The Dead Church

The vast distances of interstellar space are unimaginably immense. The nearest stars to us are trillions of miles away. Those large distances have forced astronomers to come up with an appropriate measurement unit, the light-year. One light-year equals the distance that light, traveling at more than 186,000 miles per second, travels in one year—more than 6 trillion miles.

The enormous distance to even the nearest stars presents an interesting possibility. If a star thirty light-years away from the earth exploded and died five years ago, we would not be able to tell by looking at it for another twenty-five years. Though no longer in existence, the light from that star would go on shining as if nothing had changed.

That illustration perfectly sums up the situation in many churches. They still shine with the reflected light of a brilliant past. Looking at them from a distance, one might think nothing had changed. Yet the spiritual darkness of false teaching and sinful living has extinguished the light on the inside, though some of their reputation may still remain.

John F. MacArthur Jr., Revelation 1–11, MacArthur New Testament Commentary (Chicago: Moody Press, 1999), 107–108.

Sardis was like this dead star.

Dead

BUT still giving off the appearance of life despite the fact that life has ceased.

Sardis continues the downward slide of these churches that are being addressed.

Ephesus - Loveless Church

Smyrna - The Persecuted Church (No rebuke)

Pergamum - The Worldly Church

Thyatira - The Tolerant Church

Sardis - The Dead Church

TO COME

Philadelphia - The Faithful Church (No rebuke)

Laodicea - The Lukewarm Church (No commendation)

Sardis stands as the representative of churches today that, though they may have the appearance of life, are actually dead.

As we consider this letter, we will see…

Big Idea: The Church is called to wake up, strengthen what remains, remember what we have recieved and heard, keep the word, and repent while we may.

Body

The Correspondent

Revelation 3:1.

What are the seven spirits of God?

The Holy Spirit

The seven spirits is simply a depiction of the Holy Spirit IN HIS FULLNESS.

What are the seven stars?

The angels (messengers)/pastors of the seven churches.

Why would God introduce Himself this way to Sardis?

God holding the seven stars is a powerful and poignant reminder that GOD is the one controlling and leading His church. He may use US as human vessels, but it is GOD’s church. It is HIS power and authority that the church falls under. In spite of human leaders success and despite their failures, GOD IS STILL RULING and CONTROLLING His church.

This is a reminder, you still fall under my authority and jurisdiction, under my control.

Further, it could also be a picture of God’s use of human messenger/servants to carry out his rule and authority.

While God may place man in place of servant leadership over his church, Christ retains full control and authority. But this does not minimize the fact that he raises of men to serve him in this way.

Which means when he comes with His message to this dead church, message that will include commands and warnings, it bears weight.

The Church

Revelation 3:1.

Here is another church whose record of founding is not found in scripture.

Given its close proximity to the rest here, it is also likely it was part of Paul’s ministry at Ephesus and the gospel going out from there.

The most famous person from the church at Sardis was Melito. He was well known for being an apologist (one who writes/speaks in defense of Christianity). He served as bishop of Sardis in the late second century. He also wrote the first known commentary on certain portions of Revelation.

The letter does not speak of persecution , false doctrine, false teachers, or corrupt living.

AND YET, some combination of these must have been present for the church had died.

I usually consider these seven elements in the same order, but I am going to do it out of sequence today. I am going to jump the concern first, then come back to the other elements.

The Concern

Revelation 3:1.

Revelation 3:1 ESV

1 “And to the angel of the church in Sardis write: ‘The words of him who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. “ ‘I know your works. You have the reputation of being alive, but you are dead.

I know your works…

Again, as we have seen with this phrase in relation to other churches, this knowledge of their works is COMPLETE, not lacking.

He knows EVERYTHING, including every motive and desire behind said works.

God has examined all things.

And he knows this church is dead.

Loss of life - physical

So morally and spiritually deficient as to be without life.

And a dead thing is USELESS.

It is hard to get worse than this.

In fact, only Laodicea will get worse. This is the second to last of the rebukes in a rapidly disintegrating list.

While there will be a glimmer of light in the commendation, this church, as a whole, was dead.

Useless.

Non-existent.

They had given up the battle for truth and succumbed to the pressures of the adversary. Either in surrender, or in compromise. Or both.

The church was not a church.

It was a church in name only, but not in practical existence.

What killed the church at Sardis?

One word. Sin. Sin causes spiritual death.

Sardis was plagued with orgies and depravities of the deepest kind.

I wonder how many churches reflect Sardis’ condition?

I tremble to consider.

What’s worse, I tremble even considering that we would ever be numbered among them.

The reality is, God’s people, if they are really God’s people, will stand fast. They will persist. They cling to the truth, even if they do fail and fall from time to time. They will repent and persist.

Hebrews 3:6.

Hebrews 3:6 ESV

6 but Christ is faithful over God’s house as a son. And we are his house, if indeed we hold fast our confidence and our boasting in our hope.

Hebrews 3:12-14.

Hebrews 3:12–14 ESV

12 Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. 13 But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. 14 For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end.

1 Corinthians 15:1-2.

1 Corinthians 15:1–2 ESV

1 Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, 2 and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.

For MOST in Sardis…this was not true of them. They did not hold fast. They fell into gross depravity, false teaching, and worldliness.

Sardis died, for few remained who were holding fast.

What are the warning signs that a church is dying?

What are the danger signs that a church is dying? 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 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, or when it loses its conviction that every word of the Bible is 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.1

1 John F. MacArthur Jr., Revelation 1–11, MacArthur New Testament Commentary (Chicago: Moody Press, 1999), 111–112.

This does not mean to say that seeking to address social ills and injustices is wrong. It is not. BUT it can become so easy to focus on those and miss the fact that what really changes social injustices and ills, is changing the hearts of people who live in society. It can be easy to focus on externals and miss the root of the problem. That is a mistake we cannot afford to make.

A church is in danger of dying when any one (or more) of these things above are true. The more that are true, the closer to death the church finds itself.

Unfortunately for Sardis, they were doing DEEDS that gave the appearance of life to others, but were unacceptable to God because he saw the hearts.

Sardis’ church was populated by unredeemed people, playing church.

Conclusion

Big Idea: Big Idea: The Church is called to wake up, strengthen what remains, remember what we have recieved and heard, keep the word, and repent while we may.

Each of the seven letters has the same elements. (Borrowed from John MacArthur)

The Correspondent

The Church

The City

The Commendation

The Concern

The Command

The Counsel

I pray we need this message, this warning.

That we never find ourselves in the same condition as Sardis.

That we are in fact, like the remaining few who had not soiled their garments and who had remained pure

and that

we are ever growing together to become more like Jesus for the glory of God.

Application

What does “fanning the flame” look like? How do we stoke the spiritual fire?

How do we discern whether we have succumbed to a false sense of security like the church in Sardis?

What does it look like to rouse a sleeping church? What does it look like to wake up? How do you wake up a church that is asleep?

In what specific ways can we strengthen what remains in our spiritual lives, especially when we face apathy?

What are practical steps we can take to remember and keep the teachings we have received from Scripture?

How can the story of Sardis serve as a cautionary tale for modern churches today?

What role can you play in your church to help keep it focused on Christ and His teachings?

What are some challenges you face in keeping your faith vibrant, and how can you overcome them?

In what ways can you remind yourself of the gospel daily to reinforce your belief in truth?

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