My dear readers,

Jesus Christ – Hath the Seven Spirits of God and Seven Stars

What exactly was the problem in the church in Sardis that Christ highlighted? He introduced Himself as the One who has the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars (Rev 3:1). The church was dying, though it was not dead yet. There was still hope that the church could be revived in returning to the LORD by obeying the Bible. The Lord said, “I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and are dead” (Rev 3:1b).

How does a church die? The church is always the people and not the building. Just because the people continue to attend a church does not mean that the church is not dead. This is not about physical death but spiritual death. A church may have a reputation of living because she was born out of earnestly contending for the faith once delivered unto the saints but could actually be spiritually dead. 

The church in Sardis started strong, but somewhere along her existence derelict leaders had taken over the church. A church dies when it no longer exists according to Holy Scriptures. The ministries in the church are managed and built upon the ideas and methods of man instead of the Bible. The worship is based upon man’s music and the lyrics of the songs are carnal rather than godly. The preaching and teaching of God's Word is wishy-washy. The opinions of man are passed off as the Word of God. Facts of the Bible are proclaimed with little or no spiritual depth in exegesis and application. The Bible is nothing more than a sprinkling of salt onto poisonous weeds fed to the congregation week after week.

Churches like the one in Sardis live in the past and not the present. They take pride in their past fundamentalist glories and are almost bankrupt of anything spiritual in their present life. We see the same today in many churches that were fundamental in the beginning. Godly hymns have been replaced by carnal

modern songs such as the contemporary Christian music which is nothing but the chaff of the world, Christianized by wolves in pastoral clothing. These dead churches abound. Is our church one of them? The Lord Jesus Christ warns that He has the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars. He owns them!

Based upon Revelation 1:20, we know that the seven stars refer to the seven angels, i.e. the pastors or leaders of the seven churches. These leaders who were supposed to protect, feed and nurture the flock of Christ had fed them worldly poisons and driven them away to other churches that were sound and fundamental. They are no different from the “pastors” of the Old Testament. Jeremiah 12:10-11: “Many pastors have destroyed my vineyard, they have trodden my portion under foot, they have made my pleasant portion a desolate wilderness. They have made it desolate, and being desolate it mourneth unto me; the whole land is made desolate, because no man layeth it to heart.” The desolation refers to the bankruptcy of truth. These pastors were the priests, Levites and kings who were supposed to take care of God’s people with God’s Word. They failed them with man’s traditions and falsehood.

God’s judgment against them is clear. Jeremiah 23:1-2: “Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! saith the LORD. Therefore thus saith the LORD God of Israel against the pastors that feed my people; Ye have scattered my flock, and driven them away, and have not visited them: behold, I will visit upon you the evil of your doings, saith the LORD.” The ones who were the sheep had left these churches. Those who remained were goats who did not know the difference between the voice of their Saviour and the devil. They were duped by the man-centred messages sprinkled with Bible verses to Christianize their message to deceive. The Lord’s warning is to repent and stop the rot. He has the seven Spirits of God. 

But what does the seven Spirits of God refer to? The seven Spirits of God refer to the Holy Spirit. Christ has all the fullness of His attributes. Isaiah 11:2: “And the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD.” In Isaiah 11:2, we see Christ described as having the seven Spirits of God resting on Him. The seven Spirits are the spirit of God (1); the spirit of wisdom (2); the spirit of understanding (3); the spirit of counsel (4); the spirit of might (5); the spirit of knowledge (6); and the spirit of the fear of the LORD (7).

Rev 3:2-4 – Christ called the church in Sardis to: “Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die: for I have not found thy works perfect before God. Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee. Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with me in white: for they are worthy.” No matter how biblically weak a church is, there is still hope to be revived by returning to the Bible. This must begin with the leadership which means the possession of the seven stars as indicated here. Some of the things that are “ready to die” would include the ministries of the church, worship, preaching and teaching of God’s Word. These are the heartbeat of every sound church where the Word of God must be properly preached, taught and obeyed. It will take time for the sheep in the local church, like the church of Sardis, to grow in grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.

There are many local churches today that are on “life support” because the leaders have replaced the Word of God with the opinions of men. Members of these churches have allowed their leaders to continue, like the OT false prophets who allowed their evil kings to keep on sinning in idolatry. Such sermons preached Sunday after Sunday in many churches can be easily heard through the internet. These churches, like many of our own B-P churches, had a fundamental beginning but sadly not anymore.

The Lord Jesus Christ as the Head of the church will come suddenly and judge with righteous judgment. The warning is clear in Rev 3:5-6: “He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.” Pray for Truth BPC to overcome and be faithful to the Lord till His soon-return.