Revelation Chapter Three, Course Correction

Revelation 3:2 “Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die, for I have not found your works perfect before God.

The Lord issues a solemn warning: the disciples are to be watchful. In other words, now that attention has been directed to the source of the church’s issues, amend them at once. Vigilance is required, and more than a little humility.

None of us like correction. We balk when corrected, human pride and ego bristle at the thought that we are wrong, or being called out for being wrong. But the only way we would never need correction is if we never needed instruction to begin with. But this truism is self-evident, that all of us need instruction, and therefore stand in need of correction when we err. The school system stands as evidence that even worldly issues such as language, math and history are not hardwired into the human mind. We need teachers, who also needed teachers, to impart knowledge so that we may mature in understanding. Teaching is not intuited or internal; it is the external validation of truth, a comprehensive repository of fact that may be imparted as a body of knowledge for the student to partake in and learn from.

For the student of the Bible, it is likewise self-evident that the Bible is our source of knowledge. It stands complete and intact for the disciple, and is, “profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work,” 2 Timothy 3:16. How is a Christian to be complete and thoroughly equipped? How are we to be watchful and strengthen what remains? By diligent study and application of the word of God. Not through signs and wonders, not through supposed new movements of the Spirit, not through false teachers promoting lies with thinly veiled vainglory as their coveted goal. The Psalmist writes, “The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple,” Psalm 19:7. Isaiah testified, “To the law and to the testimony! If they do not walk according to this word, it is because they have no light in them,” Isaiah 8:20. For the Jews of Isaiah’s day this meant walking according to the Law (the books of Moses) and the Prophets, or the whole of the Old Testament. For the Christian this means adhering to the Bible and everything found between its covers.

Sardis seems to have strayed entirely in their belief system. Perhaps it was the worship of angels; perhaps strange new teachers appeared, leading the congregation astray. Speculation abounds. But we do not need to speculate to understand that the Lord is angry with them, as a father is with his son when the son has done something deeply offensive. Jesus our Lord is gracious and alerts Sardis that they have both time and opportunity to reverse their course and amend that which is wrong. But for that they need both introspection and humility. If we look at the modern Christian “leaders,” humility is not necessarily something they practice. Men like Joel Osteen revel in a gospel that is prosperity based, and to that end he must embody what he preaches. But Christ our Lord did not die on the cross to give men material wealth. He died to save us from our sin and the punishment we rightly deserve. This is not necessarily a comfortable message in many modern churches, but it is the truth as it is found in Scripture, and it is the same truth we must preach today.

The Lord cautions that the works Sardis performed are not perfect (mature, complete) before God. Verse 3 will provide the remedy for this situation, but for now we focus momentarily on the diagnosis. Sardis is to strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die. In John chapter fifteen, Jesus informs us that we are the branches, and He is the Vine. He tells us, “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing,” John 15:5. To the barren branch, the Lord states, “Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away (or lifts up); and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit,” John 15:2. If we are a branch, and we are in Him, then even the branches that bear no fruit are still His branches. If the alternate reading is accurate, then the Father lifts up the barren saint so that they may receive more light in an effort to produce fruit in them. Branches that refuse to bear fruit suffer the fire of loss, John 15:6, 1 Corinthians 3:15, Hebrews 6:8. This is the danger Sardis faces. They are spiritually barren and dead by the Lord’s own confession. Those who remain that are spiritual and walking with the Lord are to watch and strengthen their brethren and save them, James 5:19, 20.