Word of Salvation – Vol.41 No.04 – January 1996
The Church That Was Dead (1)
Sermon by Rev. P. Kossen on Revelation 3:1-6
Congregation of the Lord Jesus Christ,
Boys and girls, have you ever seen a big castle? With the big towers around it, and a moat, and a big drawbridge. When they close the door, everyone is safe inside and no one can get in or out. Well, the ancient city of Sardis, which we are looking at today, was something like that. It was an important city, at the junction of five roads. But more than that, it was built on the top of a very big hill or mountain. And if any enemies came to attack them, they could see them for miles around, and when the enemies came, the city was very easy to defend. It was like one of the olden day castles, which no one could get in or out.
And so you can imagine, the people in Sardis felt very happy with themselves, very proud and confident. In fact, they were over-confident. So over-confident that sometimes they didn’t even bother having many guards out at night. And yes, you guessed it. One night, in the middle of the night when it was very dark the Persians, under king Cyrus, attacked. They had some very skilled mountain climbers in their army, and in the middle of the night, they climbed these nearly impossible, vertical cliffs. They broke in where no one expected them, and they were able to take over the city. That was in 549 BC. You would think they would learn. But 300 years later, in 218 BC, exactly the same thing happened. This time it was the Romans. They couldn’t get into the city. So, they also sent some very good mountain climbers up the very steep cliffs in the middle of the night and were able to take the city as well.
In this city, on the top of the hill, there was also a church. And it is to this church that Jesus is writing today. And, by the way the Lord writes to them, we see that the people of this church were also sleeping when they should have been keeping a diligent watch against the schemes of Satan. They thought they were strong. But Jesus knew differently. He introduces Himself to them as the One who holds the seven spirits of God, and the seven stars. He knows them as they really are. His Spirit searches the churches. And he knows that this strong, proud, even famous church, is as good as dead. And, boys and girls, that is the church we are looking at today.
The Church that was dead.
First we will see how Jesus tells them off.
Secondly, what He tells them to do.
Thirdly, we will see that even for them, there is a word of encouragement.
- He Rebukes Them
In these first two verses, twice the Lord mentions their deeds. First, He says that, “I know your deeds.” Then, in verse 2, He continues, “I have not found your deeds complete in the sight of My God.” To put that another way, Sardis appeared to have everything in the right place. She was apparently an active church. She seemed to be doctrinally orthodox. On the surface, she didn’t seem to have any major problems. And on top of this, Sardis had a very good reputation. People would say, “if you want to see a solid church, look at Sardis.” Maybe she was growing in numbers; had a good collection; supported mission work; was very active in the local community. She had a reputation of being alive. And yet, down underneath it all, this church was not what it seemed to be. And the Lord gives them that stinging condemnation, “You have a reputation for being alive, but you are dead.”
And what Jesus means here, is that this church does not show within itself anything of the transforming power of the Gospel. Oh yes, they know the Gospel. They know their doctrines. In the eyes of men everything is done in a fitting and orderly way. But this outward, spotless, form of religion, is as far as it goes. Deep down, in their hearts, the Gospel doesn’t affect them, transform them, purify them. To put that another way, although they have the Gospel, the Gospel does not have them. And in their hearts they are just like those outside the church: spiritually dead. They may be a fine upstanding church. But in their hearts, they are utterly worldly, they are dead to the claims of God over them, they are conformed to this world. And they don’t really stand out from the world as being different, because in their hearts, they are not different.
And it is instructive that Jesus sees fit to say this to one of the seven churches.
In these seven letters, Jesus is addressing the church of all ages. And even then, the all-seeing Lord knew that continually through history, different parts of His Church would be gripped by dead orthodoxy, by empty formalism, by custom and superstition. And that is so easy to happen especially among those who grow up within a church. You see, just because religion is a way of life for you, doesn’t mean to say, that your life is deep down, religious.
True religion is a personal, living, vibrant relationship with God, through Jesus Christ. True religion is marked with sincerity, honesty, truth, faith, hope, love, peace, and deep joy in Jesus Christ. And Jesus knew that so often His Church would be gripped by this cold formalistic ritualistic religious lifestyle, showing the form of godliness, without its power. And that is why He wrote this letter to Sardis, so that when we read it, also 2000 years later, we might begin to ask ourselves some questions about the quality of our own walk with Jesus Christ.
And, brothers and sisters, we can ask this question as a church. But ultimately, the answer has to come from each one of us individually. If Jesus were at this moment to make an assessment of our own, of my, of your, spiritual walk with Him, what would He say? Would He possibly also say to us, “I know your deeds, I know what sort of reputation you have among your fellows, but you are dead.” It’s just like when a couple are divorced. They don’t live with each other anymore. They don’t talk any more. They don’t affect each other anymore.
And so it is with a dead Christian. He doesn’t walk with Jesus. He doesn’t talk with Jesus. He doesn’t listen to Jesus. He doesn’t know Jesus. And if you ask Jesus about His relationship with a certain person, He would say, “That person? I don’t think I know that person, we don’t have a relationship.” And, brothers and sisters, it is better for us to consider this question now than wait for that other day, when we might say, “Lord, Lord, we did all these things in your Name.” And when He will then turn around and say, “Who are you, stranger. I don’t believe we have met. I don’t know you. Send him away.”
Brothers and sisters, the very point of this letter is so that we may be pre-warned of this. For, not only does Jesus rebuke the church in Sardis, He also tells her what to do in this situation.
- He Tells Her What To Do
What does He tell her? A whole string of urgent warnings. “Wake up! Strengthen what remains! Remember what you received and heard! Obey it. Repent.”
Remember I just told you about Sardis sitting on the hill, over-confident, proud, sure that she would never be attacked? And when she dropped her guard, the enemies came in. That is exactly what has happened in the church. So often we forget that our faith is a fight, a battle, where Satan is waring against us, prowling around, seeking someone to devour. Sardis forgot. She became over-confident. She went to sleep. And she was nearly devoured.
And Jesus says to all those in that condition: Wake up. Wake up. You do not realise it, but the spiritual complacency, the spiritual sleep, the spiritual easy-goingness, the spiritual slumber which has come across your soul is nothing else but the sleep of death. The enemy is upon you, drugging you to sleep, taking away your strength, seeking to destroy you. And he has nearly done it. You only have a little bit of life left, and even that is about to die.
And even though in this section, Jesus gives five commands, he is really only saying one thing. He is saying to Sardis, “Return to Me!” Or, in the language of Proverbs, “My son, give me your heart..!” You have all this framework of good solid upstanding religiosity. That’s good as far as it goes. But it doesn’t go far enough. Give me your heart. The framework of religion is nothing, unless your heart belongs to me. Bring to your minds those things you have received and heard. Don’t just hear them with your ears, but let those spiritual truths penetrate your hearts, let them melt your hearts. Listen to it carefully. Hold it fast. And turn back to me.
But if you do not wake up, says the Lord, I will come like a thief in the night, and you will not know at what time I will come to you. We do not know what sort of judgment is spoken of here. But the warning is clear. If we continue to sleep the sleep of spiritual death, even the little we may have today, will be taken from us.
And, brothers and sisters, whether or not we are in the condition of Sardis, these reminders never go astray. Because the devil is always at work. And for us to remain alive in our faith, we also are given the duty to keep watch over our souls, to fight against the schemes of the evil one, and to seek the face of our God day by day.
- He Gives Them a Word of Encouragement
First we see that despite the overall dead condition of Sardis, there were a few who had not soiled their clothes. And of course this does not mean that these members are spotless and blameless in themselves, but that these members are living, and continuing to live, in a living relationship with Jesus Christ. They walk with Him, they follow Him daily, and this is reflected in the way that they live.
And, we are reminded, that no matter how bad things sometimes look, Christ has always reserved a remnant for Himself, a remnant who know Him and love Him. And Christ gives them the promise. They will walk with me, dressed in white, for they are worthy. And this promise, to live and walk with Christ forever and ever in the new heaven and new earth, is not only made to them, it is also made to all who overcome. All those who walk with Christ in this life, have the promise that this fellowship will never end. They need fear nothing. Their names will never be blotted out of the book of life. And He will confess their name before the Father, and before the angels in heaven.
And this, brothers and sisters, is our assurance as Christians. Today men can have their name on the church roll. They can even have the reputation to be alive. But the name on the church roll can be erased. Or can be erased by Christ on the day that He comes. But those whose names are listed in Christ’s book of life, their names will never be erased.
Jesus says, “I am the good shepherd. I know my sheep, and my sheep know me. The good shepherd calls His sheep by name, and leads them out. When He has brought out all His own, He goes on ahead of them, and His sheep follow Him, because they know His voice. But they will never follow a stranger; in fact they will run away from Him, because they do not recognise a stranger’s voice” (John 10).
Today also, in this letter to Sardis, the Good Shepherd stands at the door, and He calls us to follow Him. To follow Him personally. Do you hear the call of His Word today? Do you see how serious this message to Sardis is?
He who has an ear to hear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the Churches.
Amen.