Sardis: The Church of Unsaved Christians

It was in his play, The Merchant of Venice, that William Shakespeare first popularized the phrase that perhaps your mother said to you as you were growing old,

all that glitters is not gold.

Influenced by Shakespeare a couple of hundred years later, Tolkien writes in The Riddle of the Strider,

which is originally meant to be in partnership with The Fellowship of the Ring,

transforms that phrase somewhat, and he says this,

all that is gold does not glitter.

So you hear from Shakespeare, all that is glitter is not gold.

Just because something is shiny doesn't mean that it has value.

Tolkien takes it, flips it just a little bit, and he says all that is gold is not glitter.

In other words, something may seem drab and dull at first,

but is actually truly precious if you come to understand its reality.

Now what both of these men were hinting at, this proverb that they're hitting at at those moments,

is at the same truth, and that is that things are not always as they appear.

They're not always as they appear.

As many people discovered in the gold rush of the 1840s, the California gold rush,

something that seems like a precious metal to the trained eye,

to the one with knowledge, turns out to just be a worthless mineral pyrite, fool's gold.

The sermon to the church in Sardis applies this same truth to the Christian world.

A church that appears to be full of life can, in reality, be spiritually dead.

Because not everyone who professes to be a Christian is truly saved from sin,

is truly forgiven, is truly at peace with God through the work of Christ.

So it's possible then, and it's evidenced in the church of Sardis,

that a church can consist of unsaved Christians.

Jesus said it this way in Matthew chapter 7,

Matthew 7 · chapter mention

Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven,

but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.

On that day, that day of judgment, of reckoning,

that he refers to in this letter to Sardis,

on that day many will say to me,

Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name?

And cast out demons in your name?

And do many mighty works in your name?

And then will I declare to them,

I never knew you.

Depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.

In other words, all that glitters is not gold.

Not every professing believer has been reborn.

The church in Sardis is the last in a grouping of three churches

addressed in the middle of this section of chapters 2 and 3 of Revelation.

All three churches were dealing with the same issue,

but it was varying levels of spiritual compromise.

And their order, as we have discussed the last couple of weeks,

presents a progression of bad to worse.

The subtle compromise in Pergamum evolved into an overt compromise in Thyatira.

Sardis then, as the concluding church in this threefold grouping,

represents the final stage of development,

where compromise kills a church.

And interestingly, as we get through this sermon,

and as we think through it,

it's not that the congregation ceases to exist.

Deadness does not equate to non-existence.

Not every church that is dead is wiped away.

Sometimes that is the case.

That's not the case with Sardis.

Instead, the church continued under the banner of Christianity

without actually being Christian.

Now, there's two dominant themes in this particular message from Jesus

that we can't ignore.

The first is the divine omniscience of Jesus.

Omniscience meaning all-knowing.

He knows all things.

Jesus knows what is true of everyone and everything

and what appears to us, perhaps,

as a precious metal in terms of a Christian

or professing Christian or a professing Christian church.

Jesus knows to be fool's gold.

He's the one with the trained eye.

He's the one who knows the reality of all things.

That's the first theme.

Jesus knows.

The second dominant theme in this particular sermon

is the righteous judgment of Jesus.

The righteous judgment of Jesus.

The Lord Jesus knows all things truly.

Therefore, he judges all things righteously.

Do you see the connection between the two?

He knows all things truly for what they really are.

Therefore, his judgments are perfectly righteous.

They're always accurate.

He cannot be fooled.

So, his judgments are perfect.

Now, a key feature in dead churches

and among unsaved Christians, if we can use that term,

is self-deception.

We fool ourselves perhaps even faster than we would fool anyone else,

which is why passages like this are so vitally important for us to hear and to understand.

Not only does it contain a severe warning for those who will continue on this path of spiritual compromise,

but as always, it affirms God's glorious promises for all who persevere in repentance and faith.

That's why it's so necessary.

It confronts us at just the place we need to be confronted,

and then it picks us up with the promises that we need to be picked up by.

The only promises that can actually pick us up.

So, that's what's happening with the church in Sardis.

It's what we want to meditate on this morning.

Let's consider in verse 1 the church's identity and the Christ titles that are used here.

Look with me at the beginning of verse 1.

To the angel of the church in Sardis write,

the words of him who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars.

During Jesus's life and ministry,

if you want to know a little background of the city of Sardis,

it was as Jesus was growing up as a boy and as a teenager and then on into his ministry,

it was the emperor, Roman emperor Tiberius,

who was sponsoring several reconstruction efforts in the ancient city of Sardis.

By the time John writes the revelation,

Sardis had a large theater in its sitting.

It had a stadium.

Its main street was made of marble.

It had a marble road.

You can look at some of the ancient ruins that are there

to see some of the remnants that still remain.

It had many religious sites,

including monumentally its temple to Artemis.

It had all of these things at the time that John is writing.

But the truth is that the glory days of Sardis

were well in the past by the time this book was circulated among the churches in Asia.

The city was actually most famous for having been embarrassingly conquered

the same way twice in its history.

The stories of these conquerings involve the Acropolis of Sardis,

which an Acropolis is just a large hill that would be connected to a city.

And on the top of this hill, there might be a religious site or a temple or something like that.

In Sardis, it was a citadel.

It was a fortified place for the wealthy and for the soldiers to kind of hunker down

when they were being besieged by an enemy army.

The citadel atop the Acropolis in Sardis was only guarded on three sides.

Reason being that one side had such steep cliffs that it was determined and believed by most people

that the citadel was completely impregnable.

Nobody could possibly gain access to the citadel, so they thought, from that side of the complex.

So they never left it guarded.

They left it totally unguarded, unwatched.

Well, as you might imagine, on two separate occasions, once in 547 B.C. with Cyrus the Great,

and then again in 215 B.C., enemy soldiers invade the citadel from the unattended side.

They scale the cliffs, they climb over, and they walk to the front where the gate is,

and themselves, they open the gate to allow the army in.

That's what Sardis is famous for historically, not only today, but even in the days of John

when he's writing the Revelation.

It is known for these infamous events which serve as parables to the state of the church in Sardis.

Just as the soldiers had been defeated due to a lack of vigilance,

the church had left its doctrine unguarded and was almost entirely dead.

Well, that's the church's identity.

Let's think now about the Christ titles that are listed here.

Jesus says, write the words of him who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars.

So, in Jesus' self-revelation, there seems to be mystery at first,

but really what Jesus says about the seven spirits and the seven stars is defined for us in the first chapter.

The seven spirits of God refers to the Holy Spirit.

Just set your eyes on chapter 1.

You're open to chapter 3.

Look over at chapter 1 in this Trinitarian greeting in verses 4 and 5.

Revelation 1, 4 and 5.

John to the seven churches that are in Asia.

Grace to you and peace.

Number one, from him who is and who was and who is to come.

That's God the Father.

And from the seven spirits who are before his throne.

And from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead,

and the ruler of kings on earth.

Do you see where the seven spirits of God are sandwiched here?

It's in this Trinitarian greeting.

John writes and he says,

I'm sending you grace and peace on behalf of the Father and the Son.

And sandwiched right in between is the seven spirits of God, which is just representative.

It's a different way of referring to the Holy Spirit.

Now, it's not entirely clear why Jesus used seven spirits in this self-revelation instead of just saying Holy Spirit.

This is not common in the scriptures.

It's unique to these few chapters here in Revelation.

It's not exactly clear why he does that,

but it will be helpful for you to remember that there are certain numbers that are used in the book of Revelation

that have significant symbolic meaning.

Seven is one of them.

It's not always, especially in Revelation, intended to provide a precise number,

but it is a symbol, a representative of fullness, completeness.

So, Jesus doesn't mean for us to conclude here that there are seven distinct spirits of God,

but that he possesses the fullness of the knowledge of the Holy Spirit,

who is everywhere present and fully apprised of all that takes place.

Notice what it is that Jesus says.

The words of him who has the seven spirits,

who has the Holy Spirit, the fullness of the Holy Spirit.

In other words, this is a statement of Jesus' divine oneness in the Trinity,

his divine oneness with the Father and the Spirit.

So, what is it that he's saying?

He's saying, I know.

I know everything.

I know what's true of you Sardisian Christians.

Everybody else thinks one thing of you.

I know what's actually true of you because I'm the one who has the seven spirits.

I am one with the Spirit.

I have the fullness of the knowledge of God.

We're also told in chapter 1 that the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches.

You're in chapter 1, perhaps still.

Look at verse 20 there.

As for the mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand,

and the seven golden lampstands,

the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches,

and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.

Now, angel, angelos in Greek here,

isn't referring to a heavenly being,

but to a messenger from God.

It can literally be translated as messenger.

The messengers to the churches are best understood as the pastors who serve as Christ under shepherds to the church.

Okay?

They are his messengers.

They care for his people.

That Jesus has the seven stars.

What he says in chapter 1 and verse 20,

and then again in chapter 2 and verse 1,

he phrases it that he holds them in his right hand.

He means the same thing here.

That he has the seven stars.

That he holds them in his right hand.

Speaks to his authority over the churches.

So the bottom line of these Christ titles is this.

That Jesus is the Lord.

He is the Lord God.

He knows all things.

He has authority over all things.

He knows what's true of each one of us,

and he will judge each of us in perfect righteousness.

So from the very beginning of this message to Sardis,

he wants them and he wants us to understand his omniscience and his lordship,

that he knows what's true,

and that it is before him that each of us will ultimately stand in judgment.

That's the identity in the Christ titles.

Let's now look at the complaint.

Now, if you've followed along closely in the last few sermons,

you'll recognize that we missed one of the categories here,

which would typically be the category of commendation.

The reason we've skipped it is because there isn't one.

There is no commendation for this church.

In fact, it's one of two churches among the seven

that receives no commendation whatsoever.

The other one is Laodicea,

which we'll get to in a couple of weeks.

Now remember, Jesus' judgments are perfect.

So the lack of a commendation is due to the reality

that there was truly nothing worth commending.

Even Thyatira,

who was accommodating a Jezebel false teacher in their church,

still received a commendation.

But Jesus comes to Sardis and to Laodicea,

and he has nothing good to say.

Nothing.

Why these churches,

these two churches don't have commendations?

Well, it's because they both represent the final developments

in both spiritual complacency,

that's Laodicea,

and spiritual compromise,

that's Sardis,

which produces spiritual death.

These are dead churches.

Jesus is on the outside looking in.

There's no commendation there.

So we move directly to complaint.

Look at the end of verse 1.

Jesus says,

I know your works.

You have the reputation of being alive,

but you're dead.

Look at the second part of verse 2.

I have not found your works complete

in the sight of my God.

So Jesus' complaint here is that

though it appears to outsiders

as a vibrant congregation,

the church in Sardis is actually comprised

of unsaved Christians.

They appear to be alive,

but they're truly dead.

And in this context,

the New Testament always uses death

to describe the unregenerate,

the unsaved.

When Jesus says it's a dead church,

he doesn't mean that

if you go to a service there,

it's a little chilly,

and people don't sing very well,

and that people are a little bit rude

and to themselves and introverted

and all those kinds of things.

That's not what Jesus means.

When Jesus says the church in Sardis is dead,

he means they're not believers,

that it's made up mostly

of unregenerate people.

Something about the church in Sardis

seemed spiritually vibrant,

and we could jump into

all kinds of speculation

as to what that is

and how it corresponds

to the same kind of situation today,

and we won't do that,

but in Jesus' perfect evaluation,

they're spiritually gone.

But what is it that killed

the church in Sardis?

Nothing explicit is stated

in Jesus' words,

but the context points

to spiritual compromise

having run its full course.

Jesus uses soiled garments

in verse four,

indicating that the problem

was a loss of doctrinal

and moral purity.

In verse two,

he says that their works

were found incomplete

in the sight of God,

revealing that their profession

didn't match their lifestyle.

In other words,

they were claiming Christ,

but they weren't showing the fruit

of genuine conversion.

And if you track the progression

from Pergamum to Thyatira to Sardis,

it becomes clear

that toleration of idolatry

and sexual immorality

reached its peak in Sardis,

and it produced this death

about which Jesus warned.

What killed the church in Sardis?

Spiritual compromise.

Now remember,

at the heart of spiritual compromise

is a desire

to maintain a Christian identity

while justifying participation

in the world.

It's when someone decides,

I'm a Christian,

I want to be known as a Christian,

but I'm gonna justify participation

in the world's ideas,

in the world's philosophies,

in the world's religion,

and in the world's morality

or immorality.

Now remember,

the religious culture

in ancient Rome at this time

didn't mind adding gods

as much as it minded

condemning gods.

They were okay

with someone following Jesus

until that individual claimed

that Jesus was the exclusive God

and the only way to forgiveness

and to eternal salvation.

The exclusivity of the gospel

resulted in persecution

as we've seen so often

in the first four churches.

But notice,

there's no mention whatsoever

about opposition in Sardis.

Nothing.

There's no Jezebel figure.

There's no Nicolaitans.

There's no Antipas

who has been brutally murdered

in front of the church.

There's no people

like in Smyrna

who Jesus says

are about to be captured

and imprisoned

and then killed.

There's nothing like in Ephesus

where the people

are constantly being assaulted

by the religious programs

of the world around them.

Nothing like that is mentioned

or is true of the church in Sardis.

Why?

Why is there no opposition there?

Because the church in Sardis

ultimately had achieved its end,

its desired end

in this spiritual compromise.

What was it trying to do?

What did it want?

A comfortable,

non-threatening Christian experience

that professed to follow Christ

while accommodating

and participating

in the pluralism

and immorality of its culture.

That's what compromise desires to do.

It wants to maintain the identity

while enjoying the pleasures

of the world.

It wants to maintain

a Christian label

while not professing

to be exclusive

to Christianity

for anyone else.

It waters down the gospel.

It denies the gospel.

It lives in sinfulness

willfully.

Sardis had achieved

its desired end.

So there's no opposition there.

Why would there be?

There was nothing to oppose.

It's precisely like the churches today

who profess to be Christian

while accommodating

narcissistic worship

and affirming

the rampant immorality

of our culture.

They appear to be alive.

Many times

they have large congregations.

Lots of money.

Lots of glitter.

No gold.

Jesus says they're dead.

Now here's the terrifying truth

of it all.

Jesus knows.

He knows.

Look at what he says

in verse 1.

I know

your works.

Except in this case

there's nothing positive

that follows.

It's only negative.

What Jesus knows

to be true of Sardis

is what everybody else

thought was different.

Everybody thought

it was alive.

Jesus says no

you're dead.

I know the reality

of your heart.

I know the reality

of your condition.

You see

you can't punk

Jesus.

No one

who isn't

a true Christian

can fool Jesus

into thinking

that they are one.

No one

who is a genuine Christian

will be mistaken

by Jesus

for someone

who isn't.

Why?

Because he knows

all.

And it was precisely

because of Jesus'

omniscience

that we can be

certain

of his righteous

judgment.

Now for some of us

this is a wonderful

comfort

because we blow

it a lot.

We sin

a lot.

And in those

moments

we rest

on the fact

that Jesus

knows what

is true

of me.

Other people

may look at my life

at any given point

in its history

and in its existence

and say there's no way

that guy's a Christian

but Jesus knows

what's true.

Jesus knows

he saved me.

For others of us

though this is no

comfort at all

this should be

absolutely terrifying

to you.

You may have

everyone in this

church fooled.

You may have

everyone in your

family fooled.

Your circle of friends

may not realize

what's true.

You may have

even fooled yourself

but you will

never be able

to deceive

the one

who has

the seven

spirits

of God.

And on that day

you will have

to stand

before the

one

who has

the seven

stars

and he

will be

the one

who determines

whether your

Christianity

is true

or whether

it is

false

and he

cannot be

deceived.

He will

judge

perfectly

righteously

in that moment.

That's the complaint.

Look with me

now at the

correction

and the

consequence.

verse 2

the very

beginning

wake up

Jesus says

and strengthen

what remains

and is about

to die.

Look now at

verse 3

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.

Now here's

how I want you

to think about

this

correction

first.

As always

Jesus

demonstrates

incredible

mercy.

This is

mercy

in this

correction.

It's

merciful

because

he is

the one

that's

actually

providing

a solution

for the

church.

He is

still

providing

time

time

for them

to repent

time

for them

to turn

to

receive

his

full

mercy

if

they

turn

to

him

in

faith

and

repentance

but if

they

reject

his

correction

they will

endure

his

full

judgment.

so if

!

repent

and you

need to

hear it

the primary

instruction here

if you look

at it

is to

wake up

wake up

is defined

by Jesus

as this

strengthening

what remains

remembering

what you've

received

and heard

keeping it

and repenting

and repenting

remembering

what you

received

and heard

that's

the gospel

message

the gospel

of Jesus

keeping

the gospel

message

and all

of its

implications

repenting

of sin

Jesus

says

wake up

and this

is how

you do

it

you return

to the

gospel

the circumstances

and the

complaints

for each

of these

seven churches

vary

each of them

is very

different

the solution

in every

sermon

is exactly

the same

it's exactly

the same

every time

repent

and believe

repent

and believe

whether a

congregation

as a whole

or an

individual

the only

solution

is to

stop

trying to

maintain

this

Christian

identity

while holding

hands with

the world

at the same

time

it doesn't

work

it's not

actually

possible

to do

it

and here's

the amazing

truth about

it

it doesn't

matter how

far

or how

long

you've

continued

in your

sin

Jesus

stands

ready

to fully

completely

forgive you

right now

he'll forgive

you

right now

you can

receive his

mercy

he warns

you

because he

loves you

he issues

this call

because he

wants to

save you

that's his

desire

you'll never

find a love

like this

anywhere else

you will not

find love

like this

in the world

you won't

you won't

find love

like this

in anyone

else

except

in Jesus

the world

offers it

it offers

all kinds

of satisfaction

it's all

glitter

it's no

gold

and you may

look at

Jesus

and you may

say there's

no glitter

here

it's dull

it's drab

it's offensive

but it's

precious

and he

stands

waiting

ready

willing

to forgive

you

his call

is issued

to you

some of us

we wonder

when will

God call

me

he's calling

you now

right now

through his

word

he's calling

you

but you

must respond

in faith

and repentance

he won't do

the believing

for you

he won't do

the turning

for you

you must

respond

to his

call

though Jesus

offers his

mercy

through the

solution

he also

confirms the

consequence

if you

don't obey

you say all

of that mercy

and love

stuff

that sounds

great

but what

if I don't

want to do

that

what if I'm

not ready

to deal

with the

implications

that comes

from being

a true

Christian

listen to

what Jesus

says here

if you

will not

wake up

I will

come like

a thief

and you

will not

know what

hour I

will come

against you

the word

for wake

up here

it literally

means to be

vigilant

in fact

that's

probably

the better

way to

translate it

if we're

being honest

that it

means to

be vigilant

be

watchful

and it's

almost always

used in

scripture

in the

context

of preparing

for a

coming

threat

a threat

against you

that's why

Jesus

refers to

himself as

a thief

Jesus

in this

passage

is the

threat

he

is the

one

you must

be

vigilant

of

the fact

that he

will make

sure you

do not

know

the hour

of his

judgment

requires

that you

waste no

time

that you

respond

immediately

because you

do not

know the

hour that

he will

come against

you

this is

not a

reference

to some

secret

rapture

this is

a reference

to judgment

which your

judgment

could happen

today

it could

happen

today

he says

if you

will not

wake up

you will

not know

the hour

that I

will come

and when

I come

for you

I'm coming

against you

as an

enemy

as a

thief

in judgment

don't

waste

another

moment

turn to

Jesus

and live

he wants

to save

you

he desires

to give

you mercy

receive

it

let's

finish

with the

call and

conquer

sequences

in verses

four through

six

we finish

with wonderful

promises

again

verse four

yet you

have still

a few

names

in Sardis

people who

have not

soiled their

garments

they will

walk with

me in

white

for they

are worthy

the one

who conquers

will be

clothed

thus in

white

garments

I will

never

blot

his name

out

of the

book

of life

I will

confess

his name

before my

father

and before

his angels

he who

has an

ear

let him

hear what

the spirit

says to

the churches

this term

name

is an

important

one

it's an

important

thread

to keep

things

popularly

contextualized

to our

week

it is a

clear thread

through this

particular

passage

it's used

four different

times

you have

a name

he says

in verse

one

reputation

what's

given to us

as reputation

is literally

the word

for name

you have

a name

of being

alive

or a name

for being

alive

verse

one

you still

have a few

names

verse

four

I will

never

blot

out

his

name

verse

five

I will

confess

his

name

verse

five

now

what's

the

significance

of the

emphasis

here

one of

the elements

of spiritual

compromise

is an

aversion

to publicly

confessing

the name

of Christ

and what

we mean

by confessing

the name

of Christ

is by

embracing

the gospel

with all

of its

implications

now here's

what many

people in

our

particular

religious

climate

prefer to

do

they want

the things

that seem

good about

Jesus

they want

the love

they want

the self

sacrifice

they want

the example

of ethics

and of

morality

to some

extent

they want

the mercy

that is

offered

they want

the man

who sits

with and

has dinner

with publicans

and with

prostitutes

they want

all of that

all of that's

good

what they

don't want

is moral

demands

they don't

want

sex

between a

man and

a woman

within the

confines of

marriage

they don't

want

the sanctity

of human

life

they don't

want

a number

of other

things

that we

may name

in the

course

of all

of that

so what

they do

is they

attempt

to keep

and maintain

this

particular

identity

because they

like these

particular

things about

Jesus

but they

want to

maintain

all of

these

other

things

at the

same

time

that are

completely

opposite

of who

Jesus

is

and of

what

he

teaches

so then

one of

the elements

of this

compromise

is that

they will

not publicly

confess the

name of

Jesus

unless it's

convenient

for them

to do

so

but one

of the

promises

for those

who will

truly

confess

Christ

is that

Christ

will confess

them

before the

Father

do you

see it

there

I

will

confess

his

name

this

is the

opposite

experience

of those

who are

Christian

in appearance

only

that will

hear

Jesus

say

I never

knew

you

depart

from me

you workers

of lawlessness

the people

that will

stand in

judgment

and will

say

Jesus

I went

to

church

on Sunday

I didn't

even just

go to

church

I went

to

Lakeside

Bible

church

where they

read

the

scripture

for like

three

hours

on a

Sunday

morning

and they

sing all

these songs

and they

don't

they don't

have

classes

for my

kids

to go

to

and they

got

all

this

I

even

went

to

the

heart

church

and he'll

say

I never

knew you

what happens

for the

conqueror

is the

opposite

of that

you've

experienced

a

graduation

before

where you

stand in

line with

your cap

and gown

and you

eagerly

await for

them to

call your

name so

that you

can walk

across the

stage and

you receive

the recognition

of that

moment and

the honor

of that

moment and

this picture

is of

standing in

judgment and

Jesus has

the book of

life the

book that

has the

record of

all the

people who

belongs to

him and

you stand

there and

you wait

and with

anticipation and

finally you

hear it

you hear

Josh

Francis

maybe

you hear

Amy

Blevins

you hear

Marty

Cain

you hear

Evelyn

Smith

so on

and so

forth

Jesus

says if

you will

confess

my name

I'll

confess

your name

at the

moment it

matters

most

which is

when you

stand in

judgment

before my

father

who has

wrath

for sinners

but I

took your

wrath for

you and

I will

declare your

name before

him

that's the

promise of

the gospel

that's the

promise

the one who

conquers through

faith

in Jesus

the conqueror

who does not

soil their

garments by

flirting around

with the

immorality and

idolatry of

this world

Jesus will

publicly confess

your name

he will not be

ashamed of you

he says as much

himself in

Matthew 10

everyone who

acknowledges me

before men

I also will

acknowledge

before my

father

who is in

heaven

but the

promise gets

even sweeter

in the verse

not only

will Jesus

confess your

name

but he

promises to

never take

your name

out of his

book

he holds

his people

firmly

eternally

secure in

his hand

no one can

pluck you

out

he says

he's not a

fickle savior

once he writes

your name in

his book

he never

takes it

out

come to

him

and live

live

eternally

I don't

believe we're

a Sardisian

church

I don't

want to have

the kind of

pride that

would suggest

that we're

above falling

into something

like this

because we

certainly are

but I do

want to ask

this question

as far as

an individual

application is

concerned

are you a

Sardisian

Christian

do you bear

all the

kind of

outward

trappings

of the

Christian

religion

but you

know

inside

you're

dead

life isn't

really all

that bad

you have

happiness

you have

joy

you enjoy

life to

some extent

it's not

that

you know

it's not

that

it's that

when it

comes to

the things

of the

spiritual

life

you know

there's

nothing

there

it's not

real

and there

could be

a hundred

different

explanations

for why

it isn't

for you

but the

fact is

you look

like a

Christian

but you're

not

and perhaps

the Lord

is dealing

with you

somewhat

this morning

maybe he's

poking at

your heart

you know

what that's

like

it's a

miserable

experience

isn't it

to come

to the

word

or to

hear a

sermon

knowing

that this

is the

message

that God

intends

for you

it's a

miserable

experience

and some

of you

maybe

perhaps

you're

here

this

morning

and you're

just

miserable

can I ask you

what's your

response to

that work

of the

spirit

when he's

kind of

poking at

you and

he's saying

this is

you you look

like a

Christian

you're not

really a

Christian

what's your

first response

you're

you're

probably seeking

some kind

of comfort

from your

conviction

you need

to seek

comfort

from your

conviction

but where

you search

for that

comfort

is what

makes

all the

difference

if you

self

soothe

in a

spiritual

sense

by reflecting

on all

the Christian

things you

do

and you

try to

find comfort

by thinking

about the

church

attendance

and the

giving

and the

and I'm

not as

bad as

this person

and I

and I

I don't

do all

of those

things

and I'm

I'm just

I'm a

good

Christian

man

or I'm

a good

Christian

woman

or boy

or girl

and you're

just trying

to think

of all

the things

that you

do

that looks

Christian

I think

that if

that's the

way you're

trying to

find comfort

you've missed

the gospel

part

you've missed

that part

true

spiritual

life

comes not

from the

religious

things

that you

do

but from

what

Jesus

has

already

done

he

lived

the life

that you

should have

lived

and he

died

the death

that you

deserve

to die

he

bore

God's

wrath

for sin

and he

proved

it

by raising

from the

dead

and now

he calls

you to

believe

and trust

what he

has done

what he

has done

try to

focus with

me for

just a

second

it's not

about what

you do

it's about

what he's

done

it's about

fully coming

to him

and saying

nothing in

my hands

I bring

simply to

the cross

I cling

of course

to embrace

Christ

is to

accept

all the

implications

that come

with his

lordship

which means

that if you're

going to be

a true

Christian

compromise

is not

an option

it doesn't

work

the

the old

adage

goes

he's either

lord of

all

or he's

not lord

at all

that's

true

so remember

the gospel

that's what

he says

keep

the gospel

and repent

he who

has an

ear

let him

hear

what the

spirit

says

to the

churches