Admonition to the Sardiceans
Become vigilant and strengthen those remaining things, which were about to wither away, for I have found that your works have not been fulfilled in the presence of my God. (Rev 3:2)
The glorified Christ-- "the One having the sevenfold Spirit of God and the seven stars"-- skips straight from introducing Himself to admonishing the Sardiceans. He does not encourage the church in Sardis-- pointing out their good, faithful works, as He does with some of the other churches-- and He does not offer a strong rebuke. The church in Sardis had not, apparently, suffered from heretical factions within the church as had the Pergamenes (Rev 2:12-17), they had not been enticed into blatant, open sexual immorality as had the Thyatirans (Rev 2:18-29), they had not lost their first love while spiritually battling for sound doctrine as had the Ephesians (Rev 2:1-7), they had not [yet?] even become lukewarm, in immediate danger of being expelled from the body of Christ, as had the Laodiceans (Rev 3:14-22). They were simply, slowly withering away, like a plant that was not getting quite enough water or sunlight. They had begun good works for God-- undoubtedly they were full of good intentions-- but they did not finish what they had started. The majority of the Sardiceans were, apparently, not engaged in gross sins bringing public shame, but they had allowed a certain dirtiness to creep in (see verse 4); they were being blemished by worldliness: not completely embracing paganism, but also not keeping themselves pure.
It is my concern that the problems with the church in Sardis may be the problems with many churches today: the slow wither, the slow drift toward worldliness: the situation in which we begin many good works for the Lord, but our spiritual strength and resolve is so sapped through compromise that we do not follow through. Let us examine ourselves and repent!
The glorified Christ-- "the One having the sevenfold Spirit of God and the seven stars"-- skips straight from introducing Himself to admonishing the Sardiceans. He does not encourage the church in Sardis-- pointing out their good, faithful works, as He does with some of the other churches-- and He does not offer a strong rebuke. The church in Sardis had not, apparently, suffered from heretical factions within the church as had the Pergamenes (Rev 2:12-17), they had not been enticed into blatant, open sexual immorality as had the Thyatirans (Rev 2:18-29), they had not lost their first love while spiritually battling for sound doctrine as had the Ephesians (Rev 2:1-7), they had not [yet?] even become lukewarm, in immediate danger of being expelled from the body of Christ, as had the Laodiceans (Rev 3:14-22). They were simply, slowly withering away, like a plant that was not getting quite enough water or sunlight. They had begun good works for God-- undoubtedly they were full of good intentions-- but they did not finish what they had started. The majority of the Sardiceans were, apparently, not engaged in gross sins bringing public shame, but they had allowed a certain dirtiness to creep in (see verse 4); they were being blemished by worldliness: not completely embracing paganism, but also not keeping themselves pure.
It is my concern that the problems with the church in Sardis may be the problems with many churches today: the slow wither, the slow drift toward worldliness: the situation in which we begin many good works for the Lord, but our spiritual strength and resolve is so sapped through compromise that we do not follow through. Let us examine ourselves and repent!
Labels: Bible study
posted by Andrew Lindsey | 11:41 AM
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