* All scriptures within this study are linked to BibleGateway.com using the "NIV".
Are you attending a "dead" church? The Lord's letter to Sardis can shed light on dealing with a church that thinks it is alive, and yet truth has died within its walls.
In our Revelation series, "When The Lamb Stands," we come to the section of the Church Age when the institutional church, coming out of the Dark Ages, is close to spiritual death. Barely a flicker of life remains. Without a wake-up call, the majority of those who called themselves Christians would be surprised and unprepared for sudden judgment--and arise to find themselves on the wrong side of eternity! Humanity must often experience near death before realizing they have slipped into darkness because the slide into error is so gradual. The lights nearly go out before the complacent take notice.
SARDIS [Revelation 3:1-6]--The Dead Church/The Reformation Age, AD 1520 to AD 1750
The letter to the church of Sardis marks the fifth stage in the historical progression of the Church Age. In the preceding age, Thyatira, we saw the years of political corruption and the societal challenges of the Dark Ages result in spiritual lethargy by AD 1520 when the age of Sardis begins. Sardis is challenged to confront its inherited spiritual lethargy before the church dies entirely. What resuscitates a dying church? The infusion of truth through the Holy Spirit. God uses a remnant of outspoken spiritual reformers such as Martin Luther, John Calvin, John Knox and Huldrych Zwingli to light a tiny flame in the darkness. But their reforms eventually fan into great light and usher in the next age of evangelistic revival.
Because of the courageous efforts of such men, this age is known as The Reformation Age. The reformers risked their lives against the religious hierarchy to bring the original teaching of the Apostles back to the center of the Church of Jesus Christ. The word "Protestant" comes from the word "protestor." The large main-line Protestant denominations of our day came out of the reform movements of this church age.
To illustrate this age, our Lord sent His letter to Sardis, the city of John's day--a fortified military center on a high acropolis hill. Because of its lofty position, the city thought itself nearly invincible. The city of Sardis could be entered from only one easily defended approach. However, their over-confidence would be their downfall. This miss-placed pride would also characterize the Sardis era of the Church Age that placed their confidence in past glory more than Christ.
Sardis became a trade center known for fine harvested wool garments. Artemis, a nature goddess, and her religion of death and rebirth, was the main religion of the city. Wicca, or witchcraft, is an example of a pantheistic [all things are "god"], nature-based religion gaining popularity today. Hinduism is an example of an Eastern religion that teaches reincarnation--their belief in death and then rebirth in another form. Hinduism is finding wide-spread acceptance in the west in the practice of Yoga, a religious discipline that encourages the alignment of the spirit and body with Hindu "spirits" or chakras. Although Yoga is touted as a good way to exercise and reduce stress, even in Christian circles, those who follow the religion of Hinduism know the discipline of Yoga cannot be separated from the religion itself. To practice Yoga is to invite demonic spirits of a false religion into your spirit house.
Sardis had another claim to fame. At its zenith, it was noted for its extreme wealth. Coins were first minted in Sardis. Its last prince was the wealthy Croesus who was captured by Cyrus the Great of Persia. Croesus was touted as the wealthiest man in the world; everything he touched supposedly turned to gold. The phrase "rich as Croesus" comes from this historical figure. However, wealth could not prevent the fall of Sardis through a weakness in their defenses. They were conquered by the Persians, by Alexander of Greece, by Antiochus the Great of Greece, and finally by the Romans. Although the wealth and power of Sardis was past when John sent the Lord's letter, Sardis was filled with pride not evidenced by their present situation. We would do well to remember that wealth can not save us.
The Salutation: Verse 3:1--...Him who holds the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. This salutation is similar to the title Christ uses to the church in Ephesus with one important difference. For Ephesus, He holds the seven stars, indicating he is the keeper of the Church and holds its ministers in His right hand. But notice that regarding Sardis, He also holds the seven spirits in the same hand. The seven spirits describes the fullness of the Holy Spirit as we saw in Revelation 1:4. The picture is complete--Christ holds the fullness of the Holy Spirit in the hand in which He also holds the ministers of the churches.
The message is clear: It is the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of truth, that is lacking in Sardis and in the Age as a whole. The Spirit is the life blood of the church; its lack is why the church is near death--and an immediate transfusion is absolutely necessary. The Lord holds the ministers accountable to teach truth, and at the same time reminding the church that He is the source of all truth in the person of the Holy Spirit. In the Age of Sardis, the Reformers alone will grasp the need for truth infusion; the majority of church leaders will not.
No Commendation for Sardis: The Lord speaks of knowing their works or "deeds," but their works are good only in their eyes, not His. He places such works under the "complaint/condemnation" category. At least Thyatira still had commendable works; but by the time of the Reformation, the church itself evidenced only dead works from long practice of self-righteous works-righteousness...
The Complaint/Condemnation: Verse 3:1b-3-- I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead. Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your deeds complete in the sight of my God. Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; obey it, and repent.
Their deeds are not complete because Christ was not in them. The Lord saw Sardis as a nearly dead congregation populated by unredeemed unregenerate people--incapable of producing good works as evidence of salvation. They existed on memories of past glories, when Sardis was wealthy and the capital city of the ancient civilization of Lydia. But pride was miss-placed. The Lord advises them to "remember...what you have received and heard." They needed a reality check! They needed to remember truth, not humanistic accomplishment. They had been taught the Apostolic teaching but had slipped into outward religious form without substance. To this church He says REPENT. To repent means to turn around and go in the right direction. Even at the moment of "death," the Lord in His mercy will receive a repentant soul. Even at the point of death, a church can return to life through the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit.
Every dead church is called to wake up to truth and repentance.
God's formula for survival? REVIVAL.
God's formula for survival? REVIVAL.
The Warning: Verse 3:3b--But if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what time I will come to you.
There were only two times in Sardis' history that the city was actually captured, and each time it was because the guard, watching over the ONLY way into the city, fell asleep at his post. The Lord uses a warning that would be very relevant for the Sardis congregation. Don't YOU go to sleep. WAKE UP AND WATCH OUT! This time, it is not a city that will be lost--but eternal souls. The Lord is issuing a wake-up call. If the church is sleeping, they will not be prepared for sudden judgment. They will be surprised when He comes, like a householder is surprised by the thief that comes in the night. [1 Thessalonians 5:2; 2 Peter 3:10]
Warren Wiersbe says, "The message to Sardis is a warning to all 'great churches' that are living on past glory. Dr. Vance Havner has frequently reminded us 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!"
Why is there hope? Because of the REMNANT--the reformers of every age who rely on the Holy Spirit for truth.
Praise and Promise: Verse 3:4-6--"Yet you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes. Overcomers [believers] will be dressed in white.
Even in dead Sardis, the Lord has a "few" believers, a remnant. Even a few can effect an entire age when the Holy Spirit works through them. These are "dressed in white." Sardis was known for its fine wool garments, some of which were bleached white. The Lord promises that believers will wear His white raiment, which represents His worthiness/holiness.
He also promises "I will never erase his name from the book of life..." The Book of Life in scripture is subject to different interpretations. MacArthur defines the Book of Life as "A divine journal [that] records the names of all those whom God has chosen [elected] to save and who, therefore, are to possess eternal life....Under no circumstances will He erase those names...as city officials often did of undesirable people on their roles." This verse does not mean believers can lose their salvation once attained. The emphasis in the letter is not that names of believers CAN be erased, but that they CANNOT be erased. The Lord does not blot out names once elected for glory.
THE AGE OF THE REFORMATION, AD 1520 TO AD 1750
Just as Sardis was living on past glory, so the Church of the Reformation is rebuked for trying to live on past glory. "...you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead." The Reformation and work of the reformers is the glimmer of life in this Age. Why did the Reformation fail to do more to restore life to the Church?
* Protestant reformers were contending with the power of the Roman church. Because the Catholic church was in control of both politics and religion, they saw reform as a threat and were able to hinder its spread. Many reformers died at the stake or other forms of execution at the hands of the church.
* Until the invention of the printing press, the written Word was available only to a few. As the Bible was printed in the language of the common people and it could be read and discerned without the interpretation of the Roman clergy, truth began slowly to spread through the people and to re-vitalize Christianity.
* J. Vernon McGee highlights a doctrine the Protestant reformers did not recover in the Reformation--the doctrine of eschatology, or prophecy--the return of Jesus Christ. The study of future things did not re-enter mainstream Christianity until the turn of the century. The imminent return of Christ to Rapture the church and visit judgment on the earth is still ignored--even discredited--by major denominations of Christianity to this day. Their congregants are like the servants whom the Lord found sleeping at His return because they are not awake and watching. [Luke 21:28] The error of Sardis lives on.
* Some truths were not fully recovered because the Reformers focused on key doctrine that had fallen into heresy--such as the doctrine of saving faith. Ephesians 2:8-10 describes true saving faith as attainable by grace through faith in Jesus Christ alone, not of works. This true gospel had been eroded by the false teaching that salvation can be earned as a result of works righteousness.
* Other monumental truths that the reformers worked to restore were the authority of the Word of God over the human authority of the Pope and the doctrine of the total depravity of man, also known as in-born sin. These great reforms took precedence.
ARE THE GREAT TRUTHS RECOVERED IN THE REFORMATION BEING LOST TODAY? --The Error of Sardis Is Present in the Church Even Now:
Dr. J. V. McGee believes that the weakness of Sardis is evident in the Protestant church as it exists today. We are in need of reformation again--not a reformation that will re-invent the church; a reformation that will restore truth to its original Apostolic origins. McGee: "... the church today needs the Spirit of God working in it. We think we need methods, and we have all kinds of Band-Aid courses for believers in which you put on a little Band-Aid, and it will solve all your problems. What we really need to do is to get to the person of Christ whom only the Holy Spirit can make real and living to us."
*NOTE: The need for a return to Apostolic origins of Christianity mentioned in this article should NOT be confused with the deceptive leaders of the New Apostolic Reformation movement. This movement uses the same words but seeks to take the evangelical church in the direction of Dominion Theology. The movement seeks not to restore the authority of the Word of God and the Gospel of saving faith; rather they seek to reform the church by diminishing the importance of doctrine, even the Gospel, in order to establish a kingdom on earth that is more inclusive for the many... even though Christ taught continually that "many are called but few are chosen." These Dominionists believe the "Gospel of Salvation is achieved by setting up the 'Kingdom of God' as a literal and physical kingdom to be 'advanced' on Earth in the present age...They assign to the Church duties and rights that belong Scripturally only to Jesus Christ." [From the Lighthouse Newsletter, CrossTalk on WorldNetDaily Article - "Challenge to Dominion Leaders - The Gospel Should Come First!", June 14, 2010 Newsletter.] In this false movement, the role of the Church is elevated, usurping the plan of God to establish His Kingdom on earth at His physical return. He will accomplish this through the events outlined in The Revelation and employ Israel as a vehicle and the epicenter of His purpose, not the Church. The Church Age will end before the Millennial Kingdom is established literally on the earth. The article mentions examples of avenues in the evangelical church that are promoting the dominionist mindset in their programs, including the NAR, IHOP, the Purpose Driven programs of Rick Warren, many tenets of the emerging church movement, and the contemplative prayer movement. These avenues promote the agenda of the church through the "new spirituality" over the sovereign, eschatological program of Christ. Such humanistic and esoteric [secret] methods do more to promote the one-world government and one-world false religion of the Tribulation than they do the conversion of the lost through Bible truth. They help usher in the false christ rather than prepare the way for the true Christ's return.
For more on this destructive heresy hiding behind old terminology, go to the Lighthouse Trails Research Project web site and click on articles to research Dominion Theology: www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com [See also "New Apostolic Reformation," "new spirituality," "contemplative prayer," "New Age spirituality"]
McGee saw before his death that as in the dead church, the authority of the Word of God is again being lost in seminaries that teach that clergy can make their own determination as to whether a passage is literal, or symbolic. Truth is packaged as a "pick-and-choose" system instead of teaching a sound method of Bible interpretation. The doctrine of in-born sin is also being white-washed. Rules and regulations to live a "Christian" life are replacing repentance and regeneration through Christ Jesus. Tolerance of any belief has replaced absolute truth. Saddest of all is that justification by faith in Jesus Christ alone is being abandoned by a new works righteousness in the form of legalism. Faith is no longer enough; churches require ritualism, sacraments, and even church membership in addition to grace.
Warren Wiersbe also advises the church to seek revival through the Spirit of God, not through man-made programs. Wiersbe closes his commentary on Sardis as follows:
"The warning here is that we do not grow comfortable in our churches, lest we find ourselves slowly dying. The encouragement is that no church is beyond hope as long as there is a dedicated remnant in it, willing to strengthen the things that remain."
In Him We Wait, Work, and Watch,
[Luke 12:35-59]
Sharon
REFERENCES;
Be Victorious, Warren W. Wiersbe, Victor Books, 1985.
Revelation Volumes I, II, III, J. Vernon McGee, Thru The Bible Books, 1980.
Because The Time Is Near, John MacArthur. Moody Publishers, Chicago, IL 60610, 2007.
[Prophecy Chat is a weekly commentary of current events in light of Bible prophecy. Sharon L. Clemens is an evangelical, premillennial, dispensational teacher of eschatology. She can be reached for comment or questions by e-mail at farmgrove@frontier.com]
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