We turn in the word of God to Revelation chapter 3 and the first six verses. The message from the glorified Christ to the church at Sardis. And verse 1 begins the message saying, I know thy works, that thou hast a name, that thou livest, and art dead. And so this letter, this message, has as its main theme, and the theme that we are to look at this evening, the church that needed to wake up. The church that needed to wake up. As we continue our study of these letters to the seven churches, we remind ourselves that these seven churches, whilst they do not represent seven consecutive stages in the Church's history, there is no basis for assuming that, they do, when you take them all together, indicate the various strengths and weaknesses which are to be found in the Church of Christ in all places and in all ages, that to some extent every church is something of a mixture of the various pluses and minuses found in these letters. Now so far we've looked at four churches. The first was the church of Ephesus, which was strong in doctrine and strong in discipline. but inwardly its spiritual life was declining. And so although outwardly strong and firm in the truth and in its discipline, yet behind it, behind that which was outward, things were becoming mechanical because they had lost their first love. The church at Smyrna was a church that were being faithful in affliction. And the church at Smyrna was going to have more affliction. But we get a picture of a church that spiritually was in a healthy condition. The church at Pergamos had been faithful in affliction, but now there was a slipping taking place, a slide, as far as discipline and there was a toleration of heresy within the church at Pergamos. And then last time we looked at the church at Thyatira, in some ways one of the most interesting of all. The church at Thyatira was a church that was lively, spiritually. There was a great deal of spontaneous expression of spiritual life and of love to the Lord Jesus Christ. But this church was mystical in its tendency. There was a greater emphasis on feeling rather than the objective truth of the Word of God. And because of that, there was a certain lack of spiritual and doctrinal nerve Because things were tested too much by feeling rather than by the written word of God, they had not stood up to the heretics. They tolerated this prophetess, this woman called Jezebel, probably not her real name, but to show that she was leading the Israel of God into idolatry and into immorality. This woman, Jezebel, and those with her apparently taught that it was not necessary to abstain from the idolatrous and licentious feasts of the trade guilds of the town, that the Christians should go, and indeed that the best thing to do was to experience what they called the depths of Satan. and that in that way sin would be defeated by the experience of it. And this revolting doctrine was being tolerated because of the excessive emphasis on feeling rather than biblical truth. Now we come to Sardis. Sardis paints the bleakest picture of a church so far. We've said that the churches, the seven churches mentioned, geographically form roughly a circular route, and so they do. And this is the next on the circuit. The town of Saras is situated on an almost impregnable hill. In its heyday it was the capital of Lydia and it had only one access point which could easily be fortified. And because of the strength of its position high up on the hill, its people had been proud and overconfident Nevertheless, twice in its history, in 549 BC and 218 BC, this city had been defeated, it had been taken, because all it needed was the enemy to find a chink in the rock face and some skillful mountain climbers to get into the city, and the city was so complacent, so confident that it couldn't be taken, that they weren't ready for an attack. At this time it was still important for trading, it was a rich city, but it was also a decaying city. And the people of Sardis were regarded as soft, enjoying a rich, easy way of life. Sardis in some ways was a city of failure, It was a city that, because of its natural benefit, its natural strength, became sloppy and lazy and complacent in its natural advantages. But what about the church at Saris? Well, first of all, the church at Saris had what was now an undeserved reputation, an undeserved reputation. In verse one, at the end of the verse, Christ says, I know thy works. He said that to each of the churches. He knows all about every church, this one included, that thou hast a name that thou livest and art dead. Be watchful and strengthen the things which we made 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." This church had a high reputation, but it was a reputation that was based on the past. It wasn't that this church was even still outwardly strong and active like the church at Ephesus and people couldn't see the decay that was going on behind. This church was decayed outwardly as well. In that respect it was in a worse condition than the church at Ephesus. Everything spoke. of spiritual stagnation and death. There was little even of outward appearance of life, but there had been. There had been. We see where in verse three, Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard. In the early days, the word of God had been received and followed and studied with eagerness, and that reputation still lingered, but it was a historic reputation. People at a distance would still think somewhat highly of this church because of its historic reputation for the Word of God and for spiritual life. Our denomination goes back further than the church at Sardis. It goes back three hundred years and more as a distinct body. And frankly there are people, because they know of the past of the Covenanters, who sometimes credit us perhaps with more spiritual life than we deserve to be credited with. This church had a historic reputation for spiritual strength. But Christ knew the present reality. Be watchful and strengthen, wake up to the reality of the truth, the situation in which you really are. The church had become easy going and that's something we should notice, that this church had been influenced by the world and influenced by the world immediately around it. This church, which initially had stood out against the world and had stood as a strong testimony against the easy-going complacency and self-indulgence of the people of Sardis, now had become like the rest of the people. It was an easy-going city, a pleasure-loving city, a complacent city, and the church had become an easygoing church, a pleasure-loving church. The church had become like the city. It no longer stood out. It was a peaceful church. It was a peaceful church, there was no trouble, because nothing was happening. We don't want trouble, we want peace in the church of Christ, but we want a particular kind of peace, not this peace. This church had peace within, And it had no great trouble from those outside. We don't read of the persecution that we read about in some of the other places, in Pergamos and in Smyrna. We don't read of that. This church was left alone. And the reason it was left alone was because it left everybody else alone. Because the testimony to the truth if there was any, was so weak that nobody noticed. The people of Sardis weren't disturbed by this church in its midst. They weren't bothered about these Christians. They presented no threat, no challenge, They just blended in. Oh yes, they were Christians, but that was a purely private affair. They went to, they belonged to a Christian church, but they never seemed to disturb them about their paganism and their ungodliness. So nobody ever said anything against them. Nobody had a bad word against them. In fact, people hardly noticed that they were there. Do the people here in Clare and in Loughbritain feel disturbed by this church? Are they aware of our presence? I don't mean do they know that we exist, I'm sure they do. But have they any awareness as a result of our presence in their midst of what we stand for? Is there anything about us, is our witness so clear that they are aware that we are a people who belong to Christ, or we're saying we are, and that we are telling them that all is not well with them. Or do they find it quite easy to accept our presence and ignore it? You see, a slumbering church will be left alone as a rule. That doesn't mean we look for trouble, we try and stir up trouble, but we should be asking ourselves, is our testimony sufficiently vigorous that we cannot be easily ignored? it should be. Christ says, going on, be watchful and strengthen the things which remain that are ready to die, for I have not found thy works perfect before God. Now what does this mean? It can't mean that I haven't found thy works without fault, because that would be true of every church. It means I have not found thy works filled full before my God. That is, I haven't found anything inside the outward form of thy works. The things that they did do, the things that were still going on in this church at Sardis, were only an outward shell. That's what it means. There is nothing within them. There is no substance. There is nothing there. There is the outward motion. But that was all. And the Lord Jesus says that they must repent. Some of the membership probably weren't real Christians at all. They must repent. Some of them may have been born-again people, but they've become conformed to the world. Certainly we're told that many of them had defiled their garments. Verse 4 speaks of the minority who had not defiled their garments, so presumably the majority had done so. What does it mean to defile their garments? I think it probably means that the garment is their profession of Christianity and they had defiled their garments in that they were living in blatant contradiction of that profession. They were merging in with the world. Their profession was not a clear, clean profession. and they must repent, they must remember how the Word had been so eagerly received in Sardis at the first place and they must turn back and seek again that light and that eagerness which had once been the mark of the Church of Sardis. But then the second thing we have here is the threat of an unnoticed judgment. The threat of an unnoticed judgment. If therefore thou shalt not watch, verse 3, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee. Now this isn't speaking of the final judgment. Although it is true that the concept of the thief in the night is used of the final judgment, it's also used of other judgments, all of which ultimately point forward to the final judgment. But this is talking about a judgment on this church at Sardis. And it's clear that it would be an unpredictable judgment. When Sardis, the city, had been taken, by the enemy. The enemy did not serve notice that they were coming. And Christ is saying that he would give no immediate warning. This thing would just happen. He would come. You know how in the Old Testament the word is used. God talks about visiting a people, or visiting someone. And what it's talking about is that God would deal with them in a marked way, either in blessing or in judgment. Psalm 8, what is man that thou art mindful of him, or the son of man that thou visitest him. That means God being gracious and blessing men. God, as it were, coming from his throne to bless men. But sometimes it's used of visiting in the sense of God coming against men in judgment. Jeremiah, shall I not Visit for these things, saith the Lord, and shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?" The idea of God coming to bless or coming to judge in His providence, bringing special blessings or special judgment. The Lord Jesus Christ says, I will come. I will come on this church in Sardis, I will come as a thief unannounced, and I shall not know what hour I will come upon thee." But not only would they not know when he'd come, just as the city didn't know when the enemy had infiltrated the rock face and taken the city, in their complacency they didn't know that it was all over. But I think the idea of the thief is saying more than that. You know that a burglar, if he breaks into your house, I hope that doesn't happen to you or me, but if he breaks in, the idea of burglary, we might say, is that he can get in, get the goods, the valuables, and out again and away, and you still don't know that it's happened. because you find out eventually, but the idea is to come and to go with the goods. And that would seem to be the idea here, that Christ would come in judgement, unannounced and unnoticed, and he would take what was valuable away, and they wouldn't even realise that it had happened. Sometimes people don't notice the valuables have gone because they don't perhaps they're hidden away, they don't notice until the next time they happen to go to the sideboard or whatever and they notice they've gone. Maybe it happened weeks ago. And that's the idea here. It's at this point that we must look at the introduction to the letter. These things said he that hath the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. Now at the beginning of each of these letters, some aspect of the vision of Christ has been mentioned. Something from the first chapter is brought into the introduction to each of the letters. But in this case, part of the introduction is before even the vision of Christ in the first chapter. So that if you turn to chapter one and verse four, we read, 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. And we saw when we looked at those verses that the seven spirits are a picture, a way of describing the Holy Spirit. He is called the seven spirits to indicate his perfection, and also that he is the Spirit of God that gives life to the seven churches who represent the whole Church of God. But in the first chapter, The seven Spirits, the Holy Spirit, is said to be before the throne of God. But here, we're told that Christ is the one who hath the seven Spirits of God. So there's a change in the picture. And what this is telling us is that the exalted Christ as the Mediator King is the one who sends forth the Holy Spirit, and therefore who can withdraw the Holy Spirit. And the seven stars, we are told quite clearly in chapter 1 verse 20, the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches. We are suggested that these angels are the ministers of the world. we can be quite sure that the seven stars represent the truth shining in the churches, the truth shining upon the churches. And so what Christ is threatening is that he will come in his providence, in his purpose, unannounced. In other words, he will remove the Spirit of God and the truth of God from this church altogether. That's what he's saying. That this church of Sardis, on the verge of complete spiritual bankruptcy, if there is no repentance, Christ at some unspecified point will abandon it. The Spirit of God will be withdrawn and the truth will be found there no more. And that happens. We all know it happens. There are meeting houses where once there was a lively Christian congregation and where perhaps eminent ministers preached the truth of God with great power. And those congregations now are quite happy to have heresy and false doctrine and just nothing. They don't want the truth because they are without the spirit of truth and although there's a charade of church life perhaps keeps going on for a while, the reality is that there is that none of the essential marks of the Church are left. The truth and the spirit of truth are gone. And nobody's noticed. The people in the congregation haven't noticed. The judgment has fallen. They haven't noticed. because they are spiritually dead, and they don't know the difference between truth and error, because the Holy Spirit is not in them, not working among them. And that is what Christ is warning the church of Sardis, that it will happen to them. Despite all its great reputation from the past, And if it could happen to the Church of Sardis, it can certainly happen to our Church as well. And so he says, repent, turn around. But then, finally, the promise to the remnant. Verse 5. He that overcometh, the same shall be closed in white raiment, and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life. that I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels. There are three things promised, because even in Sardis there were some who were not only real Christians, but who were pressing forward, who wouldn't go along with this awful decay And Christ promises to them future perfection and perfected fellowship with Him. They shall be clothed in white raiment. They would be perfect. They would be perfected in glory, free from all the imperfection that every Christian manifests in this life, free from sin and perfected in fellowship with the Lord Jesus Christ. And they shall not be blotted out of the Book of Life. The Book of Life is explained in chapter 20, and verse 12, And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God. And the books were opened, and another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them. And they were judged, every man, according to their works. and death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire." Two books. One with the whole life conduct of every man and woman that ever lived. And the other, the book of life, later on called the Lamb's book of life. And whilst everybody would be condemned by the first book, those who are in the Lamb's Book of Life are delivered from that wrath which their sins deserve. And what the Lord is saying is that the faithful remnant in Sardis, that the great day, their names will be found in the Book of Life. And the third thing is this, that he would own them as his, that I would confess his name before my father and before his angels. Christ would own them as his. In the world they had to suffer reproach, not just from the openly ungodly, but perhaps from some of the so-called church members who had no time for the truth of God. but Christ will own them as his people at the last day. Where do you stand in relation to this? Probably most of you are outwardly members of the Church of Christ. But you have to ask, are you first of all really a Christian? Did you ever become a real Christian? Have you been born again of the Spirit and put your trust in Christ so that you began to relish the truth of God? And if that is the case, that you have been brought to faith in Christ, Are you in the present going forwards or backwards? Is your spiritual life going forwards? Are you still eager for the truth of God, still growing in grace and in the knowledge of Christ, still studying the Word, still finding the Word of God a joy and a delight? Or is there that stagnation that although you're keeping up some of the motions, in reality things aren't what they were? Or are you like this remnant who had not defiled their garments, this remnant who wouldn't go along with the compromise and the complacency, and who were pressing forward and who were given the assurance that Christ would own them as His. That isn't to say that none of the others were His, but assurance is something that only those who are not only born again and who know the law, but who are persevering in the faith, they only have the assurance, they have the assurance of salvation and the Lord only gives that assurance to them. Where do we stand? Of one thing we can be sure, the Christ who said that he knew all about the Church of knows all about every one of us.