The Sardis Church

Good afternoon! I hope everyone had a great week. Our news this last week has yet again been full of grief and agony. However, there is a story that was hidden amongst all of the evil in our world that I want to address briefly. And the reason is that it deals directly with our message today. I am kind of curious if anyone saw the story concerning Nancy Pelosi and the Archbishop of San Francisco? I am pretty sure that it was drowned out by everything else that was occurring in our nation.

So this is what happened. The archbishop of San Francisco is a man named Salvadore Cordilione. And he had attempted for quite some time to meet with Nancy to discuss her position on abortion. Why was he doing so? Well the Catholic church has a specific position concerning Abortion and that is that anyone who participates in any way in a purposeful abortion that is not used to preserve the health of the mother is committing murder. And therefore is in sin. Well, Mr. Cordilione being a good pastor looks at Nancy Pelosi and sees someone who is attempting to aid women in getting abortions. In his understanding of Catholic doctrine this puts Pelosi’s soul in jeopardy. And so he did what he felt was the right thing and tried to speak to her concerning this matter. She has for sometime now rebuffed his attempts to meet. And as a result he took the next step in Church discipline and publicly stated that she is no longer eligible to receive communion. For Catholics this is a big deal. Because communion is a means by which one receives grace for salvation. Don’t worry though. The protestant church that’s essentially us has rejected this idea. Why? Because this idea is no where stated within the Bible.

Why do I tell this story? Because there are many in this world who profess to be Christians but they actually are not. And unfortunately I know of only one means biblically of determining whether or not someone is a Christian. And this is it. When someone says that something that God has determined to be sinful is not. Here is often the logic that they take. Surely God has changed with the times. And in his love he no longer sees X as sin. This is just not the case. If it was sinful for someone who bears the image of God 4000 years ago it’s still sinful today. And there are no if ands or buts concerning this discussion.

Todays letter is about these people. Those who call themselves Christians but are not. Much of the mainline protestant church is, I fear, filled with many who are Christian in name only. But, here is the difficult reality. Every church in the history of the church is going to have some within it’s congregation who fit this truth.

There are two things that I want to get from todays message. First, make sure you are not like Nancy Pelosi. Second, recognize that there are those who will walk in here who are not and never will be believers in Jesus Christ. We need to guard against their influence within the church.

So, let’s first read through our letter to the Church at Sardis and then we will look more specifically at a couple of these verses.

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.’

So let’s first take a look at our first verse. Revelation 3:1

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

So Jesus identifies himself by two phrases. The first phrase is “him who has the seven spirits of God” We have already determined that this is a reference to the Holy Spirit. And so Jesus is emphasizing the presence and power of the Holy Spirit.

Next Jesus says that he is the one who has the seven stars. And again we have identified the seven stars already as the seven churches addressed here.

So what Jesus is saying is that he is always present in the person of the Holy Spirit within His church. And that the power of the Holy Spirit is always found within His church.

Now Jesus doesn’t waste anytime in getting right to the subject at hand. He says, “I know your works. You have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead.”

Oof. That’s pretty rough.

So, this church is very active amongst it’s member and within the community. Look they are probably doing a lot of really good service projects, taking each other meals when someone is sick, helping clean up the local park, handing out bottles of water at marathons with the church logo.

This is a church that characterizes a phrase that has done extensive damage to the church. This is the phrase, “Preach the gospel at all times. And if necessary use words.” And the though being this phrase is that the things that you do proclaim the love of Christ. But the problem is that that is just not true. We can not preach the gospel without opening our mouths and speaking the name of Jesus. Period.

But this is exactly the problem that this church has fallen into. And here’s the struggle they feel really safe and comfortable in doing these good works for the glory of God. This is a soft and subtle means by which Satan slowly lures us away from the greatest task the church has been given. The proclamation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

And because this church has taken the bait of Satan they are now, we will see, reveling in their sin.

So let’s continue. Verse two reads,

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.

Jesus tells the to wake up, be on guard is more specifically what the word there means. He then calls the remnant among the church to strengthen one another for without them and their strength the church will die.

In the next verse Jesus says

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.

So, what he is telling the to do. Is to return to what the Gopel of Jesus that they had received and heard. He then tells them to hold fast to that truth and to use that truth to help them to return to God.

If they do not do this he says that he will come like a thief, and will not know at what hour he will come against them.

Now, there are some who see this as a reference to the time that Christ returns or what is called the parousia. The reason for this is that Jesus typically uses this phrase “I will come like a thief” in reference to his second coming.

However, how does that hold meaning for the church at sardis. First off we are nearly two thousand years since this letter was written and this specific church is now long gone. So, most hold to this as a reference that Jesus will come to the church in the present age not physically but that he will by some means cause the church to fail and therefore die. And this is exactly what eventually happened. Was it for this reason? We do not know. I would hope that they heard the words of Jesus took them to heart and that the church essentially grew up, grew old, and died a natural death. There is a life cycle to everything. Churches included.

The thing that we need to hear from this is that Jesus loves his church dearly. And a church that wants to play at being christian is no church and will suffer a death by his very hand.

Now, you might say well look at much of the church in America. And I would agree and I would remind us all that we should all be thankful that Jesus is long suffering not only with them but with each of us as well.

Next Jesus says,

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.

Jesus always maintains a remnant few everyone who are his. Those within the church here at Sardis have not soiled their metaphorically speaking garments. They have not joined in the sin of pagan culture around them and explained it away as not being sin and so it’s then ok. And they continue to speak the name of Jesus to this unbelieving world.

Look no one wants to be left out. No one wants to be ostrecized. No one wants to suffer economic loss because they are Christians. And there is a sense that we can say that this isn’t the way it is supposed to be. However, this is exactly where our country is headed. And our responsibility is to be prepared and to stand upon the rock that is Christ Jesus.

If you do not do so. Jesus here says essentially that your garments are already soiled, and that we will not walk with him one day in garments that are white, for if we fail in this way we are unworthy of Jesus to save us from our sins.

Jesus continues and says,

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.

First, the one who conquers will be clothed in white garments. This is a metaphor for our state of being in the next life to come. We will walk with Jesus sinless before him. He will completely and utterly remove all sin from our very being. This is what it means that we will be clothed in white garments.

Next and a point I want to spend some time on is this statement that Jesus makes when he says, “I will never blot his name out of the book of life.”

Now within the church there are several view points on what is being said here. They can be divided into two primary groups though. The first takes this phrase very literally and says that what this means is that even though your name might be written within the book of life it can be removed. And so, if you follow the church at Sardis you may very well lose your salvation.

And at just a cursory reading of this passage I can see how one comes to this position. The other group however believes that if someone is truly saved by the grace of God by faith in Jesus through the works of Christ alone then you can not lose your salvation. They would says that Jesus will actually never blot a name from the book of life, because the one who fails to overcome or conquer their sin was never written in the book of life.

Here’s a very important question that needs to be answered in order to understand this difficulty that we are faced with. When was your name written in the Lambs Book of Life. The first group would say that it was written the moment you placed your faith in Christ. This is called the Arminian understanding of this discussion, so to speak. The other group called Calvinists would say that your name was written in the book of life before creation had occurred.

Now these terms are not always helpful. This is why I don’t tend to like to use them, but here we are. And this is the reason these terms are not always helpful some Arminians do believe that you can lose your salvation. But there are others who believe that you are unable to lose your salvation. All Calvinists, as far as I am aware, believe in what is called the perseverence of the saints. Which basically says that if Jesus has written your name in the book of life. You will persevere through the power of the Spirit within you until the end. And so it is impossible to lose ones salvation. Some like to use the phrase once save always saved.

The Calvinist would say concerning the person that calls themselves Christian but eventually turns away from Christ and renounces their faith that they were never actually saved.

There are some important points that we need to see clearly in this passage. First in this verse Jesus is not addressing those who are falsely taking the title of Christian. He is addressing only the true remnant. Those few who are truly His. And he says concerning this group and only this group perseverance will show that once your name is written in the book of life it will not be removed.

So back to the question I asked earlier. When is your name written within the Lambs book of Life. Well, Jesus tells us. Later in the book of Revelation when speaking of the beast that will rise up to try to torment and turn the Church to Satan we read in chapter thirteen verse eight.

Revelation 13:8 ESV

and all who dwell on earth will worship it, everyone whose name has not been written before the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who was slain.

So when was your name written in the Lambs Book of Life. I don’t like the term Calvinist because I believe that in the end it has done more harm to good doctrine that it has done to aid in right doctrine. But, I believe this verse is clearly stated. You were chosen for salvation before the world as we know was even created.

Look the letter to Sardis is a difficult one to hear and should for all of us be a bit frightful.

But, at the same time there is great comfort for the one who is in Christ Jesus. Our names are written eternally into the Lambs Book of Life. and they will never be blotted out. What comfort is there in this truth for those who are in Christ Jesus. We didn’t work ourselves into this thing called salvation and so we cannot work ourselves out of it either.

Now there is a question then that I hope all of us are worried about. How do you know if you are one who is truly written into the Lambs Book of Life.

Ultimately I have no real way of ensuring. But there is that I know of only one true test that is given biblically for one who is in Christ and one who is not in Christ. I mentioned it earlier when we began.

The answer lies within first john. Here John basically says that the one who says that sin is not sin or the one who says that they have not sinned then the truth is not within them. And therefore they are not in Christ Jesus. And so do you excuse away your sin by saying that God is actually ok with it. Or do you struggle with the sin that you do. That’s the only test I can give you, because it is the only one that I know of. Now, also understand this that dealing with our sin is a matter of maturity. And as we grow in Christ we see our sin more clearly as sin. And the struggle only becomes greater everyone time we fail.

But Jesus says that the one who is in Him will eternally be with Him and that one day he will declare before the Father and the Angels the names of all of those who are His.

And he finishes this letter as he has all the rest by saying,

Revelation 3:6 ESV

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

So What?

There are DEAD churches

The church at Sardis is a bit different than the rest that we have looked at so far. Satan doesn’t have to persecute them or tempt them any longer for the most part they have already given in to him. This church is dead already. They had become so comfortable with the world, there was no price to be paid as a result for being a follower of Jesus. They looked and acted no different than the world. Such a warning should cause great concern for the western church. Many of the churches in the west have fallen asleep at the wheel essentially. And instead of crying out for Jesus to take the wheel, Satan already has a firm grasp and is directing the Church where he will.

The greatest threat the church in the west has is being failing to keep watch because we have it so easy. We are wealthy compared to most of the world. We do not face persecution. We have it really easy. This was the problem that the church had in the early fourties in Germany. In Germany the church was and to a degree continue to be deeply connected to the state. In the early fourties approx. 12,000 pastors in the state church opposed what was called the Aryan clause that the state had introduced into the church. This clause exluded Christans of Jewish descent from working the in the Church. In time a group of churches called the “Confessing churches” would form in order to stand against these compromises. But gradually even this group began to submit to the state. Either because of funding as the church was funded by the state, or because of the threat of persecution. In time the majority of Christian Churches would eventually support Adolph Hitler. Dietrich Boenhoefer was a pastor who was killed for his continued resistance against Hitle. Boenhoefer wrote,

That the failure of German Christians to resist Nazi rise to power stemmed from their lack of moral clarity; the only people who can stand firm in such situations are those whose standard is not reason or conscience but God and His Word.

Dietrich Boenhoefer

We need to stand firm on our rock who is Jesus Christ and the Word that He gave to us, His scriptures. It can become so easy to grow wear in doing the right thing and to follow the crowd. Especially when the church around us has become a part of it.

The Remnant

There were in Sardis a small group a remnant that remained faithful to Christ Jesus. Look I think that it is important to see here that Jesus does not tell this group to pick up and find a new church. Today just like in the Church at Sardis there are true believers in dead churches. I believe that God has called these Christians to remain in these dead churches or even dead denominations to continue to be the voice of Jesus and to call these churches and denominations to repent and return to faithfulness in Christ.

Now there may come a time when separation is necessary, but we need to be careful who we judge those whom God has called to remain and fight a battle that we have not been called to fight.

Perseverance of the Saints

I have already brought up some of the differences in the Arminian and Calvinist debate, I guess you might call it. What is important is that both sides would agree concerning those who do not overcome or conquer the sin of Sardis. They are lost.

This means that Perseverance until the end is necessary. In the church there is this thing that we like to call fire insurance. This is an unfortunate position that has somehow snuck into the church. There are many in this world who are certain that they are heaven bound because they were baptised or because they followed someone in the sinners prayer. This warning that we have here is serious for many what we might call nominal Christians in our culture who depend purely on a past profession of faith or infant baptism to ensure their salvation.

Let me give a great example that Chuck Colson likes to use. There was a man name Mickey Cohen who was a famous Los Angeles gangers in the late fourties. Mickey made a public confession of faith in Jesus Christ. The church was over joyed. As some time passed, people began to wonder about Mickey’s confession of faith. Why? Because he chose to not leave his gangster lifestyle. When he was eventually confronted with this Mickey said, “You never told me I had to give up my career. You never told that I had to give up my friends. There are Christian movie stars, Christian athletes, Christian businessmen. So what the matter with being a Christian gangster? If I have to give up all that — If that’s Christianity — count me out.” Chuck Colson said concerning Mickey, that “Mickey was echoing the millions of professing christians who, though unwilling to admit it, through their very lives pose the same question. Not about being christian gangsters, but about being christianized versions of whatever they already are — and they are determined to remain.”

Now I do want us to be careful. Do not judge a persons salvation only Christ can do that. But, what we all must do is look within ask ourselves the question.

How well am I persevering in Christ Jesus by the power of the Holy Spirit. This is the question Jesus asked the church in Sardis to ask of themselves and that question remains for us here today.

Amen.

Let us pray.

Father God we are so thankful for the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We are so grateful for the grace that you have shown to us in sending your only begotten son that He might die for our sin that we might be free. Lord we pray that you continue to work in our hearts and continue to allow us to see our sin clearly so that the power of the Holy Spirit might work in us to remove that sin and we might reflect more the true image of Jesus to this world. Lord Jesus each one of us here today carries hurts, and habits, and hangups that keep us from following you as we should. We pray that you would supernaturally heal us of those hurst and pains of the past. So that we might serve you well and be able to more clearly proclaim your name to this world. For Jesus today we celebrate the fact that you alone are our soon coming King.

Bless us this day that we might be a blessing to others.

Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever.