Revelation 3:1-6
Thus far, looking at the churches, we have seen Jesus bride from several perspectives.
Ephesus was the bride busy serving her husband, but not spending time with her husband. She had to overcome hypocrisy.
Smyrna was the bride who was overcome with the difficulty of marriage, and contemplated quitting. She had to overcome fear.
Pergamum was the bride who had too many ungodly friends, and was in danger of being seduced into an affair. She had to overcome compromise.
Thyatira was the bride who had another lover, she was having an affair with the world. She had to overcome worldliness.
Tonight we see the 5th church.
This church also teaches us that some times the things we have to overcome have nothing to do with the devil, and everything to do with ourselves.
James 1:13-16 “Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death. Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren.”
Sardis was also a church that had fallen to the lusts of the flesh.
It wasn’t that they were overly worldly, or overly idolatrous.
They were lazy.
They fell into that trap that so often and so quickly nails us.
When faced with the decision, and given the opportunity,
They rose to the occasion and did nothing.
And what is worse, they were ok with it.
SARDIS
– One time thought to be impenetrable.
One narrow entry, 3 walls of solid rock
Cyrus conquered by scaling the walls with a mock battle.
– Now they were a tourist city. Living on past accomplishments
Gold and silver coins first minted there
First to learn to die wool
Hot springs, with power to give life to the dead
They boasted as a great city that once was.
Their town fittingly housed their church.
5 things we see in our text tonight.
#1 THE COMPOSER
Revelation 3:1a
“To the angel of the church in Sardis write: He who holds the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars says this:”
“He who holds the seven Spirits of God”
This is a reference to the Holy Spirit.
Isaiah 11:2 “The Spirit of the LORD will rest on Him, The spirit of wisdom and understanding, The spirit of counsel and strength, The spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD.”
And we know what the role of the Holy Spirit is.
John 16:7-15 “But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you. “And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment; concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me; and concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father and you no longer see Me; and concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged. “I have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. “But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. “He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you. “All things that the Father has are Mine; therefore I said that He takes of Mine and will disclose it to you.”
The Holy Spirit comes to CONVICT, GUIDE, & GLORIFY
And Jesus reveals that He has the Holy Spirit
“He who has…the seven stars”
the seven stars are the messengers to the churches.
So Jesus reveals Himself as the One
Who has the authority to convict and to guide you.
NOW WE ARE AWARE OF THIS TRUTH,
BUT WE SELDOM WELCOME IT.
We know Jesus has the right to convict sin, but surely it is someone elses.
We know Jesus has the right to guide, but why would He want to change our church?
COULD IT BE THAT THESE ARE THE MINDSETS OF DEAD CHURCHES?
I’ve often heard the statement.
“We’ve never done it that way before”
In other words, we don’t see the need to change,
And we don’t like anyone telling us we need to.
#2 THE CRITIQUE
Revelation 3:1b
“I know your deeds, that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead.”
Now before we get into the critique,
I think it is only fitting to notice what is missing.
There are two things that Jesus doesn’t speak of when he talks about Sardis.
1) He doesn’t commend them for anything.
They did nothing that was even worthy of a half-hearted commendation.
2) He doesn’t mention any persecution.
Ephesus had the Nicolaitans
Smyrna had a synagogue of Satan
Pergamum was in the presence of Satan’s throne
Thyatira had Jezebel
But Sardis has nothing.
WHY WOULD SATAN ATTACK A DEAD CHURCH?
They didn’t do anything good, so there was no need for Satan to try and stop them.
I can promise you this.
You will never run into Satan
If you never go in an opposite direction.
It isn’t always the devil who is our problem.
He certainly wasn’t the problem for Sardis,
They were their own worst enemy.
Jesus said, “I know your deeds, that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead.”
TODD FELT’S RATTLESNAKE STORY
IS THE TURTLE DEAD OR ALIVE?
There is the danger.
To be dead, and not know it.
Sardis fit this bill.
MANY ASSUME WHAT A DEAD CHURCH LOOKS LIKE
Boarded up windows, or only a handful of people, or no money.
NOT SO
A dead church may have a million dollar budget,
A large congregation,
And a state of the art facility, but that means nothing.
SO WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE DEAD?
Ephesians 2:1-3 “And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.”
I hope you remember when we studied Ephesians what it meant to be dead in spirit.
If a dead body can’t respond, neither can a dead spirit.
If a dead body can’t move, neither can a dead spirit.
If a dead body can’t change, neither can a dead spirit.
Sardis was dead, they only looked alive.
They didn’t recognize God.
They didn’t see His leading
They didn’t hear His voice
They didn’t understand His will
John MacArthur describes a dead church like this:
“What are the danger signs of a dying church? A church is in danger when it is content to rest on its past laurels, when it is more concerned with liturgical forms than spiritual reality, when it focuses on curing social ills rather than changing people’s hearts through preaching the life-giving gospel of Jesus Christ, when it is more concerned with material than with spiritual things, when it is more concerned with what men think than what God said, when it is more enamored with doctrinal creeds and systems of theology than with the word of God Himself. No matter what its attendance, no matter how impressive its buildings, no matter what its status in the community, such a church, having denied the only source of spiritual life, is dead.”
(MacArthur, John; The MacArthur New Testament Commentary: Revelation 1-11 [Moody Press, Chicago Ill. 1999] pg. 111-112)
It is quite possible for a church to look alive, and still be dead.
This is the reason Paul warned the Ephesian church.
Ephesians 4:17-24 “So this I say, and affirm together with the Lord, that you walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind, being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart; and they, having become callous, have given themselves over to sensuality for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness. But you did not learn Christ in this way, if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught in Him, just as truth is in Jesus, that, in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.”
A church isn’t a church just because they meet on Sunday.
A church isn’t a church just because they sing hymns.
A church isn’t a church just because it looks like one.
A church is a church when believers, filled with the Spirit, meet in unity to listen to the Spirit. Then walk in the power of the Spirit, displaying the fruit of the Spirit.
Anything else is to be dead and to only appear alive.
This is why Jesus critiqued the church at Sardis.
#3 THE COMMAND
Revelation 3:2-3
There are five things that Jesus tells the church at Sardis to do.
1) REVIVE
“Wake up”
We learned Wednesday night that Roy is a heavy sleeper. So am I.
I also go to sleep real easy.
Sometimes Carrie can be talking to me, and then she’ll say, “You just went to sleep.” Of course I say, “No I didn’t.”
Or have you ever had anybody try to wake you up, and you respond, “I’m awake, when you really aren’t.”
We do that in churches a lot too.
God says, “You’re asleep” and we so, “No we’re not.”
Or He says, “Wake up”, and we say, “I’m awake”, when we aren’t.
WE AS CHURCHES LIKE TO LIVE IN NEVER-NEVER LAND DON’T WE?
We just like to go through life pretending that everything is cool.
If something is wrong, we sure don’t want someone to tell us.
We hate it when we have to evaluate.
It is time to look at our church through God’s eyes,
And quit looking at it with worldly logic.
1 Peter 4:17a “For it is time for judgment to begin with the household of God;”
It’s time we as a church agree to open our eyes and see what we really are.
2) RENEW
“strengthen the things that remain, which were about to die; for I have not found your deeds completed in the sight of My God.”
I’ve heard many of these testimonies.
Where people start spouting off all they used to do.
There was a T-shirt out not too long ago that said it best.
“The older I get, the better I was.”
We think because we did it once, then we are off the hook.
If God is in Sunday School, then by golly make it better.
If God is in RA’s and GA’s, then strengthen it.
If God is in choir, then make it even better.
So this church had to get to work, making what was there better.
3) REMEMBER
“So remember what you have received and heard”
WHAT HAD THEY RECEIVED AND HEARD?
This is why Jesus revealed Himself like He did.
They had received the Holy Spirit.
They had heard the truth.
It was time to make God’s presence, and God’s truth a priority.
AMY TAGLE WON’T SETTLE ON A CHURCH
But it’s a shame when someone like Amy stands out for doing that.
We all ought to have that passion.
We ought to just want the presence of God and the truth of God.
HOW IMPORTANT IS THE PRESENCE OF GOD?
Remember in the days of Ezekiel. God’s glory departed from Israel (Ichabod)
Ezekiel 10:18-19 “Then the glory of the LORD departed from the threshold of the temple and stood over the cherubim. When the cherubim departed, they lifted their wings and rose up from the earth in my sight with the wheels beside them; and they stood still at the entrance of the east gate of the LORD’S house, and the glory of the God of Israel hovered over them.”
Ezekiel 11:22-23 “Then the cherubim lifted up their wings with the wheels beside them, and the glory of the God of Israel hovered over them. The glory of the LORD went up from the midst of the city and stood over the mountain which is east of the city.”
Of course, at this point Babylon came in and wiped them out and carried Jerusalem into Exile, and they lived there for 70 years.
They found the devastating effects of losing God’s presence.
Then in the last 9 chapters of the book of Ezekiel,
Ezekiel sees the vision of the temple.
Ezekiel 48:35 “The city shall be 18,000 cubits round about; and the name of the city from that day shall be, ‘ The LORD is there.'”
Remember when Israel blew it with the golden calf?
TURN TO EXODUS 33:1-10
They learned the importance of the presence of God.
HOW IMPORTANT IS THE TRUTH OF GOD?
Hosea 4:6 “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being My priest. Since you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children.”
Isaiah 5:13 “Therefore My people go into exile for their lack of knowledge; And their honorable men are famished, And their multitude is parched with thirst.”
We must remember
4) REMAIN
“and keep it”
In other words, don’t just seek the Spirit of God, seek to obey Him.
Don’t just listen to the truth of God’s word, obey it.
Make the presence a priority, and make the truth a priority.
5) REPENT
“and repent”
REPENTANCE SHOULD BE LAST BECAUSE IT IS LIFELONG
Luke 3:7-14 “So he began saying to the crowds who were going out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? “Therefore bear fruits in keeping with repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham for our father,’ for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children to Abraham. “Indeed the axe is already laid at the root of the trees; so every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.” And the crowds were questioning him, saying, “Then what shall we do?” And he would answer and say to them, “The man who has two tunics is to share with him who has none; and he who has food is to do likewise.” And some tax collectors also came to be baptized, and they said to him, “Teacher, what shall we do?” And he said to them, “Collect no more than what you have been ordered to.” Some soldiers were questioning him, saying, “And what about us, what shall we do?” And he said to them, “Do not take money from anyone by force, or accuse anyone falsely, and be content with your wages.”
When a church is dead, they must
Revive themselves
Renew what they have
Remember what is important
Remain in obedience
And live lives of Repentance
“Therefore if you do not wake up, I will come like a chief, and you will not know at what hour I will come to you.”
THEY WERE IN DANGER OF MISSING JESUS
Wake up, and experience the life giving flow of Jesus!
#4 THE COMMENDATION
Revelation 3:4
We have talked about this before, but garments always represent character in the bible.
There were some who had remained obedient to Jesus. They were walking in purity. They were awake and alert.
God always leaves a remnant.
But they hold a major responsibility.
John MacArthur also wrote:
“There was not time for indifference; they could not just go with the flow, they had to reverse it. The believing remnant needed to look at what was happening in their church, evaluate the situation, get involved in changing things, confront sin and error, and make a difference.” (ibid. pg. 114)
#5 THE CONNOTATION
Revelation 3:5-6
If you overcome, you will be clothed in Christ’s righteousness.
“and I will not erase his name from the book of life”
This is the book of the living.
Exodus 32:32 “But now, if You will, forgive their sin — and if not, please blot me out from Your book which You have written!”
In other words, if you will straighten up, then I won’t kill you.
“and I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels”
If you overcome now, you will be Mine.
If you don’t overcome, then you were never Mine, and never will be.
Can a person who doesn’t desire the presence of God, or the truth of God really call themselves a Christian?
Jesus didn’t.
But this is for him who overcomes.
OVERCOMES WHAT?
Complacency
We are far too complacent.
This is the bride who sees her marriage going down the drain but could care less.
It is time for the church to turn the tide.
Psalms 7:12-16 “If a man does not repent, He will sharpen His sword; He has bent His bow and made it ready. He has also prepared for Himself deadly weapons; He makes His arrows fiery shafts. Behold, he travails with wickedness, And he conceives mischief and brings forth falsehood. He has dug a pit and hollowed it out, And has fallen into the hole which he made. His mischief will return upon his own head, And his violence will descend upon his own pate.”
