The Sardis Church Of Christ

(Rev. 3:1-6)

I. Re 3:1 ¶ "To the angel of the church in Sardis write: He who has the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars,

A. In the context of these letters

1. The word “angel” means “messenger”

a) Minister

b) Evangelist

2. He who has

a) Is speaking of Jesus, Himself

b) Since he has the

(1) Seven Spirits of

(a) Completeness of God

(2) And the

(a) Seven stars

(i) The seven churches who He’s speaking to

II. says this: 'I know your deeds, that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead.

A. “I know your deeds”

1. There is nothing that a person can do or say

a) That God doesn’t know about

(1) We can try to deceive ourselves into thinking that we can hide things from Him

(a) It is impossible

(i) Ps 94:11f The LORD knows the thoughts of man…

2. Some think that they can hide from Him

a) Jonah 1:1-15

(1) It can’t be done

B. “You have a name that you are alive”

1. This church, like many today

a) Had a reputation of being healthy and full of vitality

2. How many churches today have

a) Programs to draw people in

b) Programs to bring children into their church

c) Programs to give the elderly something to do and somewhere to go

(1) Yet, preach and teach

(a) A watered down gospel

(b) How to avoid life’s hard times

(c) That tolerance of sin is a virtue

(d) That God’s love will let everyone into heaven

(e) That faithfulness to God has nothing to do with salvation

(f) And that the Bible is a good resource, but not necessarily the final authority

(i) And it seems like people flock to those churches.

(2) Joel Osteen

(a) “God wants us to prosper financially, to have plenty of money, to fulfill the destiny He has laid out for us.”

(b) “I believe that God's dream is that we be successful in our careers, and that we be able to send our kids to college.”

(c) “Do all you can to make your dreams come true.”

(3) Rick Warren

(a) “Well actually I don't think it's a bunch of bad things that send us to hell.”

(b) “I can't imagine God not allowing my dog into heaven.”

(c) “I happen to agree with many of the liberal emphasis on compassion, justice and equality.”

(4) Billy Graham

(a) “I'm going to Heaven just like the thief on the cross who said in that last moment: 'Lord, remember me.'”

(b) When anyone has the power to destroy the whole human race in a matter of hours, it becomes a moral issue. The church must speak out.”

(c) “I'm not focused on the gay and lesbian movement.”

(i) I guess that moral issue isn’t important enough!

3. Do you suppose reasons similar to these are why Jesus said:

a) but you are dead.?

C. We have to make sure that we don’t fall into the same mindset

1. That God is more interested in our physical lives

a) Than in our spiritual lives

(1) Both now and when we leave this world

III. Re 3:2 'Wake up, and strengthen the things that remain, which were about to die;

A. We, as the Church, need to pay attention to our lives

1. We need to strengthen our commitment that we made

a) When we were baptized

2. We need to strengthen our faith

a) That we have been set apart

(1) For good works

(a) Which God established before we were born

(i) Remember? God told Jeremiah

• “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you” (Jer. 1:5f)

3. We need to revitalize the purpose of His Church

a) To edify the saints

b) To evangelize the lost

B. And, we are warned that

1. If we don’t start working with what we have

a) What we do have will shrivel away and die

(1) Mr 4:25 "For whoever has, to him more shall be given; and whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him."

IV. for I have not found your deeds completed in the sight of My God.

A. The work of the Church today is going uncompleted

1. We do a poor job of bringing the lost to Christ

2. We do a poor job of being encouragers to each other

B. And, the “watered down” gospel I spoke of earlier

1. How far does THAT go in completing our deeds?

a) How many times have we accepted the fact that just because someone SAYS they’re a Christian

b) We don’t ask them how they became one

(1) Because we might insult them

(a) If we tell them what God’s word says?