He will finish the work that He began in their hearts, and He will help them to endure. Those who truly know Christ will endure and overcome on the basis of the blood of Christ and the word of their testimony (Revelation 21:11).
Those not in the book will go to hell (Revelation 20:15). Those who act corruptly will not be found as having a part of the tree of life, and their names will not be in the Book of Life (Revelation 21:27, 22:19). Psalm 69:28 speaks of the wicked having their names blotted out of the Book of Life, but the righteous have their names permanently etched in the book from the foundation of the world (Revelation 13:8, 17:8). Those who know Christ by faith will be found in the Book of Life, but those who do not know Him will not have their names in the Book of Life.
They needed to get back to the basics and repent and submit to Christ, keeping His commands (John 14:21). God was giving them time, but they had a decision to make. Despite their imperfections and stumbling, God would use the true believers at Sardis to fulfill their purpose by His grace, but the future of the church as a whole was in doubt. God still wanted to use this church, for they had deeds that He wanted them to do to fulfill their purpose before God. These professing Christians who were actually dead in sin (Ephesians 2:1) and not alive in Christ needed to repent, wake up, and start living for Jesus by faith before it was too late to repent. This is the same language that is used to describe Christ’s second coming in wrath for unbelievers (Matthew 24:43, 1 Thessalonians 5:2). If they did not then God would come like a thief when they didn’t expect it and at an unannounced occasion. They needed to repent and hold tightly to the truth by faith. The church needed to return to the truth and the gospel which had been declared to them in the past. Titus 1:16 says, “They profess to know God, but by their deeds they deny Him, being detestable and disobedient and worthless for any good deed.” Their form of godliness (2 Timothy 3:5) was not what God was looking for, and He was able to see through the charade and declare that their garments were defiled and dirty. There were a few there who had not soiled their garments and who had kept the faith, while others just went through the motions pretending to love Christ while denying Him by their deeds all the while. They needed to repent, wake up, and strengthen that which was about to succumb to sin, complacency, and hypocrisy. He had been watching, and, while the church managed to fool others while living in hypocrisy, a lack of love, and doctrinal compromise, God knew that it was a dead body. By and large the church was spiritually dead, and God was not fooled.
Even though the church at Sardis had a reputation for being alive (perhaps it was well-attended, busy, and well-financed), God knew better based upon the state of the hearts of those in the church. Thus, He knows all and sees all concerning the state of the church. His Holy Spirit indwells the true believers in each of the seven churches, and He watches over each with His angels. The idea here is that He is God and the authority over His church, He being the head. The seven stars refer to the angels of the seven churches according to Revelation 1:20. 6 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’Ĭommunicating to the church at Sardis, Jesus referred to Himself as the One Who has the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars. 5 He who overcomes will thus be clothed in white garments and I will not erase his name from the book of life, and I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels. 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. Therefore if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come to you. 3 So remember what you have received and heard and keep it, and repent. 2 Wake up, and strengthen the things that remain, which were about to die for I have not found your deeds completed in the sight of My God. He who has the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars, says this: ‘I know your deeds, that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead. “To the angel of the church in Sardis write: