The Church of Sardis

Introduction

Recap Series

Church of Ephesus

sound doctrine, but left their first love

Church of Smyrna

difficulties because of their faith, told to hold on in persecution that was coming, even into death

Church of Pergamum

people in the church are still believing and worshipping idols

Church of Thyatira

not just that people are believing false doctrine, but the church is allowing it to be taught, bringing judgment on the church

Today - The Church of Sardis

Revelation 3:1–6 CSB

1 “Write to the angel of the church in Sardis: Thus says the one who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars: I know your works; you have a reputation for being alive, but you are dead. 2 Be alert and strengthen what remains, which is about to die, for I have not found your works complete before my God. 3 Remember, then, what you have received and heard; keep it, and repent. If you are not alert, I will come like a thief, and you have no idea at what hour I will come upon you. 4 But you have a few people in Sardis who have not defiled their clothes, and they will walk with me in white, because they are worthy. 5 “In the same way, the one who conquers will be dressed in white clothes, and I will never erase his name from the book of life but will acknowledge his name before my Father and before his angels. 6 “Let anyone who has ears to hear listen to what the Spirit says to the churches.

Sardis is the church that I have always been afraid of becoming. Pretending to do a lot, thinking that we are alive and thriving church, but really we are dead.

the one who has the spirits and stars

seven is often used in terms of completion,

has the complete spirit, showing his deity, the fullness of God

has the complete stars, we know from chapter one that he holds the seven stars

the stars are the angels of the churches

word angelos - most often translated angel, also means messenger

most likely speaking of the pastors of the churches

This might give us confidence in listening to the one described

based on the message, it should give the reader concern as it is not a letter that comes with any commendation but only judgment

Any influence we want to have on the world must start with a revival of the church

A Not so New Problem (v. 1; 2b; 3b)

It is frustrating to people when problems are identified and nothing is ever done with them

we can often feel like we have accomplished something just by identifying a problem

the first step is admitting you have a problem

“but I do think he was correct when he declared that the church in Sardis was a most fitting emblem of the church in his days, as also in these. The good old doctor says, “When shall we find any period in which the church was more like the state of Sardis as described here, than it is now?” Charles Spurgeon

this letter was written in the first century AD, Spurgeon spoke those words in February of 1856, and we still see this same problem today

Revelation 3:1–3 CSB

1 “Write to the angel of the church in Sardis: Thus says the one who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars: I know your works; you have a reputation for being alive, but you are dead. 2 Be alert and strengthen what remains, which is about to die, for I have not found your works complete before my God. 3 Remember, then, what you have received and heard; keep it, and repent. If you are not alert, I will come like a thief, and you have no idea at what hour I will come upon you.

Human desire has always been the problem

Adam and Eve desired to be like God, knowing good and evil

Israel consistently walked away from God desiring to their own desires over the desires of God

The Pharisees where famous for desiring to elevate themselves, but not really interested in submitting to God

Even in the Apostles, James and John wanted to sit on the right and left of Jesus, wanting to elevate themselves above that of what God wanted them to do

You could argue that the first two wanted to be out from under God

the last two pretended that this self serving way, was somehow serving God

This is the church today…

we come, we give, we do… as if it is a favor to God, but it gives us the illusion of being alive when we are dead

this is the same charge that Jesus gave the pharisees Matthew 23:27-28

Matthew 23:27–28 CSB

27 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which appear beautiful on the outside, but inside are full of the bones of the dead and every kind of impurity. 28 In the same way, on the outside you seem righteous to people, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.

Our works reveal this about us

when speaking to the Pharisees, John the Baptist said that we must have good fruit

Matthew 3:10 CSB

10 The ax is already at the root of the trees. Therefore, every tree that doesn’t produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.

what is good fruit

fruit that is not just the right thing, but for the right reason

doing the things of God to serve God, but ourselves

Failure to obey this warning will bring judgment at the time when you least suspect it

you seem like you are alive, a thriving church and suddenly it is over, the church is gone and it happens so quickly, you do not know what happened

A Not so New Solution (v. 2a; 3)

This letter was sent by Christ as an urgent wake up call to the reader

The old joke about if you don’t know who that crazy family member is… it is probably you

same here… if you do not have a sense of urgency after hearing Jesus send this condemnation, then he is probably talking to you

Over the years there have been a lot of different events called revivals

I used to be confused by them, we bring in an evangelist, preach a gospel filled message and invite the community to come

we pray that they will pray a certain prayer

then at the end, we count how many prayers have been prayed, and rejoice over every soul that accepted Christ

I am not saying these events are bad, but really they are not a revival as much as a community outreach

these events are great to reach the lost, the dead in Christ so that they may come to life

when I think revival, I think reviving the heart that was alive, but doesn’t appear to be anymore

We need new solutions to this problem that has existed for so long

Revelation 3:2–3 CSB

2 Be alert and strengthen what remains, which is about to die, for I have not found your works complete before my God. 3 Remember, then, what you have received and heard; keep it, and repent. If you are not alert, I will come like a thief, and you have no idea at what hour I will come upon you.

Be = literally become what you’re not

awake, alert, watchful

the picture is that we are sleepwalking, just going through the motions

there is nothing that says I love you like simply going through the motions when you are doing something for the one you love

you sleep in your faith when we really do not believe what the bible says

we do not believe that Hell is real, that so many people are going to spend eternity there or we would proclaim the truth to people

Our idea of sharing the truth has been reduced to sayings on bumper sticker, t-shirts or social media memes that do nothing but get a “that a boy” from fellow believers.

we do not believe Christ could return at anytime… or we would be ready

Strengthen what remains

how, what does that look like

v3 - remember what you have heard and received

2 Timothy 3:14–17 CSB

14 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and firmly believed. You know those who taught you, 15 and you know that from infancy you have known the sacred Scriptures, which are able to give you wisdom for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness, 17 so that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

but we are to keep it, does that mean that we can lose it

no, keep = watch over, guard

why do we need to guard it, keep it?

this world is constantly telling us that it is unneeded, that we are good enough, that scripture is outdated

I love how Paul tells Timothy to remember those who taught him

Lillie and I missing Karen Salmans at TeamKid on Wednesday

Repent

repent? yes, the unbelief and selfish way that we serve christ is sinful

we must repent of doing religion the way that the world does it, which is all about satisfying us

twisting scripture to fit our beliefs

none of this is obeying the word of God

it will bring judgment and quickly

Unwillingness to revive, to remember, to repent will bring judgment on the church quickly. But for those who do, the promise of old will be theirs.

A Not so New Promise (v. 4-5)

We have seen the pattern in these letters

for those who conquer, there is eternity spent with Christ

they may be spelled out a little differently for each letter, each church bit that is the promise that we have seen each time.

this time is not any different

Revelation 3:4–5 CSB

4 But you have a few people in Sardis who have not defiled their clothes, and they will walk with me in white, because they are worthy. 5 “In the same way, the one who conquers will be dressed in white clothes, and I will never erase his name from the book of life but will acknowledge his name before my Father and before his angels.

those who are unstained, undefiled will walk with the Lord

why? they are worthy!

isn’t that what we all want to be, is worthy to be with the Lord

the problem is we think that the things that we do will be what makes us worthy

when they are what disqualify us

Jesus tells this church that he has seen their works, and found them lacking

God who knows the hearts of man says that our good works are like filthy rags before him

Jesus tells this church that they will be dressed in white

dressed = to put around, typically to put clothing on someone

no amount of Good works will ever make us clean and pure before the Lord

We must put on the righteousness of Christ

how, by denying ourselves daily, taking up our cross and following him

Choose today then, who will you serve?

will you continue to walk in this way of self serving religious works that will cause you to look alive, but remain dead inside

will you humble yourself to the Lord, remember the gospel, that God loved his people so much, that he entered into his creation and died for them, that they might live for eternity with him