Thank you for selecting this message by Dr. James Hoffman. Dr. Hoffman preaches verse by verse through the entire book of the Bible. From all of us at Living Water of Lapine here in Central Oregon, we hope that it will encourage you and feed you spiritually. And if you would like to leave a message after the sermon, our contact information is found on the sermon page where you found this sermon. Now may God richly bless you as you listen. In August of 2010, nearly six years ago now, communication specialist Judy Rivers went to her local bank to open a new account. As the clerk input Rivers' personal information, everything seemed to be going very smoothly. But the woman behind the desk suddenly and abruptly frowned. That's odd, she said. There seems to be an issue with your social security number. With a skeptical glance, the employee rose and she disappeared into the back room. Several minutes later, Rivers was greeted by the branch manager. Ma'am, the woman pronounced, brandishing a folded paper, Your social security number was deactivated in 2008 due to death. Incredulous, Rivers rose from her chair. You're trying to tell me that I have been dead for two years, she stammered. And no one bothered to tell me. Rivers' plight as a categorized dead person It's not unique. It is estimated that every year some 12,200 US citizens are declared dead by the Social Security Administration due to keystroke errors. In 2011, the Office of the Inspector General conducted an audit of the death master file and found that from May 2007 to April 2010, 36,657 people had been added to their master file, making them illegally dead, but they were still alive. Those affected became the walking dead, unable to secure a job, make financial transactions, file taxes, well maybe that's not a bad thing, or visit the doctor, and for months on end, must endure the nightmare of convincing a very large bureaucracy that they have not yet bit the dust. I kind of wish I had not read about that problem. And maybe you might be wishing I had not told you. It just gives us one more thing to worry about, huh? Doesn't it make you shudder to think how easy it is for some bureaucrat who perhaps is very bored with their job, and their job involves just typing in numbers, names and numbers all day long into a computer, that they can, with just a simple slip of the finger, mistakenly declare, you or I dead. And now that we know that it happens tens of thousands of times a year, I can only imagine all of the frustration because of the time and effort it would take to convince the government of their mistake. Now as annoying as this would be, it is not nearly as devastating as having Christ pronounce us dead. This can also happen. We'll see in today's passage that the church of Sardis was pronounced by Jesus as a dead church. When Christ pronounces a church dead, we will also see that there are far worse things to be concerned about than the certain inconveniences that government administrations can create for you or I. And if Christ declares us dead, know for sure that it is no mistake. However, just like a bureaucratic error with time and effort, a church too can be fixed. We've been studying through the book of revelation here on Sunday morning. And today we continue with a fifth letter. that John had been instructed by Jesus to write. John was given a threefold outline of the Book of Revelation. And he was said, I want you to write of these three major parts that I want you to get across. And Revelation 1.19, we see it there. We see the three-part outline to the entire book. And the first part of emphasis that he was told to write about in Revelation 119 was, write therefore the things that you have seen. Now, John had just seen this image of Christ. And so that was the first emphasis. That's the first major section of the book of Revelation that we come to. Part one is the vision of Jesus. Then it says, I want you also to write the things that are. Now, after we get this section that John had written about the vision of Jesus, John then writes these seven letters to seven churches, which represents the entire church age. And those were the things that are during the time that John was writing, he was part of the church age, and we are still part of the church age today. Well, the church age, the church on earth is not always going to exist here on earth. And so he was also instructed to write about those that are to take place. And so when we pick up with chapter four of the book of Revelation, it says, after these things, after what things? Well, these things that were described in these seven letters, in other words, the church age. After these things, and then the rest of the book of Revelation goes on to describe the events of the tribulation and the return of Jesus Christ. And we'll get into those things from chapter four onward. But as I said, I do believe that the church age in its entirety is represented by seven letters to the seven churches. And the number seven represents completeness. These seven churches represent the complete history of the church from Pentecost when it was born, when it first began all the way to the very end when we are raptured out of this world. We've been going through these letters, one a week, and seeing a dual fulfillment. You see, John was addressing specific contemporary situations in each of these churches. They were current to John's own day when he penned them, the things that he was writing about. But just as prophecy works, there is a fulfillment down the way in the future. And so we see it with these letters. In addition to the contemporary situations that John was writing about, they also have a prophetic quality about them, speaking about seven distinct periods or eras of the church's history here on earth. When we studied the first letter, for example, to the church at Ephesus, we saw that it had a strong parallel to the literal church of Ephesus during John's day and the church period from Pentecost to around 100 AD when the last apostle died, which was John. Both had patiently endured hardship. They had defended God's truth against false teachers. They worked very sacrificially, but eventually they only did ministry out of a sense of duty. They had lost their first love for Jesus. They were just going through the motions. And if they didn't repent, Jesus said he would remove their witness to the world. And today, when we look at the entire region that surrounds where the church at Ephesus was and where it had once thrived, we see that their testimony has been extinguished as they're completely surrounded by Muslim today, the Muslim kingdom. Then we studied the letter to the church at Smyrna, which amazingly paralleled the period of church history from 100 AD to 312, from the time that the last apostle died all the way to 312, when Constantine rose to be emperor of Rome. This, the Church of Smyrna, is the church under persecution. The letter said that there would be 10 periods of testing. And we know that from the time of 100 AD all the way to the time of 312, that there were 10 Roman emperors who each attempted to stamp out Christianity through persecution. And so we can see through these 10 separate Roman emperors who were trying to do it that there is a distinct parallel to the things that were written here to this letter to the church at Smyrna. But that eventually ended. Next, we looked at the letter to the church at Pergamum, and this represents the church period from 312 to approximately 590. Because beginning in 312, as I said earlier, Emperor Constantine rose to the throne and he not only made Christianity legal, but now he forced his armies and he included all of the Roman society to convert to Christianity. He was allowed to take over and preside over the church as its leader. And so in this period of church history, we see the church marry the world. And by the way, Pergamum means Mary. There's significance even in the names of these churches to whom these letters were written. Last week, we studied the letter to the church at Thyatira. This parallels the period of church history from 590 to 1517. And what happened in 1517? That is when we of find the nailing of the 95 theses on the Wittenberg door in Germany by Martin Luther. And so that characterizes the end of that particular period. But as we were studying that period, we saw that the church was tolerating a person that was identified as Jezebel. Jezebel would lead the church of this period of church history into idolatry, a form of worship that mixed a lot of idolatry into it and a depreciating of the person of Christ. And of course, we see that parallel very well with the period of church history through the development of the system of Catholicism. The word Thyatira means continual sacrifice. And that was also developed during this period of the church when it developed a very unbiblical concept of mass and the teaching of mass is when the priest prays over the cup and prays over the bread that it literally transforms into the literal body of Jesus and the literal blood of Jesus and it is sacrificed over again. Each time it's celebrated, Jesus is sacrificed again. Well, now today we come to the fifth letter, the letter to Sardis. Now the word Sardis, again, even the names of these churches have their prophetic meaning. The word sardis means escaping ones, or those who come out. The period of history of Christendom suggests that here we are seeing the Reformation period. From about 1517, when Martin Luther nailed those 95 theses to the door, to about 1750, In the midst of spiritual darkness, there were those who escaped its contamination. Among those who escaped or came out were Luther, John Knox, Wycliffe, Zwingli, and others. These were the great reformers who broke with Rome. The intolerable condition under the papal rule reached its climax on October 31, 1517, when Martin Luther nailed his 95 thesis to the door of the church at Wittenberg, Germany. When Luther's voice resounded throughout the German empire, it found response in many hearts and was completely weary of the Roman Catholic system. Until now, spiritual darkness had covered the land. Only the so-called leaders had scriptures, were able to read them. But with the invention of the printing press, the Gutenberg Press, The word of God was put into the hands of lay people. And with this, a new study of the Bible began. Lost truths were discovered, heresies were exposed, and the Reformation was started. However, the Reformation fell short of accomplishing all that it could have. While it protested the ecclesiastical hierarchy that was spoken of in the letter we studied last week, the letter to Thyatira, it went to the other extreme. Being free from the hierarchy, they became divided. State churches were organized, many of which are in operation today. In Germany, Holland and England and other countries. Denominationalism with its sacraments, with its forms, its ceremonies became cold, lifeless formalism. Ministers became ministers of the church, not of Christ. members only needed to align themselves with a church creed. There was little emphasis on living the biblical truth. And with the Protestants newfound freedom through knowledge, tremendous pride came as well. We have the truth. Nobody else does. Tragically, wars were fought between cities and nations that identified themselves with one denomination or creed and not the other. People were imprisoned and they were put to death if they didn't conform to their nation's church. I sure do hope that our study last week, when we were looking at the letters to Thyatira, which dealt with the establishing of Roman Catholicism, that it did not make any one of us feel smug because the establishing of Protestantism, I'll get it, it doesn't leave us with anything to be smug about. Protestant Christianity had indeed escaped or it had come out of Catholicism, just as the word Sardis means But these come out ones developed into a dead church. Is there anything Christ-like that says, believe our doctrine or lose your life? They became overly focused on having the right doctrine. Now doctrine is a good thing. But if a church becomes so consumed with it that nothing else matters, that church is dead. Where is the love and compassion and sense of forgiving one's enemies that Christ wants in his church? All that remains is a dead orthodoxy. The very life of Christ is gone. Identify yourself with this creed. You don't have to understand it. You don't even have to believe it. Just identify yourself with it. And that's all you need. Boy, that's deadness, isn't it? That is deadness. Well, now let's read from today's passage. Let's see these tragic circumstances that are described for us here in Revelation chapter three, verses one through six. And to the angel of the church in Sardis, right? The words of him who is given the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. I know your works. You have the reputation of being alive, but you are dead. Wake up and strengthen what remains and is about to die. For I have not found your works complete in the 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 still have 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 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. There are no words of commendation to the church's artists. Now, usually in these letters, churches, Jesus has something good to say about them. In this case, he doesn't. Nor did the Lord point out any doctrinal problems of required correction here. And neither is there any mention of opposition or persecution. The church had grown very comfortable and very content. They were depending on what they thought had made them safe and secure. They had lulled themselves to sleep and they were enjoying a reputation. It's a good thing for a church to have a name for being alive. No one brags about having a dead church, that's for sure. If we had visited Sardis, they might've shown us how many people they were running every Sunday. We might be impressed by all the programs they had going on. If you had just moved to the area and asked about the local churches, stop any pagan on the street and ask about the church scene in town, no doubt you would have been directed to the church of Sardis. We live in a day of super churches. Many churches boast of having hundreds and even thousands of members. Many churches have a good name. But if Christ were to evaluate their work, what would his conclusion be? Christ's omniscient evaluation of things is often different from ours. He found Sardis to be a church with a lifeless profession. They were alive in name only. Look at verse one again with me. Revelation 3.1 says, and to the angel of the church in Sardis write, the words of him who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. Now remember, seven represents completeness. And in addition, it was considered by the Jew to be a very sacred number. Therefore, the seven spirits of God is obviously a reference to the completeness of the spirit's ministry. Christ would have the church in Sardis know that he desires his church to be controlled by the effective work of the Holy Spirit. Notice also the reference to the seven stars once again. And as I stated, when we saw them in chapter one, I believe the evidence is a strongest to understand that this refers to the pastors of the churches or the church leaders. And in Sardis, the church was not being led by the Holy Spirit through its pastors, as it should have been. You know, we think today that the church needs the right methods. And we have all kinds of bandwagon movements and programs that are so quick to claim that they have all the answers to the church's problems. They can make it great again. But all of the church's manmade programs can never bring life. Any more than a circus can resurrect a corpse. The church's life comes from the spirit. And when the spirit is ignored, in favor of something even as important as having correct doctrine, The church begins to lose life and power. Verses two and three. Wake up and strengthen what remains and is about to die. For I have not found your works complete in the 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. This verse, this entire letter makes reference to the city of Sardis. And it's important to understand a couple of things about this city and its location and its history to really capture some of the things that Jesus is saying. Sardis, you see, was located on top of a mountain, about 1500 feet above the main roads. And you can see in this picture here, the remains of a part of the way that you would get to the city of Sardis. It had one entrance on the southern side, which was the only way you can get into the city in those days. And therefore, all Sardis had to do was to put a guard in that one place. You can see that they felt nobody was gonna be able to scale that tall cliff on that one side, so they did not put any guards in that area to protect their city. They didn't think they needed to. They had a false sense of security. Two occasions in their history, they were invaded by enemies who found that sheer cliff was not impossible to climb. In 549 BC, the Median soldiers of Cyrus scaled the parapet. And then again in 218 BC, Antiochus the Great captured Sardis because one of their soldiers climbed up and slipped over the walls while the Sardis guards were said to have been careless and asleep. What the Lord says to the church at Sardis is this, you, wake up, watch out. This was an embarrassment because of these two occasions in their history when they had been caught napping. And Jesus says to the church, don't go to sleep. The false security of the church during the Reformation was their sense of having right doctrine. We're safe. We have nothing to fear. We've got Christianity all figured out. We're standing on the right beliefs. We've got the right doctrine. Boy, don't we know a lot of believers in churches who are like that today? They're asleep. with dead orthodoxy. They wrongfully think that they are safe because they've identified themselves with a certain belief system. We don't need anything else. We don't need to give ourself to the Lord. Just accept the right list of doctrinal beliefs. This would include you. If you stand on that. and have lulled yourself to sleep. And if it includes you, then Jesus also calls out to you saying, wake up. When a church begins to die, the first thing it must do is to admit that a problem exists. The first step towards renewal in a dying church is honest awareness that something's wrong. When an organism is alive, there's growth, repair, reproduction, and power. If these elements are lacking in a church, then that church is either dying or already dead. Now, even though Christ has pronounced the church in Sardis to be dead, he also indicates that there is a fix. First, strengthen what remains. Nourish. Any flicker of love that may linger. Fan it to flames. Focus on whatever remains that is still profitable, such as a much forgotten mission purpose. Second, remember what you received and heard. The church at Ephesus was told to remember their past. in which they did so well. We see that in verse five here. Doing so would show them how they had declined. It would bring them to admit they have a problem. Likewise, the church at Sardis needed to remember how they used to be richly endowed spiritually, but now they're bankrupt of the good spiritual blessings they once enjoyed. Far too often we forget how in our humble beginnings, when we had nothing, those were the days of greatest power, exciting service, and a continual outpouring of God's blessing. Too often we acquire buildings, property, prestige, and pomp, and leave the Holy Spirit out of it all. It's no wonder the Holy Spirit has been referred to as the forgotten member of the Trinity. Third, hold on to what you have received and heard. Not only are they to remember what it was like when as a whole church, they seized every opportunity to live for the Lord and to work for Him and to witness for Him, but they are to specifically remember what they have received. Paul said the same thing in Colossians 2, 6 and 7, where we read, therefore, as you received Christ Jesus, the Lord, so walk in Him. rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught abounding in Thanksgiving. We were rooted up, built up, established in the faith by the very truths that save us. What we're to hold on to in Christ is Christ's unfathomable love, his rich mercy, and his grace. Do not simply hold on to cold, lifeless creeds of doctrine. Cling also to the vibrant realities that saved you and will cause your faith to grow. Fourth, Jesus says to repent. This one word summarizes all that has been said. Repentance will cause the church to turn around and begin to wake up from its stupor. strengthen what remains, study the received doctrine again, and begin to live it out this time in obedience. Here again, we see that this is all a matter of repent or else. And the else is, I will come as a thief. How different from our other promises of his return. In this passage, there's a note of warning because Sardis is not yet ready for his coming. Let me mention a good test for any church or Christian. How does the prospect of his coming make you feel? Do you dread it or do you welcome it? Some say all we can do is be ready. But the early Christians were not only ready, they were expectant. Do you love His appearing? Perhaps you believe it doctrinally, but does it thrill you? Does it motivate you so that you want to purify yourself? When Jesus says, behold, I come quickly, Does your heart respond even so? Yes, Lord Jesus, come. Yet you still have a few names in Sardis, people who have not soiled their garments. They will walk with me in white, for they are worthy." There's evidence from the first century that the temple worshipers in these pagan temples that existed also there in Sardis were not permitted to approach their gods and their goddesses if they were wearing dirty garments. And Jesus may have been referring to that practice here. Notice the word few. About 90% of America claims to be Christian, 90%, while all along becoming more and more enslaved to sin. Most everyone is quick to proclaim their salvation, but God says there are few. Thank God for the faithful remnant that seems always to be present in each generation. A remnant of people often exists even in a dying church, as was the case here in Sardis. The Christians at Sardis had some life, although it was feeble, and the Lord admonished them to strengthen what remained and not to give up simply because the church was weak. Where there is life, there is hope. Now, what was different about the few who were mentioned in this verse, this dedicated remnant? They had not defiled their garments. What garments are to the body, so habits are to the real self. How we dress is important. It makes a difference whether our clothes are clean or dirty, whether they fit or don't fit, whether they become us or they do not. A soldier must dress the part of a soldier, a Marine, the part of a Marine, a naval man, the part of a sailor. Each knows that his uniform must fit well and be kept clean at all times. And so too, the Christian must exercise care. about the wardrobe of his or her soul. In a hospital operating room, everything is spotless. Surgeons, the nurses, the instruments must be clean because they deal with infection. We live in a world infected and infested by the microbes of sin. And we who bear the vessels of the Lord must keep ourselves clean. And for the sake of others, we must sanctify ourselves. Our righteousness in Christ himself, it's in Christ, in Christ alone. But we have a responsibility to keep our garments clean. Our own self-righteousness is as filthy rags. But the believer is clothed in the righteousness of Christ, and God expects the Christian to live in a manner that depicts what God has done for him. There are some who, while they do not spot or stain their garments in gross iniquity, nevertheless don't walk in white, they walk in gray. Gray is the color of compromise. It's neither black or white. It's very popular color nowadays in the realm of religion. When Mickey Cohen, the famous Los Angeles gangster of the 1940s, made a public profession of faith in Christ, his new Christian friends related. But as time passed, they began to wonder why he didn't leave his gangster lifestyle. When they confronted him concerning this question, however, he protested. You never told me I had to give up my career. You never told me I had to give up my friends. They're Christian movie stars or Christian athletes or Christian businessmen. So what's the problem with being a Christian gangster? If I have to give all that up, he said, if that's Christianity, count me out. Cohen gradually drifted away from the Christian circles. He ultimately died lonely and forgotten. Chuck Colson, relating this story about Mickey Cohen, has written this. Cohen was echoing the millions of professing Christians who, though unwilling to admit it, through their very lives posed the same question. not about being Christian gangsters, but about being Christianized versions of whatever they already are and are determined to remain. Verse five. The one who conquers will be clothed thus in white garments. And I will never blot out his name of the book of life. I will confess his name before my father and before his angels." Now in every letter to these seven churches, it has a message to the overcomer. Namely, the one who overcomes the evil in the church. There's a threefold compensation for the overcomer in Sardis. which we see right here in this text. The first is they'll be clothed thusly in white garments. I believe that is the final robing of all saints, which every believer will receive. There were those in Sardis who had denied their garments. They might have professed to be Christians, but they had not been clothed in Christ's righteousness while they were here on earth. They only identified themselves with some cold, hard doctrine. These shall in no wise enter heaven. The man without wedding garment cannot be present at the marriage supper of the lamb, according to the teaching of Christ found in Matthew chapter 22. Second, they will never have their name blotted out of the Book of Life. They're robed with Christ's righteousness. And what this means, never having their name blotted out of the Book of Life, simply means they will also be given special assurance of their salvation. Third, They will have their name confessed or it'll be honored in the most regal assemblies ever to gather the heavenly father and his heavenly host of angels. I think back upon my graduation, standing before the faculty, godly men that I admire a great deal up on the stage and having my name pronounced before them, I felt honored. Now I cannot imagine what the honor would be to have my name pronounced before the father and his heavenly host. And what a scene, what a scene that will be for the believer in glory. Verse six, He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. Do you have an appearance of life, but in reality you're dead? What is it about your experience that would prompt Jesus to say about you, wake up! At what place on the wall in the fortress of your life have you thought you were the safest against any attack? Are there no guards inviting the enemy's attack? Are there things in your life that have the appearance of godliness, which Jesus knows only result from a compromise somewhere else? The hope for us is the same hope that Jesus offered the church at Sardis. Let's not fool ourselves though. Staying awake is difficult when the world around us is asleep. In Nazi Germany, some 7,000 of 18,000 pastors of the state church of Germany opposed the Aryan clause that included Christians of Jewish descent. from working in the church. And they began to put some mandates on the state church, and pastors were accepting them, except for a handful, except for a remnant. One of those was Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who fought the compromise that he saw of the pastors all around him. He became increasingly isolated minority voice to view the practical realities of the church's situation. He decried the failure of German Christians to resist the Nazis rise to power. And he said, the only people who can stand firm in such situations are those whose standard is not reason or conscience, but God and his word. Whether we're seeking to win a lost person to Christ, who's resisting very hard or fighting for justice for the poor, the unborn, it's always easy to grow weary in well-doing and to follow the crowd, especially when the church and churches around us become part of it. Today, we see church after church following the crowd of this world. with regard to basic Christian morals. Wake up. Strengthen what remains. Remember what you have been given and hold on to it. Amen. Let's pray.