“To the angel of the church in Sardis write: ‘These are the words of Him who holds the seven spiritsof God and the seven stars.I know your deeds;you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead.Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have found your deeds unfinished in the sight of my God.Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; hold it fast, and repent.But if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief,and you will not know at what timeI will come to you. Yet you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes.They will walk with Me, dressed in white,for they are worthy. The One Who is Victoriouswill, like them, be dressed in white.I will never blot out the name of that person from the book of life,but will acknowledge that name before My Fatherand His angels. Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”
Faith is the victory, faith is the victory, O glorious victory that overcomes the world!!
An oldie but a goodie, don’t you think? I thought about that song throughout my Bible study today and almost felt compelled to share it with you. Sardis is the first church that Jesus addresses in the book of Revelation that He doesn’t praise at the beginning. He tells them that He knows their deed and their reputation for being a church on fire for Him! Then He tells that that their reputation is wrong!
Have you ever gone through a sleepy time in your walk with God? I sure have but when I woke up, straightened up and began to fly right I realized what I had lost during my nap! God’s love is constant and uplifting; His Word is living and always current! The church as Sardis needed to review the goodness of the Lord, remember the excitement they felt serving Him and worshipping Him with gusto!
We aren’t sure what happened in Sardis; we hope they never had to lock the doors and quake in fear of the thief in the night! I love the promise that follows: the believers who were still alive in Christ were going to walk with Him in purity and victory! I’m looking forward to that walk, aren’t you? I want to walk right up to my Mom and give her the biggest hug … but, that is for another day!
“Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches!”
Unless noted, scripture is NIV ©1984 Int’l Bible Society
Hugs +/or ChIPS ©3/05 Eleanor J. Gale-Boone
Ministry website: www.asistershugs.org
A Sisters' Hugs 