The Revelation of Christ – Part 7:
Sardis The Spiritless Church - HOFC
Pastor Bruce A. Shields
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SERMON
INTRODUCTION
The
Book of Revelation, or the Revelation of Christ, is the most difficult book in
the bible.
Because
of this fact, many avoid it, or ignore it all together. Some fear lack of
understanding, others afraid to misinterpret, which I guess it is better to
avoid than dive in and get it completely wrong.
Many
times, when a new believer comes to me for direction, they want to jump right
into Revelation and find out what’s to come.
This
is equivalent to deciding one day to learn Mandarin and sitting down to author
a novel in Chinese that very same day.
Or,
a kindergartener learning how to count, and then trying to calculate quantum
mechanics calculations.
The
words in Revelation have caused much debate on rapture, judgement, even some
who claim John was writing about the events in his day in code rather than
Jesus Christ revealing to him about the coming events and Judgment.
A
special blessing is promised to those who read Revelation.
Although
it may be a difficult book, we could all use a special blessing, reading this
is good for us all, and with the help of the Holy Spirit, we will take the
Revelation of Christ in small portions and gain understanding, little by
little.
SERMON SERIES
THE THINGS WHICH
ARE – The Church Age (Age of Grace)
Part 3 – Ephesus The
Backsliding Church
Part 4 – Smyrna The
Steadfast Church
Part 5 – Pergamos The Immoral Church
Part 6 – Thyatira The Careless Pagan Church
Part 7 – Sardis The Spiritless Church
Part 8 – Philadelphia The Favored Church
Part 9 – Laodicea The Church God Hates
THE THINGS WHICH
SHALL BE – The Coming Judgment
Part 10 – The Throne of God
Part 11 – The Living Creatures (Various Angels)
Part 12 – Heavenly Worship (As it is in Heaven)
Part 13 – The Sealed Book (Various Books)
Part 14 – The Lion and the Lamb
Part 15 – The First 6 Seals
Part 16 – The 144,000 Jews
Part 17 – The Tribulation Saints
Part 18 – The Seventh Seal
Part 19 – The First 4 Trumpets
Part 20 – The 5th Trumpet
Part 21 – The 6th Trumpet
Part 22 – The Mighty Angel
Part 23 – The Two Witnesses
Part 24 – The Seventh Trumpet
Part 25 – The Woman and the Dragon
Part 26 – Manchild
Part 27 – Michael
Part 28 – Overcomers
Part 29 – Persecution
Part 30 – Antichrist
Part 31 – The Lamb
More sermons in the series listed in Part 1
TODAY’S SERMON
Part 7 – Sardis the Spiritless Church
Revelation
1:3
“Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and
blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because
the time is near.”
SCRIPTURE READING
Revelation
3:1-6
“To the angel
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.
I.
INTRODUCTION
a.
To the angel of the Sardis church, write
i. Angel (messenger of God) is
referring to the pastor of the church
ii. Jesus stands among the
lampstands (churches)
iii. Jesus provides the light for
them (His Spirit)
iv. Jesus holds the seven stars
in His hands (pastors of the church)
b.
These are the Word of Him
i. Who holds the seven Spirits
of God (His Spirit in each church)
ii. And the seven stars (the
Pastor in each church)
c.
I know your deeds
i. You have a reputation of
being alive
1. Reputations are not always
accurate
2. Reputations do not always
tell the real story
ii. You have a reputation of
being alive, but you are dead.
1. Define a church being
“alive” by reputation;
a. Maybe they had a lot of
members
b. Maybe their members were
rich or popular in the town
c. Maybe the church had a lot
of money
d. Maybe they were very active
in the community
e. Maybe they had a huge music
show
f. Maybe they were active on
the social justice scene
g. Maybe the members were well
liked in the community
h. Maybe they were the
“popular” kid
2. But the Lord says, “but you
are dead”
iii. Jesus just said, “These are
the words of Him who holds the seven Spirits of God”
1. He alone is responsible for
the outpouring of the Spirit in the church
2. And this is what was missing
in Sardis
a. The Spirit of God, which
makes a church alive!
iv. This doesn’t mean loud
music, jumping in the isles, falling down in unison, dancing with snakes and
drinking strychnine, or any other wild imagination one may deceive themselves
with.
1. It means the Spirit of God
is at work!
a. People are accepting Jesus
Christ as their Lord and Savior
b. People are receiving and
properly using the Spiritual Gifts
c. People are receiving the
Whole Armor of God
d. People are living and
displaying the Spiritual Fruits
e. People are receiving the
blessings and benefits of belonging to God
f. People are sharing the
Gospel with others
g. People are being baptized
h. People are not remaining on
milk (the basics of salvation) but learning and growing with meat of the Word,
becoming Spiritually mature
2. All signs that the Spirit of
God is at work
v. Think about this for a
moment;
1. Lots of members does not mean the Spirit of
God is at work
a. There are currently 1.15
Billion members of Hinduism
b. 1.8 Billion members of Islam
2. Lots of Money doesn’t mean the Spirit of
God is at work. Scientology has rich and famous actors in their midst
a. Mormons have the most money,
with a value of 67 Billion dollars
3. Involvement socially doesn’t equate the power of
God Spirit at work.
a. The church of Satan is involved
in social justice causes
4. As far as the “Christian” music scene
a. Amy Grant is now saying
she’s gay
b. Lauren Daigle says she
doesn’t think gay is morally wrong, so great music doesn’t mean the Spirit of
God is at work.
vi. What does the Spirit at work
look like in a church?
1. People are accepting
Jesus Christ
as their Lord and Savior
2. People are receiving
and properly using the Spiritual Gifts
3. People are receiving the Whole
Armor of God
4. People are living and displaying
the Spiritual Fruits
5. People are receiving the blessings
and benefits of belonging to God
6. People are sharing
the Gospel
with others
7. People are being
baptized outward expression & Holy Spirit
8. People are not
remaining on milk
(the basics of salvation) but learning and growing with meat of the Word, becoming
Spiritually mature
II.
WAKE UP!
a.
Strengthen what remains
i. They still had a remnant, a
chance to regain their place
ii. Strengthen it before it dies
iii. This would mean turning from
what the world considered “a successful church” (reputation) and returning and
building upon what the Lord calls a successful church.
b.
Remember, therefore
i. What you have received and
heard, hold on to it and repent!
ii. Hold on to the Truth, and
repent of the worldly
c.
If you do not wake up…
i. Because we always have a
choice with God
ii. “I will come like a thief,
and you will not know at what time I will come for you.”
III.
THOSE WHO FOLLOW ME
a.
You have a few who have not soiled their clothes
i. There is always a few in every
place
ii. God allows His light to
shine in all dark places, if we are willing to serve
iii. These have not soiled their
clothes, meaning, their white garments are clean.
1. When we receive Christ as
our Lord, He covers us with His garment, if we follow Him and stay true, our
garments remain unsoiled.
2. If we turn from Him, sin
soils our garments
iv. “They (the few) will walk with
me dressed in white, for they are worthy.”
b.
The ones who are victorious like them (abstaining from sinful/worldly
living) will be dressed
in white
i. Living by the Spirit
ii. Putting our trust in Jesus,
not ourselves
iii. Repenting, turning from sin,
working out our own salvation by growing in the Word and becoming Spiritually
Mature.
c.
I will never blot out their name
i. This statement tells us a few
things;
1. A) Our name CAN be blotted
out (sorry once saved always saved)
2. B) We can remain in Him when
we live Victoriously!
3. Blessings come through
obedience!
ii. For the thought of “blotting
out” or “losing salvation” to be a true doctrine means there has to be
scriptures throughout the bible about the matter…and there are.
1. Exodus
17:14 The Lord tells Moses
He will blot out the name of Amalek
2. Exodus
32:32 Moses tells God “please
forgive their sin – if not, then blot me out of the book you have written.”
3. Exodus
32:33
The Lord replied to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against me I will blot out of my
book.”
4. Deuteronomy
9:14; 25:6; 25:19; 29:20; 2 Kings 14:27
5. Psalm
69:28 “May
they be blotted out of the book of life and not be listed with the righteous.”
iii. James
5:19-20 “My
brothers and sisters, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone
should bring that person back, 20 remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from
the error of their way will save them from death and cover over a multitude of
sins.”
1.
Keys;
2. “brothers & sisters” he is speaking to believers
3. “if one of YOU should wander from the
truth”
a. A believer can leave the
truth
4. And someone should bring
that person back
a. YOU can come back!
5. Whoever turns that sinner
a. The believer who wandered
from the truth is called a sinner now
6. Whoever turns that sinner
from the error of their way
a. Turning the believer from
the sin (causing them to repent)
7. Will save their soul from
the second death and cover a multitude of sins
a. Second death – Revelation
21:8
“But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually
immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—they will
be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.”
b. Repentance returns the
believer to the “saved” state, and saves them from the Second Death of
judgment!
8. It is clear, if the believer
wandered from the truth, and did NOT repent, he would have been LOST to the
Second Death of judgment!!!
9. YOU CAN LOSE YOUR SALVATION
if you wander from the truth of the Lord and return to living in sin!
10. SO REPENT!
11. If this were not so, this
scripture would NOT exist, AND the LORD would NOT call this church to REPENT!
a. There would be no reason for
them to repent if they couldn’t lose their position with the Lord!
CONCLUSION
– Whoever has ears, let him hear what the
Spirit says to the churches
What
are the rewards the Lord promises to the Victorious?
Ephesus
- To the one who is VICTORIOUS I (Jesus) will give the right to eat from the tree
of life, which is in the
Paradise of God.
Smyrna - The one who is VICTORIOUS will
not be hurt at all by the second death.
Pergamos
- The one who is VICTORIOUS I will give some of the hidden manna. I
will also give that person a white stone with a new name written on it, known
only to the one who receives it.
Thyatira
– To the one who is VICTORIOUS (Repents of Jezebels false teachings, or never
fell for them to begin with) I will give authority over the nations
(Kingdom Age Rule) that one “will rule them with an iron scepter and will dash
them to pieces like pottery” (Psalm 2:9) Just as I have received authority from my
Father. I will also give that one the morning star.
Sardis
- The one who is VICTORIOUS will, like them (the ones who did not soil
their garments with sin), be dressed in white. I will never blot out the
name of that person (the one who remains in the truth and doesn’t soil
their garments with sinful living) from the book of life, but will acknowledge
that name before my Father and his angels.
Whosoever has ears, let them hear
what the Spirit says to the churches.
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