========================================================================
  SARDIS DEAD ORTHODOXY
  by Mike Attwood
========================================================================

Summary: This sermon delves into the letter to the church in Sardis,
known for Dead Orthodoxy, emphasizing the danger of appearing alive but
being spiritually dead. The historical context of Sardis being a
prosperous yet spiritually lifeless city is explored, highlighting the
importance of dependence on the Holy Spirit for true spiritual vitality.
The remnant in Sardis who remained faithful amidst the deadness are
commended, showing the significance of maintaining holiness and intimacy
with God. The message urges churches to avoid complacency, repent, and
return to a place of genuine dependence on the Spirit for revival and
true spiritual life.

Topics: "Spiritual Vitality", "Dependence on the Holy Spirit"
Scripture References: Revelation 3:1, Revelation 3:2, Revelation 3:4, Revelation 3:5, Revelation 3:6

------------------------------------------------------------------------
DESCRIPTION
------------------------------------------------------------------------

This sermon delves into the letter to the church in Sardis, known for
Dead Orthodoxy, emphasizing the danger of appearing alive but being
spiritually dead. The historical context of Sardis being a prosperous
yet spiritually lifeless city is explored, highlighting the importance
of dependence on the Holy Spirit for true spiritual vitality. The
remnant in Sardis who remained faithful amidst the deadness are
commended, showing the significance of maintaining holiness and intimacy
with God. The message urges churches to avoid complacency, repent, and
return to a place of genuine dependence on the Spirit for revival and
true spiritual life.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
CONTENT
------------------------------------------------------------------------

If you could turn with me in your Bibles, please, to the book of
Revelation chapter 3. Revelation chapter 3. I'm going to read the first
six verses as we consider the letter to the church in Sardis. And this
church is, if you want to title it, Dead Orthodoxy. Dead Orthodoxy,
emphasis on the dead.

And so it says in verse 1, and unto the angel of the church in Sardis
write, These things saith he that hath the seven spirits of God and the
seven stars, I know thy works that thou hast a name that thou livest and
art dead. Be watchful and strengthen the things which remain that are
ready to die, for I have not found thy works perfect before God.
Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard and hold fast and
repent.

If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and
thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee. Thou hast a few
names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments, and they
shall walk with me in white, for they are worthy. Either overcometh the
same shall be clothed in white raiment, and I will not blot out his name
out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my father
and before his angels.

He that hath an ear, let him hear what the spirit saith unto the
churches. And again, God will bless that reading of his precious word to
us this morning. So I want to give some background, as we usually do, to
the city.

It was located 30 miles southeast of Thyatira. It was a very wicked
city, as most of the cities that we've been considering were. It was
pagan to the core.

It was a place that was given over to the worship of the goddess Cybele.
And Cybele was the mother of the gods. She was a fertility goddess, if
you like, and connected with fertility and also agriculture.

And their worship of Cybele included drunkenness and sexual immorality.
They were considered to be normal acts of worship. So you'd go to the
temple, you'd get drunk, and there were the usual temple prostitutes,
and sexual immorality would go hand in hand with it.

It was situated on an east-west trade route through Lydia, and it was
prosperous, although not as prosperous as it once was. In fact, despite
the fact that it was still prosperous, it was a shell of its former self
at this point. It was living on its former reputation.

Its finest achievements lay in the past. It was true of the city, and it
can also be true of a church, that a church can be living in the
achievements of the past, but be a shadow of what it once was. Great
past, but a mere shadow of what it once was.

Sardis was built on an almost impregnable ridge of hills with steep
sides. It was very easily fortified. It was 1500 feet above the valley,
which lay below it of 457 meters.

And so you've got this high defensive ridge that was fortified, and
basically there was only supposedly one way into the city. That was
through the gates, and so if the gates were defended well, it was almost
impossible to defeat that city. However, twice in the past, it was
besieged and ultimately defeated, and there was a reason for that.

First of all, the first great siege of the city was under a king that
we're familiar with from the Bible, Cyrus the king of Persia in 548 BC,
and a second time by another king we would be familiar with from the
book of Daniel, Antiochus the Great in 214 BC. And on both occasions,
the city fell despite the fact that it had held out for two years, and
the reason it fell was that on one occasion, it was observed as they
were, the soldiers of Cyrus were looking at the city. A soldier had
dropped, a soldier from the city of Cyrus had dropped his helmet, and he
went out through a back entrance down the steep cliff side to pick up
his helmet, and somebody observant spotted that and saw there must be a
way in, in a back way route through climbing up the steep sides of the
hillside and going through that way where the soldier came.

And the same thing happened again under Antiochus the Great, again where
a woman used that back entrance and somebody spotted it. So, the city
failed to watch that back entrance on two occasions, and they failed to
learn from their past defeats. They should have watched.

It's interesting when I was in Israel, one of the places that stood out
in my mind was Masada, because it's a very, very much like Sardis. It's
a very kind of high plateau, very hard to attack, and yet it was
ultimately defeated. The Romans sieged it and defeated Masada, and it
was a place where to this day, I'm told that Israel takes its recruits
up to Masada, tells them the story of this defeat, and says never again.

And the idea, I think it's a, it's a, Heidi, that's really stood in my
mind is that maybe we've had some areas where we've experienced
spiritual defeats, and we need to have a Masada moment and, and say by
the grace of God, Lord, never again will I fall in that particular way.
We need to learn from our defeats, and if we don't, and if we fail to
watch, just like Sardis, we're in danger of falling once again. And so
that was certainly true of them.

Carelessness and overconfidence, born of apparent strength, brought
disaster, which sent a message throughout the world. Part of their
prosperity was that they were a place known for the manufacturing and
dyeing of woolen goods, very similar to their neighboring city of
Thyatira, although they didn't have a government contract with the Roman
army, with the purple or crimson, but their woolen goods, they were
dyed, and principally, they would understand all about having garments
defiled, which we're going to see in this letter, and also white
raiment, because one of the colors of their dyes was to dye their woolen
garments white. And so certainly they would understand this.

History would, would tell us that this, you may, you may not know much
about Sardis, but you probably have heard this. There was a famous king
in Sardis, whose name was Midas, and he had what was called the Midas
touch. And I don't know if you remember that story, but King Midas, I
remember it from being a child, everything he touched seemed to turn to
gold.

And so that would talk about the past prosperity of the city. It was in
the past, had a great reputation for wealth, for security, for strength.
It had a great reputation in the past, going back to King Midas days.

But as we say now, it was a shadow of that. So now we come to the just
with that background in mind, and that background is very helpful as we
look at this letter. It says to the angel of the church in Sardis, write
these things, saith he that hath the seven spirits of God.

I just want to say, generally the given meaning of the word Sardis is
escaping ones, and we'll keep that at the back of our minds. That's
going to have great relevance, both as we look at it from a church
history perspective, and as we look at it from a connection to the Old
Testament as well. And so just keep that thought escaping ones in mind.

But Sardis, there was a church there. We don't know how it began. We
don't know anything of the history of it.

Perhaps connected with Paul's ministry, three-year ministry in Ephesus,
but we don't know. We can't be dogmatic about that, but there was a
church in Sardis. And so it says unto the angel of the church in Sardis,
write these things, saith he that hath the seven spirits of God, the
seven stars, I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest,
and thou art dead.

So Sardis, the church, had a reputation. It had a past. It had a name,
but the Lord had a different assessment of it.

It has a name for being alive, based on its past reputation, but Sardis,
although it retained the form of sound doctrine, it's interesting, the
Lord doesn't say anything about this church holding the doctrine of the
Nicolaitans or Jezebel's influence, anything like that. So it would seem
that it's sound in doctrine, but it's dead. And so that's why we give it
the title dead orthodoxy.

There's no doctrinal thing pointed out by the Lord at all. It just says
you have a name that you live, and you're dead. They had retained the
form of sound doctrine, but in practice, they had sunk into a deep
slumber, threatening spiritual death.

And so Sardis historically, and we'll look at this more towards the end
of our message, is a symbol of dead Protestantism. They've kept the
name, and they've revolted against a corrupt form, the Catholicism of
the past, but they've replaced it with a dead form of religious
activity. And so this is really the historical background.

We'll look at it certainly in more detail. But it's easy to look back
and say, well, this is obvious. This is dead Protestantism.

But we need to ask questions about our own assemblies. Remember, the
whole point of this is he that has an ear, let him hear what the
Spirit's saying to the churches. What would the Lord be saying to our
assemblies? What about ourselves? You see, this is a working church.

There's busyness, there's activity here. The Lord says concerning it, I
know thy works. And so quite clearly, and this word works, as we've said
before, it's labor to the point of weariness.

They're busy. It's a busy, active place, a place of much activity. And
if you asked, was this church alive? They'd say, of course, look at all
the activity.

Of course, we're alive. Look at all we're doing. Look how busy we are.

They would all say with one accord, yes, indeed, we're a place filled
with activity. Even outsiders might have said the same thing. It's a
church which seems to be alive because they're so busy.

But the Lord's assessment is stunning. He says, you have a name that
thou livest and art dead. Talk about clarity in ministry.

Lord just says three simple words, thou art dead. Wow, that's, I mean,
can you imagine the Lord showing up at your assembly and saying, I see
all your busyness, but I've got something to say to you. You're dead.

I hope that would send cold shivers down our spines if the Lord did
that. Outwardly splendid as of old, inwardly lifeless, dead and cold.
Her force and fire are all spent and gone like the dead moon she still
shines on.

That's an amazing little poem, isn't it? Outwardly splendid as of old,
inwardly lifeless, dead and cold. Her force and fire are all spent and
gone like the dead moon she still shines on. We must not ever mistake
religious activity with spiritual life.

I remember one time many years ago, I had to kill chickens. I killed 30
of them with a machete. It was kind of interesting.

One of the things I noticed is that you can chop the head off a chicken
and it will actually still run around for a while, even though it's cut
off from its head. It's interesting that a church that is disconnected
from the living head may have lots of activity, but it's really dead.
It's like that chicken with its head cut off.

We must be connected to the head. We cannot be active and be going
nowhere. Success is defined in two ways.

By the church, success is defined by activity. By the Lord Jesus,
success is defined by connectivity and intimacy with the head. Are we
connected to the living head? Are we enjoying intimacy with the living
head? And how does the Lord reveal himself to this church? What is the
character of the Lord Jesus? Because as we've said in these letters,
oftentimes the way the Lord reveals himself to these churches is the
real solution.

Get this and you'll solve your problems. You understand what I have to
offer you. I have all that's needed to solve your church's problems.

And so on the one hand, we see the cause of deadness revealed to us by
the Lord in what he's offering them. His revelation of himself gets to
the point of need. He had in himself the resources needed to make them
alive and effective.

He says, these things saith he that hath the seven spirits of God. Now
we've already looked at this from chapter 1. Remember we said that he's
bringing the revelation of himself in chapter 1 and applying it,
different aspects of it to these churches. And we said at that time that
seven is the number of completeness, and it really speaks of the spirit
of God in all of his completeness and all of his fullness.

And we made reference to Isaiah 11 too. We're going to look at that
again in a moment. But I want you just to see the connection with seven
and the spirit here for a moment.

I want us to go back to Zechariah. We've studied this before together in
a previous study, but let's go back to Zechariah chapter 4. And if you
remember, find Matthew and go back, and you won't be long, and you're in
Zechariah chapter 4 and verses 2 to 6, where we read these incredible
words. And so it says, He said unto me, What seest thou? And I said, I
have looked, and behold, a candlestick or lampstand all of gold, with a
bowl upon the top of it, and his seven lamps thereon, and seven pipes to
the seven lamps, which are upon the top thereof.

Again, that seven lamps of fire, which are the seven spirits of God.
Again, we saw that reference in Revelation 1. And the two olive trees by
it, one upon the right side of the bowl and the other upon the left side
thereof. So I answered and spake unto the angel that talked with me,
saying, What are these, my Lord? And the angel that talked with me
answered and said unto me, Knowest thou not what these be? And I said,
No, my Lord.

Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the Lord
unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit,
saith the Lord of hosts. So the seven burning lamps are the Spirit of
God in all his fullness. Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit,
saith the Lord.

And so what we're saying here is this, that what a dead church needs is
the life-giving Spirit. They had moved away from dependence upon the
Holy Spirit. They'd been cut off from him.

They had replaced the Spirit's workings with activity, without the
Spirit. The presence of the Lord Jesus Christ in the midst of an
assembly and dependence on the Holy Spirit are absolutely essential to
true scriptural success. What the Spirit brings to a local church and to
human life and what the church forfeits when it moves away from him to
the wisdom of man and the cleverness of man can be seen in Isaiah
chapter 11.

I want you to go back there. I want you to see again this sevenfold
reference in Isaiah 11, 2. It speaks, for instance, it says verse 1,
These shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a branch
shall grow out of his roots, and the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon
him. And of course, it's speaking of the Lord Jesus, the Messiah, who
was the one who demonstrated full and complete dependence upon the
Spirit of God.

Even the word Messiah means the anointed one, and that's the idea of the
anointing oil that would speak to us of the Spirit of God given to
enable a Messiah to do the ministry God had called him to. And so you've
got these sevenfold things. Now why don't you say the Spirit of the
Lord.

And that gives the idea of dependence fully on God. That's the idea of
full dependence on God, not on self, not on human cleverness, not on our
own ideas, not on the latest bestseller, but full dependence on the
Lord. The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom,
how to apply knowledge practically.

Oh, how we need that today. We've got a lot of knowledge in our culture,
but how do we apply it practically to daily life, to the needs of the
saints? Well, the Spirit of God will show us how to apply the Word of
God and the knowledge we have practically, the Spirit of understanding,
how to act in complex, difficult days. Don't we need understanding to
know the times and understand how to act? Well, again, the Spirit of God
can give us that, the Spirit of counsel, the ability to weigh situations
well and give godly counsel.

How do we get that? It's from the Spirit of God, the Spirit of might,
power to do what God has called us to do. Again, we can't do it in our
own strength. We need that Spirit of might, the Spirit of knowledge, the
ability to know and understand.

Without the Spirit, the Bible is a closed book to us. It really is. He's
the author of the book, right? Holy men of God spoke as they were moved
by the Holy Spirit, and he's the one that illuminates us.

He's the one that turns the lights on. He's the one that helps us get it
and understand it and how dependent we need to be on the Spirit of God
as we study the Word of God. And so this Spirit of knowledge.

And then the last one is the Spirit of the fear of the Lord. The idea is
this, that the fear of God comes to us from the Spirit, and he keeps us
in line, knowing we're accountable, knowing that we're accountable to
the Lord. And so that fear of the Lord, it comes...all of these things
come to us by the blessed Holy Spirit.

And the Lord says, I've got him. The things saith he that hath the seven
Spirits of God, the seven stars, he's got it in his hand, and he has got
everything we need as a group of believers to really not just have a
name that we live, to be actually alive, living, powerful testimony for
Christ. Who would not want to serve in...so I should say, who would want
to serve in a church which is cut off from the life-giving Spirit that
has a name, that it's alive but is dead, and how easy it is to move from
dependence upon the Spirit and to depend on human cleverness.

Again, I can't help but think of the Scripture in the epistle to the
Galatians chapter 3, where he says in verse 2...sorry, verse 3, Are you
so foolish, having begun in the Spirit? Are you now made perfect by the
flesh? When an assembly comes into existence, it's a definite work of
the Holy Spirit. The Spirit has worked in the preaching of the gospel.
People have got saved.

The Spirit's worked in showing them the truth of gathering to the Lord's
name. They have met together in simplicity. They've been fully dependent
on him.

It has been a work of the Spirit. And he says, don't be foolish. This
work started out as a work of the Holy Spirit.

It will never, ever be made perfect in the energy of the flesh. All of
church's man-made programs can never bring life. Any more than a circus
can resurrect a corpse.

The church was born of the Spirit of God when he descended on the day of
Pentecost, and its life comes to it from the Spirit. When the Spirit is
grieved and the church begins to lose its life and its power, when sin
is confessed and church members get right with God and with each other,
then the Spirit that has been grieved infuses new life. That's what we
call revival.

One of the reasons I've been preaching a lot on the Holy Spirit is I've
been going around this because I'm convinced that no revival will ever
come without it being a work of the Holy Spirit. And the more we ignore
this blessed person, the more we're doomed to deadness. And who wants
that? I hope we don't want that.

Notice he says he's got the seven Spirits of God, and then he says the
seven stars. Remember, we've already seen these are his servants. These
are the angels of the churches, these that come to minister to the
churches.

And again, they're in his hand. And he wants to give these men a Spirit-
empowered ministry to speak to the churches. And if they would have ears
to hear, they would repent.

And the Lord has them in his hand. Now notice again about this church,
just like Laodicea, Sardis and Laodicea get no commendation from the
Lord at all. It's kind of sad, isn't it? The Lord doesn't have a good
thing to say.

Now he does say something about the remnant in Sardis that have not
defiled their garments, that are really walking with...he says something
about them. But the church as a whole gets no commendation, as we shall
see, Laodicea doesn't either. How could a dead church possibly be
commended by the living head, the Lord Jesus? It doesn't work.

He couldn't do it. There's nothing to commend. And so what does he say
to a church like this? He says, be watchful, very relevant to a church
that wasn't watching or to a city that wasn't watching and suffered
great defeat.

Be watchful. Wake up to your true condition. You're obviously in a
slumber.

You're not watching. You've allowed this to happen on your watch. The
spirit has been replaced by activity.

How did that happen? Be watchful. And then he says, strengthen the
things which remain. It's kind of interesting.

He doesn't tell him to leave. You think if I was writing to this church,
I would say, well, it's a dead church. You need to get out of there.

He doesn't say that. He actually tells him strengthen the things that
remain because there's a remnant within it. Strengthen the things which
remain where the spirit is still active in this remnant.

Get everything back under his control. Strengthen the things that remain
and that are ready to die for I've not found your works perfect before
God. See, they're busy and they're active, but it's an imperfect work
because it's done in the energy of the flesh, not in dependence on the
spirit.

So it's not perfect. How could it be perfect when it's done in the
energy of the flesh? Now we're going to again come back to that. I've
not found your works perfect before God, before we wrap up this morning.

So we'll come back to that. But then he tells him to remember something.
He says, verse three, remember therefore how thou hast received and
heard and hold fast and repent.

So remember, see the church wasn't always like this. And he's telling
them, remember the good days of the past. Remember the days when the
Holy Spirit was working amongst them.

When they did get spirit empowered ministry from men who were fully
dependent on the Holy Spirit. It's kind of interesting that a church
when it first begins is very much like that. In the early days of a
work, there are no experts.

They're all crying out independence upon God. It's just a group of
believers that are trying to get together and trying to follow the
scriptures. And they're so dependent on the Lord.

They don't know that they need his guidance. They need his power. They
need him so much.

And it's interesting how it's so easy to begin well. Solomon, do you
remember how he began? His reign is so dependent on the Lord. Lord, I'm
just a child.

I don't know how to govern these people. And he cried out to God for
wisdom. And what a glorious beginning.

But what a tragic ending. Over time, human cleverness, ministry
experience, etc. crowds out dependence upon the Spirit.

I've noticed that even organizations that God has used when they first
begin, it begins in prayer and deep exercise and dependence on the
Spirit. But eventually, it's replaced by committees and organization and
human cleverness. And even though it has a reputation from the past,
it's just kind of become a monument really.

We might ask ourselves personally, how are we doing? You know, when he
talks about remember, can you remember better days in your Christian
life? Do you remember the early days when you were just so alive to
spiritual things? You had such enthusiasm, you had a zeal for the house
of God and for the work of God and the gospel of God. That ought to be
increasing, not diminishing. Do we need to remember again, our earlier
zeal for the Lord? He says, remember, therefore, how that was received
and heard.

Remember what you received, remember what you heard, remember those
glory days. And repent, repent that you've got away from that. Repent
that you've become mechanical, you've gone through the motions.

Repentance is so needed here. Maintenance of a form without spiritual
reality is an abomination to God. And it demands repentance.

Are we going through the motions? That's a stirring question, isn't it?
Are we going through the motions? Is it just business as usual? He says,
wake up, be watchful, repent, remember the word you have received and
obey it. This is the formula for revival. Our assemblies can experience
revival if we'll come back and remember what we once heard.

And so he says to them, if therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come
on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon
thee. Remember the people in Sardis, they would get this. Remember the
city seemed all secure and strong, and yet through this back entrance,
the enemy's forces crept up, and they came in, and they weren't
watchful.

And the enemy came upon them like a thief, and they experienced stunning
defeat. And the Lord brings those things to their minds, brings things
that they would know about. It's a warming note to those who will not
watch.

He will come to chase them down. Twice in the history, they'd
experienced this in these great staggering defeats. It's interesting how
in this letter, the Lord refers more to things that he had mentioned in
his earthly ministry than any other letter.

Because the Lord talks about coming upon people as a thief in the
Gospels, doesn't he? He talks about the need to watch in the Gospels.
And now his earthly ministry is now applied sadly to a church, and he's
saying the same things to them. Now, things that he normally would say
to the unsaved, to non-Christians.

And so I'll just look at a couple of references, 1 Thessalonians 5. I
just want you to see these references here for a moment. 1 Thessalonians
5 and verse 4, it says, But brethren, you are not in darkness, that that
day should overtake you as a thief. This is not normally the language
that's used of Christians.

It's not about you, believers, it's about them, the unsaved world. But
now the Lord has to say it to this dead church, I'm going to come on you
like a thief. Look at Matthew 24, please.

Matthew 24, and we'll get both the idea of watchfulness and the idea of
the Lord coming as a thief. In verse 42 of Matthew 24, Watch therefore
for you know not what hour your Lord does come. But know this, that if
the good man of the house had known it, what watch the thief would come,
he would have watched and would not have suffered his house to be broken
up.

Therefore, be ye also ready for in such an hour as you think not, the
Son of Man cometh. And so tragically, the Lord is using language that he
normally uses to the unsaved, and he's writing it to the church at
Sardis. Watch, unless I come on you as a thief.

And again, are we watchful? Notice verse 40 says, thou hast a few names,
even in Sardis, which have not defiled their garments, and they shall
walk with me in white, but they are worthy. Now I want you to notice
that the remnant is playing a bigger part in these letters to the
churches. We saw it in Thyatira in chapter 224.

Notice, please, chapter 2 verse 24. He says, but unto you I say, and
unto the rest in Thyatira, as many as have not this doctrine, and which
have not known the depths of Satan, as they speak, I will put upon you
none other burden. So there was a group in Thyatira that had not bought
into the doctrine of Jezebel.

And so there was that group, and he encourages that group. They'd not
known the depths of Satan. To you I say, unto the rest.

And now he comes to Sardis, and again, it seems like it's a remnant
again, but it's smaller. Thou hast a few names, verse 4, in Sardis that
have not defiled. So there's just a few that have not kind of bought
into this malaise of going through the motions, that are still walking
intimately with the Lord.

They're not disconnected to the head. They're not ceased to depend on
the Holy Spirit. There's a few of them.

And then chapter 3 verse 20, we're going to get to Laodicea, where it
now seems to be the individual. Behold, I stand at the door and knock,
if any man hear my voice. In other words, is there anybody in there at
all that will hear my voice? I want his fellowship if there's anybody
there, but it seems to be almost down to the individual.

It is so bad. And so the remnant is getting smaller as we get
subsequently down through these churches. So we're told there's a
remnant in Sardis who had been faithful to the Lord.

Their devotion to him was undiminished in this lifeless church. Now, let
me just say this. This is very commendable.

Because when you're around deadness, it's very easy for the influence of
deadness to affect you. And so I tell you, of all the ones in the
Revelation, I think these guys are to be greatly commended. Because
despite the prevailing deadness in Sardis, there were a few names that
had not defiled their garments.

Even in Sardis, would not defile their garments, and they shall walk
with me in white, for they are worthy. And so this remnant, their
devotion to him was undiminished in this lifeless church. So
commendable.

They hadn't been dragged down. They had not defiled their garments. That
would tell us something, wouldn't it? That generally holiness had gone.

You see, if you remove dependence upon the spirit out of the equation,
what's left? Well, the flesh is left. And the flesh will always manifest
itself. The works of the flesh are these.

And we know that horrible list. And so obviously, the church had become
a dirty church. Because they were operating in the flesh.

Holiness was not emphasized like it once was. Because the Holy Spirit
wasn't prominent. And so general holiness was gone.

They were no longer dependent on him. Carnality was now the prevalent
mentality. It's possible, isn't it, to go through all the motions and to
live double lives.

To know how to put on the show, to know how to act, and yet to be living
a secret life of sin. And he says, thankfully, in that church, despite
his deadness, and despite the fact that it has become debauched, because
they're not depending on my Holy Spirit, he says there is a remnant
there. And this remnant, these few names, they have not defiled their
garments.

And they shall walk with me in white, for they are worthy. Now, again,
this idea of walking with the Lord. You see, how can two walk together,
Amos 3 verse 3 says, unless they be agreed? Walking with the Lord is
based on, first of all, dependence on the Spirit, and a desire not to
hinder fellowship with him by being serious about sin.

Because we have to be in agreement with him. We have to be walking in
the light as he is in the light. And so this is what they were doing.

And they promised that they're going to experience that even more. Just
the joy of fellowship and communion with the Lord. They're going to walk
with him in white, because they are worthy.

Now, that's an amazing thing, isn't it? They are worthy. You see,
normally, the message of Scripture is, he is worthy. It's a very rare
thing for the Lord to commend anybody and to say they are worthy.

But somehow, this remnant in Sardis, who were not defiled, they were
walking holy, dependent lives, the Lord says, they're worthy. Maybe
because the environment is not conducive to it. And he commends them and
says, they're worthy.

The only time it's used again is in chapter 16, where it's referred to
of the Lord's people. It says, for they have shed the blood of saints
and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink. Then it says, for
they are worthy.

Now, again, it's not the Lord's people, but it's the ones who are being
judged and having to drink blood are worthy of it, because of what
they've done to God's people. And so again, we've got that phrase, for
they are worthy. But here, these people, the Lord seems to think that he
highly values, let me put it this way, their communion and their
fellowship in a dead church, that this remnant are still serious about
depending on him and enjoying intimacy with him.

He that overcometh, he says, the shame shall be clothed in white
raiment. Now, again, it's very significant that in Roman Empire, victory
processions took place and prominent citizens would march in the
procession wearing white togas. Also, in Sardis, the priests of Cybele
used to wear white garments, and so they would get this.

They manufactured cloth, they dyed cloth. And the Lord is saying for the
overcomer, he's going to be clothed in white raiment. Then he says this,
not only is he going to be clothed in white raiment, he might not be
part of the Roman Empire's victory processions.

Because remember, the overcomer means somebody's having the victory. He
might not be recognized in part of their victory processions. He might
not be around the priests of Cybele as they strut around in their white
garments, but he could walk with me in white.

Oh, what a difference to walk with the Lord in white and to get
recognized by the only authority that ultimately matters to be in his
presence. Now, notice again, this verse five, it's given a lot of
trouble to a lot of insecure saints. And there are some saints that just
really struggle with security.

And every verse they come to that kind of implies the possibility that
you could lose your salvation, well, they look at those verses, and they
can't get them out of their heads. And they always read them wrong,
because they're not secure in the Lord like they ought to be. What he
says here, concerning the overcomer, the true believer, he says, he
says, I will not blot out his name out of the book of life.

It's not a threat. It's a promise. What a difference between a threat
and a promise.

This is a promise, not a threat. It's designed to give security, not
insecurity. Assurance of salvation is seen here.

It's saying in the strongest words, we have everlasting life. The true
overcomer is he that believes. Remember, we saw that in first John five,
the true believer.

And God says, I will not blot his name out of the book of life. Even if
he wanted to, like Moses in the Old Testament, in Exodus 32, 32, even if
he wanted to, even if he was so concerned about the state of Sardis,
just like Moses was concerned about the people of Israel, he said, Lord,
if it's possible, blot my name. It's not possible.

The Lord says, I will not blot his name out of the book of life. Now,
interesting, isn't it, too, that the book of life is mentioned in the
context of a church that has a reputation that it's alive, but is dead.
The relevance of the book of life is evident here.

The remnant were alive. That's why their names are in the book of life.
They're alive.

They're truly spiritual. They're alive. And I will confess his name
before my father and before his angels.

Again, a reference to the gospel. So, the Lord mentions this in the
gospel accounts. Now, again, just we'll look at that in a minute.

I'm going to look at the reference, but in a moment, but I want you just
to see the idea of name is something that really stands out. You look at
repetition in a chapter, you'll notice this. Chapter three, verse one,
it talks about a church and it says, the end of verse one, thou hast a
name that thou livest and art dead.

And then in verse four, he says, thou hast a few names, even in Sardis,
which have not defiled their garments. And then chapter three, verse
five, I will not blot out his name out of the book of life. And again,
in verse five, I will confess his name before my father and before his
angels.

And so, ironic that this church had a name, but the Lord knew the few
names in Sardis, the real overcomers. He knew them. You see, he knows
his own and he calls them by name.

He knows them. He knows a few names in Sardis. And he says, he'll not
blot their name out of the book of life.

And he will confess his name before his father and before the angels. Of
course, the reference is to Matthew's gospel in chapter 10 and verse 32,
Matthew 10, verse 32. And I'm just going to throw something in here,
because again, people that struggle with security issues, and there are
many of them, sadly, in the church, and they're not really enjoying the
fullness of their salvation when they're constantly struggling with
security.

By the way, a great booklet to read is safety, certainty, and assurance.
Wonderful, wonderful booklet that can really help anybody if you're in
that condition. But chapter 10, verse 32 of Matthew, it says, whoever
therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my
father, which is in heaven.

Whoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my father,
which is in heaven. And of course, that second thing, we've denied
before men, that gives people great fear. Well, what about Peter? Have
you forgotten about Peter? What did Peter do? Did he deny the Lord? He
denied him three times.

How did he do it? With oaths and cursings, he even swore about it. Did
the Lord just say, okay, Peter, you're done? No, what did the Lord do?
He restored him. And Peter then did confess his name before the mob.

In fact, again and again, Peter says there's no other name than that
name, and he owned the name. So again, just remind ourselves of these
amazing truths. The Lord, again, referring to his earthly ministry here
in this particular passage.

So the warning here is this, that we not grow comfortable in our
churches, lest we find ourselves slowly dying. The encouragement is that
there's no church beyond hope, as long as there's a remnant in it that
will strengthen the things that remain. He says in verse 6, see that
hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

Again, are we listening to what the Spirit might be saying here? Sardis,
a church, ceased to be dependent on God's Holy Spirit. Any church or
movement born out of the move of the Holy Spirit, and that has at one
time been fully dependent on him, his strength being made perfect in
weakness. But when human cleverness creeps in, we limit his strength and
power.

It's a great challenge for a church to stay in the place of dependence.
No need to pray, we can check the textbook or the manual, we know what
we are to do. A church over time can become dependent on the wisdom and
talents of men rather than the power of God.

Can we explain our church outside of God and his work through the
Spirit? If so, if we can explain it any other way other than God and the
operations of the Spirit, then we're a modern day Sardis. Remember there
was a catchphrase in each of these letters, this one is living and
dying. You've got a name that you live, but you're dead.

Church history, Sardis means escaping ones. Those that escape from
potpourri, the papal system that we saw previously in Thyatira. And yet
he says in chapter 3 verse 2, I've not found your works perfect before
God.

And the reason for that is that the Reformation, praise God for it,
we're thankful for it, but it did not go far enough. In fact, men like
Luther, when he came out of potpourri, he brought a lot of baggage,
grave clothes of potpourri with him. The clergy laity system,
Nicolaitanism continued on.

The repulsive titles like reverend were brought with them. Infant
baptism, dead ritualism, the marriage of church and state, the state
churches in Scotland and England and Lutheranism in Scandinavia,
Augustinian theology, and that horrible doctrine of Calvinism came along
with these men. They were all Augustinians.

Luther was an Augustinian monk. Amillennialism, also part of popish
baggage, denying a future for Israel, denying a future millennial reign
of Christ. All of this baggage, their works were not perfect before God.

Further Reformation was needed. So what is the Old Testament background
here? It's harder to see than some of the previous letters, but it's
here nevertheless. It's clearly because we've got progression here.

We started in Genesis in the garden, then we went to Exodus with Smyrna,
and then we went to the book of Numbers, and then we saw the wilderness
experience. And so where are we now? Well, we certainly have arrived on
the scene after the days of Jezebel in the Kings. And when we get to
Philadelphia, we're going to see a Hezekiah experience.

We're going to get a little glimpse of a little reviving before the end.
And so in between Jezebel and that little reviving before the end, it
points us to the days of Joash in 2 Chronicles 24. Now you say, what's
the link here? Well, you think of escaping ones.

That's the meaning of Sardis. Well, what about Josiah? You see, all of
the kings of Judah were murdered by a wicked woman, kind of Jezebel-
like, right? Athaliah ranks there with Jezebel as one of the most wicked
women. And yet there was one who escaped.

His name was Joash. And boy, he got off to a roaring start, tried to
reform the house of God, tried to change things. But his works were not
perfect before God, were they? Well, however, the priest, the faithful
priest was active.

Jehoiada, things were good. But once he died, it may have had a name,
but effectively the kingdom was dead. In fact, this king died in his
sleep.

He was actually murdered, but he was in his bed asleep. And so we see a
very definite connection there. So what's the conclusion? The message of
Sardis is a warning to all great churches that are living on past glory.

Dr. Vance Havner has frequently reminded us that spiritual ministries
often go through four stages. They begin with a man, they become a
movement, and then they become a machine. And finally, they end up as a
monument.

Sardis was at the monument stage. What stage is your assembly at? It's a
good question to ask. It's a very sobering question to ask.

Do we have a name that we live, but we're dead? Is our assembly fully
dependent upon the Spirit of God, and fully connected to Christ the
head? Do we have a glorious past and maybe living on our history,
instead of making history? Where are we spiritually? Well, God's message
is simple, isn't it? He that has ears to hear, let him hear. And maybe
there's a need for us to remember, therefore, from whence thou art, to
remember, therefore, how thou hast received and heard. Think back to the
glorious ministry and the early days we once heard.

Remember those things that we have received and heard, hold fast, and
repent. Maybe that's what we need to do. May God encourage us and stir
us with these thoughts of Sardis.

Amen.

========================================================================
Video: https://sermonindex2.b-cdn.net/HtAqMlPmlmw.mp4
Source: https://sermonindex.net/speakers/mike-attwood/sardis-dead-orthodoxy/
========================================================================