Sardis: A Call to Spiritual Revival - Lessons From Revelation's 7 Churches, part 5
Have you become spiritually complacent or lazy? Don’t underestimate the enemy. This message tells us how to be spiritually vigilant and on guard against attack.
Are you spiritually asleep at the wheel? Jesus knows your name and is concerned about you. He warns about spiritual complacency; this sermon shows us His “prescription” to stay spiritually healthy.
Be alert, seek God daily, keep the faith. Be the overcomer you are called to be.
Jesus knows the intense pressure you’re facing, the trials, suffering, and afflictions. He also knows your faithfulness. Sometimes fighting the spiritual battle before us can become so consuming that we take our spiritual eyes off God. Let us not be fooled or seduced into thinking spiritual compromise or watered-down values are OK or acceptable to God.
Listen to the Spirit of God, be spiritually “on guard,” and press in: Choose today to be an overcomer, practice spiritual discipline and be guided by the Holy Spirit and the Word of God. Passionately seek the love of God and share it with those around you.
Pray, trust the Lord, and walk in faith. Always remember God is in control no matter how things may appear. People will take notice and listen when they witness your faith.
Sardis, a spiritually dead church: a call to spiritual revival.
Beware of Spiritual Complacency
We are more than halfway through our study of the seven churches John addresses in the first two chapters of Revelation. We’ve looked at the church in Ephesus, who had forsaken their first love; the church at Smyrna, who experienced persecution and was encouraged not to fear; the church at Pergamum, where some appeared to be seduced and were displaying a morally compromised lifestyle; and the church of Thyatira, where some believers were tolerant of sin and false teaching.
Each church, each believer, is encouraged to have an ear to hear what the Spirit says. Each is given a ray of hope and a way of life.
Today we look at the church of Sardis, a church that looked alive outwardly, but inwardly was spiritually dead.
“To the angel of the church in Sardis write: These are the words of him who holds the seven spirits 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.” (Revelation 3:1-6, NIV).
Sardis was once the capital city of the Lydian Empire. The city was about 30 miles south of Thyatira and maybe 50 miles east of Smyrna. The city was located near the Pactolus River. It was built upon a peak where three sides of the peak were vertical smooth rock walls. The city was some 1500 feet above the valley floor but as the city grew, the hill area was limited, so the city expanded to the valley floor.
The people of the city felt secure because of the location and natural defenses of the city. They felt the three sides of the city were safe and impenetrable from attack due to the steep smooth clefts and, because of that, those sides were left unguarded.
The people felt only one side, the south side, needed to be guarded and, because of that false confidence, the inhabitants became overconfident. Their slackness led to the city being captured once by Cyrus of Persia and later by the Romans.
Both times the enemy troops scaled the steep smooth clefts at night and took the city. In both cases the people had become lax in their defenses. The city had a reputation of being impenetrable, and yet it had been captured twice.
The carelessness and complacency of the people of Sardis allowed the city to become overconfident regarding their physical safety, and their enemies took advantage of their complacency, which led to the city’s capture and downfall, twice.
Beware of Spiritual Laziness and Overconfidence
What happened to the city militarily was also happening to the church and believers spiritually. The believers were spiritually overconfident. They believed they were spiritually secure and gave no thought to the enemy inroads of false teaching that was beginning to eat away at their souls.
Sardis never regained its own independence after being conquered. The city was destroyed by an earthquake around A.D. 17 and, with the help of Emperor Tiberius, it was rebuilt. In John’s days the city was still prosperous but in decline, and it never regained its former glory.
The city lost its physical appearance of greatness; the church of Sardis and the believers were following the same path.
The memory of the days gone by was alive and well in the people, but the vitality and independent life of the city was gone. The church appeared to be alive outwardly to the naked eye; but inwardly, spiritually, it was dead.
Here in chapter 3 of Revelation, Jesus is giving the church at Sardis a warning to repent and turn back to God. It sounds as if most of the believers in the church had become spiritually complacent; they had become spiritually weak. They were no longer actively perusing a fervent spiritual lifestyle. Instead they had become spiritually lazy and were no longer guarding their hearts from spiritual attack. They were spiritually comfortable with their present condition and unconcerned about the future.
John addresses the church and gives a warning for every believer to not become spiritually overconfident. It is a warning to refrain from becoming spiritually carelessness or complacent regarding their actions and the attacks of the enemy. It was a call to not allow the ease of life to lull the believers to sleep spiritually, but rather to finish the race set before them.
The church did not feel spiritually challenged or threatened and was unaware of its spiritual condition.
Are you spiritually asleep at the wheel?
John refers to Jesus when speaking of the one holding the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars.
Jesus knows your name as we have seen in previous studies.
Jesus knows where you are and what you’re dealing with.
Jesus knows your deeds.
Jesus holds the seven spirits and seven stars; representing the Holy Spirit and the seven angels of the seven churches.
Jesus is concerned about you and the church.
Jesus warns of spiritual compliancy that can lead you to become spiritually weak and dead.
Jesus calls attention to sin and death; and the Spirit of God—the Holy Spirit—who calls the unbeliever and believer alike to repent.
Saying “he who has an ear to hear” what the Spirit says, John is saying that Jesus knows what you have been up to. He knows your past, present and future. He knows your reputation and what you want others to see and think about you.
The believers of Sardis were thinking all was good; but they had a false sense of security, they were becoming spiritually dead men walking. John warns them to wake up. The church put on a good face; however, the church was living in the shadows of the past. One might say that they were spiritually asleep at the wheel. The church of Sardis had been on a downward spiral spiritually for a while. The influence of the world had taken root. The tolerance of sin had taken its toll.
A deadly spiritual cancer known as complacency had unknowingly made its way into the church and sucked the spiritual life out of it, without even a fight. The city of Sardis was once a rich and lively city but over time the city’s own self-confidence was its downfall.
What happened to Sardis can happen to any believer when they become too confident and think they are spiritually OK or spiritually invincible regarding temptation or attacks of the enemy.
Friends do not underestimate the enemy of your soul. Just because you are not fighting some great spiritual battle now doesn’t mean the enemy is taking a break. He is spying out a way to get you to let down your guard and sin. It was when things were going well that the Israelites drifted away from God. Do not let up spiritually. Be spiritually vigilant and on guard against the attacks and schemes of the enemy.
“Prescription” to Stay Spiritually Healthy
Do not take your eyes off Jesus. Finish the race set before you; do not become lax in faith. The spiritual laziness that the believers at Sardis had developed did not appear to be concerning to the individuals within the church. Yet, like cancer, if not diagnosed properly it will kill sooner rather than later.
Praise God, verses 2 and 3 give us a spiritual prescription to eradicate the “sickness”:
Wake up spiritually.
Strengthen what remains.
Remember what you were taught.
Obey and repent.
1. Wake Up:
John tells us to wake up; to be on guard spiritually; in a continual state of watchfulness. It is the continual state of watchfulness that will keep us from becoming caught off-guard and overrun by the enemy.
The enemy of your soul will search out and attempt to find a way to your heart that is left unguarded. Do not be seduced by the ungodly ideas and ways of the world. Instead, remain spiritually vigilant.
The lack of spiritual watchfulness can be costly. The moment you think that you are spiritually safe and secure is the time the enemy will strike. The believers of Sardis had not become lax overnight, but rather over time. Wake up and be alert.
2. Strengthen What Remains:
Next, John tells the believers to strengthen what remains. John was warning those who were not completely spiritually dead, but they were not spiritually safe either. There was still a glimmer of spiritual life in the church. There were some who remained faithful and alert; who did “not spoiled their clothes” and still produced spiritual fruit. These believers were alert and ready for the enemy to attack.
It would appear, that some believers were on spiritual life support and unless they acted upon the warning to wake up, they would find themselves without hope and unable to recover.
3. Remember:
Next, we see that John calls the believer to remember what they had once received and heard. The believers in the church of Sardis once believed and were spiritually alive, but something happened. The spiritual flame that once burned bright in their hearts had grown cold. There were a few glowing embers, but the flames had died down.
The believer in Sardis had been given a gift of faith, the gift of salvation. But some of them had allowed that faith to weaken and grow cold.
The lack of spiritual conviction or enthusiasm can cause you to become spiritually weak or lax regarding the things of God. You can become lax and allow an area of your heart to be open to sin and false teaching. The worldly desires of the heart, if not restrained, can overtake and drown out the voice of God. Without knowing any difference, you can become spiritually weak and vulnerable to attack.
Over time, your heart can become calloused and cold. The enemy has climbed over what was once an impregnatable wall of faith and, by not being spiritually on guard, cracks have developed and your unguarded heart of faith has fallen into disarray.
Paul warns about becoming spiritually lax due thinking you are spiritually secure. We must never let that happen; it will not as we remain on guard spiritually.
4. Obey and Repent:
Once you are awakened to the truth of the Gospel; once you recall the truth of the Gospel of grace; once you put into practice what you know is the truth of God, you only need to repent and begin to obey the word of God in your heart.
We must realize and remember that we are in a spiritual battle and it may be fierce sometimes and things may appear quiet at other times. But whatever the case, we should never become lax or spiritually complacent.
Be the Overcomer You Are Called to Be
Know the enemy’s tricks. Remain on guard. Seek the words and Spirit of God daily, and keep the faith.
John closes the letter to Sardis by encouraging the overcomers that their names will never be blotted out of the book of life.
I can only suppose that the person who does not overcome; the person who refuses to awaken spiritually; the person who does not remember what they were once told; the person who refuses to repent and obey will find themselves dead spiritually.
He who has an ear let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. Put on the armor of God. Always be alert and hold up the shield of faith.
Use the sword of the Spirit and never remove the helmet of salvation.
Be the overcomer you are called to be.
Suggested Praise and Worship
This and other sermons brought to you by Faith Chapel, an Assemblies of God church in Pleasanton, CA.