Messages To Sardis And Laodicea

by George Prasher, Manchester, England | Category: The Lord Among The Lampstands | Jun 1995

This series of articles on the Lord's messages to the seven churches of God in

Asia (Revelation chapters 2 and 3) concludes with a consideration of the

Churches in Sardis and Laodicea.

In one sense it is a disappointing finish, because sadly both of these churches were in a poor spiritual condition: nevertheless, there is much we can learn from their experiences. John was instructed to write to the angel of the Church in Sardis:

These things saith He that hath..... the seven stars: I know thy works, that thou host a name that thou livest, and thou art dead. Be thou watchful, and establish the things that remain, which were ready to die: for I have found no works of thine fulfilled before My God. Remember therefore how thou host received and didst hear; and keep it, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come as a thief and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee (3:1-3). It is clear that many of the disciples in this Church had lapsed into a lifeless formality. They went through the routine of church activities. They still had the reputation of being an active Church; yet the Lord saw them as dead. In what sense can believers be dead? They have eternal life and are indwelt by the Holy Spirit: these basic facts of their spiritual standing in Christ cannot be changed, but as to fruit-bearing in spiritual experience they may become dead. As Paul wrote to Timothy about widows in the church:

She that is a widow indeed, and desolate, hath her hope set on. God, and continueth in supplications and prayers night and day. But she that giveth herself to pleasure is dead while she liveth (1 Tim. 5:5,6).

Spiritual life in communion with God is deadened by over-indulgence in pleasure. The Lord's teaching in John chapter 15 also helps us to understand the point:

I am the vine, ye are the branches: he that abideth in Me and I in him, the same beareth much fruit... If a man abide not in Me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered (vv. 5, 6).

We abide in Christ by keeping His commandments (1 John 3:24). As we read the Lord's solemn message to the Church in Sardis we realize how prone we ourselves may be in lapsing into a similar spiritual deadness. The antidote? We must get back to earnest remembrance of truths we received when first we came to Christ and learned of Him; we must obey afresh His Word; we must turn to God in

repentance for our failure in the spirit of the Psalmist who prayed: 'My soul cleaveth unto the dust: quicken Thou me according to Thy Word' (119:25).

In spite of the general deadness of the Church in Sardis, a minority brought joy to the Lord's heart:

Thou hast a few names in Sardis which did not defile their garments:

and they shall walk with Me in white; for they are worthy. He that overcometh shall thus be arrayed in white garments; and I will in no wise blot his name out of the book of life, and I will confess his name before My Father, and before His angels (3:4,5).

The late Mr. John Miller, an outstanding teacher of the Word of God, has commented helpfully on these verses as follows:

Garments speak of habits. Their behaviour was clean. Walking with the lord in unsoiled garments will lead to a closer walk with Him in the ages to come. We must walk with Him in His ways. He will not walk with us in our ways. Enoch and Noah walked with God. Walking with Him demands that there shall be nothing in our lives that causes our hearts to be at a distance from Him.

Useful points to ponder!

The overcomer in Sardis was promised that his name would not be blotted out of the book of life, and that the Lord would confess his name before the Father and before the angels. The Lord made a similar promise to those who confess Him before men (Mat. 10:32). Strong encouragement for us all as we try to witness for Him in our time!

As to the possibility of a disciple having his name blotted out of the book of life',' there would seem to be two different writings. First, in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world, relating to eternal life in Christ (Rev. 13:8). Then in the book of life which relates to our service for God, as when Paul writing to the Philippians refers to 'my fellow workers whose names are in the book of life' (4:3). Those redeemed through the blood of the Lamb have their names for ever written in heaven; but as regards the believer's service, failure may result in names being blotted Out of God's record.

Passing now to a consideration of what the Lord had to say to the Church in Laodicea:

These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true Witness, the beginning of the creation of God: I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot I would that thou wert cold or hot. So because thou art lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spew thee out of My mouth. Because thou sayest, I am rich, and have gotten riches and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art the wretched one and miserable and poor and blind and naked I counsel thee to buy of Me gold refined by fire, that thou mayest become rich; and white garments, that thou mayest clothe thyself and that the shame of thy nakedness be not made manifest; and eyesalve to anoint thine eyes, that thou mayest see (3:14-18).

This is the most scathing rebuke among all the Lord's messages to the seven churches. Nothing to commend; not a single word of appreciation: only the spelling out of the Laodiceans' incredible self-satisfaction, their unawareness of their true state in the sight of their Lord. How blind at times we also may be to our true spiritual state as He assesses us! At the heart of the problem in Laodicea seemed to be their material affluence. They had lost a sense of true values. Imagine any Christian daring to say, 'I ... have need of nothing'! Someone has described Laodicea as the Church with no need for a prayer meeting!

If it bad been left to us we might well have written off the Church in Laodicea as beyond recovery. But not so with our gracious Master. He assures those in the Church:

As many as I love, I reprove and chasten: be zealous therefore; and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock: if any man hear My voice and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with Me (3:19,20).

The Lord had been slighted and ignored by the attitude of the Laodiceans. But He gave them opportunity to have renewed fellowship with Him. Still today, He stands at our heart's door, we who are His disciples. He longs for us to have communion with Him. But He will not force an entrance. We must invite Him in. The spiritual fellowship will be renewed, the joy of our salvation restored. The Master's final word to the Laodiceans contains' the promise:

He that overcometh, I will give to him to sit down with Me in My throne, as I also overcame, and sat down with My Father in His throne. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the churches (3:21,22).

George Prasher, Manchester, England | Jun 1995
The Lord Among The Lampstands