Christ addresses the congregations in Ephesus and Sardis with the same opening judgment, “I know your works” (Revelation 2:2; Revelation 3:1, UASV). What He says next is different in each case. Ephesus had labored, endured, and exposed false claims to apostolic authority, but it had left its first love. Sardis had a reputation for being alive, but its works did not meet Christ’s judgment, and what remained was near death. To Ephesus He commands remembrance, repentance, and a return to its earlier deeds, while to Sardis He commands watchfulness, the strengthening of what remains, and obedience to what it had received. These differences matter to a congregation seeking correction because the action it takes must answer to the failure it has actually identified.

Identifying What Christ Commends and What He Reproves

Christ introduces Himself to Ephesus as the One who walks among the seven golden lampstands, which Revelation identifies as the seven congregations (Revelation 1:20; Revelation 2:1). He knows that the Ephesians have endured for His name, refused to tolerate evil, and exposed men who falsely claimed to be apostles (Revelation 2:2–3). Even after rebuking the congregation, He commends its rejection of the deeds of the Nicolaitans (Revelation 2:6). His assessment names strengths that the Ephesians have reason to preserve while identifying a failure those strengths cannot excuse. A congregation can follow that pattern when it gives an accurate account of what its members are doing faithfully and examines where their conduct falls short. For example, teachers who have guarded the congregation against error may still need to ask how they treat a believer who has repeated an error he does not yet understand.

Christ says that Ephesus has left its first love and then commands the congregation to return to the deeds it did at first (Revelation 2:4–5). The connection between love and deeds gives the Ephesians something more definite to examine than the intensity of their feelings. Their former devotion to Christ had found expression in conduct, and Christ calls them back to that kind of obedience. Jesus connects love for Him with keeping His commandments and commands His disciples to love one another (John 14:15; John 15:12). A congregation can therefore ask whether its dealings with people show the love Christ commands, even when it has had good reason to correct someone. If a brother is willing to learn but repeatedly receives a curt dismissal when he asks for help, the congregation has a concrete matter to examine alongside the accuracy of what its teachers have said.

Remembering, Repenting, and Doing the Earlier Deeds

Christ’s instruction to Ephesus follows a definite sequence. He tells the congregation to remember from where it has fallen, to repent, and to do the deeds it did at first (Revelation 2:5). Remembering brings the departure into view by recalling conduct that once expressed love for Christ. Repentance requires the congregation to own that departure and turn from it. Doing the earlier deeds gives the change a form that others can experience. If believers once made time to instruct new Christians patiently but now leave them to work through serious questions alone, remembering helps identify the neglected responsibility, and repentance becomes visible when those believers make time for them again. The command directs attention to what the earlier conduct accomplished in obedience to Christ, so a congregation can resume the work even when present circumstances call for a different time or place to do it.

An elder can take the first step in such a case by naming what he himself has neglected. If he spoke impatiently to a believer who asked an honest question, he can return to that person, acknowledge what he said, and listen to the question in full. If the manner of correction was publicly apparent, he can correct his own example before the people who saw it. He can then open the relevant Scriptures with the believer and provide the instruction that was needed in the first place. Paul requires the Lord’s servant to be patient and gentle when instructing opponents, which gives an elder reason to show at least that care toward someone who is trying to learn (2 Timothy 2:24–25). The elder can carry the correction through by finding out whether the believer understood the answer and whether a further conversation would help.

The warning attached to Christ’s command gives the correction urgency. He tells the Ephesians that unless they repent, He will come to them and remove their lampstand from its place (Revelation 2:5). Since Revelation identifies the lampstands as the congregations, the warning concerns Ephesus’s standing before Christ (Revelation 1:20). The church’s labor and patient endurance did not make the loss of love a matter it could address at its leisure. A congregation today has reason to act when it can identify a responsibility it has plainly neglected. If the people who could provide care have acknowledged the neglect, they can begin that work while the circumstances and the needs of the people involved are still clear.

Looking Past Sardis’s Reputation

Christ tells Sardis that it has the name of being alive, but it is dead (Revelation 3:1). He then says that He has found its works incomplete and commands the congregation to become watchful and strengthen what remains (Revelation 3:2). The problem cannot be understood by counting its activities, since Christ knows its works and still finds them deficient. Sardis must face the difference between the reputation it possesses and the condition in which Christ finds it. A modern congregation can examine a comparable difference by asking what a familiar account of its work leaves out. If it is known for caring for members who can no longer attend, the relevant question is whether those members actually receive visits, encouragement, or help when they need it.

Christ also recognizes a few people in Sardis who had remained faithful amid the congregation’s decline (Revelation 3:4). The severity of His judgment on the congregation does not erase what He knows of those people. That distinction helps leaders examine a failing work without overlooking believers who have continued to carry it out. An elder may discover, for example, that two members have kept visiting people in need even though a wider arrangement for care has fallen into disuse. Listening to them can help him understand which needs are being met, where help is still lacking, and what has made the work difficult to sustain. A congregation can then strengthen work already being done and give practical support to the people who have continued doing it.

Strengthening What Remains and Keeping What Was Received

Christ directs Sardis to remember how it received and heard, to observe what it had received, and to repent (Revelation 3:3). The congregation already had instruction it was responsible to keep. Remembering therefore includes returning to the truth it had heard and allowing that truth to govern what it does next. For a congregation that claims to encourage all its members, Hebrews 10:24–25 provides a place to begin because it identifies mutual encouragement and good works as purposes of assembling. Leaders can then ask who has become isolated, whether anyone has made contact, and whether those who cannot attend regularly have a way to receive help. That inquiry connects a biblical responsibility with the people for whom the congregation must carry it out.

The command to strengthen what remains calls for action while there is still something to strengthen. If a few believers have kept in touch with people who cannot attend, the congregation can ask what would enable them to continue and what needs another person should take on. One believer may be able to make a regular visit, another may be able to provide transport, and a mature Christian may be able to study Scripture with someone who has lost the ability to join a meeting. The arrangements should reflect what people can do reliably and what help is welcome. Paul’s instruction to support the weak and be patient toward all gives such work a standard beyond the mere fact that contact was made (1 Thessalonians 5:14). The help should answer the actual need and continue long enough to be of use.

Giving the Correction a Definite Next Step

A congregation can begin with one clearly established failure and state it in terms that allow people to act. Saying that care has weakened may be accurate, but identifying the people who have gone without a promised visit shows where responsibility was left unattended. The elders can identify the instruction that applies, speak with the people directly involved, and determine who will take the next step. Where the problem is neglect, making the visit or arranging the needed help gives repentance a concrete expression. Where the problem is a wrong done to a person, correction may begin with an honest acknowledgment and whatever repair is possible. Jesus’ instruction to Ephesus joins repentance to deeds, and that connection gives the congregation a way to distinguish an intention to change from the work that actually begins the change (Revelation 2:5).

Some failures are shared widely enough that the congregation needs to hear what has been neglected and what will be done. The elders can explain the biblical responsibility and describe the proposed action plainly, while keeping the personal details of those receiving help within the circle of people responsible for their care. An explanation can give members an opportunity to participate by making clear which responsibilities need to be taken up and when. For instance, members can be told that regular visits have fallen to a few people and that others are needed to help carry the work. They can then speak with the people who are already doing it and decide what they can undertake. Such communication gives members a definite way to respond to a correction that concerns the congregation as a whole.

Returning to See Whether the Work Was Done

Christ’s charge that He had not found Sardis’s works complete gives a congregation reason to look beyond the beginning of an effort (Revelation 3:2). After assigning responsibility for visits, the people involved can agree on a time to find out whether contact was made and whether the members being visited received the help they needed. They can also ask whether the arrangement is sustainable and whether a need remains that no one has undertaken. If a promise went unfulfilled, they can identify the reason and make a different arrangement with the people concerned. This kind of follow-through allows the congregation to see where good intentions have become dependable care. It also helps leaders notice when a change that looked promising at first has begun to lose the very substance it was meant to recover.

Watchfulness also involves noticing when familiar excuses return. A congregation that acknowledged a habit of dismissing questions can listen to how its teachers handle a new question after the immediate attention to the problem has passed. If they explain their reasoning patiently and invite the hearer to examine the passage, their conduct gives evidence of change. If they again avoid a conversation by treating the question as disloyalty, the earlier acknowledgment has yet to govern their conduct consistently. Christ warns Sardis that if it fails to wake up, He will come upon it unexpectedly, like a thief (Revelation 3:3). His warning gives the congregation reason to remain attentive after the first response, when the old ways of acting may again begin to look acceptable.

The Approval Christ Promises

Christ ends both messages by calling those who have ears to hear what the Spirit says to the congregations (Revelation 2:7; Revelation 3:6). The written message gives hearers beyond Ephesus and Sardis grounds for examining their own obedience. To the one who overcomes in the message to Ephesus, Christ promises to grant access to the tree of life in the Paradise of God (Revelation 2:7). In the message to Sardis, He promises the conqueror white garments, a name that will remain in the book of life, and acknowledgment before His Father and the angels (Revelation 3:5). Sardis had been known by a reputation that Christ’s judgment overturned, while the faithful person is promised acknowledgment by Christ Himself. A believer who continues to teach patiently, keep his word, or care for someone the congregation has overlooked can carry out that responsibility even before others join him, knowing whose approval he seeks.

You May Also Enjoy

Following the Jerusalem Council Model: Establishing Scriptural Oversight to Ensure Doctrinal Unity in All Congregations

About the Author

CLICK LINKED IMAGE TO VISIT ONLINE STORE

CLICK TO SCROLL THROUGH OUR BOOKS