32: World News & Prophecy - Revelation 3:1-6

[McNeely] We're ready to begin the next message here in Revelation, and we're moving on to chapter 3, and we're going to talk now about the message to the church at Sardis. Let's go ahead and read the first verse here, chapter 3. "To the angel of the church in Sardis write, 'These things says He who has the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars: I know your works, that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead'" (Revelation 3:1).

He who has the seven Spirits and the seven stars. We can take that to mean that Christ is showing that by the power of the Spirit—which He is Spirit and the Father—and through their projection of that power throughout the universe by which they use, which is used to sustain the universe, to demonstrate the power of God, and to then live in the lives of each of the disciples because the power of God is within us, the life of Christ. Through all of this, seven being a number of completion—the seven Spirits of God, the seven stars—the complete control that God has over the spiritual body which is His.

We can, and that's what we want to focus on here because it's a message to the church. God has all total control in the universe and in the world, but He's talking to the church, the spiritual body, and He asserts that that power can shock the church into a revival, and the church at the city of Sardis needed to be revived. Christ is the King. Christ is the Messiah.

We've already established so much that He is more powerful than the empire of Rome, the emperor of Rome, or any other earthly leader or nation. The work of Christ with His church prevails and will prevail by, through that power of the Spirit by which He projects that. When the church listens to its Head, then it is a very powerful tool in the hands of God for good, and we then need to listen to this. He says that, "I know your works, but you have a name." Now the name of the church through the New Testament is very easy to establish.

It is the Church of God—the Church of God at Corinth, Paul would address a letter to, the Church of God at Ephesus. We know very easily what is the name of the church. We have as a habit and have had as a habit in our time to put another qualifier or adjective to it—the United Church of God today—to seek to emphasize the importance of unity. But Sardis had a name, and they were the Church of God. And that name is important. There's a whole study to the names of God throughout the Old Testament and the multi-dimensional aspects of each of those names.

God our Healer, God our Strength, God our Redeemer, and on and on. There's whole books written about the names of God, and that's an entire study in itself. I haven't done that in a number of years. In some of my earlier years, I gave a whole series of sermons once on many of the names of God from the Old Testament. And there's rich meaning there. But He says, "You have a name that you are alive, and it's because we are God's church that there is life—but you are dead."

So there's a contrast here. You're alive, but you're dead. How can you be alive but dead? Well, I think obviously we know that you're either one or the other. You can't be both at the same time. You can't be both at the same time. But Christ is making a point here of a stern warning to members to not rest on their works, on their name, their association, that they are part of it—that there's something of great, imminent, spiritual danger from which they must awake and be stirred back to life.

So it will be said here as you look later here. Let's see. Yeah, verse 2. He says, "Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die" (Revelation 3:2). So there are things ready to die, which means that there's still a flicker of life, right? If it's ready to die but it's not yet dead, there's some life. So again, look at the totality of the message to extract an understanding that we could be—the body, the church could be—ineffective or could be just not doing, not producing anything, death-like trance while still having a bit of life still there, which is what verse 2 here tends to say.

But keep in mind that He's addressing a congregation that has some problems, and there's still hope that if they listen to the message, they can then come back and live to the fullness of that name that is life—because it is God who is life and that is there. And so it's a very strong warning. You can imagine a church that's been known for good works.

He says, "I know your works." And it's a kind of compliment there. There must have been a zeal. They had turned from pagan gods, works of service and love, like we mentioned in Philadelphia or Thyatira, outgoing, supportive. They might have even had a distinction among all the seven in some ways, but time and events and the culture had worn them down, and it may be that they were coasting on a name—coasting on a name and a reputation. Well, we're the Church of God. We're okay. Every big team has a legacy—a sports team.

I'm not going to get too narrow on this, but past exploits of a team—championships, wins, titles, etc.—they carry through the years, even if they don't win again and have a long drought without going to a championship game. And teams coast on that and fans carry that. And in the church, in this message, it could be that God is saying, You may be coasting a little bit. You may be coasting.

I know your works. You have a name. But we've got some problems. You're not moving. And look at it as kind of a car that's just idling and not able to go forward to maybe understand a little bit—but that's not a perfect analogy of what is maybe talked about here. They were on fire, but that fire has faded and they needed a wake-up call. And in this, we might be able to learn a little bit about what Christ is addressing to the church through a little bit of history that is associated actually with the city of Sardis as we look at it here.

Let me go to this particular picture here. This is a picture that I took in Sardis, the site of Sardis, on one of my trips. There's a bit to see there. We always stop at Sardis in Turkey. They have reconstructed a Jewish synagogue that was there, a very large Jewish synagogue—likely the largest, at least known from antiquity to have been uncovered. And it sits right next to a Greek gymnasium.

I should have put that picture up here. They reconstructed a Greek gymnasium. It's actually behind me as I'm facing these pillars and taking this picture. Behind me is a large edifice of a reconstructed Greek gymnasium. And a Greek gymnasium—if you remember when we were talking in Daniel 11 about the Greek influence coming into Jerusalem and a gymnasium being kind of a workout place, athletic complex built where not only the Greek games were held but again it was kind of like a sports temple to the pagan gods in that way.

But Jewish youth wanted to go there and mingle with it. It's interesting, in the ancient site of Sardis there's a large Jewish synagogue that existed back at the time—later from the time of the first-century church. But it's built right up against and almost on the same block as the Greek gymnasium. And it's kind of a picture of compromise. The Jewish synagogue, the Greek gymnasium. Two different cultures—Jewish, Greek—and yet coexisting. And yet coexistence isn't what God expects us to do.

We have to be distinct. We have to maintain our identity. And that's what He's saying. You have a name but you're dead. That identity is more than a name. It speaks to how you live your life. And what we're going to see here is the church of Sardis has a problem with complacency. It's okay. That's good enough. Or we're safe—when we're not. Everything's done—when it's not. And that's the problem that seems to be addressed here.

Before I get into that message, I want to tell you a little bit about Sardis as a city and a story from history that was attached to them and could have been in their minds when they had this message read to them. But nonetheless, as we look at it—at the message and as we look at the history—there is a lesson that we can draw.

The city of Sardis is a very old city in Asia Minor as it existed at that time. And it—I'm going to get to it here. Yes, it is right here in a mix of the other cities here in Western Asia Minor, Western Turkey. But it's a very old city. There was a royal road on it. The Persians built a— their super highway of the time—that connected them with the Persian capitals of Persepolis over here in modern-day Iran, but ancient Persia, stretched all the way across.

And it was a mail route, and it was a communication route, and it facilitated communication within the Persian Empire. They actually—you know, you think of our—in America, we had a Pony Express at one time in America to carry mail. They had their version of the ancient Pony Express, was this royal mail road that went all the way to Sardis and beyond. But Sardis was a major point on it from Persia. They stationed soldiers or messengers and horses a day's ride all along the road.

So a messenger and a horse were expected to travel for one day. Then they would stop. They would hand off to a fresh horse and a fresh messenger who would then carry the message, the mail or whatever. And Sardis was a major stop on this. In fact, there's a section of the old road that is right there—you can actually stand on it. The roads were very important to these empires in the ancient world.

If you look at this picture right here, you see that there's a mountain in the background. It's about a 1,500-foot tall mountain. And at the time—in the ancient time of Sardis—the main citadel and city was on that mountain. Now in time, the city spread out below as well. There are temples and ruins all down through here as well.

I've never been up on that mountain, but there are ruins up there. They don't take tourists up there normally—large groups of them—but I think you can find access to that. But this was the citadel. Now the city in the time of, let's say, the Persian Empire—because Sardis was a very old city and it was a prominent city. It was a rather wealthy city. And in the 6th century BC, they had a king by the name of Croesus. C-R-O-E-S-U-S.

All right? Croesus. C-R-O-E-S-U-S. King Croesus. King Croesus became very wealthy because nearby was a river that had significant gold deposits. And gold was taken from the region and the king controlled this. And in fact, it is Croesus who gives rise to the legendary King Midas. You ever heard of King Midas? Had the golden touch? Well, that's the legendary name. But it is Croesus that the legend is based on because Croesus was a wealthy king and a powerful king. And at the time of the Persian Empire building up under Cyrus the Great—we've studied Cyrus, the leader and creator of the Persian Empire, conquered Babylon, remember.

This is the setting in Croesus. Croesus is up here and he's got his empire around Sardis. But, Cyrus is coming on and beginning to move westward. Croesus gets this idea that he doesn't want to be taken over by the Persians. I'll invade and I'll fight Cyrus and the Persians and protect my kingdom and maybe expand. And so here's what Croesus does.

Croesus goes to the oracle of Delphi. You ever heard of the oracle of Delphi? This temple—and there was a priestess there—who was kind of the mouthpiece of the god. And they had oracles all over the place but Delphi is over in Greece.

And Croesus goes to the oracle of Delphi and he inquires, Should I go against Persia? Should I attack? He would have to cross the river Halys that ran through that and go across. Well, in the ancient world these oracles were rather cryptic. They didn't give detailed chapter and verse of all of their sayings that they were asked to give in predictions of favor or whatever when they were inquired. And so here's what she said in reply. Basically, Shall I go to battle? Shall I cross the river? Will I be assured victory in that? Well, the message that came from the oracle—and they actually heard these voices, probably demons down in there. On some of the temples they were built over subterranean caverns and these voices would come out of those caverns in a very eerie way. Here's what was said: "On the day you cross the river Halys into Persian territory, you will surely destroy a great empire."

Now, if you're Croesus and you are confident in your troops and you hear that, and you're itching for battle—got the troops all revved up, you know, everybody's out there banging their spears against their shields and making all kinds of noise and kind of like Braveheart, Mel Gibson in Braveheart, painted blue and riding up and down the lines and stirring up the troops, Victory!—whatever. If you're Croesus and you hear that, what are you going to conclude?

You're going to win. You're going to destroy a great empire.

So he attacks. He crosses the river. He engages Cyrus the Great and they fight. It's kind of late in the year and it's inconclusive. In those days, armies went back after Thanksgiving when it got cold and they holed up back in their towns and they would wait until the spring, and then they would march out again. So Croesus goes back to Sardis and he thinks, Well, I'll take this up in the springtime.

And so he goes back—and keep in mind this mountain right here in the picture, that's where they go, behind their walls, by the gates. And they don't think that the Persians—they'll go back and they'll hunker down and watch football for the winter months and be okay. We'll be okay.

Guess what happened? Cyrus was of a different mindset.

He followed Croesus and he surrounds the mountain, the city. And they see, lay siege to Sardis. Oh, Croesus says, I didn't think he would do that. Checkmate. But it's 1,500 feet, got tall walls, they can't immediately get in. They set up their siege engines and they wait it out. Maybe they'll starve them out. One night, a Sardian guard on the wall drops his helmet.

But he's being watched down below by the Persians. And he watches this guard come out from a place in the wall, get his helmet and go back in. Ah, found a way in. He goes back and tells Cyrus and the captains. And they mount an attack at that point and they breach the wall. And they come into the city and they take Sardis, rout them and Croesus loses the game. And so the oracle was right. If you cross the river Halys, a great empire will be destroyed. Turned out to be Croesus' empire. And Cyrus goes on to great fame. He knocks off Babylon next and becomes Cyrus the Great in history.

Croesus got complacent behind his walls. He thought his high mountain fortress, his big walls, and misread his enemy. And he got complacent. When you think that you've won, when you think you've done enough, when you think you've got to the point and you're not being attacked, that's when the attack comes. In other words, when you go to sleep, when you're not on guard, or your guards even let you down, that's when it all happens.

And so that is a true story from history about the city of Sardis.

Now fast forward to the first century when Jesus gives this message to the church at Sardis. What's He telling them now? And you're sitting in that congregation. You know the story, you know, you were taught the history of Croesus and Cyrus in your school at Sardis Elementary School or middle school. And now you're in the church and you hear this message. Look at verse 2.

Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die. For I have not found your works perfect before God (Revelation 3:2). Be watchful.

Now that carries the idea of being alert in constant readiness, not complacent. Alert. Watchful.

Anybody know of another place in Scripture that tells us to be watchful or to be alert? How about 1 Thessalonians? We're near there. Let's go back to 1 Thessalonians chapter 5.

But concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you. For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. For when they say, “Peace and safety!” then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape (1 Thessalonians 5:1–3).

When you're behind your walls, when you're on your mountain, and you've got enough food for the winter, then comes sudden destruction.

Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober (1 Thessalonians 5:6).

Go back to Revelation 3:2. Be watchful. That's the heart of the message to the church at Sardis. Be watchful. Don't be asleep. Be a child of the day, as Paul says back in 1 Thessalonians 5. Be watchful.

Now, when this was read to the church there, they would have had to have recalled that story from the time of King Croesus. And this is what He's saying. Strengthen the things which remain that are ready to die. For I have not found your works perfect before God.

Remember therefore how you have received and heard; hold fast and repent (Revelation 3:3). Strengthen the things that remain. Think about what the things that remain. That indicates few in number because there are other things that don't remain. What does that mean? If it's strengthen what remains, it means there are things that don't remain. And even the things that remain are ready to die. There's a warm glow, maybe a little flicker of light, but it's very faint and it's not very warming or effective.

Be watchful and strengthen the things. And so He says, I have not found your works perfect before God.

Now this is a mirror of much of the rest of Revelation. And really the whole book is set within the arena, the heavenly arena of God's throne. We'll see in chapters 4 and 5 this picture that John has given, this image, he's taken up in vision to the throne of God.

And here's kind of—this matches up there—because at the throne of God, there are four living creatures, 24 elders, and the Lamb of God is right there. And it is a scene of the heavenly presence and God watching, moving, acting, assessing, in charge of everything. Everything in the universe, everything on earth, and knowing what is taking place.

Remember the message to Thyatira? We read of Christ having eyes like flame. And we have the seven spirits of God moving upon the earth, going out. This is an echo of Zechariah, of the spirits of God moving throughout the earth. Activity, intelligence being gathered, knowledge. God's plan never ends. It doesn't clock out at five o'clock. It's 24/7. It's in real time. It's an eternal time.

And the church here represents the church at any given time that is not aware of that reality. And yes, the church at Sardis, they were alive but dead, and they're told to strengthen what remains that's ready to die. Your works have been examined. They've been brought before God. The knowledge is there. A report has been given, compiled, analyzed. And now I, the living head, am giving you this report that you are lacking. You're not watchful. And this is coming from God.

And again, this is a message of preliminary judgment in a form of a warning.

You're complacent. You're letting down. You're not on fire. You're alive, but you're in a coma. Look at it that way. You know, there's a little lip along the monitor next to the hospital bed. It goes along and then like that. Still alive, but not much.

So He's telling them to wake up to that reality. And that is the message at the heart of the message here to Sardis—to wake out of complacency. You know, I look at this verse, and I'll bring it down to our level right now in 2025, in the United Church of God, in our experience.

The strengthening that the things that which remain, I think, have a direct application to us to be shaken to the depths of our being. Strengthen what remains. We're small. So one of my good friends described the United Church of God. We're a very thin crepe, not a thick pancake. A very thin crepe spread around the world.

And I've been to a lot of those places around the world, and I can attest to that. We have good people, small, not big numbers, not anything near what we had at our height and worldwide. And even at that, by comparison to other big churches, we were still small then.

But we did have a bigger footprint then than we have today, and yet we're small. We've had our challenges. And I think that we can take this message in verse 2, strengthen that which remains, and we should take it to heart today. It's the message to the church at Sardis. Everybody should listen to that very carefully. Yeah, it says you're alive but dead, but there's enough of a life that I can say you're ready to die.

And if that applies to us, because we are those that remain. We're remaining true to God, remaining faithful, when many, many others that once sat next to us left it, strengthen it. Well, that's what we do. That's what's being done with you right here at ABC. Those people who take the time, speak to those for a moment that are listening, watching weeks, months from now online, along with all the other content that we have on our website, you're wanting to be strengthened.

You've come here at ABC to be strengthened in your faith, in your knowledge of God and the Bible. And we pray to the work of the United Church of God. But you remain. You're a part of those that have remained. We famously told a group that came in here, this building a few years ago, about 10 years ago now.

We hired a group, a media marketing group to come in and talk with us about our message and our media efforts. And we had an introductory meeting in our boardroom, and they wanted to know a little bit about us. And so one of our employees said, well, those of us that you see at this table in the church, we've had our ups and downs. We began in 1995. We started out with plans and all, and we've had some challenges. But those that remain around this table, he said, we're still here doing what we said we would do at the beginning.

And I've always remembered that. I thought that pretty well sums it up. We're still here doing what we said we were going to do, which was to preach the gospel, care for God's people, do the work of God. We remain. You remain.

This is not, you know, this is just a message that frankly comes from Christ Himself and, you know, strip away a lot of preconceptions about this message, these messages to the seven churches, and apply it today. Apply it now, because this is where and where we are, and this is who we have to work with. This is who we have to worry about. The United Church of God. Not anybody else.

I don't really worry about any other group of church that has the name, The Church of God. It's not my job, not my business. I don't wish them ill harm or whatever. I've got enough to worry about in the United Church of God because I want it to be a success. I want it to remain, and I want it to be strengthened as an instrument in the hand of Jesus Christ and in the body to do the work that Christ is doing.

And that's what this program is all about for all of us. And that's what we are doing. Strengthen what remains. And so God's looked, He looks at us, and if we take this to heart, then there are many things for us to learn. This is, as I said, a kind of a preliminary judgment in a form of a warning. You're complacent. You're alive with your comatose. Wake up. Apply whatever other Scripture that we want, but be awake to the reality of our time.

We're living in a moment here. Let me go off on another side of tangent here, and pardon me on that, but I'm giving this talk here two days after the inauguration of Donald Trump as the 47th President of the United States. And we're looking at some interesting times. Forget the man, although you can't, and this is not about politics, but there is a moment and there is a feeling of rejuvenation. There is a feeling of possibilities that can be done in terms of the role of the United States of America at this moment in world history.

We should not neglect. There are big things discussed and being planned and being implemented. People can argue all they want. I understand that. But that's not what I'm talking about. What I'm talking about is a nation that is here by the hand of God because of the blessings of Abraham and God's fulfillment to that in the modern age, which we will talk about eventually here in this semester in regard to that teaching and what it means for our understanding of the world today in Bible prophecy.

And we do live in the biggest, most powerful, wealthiest nation that has ever existed and certainly does exist right now, and it is not down and out. There are a lot of enemies at the gate. There are some enemies within still that can corrupt us and eat us away at our heart like a cancer. But we are still standing as a nation and there are some big things being discussed.

I mean, just yesterday the president talked about building out an artificial intelligence infrastructure of a half a trillion dollar investment with the biggest names in tech supporting this to put into place America at the forefront of the AI revolution that is taking place. Now, again, AI has some upsides and some downsides, but it is a reality. And it looks like to be the future as long as there is a future.

And with other things that are being discussed, we are, frankly, I'm seeing a moment of opportunity for the church to strengthen what remains and still be able to give a message about the Kingdom of God to the world. Because I happen to think God still has people who He wants to call into the body of Christ as first fruits of His salvation. And that's what we're about.

And so if then America's success allows us to do that, that's really what I'm interested in. And again, that's not exceptionalism. That's not jingoism. That's not political. That's just reality coupled with what God is doing. I look at it from that point of view. Some people might say, well, you're getting political. No, I'm not. Get over that.

It's not political. It's reality.

And as I have a small part in planning, looking at the international areas, that's what I see—opportunity to advance the mission of the church. God will take care of the timetable of prophecy and when the end is. I don't worry about that. As you know from me, I don't try to figure that out on a timeline. Nor should you.

Live your life. If computer technology is in your interest or some other field, it's going to be impacted by AI. Get your education. Prepare yourself.

Keep going. Whatever field you decide to get into, it's going to be impacted by decisions that are being made and signed into law right now and money being invested to it in these areas of tech, of medicine, of education, of industry. And it's going to impact your life. To be blunt, it's going to impact your life in the next 5, 10, 15, 20, 40, 50 years. Get ready for it.

Don't put your head in the sand. Don't think that the end is near. And that's how you are watchful. That's how you are prepared. That's how you are alert as children of the day.

And we all as members, that's how it works. We don't put ourselves behind a wall thinking that we're safe like King Croesus did, thinking that he had this super knowledge given to him by the Oracle of Delphi that was going to be his talisman. And so he didn't prepare.

He should have known his enemy. Well, we do know our enemy is spiritual, but we have to be watchful, strengthen what remains, and keep moving in the world and in the life that God has given us, not only in our calling and the work we do collectively, but recognizing that God's controlling history. And it'll be His timetable. And if we are prepared and watchful ourselves and living our lives with that in mind, then we're not going to be caught unawares. And you don't have to live in fear on that.

You do what is right spiritually. You prepare yourself to be a productive person in whatever field you are going to earn your living at. And you're going to support yourself. You're going to support your family. You're going to build a life. You're going to build a future. You do that, coupled with the knowledge of the truth that you learn and relationship with God. You're not going to be caught unawares. Don't worry about that. Just be able to keep, work through all of it and don't let it become your idol or the tripping point that trips you up. You'll be fine, but get yourself prepared.

I think in a few weeks, they're going to bring in the group that counsels you about jobs and a future and things like that. Well, I tell you, I wish I'd had that when I was your age. Somebody setting me down and putting my nose in an exercise to figure out what I'm going to do.

I wish I'd had that when I was your age. I didn't. I had a dad who kicked me in certain ways and made sure that I didn't get off into a ditch and he did the best he could.

But you need what those people have. Take advantage of that. Whatever you're going to do, the qualities that they're talking about, whether you're going to go into a trade, whether you're going to go get a degree in some advanced field or whatever, those qualities, those principles will make you a success there in whatever you do. And you'll be productive for your own family, your own life, and certainly for the welfare of the church going forward 5, 10, 15, 50 years.

I'm trying to expand it out because I'm not wanting to box us into some midnight cry that the end is near. You can't live like that. You should not live like that. The Bible doesn't tell us to live like that.

So the message from Sardis is to strengthen what remains and don't be caught off guard.

Let's go on and finish this. Remember, therefore, how you've received and heard hold fast and repent.

You have a few names that even in Sardis who have not defiled their garments and they shall walk with me in white, symbol of righteousness, a white garment, robes of righteousness, the revelation defines itself.

Sardis had members who were vigilant. They remained strong in the faith. The surrounding culture didn't dilute their faith. And this applies to us today, as I've said. There's a work Christ is doing with His church. It's being prepared as a bride.

And those that have the right garments on, the parables of the marriage supper tell us, they're going to be allowed in to the marriage supper. And so don't let anything defile that.

And so remember what you have received and walk with Christ in righteousness. And if we do, basically what Christ is saying is that if you will not watch, I'll come upon you like a thief and you won't know the hour, but if you do watch, you're not going to be caught off guard and your life will be ready.

And so this is what they would have looked to.

We've talked about this in so many other different ways, but it comes down to this warning from Christ has got to be enough to awaken us to the times in which we live and avoid the danger of complacency.

Verse 5 says, "He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments and I will not blot out his name from the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father and before His angels" (Revelation 3:5).

And so that name has been written in the book of life through baptism and receipt of God's spirit. There's the message here to overcome, not to be clothed in white garments. And God will confess our names before the Father and before His angels.

Again, that takes us back to what we will read in Revelation 4 and 5 of the scene of the angels and the realm of heaven where Christ is there but with the Father.

And so He concludes with the message, if you have an ear, hear.

Well, we all have ears. We have the scriptures. We have a lot of examples from history, from present time to help us hear it. "Hear what the Spirit says to the churches" (Revelation 3:6).

So that takes us through the first five. We've got two to go. In the next class, we will talk about the message to Philadelphia and then after that the message to Laodicea, both equally important with very strong, very powerful messages for us in the church today.

So we'll conclude that and pick it up in our next class then.