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Continuing with our study in the book of Revelation specifically the section in the first three chapters that deal with Jesus giving messages through the angels to the seven churches This week we look at chapter 3 verses 1 through 6 This is God's Word And to the angel of the church and Sardis write the words of him who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars I know your works you have the reputation of being alive, but you are dead Wake up and strengthen that with that remains and is about to die For I have not found your works complete in the sight of my God Remember then what you received and heard keep it and repent if you will not wake up I Will come like a thief and you will not know what hour I will come against you You have still a few names and Sardis people who have not soiled the garments and they will walk with me in white for they are worthy The one who conquers will be clothed thus and 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 he who has an ear Let him hear what the spirit says to the churches As with all the other churches Jesus begins his message to the church of Sardis With the statement of who is speaking to them He has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars I Think this is to be understood in the same way that he spoke to the church in Ephesus when he said The seven lampstands and the seven stars the seven spirits are to be Viewed in the same way as the seven lampstands and the stars of the angels Who are connected to each church? The lampstands represent the Holy Spirit Filling and guiding each church and that's true of us as well So as before with the other churches there is much we can learn from this letter to the church in Sardis Let's pray together father as we come to your word We pray that The name of Jesus Christ would be high and lifted up men women and children Would hear the gospel be drawn to him We pray in his name Amen Jesus is warning the Sardinians that though they Were once a vibrant Christian church. They're now a church in name only Seems that the situation is very much like the city of Sardis Sardis used to be a very important city On par almost with Ephesus, but in recent years it had become less so and the Passion for Jesus and the church had sort of followed along with the importance of the city Jesus is saying they're Christian in name only they're half-hearted But the appearance was still there, but the reality was almost gone Apparently the church blended in with the culture so that there was no objection to the beliefs in the church Every other church mentioned up till now in the letters from Jesus was undergoing some sort of trial Ephesus was dealing with false prophets Smyrna was facing persecution and imprisonment even death for the sake of Christ Pergamum had experienced persecution which resulted in the death of Antipas and Much more of the same had been promised It was getting worse because of the idolaters who worshipped falsely Thyatira was plagued by the prophetess whom Jesus called Jezebel because she was leading People astray in much the same way that Jezebel in the Old Testament tried to get Israel to worship Balaam In many of the churches there was financial difficulty Because in order to be part of the commerce of the city You had to attend the feasts that were dedicated to the God which they believed oversaw the city Christians of course couldn't participate in a meal that was sacrificed to an idol And so it was hard for them To enter into the marketplace. They were excluded and Thus their difficulties whatever they were were multiplied by their exclusion from the marketplace The Sardinian Church Did not seem to have these problems they blended in with the culture Well, what can we tell from this Jesus repeatedly warned his disciples that they would face opposition One passage in John 15 which I'll read to you begins in verse 18 if the world hates you Note that it hated me Before it hated you If you were of the world the world would love you as its own But because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world therefore the world hates you Remember the word I said to you a servant is not greater than his master if they persecuted me they will persecute you If they kept my word they will keep yours also But all these things they will do to you on account of my name because they do not know him Who sent me If I had not come and spoken to them they would not have been guilty of sin But now they have no excuse for their sin whoever hates me hates my father also If I had not done among them the works that no one else did they would not be guilty of sin But now they have seen and hated both me and my father But the word that is written in their law must be fulfilled they hated me without cause And then in the first few verses of chapter 16 He says I've said all these things to you to keep you from falling away They will put you out of the synagogues indeed the hour is coming whenever When whoever kills you will think he's offering service to God and they will do these things because they have not known the father or me So as you can see all the other churches thus far Had experienced some sort of persecution for the name of Christ, but in Sardis that wasn't the case Since there was no difficulty in the church Since there was no difficulty or persecution or otherwise something was missing Jesus said you have the reputation of being alive, but you're dead You would appear to be Christian, but you are in name only There's no passion there's no real witness How can this happen It appears that the church had blended in with the culture so well That there was no offense given First Corinthians 1 Verse 18 says the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are parenting but to those who are being saved It's the power of God. I Think you can also say it like this if it's not foolishness to someone it's not powerful for anyone It's Not offensive to somebody it's not powerful to anybody So this can happen when the church is not significantly different from the surrounding culture either on purpose trying to be too much like the culture around them with the hope of Attracting more people to church to the church or it can happen gradually So much so that the church doesn't even notice All kinds of churches have adopted this strategy Some are liberal churches who are trying to be like the culture so as not to offend anyone They will adopt blatantly anti-christian views on things like sexual morality or abortion They might emphasize social issues and doing good deeds but without any gospel proclamation Without talking about sin and salvation But it's not just so-called liberal churches it can also happen in Evangelical churches They adopt a similar strategy trying not to offend thinking they can get people to come into the church and Then at some point later they can explain the gospel to them But that can end up being bait-and-switch I Was with a college ministry for years and years Before going into the pastorate and We did all sorts of evangelical evangelistic outreaches My Favorite ones were we were being straightforward. We would invite people to come to The lobby of the dormitory. This is in the US. So There were a lot of dormitories We'd invite people to come to the lobby of the dormitory and we would tell them that we were going to be talking about a topic Whatever it was and we would present the gospel But some of the things that were done I Felt were the bait-and-switch variety We would promise people that come to this for this particular kind of entertainment and then at the end of the entertainment then people next to them would bring out the four spiritual laws and Try to share the gospel with them See the thing is whatever you advertise whatever you preach that's what you will draw and People are drawn to what we preach the gospel draws God's people To salvation Entertainment Draws people willing wishing to be entertained customers But then when you change or when there's another More entertaining place they want to go there Another way churches blend into the culture is when the prevailing view is culturally Christian That used to be the case in Canada And maybe still is in some areas but recent polls indicate that only 15% of Canadians attend a weekly worship service and that isn't 15% go to an evangelical church where the Gospels preached 15% go to any worship service Christian Muslim Other So what was once part of the cultural context in Canada is becoming increasingly increasingly less and From what I've read and been told here in Nova Scotia, it's even less than 15% it's it's around 5% Now what can happen there? What can happen is that when we compare ourselves to a culture that's abandoned the gospel that's abandoned Christianity We can tell ourselves that we look pretty good by comparison that we are Christian compared to them who are not But like the Sardinians a lot of times Churches then can be Christian in name only What does Jesus say wake up Repent If you will not wake up I will come like a thief and you will not know at what hour I will come against you Do you hear that Jesus is saying I will come against you This is a dire warning to the Sardinians, but it's not only for them. It's also for us as well maybe you remember When we went through the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew chapter 7 Jesus said not everyone who says to me Lord Lord will enter the kingdom of heaven But the one who does the will of my father who is in heaven on that day many will say to me Lord Lord Didn't we prophesy in your name and cast out demons in your name and do mighty works in your name? Then I will declare to them. I never knew you depart from me you workers of lawlessness What does it mean that he never knew them Well, there's two words in the Greek I don't usually talk about Greek but Every once in a while I try to justify all the money that was spent seminary. So The two words are Haida and ganosco Haida means that you know of Ganosco means that you know personally and that's the word that's here. I never knew you personally Well, how does this happen Because a person who's a Christian in name only isn't a Christian It's very similar to the third commandment do not take the name of the Lord in vain The Word vain means empty or lacking in reality, which is exactly what Jesus is talking about to the church in Sardis You have a reputation for being alive, but you're dead So, what does it mean it means to use the name as though there were a corresponding relationship in Reality where one doesn't exist Let me give you a couple of examples from everyday life Now some of you aren't old enough to remember this but the first Gulf War Took place in the early 80s, I think it was the early 80s and We were living in Kent, Ohio at the time We were with Power to change is what they call it in Canada at the time. We called it campus crusade for Christ Tracy and I were happened to be at dinner and the war started CNN was broadcasting it live and in color But then there are rows of a Dispute because you see it seemed that some of those who had enlisted Had done so assuming that they were serving during peacetime They were in the service the military service for the benefits I don't know if these things happened here in Canada or not, but this is what happened there They were there for the training the educational benefits Upon leaving the service the travel the career doors the military service might open They were in it for the benefits, but when it came time to fight they wanted out See they were soldiers in names own and name only That's very much the case with a lot of Christians We're Christians in name only but when it comes time to fight when it comes time to talk to somebody about the gospel We don't want to make anyone uncomfortable And sometimes you experience rejection my friend Rick was telling me a story the other day that he walked up to a man who appeared to be Middle Eastern probably Muslim and He was looking at his very nice motorcycle. They talked about it for a while the man asked him How he was doing Rick replied well it wasn't for my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ I don't think that I would have made it through this week Which is bold The man responded and said please go away from me. I don't want to talk to you anymore So rejection was the experience of someone who was attempting to witness Canadians hate rejection we do We don't want people to think that we we don't want it they're disapproval a More recent example of taking the name in vain is There are apparently people who have become citizens here in Canada But their allegiance allegiance remains elsewhere Their Citizens in name only they have taken the name Canadian, but it's in unreality It's empty Because their real allegiance lies somewhere else Some other country Having been in ministry as long as I have I've done my share of marriage counseling and if the difficulties have gone far enough quite often either the husband or the wife will Say this is a marriage in name only What do they mean Usually they mean they live in the same house They might share the same checking account if there are children They all share the same name and the man and woman may even go to children's events and smile and cheer and laugh and Be nervous together because of some particular recital or play performance or sporting event that their child is in but there's something missing and The intimacy or commitment or both aren't there When two people enter a marriage they say as part of their vows at least traditionally forsaking all others When the Lord was giving Israel and us the Ten Commandments He says I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt out of the house of slavery You shall have no other gods before me When God enters into a covenant relationship with us he lays claim to our heart as the only God not the first among many Isaiah 62 5 says as a young man marries a virgin So your sons will marry you as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride So your God will rejoice over you it's a picture of utmost intimacy that two human beings can have and They're set and what Isaiah is saying is that's the intimacy that God has and even more so with us Exodus 20 verse 4 you shall not make for yourself an idol or any likeness of heaven of what is in heaven above or on The earth beneath or in the water under the earth. You shall not worship them or serve them for I the Lord your God I'm a jealous God and Then the third commandment. He says you shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain For the Lord will not leave him on punished that takes his name in vain. This is what's happening in Sardis Sardis is being told you you have a reputation for being alive, but you're dead When a person takes the name of God to be their own It's not to be done frivolously When a person bears the name of Christ Takes the name of Christ to be his or her own when someone calls himself or herself a Christian It's to be done with all of our heart It's not to be done in an empty fashion half-heartedly vainly and the same is true of churches I I Mentioned a married couple that says we're married in name only sometimes They recognize it and it troubles them as they know that something is missing some couples However are married in name only and they don't ever even realize it They go through their daily routine or working or homemaking or child rearing without much heart involved They Aren't sure when it happened, but they no longer have the passion or desire of their relationship It's not that they get no benefit from marriage There is a fitting into society that they're afforded there's a companionship instead of loneliness There's a vision of labor in the day-to-dayness of life, but while their routine may bring comfort there is no heart Why am I talking about this with respect to Sardis? Because I believe that that's what God is warning us against When he says don't take my name in vain when he says you have the appearance of life, but you're dead Don't be in a covenant relationship with me in name only I Am your only God forsake all others Christ is the image of God make no others. My name is real. Don't take it in vain To take God's name in reality and not in vain means at least three things It means that we're devoted to truth over traditions reality over appearances and his righteousness over mine Truth over traditions you see that all through the Gospels the Pharisees were committed to the truth over traditions The Lord would tell them this people honors me with their lips with their hearts are far from me Remember God was very concerned about the traditions that Egypt had Had that the Israelites had been part of for 400 years now He wants them to come out of their sinful and pagan beliefs and take his name for their own Jesus gives a similar warning to the Pharisees When the Pharisees complained to Jesus about his disciples not following the traditions of the elders Jesus was furious with them You see their complaint revealed that they cared more about Traditions their routine than they cared for God's Word the marriage Rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites it is written this people honors me with their lips But their hearts are far from me, but in vain they worship me Teaching his doctrines the precepts of men Neglecting the commandment of God you hold to the tradition of men The tradition is the thing that gives you comfort the thing that made them believe that they're in a relationship with God when no relationship existed Was the very thing that kept their hearts far from God? That's what he's saying to Sardis you Have the reputation you have the appearance you have the name for being alive, but you're not And even though they probably still honored God with their worship in their lips they were far from him There are many blessings and being in the church With some history and tradition or even a church with an liturgical style of worship But they're dangerous if we believe our traditions will substitute for the truth then we're gravely mistaken Jesus said the father is seeking worshipers who will worship him in spirit and in truth. It's possible to say all the right words To honor him with our lips, but our hearts be far from him And you have to do your own heart check You have to do your own heart check You have to decide for yourself as you look into your heart as you ask God to examine your heart Do I really believe am I really a Christian have I forsaken all others or am I? Still Far from him The Apostle Paul said this one thing I do he didn't say these 40 things I meddle in Like the married couple numb by their routine we can be married to the Lord in name only We have to be careful that we don't teach his doctrine As the truth over our traditions If we do that Then like the Pharisees Then like the Pharisees will be worshiping in vain to take God's name in reality means to desire the truth over traditions Jesus tells them they have to repent I Was watching a Short YouTube video of Rosaria Butterfield. Maybe you heard of her she was a professor at Syracuse University She was an avowed defendant of the lgbtq plus community she herself was in a lesbian relationship and She at some point Was considering becoming a Christian and she knew that Christians said you had to repent of your sin But What she came to the conclusion is That not she doesn't have to repent of her sin. She had to repent of who she is Some of you have to do that you have to repent of who you are because who you are is The problem We Have to have reality instead of appearances It's a serious warning From our Lord and Savior Jesus when he says on that day there will be people who thought they had a relationship with me And I will say depart from me. I never knew you You who practice lawlessness? And the people are surprised Which means they thought they were good. They thought they were married they thought they Were part of the Covenant community, but it was in name only They named the name of God Yahweh their Orthodox They repeat the name which indicates an emotional attachment They prophesy and do miracles in his name, which means they perform act of service and yet he does not know them So it's possible to be Orthodox doctrinally to have an emotional attachment To be involved in religious works of service and still on that day be told I never knew you Remember our marriage illustration how many times and married people said to each other It's like you don't even know who I am We're married five or ten or thirty years for Tracy and I will be 42 years on Wednesday But you're not who I thought you were or you don't even know me It's like that the only difference is that our Lord is not fooled if we are taking his name in vain and believe ourselves In a real relationship with him then we are the only ones being fooled So, how can we know what is the answer The answer is his righteousness over mine There are two things and they're related to his name Lord and Savior first in the name Lord and submission to his will Not the one who says Lord Lord but the one who does the will of my father He's the king We can't obey only when we agree In other words if we think we want to follow Christ because of Christian ethics makes sense they do and We agree with them Then what happens if we don't agree anymore? You See if I follow Christ only because I agree then I am my own God I am my own Savior Sometimes Parents are advised Don't tell your children because I said so tell your children the reason you're doing things try to make them understand and The late Tim Keller in one of his sermons said that's horrible advice Children should obey because you said so Because you are the parent because you're their authority because it's a God-given authority If they have to be made to agree with you, then they're not obeying you they're obeying themselves If you follow Christ only when you agree you're still your own God What happens when he asks you to do something you don't like? Do I deserve like the soldiers the right to bail out because hey I signed up for the benefits I didn't want to have to fight I Signed up to be a Christian to be part of a community To love each other and if something bad happens to me I have people who will care for me and all of that is good and all of that is true and this church does that But part of being a Christian is talking to other people about Christ That you can't bring yourself to do that Then you have to ask yourself do you know Christ are you a Christian if you're not in the fight are you a soldier? If my king cannot ask me to do something That I don't want to do that I am king I Remember another situation from My campus crusade days we used to go to Daytona Beach and I was with a young man who I had led to Christ His name is Jeff We were very close even though I'm a Michigan fan he's Ohio State State I remember a young man who I had led to Christ his name is Jeff We were very close even though I'm a Michigan fan he's Ohio State fan To Canadians that doesn't mean much, but it's like Montreal and Toronto And we were had been out trying to talk to people about Christ and and we were at this restaurant I think it was a Burger King and I Overheard these four young people college-age people talking about sex I Said to Jeff let's go talk to them He said no no I don't want to do that Said come on. Let's go time finally he relented and said yes We went and sat down and I said I know I'm an old guy But I've been married a while and maybe I can answer some of these questions. You're asking each other Do you mind if I talk to you? They said no fine we sat down we talked for about 45 minutes You Have to try have to make an effort it might be like Rick's situation where he Tries to open the door and it gets slammed shut in your face Or me might be like that situation that Jeff and I encountered and at least to a 45-minute conversation about the gospel But you can't know if you never try If My king cannot ask me to do something that I don't want to do then I'm the king Did Daniel want to go to the lions den? Did Moses want to lead Israel Did Jesus want to go to the cross didn't he say if there's any other way let this pass from me But not my will But your will be done I'm a Christian and name only I have taken his name in vain if I will not submit my will to his Now you might be feeling uncomfortable, that's good But there is a Passage in first John chapter 2 It comforts me Says my little children I'm writing these things to you so that you may not sin But if anyone does sin we have an advocate with the father Jesus Christ the righteous He is the propitiation for our sins and not for ours only But also for the sins of the whole world His righteousness in place of mind Jesus says at the end of this Section to Sardis the one who conquers will be clothed Thus 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. I Don't know your hearts all of you. I don't know where you are with the Lord but you might be realizing now that I've been a Christian in name only Now is your opportunity To turn to Christ to confess your sin To repent of who you are And ask Him to change you to forgive you to make you more like him and he will do it Jesus says the one who conquers will be clothed in white garments. I will never blot his name out of the book of life I will confess his name Before my father and before his angels For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whoever believes in him should not perish Verse 18 he who believes him is not judged