The Dead Church, Part 2

A new Pastor in a small Oklahoma town spent the first four days making personal visits to each of the members, inviting them to come to his first services.

The following Sunday the church was all but empty. Accordingly, the Pastor placed a notice in the local newspapers, stating that, because the church was dead, it was everyone’s duty to give it a decent Christian burial. The funeral would be held the following Sunday afternoon, the notice said.

Morbidly curious, a large crowd turned out for the “funeral.” In front of the pulpit, they saw a closed coffin, smothered in flowers. After the Pastor delivered the eulogy, he opened the coffin and invited his congregation to come forward and pay their final respects to their dead church.

Filled with curiosity as to what would represent the corpse of a “dead church,” all the people eagerly lined up to look in the coffin. Each “mourner” peeped into the coffin then quickly turned away with a guilty, sheepish look.

In the coffin, tilted at the correct angle, was a large mirror.

You finally got to see your Holy Temple where God dwells, and it’s falling apart and rumbling. Will you help to rebuild it, or continue as the “Walking Dead!”

Sardis is the Dead Church

The challenge to us, as we continue this letter, is to heed the warning and commands lest we follow suit.

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

Last week we began considering this dead church at Sardis. We saw first the correspondent - one who has the seven spirits and the seven stars, a sign of his control and authority. One that makes clear, he has the right to come in judgment over this church for their wrong doing.

We saw the church…whose beginnings we have no record of, but we suspect was rounded as part of Paul’s ministry at Ephesus when the gospel went forth from there. We saw that the most famous person from the church at Sardis was Melito who was an apologist for Christianity, who wrote one the first known commentaries on portions of Revelation. He served as bishop in Sardis during the late second century.

We considered the concern that God brings against this church. They had the outward appearance of life, but were in reality dead. (One could argue mostly dead since the commendation will reveal that at least a few had not soiled themselves). The church, as a whole, had wandered so far into sin that they were dead, according to God. They were a church in name only.

Let’s consider now the city in which the church was located.

Remember…considering the cultural context in which they church is located is insightful as to the pressures and circumstances that influence the church.

The City

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.

The city of Sardis was founded around 1200 BC

It is located 30 miles southeast from Thyatira in the fertile Hermus River Valley.

City was located on a hill 1500 feet above the valley floor. It’s location made it virtually impregnable to attack.

It’s location also made it difficult to expand and grow. So, eventually, a new city sprang up at the foot of the hill. The old location on the hill was kept and maintained as a refuge in case of attack.

Their impregnable location caused them to be overconfident, which would ultimately be their undoing. Thinking they could not be defeated, they will be lax in their defense. The “unscalable” hill would be scaled from behind, and the intruders would open the front gate letting the invading army in to defeat them.

It would be defeated more than once this way. Apparently, they did not learn and allowed it to happen a second time.

The first time it was captured was in the sixth century b.c. The army of Crœsus had suffered defeat beyond the Halys, at the hand of Cyrus, and though the victorious enemy appeared before the walls of Sardis before a new army could be collected, neither Crœsus nor any of the inhabitants believed there was any danger of his penetrating their impregnable rock-fortress. The only way of approach, along the connecting isthmus, was strongly fortified and carefully guarded. The city slept securely. But accident or treachery revealed to the invaders the possibility of ascending the rock-face by some crack or ledge, the existence of which had been overlooked by the defenders. By this the soldiers of Cyrus clambered up, and Crœsus awoke to find his capital in the hands of the Persians. Cyrus had come upon Sardis “like a thief in the night.”

¶ The Church is never in a more perilous state than when she has quiet and peace.1

1 James Hastings, ed., The Great Texts of the Bible: Revelation (New York; Edinburgh: Charles Scribner’s Sons; T&T Clark, 1915), 117–118.

Overconfident, arrogance has been the downfall of more than one person, nation, group throughout history.

The lesson stands as an example of what happens when we get to comfortable, when we begin to think we are not surrounded on all sides by an enemy who will do anything to rip our souls out and utterly obliterate it in a shocking act of sheer anger and violence.

Satan is not our friend.

He will show no mercy.

And we live in his domain, his land.

Church, we are at war and we can never let our guard down.

Granted what happened to the city of Sardis was broader than the church…the church too fell pray to that which killed them. Whether in persecution or ease; whether in opposition or apathy, we know not, but we know they fell and were dead.

God forbid this fate happen to us.

Once it was the capital of the ancient kingdom of Lydia.

It was one of the noblest and greatest cities of the East.

They were known for textile manufacturing, dyeing, and jewelry making.

Benefited from being close to important trade routes

They were a rich and wealthy city. Much of the their wealth may have come from the gold taken from the nearby Pactolus River. Archeologists have found hundreds of crucibles, used for refining gold, in the ruins of Sardis.

Gold and silver coins were first minted in Sardis

They were also known for their human wisdom. It was the center of philosophy and study.

Thales, the great Greek philosopher made his home here in Sardis.

Aesop, the writer of the famous parables may have been from Sardis as well.

The city would eventually come under Roman rule.

An earthquake would destroy the city in AD 17 but was rebuilt with generous funds from the Emperor Tiberius. In thanks to him, they would build a temple to him there.

However, their chief God would be Cybele. It was the same goddess that Ephesus worshipped (Diana) but by a different name.

Hot springs, not far from Sardis, were celebrated as the spot where gods manifested their power to give life to the dead, an ironic note for this dead city and church.

The City, in John’s day, was prosperous but decaying.

The church, though having the appearance of life, though thinking themselves to be alive, was dead.

The Commendation

The only commendation, such as it is, comes from verse 4.

Revelation 3:4.

Revelation 3:4 ESV

4 Yet you have still a few names in Sardis, people who have not soiled their garments, and they will walk with me in white, for they are worthy.

Truthfully, this does not really feel much like a commendation, does it?

The church is dead.

ONLY a few remain.

Seems paltry.

Only a few stood faithful.

The faithful few standing fast in the graveyard of that church.

And yet, is this really such a small thing?

Truth is, these faithful few are testament to GOD’s faithfulness to protect and preserve His church. God will always keep a remnant for Himself no matter how many reject Him

What did God say to Peter about His church?

Matthew 16:18.

Matthew 16:18 ESV

18 And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

A powerful illustration of this is found in 1 Kings 19 with Elijah.

Elijah has just faced off with Jezebel, that evil and wicked woman and her prophets of Baal, all 400 of them.

In an incredible act, God consumed Elijah’s thrice soaked altar and trench of water AND the prophet’s of Baal’s altars, which they failed to light by calling upon Baal…AND all 400 of the prophets themselves. They were all killed along with the altars being burned up in a grand display of God’s infinite power and majesty.

Jezebel threatens Elijah’s life and he flees.

A spiritual and emotional high turns into a spiritual and emotional low.

Consider what the texts says.

1 Kings 19:1-18.

1 Kings 19:1–18 ESV

1 Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. 2 Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “So may the gods do to me and more also, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by this time tomorrow.” 3 Then he was afraid, and he arose and ran for his life and came to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there. 4 But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness and came and sat down under a broom tree. And he asked that he might die, saying, “It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life, for I am no better than my fathers.” 5 And he lay down and slept under a broom tree. And behold, an angel touched him and said to him, “Arise and eat.” 6 And he looked, and behold, there was at his head a cake baked on hot stones and a jar of water. And he ate and drank and lay down again. 7 And the angel of the Lord came again a second time and touched him and said, “Arise and eat, for the journey is too great for you.” 8 And he arose and ate and drank, and went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb, the mount of God. 9 There he came to a cave and lodged in it. And behold, the word of the Lord came to him, and he said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” 10 He said, “I have been very jealous for the Lord, the God of hosts. For the people of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword, and I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life, to take it away.” 11 And he said, “Go out and stand on the mount before the Lord.” And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore the mountains and broke in pieces the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. 12 And after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire the sound of a low whisper. 13 And when Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. And behold, there came a voice to him and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” 14 He said, “I have been very jealous for the Lord, the God of hosts. For the people of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword, and I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life, to take it away.” 15 And the Lord said to him, “Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus. And when you arrive, you shall anoint Hazael to be king over Syria. 16 And Jehu the son of Nimshi you shall anoint to be king over Israel, and Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah you shall anoint to be prophet in your place. 17 And the one who escapes from the sword of Hazael shall Jehu put to death, and the one who escapes from the sword of Jehu shall Elisha put to death. 18 Yet I will leave seven thousand in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him.”

Verse 18 is the key here.

Elijah thought he was alone.

He thought no one was hearing the word of God and responding.

He thought all his work and ministry was for nothing.

I am not sure it was so much Jezebel’s threat that sent him running as much as it was despair over what he perceived to be a fruitless endeavor.

And yet, God spoke to him.

I have reserved 7000 for myself who have not bowed to Baal.

You are not alone, Elijah.

Your work for me is not in vain.

Get up, go, and finish the task I have entrusted to you.

And God was gracious. He gave him rest. He gave him nourishment and help. He never even rebukes him for his response.

He just meets his need and sends him back to work with the clear understanding, you are not alone.

God then promises Peter, Satan and the Gates of Hell WILL NOT not prevail. There may be challenges. There may be some who fall away. There may be churches that give up. But THE CHURCH will prevail. There will always be a remnant who remain faithful.

So, this commendation, that there are some who have not soiled themselves, who will be dressed in white, is larger than it seems on the surface.

God preserved a few who were faithful to Him.

The Command

Revelation 3:2-3.

Revelation 3:2–3 ESV

2 Wake up, and strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your works complete in the sight of my God. 3 Remember, then, what you received and heard. Keep it, and repent. If you will not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come against you.

Five Imperatives in these two verses.

Wake Up

What do you think Christ is commanded the church to do?

To rouse someone or something. To incite.

To be born, to bring into being.

Point is…the believing remnant of the church needed to be aroused to action. To pay attention to what was going on, if they were not already aware.

If they are aware, they need to step up and take action to rebuke and admonish the wickedness and draw the rest to repentance.

The believing remnant needed to be roused to action instead of proceeding in apathy.

Consider Paul’s words in 1 Thessalonians 5:1-6.

1 Thessalonians 5:1–6 ESV

1 Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need to have anything written to you. 2 For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. 3 While people are saying, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. 4 But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief. 5 For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness. 6 So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober.

The believing remnant may well have been living with a false sense of security and an indifference that was keeping them from acting.

They were “sleeping” spiritually. They were resting when they should have been acting. They were unaware when they should have been aware. They were indifferent when they should have been sober (serious, somber).

Church, we may well need to WAKE UP from the stupor we are in and be roused to action.

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?

Preach the word - Be faithful to the word and the word only

Rebuke

Admonish

Discipline those in sin

Pray

Strip away the extras, the fluff, the distractions. Return to what matters most.

Whose job is it to watch out for the spiritual condition of the church?

Every believer

Certainly there is more weight upon leadership to do this…but sometimes leadership is the problem.

EITHER WAY, there is a right way and a wrong way to confront, to rebuke, to admonish, to try and WAKE up the church.

IN LOVE, for the purpose of restoration, not for destruction.

WITH CARE

Keeping watch over oneself that you too do not fall (Gal 6:1).

But every believer should have the purity of the church at its heart and passion.

This necessities that we be willing to endure, be faithful to, and fight for the church instead of abandoning at the first sign of trouble.

Now, there may come a time when one does have to leave and abandon a local church…but it should NOT be our first impulse or recourse.

In a world where the local church has often failed, and people gotten hurt, it is often our first response to leave and avoid hurt at the first sign of trouble…but the church is the bride of Christ and it ought to merit us enduring some uncomfortableness and some difficulty in order to fight for her purity rather than just abandoning her to the roaring lion who seeks to devour her.

WE SHOULD fight to WAKE the church up when we sense that she is falling or has fallen asleep and is slipping into apathy and indifference.

Strengthen What Remains

…and is about to die.

Strengthen…

To fix firmly in place

To cause to be inwardly firm or committed

Fix firmly in place, that which remains. Commit, recommit to that which is right and true and good.

What remains refers, not to people, but to spiritual realities.

Christ is telling them, strengthen the spiritual realities that remain, before they die too.

There are a few who have not soiled themselves with the filth that the rest of the church has. Truth remains, albeit in small numbers.

STRENGTHEN THAT TRUTH before it too gets crushed under persecution or under compromise.

Their works were not complete…meaning they did not find acceptance before God. They did not meet God’s standards. Probably not in terms of physical quality but more in spiritual quality. To the outside world, they looked alive and and healthy. Thus, God was looking at something different. He was looking at the heart, at the spiritual quality of that which they were doing. AND THAT was found lacking.

So, Christ tells them, STRENGTHEN WHAT REMAINS, before it too dies.

In other words, they needed to fan the flames into being before there is nothing left to fan.

Like a fire that has burned down to nothing but hot coals, it CAN be re-fanned with a little tinder and kindling, and a gentle breath.

Maybe we too, need to consider how we can FAN THE FLAME and STOKE THE FIRE of that which remains…before it too dies.

How do we strengthen what remains?

KEEP preaching the truth without compromise and without apology.

We don’t need to be rude and confrontational about it, but we do need to preach it without apology or fear.

Disciple believers in the truth.

It is not enough to just “get them saved.” We must DISCIPLE, train them IN truth so that they are well grounded and committed to the truth of the word.

Admonish and rebuke sin, in love, when we see it. Call those in sin to repentance. Do not be afraid to call sin, “sin.”

Live a repentant lifestyle ourselves.

Live humbly.

Keep the gospel at the center.

LIVE IN LIGHT OF THE GOSPEL of JESUS Christ.

Keep in the word DAILY, reading, studying, memorizing, meditating.

Pray without ceasing.

So, WAKE UP. Strengthen that which remains.

And…

Remember

Keep in mind. Think of. Retain in one’s memory.

Our problem is not always that we do not know as much as it is that we do not remember.

We do not keep in mind, keep at the forefront of our thinking, that which truly matters.

And when be tells us to remember, it is not remembering for remembering sake that he tells us this. He tells us to remember SO THAT we will CHANGE our living and acting IN LIGHT OF THAT WHICH WE REMEMBER.

The remembering, the thinking upon, the meditating in the truth SHOULD alter our values and actions.

What do they need to remember?

That which they had recieved and heard.

Receive - to get hold of something, by laying hands on or grasping something, to take possession of.

Heard - That which they had RECEIVED and action upon.

Point is, they had TAKEN HOLD of the gospel, of the truth.

They had HEARD it, accepted it, and lived it out.

ONLY to depart from it to the point where the church was on death’s door and only a few remained who held to truth.

What had they heard and recieved?

The word of God.

Truth.

By this time, the rest of Paul’s letters were in circulation. The NT had been written. The TRUTH was there. They had recieved it. They had heard it.

Now they needed to remember AND live by it.

What does it mean to remember what they had received and heard?

To recall AND reaffirm the truth of it.

The church needed to WAKE UP, to strengthen what remained BY REAFFIRMING their conviction to the truth of what they had recieved in such a manner that they resolutely lived it out.

The believers at Sardis needed to reaffirm their belief in the truth about Christ, sin, salvation, and sanctification. In the words of Paul to Timothy, they were to guard what had been entrusted to them (1 Tim. 6:20). They needed to establish a solid doctrinal foundation to serve as a base for renewal.11 John F. MacArthur Jr., Revelation 1–11, MacArthur New Testament Commentary (Chicago: Moody Press, 1999), 114.

Church, do we need to reaffirm our belief in the truth about Christ?

About sin?

Salvation?

Sanctification?

Does our manner of living suggest we need to?

Do we need to realign our lives with the truth?

Do we need to REAFFIRM our commitment to the truth and begin to allow our lives to reflect our deep devotion to it?

Keep the Word

To cause a state, condition, or activity to continue.

To persist in obedience.

They needed to WAKE UP.

To strengthen what truth remained

They needed to remember what they had received in the truth, in the word.

And they needed to KEEP IT.

To live it out.

It was not, is not enough to know the truth. If you fail to live it, knowing it will serve you not purpose or good.

We must be ACTIVELY living out, keeping, the word which we have recieved.

Church, are you LIVING, KEEPING the word which you have received?

Repent

What is repentance?

A change of mind that results in a change of behavior.

Have a change of mind regarding their sin and behavior.

TURN AWAY from it.

Walk the other direction

Live a different way.

How does repentance happen?

2 Timothy 2:24-26.

2 Timothy 2:24–26 ESV

24 And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, 25 correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, 26 and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will.

How does this text say repentance happens?

It is granted to us by God.

Acts 5:31, the apostles speaking before council spoke boldly about Christ, whom they killed, who had come to GIVE repentance to Israel.

If Romans 3 is true…that there are NONE who seek God, none who desire Him, none who come to him, on their own, than GOD must behind our desire and willingness to repent and believe. Our repentance is a gift of grace.

This means then, we MUST PRAY for God to give repentance to those bound in sin, rejecting him.

We must PRAY for God to give us a followers repentance when we lured by the fleshly enticements away from God.

Only God can cause any of us to be wiling to repent and come. We ARE still responsible for repenting and turning, but we cannot do it without God’s intervention.

But we are told, through this letter to Sardis…

WAKE UP

Strengthen what remains

REMEMBER what you have recieved and heard

KEEP IT

and

REPENT.

Do you want to know how revival happens?

Following these five steps.

This is how any major revival began.

The church woke up.

It strengthened what remained.

It remembered.

It began to keep the word given to them.

And it repented of all the ways it had gone astray.

These are the necessary elements to any revival.

This is the message we are given through this letter.

We would be wise to heed it.

The Warning

Revelation 3:3.

Revelation 3:3 ESV

3 Remember, then, what you received and heard. Keep it, and repent. If you will not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come against you.

If you do not wake…

I will come like a thief in the night…1 Thessalonians spoke of this…

You will not know when I come, but I will come.

Against you.

This is not talking about the tribulation period. This is talking about his coming against them in judgment now, as a church, to take them out if they do not repent and turn back.

God will come against them in judgment if they do not repent.

Did Sardis repent? Did they wake up?

That famous apologist and bishop, Melito, served as Bishop AFTER John’s time by several decades. This suggests that at least some revival took place. Some heeded this warning and the church, the true church persisted.

The Counsel

Revelation 3:5-6.

Revelation 3:5–6 ESV

5 The one who conquers will be clothed thus in white garments, and I will never blot his name out of the book of life. I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels. 6 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’

Read and consider for when we come back to it.

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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