Revelation 3

¹ “And to the angel of the church in Sardis write: ‘The words of him who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. “‘I know your works. You have the reputation of being alive, but you are dead. ² Wake up, and strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your works complete in the sight of my God. ³ Remember, then, what you received and heard. Keep it, and repent. If you will not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come against you. ⁴ Yet you have still a few names in Sardis, people who have not soiled their garments, and they will walk with me in white, for they are worthy. ⁵ The one who conquers will be clothed thus in white garments, and I will never blot his name out of the book of life. 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.’

Chuck Swindoll once told the story of a high school teacher who finally reached his limit. His class was lethargic, indifferent, unengaged, and utterly bored. Finally, in the middle of a class, after yet another particularly-long and overly-exaggerated yawn emanated from the class, the teacher stopped, slammed his book closed, walked to the board, took out his marker, and wrote this word in huge letters: APATHY.

Sitting up front were two of the slackest teenage boys the earth has ever seen. At the teacher’s dramatic behavior they stirred from their slumber and studied the word he had written. One of the young men squinted his eyes and stared intensely at the word. He then nudged his compatriot and asked, “Hey, what does a-pay-the mean?” His friend glanced up at the word, chuckled, locked his fingers behind his head, stretched out his legs in front of the desk, yawned, and said, “Who cares, man?”

Apathy. It is defined as “lack of interest, enthusiasm, or concern.” It is when you are there but not really there. An apathetic life is one that just walks through the world largely indifferent, lacking passion, drive, or conviction.

If you could put a scarlet “A” on a church you would put one on the church of Sardis and the “A” would stand for “Apathy.”

Sardis: a comfortable, wealthy, unprepared city with a comfortable, wealthy, unprepared church.

¹ “And to the angel of the church in Sardis write: ‘The words of him who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. “‘I know your works. You have the reputation of being alive, but you are dead.

Sardis was being destroyed by comfort, not by (1) persecution or (2) false teachings, neither of which are mentioned. Scott Duvall writes:

No mention is made of persecution from without or false teaching from within because the primary problem is a wholesale assimilation to the surrounding culture.[1]

That is a good way of putting it. Douglas Moo concurs and observes:

John does not mention anything like the persecutions at Smyrna and Pergamum or the heresies of the Nicolaitans. It may be that this church had not suffered disturbance from without and that its troubles stemmed from its comparatively sheltered existence. The temptation for the sheltered is always to take things easy, and they readily become slack.[2]

This reality of death masquerading behind a façade of life—this apathy, this lack of vitality, this lack of genuine passion and conviction and movement forward in the Kingdom life—was spoken of before by Jesus. For instance, consider how Jesus calls out the scribes and Pharisees in Matthew 23:

²⁷ “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness. ²⁸ So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.

It is possible to appear to be alive but to in reality be dead. It is possible to keep the blood flowing and the machinery in operation while lacking anything resembling actual life. When this happens we make a mockery of the Lord God and we position ourselves for judgment.

So I would like to talk to the dead people walking among us: the apathetic, the indifferent, the alive but not really, the here but not really. And I would like to ask this question: How can we avoid the swift destruction that will come upon the compromised life? Jesus outlines five needs for such a person.

Wake up.

The first need is to wake up. We see this in the beginning of verse 2.

² Wake up…

To wake up is to acknowledge that you are sleeping, that you are dead, that your life in Jesus is not actually moving forward. It is to name your spiritual slumber. We must wake up! Those in Sardis most likely did not miss the historical allusion embedded in this command. Leon Morris writes:

The city’s easy wealth seems to have made for slackness. It was captured by Cyrus the Persian (549 BC) and by Antiochus (218 BC), both times because of its slackness. The city was built on a hill so steep that its defences seemed impregnable. On both occasions enemy troops scaled the precipice by night and found that the overconfident Sardians had set no guard.[3]

Do you see? The city fell twice because they were sleeping through the assault. This city had a problem staying awake. As such, they were ripe to be overtaken in the night. So, too, the church of Sardis! So, too, us!

If we do not wake up we will be caught unawares!

My dad, Wade Richardson, tells me of his mother, my late grandmother Lottie Mae Richardson, yelling out in her thick Southern accent to each morning when he was a boy: “Wade! Wade! Get up outta that bed!!!” That is as good a paraphrase of Revelation 3:2a as we are like to find! “Church! Church! Get up outta that bed!!! Wake up!!”

Strengthen what remains.

Having awakened, we then must “strengthen what remains.”

² Wake up, and strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your works complete in the sight of my God.

The assumption is that in the heart of the coldest Christian there is, no matter how small, a tiny spark of that fire that once burned bright in your soul. There is a small and barely-glowing ember of faith. There is the tiniest of sparks. We must find that spark and bring it to Jesus. We must find what remains and not let it die!

In 1979 Pink Floyd released its song “Comfortably Numb.” The lyrics show a conversation between a patient and his doctor. The patient’s description of himself as “comfortably number” and unable to see or hear the doctor is truly chilling. This is a picture of a man who has lost the spark of life. He remembers when he had a spark but now it is gone. This is a picture too—though Pink Floyd certainly did not intend it in this way—of the comfortable and dead church.

Hello? (Hello? Hello? Hello?)

Is there anybody in there?
Just nod if you can hear me
Is there anyone home?
Come on now
I hear you’re feeling down
Well I can ease your pain
Get you on your feet again

Relax
I’ll need some information first
Just the basic facts
Can you show me where it hurts?

There is no pain you are receding
A distant ship smoke on the horizon
You are only coming through in waves
Your lips move but I can’t hear what you’re saying

When I was a child I had a fever
My hands felt just like two balloons
Now I’ve got that feeling once again
I can’t explain you would not understand
This is not how I am
I have become comfortably numb

I have become comfortably numb

Okay (okay, okay, okay)
Just a little pinprick
There’ll be no more, ah
But you may feel a little sick
Can you stand up?
I do believe it’s working, good
That’ll keep you going through the show
Come on it’s time to go

There is no pain you are receding
A distant ship, smoke on the horizon
You are only coming through in waves
Your lips move but I can’t hear what you’re saying

When I was a child
I caught a fleeting glimpse
Out of the corner of my eye
I turned to look but it was gone
I cannot put my finger on it now
The child is grown
The dream is gone
I have become comfortably numb[4]

Those last lines are chilling: “The child is grown / The dream is gone / I have become comfortably numb.”

This is the church of Sardis.

This may be you and me.

We must not let the numbness win the day. We must “strengthen what remains.” Hear me: if you will bring that little mustard seed of faith that remains to Jesus, He will breathe life into it and make much of it! He has not given up on you! Strengthen what remains!

Remember.

Waking up and strengthening what remains involves remembering. We must think back to the gospel we received, the gospel through which God opened our eyes.

² Wake up, and strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your works complete in the sight of my God. ³ Remember, then, what you received and heard…

This is the gospel we have “received and heard.” Do you remember it? Do you recall it?

Paul, in 2 Timothy 2, says the same:

⁸ Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, the offspring of David, as preached in my gospel, ⁹ for which I am suffering, bound with chains as a criminal. But the word of God is not bound!

In point of fact, the idea of remembering is all throughout the New Testament! For instance:

Having eyes do you not see, and having ears do you not hear? And do you not remember? (Mark 8:18)

He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you… (Luke 24:6)

But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. (John 14:26)

In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’” (Acts 20:35)

and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” (1 Corinthians 11:24)

This is how we stay close to Jesus: remember, remember, remember! This is why frequently assembling with the church family is important. This is why observing the Lord’s Supper is important. These and other ways are how we remember!

Keep it.

And yet, Jesus is not calling for mere mental remembrance but rather for a remembrance that bears fruit in action.

² Wake up, and strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your works complete in the sight of my God. ³ Remember, then, what you received and heard. Keep it…

We are not merely to recall. We are to keep what we recall! In 1 Corinthians 7, Paul writes:

¹⁹ For neither circumcision counts for anything nor uncircumcision, but keeping the commandments of God.

Keep it! Hold it close and walk in it! Do not let it go! Cherish the gospel. Love Jesus! Value the life to which you have been called! Keep it!

Repent.

This final word of verse 3 summarizes well the entire call of Jesus to the walking-dead Christian: repent!

² Wake up, and strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your works complete in the sight of my God. ³ Remember, then, what you received and heard. Keep it, and repent.

Repent! Turn around! Do not keep doing that which is killing you. Do not stay in your slumber. Wake up! Strengthen what remains! Remember! Keep it! Repent! You must get up and live!

Some years back some archaeologists were excavating ancient Sardis. In their excavations they final reached the level from Cyrus the Great’s conquest of Sardis 2,500 years ago. There they found something astonishing. They found the arm of a Sardian soldier who was killed by the Persians in Cyrus’ assault upon the city. It is a startling image. It is an arm, bent at the elbow and, amazingly, clutching a rock.

One can imagine this soldier of Sardis awakened in the night, awakened from his sleep. He had been lost in his dreams, peacefully snoring away, no concern in the world. Then, a clamor and a tumult, the sound of men shouting and fighting. He springs from his bed and runs outside. Just as he does so two Persian soldiers turn the corner to face him. They are holding large spears. The Sardian soldier is unprepared. He clutches frantically at a rock. It is the only weapon he can find. He rears back his arm to throw it but it does not matter. Two Persian spears crash into his chest, killing him. He falls dead, still holding that silly rock…and here, 2,500 years later, we are talking about him.

It is a cautionary tale. When you sleep, you are not prepared. When you sleep, calamity can fall quickly upon you. When you sleep, all you have to throw at the enemy when he pounces are dumb little stones.

This is why we must wake up! Our enemy the devil is seeking to devour us! It is so much easier for him if he finds us asleep and unprepared and unarmed. But if we will stay alert beside our King, He will prepare us and we will never be caught unaware.

Church! Church! Wake up! Wake up! Wake up! The enemy is coming, but, more than that, our King is here. Let us stay awake because we love our King more than we fear our enemy. How can we sleep in the presence of our great King?!

 

[1] Duvall, J. Scott. Revelation (Teach the Text Commentary Series) (p. 69). Baker Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

[2] Ibid.

[3] Morris, Leon L.. Revelation (Tyndale New Testament Commentaries) (p. 78). InterVarsity Press. Kindle Edition.

[4] https://genius.com/Pink-floyd-comfortably-numb-lyrics