THE INCOMPLETE CHURCH OF SARDIS

The idea of something being incomplete has a broad application. For instance I am what I frequently refer to as a married bachelor! By that I mean that I am married (for 32 years and counting) but the highest degree I have attained is a Bachelors Degree in Music Composition. I do have an incomplete Masters of Music degree in Music Composition as well as in Music Education. For reasons I do not care to discuss in this format I never completed those degrees, even though I came close on both accounts. So I remain a married bachelor!

Incompleteness can be as simple as not finishing a task that was given us to accomplish. At this point in time our recovery from the infamous Christmas Eve fire is incomplete, just as my degrees were.

But there is also the idea of imperfection. My mom would often complain about my work being incomplete in the sense of imperfection. She would give me a task to do but because I did it my own way and not her way it was not done right.

As we delve into our text for today, we will see that Christ gave this admonition to the church in Sardis: “I have not found your deeds completed in the sight of My God.” Or as the NKJV puts it: “I have not found your works perfect before God.” Something was lacking in this wealthy church. They did not measure up to Christ’s standard for His bride. They had fallen short of the glory of God.

This morning we will look at this passage in terms of how Jesus Christ, the Builder and Head of the Church viewed things: He has a message for His church, He knows the true condition of His church, He knows the remedy for His church, and He will be faithful to the spiritual remnant of His church.

Let’s read our passage together.

THE HEAD OF THE CHURCH HAS SOMETHING TO SAY

The Head of the Church is the Supplier of Life

— Greeting

Revelation 1:4 NKJV

John, to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from Him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven Spirits who are before His throne,

— Burning Lamps

Revelation 4:5 NKJV

And from the throne proceeded lightnings, thunderings, and voices. Seven lamps of fire were burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God.

— All Seeing Eyes

Revelation 5:6 NKJV

And I looked, and behold, in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as though it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent out into all the earth.

; ; — Power Supply

Zechariah 4:1–3 NKJV

Now the angel who talked with me came back and wakened me, as a man who is wakened out of his sleep. And he said to me, “What do you see?” So I said, “I am looking, and there is a lampstand of solid gold with a bowl on top of it, and on the stand seven lamps with seven pipes to the seven lamps. Two olive trees are by it, one at the right of the bowl and the other at its left.”

Zechariah 4:1–3 NKJV

Now the angel who talked with me came back and wakened me, as a man who is wakened out of his sleep. And he said to me, “What do you see?” So I said, “I am looking, and there is a lampstand of solid gold with a bowl on top of it, and on the stand seven lamps with seven pipes to the seven lamps. Two olive trees are by it, one at the right of the bowl and the other at its left.”

Zechariah 4:1–10 NKJV

Now the angel who talked with me came back and wakened me, as a man who is wakened out of his sleep. And he said to me, “What do you see?” So I said, “I am looking, and there is a lampstand of solid gold with a bowl on top of it, and on the stand seven lamps with seven pipes to the seven lamps. Two olive trees are by it, one at the right of the bowl and the other at its left.” So I answered and spoke to the angel who talked with me, saying, “What are these, my lord?” Then the angel who talked with me answered and said to me, “Do you not know what these are?” And I said, “No, my lord.” So he answered and said to me: “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ Says the Lord of hosts. ‘Who are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain! And he shall bring forth the capstone With shouts of “Grace, grace to it!” ’ ” Moreover the word of the Lord came to me, saying: “The hands of Zerubbabel Have laid the foundation of this temple; His hands shall also finish it. Then you will know That the Lord of hosts has sent Me to you. For who has despised the day of small things? For these seven rejoice to see The plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel. They are the eyes of the Lord, Which scan to and fro throughout the whole earth.”

Zechariah 4:6 NKJV

So he answered and said to me: “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ Says the Lord of hosts.

Zechariah 6:10 NKJV

“Receive the gift from the captives—from Heldai, Tobijah, and Jedaiah, who have come from Babylon—and go the same day and enter the house of Josiah the son of Zephaniah.

Zechariah 4:10 NKJV

For who has despised the day of small things? For these seven rejoice to see The plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel. They are the eyes of the Lord, Which scan to and fro throughout the whole earth.”

So, the Head of the church is the supplier of life to and within the church. He supplies life through the agency of the Holy Spirit. And it is only by the work of the Holy Spirit that revival and revitalization can come to the local church.

May we be constantly praying for God to revive our congregation!

Not only is the Head of the church the supplier of life,

The Head of the Church is in Control of the Leadership

We have noted before that the seven stars refer to the angels of the seven churches ().

Revelation 1:20 NKJV

The mystery of the seven stars which you saw in My right hand, and the seven golden lampstands: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands which you saw are the seven churches.

The point being made is that Christ is sovereign over both the churches and the leadership of the churches. All authority figures, both political and spiritual, are in authority due to the sovereign authority of Christ, for all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Him by the Father.

It is not by accident that I am here serving as “the angel” of the church of Britton Bethel. Christ has placed me here, for reasons of His own choice. And therefore my first and primary duty is to listen to Him and follow His lead. Not that He speaks audibly to me, but His word has given everything that is needed, and my charge is to study His word, obey His word, and relay the message of His word to you.

In the case of the leadership of the church in Sardis, they or he had fallen short. His work and ministry did not measure up to Christ’s standard. And I wonder what Christ would say to me! Do I measure up or do I fall short?

Christ has something to say to His church. Do we have ears to hear?

Let’s turn our attention now to how

THE HEAD OF THE CHURCH KNOWS THE CONDITION OF THE CHURCH

Though I have not spent a lot of time formally studying human nature, as in psychology, I have had enough experience to learn a thing or two. One of the things that I have learned is that most of us put up a facade` so that others won’t see who we really are. It amazes me how when people learn that I am a pastor they tend to start telling me about all the good things they have done. In other words they put up a facade` in which they hope I will not see the real person for who they are.

The Church of Sardis had a facade`of sorts. They had a name and reputation for being alive and active. Note that

Wealth and Prestige do not Equate Spiritual Vitality

Sardis was a wealthy community

The Pactolus River, which was near Sardis, was home to large deposits of gold, which made Sardis one of the richest cities in the ancient world

Sardis is said to be the city that first minted gold and silver into coins

The Church in Sardis had a good reputation within the community

A good reputation within the community is a good thing, if it is for the right reasons. If the local church is known for how they sacrificially loved one another, then it points the community, in a positive way, to Christ. But if the reputation within the community is based on compromising with the world, that is a whole other ballgame!

No mention of persecution, bad doctrine, the influence of Satan, or false teachers

Satan had no need of doing anything since the church was already spiritually dead

The ruins of a Jewish Synagogue gives evidence that the Jews in Sardis had compromised with the world

Pagan symbols are found within, stamped into the lectern within the synagogue

Perhaps the church had a similar compromise with the world

Christ Knew that the Church in Sardis was Dead

Sardis has a large, elaborate Necropolis -- which is a fancy burial place -- literally “city of the dead”

And that is how Christ saw this church

The works of this church did not measure up to Christ’s standard

The church in Sardis has been compared with a wax museum. Things have the appearance of being alive, when in fact they are dead

Danger signs of a dying church:

Resting on its past history while ignoring the present situation

Being more concerned with liturgical forms than spiritual reality

Focusing on social ills rather than the life changing message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ

Having a greater concern for material things rather than spiritual things

Having a greater concern for what man thinks than for what God thinks

Losing the conviction that the Bible is the Word of God

THE HEAD OF THE CHURCH KNOWS THE REMEDY FOR THE CHURCH

As long as there is a hint of life within the local church there is hope for revitalization. And revitalization was exactly what this dead or dying church needed. In verses 2-3 Christ providing a prescription to remedy the dying condition of this church. He did so through the giving of

Five commands

Be Watchful

Sardis was located on a tall hill, about 1500 feet above the fertile valley of the Hermus River

The city considered themselves to be impregnable by enemy forces because the hill they were located on had nearly perpendicular rock walls on three sides

The only approach for an enemy army was from the south via a steep, difficult path

This caused the people of the city to be overconfident and complacent

They did not feel the need to keep a watchmen at night — they were not watchful

Twice they were conquered due to their lack of watchfulness

When Cyrus the Persian was laying seige to this city, a soldier from Sardis dropped his helmet over the steep hill. An observant Persian soldier noted how the young man used a nearly invisible path to retrieve his lost helmet. That night Cyrus’ troops used that path to enter and conquer the city

Like the historic city, the church in Sardis had become complacent. They needed to wake up and be watchful.

Command number two was to

Strengthen the Things Which Remain

Though the church as a whole is dead, there is still some signs of life

Remember what you have received and heard

The gospel message

The writings of the apostles

Keep (Hold fast or obey) what you have received

Repent

THE HEAD OF THE CHURCH IS FAITHFUL TO THE SPIRITUAL REMNANT

The remnant has unsoiled garments

Archeological finds indicate that those whose garments were soiled were not permitted into the pagan worship and feasts of the day

The remnant are robed in the righteousness of Christ

THE HEAD OF THE CHURCH PROVIDES SECURITY FOR OVER-COMERS

Clothed in righteousness

Non-erasable name

Confessed by Christ before the Father

Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations 7237 One Little Hour

One Little Hour

One little hour of watching for the Master,

Eternal years to walk with Him in white;

One little hour to bravely meet life’s duties,

Eternal years to reign with Him in light.

One little hour for weary toils and trials,

Eternal years for calm and peaceful rest;

One little hour for patient self-denials,

Eternal years of life where life is blest.

—Anonymous

Let’s pray.

Closing Song: No 434 — Revive Us Again