To Survive? Or Thrive? Message, February 15, 2009

Scripture Reading: Revelation 3:1-6

Preached on February 15, 2009 at Hebron Baptist Church by Joe Alain, Pastor

The sun is about 93 million miles from the earth. If the sun were to blow up right now, we would know it in about 8 minutes. The star nearest to the Sun is Proxima Centauri. Proxima Centauri is 4.3 light-years from the Sun. If it blew up right now, we would not know it for 4.3 years. The North Star is about 30 light years away. If the North Star blew up right now – we would not know it for 30 years. From our perspective, it would continue shining, continue pointing the way with all the appearances of life. The church in Sardis was like that. They were living on the glory of a fading past. They had a name, a heritage – a past glory, but they were now lifeless and spiritually lethargic.

ABOUT SARDIS
(1) Sardis was a place of great wealth. 700 years before this letter Sardis had been one of the greatest cities in the ancient world. The name of her king, Croesus (pronounced kre-ses), became synonymous with wealth and prosperity. Under his rule Sardis became known around the world for her gold and silver plucked out of a river flowing nearby. It was at Sardis that the first gold and silver coins were minted. The wealth of Sardis was the stuff of legends. Positioned at a junction containing five major roads, Sardis naturally was a center of trade.

(2) The city held an important geographical advantage overlooking the Hermus Valley. Because of this, Sardis was also a military center. Her position like a giant watch tower of the valley though, made its citizens overconfident. King Cyrus and the Persians conquered the city from the unprotected side, having his soldiers scale the walls of the mountain. Later in the third century the city again was captured the same way.

(3) Sardis was known for its famous Necropolis, or cemetery, of “a thousand hills,” so named because of the hundreds of burial mounds visible on the skyline some seven miles from Sardis.

When John wrote, Sardis was wealthy but degenerate. The great citadel was now only an ancient monument on the hill top. At the time of writing, all of Sardis’ glory, wealth, and power lay in the past – some 650 years in the past. The church too appeared to be alive, but in reality it was dead. The church in Sardis, like the city, was living on the fading glory of the past. If the church would wake up, they could once again thrive rather than merely survive.

I. THE RISEN CHRIST DESCRIBED (3:1a)
“Who has the seven Spirits of God.” This expression is also found at Revelation 1:4. The seven spirits signifies the completeness of the gifts of the Holy Spirit and the universality of His presence. There is only one Spirit (Eph. 4:4) but the number 7 denotes completeness. Why this expression to describe Christ? Why to the church in Sardis? Because . . .
1. He Empowers His Church through the Holy Spirit
It is the Holy Spirit that brings life to the church, and life is exactly what the people at Sardis needed. The HS gives life (Jn. 6:63; 2 Cor. 3:6). The message to the church in Sardis is a warning to all churches that are living on past glory. Dr. Vance Havner used to say that spiritual ministries often go through four stages: a man, a movement, a machine, and then a monument. Sardis was at the monument stage, but there was still hope. The message to Sardis is also a warning to all churches that all of the church’s man-made programs, no matter how good and godly, can never bring life by themselves.

“Who has . . . the seven stars.” This stands for the churches and their messengers. This reminds us that . . .
2. He Is Lord of His Church
The church is the possession of Jesus Christ. Christ has purchased us with His own blood. We are not our own, we belong to Him (1 Cor. 6:19-20). All of life is a stewardship for we and everything we are and possess belongs to God who gave it.

II. THE CONDITION OF THE CHURCH: ALIVE BUT DEAD (3:1b)
There were no words of approval given to the church in Sardis with the exception of verse 4. Nor did the Lord point out any glaring doctrinal problems that required correction. There was also no outward persecution, although maybe it would have been better if there were. The church in Sardis, like the city, was comfortable and content to live on their past reputation. Like the city itself, the church in Sardis gloried in past splendor, but ignored present decay.

The fact that nothing is said about outward persecution shows that this church was so lifeless that it posed no threat and did not need to be attacked from the outside. Jesus said, “Woe to you, when all men speak well of you” (Lk. 6:26). Jesus was not saying that we should intentionally try to offend people so that they will speak evil of us. But there should be something about our words and actions that say to people without Christ, ‘we are different.’ And if we are so comfortable living in this world that people only praise us, then we’re probably not living out the call of the Gospel.

III. THE CURE FOR THE CHURCH: WAKE UP! (3:2-3)
The counsel that Jesus gives is “Wake Up!” The spiritual watchmen in Sardis were spiritually asleep. This admonition had special significance to the people in Sardis as their history reveals. Twice in their history the Citadel at Sardis had been captured and each time it was because the sentries had failed to do their jobs faithfully.

God says to us, “Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die” (v.2). The church in Sardis was complacent, apathetic, indifferent, and dead. The church like the town felt too sheltered, too secure, too comfortable, to maintain a close guard or watch. The church always has to be on guard against the comfortable pew. If the church does not make its members and the world squirm uncomfortably at times something is definitely wrong.

IV. THE CHRISTIANS IN THE CHURCH: A FAITHFUL REMNANT (3:4-5)
There was a faithful remnant. What was different about them? They had “not defiled their garments” (v.4). James 1:27 speaks of believers who have kept themselves unstained from the world. In the pagan temples, worshipers were not permitted to approach their gods and goddesses wearing dirty clothes. The remnant at Saridis had not compromised with the pagan culture of the world.

There is a three-fold promise made to the faithful:
1. Will Share Christ’s Glory – “be clothed in white garments”
This points to . . .
The phrase “walk with Me” (v.4) is significant. As an honor, Persian kings would have ordinary citizens walk with them in their gardens. Believers walk with God now and will walk with Him in eternity in paradise!

2. Will Be Secure in God’s Book of Life – “from the book of life”
This concept of the book of life occurs repeatedly in the Bible.
(1) Moses is willing to have his name wiped from the book if it would have been possible to save his people from the consequences of their sin (Ex. 32:32-33).

(2) The hope of the Psalmist is that the wicked will be removed from the book of the living (Ps. 69:28).

(3) The book of life is most prominently seen in the final judgement. Daniel 12:1 says that in the time of judgement those whose names are written in the book of life will be saved. According to Revelation 20:15, he who is not written in the book of life is cast into the lake of fire. And in Revelation 21:27 we discover that only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life shall enter into heaven (Rev. 21:27).

In the ancient world a king would keep a register of his citizens. When a man committed a crime against the state, or when he died, his name was erased form the register. To have one’s name written in the book of life is to be numbered among the faithful citizens of the kingdom of God.

It would appear that God’s book of life contains the names of all the living, the wicked as well as the righteous (Ps. 69:28). As unbelievers die, their names are removed from the book so at the final judgement the book contains only the names of believers (Rev. 20:12-15). It then becomes the Lamb’s book of life (Rev. 21:27). The unsaved have been blotted out.

3. Will Be Confessed before God Matthew 10:32-33

V. THE CALL TO THE CHURCH (3:6)
Let’s not be satisfied with just surviving, God wants us to thrive! What in your life needs a resurrection? Jesus, the risen Christ specializes in raising the dead! “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches” (v.6).

For His Glory!
Pastor Joe