Wake up: The Church in Sardis

Rev 3:1-6

What: Complacency and False Assurance

Why: To challenge churches to live out their calling
To challenge believers to examine their faith in light of their lives
How:
Problem
Prescription
Promise

I. INTRODUCTION
The Church: A Review
-As we begin our study of Rev 3:1-6, it’s good to review our Ecclesiology (Doctrine of the Church)
to fully feel the weight of our passage
-What is the church?
-quickly, we know that the church is not a building
-it is not a religious group or institution
-in the NT, the word used is ekklesia, referring to “the community of those who have been
called out by God from their slavery to sin through faith in Jesus Christ…the corporate
gathering of those who have been transferred from the dominion of darkness into the
kingdom of Christ….” (BD,74)

 local church (visible body of believers that is meeting together, worshipping,

fellowshipping, evangelizing as a congregation)
universal church (invisible body that includes all true believers throughout the world and
throughout time)

-What is the church’s purpose?

-simply put, the church exists to glorify God by obeying His will all by grace in corporate
worship, through the strengthening of believers (discipleship, fellowship, teaching, training),
living out its calling as salt and light of the world for the proclamation of His Good News of
salvation (Gospel) to all peoples (missions, evangelism)
-this is the church in a nutshell

Is this the Church?

-What if we have a group of people meeting weekly in a beautiful worship center, but doesn’t care
about one another throughout the week. Is this a church?
-What if they listen to lengthy sermons that focus on how to be better in life, how to be the best
versions of themselves, how to achieve their goals? Basically man-centered messages… Is it a
church?
-What if they have lots of programs and events inherited from their traditions which they aim to
accomplish year in and year out, unaffected by the needs, the problems and the spiritual
deadness of their communities? Is it a church?
-What if their leaders are more like administrators of corporations and businesses rather than
shepherds and pastors of people? Is it a church?
-What if they hire people to do their evangelism and discipleship while the rest of the
congregation go on with their daily lives. Is it a church?
 -What if in their decisions, goals, and actions they are guided by the world, more than the Word?
Is it a church?

Connect with the passage

-these are sobering questions, but are important to reflect on in light of Jesus’ message to the
church in Sardis
-today, we meet a church which I believe received the harshest rebuke from the Lord a church
that is not just dying because of false teachings or worldliness or sin, but is already dead in some
aspects it is a church outwardly (looks like a church, acts like a church) but inwardly, in
spiritual terms it can hardly be called a church
-So, we hear the strongest call from Jesus Wake up! For believers in that church, “Wake up from
complacency!” For unbelievers in that church (yes, there are unbelievers pretending to be part
of the church) “Wake up from false assurance of salvation!”

Outline
-This is the focus of our message this afternoonThe church’s wakeup call against complacency
and false assurance
-The Apostle John helps us understand this through the experience of the Church in Sardis in three
parts (our outline for this afternoon)
1. Problem (vv. 1-2)
2. Prescription (vv. 2-3)
3. Promise (vv. 4-6)

Historical Context
- The Apostle John received the Revelation of Jesus in the Island of Patmos (in Greece), where he
was exiled by the Roman empire for his faith in Jesus it was written for seven churches in
Asia (now Western Turkey) that are experiencing persecution from Jewish fanatics and
Rome, under the reign of Emperor Domitian (AD 95)
at the same time, the churches also encountered spiritual challenges (pagan compromises,
complacency, immorality, materialism)

Literary Context
-of the seven churches, we’ve gone through four
a. Ephesus- the church with commendable lifestyle but with questionable motives
b. Smyrna- the persecuted church that exemplified faithfulness and perseverance
c. Pergamum- the church that endured persecution but entertained false teachings on man-made
tradition and sexual sins
d. Thyatira- the church whose deeds and service are commendable, but tolerated a false teacher
of sexual immorality
e. Today we look at Sardis- the church that needs to wake up from complacency and false
assurance

Ponder
-Indeed, the seven churches and their experiences represent Christians all over the world and
through the ages, even up to our time
- as we go through them, we can actually ask ourselves, “Which of these churches can I relate
to?” “Which encouragement do I need to hear today?” “Which warning or rebuke deals with a
sin I am struggling with?”
 -And in today’s passage, the struggle of Sardis with complacency strikes at the heart of the
temptation to withdraw and disassociate especially in this time of pandemic
-And the call to reflect on our spiritual condition is a timeless duty-- make our “calling and
election sure” writes Paul in 2 Peter 1:10.
-so I pray that we will all benefit from the message this afternoon, difficult and painful it may be
-I pray that this will be a reminder to be vigilant, to stay awake amid a dying world. (7:30)

II. BODY
A. Problem (v. 1)
Point: Sardis is plagued by complacency and false assurance of salvation, turning it into a dead
or a sleeping church
Proof: v.1a as with the other letters, this one begins with the same formula—Jesus instructs
John to write to the angel in Sardis. We’ve mentioned that the angel is most likely the pastor
in charge of the church. But due to the eschatological nature of Revelation, it may also refer
to the guardian angel of the church in Sardis.

Sardis background
-Known historically as a “military stronghold,” and thought to be impenetrable (FSB, Rev
3:1) because of its geography (situated on a hill with a cliff of more than 450 m
surrounding it higher than the Petronas Tower in Malaysia) a saying in antiquity,
“capturing Sardis” is synonymous to achieving the impossible (Rev Com, p140)
-ironically, Sardis fell twice, caught by surprise in 546 and 214 BC when its enemies climbed
the “unscalable” cliff to open the gates of the acropolis and attack (Rev Com, p140)
-They worshipped Artemis, the Greek goddess of fertility and child birth
-There is also a sizeable Jewish population in the area
-today, what remains of Sardis is the small city of Sart

v.1b John writes a message for Sardis from Jesus who is described here as
“him who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars”
WORD STUDY: “seven spirits” – related to Rev 1:4, the seven spirits before the throne of God
-commentators are in agreement that this statement refers to the Holy Spirit
particularly to the seven-fold imagery from Isaiah 11:2; Zech 4:1-10
-the emphasis is on the number seven which is a symbol of completeness and adequacy
WORD STUDY: “seven stars” refer to the seven angels of the churches (Rev 1:20)
-pastors or guardian angels, but the emphasis is on Jesus’ ownership of the stars, He has
them on His hands symbol of His oversight or control over the churches through
their angels
POINT: putting these two imageries together (seven spirits and seven stars) in light of the
situation in Sardis, we see that Jesus is sovereign over them, He has adequate power
through the Spirit to work in and through them to turn their dire situation around

v.1c What exactly is their situation?

-they have a name, a reputation of being alive, but in reality, from a spiritual perspective,
they are dead
Two clear meanings
1. There are those in the Church in Sardis who only seemed to be believers, but in reality,
are not (PICTURE: Matt 23:27 Pharisees and Scribes who are likened to whitewashed
tombs but full of dead man’s bones hypocritical religiosity)
 - They are whom we might brand as people who have false assurance of salvation
- That is, they think they are Christians probably because they do Christian things, say
Christian words, participate in Christian works but are not really believers because
they do not have saving faith or trust in Jesus to begin with
PICTURE: Sober warning of Matt 7:21-23 (read)
-not because one does spectacular, supernatural, miraculous works “for the Lord”
he or she is already a Christian
-the true Christian is the one who does the will of the Father What? John 6:40
gives us a clue (read)
-true Christianity goes back to faith, to trust in Jesus, to a relationship with the
living God all by grace we look and rely on the Son for salvation

2. In light of v. 2, there are things that remain—they are not dead, but are dying. This
points us to true believers in the church who have become complacent. The passage
doesn’t tell us the exact nature of their complacency, but comparing it to the other
churches, this may include false teachings, sexual immorality, abandonment/
compromises in persecution or worldliness, among others.
-Yes! They did not lose their salvation (John 10:28-29), but they are also in a sad
situation
-They have the reputation of being alive in the sense that their history as a church or as
believers points to a time of genuine passion and fire for the Lord. But in their
current state, they are only good as dead.
PICTURE: They may still be going through the motions—serving in the church, fulfilling
their duties, attending worship services, but in their heart of hearts the passion is
not there, the motives are skewed and the love is going cold

Ponder: The application is direct, we must ask ourselves, “How is our church? How are we as
individuals?”
-Could it be that because of the pandemic, and our separation and lack of physical
interaction and gathering, we’ve grown cold and complacent as a congregation?
-Have we fallen asleep like Sardis and the fire and passion for God’s glory, His Word and the
spread of the Gospel are now but distant memories?
-If we apply 2 Corinthians 13:5, “Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith.
Test yourselves,” do we see that we are truly in Christ? Or do we fail the test?

Picture: Often, people think of the empty church buildings in Europe when they talk about
dead churches. Their life or death is measured by their population. But more challenging is
the reality that many churches may be full, a number of Christians may be active but all
these may just be for show.
-the real measure of spiritual life is from the heart
-as RC Sproul was once asked, “How do you know if a person is a true follower of Jesus?” He
said he’ll ask a definitive question:

-“Do you love Jesus at all?”  this is a question between you and God, a question we all
have to face individually and as a church, “Does our church love Jesus?”
-genuine faith comes with a new heart (from stone to flesh Ezekiel 36:26). Then,
wouldn’t we expect this new heart to change from hating Jesus to loving Him?
 Problem: Before I leave this point, let me just give a word about what we can do to prevent
false assurances. In our evangelism, we need to remember that God is the one who
changes people’s hearts, who gives the gift of faith all by grace. Thus, assurance is the
work of the Spirit.
-let us not make the mistake of giving the assurance ourselves based on a prayer that was
prayed, or a hand that was raised or a call responded to this is the Spirit’s domain

-and when a church member approaches you and shares his or her doubts, we shouldn’t just
dismiss it as a work of the enemy, but to help them process their questions Biblically—for
all we know, these are the beginnings of God’s movement in their hearts
-Remember: the most difficult person to evangelize is the one who thinks he is saved but is
actually not. That’s why sometimes the most difficult mission field is the church.

Restate: We have seen the problem in Sardis—complacency and false assurance. How did Jesus
deal with these? We go to our next point (19:30)

B. Prescription (vv. 2-3) DON’T READ

Point: Jesus gives five commands to combat complacency and false assurance: Wake up,
Strengthen what remains, Remember, Keep and Repent
Proof: v.2a (READ) 1) Wake up! –Literally it is, “Be on the alert!” This has the idea of being
watchful or showing yourself vigilant. That is, from being asleep or spiritually distracted,
you awaken!
PICTURE: This is directed to the complacent believers and draws on the imagery of Sardis’
fall brought by their lack of vigilance. They did not bother to guard the cliff, thinking that
the enemy will not be able to climb it. Sadly they did, not once but twice to the ruin of
the city! (Osborne, p142)
PRACTICE: In the same way, believers are to be alert! Falling into a state of complacency is
not a sudden plunge but a slow slide. A little compromise here and a subtle one there
(ayaw mag QT, nood ng mejo unhealthy film here, kinig ng worldy songs there) and one
day we wake up, ang layo na natin pala sa Lord.
PICTURE: John Owen famously reminded Christians (Mortification) that we are at war
against the flesh and the devil. “We must be ever killing sin, or it will be ever killing us!”

v.2b 2) Strengthen what remains- In the original, this command carries urgency. “Start to
strengthen,” “support,” to “stand something on its feet.” The idea is to “establish
something to make it strong.” (Osborne, p142)
What or who should be strengthened?
-in our passage, we are told that there “remains” both a remnant of true believers and of
genuine Christian characteristics in that dead church
-but they should act fast because the believers’ complacency and backsliding seen in their
half-hearted work for the Lord (I have not found your works complete in the sight of my
God) is threatening to extinguish the remaining fire in the church

PROBLEM: Does this mean that they are about to lose their salvation? No because of the
clear teaching on perseverance of the saints in John 10:28-29. Instead, this death
threat is similar to the one in Rev. 2:5 (removal of lampstand). It is about to die in the
sense that Jesus will ultimately remove the church in the area if it does not change. It
will no longer shine light for Christ.
 PRACTICE: We need not look far to understand how we can strengthen our people in
church. We disciple them in the Word (2 Timothy 3:16-17). By God’s grace we are
doing good in pulpit ministry and big-group teaching sessions. But DCBC can still
improve in our small-groups, discipleship groups and one-on-one mentoring and Bible
Studies.
-Let us also train them how to study the word, how to disciple, how to pray and how to
walk the Christian life. Teaching them to fish so that they will be established wherever
the Lord sends then.

-Again let me use this to plug, if you don’t have a small group yet or you haven’t tried
leading one, I encourage you to ask God to help you be involved! It is a lot of work,
but the reward is priceless. Maybe you can start by involving in our small-groups
during the service as practice?

-Let us go back to one of our previous theme verses – Colossians 1:28 (present everyone
mature in Christ). May this guide us in doing ministry and discipleship. May we not be
contented with just having attendees or “pew warmers.” How I pray that in the next
anniversary, during the presentation of volunteers, we’ll just flash a picture of all
DCBC members because we are all taking part in God’s work.

v.3a 3) Remember- this is similar to the command to Ephesus in Rev. 2:5, and the idea is
to continuously bring to mind and to apply the things they received from the apostles
and heard from their church leaders.
-for the complacent believers, the emphasis is on Christian living and sanctification
remember your standing in Christ and live it out! (kung totoo)
-for the unbelievers, the focus is on the Gospel, to recall the basic truth of their
sinfulness and the need to repent and trust in Jesus for salvation
-the difference now is that they should not just take the Gospel as information but
actually apply it in their lives this is the only way for them to be truly saved and
to experience life

v.3b 4) Keep- corollary to the command to remember is to “keep” the things they have
received and heard.
-this has the idea of guarding the truths so that they will not be lost
-in the case of the church in Sardis, going back to Biblical truths is not enough, they have
to guard these truths so that they will not lose them again

PRACTICE: For us in DCBC, I put weight on the keeping of the truths that we have heard
and received! Praise God for the faithfulness of those who came before us!
-Let us work by God’s grace to guard these truths
-May we not become slaves of the new, but always have the Berean attitude in all
teachings Check to see if they are consistent with the Bible
-And perhaps what we should guard with all our hearts is the purity of the Gospel—
that wonderful message of salvation by grace to wretched sinners through faith
in Jesus who gave Himself for God’s people.
 -As Dick Kaufman and Tim Keller popularized, “The Gospel is Not Just the ABC’s but
the A-to-Z of the Christian life.” So we should never grow tired of remembering
it, preaching it to ourselves and others and applying it every moment of our lives.
-May we die to self and live for Christ daily!

v.3c 5) Repent – metanoia, a change of mind and heart that leads to a change of action
-for the unbelievers in Sardis (and other churches), repentance means you have to
acknowledge your sinfulness, that you have not truly surrender to Christ, that you
love darkness rather than light
-and then humble yourselves before Jesus, seeking His grace and mercy for salvation
-for the believers who are complacent, repentance means to wake up and be vigilant, to
once again enflame our passion for Jesus, guarding ourselves from sliding into apathy
and compromise

Why?
-because of a stern warning from Christ (latter part of v.3)
-if the church will not wake up, He will come like a thief against it
-though the imagery of the sudden coming of the thief (Mat 24:43) has been used
to point to the second coming of Christ, commentators are in agreement that
this is not the case in this passage
-this seems to be a warning of a sudden visitation of judgment against the church if
it will not change its ways (Osborne, p144)
-again, this is similar to the warning of the removal of the lampstand of Ephesus
Jesus will come suddenly to uproot the church and remove it as light in the area

PONDER: I remember being in a council meeting when one of the elders posted the
question: “Could it be that the rise of other churches and the flourishing of other
ministries on campus reveal our shortcomings as a local church?”
-“Could it be that God raised them up because we failed to be faithful in our calling in
our Jerusalem?”
-of course, we can’t be dogmatic about the answer, but it’s something we can think
about. Have we done enough to witness for Jesus in UP Diliman?
-What are the things that Covid19 revealed about our congregation which we need
to repent of?
-How can we reach out more, especially now that strict quarantine measures are
preventing us to meet and minister physically on campus?
-How should we respond to the new normal as a church? To the “digitalization” of
ministry?
-Our answers to these questions are part of our repentance

Restate: What is Jesus’ prescription against complacency and false assurance? Five commands:
i. Wake up (be vigilant, alert)
ii. Strengthen what remains (build up the church)
iii. Remember (continuously recall and apply God’s truths)
iv. Keep (safeguard, protect His truths)
v. Repent (change our minds and ways based on God’s desire) (31:50)

C. Promise (vv. 4-6)

Point: All is not lost, there is hope because in the midst of unbelievers and complacent
believers, there are faithful followers of Jesus in Sardis.
Proof:
v.4 (read) There are a few believers in Sardis who “have not soiled their garments”
-these are Christians who have not compromised, who remained faithful and lived pure,
holy, and upright lives for Jesus in the midst of a dead church
-the use of white garments as imagery connects with Sardis’ cloth and wool industry
and they would have understood the picture of walking with Jesus in white clothes
as a parade of triumph, related to how Roman citizens wore white robes to
celebrate military victories (Osborne, p145)
-these faithful few are worthy to join Christ, His angels and all true believers in the Great
Banquet, the Marriage Feast of the Lamb in the end times
v.5 (read) They are called conquerors because they overcame and persevered by the grace
of God in the face of pressures and temptation from the world
-as much as we see them striving for the faith, we know that their perseverance is
dependent on the Spirit’s power they were not saved because they persevered,
instead they are saved that’s why they are able to persevere

Jesus gives three promises for the Conquerors

1. Clothing of white in the Company of believers
They will be clothed in white garment and walk with Jesus
-they will participate in the victorious enthronement of the Lord as His holy people
-they will belong to His Kingdom and reign
-they will be glorified, made perfectly holy and righteous, free from sin and death

2. Communion with Christ

Their names will not be blotted out of the Book of Life  assurance, permanence
-they receive assurance and security; they will never lose their status as God’s people
-WORD STUDY: Book of Life- drawn from the OT (Ex 32:32-33) record of Israel’s
citizens, and also of the Roman practice of keeping a list of citizens in a city-state
-Greeks erased the names of people convicted of serious crimes; the Jews removed
names of people sentenced with capital punishment to blot them from national
memory (Osborne, p146)
-the overcomers will never experience these their names are permanent in
God’s Holy List from before the foundations of the world (Eph 1:4)

3. Confession of their Names

Jesus will confess their names before the Father and His angels
-this is definitely connected with Jesus’ words in Matt 10:32-33 (read)
-people deny Jesus when they reject the Gospel as unbelievers
-for believers, we deny Jesus when we do not live out our Christian identity,
choosing sin over righteousness
-Yet, Jesus’ promise for the overcomers is that He will confess their names
-as the final judge and jury He will announce them righteous and acceptable in His
Kingdom
 Ponder: When we stand before Christ, will He declare us among His faithful, confessing our
names before His Father and the angels? Or will He deny us because our lives and motives
continue to deny Him here on earth?
-Will our generation, our church be a faithful remnant, holding the line, keeping faithful to
Biblical, historic truths amid a rapidly degenerating world?
-I pray that like the faithful few in Sardis, we will struggle for Jesus. And though we may
experience persecution and injustice in this world, we will keep our eyes fixed on eternity
(37:00)

III. CONCLUSION
-The Church in Sardis is a sad tale of complacency and false assurance.
-it started well that’s why it had the reputation of being alive, but through years of compromise,
neglect and indifference it became good as dead full of sleeping Christians and false believers
-as I’ve mentioned earlier, falling into that state is not a sudden plunge but a slow slide, all the
more important to be vigilant against giving the enemy a foothold

-yet we thank God because of the letter to Sardis we may be in a better position than they are but
this is a strong warning and wakeup call even for us
-we are not immune to the enemy’s attacks
-even now there are aspects of our church life that need revitalizing, renewing
-there are members of our congregation who need encouragement or perhaps rebuke
-there are little sins, “respectable” sins, “pet” sins that need to be confessed and repented of

-and as we continue to struggle in this time of pandemic, in the midst of societal ills and among
millions still who do not know Jesus, we ask God to help us become the faithful remnant
-striving to spread the Gospel
-laboring for Biblical righteousness and justice
-shining as the light from Christ in a dead and dying world

-and lest we end this sermon with a heavy heart, let me encourage you with a hopeful historical note
-several decades after this letter was penned, a pastor from Sardis named Melito, wrote one of
the earliest commentaries on the book of Revelation
-there remained a faithful leader of the church in Sardis and this may well point to a revival or a
change of heart in the congregation in response to John’s letter
-those asleep and complacent may have awoken and the dead may have come to life by the grace
of God and the power of the Spirit
-so, there is hope because we have a sovereign Christ
-let us look to Him with faith
-This is a very stern warning! Kaya ulit, “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the
churches.” (40:00)