ZJlie C^hurcli 1"Jhat 'lAJciô ejt^ecuJ
By Rev. G. Coleman Luck
Fifth in a Series of M essages on the Churches of Revelation
perfection and completion, “ the sever Spirits” is but another way of referring to the Holy Spirit in His fullness of per fection. In Isaiah 11:2 there is an item ization of the seven-fold nature of the Holy Spirit: “ And the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him [the Mes siah], the spirit of wisdom and under standing, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD.” Thus it will be seen that Christ, the perfect Saviour and Lord, possesses the very fullness of the Spirit. “ For he whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God: for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him” (John 3:34). Our Saviour is also described as the One who has “the seven stars.” This is a reference to John’s vision of Christ in chapter one. “ And he had in his right hand seven stars . . . The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand . . . The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches.” The word here translated angels means messengers, and may refer either to the spiritual be i gs called angels who are God’s messen gers, or to a human being, when he serves in the capacity of a messenger. Some times even it is used of inanimate things such as Paul’s “thorn in the flesh” which he pronounced “ the messenger of Satan to buffet me” (2 Cor.-12:7). Since each of these letters is addressed to “the angel of the church at—,” but is manifestly to apply to the whole church, it seems rather clear that the reference is to the pastor of the church, who is officially the messenger of God. Considering the matter in this light, the symbolism of the seven stars in the right hand of our Lord becomes very beautiful. The pastor Is in the hand of Christ and is responsible to Him. As he is the representative of the whole church, the thought is forcefully brought to our minds that Christ, the all powerful One, has the churches in His hand. If they are powerless, it is because they are not drawing upon His almighty power—be cause Christ does not have first place in the hearts of the members. This was the very message Sardis needed, and, I am persuaded, not only Sardis but many modern churches. 3. Commendation of Good Works. None .' At this point there is a cpmmen- dation in each letter except two—Sardis and Laodicea. It seems that in these two churches Christ could find nothing for which to commend the church as a Tjrhole. In the case of Sardis, a few in dividuals were walking with God, but
nothing was being accomplished as a church. Awful indeed the thought that there are churches in which even the omniscient Saviour can find nothing to commend. 4. Complaint. “ I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead. Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die: for I have not found thy works perfect before God” (verses lc, 2). Notice four indictments against Sardis which reveal a dead church. (1) “Thou hast a name that thou livest.” A dead church is not a church that has been disbanded and the doors locked. A dead church is one which con tinues to carry on the outward organi zation but is lifeless within. A church may carry on its usual services and or ganizations, have its weekly notice in the paper, report its statistics to the de nominational headquarters, in o t h e r words—HAVE A NAME TO LIVE— and yet be DEAD. It usually does not take long to detect when a church is just “ carrying on” without any real life being present. The services become pure ly form and ritual, there is no love, no real Christian fellowship, no passion for souls. Religion is maintained only for respectability’s sake. The people are not “doers of the word” but “hearers only.” (2) “ I have not found thy works per fect before God.” No works perfected. In a dead church the things that are done are performed in' a slipshod way. All is done in a halfhearted indifferent manner. Everything else is put ahead of God and His service, and anything is considered good enough for Him. This is the sort of attitude which typified the Jews of Malachi’s day: “And if ye offer the blind for sacrifice, is it not evil? and if ye offer the lame and the sick, is it not evil? offer it now unto thy governor; will he be pleased with thee, or accept thy person? saith the LORD of hosts” (Mai. 1:8). God help us, this same at titude is characteristic of a host of Christians in our own day. (3) “ Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die.” In Sardis, not only was all work for the Lord done in a slovenly manner, but even these imperfect works were dying. The people were almost ready to drop any pretense of serving the Lord. Several years ago, one of the largest churches in my home state, a .church with several thousand members on the roll, was forced to discontinue its Sun day evening meeting because not enough (Continued on Page 30) T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
■ HE letter to the church at Sardis, found in Revelation 3:1-6, makes an interesting contrast to the letter doctrine at Thyatira, in that the false teaching of a wicked woman (who claimed divine inspiration) was toler ated. But with all this, it can be said that the church still had some life about it. Our Lord commends it for its love, service, faith, and patience. As we ex amine the letter to the church at Sardis, however, we find that it was apparently doctrinally sound, but it is described by our Lord as “ dead.” Thus we find that it is sadly possible for a church to be doctrinally sound, but spiritually dead— a condition which may be termed dead orthodoxy. Often we hear people speak of particu lar churches as being “ dead.” How can a dead church be identified ? The letter to Sardis gives explicit instructions for de termining a dead church. 1. The Address. “ And unto the angel of the church in Sardis write—” (Rev. 3:1a). Sardis was one of the oldest and most important cities of Asia Minor. During its long existence it suffered var ious catastrophes, but each time the city was rebuilt and again prospered, until it was finally, destroyed in 1402 by Tam erlane. Today only the ruins of Sardis are to be seen, amidst which there now stands a small village called Sert. 2. Description of the Lord. “ These things saith he that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the- seven stars” (verse lb). Seven being the number of Page Ten
to Thyatira, which immediately precedes it (Rev. 2:18-29). There was unsound
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