Revelation 3:1 - Meaning and Application

Here is the preface.

The letter is sent to the angel of the church in Sardis, an ancient city in Lydia, on the banks of Mount Tmolus. It was said to be the chief city of Asia Minor and the first in that region to be converted by John’s preaching. Some also say it was the first to turn away from Christianity, and one of the first to fall into ruin. It still stood in ruins, without a church or ministry.

The message comes from the Lord Jesus, who takes the title of the one who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars, taken from (Revelation 1:4), where the seven spirits are said to be before the throne. He has the seven spirits, meaning the Holy Spirit in his many powers, graces, and works. The Spirit is one person, yet he works in many ways, and here he is said to be seven, the number of the churches and their angels, to show that every minister and every church receives a measure of the Spirit for their good. Each church and minister has a spiritual supply to use and grow, for both strength and lasting faithfulness. That measure is not usually taken away until it is lost through poor use. Churches have their own spiritual supply, just as believers do. Since this letter is sent to a weak ministry and a fading church, they are reminded that Christ has the seven spirits, the Spirit in full power and perfection, to whom they should turn for renewed life among them.

He also has the seven stars, the angels of the churches, meaning the ministers. They are placed under his authority and answer to him, which should make them faithful and eager in their work. He has ministers to use, and he gives spiritual power to those ministers for the good of his church. The Holy Spirit usually works through the ministry, and the ministry has no power without the Spirit. The same divine hand holds both together.

The main part of the letter is striking because, unlike the other letters, Christ does not begin with praise and then move to correction. Here, as in the letter to Laodicea, he begins with a strong rebuke: I know your works, that you have a name for being alive, but you are dead. This church is charged with hypocrisy and a sad decline in religion by one who knows it fully, and knows all its works.

This church had gained a strong reputation. It had a name, and an honorable one, for being a lively and flourishing church. It was known for sound doctrine, unity among its members, regular worship, order, and good behavior. We do not read of bad divisions among them. Everything looked good as far as people could see.

Yet they were not truly what they seemed. They had a name for life, but they were dead. They had the outward form of godliness, but not its power. There may not have been a complete lack of life, but there was a deep deadness in their souls and in their worship. Their ministers were dead in spirit, and their services were dead too. Their praying, preaching, and daily conversation had little life. The people were dead in hearing, prayer, and conduct. Whatever life remained among them was almost gone, ready to die.

Our Lord then gives this fallen church wise advice: Be watchful, and strengthen the things that remain and are ready to die (Revelation 3:2). He tells them to stay alert. Their sinful deadness and decline came because they had let their guard down. Whenever we stop watching, we lose ground. So we must return to watchfulness against sin, Satan, and everything that destroys the life and power of true godliness.

He also tells them to strengthen what still remains and is close to death. Some take this to mean people, because a few had kept their integrity, though they were in danger of slipping with the rest. It is hard to keep up real godliness in ourselves when deadness and decline surround us. Others take it to mean their practices. Christ says, I have not found your works complete before God. Something is missing. There is the shell, but not the kernel. There is the body, but not the soul. There is the shadow, but not the substance. Their works lacked the inward part. Their prayers were not filled with holy desires, their acts of mercy were not filled with true love, and their Sabbaths were not filled with fitting devotion to God. Their outward actions did not match inward affection. When the spirit is missing, the form cannot last long.

He also tells them to remember what they had received and heard (Revelation 3:3). This means more than remembering the truths they had received from God and the messages they had heard. They were to remember how they had received and heard them, how deeply God’s mercies had first moved their hearts, what feelings stirred under the word and ordinances, and the love of their early days. They were to recall how welcome the gospel and the grace of God had been when they first embraced them. Where is the blessedness they then spoke of?

They must hold fast what they have received, so they do not lose everything, and they must repent sincerely for losing so much of the life of religion and coming so close to losing all of it.

Christ backs up this warning with a terrible threat if they refuse it: I will come to you like a thief, and you will not know what hour I will come upon you (Revelation 3:3). When Christ leaves a people in terms of his gracious presence, he comes to them in judgment. That judging presence is frightening to those who have driven away his gracious presence. His coming in judgment to a dead and declining people will surprise them. Their deadness keeps them careless, and while it brings an angry visit from Christ, it also keeps them from seeing it and preparing for it. Such a visit will mean loss for them. He will come like a thief to strip away the mercies they still have, not by deceit, but in justice, taking what they have forfeited to him.

Our blessed Lord does not leave this sinful people without comfort. In the middle of judgment, he remembers mercy (Revelation 3:4). He speaks with honor of the faithful remnant in Sardis, though they are only a few: You have a few names in Sardis who have not defiled their garments. They had not joined in the growing corruption and pollution of the time and place where they lived. God notices even the smallest number of those who stay faithful to him, and the fewer they are, the more precious they are in his sight.

He also makes a very gracious promise to them: “They will walk with me in white, for they are worthy.” This points to the white robes of justification, meaning being counted right with God, and adoption, meaning being received into God’s family. It also points to the white robes of honor and glory in the life to come. They will walk with Christ in the lovely paths of heavenly paradise, and what joyful fellowship there will be when they walk together.

This honor fits their integrity. Their faithfulness has prepared them for it, and it is in no way unworthy of Christ to give it to them. Yet this worthiness is not legal worthiness, as if they earned it. It is gospel worthiness, meaning they are fitted for it by grace, not by merit.

Those who walk with Christ here in clean clothes of real, practical holiness, and keep themselves unspotted from the world, will walk with Christ there in white robes of honor and glory. That is a fitting reward.

We now come to the end of this letter, and as before, there is a great reward promised to the Christian who overcomes (Revelation 3:5). It is much the same as what has already been said: “He who overcomes will be clothed in white garments.” The purity of grace will be rewarded with the full purity of glory. When holiness is made perfect, it will be its own reward. Glory is the completion of grace, different not in kind, but in degree.

To this another promise is added, one that fits the case very well: “I will never blot his name out of the book of life, but will confess his name before my Father and before his angels.” Christ has his book of life, a record of all who will inherit eternal life. It is, first, the book of eternal election. It is also, second, the book of remembrance for all who have lived for God and kept up the life and power of godliness in evil times.

Christ will not blot the names of his chosen and faithful ones out of this book of life. Men may be entered in church records, as baptized people, as those who make a profession of faith, or as those who seem to have a name alive, and that name may later be erased when it becomes clear it was only a name without spiritual life. Such people often lose even the outward name before they die, because God leaves them to erase their own names by open and serious sin. But the names of those who overcome will never be blotted out.

Christ will also bring out this book of life and confess the names of the faithful before God and all the angels. He will do this as their Judge, when the books are opened. He will do it as their captain and head, leading them triumphantly into heaven and presenting them to the Father: “Behold me and the children you have given me.” What a great honor and reward this will be!

The message ends with a call for everyone to listen. Every word from God deserves human attention. Even when a message seems directed especially to one group of people, it still contains instruction for all.