Death to Life
Notes
Transcript
Revelation 3:1-6
Revelation 3:1-6
We have reached church number five, Sardis. Sardis was about thirty miles south of Thyatira. Its location commanded trade with the Aegean Islands and the military road through the important Hermus River Valley. Sardis enjoyed prominence as a commercially prosperous and militarily strategic city throughout its history. The city’s topography was notable for the acropolis and the temple of Artemis, which, though never finished, equaled the famous temple of Artemis in Ephesus in size. Sardis was an impregnable city, and rumors say it was overthrown only twice. Cyrus and the Persians did so after a shrewd Persian soldier observed a Sardian descend the south side to retrieve his helmet. A similar occurrence happened when Antiochus attacked them two hundred years later.
The luxurious living of the Sardians led to moral decadence. Herodotus wrote despairingly of Sardis and its people as “the tender-footed Lydians, who can only play on the cithara, strike the guitar, and sell by retail.” Barclay wrote that Sardis “was a city of peace-not the peace won through battle but the peace of the man whose dreams are dead and whose mind is asleep, the peace of lethargy and evasion.” Sardis was a great wool city and may be the reason for Christ’s reference to clothing.
When I think of a city like Sardis, a couple of modern cities come to mind. First, New York City, where people think they are alive but aren’t, even though some are alive in the city. The second city would be Las Vegas, with all of its glitz, which seems to be alive but has a death smell to it. The last one would be Los Angeles, with a feel of being alive but, in reality, is decaying.
But with God, all things are possible. How can a community, nation, or even an individual go from being dead to alive? Jesus exhorts the Church of Sardis with five imperatives to come back to life. The first imperative from death to life is to wake up. The second imperative from death to life is to strengthen. The third imperative from death to life is to remember. The fourth imperative from death to life is to keep it. The last imperative from death to life is to repent.
Wake Up:
Wake Up:
Wake up, or Greek to ginomai, which means to be watchful. The issue at Sardis is the relationship between reputation and reality. How many of us have heard of someone who believed their reputation was great, but in reality it was not? They are daydreaming and walking in the realm of creation. Sardis thought they were living the new life in Christ, but in reality they were dead.
There are times when we think we are alive, but because of sin that has crouched into our lives, we are walking around dead. Like so many churches today, it was defiled by the world, characterized by inward decay, and populated by unredeemed people playing church.
The moment a church allows culture to dictate its theology is the moment it turns into Sardis. Listen to the warning Paul gives to Timothy (1 Timothy 5:6). The moment any of us turn to wanton pleasures is the moment we stop living and start dying. Ephesians 2:1 describes the unregenerate as dead in their trespasses and sins.
But she who gives herself to wanton pleasure is dead even while she lives.
And you were dead in your trespasses and sins,
We can turn to life if we Wake Up. Think of working out. The first step in getting fit is waking up. The first step in turning death into life is waking up and acknowledging that we have fallen away. By waking up, we start strengthening ourselves in Christ.
Strengthen:
Strengthen:
Jesus is clear that we should begin strengthening the things that remain. Sardis needs to focus on He who was within them. Sardis could have focused on what they were taught and abandoned the lies that had slipped in.
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 with 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 with spiritual things; when it is more concerned with what men think than with 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.
The body of Christ needs to strengthen itself by waking up and returning to Christ’s gym. His word, prayer, and not quenching the Holy Spirit. Remember what we received?
Remember:
Remember:
How many of us remember that DAY? That day you were introduced to the Living God, Jesus? Funny thing is, when that day came, you were never going to be the same. Sardis is commanded to remember what they had received and heard. You remember how it seemed like there was peace and calm about you after that life-changing experience with Christ? Remember how Samson performed spectacular feats and displayed amazing strength? How God used him to drive out the enemies of Israel? What happened to Samson? The temptress Delilah pressed Samson daily with her words and urged him to reveal the secret of his strength. Eventually, Samson’s soul was annoyed to death (Judges 16:16), and he revealed his strength.
It came about when she pressed him daily with her words and urged him, that his soul was annoyed to death.
This is what had happened to Sardis; they allowed someone to tempt them to fall away from their strength. But Jesus tells them to remember and to KEEP IT.
Keep It:
Keep It:
Where do we keep our most treasured possessions or memories? Usually, they are kept in a safe, guarded from thieves. Where can we keep His Words and Commands? In our hearts, where the Spirit resides. The moment we allow worldly temptations to enter our hearts, the truth is squeezed out. Why did Saul lose the kingdom (1 Chronicles 10:13)? Why did Samson lose his strength? Because he allowed a temptress to entice him. How do we stay pure (Psalm 119:9)? Jesus explains how we know God (John 8:55). The Apostle John encourages us to keep His word (1 John 2:5).
So Saul died for his trespass which he committed against the Lord, because of the word of the Lord which he did not keep; and also because he asked counsel of a medium, making inquiry of it,
How can a young man keep his way pure? By keeping it according to Your word.
and you have not come to know Him, but I know Him; and if I say that I do not know Him, I will be a liar like you, but I do know Him and keep His word.
but whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him:
We can keep His words and remember them because of the Spirit of the Lord within us. Praise Jesus that He came to redeem us. If He died for us, can we live for Him? YES! Once we remember and keep His truth, it leads us to repent.
Repent:
Repent:
The last step in going from death to life is a heart of repentance. Paul wrote that it is the kindness of God that leads us to repentance (Romans 2:4). Peter explained that the Lord is not slow and does not wish any to perish (2 Peter 3:9) through repentance. When we confess, which is what repentance is, John tells us that He will forgive us (1 John 1:9).
Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?
The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
I love that my wife washes my clothes. No matter what I do throughout the day, my clothes become soiled. Clothes go into the washer dirty and come out clean, smelling great, and ready to be worn again. No matter what we do throughout the day, the world sticks to us in some way. But Christ is our washing machine that helps keep us clean. This is through repentance of our sins. I love the imagery of walking with Christ in white and worthy, not because of us but because of His blood atonement.
How do we come from death to life? Through Christ and Him alone.
