SEVEN SERIES INTRODUCTION
To
accompany our ‘SEVEN’ teaching series at Community Church Putney, over seven
weeks (this is week 5) I will put out a blog each Monday, looking at the seven
letters to the seven churches in Revelation 2 -3. These letters are
hard-hitting and very relevant and useful in the times that we find ourselves.
LETTER 5: STOP THE SHOW
The letter to the Church of Sardis 3:1-6
Explanation and daily studies for personal/family
use week beginning 6/2/17
1) Explanatory notes on
3:1-6
Jesus, in the gospels, is
very stern toward those who make a show of religion. He says, “Be careful not to practice your
righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have
no reward from your Father in heaven…“And when you pray, do not be like the
hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street
corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward
in full.” (Matt. 6:1,5). This was a
trap that Sardis had fallen into and to which we are all vulnerable – they had
become a religious show!
i) Description of Jesus – Holding the Spirit and Leaders
Read Revelation 3:1. “He…holds the seven spirits of God and the seven
stars” – ‘Seven spirits’ speaks of Jesus’ authority over the work of the
Spirit in the church. He also holds the ‘seven stars’ (1:20). These are
representative of the leaders of these and the Universal Church. This is both a
reminder and a warning that the blessing of the Spirit and the effectiveness of
leaders are provided or withheld by Christ, the head of the church.
ii) Praise – A few
are faithful
Read Revelation 3:4. Sardis receives no
real commendation from Jesus. It’s like looking for some good in a car crash of
a church – “Yet you have a few people in
Sardis who have not soiled their clothes.”…Sounds bad!
iii) Criticism
– You are a façade and your deeds unfinished
Read Revelation 3:1-2. It is
possible to have a great reputation with people but for Jesus’ blazing gaze to
see nothing of repute in us. Like a great bank that appears to be the epitome
of success but whose squalid investments leave it standing on crumbling
foundations and imminent collapse.
Jesus is also displeased that their deeds were
unfinished or incomplete. It’s easy to start something when one is excited
about a new venture or at the beginning of our Christian lives; what is hard,
is to endure, no matter how we feel, and complete what God calls us to do.
iv) Solution – Wake up
and strengthen
Read Revelation 3:2-3. Their
repentance is likened to waking up and strengthening. They are in a spiritual
coma, complacent in their relationship with Christ. Like too many, their
spiritual devotion had turned into weariness and lethargy. In particular, their
devotion to apostolic truth has been eroded. They are commanded to recall and
grasp again the amazing love of God in the gospel they had been taught.
v) Warning
– Unexpected discipline
Read Revelation 3:3b. Jesus’ warning plays
on Sardis’ history having been attacked and sacked twice (in 547/546 B.C. by
Cyrus II, and in 214 B.C. by Antiochus III) because the watchmen had been
complacent. Jesus warns them, that if they don’t repent, if they will not take
God’s word seriously again, He will come against them, bringing discipline,
when they don’t expect it.
Let’s not think that sin has no consequence or that we
can hide it from or shield ourselves from His discipline. Sin, un-repented of,
is an accident waiting to happen.
vi) Promise – “Walk
with me dressed in white”
Read
Revelation 3:4-6 and 7:14. Sardis was
a city with a great wool trade, which gives background to the allusions to clothing.
Citizens of Sardis prioritized reputation and outward appearance and this had
infected the church. Jesus makes a promise to the ‘faithful’ and ‘victorious’
of being ‘dressed in white’, which is a
metaphor to the Christian hope of perfected holiness in eternal life.
Does this mean that one is saved by keeping ‘unsoiled clothes’ – living a sinless life? ‘Unsoiled clothes’ speaks of living a life of obedience to Jesus;
our obedience is never perfect, but a true Christian will endeavor to avoid
sin, seek forgiveness and repent as a lifestyle (See 1 John 3:9).
2) Daily Studies on 3:1-6 for personal or
family use
This week we want to focus
on the danger of seeking to have a great reputation with people rather that
with God. The trap comes when we start to overly desire people’s good opinion
of us. Let’s seek to live before God and let Him take care of our reputation.
Monday – Memory verse for this week
1 Samuel 16:7 “…The
Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward
appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”
Tuesday – You
have a reputation (3:1)
For good or bad, warranted
or unwarranted, you and we have a reputation. Why is a good reputation with
people good and helpful (See 1 Tim. 3:7)?
Jesus confronts them: they
have a reputation of ‘life’ – loving and serving Jesus from the heart, but they
are really ‘dead’ – doing things from false motives. One must focus on inner
motivations and let the outer reputation take care of itself. Are you more
concerned with your own heart or with your reputation? Do you spend more energy
on your appearance, online status etc. than on your heart?
Wednesday – Wake up
(3:2)
Jesus tells them to “wake up!” Firstly, we all need to
realise our failures. We are forgiven and loved by God, but we are also constantly
bringing our hearts and lives into line with God’s will. Are you awake to God’s
call to holiness and to putting Him first? Are you going through life
distracted from a relationship of love and active faith – wasting your precious
time? Read and pray out of 1 Corinthians 9:24-27.
Thursday – Strengthen
(3:2-3)
They were to “Strengthen what remains and is about to
die!” What did this mean for them? The answer is given, in part, in verse
3, “Remember, therefore, what you have
received and heard; hold it fast, and repent” – We are being strengthened
as we ‘hold fast’ to the truth about
Jesus – that He is Saviour and Lord of our lives. Read and pray out of Jude
1:20-21.
Friday – Finish
things in the right way (3:2)
Our “deeds” flow out of our
love and faith in Jesus. If our hearts and minds are filled with truth and
affection for Christ, we will be a church whose works please God and bring Him glory.
Surprisingly, Jesus doesn’t
tell them to finish their works! Rather, He tells them to “Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; hold it fast,
and repent.” Jesus knows that actions spring from within. He knows that if
we will hold on and grow in truth, we will begin and finish what He calls us to
do. Read and pray out of John 15:3-4.
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