NOTES ON THE SEVEN CHURCHES OF REVELATION: LESSONS FOR AMERICA’S SPIRITUAL CRISIS. PART V: SARDIS

INTRODUCTION: Christ and the Seven Churches

PART I: Ephesus – The Loveless Church

PART II: Smyrna – The Persecuted Church

PART III: Pergamos – The Compromising Church

PART IV: Thyatira – The Corrupt Church

PART V: SARDIS – THE DEAD CHURCH

PART VI: Philadelphia – The Faithful Church

PART VII: Laodicea – The Lukewarm Church

EPILOGUE: America’s Two Churches

SCRIPTURE.  “And to the angel of the church in Sardis write, ‘These things says He who has the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars: I know your works, that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead.  Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die, for I have not found your works perfect before God. Remember therefore how you have received and heard; hold fast and repent. Therefore if you will not watch, I will come upon you as a thief, and you will not know what hour I will come upon you.

You have a few names even in Sardis who have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with Me in white, for they are worthy. He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life; but I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’” – REVELATION 3:1-6, NKJV

QUOTATIONS

DUTY. “We are born into this time and must bravely follow the path to the destined end. There is no other way. ‘Our Duty is to hold on to the Lost Position,’ without hope, without rescue, like that Roman soldier whose bones were found in front of a door in Pompeii, who, during the eruption of Vesuvius, died at his post because they forgot to relieve him. That is Greatness. That is what it means to be a Thoroughbred. The Honorable End is the one thing that cannot be taken from a man.” – OSWALD SPENGLER, ‘Man and Technics: A Contribution to a Philosophy of Life,’ 1931; also author of ‘The Decline of the West,’ 1923; edited

DISHONOR. “[Friedrich] Nietzsche’s central contribution was not these explicitly Social Darwinist views, but his rejection of the Judeo-Christian morality of Compassion for the weak. Self-creation required hardness towards oneself: A strong will imposing coherence on conflicting impulses … Compassion was weakness, cowardice and self-deception. The Judeo-Christian emphasis on it was poison. In drawing these consequences from his beliefs about the Death of God and from Social Darwinism, Nietzsche provided the part of the Nazi belief system which ‘justified’ the cruel steps they took to implement their other beliefs.” – JONATHAN GLOVER, ‘Humanity: A Moral History of the Twentieth Century,’ 2001; edited

DEATH. “The most pervasive and common thread of our autopsies was that the Deceased Churches lived for a long time with ‘The Past’ as Hero. They held on more tightly with each progressive year. They often clung to things of the past with desperation and fear. And when any internal or external force tried to change the past, they responded with anger and resolution: ‘We will die before we change.’” – THOM S. RAINER, Thom S. Rainer, ‘Autopsy of a Deceased Church: 12 Ways to Keep Yours Alive,’ 2014; edited

SELAH. Note that the first two authors were not believers, yet they exhibit a ‘Reasoned Moralism’ that is patently absent in today’s American Church – further Harbinger of what is to come to America, should these trends continue, as I expect they shall.

1. FIRST THOUGHTS

It was sometime in the 1990s, after I had been a Christian for about ten years, when I sensed going to Church was becoming boring. That’s the word: ‘Boring!’ – bland, tedious, ‘without savor,’ as the Bible would say it in Mark 5:13.

My wife and I would get up each Sunday morning, get all gussied up as we used to say it, and make the 15-minute drive to a mid-sized congregation in Chesapeake, Virginia, and sit through about two-and-one half hours, struggling to stay awake, and then go out to lunch. I call this, somewhat derisively:

‘The Sunday Ritual.’ It is just what a Christian is supposed to do, to be ‘religious.’

RITUAL. “The performance of Ceremonial Acts prescribed by tradition or by sacerdotal decree. Ritual is a specific, observable mode of behaviour exhibited by all known societies. It is thus possible to view Ritual as a way of defining or describing humans.” – HANS PENNER, ‘Britannica,’ September 19, 1998; edited

Which immediately reminds of my favorite musical, ‘Fiddler on the Roof’ (1964) based on playwright JOSEPH STEINS’ book, in which the lead character, a lovable Russian Jew named Tevye living around the time just prior to the Bolshevik Revolution, weaves the entire play together by his robust cries of:

“Tradition!”

PAUL’S WARNING. The Scriptures of course have a great to say of this important, uniquely human term. The following passage goes to the very heart of this important issue.

“See to it that no one carries you off as spoil or makes you yourselves captive by his so-called philosophy and intellectualism and vain deceit (idle fancies and plain nonsense), following human tradition (men’s ideas of the material rather than the spiritual world), just crude notions following the rudimentary and elemental teachings of the universe and disregarding [the teachings of] Christ (the Messiah).” – COLOSSIANS 2:8, AMPC

• PHILOSOPHY. Taken from the Greek term, ‘Philosophia’ [φιλοσοφία], or literally: “The love or pursuit of [human] wisdom; i.e., loving one’s own thoughts (Secular wisdom) at the expense of God’s Word (True wisdom); used in the Greek writings of either zeal for or skill in any art or science, any branch of knowledge; a general term denoting an explanation of the reasons of things; or an investigation of the causes of all phenomena both of mind and of matter.”

• TRADITION. Here we have the even more central idea taken from the term, ‘Paradosis’ [παράδοσις]: “A handing down or over of an historical instruction; from close-beside, referring to tradition as passed on from one generation to the next; done by word of mouth or in writing; intergenerational transmission of a precept or ordinance; he delivery of opinions, doctrines, practices, rites and customs from father to son, or from ancestors to posterity.”

COMMENTARY. “‘Beware lest any man spoil you’ – Or despoil you; rob you of the rich treasure of the Gospel, strip you of your spiritual armour, take away from you the Truths and Doctrines of Christ, and divest you of your spiritual privileges and blessings; suggesting, that the False Teachers were thieves and robbers, and men of prey: Or drive and carry you away as spoils, as the innocent harmless sheep are drove, and carried away by wolves, and by the Thief that comes to steal, to kill, and destroy; intimating, that such as these were the Heretics of those times; wherefore it became them to be upon their guard, to watch, look out, and beware, lest they should be surprised by these deceitful workers, who lay in wait to deceive; were wolves in sheep’s clothing, who transformed themselves into the apostles of Christ; and therefore it became them to take heed, lest any man hurt them, be he ever so wise and learned, or be thought ever so good, religious, and sincere; since men of this cast put on such masks and false appearances, on Purpose to Beguile.” – JOHN GILL, ‘An Exposition of the Old and New Testaments,’ 1746-1763; edited

As it was in those days of old, so it is all the more today, in these Last Times about which Jesus and the Prophets and Apostles said much. To the extent that we are now inundated with the very ‘Spirit of Deception and Delusion’ everywhere. And most significantly:

Since the Rise of Donald Trump.

As TRUMP told it to then associate Billy Bush in an interview with Bill Maher: “Billy, look, you just tell [these Christians] and they believe it. That’s it: you just tell them and they believe. They just do.” – CHRISTINA SILVA, ‘Newsweek,’ March 18, 2018; edited

THE LESSON. “A prudent man sees evil and hides himself and avoids it,
But the naive [who are easily misled] continue on and are punished [by suffering the consequences of sin].” – PROVERBS 27:12, AMP

Is anybody feelin’ this about now?

1. BACKGROUND

Next, we go directly to our Historical Context section, outlining the City of Sardis before getting to a close analysis of the Church a bit later. This is adapted from THOMAS OVERMILLER, in a piece entitled, “The Dying Church at Sardis,” published on November 27, 2020; edited.

“Sardis was located about 30 miles southeast of Thyatira on a plateau elevated about 1,500 feet above a valley below. High, smooth rock walls surrounded the city, and a small, steep, winding sliver of land was the only way to access the City from below. These features rendered this City nearly impregnable from a military standpoint. The City’s secure position and its status as the Capital City of that region made it a magnet for military attack, since whoever possessed Sardis would be able to govern the entire region. This unique position, coupled with an accumulation of wealth, caused the City’s residents to develop an attitude of independence, a mindset of self-sufficiency, and – most problematic – a false sense of security …

The City had been wealthy in its early years, thanks in large part to its export of jewelry and the production of a variety of woolen goods. Some even claim that Sardis was the first city to hone to perfection the art of dyeing wool. Religious influences in this city were varied. Some Greek gods were natural objects of worship and the imperial cult also seems to have gained some popularity among the residents. The greater influence, however, seems to have been the local Anatolian gods that emphasized the forces of nature and attributed healing powers to their gods. At Sardis, residents focused especially revered the power of restoring life from the dead. They believed some hot springs only 2 miles away held this power, believing they bubbled up with healing powers from the god of the underworld.

A massive earthquake caused severe damage to the City in AD 17, after which Tiberius Caesar showed great benevolence by supporting the City’s rebuilding efforts. Nevertheless, by the time John wrote Revelation, the City had already lost its prestigious position of influence and respect and was a relatively mundane locale.”

DK NOTE. Please don’t miss the allegorical significance here: The City had “already lost its prestigious position of influence and respect,” because the Church failed to ‘Remain watchful’ and continue to do the ‘Works’ required of them. In effect, they had simply, tragically ceased being a Church.

The impact on the City was devastating. Selah.

Just one more point about Sardis’ Background for historical context. The EDITORS at ‘Bible Places’ carefully noted that this City was also a Pagan Spiritual Center (ret. August 23, 2021; edited).

“Artemis was the main goddess of the City and the Temple dedicated to her in Sardis was one of the seven largest Greek temples (more than double the size of the Parthenon). Artemis, known as Diana by the Romans, was the daughter of Zeus and twin of Apollo. She was the goddess of the hunt, the moon, and fertility.”

DK NOTE. As is nearly always the case, in any Fall of an individual, a household or a city or a nation or a Church for that matter, there is a Toxic Admixture of a Secular or Pagan culture with its allegiance is to Satan, ‘Blended ‘with a Church culture that has lost its both its vision and savor.

This Tragedy of ‘Letting in Strange Fire’ to the Sanctuary of God is confronted directly by the Teaching of JESUS CHRIST.

• LUKE 14:34-35, AMP. “Therefore, salt is good; but if salt has become tasteless, with what will it be seasoned? It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile; it is thrown away. He who has ears to hear, let him hear and heed My words.”

• WM. MACDONALD. [Quoting William Kelly’s, ‘Exposition of the Gospel of Luke,’ 1868]: “There is shown the danger of what begins well turning out ill. What is there in the world so useless as salt when it has lost the one property for which it is valued? It is worse than useless for any other purpose. So with the disciple [or Church] who ceases to be Christ’s disciple [or Church]. He is not suited for the World’s purposes, and he has Forsaken God’s. He has too much light or knowledge for entering into the vanities and sins of the World, and he has no enjoyment of Grace and Truth to keep him on the Path of Christ … Savourless Salt becomes an object of contempt and judgment.” – ‘Bible Believer’s Commentary,’ 1995, p. 1428; edited

Thus we turn here to the Formal Teaching from Jesus, who both commended and assailed this Church that had once been so great, now turned ‘Spiritually Moribund,’ found by Him to be in a state of inactivity or obsolescence.

1. THE TEACHING

SCRIPTURE.  “And to the angel of the church in Sardis write, ‘These things says He who has the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars: I know your works, that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead.  Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die, for I have not found your works perfect before God. Remember therefore how you have received and heard; hold fast and repent. Therefore if you will not watch, I will come upon you as a thief, and you will not know what hour I will come upon you.

You have a few names even in Sardis who have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with Me in white, for they are worthy. He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life; but I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’” – REVELATION 3:1-6, NKJV

Unlike His Letter to the other Churches where He begins with commendations, here He swiftly launches into a direct Rebuke for their shortcomings. As we look at the KEY TERMS, we see why Jesus was so upset about this Church.

• YOU HAVE A NAME. From the Greek term, ‘Onoma’ [ὄνομα], meaning: “Authority, cause; character, fame, reputation; used in relation to one’s rank, interests, pleasure, command, excellences, deeds; also, relying or resting on the name of Christ, rooted (so to speak) in his name, i. e. mindful of Christ; a direct reflection of the dignity of the person [or the Church], as a representative on the earth for Him.”

• BUT YOU ARE DEAD. Harsh. Sometimes the Lord our God is harsh, but always with a desire to Revive that which has lost its spiritual vitality. From the Greek term, ‘Nekros’ [νεκρός]: “Lifeless, subject to death, mortal; esp. refers to being spiritually dead in sin, separated from the vivifying grace of God, or more distinctly, having one’s soul separated from the enlivening influence of the Divine Light and Spirit, and consequently having no ability or hope of the eternal things; lacking therefore in good works; unprofitable, of no use for the Kingdom of God [and easy prey for the kingdom of darkness].”

• BE WATCHFUL! I add the emphatic to fit the urgency of this Rebuke. From the Greek word, ‘Grégoreó’ [γρηγορέω], or literally: “Wake up! To be awake (in the night); to watch; stay ever on the alert, vigilant; to be responsible (to one’s calling); give strict attention to [what is going on around you], be cautious, actively engaged; to remain mindful of threatening dangers; avoid spiritual drowsiness; in His eschatological discourses, the Lord in His Word demands constant watching and wise preparation for the decisive Day of His Appearing.”

• STRENGTHEN THINGS DYING. This final command is taken from the word, ‘Stérizó’ [στηρίζω]: “To make fast, establish; fix firmly, direct myself towards; to buttress, prop, support, establish; to make stable; to set one’s face steadfastly; to turn resolutely in a certain direction;  as, to strengthen a limb or an obligation, commitment; to animate [from slumber]; to encourage or exhort; to increase in power or security; to build up, make healthy; fortify, harden, toughen [as for battle].”

COMMENTARY I. “Although this was a Church that was generally characterized by a false faith and dead or incomplete works, they still had a few faithful followers of Jesus Christ (v. 4) who were producing the ‘things that remain.’ Those few were the backbone of that Church. Whether there were any leaders among those few, it’s not known. Whatever difference they could make, they were to make the effort. They were to do what they could to influence their assembly to live for Christ and to fulfill the plan and purpose God had for them …

Jesus looked upon the Church in Sardis and could not find even one thing about them that was perfect or complete in the eyes of God. They lacked in every area of life and ministry. This was a Church that was sorely wanting. Whatever they may have been doing for Christ in the beginning, either disappeared or was barely surviving. Whatever they had left was weak and losing ground fast.

What a sad description of any church that represents the Lord Jesus Christ. Every Christian Church should be Spirit-led and fully alive, doing the works of the Lord in a manner that is readily approved by the Lord. Then we will one day hear His Words, “Well done, good and faithful servant” (Matthew 25:21). Every church ought to strive for ‘Excellence.’ We should not accept anything short of that. What we do for Jesus should be done with our whole heart.” – STEVE SEWELL, “Commentary on Revelation,” ‘Theology First,’ November 12, 2019; edited

COMMENTARY II. “We see they were alive, that is, they were an active church full of programs and church activity—’what men see.’ But, regardless, they were dead, without true spiritual vitality—what the Lord saw and knew. The point is they had a reputation, they were known far and wide, and they were active, filled with activity, action, and programs. By the World’s standards they were ‘successful,’ and they were probably proud of their Church, but our Lord says not so, ‘You are dead.’ So what does He mean by ‘dead?’ In Scripture, Death stands for the concept of ‘Separation’ as well as the ‘Absence of life.’ For the unbeliever, Death means without spiritual life, unregenerate, and without God—Separated from relationship with God.” – HENRY IDOGAR, ‘Church of Christ Grey Street,’ October 20, 2019; edited

DK NOTE. Now here we have the lamentable, yet undeniable Shadow of the American Church today, beloved. That is the subject of our next and last section. And I shall waste no time to the Major Thesis of this and many other of my columns about what – or who – is Killing the American Church:

Donald John Trump. Selah.

IV.     LAST THOUGHTS

I will continue to argue more and more forcefully that ONE MAN, just one man, with a virulent, vicious, clearly Anti-Biblical, ‘New American Ideology,’ has run roughshod over our entire History of Religious and Political Freedom. Though to hear it from his ‘Christian’ disciples, you’d think he was their Messiah – the One who shall rescue the ailing American Republic to ‘Make us great again.’

JESUS, TRUMPISM & NATIONALISM. Got that subhead from a courageous analysis by a young pastor named ANDREW DAUGHERTY, writing for the ‘Baptist News Global,’ on September 6, 2019; edited. Here is a brief Bio.

“Andrew Daugherty is senior pastor of Pine Street Church of Boulder, Colorado. He holds degrees in religion and theology from Belmont University and Wake Forest University Divinity School. He currently serves on the national board of directors for the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty in Washington, D.C. He lives in the Denver-Boulder area with his two children.

As a Footnote, since he is comparatively local, I will try to contact him to see if he is still in The Fold, since so many pastors do ‘fold’ indeed under the crush of peer pressure to conform to the salacious ‘New Doctrines’ of Mr. Trump.

Here are some of his sharp distinctions between the ‘Real’ Faith, and the Carney Barker’s  theological junkyard of the Trump Tribes.

“These are anxious times for the body politic. Deep Divides exist politically and religiously in ways that are unparalleled in our country’s recent history. Perhaps nothing magnifies this more than the acceleration of Christian Nationalist fervor under Donald Trump’s presidency. CHRISTIAN NATIONALISM is the belief that in order to be a true American, one must also be a Christian – or more specifically a White, Evangelical Christian.

This misguided and dangerous Ideology can be attributed to many factors. A prominent one appears to be that White Christians are no longer the dominant religious group in the United States. The Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) published findings in 2016 based on a comprehensive survey of American religious and denominational identity that only 43 percent of Americans identify as white and Christian. The survey also reported a growing decline of those who identify as White Evangelicals – less than one in five Americans.”

NOTE. The reader is not to miss the chilling Parallel between this Dark Force motivation, and that which fueled the sadistic fires of Nazi Germany. Here is just a snippet of that slice of crucial history from the EDITORS at ‘Anne Frank House’ located in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, in a piece named, ‘Hitler’s Antisemitism: Why Did Hitler Hate the Jews?” Retrieved on August 23, 2021; edited.

“The origin of Hitler’s hatred of Jews is not clear. In ‘Mein Kampf,’ he described his development into an Antisemite as the result of a long, personal struggle. Supposedly, his aversion to everything Jewish came to fruition when he was living and working as a painter in Vienna (1908-1913). Most historians believe that Hitler came up with this explanation in hindsight. He would have used it to assure people who were not yet convinced of his ideas that they would eventually see the light …

What we do know is that two Austrian politicians greatly influenced Hitler’s thinking. The first, Georg Ritter von Schönerer (1842-1921), was a German Nationalist. He believed that the German-speaking regions of Austria-Hungary should be added to the German Empire. He also felt that Jews could never be fully-fledged German citizens.

From the second, the Viennese mayor, Karl Lueger (1844-1910), Hitler learned how Antisemitism and social reforms could be successful. In ‘Mein Kampf,’ Hitler praised Lueger as ‘the greatest German mayor of all times’. When Hitler came to power in 1933, he put similar ideas into practice.”

MY POINT. The reason I insert this into our conversation is because on my very life as a scholar and student of philosophy, this Toxic Ideology is now infused into the American Bloodstream in ways that are frankly terrifying.

History shouts that they are bound to be deadly, if not curbed.

Pastor Daugherty drives this unmistakable Parallel straight into the American Heart with this philosophically avuncular observation.

“It is proving clear that the Decline of White Christians generally, and Evangelical White Christians in particular, intensifies the rhetoric that America is a Christian Nation, and galvanizes the White, Evangelical Christian electorate who fear the loss of cultural privilege and power. It is no wonder that Trump’s political slogan, ‘Make America Great Again,’ is often translated ‘Make America White (and Christian) Again.’ Trump’s jargon may work politically, but it works against the heart of the Gospel of Jesus, who was a brown-skinned Jewish rabbi and reformer born to a refugee family, no less …

The two-sided Ideology of Political Trumpism and Christian Nationalism presents a clear and present Danger to the civil liberties of those who do not conform to its ways. It imperils robust religious liberty for all and desecrates the Constitutional promise of government neutrality toward Religion. The time is now for Christians against Christian Nationalism to follow Jesus’ lead and to stand up and expose what’s hiding beneath its sheep’s clothing. The Integrity of our Democracy and the Soul of Christianity depend on it.”

The Church at Sardis that let itself Cease from being Salt and Light is an Historic Harbinger of what can happen to the Nation that ignores all these red flags, as we are now doing, beloved. Right now, as I write these words, a massive swath of the White American Church is not just asleep, it is, by the Account of Jesus Christ Himself, Dying.

If it is not fully Dead already.

CODA. I close on a personal note. When I was tasked to write a course of ‘The History of the Jews’ for the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews in 2019, there was one discovery that exploded in front of me from the labyrinth of literature I read for this massive project.

It was not so much hatred of the Jews that drove nation after nation to persecute them, but rather ‘Envy.’ In the wake of the Great Diaspora started by General Titus’ conquest and destruction of the Jewish Temple in 70 AD, in every country the Jews emigrated to, ‘They rose.’

Whether it was in the arts and music, literature and history, the sciences of the age, politics and government, business and finance especially, ‘They rose’ to the tops of those professions again and again and again.

And they still do, beloved. As Senior Fellow of the American Enterprise Institute, MARK PERRY, wrote in April of 2016:

“Globally, Jews represent less than 0.20% of the world’s population, but they have won 170 Nobel Prizes in total and the following shares of individual Nobel prizes:

Economics: 41% (more than 205 times their share of the population)

Medicine: 28% (more than 140 times their share of the population)

Physics: 26% (more than 130 times their share of the population)

Chemistry: 19% (more than 95 times their share of the population)

Literature: 13% (more than 65 times their share of the population)

Peace: 9% (more than 45 times their share of the population).”

RISE OF AN AMERICAN REICH. My own view is because they are still, and forevermore, ‘His Chosen People.’ Call it their Trump Card, if you dare. But for the same reasons Germany panicked 90 years ago, White Christian America is feeling its own ‘Loss of Tradition,’ or Core Identity.

Please note, beloved: The Loss of Tradition. Not a loss of Jesus!

Therefore, under the dark banner of Trump Christianity, we are steamrolling toward becoming what Dr. Gene Edward Veith, Jr. would describe as a culture of ‘Modern Fascism,’ in his prescient work of 1993.

The ‘Fourth Reich’ is being constructed right beneath our feet, down in the harrows and hollows of the splintering Foundations of the Republic. By the statistics, by the Spirit and by the Canon, the Church remains bloody ‘Blind and Silent’ to it.

Thus does the Lion of Judah prepare to visit Each of the Seven Churches with His Final Admonitions – before He Comes to lay down His Recompense for each, according to its conduct toward this ‘New Religion.’

Ever you servant, DK

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