doc Committed to Excellence in Communicating Biblical Truth and Its Application Orcutt Christian Church

Transcription

1 doc Committed to Excellence in Communicating Biblical Truth and Its Application Orcutt Christian Church A Grace Driven Church for Grace Needing People! Rambling Round Revelation #11 The Lord's Church in Sardis Revelation 3:1-6 March 24, 2019 Communion: Ed Saunders Care Calling: Robert Domingo Host: The Saunders Saturday 3/23: Clean Up: Sharron Branco 1 I Love You LORD 78 2 Higher ground [ALL] Moment by moment [ALL] Doxology 5 The solid rock [ALL] You Are My All in ALL [ALL] Find Us Faithful [Once] 456 Revelation 3:1-6 (GW) 1 To the messenger of the church in Sardis, write: The one who has God's seven spirits and the seven stars says: I know what you have done. You are known for being alive, but you are dead. 2 Be alert, and strengthen the things that are left which are about to die. I have found that what you are doing has not been completed in the sight of my God. 3 So remember what you received and heard. Obey, and change the way you think and act. If you're not alert, I'll come like a thief. You don't know when I will come. 4 But you have a few people in Sardis who have kept their clothes clean. They will walk with me in white clothes because they deserve it. 5 Everyone who wins the victory this way will wear white

2 clothes. I will never erase their names from the Book of Life. I will acknowledge them in the presence of my Father and his angels. 6 Let the person who has ears listen to what the Spirit says to the churches. We have now come to the fifth of the letters which Christ wrote to the churches. And, frankly, this letter brought me to deep contemplation about my own relationship to the Risen Christ, and about our congregations commitment to our Lord Jesus. I went through our congregation and pictured you name and face, one by one, and held you in prayer. It is my estimation that we do have a spiritually healthy congregation, but we do have room for growth, don t we. Churches in the United States have entered a new season of ministry. Gone are the days when church attendance was a societal norm. For most of our American history, cultural and technological change was gradual, sufficiently paced for churches to lag only five to 10 years. Now churches are lagging 20 and 30 years as the speed of change increases dramatically. To many people, the church seems irrelevant. Between 6,000 and 10,000 churches in the U.S.A. are dying each year. That means around churches will close this week. The pace will accelerate unless our congregations make some dramatic changes. We are not hindered by external forces; we are hindered by our own lack of commitment, selflessness, and evangelistic urgency. For many churches the choice is simple: change or die. I am saddened that Korean Baptists, Korean Presbyterians, Korean Seventh Day Adventists have sent ordained ministers to Santa Maria to evangelize. I am saddened that African Anglicans have come to the U.S. to rescue the rapidly disintegrating Episcopal Church.

3 I am saddened that some denominations are so focused on being politically correct that they have forgotten why they came into being. So, as I read this fifth letter it caused me to take stock of my own life in Christ, and the life of our congregation. Let s see what we can learn and apply from this letter. I. What Do We Know About Sardis? We have no clues about its founding. What we know is that Paul preached in Ephesus in the hall of Tyrannus. And, Luke tells us in Acts 19:10 (NASB) 10 This took place for two years, so that all who lived in Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks. We assume then that during Paul's three years at Ephesus the church at Sardis was planted. The ruins of 1st century Sardis are located in Sart, which is in the Manisa Province or Turkey. Strategically located on a plateau on Mount Tmolus, it commanded the central plain of the Hermus Valley. On three sides, there were El Capitan like sheer cliffs that decended to the valley, making the ancient impossible to attack. It was the western terminus of the Persian Royal Road built by the Persian king Darius the Great (Darius I) in the 5th century BC. Darius built the road to facilitate rapid communication throughout his very large empire from Susa to Sardis. Mounted couriers were supposed to travel 1677 miles from Susa to Sardis in nine days; the journey took ninety days on foot. The Greek historian Herodotus wrote, "There is nothing in the world that travels faster than these Persian couriers. Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds."

4 Sardis was the capital of the flourishing Lydian kingdom of the 7th century BC and was the first city where gold and silver coins were minted. From about 560 to about 546 Sardis was ruled by Croesus, who was renowned for his great wealth and was the last king of Lydia. It was with Croesus that Sardis reached it s zenith, and it was Croesus that plunged it into disaster. Sardis was at the converging point of several inland roads. One road led northwest 32 miles to Thyatira and then on to Pergamum. Another ran west to Smyrna fifty-four miles away. A third ran east and out to Phrygia. A fourth road ran southeast 30 miles to Philadelphia. And the last road led southwest to Ephesus sixty-three miles away. So with all these roads going in and out of town there was lots of trade that that came through Sardis Sardis was a wealthy city. It was a center of the woollen trade for the entire region; and it was claimed that the art of dyeing wool was actually discovered there. You oftern hear of some acropolis, such as the The Acropolis of Athens, which is an ancient citadel located on a rocky outcrop above the city of Athens and contains the remains of the famous Parthenon. The word acropolis is from the Greek words ἄκρον (akron, "highest point, extremity") and πόλις (polis, "city") And remember that Sardis was built on a plateau 1500 feet above the valley. And here is a bit of interesting trivia. The Greek word Sardis is plural. The time came when the narrow space on the top of the plateau was too small for the expanding city. So people moved down into the valley and continued the city on the hill into the city in the valley.

5 And strange as it seems the name Sardis in Greek is really a plural noun, for there were two towns, one on the plateau and one in the valley beneath. Croesus was king of the Lydian Empire, a kingdom he built by conquering all the surrounding kings. It was huge. But he wanted more. Down south of Lydia was the Persian Empire under Cyrus the Great. Remember Cyrus? King Cyrus is important in Jewish history because it was under his rule that Jews were first allowed to return to Israel after 70 years of captivity. Well, Croesus decided to take over Persia. To get at the armies of Cyrus he had to cross the River Halys. He took counsel of the famous oracle at Delphi and was told: "If you cross the River Halys, you will destroy a great empire. In Croesus arrogance, he took it as a promise that he would annihilate the Persians. It never crossed his mind that it was a prophecy that the campaign on which he had embarked would be the end of his own power. He crossed the Halys, engaged Cyrus in battle, and was pulvarized. He beat a hasty retreat to Sardis, knowing that his citadel was untouchable, and that all he had to do was to retire to the impregnable citadel of Sardis, recuperate and fight again. He didn t anticipate that Cyrus would in turn attack Sardis. Croesus was licking his wounds up on the mountain when Cyrus and his battle hardened troops arrived at the base of Mt. Tmolus. Cyrus couldn t find a way to attack, and spent 2 weeks searching for a way, when he finally offered a very high reward to any in his army who could find an entry into the city. Now Croesus and his entire army are holed up in the upper Sardis, relaxing, knowing that to conquer the citadel was impossible. But one afternoon a Sardian soldier droped his helmet off the battlement, and he climbed over the wall and decended the sheer face of the cliff to retrieve it. One of Cyrus soldiers was watching when it happened.

6 He knew that if the Sardian could climb down and back up there was a way to gain entry, so he carefully memorized exactly how the descent and ascent was done. That night he led a hand picked company of Persian infantry up the sheer cliff, and climbed over the battlement. And to their amazement the entire town was unguarded. The Sardians thought themselves too safe to need a guard. Cyrus followed a deliberate policy. He forbade any Sardian to possess a weapon of war. He ordered them to wear tunics and actor's boots, instead of sandals. He ordered them to teach their sons lyre-playing, the song and the dance, and retail trading. Sardis had been flabby already but the last vestige of spirit was banished from its people and it became a city of degeneration. It vanished from history under Persian rule for two centuries. About 150 years later, one of Alexander the Great s generals, Antiochus besieged his rival who took refuge in the Sardian citedel. And history repeated it s self, so Sardis fell twice because they didn t watch. Remember the old proverb? If we don t learn from history s mistakes, we doom ourselves to repeat them. Sardis was bequeathed to Rome in 133 BC, and it became the metropolitan capital and center of judicial administration of the Roman province of Lydia. In A.D. 17 it was destroyed by an earthquake which devastated the area. Tiberius, the Roman Emperor, in his kindness remitted all tribute for five years and gave a donation of $13,500,000 towards rebuilding and Sardis recovered itself by the easy way. When John wrote his letter to Sardis, it was wealthy but degenerate.

7 Even the once great citadel was now only an ancient monument on the hill top. There was no life or spirit there. The once great Sardians were soft, and twice they had lost their city because they were too lazy to watch. In that enervating atmosphere the Christian Church too had lost its vitality and was a corpse instead of a living Church. II. Sardia: The Dead Church Christ says: 1 To the messenger of the church in Sardis, write: The one who has God's seven spirits and the seven stars says: Four messengers have delivered their letter, and there are three letters left. And when you read the contents that the letter to Sardis has, you must feel sorry for the messenger. The most tragic words identify the nature of this congregation you are dead. The congregation in Sardis was the very reverse of the church in Smyrna. Smyrna was put to death and yet lived. Sardis appeared alive and was dead. Dead. A. The Risen Christ is described in two phrases. 1. The one who has God's seven spirits We have already come upon this strange phrase in the first chapter. We are told exactly what that means. It denotes the Holy Spirit with his sevenfold gifts, an idea founded on the description of the Spirit in the Old Testament. Isaiah 11:1-2 (NASB) 1 Then a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse, And a branch from his roots will bear fruit. 2 The Spirit of the LORD will rest on Him, The spirit of wisdom and

8 understanding, The spirit of counsel and strength, The spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD. In this description of Christ, The Branch will have the Spirit of the Lord resting on Him as on the prophets, but permanently--not in a limited or temporary way. The Spirit is a gift resting on Him. The six aspects or ministries of the Spirit corresponds to the sevenfold Spirit in Revelation 4 and 5. Wisdom in the Old Testament is practical wisdom that carries out plans to successful completion. Understanding includes knowledge that enables one to distinguish right from wrong and truth from falsehood. Counsel includes the ability to make right decisions. Might or power means power to carry out his decisions. Knowledge here is the knowledge of the character and nature of God and his relationship with humankind. The fear of the Lord is a reverence that obeys Him and recognizes His right to our worship and adoration. It denotes the Spirit in his sevenfold operation. There are seven Churches, yet in each of them the Spirit operates with all his presence and power. The seven spirits signifies the completeness of the gifts of the Spirit and the universality of His presence. 2. The one who has the seven stars says The stars stand for the Churches and their angels. The Church is the possession of Jesus Christ. Many a time we act as if the Church belonged tous, but it belongs to Jesus Christ and all in it are His servants. In any decision regarding the Church, the decisive factor must be not what we wishes the Church to do but what Jesus Christ wishes to be done. B. Sardis, Past Splendor and Present Decay

9 The terrible accusation against the Church at Sardis is that, although it has a reputation for life, it is, in fact, spiritually dead. It was living it it's past glory. And there wasn't any sense of being relevant in the here and now. They were dead to the present. The New Testament frequently likens sin to death. Paul in speaking about widow s who really are widows, says: 1 Timothy 5:6 (NASB) 6 But she who gives herself to wanton pleasure is dead even while she lives. Remember The Prodigal Son s description Luke 15:24 (NASB) 24 for this son of mine was dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found. The Roman Christians are those who have been brought from death to life Romans 6:13 (NASB) 13 but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. Paul says that before we gave our lives to the Risen Christ Ephesians 2:1 (NASB) 1 And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, If, before we choose to follow God s terms of pardon, we are dead, then how are we made alive? Paul says Christ does the resurrection: Ephesians 2:5 (NASB) 5 even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), When we studied the letter to Ephesus, we learned that Ephesus lacked love. Sardis lacked life. Sardis was dead.

10 It lived entirely on it s past reputation. Sardis was the least favored of all seven churches. Jesus could find nothing to commend in the church. Lenski says Saris is like a leaking, sinking ship, and the captain and crew are sunk in dull lethargy...drowsy, sleeping eyes would see nothing and would let the dying go on until it would be too late to interfere. Christ says I know what you have done. You are known for being alive, but you are dead. III. We Can t become Complacent Hear our Lord say 2 Be alert, and strengthen the things that are left which are about to die. I have found that what you are doing has not been completed in the sight of my God. When John wrote his second epistle, he says 2 John 1:8 (NASB) 8 Watch yourselves, that you do not lose what we have accomplished, but that you may receive a full reward. If anything is to be rescued from the impending ruin of the Church in Sardis the Christians there must wake from their deadly lethargy be alert and keep watch. It has been said that "eternal vigilance is the price of liberty" and eternal watchfulness is the price of salvation. And, the Apostle Paul encourages us tp 1 Corinthians 16:13-14 (NASB) 13 Be on the alert, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. 14 Let all that you do be done in love. I suspect that the Sardian congregation forgot to hold on to true doctrines. We are told that we must be on the watch against false teaching. Jude 1:3 (NASB)

11 3 Beloved, while I was making every effort to write you about our common salvation, I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints. Why? Because of the same reason that Paul had to warn the Ephesian Elders. In Paul's last address to the elders of Ephesus he warns them Acts 20:28-32 (NASB) 28 "Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood. 29 "I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; 30 and from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them. 31 "Therefore be on the alert, remembering that night and day for a period of three years I did not cease to admonish each one with tears. 32 "And now I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified. We must always keep in mind that we are engaged in spiritual warfare, and keep alert against the wiles of the devil. Peter says 1 Peter 5:8-9 (NASB) 8 Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. 9 But resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world. The history of Sardis had its vivid examples of what happens to the congregation which is not watchful. Whose watch is slack. the powers which seek to seduce him from his loyalty to Christ. Often these attacks are subtle.

12 We must, therefore, be ever on the watch. I think the Sardian Congregation was so wrapped up in being complacent that they forgot one fundamental fact. Christ says Matthew 24:42-44 (NASB) 42 "Therefore be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming. 43 "But be sure of this, that if the head of the house had known at what time of the night the thief was coming, he would have been on the alert and would not have allowed his house to be broken into. 44 "For this reason you also must be ready; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think He will. You would think that after losing their city twice because they became complacent and forgetful that Christ was one day going to return and call them for an accounting, they would be on the alert. No one knows the day and the hour when for him or her eternity will invade time. Augustine says: "The last day is a secret, that every day may be watched." We should live every day as if it were our last. Our Lord says 2 Be alert, and strengthen the things that are left which are about to die. I have found that what you are doing has not been completed in the sight of my God. To whom is Christ speaking? He s speaking to the remnant that remain, that still have some life left in them. 3 So remember what you received and heard. Obey, and change the way you think and act. If you're not alert, I'll come like a thief. You don't know when I will come.

13 Wake up, strengthen what remains and,"remember therefore what you have received and heard." You've got to reach back. You've got to reach back and grab what you received and heard. What is that? What's He talking about? He's talking about the truth. He's talking about the revelation of God, doctrine, the Scriptures. Go back to the truth, remember what you received and heard when the truth was given to you, remember the gospel and the teaching of the apostles and the letters of Paul, and the rest of the epistles. By now they had certainly collected what had been written in the New Testament. Go back to Christ. Go back to His saving work. Go back to what you know is the truth. The truth is we have a mandate to carry out, and one which the Sardian congregation did not perform. Matthew 28:18-20 (NASB) 18 And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." The bottom line is that is or should be the entire focus of our congregation. There are people right here in Orcutt who are dying in their sin. And we know the truth they need. John 14:6 (NASB) 6 Jesus said... "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me. I suspect the Sardian congregtion didn t take that to heart. And when we do not evangelize, be begin to die. It s that simple..

14 Evangelize or die That s why we desperately need Bible Study, so we know what we believe and why we believe it, and can without embarrassment share our faith. And, that s why on our public information we state that every member here is a minister. At the same time we need to be equipping men to be preachers of the gospel. It's just what Paul said to Timothy 2 Timothy 2:2 (NASB) 2 The things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. So, I suspect that you and I are on the same page. We want Orcutt Christian Church to be serving here 60 years from now. So, we need to wake up, get involved, get alert. You want renewal in our church. Look and find out what's still alive here at Orcutt Christian Church and get on board with what's alive and strengthen it. And then look back and build yourself a foundation of sound doctrine. It is imperative that we not forget that Jesus Christ is watching us. The Risen Christ says I have found that what you are doing has not been completed in the sight of my God. Right here we are confronted with two great truths:. 1. Christ is looking for something from us. We so often regard him as the one to whom we look for things; for his strength, his help, his support, his comfort.

15 But we must never forget that he is looking for our love, our loyalty and our service. 2. The things we must do are right in front of us. The old saying is true: "Fate is what we must do; destiny is what we are meant to do." You see, we believe in a destiny which we can accept or refuse. From everyone of us Jesus Christ is looking for something; and for everyone of us there is something to do. Do you remember the day you finally made the decision to quit disobeying the Risen Christ? Do you remember that day when you finally said OK, Lord, I ll comply with your terms of pardon? Do you remember that day when you went under the water, and the thrill of being resurrected into a new life? Do you remember how thrilled you were when you shared that you had been immersed for the forgiveness of your sin and had been given the gift of the Holy Spirit? Well, Jesus is using the present imperative and it means: "Keep on remembering; never allow yourself to forget." The Risen Christ is telling the lethargic Sardians to remember the thrill with which they first heard the good news. It is a fact of life that certain things sharpen memory which has grown dull. When, for instance, we return to a graveside, the sorrow from which the years have taken the edge grows piercingly poignant again. Over and over the Christian must stand before the Cross and remember again what God has done for him. IV. The Power of Persistence The Risen Christ says

16 4 But you have a few people in Sardis who have kept their clothes clean. They will walk with me in white clothes because they deserve it. 5 Everyone who wins the victory this way will wear white clothes. I will never erase their names from the Book of Life. I will acknowledge them in the presence of my Father and his angels. Can you imagine the joy you will have when you hear Jesus tell the Father about you. I will acknowledge them in the presence of my Father and his angels. But what if we just choose to keep our faith to ourselves? What if we just do not share with those who need to hear the word of salvation? Matthew 10:32 (NASB) 32 "Therefore everyone who confesses Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father who is in heaven. In the story Jesus told about the tares in the field, He says Matthew 13:40-43 (NASB) 40 "So just as the tares are gathered up and burned with fire, so shall it be at the end of the age. 41 "The Son of Man will send forth His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all stumbling blocks, and those who commit lawlessness, 42 and will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 43 "Then THE RIGHTEOUS WILL SHINE FORTH AS THE SUN in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear. And those of us who have Changed the way we think and behave to please the Father, and Shared the fact that we believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God, and obeyed the command to be immersed and who keep on keeping on,

17 will be dressed in white. Dressed in white is scripturally a picture of the Christian who has lived a life pleasing to our Heavenly Father. White is most uniquely identified with purity. Now, look again at verse 6 6 Let the person who has ears listen to what the Spirit says to the churches. Jesus is saying to us, as well as to the congregation in Sardis, You better listen! Are you listening? You dead people who aren't saved, you're dead in trespasses and sins? You're going to be judged, you can't hide in the church, the Lord knows you, He sees you, He knows your condition, He knows you're dead, He's coming in judgment. You indifferent sleepy saints, wake up, strengthen what remains. Remember, reestablish the doctrinal foundation, commit yourself to obey, repent from your sins. John 14:21 (NASB) 21 "He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him." That's the message to Sardis. That s the message to you and I. Prayer and Invitation