The church of the living dead
Revelation 3:1-6

Intro:
Good morning.
I am going to continue the series on the seven letters to the seven churches of Asia. I hope you find them not only useful, helpful and challenging, but also encouraging. Just to let you know, I will refer to a lot of text but I will not necessarily read everything and may paraphrase some. Our reference scripture for today is Revelation 3:1-6 But before we get into the text today I’d like to tell a short story.
A man named Jim grabbed his suitcase off the luggage carousel and headed outside to hail a taxi. A taxi promptly picked him up and they were on their way. Twenty minutes into the ride Jim had a question for the taxi driver, ‘Excuse me sir’ said Jim, tapping the driver on the shoulder. ‘AHHHHHHH’ screamed the taxi driver swerving the taxi across three lanes of traffic finally stopping the car on the opposite side of the road. ‘What on earth was all that about?’ demanded Jim. ‘I’m so sorry sir,’ said the taxi driver, wiping his brow, ‘this is my first day on the job. I’ve been driving a hearse for the last thirty years!’
Death holds fear for many people. This time of year we enjoy scaring each other by wearing costumes that bring up images of death. Today we’re going to see that a congregation may have all the appearances of being alive but in truth it is very much dead and that should scare us.

I. Starting in; Revelation 3:1 we read“To the angel of the church in Sardis write.” Sardis was the capital city of Lydia and was founded about 1200 BC. There the king of Lydia ruled over his empire in oriental splendor. Sardis stood in the midst of the plain of the valley of the River Hermus <her–mus>. To the north of that plain, rose the long ridge of Mount Tmolus <T–molus>; from that ridge a series of hills went out like spurs, each forming a narrow plateau. On one of these spurs, fifteen hundred feet up, stood Sardis. There was one narrow road leading into the city, the other sides of the plateau were just steep cliffs which made the city very safe and nearly impenetrable by invading armies. It has been said that Sardis stood like a gigantic watch-tower, guarding the Hermus valley. The name Sardis (Sardeis, GSN4454, in Greek) is really a plural noun, for there were two towns, one on the plateau and one in the valley beneath.
a. The wealth of Sardis was legendary. Through the lower town flowed the River Pactolus <pack-toll-us>, which was said in the old days to have had gold-bearing waters from which much of the early wealth of Sardis came. Gold and silver coins were first minted there and Sardis was famous for its industries. Carpet, wool and dyed cloth were their primary products and it is said that the art of dyeing material was invented at Sardis. Wealthy, secure and powerful city.
b. The fall of Sardis began when the people of the city became complacent in their wealth, their power and their city’s apparent invincibility.
i. The city fell first to Cyrus of Persia when a soldier in Cyrus’s army found a path to the top of the spur and found the battlements unguarded because the Sardians had thought themselves too safe to need a guard.
ii. Sardis next fell to Antiochus <an-tie-a-cus> when a soldier named Lagoras <La-gorus> repeated the exploit of Cyrus and again the battlements were unguarded because Sardis had failed to remember its previous error.
iii. The city was proud of its past and it was proud of its reputation, but, its reputation was all it had left. In Roman times for all intents and purposes, the city of Sardis was dead, even while it lived. Sardis today is a wilderness of ruins and thorns, where the only habitations are a few huts of nomads.
c. We know nothing at all about how the church in Sardis started. As we go through Jesus’ letter to the church in Sardis we find He has no words of commendation for them, but He does have some words of condemnation and counsel.
II. Revelation 3:1 “To the angel of the church in Sardis write: These are the words of him who holds the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead.”
a. John begins by reminding us that Jesus is the One ‘who holds the seven spirits of God and the seven stars’. What does that mean? The good news is we don’t need to speculate because the best interpretation of the Bible is the Bible itself. Revelation 2:20 we are told that the seven stars are; “… are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.”
III. In Revelation 5:6 we find what the seven spirits are, “Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing at the centre of the throne, encircled by the four living creatures and the elders. The Lamb had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth.”
a. John tells us that the ‘seven spirits’ are equated with ‘seven eyes.’ This means that Jesus has all-seeing power and also implies He has all-wisdom. The number ‘seven’ of course indicates ‘fullness’ or ‘completeness’ but it may also be used to speak of the total knowledge concerning the ‘seven’ churches.
b. In other words, like we have seen in the other letters that we have looked at in this series, Jesus sees all and understands everything. And this isn’t anything new, way back in the days of Zechariah we find the same idea. Zechariah 3:9 says, “See, the stone I have set in front of Joshua! There are seven eyes on that one stone, and I will engrave an inscription on it,’ says the LORD Almighty, ‘and I will remove the sin of this land in a single day. “
i. Zechariah 4:10 says, “For who hath despised the day of small things? for they shall rejoice, and shall see the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel with those seven; they are the eyes of the Lord, which run to and fro through the whole earth
ii. In Zechariah we are told it looked to some as though the temple which had begun to be built about 16 years previously would never be completed. God assembles the people and has a top stone set before Zerubbabel according to Zechariah 4:7 and He then swears that Zerubbabel, who started the temple, would finish it.
iii. Engraved on that stone are seven eyes. But whose eyes are they? God’s eyes. God is challenging the people to look at this top stone, they couldn’t see the completion of the temple, but God’s eyes could see the completion, because He was greater in knowledge and wisdom. His eyes could see all the obstacles which needed to be removed, the things which must be taken care of, for the job to be finished.
c. It says in: 2 Chronicles 16:9 “For the eyes of the LORD range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.” So what’s my point? It is that the ‘seven spirits’ which are equivalent to the ‘seven eyes’ speak of the total wisdom and insight which comes from the Spirit.
d. Remember that each letter in Revelation that we have looked at ends with the words, “Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” In other words, no matter what appearances might say, Jesus knows and sees the reality. Someone once said ‘reputation is what people say we are and character is what we are.’
e. Jesus says, He knows every individual and every congregation as they really are. Jesus tells the church in Sardis that, “I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead.” This was a church which worked and worshiped much like we do today; they broke bread every first day of the week and contributed of their means.
IV. When someone dies, the undertaker dresses the deceased in their finest clothes before family members and friends come to see them and pay their respects. As some of you will know, the objective is when people come to see their deceased loved one, they actually look alive, but asleep.
a. Folks we know better, their bodies are there but they are well and truly dead. Jesus says to the church in Sardis, you have the reputation, you have the look of being alive but the fact is, you are actually dead.
b. If you go to a graveyard you will normally see that it’s well kept, has beautiful flowers everywhere and not a weed in sight. There are wonderful gravestones, but just six feet underneath all that beauty, are corpses that have decayed and are rotting. (Matthew 23:27) The church in Sardis was much the same, outwardly they looked great but inwardly they were rotting away.
V. We know that the city of Sardis was ‘alive’ during times of strife and war but it couldn’t live with peace. The church in Sardis had not been at war with Rome, and it wasn’t having any trouble with the prominent group of worshipers of Cybele, (sometimes called “Mountain Mother” or “Earth Goddess”), which lived there.
a. There are no records of slanderous Jews attacking the church. The church at Sardis in her peace seems to have drifted into a coma and then on into death. This congregation was living on its past reputation without any present achievements. They used to be heavily involved in mission work but now they are doing nothing, except glorying in the past.
b. You can imagine them saying, ‘Oh this used to be such a vibrant congregation with hundreds of members.’ ‘We had a great outreach program and we cared for the poor’. ‘Our youth group filled our meeting place and everyone knew about the church in Sardis.’ ‘Ah yes the good old days.’
i. It’s a bit like the elderly man and woman who were sitting on their porch watching a beautiful sunset and reminiscing about ‘those good old days.’ The elderly woman turned to her husband and said, ‘Honey, do you remember when we first started dating and you used to just casually reach over and take my hand?’ Her husband looked over at her, smiled and obligingly took her hand in his.
ii. With a little smile, she pressed a little farther, ‘Honey, do you remember how after we were engaged, you’d sometimes lean over and suddenly kiss me on the cheek?’ Her husband leaned slowly toward her and gave her a lingering kiss on her wrinkled cheek. Getting even bolder still, she said, ‘Honey, do you remember how, after we were first married, you’d kind of nibble on my ear?’ Her husband slowly got up from his rocker and headed into the house. Alarmed, she said, ‘Honey, where are you going?’ to which her husband replied, ‘To get my teeth!’
VI. Folks, Jesus isn’t so concerned about the things we used to do as a church, but He is very concerned about the things we are doing or not doing today as a church. We can’t live on the past and the church can’t live on her past reputation.
a. Now let’s go ahead and see what Jesus has to say to help this church come back from the dead. Revelation 3:2-3 “Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have found your deeds unfinished in the sight of my God. Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; hold it fast, and repent.” Jesus says, ‘wake up and strengthen what remains and is about to die.’
b. Here is a church that started lots of things but did not finish, here is a church that promises so much, but delivers little. It would be like how we set our goals for the year as a church and never get around to doing them nor finishing what we set out to do. In other words, they were great starters but terrible finishers.
c. Some of the most frustrating people we know are those who have loads of suggestions and ideas but they never do anything to get whatever it is started. Or they will start a new program but leave it for someone else to finish. The church in Sardis had no excuse for not completing what they started out to do.
i. They weren’t under attack from within or from outside of the church. There’s no indication that there were people arguing over the Deity of Jesus, there’s no indication of legalism. In other words they were just lazy and they were content with a second hand faith. Or as Paul would say to Timothy in 2 Timothy 3:5 “They have a form of godliness but denying its power.”
d. Jesus says the church in Sardis stood for nothing and had fallen from everything. They were not dying but they were dead as a church, some individuals were still alive but on their way to dying as we will see in a moment. Jesus says, ‘Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; hold it fast, and repent.’
VII. We are living in times of ingratitude where people want everything for nothing and when they do receive something, they are not really grateful for it because they believe it’s their right to receive it in the first place.
a. But as Christians we must never forget to be grateful, not only for the many physical blessings we receive from God but also for the countless spiritual blessings we receive. Being ungrateful was somewhat characteristic of a citizen of that city and the congregation had changed into having the same character. They believed themselves safe and had no need to work.
b. Some of the Christians were in the world but sadly also of the world. They had developed an attitude of laziness and just didn’t care anymore for themselves or those around them. They simply didn’t care for their own Christian life as Romans 13:11 tells us we should do. They simply didn’t stand firm in the faith as 1 Corinthians 16:13 tells us to. They simply didn’t resist the devil and flee from him as 1 Peter 5:8 tells us. They didn’t watch and wait like 1 Thessalonians 5:6 tells us to.
c. Jesus tells them to, “remember what they have received and heard; hold it fast, and repent.’ They were barely alive and ready to die but they were spiritually dead. Each member had to repent in their hearts and show that repentance in their attitude by actually finishing the things they had started.
i. Because if they didn’t wake up and repent then Jesus goes on to say in Revelation 3:3 “I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what time I will come to you.” Now we all know that most thieves work at night and they never come at a time when we expect them. After all if I knew our house was going to be burgled at 7:00 pm tonight I would make sure I was home before that time and invite the sheriff over for a late dinner.
ii. As Christians we should be familiar with these words of Jesus as this illustration of ‘a thief in the night’ is used throughout the New Testament. For example Paul says in 1 Thessalonians 5:1-4 “Now, brothers and sisters, about times and dates we do not need to write to you, for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying, “Peace and safety,” destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. But you, brothers and sisters, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief.”
VIII. Just like the Christians who met in Sardis, we too need to be ready for Jesus’ coming judgment. I mentioned earlier there were some Christians in the Sardis church who were faithful and that’s who Jesus addresses next. Revelation 3:4+5 “Yet you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes. They will walk with me, dressed in white, for they are worthy. The one who is victorious will, like them, be dressed in white”.
a. Notice that Jesus makes the distinction between the individual Christian and the congregation. They had become an ungrateful church and they had forgotten all that God had done for them. That’s why the Hebrews writer warns us in Hebrews 2:1 “We must pay the most careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away.”
b. The church did start to drift away because they didn’t pay attention to what they had heard but there were a few Christians who remained firm and they are the ones, who didn’t soil their clothes.
c. In other words, they didn’t allow anyone or anything to kill the strength and blessings of being a Christian. You see it is possible for a Christian to live among sinners and not be affected by their evil.
d. We need to understand that our all seeing God, sees the faithful even when… they are surrounded by those that are not. We can be sure if we have a congregation of fifteen or fifteen hundred God knows who are faithful and who are not.
i. When Jesus says that the faithful in Sardis ‘will walk with Him’, this is an allusion to Enoch. Genesis 5:22-24 “Altogether, Enoch lived a total of 365 years. Enoch walked faithfully with God; then he was no more, because God took him away”. Enoch lived during the time of evil before the flood where no-one listened to or trusted God, but he did. He was surrounded by evil but he continued to stay close to God.
ii. Jesus says to the faithful in Sardis, despite all the evil influences around them, despite all the un-Christ-like behavior among some of their own members they have remained. Those few in Sardis walk faithfully with God and they have remained true to their faith which was reflected not only in their talk but also their walk. They were worthy, not because they earned that worthiness but because their conduct reflected their Christian faith.
e. Notice also they are to be dressed in white, the color white in this text represents purity and victory in the presence of God. Revelation 7:9 “After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands.”
i. This text is symbolic of the Feast of Tabernacles which was the most joyful of all Jewish feasts. It followed the harvest of the crops and the ingathering of the grapes and it followed the great Day of Atonement when the sins of the nation were removed. At that one moment, they were pure and victorious in God’s eyes, being right with God again, what a wonderful day that must have been!
ii. Look at what else Jesus says to these faithful saints in Sardis in Revelation 3:5, “I will never blot out the name of that person from the book of life, but will acknowledge that name before my Father and his angels.” Look how personal this is! Jesus knows each of them intimately, even to the point of knowing their names.
f. In this world we’re nothing more than a Social Security Number or a reference number. But Jesus, He knows my name and He knows your name and He says, He would be proud to name His faithful ones as His own before the Father and His angels.
IX. Matthew 7:21-23 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’”
a. You see folks, people can wear and use the Name of Jesus for all sorts of reasons but they still might not be known to Jesus. The ones who are known to Jesus, are the ones who do the will of the Father. And just as a side note folks, notice that Jesus did not instruct the faithful in Sardis to change their membership from the congregation in Sardis.
b. You see sometimes within the Lord’s church there are congregational hoppers. You know those Christians who have a falling out with someone within a congregation and so they just get up and move to another congregation. Or if some Christians don’t agree with the preacher or teacher on a certain topic, they end up falling out over a so-called, ‘salvation issues’.
i. Jesus did not ask the faithful in Sardis to get up and move, He encourages them to stay. Romans 14:1 “Accept the one whose faith is weak, without quarrelling over disputable matters.” Paul says, the stronger brethren are supposed to bear the burdens of the weaker brethren, not move away.
ii. Even if the congregation is being exposed to false teaching, what are the faithful supposed to do? Get up and leave? 1 Corinthians 5:6+7 “Your boasting is not good. Don’t you know that a little yeast leavens the whole batch of dough? Get rid of the old yeast, so that you may be a new unleavened batch—as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.” Paul says it is the evil leaven which is to be removed, not the influence of the faithful few.

Conclusion:
Just before we finish I want us to take a serious look at ourselves this morning. And let’s be honest with ourselves, are there any signs within this congregation which are showing that we are a dying or possibly are already a dead congregation?
I know this is going to be tough to listen to, never mind answering but we need to be honest with ourselves as a congregation. Before you start saying, ‘we’re alive, we’re an active church’, remember that’s what the church in Sardis thought, so let’s examine ourselves first. I’ve have a small list of questions to help us to come to our conclusion.
1. Are we resting on our past accomplishments and satisfied with our presence state?
2. Are we more concerned about our rituals and our formalities than we are about spirituality?
3. Are we more concerned about social change than we are about seeing people changed by the power of God?
4. Are we more concerned with material growth than we are with spiritual growth?
5. Are we more concerned with pleasing men that we are with pleasing God?
6. Are we clinging more tightly to the title ‘church of Christ’ than we do to Christ Himself?
7. Are we losing our conviction that the Bible is the Word of God?
Folks, if we answered ‘yes’ to any of those questions, we may be on our way to becoming a church that looks alive but in reality is dying or is already dead. Jesus says in Revelation 3:6 “Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” Are we listening folks? Do we have ears to listen to the Spirit? Are we awake and walking with Jesus, victoriously in all purity?
I know your names personally but Jesus knows your ways and thoughts even more. If you answered ‘yes’ to any of those questions please pray about it. Jesus is very much alive and if we as a church claim to belong to Him, then we too need to ensure that we stay alive.

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We learn from the New Testament how to be saved. We need to hear the word; believe in Jesus; repent of our sins; we must confess our belief that Jesus is the Son of God; and be baptized for the remission of our sins… If we follow these steps, the Lord adds us to His church.

Perhaps there is someone in the assembly today with the need to be buried with Christ in baptism. If you have never done these things, we urge you to do so today. If anyone has this need or desires the prayers of faithful Christians on their behalf, we encourage them to come forward while we stand and sing. Song #596 God Is Calling the Prodical