PREPARATION FOR THE THIRD SEASON FEASTS: THE CONGREGATION OF SARDIS (Revelation 3:1-3)

Elul 15 (28 August 2026)

The KING is in the FIELD! AWAKEN the BELIEVERS!

CONGREGATION FIVE: SARDIS (Revelation 3:1-3)

The CONGREGATION in SARDIS may represent the Protestant Reformation in 1517 AD up until 1750 AD when the modern missionary (preacher/ minister) movement began.

The CONGREGATION of BELIEVERS had the appearance of being ALIVE because they were FREE of the elements of BABYLONIAN RELIGION that had become part of the Roman Church. In this era the PROTESTANT CHURCH received the revelation preached through Martin Luther, that we are JUSTIFIED and SAVED through FAITH, and are no longer dependent on our own works – such as attending the mass (celebrating the Eucharist/ Roman Catholic communion) or purchasing indulgences (a teaching of the Roman Catholic Church of paying an amount to reduce the punishment they are to undergo for sins) – to be saved. The PROPBLEM was that they did not have the REVELATION of how to “stay alive” in the HOLY SPIRIT.   

MESSIAH YESHUA REVEALS HIMSELF TO THE CONGREGATION OF SARDIS AS:

• The ONE who has the SEVENFOLD SPIRIT of GOD (the Father) and the SEVEN STARS (representing the SEVEN ANGELS of the SEVEN CONGREGATIONS according to Revelation 1:20).

• In Revelation 1:4 John greets the SEVEN CONGREGATIONS on behalf of the ONE (YHVH the Father), “who was and is coming; from the SEVEN-FOLD SPIRIT before HIS throne; and from YEHSUA the MESSIAH, the FAITHFUL WITNESS, the FIRSTBORN from the dead and the RULER of the earth’s kings.”

• In Revelation 4 John sees a vision of the THRONE ROOM of God the Father. And in verse 5c we read: “and before the throne were SEVEN FLAMING TORCHES (thus depicting the SEVEN BRANCHED MENORAH in the Tabernacle and later the Temple), which are the SEVENFOLD SPIRIT of GOD (also read Zechariah 4:1-14).

• And in Isaiah 11:1-2 we read a PROPHECY that this SEVENFOLD SPIRIT will

rest on MESSIAH YEHSUA born from the TRIBE of JUDAH, namely:

• The SPIRIT of YHVH;
• The SPIRIT of WISDOM;
• The SPIRIT of UNDERSTANDING;
• The SPPIRIT of COUNSEL;
• The SPIRIT of POWER;
• The SPIRIT of KNOWLEDGE;
• The SPIRIT of FEARING YHVH.

• In Isaiah 61:1-2 we read a prophecy of MESSIAH YEHSUA on whom the SPIRIT of YHVH (the Father) will REST, anointing HIM to DO the WORK of the KINGDOM namely: 

• Announcing the GOOD NEWS to those who are poor in spirit (those who acknowledge how much they need God);
• Heal the BROKENHEARTED (those who had been crushed);
• Proclaim FREEDOM to the CAPTIVES (to those who had been ensnared by Satan and his evil forces);
• To let out into LIGHT those BOUND in the DARK (those trapped by Satan), renewing the SIGHT of the BLIND (opening their minds to understand the Word of YHVH);
• To proclaim the YEAR of the FAVOUR of our GOD. 

And in Luke 4:18-20 MESSIAH YEHSUA confirmed that Isaiah 61:1-2 was a prophecy about Him and He was about to DO what it said. 

MESSIAH YESHUA is therefore the ONE who HAS the full measure of the HOLY SPIRIT to impart on the SEVEN CONGREGATIONS to ensure they are SPIRIT FILLED and therefore have the POWER of YHVH to SHINE HIS LIGHT in this DARK WORLD.

And SARDIS is clearly in NEED of the HOLY SPIRIT because they have a REPUTATION that they are ALIVE, but they are ACTUALLY SPIRITUALLY DEAD.

THE BELIEVERS IN SARDIS ARE WARNED:

• MESSIAH YESHUA knows what they are DOING – they have a REPUTATION for BEING ALIVE, but in fact they are DEAD! 

• Their WORKS have become DEAD RITUALS (ceremonies, formalities, customs), powerless because it was no longer LED and INSPIRED by the HOLY SPIRIT.

• Paul tells us something about the SPIRITUAL DEAD CONGREGATION/ BELIEVERS in 2 Timothy 3:1-5 that will especially be evident in the END TIMES. People will be self-loving, money loving, proud, arrogant, insulting, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless (loveless/ merciless), unappeasable (greedy), slanderous, uncontrolled, brutal, hateful of good, traitorous (disloyal), headstrong (reckless/ stubborn), swollen with conceit (self-importance), loving pleasure rather than God (the Father), as they RETAIN the OUTER FORM of RELIGION but DENY its POWER (therefore they will be without the HOLY SPIRIT who is the POWER of GOD but still “appear religious). The end times will therefore be characterized by moral and spiritual decline among believers. 

• They are cautioned by MESSIAH YEHSUA to WAKE UP and STRENGHTEN what remains, before it DIES TOO! 

• They had to WAKE-UP and REPENT and STRENGTHEN the little bit of LIFE that remained before that too DIED. 

• For MESSIAH YEHSUA has found what they are DOING incomplete in the SIGHT of HIS GOD (the Father).

• Their WORKS were not PERFECT before GOD the FATHER. Anything we try to DO in our own strength will not be PERFECT before GOD the FATHER. Only what HE initiates and performs through us. This strongly coincides with the GIFT and CALLING HE has GIVEN to each of us. If we function in our GIFTS and CALLING, we will “feel alive” and passionate about our purpose and DO our “real” KINGDOM work with the power of the HOLY SPIRIT and with a song in our hearts!

• WORKS which proceeds from our flesh or the flesh of others and are forced upon us, will always be exhausting, stressful and fall short before God our Father.

• The WORKS that comes from our FLESH are regarded as wood, grass and straw and will be BURNED UP in the FIRES of JUDGEMENT at MESSIAH YEHSUA’s SECOND COMING (1 Corinthians 3:13).

• The FOUNDATION of our WORK must be MESSIAH YEHSUA, and we must WATCH how we built on it 1 Corinthians 3:10-11.

• MESSIAH YEHSUA also looks at out MOTIVES (reasons, intentions, drives, motivations). We are to WATCH the state of our HEARTS (our thoughts and emotions), since the WORD WARNS us in PROVERBS 4:23 that we should GUARD our HEARTS (our thoughts and emotions) for it is the SOURCE of life’s consequences (meaning it determines the lives we lead).

• A WOUNDED, HARDENED HEART full of REBELLION and BITTERNESS is impossible to be filled by the HOLY SPIRIT. But we can CHOOSE to hand our BROKEN HEARTS to YHVH our GOD, who is the HEALER of the BROKENHEARTED (read Isaiah 61:1, Psalm 34:16, 147:3, Matthew 11:28-30, Luke 4:18, 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 and Revelation 21:4).

• They are therefore ENCOURAGED to REMEMBER what they RECEIVED and HEARD (the TRUTH of the WORD of YHVH), and OBEY IT, and TURN from their sin!

• We cannot live on “old manna” (spiritual food) just like we cannot live on old fruit, vegetables and meat. We need to EAT NEW MANNA (the WORD of YHVH) every day.

• ONLY when we DISCOVER our IDENTITY in HIM, including our PURPOSE (GIFT and CALLING) and we ABIDE in HIM (through OBEDIENCE to HIM) we can bear the FRUIT of the HOLY SPIRIT (as explained in Galatians 5:22-23) of LOVE, JOY, PEACE, PATIENCE, KINDNESS, GOODNESS, FAITHFULNESS, HUMILITY and SELFCONTROL, and our WORK for the KINGDOM will become effortlessly because we will HEAR THE VOICE of THE HOLY SPIRIT and KEEP in STEP with HIM.

• For IF they don’t WAKE UP, HE WILL COME like a THIEF; and they don’t know at what moment HE will come upon them.

• MESSIAH YESHUA knew their WORKS, but HE also knew their HEARTS. They continued their WORK through habit but no longer in step with the HOLY SPIRIT.

• CONGREGATIONS and INDIVIDUAL BELIEVERS can begin STRONGLY, full of the HOLY SPIRIT, but after a while they are DOING the same WORKS without the LEADING and EMPOWERING of the HOLY SPIRIT.

• There is an IMPORTANT ELEMENT in RECEIVING the HOLY SPIRIT and having HIS CONTINUED PRESENCE in our LIVES and that is OBEDIENCE to the WORD of YHVH and not living a life of WILLFUL SIN, but a LIFE of REPENTANCE when we ACCIDENTALLY SIN and quickly turning away from the sin that we repented and being learning to RESIST IT and STAND FIRM AGAINST IT.

• If not, He will come like a THIEF, meaning unexpected and we may not be READY to MEET HIM, like the five unwise virgins who did not have enough oil in their lamps. We read in Revelation 16:15 “Look! I am COMING like a thief Hob BLESSED are those who STAY ALERT and KEEP their CLOTHES CLEAN, so that they won’t walk naked and be publicly put to shame!” (Also read Matthew 24:43-51 & 25:1-13, 1 Thessalonians 5:2 and 2 Peter 3:10).

SOUL SEARCHING

1. Am I SPIRITUALLY DEAD (living in the flesh/ the sinful nature) or ALIVE with a NEW HART and SPIRIT with YHVH my GOD/s HOLY SPIRIT in me?

2. Am I willing to GIVE my DEAD LIVE to YHVH to take out my STONE HEART and GIVE ME a NEW HEART and SPIRIT and fill me with HIS HOLY SPIRIT?

3. Am I continuing in any DEAD WORKS through HABIT, I think I ought to do it but have no real value for the KINGDOM of YHVH (things I do but have not been assigned to do by YHVH in line with my spiritual gift or calling and therefore has no POWER or PURPOSE in gathering souls for the KINGDOM of YHVH).

4. Am I EATING NEW MANNA every day (reading and thinking on the WORD every day and PRAYING the WORD and DECLARING the PROMISES in the WORD over my and my loved one’s lives and using it as my SWORD during spiritual attacks), or am I trying to LIVE on OLD MANNA (g. listening to a sermon once a week and never reading the Word myself)?

5. Am I OBEDIENT to the WORD of YHVH, submitting my will to that of the HOLY SPIRIT and following HIS PROMPTINGS?

6. DO I know my SPIRITUAL GIFT and CALLING? Am I developing it in line with the GUIDANCE of the HOLY SPIRIT according to the WORD of YHVH?

7. Am I feeling spiritually ALIVE and PASSIONATE about my work for the KINGDOM of YHVH?

8. Am I BEARING the FRUIT of the HOLY SPIRIT of LOVE, JOY, PEACE, PATIENCE, KINDNESS, GOODNESS, FAITHFULNESS, HUMILITY and SELFCONTROL?

9. What AREAS of your WALK with YHVH needs STRENGHTENING, that you be READY to MEET HIM (either upon physical death/ the first death or during His Second Coming at the FIRST RESURECTION of the DEAD?

REPENTANCE, RESTORATION AND ENCOURAGEMENT

• SPEND TIME in the WORD of YHVH and in PRAYER, LISTENING to HIS VOICE and LEARN to WALKING in HIS STRENGTH by STANDING on HIS PROMISES and using THE WORD as your SWORD (memorizing applicable scripture you find in the WORD) against spiritual attacks of the enemy.

• We are encouraged in James 5:16 to CONFESS our SINS to each other and PRAY for each other so that we may be HEALED.