The Church that Looked Alive

We began a study of the seven churches in Asia in January to learn lessons about how and why churches need turnaround - revival.

My plan was to preach the first seven weeks of this year about turnaround churches, and then follow that with seven weeks preaching on the seven sayings of Jesus on the Cross, concluding with the last saying on Easter Sunday.

Last week, of course, winter weather resulted in us canceling our weekend services. As a result, I’ve debated what to do about my sermon series - whether to preach both a Sunday morning and evening or something else.

The reality is that the issue Jesus addressed in Pergamum Church, the church we studied two weeks ago, and the issue Jesus addressed in Thyatira Church, the church we would have studied last week, were very similar.

Both churches were enduring persecution, but had determined to continue proclaiming the name of Jesus as Lord. But… in both churches people were compromising by engaging in idolatry and sexual immorality.

In both churches, the people were seeking to accomodate themselves with their culture rather than stick out like a sore thumb in order that they might hopefully escape some of the ridicule, opposition and suffering that comes with serving Jesus faithfully in a pagan culture.

The big difference between Pergamum Church and Thyatira Church was this: in the former church, there was a group within the church promoting compromise, but within the latter, it was a leader of the church who was guiding the people into sin!

And the church, instead of standing up to this leader teaching compromise, was being cowed into following them.

Jesus called this leader “Jezebel” and warned the church severely. This, apparently, was a symbolic name. The leader may have been male or female. Jesus said he would throw this "Jezebel” onto a sickbed and those who followed her into great tribulation and strike her “children” dead.

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This message from Jesus to Thyatira Church is very important for us to hear even today. The church must choose its leaders carefully and hold them to account. We must not sit back when compromise with sin is being promoted. Rather, we must stand faithfully for Christ, regardless of how the world might react.

With that said, because the challenge of Thyatira Church was similar to that of Pergamum Church, I would like us to go on today and study the fifth of the seven churches.

Would you read Jesus’ letter to Sardis Church with me?

Revelation 3:1–6 ESV

“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. 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. 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. 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. 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. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’

(pause)

Several years ago, a pastor was trying out at a new church. When he went that tryout Sunday, the church seemed packed. There was a good mix of children, teens, middle aged parents, and the elderly.

The peopel were receptive his preaching. They were ready to make changes to reach the lost. It was an exciting opportunity.

After he became the church's pastor, he learned that a number of the people who were there that tryout Sunday rarely attended, or attended sporadically.

The more troubling issue was that this church was truly close-minded to any change. Even worse, this church was living in the past.

A vivid example of how this church was living in the past was various furnishings donated by or in memory of different people.

Now, it is wonderful when members and supporters of the church donate items to the church. However, there is a potential danger for such memorials and dedications.

In the case of this particular church, an organ that did not work anymore had been donated by one long-time member. So this organ could not be removed from the sanctuary, even though it no longer served any purpose.

Similarly, in the pews were old, crummy looking pew Bibles, but embossed on the front of each one was that these had been donated by yet another long-term member. So, while these Bibles were a poor reflection on the care the congregation should have for their place of worship, they were a fixture.

The sanctuary was beautiful. On the back wall behind the pulpit was a stained glass window with a picture of Jesus. A light would illuminate this icon. Some indicated they spent most of the worship service just looking at this stained glass picture of Jesus.

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Instead of worshiping the living God who is present with us, yet unseen, they were focused on a manmade illustration of someone’s imagination of what Jesus looked like!

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The pride of this people in their church was high. They were proud of their heritage, so they continued to live in the past. If only the community and world would dial back several decades, this church would be successful!

Of course, Back to the Future is only a movie, not a true possibility.

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Don't misunderstand. The people in this church were good, even wonderful people. They were dedicated to this local church, carrying on the traditions of the past. Many looking on would have seen "life", but truly there was death, for this was a church living in the past.

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Today in our scripture, we are also looking at a church that was living in the past and seemingly did not realize that its future was quite bleak.

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The city of Sardis is located 30 miles east of Thyatira. This city was built a proud acropolis that overlooked the intersection of five highways. Sardis was an ancient city with a famous past, but now with a declining future.

Sardis was once the capital of the Lydian kingdom, ruled by the fabulously rich King Croesus. But even this was a powerful and rich city, it was surprised and defeated - twice! - by enemies.

This city, built on a mountain, only had one easy way of access. So the city stationed defenders in this pass and assumed that they were prepared for attack. But a determined enemy could scale the mountain cliffs and attack from the other direction.

And so it was, conquered first by Cyrus (of the Medes and Persians that we read about in Daniel's prophecy) in 549 B.C. But sadly, this city did not learn its lesson and Antiochus in 218 B.C., 300 years later!, also conquered the city.

Antiochus, of course, was the conqueror prophesied by Daniel who, during the intertestamental period between the life of Malachi and the birth of Jesus, went on a rampage throughout Canaan and Egypt.

Antiochus entered Jerusalem fighting a bloody war in which the Jews valiantly tried to defend the temple, but he eventually entered and sacrificed a pig on the Temple altar - the abomination of desolation.

Back to Sardis … in A.D. 17 the city was destroyed by the earthquake, but Tiberius Caesar rebuilt it. When John wrote this letter near the end of the century, the city was again prosperous because of its trade and wool-dyeing industry.

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Now, notice that Jesus was NOT writing a letter to the city of Sardis.

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NO! Jesus was writing a letter to the church of Sardis!

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And the truly sad fact was that the spiritual condition of the church mirrored the physical condition of the city in which it was located!

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With this background, now let us look more closely at what Jesus told John to write to Sardis Church. He began by saying…

Revelation 3:1 ESV

“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. …

(pause)

Does God have seven spirits? No. Seven in the Bible is the symbol of perfection. In this context this imagery seems to refer to the Holy Spirit.

The Bible teaches that God is a Trinity. He is three persons in One. God is three different Persons, but that does not mean these Persons are in opposition to one another. Rather, it means that each Person’s work is in complete unity with each other.

Sometimes we try to artificially separate the Persons of the Godhead from one another. God the Father is often pictured in the Bible as the Judge. Many don’t like that picture of God.

God the Son is most often pictured as a God of mercy and love. Many like to picture God as Jesus. God the Holy Spirit is known for His convicting of sin and His cleansing the believer of inbred sin. He is known for holiness.

The truth is that God is holy and He is just and He is merciful. You cannot separate these attributes of God from one another; neither can you separate the Persons of Godhead from one another. Jesus may be merciful, but He is also holy and at the end of time He will be our judge.

(pause)

Maybe the reason why Jesus introduces Himself with this reference to the Holy Spirit is that when Christians begin to live hypocritically, they like to think of God’s mercy, but they try to forget about God’s holiness.

Our attempt to forget who God is doesn’t change who He is, nor does it give us an excuse to live less that He requires. Understanding this makes the next words of Jesus even more significant.

Revelation 3:1 ESV

… “ ‘I know your works. You have the reputation of being alive, but you are dead.

It is in these words of Jesus that we find the big idea - the main lesson - we should learn from this church in need of turnaround:

Big Idea: Christ knows the true spiritual health of our church.

"I know your works."

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From what Jesus says, Sardis Church was probably a very good church. Like Ephesus Church, who were known for their works, but had abandoned love, Sardis Church was also known for their works.

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Like Thyatira Church, who were known for their works, and the fact that their works had increased over the years, but had allowed an influential person to teach compromise with the world uncontested, Sardis Church was also known for their works.

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Unlike Ephesus Church and Thyatira Church, however, Sardis Church was NOT condemned for abandoning love or for allowing people to teach compromise with the world unchecked.

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In fact, it is difficult, just from the words that Jesus told John to write, to know exactly WHAT this church had done wrong. But here was the problem: they had the reputation for being spiritually alive, but were in fact spiritually dead.

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The sad truth is that other churches throughout history and even today mirror Sardis Church's condition. These churches have great histories.

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They may have a great facility. They have great memories of the past. But today - right now! - the people are, for the most part, dead spiritually. And the church truly has no future.

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The programs, services, events, and ministries that the church has in place are continued and run - because they have "always" been.

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This is a church and a people living on tradition, on history, instead of a present relationship with Jesus Christ and the empowering presence of the Holy Spirit!

In verses 2-3, we now see Christ's prescription for the spiritually unhealthy church:

1. Recognize where you are spiritually, v. 2.

Revelation 3:2 ESV

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.

(pause)

Wake up! Wake up!

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Have you ever been there? You are so … dead … tired that you cannot stay awake! Maybe you are driving your car, and you are so tired that, involuntarily, your head jerks down, your eyes close, then you jerk your head back up in a valiant effort to stay awake.

Maybe it is in the afternoon and you are sooooo tired… you enter this dream-like state in which you feel like you are awake, you are somewhat aware of what is going on, you think you are awake… and then suddenly! … someone calls you or touches you and you startle awake!

Your heart is hammering in your chest! Your face feels like it is being pricked by a million needles, and look around in bewilderment, wondering if you had been dreaming, or how long you had slept.

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Your mind feels enveloped by fog. Often, it takes you longer to come out of this stupor than the time you spent sleeping!

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Metaphorically, Jesus was shaking the shoulder of this slumbering church, saying,

"Wake up! Realize where you are spiritually! Realize that you are just going through the motions of worshipping God! Realize that all your supposed ministries and blessings of God are just a facade, hiding the stench of death! Wake up!"

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How do we wake up as a church - and as individual Christians - to our true spiritual condition? It begins by being honest with ourselves. It begins by checking the spiritual fervor of our church.

No, I am not talking how loudly we sing or pray or how willing we are to testify, even though how we sing, pray and testify may indicate our spiritual fervor.

But we need to go deeper. How do people come to church?

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Do we go to church because we HAVE to go to church?

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Do we drag into church because we don't really want to be here, because the ball game or the hobby at home or the TV show is more important to us?

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How excited are we about serving in various ministries of the church? Do we give excuse after excuse why we cannot serve?

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We wake up as a church when we examine our attendance records. Is our attendance going up, flat-lined, or going down, over time?

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What is happening as a result of our various services and ministries? Are people truly learning God's Word? Are they being equipped to serve God and reach out to the lost?

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We must ask ourselves tough questions about outreach? Do people feel loved? Are we seeing people commit to follow Christ on a regular basis? Are people being discipled in the faith? Are Christians regularly seeking to be entirely sanctified?

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2. Remember where you once were spiritually, v. 3.

Revelation 3:3 ESV

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.

Sometimes, in our efforts to challenge the church to move forward and to change to minister to today's culture, we ignore the past. The problem that we must seek to avoid is that of making an idol - worshipping - the past.

But the past is not our enemy. In fact, we may learn great truths, if we simply were to revisit our past. So, Jesus called Sardis Church to remember its past.

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Remember the truths of God's Word that we first learned as Christians.

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Remember how we were challenged as a new Christian to live a radical, sold-out life for Jesus.

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Remember how we served the church and your community with love for God and a passion to see people changed by God's grace.

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Remember how God moved in mighty ways. Remember the faith we exercised in God. Remember how we prayed and believed.

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Remember how people sought God, under Holy Spirit conviction. Remember how we had such a tender heart to hear the voice of the Holy Spirit.

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God's character has NOT changed.

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We often change. Sardis Church had changed - they had become dead spiritually. And the same can happen to us.

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But God has not changed. God is still a miracle-working God.

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God still loves us. God still loves our neighbors, our friends, our family, our co-workers, and even our enemies. God's grace is still available to the seeking sinner. God's power is still available for the disciple who submits all to God.

Remember!

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But if God has not changed, then why is God not moving so powerfully? Where are we spiritually? What have we done? Or, what are we not doing?

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Remember that passion we once had for God? We can have it again, even today!

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Our church can still experience the power of God, seeing miracles of grace again and again. God has not changed. He has given us life in the past, and he will give us life today!

3. Repent so you can move forward spiritually, v. 3.

Revelation 3:3 ESV

Remember, then, what you received and heard. Keep it, and repent. …

It is not enough to go down memory lane. It is not enough to recall our storied past. Neither can we return to the past. But we can repent of our spiritual apathy and deadness, and cry out for God's grace again!

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Repent! We cannot become spiritually healthy by continuing to live in spiritual death!

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Do you know the definition of insanity?

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"Insanity is doing the same thing the same way and expecting different results."

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Repentance means making a change. Repentance means that we not only recognize where we have gone wrong, but that we make a commitment - and follow through on that commitment - to do what is right.

Repent!

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Jesus followed up this call to repentance with some very strong words:

Revelation 3:3 ESV

… 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.

Do you remember the history of the city of Sardis?

(pause)

Twice, the enemy had come into their walls like a thief and conquered them. But notice, Jesus does not say he will come like a thief to the city. NO! Jesus will come to the CHURCH like a thief!

(PAUSE)

For the church that supposedly is alive, but is truly dead spiritually, Jesus will come like the enemy, as a thief, to judge them and overthrow them!

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Think about that possibility!

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Does this not strike fear in our hearts, that Jesus might come in like a thief, hidden in the midst of a congregation and then rise up, shouting words of condemnation?

We must repent. We must change. Or we may not be ready for His arrival.

(pause)

In verse 4 Jesus then noted: Revelation 3:4

Revelation 3:4 ESV

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.

As you may recall, the city of Sardis was a center for the wool-dyeing industry. Surely, Jesus' promise to clothe those who had lived holy, fully submitted lives for Christ with pure white garments must have spoken words of comfort to their hearts.

Yes, their church as a whole was spiritually dead, but they were holding on to life, filled with a passion for God. And Christ would reward their faithful service.

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In verse 5 Jesus further promised: Revelation 3:5

Revelation 3:5 ESV

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.

Those who lived faithfully for Christ, repenting of any spiritual laxness or sin, could be confident of their relationship with Jesus.

Their names were written in the book of life, and Jesus would talk about them with the Father, before the angels in Heaven. Wow! Such faithful service would make them spiritual superstars!

So we today can know that if we live pure and holy lives, refusing to compromise with the world, refusing to be overcome with a love for the things of this world, that Christ will see our faithful service, even if we are surrounded by spiritual driftwood.

We can be confident of our relationship with Jesus, and know that Jesus is proud of us!

(pause)

When elderly Adele Gaboury turned up missing …, concerned neighbors in Worcester, Massachusetts, informed the police. A brother told police she had gone into a nursing home.

Satisfied with that information, Gaboury's neighbors began watching her property. One neighbor noticed her mail, delivered through a slot in the door, was piling up high.

When he opened the door, hundreds of pieces of mail drifted out. He notified police, and the deliveries were stopped.

This lady's next-door neighbor started paying a grandson $10 twice a month to mow the lawn.

Later someone noticed this lady's pipes had frozen, spilling water out the door. The utility company was called to shut off the water.

What no one guessed was that while they'd been trying to help, Gaboury had been inside her home.

When police finally investigated the house as a health hazard, they were shocked to find her body.

The Washington Post reported that police [believed] Gaboury died of natural causes four years [earlier].

The respectable, external appearance of Gaboury's house had hidden the reality of what was on the inside.

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Something similar can happen to churches … and individuals: We may appear outwardly proper while spiritually dead.

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The lesson for turnaround chruches from our text is simple, yet extremely profound:

Big Idea: Christ knows the true spiritual health of our church.

A church can fool people … sometimes.

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Even so, typically the true spiritual health of the church will eventually become obvious.

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But know this - Christ, who is Lord and Master and Owner of the Church knows every big and little, deep and shallow secret of His Church. The Church belongs to Christ, and He knows his people.

He knows the true spiritual condition of every member of the church. He knows our heart.

What does Christ see when he looks into oour heart and life? Does Christ see disciples with a burning passion to serve God and love others?

Or does Christ see a person that bears a facade of Christianity, but there is nothing real inside? Who does Christ see, when he sees you? Does he see a person growing spiritually?

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What does Christ see when he looks at our church? Does he find a people full of life and health, or does he find decay and death? Does Christ see in us a people alive for Him?

Christ knows all about the spiritual health of our church. He knows exactly where we are spiritually.

The danger is that we often try to disguise our real self from others. We may put on a pious show of spirituality when we come together for worship.

And we even deceive ourselves about the real person inside. So now the Holy Spirit is calling to each of us to pray, confessing our true spiritual condition to Christ.

He is calling us to admit exactly where we are - if there is sin, compromise, lack of passion, or a failure to live a fully surrendered life to Christ, the Holy Spirit calls for us to repent.

We must repent, then humbly ask him to restore us to spiritual health. He is calling for us to - once for all - reject those things that draw us away from him and to make a complete consecration of our all to him.

He is calling for us to commit to living daily in step with the Spirit, relying each moment on Christ's grace for wisdom and power we need to live.

Revelation 3:6 ESV

He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’

Sing: Search Me, O God