Revelation 3:1-6

And seven stars, I know your works.

You have the reputation of being alive when you are dead.

Wake up and strengthen what remains and is about to die,

for I have not found your works complete in sight of my God.

Remember, then, what you received and heard.

Keep it and repent.

If you will not wake up, I will come like a thief,

and you will not know at what hour I will come against you.

Yet, you have still a few names in Sardis,

people who have not soiled their garments,

and they will walk with me in white, for they are worthy.

The one who conquers will be clothed thus in white garments,

and I will never cast his name out of the book of life.

I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels.

He who has near, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

When I was a kid, our family took a vacation to California once,

and while we were there, we went to this church called the Crystal Defeat Room.

When it was built, it was the largest glass building in the world,

10,000 paintings of glass, specially built to withstand 8.0 earthquake.

It seated 3,000 people for multiple services on Sundays.

The pastor was in the National TV program,

and when we went there, we saw their concert production.

It included live donkeys, lambs, goats, peacocks, a camel, and even a tiger.

It was quite impressive.

Five years ago, that same church filed for bankruptcy and sold their building.

Churches rise, and churches fall.

Sometimes churches begin with great energy and vigor,

and sometimes churches decline and eventually collapse.

But very often, there's a current time in the middle

when a church appears to be lively and actively outside,

and on the inside, it's falling apart.

And this is the case for the church in Sardis.

And this letter is written to you.

The first one said they had a reputation or a name of being alive,

but in reality, they were dead.

There was an appearance of vitality and activity

and a reality of complacency and compromise.

Tonight, we'll be at Jesus' words to this church

that looked very impressive on the outside,

and on the inside, it was dying.

So if you want to look at this letter in two parts,

we make those parts.

First, the warning that Jesus gives in verses 2 and 3,

and second, the promise that he extends in verses 4 and 5.

So first, the warning that Jesus gives in verses 2 and 3.

Now, a little bit of background.

The city of Sardis had an impressive history.

In the 6th century B.C., it was one of the most powerful cities

in the ancient world.

It was the capital of an ancient kingdom called Lydia.

It explained the thing was it was the first city

to make gold and silver coins.

They mined gold from the river nearby,

and they claimed to have invented the process for dying gold.

The city was also in a powerful location.

It was on top of a 1,500-foot cliff.

Now, look at Eastrop that way.

That's four times the height of Eastrop.

And the city was on top of the cliff,

but on three sides.

It had these very steep cliff sides,

and only one side was a way to reasonably approach it.

And so it was almost impossible to attack and conquer.

Sometimes people would say,

that would be like a conquering Sardis,

which meant that's impossible.

The city also expanded.

It had both an upper site and a lower site.

It had a leader, a stadium, a temple.

It had a great reputation.

But by the time this letter was written,

Sardis had gone into some decline.

There was a magnificent temple,

column 60 feet high,

that's about as high as the ceiling,

built in the ancient world.

It had been destroyed,

and it was only half rebuilt,

and it was never fully rebuilt.

Standing in the middle of the city,

half rebuilt.

1817, there was a catastrophic earthquake.

Much of the city was destroyed,

and the city was rebuilt.

It only was held five years,

so that's the relief funds from the Roman Emperor.

But it never achieved its former glory.

It never got back to its glorious past.

And Jesus is saying to the church of the city,

he's saying beware,

because the same thing can happen to your city,

can also happen to your church.

It gives a strong warning.

There's five things that the Denver Church,

two and three systems,

five commands,

imperatives,

wake up,

strengthen our veins,

remember,

keep,

repent.

It's an urgent message,

sort of like a fire alarm.

It's not pleasant to hear.

Eminent danger,

immediate response required,

wake up.

Jesus is saying,

it's possible to have an impressive appearance.

Glorious history,

awesome films,

and all kinds of exciting stuff going on.

Even think about our own church.

Turn together,

glorious history.

We have a pretty cool story.

You can read it on our website.

15 years ago,

the church was about to close.

There were 20 or 30 people,

and I brought a new pastor,

this is the right time,

and brought new life to this church.

It's a pretty cool history.

They're just pretty neat building.

Right?

If you like to take glass windows,

they're pretty good at staying glass windows.

They're exterminators.

They're,

you know,

they're a special kind.

They weren't in very many places.

Right?

We've got all kinds of exciting stuff going on.

New people coming into town.

Young families having kids.

a great pastor,

John Stav,

excited to be through.

But the question is,

for our church,

or for any church,

where does all of our activity come from?

Is our activity,

is it rooted in a life-based relationship with Jesus,

or is it motivated

by all kinds of other temporary motivations?

You know,

people come to church,

and do church stuff

for all kinds of reasons.

Here's just a few.

Some people,

some kids don't please their parents,

right?

That'll last until you grow up

and leave the house,

if that's the reason.

Some people come and please their

boyfriend or girlfriend.

That'll last until you break up

or you decide you can please

your boyfriend or girlfriend

in other ways,

and so it doesn't matter

too much about the church.

Some people come with their loan,

and more.

Nothing better to do.

Well,

that'll last until you find a job,

or find a new hobby,

or find something else

you want to do on Sundays.

Some people come

because they want to have power

and be respected

in coming to church.

Maybe not sometimes in Goodhaven,

maybe not in parts of the world,

in parts of the country.

That's the thing to do.

That's the perspective of the thing to do.

Some people come

because they're desperate.

Right?

Some people realize,

my life is falling apart,

I don't have any money,

I'm going to come on the verge

of being homeless,

and I need help,

I need to pray,

I need to go to church.

And then a couple months later,

their life gets better.

What happens?

Right?

Some people come

because they've been going to church

and prevented them

from having to deal with,

it'll be sort of like a lucky charm.

I went to church this Sunday,

I'll be okay this week.

Nothing really bad will happen to me.

But then what if something

really bad does happen to you?

You're going to get angry,

you're not going to leave.

You see, all those motivations

are temporary.

They don't last.

Now, I just don't want to sleep.

Why do I come to church?

Maybe it's one of those weeks,

I mean, to be honest,

right?

I mean, I started coming to church

before I knew it

with my parents' property.

I had no choice in that.

Right?

None of us start coming to church

for purely God-centered reasons.

We all come

for a mixed reason.

But the question is,

over time,

what does your reason become?

And if you begin to see

that Jesus Christ

is the greatest treasure

in all the world,

He's the holy and awesome

King of the universe,

He's our merciful

and faithful

Savior

and advocate,

you begin to see that.

Then,

you will begin to have

a truly lasting motivation

to come to church

and participate

in church activities.

And,

for the rest of your life.

because you'll be

abiding in Jesus,

that's what the Bible

calls it,

abiding in Jesus.

Jesus said,

I'm the vine,

you are the branches,

and you abide in me

like a branch

is connected to the vine

and have my life

flowing into you,

then you'll bear

the fruit,

and the fruit

will last.

That's what Jesus says.

It's a true life

in a church

that has to come from

abiding in Jesus Christ.

And you can motivate people

in all kinds of other ways.

But all those other ways

are eventually

are only going to be tempered.

And they won't matter.

So Jesus is warning

this church in Sarnis.

He says,

I know it hurts.

You're doing all kinds of stuff.

It looks really impressive

on the outside.

You've got a great reputation.

And I see the inside.

And you're not abiding

and rooted in

the life of Jesus.

Verse 2,

he says,

I've not found

your works complete

in the sight of my God.

And I say,

what does that mean?

I mean,

really,

aren't all our works

in the sight of heaven?

Well,

in one sense,

yes.

In another sense,

no.

In that same chapter,

John 15,

where Jesus is talking about

abiding in Him

as the mind,

he says,

this is like women

that you love

and others

that you enjoy,

saying be,

complete

or full.

So when we abide in Jesus,

when we obey

and love each other,

He gives us

a fullness

and a complete

joy.

Or in James,

it says,

testing your faith

and persevere

and let persevere

and finish its work

so you'll be

mature and complete.

See,

the problem

with the church

in Sardis

is that they

weren't persevering

in Jesus.

They weren't

abiding in Jesus,

so they didn't have

that completeness

of joy,

that completeness

that God

builds in us

as we persevere

and as we

abide in Jesus.

It seems like,

it seems like

what happened

is the church

in Sardis

just sort of

blended into

the pagan society

that they lived in.

And the way

temple opened their city,

it wasn't a temple

just wanted to God,

it was a temple

of the hearts

of the Greek

pagan gods.

And it seemed

like in this pagan city

the churches

just wanted to

blend in.

And if you notice,

all the letters

you've read so far

in the other four

churches,

Ephesus,

Philadelphia,

Thyatira,

Pergamum,

all four of those

churches were

experiencing opposition

from the outside.

Or,

some false teachers

tried to undermine

from the inside

in Sardis,

there's no reference

to either of those.

they don't seem

to be facing

any opposition

from the surrounding

altar,

from the surrounding

world,

and they don't seem

to be having

any false teaching

that's destroying

the church,

but they just

were pointing in.

So,

they're not facing

opposition

because they're

just,

you can't really

tell them

to be different.

So,

Jesus says,

wake up,

spread the wrong

names.

Then he says,

remember and repent.

He tells them

how to find

life again.

And what he

basically says is,

go back to where

you started.

Remember what you

received and heard.

If you get lost

in the woods,

I don't know if

you've ever been

lost in the woods,

what the same

thing to do

is to retrace

your steps

until you find

a landmark

that you recognize.

you're lost

on the roads,

right,

my tendency is,

I'm going to

find a shortcut,

right?

There's a triangle

over here,

I'm going to

find a shortcut.

And it never

works.

Right?

Sometimes,

when I was

dating my wife,

we were up

with my family

in the White

Mountains

in New Hampshire,

we went for a

drive,

watched the sunset,

and we were

driving on this

road,

and I thought,

we've gone here,

we're over here,

we just need to

go here.

And I led us

through a dirt

road,

saw a moose,

and it was

not best,

it was a couple

weeks before I

was riding on the

road,

it wasn't quite

the best thing

that I did,

to show my

trustworthiness,

right,

and wisdom,

or my

stubbornness,

we wanted to

get it home,

but,

anyway,

go back to

where we

started,

and he said,

remember what

you received

and heard.

So,

all the facts

mean,

remember the

gospel,

Jesus Christ

is what he

said,

right?

They received

a message

about Jesus,

who lived,

who died,

who rose again,

who ascended

to heaven,

who ascended

in his Holy

Spirit,

he said,

remember that.

Remember the

thing that

first brought

you to life

as a Christian?

What was the

thing that

you first heard

and God did

something in your

heart and

who said,

and you woke

up and got

brought you to

life?

Remember that

message,

that first

brought you to

life,

and don't

never let it

go.

Don't ever

turn away

from it.

turn back

to the

Lord Jesus.

He said,

Luke,

the morning

in the section

of verse 3.

He said,

if you don't,

wait up.

If you will

come,

you're excused,

that here

this morning,

I will not

let you leave,

and you won't

know what hour

I can be

against you.

And the people

of Sardis

probably will

never let

you

back.

because twice

in your

street,

they are

an uncomfortable

city on top

of the cliff

that you

conquer.

And you

don't mind

having both

times,

because they

weren't watchful.

Right?

In the

90s,

Persians had

a really good

rock climb.

And he

climbed up

the face

of the cliff

where nobody

expected it to,

and he

found his

way inside

the city

and then

he ran

to the gate

and opened

the gate

for the

army to

come in.

And they

were coming.

And then,

300 years

later,

it happened

again.

The Greeks

sent 15

guys who

climbed up

into the

wreckage.

And again,

they thought,

ah,

they're going

to come up

that way.

It's a park.

We're just

flying up

off this hill.

Nobody's

ever going to

talk for us

until they

did once

before a

long time

to go out.

It's just

300 years

ago.

Yes,

it did.

It's the

same thing

that we

used to

spiritually.

But the

church

died.

And you

know,

if you're

in church

history,

there are

some churches

that have

actually

been wiped

out.

Christians

called

historians

complicated

and they

went to

China

in the

7th

century

and

established

Christian

churches

in the

7th

cities

of China.

But 200

years later,

they were

completely

extinct.

And the

reason

that they

died out,

is the best

thing you can

know,

is they

lost

their

Christian

distinctiveness.

they

became

dependent

on favors

from the

Chinese

emperor,

and then

the emperor

turned against

them,

and they

didn't have

the strength

to stand

on their

persecution.

And they

blended

with

Buddhism and

Taoism.

And they

lended them

so much

that you

couldn't

really tell

what was

Christian

anymore.

They

lost their

pursuit of

distinctiveness

and so

they

were wiped

out.

They

didn't

last.

Many

other

examples

in

church

history.

So

Jesus

gave a

strong

warning

to this

church.

That's

the first

part of

his message.

But he

doesn't just

give them

a warning.

In

verse 4-5

he also

gives out

a glorious

promise.

Verse 4-5

he says

yet

you have

still

a few

names

and starts

people who

have not

soiled

their

garments.

Now

first one

he's speaking

to the

church

as a

reputation

that's

the same

orphan.

You have

a name

as a

whole

as a

group.

You have

a name

of people

like

you're

dead.

But

then

he says

within

this

church

that

there's

a few

names

a few

people

who

still

have

a

life

human

relationship

with

me.

They

haven't

soiled

their

garments.

What does

that mean?

A lot of

phrases in

your

relationship

that you

create

that

you

are

like

what

does

that

exactly

mean?

Well

imagine

the

cross

prepared

for

wedding

day.

She's

standing

right

back

in that

way.

Doors

are

closed.

Using

display

to try

to make

her

possessing

in.

She

looks

stunning

and

glorious.

She's

been

terribly

prepared.

She got

her hair

done

that

morning.

Her

cousin

is

standing

right

up

the

earth.

They

could

walk

you

for

this

moment

where

they

reunited

as

husband

and

wife.

And

she

looks

out

the

window

and

she

sees

a

$20

bill

blowing

across

the

sidewalk

of

the

wind

and

it

drops

into

the

sewer

drain.

And

she

goes

out

the

door

and

pulls

out

the

cover

of

the

sewer

drain

and

starts

descending

down

into

the

sewer

to

get

that

$20

bill.

And

if

you

saw

her

doing

that

and

say

you're

insane

what

are

you

doing

wake

up

why

did

you

give

up

the

precious

of what

you

have

for

something

that's

so

relatively

worthless

and

that's

what

Jesus

says

to

Christians

who

be

clothed

in the

righteousness

of Jesus

and

who

run

and

embrace

sin

he

says

that's

insane

are you

are you

defiled

are you

cultivating

the beauty

of your

relationship

with Christ

by

embracing

something

that's

contrary

to

you

instead of

trying to

be

care

because

this is

the beauty

and

sorrows

who

remember

and who

haven't

forgotten

how

precious

it is

to

belong

to

Jesus

and

despite

the

abathy

complacent

most

of the

people

in

their

church

to

say

that

is

one

of

their

perfect

now

it

doesn't

mean

they

are

perfect

first

we

ought

to

say

they

are

worthy

of

our

life

are

any

just

worthy

have

anybody

done

smaller

garments

it doesn't

mean

they're

perfect

and

flawless

in

every

way

but it

does

mean

they

held

on

to

Jesus

despite

pressure

to

give

up

they

live

lives

and

live

to

God

call

us

to

be

as

believers

right

not

as

we

worthy

of

grace

somebody

said

grace

only

but

Paul

says

the

living

life

worthy

of

the

gospel

and

Paul

says

throughout

his

letters

in fact

all

he

prays

may

our

God

be

worthy

of

his

calling

to

call

him

as

Christians

and

sometimes

God

he

described

as

worthy

group

of

Boaz

described

as

worthy

people

in other

words

faithful

people

people

call

to

be

perfect

we're

called

to

hold

on

not

keep

our

eyes

on

Jesus

Paul

he

says

in

verse 5

he

says

he

can't

hold

the

top

he

can't

fall

down

but

you

don't

just

lay

there

as

you

can

come

to

Jesus

and

lay

to

up

he

keeps

you

going

so

Jesus

has

three

promises

in

verse 5

they're

all

in

common

persevere

overcome

verse 5

the one

he

conquers

will be

closed

like this

in white

garments

that's

promise

number

one

second

I

will

never

call

his name

on

the

life

third

I

will

confess

his name

before

my

father

before

his name

he

tried

to

have

a

name

people

like

instead

there's

few

names

who've

been

faithful

and

Jesus

saying

his

promise

I

will

never

block

your

name

I

will

come

I

will

confess

his name

so

three

promises

close

in

white

garments

promises

one

day

we'll

leave

as

a

church

the

pride

of

Jesus

he

clothed

in

his

Christ

and

his

church

and

joy

you

know

back

to

us

just

now

don't

you wear

white

clothes

to a

wedding

you

can

ride

more

like

back

that

soon

or

you

know

white

to

the

world

to

the

world

to

the

world

to

the

military

victory

you

wear

white

you

first

step

back

into

the

city

and

the

great

peace

to

Jesus

saying

that we

clothed

white

garments

you'll

share

in

my

joy

in

my

eternal

victory

hold on

that's the first promise

of eternal joy

the second promise

won't be plotted out

with the broken

fire

you know

in each

Roman city

there was a list

of a register

of citizens

and when you

were born

a citizen

or when you

became

citizens

your name

was written

down

in that book

when you

died

your name

will be

erased

or if you

were good

reason

or some

other

act

deserving

definitely

your name

will be

erased

in the old

testament

there's a similar

idea that

God

has a book

and written

in that book

are all

the names

of his

righteous

people

the people

who belong

to him

and Jesus

promises

while

overcome

the way

you

make it

to the

end

your name

will never

be erased

from that

book

not to the

death

right

if you live

in

Sarnis

or a citizen

of Sarnis

you die

in grace

Jesus

says

your citizens

of my

heavenly kingdom

none

not to the

death

and separate

you

from

belonging

to me

and being

part of my

kingdom

forever

he gave that

a promise

third

promise

that would

confess

his name

to the

poor

father

and his

angels

the angels

are like

the armies

of heaven

and Jesus

made the same

promise

on earth

and his disciples

that everyone

who acknowledge

people for men

or confess

people for men

I also

will be

acknowledged

and profess

what my

father

is heaven

when I

graduated

from college

I'm the dean

of my college

all these

names

of the graduates

one by one

walked forward

received our

diplomas

from birth

took her

hand

she said

you are

now

behind all

the rights

and privileges

and responsibility

to the graduate

of this

college

now

I don't

know

maybe

you've

been in

a lot

of

graduations

sometimes

they get

boring

maybe they

don't

send

them

out

but

they're

long

long

speeches

they're

a little

boring

most people

you don't

know

why do you

go to

graduation

why do you

travel

thousands of

months

and help

every spring

to New Haven

to attend

college or

high school

or other

graduations

why do you

care

do you care

because you

come for one

person

you come to

see them

walk up to

the front

and have

your name

called

and be

publicly

honored

and publicly

recognized

and publicly

given

the

degree

they

will

receive

something

special about

what Jesus

is saying

is that

there's going

to be

a graduation

and all

renovations

and King

Jesus

is going

to

stop

one

night

he

is going

to

be

the

names

of

all

these

people

who have

been

in his

grace

that

go

forth

and he

will

confess

that

before

his

father

in

heaven

before

the

angels

before

the

arms

in

heaven

before

all

creation

years

can

saying

so

live

that

jesus

to call our enemies.

He will give us

the opportunity

that he will say,

you're my children.

You can now

rule with me

in the new creation,

in the new heavens,

in the new earth.

That's the promise.

You see, Jesus gives a strong warning

to this church.

That's all the sleep church

that's doing all this stuff

that they've lost

from the name of Jesus

as a whole.

And he says,

if you have to make faithful,

hang in there.

And he says,

if everyone in the Lord comes,

I'll give this promise.

Because we're part of

anything you can have this world.

Hold on.

Whoever has a year,

let's hear.

The Spirit says

that the church is blessed.

Let's pray.

Father,

we thank you for this word

to the church at Sardis.

We thank you for that

you speak to us,

both as individuals

and as a church body.

Lord, we pray that

we would listen to the warning,

take it seriously,

and pray that we would,

that it would,

that we would not just guard it.

Lord, we pray that

we would remember

what we have seen at the time,

and hold on,

and never let it go.

And Lord,

we pray that we would

fix our eyes

and pray promises.

Lord, we thank you that

we promise

it's greater than anything else

in this world.

We pray that we would

treasure you above all of us.

We would say we pray.

Amen.