Sardis- The Church Of The Dead Series

Sardis- The Church of the Dead

7 Churches of Revelation Series

CCCAG, September 15th, 2024

Scripture: Revelation 3:1-6

Introduction

I listen to a lot of podcasts- mostly relating to current events, and some with a few military guys.

If you don’t know what a podcast is- it’s show just like you’d see on TV, but it’s internet-based. The most famous podcast in the world right now is done by Joe Rogan, and he has an average audience of 200 Million people per month and has over 2 Billion downloads since he started.

The reach of these podcasts, if done well, far surpasses anything on TV as you can watch it whenever you want and they are available worldwide.

One of the podcasts I listen to is Megyn Kelly’s podcast on current events. Some of you might remember her from Fox News- she had a very popular show there for a while, and then a morning show on NBC that didn’t do that well, so she quit all of that and has a podcast that is very popular and reaches far more people than she ever had on TV.

Megyn has recently been very open about exploring her faith. She was raised Catholic and is recently returning to faith and trying to make sense of that religion. She was discussing this with another podcaster, a former Navy Seal named Sean Ryan, who has recently come to faith in Jesus and said this-

“I love rules, and want to follow the rules. I want to know exactly what to do, when to do it, because that makes me feel better.”

If I could talk to Megyn, I’d want to introduce her to what faith in Christ really means.

I think she is looking for a spiritual checklist to do to make herself feel fulfilled.

The reality is that Jesus has not only completed the checklist for us, HE IS the checklist.

Any other attempt at meeting your spiritual need leads you to a dead religion.

This morning we are going to explore that idea as we read about the Church in Sardis. Sardis is one of the 7 churches in Revelation.

It is known as the dead church, filled with people dead in their religion and sin.

Jesus had the Apostle John write a letter to this church, exposing some of these issues.

Jesus speaking-

Scripture

Rev 3:1-6 “Write to the angel of the church in Sardis: Thus says the one who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars: I know your works; you have a reputation for being alive, but you are dead. (2) Be alert and strengthen what remains, which is about to die, for I have not found your works complete before my God. (3) Remember, then, what you have received and heard; keep it, and repent. If you are not alert, I will come like a thief, and you have no idea at what hour I will come upon you. (4) But you have a few people in Sardis who have not defiled their clothes, and they will walk with me in white, because they are worthy. (5) “In the same way, the one who conquers will be dressed in white clothes, and I will never erase his name from the book of life but will acknowledge his name before my Father and before his angels. (6) “Let anyone who has ears to hear, listen to what the Spirit says to the churches.

Prayer

As I mentioned a moment ago, we are going to hit a few important points here in these verses.

The most important thing to understand is why people turn from a living savior to a dead religion. It’s because is they forget who Jesus is.

We are going to start by looking to see how Jesus is describing Himself as that description is essential to understanding what HE is trying to accomplish with this letter.

In the beginning of this letter to the church at Sardis HE is describing HIMself as one who has the 7 Spirits of God, and the Seven Stars.

In the bible, the number 7 is the number that refers to completeness or perfection.

(Examples- Calendar, prophecy, number of years in tribulation).

This number is applied to Jesus having the Seven Spirits of God

It is a reference to Isaiah’s description of the 7 ways that the Holy Spirit manifests HImself in Jesus

Isaiah 11:2-3

And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him- Leadership

Spirit of Wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.

3 And his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord.

Focus on verse 3 just for a moment.

The concept of “Fear of the LORD” means to have an awe, respect, and actual fear of God- to be a little afraid of HIM.