A Union general in the Civil War named Gen. William Nelson, was primarily focused with the battles occurring in and around Kentucky. It was there he ended up being shot, mortally, in the chest. He had faced many battles, but the fatal blow came while he was relaxing with his men. Therefore he was caught fully unprepared. As men ran up the stairs to help him, the general had just one phrase, “Send for a clergyman; I wish to be baptized.” He believing that baptism was in some way an addition to salvation, fretted greatly. Eternity was now looking him in the face. He never had time as an adolescent or young man. He never had time as a private or after he became a general. And his wound did not stop or slow down the war. Everything around him was left virtually unchanged, except for the general’s priorities. With only minutes left before he entered eternity, the one thing he cared about was preparing for eternity itself. Thirty minutes later he was dead.
It is the same with sadly too many believers today. They are too busy to recognize the true condition of their spiritual lives. It was while the General was resting when the fateful shot occurred. It is also so for us. When we slack, we are most vulnerable. What exactly causes to coast? Of course our flesh wants to back off that which is difficult. We know the world around us wants us to back off and run at the pace they are in relation to God’s churches, God Himself, and His word. But there is another factor isn’t there? It could very well be that your spiritual life is dead or deadened. This is, of course, the worst case scenario. It is one of the most devastating commentaries of all the scripture, and one which we must look into. Nothing scares me more than ‘Ichabod’ (the glory of the Lord has departed), and being lifeless. In reality, they are the same thing. If God does not ‘show up’, all is lost and dead. These truth’s manifest themselves in the church of Sardis— “And unto the angel of the church in Sardis write; These things saith he that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars; I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead.” (Revelation 3.1)
The saddest of all truths here is that they were unaware of their spiritual condition. Doesn’t that awaken a renewed shock through your system? In fact the name “Sardis” means: “those renovated, or escaping”. Which is which for you and me today? Are we ‘renovating’, by repenting and change. Or are we the sad parallel to this church, ‘escaping’ the reality of our condition?
How would you like to be the guy who has to deliver these remarks? How would you like to be the one who pulls the curtain back and exposes that death, and lifelessness defines us. Jesus told John to write this and give to the “angel of the church…” Just as with Revelation 1.16 and 20, the stars and the angels are one and the same. “Angel” cannot refer to an angelic being, because they are not leaders in the Lord’s churches. “Stars” are also the Pastors or at least in some way the representative of the plurality of Pastors in the churches represented. As the stars are in the hand of Jesus, so are the Pastors. Jesus then, not us, has control. He is the one who says and doesn’t say what we do and don’t do. This may be exactly what is wrong with so many in church and their church as a whole today. What do you think? Think about the implications here. If the church is rebellious to the God-given authority presented by Christ, then death will eek in slowly at first, but then as a wave later. Bitterness and fear will permeate that assembly. Along with that, what do you think would happen if we, who are under this authority, decide to take matters in our own hands? What if we, in our best intellect and skill, do church the way we think it best to be done? You got it—death!
This was a church who had a reputation of “alive”. But from who’s perspective? Reputations are not to be trusted. I was told once of a man who was not to be ‘messed with’, once I met him I realized that was not the case at all. When I enquired from the ones who gave me this information, they told me he was always that way…in high school…thirty years earlier! Wow! You have got to be kidding me. I learned quite early that reputations are slanted, biased, and often flooded with humanism. The reality, past the human biased judgment is, God knows. He said so here— “I know thy works…” Yes He does. He knows what no one can know but Him. We will deceive ourselves. We will believe what fits our own preconceived narrative. We are not to be trusted when it comes to ourselves. But God, who is Alpha and Omega, knows. Jesus shows us the basis of Himself in this letter as He has done with the other letters we have covered in this study, “Change Now”. In all of them we see Him manifested in different ways. He shows us Himself here as: “…saith he that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars…” Who else can say that? No one. So when He says it’s a certain way… it is!
Everyone knows this church to be of life! But Jesus says they are chocked full of lifeless professions. They are (right now) dead! He didn’t say they are on life support, nope. He said they are dead! Why would that not evoke you to CHANGE NOW. What exactly? Everything if necessary. What could be worse than death? The word death here simply means: ‘separation’. Separated from what or whom? Jesus. To be a church of Jesus, but to be separated from Him, makes no sense at all. I wonder how many are like that today?
The church of Sardis did as some do today. They went through the formulated, dull routine of church. There was no overflowing spiritual life. there was no fire among them.
Do you know how long it takes a star’s light to reach us? The “Polar” star’s light takes 32 years to reach us. That would mean that when you go outside to look this evening and you see the Polar star twinkling above, it could have died and plunged into darkness 29 years ago and you would never know it. The light from it’s past is presently twinkling its way to your sight without any real life in it anymore. This is true about Sardis and all other Sardis churches today. The glorious past and the reputation of life of it’s past is the complacent enemy of life, and the maker of their present death. There is a smell of it when you’re around them. There is a pride and a nostalgia that permeates. There once was a time when they did this or did that, but no life exists today. There is still shine and polish, but no people. There is always a mirror in their hand, to look over their shoulder with ease to reminisce and ‘feel’ the warmth of the past life. That my friends is death.
Life on the other hand is present and accounted for. Life is Jesus Christ Himself. It’s Him with us. Warren Wiersbe wrote about John Wesley preaching his last sermon on Feb 17, 1791. “The following day, a very sick man, he was put to bed in his home on City Road. During the days of his illness, he often repeated the words from one of his brother’s hymns: I the chief of sinners am, But Jesus died for me! His last words were, “The best of all is, God is with us!” He died March 2, 1791. He knew at the last, what we must believe and act upon today— the very best is Jesus with us! No excuses folks. We know He can walk out as easy as He walked in. Just ask the lukewarm church of the Laodiceans. Jesus was outside still knocking to get in! Life is life when Jesus is manifested. Death is death when we are separated from Him. It is just that simple. Stop using excuses… you know when you’re close and when you’re not. You know when He’s there and when you just went through the motions.
It is evident this Sardis church had some false professions. The unsaved were comfortable staying unsaved and yet being involved with this church in an intimate way. Something is very strange about that even to this day. I in no way want anyone uncomfortable around me when I want them to be gloriously saved. I think we should always strive to have a pleasant demeanor. This though is not the problem at Sardis nor in churches now is it? The truth, the Gospel, and the life of Christ lived through us is both attractive and offensive at the same time. The love, the shared vulnerability, and authenticity is what this world can’t offer like Jesus can through us. But the death of self, the breaking of pride, and the repentance of a sinner, is most often overwhelming to say the least. This dead church of Sardis had some who were still alive, which we will cover next time. But the majority wasn’t even alive anymore. Something was amuck. The stench of death was there and yet they had grown nose deaf. They had grown use to the smell of death.
God help us! I mean that with all I could possibly explain to you in this format… God help us! We must become a desperate bunch. Desperate for Him. Who cares about the religion of it all; who cares about the form or functionality; who cares about the precision or performance… if Jesus is not with us or pleased?