3:1-6

NT

Revelation 3:1-6

esv

Jesus Has All Knowledge and Power

“And to the angel

Destination

of the church

Descriptive

in Sardis

Locative

write:

‘The words

Content #1

of him

Producer

who has the seven spirits

of God

Source

and the seven stars.

Rebuke

Jesus Warns the Nearly-Dead Church to Remember the Gospel

“‘I know your works.

Content #2a

You have the reputation

Concessive

of being alive,

Content

but you are dead.

Content #2b

Exhortation

Wake up,

Content #3a

and strengthen

Content #3b

what remains

and is about to die,

for I have not found your works complete

Ground

in the sight

of my God.

Subjective

Remember, then,

Content #3c

what you received

and heard.

Keep it,

Content #3d

and repent.

Content #3e

Warning

If you will not wake up,

Condition

I will come

Content #4a

like a thief,

Comparison

and you will not know

Content #4b

at what hour

Temporal

I will come

against you.

Disadvantage

Jesus Promises Eternal Intimacy with Him for All Who Remain Pure

Yet you have still a few names

Content #5a

in Sardis,

people

Explanation

who have not soiled their garments,

and they will walk with me

Result

in white,

Manner

for they are worthy.

The one ... will be clothed thus

Content #5b

who conquers

in white garments,

Means

and I will never blot his name

Negative

out of the book

Separation

of life.

I will confess his name

Content #5c

before my Father

Locative #1

and before his angels.

Locative #2

He

who has an ear,

let him hear

Content #6

what the Spirit says

to the churches.’

phrasing

Notes

Head: Focus: The focus of this section is the life of the mind . We want to think accurately according to the truth of God’s Word we’ve phrased. Questions: How should I think differently about God/myself/others because of what I’ve just phrased? What doctrines are taught in this passage? What specific contribution to those doctrines does this passage make? What other Scripture texts add to the truths taught in this passage? v. 1: Why does Jesus reference "the seven spirits of God" as well as "the seven stars," which he "has"? For the stars, see Rev 1:16. Remember, these stars represent the angels of the churches; somehow, each church has a spiritual reality in Heaven , not just on earth. Jesus is emphasizing that each church and its spiritual state is known to Him and is in His power . This is both convicting and encouraging : Nothing can be hidden from Him, for He knows the reality of our walk with Him; and He has the ability to change us and transform us! For "the seven spirits of God," see Rev 1:4. Remember, seven is the number of fullness, of completion. This verse teaches that the Spirit is everywhere. Also, remember how many churches this letter is written to – seven ! And the Spirit is present and working powerfully at the same time in each church . v. 1: What does being "dead" mean? Does Jesus mean that this church has no spiritual life whatsoever? No (v. 2). This church was nearly dead; the doctor had nearly said, “Pull the plug; take them off life support.” And I say “ nearly said,” because Jesus does give commands to this church, telling them to “strengthen the things that remain ” in verse 3. So by calling them “dead,” Jesus is deliberately overstating things, shocking the church in order to wake them up from their spiritual lethargy. So this church wasn’t missing out on some peripheral things, but on their very life itself . Their problem is urgent – like a diver who has almost run out of air in his tank. Quick and decisive action is required! v. 3: What had the church "received and heard"? The Gospel! See 1 Cor 15:1-2. v. 3: What coming of Jesus is this? It is not referring to the Second Coming, because it is a coming specifically for this church . This is a metaphorical coming; it is a visitation of judgment. Jesus doesn’t say what that judgment would be – but it could be church-ending ; it could be deadly for some of the church members. v. 4: What does it mean to soil your "garments"? It refers to purity. Even in Sardis, even in this church where there was such a serious problem, with the church on life support, even there there were a few people who had “not soil their garments.” That is, their clothing was already pure and white. And notice the reward in verses 4-5, which is in the future tense. So when were these believers pure and godly ? They were godly now , and they would be godly later. They were righteous then , but they would also be made righteous later . Is this a contradiction? No! This is the glorious truth of justification, sanctification, and glorification . The wearing of white garments begins with justification – that is, it begins when a person places their faith in Jesus alone for salvation, and so their sins are borne by Jesus Christ, who gives them His righteousness as a free gift. He took what we deserved, so that He can give us what He deserves. He bears away our sins, and gives us His righteousness. See Rev 7:13-14. But there are also robes in Revelation 19:8, which are "the righteous deeds of the saints." And when were those righteous deeds performed? On earth , of course, during one’s earthly lifetime . And those good deeds, those actions of obedience to God’s Word, are what believers will wear in eternity – pure, white, clothing. And verse 4 of Revelation 3 says that there were believers in Sardis who already had white clothing on (that of justification ), and who had not stained those garments – that is, they had not compromised by living in immorality and idolatry and rebellion. Not that they were sinless – but they lived as Jesus’ disciples, denying themselves, confessing their sins, submitting themselves to His Word. But does this mean that salvation is by works , not by grace at all? Certainly not! Here is the truth of these verses: Those who are truly justified , truly born again , will live in purity during their life on earth. They will endure through suffering; they will persevere through persecution. And that is the only way you can get to Heaven! See Matthew 7:13-14. v. 5: Can a believer's name be blotted out of the book of life? No! This verse is not primarily a warning. However, I would say that this verse does contain a hint of warning , much like 2 Peter 1:10-11 does. This isn’t a warning that you might lose your salvation, but a motivation to press on in following Jesus, because that’s the only way to get to Heaven! God uses warnings like this to preserve the souls of each of His saints. When God says, “Stay away from the edge of the cliff, or you will fall off,” God’s people respond, “Well, then I’m staying away from the edge of the cliff!” That warning is God’s means to keep our souls safe and eternally secure. But overall, this is not a warning ; none of the promises at the end of these seven letters are warnings, are means to provoke fear; rather, they are promises of security ! This promise is given in a negative form, but its meaning is, "This person will without doubt enter Heaven." Heart: Focus: The focus of this section is the life of the emotions . We want to feel accurately according to the truth of God’s Word we’ve phrased. Questions: How should I feel differently about God/myself/etc. because of what I’ve just phrased? What emotions are expressed in this passage? What emotions does this passage exhort me to feel? v. 2: If we know that our outward reputation clashes with tolerated sin in our lives, we should feel ashamed , and we should wake up! We should also tremble at the fact that our works are visible "in the sight of ... God." All things are naked before him (Heb 4:13). Yet we should not fear in terror (Rev 1:17-18), for Jesus loves us and died for us. v. 3: We should fear lest Jesus judge us - not in Hell for our sins, but in chastening love to turn us form our sin. This fear is a motivation to repent. v. 4-5: We should rejoice at our certain future if we have been justified by faith, and if we continue to pursue the holiness without which no-one will see the Lord (Heb 12:14). Hands: Focus: The focus of this section is the life of the will . We want to act accurately according to the truth of God’s Word we’ve phrased. Questions: How should I act differently because of what I’ve just phrased? What motivations does this passage give for acting differently? What sins do I need to repent of and put off? What good works do I need to put on? 1) We must repent of inwardly-cherished sins (v. 2, 3) in reliance on Jesus. The heart of the believer who is secure doesn’t say, “I’m fine; I don’t need to watch for sin today; I’m strong !” No; the heart of the believer who will persevere says with the psalmist in Psalm 71, “ In you , O Lord, do I take refuge; let me never be put to shame! 2 In your righteousness deliver me and rescue me; incline your ear to me, and save me! 3 Be to me a rock of refuge, to which I may continually come; you have given the command to save me, for you are my rock and my fortress." The heart of the church that will survive cries out, "My mouth will tell of your righteous acts, of your deeds of salvation all the day, for their number is past my knowledge. 16 With the mighty deeds of the Lord God I will come; I will remind them of your righteousness, yours alone ." 2) We must remember the gospel of Jesus that we believed (v. 3). Don’t think that you only need the gospel to get saved! No, we need to remember the gospel every day so that we are constantly reassured of God’s unchanging love for us, of our own sinfulness, and of Jesus’ great faithfulness. That means daily Bible reading , daily asking God to show you the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ in His gospel in verse after verse of His Word. 3) We must persevere in purity (v. 4-5). And if Jesus is the life and power of the church (3:1), we must rely upon him for this! Verses 2-3 show that spiritual laziness is not just a generally bad idea; Jesus shows here that it is spiritually deadly ! Jesus demands holiness ; He demands perfection . Didn’t Jesus say that a requirement for following Him in Matthew 5:48 is that we " must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect"? Even though we will never accomplish sinless perfection in this life, yet God’s will is that we pursue it, that we “press on” it, as Paul said in Philippians 3; we must be in hot pursuit of holiness , for without holiness “no one will see the Lord,” Hebrews 12:14 says. Is this your pursuit? To us as believers, this passage says, “It doesn’t matter how passionately you used to pursue holiness, how faithfully you used to read your Bible, how consistently you used to come to church, how godly your language and your music and your dress style used to be – that is irrelevant ! What are you doing now ? Are you turning away from sin and following Jesus wholeheartedly now ?

notes