When You Lose Touch With Your Soul

Studies in the Book of Revelation

Dr. Jim Denison

Revelation 3:1-6

Sardis was located 30 miles southeast of Thyatira and 50 miles northeast of Ephesus. She had been an important and wealthy city for centuries, dating back to 1,500 BC when she was the capitol of the Lydian Empire.

Sardis was the center of transportation for the entire continent. Like spokes of a wheel, major trade routes led from the city in five different directions–northwest to Thyatira and Pergamum, west to Smyrna, east toward Phrygia, southeast to Philadelphia, and southwest to Ephesus. These trade routes brought the citizens commerce beyond any city in Asia Minor.

In addition, the Pactolus River carried gold dust literally into the city’s market place. Croesus, whose name is synonymous with wealth, was king of Sardis in 560 BC. He minted the first modern coins, so Sardis became the place where money was born.

The dye and woolen industries thrived here. Merchants lined her streets with their shops, some of which have been excavated and reconstructed today. The public baths with their ornate columns, swimming pool, and gymnasium have been restored and truly impressive. The people were so wealthy that when an earthquake devastated the area in AD 17, the people of Sardis rebuilt the city in nine years without any aid from the Empire.

Sardis was the political capitol for her region and a thriving religious center as well. She possessed a temple of Artemis which, while never completed, rivaled in size the famous Temple of Diana in Ephesus. The Jewish synagogue was famous for its size and opulence.

And the authorities in Sardis were tolerant of all religions, including Christianity. The church faced no persecution, and believers here had no need to compromise their doctrine or moral convictions to survive. These believers had none of the problems plaguing the other churches of Revelation.

In every way Sardis seemed to be an ideal church in an ideal city. The believers had a wealthy support base, enjoyed religious tolerance, and experience no apparent problems. In fact, Jesus says they “have a reputation of being alive” (v. 1a).

Then comes his shocking indictment: “you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead” (v. 1b).

How a soul falls asleep

How did things get this way in Sardis? The same way they do in Dallas, or any place.

First, trust appearances: “I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead…I have not found your deeds complete in the sight of my God” (vs. 1, 2). If you want your spiritual life to grow useless and lifeless, trust how it looks. Sardis was infamous for trusting appearances historically, and this tendency led often to her fall to military enemies. In the same way, Christians in Sardis are trusting in the appearance of spiritual vitality, when their souls are in fact far from God.

Second, live in the past. Sardis had a wonderful reputation for past greatness. But her present situation was critical. In the same way, we often trust in our past spiritual experiences when we should be seeking God today.

Third, preserve the present. Sardis is happy and complacent with the present. These Christians are engaged in none of the self-examination and spiritual introspection so important to a growing soul. In the same way, if our circumstances are good we are the last to examine our spiritual lives. And the results are disastrous.

Any Christian who believes that the tragedy of Sardis could not occur in his or her spiritual life, is close to repeating it today. When did you last examine your own soul before God?

How a soul revives

Jesus’ call is clear: “Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your deeds complete in the sight of my God” (v. 3a). How do we revive a sleeping soul?

First, listen to God’s Spirit: “Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard” (v. 3). “Remember” is in the present imperative and should be translated, “Go on remembering,” or “don’t ever let yourself forget.” Remember “what you have received.” “Received” translates a word for a possession deposited with a banker for safekeeping. We received the Christian faith in the same way a banker receives money. Faith did not originate with us. We do not need to create resources or to manufacture vibrant spirituality. God’s gift of the indwelling Spirit is our means for growing deep in the things of God, and we have already received it.

Remember Peter’s encouragement: “His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness” (2 Peter 1.3).

Remember “what you have received and heard.” The Spirit delights to speak God’s word to us: “Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of fare. Give ear and come to me; hear me, that your soul may live” (Isaiah 55.2-3). We need both time and silence to listen to the Spirit of God, for the sake of our souls.

Next, obey what you hear: “obey it, and repent” (v. 3b). “Obey” translates a Greek word which means “to keep,” in the present imperative, so that it could be rendered “continually hold onto and never let go.” We must continue to obey what God has taught us. This obedience will require constant repentance. The closer we come to God, the further away from him we realize we are.

Third, act now: “But if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what time I will come to you” (v. 3c). We have only today to be ready to meet God.

Rewards for a living soul

Even in this city of sleeping souls, it is possible to be alive and dynamic spiritually: “Yet you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes” (v. 4a). The woolen industry in Sardis was famous the world over. Jesus contrasts their beautiful outer garments with their dirty souls. Yet, he says, there are a few who have stayed close to him. And he commends them.

The future of these few is bright: “They will walk with me, dressed in white, for they are worthy” (v. 4b). In the ancient world white garments stood for purity, as a white wedding dress does today. White robes were also used at banquets, festivals, and in victory celebrations. Those whose souls are close to God are pure, joyous, and victorious.

And Jesus promises that we can all join them in this spiritual victory: “He who overcomes will, like them, be dressed in white” (v. 5a). These robes will last forever: “I will never blot out his name from the book of life, but will acknowledge his name before my Father and his angels” (v. 5b).

Ancient cities kept a register of their citizens, and officials blotted out a man’s name when he died or committed a crime. Christians faced the constant threat of having their names stricken from the book of their city for following their illegal faith. But God will never blot his followers’ names out of his eternal book of heavenly citizenship.

In fact, Jesus will “acknowledge” us before the Father and his angels. This term can be translated “confess” and is a strong word which means to advocate before the courts. Jesus will be our defender and win us approval before the Judge of the ages.

Any Christian who is sure he or she is not in Sardis, probably is. It is not too late to return to vibrant faith in the living God. We walk with God through personal communion with his Spirit, listening to his voice and obeying his word. We must begin again, now.

When You’re Afraid of Tomorrow

Studies in the Book of Revelation

Dr. Jim Denison

Revelation 2:8-11

In this study, we visit Smyrna, the second of the seven churches of Revelation and location of the modern-day city of Izmir. “Smyrna” is translated elsewhere in the New Testament as “myrrh.” Myrrh was a gum resin used to make perfume, oil, and embalming fluid. It was extremely bitter. This city was so named because myrrh was one of the products often traded through its port.

For Christians living in ancient Smyrna, “myrrh” or bitterness was not just a name but a reality. Consider the following five stark areas of contrast between the city and her Christian population.

First, her beauty. Smyrna was a thriving metropolis located 35 miles north of Ephesus. She was a resurrected city–destroyed around 580 B.C. by Alyattes, king of Lydia, the city lay in ruins for 300 years before being rebuilt personally by Alexander the Great as a model city and center for his cultural movement.

Her population of 200,000 made her the second-largest city in Asia Minor. While Ephesus claimed to be the “Light of Asia,” Smyrna was known as the “Glory of Asia.” She owned a famous stadium and library, and boasted the largest public theater in Asia. The city also claimed to be the birthplace of Homer, with a famous monument dedicated to the poet.

In contrast, the Christians living in Smyrna struggled for survival and lived in the most basic simplicity. They experienced none of her beauty and grandeur.

Second, her wealth. The city lay on the eastern shore of the Aegean Sea and boasted an excellent harbor. The road leading east from Smyrna extended to the rich valley of the Hermus River, making the city a major export center in the ancient world. While impoverished Christians struggled to support their families and earn the barest of essentials, the rest of their city lived in remarkable wealth and opulence.

Third, her heathen worship. The most famous road in Smyrna was called the “Golden Street.” At one end of it stood the Temple of Cybele, and along its way there were temples to Apollo, Asklepios, and Aphrodite. Inland, where the Golden Street ran into the foothills, stood the Temple of Zeus.

Smyrna was also famous for her devotion to emperor worship. She was the first city in the world to erect a temple to Dea Roma, the goddess Rome, in 196 B.C. (Tacitus, Annals 4.56). In AD 26 the city competed with eleven other Asian cities for the opportunity to erect a temple to Tiberius, the reigning emperor, and won.

In contrast, the Christians of this city met in humble, obscure places of worship, in the midst of some of the most stunning temples and religious shrines in the Roman world.

Fourth, her pride. Smyrna was known as the proudest city in Asia Minor. She claimed to be the first in beauty, first in Caesar worship, and the birthplace of Homer. She was the center of all that was glorious and great. And so her people looked in utter contempt on the poor and humble Christians in their mist.

Choose Caesar or Christ

Smyrna had always been a center of great political influence. In the numerous civil wars of preceding centuries she had consistently chosen the winning side, and the winners were grateful. Her emperor worship and political connections made Smyrna a place of great political prestige and influence. The government which crucified Jesus would do no less to his followers here who commanded little respect from their pagan neighbors.

In Smyrna, the worship of Caesar as Lord was mandatory and enforced. When such worship was offered annually, a certificate was given to the worshiper. Failure to possess this certificate was punishable by death. We have an actual request for such a certificate, found among the artifacts of the Empire:

To those who have been appointed to preside over the sacrifices, from Inareas Akeus, from the village of Theoxenis, together with his children Aias and Hera, who reside in the village of theadelphia. We have always sacrificed to the gods, and now, in your presence, according to the regulations, we have sacrificed and offered libations, and tasted the sacred things, and we ask you to give us a certification that we have done so. May you fare well.

Accompanying the request was an official certificate which read: We the representatives of the Emperor, Serenos and Hermas, have seen you sacrificing. Then the date follows (Barclay, Letters to the Seven Chuches, 29).

Those who refused to burn incense to Caesar and proclaim him as Lord were subject to charges of treason and paganism, and often put to death in Smyrna. Believers here risked their lives daily to follow Christ.

And the Jewish population in the city only made things worse for the Christian church. The Empire had long since given up coercing the Jewish people into their emperor worship. And so they granted them an exemption from this idolatrous practice. So long as they saw Christianity as a Jewish sect, they exempted Christians from emperor worship as well. But the Jewish leaders in Smyrna soon made clear their own rejection of the Christian faith.

And so Jesus says, “I know the slander of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan” (v. 9). The Christians faced persecution from their Roman rulers and their Jewish neighbors as well. Things were “bitter” indeed in Smyrna for the followers of Jesus.

Why serve Jesus?

Jesus offers his suffering saints several reasons why they should choose to follow him and not Caesar, even in the face of a very uncertain future.

First: he knows our problems and has conquered them. In verse 8 he claims: “These are the words of him who is the First and the Last, who died and came to life again.” Jesus calls himself “the first and the last,” identifying himself with God the Father, who called himself by essentially the same name earlier (1.8). In Isaiah 44.6 the Lord says, “I am the first and I am the last; apart from me there is no God.” Now Jesus claims this same sovereignty for himself. And he makes clear the fact that he “died and came to life again.” He has already defeated our greatest enemy, so we have nothing to fear when we follow him.

Second, he knows our pain and shares it personally. He knows our “affliction.” This word translates thlipsis, meaning “pressure,” a terrible burden which presses down and grinds us up. The Greeks used this word for the stone that grinds wheat into powdery flour, or presses grapes into wine. Jesus knows the burden we are bearing today.

He knows our “poverty” as well. This is the word ptocheia, which means the person who has nothing at all (contrasted with penia, meaning someone who has nothing to spare). Early Christians were typically poor (cf. 1 Corinthians 1.26-27; 2 Corinthians 6.10; James 2.5), and often suffered the confiscation of their goods and property (Hebrews 10.34). But in Smyrna, Christians lost everything. Jesus knows our financial needs, whatever they are.

He knows our “slander.” The word is literally “blasphemy.” The Jewish leaders hated Christians and slandered them in terrible ways. And he knows our pain. When he says “I know” in v. 9, he means that he feels their pain deeply. He has been wherever we are today.

Third, he controls the future. He flatly states, “The devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life” (v. 10). He knows what will happen to them in the future, but promises a reward far greater than their present sufferings.

“Ten days” means a hard time of limited duration. Jesus may be referring to Daniel’s ten days of testing in Babylon from which he and his friends emerged victorious (Daniel 1.11-16; see also Genesis 24.55). We would say that things will be hard “for a while.” But the eleventh day always comes, and with it our victory.

God will never let us suffer beyond what we can stand: “God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it” (1 Corinthians 10.13).

Last, he rewards our faith. When we are faithful unto death, we will receive the “crown of life.” This is the stephanos, the wreath of victory given at the Olympic Games to the victorious. God will give us great reward when we have served him faithfully. James 1.12: “Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.”

And so, “He who overcomes will not be hurt at all by the second death” (v. 11). The “second death” refers to the final, eternal judgment and punishment of the wicked (cf. Rev 20.11-12, 14-15). Jesus warned unbelievers to fear judgment (cf. Luke 12.4-5). But he comforts us with the knowledge that our faith will be rewarded eternally.

The Smyrnan Christians continued to be faithful in the face of an uncertain future. Ignatius wrote to their church around AD 107 these words:

I give glory to Jesus Christ, the God who has thus given you wisdom; for I have observed that you are established in immovable faith, as if nailed to the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ, both in flesh and spirit, and confirmed in love by the blood of Christ, being fully persuaded as touching the Lord (Ignatius, “To the Smyrnians” 151).

What about the future most worries you today? How would you commit that problem to God, right now?

When You’re Ready to Quit

Studies in the Book of Revelation

Dr. Jim Denison

Revelation 3:7-13

Philadelphia, the youngest of the seven churches of Revelation, was located 28 miles southeast of Sardis. The city was probably founded by Eumenes II, king of Pergamum (197-160/159 BC), and was named in honor of his younger brother Attalus II, surnamed Philadelphia (“brotherly love”) for his loyalty to his older brother. But some evidence suggests that the official founding of Philadelphia did not occur until 140 BC when Attalus II had succeeded his brother as king of Pergamum (159-138 BC).

From the very beginning, Philadelphia was given great opportunity to fulfill its name. Located on the great highway which connected Europe with the East, the town stood at the intersection of the three countries of Mysia, Lydia, and Phrygia.

As the easternmost frontier of the Hellenistic world, Philadelphia was intended to be a missionary city. Its founders envisioned the Greeks using the city as a beachhead for spreading their language and culture throughout the regions beyond. Philadelphia was literally the gateway from one continent and civilization to another. But such hopes were unfulfilled. The Phrygians to the east stubbornly resisted Greek culture. In time the city decayed into ruins.

It is noteworthy that Jesus says his tiny church in Philadelphia will do what the mighty Greek empire had not been able to accomplish: God would make them an open door to the East and the world. “See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut,” he announced (v. 8). Things are not what they seem.

How others must have scoffed at Jesus’ claim! This church had “little strength” (v. 8). The believers here were small in number, perhaps no more than a handful of people. They were small in resources, for it was difficult for Christians to find work in Philadelphia. And they were small in status and significance. Many of them were slaves, street people, or other outcasts. They had no standing in their community whatsoever.

But Jesus’ promise is clear: if they will hold onto the opportunities God has given them, no one will take their crown (v. 11). The same promise is ours as well.

When we’re in Philadelphia

When we find ourselves in Philadelphia, we have three options:

•We can give up, assuming that we don’t have the strength or resources to go on.

•We can give in to the culture and pressure which surrounds us.

•We can go on. Jesus urges us, “Hold on to what you have” (v. 11).

Why go on?

•God will use us: “What I open no one can shut” (v. 7).

•God will vindicate us. Jesus says of our enemies, “I will make them come and fall down at your feet and acknowledge that I have loved you” (v. 9).

•God will help us stand: “Him who overcomes I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will he leave it” (v. 12a).

•God will claim us: “I will write on him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God; and I will also write on him my new name” (v. 12b).

We will all spend time in Philadelphia. Perseverance is the key to the power of God.

When Your Faith is On Trial

Studies in the Book of Revelation

Dr. Jim Denison

Revelation 2:18-29

Thyatira was located 45 miles due east of Pergamum. Jesus wrote his longest letter to the smallest of the seven cities, proof of the significance of the issues confronting his followers there. Her ruins today are not remarkable, but her challenge to Christian fidelity was of vital importance.

Thyatira possessed strategic military significance. It lay at the mouth of a long valley connecting the Hermus and Caicus rivers. Enemies of the empire would have to pass by Thyatira on their way to attack Pergamum. And so the city would defend the capitol of the region, and at least delay attackers until the main city was ready.

The city was not a center of religious importance. She housed temples to Artemis and Apollo, but they were not famous. Neither did she possess a special center for emperor worship. She did own the shrine of Sambathe, a kind of ancient fortune-teller whom many came to consult for guidance.

Her chief importance was as a commercial center. The roads traveling through Thyatira brought to her doors the commerce of half the world. The city was known for its linen, apparel, leather work, and tanning. It was also a great center for wool trade and the dye industry. The city was especially noted for its production of purple cloth (from the madder root, which grew abundantly in the region). It is no surprise that Lydia, a “dealer in purple cloth,” came from Thyatira (Acts 16.14).

Labor unions were important in Thyatira, and the city possessed more of them than any other town in the region. This is where the problem Jesus addresses originated. No merchants or craftsmen in Thyatira could prosper unless they joined a guild or trade union.

Each trade union had its own patron god. Whenever the union members met, they shared a common meal which began and ended with a wine offering to this god. The meat at the meal would usually be from an animal sacrificed to the pagan god as well. They would burn a few hairs from the animal on the altar and then barbecue the rest as their supper. After the meal, the meeting would often become a drunken orgy.

Now imagine being a Christian in Thyatira. If you refuse membership in your union, you will go bankrupt or worse. Your family could literally starve to death. But if you join your union, you must attend its mandatory meetings, where you will be required to eat the food and drink the wine offered to idols, and then to join in the corruption which follows.

The leader named “Jezebel”

To make matters even worse, there was a leader in the church at Thyatira seeking to convince members to make exactly this compromise–a woman whom Jesus assigns the name “Jezebel.” This person encouraged the believers to join the trade unions and participate in the activities, all the while maintaining their faith in Jesus.

The original Jezebel was the conniving daughter of the king of Sidon. She married King Ahab and became the queen of Israel (1 Kings 16.31). She soon brought Baal, Astarte, and other assorted pagan deities into her new kingdom, and led the people in their worship. She defiled the nation and earned an everlasting reputation for corruption. Now, at Thyatira, her first-century counterpart is doing the same thing.

We know that she “calls herself a prophetess,” an office of great influence (v. 20). A female prophet was not nearly as unusual in the first century as it is for us. Philip the evangelist had four unmarried daughters who prophesied (Acts 21.9); Luke speaks of Anna the prophetess (Luke 2.36), and Paul assumes that women will prophesy in the Corinthian church (1 Corinthians 11.5).

The Old Testament describes Miriam, Huldah, and Deborah as prophetesses as well. In the New Testament context a prophetess would cite the inspiration and leading of the Holy Spirit in whatever she said. The fact that she could claim divine authority in encouraging compromise would be very alluring to these Christians.

Furthermore, this Jezebel may have had an even more influential position in the church, quite possibly as the pastor’s wife. The “angel” in Thyatira receives this letter (v. 18), and “angel” can signify the “messenger” or “preacher” of the church. “Woman” (v. 20) can be translated “wife.” In fact, some ancient manuscripts inserted “your” before the word, thus “your wife Jezebel.” It’s possible that this Jezebel is not only a prophetess herself, but married to the prophet of the church as well.

Her sin is simple: “By her teaching she misleads my servants into sexual immorality and the eating of food sacrificed to idols” (v. 20). She is misleading the followers of Jesus in Thyatira, encouraging them to compromise with the morality of their trade unions and culture.

She has been warned: “I have given her time to repent of her immorality, but she is unwilling” (v. 21). Perhaps Jesus has already sent earlier letters to the church, or preachers to address the situation, or simply the strong conviction of the Holy Spirit. But she has refused to repent of her compromising leadership and immorality.

So the consequences will be severe: “I will cast her on a bed of suffering” (v. 22a). Here Jesus could refer to the “beds” or banquet couches used at Thyatira in their idolatrous feasts, or he could be using a Jewish expression for becoming ill.

What’s more, “I will make those who commit adultery with her suffer intensely, unless they repent of her ways” (v. 22b). Her followers may be committing adultery physically, or spiritually. Both lead to the same punishment: they will “suffer intensely.” This phrase translates a Greek idiom for the crushing stone which ground wheat into flour and grapes into wine.

In addition, “I will strike her children dead” (v. 23a). These could be the physical children of her sexual adultery, or more likely, the spiritual children of her moral compromise. The Greek is “kill with death,’ an idiom for pestilence (cf. Rev 6.8).

The sentence is clear: Jezebel and her followers will suffer intensely, unless they repent now; “Then all the churches will know that I am he who searches hearts and minds, and I will repay each of you according to your deeds” (v. 23b).

Help for hurting believers

If his people will refuse such compromise and “hold on to what you have until I come” (v. 25), the rewards will be worth far more than their cost. Here we find the first of several references to the Second Coming in these letters.

Christians in the smallest church in Revelation will have “authority over the nations” (v. 26). Here Jesus quotes Psalm 2.9, a forecast and picture of the triumphant work of the conquering Messiah (v. 27). With him, we will rule with an iron scepter and dash the enemy to pieces like broken pieces of clay. The local god of Thyatira was pictured with an iron staff on his shoulder. But those faithful to Jesus will have the real iron scepter of power from God himself.

He will also give us the “morning star” (v. 28). This could be the promise of resurrection, an indication that just as the morning star reigns over the darkness of night, so Christians will reign over the darkness of death. Thyatira may put these believers to death physically, but they will never die spiritually.

This could signify hope in hard times as well, since the morning star shines brightest in the hour preceding the dawn The symbol could refer to Jesus’ return, as this promise is like the morning star rising in our hearts (2 Peter 1.19).

Jesus could be referring to the planet Venus, the actual morning star in the sky. From Babylonian times Venus was a symbol of sovereignty; particularly, it was the symbol of victory to Romans. The Roman generals erected temples to Venus after their victories, and Caesar’s legions carried the sign of Venus on their standards.

But the best interpretation of this symbol is Jesus’ promise at the end of Revelation: “I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the bright Morning Star” (Revelation 22.16). Those who are faithful to Jesus, whatever the cost, can claim the greatest hope of all: we will know Jesus himself.

The church at Thyatira illustrates the fact that compromise always grows. We find here also the principle that compromise ruins our witness and dilutes the power of God. Last, we learn from Thyatira that compromise will be punished and faithfulness rewarded.