Jump Start # 813

Revelation 3:4  “But you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their garments; and they will walk with Me in white, for they are worthy.”

The church at Sardis is study of contrasts and opposites. They are one of the seven churches of Asia that the Revelation message was addressed to. They had a name that they were alive. That implies activity and reputation. People must have thought that was the place to be. Yet the Lord saw them differently. He said that they were dead. Nothing going on inside. Maybe they were more concerned about what others thought than what the Lord thought. Maybe they were all show and no substance. Dead churches are a terrible sight. They still have worship services, if you want to call it worship. They sing songs. They bow their heads and pray. Someone preaches a sermon. But their minds and hearts and thoughts are miles and miles away from the Lord. They go through the motion because of guilt or they don’t know anything else to do. Habit dominates their spiritual life. Dead churches do not have vision, because the members do not have vision. Dead churches are content because the members are content. Dead churches are not even sure how they died and much less how to become alive again. Dead churches are a sad, sad sight.

Our verse tells us that there were a few at Sardis who were not dead. They are worthy and they had not soiled their garments. They were not told to leave. They were not told to distance themselves from the dead. They remained. They carried the hope and the future. There remained a faithful few.

There are some lessons we learn from these few who were alive at Sardis.

• The opposite of the few are the many or the rest. Two groups. Two groups that were opposite. One group, the few, were worthy. The most were not. The few had not soiled their garments, the many had. The few were alive, the many were dead. This tells us that a person doesn’t have to become what everyone else is. For some wonderful reason, there were a few who did not let that happen. They continued to have spiritual activity in their hearts and to love the Lord with their all. Their prayers were fervent. They studied the living word. They walked daily with Jesus. They told their friends about Jesus. How do I know that? Those are the hallmarks for spiritual life. They were not like the many.

• The few did not get discouraged and become dead like the many. That happens so easily. It seems that no one cares but a few. It seems that no one is doing anything, except the few. It seems that all the work is being done by the few. After a while the few get tired. They become overwhelmed with helplessness that they quit. They become what they hate. They join the dead and become dead. That wasn’t happening in Sardis. The few were remaining worthy. You may understand this. You may feel that no one has people in the home but you. No one is teaching Bible classes but you. No one seems to take care of things but you. You may be one of the few. Hang in there. Don’t give up. If you do, you become dead like the rest, and then there may not even be a “few” who are left.

• God will judge us by what we do and not as a unit or a church. That’s good for these few in Sardis. The church was declared dead by God. It would be easy to say all is lost. Instead God saw life, hope and movement among the few. Our hope is not that we’ve hitched ourselves upon a great church or a faithful church, but that we are busy doing what God wants us to do. There are many folks who are with great churches who are not doing much. A pulse ought to be taken. Are they still with the living or are they dead? Being a member of a doctrinally sound church is important, but not to the exclusion of my personal responsibility. I must be alive in Jesus. I must be walking with the Lord. I must have spiritual activity racing through my heart. Do I worship as a “dead” person? Can even remember two of the songs we sang by the time I get to my car in the parking lot? Does the sermon teach me and change me? Or, am I simply going through the motions? Another Sunday. Another month. Another year. Then a lifetime. My hope is not that I am a member of an alive church, my hope is that I, myself, am alive in the Lord.
• It is easy for the few to spend most of their time complaining about the rest who are doing nothing. That didn’t seem to be happening at Sardis. The few were worthy. The few didn’t let the many hold them back and keep them from doing what they should. This is like Mary and Martha. Mary was sitting at the feet of Jesus. Martha was serving. It was a good thing that Martha was doing. The Lord didn’t rebuke her for that. The problem came when Martha interrupted the Lord and TOLD the Lord to get her sister to help. Martha was bothered about Mary. We can be so worried about other people that we don’t do what we ought to. The few at Sardis didn’t do that. So the most aren’t doing anything. What am I doing? Am I letting others bother me to the extent that I stop what I am doing?
• There simply is no excuse for me and for you not to be doing what we should. No excuse. Jesus died for us and we need to get about doing what we can in the kingdom. Doing all that we can is what we need to do. Some say, ‘the church I’m a member at is small.” So, do what you can. ‘The church were I’m at doesn’t have much money.’ So, do what you  can. ‘The church were I’m at is mostly older, retired members.’ So, do what you can. ‘My family is young and there are a lot of demands.’ So, do what you can do. ‘I have so much work to do at work.’ So, do what you can do. ‘Our preacher is a dude.’ So, do what you can do. ‘We don’t have elders where I am at.’ So, do what you can do.

It’s easy to find ways to be inactive and virtually dead spiritually. The few at Sardis were different than the majority. They might have been looked upon with suspicious eyes by the majority. The majority may have complained about them. Still they carried on. The Lord noticed. They were making a difference. That’s what we must see. No matter what spiritual environment you are in, you can still do what you can do. You can invite people to church. You can have families in your home. You can pray daily. You can encourage, influence and make a difference. You don’t have to wait for others to lead. They may not. The leaders may be dead. The preacher may be dead. You don’t have to be.  Do what you can do.

The Lord noticed. The Lord saw. The Lord was inviting those few to be with Him. What about the rest? What about the majority? What about them? They missed it. They were dead. Their spiritual needle no longer moved. All they were doing was a waste of time. They had fooled themselves but not the Lord. They would miss Heaven because they were living as if the Lord never came.

You become dead or you take the steps to remain alive. Your choice. Your destiny. Your future. Be like everyone else or be one of the few.

Roger