According to statistics, in 2024, 715 SBC churches in the United States closed their doors. Churches that at one time stood as lighthouses in their community to shine the light of the Gospel of Jesus. But now, they are no longer in existence.

There isn’t much worse for the glory of Christ than an old dilapidated church building in a community that has closed its door. What is that telling the lost community members who drive by that building every day? Nothing good! It’s telling the community, Jesus must not be that powerful. He must not make that much a difference in people’s lives because look at this run-down building. There is nothing about a church closing its doors that brings glory to Christ. What a terrible testimony to the community. Rather than shining for the glory of Christ, it puts a stain on His great name.

When you think of a dead church, this is probably what you think about.

However, did you know that a church can be dead, and still have a nice well maintained, comfortable building.
Still have lots of activities going on.
Still be growing in numbers.
Yet be spiritually dead.

That’s the church at Sardis.
The church at Sardis thought it was doing great.
However, Jesus has a shocking message for the people at Sardis.
Jesus says that you may have a name and reputation of being alive.
But you are dead.

Everything about the church physically, things that can be seen with the physical eyes, was saying this is a thriving church. However, Jesus, He sees beyond the physical. He sees right down to the thoughts and intentions of the heart. He sees spiritual reality.  And what Jesus sees at Sardis is a dead church. This is a church composed primarily of false converts. Not true genuine followers of Christ. Rather than being a church that leads people down the narrow road to eternal life, they were leading people on the broad road to eternal death.

And that is true today.
A church can look like it’s a growing thriving church. Y
et when Jesus looks at it, he sees it for what it really is. It’s dead.
They may be growing. But not because the Gospel is being proclaimed. No!
It's because they have a good marketing campaign.
They may have all kinds of activities, but the activities are really just social events.
They may meet for what is called worship, but it’s really just some entertaining music to hype them up emotionally and then give a self-help TED talk with a bible verse to make it sound spiritual. Rather than looking to God’s word and simply teaching what God has to say, they look to psychology and philosophy.
What are people’s felt? And they craft a message about that.
A message that appeals to the flesh, rather than the Spirit.
They pay careful attention not to say anything that might offend.
But when you do that you water down the Gospel.

As we have seen, Jesus has given John a vision to write.
In this vision, John sees Jesus tending to lampstands.
These lampstands represent churches.

This reminds us of our purpose as a church. (Light lamp)
We exist to shine brightly for the glory of Christ.
We want to shine so brightly that every dark corner of the world around us can clearly see who Jesus is.

Jesus also gives messages to 7 real historical churches so that these churches will shine for His glory. Jesus assesses the church and gives them messages of commendation for a job well done, or correction when needed.

These messages aren’t just for the churches in ancient Asia minor, but they apply to churches of all ages, even today.

So, because we want to be a church shining brightly for the glory of Christ, we have been composing a list of the kind of church Jesus wants.

Jesus wants

• A church working hard for His glory
• A church patiently enduring for His name
• A discerning church
• A pure church
• A loving church
• A fearless church
• A church faithful to death
• An uncompromising church
• A church that does not tolerate sin.

Because if not, we could end up like the church we will be looking at today.
Sardis, the dead church.

And to the angel of the church in Sardis write:

If you remember, angel refers to a messenger. Someone would physically have to come get the letter from John who is in prison on the Island of Patmos. Most likely a elder or church leader.

It’s a letter written to the church at Sardis.

Like other churches, our best guess at how the church was started comes from Acts 19 when Paul was teaching daily in the hall of Tyrannus. The Gospel spread to all of Asia Minor.

Let’s talk about the city of Sardis. On the map we have been to Ephesus, then north to Smyrna, then further north to Pergamum. From Pergamum we went east to Thyatira, and now south 30 miles to Sardis which is located in the Hermus River Valley.

Sardis was a very great and wealthy city well known as one of the greatest cities in ancient world. There was a famous saying, “Rich as Croesus” due to the wealth of the King of Sardis, King Croesus. Their wealth came from gold that was mined from the river nearby.

Sardis is the first place to mint gold and silver into coins. In addition to the gold, Sardis was also wealthy due to its location on a major trade route called the Royal Road. Sardis was at the western end with Susa the Capital of Persian on the eastern end.

Militarily speaking, Sardis was known to be an impenetrable city due to its fortified location on one of the hills that jetted out from Mt Tmolus overlooking the river valley below. 1500-foot vertical cliff faces on 3 sides with only one way to access the city made the city almost impossible to conquer. Almost! This led to them being very prideful and overconfident.

Sardis, with its reputation of greatness and undefeatable, was defeated overnight.
One night while they were sleeping, Antiochus the Great, and an army of Cretian mountain climbers silently climbed the walls and easily defeated the city. The city never regained its status in it’s glory days. By the time John wrote this letter, the city controled by the Roman Empire.

As Jesus introduces himself to the churches, He uses images from John’s vision in chapter 1 to highlight certain attributes.

When Jesus introduced himself to the churches at Pergamum and Thyatira, He used images that warned of His judgment. However, Sardis is past judgement. They are dead.

The words of Him who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars.

The 7 Spirits is found in verse 1:4
John to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from Him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before His throne, and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness.

We see the trinity in this verse. God the Father, God the Son, and the Holy Spirit is identified as the 7 spirits who are before His throne. Why is the Holy Spirit referred to as the 7 Spirits? In Revelation, there is a lot of symbolism that refers back to the Old Testament.

In Isaiah 11:2, the Holy Spirit is described as having 7 characteristics.
In Zechariah, the 7 branched menorah.
So, the idea of 7 is God’s number of completeness.

Jesus has the fullness of the Holy Spirit.
He is letting the church at Sardis know, they need the fullness of the Spirit, and Jesus has it.

Jesus also has 7 stars.
Those stars represent the messengers of pastors in Jesus's hand.  
They are faithful pastor preaching truth.

Jesus is letting the church at Sardis know, He has faithful pastors who will preach the truth. And they need it.

Jesus has what the church at Sardis needs.
The fullness of the Holy Spirit and faithful pastors who will preach the truth.
They need a leadership change in the church.
They need a faithful pastor who will faithfully preach God’s word, and they need to submit to the Holy Spirit.

As Jesus is tending to the church at Sardis, Jesus doesn’t find the lamp flickering. No!
This lampstand is completely out! It’s not shining at all.

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 God.

I know your works.

This was a church with a lot of things going on.
Some churches die because of a lack of works.
They don’t do anything.
Sins of omission keep them from doing anything to shine for the Glory of Christ.
That’s not the problem at Sardis.
They have a lot going on.
The problem was, as you can see, their works were incomplete in God’s sight.
This church was religious, but devoid of the Spirits power.
The prophet Isaiah would say their religious works were filthy rags.
There works are only a result of human effort, relying on human wisdom, rather than the power of the Holy Spirit.
They have a form of godliness by deny the power.
There works are wood, hay and stubble that will be burned up.
They will not last.
They will be burnt up.

A church like Sardis today may be growing, but only because of skillful marketing campaigns.
They may be friendly, but only for the sake of building their business.
They may have ministries that meet people’s needs, but only to boost their self-esteem so they can justify themselves as good people.
They can be all about the name of their church rather than the name of Christ.
They can be all for the Kingdom of their church rather than the Kingdom of God.
They want to make a name for themselves.

This church at Sardis was concerned about their reputation.
You have a reputation of being alive. 
They had a reputation to uphold.
Because of this, I think one of the biggest sins in the church at Sardis was prideful ambition.

Prideful ambition can make a church water down the gospel to make it more palatable. More people will respond that way.

Prideful ambition can cause churches to have a worldly view of leadership in the church. They want ambitious leaders who, rather than faithfully and humbly teaching God’s word to grow the church, grow the church by conforming to the culture and psychology and philosophy. They want to make a name for themselves so much they have no concern for how Christ and His word.

But what does Jesus say about the church at Sardis. They are dead. There has never been a genuine salvation in the lives of these church members. They are dead and devoid of the Holy Spirit.

Ephesians 2:1 dead in their trespasses and sin.
False converts.
Building with wood, hay stubble.

None.

Wake up, and strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your works complete in the sight of God. Remember then, what you received and heard. Keep it, and repent.

Wake up
Strengthen what remains and is about to die.
Remember the true Gospel message.
Keep the word of God
Repent

If you will not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at that hour I will come against you.

Jesus warns he will come like a thief in the night to bring judgement.
At an unexpected time.

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 this 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.

Despite this church being mostly dead, there is a remnant. Those who have not soiled their garments in sin. Their lives are not characterized by sin like the prideful false converts of the church at Sardis.

The name of the Kingdom of Sardis church will be blot out. They are dead. But those true Christians, their names will not be blot out. They will have eternal life. They will have an eternal legacy.

Reminds me of what Jesus said, if you deny me, I will deny you. If you acknowledge me, I will acknowledge you.