Revelation 3:2

The Letter To The Church In Sardis

¹ “To the angel (divine messenger) of the church in Sardis write:

“These are the words of Him who has the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars: ‘I know your deeds; you have a name (reputation) that you are alive, but [in reality] you are dead. ² Wake up, and strengthen and reaffirm what remains [of your faithful commitment to Me], which is about to die; for I have not found [any of] your deeds completed in the sight of My God or meeting His requirements. ³ So remember and take to heart the lessons you have received and heard. Keep and obey them, and repent [change your sinful way of thinking, and demonstrate your repentance with new behavior that proves a conscious decision to turn away from sin]. So then, if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come to you.

Before God

In the Sight of God

Point of Death

O God

No

Deuteronomy 3:28

But command Joshua and encourage and strengthen him, for he shall go across and lead this people, and he will give them the land which you see as an inheritance.’

1 Kings 11:4

For when Solomon was old, his wives turned his heart away after other gods; and his heart was not completely devoted to the Lord his God, as was the heart of his father David.

1 Kings 15:3

He walked in all the sins [of idol worship] that his father [Rehoboam] committed before him; and his heart was not entirely devoted to the Lord his God, like the heart of his father (forefather) David.

2 Chronicles 25:2

He did right in the sight of the Lord, yet not wholeheartedly.

Job 4:4-5

“Your words have helped the one who was stumbling to stand,
And you have strengthened feeble knees.

Job 16:5

“[But instead] I could strengthen and encourage you with [the words of] my mouth,
And the consolation and solace of my lips would soothe your suffering and lessen your anguish.

Isaiah 35:3

Encourage the exhausted, and make staggering knees firm.

Isaiah 56:10

Israel’s watchmen are blind,
They are all without knowledge.
They are all mute dogs, they cannot bark;
Panting, lying down, they love to slumber.

Isaiah 57:12

“I will declare your [hypocritical] righteousness and your deeds,
But they will not benefit you.

Isaiah 62:6-7

On your walls, O Jerusalem, I have appointed and stationed watchmen (prophets),
Who will never keep silent day or night;
You who profess the Lord, take no rest for yourselves,

Ezekiel 34:8-10

“As I live,” says the Lord God, “certainly because My flock has become prey, My flock has even become food for every predator of the field for lack of a shepherd, and My shepherds did not search for My flock, but rather the shepherds fed themselves and did not feed My flock;

Ezekiel 34:16

“I will seek the lost, bring back the scattered, bandage the crippled, and strengthen the weak and the sick; but I will destroy the fat and the strong [who have become hard-hearted and perverse]. I will feed them with judgment and punishment.

Daniel 5:27

‘tekel’—you have been weighed on the scales [of righteousness] and found deficient;

Zechariah 11:16

For behold, I am going to raise up a [false] shepherd in the land who will not care for the perishing, seek the scattered, heal the broken, or feed the healthy; but will eat the flesh of the fat ones and tear off their hoofs [to consume everything].

Matthew 6:2-4

“So whenever you give to the poor and do acts of kindness, do not blow a trumpet before you [to advertise it], as the hypocrites do [like actors acting out a role] in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be honored and recognized and praised by men. I assure you and most solemnly say to you, they [already] have their reward in full.

Matthew 23:5

They do all their deeds to be seen by men; for they make their phylacteries (tefillin) wide [to make them more conspicuous] and make their tassels long.

Matthew 23:28-38

So you, also, outwardly seem to be just and upright to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.

Matthew 24:42-51

“So be alert [give strict attention, be cautious and active in faith], for you do not know which day [whether near or far] your Lord is coming.

Matthew 25:13

Therefore, be on the alert [be prepared and ready], for you do not know the day nor the hour [when the Son of Man will come].

Mark 13:33-37

“Be on guard and stay constantly alert [and pray]; for you do not know when the appointed time will come.

Luke 22:31-32

“Simon, Simon (Peter), listen! Satan has demanded permission to sift [all of] you like grain;

Acts 18:23

After spending some time there, he left and traveled through the territory of Galatia and Phrygia, strengthening and encouraging all the disciples.

Acts 20:28-31

Take care and be on guard for yourselves and for the whole flock over which the Holy Spirit has appointed you as overseers, to shepherd (tend, feed, guide) the church of God which He bought with His own blood.

2 Timothy 4:1-4

I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom:

1 Peter 4:7

The end and culmination of all things is near. Therefore, be sound-minded and self-controlled for the purpose of prayer [staying balanced and focused on the things of God so that your communication will be clear, reasonable, specific and pleasing to Him.]

1 Peter 5:8

Be sober [well balanced and self-disciplined], be alert and cautious at all times. That enemy of yours, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion [fiercely hungry], seeking someone to devour.

Revelation 2:4

But I have this [charge] against you, that you have left your first love [you have lost the depth of love that you first had for Me].

Revelation 16:15

(“Behold, I am coming like a thief. Blessed is he who stays awake and who keeps his clothes [that is, stays spiritually ready for the Lord’s return], so that he will not be naked—spiritually unprepared—and men will not see his shame.”)