Let's turn to the Word of God in Revelation chapter 3. Revelation 3, we'll read the whole of this chapter. Our text will be the first six verses, Revelation 3, 1 through 6. So I ask you to pay closer attention to that, the letter to the church in Sardis. And unto the angel of the church in Sardis write, these things saith he that hath the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. I know thy works that thou hast a name that thou livest and art dead. Be watchful and strengthen the things which remain that are ready to die for I've not found thy works perfect before God. Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee. Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments, and they shall walk with me in white, for they are worthy. He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment. And I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write, these things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, He that openeth, and no man shutteth, and shutteth, and no man openeth. I know thy works. Behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it. For thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name. Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews and are not, but do lie. Behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee. Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth. Behold, I come quickly. Hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown. Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out. And I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is New Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God. And I will write upon him my new name. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write, these things saith the amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God. I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot. I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth. Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing, and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked, I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich, and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear, and anoint thine eyes with thyself, that thou mayest see. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Be zealous, therefore, and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If any man hear my voice and open the door, I will come into him and will sup with him and he with me. Him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame and am set down with my Father in his throne. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. We read God's Word thus far, and may God bless to us that Word. And we direct our attention now to our text in verses 1 through 6, Revelation 3, 1 through 6. The passage, beloved, as you know, contains the fifth of the seven letters to the churches in Asia Minor, and specifically now to the church that was located in the city of Sardis. What is striking about this letter to Sardis is that it does not begin with a commendation, does not begin with anything positive, as is the case with the other letters. That's not because there was no hope anymore for this church in Sardis. There was, otherwise this church would not have been included among the seven that were in and represented by the candlestick in chapter one. And there is also this, that the fact that it does not speak first of a commendation does not mean either that there was nothing positive to be said about this church in Sardis. There was. And Christ mentions that later on in these verses in this very letter. The fact that Christ begins with something negative and begins with their specific weakness and sin demonstrates how serious this weakness and this sin was in Sardis. something that needed to be addressed right away. It was something that needed immediate attention. It was something from which they must urgently repent. And so he begins by speaking of their sin, their weakness as a church, and that's significant. That means that if there is any church today that has this specific, this particular weakness and sin, if they are characterized by it, then that's a very serious matter. May God spare us from it, or else, if necessary, may God cause us to hear his command in this passage to repent of that sin, to turn from it. Consider with me then the church that was superficial, or you might say the church that was insincere. And notice her spiritual condition and Christ's admonition, and thirdly, Christ's promise. This letter, no doubt, came as quite a shock to the church that was in Sardis. And that's because this church, according to verse one, had a name that they lived. And that word name is the same as and is referring to the word reputation. This church had a reputation, the text is speaking to us here in verse one about the specific reputation that this church had. And the reputation that she had was this, The reputation she had was that she was a church that was alive and vibrant, a church that was spiritually healthy and well. And that was the reputation that she had with others. Perhaps even the reputation that she had with those who were in the other of the six churches in Asia Minor. Concerning this church, others said, here is a congregation that is quite a church. She is everything that a church should be. Here is a church that is faithful in doctrine and faithful in worship and faithful in life. A congregation where the members attend worship and are well involved in the church. Congregation where godly lives are lived by the members. There is love, they love each other. The communion of saints is strong and they even manifest their love to others outside the church. They're known for doing that, a church that is busy doing what you would expect a church to do, a church that is not ashamed of the gospel, a church that is busy witnessing to others by word and by deed, a church and her members that are to be commended, to be praised. a consistent church, even an outstanding congregation. That was the reputation that Sardis had. And no doubt, Sardis and her members thought that about themselves too. We are alive and well. We are a shining light in this heathen city We are an example even to other churches. We are a living and a vibrant congregation. All is well in Zion as we represent Zion here in Sardis. And Christ says to them at the very start of his letter, That may be your name, that is, that may be the reputation that you have. And that also might be what you think about yourself so that you even consider yourself to be a model church with very few faults. And if there are any minor and insignificant ones, But in reality, Christ said, you are dead. You are dead. Those were cutting and sharp words that are very opposite of their reputation. They had the reputation of being alive. Christ says the reality is you are dead. And that raises the question, of course, what did Christ mean by that? Well, the key to understanding what Christ meant is found in verse two, especially the last part of that verse where Christ says, for I have not found thy works perfect before God. What that indicates, first of all, is that they did do good works as a church. They did the works that you would expect a church to do. A congregation that confessed and defended the truth of God, a congregation that worshiped God as he commanded in his word, a congregation in which attendance was good, the members were attentive, They gave well to the offerings and the worship service so that there was even an excess in the funds of that church. They loved each other. They dwelt together in peace and unity. Their lives were consistent with the truths and the doctrines of grace that they maintained. But these works were not perfect. And Christ says, and is saying there that these works were not complete works. He's not saying that it is possible to have perfect works. He's not saying it's possible for there to be a perfect church and for there to be perfect Christians, but literally what he says is, your works are not complete. There's something missing from your work. And I think we can all understand immediately what was missing. From the outside, from the appearances that they gave to others, on the basis of which they had this reputation of being a good church, everything looked fine. Everything looked fine because everything was being done by the letter of the law, so to speak. They were doing things as a church that were expected and that were required, but merely doing them from an external viewpoint and forgetting as they were doing these things as a church that God does not only look at the words and the deeds of the church, God does not only look at the words and the actions of the members of the church, but the Lord looks at the heart. As God reminded Samuel in 1 Samuel 16 verse seven, when Samuel was seeking to determine which one of the sons of Jesse would be the next king. And he was told, remember Samuel, the Lord doesn't look at things like man looks at things, because man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart. The church in Sardis had forgotten that God requires a sincere heart from his people and in his church. and that what is done by the church and what is done by her members must be done from a heart that is filled with the love of God and filled with gratitude to God. Sardis was a church that simply went through the outward motions of being a church. The members went through the outward motions of being a Christian. It was superficial and insincere, offering to God lip service but not true service from the heart. Christ says, thou art dead. spiritually, alive physically, but lacking true spiritual life. We could say, I suppose, that Christ could and would say that to many churches today, to churches who seem to be what they should be. alive in their worship, their attendance, alive in their witnessing to others, alive and well, so it seems, in their fellowship together, busy and active with many church activities and having many ministries in the community. which are often the things that people are looking for in a church and the things for which people praise a church because they imagine that those are the things that demonstrate that a church is alive and well. But Christ might say to many a church today, while you appear to be faithful as a church, and while you appear to be well, and you actually have a good reputation to be such, in reality, it's all superficial and insincere. In reality, you are spiritually dead. And that, of course, means that we must ask ourselves What would Christ say about us in this regard? Would he say, you are truly alive? Or would he say, thou art dead? We would all admit, no doubt that sincerity is indeed a struggle and a battle to maintain for any church, and a struggle and a battle to maintain for any Christian. You only have to think of how difficult it is to maintain sincerity and genuineness and activities and words and praises from our heart in worship. When we pray, when we give of our offerings, when we hear the preaching. It's very easy to think that we do well in all these things. We sing the Psalms, we pray to God in worship, we give generously in our worship to the causes of the kingdom of God. We maintain the three marks of a true church, the preaching of the word and the proper administration of the sacraments and Christian discipline. And we see to it that it is the word of God that is central in our worship. It's so easy to do it all superficially. Superficial worship, just going through the motions. Insincere prayers, just speaking words. The same with the hearing of the preaching of the Word. Perhaps being stimulated in our minds by the preaching, but that's where it stops. The gospel doesn't fill us with wonder and amazement as it ought. We're not struck by the marvel of the grace of God toward us. Might Christ say to us sometime, what he said to Sardis, I have not found thy works complete before God. Because what's missing is you're not doing it from the heart. That was the weakness, the sin, the fault in Sardis. And Christ says, by way of admonition this in verses two and three. Be watchful and strengthen the things which remain. Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard and hold fast and repent. In that admonition you see first of all that there was still hope for Sardis. There is still hope for the church today that has this weakness. Christ points out, remember what you first received and heard and hold fast to it. Strengthen the things which remain, Christ says, and he indicates by that that not everything was lost. They still had some of it. It wasn't gone altogether. It wasn't as if there was no hope left for this church. Christ indicates that it used to be the case for this church that she was spiritually alive and genuine, truly sincere and spiritual. And she is called by Christ to remember that, to remember what she has lost. to think back to the days, or even a day in someone's life as a Christian, to the days when it was true for the church or for a believer when the gospel had a deep effect on their hearts and on their souls, when they were truly amazed by the gospel of the grace of God. They had not become complacent and indifferent toward it. It had not become old hat to them, the days when perhaps they had first heard it and they were so struck by the gospel of the grace of God that they said, I cannot believe this concerning God. that he would save an undeserving wretch like me. And Christ says, remember that. Remember those days in your life as a church and as my people. Remember those days or even a specific day in your life when you were struck by that and go back to that. Repent from your current complacency and indifference and spiritual lethargy and go back to the days when you were in awe of the wonders of the grace of God toward you. And Christ focuses on that and directs them to that because that's really the key to being a sincere church and sincere believers. The key is to be amazed, to stand in awe of the marvelous grace of God toward us. That's what leads to worship and to lives that are sincere. That's what leads to gratitude and godliness that comes from the heart. And so, if we are guilty of being superficial, insincere, then Christ calls us to repent, It's possible to be superficial in many different ways as a church and as people of God. Some of them we've already indicated. It's possible to be that way when one is focused and when a church perhaps as a whole is focused on right doctrine just for the sake of being right and forgets that doctrine must lead to godliness. The doctrine is not applied, the doctrine is not practiced. Or it may be that the church and the people of God are busy doing what they ought to do as Christians, worshiping, loving one another, busy in prayer and the study of God's word, witnessing to others around them manifesting a behavior that is expected of one who is a church member and a confessing Christian, but it's simply done because it's expected, simply done externally, and not out of a genuine love for and thanks to God. a church and a people that is unaffected by the gospel. Perhaps see very clearly how others ought to be affected by it and how they ought to hear what the preaching of the gospel declares, but not struck by our own personal need of Christ. So Christ says to us what he says to the church in Sardis. Strengthen the things that remain. Remember how thou hast received and heard and hold fast and repent. Think back to when in your life And in our history as a church and a congregation of the people of God, we were deeply and truly affected by the gospel, by the wonder of God's sovereign grace to us. God's grace and God's salvation of us is meant to be experienced And it is meant for us to stand in awe of God's grace, to be affected by it, to be moved by it. Remember that. Return to that and hold fast to that, Christ says. Because that's the key, as we said already. That's the key by God's grace and Spirit applying that and bringing us to remember that and bringing that to our remembrance, the key to truly being spiritual and sincere and alive as a church and as believers. strengthens that call to his church by speaking of the judgment, verse three, where he says, if therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee. What does a thief do? A thief steals. He takes away from you what you have, what you currently possess. And Christ speaks of that thief coming unexpectedly. That's of course what a thief hopes to do. On the sly, so he is not noticed and cannot be caught. He can take what he wants and you no longer have it. and you don't even realize right away that you've lost it until later. Christ says that's what he will do to the church that does not repent, come very suddenly and very unexpectedly and take away the little that remains, the little that she still has. What will he take away? Well, the self-description of Christ in verse one tells us what Christ will take away. How does he describe himself in verse one? This way, he says that he is the one that has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. That goes back to chapter one where Christ is described And where we are taught, where we learn that those seven stars are the seven angels of these seven churches. The angels are the messengers, the angels are the pastors of these seven churches. And Christ points out there that he has them in his hand. You see that in chapter one more specifically. He is sovereign over them. He is sovereign over them so that he, in his sovereignty as the Christ, the head of the church, has the right to take them away. And if he does, nothing really could be more devastating for the church than that, that Christ would remove from them their angel, their messenger, their pastor, the minister of the gospel, that is, that he would take away from them altogether his word. The end result would be that they are no longer a church. They no longer have their candle in the candlestick that represents the true church of Christ in this world. It would be a church that is on the road to apostasy and to non-existence. Christ says that to show the urgency of the calling to repent. To those who are characterized by insincerity, he says, unless you repent, You're on the path to becoming no church at all. It shows us how much we need the power of the grace of God to apply this word to us, to humble us, to see this set, and to repent, and to be sincere. and to strive by the grace of God to be that kind of church. Christ gives a promise, a promise to those who are faithful. As I indicated already, beloved, all was not lost, all was not hopeless for this church. Verse 2 indicates that there was some genuine spiritual life that still remained in this church. It is true that it was very weak. In verse 2 it says that they, on account of it, were ready to die, ready to die, but there was still a little there. God had preserved that in the church. Verse four also indicates that all was not lost for the church. Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments. They were those that had remained faithful. They were sincere. And that was not, of course, that they were perfect. Even those who are, by the grace of God, sincere, are imperfect in their sincerity, but they remain faithful. And these faithful would, therefore, by the Spirit, hear this word of Christ to them, and heed it, and repent, and strive anew to be truly spiritual and sincere. Christ gives them a promise. His promise, first of all, is this, He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment It is the promise of the righteousness of Christ, the promise of the forgiveness of sins for their weaknesses and failures as a church and as a people of God, but also the promise of that clothing of white raiment that points to the judgment day and to them appearing before God as the judge of all men clothed in the righteousness of Christ. for all their sin, they could by faith look forward to that day of great salvation and full deliverance. But also this promise, I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my father and before his angels. promises that the names of those who are his, who belong to him, and who are by his grace faithful unto the end, who overcome through the victory that they have in Christ, promises that their names will not be blotted out of the book of life. And we're not to read into that that it means that it is possible for names to be blotted out of the Book of Life, that's impossible. The Book of Life, as we know, is God's record of all of the elect. That never changes, because God never changes. Those names are permanently in the Book of Life. There are two things that are taught by that statement there. And the first is that it indicates to us that there were some in the church in Sardis that had the wrong idea concerning their names in the Book of Life. That is, they assumed that because they were members of the church in Sardis, their names were in the Book of Life. and they would be disillusioned of that, as will anyone today who thinks the same. But the main point that Christ makes here is this. When he says, their names shall not be blotted out of the book of life, he is speaking of something that he will assure them of. He will assure the elect, he will assure them that their names will never be blotted out of the book of life, that that's impossible, that their names are permanently inscribed into that book of life. And that is an assurance that he will give to them, an assurance that they will be able to experience by faith, believing this word that Christ says to them, but also in the way of repentance from their sin. In the way of that repentance, then they could know by faith that their names are permanently in the book of life. Repenting from the sin of insincerity, of superficiality. Christ assures them that then they can know with confidence in their own hearts and souls, in their experience, that their names will never be removed. They can already know that. and they can know that that will be made manifest also on the judgment day. Christ spells that out because then he will confess their names before his father and before his angels. Then he will declare publicly, this believer, this child is one of mine, belongs to me, saved by my grace. Those promises of Christ serve, therefore, as encouragement to us, as well as added incentive to heed this word, especially because of this, that by faith and in the way of being sincere as a church and sincere as believers, we can receive and experience this assurance. And what a blessed assurance it is. May that encourage us and motivate and spur us on then also to take to heart the words of verse six. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the church. And may that Spirit work true sincerity in us. Amen. Father in heaven, we are thankful for the Spirit of Christ and the Word of Christ and the work of Christ. that even by this word, he directs us in a life of thankful obedience and genuine spiritual godliness before thee. Direct us, Lord, to that end and work mightily in our hearts and lives, not only today, but every day, that we confess our sin in this regard We seek the power of thy grace and spirit to lead us in sincerity and in truth, that we do so motivated by love and gratitude unto thee. So hear us and bless us. For Christ's sake, amen.