cross and to the word of God. Interestingly, in Numbers 24:14–20, Balaam’s prophesy concerning Israel, the people of Israel are prophesied to be these bright lights in the world. Verse 17 says, “A star shall come out of Jacob, and a scepter shall rise out of Israel,” tying together both the idea of the star and the scepter as in Revelation 2:27–28. Daniel 12:3 as well says, “And those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky above; and those who turn many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever.” The glory of Jesus will become the glory of his people. He whose eyes are like blazing fire and whose feet are like burnished bronze, will establish the faithful as morning stars, shining in the universe.119
Conclusion
Our world needs this kind of authority. The church needs that kind of authority. We need a ruler who grants true freedom to those who serve him, a ruler who gives his life when we give it to him, and a ruler who promises us a share in his rule rather than a despotic, cruel king who serves only himself. This is the King to whom we must submit, going to war against all the powers of this spiritual world that rail against his kingdom.
Like the church in Thyatira, the church today must boldly stand against compromise and any form of idolatry, the Jezebels of the world who try to seduce us by secret knowledge and offers of security. Rather, in a crooked and depraved world, we must shine like stars (like the Morning Star) in the universe.
112. Beale, The Book of Revelation, 259.
113. Thomas and Macchia, Revelation, 105.
114. Beale, The Book of Revelation, 261–62, sees a parallel between the sins of those in the church in Thyatira to the sins of Babylon listed in chapter 18. In the Old Testament, Jezebel was a worshipper of Baal and a persecutor of God’s people.
115. Beale, The Book of Revelation, 263.
116. Mounce, The Book of Revelation, 105, citing James Moffat, The Revelation of St. John the Divine, 361 believes that this phrase, “to kill with death,” is a Hebraism that means “to slay utterly.” Aune does not agree (Aune, Revelation 1–5, 198), but does see the connection with Ezekiel 33. Also see the description of the dead in chapter 19, after Jesus comes back again.
117. Ladd, A Commentary on the Revelation of John, 53.
118. Other passages that apply Psalm 2 to Jesus are Acts 13:33, Romans 1:4, and Hebrews 1:2, 5; 5:5; 7:28.
119. See also Philippians 2:15.
Revelation 3:1–6
Jesus’ Message to the Church in Sardis
Introduction
The American people and many in the western world were shocked on September 11, 2001, as they watched and listened with the nation when two planes flew into the World Trade towers and then watched these buildings collapse onto the people of New York City. I remember my first thought: What kind of horrible problem went wrong with the plane that would make it fall in New York and why on earth didn’t the pilot do anything to miss the city? I could not believe it, and many others could not believe either, when we learned that the one piloting the plane was a terrorist. What was even more alarming was that those terrorists lived in the U.S., worked there, learned there, ate there, and were trained to fly there. They had infiltrated the nation and then struck a death blow upon the nation from the inside.
That is the worst kind of enemy, an enemy that you cannot see, that you are not expecting, an enemy that joins the ranks of your army and then turns the guns on your own, except in that case, the guns were petrol laden airplanes and the targets were not soldiers, but civilians. In the mind of the terrorists there were no civilians. To the radical terrorists of the world, all Americans are the enemy. And chances are there are still many walking and living among the American population, waiting for the opportunity to strike again, when the nation once again falls asleep.
I think this is a perfect parallel to what has happened to many churches around the world. We have had enemies enter into our churches, penetrate its leadership, lull the church to sleep, and then strike with a death blow—division, immorality, apathy, and bitterness. All of these are like petrol-laden airplanes crashing into the church of God. Some of these internal enemies, these penetrations to our church walls, have begun within. They were not enemies on the outside who went undercover in order to destroy. These are enemies who slowly grow on the inside, as the heart hardens, as unforgiveness builds, as apathy for the vision and purpose of the church grows. The church lulls itself to sleep only to be kicked by passers-by, because they think it is a dead corpse.
Exposition
The church of Sardis was on its death-bed before it was personally visited by the Doctor. Sardis was fifty miles east of Ephesus. A large temple was dedicated to Artemis, destroyed in the sixth century B.C.120 and then partially rebuilt and dedicated to a local Asian goddess, Cybele, by the time of Alexander the Great in the 4th century B.C. The city suffered a severe earthquake in 17 A.D. but was rebuilt with the financial assistance of the emperor, Tiberius. Gold and silver coins were first struck at Sardis.121 Aune estimates that the population of the city was between 60,000 and 100,000.122
Jesus is identified, like in chapter 1, with the seven-fold Spirit and the seven stars. He is identified in this way because of his presence through the Spirit amidst the church in Sardis. Because Jesus alone is the One who sends the Holy Spirit and holds the fate of the church in his hand, we must submit to him and listen carefully to his diagnosis as the Great Doctor. The church in Sardis had a reputation of being a vibrant church. They maybe had a good community reputation. They had a good reputation among the churches of the area. They probably had visible leadership and good programs. They were outwardly prosperous, busy with externals of religious activity, but devoid of spiritual life and power. Deep down, under the surface, the church was really dead. And just like in the history of the city which fell because of unseen vulnerabilities, the church in Sardis must heed the warnings of its Lord.
Think about what this says to reputation. There are so many “doctors” giving churches a healthy report around the world, when actually they are sick to the core. But there is only one Doctor’s diagnosis that matters. What does Jesus think? A church can have a great music program, ministries for all the age groups that are flashy and expensive and smartly run. A church can have a clean, sprucely kept building. A church can have a reputation in the community of being a great place to belong. “Wow! You belong to that church? How did you get to do that? It’s a special honor to belong to that church!” A church can have a radio or television broadcast, or an audience of 5,000 people. It can have all these things and still be dead.
What was the Doctor’s prescription for the church in Sardis? He commanded them to wake up and strengthen what remained and was about to die. There was still life in the church, but it was dying. What Jesus considered dead in verse 1 he then called asleep in verse 2. Thus, they are commanded to wake up. Their works had not been complete. In other words, there was no evidence of a full faith, or a fully-matured faith. Beale comments,
