The Church of Sardis
Dean Hackett
Seven • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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· 2 viewsAre you like the walking dead? Are you breathing but not living? In this message to the church, Jesus is charging His people to wake up and live life through the power of His spirit - His seven spirits!
Notes
Transcript
Good morning and welcome to Living Faith Church. I am so excited to be able to worship Jesus Christ with you on this amazing Sunday. If we have never met before, my name is Aaron. My wife Stella and I are honored to be able to serve on the Pastoral team at LFC. Today we are in week five of this series called Seven - looking at the letters of Jesus to the seven churches of the province of Asia Minor. These seven letters can be found beginning in the book of Revelation chapter two.
Last week we looked at the letter to the church of Thyatira, a letter whose theme was “Toleration”. This week we are looking at a letter that was written to the church of Sardis. Now, if you will remember, in each of these letters, Jesus introduces Himself in a unique way. To Ephesus, Jesus was “The One who holds the seven stars in His right hand, the One who walks among the seven golden lampstands”. The seven stars Revelation 1:20 says are the pastors of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.
Yet, now to the church of Sardis we find Jesus introducing Himself this way:
1 “To the angel of the church in Sardis write: He who has the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars, says this: ‘I know your deeds, that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead.
The seven stars are the seven pastors (GK Angelos) or messengers, of the seven churches. But He is also the one “who has the seven spirits of God”, or the fullness of Gods power. And this description of Jesus is vital to the elements of this letter to the church of Sardis. Let’s begin today by reading this letter in it’s entirety.
1 “To the angel of the church in Sardis write: He who has the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars, says this: ‘I know your deeds, that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead.
2 ‘Wake up, and strengthen the things that remain, which were about to die; for I have not found your deeds completed in the sight of My God.
3 ‘So remember what you have received and heard; and keep it, and repent. Therefore if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come to you.
4 ‘But you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their garments; and they will walk with Me in white, for they are worthy.
5 ‘He who overcomes will thus be clothed in white garments; and I will not erase his name from the book of life, and 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.’
If the letter to Ephesus carried the theme “First Love”, Smyrna the theme “testing”, the letter to Sardis would cary the theme “Wake Up”.
Story - wake up - sleep walking - alive but dead
Sardis was the ancient capital of Lydia, the kingdom of wealthy Croesus. The wealth of Sardis under Croesus’ rule was not just confined to gold. The city was also a center for textile production, especially the famous Lydian purple dye, which was highly valued across the ancient world. The combination of gold and textiles made Sardis one of the most prosperous cities of its time. Yet, with all this wealth, and all it’s opportunities, Jesus writes this scathing letter and tells the church
1 “To the angel of the church in Sardis write: He who has the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars, says this: ‘I know your deeds, that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead.
How often we find ourselves in this same position. And the truth is, it’s not the wealth, it’s not the possessions. 1 Timthy chapter 5 tells us it is something much more internal, more spiritual.
6 But she who gives herself to wanton pleasure is dead even while she lives.
Wanton Pleasures GK “Spatalao” to live lewdly, excessive comfort
Wanton pleasure could be defined as this: When the the desire for worldly comforts surpass the desire for the Comforter.
Five Ways To Judge Your Wanton Pleasures
Five Ways To Judge Your Wanton Pleasures
Are you willing to forego or limit time spent on a favorite hobby in order to free yourself for service in your church or another ministry?
Is there anything in your daily life you could go without in order to free up more money for generosity?
Do you believe—and act as if—one’s economic status indicates their value as a person?
Is your gut impulse, when someone asks you for money or time for kingdom ministry, to find a way to give?
Could you live with contentment on the same income you earned last year, or two years ago?
The Cure For Wanton Pleasure
The Cure For Wanton Pleasure
3 ‘So remember what you have received and heard; and keep it, and repent. Therefore if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come to you.
You already have received what you need, Jesus says. You don’t need to do something new, you don’t need to learn something new. The greatest threat to Spirit of the local church is more head knowledge. Most American churches are so full of knowledge that the least educated attender could be a college professor in a third world country. You already know what you should be doing! Wake Up and Do It! The cure is always found in the name of Jesus.
1 “To the angel of the church in Sardis write: He who has the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars, says this: ‘I know your deeds, that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead.
What are the Seven Spirits of God?
2 The Spirit of the Lord will rest on Him, The spirit of wisdom and understanding, The spirit of counsel and strength, The spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.
The Spirit of the Lord
The Spirit of Wisdom
The Spirit of Understanding
The Spirit of Counsel
The Spirit of Strength
The Spirit of Knowledge
The Spirit of the Fear of the Lord
[ Build the rest of the sermon off of these 7 points]
The Promise
The Promise
5 ‘He who overcomes will thus be clothed in white garments; and I will not erase his name from the book of life, and I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels.
He who passes beyond the temptation to make our comforts greater than the comforter will find their home in the paradise of God.
Time of Repentance
Time of Repentance
Pray for those who have become lost in wonton pleasure
Salvation Response
Salvation Response
Maybe you do not have a personal relationship with God; maybe you are still carrying the anxiety, guilt, and pressure that sin induces in your life. Maybe you are stressed out by trying to navigate life all on your own. Can I assure you; today all of that can end, and you can walk out of this room with hope in your heart? The Bible tells us:
that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; 11
Romans 10:9 NASB95
Many people have told me, I don’t want to become a Christian because I can’t keep up that goodie lifestyle. But this verse says nothing about your lifestyle. God is more interested with your heart. If He can get to your heart, He will deal with your actions later.
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. 11
Romans 6:23 NASB95.
We know that sin leads to death – you’ve felt the sting, and pain of sin. The good news is this, Paul calls God’s gift of life a “free gift”. I want to pray with you right now to receive this gift. If you would say, I want God’s forgiveness, I want to accept this gift of life, I want Jesus to live in my heart, raise your hand so I know who I am praying for.
KEEP YOUR HANDS RAISED HIGH - I HAVE A PRAYER PARTNER COMING TO PRAY WITH YOU
“Heavenly Father, I trust You to save me through Your Son, Jesus. Forgive me for all of my sins. Make me brand new. Because You died for me, I want to live for You. Fill me with Your Spirit, so I could follow You. Jesus, You’re now my Lord and the Savior of my life. Take my life. It is Yours. In Jesus’ name, I pray.”
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset, and David Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible, vol. 2 (Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1997), 559.
