By F. D. Adkins
When I was a kid, my dad went down to the livestock market to purchase some cattle that were being auctioned. For months to come, I remember him detailing the story over and over of how he had ordered a hamburger that day at the concession stand. He thought it was so funny because when he took a bite of the burger, it didn’t have any meat on it. Of course, meat is sort of the main ingredient in a regular hamburger, and he couldn’t get over the irony that he was at a beef cattle auction that had served him a burger with no beef.
As I continued my study in Revelation, this same concept seems to be the problem in the church in Sardis. Jesus relays this message to them. “…I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead.” (Revelation 3:3 KJV). I interpret this to mean that they are calling themselves a church, but just as my dad’s sandwich was called a hamburger, there’s no meat. Even if it is made with a brioche bun or a ciabatta roll, without meat, it is not a hamburger. A church building can be three stories with plush carpet and wall-to-wall movie screens, but if the people inside are not excited and exploding with love for Jesus, is it really a church? Isn’t the church supposed to be the body of Christ?
In verses 2 and 3, Jesus goes on to let them know the situation is not hopeless. He says, “Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die: for I have not found thy works perfect before God. Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. …” (Revelation 3:2-3 KJV). If they believe Jesus died for them and that He is coming back to gather His children, Jesus points out they should be watching for Him. They should be living every moment ready to meet their Lord. And to do that, they need to go back and discover that excitement and feeling of when they first accepted Him as their Savior, and they need to put that excitement and feeling into doing His work. But what happens if they don’t? Jesus’s return will take them by surprise. Jesus warns, “… 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” (Revelation 3:3)
However, in verse 5, Jesus points out that there are a few members in this church that are watching and ready to meet Him. He says, “… they shall walk with me in white: for they are worthy” (Revelation 3:4 KJV). What about the others in the church? If they repent and get their hearts right with Him, He says, “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” (Revelation 3:5 KJV).
As I have read Jesus’s messages to the churches, I have noticed He continues to extend mercy, allowing them the opportunity to repent. The devil wants us to believe that if we mess up, it is too late. But Jesus’s message here is clear. Wherever we are, no matter how far away we have drifted, if we come back into His loving arms truly sorrowful for our sin and accept His embrace, we will walk with Him in white. And not only will our names be permanently in the Book of Life, but Jesus will confess our names before God.
That verse makes me long for His return… to think of walking in white beside Jesus and to hear Him proclaim my name to God and the angels… to hear Him say He knows me, and I belong to Him.
My final thoughts:
What good is my physical body without a heart? It would only be a dead shell. Without a sincere desire to be more like Christ and keep His commandments, my spiritual life is simply a hollow shell on the verge of death because of the lack of blood flow. If I truly believe Jesus is coming back for me, my excitement for the Lord should be increasing because every day that passes is a day closer to His return. And, oh, how I want to walk with Jesus and hear Him say my name.
