Sardis - The Flat-Lined Church Pt. 2

Introduction

This morning, we began looking at the church in Sardis, which is the flat-lined church - it’s dead...

We were only able to get through the first verse, but hopefully, we will get through the rest of the letter tonight...

Sardis had a good reputation. They were admired and applauded by many. But it was a reputation they did not deserve: ‘Thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead.’ They were big on profession, but little in possession. They were long on ceremony, but short on commitment. They were precise in doctrine, but negligent in devotion. They had great activity, but little worship.

Donald Fortner wrote: “Is this not the state of most who wear the name of Christ today? I seldom meet a man or woman who is not religious, who does not profess to be a Christian, but I seldom meet anyone who is committed to Christ! For the most part, even in our most orthodox churches, I see nothing but deadness. The meetings for worship are poorly attended. The people, it is obvious, seldom read, much less study, the Scriptures. Prayer appears, usually, to be the stating of words (accurate enough), but not the pleading of burdened hearts. The worship of Christ, for the vast majority of those who profess faith in him, is a convenience, not a necessity. I fear that ‘Ichabod’ might be written on the doors of most of our church buildings.”

We saw the Assembly, the Author, and the Admonition this morning, so let’s dive right into verse 2 tonight...

I want you to notice, first of all:

The Appeal

Look at what the Lord provides as a prescription to this dead church:

Revelation 3:2–3 KJV 1900

2 Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die: for I have not found thy works perfect before God. 3 Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee.

The first part of the appeal was to “be watchful”

The word watchful means to be vigilant.

The citizens in Sardis would have understood clearly the implications of not being watchful. The city was conquered because the watchmen did not watch and the intruders scaled the rocks and over the walls and into the city to conquer all because the guards did not watch. The Lord Jesus is telling the church to be on guard, to be diligently watching for Him and diligently working for Him. This church was a dead church because they ceased to labor for the Lord. They did not work with Jesus or work for Jesus, they did not glorify His name. When a church seizes to glorify the name of Jesus they are indeed a dying congregation. God will not bless a congregation that will not bring glory to the Son. The church is called on to strengthen the things which remain.

Jack Hyles wrote, “The remains of many a church could be set on fire, and the church could be revived. If this doesn’t happen, you might as well have a funeral for the church and bury the remains.”

The second part of the appeal was to “strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die...”

He tells them that not everything about them has died. There are still some things that have a spark of life in them. These things are to be revived before they die out.

(The phrase, “that are ready to die”, literally means, “that are knocking on death’s door.”) This is a call for them to get stirred up again for the things of God! It is a call to revival!

Hey, let me ask you tonight, if we don’t strengthen the things which remain, who will??? If you don’t strengthen the things which remain, who will???

The Lord goes on to say, “for I have not found thy works perfect before God.”

This means that their “works are incomplete and do not reach Heaven.” They have some things in their midst that are good, but they are works that need reviving before they will make an eternal difference. They were singing, praying, preaching and giving, but their works were not reaching Heaven. They were accomplishing nothing of eternal value. They were a dead people doing dead works.

It is possible to be busy in the things of God and yet to be doing nothing for God. Unless our works are complete, they will never reach Heaven, and there will be no glory for God in the church.

There was a need to do the work for the love of Christ and not for show. There was a need for growth in grace. Like the doctor who said to the cobra victim, “You are dead unless you take the antidote.” This church was as good as dead if they did not take God’s antidote. Their love was cooling off and their faith needed renewing. Dedication was declining and their zeal was drying up. How would they revive their survivals? Well,

The third part of the appeal was to “Remember therefore how thou has received and heard.”

Hey! Listen to me tonight! Don’t get into a rut. Don’t let your salvation lose its specialness. Remember what God has done for you!

These people are counseled to remember where the Lord brought them from and what He has done for them. They are to remember the days when they served the Lord out of a glad heart and wanted more than anything to do His will! They are to remember what it was like to walk in the power of God while the fire of His glory burned in and He used them for His glory!

The fourth part of the appeal was to “repent.”

Repentance was the requirement for Sardis, as it was for Ephesus, Pergamos and Laodicia. The word “repent” refers to a reversal of attitude and action. It is a complete turn in the opposite direction. Jesus asked the church to turn back to the way it was at the beginning, before it was corrupted by carnality.

The Lord Jesus says that if they do not repent that He’s not coming to rescue the church, but to reprimand the church. Again that word (Hold Fast) is a strong word that indicates that it would not be easy. The Lord Jesus is saying that to hold fast to what they had would be difficult in a dead church.

In a dead church lively worship would be hard!

In a dead church loving fellowship would be hard!

In a dead church faithful service would be hard!

In a dead church powerful preaching would be hard!

The Lord Jesus is telling the church to hold fast to their faith in Him and let go of what they did not need. The only way we can let go of the things that are hurtful to us is to repent and turn to Jesus.

Without repentance the church will die. Year after year a church dies little by little when its members fail to repent. Jesus told them that if they kept on refusing to repent, He would come to them and perform the burial rites.

Look on to the next verse:

The Approval

Revelation 3:4 KJV 1900

4 Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with me in white: for they are worthy.

Those who lived for God were in a minority. There were not many of them. These few were the spiritual among the unspiritual, the sincere among the hypocrites, the separated among the worldly. They would walk with the Lord in white which is the color of purity and righteousness.

Next we see:

The Affirmation

Revelation 3:5 KJV 1900

5 He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.

Those who walk with Jesus overcome and He makes two promises to the victorious.

First, they shall be clothed in white raiment...

White is symbolic of the purity found in the sacrifice of Christ on Calvary. The victorious wear clothes that have been washed and made white in the blood of the Lamb. Nothing can get our garments any cleaner or whiter than the blood of Jesus.

The winner’s outfit will never need changing because it will never again be dirty or defiled. Because of its permanence there is a second promise:

“I will not blot out his name out of the book of life...”

In that ancient culture it was the custom to remove a person’s name from the city records at death. We are alive in Christ forever and our names will never be erased from Heaven’s records.

In addition to not blotting out our names, Jesus will confess us before His father and His holy angels.

He says this here, and also in Matthew 10:32.

The Holy Spirit was speaking to the church at the same time that Christ was speaking. This was not the first time the Spirit had spoken. He had spoken often before but the church had failed to listen.

Conclusion

This letter closes as the others have...

Revelation 3:6 KJV 1900

6 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.

A church which does not listen to the Spirit will die. Those who are spiritually deaf will spiritually die. This is what created the stiffs at Sardis.

Jesus is telling us something! Are we going to listen?

Examine yourselves tonight…I’ve been preaching weeks on these churches…There’s a personal message to each of us in these letters...

The Bible teaches us to examine ourselves; look within...

A.W. Tozer in his book, Rut, Rot, or Revival writes: “The philosopher Socrates said, “An unexamined life is not worth living.” If a common philosopher could think that, how much more we Christians ought to listen to the Holy Spirit when He says, “Examine yourself.” An unexamined Christian lies like an unattended garden. Let your garden go unattended for a few months, and you will not have roses and tomatoes but weeds. An unexamined Christian life is like an unkempt house. Lock your house up as tight as you will and leave it long enough, and when you come back you will not believe the dirt that got in from somewhere. An unexamined Christian is like an untaught child. A child that is not taught will be a little savage. It takes examination, teaching, instruction, discipline, caring, tending, weeding and cultivating to keep the life right.”

Come do what you need to do around this altar tonight.