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From: Tony Cullen <anthocul@sympatico.ca>
Date: January 25, 2009 11:11:03 AM GMT\u00ad05:00
To: Tony Cullen <anthocul@sympatico.ca>
Subject: Rev 3:1 Sardis
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What The Spirit Says To The Angel Of The Church Of Sardis
Part 1

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.

Introduction
The angel of the church of Sardis is the fifth of the seven angels whose admonition the spirit
gives to "He who has an ear."
Rev 2:29He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.
Once again we need to "Hear what the Spirit says to the churches" with an earlier admonition
in mind:
Rev 1:3 Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and
keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.

Is this not telling us that "He who has an ear tohear what the spirit says to the churches [is also] he that reads andhearsthe words of this prophecy... to the angel of the church in Sardis...and keeps those things which are written therein, [knowing] the time is at hand," in every generation since Christ? Yes, that is exactly what we are being told. But there are two things which we must keep in mind and which you will be hearing repeated throughout this series of studies. First is the fact that in order to "see the voice which speaks to us we must look behind us," because we will not realize what God has done within us until after it is accomplished within us. Second, is the repetition of the phrase "to the angel" because while these words are addressed to the church as a whole, they are specified as being addressed to the angel of the church..." in this case "the angel of the church in Sardis."God gave the first Adam both eyes and ears, but he did not give him eyes that could see or ears that could hear spiritual matters. So we are told over and over again:

Mat 13:15 For this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and
their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear
with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I
should heal them.
Mat 13:16But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear.
Joh 3:3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be
born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
Joh 8:43 Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word.
Rom 11:8 (According as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that
they should not see, and ears that they should not hear;) unto this day.
2Pe 1:9 But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath
forgotten that he was purged from his old sins.

The angel of the church in Sardis within us, thinks that he sees and thinks that he hears and is totally unaware that he is spiritually deaf and spiritually blind and is spiritually dead. He has "forgotten that he was purged from his old sins. He forgets that this whole vision is seen "behind me," and so he is told:

"You hast a name that thou livest, and art dead."
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 sevenstars ; I know thy works, that thou hast a name that
thou livest, and art dead.

This state of the church within us is contrasted with "He that hath theseve n Spirits of God, and theseve n stars." We have covered the seven spirits of God in our study on verse 4 of chapter one, and we covered the seven stars in our study on verses 18\u00ad20:

Rev 1:4 John to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace [be] unto you, and peace, from him which is, and which was, and which is to come; and from the seven Spirits which are before his throne;

Rev 1:20 The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven
golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches: andthe
seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches.
So we will quote but one verse as commentary on "the seven spirits before the throne" here in
verse one of chapter 3:
1Co 6:17 But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit.

This verse should serve to remind us that the word 'seven' is Bible\u00adspeak for the concept of being complete. See the earlier study on the Spiritual Significance of The Number Seven on iswasandwillbe.com. The number seven always signifies completion; the completion of the creation, the complete church, the complete angel within us, and the seven spirits are the complete spirit of God. God's creation and the work of the complete spirit are not complete until we have "entered into His rest" on the seventh day (Heb 4:10).

Heb 4:10 For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works,as
God did from his.
God finished His work in the flesh on the sixth day, but he ended His creation on the seventh
day:
Gen 2:2 And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested
on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.
Mankind is actually not complete until he enters into God's rest and ceases from his own
works and rests in Christ's work in him.
Ecc 12:13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his
commandments: for this is the whole [duty] of man. [The word 'duty' is not in the
Hebrew]
Ecc 12:14For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether
it be good, or whether it be evil.
When "God judges every work" it will be discovered that mankind's most righteous efforts are
nothing more than "filthy rags."
Isa 64:6 But we are all as an unclean [thing], and all our righteousnesses are as filthy
rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.

The very reason for which "flesh and blood cannot enter into the kingdom" is the fact that it is not spiritual, and thereby alone it misses the mark of the spiritual body to which we are even now being conformed:

Rom 8:29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the
image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.

It is our "being conformed to the image of His Son," by entering into His rest, and conceding that only His works can complete us, that we become the "whole man." That is why this angel is told, "I have not found thy works perfect before God," as we will see in the next verse below. So then, neither the "angel to the church" nor the spirit itself is complete without "the seven

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