Jesus was holding the seven spirits of god

JESUS WAS HOLDING THE SEVEN SPIRITS OF GOD
AND THE SEVEN STARS, SPEAKING TO A DEAD CHURCH
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
REVELATION 3:1 “To the angel[a]of the church in
Sardis write: These are the words of him who holds
the seven spirits[b]of God and the seven stars. I know
your deeds; you have a reputationof being alive, but
you are dead.
BIBLEHUB RESOURCES
The Epistle To The Church At Sardis
Revelation3:1-6
S. Conway
Were any one visiting the actualsites where the severalChurches spokenof in
these letters once stood, he would, ere he came to Sardis, have gone a long way
round the circle on the circumference of which they all were. Beginning with
Ephesus at the southern end, and proceeding northwards along the seashore,
he next would come to Smyrna, then to Pergamos,then to Thyatira, and then,
coming down the inland side of the rude circle we have imagined, he would
reachSardis, and proceeding on would come first to Philadelphia and then to
Laodicea, the lastof the seven. But now we have come to Sardis - a notable

city in the ancientworld, because associatedwith the greatnames of Cyrus,
Croesus, andAlexander. With this historic fame, however, we have nought to
do, but with the religious condition of the Church there as shownin this letter.
And, as in all the previous letters, so here, the title assumedby the Lord Jesus
has specialreference to the condition and need of the Church addressed.
Ephesus needed encouragementand warning alike. The Lord, therefore,
speaks ofhimself as "he who holdeth the sevenstars in his right hand."
Smyrna needed strong support under her heavy trial. The Lord therefore
speaks to them as "The First and the Last, who," etc. Pergamos neededthat
the Word of God should be sharply and severelybrought to bear upon her.
The Lord therefore tells of himself as "he who hath the sharp swordwith the
two edges,"etc. Thyatira needed to be reminded of the holy and awful wrath
of the Lord againstsuch as she was harbouring in her midst. The Lord
therefore declares himself to be "he whose eyes are as a flame of fire," etc.
And now this Church of Sardis needed to be won back again to true godliness,
for though she had a name that she lived, she was dead. The Lord therefore
speaks ofhimself to her as "he who hath the sevenSpirits of God, and the
sevenstars." Now note how this name of the Lord bears -
I. ON THE SIN WITH WHICH THE CHURCH WAS CHARGEABLE.
Observe concerning this sin:
1. It was not that of others. Nought is said of Nicolaitans and followers of
Balaam, or of such as Jezebelwas. Nothing of false doctrines or of vicious life.
These things which are denounced so terribly in other letters are not charged
againstthis Church, and we may therefore assume that they could, perhaps
they did, thank God that they were not as those other Churches were.
2. Norwas it that they did nothing. On the contrary, their works are
mentioned repeatedly. No doubt there were all wonted ministries, religious
observances, charities, andmissions. There must have been, for:

3. They were no scandalto others. On the contrary, they had a name, a
reputation, an honourable character, as a living Church. Laodicea deceived
herself, thinking she was rich; but it is not said she deceivedothers. This
Church, Sardis, did deceive others; she was reckonedby them to be really
living, though in fact she was dead; and very probably she had deceived
herself also. But:
4. Their works were not perfect before God. Well enough before men, but
before him quite otherwise. They were of such sort that he said of those who
did them, that they were "dead." They were done, as were the prayers, alms,
and lastings of the hypocrites, "to be seenof men." Assuredly not with single
eye or with pure motive. They had their reward: people talkedof them, and
gave them credit as having life. But before God they were dead. Let us
remember that it is as "before God everything is to be estimated. Let all who
engage in any form of Christian service remember this. It is terribly apt to be
forgotten. Remember how St. Paul said, It is a small thing to me to be judged
of you or of any human judgment: he that judgeth me is the Lord; I labour to
be acceptedof him." The one question for us all is, how will our work appear
before God? For:
5. Their condition was one most displeasing to him. The severe tone of the
letter proves this. True, we have had such severity before, and shall have it
again;for rebuke, and often stern rebuke, was what was neededthen and still
is by the majority of Churches, always and everywhere. Nevertheless, there is
no one of these letters in which the tone is more severe, or the smiting of the
Sword of the Spirit sharper, or the solemnity of the appeals addressedto them
more arousing or impressive. The epistle to Laodicea is the only one which
can be compared with it, and it is to be noticed that the wrong in that Church,
whilst very great, is like this in Sardis, that it is free from the foul stains tither
of vice or heresy. In the sight of the Lord of the Church there is, it is evident,
something more hateful to him than eventhese. Love to the Lord may linger
in hearts even where these are; but if love, the true life of every Church and

every individual soul, be gone, then are they to be described as none others
are, for they are "dead." Hence in this letter there is no softening, mitigating
utterance at all, no mention of goodworks, but the keynote of the epistle is
struck at once, and a startling one it is. But:
6. What was the cause of it all? Now the name our Lord takes to himself in
this letter reveals this cause. He by that name declares that in him and from
him is all-sufficient grace. Treasure store inexhaustible, riches unsearchable,
both for pastorand people. For his were "the sevenSpirits of God," and his
"the sevenstars." And yet, in spite of all this, they were as they were. Oh, was
it not shameful, is it not shameful, utterly inexcusable, when the like exists
now, that, though abundance of grace is in Christ for us all, we should yet be
what he terms "dead"? It was plain, therefore, they had not soughtthat
grace;the fulness of the Spirit's help neither pastornor people had implored;
and so, as we find, they had given in to the world's ways. It is evident from the
honourable mention of the "few" who had "not defiled their garments," that
the resthad. That is to say, they had given in to the world's ways. Hence St.
James speaksofpure religion as being in part this, "Keeping your garments
unspotted from the world." And in proof of this there seems to have been a
goodunderstanding betweenthe Church and the world at Sardis. They seem
to have got along togethervery well. In every other Church, save this and
Laodicea, mention is made of some "burden" which the enmity of the
surrounding world laid upon the Church. But not here. As it has been well
said (Archbishop Trench), "The world could endure it because it, too, was a
world." This Church had nothing of the spirit of the "two witnesses"
(Revelation11:10)who "tormented them that dwelt in the earth" by their
faithful testimony; or of the Lord Jesus either, who "resistedunto blood,
striving againstsin," and because he would not yield was crucified (cf. also
Wisd. 2:12, etc.). But there was nothing of all this at Sardis. It might have
been said of them, as was cynically said the other day of a certainsectionof
ministers of religionamongst us, that "you would find them very well bred,
and you might be quite certain they would say nothing to you about your
soul." It is an ill sign when the Church and the world are so happy together.
There has been compromise somewhere, and it is rarely the world which

makes it. It is bad to have no life at all in God's love; it is worse to have had it
and to have lost it; but it is worstof all - and may God in his mercy deliver us
therefrom - to have the name and reputation of possessing this life, and yet to
be, in fact, as it was with Sardis, dead in regard thereto. For all around us
conduces to deepensuch fatal slumber of the soul, and there is an everlasting
soothing of them by themselves, the Church and the world alike, saying
continually, "Peace,peace," whenthere is no peace.
II. ON THE PUNISHMENT WITH WHICH THE CHURCH IS
THREATENED.(Ver. 3.) This solemnwarning of dangerspeaks ofthe Lord's
advent to judgment. But:
1. What is that judgment? The name the Lord has assumedin this letter
reveals it. Now, that name was meant partly to show that they were without
excuse, but also to remind that, as the Spirit is his to give, so also is it his to
withdraw and to withhold. As he can open the doors of grace, and then no
man can shut; so also can he shut them, and then none can open. This, then,
was what they were to fear, lest he should leave them alone, lest he should take
his Holy Spirit from them. David dreaded this, and implored that the Lord
would not deal so with him. Betterany punishment, any suffering, any pain,
any amount of distress, than that the soul should be thus left alone of the
Lord.
2. And this judgment would come as a thief; they should not know when or
how. There was an ancient proverb that the feet of the avenging gods are shod
with wool. Dii laneos habent pedes. The meaning is simply what is here said,
that the Divine judgment comes silently, stealthily, secretly, invisibly,
unexpectedly, "as a thief." Who can mark the hour when God's Spirit leaves a
man? Who sees the masterof the house rise up and shut the door? It is not
always true, as the much misleading verse tells-

"While the lamp holds out to burn,
The vilest sinner may return." Before that lamp is quenched, the Holy Spirit's
blessedflame may have been quenched, and he, resisted, grieved, done despite
to, may have for ever gone away. And it is equally untrue to affirm that the
point of death bars all return. It is not death, but the determined characterof
the soul, that decides that matter. Deathcannot shut the Spirit out nor life
ensure that he remain, but the fixed bias and characterinto which we have
settled down. And then:
3. There follows the blotting out of the name, etc. (Ver. 5.) Of him who
overcomes Christsays, "I will by no means blot out his name." Hence it is
implied that the rest he will blot out. Yes, the name may be in that book;
through the blessedatonementand sacrifice ofour Lord Jesus Christ our
names are there; but the question is - Will they be allowedto stay there? The
branch may be in the Vine; it is so; but "if it bear not fruit, then," etc. Christ
has put us all in, but we can force him, all unwilling, to blot us out again. And
to be as Sardis was will do this. Have mercy upon us, O Lord!
III. ON THEIR RESTORATION.Theirsin had not altered the fact that he
still had "the seven Spirits," etc. And should the Lord's earnestword have the
effectdesigned, it would, and we may well believe it did, awake many that
slept, and arouse them from the dead, that Christ might give them life. And
how would they be encouragedby this revelationof the Lord's grace!"How
sweetthe name of Jesus" wouldsound in their ears!Did it not enable them to
say to their adversary, "Rejoice not againstme, O mine enemy: when I fall I
shall arise;when I sit in darkness, the Lord shall be a light unto me." The
effort they would have to make would be severe, but here in this name was
abundance of grace for all their need. And to encourage them the Lord points
them:

1. To the "few" who had overcome. There was, then, no irresistible might in
the thraldom in which they were held. These had overcome, so might they.
The grace that enabled these was waiting for them likewise. Notonly would
these "few" be greatly strengthenedby the Lord's remembrance of and
specialpromise to them, but the rest also would learn that victory was
possible for them through him who had the "sevenSpirits,': etc.
2. To means that, if faithfully used, would be effectual.
(1) Let them become wakeful - such is the meaning. This was a primary and
imperative need. And when thus awake, letthem
(2) remember how they had receivedand heard. With what earnestnessand
joy and devotedness of spirit they had begun their Christian career!Let them
look back on that. And let them
(3) hold fast, i.e. keep, what remained, for all was not lost yet. The door of
hope was not shut. And let them
(4) repent, i.e. have done with all habits, practices, andconduct, with all ways
of thinking and speaking, whichhad lured them into and all but lost them in
their deceitfulness. Let them confess it all before the Lord, and come away
from it at once and for ever. And
(5) let them strengthen the things which remained. As the traveller crossing
the Alps in snowstorm, all but benumbed, striking his foot againstthe body. of
one who had just before passedthat way and had sunk down in the snow,
overcome by the deadly torpor of the cold - as he, roused by the blow and

proceeding to use all efforts to awakenthe fallen one, happily succeeds, he is
made at the same time altogetherwakefuland alive himself: so let any whose
own spiritual condition is feeble try to make others strong, and they, too, in
the endeavourwill win strength. Let them thus act. And next he points them
to:
3. The reward of these who overcome.
(1) The white robe, symbol of victory, purity, joy.
(2) The fellowship with Christ. "Theyshall walk with me in white." What
enhancementof their blessednessthis!
(3) The retention of their names in the book of life. "I will by no means blot
out," etc. All the loving purposes which he cherished for them when he
entered their names there, they shall realize and enjoy.
(4) The confessionoftheir names before his Fatherand his angels. Whata
compensationfor the contempt of the world! how insignificant and despicable
is that contempt when placedover againstthis honour which Christ here
promises!Ah! who would stayin the sad state of Sardis when a way like this is
opened out of it for them? All grace is his, and his for us, if we will avail
ourselves of it; for he "hath the seven," etc. - S.C.

Biblical Illustrator
Sardis.
Revelation3:1-6
Sardis -- The fickle Church
A. Mackennal, D. D.
Among all the messagesto the Churches there is no other which is appalling
like this to the Church of Sardis. The condemnation and the denunciation are
emphatic; the details, however, are obscure, and as we meditate on what is
said, it strikes us that this obscurity is due to intentional reserve. This
appears, first, in the title given to Christ: "These things saith He that hath the
sevenSpirits of God, and the sevenstars." Here we are bidden think, not of
the historic Christ, but of the inhabiter of eternity. It is as if, instead of coming
forth to reveal Himself, Christ were withdrawing into the recessesofDeity;
He seems to be receding from our approaches, not advancing to kindle His
people's adorationand reward their love. The same reserve appears in the
description of the Church's sinfulness: "I know thy works, that thou hast a
name," etc. That is all, but it is such an all as produces an impression of utter
condemnation. The call to repentance, too, lacks something which we are
accustomedto find in God's appeals to His people: "Become watchful, and
stablish the things," etc. There is no hint that what has perished may be
restored. More than once I have seena tree laden with fruit, its broad green

leaves betokening vigorous life, while a formless lump in the stock revealed
that once the tree was so cankeredthat it was not expectedto recover;and I
have read a parable of the revival of dead gracesin man's life. No such
alleviating hint is dropped concerning Sardis. The time has not come for it;
the need of the hour is for warning, only warning. There is a shortness in the
threat: "If therefore thou shalt not watch," etc. The Lord does not condescend
to say more than is needed. The Church of Sardis knows, afterwhat has been
declared, that this coming can only be for judgment, and is left to meditate on
the nearness and suddenness of the doom. Even in the acknowledgmentthat
there are faithful persons in Sardis, "a few names which did not defile their
garments," and the promise made to "him that overcometh," the reserve is
maintained. So deep is the sin of the Church that it is blessednessonly to have
been free from it. So dire is the doom that, for them who have escapedit, to
have their names not blotted out of the book of life is enough. The Lord will
confess their names in heaven, because it is a wonder to find souls from Sardis
there. How may we apprehend the condition of Sardis? Perhaps we say,
Sardis was a worldly Church; and this is undoubtedly true. "She that giveth
herself to pleasure is dead while she liveth." Addictedness to things that
"perish with the using" is both the sign of a languid inner life, and certain
destruction of the little life which remains. Or we may say that Sardis was an
impure Church. Discipline was unknown in it; even the pretence of discipline
must have been wanting, when of only a few could it be saidthat "they did not
defile their garments." But there is one touch in the description which is full
of significance. "Ihave not found any of thy works perfect[that is, finished]
before My God." The image suggestedis that of a fickle Church, rushing from
one thing to another, beginning works and growing weary, taking up and
dropping down, impossible to be relied on by God or man. Ficklenessis a very
common fault; therefore the Lord's words to Sardis need to be dwelt on.
There is no graversymptom of our time than its prevailing restlessness. So
many men and women follow the ever-changing fashion— in dress, or books,
or household decoration, or art, in science, in philosophy, in philanthrophy, in
scepticism, or in faith. Theirs is not the versatility of a catholic temper, but of
a shallow soul; such persons proclaim that they have no taste, that is, no
original perceptions, no standard of excellence. There is the same instability
among the Churches; the popular religious catch-words are for ever changing.

Yesterday the parrot-cry was "Orthodoxy";to-day it is "Liberality, freedom
of thought." There is to them no "word of the Lord"; they have no profound
sense ofduty, no consecrating purpose, nothing about which they can say,
"This one thing I do; this is what I believe with all my heart; of this I am sure;
to this I cleave, I can no other, God help me." And if fickleness be thus the
sign and symptom that underneath all shews of religious activity there is
death, so fickleness worksdeath. The notion such people have that their great
need is some new thing, a new impulse, a new call, is part of their soul-
sickness. Theirreal want is the heart to stick to what they are about. Nearly
the whole discipline of piety is in the factthat persistencybrings lessons which
we can learn in no other way. If we try to perfect what we are doing, we learn
our defects and how to supply them; we learn what we can do and how to do
it; we strengthenthe sense of duty, and catchthe meaning of hardness;
sources ofcomfort will open to us when" sore wearywith our work well
done"; God Himself comes to teachus, and lead us, and be our God. In
Sardis, as in Laodicea, there is a specialword of comfort to the faithful,
because they have found fidelity so hard. "Thou hasta few names in Sardis,"
etc. The promise is itself an implied charge againstthe many; they are defiled
as well as heartless. So it must ever be; the pollutions of the world, the flesh,
and the devil are sure to overtake those who are not steadfastin their piety.
All the more impressive is Christ's assurance thatHe has not overlookedthe
few. He who has the sevenSpirits is quick to discern fidelity in unlikely places;
He watches to discernand to acknowledgethem. Fidelity is acknowledgedby
Christ as of eternal virtue, howeverit may revealitself; and the company of
those who overcome is one company, whether the victory have been wonon a
conspicuous oran ignoble field. It seems so reservedan utterance:"I will not
blot out his name"; but the book in which the name is written is "the book of
life." It is no small honour which is conferredon the cleansouls in Sardis
when they are declared"worthy" to walk with Christ in white. There is a
touch of exquisite consideration, ofappreciation of what their life had been, in
the promise with which the message ends:"He that overcomethshall thus be
arrayed in white garments." Heaven shall be to them the consummation of
what they had workedfor and striven after on earth.
(A. Mackennal, D. D.)

Christ's messageto the formalist
J. J. Ellis.
I. DELUSIVE APPEARANCES;OR, THE DEATH THAT SIMULATES
LIFE. There is nothing so unmistakable as natural death; in tree, animal, or
man, it makes itselffearfully plain. Life may exist in a sluggishor imperfect
form, but betweenthe feeblestlife and death there is an immeasurable
distance. But with spiritual death it is often otherwise. The advances are so
stealthy, and so swift, that sometimes every grace and gift has perished before
the symptoms of the plague are discerned. Wendell Holmes tells us that in the
introduction to "GilBlas" it is said, "Here lies buried the soul of the
licentiate." Where do not souls lie buried? One beneath the self-consciousness
of pride, and another beneath ceremonies whichare goodin themselves, but
which may produce evil, if unduly relied upon. Under what sin is thy soul
buried. And let us look at the gracious aspectwhich is presentedhere of our
Lord. When the king of Ethiopia of old heard that the Persianmonarch was
dead, he remarked, "It is no wonder that he died, when he lived on dirt." The
allusion, of course, is to corn, which at that period was unknown in Ethiopia.
Of Darracott, on the contrary, it was finely said, "that he lookedas if he lived
upon live things," for he possessedsuchabundant vitality. So is it that a man
is like that which he mentally feeds upon; so that if he communes regularly
and constantlywith Christ, he wilt become Christ-like, and will live by the life
of Christ.
II. DECAYING GRACES;OR, BAD WHICH MAY BECOME WORSE.
"The decaywas not as yet thorough in the Church at Sardis; there was still a
chance of regaining the lost time, and living by Christ. But unless the Church
became vigilant, and took the needful measures, the decaywould eventually
become complete." The graces ofthe Spirit are granted only to certain
conditions, and they are removed when these essentials departfrom us.
Incompleteness is decay. "I have found no works of thine fulfilled before my
God." Their acts of charity and faith had been marred; they were
introductions without any succeeding chapters, indeed, but a series offailures.

And may not the words imply that one grace cannotlive without the other,
that they are mutually dependent, that if one be absent, or be wilfully left out,
the others will languish and perhaps die? In grace as in nature the balance of
life must be preserved. So in grace, everyvirtue sustains some other, and they
rise and fall together.
III. THE SURPRISES OF JUDGMENT:THE GRACIOUS OR THE JUST
ONE. "I will come as a thief," Christ threatens, by which I understand that in
reference to His judgment He thus describes its stealthiness. And with the
unexpected nature of this visitation, is there not also combined the idea of its
being unwelcome?
IV. THE TRUE CITIZEN OF THE WORLD IS A NATIVE OF HEAVEN.
The true question which we should ask ourselves and eachother is not, Are
you prepared to die? but, Are you fit to live? Hence, Baine concentrates the
meaning of the passageinto the phrase, "Singular piety in degenerate times is
dear to God."
(J. J. Ellis.)
The address to Sardis
G. Rogers.
I. THE FORM OF ADDRESS. Sardis was a city of considerable eminence,
nearly equidistant from Smyrna and Thyatira. It was formerly the capitalof
the kingdom of Lydia, and is celebratedin profane history as the residence of
Croesus, proverbialfor his great riches, which were seizedby Cyrus in aid of
his expedition againstBabylon. In the usual course of all these cities, it fell,
first into the hands of the Persians, then of the Macedonians,and then of the
Roman empire. A village only now remains, near which are some ruins of the

ancient city. The characterin which Christ appears to this Church is taken
partly from the dedication in the 4th verse, and partly from the vision in
Revelation1:16. This is proof that the whole book, from the commencement,
is supposed to be sent with the addresses to the Churches.
II. THE REBUKE. Hero is no commendation to the Church generally. It is
given afterwards, as an exception to a few. This Church had formerly been in
a flourishing state. It was composed, atfirst, of simple-hearted and pious
believers. There was life in their ministry, life in their ordinances, life in their
socialmeetings, life in their retirements, and life in their souls. This state of
things, however, did not long continue. There was a gradual and
imperceptible falling awayfrom the grace ofthe gospel. The Spirit's
influences were less desired, and consequently less enjoyed. Zeal was not
deficient, nor even fortitude to brave persecutionfor the sake oftheir religion.
Their works were considerable, and, in some respects,worthy of imitation by
those who are actuatedby better principles. These are observedby the
Saviour, but as serving only to sustain a professionof the vitality of which
they were destitute. "I know thy works, that thou hast a name," etc. This is
displeasing to Christ, because ofits gross inconsistency, becauseofthe false
aspectwhich it gives to His kingdom before the world, and because ofthe
dishonour which it casts upon the office of the Spirit of God. A further
complaint preferred againstthis Church is, "I have not found thy works
perfect before God." The literal meaning is finished, or complete. Their works
were imperfect in the principles from which they emanated, and in the ends to
which they were directed. They were forms without life, professions without
fruit. Another feature of their declensionis indirectly assertedin these words,
"Thou hasta few names, even in Sardis, which have not defiled their
garments." This sentence to a Church, which probably boastedmost of the
Christian name, and aspired most to ecclesiasticaldistinction, was peculiarly
humiliating. Where the life of godliness fails, it were vain to look for its fruits.
The name of Christianity presents a feeble barrier to the corruptions of our
fallen nature. What safeguardis there in nominal Christianity againstmoral
defilement?

III. THE ADMONITIONS. The Saviourexhorts the offenders at Sardis first
of all to watchfulness. "Be watchful." Let them reflectupon their condition,
rouse themselves to vigilant inquiry. They are exhorted "to strengthen the
things which remain, that are ready to die." Here is an acknowledgmentthat
some genuine piety continued amongstthem. This Church is reminded, "how
it had receivedand heard," and is exhorted to hold fast its first instructions,
and repent of its deviations from them.
IV. THE THREATENING:"If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come,"
etc.
V. THE EXCEPTION:"Thouhast a few names, even in Sardis, which have
not defiled their garments." There were some, even in Sardis, who had
escapedthe generaldefilement. In the worse agesofthe Church a remnant
has been preservedthat have kept their garments pure. The Waldenses,
Moravians, and others, will be found to authenticate the truth of this
observation.
VI. THE PROMISE. The threatening is to the many that have fallen, the
promise to the few that have not defiled their garments. "Theyshall walk with
me in white, for they are worthy." VII. THE APPLICATION: "He that
overcometh, the marne shall be clothed in white raiment," etc.
(G. Rogers.)
The words of Christ to the congregationatSardis
D. Thomas, D. D.
I. THE GENERALCHARACTER OF THE MANY.

1. They had a reputation for being what they were not.
2. They were in a state of spiritual consumption.
3. They were in a state requiring prompt and urgent attention.
4. They were in a state of alarming danger.
II. THE EXCEPTIONALCHARACTER OF THE FEW.
1. True goodnesscanexist under external circumstances the most corrupt.
2. True goodness, whereverit exists, engagesthe specific attention of Christ.
(1)Becauseit is the highestmanifestation of God upon earth.
(2)Becauseit is the result of His mediatorial mission.
(3)Becauseonit depends the progress ofhumanity.
3. True goodnesswill ultimately be distinguished by a glorious reward.
(1)Triumph.

(2)Fellowship.
(3)Progress.
III. THE ABSOLUTE JUDGE OF ALL.
1. In connectionwith the highest influence.
2. In connectionwith the highest ministry.
3. In connectionwith the highest Being. "My Father."This implies —
(1)Causation.
(2)Resemblance.
(3)Reciprocallove.
(D. Thomas, D. D.)
Sardis
J. Hyatt.

I. NOTICE THE TITLE WHICH JESUS CHRIST ASSUMES. "He that hath
the sevenspirits of God."
1. The Holy Ghostis a Spirit of quickening, of conversion, of prayer, of
holiness, and of comfort; for all these purposes the Lord Jesus communicates
the Holy Spirit, and hence, He describes Himself as having the "sevenSpirits
of God."
2. The expression, doubtless, signifies something transcendently above the
claim of the most exalted creature.
II. OBSERVE THE DEPLORABLE STATE IN WHICH THE TEXT
DESCRIBES THE CHURCH IN SARDIS TO HAVE BEEN.
1. In the visible Church of Christ there are many who have nothing of religion
but its lifeless and worthless form. They bear the Christian name, but are
totally destitute of Christian principles, and Christian tempers. They are
externally clean, and internally impure. They employ language expressive of
Christian experience, without possessing correspondentfeelings.
2. Genuine Christians are subject to declensionin religion.
III. NOTICE SOME OF THE SYMPTOMS OF THE AFFECTING STATE
DESCRIBED IN THE TEXT.
1. Backsliding usually begins in remissness relative to the most secretexercises
of religion. The first steps of a backsliderare visible only to God and the
individual himself.

2. The effect of spiritual declensionsoonmakes its appearance in the domestic
circle.
3. Another symptom of this affecting state is worldly-mindedness.
4. A censorious spirit is a certain symptom of lamentable declensionin the
things of God in the soul.
5. A love of novelty is another symptom of declensionin religion.
6. It is evinced by irritability and unsubmissiveness of temper under trials and
afflictions.
IV. THE SEASONABLE EXHORTATION WHICH OUR LORD
ADDRESSEDTO THE CHURCH IN SARDIS.
V. THIS SUBJECT ADDRESSESITSELF TO THREE DESCRIPTIONSOF
CHARACTER.
1. To those whose souls are prosperous, and who enjoy the inestimable
privileges of religion. "Be not high-minded, but fear."
2. To those whose case is describedin the text. Your experience teachesyou
that "it is an evil thing, and bitter, to sin against God."

3. To those who are totally destitute of genuine religion. Your state is
inexpressibly awful, and infinitely dangerous.
(J. Hyatt.)
Nominal religion
J. W. Cunningham.
I. THE REBUKE GIVEN IN THE TEXT TO THE CHURCH OF SARDIS.
Beware lestthe too partial judgment of men mislead thee as to the judgment
of God. Bring thyself to a Scriptural test. Judge as thou wilt be judged at the
greatday of account.
II. THE COMMENDATION BESTOWED, IN THIS ADDRESS,ON A FEW
OF THE MEMBERSOF THE CHURCH OF SARDIS.
1. There are no circumstances so bad as to render goodness impossible.
2. Even the smallestcompany of true worshippers is not forgottenbefore God.
III. THE COUNSELGIVEN TO THE CHURCH OF SARDIS IN THIS
ADDRESS. There are means of revival which may in every case be employed
with success. The page ofhistory presents to us some splendid examples, in
which a body of troops, checkedand dispirited for a time, have suddenly
beheld the banner, or caughtthe voice of their leader; and at once, throwing
awaytheir doubts and fears, have returned to the fight, scaledthe rampart,
and crownedthemselves with fresh triumphs and glory.

IV. THE THREAT CONNECTEDWITHTHESE COUNSELS TO THE
CHURCH OF SARDIS. All the movements of God, especiallyin the works of
creation, are so preciselyin order — the sun and the moon knowing their
place, and eachseasonfollowing in the train of the other — that it is difficult
to persuade ourselves Godwill in any case interrupt this regular successionof
events, and astonishthe sinner by any sudden or unexpected explosion of His
wrath. But how often do His visitations thus unexpectedly arrestthe ungodly!
V. THE PROMISESWITH WHICH THE TEXT CLOSES.
(J. W. Cunningham.)
He that hath the sevenSpirits
The sevenSpirits of God
A. Maclaren, D. D.
By these sevenSpirits of God is meant apparently that One Divine Person, the
Holy Spirit, to whom, with the Father and the Son, we render homage and
praise. And the reasonfor the peculiarity of the sevenfoldSpirit is because in
this book that Spirit is contemplated, not so much in the unity of His person as
in the manifoldness of His operations. And, further, that the number seven,
being a sacrednumber, expresses completeness.And so, "He that hath the
sevenSpirits of God" represents Jesus Christ as possessing, andas possessing
that He may impart, the whole fulness of that quick and Divine Spirit. Thus
the first thought to be presentedto the moribund Church is of the fulness of
Divine life gatheredinto that Spirit who is not enclosedin inaccessible
mysteries of deity, but going forth like the flame of the torch, like the glance of
the eye, everywhere where men are. This greatLife giver is waiting for all
feeble and half-dead Christian hearts to come surging into it if they will, and
to fill them with its own vitality. Notice still further that the secondof the
predicates applied to our Lord here suggests forus one very frequent way in

which He cleansesoutChurches. He hath the sevenSpirits and the seven
stars. The stars are the symbols of the angels, andthe angels are the
representatives ofthe teachers ofthe Churches;taking that for granted, is it
not beautiful that our Lord should be represented, if I may so say, as holding
in one hand the sevenSpirits of life and in the other hand the sevenstars, or to
put awaythe emblem, and to take another figure in Scripture, in the right
hand He held the golden vase full of the anointing oil, in the other hand an
empty chalice into which it was poured. Jesus Christwakes up a dead Church
by bringing the sevenSpirits of God into the hearts of selectedmen: for the
way in which great revivals of religion in little communities and in big ones is
usually brought about is that some man or men are filled with the fulness of
God and become wearyof forbearing and feelthe Word like a fire lit up in
their bones, and are so fitted to be God's instruments for communicating the
magnetism of life to the dead Church. And now let me ask you to think of one
or two very simple lessons from this vision.
1. First of all, should not this vision shame us all into penitent consciousnessof
our own deadness? So much life waiting to be bestowed, and so little actually
appropriated and possessedby us. The whole flood of ChriSt's grace running
by our doors, and we, like improvident settlers in some new country, having
no provision for storing or for distributing it, but letting it all run to waste.
2. And then, should not this vision setus upon questioning ourselves as to
what it is that keeps the life of Jesus Christout of our hearts? In the winter
time in our towns, when the waterstops in the houses, why doesn't it come?
Becausethere is a plug of ice in the service pipe; and there is a plug of ice in a
greatmany Christian hearts in connectionwith their Master. Life is sustained
by food, by air, and by exercise. Do you feedthe life of Christ in you? Do you
read your Bible? You will never be vigorous Christians unless you cansay, "I
have desired the words of Thy mouth more than my necessaryfood." Life is
sustainedby air breathed. Do you take that Divine Spirit into yourselves,
expanding that capacityby desire, and so oxygenating all your life and
cleansing out the corruptions of sin? And life is sustained by exercise. Do you
do anything for Jesus Christ? Absolute idleness is a sure way, and it is a very

popular way amongstmany Christian people to kill the life of Christ within
us.
3. And so, let this vision draw us to our Masterthat we may get the life He can
give from His ownhands. Your Christianity can only be sustainedby the
repetition continually of that which kindled it at first.
(A. Maclaren, D. D.)
I know thy works
God knows the works of men
W. Fenner, B. D.
I. THE LORD KNOWS EVERY MAN'S ILL COURSES. He knows what
men are, and what they have been, and what they will be, as He knows all
their thoughts, words, and works. He knows all their dispositions, their
persons, their natures, their qualities, their affections, and ends and aims and
motives, and estates;He knows how many are rotten though they profess
never so much, how many are unsound though they be never so well esteemed
in the Church; He knows in what estate every man stands (Job 11:11). The use
of this is, first — Is it so that God knows all men's sinful courses?If men be
dead-hearted, He knows it; if they be heartless in goodduties, He knows it;
though they would be loth that men should know what they are, and do keep
it from them, yet they cannot daub it before God; He knows it. Then this may
serve to confute them that say, God does not know sin. True, sin is an evil, yea
the greatestevilof all evils; yet the knowledge ofit is good. God knows who do
abuse Him, and how people carry themselves towards all His commandments
and worship; it is a part of His perfection to know it. Secondly, another use is
to condemn the most sorts of men that do net considerof this truth; they little
think that God sees alltheir doings. I fear there is hardly any among us that
will seemto deny but that God cansee all his ways;and yet we see it is too

apparent by men's lives, that few men do believe this indeed. If we did charge
this upon our souls, we could not live so looselyas we do. Thirdly, Is it so that
God sees allmen's sins? Then this is a terror to all that go on with a self-
condemning heart (1 John 3:20). If we have self-condemning heart, how much
more shall we find a condemning God? Fourthly, this is comfort to good
people; for if God see all men's sins, then He sees all men's goodness much
rather. Again, what a comfort is this? If we desire to know our sins, God is
able to show them unto us. Fifthly, Does Godknow all men's sins? Then this
should make us afraid to do evil at any time, or in any place, yea in the
secretest.
II. THE KNOWLEDGE THAT GOD KNOWS ALL OUR WORKS IS THE
POWERFULMEANS TO ALL GOD'S ELECT, TO DO THEM GOOD,
AND TO QUICKEN THEM AND TO MAKE THEM TAKE HEED OF ALL
MANNER OF SIN.
1. Becausethe Lord's knowing of our works is not only a mere knowing of
them, but also a marking and a pondering them too.
2. BecausewhenGod sees allour sins, it is with a most holy and pure eye, and
such an eye as cannot abide such an objectbefore Him.
3. BecausewhenGod sees allour sins, He records them, He notes them in a
book that He may never forgetthem.
4. BecausewhenGod sees oursins, it is even all one as if all the world should
see them too;for let our sins be never so secret, yet, it God know it, it is worse
than if all the world knew it; for all the world shall know it one day.

5. Our dispositionis such that we cannotabide that our wickednessesshould
be seenof anybody that we know cannot abide them.
III. NOW WE COME TO THE PARTICULARS. The first is in these words,
Thou hast a name that thou livest. By "name" is meant a mere name, as we
see by the clause following, "and art dead";for when a man is dead, the name
to live must needs be a mere name. First, a name in regardof themselves, they
took themselves to be alive; as Paul had a name to live before his conversion,
while yet he was Pharisee, he had then a name to live (Romans 7:9). Secondly,
a name in regard to other godly Churches;others in the judgment of charity
conceivedthey were alive; as the Scribes, and the Pharisees, ourSaviour
Christ told them, they had name to live (Matthew 23:27), that is, ye seemto be
alive, ye have a name to live, but indeed ye are dead. Thirdly, a name among
poor, ignorant, and simple people that are led away with shows. Ye know that
there be abundance of poor, simple people, that knew not what true religion
is, nay, maybe hate it, but yet they are led awaywith the show of it. Fourthly,
a name among the persecutionof religion, and so they are persecutedtoo
among them that live indeed; for mockers take them to be of the same
number. Now the point of doctrine is this, that it is a horrible thing to restin a
mere name of being religious. The reasons are, first — this is to be farthest off
from religion; because himself will not, and others cannot so effectually apply
to him the means of recovery, he being in his own and others' judgment a true
convert. As a sick man who thinks himself well is of all others farthest from
cure. Religionis a real thing, and therefore he that rests in having the name of
it, is farthest off from it. Secondly, it is a very blasphemy to get the name for
goodpeople, when we are not goodpeople indeed. The reasonis this —
religion hath an inward dependence upon God; it hath an internal relation
unto God; it puts a man into a propriety with God that God is his God; it puts
the very name of God upon a man. Now, if a man take the name without the
thing, it must needs be a very blasphemy. Thirdly, it is a fiat lie, when a man
hath the name of a goodChristian, and hath not the thing signified by the
name. Fourthly, it is an unreasonable thing. When a man hath not the thing,
there is no reasonthat he should have the name. Fifthly, it is an impudent
thing. When we have a name to live and to be wrought upon by the Word,

what an impudent thing is it, if we do not look to it that we be so indeed. One
would think we should blush to think what a name we have, and how little we
make goodour name betweenGod and our own souls. Sixthly, it is an
inexcusable thing. If we have a name to be alive, we are without excuse if we
be not. First, because out of our own mouths God will judge us; we said we
were His people, we took the name of His servants;why then He will say, Why
had I not your service? Why would you do no more for Me? Secondly, ye can
have no other excuse. Canyou say you could not believe in My Name? Ye
could not forego suchand such lusts at My command? Why then would you
go for My servants? Seventhly, it is an unprofitable thing: a naked name will
do us no good. True faith alone does justify, not the name of it; true peace of
consciencedoes comfort, not the name of it; true interest in God gives a man a
cheerful access to God, not the name of it, Eighthly, it is not only unprofitable,
but also it is hurtful. It is hurtful unto others. It is hurtful unto them that are
without; for when they see how lazy such as go for professors be, how they
have little else in them but talking and professing, and prating and hearing,
this hardens the heart of them that are without, and makes them all think that
religion is a matter of nothing. Again, they do a greatdeal of hurt unto comers
on. Many a man that is smitten at the word, that begins amendment, and gives
goodhopes that he will come to something in the end, when he lights upon
such Sardian saints, that are so in name, but there is no life at all in them,
these put him back again. Again, they do a greatdeal of hurt unto the saints of
God, sometimes by deceiving of their hearts and cooling of their zeal and
fervour, or if they cannotdo that, then they hate them, and prove very shy of
them, and gird them behind their backs, and do them much mischief. Again,
they do a greatdeal of hurt to themselves, for it had been better for them they
had never had a name, than having a name not to be as the name does
require. No; the Lord does not find fault with Sardis for having of a name that
they lived, but that they had this name when as they were dead; if they had
been alive, the name to be alive had been well. Then what use must we make
of this point?
1. To show the misery of some of our Churches. They have only a name to live,
though we might live well enough, for we have the doctrine of life, in many

places, yet in regardof our conversations forthe most part, we may say it is
but only a name. For how does sin reign among us everywhere? Covetousness,
profaneness, fulness of bread, lust, security, deadness ofheart, formality —
now where such sins do abound, there the powerof godliness must needs be
away. Generallyour assemblies contentthemselves with an outward
profession;if they go so far, they have but a name to live. Come we to the
graces ofGod's Holy Spirit, without the which a man is dead in trespassesand
sins, etc., as faith, repentance, peace ofconscience, andlove, etc., where are
any of these to be found?
2. Another use is of terror againstus. Do we think that the Lord will endure
this at our hands? He hath endured it too long, but He will not suffer it
always. He hath a spiritual thunder-clap that He lets fly againstthis sin
(Isaiah 32:5). That is, the Lord will unmask all such persons, He will pluck off
all their names, and they shall have a name fit for their natures, and He will
do this — First, in their own consciences.Secondly, in the judgment of others.
If we restin a name, the Lord will detectus at last before others; and then
what a shame will this be?
(W. Fenner, B. D.)
The state of all men known to Christ
D. Wilcox.
I. CHRIST HATH A PERFECT KNOWLEDGEOF EVERYONE'S
WORKS.
1. In what extent we are to understand "the works" whichChrist is saidto
know. Works here are not to be taken as distinguished from words and
thoughts, but in the largestsense, as including both.

2. In what manner Christ knows men's works.(1)The knowledge Christhas of
the works ofmen is most clear. He does not take up with appearances, but
sees through every disguise, and takes things as they really are.(2)The
knowledge Christhath of the works of men is immediate, not by report from
others, but from His ownall-penetrating light and inspection.(3)The
knowledge Christhath of the works of men is perfectand full. Perfectas to
their number; none of them escape His notice or regard; perfect as to their
nature and circumstances, and as to the springs and aims of those that do
them. Works that we may have forgottenare knownto Him and remembered
by Him.(4) The knowledge Christhas of the works of men is infallible and
liable to no mistake. He cannot be deceived, and will not be mocked.(5)The
knowledge Christhas of the works ofmen is with approbation, or dislike,
according as they are found to be goodor bad.
II. WHOEVER HE BE THAT HATH A NAME TO LIVE, AND YET IS
DEAD, IS KNOWN TO CHRIST AS WHAT HE REALLY IS.
1. What is implied in having a name to live? They that are really in a state of
grace may be justly said to live, as such souls live to the best purpose; for to
them to live is Christ. They are out of the reach of the sting of death, and so
need not through fearof it pass their lives in bondage;they are near a blessed
immortality, in which they are to live for ever. To be thus privileged is to be
alive indeed. And such a name may be acquired —(1) By a freedom from the
grosserpollutions of the world.(2) A name to live, as it implies an open and
visible professionofsubjection to Christ, a joining with His people in His
worship and ordinances, and an holding on some time in such a course;so it
may arise from these.(3)A name to live may result from experiencing the
common operations of the Spirit of God, which for a time may look hopeful
and promising.(4) These convictions and external reformations may be
accompaniedwith excelling gifts, enlargedness in the duty of prayer, joy and
delight in hearing and attending upon the supper of the Lord, frequency in
acts of self-denial and mortification. There may be greathead-knowledge and

ability to discourse ofhypocrisy itself with appearing abhorrence, and of
sincerity with signs of love to it; and yet all these may be found in one
unchanged at heart.
2. Such a name some professors ofChristianity may have, who are all the
while they bear it spiritually dead. If it be asked, With whom such may have a
name to live? a negative answeris obvious: Notwith Him who seethnot as
man seeth.But,
1. They may have a name to live with themselves:they may reckonthemselves
in a state of grace, when they are all the while in the gall of bitterness, and
bond of iniquity.(1) In the security that reigns in their souls. They dread no
danger, though the nearestto it, but cry, Peace, Peace, to themselves, when
sudden destruction is coming upon them.(2) Sinners show their goodopinion
of themselves in the hope they keepup of their safety with reference to their
souls and eternity.(3) They may have a superficial joy in spiritual things as the
stony ground hearers had in receiving the word; and thus, with themselves
they have a name to live.
2. They may have a name to live among others, and these the friends and
followers of Christ.
3. The sadness of the case, to be dead, under a name to live, or of being
alive.Application:
1. Does Christknow every man's works? How strange is it that it should be
brought into dispute, whether He be truly and properly God!

2. Does Christknow the works of every man? What ignorance orunbelief
does it argue in such as sin securely, if they can but do it secretly!
3. What seriousnessbecomesus whenever we engage in any holy duty or
religious worship, as all our works are known to Christ!
4. What reasonhave we to be humble in a review of our own works, as they
are all known to Christ, and, as many of them are such as we have cause to
fear, He at once observedand disapproved!
5. How fit is Christ to be the Judge of all men at the last day, who knows every
man's work now!
6. How big with terror to hypocrites is this doctrine.
7. The hearts of those in whom there is no guile allowed, may take comfort in
the thoughts that Christ knows their works and knows them to be the fruits of
His Spirit and grace in them.
8. May one that has a name to live be spiritually dead? Hence learn that
saving religionin an inward thing.
9. When Christ declares, Iknow. thy works, that thou hast a name that thou
livest, and art dead, with what solicitude should every one make the inquiry,
Lord, is it I?

10. How inconsiderable a thing is it to be judged of man in this day! of man
that lookethonly on the outside. Our chief concernis with one infinitely
greater:He that judges us is the Lord.
11. How terrible will the day of Christ's coming be to the self-deceiving
hypocrite, and how joyful to the humble saint.
(D. Wilcox.)
Works
H. H. Gowen.
I.THE WORK OF THE BODY.
II.THE WORK OF THE MIND.
III.THE WORKOF THE CHARACTER.
IV.THE WORKOF THE SPIRIT.
V.THE WORK OF SUFFERING.
(H. H. Gowen.)
That
On formality and hypocrisy in religion

S. Lavington.
I. WHAT IS NECESSARYTO GIVE A MAN A NAME TO LIVE?
1. It is necessarythat he abstainfrom vice, and the grosserpollutions of the
world.
2. Besides this, there must be an external appearance ofdevotion. Mere
negatives will not be sufficient.
II. WHEN MAY A MAN BE SAID HAVE A NAME TO LIVE ONLY? A
statue may be so curiously painted and dressedas to be mistaken, at a
distance, for a man; and a hypocrite may borrow so much of the appearance
of Christian graces, as may enable him to pass for a genuine Christian.
1. He has nothing but a name who attends to the outward part of religion only.
2. He that has but a name to live, feels no satisfactionand joy in approaching
to God.
3. He has a name to live only, who, notwithstanding all his religious exercises,
is in no degree better.
4. He has a name to live only, whom difficulties or apprehended dangers cause
to turn back, or who, as Solomonsays, "faints in the day of adversity."
III. THE FOLLY AND DANGER OF BEING SATISFIED WITHA NAME
TO LIVE WHILE YOU ARE DEAD.

1. Considerthen, that while this is your characteryour services cannotbe
acceptable to God.
2. Consideragain, that while you indulge this lifeless religion you will never
attain to holiness.
3. Besides,it can never give true satisfaction. It may silence, but it cannot
satisfy conscience.
4. With nothing but a name to live, we shall never obtain an admissioninto
heaven.
(S. Lavington.)
Some causes ofspiritual death
C. P. Thwing.
1. One cause ofspiritual death is self-satisfaction. Atraveller loston the
prairie, with the snow falling fast and thick, with his blood coursing slowly,
feels that sense ofease whichthe opium-eater knows. He lies down in the soft
white drifts. They make an easybed. His friends find him and try to arouse
him. He would rather be left undisturbed. His self-satisfactionworks his
death. George III. was satisfiedwith his government of the American colonies;
he therefore refusedto remedy its abuses, and his satisfactioncosthim these
colonies. Upon all who are satisfiedwith their standing before God the chill of
spiritual death has begun to rest. They can no more draw spiritual life from
themselves, than one can feed his body by sucking blood from its veins.
Therefore, satisfiedwith their relation to God, they do not strive to gain life

from Him who is the source ofthe life spiritual, as He is of the life physical.
Their self-satisfactionworks the ruin of their souls.
2. But more frequently than by self-satisfactionis the spiritual life killed by
the indulgence of some sin. Many a man has felt he could surrender his entire
property to God; but when the temptation arose ofmaking a hundred dollars
by a trick of the trade, he has chosento be dishonest. But the sin may not be
one of commission. It may consistin the omissionof some duty. It may consist
in the refusalof some means of grace. It may consistin the preference of doing
nothing to advance God's cause. Suchsins of omissiondeaden the spiritual
life. But in generalthe sin consists in the choice ofsome other goodthan the
goodwhich the Christian life affords.
(C. P. Thwing.)
The warning voice re-echoedfrom Sardis
John Gibson, B. D.
The evidences ofsalvation are various, and may be viewedin various ways.
On the present occasion — looking to the expressionof the text, where the
word rendered "dead" is literally "a dead body," a corpse — I will endeavour
to work out the marks of a living as opposedto a dead soul, from what we
know to be marks of a living as opposedto a dead body.
I. One great characteristic ofspiritual life, in the Bible, is the possessionof
SPIRITUAL SIGHT. The first test, therefore, I would propose of spiritual life
is a perception of spiritual truth. Place before the eye of the living body a
scene ofloveliness or of horror, and from the eye the heart is at once affected,
at once feels the attractionor repulsion, and so feels as to act upon that
feeling. Even so, place before the vision of the living soul a spiritual truth —
the beauty of holiness, or the loathsomenessofsin — and at once does the
heart so feel the truth as to act upon that feeling. Nay, verily, as spiritual facts
are vastly beyond all corporealfacts in importance, so spiritual facts have

vastly more effectupon the heart, when once the soul's vision is tolerably
clear:they speedily become its all in all.
II. The living soul has HEARING as wellas sight. There are many, who are
listeners to religious sounds after a fashion, eagerattendants on this or that
preacher, ready hearkeners to certain kinds of religious conversation. But
their hearing is an empty thing. It fills their head with notions and their
tongue with words, and perchance their heart with a sort of excitement; but as
to any solid effecton heart and practice, that is wanting. How different with
the soulthat really lives! This soul, conscious ofGod's presence, trembles at
His threatenings, bows in reverence to His commands, melts at the hearing of
His love, and pants after His promises in the very fervency of desire. Its
spiritual ear, as its spiritual eye, brings every impression home to the heart;
there roots it a vital principle, sanctifying the inner man and prompting the
outer practice.
III. The living soul possesses also the faculty of SPEECH. Its very existence is
prayer. Keenly alive to the greatnessofits wants, and as alive to the willing
fulness of the Lord, its desires are continually travelling upwards from these
wants to that fulness, in the inward breathings of prayer, if not with its
audible words.
IV. I will continue the analogybut one step further, and that is in GROWTH.
True, spiritual life, as it is a quickening, so is it an impulsive principle. As it
gives action to the spiritual eye, ear, and tongue, so does it give growth to the
whole inner man. Slow growth it may be; still grow the living soul must and
will. It is a growthin knowledge;but that is not the sure test. It is a growth in
holiness, and that is She test; the one clear, decisive test of the soul's life
(Matthew 7:20). True Christian holiness is not the honesty of the worldling;
nor the honour of the gentleman; nor the temperance of the philosopher; nor
the kindness of the good-natured;nor yet is it the mechanicalobservance of

the formalist, nor the bustling vehemence of the religionist. True Christian
holiness is a hearty conformity to God's whole will, acting in a loving
obedience to all God's commandments. It works in two greatlines of feeling
and operation— in a deep-rootedhorror of sin, as God's utter hate, and a
perfect hungering and thirsting after righteousness, as God's supreme delight,
both springing from entire love to God as their one grand source and motive.
Conclusion:What is the result of this inquiry for you? As mark after mark of
spiritual life has been brought forward, have you been able to say, "This mark
I have; if not in the highestdegree, still, God be thanked, most assuredlyI
have it"? But are there any who can find no such marks in their soul? Then,
whateverelse you may have, you are destitute indeed. You may be very
amiable in men's eyes. Deathhas sometimes its momentary beauty. A
shadowyloveliness is seento linger on the lifeless features. Yet the work of
decayand destruction is just as busy beneath. You may be gifted with great
talents and greatenergy; you may gain high distinction and honour in the
world; but if your soul be not "alive in Christ," what is all this but a fading
garland on the head of a corpse?
(John Gibson, B. D.)
A living Church
H. Cooke,D. D.
I. A CHURCH MAY BE SAID TO LIVE WHILE SHE IS DEAD, WHEN
SHE HAS THE NAME OF CHRISTIAN WITHOUT THE DOCTRINESOF
THE GOSPEL.
1. The most important discovery in the Word of God is that of redemption by
the Lord Jesus Christfrom sin and death and misery. One of the most vital
doctrines must therefore be what relates to the Personof the Redeemer.

2. The seconddoctrine upon which depends the life of the Church, is the
Atonement or Sacrifice which Christ our Lord has offeredfor sin. The
supreme deity of our Saviour demonstrates His power to save if He would.
3. The third doctrine upon which depends the life of the Church, is that which
relates to the Holy Spirit and His influences.
4. In the sum of these doctrines we discoverthe fourth principle upon the
influence of which the life of the Church depends, the doctrine of Free Grace.
The practicalreceptionof this doctrine in the Church lies at the foundation of
a religion for sinners.
II. The Church may have a name to live, and be in reality dead, WHEN
ORTHODOXYIN OPINION IS SUBSTITUTEDFOR MORALITY IN
PRACTICE. III. THE CHURCH MAY HAVE A NAME TO LIVE, WHILE
IN REALITY DEAD, FROM HAYING AN EXTERNAL MORALITY
WITHOUT HUMILITY AND PIETY.
(H. Cooke, D. D.)
That a minister may be in fault that the people are dead
Wm. Fenner, B. D.
I say the minister may be in the fault; the point is very clearfrom this place.
The Lord being to reprove the people here of Sardis, for their deadness in
religion, He directs His reproof to their minister. The goodor bad estate of a
people dependeth much upon the minister. Commonly we see it fall out, as the
Prophet Hosea said, "Like people, like priest" (Hosea 4:9). Such as the builder
is, such is the building; as is the husbandman, so is the husbandry.

(Wm. Fenner, B. D.)
Moraldeath
Wm. Fenner, B. D.
By dead I mean five things.
1. Deadnessofguilt; when a man is guilty of any offence, that is death by the
law. Now when a man is not pardoned of God, he is dead, though he have
never so many hopes and conceits offorgiveness.
2. Deadnessofmind, when the mind is ignorant of God in regardof saving
knowledge.
3. Deadnessofheart, when the heart is not inclined towards God, then we say
it is dead towards God and all goodness.
4. Deadnessofconscience, whenthe consciencehath no force; it may be it
finds fault with such and such ways, but it hath no powerover the man to
make him to leave them.
5. Deadnessofaffection; when the affections are clumsy, and will not stir
towards God and all heavenly things. Should a man have all Christianity in
him, and yet be dead and dull and without life, it is even all one as if he had
just nothing. First, for conversion. Should a man seemto be converted, O
what a changedman is this! He was a drunkard, and now he is sober. This is
well. Ay, but if thou beest dead to the ways of God this is nothing towards
heaven; excepta new life be put into this man, to be alive in all these good
ways;except he be quickened togetherwith Christ. Secondly, faith. Should a
man lean himself upon God, and upon Christ, should a man apply all the

promises of the gospelto his soul; alas, what of this? If this man be dead still,
without such a faith as produces life, it is little better than nothing. Thirdly, to
be a member of the visible Church of God, to be a stone in God's building, put
in by baptism, kept in by professionof the Christian faith. This is a poor
thing, if this man now be not lively stone. Fourthly, for hope. It may be thou
hast hope that thou art a goodChristian, thou hast a hope of the heavenly
inheritance; now if thy hope be a dead hope, if it does not quicken thee up to
trample on the world, to carry thee on through thick and thin, this is not a
gracious hope. Fifthly, for repentance. Whateverthou hast to sayfor
repentance, canstthou plead a thousand changes and reformations, yet if thou
hast not gotten out of a dead temper, thou art yet under an impenitent heart.
Again, to go over all duties of religion — they must be done with life; to do
them with a dead heart, is as goodas not to do them at all. Religionis a very
irksome thing unto us, as long as we are dead.hearted. What is it that takes
awaythe grievousnessofit, but a lively heart?
(Wm. Fenner, B. D.)
Deathin the Church
A. Maclaren, D. D.
I need scarcelyremind you that all the sevenepistles to the Churches are cast
in one mould; eachof them begins with setting forth some aspectof the
ascendedChrist's power or glory or relation with His Churches, which aspect
is generallydrawn from the greatvision in the first chapter. It is to this
correspondence betweenthe aspectin which our Lord is revealedhere and the
state of the Church of which the vision is given, that I venture to ask your
attention. First of all, then, let us try to understand what sort of a Church it is
that wants this vision. It was dead. One smiting word stands in the place of all
characterisation;it had no persecutions like the faithful band at Smyrna. Why
should it? It had not life enough to be obnoxious!What was there in such a
Church as that to provide any antagonism? It exactly suited the world's

purpose, and was, in fact, only a bit of the world under another name. A dead
Church is on the best possible terms with a dead world. When the frost binds
the ground, weeds and flowers alike ceaseto be put forth. There is a worse
condition than when many people are thinking earnestlyabout religion, and
some of them are thinking wrongly. And so the Church at Sardis had no
heretics because there was nobody in it that caredenough about the principles
of Christianity to think earnestlyabout them. And it had no immoralities
either — most respectable. And yet one Eye lookedat it and said, "Thou hast
a name that thou livest, and are dead." About how many of our Churches and
of the individual Christians who take up the professionof Christ and connect
themselves with ecclesiasticalarrangements with such light hearts, may the
same be said! Life is the condition of union with Jesus Christ, and death is the
grim alternative that waits upon separationfrom Him. That Church had lost
the tenacity of its hold and the intimacy of its union with Jesus Christ. Now
note further, as brought out in this letter, that such a condition is not final and
irreversible. They were not so utterly dead as moribund, and so in another
part of the letter we read about things which remain and are ready to die, and
about works which were done but were not perfector fulfilled. Ay! effects last
after causes cease;institutions live when all the reality is out of them. Habit,
use and wont, forms, ceremonies, keepup the appearance ofvitality when the
reality is almostgone. There are creatures ofa low organisationwhere you
can getmuscular contractions afterlife is extinct; you will find gardens round
many a deserted, roofless house in the country where the weeds have not
killed all the roses, and a vagrant floweror two still remains to testify the
culture that was. And so in thousands of our communities there is enoughleft
of the living, lingering effectof the primitive impulse to keepup a ghastly
mockeryof life which would be far better if it knew itself to be what it is —
dead! And that brings me to say againthat such a condition may be absolutely
concealedfrom every eye but the Eye that is as a flame of fire. A greatmany
of our communities I am afraid are living on the past. John Wesleyhad a
greatname, but you cannot live because there was once John Wesleywith you.
Unconsciousnessis the surest signof spiritual decline. I suppose a man
paralysedhas no sense in his limbs, and might put his feetinto a tub of
scalding waterand take the flesh off the bones and never know it. Frostbitten
limbs are perfectly comfortable:it is the waking that is the pain. Like the hero

of the Old TestamentBook withhis locks cropped, they go out as of old to
exercise themselves, andthey wist not that their strength has departed from
them till they try a death-grapple with the Philistines, and then they find it out
fast enough. What is it that has in the course of ages worninto indistinctness
the sharp-cut granite features of the Sphynx that looks out over the Egyptian
desert? The perpetual attrition of microscopic grains of sand blown againstit
by the vagrant winds! And so the multitudinous trivialities of life, coming in
contactwith the image of Jesus Christ in our hearts, will efface its fair
features and leave but a dim outline.
II. Now, let me ask you to LOOK AT THE VISION WHICH SUCH A
CHURCH NEEDS. "He that hath the sevenspirits of God and the seven
stars." It is a distinct reference to the personalspirit of God conceivedofin
the manifoldness of His operations rather than in the unity of His Personality.
That spirit comes permeating, enlightening, illuminating, vivifying,
discerning, and strengthening all of us if we yield ourselves to it. There is the
antidote for a dead Church, a living spirit in the sevenfoldperfectness ofHis
operations. He is the spirit of consolation, ofadoption, of supplication, of
holiness and wisdom, of powerand of love, and of sound mind, and into all
our deadness there will come the life-breath which shall surely quicken it all.
That which is unique in the history of Christianity as compared with all other
religions, its power of self-recuperation, and when it is apparently nearest
extinction, the marvellous wayin which it flames up againbecause the Spirit
of the Lord is poured forth. Other teachers — what can they do? They can
impart a system, they can train a little group of dwindled imitators, who
generallyimitate their weaknesses, andthink they are imitating their
strength, but to give the spirit that animated the originator is exactlywhat
none of them can do.
III. THE WORDS OF MY TEXT SUGGEST ONE OF THE WAYS IN
WHICH THIS BESTOWMENTOF THE SEVEN SPIRITS IS
ACCOMPLISHED. One way by which that Spirit of God is shed abroad upon
His moribund Church is by raising up men in it filled with the Spirit, and

whose intense vitality communicates life to that which is almostdead. Let us
all go back to Him for quickening.
(A. Maclaren, D. D.)
Uselessnessofmere profession
J. Trapp.
Many content themselves with the name of Christians; as if many a ship hath
not been called"Safeguard" or"Good-speed" whichyet hath fallen into the
hands of pirates.
(J. Trapp.)
A dead Church
D. Tasker, D. D.
A pastor of a Church in a westerntown went to his prayer-meeting on
Thursday evening as usual, where the attendance was very small; but that
evening no one came;even the sextonwent away after lighting the church.
After waiting half an hour for his members to put in their appearance, and
finding that he was the sole worshipper, he went to the bell-cord and slowly
tolled the bell, as the custom was when any one died in the town. The alarm
was magnetic. All over the town the inquiry was made, "Who is dead?" A
number of the members of the Church hastenedthere to ascertainwho was
the unfortunate one. Just then the minister, descending the steps, was
interrogatedby severalof his flock, "Who is dead?" "This Church is dead,"
was his response, and then and there he resignedthe pastorate.
(D. Tasker, D. D.)

Semblances oflife
C. Bowes.
Nature presents us with many affecting illustrations of the semblance of life,
where death is reigning; the flowers in your gardenmay for a time retain the
form, when life is extinct; the ancient oak in the forest may stand for years
erect, while life has long since passedaway;the tiny shellon yonder beach
may attractyour notice, when its once little tenant cannowhere be found: so
do we often think we find the form of godliness, when the power — the reality
— the life are wanting.
(C. Bowes.)
A name to live
T. Guthrie, D. D.
I have seena graft bound to the bleeding tree. It was inserted into its wounded
side, that both might become one. Yet no incorporation followed. There was
no living union. Spring came singing, and with her fingers opened all the
buds; summer came, with her dewy nights and sunny days, and brought out
all the flowers;brown autumn came to shake the trees and reap the fields, and
with music and dances and mirth to hold harvest-home; but that unhappy
branch bore no fruit, nor flower, nor even leaf. Held on by dead clayand
rotting cords, it merely stuck to the living tree, a withered and unsightly thing.
And so, alas!it is with many; having a name to live, they are dead.
(T. Guthrie, D. D.)
A show of life
H. Macmillan, D. D.
God abhors and man despises the fair colours of a religious professionthat
stand out, as it were, above the surface ofthe nature, like the appliquee of the

embroiderer, instead of being interwoven with the stuff so as to become a part
of it. Mere outward decorum and religious decencyare not what God
requires, though they are too often, alas I what is presented to Him in lieu of
the beauties of holiness. It is easyto assume the characterof God's people, to
imitate their manners, to use their language, to conform to their habits. It is
easierto paint a flowerthan to grow one.
(H. Macmillan, D. D.)
The semblance of life
C. H. Spurgeon.
How like to a Christian a man may be and yet possessno vital godliness!Walk
through the British Museum, and you will see all the orders of animals
standing in their various places, and exhibiting themselves with the utmost
possible propriety. The rhinoceros demurely retains the position in which he
was setat first, the eagle soarsnotthrough the window, the wolf howls not at
night; every creature, whetherbird, beast, or fish, remains in the particular
glass caseallottedto it; but we all know these are not the creatures, but only
the outward semblances ofthem. So in the Churches of Christ, many
professors are not living believers, but stuffed Christians. They possessallthe
externals of religion, and every outward morality that you could desire; they
behave with greatpropriety, they keeptheir places, and there is no outward
difference betweenthem and the true believer, except upon the vital point, the
life which no power on earth can possibly confer. There is this essential
distinction, spiritual life is absent.
(C. H. Spurgeon.)
A life akin to death
C. H. Spurgeon.

I was reading in Humboldt's "Cosmos," the other day, a very remarkable
thing. He tells us that he went with some Indians into a number of, huge
caverns in South America, which were lockedin perpetual darkness;but ill
them certain fruit-eating bats were accustomedto go to dwell. They had
brought there the seeds ofdifferent plants, and when Humboldt and his
guides enteredwith their torches, there were trees and plants of every kind
that had grownin the utter darkness. Justas you have seena potato grow in
your cellar, and send out its yellow sickly shoots, so the whole cavernwas like
a greatforestor garden, full of these ghastly ghosts of plants. Oh, you may
work in your Churches, and you may sow, and you may labour, but if the
blessedlight of God's own truth does not come in, it will be a sicklyvegetation
akin to death.
(C. H. Spurgeon.)
Formalism and true Christianity
C. Garrett.
The other day I was at a railwaystation with a friend, and looking at a couple
of engines. As we were talking the engine-driver came up, and I remarked,
"We have just been admiring the engines;very splendid ones they are. I
should think they are just alike." The man lookedat me significantly. "Yes;
they are much alike outside, but that one there has no fire burning, and it
cannot even move itself; but this one here has the fire burning and the steam
up, and I am just going to jump upon it, and you will see it run awaywith the
whole train behind it." Well, I thought, there is just that difference between
the for-realistand the true Christian. The formalist is, to all appearance, a
splendid engine; but there is no fire and the steam is not up. The Christian
may not be so powerful-looking or so showy, but then the fire is burning, and
the steamis up; and while the one cannot help himself, the other will by his
zeal affecta whole neighbourhood.
(C. Garrett.)

COMMENTARIES
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers
III.
(1) Sardis.—The modern Sart—now a mere village of paltry huts—once the
capital of the old Lydian monarchy, and associatedwith the names of Crœsus,
Cyrus, and Alexander. It was the greatentrepôt of dyed woollenfabrics, the
sheepof “many-flocked” Phrygia supplying the raw material. The art of
dyeing is said to have been invented here; and many-coloured carpets or mats
found in the houses of the wealthy were manufactured here. The metal known
as electrum, a kind of bronze, was the produce of Sardis; and in early times
gold-dust was found in the sand of the Pactolus, the little stream which passed
through the Agora of Sardis, and washedthe walls of the Temple of Cybele. It
is said that gold and silver coins were first, minted at Sardis, and that resident
merchants first became a class there. An earthquake laid it waste in the reign
of Tiberius; a pestilence followed, but the city seems to have recoveredits
prosperity before the date of this epistle. The worship of Cybele was the
prevailing one; its rites, like those of Dionysos and Aphrodite, encouraged
impurity.
The writer is described in words similar to those in Revelation1:4, as the one
who hath the seven spirits of God, and the seven stars;but there is a
difference. There Christ was seenholding the stars in His right hand; here it is
said He hath the sevenSpirits and also the sevenstars. In this language it is
difficult to overlook the unhesitating way in which Christ is spokenof as
owning or possessing that Holy Spirit who alone can make angels of His
Church to shine as stars. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Christ (Romans 8:9;
Romans 8:11). His promise is, “I will send the Comforter unto you” (John
15:26), as possessing allpower in heaven and earth. “He is able,” to use the
language ofProfessorPlumptre, “to bring togetherthe gifts of life, and the

ministry for which those gifts are needed. If those who minister are without
gifts; it is because they have not askedfor them.” This the angelof the
Sardian Church had not done; his faith and the faith of the Church around
him had sunk into a superficial, though perhaps ostentatious, state.Here,
then, lies the appropriateness ofthe description given of Christ, as the source
of life and light to His Church.
A name that thou livest.—It is only needful to mention, and to dismiss the
fanciful conjecture, that the name of the angelwas Zosimos, or some parallel
name, signifying life-bearing or living. It is the reputation for piety possessed
by the Church of Sardis which is referred to. Living with the credit of
superior piety, it was easyto grow satisfiedwith the reputation, and to forget
to keepopen the channels through which grace andlife could flow, and to fail
to realise that the adoption of habits of life higher than those around them, or
those who lived before them, was no guarantee ofreal spiritual life; for “the
real virtues of one age become the spurious ones of the next . . . The belief of
the Pharisees, the religious practice of the Pharisees,was animprovement
upon the life of the sensualand idolatrous Jews whom the prophets
denounced. But those who used both the doctrinal and moral improvements
as the fulcrum of a selfish powerand earthly rank, were the same men after
all as their fathers, only accommodatedto a new age” (Mozley). Self-
satisfaction, whichsprings up when a certain reputation has been acquired, is
the very road to self-deception. The remedy is progress—forgetting the things
behind, lest looking with complacencyupon the past, moral and spiritual
stagnationshould set in, and spiritual death should follow.
MacLaren's Expositions
Revelation

THE LORD OF THE SPIRITS AND THE STARS
Revelation3:1.
The titles by which our Lord speaks ofHimself in the letters to the seven
churches are chosento correspondwith the spiritual condition of the
community addressed. The correspondencecanusually be observedwithout
difficulty, and in this case is very obvious. The church in Sardis, to which
Christ is presentedunder this aspectas the possessorof‘the sevenSpirits of
God and the seven stars,’had no heresies needing correction. It had not life
enough to produce even such morbid secretions.Neitherweeds nor flowers
grow in winter. There may be a lowerdepth than the condition of things when
people are all thinking, and some of them thinking wrongly, about Christian
truth. Betterthe heresies ofEphesus and Thyatira than the acquiescent
deadness of Sardis.
It had no immoralities. The gross corruptions of some in Pergamum had no
parallel there. Philadelphia had none, for it kept close to its Lord, and Sardis
is rebuked for none, because its evil was deeper and sadder. It was not
flagrantly corrupt, it was only - dead.
Of course it had no persecutions. Faithful Smyrna had tribulation unto death,
hanging like a thundercloud overhead, and Philadelphia, beloved of the Lord,
was drawing near its hour of trial. But Sardis had not life enough to be
obnoxious. Why should the world trouble itself about a dead church? It
exactly answers the world’s purpose, and is really only a bit of the world
under another name.

To such a church comes flaming in upon its stolid indifference this solemn and
yet gladvision of the Lord of the ‘sevenSpirits of God,’ and of ‘the seven
stars.’
I. Let us think of the condition of the church which especiallyneeds this
vision.
It is all summed up in that judgment, pronounced by Him who ‘knows its
works’:‘Thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead.’ No works either
goodor bad are enumerated, though there were some, which He gathers
togetherin one condemnation, as ‘not perfectbefore God.’
We are not to take that word ‘dead’ in the fullest sense ofwhich it is capable,
as we shall see presently. But let us remember how, when on earth, the Lord,
whose deepwords on that matter we owe mainly to John, taught that all men
were either living, because they had been made alive by Him, or dead - how
He said, ‘Except ye eat the flesh and drink the blood of the Son of man, ye
have no life in you,’ and how one of the main ideas of John’s whole teaching
is, ‘He that hath the Son hath life.’ This remembrance will help us to give the
words their true meaning. Death is the condition of those who are separated
from Him, and not receiving from Him the better life into their spirits by
communion and faith.
Into this condition the church in Sardis had fallen. People and bishop had lost
their hold on Him. Their hearts beat with no vigorous love to Him, but only
feebly throbbed with a pulsation which even His hand laid on their bosoms
could scarcelydetect. Their thoughts had no clearapprehension of Him or of
His love. Their communion with Him had ceased. Theirlives had no radiant
beauty of self-sacrificefor Christ’s sake. TheirChristianity was dying out.

But this death was not entire, as is seenfrom the fact that in the next verse
‘ready to die’ is the expressionapplied to some among them, or perhaps to
some lingering works which still survived. They were at the point of death,
moribund, with much of their spiritual life extinct, but here and there a spark
among the ashes, whichHis eye saw, and His breath could fan into a flame.
Some works still survived, though not ‘perfect,’shrunken and sicklylike the
blanched shoots of a plant feebly growing in a dark cellar.
In some animals of low organization you may see muscular movements after
life is extinct. So churches and individual Christians may keepon performing
Christian work for a time after the true impulse that should produce it has
ceased. A train will run for some distance after the steamhas been shut off.
Institutions last after the life is out of them, for use and wont keeps up a
routine of action, though the true motive is dead, and men may go on for long,
nominal adherents of a cause to which they are bound by no living conviction.
How much of your Christian activity is the manifestation of life, and how
much of it is the ghastly twitchings of a corpse under galvanism?
This death was unseen but by the flame-eyed Christ. These people in Sardis
had ‘a name to live.’ They had a high reputation among the Asiatic churches
for vigorous Christian character. And they themselves, no doubt, would be
very much astonishedat the sledgehammerblow of this judgment of their
state. One canfancy them saying - ‘We dead! Do not we stand high among our
brethren, have we not this and the other Christian work among us? Have we
not prophesiedin Thy name? ‘Yes, and the surestsign of spiritual death is
unconsciousness.Paralysis is not felt. Mortification is painless. Frost-bitten
limbs are insensitive. They only tingle when life is coming back to them. When
a man says I am asleep, he is more than half awake.
One characteristic oftheir death is that they have forgottenwhat they were in
better and happier times, and therefore need the exhortation, ‘Remember

how thou hast receivedand didst hear.’ They have fallen so far that the height
on which they once stoodis out of their sight, and they are content to lie on the
muddy flat at its base. No stings from conscious decline disturb them. They
are too far gone for that. The same round of formal Christian service which
marked their decline from their brethren hid it from themselves.
That is a solemn fact worth making very clearto ourselves, that the
profoundest spiritual decline may be going on in us, and we be all unconscious
of it. Samsonwist not that his strength was departed from him,’ and in utter
ignorance he tried to perform his old feats, only to find his weakness. So the
life of our spirits may have ebbed away, and we know not how much blood we
have lost until we try to raise ourselves and sink back fainting. Like some rare
essencein a partially closedvessel, put awayin some drawer, we go to take it
out and find nothing but a faint odour, a rotten cork, and an empty phial. The
sure way to lose the precious elixir of a Christian life is to shut it up in our
hearts. No life is maintained without food, air, and exercise. We must live on
the bread of God which came down from heaven, and breathe the breath of
His life-giving Spirit, and use all our powerfor Him, or else, forall our name
to live, and our shrunken, feeble imitations of the motions of life, the eyes
which are as a flame of fire will see the sad reality, and the lips into which
grace is poured will have to speak overus the one grim word - dead.
II. Notice now the thought of Christ presented to such a church. ‘He that hath
the sevenSpirits of God and the sevenstars.’
The greaterpart of the attributes with which our Lord speaks ofHimself in
the beginnings of the sevenletters to the churches are drawn from the features
of the majestic vision of the Christ in the first chapter of this book. But

nothing there corresponds to the first clause of this description, and so far this
designationis singular. There are, however, three other places in the
Apocalypse which throw much light on it, and to these we may turn for a
moment. In the apostolic salutationat the beginning of the book {i. 4} John in
yokes mercy and grace on the Asiatic churches from the Eternal Father, ‘and
from the sevenSpirits which are before the throne,’ and from Christ, the
faithful witness. In the grand vision of heavenly realities {ch. iv.} the seer
beholds burning before the throne sevenlamps of fire, ‘which are the seven
Spirits of God,’ and when, in the later portion of the same, he beholds the
conquering Lamb, who looses the seals ofthe book of the world’s history, he
sees Him having ‘seven eyes which are the sevenSpirits of God, sent forth into
all the earth,’ an echo of old words of the same prophet who had been John’s
precursorin the symbolic use of the ‘candlestick,’as representing the Church,
and who speaks of‘the seven eyes of the Lord which run to and fro
throughout the whole earth’ {Zechariah 4:10}.
Clearly in all these passageswe have the same idea presentedof the Holy
Spirit of Godin the completeness andmanifoldness of its sevenfoldenergies,
conceivedof as possessedand bestowedby the Lamb of God, the Lord of all
the churches. The use of the plural and the number seven is remarkable, but
quite explicable, on the ground of the sacrednumber expressing perfection,
and not inconsistentwith personal unity, underlying the variety of
manifestations. The personality of the Spirit is sufficiently set forth by that
refrain in eachepistle, ‘Let him hear what the Spirit saith to the churches.’
The divinity of the Spirit is plainly involved in the triple benediction at the
beginning of the letter, and by the sacredplace in which there the Spirit is
invoked, midmost betweenthe Father and the Son. The sevenlamps before
the throne speak of the flaming perfection of that Spirit of burning conceived
of as immanent in the Divine nature. The seven eyes sentforth into all the
earth speak of the perfectness ofthe energies ofthat same Spirit, conceivedof
as flashing and gleaming through all the world. And the greatwords of our
text agree with that vision of these seven as being the eyes of the Lamb slain,
in telling us that that fiery Spirit is poured out on men by the Lord, who had
to die before He could castfire on earth.

This is the thought which a dead or decaying church needs most. There is a
Spirit which gives life, and Christ is the Lord of that Spirit. The whole fullness
of the Divine energies is gathered in the Holy Spirit, and this is His chiefest
work - to breathe into our deadness the breath of life. Many other blessed
offices are His, and many other names belong to Him. He is ‘the Spirit of
adoption,’ He is ‘the Spirit of Supplication,’ He is ‘the Spirit of Holiness,’He
is ‘the Spirit of Wisdom,’ He is ‘the Spirit of Powerand of Love and of a
sound mind,’ He is ‘the Spirit of Counseland Might’; but highest of all is the
name which expressesHis mightiest work, the Spirit of Life.’ The flaming
lamps tell of His flashing brightness; the seven eyes of His watchful
Omniscience and other symbols witness the various sides of His gracious
activity on men’s hearts. The anointing oil was consecratedfrom gold to
express His work of causing men’s whole powers to move sweetlyand without
friction in the service ofGod, and of feeding the flame of devotion in the heart.
The ‘water’ spoke ofcleansing efficacy, as ‘fire’ of melting, transforming,
purifying power. But the ‘rushing mighty wind,’ blowing where it listeth,
unsustained, and free, visible only in its effects, and yet heard by every ear
that is not deaf, sometimes softand low, as the respiration of a sleeping child,
sometimes loud and strong as the storm, is His bestemblem. The very name
‘the Spirit’ emphasizes that aspectof His work in which He is conceivedof as
the source oflife. This is the thought of His working which comes with most
glad yet solemn meaning to Christian people who feel how low their life has
sunk. This is the true antidote to the deadness, so realand common among all
communions now, howeverit is skimmed overand hidden by a kind of film of
activity.
Christ has this sevenfoldSpirit. That means first that the same peacefuldove
which floated down from the open heavens on His meek head, just raisedfrom
the baptismal stream, fills now and for ever His whole humanity with its
perfect energies. ‘Godgiveth not the Spirit by measure unto him.’ How
marvellous that there is a manhood to which the whole fullness of the Spirit of
God can be imparted, an ‘earthen vessel,’capaciousenoughto hold this

‘treasure’! How marvellous that there is a Sonof man, who is likewise Sonof
God, and has the Spirit, not only for His own human perfecting, but to shed it
forth on all who love Him! It is the slain Lamb, who has the sevenSpirits of
God. That is to say, it was impossible that the fullness of spiritual influence
could be poured out quickening on men until Christ had died, and by His
death He has become the dispenserto the world of the principle of life. In His
hands is the gift. He is the Lord of the Spirit, ascendedup to give to men
according to the measure of their capacity, of that Spirit which He has
received, until we all come to the measure of the stature of the fullness of
Christ. How unlike the relation of other teachers to their disciples!Their
spirit is the very thing they cannot give. They can impart teaching, they can
give a method and principles, and a certain direction to the mind. They can
train imitators. But they are like Elijah, knowing not if their spirit will rest on
their successors, andsure that, if it do, it has not been their gift. The departing
prophet had to say to the petition for an elder son’s legacyof his spirit, ‘Thou
hast askeda hard thing,’ but Christ ascending letthat gift fall from His
uplifted hands of blessing, and the dove that abode on Him fluttered
downwards from the hiding cloud, to rest on the Apostles’heads, as they
steadfastlygazedup into heaven. Therefore they went back to Jerusalemwith
joy, even before the fuller gift of Pentecost.
Pentecostwas but a transitory sign of a perpetual gift. The rushing wind died
into calm, and the flickering tongues of fire had faded before the spectators
reachedthe place. Nordid the miracle of utterance lasteither. But whilst all
that is past, the substance remains. The fire of Pentecosthas not died down
into chilly embers, nor have the ‘rivers of living water, promised by the lips of
incarnate truth, been swallowedup in the sands or failed at their source. He is
perpetually bestowing the Spirit of God upon His Church. We are only too apt
to forget the present activity of our ascendedLord. We think of His mighty
work as ‘finished’ on the Cross, and do not conceive clearlyand strongly
enough His continuous work which is being done, now and ever, on the
throne. That work is not only His priestly intercessionandrepresentationof
us in heaven, but is also His working on earth in the bestowalonall His
followers of that Divine Spirit to be the life of their lives and the fountain of all

their holiness, wisdom, strength, and joy. For ever is He near us, ready to
quicken and to bless. He will breathe in silent ways grace and power into us,
and when life if low, He will pour a fuller tide into our veins. He knows all our
deadness and He cancure it all. He is Himself the life, and He is the Lord and
giver of life, because the sevenSpirits of God sent forth into all the earth are
the seveneyes of the slain Lamb.
One greatchannel through which spiritual life is imparted to a dying church
is suggestedby the other part of the description of our Lord here as having
the sevenstars.’The ‘stars’are the ‘angels of the churches,’by whom we are
probably to understand their bishops and pastors. If so, then we have a
striking thought, symbolized by the juxtaposition. Christ, as it were, holds in
the one hand the empty vessels, andin the other the brimming cup, from
which He will pour out the supply for their emptiness.
The lessontaught us is, that in a dead church the teachers mostly partake of
the deadness, andare responsible for it. But, further, we learn that Christ’s
way of reviving a decaying and all but effete church is of tenest by filling
single men full of His Spirit, and then sending them out to kindle a soul under
the ribs of death. So Luther brought back life to the churches in his day. So
the Wesleys brought about the great evangelicalrevivalof last century. So let
us pray that it may be again in our day when another century is drawing near
its end, and the love of many has grown cold.
If we regardthe ‘angels’as being but ideal representatives ofthe churches
themselves, then we may gatherfrom the juxtaposition of the two clauses a
lessonwhich is ever true. In Christ’s one hand is the perfect supply for all our
need, wisdom for our blindness, might to clothe our weakness, righteousness
for our sin, life to flood our drooping souls. In Christ’s other hand He holds us
all, and surely He will not leave us empty while we are within His arm’s length
of such fullness. Let us look to Him alone for all we need, and rejoice to know

that we, held in His grasp, are near His heart, the homo of infinite love, and
near His hand, the source of infinite supply of strength and grace.
III. Consider, now, the practicaluses of these thoughts.
That vision should shame us into penitent consciousness ofour own deadness.
When we contrastthe little life we possesswith the abundance waiting to be
given, like the poor scanty supply in some chokedmillstream compared with
the full-flashing store in the brimming river, we may well be strickenwith
shame. So much offered and so little possessed;such fiery energy of love
possible, and poor tepid feeling, actual!Such a mighty breath of God blowing
all about us, and we lying as if enchanted and becalmed, with scarce wind
enough to keepour idle sails from flapping. There in Jesus Christ is the
measure of what we might possessand the pattern of what we should possess -
does it not bow us in penitence, because ofwhat we do possess?
But while ashamedand penitent, we should be kept by that vision from
despondent thoughts, as if the future could never be different from the past. It
is not goodto think too much of our failure and emptiness, lestpenitence
darken into despair, and shame cut the sinews of our souls and unfit them for
all brave endeavour. Let us think of Christ’s fullness and hope, as well as
repent.
Let it stir us too to seek for the reasonwhy we have not more of Christ’s life.
What is the film which prevents the light from reaching our eyes? I remember
once seeing by a roadside a stone trough for cattle to drink from empty,
because the pipe from which it was fed was stopped by a great plug of ice.

That is the reasonwhy many of our hearts are so empty of Christ’s Spirit. We
have plugged the channel with a mass of ice. Close communion with Jesus
Christ is the only means of possessing His Spirit. With penitence let us go back
to Him, and let us hold fast by His hand. If we listen to Him, trust Him, keep
our minds and hearts attent on Him, He will breathe on us as of old, and as we
hear Him say, ‘Receive ye the Holy Ghost,’a diviner life will pass into our
veins, and the law of the Spirit of life in Christ will make us free from the law
of sin and death.
BensonCommentary
Revelation3:1. To the angelof the church in Sardis write — This city, “once
the renownedcapital of Crœsus and the rich Lydian kings, is now no longer
worthy of the name of a city. It lies about thirty-three miles to the south of
Thyatira, and is calledby the Turks, Sart, or Sard, with little variation from
the originalname. It is a most sadspectacle;nor canone forbear weeping over
the ruins of so greata city: for now it is no more than an ignoble village, with
low and wretched cottagesofclay; nor hath it any other inhabitants besides
shepherds and herdsmen, who feed their flocks and cattle in the neighbouring
plains. Yet the greatextent and grandeur of the ruins abundantly show how
large and splendid a city it was formerly. The Turks themselves have only one
mosque, a beautiful one indeed, perverted to that use from a Christian
church. Very few Christians are here to be found; and they, with great
patience, sustaina miserable servitude; and, what is far more miserable, are
without a church, without a priest among them. Such is the deplorable state of
this once most glorious city; but her works were not found perfect; that is,
they were found blameable before God; she was dead even while she lived;
and she is punished accordingly.” — Bishop Newton. Mr. Lindsay, however,
informs us, that there is a small church establishment on the plains of Sardis,
where, about five years ago, the few Christians who dwell around the modern
Sart, and who had been in the habit of meeting at eachother’s houses for the
exercise ofreligion, built a church within view of ancient Sardis; and that
there they maintain a priest. In consequenceofthis, the place has gradually
risen into a little village, now calledTartarkeury, and thither the few
Christians of Sart, who amount to seven, and those in its immediate vicinity,
resortfor public worship, and form togethera congregationof about forty.

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