“And unto the angel of the church in Sardis write : . . . I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead.” Rev. 3:1.
What a blessing life is, but in particular spiritual and eternal life! How wonderful it is for a sinner, through Divine grace, to be made alive in Christ Jesus, to be delivered from eternal death, and to be made an heir of eternal life through Christ Jesus. To live, and to live for ever — who would not desire it? To be dead unto sin and alive unto God, hating iniquity and loving righteousness. This is true of all whom the Lord has delivered from death and redeemed from the power of the grave. Are we among such? Or are we still without God and without hope in the world?
But it is not of those who are alive spiritually that the Apostle John speaks but of those who had only a name to live. And it is not merely John’s judgment but the judgment of Him who knows all things — “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.” This was the awful condition of the church in Sardis. It is still the condition of many churches and individuals. They are not alive but are thought to be alive by others. Perhaps they think themselves to be alive but they are alive in name only. In reality they are spiritually dead.
How dreadful is the condition of those who have only a name to live! They have never truly come to know themselves as sinners, never truly fled for refuge to the hope set before them in the Gospel, were never subjects in their souls of the Holy Spirit’s regenerating work. They are still in their sins. But they have the name of pardoned sinners, though never pardoned. They have the name of Christ’s children, though He does not know them. They have the name of believers, though they have never truly exercised faith in the Son of God. They have the name of persons on the way to heaven while in reality they are on the way to hell. It is such who will say to Christ at the end of the day: “Lord, Lord have we not prophesied in Thy name? and in Thy name have cast out devils? and in Thy name done many wonderful works?” And Christ shall say to them: “I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.”
How searching this is for every one of us! Have I only a name to live? Or am I truly Christ’s? How then may I know that I am His? There are many marks given in the Word of God, and we must examine ourselves by them. For example, Christ says, “If my words abide in you, then are ye my disciples indeed.” Again, “He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me.” Again, “We know that we have passed from death unto life because we love the brethren.” There are many more marks of a similar kind in the Scriptures of truth. Let us prayerfully seek to know whether we are followers of the Saviour in name only or in reality and truth. Our hearts are deceitful, therefore we must say with the Psalmist: “Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my thoughts: and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” It is the Word of God in the hand of the Holy Spirit which can alone finally determine where we stand and how we stand.