A common practice for many sport teams is to watch film from previous games. Oftentimes a coach will lead these viewings, stopping the tape from time to time to point out successes and failures, strengths and weaknesses, areas to be applauded and areas to improve. The purpose behind these sessions isn’t humiliation or confrontation but, rather, refinement, motivation, and group cohesion. A good coach knows that a team rises and falls together; that while a weak member harms the whole, a strong member can inspire those faltering.

Sardis, like every church since (including our own), is a team that has on her roster some who are struggling and some who are thriving. In our text today, Coach Jesus watches some game film with that congregation—correcting, challenging, affirming, and encouraging—with the ultimate goal being the strengthening, effectiveness, and growth of the entire team.

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A common practice for many sport teams is to watch film from previous games together as a group. Oftentimes a coach will lead these viewings, stopping the tape from time to time to point out successes and failures, strengths and weaknesses, areas to be applauded and areas to be improved. 

The goal of these film sessions isn’t humiliation nor confrontation (although both can happen) but refinement, motivation, and group cohesion. A good coach knows a team rises and falls together. A weak member harms the whole. A strong member inspires the whole.

In Revelation 3 we’re going to find the transcript of coach Jesus watching game film with his team in Sardis. And, like at all church since, there are some on its roster who are struggling while others are thriving. Those who aren’t doing well and need to be corrected and encouraged to get it together, and those who are doing well, and need to be celebrated and encouraged to keep it together.

And, no doubt, it’s the same for us here at Oakridge. We have some in our midst who are thriving in their Christian walk and others, for any number of reasons, are struggling. No matter where you’re at this morning, you’re going to be challenged and encouraged this morning so that we, as a team, are refined, motivated, and united.

Group #1: The Walking Dead

Jesus begins by highlighting the group that’s struggling. We’ll call group #1 “the walking dead,” the reason for which will become clear.

“To the angel of the church in Sardis write:

He who has the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars, says this: ‘I know your deeds, that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead. Wake up, and strengthen the things that remain, which were about to die; for I have not found your deeds completed in the sight of My God. So remember what you have received and heard; and keep it, and repent. Therefore if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come to you.

Revelation 3:1–3

Coach Jesus stops the tape, turns to his team and says, “There’s a group of you who are bringing us down,” and goes on to identify the problem, warn of the consequences, and prescribe the solution.

The Problem

The problem is, as he says in verse 1, they have a name that they’re alive—a reputation of being vibrant and effective in the faith—but, in reality, they are dead. That’s the problem.

When the Bible uses “dead” euphemistically it always means one of two things (or both at the same time, which I think is the case here). First, dead means useless, unproductive for the intended purpose.

In his letter, James famously declares “faith without works is dead” (2:26). He doesn’t mean there is no faith, he means the faith his hearers have isn’t useful for the purpose of demonstrating its power to a watching world. Like a dead battery doesn’t cease to exist but is ineffective in providing power to anything into which it’s inserted. 

In Sardis, there are those on the team that, though others rave about their productivity, Jesus knows the truth: they’re actually dead, useless, powerless to do what they’re actually called to do for Christ.

Second, when “dead” is used euphemistically in Scripture it means estranged from God. Separated from the warmth of his fellowship. Think of the parable of the prodigal son. When the rebellious young man is finally convicted of his sin and returns home, his waiting father celebrates, proclaiming “my son was dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found” (Luke 15:24). The son had been estranged, separated from all the blessings of an intimate relationship with his father because of his own pride and foolishness.

I think both of those meanings are implied in Revelation 3. While the people around town in Sardis are fooled, Jesus is not. He sees the heart. He stops the tape and says, there are some of you who are the walking dead: useless to my purposes and estranged from my love.

“… for I have not found your deeds completed in the sight of My God” (Rev 3:2b). They have a reputation of being vibrant, but their deeds don’t measure up to God’s standard. The team is running after God strapped to a pile of corpses slowing them down. That’s the problem.

The Consequences

And the consequences are dire. “Therefore if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come to you” (Rev. 3:3b). As thieves come unannounced to steal and destroy so this warns of imminent judgement. If the church in Sardis doesn’t snap out of their apathy and self-deception, they should be prepared because, at any moment, Christ could come to remedy the situation. 

Like when you suddenly you’ve drifted way above the speed limit on a road notorious for speed traps. The imminent threat of flashing lights motivates you to quickly come back in line with the legal expectation. Jesus says to the struggling in Sardis, “get back in line quickly, because if it you see me suddenly in the rearview, it won’t be good news.”

The Solution

Graciously, Christ provides this group—the walking dead—with the solution to their problem. I count four steps that he lays out for them.

First, refocus (3:2a). Give your head a shake. It’s not that they were doing everything badly (there was some good that remained), but they had drifted away from faithfulness. What were they supposed to be doing? What was expected of them? Wake up! Refocus.

Second, remember (3:3a). What had they received and heard but the gospel itself—that they were eternally saved by God’s grace through faith in the crucified and resurrected Christ. Let’s be honest: apathy and carelessness in our walk can only exist when the memory of the gospel is faded. Sardis is being called to remember.

Third, retain (3:3b). Your translation may say “obey” or “fulfill.” To refocus and remember isn’t enough. They have to obey what they’re told, act on what they know, put into practice their faith. Don’t be so useless, estranged, and dead! Get useful! Fulfill! Obey! Retain!

Fourth, repent (3:3c). They must shift their mindset from the apathetic state it’s in to one that they had at the beginning, one full of faithfulness to Christ. Turn back to usefulness and vitality. Repent!

Group #1, the walking dead, is called-out by Christ as having drifted into uselessness and estrangement from himself, a situation that puts them at risk of judgment. What can they do? Refocus, remember, retain, and repent. “Don’t stay like that,” says the Coach. “You’re hurting yourself and the rest of the team.”

We’ve all heard that convicting call in our Christian lives, haven’t we? We’ve all experienced times when we resemble the walking dead—saved but apathetic, redeemed but unexcited, sealed but useless. Sure, the people around us may think we’re alive and well—we’re careful to be seen doing and be heard saying the right things—but we’ve known the truth. We feel detached from God, sapped of joy, and wrestling with sin more than normal. You may be experiencing this reality now.

One author suggests six symptoms of the walking dead. Take a silent self-assessment as I read them: 1. Coldness in prayer; 2. Indifference under the Word; 3. Growing inner corruptions; 4. The love of the world; 5. Declining love for believers; and 6. Man-centred hopes (Joel Beeke, Getting Back in the Race, p. 22).

If a few of those ring true for you, you may have a problem. You may be dying and you didn’t know it. The good news is, there’s a solution. Refocus, remember, retain, and repent. Be restored. Be resurrected to intimacy with God and usefulness for his glory.

Group #2: Those Dressed to Impress

Now that Christ has addressed the first group—the walking dead—and allowed the rest of the church to listen in, he now turns his attention to group #2: Those dressed to impress.

‘But you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their garments; and they will walk with Me in white, for they are worthy. He who overcomes will thus be clothed in white garments; and I will not erase his name from the book of life, and 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 3:4–6

Again, Coach Jesus stops the game film but, this time, it’s not to offer a corrective, but praise and encouragement. 

While there are strugglers in the church, there are also a few people who have not soiled their garments. The way they live has not tarnished the purity and godliness given to them by Christ’s redemptive work. They have walked-the-walk and not just talked-the-talk.

Is there anything more uncomfortable than showing up to an event under-dressed or with a food stain in the middle of your clothes? There was a group in Sardis who were dressed to impress. They were appropriately and perfectly donning garments unsoiled, clothes that made the coach pause the tape to simply say, “well done.”

Await Liberty

And look how these faithful few are blessed. First, they await liberty. “And they will walk with Me in white, for they are worthy. He who overcomes will thus be clothed in white garments” (3:4b–5a). They’re living well but they also will (future certainty) walk with Christ like Adam and Even walked with God in Eden before sin fractured that relationship. How can they? Sin still exists. But it won’t. That’s the point. Those dressed to impress are being reminded that there is coming a day when they will be clothed in pure white (see also 4:4 and 7:9).

All who have trusted Christ look forward to a day when their garments in this life, however unsoiled we’re able to keep them by God’s grace, will be replaced with dazzling white robes, perfectly sanctified, set-apart for God, blemish-less, and worthy to walk with our Saviour. 

Christ is encouraging these members of his team to remember that they await liberty. Consider the Apostle Paul’s raw confession:

For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate. … For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want. But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. … Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death?

Romans 7:15, 18–20, 24

And Christ, in Revelation 3, reminds the church in Sardis that he will deliver them from the body of this death. They await liberty.

Enjoy Security

They also enjoy security. “… and I will not erase his name from the book of life” (Rev 3:5). The book of life is the heavenly ledger in which all the names of the redeemed appear and must appear to be given access to glory (consider 20:15).

English readers may be tempted to read this as a threat: “my name could be erased from the book!” That’s not what’s being said. John is saying something in the negative to powerfully declare the positive. 

The truth being shouted is “the overcomer’s name is written in permanent marker.” Those who trust Christ (see 1 John 5:4–5) will not and can not have their name removed (see, for example, John 10:27–30). They enjoy security.

Anticipate Testimony

Finally, they anticipate testimony. “… and I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels” (Rev 3:5). To confess means to declare allegiance, to acknowledge loyalty or personal association with someone. One day, when the overcomer stands before the Creator of the universe, the Son is going to say “he’s with me.” “I vouch for her.” “They’re mine.” We anticipate that testimony.

As Christians, do we understand what awaits us? Do we understand how these future realities can fuel our lives today? 

To all who belong to God through faith in Jesus, we will one day be pure, free form sin in totality. We, right now, enjoy a security that, rightly understood, doesn’t lead to licentiousness but to joy-filled, gratitude-fuelled devotion. And there is coming a day when the Lamb of God, the Son of God, will speak our names before the Father.

Get Clean and Stay Clean!

This is a team meeting. Maybe it’s halftime and, if this was a movie, now would be the moment the camera shift back and forth between the face of the passionate coach and the tired, beat-up faces of the team. And the coach would pace around the room saying something monumental with crescendoing background music.

Coach Jesus is speaking to the people of Oakridge Bible Chapel—his team—and saying, “some are struggling, some are thriving.” He doesn’t point out who’s in each group but leaves that up to us to determine with the Spirit of God. But we probably know, don’t we.

This morning, if you hear the description of group #1 and that resonates with you—“I’m probably the walking dead, I’ve spoiled my garments”—it’s time to get clean and mind the solution Jesus gave those struggling in Sardis. Refocus, remember, retain, and repent. It’s never too late. Give your head a shake. Reassess your priorities, remember the gospel that you’ve received, walk in obedience today.

Perhaps, this morning, by God’s grace, you find yourself in group #2 being affirmed by Christ. You’re not perfect but you keep short accounts with God and you enjoy his presence and his people and his word. The gospel is never far from your mind and you’re filled with the joy of the Lord. If that’s you, Christ calls you to stay clean. To continue to think on the liberty that awaits, the security you enjoy, and the testimony you anticipate hearing. And, in the meantime, help your teammates. Because we don’t know all the time, who’s who‚ who’s struggling and who’s thriving, we need to be on the lookout because we rise and fall together.

In the presence of all, Jesus calls out the walking dead to rebuke, correct, and challenge them to get back on track at the same time providing motivation for those who are doing well. He also applauds the faithful, those dressed to impress, to affirm them and encourage them to continue pressing on and, perhaps to remind those struggling of what they once were and what they can be again.

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