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Text: Revelation 3:1-6
Theme: The Lord of Glory has a message for the church today: Religious activity is not necessarily an indication of true spiritual vitality within a local congregation.
The Book of Revelation is a message from our Lord Jesus to his church.
He is the one who walks among the lampstands — the lampstands representing his Church on earth.
It’s a message of Christ in his Church, Christ over his Church, Christ speaking to his Church.
The seven churches mentioned in Revelation are seven real churches in seven real cities.
It has been thirty years since these congregations had been established, and each of them had developed their own character.
At the end of the 1st century, Jesus gives a series of visions to the Apostle John addressing these congregations.
Five of these churches are in serious trouble.
Only two of them are commended — the Church at Smyrna, and the Church at Philadelphia.
Our Lord recognized the character of each church, the issues in each church, and sends a letter to each one.
These are unique churches and are, I believe, representative of the kinds of churches that have existed in every age, including our own.
In that sense, these letters are timeless speaking to every generation of Christians since then to the present.
This morning we come to the letter to the Church at Sardis.
The message to this church lists no specific enemies, internal or external.
There is no name calling — no liars, no Balaam or Jezebel, no deep secrets of Satan, no synagogue of Satan, no throne of Satan.
Of all the congregations in Asia, we know least about Sardis, and its problems.
Yet no other message to any other church is perhaps more frightening.
Sardis is a picture of the church which, from all outward appearances, is doing everything right.
But those outward appearances are deceiving.
God looks at this church and declares, "You are dead."
Sardis reminds us that based on the world’s standards, a church can appear to be vibrant, and full of activity, while spiritually it is hollow.
I. SARDIS WAS SPIRITUALLY IMPOVERISHED EVEN THOUGH IT WAS MATERIALLY PROSPEROUS
1. here was a church just the opposite of Smyrna
a. remember the congregation at Smyrna?
2. remember our Lord's encouragement to that former congregation?
"I know your afflictions and your poverty — yet you are rich!
..." (Revelation 2:9, NIV)
a. the church at Smyrna was a spiritually rich church even though it was materially poor
b. the curch at Sardis was a spiritually poor church even though it was materially rich
ILLUS.
Sardis was located about thirty miles southeast of Thyatira and stood at the junction of five main roads.
Sardis was an important city of commerce; the center of the wool-dying, and the carpet industry.
Sardis was one of the greatest and wealthiest cities in the world.
Its wealth, in fact, was legendary.
Some of you may recognize the name Croesus (KREE-sus) as in King Croesus as in the ancient saying Rich as Croesus.
Sardis was the ancient capitol of King Croesus in the 5th century B.C., and the place were standardized gold and silver coins were first minted.
c. in the Apostle John’s day, Sardis was one of the great cities of western Asia Minor
3. in our Lord’s opening words to the congregation we see that Sardis represents those churches which have a significant reputation among men, but which have little or no spiritual vitality before God
v. 1 "... you have a reputation for being alive, but you are dead ..."
a. this verse contains a play on words
b. the word “dead” is a word that means “a corpse” or something “lifeless”
c.
Jesus is telling this church " ... you have a reputation for being alive, but you are lifeless ..."
A. THE CHURCH AT SARDIS HAD A GOOD REPUTATION AMONG MEN
1. if a visitor had asked any pagan on the streets of Sardis for the location of this church, he could doubtless pointed the visitor in the right direction
a. that's a good thing
1) it is a bad sign when the members of a community cannot tell a stranger where the churches are
c.
regardless of the denominational tag on the Church sign, local congregations ought to have such a positive influence on their communities that even the lost can give strangers directions to them
2. the problem, however, with the 1st Evangelical Church of Sardis is that they had lots of activities, but no real spiritual vitality
a. the church had a good reputation among men
ILLUS.
When Linda and I moved to Bolivar, MO to attend Southwest Baptist College, one of the first things we did was begin searching for a church to attend.
I had several of my professors tell me, that if I wanted to “get ahead” in the community and become “well known” among the college staff and administrators, I should “seriously consider” attending 1st Baptist Church.
The connections would be good for my career.
Well, we went to 1st Baptist Church one evening, and not one person said, “boo” to us.
We walked in, sat down, enjoyed the service, got up and left without one person speaking to us.
It was a church that came highly recommended by men, but it failed that particular night.
We never went back.
b. but the 1st Baptist Church at Bolivar had a good reputation among men
B. THE CHURCH AT SARDIS HAD NO SPIRITUAL DEPTH
1. Sardis was a church with lots of activities, but they were accomplishing nothing of any eternal significance for God
a. Jesus said, "I know thy works"
1) the problem is that Jesus can’t list any
a) there’s no hard work, or perseverance (Ephesus)
b) there’s no resistance to the synagogue of Satan (Smyrna)
c) there’s no faith or courage in the face of martyrdom (Pergamum)
d) there’s no love or service (Thyatira)
b. there is simply the stark epitaph “ ... I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead.”
(Revelation 3:1, NIV84)
2. the 1st Evangelical Church of Sardis was well known and it was favorably known
a. the KJV says "thou hast a name"
b.
Jesus is referring to the church's eminent reputation in its community and not of its effectiveness for the kingdom
1) here was a church well known in its community for its social programs
2) here was a church that maybe had a prominent place in the community with a well-maintained buildings
3) here was a church who's members served on important boards and committees in the community and who belonged to the most influential neighborhood organizations
3. their reputation is "that thou livest"
a. this is a church which a new member to the community would surely want to visit
b. it is a church which, had you been moving from Ephesus to Sardis your pastor would have probably recommended you at least visit and perhaps even move your membership to
c. but having gone, you might have felt that, in spite of all appearances, there was something wrong
ILLUS.
A few years ago in New York City — one of the few places where this event could have taken place — traffic cops repeatedly ticketed an illegally parked mini van with a dead men inside.
Officers saw the minivan parked under an overpass in Queens.
In the drivers seat, was a man with hands on the wheel.
A city Marshall discovered that the man was dead, only when he went to tow the vehicle away.
The man had evidently died of a heart attack and had been dead for weeks.
The man was dead, even though a number of police officers thought he was alive!
4. in the Sardis community this church had a reputation for "being alive"
a. in Heaven's community this church had a reputation for being "dead"
b.
God looked upon this church and saw that rigor mortis was quickly settling in
1) man looks upon the outward appearance, God looks upon the heart
2) man looks upon the architecture of a cathedral and says "What a great church."
3) Jesus looks at the spiritual apathy of the member's hearts and says, "What an impoverished congregation."
c. the spiritual decay in the church at Sardis was not obvious to outward observation
1) and that’s the scary part to me!
5. Sardis is a picture of nominal Christianity in all its unrighteous glory
a. outwardly prosperous, busy with the externals of religious activity, but devoid of spiritual life and power
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