The Church at Sardis
Revelation 3 1. And unto the angel of the church in Sardis write; These things saith he that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars; I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead. 2 Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die: for I have not found thy works perfect before God.
3 Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee.
4 Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with me in white: for they are worthy.
5 He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.
6 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.
Sardis
v.1 The stars are the angels of the churches. (1:20)
The seven spirits of God is probably just a referral to the various functions and graces of the Holy Spirit.
Rebuke
To this church, he begins right off with rebuke.
I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead.
This church was living in hypocrisy. It may have been deliberate hypocrisy they were pretending to be something they were not. Or it may have been delusional hypocrisy they thought they were something they were not.
Either way, they were not what they appeared. This can hap[pen to any church or believer. You develop a reputation for something, and after a while the reputation may linger while the fact does not.
Faith may cool passion may fade. We must stay on guard so we dont lose faith. There are churches and Christians who appear ourwardly to be doing well, but inwardly they are dead. They may hide it for various reasons dont want you to see their hurt dont want you to lose respect dont want you to know the truth but appear well when they are not. Regardless of the reasons, these people are probably hurting.
Some however, may pretend for whatever benefit they can get out of it. (Like the guy running for office who suddenly attends church.)
They have a " form of godliness, but denying the power thereof."
The fact is, you will either live it or you will fake it.
These people were not living in open sin, they just had nothing in them. They were empty void of spiritual life. They were religious but not righteous touched but not consumed interested but not intimate.
Warning
What does he tell them? Be watchful wake up! Strengthen yourselves spiritually. The had something, but not enough. They were too easily satisfied and were not pursuing the deeper things of God the deeper relationship.
He says
strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die
Hold on to what you still have. Nurture it. Let it grow. Start practicing what you know. Religious knowledge is useless without practice. Knowing is not enough we must do.
Be ready He will come unexpectedly. Better be ready all the time.
4 Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with me in white: for they are worthy.
Some are not soiled.
Keep yourselves pure for God, with a pure and true righteous desire. Those who do will never be blotted out of his book.
Notice the exclusiveness here some apparently will be blotted out. We must remain true.