Revelation Chapter Three, How We Receive

Revelation 3:3a "Remember therefore how you have received and heard; hold fast and repent.

Verse 3 merely continues the Lord’s dialogue from the previous verse. Sardis is cautioned to be watchful, to strengthen the things that remain, and that their current works are not perfect before God.

Verse 3 begins with our Lord telling Sardis to remember. This word is followed by the conjunctive adverb, “therefore.” I once heard a Bible teacher say that when you read the word therefore, find out what it’s there for. Therefore may typically be paraphrased as, “because of these things.” These things, in this instance, would be the fact that Sardis is a dead church, their works are not perfect before God, and it is the duty of the church to strengthen what remains; a clear challenge that indicates they are in fact not doing that. So, to rephrase the verse it would say, “Because of these things, remember how you have received and heard.”

So then, how did Sardis receive and hear? The same exact way every Christian on earth does, including you and I. Paul, who had to combat the growing issue of legalism in the Galatian churches, reminded them, “This only I want to learn from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? Therefore He who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you, does He do it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?” Galatians 3:2, 5. To Corinth, Paul wrote, “Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you,” 1 Corinthians 15:1, 2. There is one gospel, the gospel of Jesus Christ. And anyone who hears this gospel and believes its message receives eternal life as a free gift of God’s grace, His unmerited favor toward mankind.

The Galatian churches were being subverted by teachers who promoted legalism. They wanted to substitute works in order to entrap believers in a system they could control and dictate, generally for profit. To Corinth Paul reminded the saints of the gospel as the foundation or entry point into the faith all Christians share. If you have not heard the gospel, or if you have heard it and do not believe the gospel, you are unsaved and not a Christian. Paul enforced the point that this was the gospel he preached, which Corinth received, and by which they were saved and now stand in. Their faith is rooted in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Galatians’ works were being shifted from a love of God resulting in the fruit of the Spirit to a purely human effort resulting in the works of the flesh. Doubtless Sardis was suffering from some similar issues as the faithful seemed few, which we will learn more about shortly.

The church is commanded to hold fast and repent. This verse has a corollary in Revelation 3:11, where we read, “Behold, I am coming quickly! Hold fast what you have, that no one may take your crown.” 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 establishes the Biblical principle that crowns may be lost, or we may be disqualified from receiving them. Paul himself was concerned that he would become, in his own words, disqualified. The Lord cautions two things to Sardis. One: hold fast. The works done in the Spirit are our crowns; do not give them up to the lure of the world, the flesh or the Devil. He may appear as an angel of light, and his ministers as ministers of righteousness, 2 Corinthians 11:14, 15. But the saints are to resist the Devil and draw near to God, James 4:7, 8.

Two: they are commanded to repent. To repent, once again, means to change your mind about something. The church of Sardis had clearly gone rather astray. It is the first church of the seven that the Lord says nothing good about initially. Their works reflect their spiritual torpor and compromise. He is drawing them back to reflect on how they first became Christians. They received and heard through a preacher of righteousness, sent to them to give them the good news of God’s redemptive love revealed in the person of Jesus Christ, see Romans 10:14, 15. Whether it was legalism or license, Gnostic esoteric teaching or worship of angels, Sardis had strayed and suffered shipwreck for it. They needed to change their minds, and in doing so change the course of the church’s fortune and fate.