THE CHURCH AT SARDIS ICU Notes

SEVEN KEYS: Living in Uncertain Times

ICU Group Notes

Session 5: February 25, 2018

"The Key of Life"

Revelation 3:1–6 (NKJV) And to the angel of the church in Sardis write, "These things says He who has the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars: “I know your works, that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead. ²Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die, for I have not found your works perfect before God. ³Remember therefore how you have received and heard; hold fast and repent. Therefore, if you will not watch, I will come upon you as a thief, and you will not know what hour I will come upon you. ⁴You have a few names even in Sardis who have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with Me in white, for they are worthy. ⁵He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life; but I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels. ⁶“He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”

Jack Hayford writes... Thirty miles southeast of Thyatira and fifty miles due east of Smyrna, was Sardis, a city renowned for its dyeing process and woolen industries.

In this series of letters, the pattern had been for Christ to offer a commendation to the congregation before stating His condemnation. However, in this letter to the church in Sardis any praise is missing. Instead, harsh evaluation is immediate. The problem was not sensuality, but spirituality. Here was a spiritually weak congregation living off the accolades of their past. Their spiritual service to Christ was in another day. Now they were nothing. They had a history, and reveled in their reputation, but for the most part the current congregation had one foot in the grave. They no doubt sang hymns together, prayed together, gave, taught, and talked together, yet they were declared “dead.”

The situation was dire, but not totally hopeless. If quick and decisive steps were taken, some people and the church’s ministry could be salvaged.

1. What was the problem in Thyatira?  They were spiritually dead.

2. What is the key?  Resurrection Life

3.  What is the process?

a. Wake up!

b. Remember!

c. Change

4.  What prize is promised?  Eternal life

5.  HASHTAG #life

To aid in your study and discussion, I am providing some additional material by Charlie Wolcott. The material has been adapted from Charlie's articles on the seven churches found on the "Worldview Warriors" webpage and has been edited for our purposes. You can read the entire article at http://worldviewwarriors.blogspot.com/2018/02/to-church-at-sardis.html.

To the Church at Sardis

Sardis was a dead church. They claimed to be alive, they had works, they boasted their name, but they were dead. How were they dead?

Death in Scripture is something more than just “lack of life.” It is a spirit of decay and dying. It is a spirit in which all it touches dies. It is plague and infirmity. Even if it is painted well and packaged well, it is still death. It can wear all kinds of perfume, but the stench is only masked, not removed. Sardis was a dead church.

What caused it to die? The Bible doesn’t say. However, churches have died for a variety of reasons. Gossip and slander are excellent church killers, frequently causing church fights and splits, and rarely does any side survive. Not tending to the younger generation is another church killer. Every year thousands of churches are closing, and many pastors are quitting. And the dead people from those churches just move on to a different church and never find life.

Jesus told Sardis they need to wake up, be watchful, and to strengthen that which remains. He does remember their works, but they are not perfect before God. When the church is sleeping on the watch, that is a result of laziness. The church has been sleeping. The watchmen have been few and those who are sounding the alarm are being laughed at. Jesus’ charge is to remember what they heard and received, to hold onto that truth and repent. A sleeping guard cannot retain that which he was committed to keep. It is hard to stay awake. The true prayer warriors have learned how to “pray through” and that often requires learning how to stay up through the night to learn it. It is no easy thing to stay up and join God in the night watch.

He said he is coming and it will be like a thief in the night, when the guard is less alert, sleeping, or has abandoned his post. That Jesus describes his coming like a thief would come is indicative that when he comes, few if any will have any clue until it is too late. Many are eager to watch for enemy invasions, but who is watching for Christ to return, let alone in anticipation? Jesus notes a few in Sardis who have stayed awake. They have not defiled themselves with laziness, gossip, slander, or participated in the deadly poison killing the church.

Sardis was dead. It needs life and it will not have life again unless Christ is present and working in and among them, and he won’t be there where sin is rampant. Wake up, church! Wake up! And that needs to start with me.