I invite you tonight to turn to the book of Revelation, the last book of the Bible, as we are making our way through the churches here. Tonight we are at the church in Sardis, and then just two more after this, Philadelphia and Laodicea. So this is chapter 3 of the Revelation, chapter 3, the first six verses. And this is the word of the Lord. And to the angel of the church in Sardis write, the words of him who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars, I know your works. You have the reputation of being alive, but you are dead. Wake up and strengthen what remains and what remains and is about to die for I have not found your works complete in the sight of my God. Remember then what you received and heard. Keep it and repent. If you will not wake up, I will come like a thief. and you will not know at what hour I will come against you. Yet you still have a few names in Sardis, people who have not soiled their garments, and they will walk with me in white, for they are worthy. The one who conquers will be clothed thus in white garments, and I will never blot his name out of the book of life. I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. And there is the reading tonight of God's Word. And I remember some time ago going through a description of churches in the local phone book. And I had mentioned this last time. And I thought, well, I remember doing this and I remember recording what I had found. So I found that list. And here's what was listed. One church said, casual and welcoming. Modern music. A sermon you can understand. Always the goal, of course. Kid and teen friendly. I hope so. Another said, the home of the old time religion. I'm not quite sure what that meant, but I found that interesting. Another claimed, remarkably, to be the friendliest church in town. Another, and I quote, a reconciling in Christ congregation. We welcome all people without regard to gender, ethnicity, race, economic, social status, or sexual orientation. Another said, we are a spirit-filled, life-giving congregation. Everyone's got their pitch, don't they? Everyone's got a way to offset themselves and to claim something great. It is really, that last one's quite a remarkable one. We are a life-giving church. On what basis? What do you think makes for an alive church and what does a dead one, what would that look like? what constitutes a dead church. What has been so moving for me in this study of the book of Revelation is that everything that I would think in terms of what is esteemed by Christians today of what makes up a good church is really confronted by Jesus here in a painful way, isn't it? This really is one of the most important churches that we study tonight because you'll notice here it really makes us consider how christ looks at a church that is dead and a church that is alive how do we understand that what does that mean i'm confronted again and this has been sort of a reoccurring theme in the last few weeks i'm confronted again with this problem of what is highly esteemed among people what is highly esteemed among men, said Jesus, is an abomination in the sight of God. And that's the reason why tonight we approach a somewhat challenging section here as we look at the church in Sardis, where this is painfully clear as our Lord exposes it. It's somewhat different than the last two with Pergamum and Thyatira, where they were slacking in their ministry in dealing with certain problems in the church, doctrinally speaking, in terms of their holiness and their separateness as a people. But Jesus gave great commendations in the midst of those, especially with Thyatira, you'll remember last time, where he commended them for their love, their faith, and their service. When we come to Sardis tonight, there's nothing by way of praise. There really is nothing good to say here. the problem is that if you would have asked the people in Sardis, do you think anything's wrong with your church? I'm sure all of them would have said no. We're doing really well. They were known to be a proudful and overconfident church. And it raises the question, at least for me, is how could you be a dead church and not know it and that's where i think we have to be challenged always to think about the way that our lord is looking at these churches helping these churches calling these churches to repentance and make sure that we don't fall into any of the same traps that we see unfolding here already in the first century in these churches let's think about this church in sardis tonight uh to avoid this tragic error. We know that the city itself was once one of great pride and pomp. What I mean is that the people, when all the people heard about Sardis, they thought of the people of that city as arrogant and overconfident. It was kind of like one time years ago when I was in Linden and the people in Linden were talking about the people from Michigan. They said that. They seem overconfident out in michigan i don't know if that works i don't know if that's true but at least it was true for the people in sardis it was an ancient city known for its gold it's rich it was a very beautiful city excavations have proven this that they had impressive buildings and temples um maybe this had something to do with the state of the the church this is how many people look at it when they look at the background of the city it was busy with trade and it was had all sorts of trade routes through it it was the um it sat in the foot of a large mountain in a fertile valley it was wealthy it was beautiful it was interesting that a massive earthquake hit the city in about ad 17 leveling most of it and emperor tiberius had sent all sort of money for rebuilding and it became known after that as the great beautiful city. By the time revelation is given here and Jesus is addressing the church in Sardis, the city was on major decline, in major decline. And that's where we are tonight. The city's glory was going. The former pomp, the former glory, its great extravagance was going. and it's in this sort of environment that christ writes to this church and he says here right at the beginning to the angel of the church in sardis write the words of him who has the seven spirits of god and the seven stars again taken from chapter one some piece of chapter one some description of chapter one now directly applied to the church here we have an interesting one to artists don't we notice here that he references the words of him who has the seven spirits of god and the seven stars we'll come back to this but initially i think it's important to say that it is the spirit always who gives life to the church it has always been and you'll notice here uh the spirit who gives life and reference in revelation in terms of seven, the seven spirits of God, clearly referring to the Holy Spirit in His work of power and completion. But you'll notice here, that's the emphasis that Jesus is already raising up front. It is the Spirit who gives vitality. Some of the old writers would talk about the sevenfold energy. And that's confusing a little bit to us because it seems so impersonal. But it's important to know that that when Jesus raises this, he's speaking of the Holy Spirit. Why is the Holy Spirit being raised right at the beginning of a church that he's about to call dead? We'll come back. He singles out Sardis in a different way than all the others to remind them that he walks among them, that he has a message for their pastor and has the seven-fold spirit. Notice how he begins. I know your works. you have the reputation of being alive, but you are dead. Wow. Wow. Nothing so far like that, is there? Not even Laodicea. Laodicea gets a hard hit when he says that they are lukewarm and he's going to vomit them out of his mouth. That's pretty strong. But this has got to top it off so far. You're a dead church. Would you want to get that letter when you didn't even see it? No vitality. No life. The church in Sardis, ironically, of all the churches, did you catch it? Had the greatest name. To understand that, you really have to ask what from a human perspective would we determine that would bring about the greatest name? It's a reputation. It's name. Reputation and name go hand in hand. That's why some of the translations use name. You ever thought about the importance of a name? We live in a day where name is important, isn't it? And churches have wrestled with their names, haven't they? We live in a day when churches now want to hide their history and convictions. So what do they do? They reinvent themselves, and what is the first thing that they do when they reinvent themselves? They give themselves a new name. They try to give themselves the most effective and powerful name that will convey something, right? I mean, let's be honest. When you hear, where do you go to church? You say, well, that church across Calvin. The Escondido United Reformed Church. What? what in the world is that i mean think about it think of the challenge of the name in our day well where do you go to church the let me go through the the ones that are hot right now the movement resonate revolution radiance restoration renovation mosaic encompass. Soma. Sanctuary. River. Rock. Name. What do you do with that? They don't sound pretty good. Or do they? Doesn't name convey something? I remember in Linden there was the Pentecostal church on the corner. It had been a classic old pentecostal church and they took down their sign the dove and they put up their city bible church and i thought at least tell us you're pentecostals i respect someone who says we're baptists having a hard time with the cover-up doesn't make sense to me tell me who you are tell me what you believe name reputation does it matter well when you're trying to form perception i suppose like we looked at this morning among all the churches in asia minor jesus says you've got the reputation of being alive everyone would look at them and say man that's the most happening church out there well regarded in the city full of vitality they think i'm sure this church had the most resource the uh the most revenue people would have said wow the the church in sardis that's that's a remarkable place look at all the programs look at all the stuff going on there Look at all the activities. Look at all the projects. I remember walking out of a church years ago and someone belted out to me, man, that was spirit-filled today. And I said, how did you know? How did you determine that? What determines that? Here's what really gets me about it. Wouldn't you expect of all the problems that we've looked at in these churches so far that I would expect in this environment there to be a lot of doctrinal issues mentioned. Right? You know, Thyatira, Pergamum, you guys have the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, you've got all this bad doctrine. What amazes me is I don't read much here. There's no charge of really false doctrine, nothing specific. No compliment of good works. No faith, love, service. There's really not much here, is there? Positively. And sometimes maybe it's what's not said that's most powerful. Don't you think in this environment there might not even be enough doctrine to critique? Or maybe not enough good works to commend? What is this then? Well, Christ says something shocking. I know what's going on that seems to indicate to everyone else through your reputation that you're in a live church, but here's the reality, you're a morgue. You're dead. Shocking. If you just remain on the surface, you have to realize, and I guess it's just important to plainly say this today, whatever sounds the best, whatever looks the best, whatever offers the most, if we're going to stay superficial and look at things that way, you could be easily duped today. it requires way more discernment than that, doesn't it? What does the church believe? What does their name convey? All these sort of things have to be thought about. Well, what happened in Sardis? You can answer that through what Christ insinuates in these verses. What in the world was lacking? Well, in verse 2, he says something very powerful. He says, wake up. Stop sleeping. and strengthen what remains and is about to die for I've not found your works complete in the sight of God. Not fulfilled. Now maybe this will help a little bit in light of this morning. What was going on in Sardis? What is the problem here? Well, if you have a situation where everything is outward and everything outwardly looks good and the works aren't sincere or fulfilled. What do you call that? It's like a family with all sorts of skeletons in the closet, right? Everything's hidden. They'd never want to bring that out to show anyone because then it wrecks the picture-perfect thing they've tried to create. It's a facade, isn't it? So for them, it can easily become about outward appearance, doesn't it? Everything's in place. If we said in life, we don't want any dust in our homes, well, in the church, we don't want dust on the pews. Jesus comes along and says, no, no, no, no, no. I see the reality. Everything is outwardly correct. And Jesus says, death. This is such an important church tonight to consider. Nothing of what they're doing, you might say, is going from the heart of the church. I made this crucial distinction last week. There's a crucial difference between outward appearance and inward reality. Remember Romans 12 where Paul said, let your love be without hypocrisy. That was such a loaded word in the first century because it meant without masks. And it had to do in the Greek cultures with plays and dramas and the actors of the Greek dramas, the actor was called the hypocrite because he wore a face mask. And Paul was saying that our love should be without masks. It should not be full of hypocrisy. This was constantly the thing that Jesus was running up against with the Pharisees who criticized His disciples for not washing hands correctly when they ate bread. Christ said, these people draw near to Me with their mouths, but their hearts are far from Me. They're outwardly conforming. But something was lacking. Remember what He said? Beware of the scribes who desire to go around in long robes love greetings in the marketplaces the best seats in the synagogues the best place at feasts who devour widows houses for pretense make long prayers everything they did their prayers their almsgiving their actions it was all outward he said that they all their works are done to be seen by men they make their phylacteries broad they enlarge the borders of their garment they love the best place at feasts the best seats in the synagogues greetings in the marketplaces they love to be called rabbi rabbi woe to you scribes pharisees hypocrites what if you substituted all those problems and put church there they love to have the best they love to show they're the best they love to be known as the best they want a name it's all about name and reputation so you outwardly appear to people as righteous but inwardly full of hypocrisy so jesus is saying essentially this church your works aren't telling the truth of the matter hypocrisy had filled the church here's the thing to think about i might look at a church in the phone book or whatever and look at the best programs the best buildings the best numbers and go there but but this this problem doesn't belong to one kind of group is what i want to say tonight it doesn't belong just to the kind of groups we might think about you could have on one end of the spectrum the worship team and the praise band or on the other end of the spectrum everything could be right in the reformed way we read the ten commandments every sunday we say the apostles creed the rpw the regular principle of worship is followed to a tee. Same problem. Same problem can exist. It's not picking on one group. I would argue that hypocrisy can be more dangerous in those who are outwardly doing it right when it's absent from being believed in the heart. As one pastor said, we can recite the creed, say the confession join in the prayers are while our minds and hearts are far from god it makes no difference whether the church is liturgical or non-liturgical whether it's marked by catholic ritual or protestant austerity the same unreality might be present this is what what we're trying to see here and i believe that that jesus is is focusing on here the leaders of sardis to make this point. Oftentimes in these environments, the church is more conformed only with outward conformity than to bring the freedom of the Gospel. And nobody rejects the importance sometimes of outward being reverent and according to what the Scriptures say. But in this way, you know what can happen in a church. You never end up dealing with the messiness of people's lives. You never end up dealing with the messiness of sinners. The church no longer, as we call it, becomes a hospital for sinners. It becomes a VIP club, doesn't it? The preaching is more concerned to validate itself than it is to help people. In doctrine, more concerned just to merely justify its own positions to the condemnation of everyone else that doesn't believe like them. in discipline it's more concerned with how the church looks than doing what's honorable to the lord the whole thing can become a facade can't it and i i believe what what jesus is is saying here is be careful of the real problem here of hypocrisy in this way the gospel is about jesus coming for tax collectors and sinners when we create it only about being outwardly perfect and right and how it all looks we forget what we're truly doing and i believe that has something to do with jesus's call here to wake up wake up strengthen what remains jesus says you have a responsibility to strengthen it well what what does he say that um needs strengthening it's interesting in verse four that he says there are some names here i love to notice that even in one of the most unfaithful churches here in the New Testament, Jesus still has people. Jesus still has people. Christ didn't just write them off. He was concerned about this. He's merciful. So he's, he's in a sense calling this dead church back to life. Isn't he the one that has the power to do that remember what what does he say here as an answer in verse 3 remember then what you received and heard that should mean so much to us by now studying mark uh hearing about thinking about hearing and listening and what we hear and how important that is what is he telling the church to do i want you to remember what you originally received and heard what did they hear no doubt it was the gospel that's what forms the church the word of the gospel when sardis was formed on that basis the message you'll notice here that that was so important to the lord to remind them of what they had originally heard it was the very thing that that paul said to the church in philippi that it was their gospel fellowship from the first day until now that had brought them together as a church. And Sardis had left this. And saying go back to the gospel, yes, but he's also saying something very practical and helpful here. Remember how you were able to hear it. How were you able to hear? Would anyone here today say, well, I heard on my own. no remember Lydia in Philippi that the Lord when she heard Paul heard Paul it says that the Lord opened her heart to receive the things that were spoken the New Testament describes this everywhere in him you trusted after you heard the word of truth with the gospel of your salvation, having believed you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise. Peter said in Acts 2, having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he poured out this which you now see and hear. Gospel, Spirit, opening of hearts. Now we were able to come back to the beginning of this letter where the Lord said and reminded them the words of Him who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. What Jesus was essentially saying to this church tonight was you need to think a lot about who gives life to your church. Who does? You said tonight in the Nicene Creed, He proceeds from the Father and the Son. The Father and the Son together is glorified. The Holy Spirit. And he's saying you need to trust and look to the Holy Spirit to give life to your church. The Word of God tells us we pray in the Spirit. We preach in the Spirit. We worship in the Spirit. Notice that's a big theme in Revelation. We live in the Spirit. We walk in the Spirit. We keep in step with the Spirit. Your whole life as a church has to do with the Holy Spirit. And he's telling us, and he's telling all of his churches, remember who you rely upon, where your life comes, and pray about that. Pray to the Lord that the Spirit would give life to hearts. Pray to the Lord that the word would be heard. Pray to the Lord that the gospel would be received. We just assume this goes out every week, and it's just going out, and everyone's... No, the Spirit has to do that work. You know, that's why in our particular tradition, the prayer of illumination was so important. Remember Highwell Jones used to always say, and I haven't been as good with this as I should be. He said, you need to, when you guys get up and preach, directly appeal to the Spirit. Pray to the Lord that He would give His Spirit to open up hearts and hear. I believe that's so important that we should think about when we come to church and when we're involved in the body that we're asking the Lord that His Spirit would be present and give life. Help us. Open understandings. Revitalize our lives. Give us strength. This is what was not there. But notice it's a spirit in connection with what they heard. It's the Word. And that's so important tonight. He gives a few promises to him who overcomes will be clothed in white garments and I will not blot out his name from the book of life. I will confess His name before my Father and before His angels. That's a positive statement. It's not meant to be said, well, could I get my name blotted out? No, it's saying, I won't do that. It's said positively. And I'll confess His name before my Father and His angels. So then let us always remember as a church to look to Christ who has the sevenfold spirit as we pray to our Father, asking Him to bless this work, who is able to revitalize, strengthen, keep us, and fulfill the purpose that He has for us as a church. That we be humble on our knees in prayer, like we heard this morning, as we apply this now to the church, trusting in Him for strength and for life. And then we won't fall into this trap that Sardis fell into. Let's pray together tonight. Gracious Heavenly Father, forgive us, Lord, that we have not been in strong enough reliance upon Your work through the power of the Holy Spirit to give life. And we pray that in the Escondido United Reformed Church that we would be a people who pray in the Spirit, who preach, the preaching would be done in the demonstration of the Spirit and power, that our worship would be in the Spirit, that we would live in the Spirit, walk in the Spirit, that these things that we're called to tonight we would hear. And that we would never just assume through merely going through outward things, speaking from the lips, but having a heart far from You is a profitable exercise. But to remember that You are after those who worship in spirit and in truth. Keep us there, Father. Help us. And may we flourish as a body in the great commission that You've given to us. And we pray this not just for us, but for all of your churches who faithfully bear your name and who proclaim the gospel of Christ. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.