The Sardisian church:

Rev 3:1 ¶ And unto the angel of the church in Sardis write; These things saith he that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars; I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead.


Rev 3:2 Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die: for I have not found thy works perfect before God.


Rev 3:3 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.


Rev 3:4 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.


Rev 3:5 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.


Rev 3:6 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.


This church has works. They are "doing things for Jesus." They have the reputation of being "alive" (in revival?) but in reality they are dead.

It's a sham, a show, a semblance of life but lacking the power of it.

They are known for being a church that is alive, but spiritually they are truly dead.

Their works are not perfect (complete) before God, and they are warned they must strengthen the things that remain, that are about to slip off into spiritual death and religious paralysis...

They are told to remember HOW they had received and heard... HOW did they originally get their reputaiton for being alive? What have they abandoned since then? What must they recover?

There are things that remain from the old days... those things must be strengthened.... They must be held fast, and not forsaken...

The church must repent, and get back to its original foundations...

Otherwise, the church will be ignorant and blind to the time of the Lord's visitation in judgement upon them.

There is a remnant still in this old dead church which has a NAME that suggests it still has LIFE.... that remnant have not been defiled by religious DEATH yet, and they shall walk with the Lord in the true power of gospel religion...

Those who overcome the spirit of spiritual sloth and petrification and traditionalism will enjoy resurrection, and will not be blotted out of the book of Life, and our Lord will confess them as His own before the Court of Heaven... but those who give in to that evil, defiling spirit, will find themselves excluded.