DEAR SARDIS: YOUR CHURCH IS DEAD

Revelation 3:1-6


1. When the Lord wrote the Church at Smyrna, He didn't have one bad thing to
say about the Church. But when He wrote the Church at Sardis, He didn't have
one good thing to say about the Church.


2. Yet, it was the kind of Church that we would have given the blue ribbon.
Of all the 7 churches, this is one we would have most impressed with and
probably would have wanted to be a member.


3. The things that often impress us in Churches are the things that least
impress the Lord. We are often captivated by the externals, but God is more
concerned with the internals. Never is that more evident than in this letter
our Lord sent to Sardis. We would have said it was alive. But Jesus said,
"Dear Sardis: Your Church is dead."


1. THE REPUTATION THAT WAS DECEIVING!


1. The Lord usually began His letters by commending the churches for the
positives. But the Lord started this letter by condemning the negatives for
to Him there was no positives to commend.


A. In Its Appearance The Church Was Lively.


1. Jesus said to the church at Sardis, "thou hast a name that thou livest."
From a human perspective this was a most impressive Church. I'm sure that it
never had a shortage of résumé's when it's pulpit was vacant. I'm sure it was
often visited by others to learn how and what they were doing. I'm sure it
was considered a model church by the other churches around it.


2. In its POPULARITY this Church was second to none. It had a "name." This
was a well-known and very popular church. If you had visited Sardis, you
could stop and ask for directions to the church and anyone in the city would
have known where this church was located. It was the church all the preachers
and people talked about. You could go just about anywhere in the country, and
people had heard of this church.


3. In its PERSONALITY this Church was second to none. Every church has its
own personality. Some are cold and some are warm. Some are compassionate and
some are complacent. Some are exciting and some are boring. This church had a
personality that was impressive. I'm sure it was the envy of all the
churches. It had the kind of personality that all the churches wanted.


4. In its PROGRAMS this Church was second to none. This Church had it going.
This was the Church that had something for the whole family. It had programs
for its children, youth, singles, young adults, parents, senior citizens,
etc. I'm sure something was going on each night. It's programs reached out to
the whole man: body, mind, and soul.


5. It no doubt had the best music one could hear this side of heaven. If one
wanted to hear a good sermon, this was the place to go. If a pastors school
had been held in those days for preachers and churches to visit to learn how
to do it, this would have been the place.


6. In its POSSESSIONS this Church was second to none. While many Churches had
a little budget, this church had a large budget. Its offerings were
staggering to the mind. Its buildings were appealing to the eye. This was the
big Church; the First Church.


This was the Church that everybody was saying was alive. This was the Church
that getting it done. This was the Church that was on fire. In it's
appearance this Church was lively.


B. In Its Assessment The Church Was Lifeless.


1. What the members and other people thought about the Church was one thing
and what the Lord thought of this Church was another thing. If anybody would
get a raving letter from Jesus, surely it would be the Church at Sardis. But
Jesus said plainly and very abruptly, "Thou ... art dead."
2. They had a label but no life. They had a reputation but no reality. It had
a form but no force. Dr. Vance Havner said that spiritual ministries often go
through 4 stages: a man - a movement - a machine - a monument. This Church
was at the monument stage. Instead of being the Temple of the Living God,
they were the morgue of the lifeless group.


3. They were more of an organization rather than an organism. They were more
of a skeleton than a sanctuary. They were more like bones than a body. Like
Samson, they wist not that the spirit had departed.


4. A lady once walked up to Yogi Berra and said, "You look cool." He replied,
"You don't look too hot yourself." In the case of the Church at Ephesus, it
looked good, but in reality it was dead.


5. William James of Harvard once said "There were some people for whom
religion was a dull habit, while to others, it was an acute fever." By
appearances it was a Church of an acute fever. But by assessment it was a
Church of a dull habit.


6. The impressive prayers that were prayed went no higher than the ceiling.
The beautiful music was not heard in angelic realms. The large offerings were
not recorded in the ledger of heaven. Its many programs were not attended by
heavenly power. THE CHURCH WAS DEAD!


7. John R. Stott wrote of the Church: "Its works were beautiful graveclothes
which were but a thin disguise for this ecclesiastical corpse."


8. Notice in verse 4, that there were a few that were still breathing. . .
The word "few" means "small, slight, little." Thank God for this magnificent
minority among this mummified majority. As Alexander McClaren said, "These
were salt else this Church would have been rotten as well as dead."


9. Clovis Chappell tells the story of the preacher that was given to doing
eccentric things. The preacher had become discouraged and finally told his
congregation that the Church was dead and he was going to preach it funeral
service the next Sunday. He had a casket placed in front of the pulpit and
standing beside it at the end of the service, he said, "Now some of you may
not agree with me that this Church is dead. In order to convince you I am
going to ask you to view its remains." What he had done for this sensational
demonstration was, he had placed a mirror in the bottom of the casket. Of
course, you know what the people saw when they came by and viewed the
remains.


10. One preacher wrote this bit of doggerel -

Tell my deacons when I am dead,
That they should shed no tears.
For I shall be no deader then,
Than they have been for years.


11. You heard about the Church in which a member died during the service.
They called the paramedics they carried out 5 people before they got the
right one.


12. Jesus is not impressed with labels. He is interested in life. He is not
impressed with reputations. He is interested in reality. Someone has said,
"Reputation is what people think you are. Reality is what Jesus knows you
are." God does not want His Church to be a form but a force. He wants His
Church to be more like a tree and not a telephone pole. He wants the Church
to be alive, not dead.


13. How can you tell when a church is alive? I believe there are many
indicators but let me mention just three. One: THERE IS A DETECTION OF
GROWTH. When someone is alive there is growth. Hair grows, nails grow, nose
grows, we get taller, wider, etc. A Church that is alive will grow
spiritually.


14. It will also grow numerically. One of the results of maturity is the
reproduction of oneself. In I John 2:13, we read of little children, young
men, and fathers. This is growth. A father is someone who has children.


15. A second sign of being alive is that THERE IS A DESIRE FOR FOOD. Hunger
is a sign of life. There will be a hunger for the things of God.


16. A third sign of life is that THERE WILL BE A DISPLAY OF EMOTIONS. A dead
person won't cry, laugh, smile, shout. Life is a constant display of
emotions.


17. Many Churches are like the artificial flowers. They look good and are
often very pretty. At times you can't tell them apart from the real thing.
But there is no life in them. Many churches are like the chocolate Easter
Bunnies. They look good on the outside but are hollow in the inside.


18. Because they were dead, notice what Jesus said about their works. Vs.2b
"for I have not found thy works perfect before Me." The word "perfect " means
"fulfilled." The congregation may have been fulfilled with what they were
doing, but Christ was not. What they were doing had no eternal quality about
it.


1. The Reputation That Was Deceiving!


II. THE REVIVAL THAT WAS DEMANDED!


1. Our Lord's instructions to the Church was in a nutshell, a plea for
revival. He was calling for a reviving of the corpse. They were dead and need
to be alive again. That is revival.


A. He Called For A Prompt Response To Their Condition.


1. Note VERSE TWO . . . The word "watchful" comes from two Greek words that
means to "chase sleep." It was a call for stirring out of their slumber. To
wake up. They needed to open their eyes to the seriousness of their
condition.


2. They needed to realize how bad things were and "strengthen" the things
which remain. The word speaks of "setting fast." It literally means to turn
resolutely in a certain direction. Jesus said they were dying. They need wake
up realize that they needed to be living.


3. Notice the words "that are ready to die." The words describe the last
spark of life. They were like coals about to go out. The fire was about to go
out. When the fire went out, it would only be a matter of time when they
would fade out. That was how serious their condition was and desperately
needed reviving.


4. What did they need to keep the fire from going out? How do you start a
fire from a few coals. You blow upon it. They needed the wind from Heaven to
blow upon them and revive them before it was too late.
5. The life of a Church is not it popularity - programs - possession -
personality. The life of a Church is in a Person; the person of Christ in the
power of the Holy Spirit. When He is gone the fire will go out. When He
comes, He will fan the dying embers into a mighty flame.


B. He Called For A Perpetual Review Of Their Condition.


1. Note VERSE THREE . . . The word "remember" is in the present imperative
which means to keep on remembering. It is a command to never allow yourselves
to forget. They were to keep on recalling and reviewing their condition,
seeing to it they held fast to what they had, and repent, staying right with
God, so they church would continually stay alive.


2. One thing that must ever be kept before us and must always be a concern is
that we are alive in reality and not just alive in reputation. This is should
be my chief concern, the deacons - leaders - members - that the church stay
alive.