Sardis: the Dead Church
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Intro:
Intro:
AG:
TS: To the messenger of the church in Sardis
1500 ft above a valley floor and was nearly impregnable.
1200 BC it was the capital of the Lydian Kingdom.
Industry:
harvesting wool, dying it, and making garments
Famous citizens:
Aesop- of Aesop’s Fables
Tradition says that Melito, a member of this church wrote the first commentary on certain passages from Revelation.
Tragically, the church in Sardis is dead! It was populated primarily by unredeemed people. The church at Sardis suffered from spiritual dry rot! They had probably just faded away.
RS:
“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.’
Christ Revealed
Christ Revealed
“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.
Jesus used designations pertaining to the awakening of new life in their deadness.
a. seven spirits of God
The Holy Spirit
All spiritual life must come from Him
The Spirit works life by means of the Word
The Word is committed the seven stars (Rev. 1)
b. seven stars
Who did Jesus say the seven stars where?
As for the mystery of the seven stars that 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 are the seven churches.
the
7 stars ere the “angels” of the churches
angel literally means messengers
In this context, most scholars interpret them to mean the teaching pastors of the churches.
Praise: NONE!
Praise: NONE!
Problem
Problem
“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.
What was the problem Jesus addressed in Sardis?
They had a reputation of being alive.
They acted like believers with a spiritual life
They kept up appearances
The reality is they were dead!
the Christian life in Sardis was dying.
As a church, the majority were now dead.
In spite of reputation, the spiritual life was gone.
Dry habits that looked right was all that remained.
Prescription
Prescription
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.
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.
Rev 3:3-
What formula for correcting the problem does Jesus give them?
1. Wake up!
The idea this word conveys is to arouse to wakefulness
The idea this word conveys is to arouse to wakefulness
i.e. waking someone in deep sleep
He was interrupting them as they rested in peace in their dead slumber
He was arousing them to action!
He is saying wake up and stay that way!
When we start to dose off, we need to wake up!
They stakes are too high for us to slumber and let the church die while the lost keep rushing forward to an eternity in hell.
Fight to stay awake!
2. Strengthen what remains and is about to die
Some life was there but it was fading fast
Jesus is saying that although they were like leaking sinking ship where captain, crew and passengers were in dull lethargy.
Once awakened to the danger, they were to stay awake and fix the problem.
3. Complete their works
Their works were not being done to the fullest
They were cold and formal
Ritual was emphasized over relationship
When we start to dose off, we need to wake up!
Remember what they received & heard
Repent!
turn from dead ritual and return to embracing the richness of their relationship with Christ.
They stakes are too high for us to slumber and let the church die while the lost keep rushing forward to an eternity in hell.
Fight to stay awake!
Keep working to be stronger and more in step with God’s Spirit.
R.C.H. Lenski
The Interpretation of St. John’s Revelation The Letter to Sardis, Verses 1–6
Persecution is dangerous—some turn apostate; heresy is worse—often many are deceived; worst of all is the dry rot from within—the whole church dying from within
He warns them to keep remembering and repenting
Remember what they received & heard
Repent!
turn from dead ritual and return to embracing the richness of their relationship with Christ.
Promise
Promise
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.’
A few names who remain and haven’t soiled their garments
Not all were dead.
a remnant remained and Jesus addressed that subgroup.
They hadn’t been polluted with sin
They continued to walk in righteousness
Garments refer to their character
a. They will walk in white- for they are worthy
save others by snatching them out of the fire; to others show mercy with fear, hating even the garment stained by the flesh.
White garments speak of holiness and purity
made possible by the blood of the lamb and His power.
White garments are promised
to Christ
to angels
and the glorified saints
b. The one who conquers will be clothed in white
c. Conquerors will be clothed in white and their names will never be blotted out of book of life.
This is the divine journal which contains the name of all the redeemed.
Yes, I ask you also, true companion, help these women, who have labored side by side with me in the gospel together with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life.
And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done.
And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
He put the names in the book of life and will never erase them
City officials would erase undesirable people from the citizenship rolls.
Conclusion:
Conclusion:
We have physicals and check ups from our doctors. Why?
When studying passages like the letters to the churches, it should serve as a spiritual check-up.
Why?
Evaluate yourself and our church.
Are we healthy?
Are we growing stronger and more mature?
Or are we being stained with sin?
Are we slowly sinking while we try to make ourselves comfortable?