6th Letter: Church of Sardis: Revelations

Jesus instructed angel of the church of Sardis to write what John saw. 

Sardis: Modern City of Turkey, capitol of Lydian Empire 7th Century B.C. Trade Routes, Great location on Aegean Sea. 1st City to mint gold and silver coins! Sardis was the richest kingdom known for luxury and lifestyle. Polytheistic society: Cybele, Artemis, Kore. 

The Roman’s came to worship the very fertile goddess of Cybele after lead poisoning caused mass infertility issues in Rome. The water, make-up, paint and medicines are just a few areas where lead was exposed causing infertility in masses of women.

Cybele was thought to be raped by Zeus, he was unable to penetrate and deposited his seed on a rock near her. She was so fertile that she became pregnant from just the deposit on the rock, she had a son that was known to be a monster. Cybele is known to have arrived on a chariot pulled by two lions. She was also known also for wild music, parties, wine, disorder, mountains, city walls, wild animals and sexuality. The Roman’s ditched their infertile goddesses for a goddess known to be super fertile after having all the issues with infertility caused by lead poisoning. Castration was also very common in these areas. 

The Galli were priests in the cult of the goddess Cybele. They may have been devoted specifically to her consort Attis, who had castrated himself in a fit of divine frenzy. On initiation to the cult the Galli also castrated themselves, and afterwards dressed exclusively in women’s clothing. (Cross dressing/ Transgenderism)

Temple of Artemis built in 282 BCE

Found Stone Shrine to Cybele- Mother Goddess.

133 BCE- Roman City. 

1st Century: Large amounts of Jews and Christians (Messianic believers)

Summary: 

• Reputation for being Alive but YOU ARE DEAD! Wake Up!
• Strengthen what remains before you DIE.
• Your DEEDs are INCOMPLETE in the Sight of God.
• Remember what you RECEIVED, HEARD, OBEYED and REPENT

** Wake up or like a thief you will not know when Jesus will return. 

There are only a few that have not soiled their clothes, worthy of their names to be acknowledged before the YHWH and Angels.

General Thoughts: 

The United States is one of the richest countries in the world too, like Sardis, money is made and multiplied. We see many claim to be Christians, Believers and Mega Churches claim to be Alive, Saved by Grace but God warns, YOU ARE DEAD. Go back to your roots, purify yourself, go back to ground zero implanting the full word and strengthen your faith with truth and actions to back up your faith. 

So many times, I’ve heard you can’t earn your faith, grace is a free gift. Backsliders feel safe, excuses are made for friends and family who have fallen from grace.  But over and over in scripture and over and over in Revelations it says YOUR DEEDS are Incomplete or that your deeds are noted.

Faith without works is dead. Again, remember talk is CHEAP! The proof is in how you live your life, your actions not just what you claim. For instance, you could tell your husband that you love him, and you might to some degree, but if you carry on an affair with someone else- you sure aren’t showing it. You are only half in on that relationship if that. 

You can have a church that claims to follow Jesus, but fails on many fronts with half or scrubbed-truths, following the world not word. I am always shocked at how many churches mix real worship with pagan worship.  The immersion-integration of pagan festivals is deeply engrained into our worship, like Passover being called Easter, which is originated from a Pagan Goddess. The link to the bunny, eggs, fertility and child sacrifice, the idea that the churches promote a Pagan God name in the celebration of his resurrection makes my skin hurt. Why can’t we just do a last supper like Jesus did and ditch the eggs, bunnies and for God’s sake get rid of the word EASTER. Venerable Bede in the 8th century, said that it derived from Eostre, or Eostrae, the Anglo-Saxon goddess of spring and fertility.

God is very clear in scripture of HIS festivals and holy days, and scripture is very clear they are not to be a fusion of traditions. Of course, this is only the tip of the iceberg of the disappointment God has with our churches, to the point of disgust. Repentance and correction are the only way to fix this! 

I have been church dating for years. I would pray for God to reveal to me the truth, to show me if he was there. I would pray each time before I went. I can’t tell you how many times, I walked out or felt so discouraged because doctrine was off. When you study the bible, you know when you are being spoon fed partial scripture or a half-truth.

But one time, this happened. I prayed as I always do, “God if you are here, show me. “

When I got to the new church, I sat far on the inside of the row. To get to me, you would have to pass my entire family, including my husband. During worship, a nicely dressed older gentleman, a grandpa type, in an expensive very tailored suit walked past my family and stood in front of me. 

” He said, Mam I don’t usually approach a woman without greeting her husband first, but I had an ache on my heart that you are looking for something or you need something. If I had not approached you, it would have ached on my heart all day. I had to obey the Holy Spirit.” 

My eyes filled with tears. God had answered me. He was still very much alive in that church. Of course, this church still had gaps, but God was very much telling me he was active there. I definitely walked away thinking, wow – He heard my prayers and answered. 

The churches in America better WAKE and Scream truth at all costs before it’s too late. 

The church of Sardis was also surrounded by cultural influence which included pagan worship, sensuality and weird rituals like castration with cross dressing. Sounds very similar to the emergence and glorification of this today.