Dead church with name, reputation

Revelation 3 begins, [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.

That goes back to Revelation 1:4 and 1:16 where Christ is seen as the Son of Man and He has the seven spirits of God and He’s got these seven stars.

Verse 4: [4] John to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace be unto you, and peace, from him which is, and which was, and which is to come; and from the seven Spirits which are before his throne;

Verse 16: [16] And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth went a sharp twoedged sword: and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength.

He’s seen in Revelation 3 in that capacity because of the problem at Sardis. The problem at Sardis, Christ says, “I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead.”

They have a reputation and a name for living, because they’ve got all these works in their midst, but He says, “Thou art dead.”

According to a website article: History tells us that the city of Sardis was about thirty miles southeast of Thyatira and about fifty miles northeast of Smyrna. Sardis was on a major commercial trade route and also on an important military road.

The acropolis of Sardis was large and lay on a ridge of the Tmolus mountain range, forming a natural fortress which was extremely difficult for an invading army to penetrate. Today, there are very few ruins left.

One of the outstanding ruins is that of the temple of the goddess Artemis. It lay in the Hermus Valley about 800 feet below the Acropolis. The columns of the temple were so large that four men, holding each other’s hands, are needed to surround the entire columns. That helps us understand the size of the temple. The gymnasium in the ancient city was enormous.

Herodotus, the 5th century B.C. historian, tells us sarcastically that Sardis was a city of “tender-footed” people who could only play on the cithara, strike the guitar, and sell by retail. William Barclay adds that Sardis was a city of peace, where a “man whose dreams are dead and whose mind is asleep, the peace of lethargy and evasion.” In short, the people in the city were given to pleasure and leisure.

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The problem the church at Sardis has is that they’re dead and yet they look like they’re alive. How can you be alive and yet dead? It’s talking about spiritual death, not physical death.

You remember the story of the prodigal son. In Luke 15 there’s a place where he uses the word dead and death in the context just like what’s in Revelation.

The prodigal’s gone off, he’s wasted all his substance in riotous living, but he came to himself and returned to the father.

Luke 15: [21] And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son.
[22] But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet:
[23] And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry:
[24] For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry.

Now tell me, was the boy dead physically? No. Was he resurrected physically? No. He was separated from the father and now he’s been reunited with the father and so the father says, “My son was dead; he was gone and it was as though he were dead; he was just completely separated from me, I had no contact with him, but he’s come back and now he’s alive again.”

It's not physical death in Revelation 3:1. This church isn’t dead in the sense they don’t have any activity involved in their midst. The problem is they don’t have any spiritual life in their midst.

They’ve got the works. They have the form of godliness but they’re spiritually dead. The problem there is formalism. Dead religion. They’ve got the activity. They’ve got the name. They’ve got all the form, but they don’t have the life. It’s not the Spirit of God working in their midst.

That’s why Christ’s referred to as "him that have the seven spirits of God.” The Holy Spirit of God is the one who gives life. The Spirit of God is the one who gives life to the church and is the one who imparts spiritual life.

This Sardis church doesn’t have the real life of God. The works they have are not being produced by God; they’re being produced by their own activity.

Revelation 3:2: [2] Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die: for I have not found thy works perfect before God.

Notice he doesn’t say, “Strengthen the people that remain.” He says strengthen the things; the works that remain. There’s some good works being done in their midst, but the works aren’t being done because God’s generating them; they’re being done out of formal activity.