Dead Church Walking
Sermon 5 in the Series “You’ve Got Mail”
Chuck Sligh
August 14, 2011
For the PowerPoint for the sermon, write me at chucksligh@hotmail.com.
TEXT: Please turn in your Bibles to Revelation 3.
INTRODUCTION
Illus. – Reader’s Digest had a story about a cat that had been run over by a car. The cat belonged to 4-year-old Billy, and before he could find out about his cat’s death, his mother quickly disposed of the remains.
After a few days though, Billy finally asked about the cat. She kneelt down so she could look Billy in the eye and took his hand and as gently as she could said, “Billy, the cat died.” Then, in an attempt to comfort Billy, his mother said to him, “But it’s all right Billy. He’s up in heaven with God.”
Billy, of course, was devastated, but he had a quizzical look on his face, and after a moment he said, “What in the world would God want with a dead cat?”
The title of today’s message is “Dead Church Walking” because the church at Sardis was a dead church that needed immediate spiritual emergency attention before it was too late. We laugh about the dead cat story, but folks, a dying or a dead church s no laughing matter.
Jesus takes it very seriously.
In verse 1, as in all the messages to the churches, there’s a vision of Jesus that tells us something about what is coming in the message to that particular church. John begins verse 1 saying, “And unto the angel of the church in Sardis write; These things saith he that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars; I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead.”
Who are the seven the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars? Bible scholars agree that the seven stars refer to the pastors of these seven churches.
But who are the seven Spirits of God since we know there is only one Holy Spirit? The explanation that makes the most sense to me is that this is symbolic language to represent the one Holy Spirit who encompasses all seven churches. To a dying church, nothing could be more important than the Spirit of God.
Observe with me five things in Jesus’s message to the church of Sardis in Revelation 3:
I. CONSIDER FIRST THAT WE SEE A PRAISWORTHY PEDIGREE – Verse 1b says, “…I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest.”
As we’ve seen, in Jesus’s messages to these churches so far, He complements each church for their works, and though He usually also had some pointed criticism for them, His recognition of their good points was meant to comfort them.
But Jesus’s complements for Sardis are extremely brief—in fact, the shortest listing so far. There is no real comfort in these words at all like the ones to the other churches. The problem is that they had a name, or we might say today, a REPUTATION that was praiseworthy, but it was all in the past. They still had church services and met and talked about God, but they looked back to the good old days when God USED TO work mightily in their midst. Now all they had was the reputation of a church that lives.
II. SECOND, NOTICE WITH ME A PRECARIOUS PREDICIMENT – At the end of verse 1, Jesus says, “…thou hast a name that thou livest, and ART DEAD.
Jesus says, “I know your works. But wait a minute: they’re all PAST works. You have a pedigree, a history, a testimony of a church that was alive and on fire and going for God. You don’t even realize it yet, but you’re DEAD and unless you’re resuscitated quickly, you’re a goner!”
Jesus clearly says they’re dead at this point, but all is not hopeless at the church of Sardis. Jesus goes on to say in verse 2, “Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die….”, so apparently there was still hope.
Illus. – Let me illustrate for you what I mean: Every week paramedics arrive on the scene of accidents where the victims have crossed the barrier between life and death. There’s no heartbeat or breathing; all the vital signs of life are absent.
But the paramedics do not accept this death as final. They may give mouth-to-mouth resuscitation or CPR, or attach a defibrillator, or perhaps inject a drug to stimulate the heart. And for a few frantic moments, nothing happens.
Then the victim begins to cough; takes a few ragged breaths; and the heart begins to beat pulsing life through the body. And instead of sending a corpse to the morgue, a patient is taken to the hospital.
¿Was the victim dead?—Without getting too theological or technical, we would have to answer, yes. But if not for the expert care of the paramedics, the accident would have been followed by a funeral. But we know that in many instances, this kind of death doesn’t have to be final. With the proper stimulus, the person can be revived.
That’s the way I picture the church at Sardis. Jesus pronounces it dead, but there’s hope that spiritual CPR can revive it.
What are the signs that a church is alive?
* First, a church that is alive has BODY LIFE. That is, it functions as a body with each member of the body working for the good of the whole body. Its members love one another, serve one another, encourage one another, bear with one another, are patient with one another, heartily greet one another, and forgive one another.
* A second sign of life in a church is in its WITNESS. – Its members are burdened for the eternal destiny of those outside the doors of the church and they share their faith with them and they invite them to church to hear the Gospel.
* Another sign is a willingness to MINISTER. – For instance, you know a church is alive when its members serve in the nursery, help teach kids’ classes, participate in a homegroup or small group Bible study, attend the churches’ services and jump in with a servant’s spirit to set up for a fellowship or help on a work day.
* A fourth sign of life in a church is FAITHFUL STEWARDSHIP – A church is alive when its members tithe to the Lord to support that local church, and also give offerings to missions and other special needs for others.
* Fifthly, PRAYER is a sign of church life. An “alive church” advances on its knees, not in the power of the natural intelligence, gifts or wit of the leaders or people in the church. Its members recognize that there’s a part for them to play, but ultimately, ministry and activity without the power of the Holy Spirit is useless and limited to this earthly sphere.
* A final sign of life in a church is PASSION – You know there’s life in a church when its members get excited about serving Jesus; when they have tears for the lost or a Christian who errs from the path of righteousness; when they’re thrilled when someone is saved or follows the Lord in believer’s baptism.
Note that in each case, I said when a church’s MEMBERS do these things, there’s life in the church, because a church is not a building; a church is the people in the that church. A church dies when its individual members stop functioning like this. And each non-functioning member become like a cancer cell that can infect others.
God help us not to lose our LIFE! May we minister to one another instead of sitting back and waiting to be served. May we go out to our neighborhoods and workplaces and tell others the wonderful Good News of salvation in Jesus Christ and tell them about a church where they can hear about Him. May we refuse to be selfish and get involved and serve! May we willingly and generously give tithes and offerings to advance God’s kingdom worldwide and to keep the church humming here in Grafenwoehr! May we pray and depend on the Holy Spirit in EVERYTHING we do for God. And may we serve with PASSION and EXCITEMENT, for the One we serve is worthy of our worship and the dedication of every ounce of our being!
But Sardis had mostly lost all this, and there was a danger that all would be lost.
III. IN VERSES 2-3a, JESUS GIVES A PRESSING PRESCRIPTION – “Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die: for I have not found thy works perfect before God. 3 Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent.” –
Essentially, their only hope for resuscitation was to do four things:
* First, be watchful; that is: be on guard.
The Sardis believers would instantly grasp the importance of Jesus’s words here. Sardis was practically an impregnable fortress, sitting on top of a steep hill 1500 feet above the main roads. The only access to the city was from a narrow path on the south slope, making it one of the most easily defensible cities of the ancient world. In fact, any attempt to capture Sardis was considered impossible.
But twice it fell to its enemies, and both times the same way. Because of the steepness of the cliff walls, defenders were posted around the gates to the city, with no guard posted to watch the steep walls of the cliffs. Both Cyrus’s forces and the forces of Alexander the Great were able to enter by scaling the unguarded walls, securing the city’s doom.
That’s a reminder to us that our enemy is always searching for our weak spot, the place we don’t have our guard up—so we must ALWAYS be on guard. That’s why Peter says, “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.” Believer, Satan wants to devour and destroy you; to sap you of your spiritual life. He can’t take away your salvation but he can get you so defeated and neutralized spiritually that you lose your fire for God and your desire to serve him. So be watchful all the time, especially at your weakest point.
* Next, Jesus says to strengthen the things that remain before they die. In other words, you’ve got to get back to doing the things that fed your spiritual life before what is left in you that is alive is extinguished. Go back to ministering to and loving one another and serving Jesus and praying and witnessing and being passionate and faithful to God and His people.
* HOW can we do that?—By remembering what you have received and heard. – Scott Bayles explains this well in his sermon on the church of Sardis:
These people needed to get back to basics—to return to the foundational teachings of the apostles that had changed their lives in the beginning and once again make those things the central focus of their spiritual lives. They needed to be re-filled with the Holy Spirit. They needed to fan the smoldering embers of their love for Jesus into flame once again. They needed to remember the hopelessness of life without Christ and the sense of relief and awe they felt when they were born again, experiencing his forgiveness, his grace, his mercy and love. They needed to return to the central theme of the gospel—the sinfulness of man, the love of God, the sacrifice of Jesus, and the life that he offers. (Scott Bayles, sermon titled “Sardis” at http://www.sermoncentral.com/print_friendly.asp?ContributorID=&SermonID=142364)
* Finally, He says to hold fast and repent. Paul said essentially the same thing in 1 Thessalonians 5:21-22 when he said, “Prove [which means to “test” or “discern”] all things; hold fast that which is good. 22 Abstain from all appearance of evil.” How sad that too often we do just the opposite: We don’t test things by God’s Word to know if we should do them, and then we hold fast to things that are evil in our lives and abstain from what God wants us to do.
Folks, that’s a recipe for the eclipse of LIFE in your Christian life.
Jesus exhorts the Sardis church to hold fast to what is right and good and holy and repent from, turn away from, reject whatever is sinful, worldly or fleshly.
IV. NOTE A PAINFUL PENALTY IF THE CHURCH REFUSED TO DO THESE THINGS – Look at the end of verse 3: “…If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee.”
To come as a thief in the night is always a picture of unexpectedness in the Bible. Here it is a picture of Jesus coming in swift, unexpected judgment. If we don’t guard our lives carefully and do these things Jesus commands, Jesus is saying, “I’ll come suddenly with severe judgment.”
God’s judgment in the lives of believers begins with child discipline. Just as you discipline your children because you love them, Hebrews 12 teaches that God disciplines His children because He loves us. Now not all trials in our lives are because of sin, but whenever you find yourself going through difficult times, I think the place to start is to ask yourself if there is some sin God is judging in your life and to quickly confess it to God. God promises He will forgive us, even though we may have to finish our discipline. But God disciplines us for our own good, to correct us and help us.
But what if a believer refuses to repent and submit to God. The image of God giving His people severe judgment is uncomfortable, but it is undeniable in the Bible. God killed Anninias and Saphira on the spot in the book of Acts for deception. Paul said that some believers in the Corinthian church had died because they had sinned by taking the Lord’s Supper unworthily and had not repented. John, speaking of believers in 1 John 5 says that there is “a sin unto death.”
If there’s anything we get from studying these two chapters in Revelation, it’s that SIN IS VERY SERIOUS BUSINESS TO GOD. He wants us to deal with it; confess it; repent of it; forsake it; and guard against it.
V. LASTLY, NOTICE WITH ME A PLEASING PROMISE – Verses 4-5 – “Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with me in white: for they are worthy. 5 He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.”
In every message Jesus gives, in Revelation 2-3 He gives a special promise for overcomers of the sins described in the church He addresses. Jesus says there was a remnant of faithful believers in the church of Sardis who had still not defiled themselves with serious sin. To these He promises three things:
* First, they will walk with Jesus in white. There are really two things promised here—
> One, they will walk with Jesus; that is, they’ll have unusually close access and fellowship to Him personally.
>And they’ll wear white robes. White represents purity in the Bible. We often think that all believers will wear white robes in heaven. Not so; only those who stay pure from the stain of sin on this earth will have this special privilege.
Robert L. Thomas, in his commentary on Revelation says, “Anticipation of wearing such apparel and enjoying the personal companionship of Christ provides ample incentive for continued faithfulness for the few in Sardis who were standing against the tide of apathy that had gripped the majority of the church.” (Robert L. Thomas, Revelation 1-7: An Exegetical Commentary, Moody Press: Chicago, 1992), p. 260.
* Second, their names will not be blotted from the book of life. Understand first that a Christian’s name can never be erased from God’s book of life. In John’s day, rulers kept a register of each city’s citizens. When there was a birth, the baby’s name was entered into the city’s register of the living, called “the book of life.” Whenever someone died, their name was erased from that registrar for it was the book of “LIFE” not the book of the living and the dead. It was the town census of who was ALIVE in that town or village.
Apparently, every person’s name ever born on earth is written in the book of life, but God erases the names of anyone who dies without eternal life obtained through faith in Jesus Christ, for this is the book of LIFE.
But why was this promise given here to the overcomers? Tragically, some Christians can live lives of sin hardly distinguishable from unsaved sinners. Looking at their lives, you and I cannot know for sure if a professor of Christ is truly one of God’s children or simply an empty professor. Jesus is informing the church of Sardis that these pure and faithful believers are GENUINE believers; THEY’RE the ones to follow and learn from to be resuscitated in their own spiritual lives.
* The third promise is that Jesus will recognize the pure ones before the Father and His angels in some special way. He’ll publically confess them before all that these are the ones who strove to be unspotted by sin and the world and the flesh in this life. They certainly were not perfect, but they strove to be pure and holy in all their actions, thoughts and words and quickly sought God’s cleansing when they fell and sinned.
What a great prospect for Jesus to honor you so by publically confessing that you were one of the faithful, pure, holy, righteous faithful in this life. I want to strive to be so wonderfully rewarded.
CONCLUSION
Believer, are you alive with spiritual life and vigor—serving God, working for Him, serving His people, telling others about Him, sacrificing for Him, giving of your time, your talents an your money to advance the kingdom of God, passionate about Him, trying to stay pure and holy from the stain of impurity and sin?
Or do you feel like you’ve been dying on the inside because you’ve not been a conscientious, careful discerner of what is right and wrong, and you’ve allowed sin in your life and you’ve neglected your relationship with God?
That’s a dangerous place to be, but there is a solution:
* First, 1 John 1:9 promises, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sin and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” – You can withhold the hand of God’s discipline and judgment upon your life by confessing your sin to God.
* Second, Paul said in Romans 12:1 – “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.” – Recommit your body and your life to God as a living, holy, acceptable sacrifice to God.
