Hope for a Dead Church?

The Template of the Letter to the Church at Sardis

Description of Jesus (Rev. 3:1)

The Risen Christ is described as the One with the 7-fold Holy Spirit and the One who holds the 7 stars

Commendation

NONE. Sardis is the church that receives no words of commendation from the Risen Christ

Rebuke (Rev 3:2)

Jesus tells them that regardless of their external reputation, they are a DEAD Church!

Action Steps (Rev 3:3)

The members are told to Remember what they had been taught and to Repent of their apathy

Reward (Rev 3:4-6)

Those who are worthy will have ongoing fellowship with Christ and will be with Him for Eternity

Jesus Discerns the True Condition of His Churches (Rev. 3:1)

From an outside perspective, Sardis was a church that gave the appearance of life. The Church had the reputation of being alive but the prognosis from the Risen Christ was the opposite. He flatly states, “You are a DEAD church!”

Illustrate: someone expecting good news and then gets handed a serious setback

Argument: The quote from Lincoln is even more appropriate for this Church than the Church at Thyatira

Spiritual Apathy is the end result of a process of disobedience. When an individual, Church, or denomination compromises with the world, allows false teaching, rejects the authority and inerrancy of Scripture then it dies. It may take a long time, maybe even hundred of years, but it will die.

Example: Union Theological Seminary is a progressive, social justice oriented, fully diverse seminary that has relatively little to do with the Bible as the word of God. One apologist refers to Union as the “walker” seminary as in “the walking dead.” A tweet from the official Union Twitter account for Sept 17, 2019:

Today in chapel, we confessed to plants. Together, we held our grief, joy, regret, hope, guilt and sorrow in prayer; offering them to the beings who sustain us but whose gift we too often fail to honor.

There are organizations in this county that at one time may have been churches but they have collectively abandoned that position by their avowed belief system.

Application: What a terrifying statement when God writes Ichabod across the doors. Pray that new believers and the lost are not confused by their existence.

Jesus always has a Remnant and there is always Hope with Christ (Rev 3:2-4)

Explanation: Even though Jesus has no words of commendation for the Church at Sardis, there is still hope. As a Church body it is already dead, but there is still life left in some of the members. When Jesus tells them to wake up, it appears that He is addressing believers who have become dangerously apathetic.

Illustrate: a person may be sleeping in a house that is on fire. They need to wake up and do something before it is too late!

Argument: It is never a good idea to give in to despair and think we must be the only believers left. The appearance of our circumstances can cause us to question that, but God always has a remnant. When the prophet Elijah was in despair and complaining to God that he was the only one left to bear witness to the Name, God revealed that He had a remnant (1 KIngs 19:10, 14)

When Jesus issues the command to Remember, it must be directed to those with a remaining faith heritage. They knew the goodness and grace of God and He is telling them to Remember!

Those who are in Christ are Eternally secure (Rev 3:5)

Explanation: Jesus tells His sheep that are still in this dead church that He will confess that person’s name before the presence of the Father in Glory! Jesus also tells those that belong to Him that He will never remove their names from the Book of Life. The Risen Christ is encouraging them with His unfailing promises.

Illustrate: Lot was living in Sodom. He made a poor choice when he chose to move to Sodom, but he still belonged to God. Many of us would judge Lot guilty and condemn him based on his association with the rebel and immoral sinners in Sodom. But God expressly informs us in the NT that Lot was still one of His. (cf., 2 Peter 2:7-9)

Argument: There is still a call for the righteous to separate ourselves from that which is unholy and immoral. This call for separation requires discernment. We have the principle that Jesus delivered in His High Priestly prayer when He prayed that His followers might be protected (John 17:15-19) from the evil one while ministering in the world. This context is the secular, unbelieving world that is in rebellion against God. It is not directed at what is supposed to be one of His own churches!

It is possible for a believer to remain in an apostate or dead church if he or she is actively seeking to be used of God to turn things around. Some Christians are given the difficult task of being used to breathe new life into such Churches. If God is keeping a believer in the dead church for that reason, then he or she needs to stay and serve for His glory.

This does not, however, apply to those believers who remain in apostate churches out of comfort or established relationships. I believe that the principle Paul gave under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit is in operation at this point:

2 Corinthians 6:17 KJV 1900

Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,

Either way, the main point that the Risen Christ is making to those believers in Sardis is that He will not disown them. Those who are in Christ are eternally secure - The Bible does NOT teach that a believer can lose his or her salvation!

John 10:27-29; Ephesians 1:3-4 both illustrate this truth!

If a person is genuinely saved, that person has passed from death to life (cf John 5:24) and will live forever with God in Christ! What a tremendous promise of hope and encouragement for those in a very difficult circumstance