“Therefore if you will not watch, I will come upon you as a thief, and you will not know what hour I will come upon you.” Revelation 3:3
The Lord shared His counsel with the dead church. For the church at Sardis this is a life or death decision. Obey the one with all authority or cease to exist.
Therefore The Lord specifies the consequences of failing to heed His warning. If they do not remember the message of salvation that has been preached to them, if they do not repent and turn from their sin, tragedy is imminent.
If you will not watch The word means to be vigilant. The fact that the Lord Jesus Christ was alive and would return had, at least up to this point, no impact on them. They lived as if there was no coming accountability before a holy God.
I will come upon you Christ says He will come to this church. He will personally return but His return will not be a joyous reunion coming for His followers. If you do not believe this read Matthew 7:21-23.
As a thief How will the Lord come? For the unbelieving church it will be as a thief in the night. The word thief means one who takes by stealth (in secret), rather than in the open with violence. The word is used by the Lord in Matthew 24 where He discusses the end times. The Lord says no one but the Father knows the day or the hour of His return. This is an event that will be totally unexpected. Rejecting the Lord’s preeminence blinds this church to their peril.
And you will not know In Matthew 24:43 the Lord says “But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into.” The point is this church, Christian in name but not doctrine or behavior, will be totally ignorant and unprepared for the Lord’s return.
What hour I will come “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only.” Ignorance of God’s word blinds them to the signs in scripture telling them of the end times. It blinds them to the truth that Christ will come for them, not as a loving teacher, but as the judge of His church
Upon you This is personal and individual. God calls to each member in Sardis one by one. Remember! Repent! Do it now!
What can we learn? What is the Lord referring to in this passage? He is talking to a church that is called by His name but is, like the Pharisees, a whited sepulcher – they are dead inside. They claim they know God and His truth yet they will be surprised at His coming. What coming is the Lord referring to? First for the church at Sardis, this is the death of their church. The Lord will come suddenly upon the church and judge it in its deadness. Then they are unmoved by the rapture. When the Lord descends from heaven with a shout and calls true believers out of this earth, the dead church will be totally
unaware and unaccepting of what is happening. The rapture of the church will be denied, the dead church will claim this event cannot be the rapture for they are still here – surely this church would never be left behind.
Many will accuse the Lord of cruelty. How could He judge a church to eternal hell that did good works ? Remember His call to this dead church – Be watchful! Remember! If they do not see themselves in need of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, they worship themselves, not Him.