Outwardly Alive but Inwardly Dead
Revelation • Sermon • Submitted
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· 58 viewsIs it possible to look spiritually alive on the outside but inwardly be spiritually dead? Are we masters of image management, looking spiritually vibrant while knowing that our hearts are far from God? This is the problem that Jesus confronted the Church of Sardis. We as American Christians face this same problem as well. What does this look like for us today? How do we truly change so we are inwardly alive in our relationship with Jesus? Let's learn from the Church at Sardis.
Notes
Transcript
Please turn to Revelation chapter 3.
Have you ever had the experience where something or someone had the reputation of being famous for something, but as you experience it or go to know that person, it’s not like that?
For example, think of Berne and our area. What kind of reputation does our community and area really have?
What reputation does Berne and our community have?
Here are some of the things I have heard about our area:
Positive:
—family friendly; great place to raise a family
—everybody knows you (or seems to know you) (maybe that’s negative for some)
—in a problem or pinch people really support each other
—has a certain Swiss charm
—hardworking area...
Negative:
—hard to break in (for some) and really connect, feel like you belong
—have to have a certain last name to really feel a part of it
—gossip-y
—people in each other’s business or small town drama?
What has been your experience—has this area lived up to its reputation whether positively or negatively? What do you think? did it live up to its reputation or not?
Well in the book of Revelation, the Church of Sardis…had a reputation for something but in actuality it wasn’t true...
Let me read it…this is Jesus addressing 7 real churches that existed in the Roman Empire—modern day Turkey...
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.
2 Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have found your deeds unfinished in the sight of my God.
3 Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; hold it fast, and repent. But if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what time I will come to you.
4 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.
5 The one who is victorious will, like them, be dressed in white. 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.
6 Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
so what is their issue…look at the end of verse 1...
verse 1—they have the reputation of being alive—but you are dead.
This is not physical—this is a spiritual reference.
their reputation from outsiders is that they are spiritually alive; they look spiritually vibrant...—but Jesus says—who knows all and sees all down to our very hearts—they are dead!
they look impressive on the outside, but on the inside are spiritually dead.
they thought they were alive—but they were dead.
One of our staff mentioned at the park that a tree was recently taken down—because the trunk and the inside was hollowing out.
Even a tree can sometimes look impressive on the outside—it may not always be obvious it is dying…but on the inside be rotting and decaying until it dies.
Pastoral Examples
Let me try and give some pastoral examples of what does that look like today—what does it look like for us today—as churches as individual Christians—to be spiritually alive but DEAD. b/c we don’t know exactly what is going on in Sardis
Here you go:
Activism: the idea that we as individual Christians or a church are busy, busy, busy, doing this ministry, working for this cause, serving in this way, but in reality our hearts are far from God. We, including me, and our church can be guilty. Busy-ness sometimes feels productive, like we are accomplishing it, but busyness even good things is no guarantee of spiritual life. (we lack the Mary life vs. Martha)
Formalism: sometimes we as Christians or a church are concerned with certain structures or traditions and ways of doing things. i.e. our worship service has to go a certain way, or we have to have a certain program. more concerned about the outward form of it rather than the heart.
Phraiseeism/Legalism: Pharisees were the religious Jewish leaders at the time of Jesus—who did their religious works to be seen by men rather than God. They served, gave money, memorized Scripture as a way to earn God’s favor and impress men! We do the same. or we may do it to impress God. either way—outwardly impressive, but spiritually weak.
Intellectualism: meaning we can have all the perfect head knowledge, know every Theological system—but not have any real heart change or grow in our relationship with Jesus.
Pragmatism: we as churches can be focused on #’s—outward results, nickels and noses, more programs, and finding practical answers to success but not really seeing heart change.
Hype-ism: (or emotional-ism) hype and emotions can be good—but sometimes we can get caught up in hype and lots of emotions and hooting and hollering, or “God told me this… or God told me that...” but in reality our hearts know we are just going through the motions.
whatever isms can you think of?
Churches that focus on any one of these—can look alive—but be dead.
One scholar says it like this “This church at Sardis -- was all name and no reality, all reputation and no life. Perhaps it was the financial stature, or the worldly influence of its members, or a great deal of activity and programs, that gave the church in Sardis its reputation for life. The reality, however, was very different[1]”
In considering this fifth of the seven letters of Revelation, we find no threat of persecution, as at Smyrna, and no false teaching, as at Pergamum. Evidently, Satan did not consider Sardis worthy of spiritual assault. William Hendriksen writes: “Sardis was a very ‘peaceful’ church. It enjoyed peace, but it was the peace of the cemetery!” Sardis was what we refer to today as a “nominal” church. It was Christian in name, but name only. The members professed faith in Jesus, but in reality their hearts were turned from him.[2]
Proposition: so what we are saying—here is the danger—It is possible to look alive spiritually (according to men) but be dead spiritually (according to God).
It is possible to look good and healthy on the outside but be dead spiritually before God on the inside.
(in fact—interestingly—in their city historians note they had a famous cemetery called the cemetery of 1,000 hills—hundreds of burial mounds visible on the skyline from some seven miles away—Jesus says they are more like a cemetery than a church)
And this is….dangerous…so dangerous!
Why is this dangerous? Because chances are—people may say “nice job.” “You got it together.” “You are doing so much for the kingdom.” come advise us and be a consultant to us. come speak at our conferences…come mentor or disciple somebody...
but in actuality---our hearts are far from God. it is deceiving.
[1]Phillips, R. D. (2017). Revelation. (R. D. Phillips, P. G. Ryken, & D. M. Doriani, Eds.) (p. 133). Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing.
[2]Phillips, R. D. (2017). Revelation. (R. D. Phillips, P. G. Ryken, & D. M. Doriani, Eds.) (p. 133). Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing.
and Jesus gives a warning in verse 3—if they don’t wake up and change—he will come like a thief. they won’t be ready for Him.
Here is the real issue—the heart of the matter is that the heart matters!
(say again!) —the heart of the matter is this—the heart matters! It matters not just what we do. But how and why we do it.
Jesus said famously, quoting Isaiah
7 You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you:
8 “ ‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.
The heart in Scripture is the core of our being, a complex mixture of beliefs, commitments, values, desires, priorities. It is not just the thing that pumps blood. It is the casual core of our personhood—meaning everything we say or do comes from the heart. the heart causes what we think, what we value, what we do...
it is our value center.
it’s where what we treasure and worship rises to the surface....
what are some warning signs that we may not be fully dead yet…but are on the path towards this…that we are hollowing out…what are some personal warning signs in our life…and I am trying to use pastoral judgment here.
The text doesn’t tell us exactly what was going on or give us examples...
Warning Signs:
Warning signs you are on the path towards this...
idolizing the past — tradition (Fiddler on the Roof!) treating the past a hero. if we are constantly look back as individuals to when God really moved in my past, and not looking at what He is currently doing or going to do…that’s a problem. or as a church “we just got to get back to the past...”
lack of intimacy in prayer with God —
failing to have regular prayer times (very convicting!)
and when we pray is it only list praying—check list or do we have times of intimacy, spontaneous prayer to God?
praying more in public than private
does our exterior spiritual life match our interior prayer life
serving in our own strength—
so busy serving that we either forget about God (independent or self-sufficient), or stop to ask God to pray for help...
or doing it to earn God’s favor
having a critical attitude or spirit - are you always critical of everyone or everything (some of us think it’s our spiritual gift!)—it’s ok to critique at times—but do you have appreciation? are you quicker to complain than to pitch in, and roll up your sleeves, and help solve the problem! lack of gratitude...
lack of evangelism or outreach—when is the last time you have shared the gospel with a friend (if you can’t remember, it’s been too long!) people doing that don’t have to complain and are leaning on God. or even just spent some intentional time, making space for outreach...
complacency or apathy in your walk with God and others; no intentionality…we have more intentionality for how we will watch football than others...
lack of intimacy or connection with others - b/c people need to know you, and you need to know them REALLY KNOW THEM - so you can spur each other on. b/c this is an area we can be deceived in...
concerned about image management---looking good…rather than our hearts being submitted to God
what other warning signs can you think of?
Chances are we can’t always see this in ourselves.
We deceive ourselves...
Way to respond from the text:
Wake up (reality check) vs. 2
Sardis has a reputation for being this fortress—surrounded on all sides by 3 cliffs—they thought “no one can touch us” but in the city’s history—at least 2x that myth was false. Watchmen had failed at least 2 to keep watch, thinking they were safe but twice attacking armies scaled theses unclimbable cliffs and attacked and took the city! Translation: all of us need repentance. None of us are beyond repentance. All of us have blindspots and needs repentance—Ask God to show you where. Let God’s Word today—shake us up from our being complacent and apathetic towards God. let’s assume all of us need this message.
Strengthen what remains and is about to die (vs. 2)
Since this followed by info about their works being incomplete—I think Jesus urges them to strengthen their works, and what I think that means is don’t focus on the quantity—but the quality--. In other words—translation—examine your heart motivations - don’t’ just look at what you are doing—but why.
Even the good things we do—we often do for sinful reasons. Maybe we do them to get noticed—maybe we do them out of pride (I don’t’ want to be thought of as a bad person); maybe we do them out of fear—“I am afraid I am not saved). In other words—repent deeply—not just of the bad stuff we have done—but for the bad motivations behind the good (example—sermon writing and pastoring--)
There is a huge warning in this—you are about to die—warning! But there is also hope in these first too.
illustration: I am reminded of Miracle Max played by Billy Crystal in the Princess Bride—when the man in black is thought to be dead (pic on screen). And he says he is not dead, he is only mostly dead. And mostly dead, is slightly alive. There is still some hope—take stock of your life—see where God is working and let him strengthen that! They are not dead yet—there is still hope for you and I to strengthen what remains—to look at our motivation for why we do what we do.
Remember what you received and heard (vs. 3) (and share 4 together)
Hold it fast (vs. 3)
What did they receive? The Word of God—it is a word used to describe the core of the Gospel—remember—what you received and heard. Translation: think deeply on the Gospel of Jesus Christ. But this is a daily exercise. Think deeply on the Gospel (and the Word of God—how are you doing at being in God’s Word) (look at the Gospel Primer)
(show Gospel Primer image)
this is a great book, I first recommended when I come. it is a way you can remember, you can preach the Gospel to yourself.
part 1 — gives 31 reasons why to do this? and each one is short—1 to 3 paragraphs--
part 2 and 3 — give you 2 different ways to preach the gospel to yourself
part 4—he shares his story as to why he struggled…and learned how to rejoice in and not or struggle about his status with God
Repent (vs. 3) (a good word for our de-construction series on Wednesday evenings)
really this is a summary of points 1 - 4.
wake up, come to our senses—reality check…confess our sin to God—our apathy...
strengthen what remains---look at the heart
remember
and hold fast...
Here is the hope…b/c my guess is a lot of us can relate to this church; I see our church in this church to some degree.
how can we actually do this...
How it’s possible to Change:
The Holy Spirit enables us to change (vs. 1)
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.
the 7 spirits! remember the #7 is symbolic often in Revelation—there are not 7 spirits of God—but it suggests perfection, completion, power—we have a powerful, perfect Holy Spirit living inside of us who helps us change.
and what the Holy Spirit does—he is a spotlighter—if you ever go a play or a musical—you don’t notice the person running the spotlight (but it’s a very improtant job—or if they mess up!) but you notice what the light is on...
the Holy Spirit puts a spotlight on our sin—helping us wake up and come to grips with it.
and then He puts a spotlight on Jesus—showing us that we can run to Him, that b/c of what Jesus Christ did He can forgive us and motivate us to move on, to go and make disciples.
so if you are struggling, if you know someone struggling, ask God to empower you by the Spirit to change.
Jesus has all authority to help us change, too! (vs. 1, 5)
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.
5 The one who is victorious will, like them, be dressed in white. 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.
Jesus has so much power, he can hold the 7 angels in his hand—can he not help you or us?
and he promises that as we overcome, as we are victorious—he purifies us, cleanses us, he will never blot us out from the book of life but acknowledges us before His Father and angels.
seek out those who are growing spiritually — (vs. 4) -
4 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.
There is a remnant of people who are not apathetic; who are not dead; who are truly alive. seek them out.
I have heard it said that you become like the 5 closest people you spend the most time with. Look at the people you spend the most time with. what kind of influence are they having on you, are you having on them? Do you spend time with people who are growing—who are spiritually alive—who will spur you on to make a difference....
The Gospel enables us to change (whole passage)
think about this passage in comparison with Jesus.
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.
well Jesus Christ was fully alive—but he died for us so we could be spiritually and physically alive with Him—so we could enjoy God from the heart!
2 Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have found your deeds unfinished in the sight of my God.
Jesus Christ — his works were perfect—always, always the perfect motivation—and they were finished—He cried out on the cross “It is finished!” when he paid for our sin in our place.
4 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.
mentions soiled clothes. Sardis was famous for its clothing industry. Jesus had his garments soiled—he took the guilt, the punishment and curse of sin on himself on the cross—even though he was clean and pure—so that when we believe in Jesus—our garments which are filthy rags are put on Jesus, and his perfect robes of righteousness—we now wear.
vs. 4 also mentions intimacy—walking—Jesus wants to walk with us in this journey—and he took the worst walk—carrying the cross so we could walk with Him.
Jesus did all this—so we would be victorious, so we would overcome—that we would be alive—Loving God, enjoying God, and going and making disciples until He comes.
(keep this part?) He guarantees that if we wake up, and repent, and trust in Him—He will never blot us out—He will acknowledge us...