The Bible Study podcast, Episode 187. Today, the Bible study podcast continues the study of Revelation

with Revelation 3.

Welcome to the Bible study podcast. I'm your host, Chris Christensen.

Last week, we were looking at Revelation 2, which was

Letters to the Churches, and this week we continue with the letters to three additional churches.

To the Church in Sardis. 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 not found

your deeds complete in the sight of my God. Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard,

obey it, 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.

He who overcomes will, like them, be dressed in white. I will never blot out

his name from the book of life, but will acknowledge his name before my father and his angels.

He who has an ear, let him hear what the spirit says to the churches. This is, so far, the harshest

message to any of the churches. And first we get again sevens, and this is the

letters to the seven churches, and we get seven spirits of God and seven stars. And again,

seven usually meaning complete. I know your deeds, your reputation being alive, you are dead.

This isn't really mincing words very much. This is a church that is being told that as God looks at what they do, not what they say they believe, but the way they act, as God looks at how they work out their faith in the reality of the works of their hands, the words they're saying to each other,

all of those things. God says, you're dead. Harsh. But you'll notice, this is a little like the

scene in the Princess Bride. God says they're not all dead.

Both not all of them are dead, but they are also not so dead that they can't come back.

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