“There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots.
The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him,
The Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
The Spirit of counsel and might,
The Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord.
His delight is in the fear of the Lord’” Isaiah 11:2-3
Now the Lord tells the church at Sardis what He holds that is critical to their situation. The characteristics The Lord mentions are especially selected for that church and what they are going through. Without Christ at the center of their lives, the church had no hope. So the Lord reminds Sardis to think about what it is like with the Spirit of God
fully in control of their hearts, lives and activities.
We read this phrase “sprit of God” four times in Revelation.
Just as God is three persons in one so does the Holy Spirit
have seven manifestations of His character that He uses to
minister to us and lead us into becoming like Christ and in
glorifying God. Seven shows us this is the wholeness or perfection of His ministry. It is what Sardis had quenched. We will reverse the order in which Isaiah presents them
1) The Spirit of the fear of the Lord “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.” Proverbs 1:7 The church at Sardis had forgotten God. They
no longer lived in the fear of the Lord and His holiness.
2) The Spirit of knowledge “When He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth” (John 16:13). The church at Sardis forgot what truth was. They did not look to God’s word nor allow the Spirit to teach them truth from God’s word. Their own truth had replaced God’s.
3) The Spirit of power Sardis no longer had the power of the Spirit to be a witness for Christ. “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” Acts 1:8.
4) The Spirit of counsel When they prayed there was no answer from God. Communication had been quenched through sin. “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you.” John 14:16-17
5) The Spirit of understanding Sardis no longer understood or saw the way God sees. They could not understand why they had lost their power. ‘“For this reason also, since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding.” Colossians 1:9
6) The Spirit of wisdom Sardis could no longer sense the will of God. “You may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding”. (Colossians 1:9)
7) The Spirit of the LORD Sardis needed to recognize that the spirit of God always points us to Jesus. This is what every dying church needs to remember. They have lost their power as a witness to Christ for the Holy Spirit of God no longer in their lives or church. The spiritual heart monitor is nearing a flat line but the master doctor is in the room. Will they listen?