A Responsive Church in a Changing Society: Sardis

Text: Revelation 3:1-6

Theme: The Lord of Glory has a message for the church today: Religious activity is not necessarily an indication of true spiritual vitality within a local congregation.

Date: 07/9/2023 Title: Responsive_Church_05-Sardis.wpd ID: NT27-03

Americans seem to have an undying fascination with stories of the undead. The mythology of zombies dates back to Haiti in the 17th and 18th centuries, but the living dead continue to rise in film, television, and, of course, during Halloween. Since the 1930s zombies have been a staple in American horror films, but became “pop star sensations” with the release of Michael Jackson’s music-video Thriller in 1982 where Jackson is turned into dance-crazed member of the walking dead. Over the last three years, living dead costumes have been the #1 trend for trick-o-treaters and adult Halloween parties. The undead are a big hit among Americans. The Walking Dead Universe is alive and well (pun intended).

Now why in the world am I introducing this morning’s message telling you about zombies and the living dead? Because some modern scholars refer to the Church at Sardis as the Church of the Living Dead. Of all the messages to the Seven Churches of Asia, this one is perhaps the most frightening. Sardis is a picture of the church which, from all outward appearances, is doing everything right. But those outward appearances are deceiving. God looks at this church and declares, "You are dead."

Sardis reminds us that, based on the world’s standards, a church can appear to be alive and relevant when, in all actuality, it is spiritually dead, and irrelevant to Christ’s kingdom

I. SARDIS WAS SPIRITUALLY IMPOVERISHED EVEN THOUGH IT WAS CULTURALLY ENGAGED

ILLUS. Sardis was located about thirty miles southeast of Thyatira and stood at the junction of five main roads. Sardis was an important city of commerce, being not only a center of the carpet industry and wool dying, but the place in which many believe coins were first minted. Sardis was one of the greatest and wealthiest cities in the world. Its wealth, in fact, was legendary.

1. the congregation at Sardis is a picture of those churches that have a significant reputation among men, but which have little or no spiritual vitality before God

v. 1 "... you have a reputation for being alive, but you are dead ..."

a. this verse contains a play on words

b. the word “dead” is a word that literally refers to “a corpse” or something “lifeless”

c. Jesus is telling this church " ... you have a reputation for being alive, but you are actually lifeless ..."

2. Sardis is the Church of the Living Dead

A. THE CHURCH AT SARDIS HAD A GOOD REPUTATION AMONG MEN

1. if a visitor had asked any pagan on the streets of Sardis for the location of this church, he could doubtless have told the visitor at once

a. that's a good thing

1) it is a bad sign when the members of a community cannot tell a stranger where the churches are

b. regardless of the denominational tag on the Church sign, local congregations ought to have such a positive influence on their communities that even the lost can give strangers directions to them

ILLUS. Everybody would have said, “If you’re looking for a livewire church, it’ll be the First Evangelical Church of Sardis. You’ll love their Praise Team. The preaching is relevant to the social issues of our community. Their kid’s program is outstanding.”

2. the problem, however, was that the First Evangelical Church of Sardis had lots of activities, but no real spiritual vitality

a. the church had a good reputation among men

ILLUS. When Linda and I moved to Bolivar, MO to attend Southwest Baptist College, one of the first things we did was begin searching for a church to attend. I had several of my professors tell me, that if I wanted to “get ahead” in the community and become “well known” among the college staff and administrators, I should “seriously consider” attending “a certain downtown church” (First Baptist Church). The connections would be good for my career. Well, we went to the suggested church one evening, and not one person said, “boo” to us. We walked in, sat down, enjoyed the service, got up and left without one person speaking to us. It was a church that came highly recommended by men, but it failed that night.

B. THE CHURCH AT SARDIS HAD A BAD REPUTATION IN HEAVEN

1. Sardis was a church with lots of activities, but they were accomplishing nothing of any eternal significance for God

a. Jesus said, "I know thy works"

b. the problem with this church is that they didn't have any!

c. the Church at Sardis, like the City of Sardis, had seen its glory days come and go

2. the 1st Evangelical Church of Sardis was well known and it was favorably known

a. the KJV says "thou hast a name"

b. Jesus is referring to the church's eminent reputation in its community and not of its effectiveness for the kingdom

1) here was a church well known in its community for its social programs

2) here was a church that maybe had a prominent place in the community with a well-maintained campus

3) here was a church who's members served on important boards and committees in the community and who belonged to the most influential neighborhood organizations

3. their reputation is "that thou livest"

a. this is a church that a new member to the community would surely want to visit

b. it is a church which, had you been moving from Ephesus to Sardis, your pastor would have probably recommended you at least visit and perhaps even move your membership to

c. but having gone, you might have felt that, in spite of all appearances, there was something missing

ILLUS. Back in 2015 a 47-year-old man was found dead in a car in Brooklyn, NY. Underneath the windshield wiper were two tickets for illegal parking. Two different traffic officers had seen the driver slumped across the front seat of his Buick Regal. Both officers assumed the driver was simply passed out from a night of drinking and was sleeping it off. They both issued tickets. A city Marshall discovered that the man was dead, only when he went to tow the vehicle away. The man had evidently died of natural causes and had been dead for two weeks. The man was dead, even though the a number of police officers thought he was alive!

4. in the Sardis community this church had a reputation for "being alive"

a. in Heaven's community this church had a reputation for being "dead"

b. God looked upon this church and saw that rigor mortis was quickly settling in

1) man looks upon the outward appearance, God looks upon the heart

2) man looks upon the architecture of a cathedral and says "What a great church."

3) Jesus looks at the spiritual apathy of the member's hearts and says, "What an impoverished congregation."

c. the spiritual decay in the church at Sardis was not obvious to outward observation

d. Sardis is a picture of nominal Christianity in all its unrighteous glory

1) outwardly prosperous, busy with the externals of religious activity, but devoid of spiritual life and power

ILLUS. In his book Harvest of Humanity, John Seamands told this story: “A German soldier was wounded. He was ordered to go to the military hospital for treatment. When he arrived at the large and imposing building, he saw two doors, one marked, "For the slightly wounded," and the other, "For the seriously wounded."

He entered through the first door since his wounds were not that serious. He found himself going down a long hall. At the end of it were two more doors, one marked, "For officers" and the other, "For non-officers." He entered through the latter since he was not an officer, and found himself going down another long hall. At the end of it were two more doors, one marked, "For Nazi party members" and the other, "For non-party members." He took the second door since he had never joined the Nazi party. When he opened it he found himself out on the street.

When the soldier returned home, his mother asked him, "How did you get along at the hospital?" "Well, Mother," he replied, "to tell the truth, the people there didn't do anything for me, but you ought to see the tremendous organization they have!"

2) the soldier's comment describes many churches in our day: really organized, but accomplishing little healing of those who are hurting

... Sardis Was Spiritually Impoverished Even Though it Was Culturally Engaged

II. SARDIS WAS SINCERELY IGNORANT OF THEIR SPIRITUAL POVERTY

1. this is why I find the message to the Church at Sardis so troubling

2. Sardis is a picture of the church that, from all outward appearances, is doing everything right

a. in actuality they are desperately in need of revival and renewal before the last ember dies out

A. GOD'S REMEDY FOR SPIRITUAL POVERTY

1. Jesus makes it very clear what this church needs to do

vv. 2-3 "Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your deeds complete in the sight of my God. Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; obey it, and repent. But if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what time I will come to you."

2. Jesus calls for a five-fold spiritual awakening plan

a. they are to "wake up"

1) a more literal translation of for that word is "become a watcher"

ILLUS. This counsel was particularly relevant for the 1st Evangelical Church of Sardis. The city of Sardis was built upon an impregnable acropolis which had never been seized by frontal attack. The city was defended on three sides by sheer cliffs. On the fourth it was approached by an isthmus of land so narrow that a handful of troops could defend it against thousands. But twice in the city's history, the town had been taken by stealth because of a lack of vigilance on the part of its defenders. Each time, the city had been conquered in the exactly same way. Invaders found a secret trail leading to the top of the plateau and found an unguarded city gate.

2) Jesus is telling this church to "watch out," "be vigilant" because the enemies of the church—Satan and the world are subtle and rarely have the courage to take the church head-on

“Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed.” (Romans 13:11, ESV)

b. they are to "strengthen the things that remain"

1) the works of the Church of Sardis have been weighed and found wanting before God

a) they have not measured up to God’s standard of excellence

2) the church at Sardis was on the verge of spiritual death and yet there is a flicker of life

3) those Godly virtues, those Spiritual Fruits which remain needed to be nursed and nourished back to life

c. they are to "remember"

1) they are to search their memories and recall those days when faithfulness before God was more important than their reputation among men

a) just like individual believers, churches also have spiritual roots and a spiritual heritage which they need to remember — not reminisce about — but remember from time to time

2) they are to remember those days when they were spiritually pure and filled with zeal for the things of God

d. they are to "hold fast" (the NIV says "obey")

1) I think Jesus means to "hold fast" to the message they had initially received and embraced

2) that message is "man is lost in sin, but Jesus saves"

3) if any ministry, if any activity, if any program does not have the ultimate aim of declaring and sharing that message it ought to be "let go"

e. they are to "repent"

1) the entire membership is called to the alter to turn their lives and their church back over to God

2) when believers find more pleasure in the world then they do in the prayer meetings it is a sure sign that spiritual apathy has set in

... Sardis Was Sincerely Ignorant of Their Spiritual Poverty

III. SARDIS WAS A SPIRITUALLY STAGNANT CHURCH THAT TEACHES US IMPORTANT LESSONS

1. Sardis is a church that outwardly appears to be doing everything right

a. their attendance is good

b. their programs are fully staffed and financed

c. there are no doctrinal or theological problems like at Pergamum

d. there are no false prophets misleading the membership such as at Thyatira

e. there is no threat of persecution looming on the horizon such as at Smyrna

2. but they are spiritually lethargic, inert and asleep

3. why?

A. THEIR IMAGE WAS MORE IMPORTANT THAN CHRIST’S IMAGE

“I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead” (Revelation 3:1)

1. when a church becomes hyper concerned with their “brand”, growth, numbers, and programs, that can actually be a sign of spiritual illness

a. Scripture is clear that the Church’s PR role belongs to Jesus, alone

1) he is the one in charge of “building the church,” and only he can legitimately add to its numbers “those who are being saved” (Matthew 16:18)

b. a glowing reputation and a full house are worthless if they are only the toe-tags of a dead church

2. the sad truth about the Church at Sardis is that it is on the verge of rigor mortis but it was unaware of its condition

a. what happened to this church can also happen to you and me

1) it is possible to be in touch with our Lord, but to become out of touch with him without ever realizing that we are out of fellowship with him

ILLUS. Remember Samson? There had been a time in his life when every effort ended in victory. To “shake himself” was to bring disastrous defeat to his foes, victory for God’s people, and glory to God. But then Delila got hold of a pair of scissors. At her cry, "Samson, the Philistines are upon you," Samson arose with his old confidence saying, "I will go out as at other times before, and shake myself." But this time it was not the same. To his horror, he discovered that he was as weak as any other man. Expecting victory, he went down to defeat. One of the saddest verses in all the Bible is found in Judges 16:20, Speaking of Sampson it says, "And he did not know that the Lord was departed from him."

3. we need to be vigilant against overconfidence in what we think we have achieved— either as a Christian or as a Congregation

a. we need to be vigilant and always on guard against the influences of the outside world upon the life of the church

B. THEIR AGENDA WAS MORE IMPORTANT THAN CHRIST’S AGENDA

“I have found your deeds unfinished in the sight of my God” (Revelation 3:2)

1. God’s appointed mission for the church is a continuation of Christ’s earthly ministry

a. Scripture is clear that the church’s God-given and Holy-Spirit fueled purpose is to equip, encourage, strengthen, and train the Saints to take the Gospel of Christ to the world

“ “You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet. 14 “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.” (Matthew 5:13–14, ESV)

2. many churches can become so distracted by internal concerns that they lose track of their biblical mission — to go into all the world making disciples

a. Christ has already provided all the Church needs to fulfill our mission

b. our labor is only effective for the Kingdom of God when we are working Christ’s plan, in the flow of His Spirit, for God’s glory

C. THEIR MESSAGE WAS MORE IMPORTANT THAN CHRIST’S MESSAGE

“Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; hold it fast” (Revelation 3:3)

1. Scripture tells us there will come a time when people are no longer able to tolerate the teaching of sound doctrine

“For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions,” (2 Timothy 4:3, ESV)

a. Paul is not referring to those outside the church, but those inside the church

2. in an effort to reach the masses with the Gospel, many modern churches have compromised sound doctrine for humanistic teachings that won’t offend

a. instead of preaching the Word of God that has the power to transform lives, these pastors have settled for a watered-down version of the message that promotes tolerance and trivializes hard truths

b. if a church is not willing to “hold fast” to God’s Word, guard it, and faithfully preach it, in season and out of season — that church is dying or dead regardless of how full the pews might be

3. the Gospel will always offend because the gospel does not mince words about sin, our sinfulness, and the need of a Savior

D. THEIR RELIGION WAS MORE IMPORTANT THAN REPENTANCE

“… and repent …Yet you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes” (Revelation 3:3b, 4)

1. religion says that you need to cross all the “Ts” and dot all the “I’s” and check all the right boxes

a. this was the faith of the Pharisees that Jesus so thoroughly condemned

“ “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others.” (Matthew 23:23, ESV)

1) man often substitutes a religious life for a righteous life

2) here is a vast difference! – being religious is of man; being righteous is of God

b. the Pharisees had a form of Godliness but no real spiritual power

1) the Apostle Paul told his young protégée Timothy from such turn away

c. those who have a form of godliness are those who make an outward display of religion

1) they present themselves as godly, but it is all for show

2) there is no power behind their religion, as evidenced in the fact that their lives are unchanged

3) they speak of God and live in sin, and they are fine with that arrangement

2. repentance has been a foundational doctrine preached since the early days of the Church

a. but lately, Satan has been hard at work to veil the truth about the deadly nature of sin, and he is busy warping the truth about the essential doctrine of repentance

3. before His ascension, Jesus told His disciples, “This is what is written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem” (Luke 24:47)

a. if the truth about sin and repentance is never discussed within your church Body, that is a sure sign that the Holy Spirit is not actively at work among the congregants

E. THEIR SUPERFICIALITY WAS MORE IMPORTANT THAN CHRIST’S SPIRIT

“Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die” (Revelation 3:2)

1. superficiality refers to a lack of depth or shallowness

a. unfortunately, shallowness defines the faith life of too many professing Christians

ILLUS. Their faith is the proverbial “Mile wide, but only an inch deep.” That phrase originated with Edgar Nye who was attempting to describe the Platte River, in Nebraska, but it quickly became a way of describing people whose knowledge is superficial.

b. we can also use it to describe a Christian whose faith is superficial

2. well that begs the question, “Why would any Christians want a faith that’s only superficial?”

a. a superficial faith lets a Christian go through the motions of being a Christian without ever dealing with the harder parts of following Jesus

1) it’s discipleless Christianity

ILLUS. The German pastor and theologian, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, wrestled with this. He wrote, “Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, Communion without confession, absolution without personal confession. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate.”

“Costly grace is the treasure hidden in the field; for the sake of it a man will go and sell all that he has. It is the pearl of great price to buy which the merchant will sell all his goods. It is the kingly rule of Christ, for whose sake a man will pluck out the eye which causes him to stumble; it is the call of Jesus Christ at which the disciple leaves his nets and follows him.

“Costly grace is the gospel which must be sought again and again, the gift which must be asked for, the door at which a man must knock.”

“When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die.”

3. if you feel like you’re just “going through the motions” on Sunday morning, you probably are

a. if the majority of the congregation feels like they’re just going through the motions of the Christian faith, than they probably are, and the congregation has become the church of the living dead

4. not every church gathering will be filled with excitement, every single week, but when the Body of Christ has the opportunity to come together for corporate prayer and worship — the presence of Christ should be sensed and experienced as a source of life and light.

ILLUS. In the late 19th -century while a young lawyer Mahatma Gandhi became interested in Christianity. He’d grown up a practicing Hindu, but as a young man thought he would investigate the Christian faith. He was intrigued by it — especially by the life of Christ.

While living in South Africa he attended a Christian Church in Pretoria. Gandhi wrote that the congregation did not strike him as being particularly religious nor an assembly of devout souls, but appeared rather to be worldly-minded people going to church for recreation and in conformity to custom. He concluded that there was nothing in church that he did not already possess. Could it be that Gandhi attended a church much like the one at Sardis?

Gandhi later declared, “I’d be a Christian if it were not for the Christians.’ “

The letter concludes with some good news. God and a faithful remnant can resurrect a dead church. Jesus says, "Yet you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes." (Revelation 3:4, ESV). God looks at the church at Sardis and sees a few faithful followers. Through them, God can bring a dead church back to life. If Christ has called you into a relationship with him ... if you’ve answered his invitation to come into your life ... are you willing to move past superficial faith? ... Are you willing to die to self and live for Christ? Because if enough of us are willing to do that, no one will be able to ever say, “Linn, 1st Baptist Church? Oh, that’s the church of the living dead.”