Sermon Tone Analysis
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Introduction
What is the Church
It has been well said that
Many a Church
Begins with a man
Reaches out with a mission
Becomes a movement
Ends up a monument
This is a polite way of saying many a church begins with life but ends in death.
It has a glorious past, but a glorious past is all that it has.
It is now a church of living dead.
There are live bodies walking around with dead spirits on the inside and amazingly, astonishingly, only God has noticed.
The Church of the Living Dead
Spiritually there is no pulse, no heartbeat.
Spiritually they are flat-lined.
Spiritually they are a dead church.
Spiritually they are “dead men walking.”
Does the Church Need Revival
In an article entitled “When does my church need revival?” (Church Herald and Holiness Banner, 11-3-00), Stevan Manley highlights 6 telltale signs of a church standing at death’s door:
A Church at Death’s Door
The church is plagued with disagreements.
The preaching is ineffective.
Few can remember when a person was last saved.
God’s supernatural power is never seen.
God is not praised regularly.
No one is being called into God’s work.
Transition
What do we discover when an autopsy on a dead church is performed?
What do we discover is the cause of death?
What do we find is needed to breathe life back into that lifeless body?
An examination of the church at Sardis provides the answer.
I. Christ is characterized by discernment.
Angel (Aggelo) – messenger, pastor, representative of the church Write (imperative) – word of command conveying a sense of urgency and importance.
Sardis – a city with a great past, long considered by the Greeks as one of the greatest of her cities.
Who could imagine that by the 2nd century AD she would be in decline and near death, a mere shadow of her former glory.
One historian said of Sardis, “it lived on its ancient prestige than on its suitability to present conditions.”
Evidently city and church had this in common.
Located 50 miles east of Ephesus the city was located on the slope of Mt.
Tmolus which made it a natural citadel and virtually impregnable.
Yet twice in its history, the city fell due to careless negligence on the part of its guardians.
in 546 BC it was to the Persian Cyrus
in 214 BC to Antiochus III
In AD 17 the city was leveled due to a catastrophic earthquake, but it was rebuilt with considerable help from emperor Tiberius Caesar (AD 14-37).
Located on 5 major trade routes, Sardis was a city of great wealth and prestige.
A large temple dedicated to Artemis (Diana) was located here.
Her local and popular name was Cybele.
It was believed that she had power to give life to the dead!
How the church was founded we have no knowledge.
Its present condition however is clearly seen by the Christ who discerns all things.
Christ comprehends our situation.
The 7 spirits of God – not a heavenly angelic entourage, not planetary deities!
It is the complete or perfect Holy Spirit; the Spirit in all His fullness.
Possibly there is an allusion to Isaiah 11:2-5 or Zech.
4:1-6.
It emphasizes His omnipresence (cf.
Rev. 5:6), wisdom and life giving power.
The Savior has the Spirit but Sardis does not.
The Savior has life but Sardis has death.
Sometimes we have no idea of our true spiritual condition.
If the truth be known, we are out to lunch, as to our real situation.
We walk about in a fog of deception, but Christ discerns how things really are.
2. Christ cares for his servants.
The seven stars (cf.
1:20) are the angels, the pastors or leaders of the churches.
In his hand means they are his possession and under his protection.
He is responsible for them and they are accountable to Him.
Great privilege also entails great responsibility (cf.
James 3:1).
• The spiritual life or deadness of a church is often governed by the spiritual life of its leadership.
• No church rises above the level of its leadership.
• Sardis was a ship off course because its captain was asleep at the wheel.
[Where is this church in this regard?!] Christ knows our condition.
Nothing escapes the attention of the Spirit or the Savior who are in the midst of the churches.
II.
Christ confronts those who are dead.
This church receives no word of commendation or congratulation.
There is no word of praise.
In this regard she is like her sister church at Laodicea (3:14-22).
Pinpointing her condition Chuck Swindoll says, “The church at Sardis was a morgue with a steeple.”
Vance Havner adds, she had it all in the show window but nothing in stock.”
1.
Our outward reputation can be deceiving.
I know your works, that you have a name that you are alive.
Sardis had a reputation as a beehive of activity and vitality.
This was most likely a church with size, money and program that caused people to stop and take notice.
She appeared to be and claimed to be a healthy fellowship.
You have a name – this is perhaps an indication of Sardis’ past faithfulness and accomplishments.
In the past she was something genuine.
There had been a time when reputation and reality matched up.
There had been a day when she was doing great things for God.
Now all they had was a name, and our outward reputation can be deceiving.
We think we are one thing when actually we are altogether something different.
2. Our inward condition will be revealing.
You are dead (nekros) – Looks can be deceiving.
A body that from all outward appearances appears strong and healthy can, upon closer inspection, be found to be racked with cancer or some other terminal disease.
Our Lord performs a battery of spiritual tests on the church at Sardis.
She is subjected to a divine CAT-scan, MRI and X-ray and the diagnosis is far worse than any external, superficial examination could have ever revealed: she is dead!
Infected by the disease of spiritual compromise, worldly accommodation, and satisfaction with the status quo, life had ebbed out of the body and they had not even noticed.
This church was not a persecuted church because it was not bothering anyone!
People may have admired it, but not for its courage, commitment or conviction.
Illustration
The story of Samson in
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