Awaken | Daily Devotion
“Write this letter to the angel of the church in Sardis. This is the message from the one who has the sevenfold Spirit of God and the seven stars:
“I know all the things you do, and that you have a reputation for being alive—but you are dead. 2 Wake up! Strengthen what little remains, for even what is left is almost dead. I find that your actions do not meet the requirements of my God. 3 Go back to what you heard and believed at first; hold to it firmly. Repent and turn to me again. If you don’t wake up, I will come to you suddenly, as unexpected as a thief, “Yet there are some in the church in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes with evil. They will walk with me in white, for they are worthy. 5 All who are victorious will be clothed in white. I will never erase their names from the Book of Life, but I will announce before my Father and his angels that they are mine.
6 “Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches."
Revelation 3:1-6 NLT
To the pastor of the church in Sardis, Jesus reminds of the Holy Spirit and the fact He, Jesus, holds every pastor in His hand.
Jesus goes on to state that He personally knows everything the head pastor is doing – everything the church is doing – and knows the pastor and the church have a reputation for being alive. So, Jesus knows what others think of the pastor and his church in Sardis – people believe they are alive in Christ, obeying the Lord.
Yet, Jesus continues stating, “but you are dead.”
So, regardless of what others believe to be true, Jesus sees through the hypocrisy and identifies the church of Sardis as a dead church. Nothing escapes Jesus’ notice and it is to Him whom every Christian is held accountable.
In Romans 8:5-6 NLT, Paul states, “Those who are dominated by the sinful nature think about sinful things, but those who are controlled by the Holy Spirit think about things that please the Spirit. So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace.”
Thus, the church in Sardis was allowing their sinful nature to control their mind which led to them being recognized by Jesus as dead spiritually.
Their minds were constantly thinking about sinful things, worldly. Such as various forms of idolatry with minds fixated on things or people as that which will save them, or their minds were meditating on sexual immorality, or covetous desires – wanting what God has blessed others with, or stealing, or murderous thoughts regarding others, or lying. Their minds were not thinking thoughts that were true, honorable, right, pure, lovely, admirable or excellent and worthy of praise – Philippians 4:8.
The very fact Jesus reminded them of the authority of the Holy Spirit, indicates this is the specific area of correction for this church. They showed to not have the Holy Spirit living inside of them, revealing they did not belong to Jesus – Romans 8:9, though they were presenting themselves as a Christian church. Their minds were not controlled by the Holy Spirit. They were not seeking God in His word, obeying the Lord. They were not walking in the Spirit, they were walking in the flesh.
They obviously perfected deceit, as their hypocrisy perfectly fooled those around them into believing they were alive.
But Jesus sees through façade.
It is the Holy Spirit who gives life to a church, as people are made right with God – Romans 8:10. However, when people obey the compelling desire of their sinful nature, the end is always spiritual death – Romans 8:13. People controlled by their sinful nature are slaves to sin, not showing to be children of God.
When Jesus says, “Wake up,” to the pastor and church in Sardis, He implies their current spiritual condition is by choice. They have chosen to sin. They chose to obey the desires of their sinful nature. They did not choose to deny their flesh. They did not choose to live their lives in the power of the Holy Spirit, putting to death the deeds of their sinful nature so that they would be alive in Christ as children of God – Romans 8:13-14.
Paul states in Romans 8:7-8 NLT, “For the sinful nature is always hostile to God. It never did obey God’s laws, and it never will. That’s why those who are still under the control of their sinful nature can never please God.”
Sardis was not pleasing God.
Jesus says, “Wake up! Strengthen what little remains, for even what is left is almost dead. I find that your actions do not meet the requirements of my God.”
Their actions were devoid of Holy Spirit power, not performed for the glory of God – but for self. They were not fulfilling the will of God, but their own will.
Thus, the church was not witnessing the glory of God.
Jesus then goes on to give the church of Sardis a directive, “Go back to what you heard and believed at first; hold to it firmly. Repent and turn to me again.”
This statement tells us Sardis was not always a dead church spiritually. They used to walk with Jesus Christ. Somewhere along the way, for whatever reason, they made a wrong decision that served their flesh and did not glorify God, and their steps followed evil and not the Lord.
So Jesus tells them to go back to what they first believed and to hold to it firmly – refuse the temptations of the enemy. Live out your faith. Repent of these sins and focus on Him like they once did.
Jesus goes on to give an ultimatum. If you don’t wake up, I will come upon you as unexpectedly as a thief. Pretty much stating, destruction will happen without notice. Jesus Christ’s correction of the pastor and the church will happen suddenly. In a blink of an eye.
Is your church experiencing the glory of God? Are you? Or do you need a revival? Christian, it only takes one heart on fire to start a revival! As Lawrence Tribble wrote in the late 1700’s:
One man awake, awakens another.
The second awakens his next door brother.
The three awake can rouse a town,
By turning the whole place upside down.
The many awake can cause such a fuss,
It finally awakens the rest of us.
One man up, with dawn in his eyes,
Surely then
Multiplies.
God said, “Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and heal their land”—2 Chronicles 7:14 NLT.
It simply takes one person hearing the voice of the Lord and acting on it. Christian, be of good cheer! God can bring dead things back to life!
To the few in Sardis who denied their sinful nature and refused to participate in evil, continuing to follow Jesus desiring to be like Him, Jesus says “they will walk with me in white for they are worthy. All who are victorious will be clothed in white.”
As Christians, our goal is to be like Jesus Christ. He is the author and finisher of our faith, and only allows situations in our life that will strengthen us in our faith; however we always have a choice in how we handle what is before us. When we choose to obey God, we know that situation and our obedience to God, transforms us more into Christ Jesus’ image.
This is the heart attitude and the mind Jesus desires – and to all who seek to become more like Him, they are granted the sweet blessing to be clothed like Him in heaven in white – signifying holiness and purity and namely transformation.
To these, Jesus says, “I will never erase their names from the Book of Life, but I will announce before my Father and his angels that they are mine.”
Jesus desires Christians to have hearts of obedience, displaying faith, hope, and love. This heart attitude, never has to worry about their eternal destination, they are safe in the arms of Jesus.
Do you desire to become more like Jesus Christ, no matter what you face in life?
Prayer: Abba, we lift up every Christian today who is choosing to sin, instead of choosing to obey You. We ask Lord that You would soften their heart and mind drawing them to Yourself. We pray for their repentance and restored relationship with You. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
