The Seven Churches of Revelation : Sardis

The ancient city of Sardis was set in mountainous terrain. There was only one way into the city and one way out. The city was easily defended, with only one entrance and one exit. The city was believed to be impenetrable. However, Sardis was captured, not once but twice. How was this impenetrable city captured? The watchmen who were supposed to warn of an advancing enemy force, were asleep on the job.

Is it any wonder that to this church Jesus, who gave the Spirit of God to the churches, Jesus who knows and holds the pastors of the churches, Jesus who knows the “works” of every church, would give to this church the stern warning: “Be watchful”?

Read with me some of the saddest verses recorded to these churches in Revelation. Revelation 3:1-3

Revelation 3:1–3 KJV 1900

1 And unto the angel of the church in Sardis write; These things saith he that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars; I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead. 2 Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die: for I have not found thy works perfect before God. 3 Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee.

I said these words were sad, but in reality they are scary. Scary because they describe a church that was dead.

Do not think for one moment that our church is not in this same danger!

How can our church avoid death?

To avoid death we must...

Check Ourselves v. 1

The church in Sardis needed a spiritual check-up!

Their reputation said they were alive, but Jesus said they were dead!

They had every outward appearance of a lively thriving church

Their attendance was booming

Their auditorium was packed

There were no empty spaces in the parking lot

There was fellowship going in the foyer....but they were dead Jesus says!

They were well known in their community

If you had a need, go to the Sardis church

They had a soup kitchen

They had food pantry

They had a clothes rack

They had it all!

Their reputation said they were alive, but

Jesus said they were dead!

It does not matter what your reputation is

It does not matter how well known you are in your community

All that matters is that Jesus knows you!

And know them He did!

Seven times to these churches Jesus delivers His holy decree: “I know thy works”

This church that was reputed to be alive was “dead on arrival” as far as Jesus was concerned

Notice He reminds them that He has the Holy Spirit, I’m reminded of Paul’s words Romans 8:9 “9 But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.”

Be careful of your reputation at the expense of Knowing Christ! (READ ILLUSTRATION FIRST)

The entire world may look at a church on the outside and declare: That is the most alive, thriving church in the world!

But Jesus looks on the inside, and Jesus knows the truth…without His Spirit you are dead!

I bought a book last month at the Wilds on leadership. In this book I came across a chapter that dealt with the necessity of an organization listing very clearly it’s “Core values”. The author of this book listed the core values of a famous church out west, Saddleback Church, pastored by Rick Warren, as having one of the clearest set of core values of any organization he knows of. Here they are:

The Saddleback Strategy:

1 Simple structure: We emphasize relationships.

2 Acceptance: We offer friendliness and openness.

3 Defined purpose: We exist for four distinct reasons— to celebrate God’s presence, communicate His Word, educate His people, and demonstrate His love.

4 Defined target: to respond to the hurts, needs and interests of our community.

5 Lay ministry: Our church runs by lay ministers.

6 Encouraging preaching: Our preaching emphasizes personal, practical solutions from God’s Word for life’s common problems.

7 Build up before building out: We build people before buildings.

8 Advertising: We do so to share our church with the community.

9 Contemporary worship: A style that is culturally relevant.

10 Keep on growing: Becasue everybody needs what Christ offers.

One would think, that after listing a church’s ten core values, at least one of those would include sharing the gospel!

Church I’m not passing judgment on Saddleback, I’ll let God handle that, I only have to answer this one, but here is the warning for us: We need to check ourselves!

One positive result from reading that list of core values, it made me ask, “What are our core values at Parks?” Here is what I have come up with: (tell me if you agree)

To preach the gospel of Jesus Christ faithfully, regularly, and without apology.

To share the gospel, not just within the walls of our church, but in the community at large so that the lost may be saved.

To stand firm on the Word of God, unwavering, no matter what.

To promote godly living, faithfulness in attending, obedience in everything, and love for everyone.

To, if necessary, be the last church preaching the truth of the Word of God til Jesus comes.

If you agree with those core values say amen. Now, ask yourself, “How well are we living up to these values?” I say to you the church at Sardis looked to be alive but was dead because it had lost sight of their core values, they had failed to faithfully preach the truth. For our church to avoid death, we must check ourselves and we must...

Correct Ourselves v. 2-3

The purpose in Jesus’ words was not to condemn the church, but to correct the church. But what a sad statement on this church!

Be watchful:

Twice in the history of Sardis they had been invaded and captured by the enemy because the watchmen had fallen asleep

As embarrassing as that must have been, as shameful as that must have been, here and now Jesus is telling this church to be watchful

Literally “Wake up”!

Church we need to make sure we are awake!

The enemy is circling, he is looking for a weak spot to attack

We must be awake and alert and ready to remain faithful to the Word of God

Next Jesus shares these sad words:

“…strengthen the things which remain...”

Strengthen = to set fast.

While on the outside this church looked vibrant, Jesus knew it did not have a lot going for it on the inside!

He called on them to work double-time on what little bit of truth they did have, because it was ready to die!

He goes on and says “Your works are not perfect”

Most likely this church had lost sight of its primary focus and was focusing on secondary duties.

While social causes and charity are great things for churches to participate in, nothing should take us away from our primary cause

The gospel must be our primary focus

Even in this dead church, Jesus calls on them to repent.

There is hope for churches today that have gone away from the truth

If they will repent and turn back to the truth of God's Word God will forgive them.

Do you want to hear the saddest bit of this entire section? Look at the last part of verse 3, “If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know the hour I will come upon thee.”

I’m tempted to say this is a reference to the rapture of the church. I’m tempted to say that this means they won’t be aware of the rapture. But, given the context of this passage, I’m afraid this is a reference to Jesus judging, chastening the faithful in the church that know to do right, but refuse to speak up. The ones who could have pulled this church back from the edge when there was still time. Church, the message is clear, if we don’t correct ourselves, Jesus will correct us.

To keep our church from dying we must check ourselves, correct ourselves, and, lastly, we must...

Commit Ourselves v. 4-6

Revelation 3:4 KJV 1900

4 Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with me in white: for they are worthy.

There were a few in Sardis (BTW, Sardis = Remnant) who were faithful to Jesus even in this dead church. They were committed to Him.

This is possibly the saddest statement of all. Out of this entire church, a church that the outside world thought was full of life, only a few were truly saved.

Church, what if I told you it only takes a few faithful to make a difference?

It only takes a few to stand up in the face of compromise and say “NO! I will not be spotted by the world. I will not stain my blood-bought garment with the filth of this world.!”

It only takes a few to stand up and say, “NO! I will not Satan have my family! I will remain true to God, I will remain true to His Word!”

It only takes a few to refuse to give up, to give in. My question is, will you be one of the few?

Conclusion: Those who had overcome through salvation, who’s names were written in the book of life...

This is how I want to close out this message by looking at this verse Revelation 3:5

Revelation 3:5 KJV 1900

5 He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.

What is the book of life and how does one have his/her name blotted from it?

It appears that there is only one book of life and it contains the names of every person living. The moment you are born your name is written in it, but only those who have put their trust in Jesus Christ will have their names written eternally. Those who are born but never trust Jesus will, at the time of their death, have their names blotted out.

To everyone listening to me today I am encouraging you to see if our church is alive or dead. I am encouraging you to see if you are alive or dead. How?

A. Check yourself. Have you put your faith in Jesus Christ for salvation and Him alone. Not expecting anything else to get you to heaven, just your faith. Not your church membership, not your baptism, not your parents or your family, just Jesus.

B. Correct yourself. If you are trusting in anything other than just plain, simple faith in Jesus to get you into heaven, you need to correct that false understanding.

C. Commit yourself. You need to right here, right now today, admit to God you are a sinner and need forgiveness, believe that Jesus died for you, and call on Him to save your soul. Will you do that. Let us pray...

Invitation.