Thursday night, February 28, 2013, seemed like every other night for the Bush family who lived near Tampa, Florida. It seemed like every other night until the ground gave way and swallowed them up. The following is from the news report about the incident. A Florida man fell into a sinkhole that opened suddenly Thursday night beneath the bedroom of his suburban Tampa home. Calling out to his brother for help as he fell, the brother said Friday, I ran toward my brother's bedroom because I heard my brother's scream. Jeremy Bush told CNN, everything was gone. My brother's bed, my brother's dresser, my brother's TV, my brother was gone. Bush frantically tried to rescue his brother, Jeff Bush, by standing in the hole and digging at the rubble with a shovel until police arrived and pulled him out, saying the floor was still collapsing. I couldn't get him out. I tried so hard. I tried everything I could, he said through tears. I could swear I could hear him calling out. Jeremy Bush and four other people, including a two-year-old child, escape from the blue one-story 1970s-era home near Tampa. The sinkhole was about 20 feet to 30 feet across and 30 feet deep, said Bill Bracken, president of an engineering company assisting the emergency workers. It started in the bedroom and it had just been expanding outward and taking the whole house with it as it opened up. As the sinkhole continued to deepen, nearby homes were evacuated as a precaution. Sinkholes are common in Florida, according to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. The state lies on a bedrock made of limestone and other carbonite rock that can be eaten away by acidic groundwater, forming voids that collapse when the rock can no longer support the weight of what's above it. I tell you that story for two reasons this morning. First, because as sad as that story is, and it is so heartbreakingly sad, I want to share with you a message God has for us today, which is even more serious and far more eternally sad. Don't miss what God has to say for you this day. It may seem like everything is going okay. We don't sense the danger that is potentially all around us. Second, it's likely that many people live in and around our city and neighborhoods, and they will gather in places either last night or this morning to sing songs, to give money, to hear a nice message, and yet in all of that, it is meaningless. The church is dead. In fact, as the house sitting on top of a sinkhole Its perilous condition is real yet unknown, and it's not sensed by the very ones who are in the greatest danger until suddenly it comes about. So by God's grace, with the few minutes that we have together, I want to be an instrument of God's warning to you, to all of us, that we might heed the word of God and be saved from ruin. So this message, though written 20 hundred years ago, is for us today. The message today, not surprisingly, is from John's book of Revelation. In the book, both the beginning and the end, there is a blessing promise to those who would read and heed what it says. This morning, there's a potential blessing for you if you will hear what the word of God says. Revelation 1.3 says, blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of the prophecy and heed the things which are written in it for the time is near. The book of Revelation ends in Revelation 22 with a promise. Behold, I'm coming quickly. Blessed is he who heeds the words of the prophecy of this book. So in preaching this morning from this book, it is an opportunity for a blessing. And don't you really want God's blessing? If you do, then this morning there's a blessing for you in hearing and heeding the word of God. But it's a serious warning. It is a warning which is serious from the very God who made us. It's a serious warning which we'll learn today, but it's a message of hope. It's a message of hope for us. If we will hear and heed the word, there is hope for our soul this morning. The church at Sardis was established in the 50s AD, AD 50s. And it was established probably, likely when Paul was in Ephesus, as he was there for a while. The church at Sardis had been founded on God's truth. and the remarkable truths of the gospel. That is what they were founded upon which. But some four decades later, some four decades later, they had grown careless and indifferent to spiritual things. Like the city in which they live, their heyday was long past. They were past their prime, but God wasn't done with them yet. He was not done with them. He offers them hope if they would hear and obey his call. It's not too late. It's not too late. He wasn't done with them. He offers them hope. And my friend, there's hope for you this morning. There is hope for you in this passage. No matter what you've done or where you've messed up, there is hope for you this morning. Jesus says, he who has an ear, let him hear what the spirit says of the churches. We have this day, we have this moment, but we must use it. And if we do, there's hope. So simply put, I'm bringing God's word to you today. And my message is this, it's not too late. If you'll respond to God's Word today, it's not too late for you. No matter what's happened in your life, if you'll respond to Christ today, it's not too late for you. InterCity Baptist Church, if we will keep the truth of God at the center of our church, and by God's grace, hear and respond to it today as it truly is the word of God. Our church can be a vibrant lighthouse in the community and to the rest of the surrounding area for the rest of this century or until Christ returns and raptures the church. There's hope, but we must respond to the Lord Jesus Christ message today It's not too late. My message today has three points and I'll give them to you right now. So then you can kind of check out if you want to the rest of it, but at least you have the three points. Number one, it's not too late because if we'll recognize and embrace, we must recognize and embrace Christ evaluation of the church. It's not too late if we recognize and embrace Christ's evaluation of the church. It's not too late, secondly, if we respond and employ Christ's remedy for the church. And it's not too late, for we must remain faithful until Christ gathers his church and we see him face to face. So we must recognize and embrace his evaluation. He's the one who evaluates us. He has a remedy for us and we must remain faithful until he raptures us and takes the church home or we see him face to face. Well, you obviously know where we're going. Revelation chapter three. Let's look at this passage together. These six verses in the first, the first six verses of chapter three in Revelation. Revelation three. Verse one says, to the angel of the church in Sardis write, he who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars says this, I know your deeds, that you have a name, that you are alive, but you are dead. Wake up and strengthen the things that remain, which are about to die, for I have not found your deeds completed in the sight of my God. So remember what you have received and heard and keep it and repent. Therefore, if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief and you will not know at what hour I will come to you. But you have a few people in Sardis who have not spoiled their garments and they will walk with me in white for they are worthy. He overcomes thus, will be clothed in white garments, and I will not erase his name from the book of life. And 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." This morning, the message is, it's not too late. It's not too late, but If we're going to seize this moment, this day, we must respond to what the word of God says. And first of all, we have to recognize and embrace Christ evaluation of the church. It is the Lord Jesus Christ's word to the church at Sardis. It is God's word to the church. He's not someone to disregard. He owns the church. We see in the very first verse that he owns the church. It says to the angel of the church at Sardis, right? He who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars says this. You say, Tracy, what in the world does it mean when it says he has the seven spirits of God? Well, you'll know the number seven is significant in the book of Revelation. It's used 54 times in the book of Revelation to convey the idea of completion, fulfillment, perfection. And so this use, the seven spirits describes the Holy Spirit in this perfect fullness. And I just want to dig into a little bit with you. And just to just to help you understand this, you know, obviously you say, well, Tracy, you said it must be right. And trust me, no. Let's look at the word of God, what it says. All right. Because I want I want you to see what it says. Some say, well, what's the spirits? Is that just angelic beings? And I said, do you know, it describes the Holy Spirit and His perfection and His fullness that is at work in the church here. I'd just like to dig into it just a little bit with you. Look back, if you will, to Revelation 1, verses 4 and 5. The same kind of statement is given at the end of verse 4. You see it in verse four of chapter one, from the seven spirits who are before his throne. So there's a salutation from John and describes the seven spirits. Well, look what that phrase is sandwiched between. The full verse of Revelation 1.4 says, John, to the seven churches that are in Asia, grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come. And then you see the phrase that we said, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, verse five, and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, the ruler of the kings of the earth. You see a blessing formula there. Verse four describes the father. It says, grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come. Verse five describes whom? Jesus Christ, the second person of the Godhead. It seems that the Holy Spirit would be the one who would then fit at the end of verse four. It isn't some created being that is sandwiched between God the Father and the Son, rather it is the Holy Spirit. And as John is writing his blessing, he is describing the triune God, not just some angelic created being when describing the seven spirits who are before his throne. And again, in chapter three, when he's describing Christ as giving his evaluation of the church, he makes reference to the seven spirits. It is the Holy Spirit in all of his fullness, in perfection. You want to dig a little deeper? Now here's the challenge for you. I need you to find the book of Zechariah, all right? So if you find Matthew, go back two more books. So it goes, Matthew's the first book of the New Testament. If you go to the Old Testament, you have Malachi, I gotta think backwards. We challenged the Pathfinders a few weeks ago to say the books of the New Testament backward. And I don't know if we got anybody to do it, but I'm gonna think backward here. But you go Malachi's the last one, and the book right before that is the book of Zechariah. Turn to Zechariah 4, okay? I'm giving you a cover, by the way, to find it. You know, the rustling of the pages for a few minutes, all right? Zechariah 4. We see again this phrase used, and again, my point is simply to say to you that we can know exactly who Jesus is referring to as he gives his evaluation of the church. So Zechariah 4, notice what it says. And you kind of sense almost the same kind of pictures used in Zechariah 4 that are used in Revelation. And the word is about God's work through Zerubbabel. Verse one of chapter four, then the angel who was speaking with me returned and roused me as a man who is awakened from sleep. And he said to me, what do you see? And I said, I see and behold a lamp stand all of gold with its bowl on top of it and it's seven lamps on it with seven sprouts belonging to each of the lamps which are on top of it. Verse three, also two olive trees by it, one on the right side of the bull and the other on its left side. Then I answered and said to the angel who was speaking with me, saying, what are these, my Lord? So the angel who was speaking with me answered and said to me, do you not know what these are? And I said, no, my Lord. Then he answered and said to me, This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel, saying, not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of hosts. Okay, so what are these lamps? It is the Holy Spirit, the powerful Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit. Verse seven, what are you, O great mountains? Before Zerubbabel, you will become a plain. and that he will bring forth the top stone with shouts of grace, grace upon it. And the word of the Lord came to me saying, the hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house and his hands will finish it. Then you will know that the Lord of hosts has sent me to you. Verse 10, for who has despised the day of small things? But these seven will be glad when they see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel. These are the eyes of the Lord, which reign to and fro throughout the earth. Okay, you say, well, Tracy, why are you reading that? Because the point is, in this passage, using the same kind of pictures, he identifies the lamps as the Holy Spirit. the Spirit of God, who works powerfully. How powerfully? That the work would be finished. How actively? That His eyes are doing what? They're going to the whole earth to see what is being done. So in this passage, I simply want you to see that as it's described in Zechariah, that the lampstand with the lamps on it is described as God's Spirit, the Holy Spirit. Okay, you with me? Let's go back to Revelation now and go past Revelation 3 to Revelation 4. We'll get back to Revelation 3, I promise. But the question is, when Jesus says that he has the seven spirits, what is that? And I say to you, it's the Holy Spirit in his completeness, in his fullness, in his power. Chapter four, verse number five of Revelation. It says, and out from the throne comes flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder And there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne. Question, based on Zechariah 4, what are the seven lamps? The Holy Spirit, God's Spirit, the Holy Spirit. Keep reading. There are seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven spirits of God. And that brings us full circle. to chapter 3, where we started. So when, in chapter 3, it says, He who has the seven spirits of God, it's Jesus says, I have the seven spirits of God. What is the seven spirits of God, or who is the seven spirits of God? It is the Holy Spirit. And the Holy Spirit is powerful, and He's active. And He's powerful, and He's active. In this verse, where? In the church. In the church of God. I say all of this to help you understand this, that the Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son. He is the Spirit of God. He's the Spirit of Christ. Romans 8, 9 tells us, moreover, you are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit. If indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you, but if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to him. I want you to know that the Holy Spirit is among us today. The Holy Spirit is among us. He is doing the Son's work powerfully and omnisciently. He is among us today. We're not just simply here meeting in some sort of civic or human meeting, because we have nothing better to do on a Sunday morning at 10.30, just because of tradition that we would gather here in this place. We're here, and God is with us. The Father has sent the Son, and the Son has sent the Spirit, and he is among us here today. So Revelation 3, one says, he who has the seven spirits of God, and the seven stars, and you know this from the past few weeks, but what are the stars? The seven stars are what we know. They are really the churches and we'd say the leaders of the churches, the pastors are the leaders of the church. Christ owns the church. His spirit is here and it is his church. And I'm not here as somebody who is simply here on my own volition or choice, but rather God has commissioned me. God has commissioned those who were in this church as a pastor. It's his church. I say this, we must see that it's Christ evaluation. We must recognize that. Christ is not someone we should disregard because he owns the church. Christ is not someone to disregard because he knows the church. He knows the church. Think back to chapter one and what we were even taught in the first lesson, the first sermon from Jacob in chapter two. that Christ walks among us by His Spirit. He knows us. Christ isn't a distant owner of the church. He is active. He knows it and walks among the churches. There used to be a Speedway gas station on the corner of Allen and Southfield Road. Marsha and I lived within walking distance of that store for a number of years. And probably more times than I should have, I would go there for a pop or a candy bar. I could always tell when the big bosses from Speedway Corporation, the owners of the gas station, were going to be visiting the store because the employees would be painting and cleaning and doing everything they could in the place inside and out because they knew their store was going to be examined and they wanted to keep the bosses happy. You know, Jesus Christ is the owner of this church. And he doesn't just come and make quarterly visits to our church. He's here with us. He's here as we've gathered this morning, and he knows us. He knows us. So don't disregard him or what he says. We must recognize him and his evaluation of the church. No mere human endeavor here. It's Christ's church. I say we have to recognize that, we have to embrace that. Our standard for measuring a church's success is often different than the Lord Jesus Christ standard. We often evaluate individuals differently than God does, don't we? When we think of 1 Samuel 16, But the Lord said to Samuel, I do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For God sees not as man sees, for man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart. And we have to remember that, don't we? We're quick to judge people on our own standards. And God says, don't do that. I have a different standard of evaluation than you do. We often do the same for churches, don't we? We often think that a great church has big buildings and big budgets. I'm tempted to think the size of the party is often the measuring stick that determines if the church is alive or not. I mean, we had 241 people for dinner or supper on Wednesday night. We must be an alive church because we had lots of people here. And many times we're tempted to think that it's buildings and budgets, and again, the size of a party. The church at Sardis, if you look at verse one, he says, Jesus says, I know your deeds, that you have a name. What's the name? Name is, give me another word for name, that you have a reputation, that you're known in the community as, you're the party church, man, where it's all happening. You're known as an alive church. And yet Jesus has a different evaluation standard. What's it say in verse three? I know your deeds, that you have a name, that you are alive, but you are dead. It is possible that we might evaluate a church as being a good church, but not have God's standards of evaluating that church. I say we must embrace, recognize, and embrace Christ's standards for a church. The church at Sardis was known as the Alive Church, but they were dead. The church at Sardis did many things. They had a reputation for being alive, but they didn't do the right things, the things that God expected from them. They failed to measure up to the standard Christ had set. And you see, that's what is meant by the end of verse two, it says, I have not found your deeds completed in the sight of my God. You hadn't fulfilled, you were still lacking in what God expects and demands from you. We must remember that as Christ's standard, His measurement, which they were lacking in. God expected something and they had not completed what God had wanted them to do. Even though they were busy and had a reputation of being alive, they had not fulfilled or measured up to the standard that God had for them. Question, what is the standard? And what is the standard that God expects? Would that be a question you might have this morning? The answer to that is look at the other churches. Look at what Jesus said to the other churches. And you see in those other letters the standard Christ had for them. I'll let you study that on your own, but if you just take a quick perusal of the other letters, you see what the standard is versus 2-6 of chapter 2, verse 10 of chapter 2, verse 13 of chapter 2, verse 16, verses 8 and 10 of chapter 3. We see it's love, it's faithfulness, it's perseverance, it's keeping Christ's word, it's not denying Christ's name. It boils down to what? their faith, their active faith and obedience, their response to God. They had stopped responding to God. They had stopped holding on to the things that were part of their birth as a church. So what's a dead or dying church? It is a church which has stopped centering itself on Christ and his word. It's a church that has stopped responding to the word of God and to the spirit of God. It is a church that has stopped pursuing the mission Jesus gave it to do, even though it may be very busy and have a name as an alive church. They have stopped responding to God. They have stopped centering their lives as a church on the word of God. How about you as an individual? This is a letter to a church, a real church at a real time and place, but how about us? Are you responding to God's Spirit who lives within you if you're a believer? Have you kept the Word of God at the center of your life in personal devotions in response to what the Word of God says? The Holy Spirit lives within us and he uses the word and applies the word in the ways that we need to change and grow. They failed to finish the work Christ had gave them. The church at Sardis had grown careless and indifferent to God's truth. This church was the exact opposite of the church at Smyrna. The church at Smyrna seemed to be being put to death, and yet what was Christ's word to them? You were awake, weren't you, when Jacob preached that? They were alive. They seemed to be put to death, they were persecuted, and yet they were alive. The church at Sardis seemed to be alive, but because they stopped responding to God, they showed that they were dead. It's interesting, the siege of the city of Sardis, and from Google, so you can Google it, all right? The city of Sardis was an interesting place. It was set right kind of on top of this very steep, I'll say mountain, but it was almost like a straight up cliff where the city was. And they could kind of poke people in the eye, and then run back to their city, close the doors, and they were safe. because nobody could get to them because they thought they were just so safe. And yet in BC 546, Croesus, the leader there, was at war with Cyrus. And Cyrus followed Croesus to the city. and crease us, hold up in the city, shut the doors, and we're safe because we're on this steep cliff mountain and nobody can get to us. And they got fat and happy, if I can say it that way, and just became blissless, careless, and indifferent to their enemy. Sardis was protected by a very steep natural wall Cyrus, in the meantime, offered his troops large sums of money if they could figure out a way to get into the city of Sardis. And it's told, and again, this is in Google, you can look at, how am I to doubt Google? I understand that a soldier, they were watching the city, because these guys are trying to figure out a way to get in the city, and they saw one of the soldiers from the city of Sardis, of Sardis dropped his helmet off the top and it fell down. And the guy, he kind of popped in and then popped out like a secret passageway, grabbed his helmet, went back in, shut the door, and they thought they were safe. And one of the soldiers, Cyrus, saw that. and found that there was a secret way in. And you can see that Cyrus and his men followed that way in and nobody was guarding that because they thought it was completely safe because of where they were. And yet, because they were careless and indifferent as soldiers, as military, the city was overthrown all those years ago. And it seems like that's what the church was like there in Sardis in this day with this letter. They were content, they were careless, they were indifferent, and thought they had it all together. And yet Jesus' word to them was that they were dead. They were dead. One writer has noted that there are four stages in a church's life. A man, a movement, a machine, and a monument. A man, a movement, a machine, and then a monument. And Sardis was at the monument stage. They were at the monument stage of their life. But there's hope. There's hope. Well, I say there's hope for us, there's hope for them because there's hope because they must recognize and embrace Christ evaluation of them. I say secondly, there's hope. There's hope if we'll respond and employ Christ's remedy for his church. We have to embrace him as the evaluator, acknowledge that he has the right to do it, he is not to be disregarded, and what he says is true, we embrace it. Secondly, we must respond and employ Christ's remedy for his church. Having made this evaluation, verse one, verse two, really gives us a five, part remedy that Christ prescribes for his church. We see that in verse two. What is the remedy? Number one, he says, wake up, wake up. Many in this church had never come to know Christ as their savior. And Jesus is calling to them to express faith in him alone, express faith for salvation. It's interesting, the songs that we sang reminded us that it is the very breath of God, his voice, that called creation into being. And Jesus stood at the tomb of Lazarus with his voice and said, Lazarus, come forth. And in his call, there is the power for salvation. Christ's call is for us today. just as He called this church, those who did not know Him as Savior, to express faith in Him for salvation. Hear the call this morning of Christ to you for salvation. Each of us have been born as sinners. Nobody had to teach you to sin. Nobody had to teach your children to sin. You sin because you're a sinner. You're born from parents who are sinners. You have an indwelling sin, you have a sin nature, and we practice that sin. Because we're sinners, we deserve God's eternal wrath. The wages of sin is death. We die physically, we are separated from God in a second death spiritually because of our sin. Our sin deserves punishment. The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. God calls to you and he says, I offer to you salvation, not in you doing enough good works to merit a standing with God. We can't do enough works. All of our works are like filthy rags. But Jesus Christ left heaven and came and lived here on earth. He lived a sinless life. And going to the cross, he faced the Father's wrath, not for his sins, but for our sins. He who knew no sin became sin for us that he might bring us to God. Jesus Christ lived and He died bearing the sin that I deserve and you deserve and offers to each one of us His payment for our salvation. The Word of God says that if we believe that, if we confess that Jesus Christ is Lord and believe in our heart that God has raised Him from the dead, we can be saved. When Christ was resurrected from the dead, the Father raised Him saying, it's sufficient, your payment is sufficient, it is sufficient for all. And this morning, Christ is calling you, says, come to me, all who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. You feel like you're trying to do enough good things and you're working and working and working to try to get yourself into a right position with God. If I can just do enough good things, if I can give things, if I can do things, Jesus says, come to me, all who are weary and heavy laden. It's not through your activity, but it's through trusting in Christ alone, who he is, what he did, and what he demands. Come to Christ. If you'll confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you can be saved, you shall be saved. So trust Christ alone. There's only one way to God is through Jesus Christ alone. This morning, I don't know everybody in here. I know most people, okay? But wherever you are, wherever you are right now, if you're trying to earn your way to heaven, you'll never do it. Trust Christ alone. Jesus says, wake up, come forth, come to life, trust me. He's calling those who don't know Christ to salvation. But there were some in the church who were true followers of Jesus, and Jesus is calling to them. You ever slept through just a situation, maybe in and around your house that happened one night? I was just with somebody this week, the neighbor's house or garage, kiddie corner, was on fire and the fire trucks came and everything came, put the fire out. And he said, I had no idea, I slept right through it. That's for a good sleeper, I guess, isn't it? Sleep through all that stuff. Jesus is saying, hey, listen, Christian, Wake up, realize the danger of failing to respond to God. Respond to God, listen to his voice. His spirit lives within you. Hear his word and respond. The church was complacent and stopped pursuing the mission. And the Lord Jesus Christ is calling them to be aware of the danger that they were facing. I'm thinking of Matthew 26, where Jesus said, and he came to the disciples and found them sleeping and said to Peter, so you men could not keep watch with me for an hour? Keep watching and praying that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. I mean, the city of Sardis thought they were all set many, many years before this. and didn't even have anybody watching that passage to get into the city because they thought they were safe. And I wonder if we as believers who have maybe gotten used to our Christian life and the routine, sometimes fall into that same kind of stupor of not being watchful, of not watching and praying like we ought to. Jesus is calling them to be watchful. Return to spiritual vigilance. As I thought about the message this week, and it's been on me since I realized I was gonna get to preach this message about a dead church, just thinking about our church, I don't wanna look at this passage and say, that's not us. I think we ought to consider this passage and what it would mean for us as a church. I hope we're not a dead church. I don't believe we are. I believe we want to keep Christ at the center of what we do. I think we're genuinely working hard to respond to him as our Lord while remaining faithful to pursue the mission he's given us to do. I think so. But if we're not careful, we can become complacent, resting on our past successes We must constantly be watchful, constantly be on alert for the devil's schemes and attacks. The devil isn't happy with what's going on here, is he? And we must understand that we must be watchful. We must be awake. We must be constantly alert, alert collectively, and we must constantly be alert personally. A church dies when the members of the church stop responding to the Spirit of God and the Word of God. Again, I don't know if these things are true. I found them on the internet, so they must be. The story of a new pastor in Topeka, Kansas. He spent the first four days making first four days of his ministry, making visits to each of his perspective congregation, inviting them to come to his inaugural service. The following Sunday, the church was all but empty. Accordingly, the pastor placed a notice in the local newspapers stating that because the church was dead, it was everyone's duty to give it a decent Christian burial. The funeral would be held the following Sunday afternoon. Morbid curiosity drove a large crowd to turn out for this funeral. In front of the pulpit, they saw a closed coffin, which was covered in flowers. And after the pastor delivered his eulogy, he opened the coffin and invited the congregation to come forward and pay their final respects to their dead church. Filled with curiosity as to what would represent the corpse of a dead church, all the people eagerly lined up to look in the coffin. Each mourner peeped into the coffin and then quickly turned away with a guilty sheepish look. In the coffin, tilted at a correct angle, was a large mirror. Again, I don't know if that happened, but the point is what? The church dies when people stop responding to God. It's not inner city Baptist church that would, God forbid, die. As a church, as an entity, it's because of people, us, that would stop responding to God's word. So wake up, wake up. Hear Christ's words to you today. If you've never trusted Christ, turn to Christ as your Savior and Lord, embrace Him, confess your sin and trust Him. Christian, sense your need to hear and obey Christ's words every day, that we might be a church that is truly alive. We must, we must respond to the remedy that Christ has provided. Fivefold, number one, wake up. Number two, what's it say in verse three? He says, verse two, I'm sorry, wake up and strengthen the things that remain. Strengthen the things that remain. I said there's hope, there's hope here. The church is on life support. It's not absolutely dead yet. It's not too late. They were about to die, but it's not too late. There were some in the church who were true followers of Christ, but they must sense the imminent danger and act, and they must act today. What are they to do? It says, strengthen the things that remain, starting with the Christ-honoring truths and teaching, which had remained in their church With the Christ-following people of the church, they were to center their church on the truth of God. Those are the things that they were to strengthen. The things that had been so instrumental in founding the church on Christ, they were to strengthen these things. They were there very weakly, but those who wanted to follow Christ and have a church that was truly alive must strengthen these things. My sophomore year of high school, I severely sprained my ankle during a basketball practice. I was prescribed an air cast. I don't know, do they still use air cast these days? But I wore one for several weeks. And my ankle was completely immobilized for those weeks. I'll never forget the day I took that air cast off and my ankle just flopped. It was so weak, it had been immobilized, it just flopped. And it was so odd. And what needed to happen to my ankle, I speak beyond myself, muscles, tendons, ligaments, I have no idea what they are. But what needed to happen with those things? They needed to be exercised to strengthen because they hadn't been used in so long. And that's what happened. And we think about physical rehab. How do you strengthen a weak muscle? You exercise it, you give it rehab. Well, Jesus says to this church, you must strengthen these things that remain. How do you do that? It is to practice the word of God. I love what Hebrews 5 says. Listen to Hebrews 5, 11 through 14. Concerning him, we have much to say to you, and it is hard to explain since you have become dull of hearing. For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracle of God. You have come to need milk and not solid food. Listen to what verse 13 says. For everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he is an infant. Verse 14, but solid milk is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained. to discern good and evil. How do you grow in your Christian life? How do you strengthen the weak ankle, as it were, in your spiritual body? It is through the word and through your practice of hearing and applying the word of God. That's what they needed. Wake up, be alert, listen. Strengthen what remains. Strengthen those things that are so key in your spiritual progress. They were to see the mission of the church and advance through them, that was to advance through them in Sardis. They must strengthen their commitment to follow Christ and demonstrate their gospel commitment. Ephesians 2, eight through 10 says, for by grace you've been saved through faith, that not of yourselves, it is a gift of God, not as a result of works, so that no one may boast, for we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God has prepared beforehand that we might walk in them." Hey, listen, God wants you to be a person who shows your commitment to the gospel by how you live and practice your good works throughout the rest of the week. We practice these things and we strengthen what remains. So, the remedy has five parts. One, wake up. Some of you might need that right now, all right? Look at the person next to you, hey, tell them to wake up, all right? Wake up. Strengthen the things that remain. Number three, remember what you received. Remember what you received. It's not just to call the mind these things, but to keep them in the front of your mind. the things that they had received, those things that were so important in the gospel and in the things that had been given to them. Colossians 2.6 says, therefore, as you have received the Lord Jesus Christ, so walk in him, having been firmly rooted and now being built up in him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed and overflowing with gratitude. Hey, listen, If we're gonna be an alive church, if we're gonna keep from being a dead church, we have to be awake, we have to strengthen those first things, but we gotta keep in the front of our mind every day, every time as we gather, what we're here to do. We walk in Christ, as we received him, we walk in him. They had received the truth, but it had become a secondary issue to them, and they were to bring it back to the center. Right in the middle. Hey, as you gathered today, personally, individually, as you came to gather with us collectively, were you thinking some things? Were you remembering some things? Or did you just kind of come rushing in because it's 9.30, 10.30, I gotta be there. It would be really important for you, maybe even the night before. I was thinking about this last night. What if we, the night before, were rehearsing in our minds why we needed to gather and what we were praying for God to do as we gathered? What's so important about our being gathered here today? And as we live for Christ, we remind ourselves of truths. In the middle of the temptation that you face this week, I don't know what it is, but remember that God has saved you and His way is best. and his truth must be at the center of it, because the devil's gonna try to, and your flesh is gonna try to, think there's a better way. I told my Sunday school class this morning, I may have, I may have gotten angry at somebody this past week, and it may have resulted in me responding in a sinful way, like maybe yelling something out the window. It may have happened, okay? The point there, if that happens, is what? I'm not thinking about God and His will. I push that aside. What's become the center of my heart at that moment? You can't treat me that way. I deserve something better. And the Word of God has been pushed aside, whether that's just practically like that or in the center of our truth, of our doctrine. I mean, is there really only one way to God? You're gonna have to wrestle through that. Okay, is there only one way to God? Is faith in Christ alone, by grace alone, is that the only way? You have to believe that and remember that and keep that in front of your mind because we live in a day and time when that's not popular. We have to remember, keep it the center. Number four, number four, having said wake up and strengthen the things that remain, These things were about to die. Remember these things. It says, verse 3, remember what you have received and heard and keep it. Verse 3, and keep it. What's keeping it mean? To obey, to do it. to heed the prohibitions and to heed the prescriptions. Whatever God says, I must do. Whatever God says not to do, I must follow his instruction. I must heed it. I must literally keep on heeding. Not just remember it, but obey it. Do what is prescribed and don't do what is prohibited. Oh man, we think of Revelation, Matthew 7. Matthew 7 says, therefore, everyone who hears these words of mine and acts on them may be compared to a wise man who built his house on a rock and the rain fell and the floods came and the winds blew and slammed against that house, yet it did not fall for it had been founded on the rock. Everyone who hears these words of mine and does not act on them will be like a foolish man who builds his house on the sand and the rain fell and the floods came and the winds blew and slammed against that house and it fell and great was its fall. Hey listen, what's the difference in those two? In those two lives that are compared to someone who builds their house on a rock or house on the sand, they both heard the word of God and yet the foolish man heard and did not obey. and the wise man heard and obeyed, we must keep God's word. Verse three says, so remember what you have received and heard and keep it. And lastly, repent, repent. And I like how Dr. Compton in his notes talk about this, how it brings it full circle, brings it full circle with this repent. It started with them waking up and turning from their own condition to follow Christ and brings it full circle to repentance. Repentance is to acknowledge one's sin and turn from it. And when must you repent? If there's to be hope. It's not too late, but you must repent. When? Today, now. Today is the day that we must act. It's a call for decisive action. This is a regret which causes a change in one's life and going a different direction, not merely feeling bad about a situation and seeking to merely undo what has been done is bad. This idea of the regret that causes a change, a turn, a different direction. This is a dead serious. remedy that they needed to heed in order for their hope to be real. Well, see if we can't finish this up. And in verse three, therefore, if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief and you will not know at what hour I will come. What's he saying? I am serious about this. Jesus, the one who has the seven spirits and the seven stars says, I am serious. You must listen, wake up and hear. Repent, strengthen, remember, keep, repent. You must hear what I'm saying. And if you don't hear, there's consequences. Again, I don't think this is primarily thinking about the return and rapture of the church. It certainly is in Revelation, but I think he's saying your influence will be put out. I will come and I will deal with it. And in fact, what he's emphasizing, I believe here, is the suddenty and the surprise of his come. He says, I'm coming and I will deal with this church. He is serious about it. This morning, God is serious when he is calling us to hear and respond. Verse four, and you have a few people in Sardis who have not spoiled their garments. They will walk with me in white, for they are worthy. What's that saying? For some who are believing, for some who are following Christ, they're worthy, not because their own works, but they're worthy because they're trusting Christ and his works. And that's what makes us able to stand before Christ. It says they're in white. They've been clothed in Christ's righteousness. There are some who are Christ's followers in this church. But he says, hey, listen, I'm serious, dead serious. Wake up, hear and heed my word. Well, with this we'll conclude. Look at verse five. There's a reward, isn't there? And I simply said it this way in our notes, there's hope. There's hope if we'll recognize and embrace Christ's evaluation. There's hope if we'll realize and respond to the remedy that Christ has provided. There's hope if we'll remain faithful to Christ until he gathers his church and we see him face to face. One day we'll see Christ. We will see Christ. That'd be great, face to face. Well, there's really three parts of the reward. There's a full sanctification in verse five, a full sanctification. He who overcomes thus will be clothed in a white garment, a white, a final covering, symbolizing God's righteousness, his victory, and his glory. We see this in Revelation 19, six, and I heard something like the voice of a great multitude, like the sounds of many waters, like the sounds of a mighty peals of thunder saying, hallelujah. For the Lord our God, the mighty reigns. Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to him. For the marriage of the lamb has come and his bride has made herself ready. And it was given to her to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean. And the fine linen was the righteous acts of the saints were clothed in a righteousness that is final and complete in Christ. There's a reward is a full sanctification. Wouldn't it be great one day when we don't have to struggle with sin anymore? We've been delivered that finally and fully. Wake up, it's worth it, it's hope. if we repent and respond to Christ today. There's a full sanctification. There's a firm standing. He says, I will not erase his name from the book of life. Literally, it's a double negative here. I will not, no, never. It's impossible for those who are his children to ever be erased from the book of life. Your standing in Christ is firm. Your name is written in the book of life. No, never, never, ever. those who would hear and remain faithful to Christ. So there's a full sanctification, a clothing of white, there's a firm standing, his name written in the book of life. And I put it this way, there's a family salutation, there's a family salutation. The end of verse five says, and I will confess him before my father and before his angels. Christ knows you, and he says, this is my child, this is my brother. And He introduces you, as it were, a picture of introducing you to the Father by name. Hey, listen, is it worth it? Is it worth it to hear the Word and to respond to it? Is it worth it? Yeah. One day, when we see Christ, when He raptures the church, and we see Him face to face, it will be worth it. 1 Thessalonians 4 says, for the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, with a trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we always be with the Lord. Won't that be a great day? It's worth it. There's hope, it's not too late. but you must respond to God today. Don't walk out of here this morning without dealing with your sin. God has given you today. Again, no matter what you've done, no matter where you've been, no matter if you've put off trusting Christ for years, today is the day of salvation. Confess Christ, ask for his salvation, and he will save you from your sin. Christian, don't go another day embracing sin thinking it's all right and being unconcerned and not hearing and responding to God. He's given you today. He's given you this day. In our City Baptist Church, we must hear Christ's words and we must apply them together. Inner City Baptist Church, we must keep God's word at the center of all that we do. We must respond to God as he is here among us this morning. We must seek to obey Christ and finish the mission he's given to us. It's not too late. Individuals, maybe you've come today and you said, I've lived in my sin for far too long. I've lived in my sin far too long. Christ won't take me. I've done too much. He won't take me. I would take you with me and introduce you to a thief that was crucified on a cross right next to Jesus, who had done so much that society said, you no longer deserve to live. You will be put to death for what you've done. You are not worthy of life. And that man, with all that he had done in the last few moments of his life, turned to Christ and said, remember me. And Jesus says, I will, I will, I'll save you. My friend, don't linger one more day in your sin, turn to Christ, acknowledge your sin and trust him for your salvation. Maybe some of you think because of your sinful choices, You know, I've just done too many wrong things. I'm a Christian, but man, I'm not much of one. I've done all sorts of sinful choices. I just take you to a man named Peter who said to Jesus, face to face, I'll never deny you, Jesus. Even if they put me to death, I'll never deny you. And a little girl by a fire looked at him when Jesus was being put on trial, looked at Peter and said, aren't you one of those guys who were Jesus? And Peter cursed and swore and said, I don't know the guy. He betrayed Christ. That got so discouraged, says I'm just going fishing. I'm never coming back. and Christ brought him back, and he walked with Christ, and he was used to establish the church, one who had committed such great sin, but he confessed his sin, and he trusted Christ's payment for his sin. He was restored to service. Well, again, I say to you, maybe you come today and say, I've done so much, I've delayed, I can't be of really any service to God. I've kind of left those things. One of my favorite characters in the Bible is John Mark. John Mark was part of one of the first missionary teams. And it got hard out there and John Mark left them. He says, forget it, I'm out of here. And left Paul and Barnabas and their missionary team. And Paul in fact said, forget them, we're moving on. But at the end of Paul's life, he said, hey, listen, bring John Mark, because he's been restored, he's dealt with his sin, he's dealt with his failure, and Paul said he is fruitful or beneficial for the ministry. John Mark was restored to service in the work. There's hope for you. It's not too late, it's not too late. But you must respond to God today. in the way that's appropriate, whether it's in salvation and trusting Christ for your salvation, or trusting Christ's sufficient grace to grow in sanctification for his glory. I just wanna read for you just a verse or two from 1 Peter. I find this to be tremendously helpful. I'll just tell you, being around the church for 33 years, you know my failings. I can sit in a room and think of people who I've disappointed you. I haven't done what I ought to. And that's the greatest thing that weighs on me sometimes when I stand here, is to know that there are people that I've disappointed and not done maybe what I said I would. And I'm asking for God to help me through this passage, through what we preach this morning, to wake up, to strengthen, to remember, to keep, and to repent, and see God do a work through us and through me in our church. I just love the hope that we find in what we read this morning in 1 Peter 4. Therefore, since Christ has suffered in the flesh, arm yourself with the same purpose, because he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, so as to live the rest of your life, so as to live the rest of your time in the flesh, no longer for the lust of men, but for the will of God. Hey, listen, today can be a day by God's grace that you can spend the rest of your life doing God's will, no matter what's happened in your past. but you must deal with it. You must respond to the remedy that God has given and you must remain faithful to Christ until he takes us home and we see him face to face. I pray that God will help us to be an alive church and it's truly alive because we're centered on Christ and doing his will as we learn his word. Let's pray together. Father, you know every one of us here who have gathered this morning. You know me, you know every person here, you know how we need this passage in our lives personally, individually. Father, you know our church, Jesus Christ by the Holy Spirit is here with us today. Holy Spirit, we pray that you would have free reign in our hearts, that we would be a church that isn't just a church with a big building and a nice budget and a lot of activity, but that we would truly be an alive church because we're responding to you, controlled by you, and seeking to do your will. We pray that you are glorified in our church. Please do a work in us as individuals that we might be people who are responding to you. God, would you please do this for your glory? Would you please do this for our good? It is the best thing for us that we would give our hearts and our lives to see you glorified in and through this church and through it to the rest of the world until Jesus Christ returns, we pray in Jesus' name, amen.