The fifth letter from Jesus shared by Aije Barnes, May 3 Issue 1, Vol 6

“To the angel of the church in Sardis write: These are the words of him who holds the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead. Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have found your deeds unfinished in the sight of my God. Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; hold it fast, and repent. But if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what time I will come to you. Yet you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes. They will walk with me, dressed in white, for they are worthy. The one who is victorious will, like them, be dressed in white. I will never blot out the name of that person from the book of life, but will acknowledge that name before my Father and his angels. Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” ‭Revelation‬ ‭3:1-6‬ ‭NIV‬‬

This letter is entitled 'The Dead Church' in the New King James Version bible. 

This letter was addressed to the church in Sardis and is just as relevant to us today. What struck me is what Jesus said towards the end of this letter Jesus answers the question that I have heard bounding about in the church today. The question is 'once saved, always saved?' Well, Jesus shows us that it is possible for one, whose name was written in the book of life, can have their name blotter out. 

The reason for this? Being found spirituality dead. 

Jesus introduced himself at the beginning of this letter as the one who holds the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. In the introduction of the first letter to the churches we learnt that the seven stars are the Angels to the seven churches. These Angels are messengers from God. 

The seven spirits of God as referred to as the sevenfold Holy Spirit, is spoken of in Isaiah 11:2:

“And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord;”

‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭11:2‬ ‭KJV‬‬

1) the spirit of the Lord

2) the spirit of wisdom 

3) the spirit of understanding 

4) the spirit of counsel

5) the spirit of might

6) the spirit of knowledge; and

7) the spirit of the fear of the Lord 

Let me take you through a few scripture to show you under some subtitles, the demarcation between spiritual death and spiritual life:

From death to life 

“But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)” Ephesians‬ ‭2:4-5‬ ‭KJV‬‬; and 

“buried with Him in baptism, in which you also were raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses,” ‭Colossians‬ ‭2:12-13‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Life in the Spirit 

“But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.” ‭‭Romans‬ ‭8:11‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

This tells me that the Spirit of God in our lives enables us to live as children of God. 

So, if the church in Sardis was called the dead church, how did they die? 

The death referred to here, is spiritual death. Not all of them died, however, these were few in number. Some were dying, while everyone else was dead though they had the reputation of being alive. 

The answer to the question,  I believe, by reference to how Jesus introduced himself to this church, is, they no longer lived or walked in the Spirit. They were carnally minded. 

“For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.”

‭‭Romans‬ ‭8:6-8‬ ‭KJV‬‬

Instead, they have become 'religious' by putting on an act that gives the impression that they are alive, where in fact, they are dead. This can come in various forms, like attending church just to look good; singing songs nicely but not meaning anything they sing; saying prayers but not from the heart; putting on a good show in church for people to see to gain the praises of men rather than to glorify God. 

The bible warns us saying:

“Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another.” ‭‭Galatians‬ ‭5:26‬ ‭KJV‬‬

When we do not live in the Spirit, we become soiled by the sin we were once delivered from. It is not good enough to start the Christian race clean, only to go back to where we were, getting soiled and not completing race, clean. Jesus warned in his letter that we must 'Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die...'Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; hold it fast, and repent'.

As children of God, we must not only live in the Spirit but also walk in the Spirit. 

“If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.” ‭‭Galatians‬ ‭5:25‬ ‭KJV‬‬

“But I say, walk and live [habitually] in the [Holy] Spirit [responsive to and controlled and guided by the Spirit]; then you will certainly not gratify the cravings and desires of the flesh (of human nature without God).” Galatians‬ ‭5:16‬ ‭AMP‬‬

When we become a Christian, Jesus lives in us by his Spirit. Now if the sevenfold Holy Spirit rests on him, the same lives in us too, and equips us to live in him. Therefore we must keep ourselves clean and abide in him. 

Let us examine our lives in the light of God's word, and make sure we walk and live in the Spirit and also after the Spirit. By this, I mean be led by the Spirit, because if we don't, condemnation awaits us and we face the risk of having our names blotted out from the book of life. 

“There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” ‭‭Romans‬ ‭8:1‬ ‭KJV‬‬

Shalom