READY TO DIE BUT NOT PREPARED FOR DEATH SARDIS
#155 READY TO DIE BUT NOT PREPARED FOR DEATH
SARDIS
Scripture Revelation 3:1-6, NIV Orig. Date 10/20/1963
Rewr. 3-1970; 9-29-1974
Passage: “To the angel[a] of the church in Sardis write:
These are the words of him who holds the seven spirits[b] of God and the seven stars. I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead. 2 Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have found your deeds unfinished in the sight of my God. 3 Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; hold it fast, and repent. But if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what time I will come to you.
4 Yet you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes. They will walk with me, dressed in white, for they are worthy. 5 The one who is victorious will, like them, be dressed in white. I will never blot out the name of that person from the book of life, but will acknowledge that name before my Father and his angels. 6 Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
Keywords: Sin Revival Image of the Church
Introduction
Many of us have been horrified over the past several months upon hearing of the self-inflicted torturous death on the part of a few Buddhist priests in Vietnam. We seem however to be unaffected by the knowledge that in our own country, tens of thousands of people die at their own hand every year.
I suppose that what caused such consternation over the Buddhists, was that this forced us to analyze our own degree of faith. Do I believe in my faith strongly enough to die for it?
The saddest part of the whole thing is that these priests, and suicide victims all over the world, stand for one proud moment “ready to die, but not prepared to die.”
In another sense, this was the problem at Sardis.
I. Let Us not Ever Doubt that a Church can Die.
Some of us have deluded ourselves. We turn to Matthew 16:18 and salve our own conscience by deciding that this verse proves a church can’t die. Jesus said very plainly, “The gates of hell won’t prevail against my church.” God’s call to Israel depended on obedience. He wasn’t talking about Trinity or Big Creek, Louisiana, or Southern Methodists. He was talking about the universal church.
In the passage read, Jesus has written the obituary of the church. Acts 4:29, “And now, Lord, behold their threatenings: and grant unto thy servants, that with all boldness they may speak.” Acts 3, Healing of the lame man. Acts 4, Taken before the Jewish Council, forbidden to preach Christ. Not complaining about trouble. They pray—the Spirit moved.
II. Let Us be Able to Distinguish a Dead or Dying Church.
The death process is very slow. Old Sardis had had that vital, throbbing, virulent faith. There had been a day when they prayed the heavens were shaken. As buzzard attracted to a dead carcass, so the stench of Sardis attracted Satan. The victim is often the last to know. What your best friend won’t tell you. Dr. [. . .] don’t die instantaneously by accident, or ultimately through old age, or by [. . .], inflammatory secularitis, missionary sclerosis, academic encephalitis.
Someone has suggested that the world makes a poor coroner for dead churches. What if a coroner were elected who couldn’t tell a dead body from a live one. He certainly could determine cause.
Suppose a Christian from Antioch was on his way to [. . .] and he made plans to focus on Sardis. Stop at a service station at Derbe and Lystra. Go down to Lystra Ave. to Athens and take a left. Go two blocks. He drives up, parks in parking lot, and as fate would have it, parks right next to one of few saints. He’s sitting in his car, reading his Bible. They don’t ask him to teach anymore because he always tries to use the Bible. Is this Sardis Baptist Church? It used to be.
Brethren, the deadest church can also be the busiest. (Dr. Conner [said] a church can be as busy as a beehive and just as destitute of spiritual power.) We have church members [. . .]. Big churches, little; strong—weak. “I know your works, that you have a name, that you are alive, but you are dead.”
III. Let Us be Sure that Where There is a Flicker of Life There is Hope.
The ultimatum had been given by Christ. Be watchful (For what): for opportunity, for responsibility, for self-discipline. Strengthen (By what means): by joining with, by taking part, by supporting.
Christianity is of the spirit not the body, not the heart, not the mind. Mind—seat of intellect; stomach—seat of appetite; heart—seat of affections. The pulse beat of Christianity is a love for Christ—if that is absent, nothing helps. If that is present, nothing matters.
The watchword of the church is repentance—worldly members, wayward, lost.
IV. Let Us Fan the Spark into an Open Flame.
The message to us “Be watchful and strengthen the things which remain.”
We must respond to Christ not out of fear, but out of love. We should fear his condemnation, but when that comes it’s too late. We’re trying to think up reason why we haven’t honored the church. “Depart from me ye wicked.”
We must work at serving him. Basic to all of this is the freedom of this pulpit. Every Christian shall be united in their efforts to keep the pulpit free. The deacon must accept his responsibility—to free the minister for the ministry of the word. Every member seeking to liberate the pastor from the organizational appeals of the affluent society.
The Rock T.S. Eliot’s warning is all too appropriate.
A cry from the north, from the west and from the south
Whence thousands travel daily to the timekept City;
Where My word is unspoken,
In the land of lobelias and tennis flannels
The rabbit shall burrow and the thorn revisit,
The nettle shall flourish on the gravel court,
And the wind shall say: “Here were decent godless people:
Their only monument the asphalt road
And a thousand lost golf balls.”
Eliot, T.S. 1. (1963), Collected poems, 1909-1962. [1st American ed.] New York, Harcourt, Brace & World.