"A Dead Church"
Introduction:
Each week in America, paramedics arrive on the scene of an accident where the victim has crossed the barrier between life and death. There is no heartbeat. Breathing has stopped. All the vital signs of life are absent. But the paramedics do not accept this death as final. They begin CPR; perhaps inject a drug that stimulates the heart. For a few frantic moments, nothing happens. Then, the victim begins to cough, taking a few ragged breaths, and the heart begins to beat, pulsing life through the body. And instead of sending a corpse to the morgue, the ambulance takes a patient to the hospital. Was the victim dead? Without getting too theological or technical, we would have to answer, yes. If not for the expert care of the paramedics, the accident would have been followed by a funeral. But we know that in many instances, this kind of death doesn’t have to be final. With the proper stimulus, the person can be revived. That is the way I picture the church at Sardis. Jesus pronounces it dead, but there is hope that spiritual CPR can revive it.
Perhaps today you feel that you are dying spiritually, but the news is that you can be revived. If we were to receive a letter like the ones received to the seven churches in Asia, what would it say? What type of church would we be classified as?
Text: Revelation 3:1-6
I. Their Reputation
Revelation 3:1
The image depicted is of a church who was outwardly doing well. Perhaps their attendance was up and they were growing. They had successful programs which were drawing a crowd. Maybe he could say that their attendance and Sunday School was working well and was well attended. Perhaps he could say their building program was ahead of schedule or their offerings were great, but yet they were complacent. While they thought they lived and were doing well they were dying.
I wonder what it was about the church at Sardis that gave them a good reputation among people. Perhaps they were known for being generous and a giving congregation. Perhaps they were known for being bold in sharing their faith. Perhaps they were known for having good solid preaching. Whatever the case was in Sardis they had a reputation of being a good, strong and vibrant congregation. Perhaps they gave everyone reason to think highly of themselves.
A good reputation isn’t a bad thing to have, I want to have a good reputation. I want to have a reputation for having a good character, for loving the brotherhood, and for standing firm upon the Truth. There is a problem though, a reputation can be wrong. There are many people that have a reputation for being a lot things, and sometimes their reputation is built upon false assumptions and therefore is wrong. The church at Sardis had a reputation of being alive, but they weren’t.
The truth is that we can give a good impression to people and still not be right with the Lord. We can make everyone around us think we are spiritual giants. Perhaps we can do that by flat out and purposefully giving the wrong impression. After all, we want people to think highly of us, don’t we? Maybe sometimes we walk around with a spiritual mask covering over the true person that we don’t want anyone to see. We know how to talk, sound, and act spiritual, so therefore we have a good reputation, but perhaps inwardly there is a deeper truth regarding who we are. Sometimes people can have a good reputation and not be right with the Lord. I think of the Pharisees, who had a reputation of being spiritual, but inside their hearts were filthy. Outwardly, they looked great. They said and did the right things at the right times, but the reputation that they had was based only on what man could see.
Many people are working so diligently to have a good reputation and be well thought of among others, that they fail to get themselves in a right relationship with the God whose opnion of us really does matter. Each of us has a reputation for something. What is your reputation? Perhaps you have a reputation for some great aspect of your character. Perhaps you are known as kind, caring, generous, loving, loyal, committed, faithful, bold or devoted to the church. Perhaps you are known for some negative aspect of your character. Perhaps you are known for being crude or vulgar, perhaps for being arrogant, perhaps for being rude. Perhaps you have a reputation for something you have done. Whatever that reputation might be I would suggest that the reputation we have may tell us something about ourselves. If today you have a bad reputation for something I would not dismiss it altogether, but I would examine myself to see if there is any truth to it. If your reputation is a good one, remember that a good reputation still does not mean you are doing what is right. Many with a good reputation are inwardly filthy, we call them hypocrites.
Sadly, I have known many people int eh church who have a bad reputation in the community. Perhaps among their friends, relative or co-workers. Often times when I hear of someone’s reputation it shocks me. I find many times that the reputation some have in the world is totally different than the one they have in the church. The truth is one of those reputations is based on a lie. Many people come to church and they want to put on a spiritual front. They want people to think they are something. They value their reputation. They may say ad do good things, they may pray the prettiest prayers, they may sound so righteous in the way they talk. Let me re-emphasize that we are not living to please man, but God. Many people think that if they have a good reputation than they are saved. Everyone has a reputaton for something? What is yours?
Sardis was known for being a church that is alive. That is a compliment. That is the reputation that every church should want to have. The problem with Sardis was not that they had a bad reputation, but rather that the reputation that they had was not based on truth.
II. Their Reality
An artist was once asked to put on canvas what he considered to be the picture best symbolizing a decaying and dying church. After several months, he returned and reported that he had finished the task. The hour finally arrived when the painting was to be unveiled and Several people standing around the easel had already given their description of what they thought the church would look like. Some had said it would be a rundown building in great need of repair and paint. Weeds would be growing in the church yard, and there would be some broken window panes. Everyone in the group seemed to have a similar picture in mind. However, when the cloth was removed, a hush fell over the group. Everyone was stunned. Before their eyes was an absolutely beautiful church building. The grounds were well kept and the exterior of the building was in excellent condition. After a few minutes, one person stepped forward and said to the artist, "I thought we asked you to paint a dying church?"
The artist smiled and said, “That is exactly what I did!”
Perhaps you have a good reputation. Perhaps people tell you good things about yourself and tell you how wonderful they think you are, I hope you don’t believe the hype. I hope you realize that all that glitters is not gold.
I asked early what your reputation was, but more than that I want us to ask ourselves what is the reality of who we are? What is our character really like? What is the true condition of ourselves spiritually? Perhaps only you can answer that. Perhaps you have a reputation of being alive, strong and growing, but perhaps like Sardis, the reality is a totally opposite. We should believe the reality over the reputation. People thought Sardis was an alive church, but were they? No! Why? Was is because they were not growing? Was it because they did not have good programs or things going on? I doubt it, perhaps it was a character problem there at the church. The reality of the church at Sardis was that they were not alive, but that they were dead. In case you did not know that is not a compliment to the church there. It is not a good thing to be a dead church. It is not okay to be a dying church.
What exactly made Sardis a dying church? We do not read of any immorality or false teaching. In fact the rebuke is quite vague. What was it that they had done to be classified as “dead”? Perhaps they hadn’t done anything and that was the problem.
A living organism has two specific traits. First, it has activity. Second, it is growing. If we are going to be a live church we have to have activity from within and growth as a body. Otherwise we are a dying church.
Dr. W.A. Criswell wrote in his book, “Standing on the Promises” about distinguishing between a live and dead church, “live churches are filled with folks with Bibles in their hands, dead churches are not! Live churches have noisy children and youth, dead churches do not! Live churches attempt great things for God, dead churches do not! Live churches emphasize opportunities, but dead churches focus on the problems. Live churches are characterized by a loving fellowship, but dead churches manifest a bickering spirit. Live churches major on strong preaching, dead churches do not. Live churches evangelize, dead churches fossilize.
I have been at and been around dead churches. If you ever have you know that there is just a negative attitude about everything. You leave the assemblies discouraged rather than encouraged, drained rather than energized, empty rather than well-fed, and burdened rather than burden free.
I once heard about a church that was so dead, that when a member happened to die during the worship service – the paramedics actually carried out 5 people before they finally got the right one
Well what are the trademarks of a dead church?
1. No Desire to Grow
The book of Acts on many occasions is very specific about numbers. We read of 3,000 and 5,000 and a multitude. Why does the Scriptures reveal these conversion numbers? Is it to boast? No, but it was to show that growth was a good thing. Many in the church today have no desire to see the church grow. To them it is threatening. They may loose their seat, they may loose their parking space. You would not believe how many stories I have heard of preachers being fires because the church where they worked started to grow and the people did not like that. We as Christians should want the church to grow. Not because we are arrogant, but because we love God, we love people, because we understand that each sould is precious to God, that he wants all to be saved, and that each individual not in a relationship with Christ will indeed perish. I want people to be saved, and if I want people to be saved then it has to happen in the context of the church. A church that does not want to grow is probably a dead church.
2. A Pessimistic Attitude
Attitude is contagious. Perhaps you have been in a church with a pessimistic attitude towards everything. I have seen some people in churches who can find the bad in any good situation. They see that bad in people, they see the bad in positive things going on at the church. I believe we should strive to see the good and the positive. That does not mean we ignore the bad things, but I believe is does mean that we have a positive attitude because we trust that good things are going to come because we serve a mighty and powerful God.
Ephesians 3:20-21
We can be optimistic because God can!
3. A Loss of Desire to Do Things Well
On one occasion while I was in college, I decided I wanted to get some more preaching experience, so I was contacted about preaching at a small church not far from Johnson Bible College’s campus in Tennessee. I will never forget my first Sunday there. We got driving directions and headed out. Despite our best efforts we could not find the church building. We knew the general area, but couldn’t find the church. Finally, I see a guy standing ourside waving us down. We had driven right by the church several times, the problem was I thought it was a run-down or closed down church. The church sign was tall, and was probably nice at one time, but the letters had faded, and the name of the church on the sign wasn’t even the name the church went by. There were weeds waist high all around the building, and the building was falling apart. The parking lot was disgusting and there were no cars in the parking lot. We learned that the church which consisted of about 10 people all car pooled to church. It had been years since work had been done on the church. I went into the church optimistic maybe even idealistic. I expected the church to do great things, so I organized a church work day for after service Sunday morning. Well, two people stayed, me and Stephanie, so we go started cleaning. We went through the building and found filthy that you would not believe. When you go upstairs, they had nice classrooms full of cobwebs, with roll books opened and last dated in the 1980’s. The church was the definition of a dead church. Not because it was small, but because they lost their desire to do things well. Everything was just thrown together last minute without any planning or effort. I always thought that if perhaps they would start doing things to the best of their abilities and no matter how many or how few people were there then the church would grow. We should always want to do things well. A dead church does not care to do the things they do well.
4. The People serve out of obligation
When people serve God our of obligation and s sense of duty it is a sign of a dead church.
III. Their Rebuke
A. Wake Up
He first called them to wake up since they were near dead. Perhaps the same message could be given to many churches who are slumbering today and who are near their death. Perhaps we could be charged to wake up. This reminds me of what Paul told the Ephesians…
Ephesians 5:8-16
Perhaps today you feel that you are in as spiritual sleep, it is time to wake up. I want it to be known that God does not just give us commands that He does not give us the tools to obey. The church is called to wake up, but we must understand that they were given the tools to wake up.
One of my favorite passages in the Old Testament is in the book of Ezekiel. The prophet is take to a valley where he looks down and sees a valley full of dried bones. He was asked the question, “can these bones be made to come to life again.” Before Ezekiel’s very eyes the bones were formed back into life. The purpose of that was to show that spiritually dead Israel could be brought back to life again. They could wake up, they could be strengthened.
The question we must ask ourselves is how does a dead church or a dead Christian come back to life again? I believe there are several things necessary for us to come back to life again spiritually.
1. Honest Examination
We must honestly examine ourselves and see where we stand. The standard of course is the Word of God. Sometimes we look at our lives with rose colored glasses, we refuse to see our faults, our sins, and our shortcomings and in turn we never learn to deal with them or to do better. I believe we need times of honest examination of ourselves. David said, “Search my heart oh God, see if there be any offensive way in me.” When we honestly examine ourselves we may not always like what we find, but we have a starting point and we learn what areas we need to change in our lives.
2. Willing Repentance
Some people refuse to ever repent. Perhaps they refuse to repent because they love the world too much. Perhaps they refuse to repent because they have not really been convicted of a need to change. Perhaps they have never repented because they are too pride-filled to repent, because repentance in their minds is saying you have been doing wrong, and we do not want to feel spiritually inferior. I believe we need more willing repentance among God’s people today. We need to be woke up from our spiritual slumber, but repentance is a prerequisite.
3. Conscious Devotion
We need to consciously choose to be obedient to the Word. In Acts 2, we learn that the early church consciously chose to devote themselves to the Apostle’s teaching, to the fellowship, to the breaking of the bread, and to prayer. Perhaps we need to make conscious decisions of devotion that will lead us to obedience and lead us to wake up from the dead.
More than that we need to remember our source. Many people go to the wrong source hoping for spiritual growth. They forget they cannot do it on their own.
After WWI one of the great heroes of that conflict - Lawrence of Arabia was in Paris with some of his Arab friends
He showed them the sights of the city: the Arch of Triumph, the Louvre, Napoleon’s tomb, the Champs Elysees, but none of these things impressed them.
The thing that really interested them the most was the faucet in the bathtub of the hotel room. They spent much of time in turning it on and off. They found it amazing that one could turn a handle and get all the water he wanted.
Later, when they were ready to leave Paris and return to the East, Lawrence found them in the bathroom with wrenches trying to disconnect the faucet.
"You see," they said, "it is very dry in Arabia. What we need are faucets. If we have them, we will have all the water we want." Lawrence had to explain to them that the effectiveness of the faucets did not lie in themselves but in the vast reservoirs of water to which they were attached and he had to point out that behind this lay the rain and snowfalls of the Alps.
So also, churches and Christians are like that faucet. Without the reservoirs that fed the pipes to the faucet, no water was going to come out. Likewise without the reservoir of Christ flowing through our lives we are useless. Unless we realize that, our churches become ill and die
B. Strengthen What Is Left
I love the encouragement behind this rebuke. He tells them they have not gone too far. They simply needed to strengthen what remained. They had a starting place. For them they had some rebuilding to do, but there was hope. He was saying you haven’t done it all wrong. Many churches that are dying are doing some good things, they have some good traits. They need to wake up, but they need to strengthen what little bit that remains
C. Remember
He then calls them to look back in their past and remember the things they were taught. Perhaps their memories were short and they had forgotten the basics, maybe they had forgotten some of the instructions they received, they were called to go back and remember what they had formerly heard.
D. Obey
It wasn’t okay for them to go back and remember what they ought to be doing, they were to put those things into practices. The words here are similar to that of James, where it says, be not hearers of the word only., but be also doers of the Word. They were called to put into practice the things that they had been taught. They were not brought new teachings necessarily, they just needed to remember old ones, which perhaps had been lost in translation, which had become common place as time passed by.
E. Repent
IV. Their Remnant
Revelation 3:4
The idea of the few who hadn’t soiled their clothes is closely connected with the reward of white linens. The mindset of that day was that if you had soiled linens you could not enter the temples to worship their idols. Only those with pure linens could enter into worship.
There were some at Sardis who hadn’t soiled their linens. Obviously he was not speaking of clothing. He was not saying there are some who have not dirtied their linens. That is a good thing for me because whenever I wear white I soil it with something. I am the worlds worst for spilling stuff on my shirt. Thank God for Tide to go. However, he was speaking of those who have soiled their linens spiritually speaking with sin. The secret sin of Sardis I believe was one of the things that made it so awful. They like the religious people of old thought that if they went through the proper motions then everything was okay. They were perceived good, but the God who knows the heart saw through their vain deeds. He saw they had soiled linens and that they were too impure to enter his presence.
I have to believe the overall majority of the people at Sardis were stuggling spiritually
V. Their Reward
A. Walk With Him Dressed in White
Matthew 22:1-14
Galatians 3:26
B. A Name In the Book of Life
C. Acknowledged before the Father
