at the crossroads, she takes her stand.  
V3 Beside the gates at the entry to the city, at the main entrance, she cries out:
V4 "People, I call out to you; my cry is to mankind.
V5 Learn to be shrewd, you who are inexperienced; develop common sense, you who are foolish.
V6 Listen, for I speak of noble things, and what my lips say is right.
V7 For my mouth tells the truth, and wickedness is detestable to my lips.
V8 All the words of my mouth are righteous; none of them are deceptive or perverse.
V9 All of them are clear to the perceptive and right to those who discover knowledge.
V10 Accept my instruction instead of silver, and knowledge rather than pure gold.
V11 For wisdom is better than precious stones, and nothing desirable can compare with it.
V12 I, Wisdom share a home with Shrewdness and have Knowledge and Discretion.
V13 To fear the Lord is to hate evil.  I hate arrogant pride, evil conduct, and perverse speech.
V14 I possess good advice and competence; I have understanding and strength.
V15 It is by me that kings reign and rulers enact just law;
V16 by me, princes lead, as do nobles [and] all righteous judges.
V17 I love those who love me, and those who search for me find me.
V18 With me are riches and honor, lasting wealth and righteousness.
V19 My fruit is better than solid gold and my harvest than pure silver.
V20 I walk in the way of righteousness, along the paths of justice,
V21 giving wealth as an inheritance to those who love me, and filling their treasuries.

V22 The Lord made me at the beginning of His creations, before His works of long ago.
V23 I was formed before ancient times, from the beginning, before the earth began.
V24 I was brought forth when there were no watery depths and no springs filled with water.
V25 I was brought forth before the mountains and hills were established,
V26 before He made the land, the fields, or the first soil on the earth.
V27 I was there when He established the heavens, when He laid out the horizon on the surface of the ocean,
V28 when He placed the skies above, when the fountains of the ocean gushed forth,
V29 when He set a limit for the sea so that the waters would not violate His command, when He laid out the foundations of the earth.
V30 I was a skilled craftsman beside Him.  I was His delight every day, always rejoicing before Him.
V31 I was rejoicing in His inhabited world, delighting in the human race.

V32 And now, [my] sons, listen to me; those who keep my ways are happy.
V33 Listen to instructions and be wise; don't ignore it.
V34 Anyone who listens to me is happy, watching at my doors everyday, waiting by the posts of my doorway.
V35 For the one who finds me finds lift and obtains favor from the Lord,
V36 but the one who sins against me harms himself; all who hate em love death.

Revelation: Church at Ephesus

To the Church at Ephesus  2:1-7
V1     Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write; These things saith He that holds the seven stars in His right hand, who walks in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks;
V2     I know thy works, and thy labor, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil:  and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars:  
V3     And hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name’s sake hast labored, and hast not fainted.  
V4     Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love.  
V5     Remember therefore from whence thou are fallen, and repent, and do the first works, or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.  
V6     But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitanes, which I also hate.  
V7     He that hath and ear, let him hear what the Spirit hath unto the churches; To him that overcomes will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.

Attribute:  “He that holds the seven stars in His right hand, who walks in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks;

 V1    The seven stars and the seven golden candlesticks represent Light.  

The seven stars is the pastor of this church; the seven golden candlesticks is the church of Ephesus and also Christians today spreading his Light into the dark places.  

The number seven represents perfection-Jesus is perfect, He is Light and His Light is perfect and pure.      Jesus, the Revelator is shedding light onto the Ephesian Christians.  He is shedding His Light on the good and right things they are doing and encouraging them and He is shedding light on what needs to be fixed and He tells them how to fix it.

V2–3    Jesus reveals to Ephesian church:
 their works (2041 Gk ergon-where we get ergonomics)  It means WORK

 their labor (2873 Gk  kopos) toil; demands the whole strength of a person exerted to the uttermost if he is to accomplish the task which is before him.  Reminds me of a farmer.  Farming is very hard work.

 their patience 5281 hupomone the quality that does not surrender to circumstances or succumb under trial.  1 Thess 1:3 patience of hope

 how they can't not bear them which are evil

 that they tried them that say they are apostles and found them liars. 1John 4:1 believe not every spirit...
2 Corin 11:10-15 Amp

 and have borne (941 Gk bastazo) through the idea of removal; to lift, to bear, carry, take up John 20:15,  Acts 21:35-36

 have patience (5281 Gk hupomone) cheerful or hopeful endurance, constancy, patient continuance (waiting)

 has labored (2872 Gk to work hard and and feel fatigued (spiritually)

 they have not fainted (Gk 2577) they didn't quit, or get 'sick of it',

V4     While the Lord has complimented them on many things He continues by saying “Nevertheless”.  They have left their first love

What happened here is a couple of things.  

They are workers!   Also, they can’t “bear those which are evil have tried those that say they are apostles and found them liars”.  While both of these are good things, like Peter walking on the water, he got his focus off Jesus, they left their focus from off the Lord and quit shining the Light by living and preaching the Word of God to judging and  looking for evil  in everyone that comes into their midst.  The Lord doesn't call anyone to do that.  Also salvation is not by works as said in Ephesians 2:9, "Not of works, lest any man should boast."   And Jesus is telling them to STOP IT! and repent:  to remember where they came from and put their focus back on Jesus and His Word.  

It was like Peter walking on water.  Jesus called him to Himself and Peter did great until he got his eyes off Jesus and "saw" the wind boisterous then he started to sink.  Jesus called Ephesus to Himself and they did great until they got their eyes off on the problem–––or problem makers and then things went wrong.

V5    and He tells them ‘remember therefore from where you have fallen--"repent!, and do the first works; or else I will come unto you quickly, and will removed your candlestick out of his place except you repent."

They have left their first Love.  Remember when you first came to know the Lord and have made Him your Lord as well as Savior?  You felt clean, light.  The burden of sin was off of you.  You saw the world in a totally different way––as God's creation.  The colors were brighter and it was all good.  Also, you looked to God, to praise Him, to look for His guidance, to talk to Him, listen to Him.

As time goes on, we get caught up in the daily things we have to still do and may have added church work on top of that.  We start feeling the weight of those things again.  We get caught up in the work and leave aside reading God love letter to us and leave aside praying and listening to Him.  But while doing church work we think that is just what He wants.  But in reality most of that is just busy work.  Most of it does not need to be done.

What The Lord wants is our first love relationship we had with Him.  When we are in the relationship, our ears are keen to hear what He really wants us to do.  More things will get done.  It is more to the point.  And we rest content knowing we are in His will.   Our work should be done out of love and obedience to Jesus and the Holy Spirit.  Because we want to please Him.

We don't need to go looking for evil.  It is all around us and unfortunately, in the church as well.  I heard a preacher say once, that when you turn the light on, bugs will show up.  The devil will send his group to churches where the Word of God is being preached to distract, confuse, and lead away.  Once it is seen, yes, it needs to be dealt with to the point, if the person/people don't repent and do right, kicking them out of the church.  That is Biblical.  God doesn't want evil around to lead others away from Him.

V6     He commends them again.

V7    He is tell us the same thing:  Jesus ended His letter to this church with, "He that has and ear, let him hear what the Spirit says unto the churches;..."  So the messages is for us today as well as for the church at Ephesus so long ago.  If evil comes in our midst, yes it needs to be dealt with in the proper manner.  Don’t go looking for it!!  Keep our focus on Jesus and His Word––studying it and sharing it and keep in the love relationship that we first had when we first became Born Again.

Reward:  “To him that overcomes will I give to eat of the tree of life which is in the midst of the paradise of God.”