Sardis

Brethren, we've been going through a series covering the seven epistles of Jesus Christ in the Book of Revelation. I've made mention to this point how that attitude is the father of action, that God the Father, Jesus Christ, in these letters, Christ letters to these seven churches, have discussed a number of attitudes that are important for God's Church. Of course, attitudes are mental and spiritual orientation of mind, orientation of the Spirit. We build our actions, we build our thoughts, we build our life on these various attitudes.

And Jesus Christ had a great deal to say to each of the seven churches, so he wrote each church a very small, very concise, and yet very important epistle, a discussion as to what each church needed. And of course, we understand as God's people that we need to be paying attention to all seven of the churches.

We are to take a look at the whole counsel of God and to learn from each of the churches. When we were covering the message to the church in Ephesus, we saw how they were a very active church, doing all sorts of things, but they were losing out in terms of their love for the brethren. And so the attitude there was that Godly zeal must be reinforced with Godly love. When we looked at the church in Smyrna, we saw that that was a persecuted church, a great deal of persecution, so much so that Jesus Christ didn't feel a need to put anything else on their plate.

But he did make mention that they needed to remain faithful to true values despite that persecution, despite that opposition. In his message to the church in Pergamos, we saw where there was an orientation needed to make sure we are properly being loyal to God. The church in Pergamos was compromising at times and not being as loyal to God as they should have been. With Thyatira, we talked to them. They were building—this kind of builds on what was said to the Pergamos church. Their orientation was more to their fellow man how they can get along because of economic concerns, and so the thought there was, don't go along to get along.

Now that brings us to the Sardis church. This is one that we see written about quite extensively in Mr. Armstrong's writings. If you take a look into his autobiography, Volume No. 1, you'll see an awful lot about the church there in Sardis. I've given you some rough dates on these churches. The church in Sardis roughly would be from 1600 to 1933. 1600—some people would say 1500.

Again, these are loose dates. We're not basing our salvation on any of that. But 1600 to 1933. I want to read you a portion of the work I've been quoting, and that is The Seven Epistles of Christ by Taylor Bunch. This historical background to the city, as we're going to see as we go through the Book of Revelation, there's a reason why Christ said what he said to the church in Sardis.

As we understand some of the history of that city, the words of Jesus Christ will be more clear to us. I quote now, Sardis was founded in the 12th century before Christ and was one of the oldest and most important cities of Asia. It was located about 35 miles southeast of Thyatira. Until captured by Cyrus in 549 B.C., Sardis was the capital of the Kingdom of Lydia and became so again after the fall of the Roman power in Asia in 395 A.D. Lydia was one of the richest kingdoms of the ancient world.

The Lydians are reputed to have been the inventors of coined money, coined silver coins, coined gold coins. Speaking of their wealth, historian Riddbuss says that a great cause of the prosperity and wealth of the Lydian Kingdom was the natural fertility of the country. No other in all of Asia minor had so rich a soil. The ancient city of Sardis was built on a plateau of crumbling rock rising 1,500 feet above the plain.

The plateau was a part of Mount Tomulus, whose site was 6,700 feet. The walls of the elevation in which the city was built were almost perpendicular, and the city was inaccessible except for one narrow passage, which was steep and easily fortified and guarded. Sardis was considered an impregnable fortress. The natural defenses of Sardis made the guards and citizens proud and overconfident. The walls were carelessly guarded with sometimes fatal results. Because of the failure of the guards, the watch Cyrus captured the city by stratagem in 549 BC.

In writing about that, it says, The rock was so precipitous and impractical it would seem impossible to scale it. Herodotus says the soldier climbed the rock himself and other Persians followed his track until a large number had mounted to the top. Thus Sardis was taken and given up entirely to pillage. The lesson was soon forgotten for 330 years later. The city again was captured through a stratagem in 549 BC. Sardis means those escaping are that which remains. The name, the message, and the subsequent history of the city and church indicate a good start but a bad finish, a change for the worse. Sir William Ramsey calls Sardis the city of death. Its history is just the opposite of that of Smyrna, which was dead and is alive. Sardis had a name that lives and yet is dead. The name of Sardis is called Sardis the city of death. Sardis is the city of death. Sardis had a name that lives and yet is dead. Like Ephesus, the city and church of Sardis began with a glorious history and ended in a heap of ruins. Sardis is now a heap of ruins with no signs of life. It is indeed the city of death. And lastly, as Bunch was writing, he said, if you were to have visited Sardis in its heyday, it was a beautiful, very rich cosmopolitan city, junction of five roads, a very wealthy city, but when you were to visit it at a time when John wrote this, you would look around and say, What happened? Is this all there is? And so, a great start, but a bad finish. So we see the message to Sardis in Revelation chapter 3, verses 1 through 6. The attitude is repent or perish. Let's turn over to Revelation chapter 3 now and get into it.

And you might want to put a marker here. We'll be going to other locations through the course of the sermon today. Revelation chapter 3, verse 1. And to the angel the church and 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. You are dead. Let's break this down a little bit. The angel of the church of Sardis write, These things says he who has the seven spirits of God, the seven spirits of God. You know, brethren, God is able to see everything. He's omnipresent. He sees everything. He knows everything. But he also, at times, uses his holy righteous angels to report on events around the world. We see that with Sodom and Gomorrah in Genesis chapter 19. Now, this is where the history of Sardis comes in. Sardis was over as a city. They were overconfident in their location. They were overconfident in their ability to defend themselves because they were up high. And you can only get to them through one very narrow little passage.

They weren't watching. They weren't alert. Jesus Christ here is saying to them, I see everything. I am watching. I am alert.

So Jesus Christ is speaking to them in terms they should understand. They should understand. In your notes, you might want to jot down to Zechariah chapter 4 and verse 10, which talks about how the eyes of the Lord would scan to and fro throughout the earth.

God and Jesus Christ, they're watchful. They're diligent. Nothing takes God by surprise. Nothing takes Jesus Christ by surprise. Yet the people of Sardis, twice in their history, were taken by surprise. So there's a reason why Jesus Christ is saying these things to the people of the church. Because the church people were not watching. The church people were not diligent. It might be said the church people, some of them anyway, could have been lazy.

They were certainly taken by surprise. We don't want to be taken by surprise by our adversary. Continuing on here with verse 1, the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. The seven stars are the angels. We see that in Revelation chapter 1 verse 20. We're not going to turn back there. The seven stars shows that God is in control of his church. It says those stars are in his right hand. So Jesus Christ here is saying, I'm watchful, I'm vigilant, I'm alert, I'm in control. The members in Sardis were not watchful, not alert, not in control. I know your works that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead. A name that you are alive. The New International version and other versions for the word name use the word reputation. Apparently among the other six churches there in Asia Minor, in Turkey, they thought that the church in Sardis was a bustling, hustling, active church. They thought things were probably pretty good there in Sardis, so far as the church was concerned. And yet Jesus Christ, who sees everything and knows everything, realized that's not the case. Looks can be deceiving. People can look, you or I, we can look like a million dollars. We can look like a check for a million dollars, but there may not be anything in the bank. We don't want to be that way. Sardis was that way. At least some of the members in Sardis were that way. They had a reputation. They were living on a reputation. They were living on the good old days. We don't want to do that either. We don't want to live on the good old days. We want to live in Christ Jesus right now. We want to be close to Him right now. In many ways, the people in Sardis were like the Pharisees. Put a marker here. Let's go over to Matthew 23.

Matthew 23. Matthew 23. Verse 27. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you are like whitewashed tombs, which indeed appear beautiful outwardly.

Much like what the Sardis people thought of themselves. But inside you are full of dead man's bones and all uncleanness. Even so, you outwardly appear righteous to men. But inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness. Again, brethren, something for us to consider about your walk, my walk, all of our walk with the great God. We go back now to Revelation 3, verse 1. I know your works that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead. Jesus Christ here is not so worried about being politically correct. Jesus Christ is the epitome of love. And yet, can you imagine yourself, and again, there's every reason for Christ to say what he did. He's God, he's Christ. But to say you're dead, can you picture yourself saying that to your son or daughter? There's a reason Jesus Christ said that. He needed to wake some of these people, not all of them, but some of them needed to be really kind of shaken and woken up. They're dead. The sharpest possible rebuke by Jesus Christ. Some were dead. Now, if they were all dead, it wouldn't be God's church. As we work through the material, we'll see some were dead. Not only had they been grieving God's Holy Spirit, they had quenched God's Spirit. Some were dead. Some were in the process of dying. And some were growing. Some were doing well. You know, what's really interesting is I was thinking about the material here, how the people of Sardis saw themselves, and how Jesus Christ saw them. And I took that as a measure of personal correction. I see myself in a certain light, but how accurate is that light that I see myself in? How accurate is the light you see yourself in? Where are we really with the way God sees us, which is the important thing? What does God feel about where we're standing? Now, this particular church doesn't say they were persecuted like Smyrna. It doesn't say they had false teachings like Thyatira.

But they were a church that was either dead or dying for so much. Why? Because just life in general was happening to them. They weren't being watchful. They weren't being careful. And again, brethren, that can happen to us if we're not careful. Let's go to 2 Corinthians 13.

2 Corinthians 13. 2 Corinthians 13.

And verse 5, 2 Corinthians 13. Where it says, Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith.

Are we dead? Are we dying? Or are we okay? Are we more than okay? Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves? Well, the Sardinians didn't know themselves. Do you not know yourselves that Jesus Christ is in you unless indeed you are disqualified?

So here we've got a church that wasn't alive to some degree. Christ and His Spirit wasn't there. Wasn't working in it. And they were in some pretty deep trouble. We go back to Revelation chapter 3. Brethren, if you were asked, What do you say to a dying church? What do you respond? How do you respond? If you felt that either you were in that situation, or a loved one, or maybe somebody in the church that you fellowship with was in that situation, how would you counsel them? What would you say to somebody who you feared was in the process of spiritually dying, withering on the vine, walking away from it all? What would you say? Well, we don't need to pontificate as to what we would say, because Jesus Christ here is going to say five different things that He wanted this church to do. And I think that we need to pay close attention to the counsel of Jesus Christ. The Chicago church is not a dead church. The Chicago church is not a dying church. The Chicago church is very much an alive church. But we don't want to be like the people inside us who thought, Well, you know, we're okay. Nothing to worry about. We want to be diligent. We want to be watchful. We want to be careful. We don't want to become like this. You don't want it. I don't want it. None of us want that. So we need to pay attention to the five things that Jesus Christ is going to tell this church. That starts here in verse 2 of Revelation chapter 3. Verse 2, Be watchful and strengthen the things which remain that are ready to die. See, not everyone is dead. Some people were ready to die. Okay? Be watchful and strengthen the things which remain that are ready to die, for I have now found your works perfect before God. So, letter A, what do you do for a dying church? What do we do for a dying friend? What if we think we're dying spiritually? What do we do? Letter A, be watchful, be alert. Be watchful, be alert. Now, remember the history of this city. How twice they fell. They were overconfident. They were proud. They thought, it can't happen here. Well, it did happen there. They were careless. Perhaps they were lazy. We don't want to be careless. We don't want to be lazy. The enemy came at them from a direction they didn't consider at all.

I think back to what happened to us as a group back in the late 80s, early 90s, with our former association. Satan came at us from a direction we were not expecting. And what? 80%, 90% of our number are no longer with us.

The enemy came at us from a direction they weren't expecting. They weren't watching. They weren't being careful. They didn't learn their lesson because it happened to them twice. Let's turn to 1 Peter, chapter 5. 1 Peter, chapter 5.

We want to be alert. We want to be watchful. We need to make sure we don't do what others before us have done that have caused them great harm. 1 Peter, chapter 5, starting here, in verse 5. Likewise, you younger people submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another and be clothed with humility.

One of the things we need to be watchful about is, are we humble people before God? If we're humble, we will be alert. If we're humble, we will be watching. God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble. We certainly need God's grace in this day and age. We always need God's grace. We live and move and have our being through God's grace. Verse 6.

Humility is the basic building block for us as Christian soldiers. Casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for us. He cares for you. As the Philip says, we are His personal concern. He wants to be there. Jesus Christ loved the brethren in Sardis. He didn't want to see them dead. He didn't want to see them dying. He wanted to see them thriving.

Verse 8. Be vigilant. Be alert. Be watchful. Because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. So again, we need to be watchful. Not like the folks there in Sardis. Be vigilant. Because our adversary is about.

Just like those Persian soldiers and the soldiers of Antiochus the Great, they climb that wall like a... If you were to watch them, it looked like a line of ants going upside of a wall. And when enough of them got up there, they opened the gates. The rest of the army fled in. And back in those days, if you were conquered by as a people, obviously not a pleasant thing. Not a pleasant thing. We don't want to be conquered by Satan. Verse 9. Resist him steadfast in the faith. Resist him being steadfast. Steadfast means to be resolved, to be determined. We're going to resist in that sort of a way. Resist him steadfast in the faith, knowing the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world. May the God of all grace who called us to his eternal glory by Jesus Christ, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish and strengthen and settle you. So we have to look to the Great God in terms of being watchful. Now, when I say we need to be watchful, watching what? Let's be a little practical. Watching what? Be alert regarding what? We want to be watchful. We want to be alert regarding our personal walk with God. Our personal walk with God. You know, your husband or your wife or your kids or your grandparents or whatever, grandkids. They can have a tremendous walk with God. But we as individuals, each of us, every one of us, need to have our own individual, faithful walk with Jesus Christ, with God the Father. Philippians 3, verse 8. Talking about attitudes, talking about a mental, spiritual orientation of mind, talking about being faithful and steadfast. Notice what the apostle Paul says to the church in Philippi. Philippians 3, 8. Yet indeed I also count all things lost for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish that I might gain Christ. That was number one on his list. His relationship with God, the Father. His relationship with Jesus Christ, his elder brother. So we need to be watching and being alert that we have a tremendous, close, personal walk with God. Another thing we need to be watching very carefully is the signs of the times. The signs of the time. Matthew, chapter 24.

Again, we don't want to be caught unaware. Matthew 24, starting in verse 42.

Matthew 24, the Olivet prophecy, starting in verse 42. Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming. So we need to follow the instructions of Jesus Christ here. We need to watch. Be alert. But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour which you do not expect. So here Jesus Christ is saying, listen to my counsel, listen to my words, and be prepared. Be prepared. Verse 45, who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master made ruler over his household, to give the food in due season? Blessed is that servant whom his master, when he comes, will find so doing. We are to be doing the work God has called us to do.

So what's the first thing Christ counseled this church, the church that in some respects either dead or dying? What was he counseling firstly? Letter A, be watchful, be alert.

What else? Let's go back to Revelation chapter 3.

Revelation chapter 3 and verse 2 again.

It says, be watchful. We talked about that. Letter B is the next phrase. And strengthen the things which remain. B, strengthen the things which remain.

What was remaining? What did they have? Well, they lost an awful lot of ground. In many cases, not only was God's spirit grieved, but was grieved to the point of being quenched. We see in 1 Thessalonians 5.19 that God's spirit can be quenched. So they lost a lot of ground. Let's turn over to Romans chapter 8.

Romans chapter 8.

Verse 9. Romans chapter 8 and verse 9. But you are not in the flesh, but in the spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you.

Now, if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not his. Some were dead in Sardis. They no longer had the Spirit of Christ. Some were losing that spirit. It was diminishing. So, brethren, we don't want to grieve God's spirit, and we certainly don't want to quench God's spirit. Which brings to mind now something I was thinking about this week as I was putting my thoughts together. Over here in 2 Timothy chapter 1.

2 Timothy chapter 1.

Verses 6 and 7.

2 Timothy chapter 1 verse 6. Therefore, I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying out of my hands. For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. Notice in verse 6 the phrase, stir up. Stir up. That's Strong's number 329. The Greek word there means to kindle afresh. Or to keep in full flame. To kindle afresh or to keep in full flame. That comes from the Vines Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words. Paul likened God's spirit to an ember and a dying fire. We want to make sure that we stoke that fire. We stoke those embers. We want those to burn brightly. We want the flame to really be full flame. If things are about to flicker out, we want to rekindle afresh God's spirit in us.

Go back to Romans chapter 8.

Romans chapter 8.

Talking about rekindling that spirit.

Keep in full flame. Romans chapter 8 verse 14. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God.

Strengthen the things which remain. Strengthen, kindle afresh, keep in full flame God's Holy Spirit. God's Holy Spirit. Without the power of God's Spirit, we can have no deep relationship with God. We have no deep understanding of God or Jesus Christ or how we are to live our lives. We must have that relationship through the Spirit of God.

And putting my thoughts together for the message today, I was consulting our booklet, The Power of the Holy Spirit, The United Church of God booklet. And there was an interesting section in there. I didn't write down where the section was. Talking about God's Holy Spirit. But one section was talking about how God's Holy Spirit keeps us in contact with God's mind. God's Holy Spirit keeps us in contact with God's mind. We want to strengthen that which remains. Strengthen the bond we have. Strengthen the connection we have with the great God. 1 John chapter 3.

1 John chapter 3.

And verse 24. 1 John 3, 24.

Now he who keeps his commandments abides in him, and he in him. And by this we know that he abides in us by the Spirit whom he has given to us.

We abide in God the Father. We abide in Jesus Christ. We have that connection through the Holy Spirit. We want to make sure that that Spirit is being strengthened, rekindled, full-flame.

We want to add to that what we see here in John chapter 16.

John chapter 16.

Verses 7 and 8.

John 16 verse 7, read lettering in my Bible. Nevertheless, I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away. For if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I depart, I will send him to you. And when he has come, he will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment. We want God's Holy Spirit to convict our minds, to work with our minds, so we understand where we are sinning, where we are going astray, where we are going off on a tangent. We want God's Spirit to convict our mind as to the way we should be living our lives, the righteousness of God. And of course, as God's Spirit works in us, it produces fruit. I'm not going to turn there in your notes. If you want to jot this down, it will be Galatians chapter 5, the fruits of the Spirit section. Galatians 5 verses 22 and 23. Prior to giving the sermon, I was reviewing Mr. Faye's Bible study on this particular topic. I've been accessing all of his notes online, his sermons online. One of the things that he had commented on regarding this section of Scripture here was that everything living grows. Everything living grows. If it's not living, it doesn't grow. And so we ask ourselves, how are we doing? How is Randy doing? You put your name in the blank. How are you doing? Are we growing? Sometimes it's hard to see. Sometimes you may need to go to your closest friend, a mate or somebody, and say, hey, give me an evaluation. I've come a long way, but how's the growth been lately? Now, we're not necessarily talking numeric types of growth, but do we have a deeper maturity? Do we have a better understanding of the Word of God? Do we have a better understanding of the deep things of God? Are we growing along those lines? Do we find ourselves, when we're opening up our Bibles, that we are just so excited to do that? Do we find that our prayer life is an exciting thing? We can't wait to get down on our knees, or as we're driving, or wherever we're praying at all times. We've got a much deeper relationship. Those are questions only we can answer for ourselves. So what was Christ's counsel to this dying Church letter B? Strengthen the things which remain. Let's go back now to Revelation, continuing on.

Revelation 3, verse 3.

Okay, that's letter C. Remember how you have received and heard. Remember how you came into God's Church. Some of you came in through family. Some of us came in apart from family. Either way, we're in God's Church. But how did we get here? What happened in our lives? In Revelation chapter 3, verse 3, the word remember. Quoting from the exegetical dictionary of the New Testament, it says this is Strong's number 3421. And it says, and I quote, Now some of you didn't come from a pagan background. You were born into the faith. But it's true for all of us that we need to make sure that we renew and strengthen our faith.

With that in mind, let's go back to something we touched on a little bit earlier. Let's go back to 2 Timothy chapter 1. But there's a verse here we didn't read.

2 Timothy chapter 1.

We didn't read verse 5. 2 Timothy 1.5 When I call to remembrance, notice in Revelation we were told to remember how we have received an herbal. Here he's talking about, he's basically giving the same discussion here that Christ gives to the church and Sardis. When I call to remembrance the genuine faith that is in you, which first dwelt in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice, I am persuaded it's in you also. So Timothy was a church kid. Timothy came in because his family was in the church. So understanding where he came from, which is the same place where many of you are, then it says in verse 6, I remind you to stir up.

To kindle the fresh, to keep in full flame. Remember how you came here. Remember how you got here. Remember what grandma taught you. Remember what mom and dad taught you. Remember maybe your uncle or whoever. Or if you came in like I did, you know, everyone is in this, everyone who's sitting here, they were sitting here as a result of a number of miracles. Whether you came in through your family or not, each and everyone are here because a result of miracles. Think of those miracles that brought you to this room today. Remember what God has done in your life, your calling, how he put you here in his body. You didn't join a church. God put you here. He put me here. Remember the power of God working in our lives in order to renew and strengthen our faith. In order to renew and strengthen our faith. Remember, brother, again, whether you're born in a church or not born into the church, there's certain commonality we all have. God granted you repentance. You heeded that. You accepted Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, not your folks, your personal Savior. You were baptized. Your sins were forgiven. You were given the gift of God's Holy Spirit as hands were laid on your head, and your name was written in the Book of Life. So you have a personal history with God the Father and Jesus Christ. And Christ says, Remember that. Remember the power that has worked in your life. Let's go back now to Revelation and continue the story.

Revelation 3.3. Remember, therefore, how you have received and heard, Hold fast. That's letter D. Hold fast. That's Strong's number 5083. 5083.

The theological dictionary of the New Testament defines this phrase, Hold fast, to guard, to keep, to maintain, to protect. Brethren, what is it that we guard, or keep, or maintain, or protect? What is it we hold fast? We hold fast something that is very precious. The truth of God. The truth of God. That's brought out very clearly over here in Matthew 13. Matthew 13. Matthew 13, verse 45. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls, who when he had found one pearl of great price, by analogy, the truth of the living God, when he found the one pearl of great price, he went and sold all that he had and he bought it. And he held on to it. He held fast to it. He didn't let it go. He didn't treat it capriciously. It was treasure. It was treasure from the great God. Brethren, we should never take our calling. This opportunity we have for eternal life. Never take this for granted. Always hold it in the high esteem we should hold it in. Now, there was another group of people in the New Testament that were much like the church there in Sardis. Paul wrote to them, we think it was Paul, most commentators would say it was Paul, in the book of Hebrews. Let's turn to Hebrews 2, verse 1.

The folks here in Paul's writing too, they were in danger of leaving the church. They were in danger of going back to their old Jewish roots. Paul had to remind them that's not where they want to go.

Now, they were brought up in the truth. In one sense, they were church kids. These same kids had some real issues. You don't have to be just a church kid to have issues. You can be someone who's not a church kid to have issues. But notice what it says here in Hebrews 2, verse 1. Therefore we give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest we drift away. Lest we drift away.

I gave a sermon on that some months ago. Lest we drift away. And we never drift toward anything worthwhile.

We never drift toward anything worthwhile. We never drift... We should never want to drift from our spiritual disciplines. We don't want to drift into doctrinal error. We don't want to drift into moral compromise or spiritual compromise. We don't want to drift into lethargy. Drift never got us going anywhere good. We don't want to drift. Chapter 5 of Hebrews, they were drifting. They had a lot of truth at one point, but they were drifting. They were losing it. They were grieving God's Holy Spirit. Perhaps God's Spirit was being quenched. I can't really speak to that, but they were losing some of what they had. It's obvious from what we're about to read here. Hebrews 5, starting in verse 11. Of whom we have much to say and hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God. You've come to need milk and not solid food. These people were regressing. They were regressing. They should have been further down the road. For everyone who takes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe.

Unskilled. Now, we want to be skilled. We want to rightly divide the word of God. We want to be laborers in the word. But solid food belongs to those who are of full age. That is, those who by reason of use, if their senses exercise, to discern both good and evil. So, brethren, hold fast to the core teachings God has given to you. He's put you by His power into His church. Don't let go of those core teachings. Once we do, we start getting involved in all the crazy stuff. And there's a lot of crazy stuff out there in the world. There's a lot of crazy stuff out there in the world. We don't want to be a part of that. So, what was Christ's counsel to His dying church, letter D, to hold fast? Let's go back again to Revelation 3, verse 3. Remember, therefore, how you have received and heard, hold fast. And lastly, it says here, repent. Repent. But notice what He says right after the word repent. Therefore, if you will not watch, I will come upon you as a thief, and you will not know what hour I will come upon you. Now, that's language we've heard in a number of places. So, letter E here, in terms of what Christ is saying to the church, letter E is repent. Repent. The imagery is of Jesus Christ coming in a way that's unexpected, at a time that's unexpected, much like what happened to the city of Sardis, under Cyrus and under Antiochus the Great. They were captured at a time, in a way they didn't see coming, and tremendous hurt took place. Basically, Jesus Christ is saying to this church, Carpe diem. Repent now. Seize the moment. Seize the time. If you see that there is the need, take hold of that time. As I've said on a number of occasions, I know in my life, I realize that God has given me every day that I have, so I can draw closer to Him. It's not so I can amass more money. If I were to be trying to amass more money, I'd be a horrible failure at this point. I'm not amassing debt, but I'm not amassing any money.

But I do need the time. And I know I have conversations with the Father, with our elder brother, saying, you know, want your kingdom to come. I don't know that I'm ready like you want me to be, and I'll take this day that you've given to me as a sign that you want me to change some more things in my life. Isaiah 55 Isaiah 55 Verse 6 and 7 Isaiah 55 verse 6 There's not a person in this room to whom this doesn't relate. You know, all of us can seek God right now.

He is near. We're in His church. We may have done great damage to ourselves. Maybe not. Don't want to paint everybody with the same brush. But if we are in that position, we want to seek the Lord. We always want to seek the Lord. But certainly, if we're in a process of spiritually dying, more so. Verse 7 God is a merciful God.

He wants us to repent. He wants us to draw close to Him. Let's go back to the very first chapter of Isaiah.

By the way, once we're done with these seven churches, I'll go immediately into the book of Isaiah.

Once a month. That should only take us about three years.

Isaiah chapter 1 verse 16 Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean, put away the evil of your doings from before my eyes, cease to do evil, learn to do good, seek justice, rebuke the oppressor, defend the Father, plead for the widow. So here we're looking at fruits of repentance. And then notice verse 18 Come now and let us reason together, says the Lord, though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be white as snow. Though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool. If you are willing, if you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land.

Let's go back now to Revelation chapter 3. Let's end this discussion with the book of letter to Sardis.

Verse 4, not everybody was dead or dying. Revelation 3, 4, says, You have a few names, even in Sardis, who have not defiled their garments, and they shall walk with me in white, for they are worthy. I made mention that Sardis was the capital of the Lydian Empire, one of the richest empires that ancient world ever knew. One of the things that made them rich was they were a very fine manufacturer of woolen products. It is thought that in Sardis is where people began to dye wool. And so again, Jesus Christ is talking to people in a city, talking about something that they were not able to do. Something in their background they are well aware of.

Their garments, the garment trade, the garment industry. You have a few names, even in Sardis, notice, a few names, even in Sardis, who have not defiled their garments. Of course, garments in the Scriptures refer to our walk with God. If they are defiled, it's a bad walk with God. If they are bright and white and clean, it shows righteousness. They shall walk with me in white, for they are worthy. Verse 5, He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and will not blot his name from the book of life, but will confess his name before my Father and before his angels. So here in verse 5, we see Christ finishing up on a positive note.

Christ finishing up on a positive note.

And we want to make sure that we always do that as well. I'm not going to turn there, but you want to jot down in Genesis 18, verse 25.

This is where Abraham is talking to God about Sodom and Gomorrah.

Abraham says this to God, He says, Far be it from you to do such a thing as this, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous should be as the wicked. Far be it from you, shall you not judge all the earth and do right?

So Jesus Christ realizes that not everybody in Sardis was damaged goods.

Verse 6, He who has an ear to hear, let him hear what the Spirit says to his church, to the churches.

So, brethren, this finishes up this particular city.

I'll just quote one last scripture for you, and you know what you might want to write down, 1 Corinthians 10-12. 1 Corinthians 10-12, Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.

I'm hoping that every one of us does just that, that we don't allow what happened to Sardis to happen in our lives. Jesus Christ gave five points to this church. Just to quickly reiterate those five points, you know, what do you say to a dying church? Letter A, be watchful, be alert. Letter B, strengthen the things which remain. Letter C, remember, therefore, what you've received and heard. Letter D, hold fast, and letter E, repent. Let's take this to heart.