To the Church in Sardis
The Revelation of Jesus
Revelation 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;
No Good Works to be Commended
Revelation 3:2 I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead. Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die: for I have not found thy works perfect before God.
A Few Names Undefiled
Revelation 3:3-4 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.
Reward for the Overcomer
Revelation 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.
The twofold revelation here is clear: he who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars in his right hand of righteousness. He is the high priest girt about the paps with a golden girdle, and having seven spirits of God and the seven stars means he has the Urim and the Thummim. Urim means lights and Thummim perfections. The seven stars are the Urim and the seven spirits perfections. With that he is arrayed in a white robe down to the foot, and that tells of his righteousness unto perfection. He reveals himself to the fifth age as the perfect one whose judgement is perfect. And that is the message of righteousness which Luther preached. “The just shall live by faith.” A name that that church was alive yet she was dead!
Now, with the Urim and the Thummim, he tells them that I have examined your works thus and I have not found them perfect before my God. Being tested by the lights and perfections, they were found wanting. The overcomer needed that message of the Urim and Thummim to overcome. Notice that the Catholic leaders by then had assumed a priesthood of so-called fathers, yet they were liars, for their urim and thummim was false, for it was a crucifix with a rosary which is not in the word of God. But Luther, having received the true Urim and Thummim condemned that priesthood system.
Sardis as a whole did not have any good works. She had a name that she lived yet she was dead. The theme of the messenger to Sardis was “The just shall live by faith.” That was Luther’s theme. Thus the church generation bearing that message had a name that she was living by faith yet she was dead. That is the first Protestant Reformation Church. She was dead from her birth. Luther was her main messenger.
The few names who had not defiled their garments held to the true Urim and Thummim, and their reward corresponds to that; they will walk with him in white! “He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment.” That is exactly what the seven spirits and the seven stars make. Look at white light, it has seven colours in itself, and those are seven lights. So, the white raiment is a garment of light, and the same means perfections. So, according to the message they received, so had they to stand and fight, and so is their reward. They had to withstand being defiled by worldliness, by watching. For them to watch, they had to keep their lamps burning, for he comes to them as a thief. Their lamps gave them the light by which they attained perfection.
Of course, the seven spirits of God are seven eyes; they move to and fro upon the earth to stand with any whose heart is perfect with the Lord, to strengthen them against their enemies. Those in Sardis Age, who watched and prayed, were strengthened against the inroads of the devil, and by that, they kept their garments unspotted with worldliness and the pollution of Catholicism. Thus, they overcame by receiving and applying the revelation of Jesus Christ in their day. And as the revelation they received, so was their reward, to walk in white raiment with Jesus Christ: that means clad in his righteousness.
Echoes From Paradise 