Sardis

"Sardis" – Revelation 3:1-6 The first message in a series on the seven churches of Revelation. "I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead." The starting point is historical and hard: those churches existed, and they ceased to be. Sardis was rich, built on a hill all but impossible to take, and yet it was conquered twice —because the soldiers did not keep watch— and the church repeated the history of its city. The same night Ephesus is also expounded (Revelation 2:1-7): a church of sound doctrine and perseverance that left its first love and passed from love into routine. Today both cities lie in ruins.

I. Churches that ceased to be

A. Revelation opens with these churches. They are not a vision: they existed in their time, things grew hard for them, and they ceased to be.

B. What John wrote is not poetry: it was what was actually happening in those days. And everything Scripture records will come to pass.

C. Human beings make things complicated; and the harder we try at it, the worse it goes for the body of Christ.

D. Slight sarcasm, a few wounding swords, a measure of contempt: with that, while looking innocent, a church is torn down.

E. And we always blame someone for what we could not overcome or sanctify. We never say "I did this," but "this was done to me, and that is why I am the way I am."

F. It is very easy to let the essence of God be lost: the miracles stop being seen, authority is squandered, sin arrives and throws a party.

G. The problem is called the shekinah, the glory of God: if the glory lifts and is no longer there, churches are lost. No more praying, no more fasting, no more reading the word.

H. Those regions turned to idolatry, and God's name was changed there. What history do we want for our own life?

II. Sardis, the city

A. It lay in Asia Minor and was, historically, the capital of the ancient kingdom of Lydia; very rich, famous for its gold and its trade.

B. It was also a very secure city: everything watched, a good economy, food in the house. All was well while they sought God.

C. For the LORD is Jireh, the provider, and He is the one who blesses. Who is going to bless you? Another human being, who himself needs the LORD to bless him?

D. It was built on a hill nearly impossible to conquer; in those ancient lands the kings built their castles on the mountains, because there is safety there.

E. But, ironically, it was conquered twice. Why? Because the soldiers did not keep watch. That is the line to carry away today.

F. Where there is no watchman there is ruin; where there is no watchman there is silence, and behind the silence death stands ready to destroy.

G. No one warns of the danger, because no one dares to speak any more: "I do not get involved with anyone, because people get angry."

H. And your house — do you watch it well? Instead of finding out the truth we want to cover everything so as not to face it; and what is not faced is destroyed years later.

I. "But I tried." The word "tried" is not for a righteous person: a righteous person is always a fighter. If you do not fight your battles, who will fight them for you?

III. The diagnosis: "thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead"

A. Jesus presents Himself as the one who has the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars: He has authority over the spiritual life of the church, because it is His to watch over.

B. That is why every prayer ends in the name of Jesus; one cannot pray in one's own name. It is saying: I cannot, but Jesus can.

C. And when Jesus sees that you are active in faith, He goes out on your behalf. But if you have no prayer, you have nothing either.

D. The strongest line in the passage is the diagnosis. The church had a good reputation, and it died.

E. Who kills a church? The church kills itself, because the church is the body and the body is us. Sardis destroyed itself.

F. They began to say whatever they pleased, hatred came, strife came, and they forgot that Jesus went to the cross.

G. And the moment comes when someone thinks he has authority and feels superior to everyone, and speaks with arrogance, as though he owned it. No one owns it: the one who gave His life is Christ.

IV. The four problems of that church

A. Christianity in name only: an appearance of spirituality, a Christian history, and empty inside.

B. A lack of spiritual watchfulness.

C. Works left incomplete before God: works that must be done and are left half finished.

D. A weakened spiritual life: no prayer, no reading of Scripture, and instead of thinking on whatsoever things are good and just, looking for someone to cut in half.

E. This reflects exactly what happened to the city: a confident city that did not keep watch.

F. One must be sanctified, pray every day, fast during the week, read the Bible, love with strength, and give oneself. Now tell me whether you kept those five.

V. The warning and the call

A. "If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief." The key word is watch.

B. If you have not watched over yourself, you have not watched over your children either; and they grew up with no one to teach them, for the most is learned at home.

C. Jesus calls them to be watchful.

D. To strengthen the things which remain.

E. To remember what they received: what you hear, repeat it at home and make it a saying of your own. Indulging children works nothing spiritual in them, because they know you.

F. And to repent. He who knows to do good and does it not commits sin; imagine the rest. Where there is repentance there is change: not returning to the pen like the swine.

G. And though the church was in a bad state, Jesus says there are a few who have not defiled their garments: there is always a faithful remnant.

H. It is told that a disciple of John fell away and ended up a bandit in the hills; the apostle, already old, rode out there, and the young man threw himself at his knees begging God's forgiveness. John's heart filled with joy, and he prayed for him.

I. Promises to the overcomer: white raiment, his name in the book of life, and that Christ will confess his name before the Father.

J. Sardis stands for religion without life: appearance without power, tradition without relationship with God. But it also teaches that there is still opportunity to wake up.

VI. The seven stars are the pastors

A. Jesus appears here glorified, not as the one who preached from place to place: His eyes are as a flame of fire, and in His hand are seven stars.

B. The seven stars are the pastors, those God calls to the pastorate: the Jesus who went to the cross left pastors in the church.

C. The problem appears when pastors are afraid to speak and to explain the word. With the Bible there is no need to shout or stamp.

D. If when you hear the word your eyes do not burn and your ears do not ring, the enemy has already come in and done his sowing; and you are the one who eats that harvest.

E. A pastor is not just anything, nor a toy: there are the prayers, the fastings, and the knowing of the word, which is a delight.

F. What there is is not one's own marvels, but a heart that breaks for the people and a life in which the last thing desired is to sin: because if the pastor is defiled, everyone is harmed.

G. If Jesus came to earth for anything, it was to raise a church: full of love, of passion, of self-giving. A church that goes about speaking evil does not represent Him.

VII. Ephesus: the strong church (Revelation 2:1-7)

A. Ephesus was also in Asia Minor, in present-day Turkey: one of the largest cities of the Roman Empire and a most important center of trade.

B. Famous for the temple of Artemis, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, and a center of idolatry and magic. Even so, a very strong church was born there.

C. The church began when the apostle Paul came to the city (Acts 18-19). Priscilla and Aquila laboured there; later Apollos taught; and by tradition John the apostle also lived there.

D. It was a powerful revival: many abandoned magic and burned their books of sorcery, for when the Gospel comes, whatever separates us from God is despised.

E. The impact was such that it hurt the business of the idol makers —one of them Demetrius— and for that they wanted to kill Paul; a great uproar broke out in the city.

F. Its marks: sound doctrine, discernment against false teachers, hard labour, and perseverance. Jesus Himself acknowledges it.

VIII. "Thou hast left thy first love"

A. In spite of all the good, Jesus says something serious. There lies the sin and the problem.

B. There are two places where the first love can be set: on yourself, or on the Lord Jesus Christ.

C. No one loves me as Jesus does; no one gives me eternity as He gave it; no one watches me twenty-four hours and goes with me wherever I go, even in the greatest terrors.

D. Jesus has never forsaken me nor criticized me: if He sees something to improve in me, there is a meeting in heaven —Father, Son, and Holy Spirit— to work on what I lack.

E. They do not look for what is in us in order to rebuke or discard us, but with the touch of the Holy Spirit they do in our life what we need.

F. Leaving the first love means they kept working and kept teaching what is good, but the love for Christ was no longer the same; no longer like the day we felt forgiven and the burden lifted.

G. They had passed from love into routine. Did you come today out of routine or out of passion? Your routine is your deception, and it will make the Lord cease to interest you as the years pass.

H. That happens when a person hears himself sounding like a theologian and talks and talks until he is a know-it-all: that shouts that you are spiritually dead.

I. For whoever seeks God spiritually has not much to say: there are miracles to do, a captive to set free, a sick person to pray for, someone who needs a word of encouragement.

IX. The warning to Ephesus and the promise

A. Remember from whence thou art fallen.

B. Repent.

C. And do the first works. For with time we grow "educated" and begin selecting who will be saved and who will not; and by then we are lukewarm.

D. At the beginning it was easy: going house to house in the neighborhood, where there was nothing to show off, praying for a sick man and seeing him healed at once. That is knowing miracles and loving them.

E. "Or else I will remove thy candlestick out of his place": it would lose its place as a spiritual church.

F. "To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God": a promise of eternal life.

X. What happened afterward, and the application

A. In time the church of Ephesus disappeared, and today the city lies in ruins. Sardis disappeared. A church can be strong and then go out.

B. There are lives already gone out: they worship, but nothing moves them. When the day darkens, they will see that it is not the music that holds a person up.

C. What holds you up is when you pray and when you repent of what must be repented of, instead of letting it pass because you think yourself strong.

D. And one day death comes; and the trouble with death is that one does not know it, and thinks himself alive.

E. If the first love is lost, what is left is survival. Walk the island and see how many churches are closed: but it is not a question of numbers, it is a question of the calling.

F. To love again as at the beginning: that is what Ephesus and Sardis could have done. And the promise is the tree of life in the kingdom of heaven.

G. Watch what is yours: your life, your house, your children. Sardis fell because the soldiers did not keep watch.

H. Revelation stands there to be read, so that one holds before him that there is an eternal life, that one must fight, and that if you do not strive, the grief will be in the church.