Illus: Some churches have cemeteries on their properties. Your church does not have to have a cemetery to be a dead church.
Illus: Vance Havner once commented that ministries often begin with a man who has a vision. That vision is captured by others and becomes a movement.
As the movement gains followers and momentum, it becomes a machine.
After a while, people forget all about the vision and what was once a movement becomes nothing more than a monument to a man and a glorious past.
There is always the danger that any church can die.
Illus: As Denis Lyle has so eloquently written, “Tragically, many churches are dead. Like the rotting carcass of Lazarus, these church bodies have the foul stench of death upon them. They have the appearance of life, but they are in actuality, dead. Their sanctuary is A Morgue with a Steeple.
• They are congregations of corpses.
• They have undertakers for ushers.
• Embalmers for elders.
• Morticians for ministers.
• Their pastor graduated from the Cemetery.
• The choir master is the local coroner.
• They sing, "Embalmed in Gilead."
At the Rapture, they will be the first churches taken for the Bible says, “the dead in Christ shall rise first”
Illus: One Sunday morning, the pastor noticed little Alex staring up at the large plaque that hung in the foyer of the church. The plaque was covered with names, and small American flags were mounted on either side of it.
• The seven-year-old had been staring at the plaque for some time, so the pastor walked up, stood beside him and said quietly, “Good morning, Alex.”
• “Good morning, Pastor,” replied the young man, still focused on the plaque.
• He said “Pastor Jones, what is this?” Alex asked.
• “Well, son, it’s a memorial to all the men and women who have died in the service.”
• Soberly, they stood together, staring at the large plaque. Little Alex’s voice was barely audible when he finally managed to ask, “Which one, the one at 9:00 am or the one at 10:30?”
Today in the book of Revelation we want to talk about the DEAD CHURCH OF SARDIS.
Illus: When we write a personal letter, we conclude it by signing our name at the bottom.
• That lets the one we are writing to know who we are.
• But, when the Lord writes, He tells them, up front, Who He is!
Look at verse 1, we read, "...These things saith he that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars..."
This particular church, the church of Sardis, is so typical of many churches that you will find in every city in America today.
I personally believe the church of Sardis is most like the American churches out of the seven churches in Revelations.
That is, people saw it as being a LIVELY CHURCH, but yet the Lord saw it as being DEAD.
Sometimes it is hard for us to DISTINGUISH A DEAD CHURCH from a LIVE CHURCH.
There are two kinds of dead churches.
(1) One is EASILY RECOGNIZED,
(2)The other is harder to recognize.
For example:
1. The easiest to detect is the dead church. As soon as you walk into a church like this, you know that God has long since departed the premises if ever was there.
2. The hardest to detect a dead church.
The one that has been camouflaged with teenagers with their hands in the air jumping up down!
The lights are dim and they have flood lights, mirror balls and the smoke machine operating at full force.
Someone said, this church is alive!!!
• I am not going to judge their church service, but I wonder how many of them when they leave will they go home and shack up with the partner beside them.
• I am not going to judge their church service, but when they leave will they stop smoking their weed.
• I am not going to judge their church service, but when they leave will they continue to curse, lie, watching the filthy they watch on television.
One can only hope these JUMPING JACK CHRISTIANS are sincerely worshipping the Lord and not caught up in some emotional setting.
But so often many of the churches today gives the appearance of being ALIVE, BUT THEY ARE DEAD!
Such was the case with the church of Sardis.
Look at two things that needed to be considered before revival could take place.
(1)FIRST, CONSIDER THE PASTOR.
Again, the letter is being addressed to the pastor. In verse 1 we read, "And unto the angel (Pastor) of the church in Sardis..."
The word ANGEL here is messenger. That is what a pastor is, he is GOD’S MESSENGER.
God give him the MESSAGE and in return he gives the message to the congregation.
• The Lord knows there is little hope for a church getting on fire until the pastor gets on fire.
• Before there can be fire in the pews, there first has to be fire in the pulpit.
• The Lord is writing directly to the pastor of the church of Sardis to fire him up so he can, in return, fire the church up.
So we see that the pastor is always a factor that has to be considered before revival can take place.
(2) SECONDLY, CONSIDER THE PLACE.
Sardis was a city made up of two sections.
(1)The ORIGINAL SECTION was developed on a level area about fifteen hundred feet high up the side of the mountain.
It was next to impossible for any enemy to penetrate their security and attack them.
(2)The SECOND SECTION was built when the city outgrew the first area on the side of the mountain.
It was built at the base of the mountain, in the valley below.
But, in spite of the fact that it was nearly impregnable, the city had been captured twice.
There was only one place where the enemy could possibly get into the city. Both times it was captured, the guards were asleep.
The same thing had happened to the church of Sardis.
Because men and women of God were asleep, the devil was able to sneak in and invade and conquer God's church.
They certainly could relate to what the Lord said in 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."
The church of Sardis had a reputation for being alive, but this reputation was deceiving, because they had gone to sleep spiritually and were dead.
Look again in verse 1, "...I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead."
Let's look at...
I. THE REPUTATION OF THE CHURCH.
If anyone moved to Sardis and asked, "Where is the most lively church in town," they would have been told that the church of Sardis was the most lively SPIRITUALLY.
Verse 1 says, "...a name that thou livest..."
They had the reputation of being ALIVE.
Did you know that names can be deceiving.
Illus: Often women can be given lovely names like Violet, Sweetie Pie, Honey, Angel, Darling, etc., but when you get to know some of them, you wonder how they ever got a name like that.
Reputation can be deceiving.
Illus: Dr. Odell Belger was in a restaurant one day and a waitress came and waited on him. She did not have the best reputation in town but her name was ANGEL.
Dr. Belger said to her, HOW DID YOU GET THAT BEAUTIFUL NAME…ANGEL?
She said, My mother gave it to me because she had high expectation of me but I have not lived up to those expectation.
The church of Sardis had not live up to God’s expectation also.
The church of Sardis got stuck with a name of being ALIVE when they really were DEAD.
Often we see churches with names like Unity, Harmony, Charity, etc., and the name seems fine, but sometimes you attend a few services at these churches with one of these names, and you wonder how they got names like that.
We are known by our names. And again, we are reminded of a story.
Illus: Years ago, there was a man in the West known as BIG BAD JOHN. Everyone who knew him, did not want to cross his path.
One day he was supposed to be coming to town. The streets were empty and not a person was in sight, when just then a big, tough-looking man came down Main Street riding on the back of a wild buffalo, and he was beating the buffalo with a rattle snake in each hand.
• He rode up to the local saloon, jumped off the back of the buffalo, walked up and with one hand ripped the door off its hinges.
• He quickly walked to the bar, and when his forearms came crashing down on it, it split in half.
• He ordered a pitcher of buttermilk, and with one big gulp it was gone.
• Then he hurried back toward where the door had been. The bartender timidly asked, "Where are you going in such a hurry?"
• The big man hurriedly answered as he jumped back on his buffalo, "Man, I am getting out of town. Don't you know that BIG BAD JOHN is on his way here?"
Seriously, everyone has a reputation, and the church of Sardis had a reputation for being ALIVE, but it really was DEAD.
Let's look at this Church that Christ looked at and pronounced, "...thou art dead."
Once death takes place all you have left is…
II. THE REMAINS OF THE CHURCH.
When something dies, all you have left is the REMAINS to look at.
God said the church of Sardis was DEAD and rigor mortis had set in.
In verse 1 we read where God said, "...thou...art dead."
What happens at the time of death?
A. The spirit departs.
The life of any church is the Holy Spirit.
Many churches have made it clear that they do not want the Holy Spirit in their presence. They have replaced the power of the Holy Spirit with ritualism and emotionalism.
This is what God's Word warned would happen, especially in the last days.
In speaking of a dead church we read in II Tim. 3:5 we read, "Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof:..."
We need that power to be ALIVE CHURCH!
In John 16:13, we read, "Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come."
We need to ask ourselves WHY are professing Christians not winning souls as God has commanded them.
Because the Holy Spirit does not dwell in, or work through, a church that is dead.
There are churches today that cannot remember when someone got saved and baptized, but they do not consider themselves to be a dead church.
If Holy Spirit is in a church, souls are being won.
Why?
Acts 1:8 tells us, "But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and YE SHALL BE WITNESSES unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth."
God pronounced the church of Sardis dead.
Now for a church to be pronounced dead means at one time it was alive.
But something happened to this church and now the Lord says this church is dead.
What happens when a person dies?
When death occurs, the SPIRIT DEPARTS.
Also...
B. The senses depart.
In our culture we do something that does not make a lot of sense, that is, we fill the room where the dead body is with sweet smelling flowers.
The fact is, regardless of how sweet those flowers smell, the corpse cannot smell them.
• When a person dies, his senses die also.
• When we die, we become insensitive to our surroundings.
• We are not able to feel, taste, smell, see, or hear.
You can go into many churches and not feel a thing.
Why? Because it is dead.
There are other churches you can go into and you can feel the presence of God.
When you start to talk about FEELING GOD’S PRESENCE YOU LOOSE SOME PEOPLE!!!
They perk up what is he talking about; you can feel the presence of God?
Those who neve felt the presence of God have no idea what I am talking about.
They are DEAD CHRISTIANS and have lost all of their SENSES!!!
Can you really feel the presence of God? Yes, you certainly can!!!
Feeling God doesn’t validate God’s Word, believing God is what causes His Word to work in our lives.
You see, the truth is the Bible consistently tells us that we are not to live by our FEELINGS but by our faith.
II Corinthians 5:7 “For we walk by faith, not by sight.” (Sight is one of the five senses)
In this physical world we operate on the five physical senses, such as touch, smell, taste, sight and hearing.
Also, in the spiritual world we live by FAITH but there are times when we can FEEL HIS PRSENCE. Not all the time but sometime.
Let me explain…
God the Holy Spirit lives WITHIN THE BELIEVER.
Illus: A mother giving birth to a child has within her a child. She cannot see the child, but she can FEEL the child not all the time but sometimes she can feel the child kicking.
HOW IS SHE ABLE TO KNOW THIS?
Through one of the FIVE SENSES – TOUCH, she can feel that child.
Spiritually, the Holy Spirit lives within us.
Look at 1 Corinthians 3:16 Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?
That is a question, do you know as a believer that the Holy Spirit “dwelleth in you”?
We cannot see Him but we can FEEL HIS PRESENCE AROUND US.
God’s presence is the Spirit of God being present where we are. So, when we feel His presence, we are simply feeling God being present in us and around us.
God’s presence can feel like many things.
You may feel:
• God’s marvelous peace,
• God’s joy,
• God’s warmth like a warm blanket wrapped around us.
The other day when I was preparing this sermon before I went to lunch, I COULD FEEL GOD’S PRESENCE ALL WRAPPED AROUND ME!!!
I delayed my lunch because I knew when I went to lunch, I would be surrounded around people, and I would not feel HIS WARM PRESENCE.
We can feel the presence of God at times. Not all the time, because we Christians Walk by FAITH, not feelings.
There is no one size fits all because God is a Person and He chooses to manifest Himself to everyone differently.
But these are some of the manifestations that an individual may feel.
Feeling God’s presence is something that happens every once in a while, it is not meant to be an “every time we pray or worship”
Illus: These television preaches would have you to believe they never walk by faith; they WALK IN HIS PRESENCE TWENTY-FOUR HOURS A DAY!!!
We live by faith even when we cannot FEEL GOD’S PRESENCE.
We are not called to feel God; we are called to believe God.
Feeling is one of those occasional blessings of the Christian life for those who are ALIVE IN CHRIST.
When death occurs:
• THE SPIRIT DEPARTS AND
• THE SENSES DEPART.
Also, when death occurs...
C. The strength departs.
When a person is at the point of death, he gets so weak he can hardly pick his hand up. Once he dies, ALL STRENGTH DEPARTS.
When a church dies, it looses its spiritual power.
Illus: Samson lost his strength, and the Bible says he, "...wist not that the spirit of the Lord had departed from Him."
That is, the church can go through all the motions of being alive, but they will be dead.
The church of Sardis was very active. In fact, they were so active they had the reputation they were ALIVE.
Illus: Did you know that you can cut the head of a snake and it will still appear alive.
We are told by the experts snakes don't need as much oxygen to fuel the brain, can probably live on for minutes or even hours. Therefore, severing the head isn't going to cause immediate death in the animal.
Also it could be possible that the snake might not have been self-aware that it no longer had a body because the brain is located RIGHT behind head.
Illus: I remember my mother would fry chicken every Sunday.
But on Saturday we had to go out and catch a chicken and cut his head off.
• On one occasion we cut a chicken head off and he started running across the yard and fell over.
• My wife thought he was dead and she threw him in a fire of some things she was burning in the yard and that chicken jumped out of the fire and started running again.
• He ran across the road and got run over by a car and came out from underneath the car with his tail feathers smoking and ran into the woods and we never saw that chicken again.
BUT I AM HERE TO TELL YOU THAT CHICKEN IS DEAD!!! He might not KNOW IT, BUT HE IS A DEAD CHICKEN!!!
The church in Sardis is dead but appeared to be alive but was dead!!!
Illus: We are told by scientists that the Polar Star's light takes 33 years to get to our earth.
That means that star could have burned out thirty-three years ago, and WE WOULD NOT KNOW IT.
Many churches are like the church in Sardis. They have a light that they were alive from years ago, but now they are very dead and they do NOT KNOW IT!
Illus: A little girl was asked to bring her birth certificate to school. It was needed to complete her school records. It fell out of her book bag as she was on the way to school. When she got to school and realized it was lost she began crying. The janitor saw her and asked what was wrong? She had been used to taking excuses to school when absent or late and she said, "I have lost my excuse for being born!"
That is exactly what happens to many churches.
They have no excuse, much less a reason, for being born.
They are dead!
III. THE RESTORATION OF THE CHURCH.
Look at Rev. 2-3, "Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die: for I have not found thy works perfect before God. Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. 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."
Remember the church of Sardis looked like it was alive because the people were active.
They had a reputation for being alive when they were not.
They would go through all the rituals of worship, but their hearts were not in it.
But God saw a little spark of life, and He was trying to nurse them back to life by CAUTIONING them to do FOUR THINGS.
A. The first caution.
In Rev. 3:2 John writes, "watch," that is, "Rouse yourself and keep awake."
Rev. 16:15, "Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame."
Illus: Years ago the crown jewels were brought to America.
It is interesting how the CROWN JEWELS WERE BROUGHT TO AMERICA.
When the U.S. 86th Infantry Division liberated the town of Mattsee, Austria, they made an amazing discovery THE CROWN JEWELS.
• The Crown of St. Stephen
• A scepter,
• An orb,
• A mantle and a coronation robe.
These royal objects are collectively known as the Crown Jewels of Hungary.
Hungarian officials, fearing that the nearly 1,000-year-old treasures might be lost or stolen during the post-war occupation by the Soviet Union, asked the U.S. government to keep the crown jewels in Bonn, West Germany, under its protection.
So, The National Institute of Standards was asked to carefully pack the delicate crown jewels for shipping and then secretly accompany them across the Atlantic for storage in the United States. The plan was to keep the regal relics on American soil until they could be returned to Hungary.
The National Institute of Standards Director Allen Astin immediately knew the right man for the job, organic materials expert Gordon Kline.
This was a classified mission, with Astin and Kline as the only employees who knew about it. The two were sworn to tell no one, not even their wives, what they were doing.
The crown jewels were being brought to the United States.
Once in the United States, the crown jewels were placed in sturdier and more protective containers designed and built by The National Institute of Standards engineers — who had no idea about their purpose — and then taken to the United States Bullion Depository at Fort Knox, Kentucky, for storage.
And the world finally learned how The National Institute of Standards had made that homecoming possible by keeping the Crown Jewels of Hungary safe for 33 years.
The whole time they were here they were under WATCH - twenty-four hours a day.
Why?
Because they are valuable, and thieves are waiting for a chance to steal them if an opportunity was given.
Now the reason I spent a few minutes telling you about THE CROWN JEWELS is because the church of Jesus Christ has been entrusted with the gospel of Christ, which is something that is far more valuable than the crown jewels, and the church is sound asleep, and has let the devil come in and steal it from them.
B. The second caution.
In verse 2, He cautions them, "Be watchful (arouse), and STRENGTHEN..."
• He warns them to not be apathetic.
• How do you strengthen yourself?
You force yourself to exercise your muscles.
Many have gotten as far as their pews and they cannot get any further.
D. The third caution.
In verse 3 He also cautions them to "Remember..."
Why?
That would give them something to compare themselves to.
They can remember how they once sang songs unto the Lord, gave to the Lord, witnessed for the Lord, worshiped the Lord etc.
Illus: How many times have we heard Christians talk about how at one time they had been close to the Lord.
• They remembered onced how they were so excited about the Lord they constantly invited others to attend church with them.
• They remembered onced how they participated in the singing and worshipping of the Lord.
• They remembered how they onced lovingly placed God’s tithes and offering in the offering plate.
• They remembered how they onced attended church every time the church doors were opened.
It is good that they can remember, because when they remember HOW IT ONCE WAS, they then have something to compare it to, and they can recognize HOW FAR THEY HAVE DRIFTED INTO THEIR SPIRITUAL SLEEPINESS.
E. The fourth caution.
In verse 3, He commands them to "repent."
Once they could come to recognize how far they had drifted from the Lord, and how they had allowed other things to enter their lives, then - GOD SAYS TO REPENT!
He CAUTIONS them, that if they do not listen to these cautions, He will come like a thief - as the city of Sardis had been conquered twice because the guard was sound asleep.
The message here is, that they need to stir themselves and shake themselves - get roused up for the Lord!
Paul told young Timothy to "stir up the gift within..." him.
And, I am sure that if Paul were to preach to many churches today, his message would be to many churches that have gone asleep, "Stir up the gift within."
Their worship service was no more than SPIRITUAL SLEEP-WALKING, and God wanted them to WAKE UP!
Illus: The local minister approaches a lady following the service, and remarks:
• "I couldn't help but notice that your husband left my sermon mid-way today."
• To which the lady responds with a shrug, "Please don't take it to heart, Reverend. He's been sleepwalking for years."
So has a lot of Christians!!!
Some Christians can go through and entire worship service and the only time they wake up is when they hear the preacher, ‘Let’s stand and close in prayer.”
But, there is a ray of hope. Look at...
IV. THE REMNANT OF THE CHURCH.
In some of the worst churches that you can find, thank God, you can find a remnant that are faithfully serving the Lord.
Such was the church in Sardis.
While the majority were supporting those various programs and were excited about them, the Lord saw there were a "few names" that had not defiled themselves, and they were excited about Jesus.
Aren't you glad God does not group us all together and into one big bundle, but that He sees us as individuals?
• I am proud of some of my family members and I am ashamed of some also. AREN’T YOU GLAD GOD DOES NOT JUDGE US AS ONE GROUP!
• I am proud to be an American, but I am glad God does not judge me by some Americans
• I am proud of my race, but I glad God does not judge me by some in my race.
• I am proud of my Nationality, but I am glad God does not judge me from all those in my nationality.
Illus: I feel so sorry for the good Latinos in this nation. They are godly people that love God. But we constantly hear about some of the illegals that has come and killed, stolen and raped in this country. Because of this all the LATINOS ARE GROUPED TOGETHER, WHICH IS NOT FAIR TO THEM!
God sees us as INDIVIDUALS, not as a group.
And in this church of Sardis He saw some there was a ray of hope.
In the church of Sardis, where the majority of the professing Christians were going through meaningless rituals week after week, God looked down and saw some were right where they were supposed to be spiritually.
Look at verses 4-6, "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. 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. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches."
Since we are saved by grace, it has confused some as to why verse 5 says, "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."
Some say that certainly if a person do the four things that were suggested by Christ, and if those four things they did saved them from having their names blotted out, that would be teaching salvation by works.
What does this verse mean?
Those who promote salvation by works like to take this passage and use it to promote salvation by works.
But bless their heart they are unlearned in what this passage is teaching.
Illus: I like what John Walvoord's in his book "The Revelation of Jesus Christ" he gives a very good explanation.
He said, "On the basis of this, some have considered the book of life not as the roll of those who are saved, but rather, a list of those for whom Christ died, that is, all humanity who have possessed physical life.
As they come to maturity and are faced with the responsibility of accepting or rejecting Christ, their names are blotted OUT IF THEY FAIL TO RECEIVE JESUS CHRIST AS SAVIOUR;
whereas those who do accept Christ as Saviour are confirmed in their position in the book of life, and their names are confessed before the Father and the heavenly angels."
Christ died for all. It is believed that all humans He ever created are listed in this book of life, and the names of those who do not accept Christ are blotted out.
God never intended for anyone to die and go to hell. Everyone who has ever been born is in the book of life, But if you do not accept the Lord your name will be blotted and you one day will be cast into hell and God will forever forget you ever existed.
You do not want this to happen, I urged you today today REPENT OF YOUR SINS AND COME TO THE LORD AND RECEIVE ETERNAL LIFE.
I. THE REPUTATION OF THE CHURCH.
II. THE REMAINS OF THE CHURCH.
III. THE RESTORATION OF THE CHURCH.
IV. THE REMNANT OF THE CHURCH.
