Zombie Church

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Ephesus: Benefit Others!

Smyrna: Persevere!

Pergamum: Stay Pure!

Thyatira: Buyer Beware!

Reading Tips

Letter 5: To Sardis

The Text

3 “To the angel of the church in Sardis write:

He who has the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars, says this: ‘I know your deeds, that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead. 2 Wake up, and strengthen the things that remain, which were about to die; for I have not found your deeds completed in the sight of My God. 3 So remember what you have received and heard; and keep it, and repent. Therefore if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come to you.

4 But you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their garments; and they will walk with Me in white, for they are worthy. 5 He who overcomes will thus be clothed in white garments; and I will not erase his name from the book of life, and I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels. 6 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’

Revelation 3:1

Our reputation can't sustain our heart rate.

Sardis was one of the great cities of primitive history: in the Greek view it was long the greatest of all cities. At the beginning of its record it stands forth prominently as the capital of a powerful Empire... It is plain that the greatness of Sardis under the Roman rule was rooted in past history, not present conditions. (Ramsay, 354, 367)

3 “To the angel of the church in Sardis write:

He who has the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars, says this: ‘I know your deeds, that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead.

Revelation 3:2-3

2 Wake up, and strengthen the things that remain, which were about to die; for I have not found your deeds completed in the sight of My God. 3 So remember what you have received and heard; and keep it, and repent. Therefore if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come to you.

On Sardis

To avoid over-confidence in self, to guard against pride and arrogance, not to despise one's enemy, to bear always in mind the slipperiness and deceitfulness of fortune - such was the greatest part of true wisdom, as the Greeks understood it; and no where could the lesson be found written in plainer and larger letters than the fall of Sardis.

(Ramsay, The Letters, 358-359)

Sardis was no longer a seat of power, and its function as a fortress had been superseded, but it retained a considerable importance evidenced by the scale of its reconstruction after the earthquake. (Hemer, 143)

Our reputation can't finish our hard work.

"Not by might nor by power, but by MY Spirit," says the LORD of Hosts.

Zechariah 4:6

Revelation 3:4a

"Worthy is the Lamb"

(Rev. 5:9, 12)

4 But you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their garments; and they will walk with Me in white, for they are worthy.

Our faith keeps us far from compromise

Revelation 3:4b

Jesus walks with us.

Rev. 2:1; 21:3

4 But you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their garments; and they will walk with Me in white, for they are worthy.

Our faith keeps us close to Jesus.

Revelation 3:5-6

5 He who overcomes will thus be clothed in white garments; and I will not erase his name from the book of life, and I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels. 6 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’

Rev. 13:8; 17:8; 20:12; 21:27; cf. Ex. 32:32-23; Ps. 69:28; Dan. 1:1-2; Luke 10:20; Phil. 4:3; Heb. 12:23

Matthew 10:32-33, 38; 2 Timothy 2:12

32 “Therefore everyone who confesses Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father who is in heaven. 33 But whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven.

For if we died with Him, we will also live with Him;

12 If we endure, we will also reign with Him;

If we deny Him, He also will deny us;

13 If we are faithless, He remains faithful,

for He cannot deny Himself.

Our faith keeps us looking glorious.

Jude 24 Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy, 25 to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.

For this reason we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away from it.

Hebrews 2:1; cf. 3:12-14

Confessing Coasting

By practice, I mean discerning and developing habits of awareness of God’s presence—if not all day, every day, at least much more often than most of us typically do.

(Boa, Life in Presence of God, 1)

I worshipped Him the oftenest that I could, keeping my mind in His holy presence, and recalling it as often as I found it wandered from it. I found no small pain in the exercise, and yet I continued in it… without troubling or disquieting myself when my mind wandered involuntarily. I made this my business as much all the day long as at the appointed times of prayer; for at all times, every hour, every minute, even in the height of my business… (Brother Lawrence, Practicing the Presence, 17-18)

Practicing His Presence

People encounter God under shady oak trees, on riverbanks, at the tops of mountains, and in long stretches of barren wilderness. God shows up in whirlwinds, starry skies, burning bushes, and perfect strangers. When people want to know more about God, the Son of God tells them to pay attention to the lilies of the field and the birds of the air, to women kneading bread and workers lining up for their pay…

(Taylor, An Altar in the World, 13)

And I witness in a way in which the world reacts... (Laubach, Letters of a Modern Mystic, 33)

As I analyze myself I find several things happening to me as a result of these two months of strenuous effort to keep God in mind every minute…

... better memory

... less strain

... better sleep

... less hurry

... better perspective

Personal NOT Private

Coasting with Christ deprives us of life.