Letters to the Churches in Revelation
Sardis and Philadelphia
The book of
Revelation, the last book in our Bible, was written by the beloved disciple,
John when he was imprisoned on the island of Patmos. The date is approximately 95 A.D., a time of
great persecution and suffering for the Church. The Roman emperor demands that
all the Christians in the Roman empire renounce Christ and worship him, their
emperor, as their god.
Some frightened Christians deny Christ and give
in to the popular emperor worship. Some Christians
run away and try to hide from the brutal Roman soldiers who come with swords
and spears to carry out the emperor’s orders.
But some Christians stand firm in their faith and refuse to deny their
Lord and Savior. These brave ones die
painful deaths, often being burned at the stake as martyrs.
It was
during these terrible days of persecution and suffering for the believers that Jesus
in all His glory appears to John and tells him to send letters from Him to each
of His seven churches in Asia Minor. We
have already studied the first four letters that Christ gave to His churches in
Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum and Thyatira.
Today we will study Christ’s fifth and sixth letters to the churches of
Sardis and Philadelphia.
Here is
Jesus’ short message to the church in Sardis.
“These are the words of Him who holds the seven spirits of God and the
seven stars(angels). I know your
deeds. You have a reputation of being
alive. But you are dead! Wake up!
Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your
deeds complete in the sight of God.
Remember therefore what you have received and heard. Obey it and repent. But if you do not wake up, I will come like a
thief, and you will not know at what time I will come to you.
Yet you have
a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their clothing. They will walk with Me, dressed in white, for
they are worthy. He who overcomes will,
like them, be dressed in white. I will
never blot out his/her name from the Book of Life but will acknowledge his/her
name before my Father, and His angels.
He/she who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the
churches.” (Revelation 3:1-6)
Bible
scholars say that Sardis is said to have been the first city that was converted
by the preaching of John, the beloved disciple.
And sadly, the Sardis church was the first church that did not hold onto
their precious Christian faith! Jesus tells them that they are dead! It doesn’t get any worse than that, does it?
Once the church in Sardis had the reputation of being so alive, Jesus says.
What did they do to end up like this? So very sad! How many other churches, today and down
through the ages, were once thriving with truth and love and spiritual life,
but turned away from the Truth and are now dead?
Bible
scholars say that Sardis was a city of great wealth and fame. Rich with
material possessions but poor in the Spirit! Jesus sees that there are a very
few people left in the church of Sardis who still love Him. He encourages this small remnant and reminds
them that they will walk in white robes (sinless purity) with Him in heaven and
their names will be in the Book of Life.
But Jesus
begs His church in Sardis to repent and to strengthen what remains. He loves them and wants His church back.
Otherwise He says He will come as a thief.
When Christ’s Presence as Savior and Lord is no longer welcome in a
church, He can come back to the church in His judgment.
Jesus gives
John the sixth letter to the Church of Philadelphia. This is His message to this church. “Here are the words of Him who is holy and
true, who holds the key of David. What
He opens no one can shut, and what He shuts, no one can open. I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door
that no one can shut. I know that you
have little strength, yet you have kept My word and have not denied My
Name. I will make those who are of the
synagogue of Satan, who claim to be Jews though they are not, but are liars- I
will make them come and fall down at your feet and acknowledge that I have
loved you.
Since you
have kept My commands to endure patiently, I will keep you from the hour of
trial that is going to come upon the whole world to test those who live on the
earth. I am coming soon. Hold onto what you have so that no one will
take your crown. Him who overcomes, I
will make a pillar in the temple of My God.
Never again will he/she leave. I
will write on him /her the Name of My God, and the Name of the city of My God,
the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of the heavens from My God, and I
will also write on him/her My New Name.
He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the
churches.” (Revelation 3:7-13)
Jesus finds no
fault in this church, the church of Philadelphia! The name
“Philadelphia” means “brotherly love.” This was its ancient name because of the
love and kindness which the citizens had for one another. Jesus
opens a door of opportunity to the Church of Philadelphia. And He reminds them of what He has done for
them. He opens doors for our church too.
When He works, no one can hinder Him! Are
we aware that He is opening doors for us, or do we take these good gifts for
granted? Wicked people envy the open door of liberty and
freedom that we Christians have.
Jesus tells
the Church of Philadelphia that they have little strength. But true grace, though weak has His divine
approval. Christ would make this church’s
enemies subject to her! He tells them, “They
shall worship at thy feet:” and “They shall know that I have loved you.” (Revelation
3:9)
Christ calls
out to His seven churches to “overcome”. He
calls all of His churches then and now to “overcome”. He will write His Name on the overcomer. And He
promises never to leave the ones in the seven churches who want to follow Him, -
a precious promise that He gives to all of His followers. He will never leave us.
In these
letters to these churches, Jesus makes them many glorious promises if they will
only stay with Him. Jesus Christ has so many amazing gifts He desires to shower
onto His own. These gifts are so over
the top that we cannot even begin to take them in.
His
followers are to reign and rule with Him!
To be His bride! The crooked ways are to be straightened. And the dark things shall be made plain. Grief and pain are banished.
Only faintly
now we see Him. With the darkened veil
between. But a blessed Day is coming. When His glory shall be seen! What a Day that will be!
.
No comments:
Post a Comment