But you have a few names in Sardis who have not defiled their garments; they will walk with Me in white, because they are worthy.  Rev. 3:4.
 
    In the Hebrew language "walking" was a metaphor for the total experience of everyday life.  Our character is the sum total of the way that we "walk" from day to day.  The church at Sardis had some serious deficiencies on the whole, but there still remained a few believers there whose character suggested that they would one day walk with Jesus in eternity.
 
    In the old city of Jerusalem you can tell the age of a pavement or a staircase by the amount of wear in the stones.  Considering the hardness of most rocks, it is an amazing thing to realize that over a few hundred years the constant shuffling of sandaled feet can actually cut groves and depression into granite, slate, marble, and other types of paving stones.  Each time a foot slides over a stone, it wears away a microscopic puff of dust from a stone.  Tens of thousands of steps leave a permanent impression.
 
    My favorite spot to observe this is the newly excavated staircase below the south wall of the Temple mount.  It was the main entrance into the Temple courts from the south.  Pilgrims coming up from Bethlehem, Beersheba, or Hebron would ascend these stairs to gates that passed under the royal portico and into the Court of the Gentiles, where Jesus drove out the moneychangers.  While the gates into the Temple area have long ago been bricked over, archaeologists have newly exposed the steps leading up to them.  Sitting on those stairs one can view the City of David (the original city) angling down toward the Pool of Siloam and covered in part by the Arab village of Silwan.  One can also see the hills that continue to separate Jerusalem from Bethlehem.
 
    Since the staircase was unearthed in severely damaged form, experts have restored a portion with fresh stones so that visitors can gain a sense of what it must have looked like in Jesus' day.  Interspersed among the fresh stones, however, are the rounded remnants of paving stones that withstood the grinding of countless feet for more than 1,000 years.  It is thrilling to walk or sit on these stones, realizing that Jesus and His disciples had certainly passed over them.
 
    In today's world, where constant change is the norm, it is helpful to remember that others have gone before us,  Never alone in our spiritual pilgrimage, we can seek out mentors and guides to help us overcome our most difficult moments.  And above all, the well-worn steps that lead to God are before us every day in the Bible.  When we open the ancient Word and listen to its voice, we can find solid ground for our feet.
 
Lord, open my mind today to learn something of value from everyone I meet.

   But you have a few names in Sardis who have not defiled their garments; they will walk with Me in white, because they are worthy.  Rev. 3:4.
 
    In the Hebrew language "walking" was a metaphor for the total experience of everyday life.  Our character is the sum total of the way that we "walk" from day to day.  The church at Sardis had some serious deficiencies on the whole, but there still remained a few believers there whose character suggested that they would one day walk with Jesus in eternity.
 
    In the old city of Jerusalem you can tell the age of a pavement or a staircase by the amount of wear in the stones.  Considering the hardness of most rocks, it is an amazing thing to realize that over a few hundred years the constant shuffling of sandaled feet can actually cut groves and depression into granite, slate, marble, and other types of paving stones.  Each time a foot slides over a stone, it wears away a microscopic puff of dust from a stone.  Tens of thousands of steps leave a permanent impression.
 
    My favorite spot to observe this is the newly excavated staircase below the south wall of the Temple mount.  It was the main entrance into the Temple courts from the south.  Pilgrims coming up from Bethlehem, Beersheba, or Hebron would ascend these stairs to gates that passed under the royal portico and into the Court of the Gentiles, where Jesus drove out the moneychangers.  While the gates into the Temple area have long ago been bricked over, archaeologists have newly exposed the steps leading up to them.  Sitting on those stairs one can view the City of David (the original city) angling down toward the Pool of Siloam and covered in part by the Arab village of Silwan.  One can also see the hills that continue to separate Jerusalem from Bethlehem.
 
    Since the staircase was unearthed in severely damaged form, experts have restored a portion with fresh stones so that visitors can gain a sense of what it must have looked like in Jesus' day.  Interspersed among the fresh stones, however, are the rounded remnants of paving stones that withstood the grinding of countless feet for more than 1,000 years.  It is thrilling to walk or sit on these stones, realizing that Jesus and His disciples had certainly passed over them.
 
    In today's world, where constant change is the norm, it is helpful to remember that others have gone before us,  Never alone in our spiritual pilgrimage, we can seek out mentors and guides to help us overcome our most difficult moments.  And above all, the well-worn steps that lead to God are before us every day in the Bible.  When we open the ancient Word and listen to its voice, we can find solid ground for our feet.
 
Lord, open my mind today to learn something of value from everyone I meet.

But you have a few names in Sardis who have not defiled their garments; they will walk with Me in white, because they are worthy.  The one who overcomes will likewise be dressed in white garments.  Rev. 3:4, 5.
 
    It is a humbling thing to be underdressed in a large gathering.  I remember one time receiving an invitation to address about 400 pastors and lay church leaders at a conference in northern California.  Don Schneider, who later became president of the North American Division of Seventh-day Adventists, headed the conference at the time.  Those who know him best report plenty of stories about his practical jokes, from short sheets to the use of a starter's pistol to shock people.  But I didn't know him well enough then. 
 
    I had prepared for the trip and was putting in a final couple hours at the office when Schneider called my wife at home.  He explained who he was and said, "I just wanted to let your husband know that the meetings will be held at our camp in Leoni Meadows.  It is way up in the mountains, so he should plan to dress warm and casual."
 
    My wife decided to help me out by removing the suits from the garment bag and replacing them with lumber jackets and jeans.  When I came home I was delighted at the news, since I have never been a big fan of uncomfortable ties!  Gathering up the baggage, I headed for the airport.  Later that day I drove up to Leoni Meadows from the airport in Sacramento and got everything hung up.  I put on a nice red-and-black plaid flannel shirt and my best pair of jeans and headed downstairs for the first meeting.  When I arrived at the meeting hall I discovered 400 people awaiting me in three-piece suits and elegant dresses.  It was at that moment that it dawned on me that I had been tricked!  I was about to be the tramp at the ball.
 
    Not knowing what else I could do, I went straight to the microphone and said, "Most of you don't know him well yet [Schneider had just arrived in the area two months before], but Don Schneider is widely known as a practical joker of menacing proportions."  I then explained what he had done to me and used the rest of the weekend to even the score!
 
    It's no fun to be badly dressed for an occasion.  Neither is it pleasant to behave in a way out of touch with our surroundings.  The garment language in this text is spiritual.  Jesus is looking around Sardis to find candidates for heaven.  No one will be out of place there.  God's judgment will not rest on outward appearance but will take into account the true character of each person as they respond to the saving sacrifice of Jesus.  Those who follow Christ now will not be out of place then!
 
Lord, cleanse my heart from all that spiritually stains.  May the life of heaven be a reality in my life even now.

  Remember, therefore, the things you have received and heard. Pay attention to them and repent.  If you will not watch, therefore, I will come as a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come to you.   Rev. 3:3.
 
    The history of Sardis in ancient times bears some resemblance to Jesus' description.  It was once the supreme city of the region, the capital of the kingdom of Lydia, ruled by the famous king Croesus.  His wealth was so great that even today people recognize the expression "rich as Croesus."  But by the time John wrote Revelation Sardis had slipped to secondary status behind Ephesus, Pergamum, and even Laodicea.  So in the first century the reputation of the city far exceeded its reality.
 
    The parallel of history to text may be even closer.  Ancient historians suggest that Croesus consulted the oracle at Delphi before heading into battle against Cyrus, the Persian ruler who would conquer Babylon eight years later.  He asked the oracle if he should cross the Halys River to attack Cyrus or not.  The oracle responded that if he crossed the Halys River, a mighty empire would fall.
 
    Confident that he had a promise of victory, the king assembled an army and forded the Halys to meet Cyrus.  The Persian leader overwhelmingly defeated him.   But Croesus was not greatly concerned.  Not only did he have the oracle's promise (he thought), but he knew that he could retreat to his impregnable fortress (Sardis) and raise an even larger army for the following year.  But Cyrus pursued rapidly and surrounded Sardis before Croesus could gather the new army.  The king was still unconcerned, thinking that Cyrus was vulnerable so far from his base and that the forces of Sardis would in time crush his army against the cliffs below the city.
 
    The acropolis of Sardis sat on the top of Mount Tmolus.  The sides of the mountain (which I have visited) are nearly sheer, almost like having walls hundreds of feet high.  On such a height it must have seemed that a child could guard the city against an army.  So Croesus retired one night in confidence that things would soon turn in his favor.  He woke up to find the enemy in control of the acropolis and his kingdom now history.
 
    What seems to have happened is that while the rock face below the city was almost perpendicular, a crevice had developed in the rock, allowing infiltrators to climb up one at a time to enter the city.  Such an attack would work only if the defenders were unawares, so Cyrus' attack must have been at night.  Along the lines of Jesus' message, destruction came upon Sardis like "a thief in the night."
 
  
Lord, heighten my spiritual alertness so I can be constantly aware of the angles of attack that Satan would use against me.  May Your coming find me on guard.

Be continually watchful  and begin to strengthen the things which remain, which are about to die.... If you will not watch, therefore, I will come as a thief,  and you will not know at what hour I will come to you.  Rev. 3:2,3.
 
    For Christians, staying awake spiritually is the hardest when the world around you is asleep.  Soon after Hitler's ascent to power in 1933, 7,000 of the 18,000 Lutheran pastors opposed the "Aryan clause" that forbade Christians of Jewish descent from working for the church.  In protest these pastors broke away from the state church and formed the Confessing Church.
 
    One of the pastors, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, left a prestigious teaching post at the University of Berlin and moved to London.  But at the request of the Confessing Church he courageously returned to Germany in 1935 to lead a Confessing seminary for young ministers.  He was only 29 years old at the time himself.  By 1936 the authorities banned him from further lecturing at the University of Berlin, and the seminary went more and more underground.
 
    Hitler turned his charm on the confessing Church.  Allowing them to keep some of their distinctives, he offered them legitimacy in exchange for overall support of his plans for the country (at least the ones he was willing to share at the time).
 
    Bonhoeffer fought such compromise, believing that good and evil could not live together.  His position became more and more isolated as the Confessing Church felt that its precarious situation required limited cooperation with the state.   But Bonhoeffer claimed that "the failure of German Christians to resist the Nazi rise to power stemmed from their lack of moral clarity."
 
    In 1939 he accepted a lecture tour in the United State.  While there, American theologians pressed him to stay in America and continue his work of protest in safety.  But his conscience did not allow him to choose a life of relative ease.  When it became clear that war was about to break out, he took one of the last ships to leave for Germany.  His resistance to the Nazi government became to so direct that the German leadership had him arrested.  On April 9, 1945, a few weeks before the end of the war, he was executed for his resistance at a concentration camp called Flossenburg.
 
    Whether we seek to convert the lost or to fight for social justice, it is easy to grow weary in well-doing and follow the crowd as Sardis did.  This is particularly true when the church itself has become part of the crowd.  The only people who can stand at such times are those whose moral compass does not rest on reason or conscience alone but on the clear teachings of God's Word.
 
     
Lord, direct my conscience to the Word of God. May I never compromise with evil while showing mercy on those whose conscience is not yet clear.  May Your thoughts become my thoughts and Your ways my ways.

You have a name that you are alive, yet you are dead.  Be continually watchful and begin to strengthen the things which remain, which are about to die.  For I have not found your works complete before my God.  Rev. 3:1, 2.
 
    Pastor Charles (not his real name) could not put his finger on it, but something was wrong.  Although he spent his usual hour in devotions each morning, nothing he read seemed to connect.  When he prayed, his prayers seemed to get no higher than the ceiling.  People received his sermons well, and they were powerful.  They seemed to change lives.  Yet the joy of ministry was gone.  He knew how to be an effective pastor, and everyone around him thought he was one, yet he knew deep inside that he was just going through the motions.
 
    We call it "ministerial burnout."  Burnout can also occur in lay Christians.  Jesus described it as "having a name that you are alive yet you are dead."  Sometimes burnout is a sign that we have overcommitted ourselves.  Other times it indicates that we have allowed people to move us away from our purpose.  We are busy, but the things that really matter aren't getting done.
 
    Sardis had a great name--it had "star status"--and yet Jesus thought it was dead.  What happened to it represents a threat that faces every church and every Christian.  Many are the Christians whose hearts are in the right place but who have no delight in the faith and find it difficult to serve God.  What do you do when you sense that the things of Christ are not as exciting to you as they once were?  I have found the following to be helpful.
 
    1. Have a willingness to change things.  If you don't feel willing to change, let God know that you are willing to be made willing (John 7:17).  Many times I feel spiritually divided: 30 percent of me wants to serve God with all my heart, and 70 percent of me is tired and doesn't feel like it right now.  If you put what you have on the altar, He can grow your commitment into a firm decision.
 
    2. Make a radical and firm decision.  Jesus used the strong word "Repent!"  You may have to take decisive action, throw things out, change your job, do something radical.  Say to yourself, "I am not going to let another day go by without taking action to be where God wants me to be."
 
    3. Go back to the place where you last saw the light.  Keep a journal and write down the high points of your spiritual life.  When things are not going well, you can read the journal and be encouraged.  The best devotional book you'll ever find is the one you write yourself.
 
    4. Develop a sense of eschatological accountability.  Jesus is returning and will ask all of us to give an account of our lives.  When we realize the value of every thought and action in the light of eternity, it will motivate us to move with decisive action.
 
Lord, rekindle the fire of the Spirit in my heart today.

  And to the angel of the church in Sardis, write: These things says the one who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars.  I know your works. You have a name that you are alive, yet you are dead.  Be continually watchful and begin to strengthen the things which remain, which are about to die.  For I have not found your works complete before my God.  Rev. 3:1, 2.
 
    From this testimony of Jesus it is clear that a church can have a great name and yet die.  Just because it was faithful in times past doesn't mean it will always remain that way.  God can approve of a religious movement at one point in time, and yet it can lose its way.
 
    Scripture offers an interesting example from biblical times.  John the Baptist was the greatest of the prophets and a faithful man.  He baptized Jesus when He came and introduced his own disciples to Him.  Without question God approved of his ministry.  Jesus even considered him to be a fulfillment of prophecy.  He was the Elijah to come predicted by Malachi (Matt. 11:11-14; Luke 1:13-17; cf. Mal. 4:5-6).
 
    But scholars have noticed that the Gospel of John treats the Baptist a bit differently than those of Matthew, Mark, and Luke do.  Matthew, Mark, and Luke present John as the exalted prophet who plays the role of Elijah in preparing the way for the Messiah.  But the later Gospel of John has John the Baptist constantly lowering himself in comparison with Jesus.  Speaking of Jesus, John says such things as "He must increase, but I must decrease" (John 3:30, KJV), and "A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me (John 1:30, NIV).
 
    Why does the Gospel of John highlight John's self-depreciating statements?  Because we have evidence that many of the followers of the Baptist failed to follow Jesus.  They considered John greater than Christ because in the Jewish theology of the time earlier was better.  The one who comes first is the greatest.  So at the end of the first century a number of people still clung to the Baptist.  The author of the Fourth Gospel challenges them to move on and follow Jesus all the way.  To continue to be just a disciple of the Baptist was really not to follow him.  It was to be part of a religious movement that had served its purpose and was now outmoded from God's point of view.
 
    Clinging to a religious tradition simply because we have always done so or because our parents did so is a dangerous thing.  Sometimes movements fall back or God moves on.  We are each responsible to search out God's ways for ourselves--we cannot trust just in the findings of our spiritual forbearers.
 
Lord, help me to follow You wherever You may lead, even when You head in directions I didn't think You would go.  Keep me close to Your Word and moved by Your Spirit.

 The one who overcomes and keeps My works until the end, I will give him authority over the nations.  He will rule them with a rod of iron the way a ceramic vessel is shattered, just as I have received [authority] from My Father.  And I will give him the morning star.  He that has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.  Rev. 2:26-29.
 
    What is it that motivates people to accomplish difficult tasks?  How is it that some people can endure all kinds of hardship and difficulty for a relatively minor reward?  Some individuals, for example, and I'm one of them, will tolerate all kinds of sweat, pain, and exhaustion for a mountaintop view.  Others will travel as much as a half day for a meal at their favorite restaurant.  Students will work five times as hard at their studies to get a good grade at the end of the course.
 
    I have a daughter who loves winter camping.  She is truly amazing.  Once she spent a whole week outdoors in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan in February!  She and about 17 others dragged 100-pound packs on sleds behind them in the snow, slept in teepees, and cooked their food over tiny camp stoves that they had to carry along with their clothing, flashlights, and other supplies.  Special clothing and supplies for the trip cost almost $1,000!
 
    One of the most interesting features of dragging a sled through the snow is how hot it gets!  While the temperature of the day might be as low as -18° F, the warmth of the winter sun, combined with the high-end camp clothing, led to waves and waves of sweat.  My daughter's number one desire at the end of the work was to find a shower.
 
    Although she cannot wait to go winter camping again, one day she complained about how hard it was--the aching muscles, the sweat, the shortness of breath.  I asked her what kept her going at those times.  "I didn't want to fall behind everybody else!" she said.  For her that was powerful motivation!
 
    Jesus knows that everyone needs motivation to change their ways or to accomplish something great.  In the letter to the church at Thyatira He tells them to keep their eye on the reward.  The day is coming when Jesus will endow them with dominion over the nations.  Kings and priests in heavenly places, they will have authority like His.  He will also give them the morning star.  Revelation 22:16 tells us that Jesus is the morning star--that He is giving them Himself.  So the ultimate motivation is a close relationship with Jesus.
 
Lord, help me to keep my eye on the reward today.  I can accomplish amazing things when I know that You are with me.

But to the remnant of you in Thyatira, as many as do not hold her teaching, those who have not learned the "deep things of Satan," as they call them (I place no other burden upon you), I say nevertheless, "hold on to what you have until I come."  Rev. 2:24, 25.
 
    Jesus offers counsel to the faithful ones in the church.  He calls them a "remnant."  Here is the first time the word appears in the book of Revelation.  The remnant in this text are those who, while they may tolerate Jezebel's role in the church, do not accept or practice her teachings.  In this they anticipate God's final remnant at the end of time (Rev. 12:17).
 
    Scholars are not certain as to the meaning of "Satan's deep secrets."  Sometimes people become so confident in Christ that they can toy with the devil.  It may well be that "Jezebel" was claiming that from her deep experience of the things of Satan she could teach people how to control him and thus triumph over him.  While the text is not clear, she may have been exercising some type of exorcist ministry (casting out demons).
 
    It is true that Christians will have victory over Satan in Christ.  When oppressed by Satan, we can call on God in the name, the power, and the blood of Jesus Christ.  And when we encounter others similarly afflicted we can do the same.  The power of Jesus Christ is real and at such times manifests itself in remarkable ways.  I am speaking from experience.
 
    But we face danger here as well.  Encounters with Satan are more scary and thrilling than bungee jumping or sky diving!  If we let the power of Christ in such situations "go to our heads" we may find ourselves tempted to seek out more such encounters to show off "our power" to others.  But in the subtle selfishness of our mixed motives we open ourselves up to the very oppression we are claiming to free people from.  While Satan is subject to the power of Christ, he is certainly smarter and more powerful than we are in our own strength.  Delivering Satan's captives for Christ should never be an excuse for us to boast.  Pride in our effectiveness for Christ, as was the case with "Jezebel," puts us on the pathway to unexpected destruction.
 
    The remnant in Thyatira face enormous challenges.  Jesus doesn't heap His criticisms on them.  He places no other burden on them than to "hang on" until He comes.  It would be easy for the remnant to fall into a cycle of guilt and shame over their past failures to confront Jezebel and her disciples.  But Jesus asks no more of them than to hold the course that they are capable of if they will trust completely in Him.  They are not perfect, but Jesus says, "I will not put any further burdens on you.  Hang on to what you already have."
 
Lord, I am tired of one mistake after another.  Help me to "hand on" one day at a time.  Help me to grow on Your schedule into the person You want me to be.

Behold, I am throwing her into a bed, and those who have committed adultery with her into extremely hard circumstances, unless they repent of their works.  And I will kill her children with death, and all the churches will know that I am the one who searches minds and hearts.  And I will give to each of you according to your works.  Rev. 2:22, 23.
 
    The punishment here fits the crime.  Since Jezebel has led others to commit fornication, she herself gets thrown into a bed, the place where sexual relations usually take place (cf. Heb. 13:4).  But it is not clear if the passage has sexual relations in mind.  The bed is also the place where people have to go when struck down by severe illness.  The word "death" here probably means "pestilence" or contagious disease.
 
    The phrase "I will kill her children with death" does not sit too well with people in today's world.  It has an abusive ring to it.  While He was on earth, Jesus always loved children and would never wish them harm.  Children often suffer, however, from the consequences of adult action, including those of their parents.  In this case the "children" are probably adult disciples of Jezebel, those who believe and act on her teachings.
 
    the passage reminds us that even gifted people can be wrong.  Jezebel was a highly gifted person, one recognized as a prophet and teacher with great authority and a following.  Though she may not have realized it at first, she was leading her people into darkness.  How does this text apply to church leaders today?  If you and I find ourselves placed in leading positions in the church, how can we know when we are wrong?  How can we recognize when we ae using the gifts that God has given us to lead people in the wrong direction?
 
    More than once I have run into individuals who seem to be sincerely following God to the best of their ability and yet their followers are constantly getting into one difficulty after another.  It has led me to ponder very carefully what the behavior of a disciple says about someone's actions or teachings.
 
    If you are the leader of a church, watch your "disciples" very carefully.  What is their behavior like?  What kinds of things are they presenting to others?  Followers often "catch" nuances in a teaching that the teacher may not even be aware of.  The flaws in such instruction may only become clear in the later behavior of those who love the teacher.  It is those who adore the teacher the most whose behavior will most clearly demonstrate the flaws in his or her teaching.
 
Lord, I need greater discernment to fully understand the implications of everything I believe and teach.  Help me be willing to submit to Your correction, even when it comes through individuals I may not particularly like.