Rather, they made up a unit that was always a part of what we now call the book of Revelation, which was sent to all the churches. Now, that said, each letter contained a distinct message. In pastoral fashion, the prophet John sought to give comfort and guidance to the churches that were struggling within the Roman Empire. He wanted them to know how to be the church in the context of the intensifying evil that was being perpetrated by the powers that be.
[00:02:13]
How are we supposed to live as followers of Jesus when the laws of the land mandate that we be followers of the emperor? Did you know, by the way, that the Trump administration is opening an investigation to find out who was behind the nationwide No Kings protest day. They want to find the masterminds behind it and punish them in some way. So, if you're wondering why we're studying the book of Revelation, it's because the times in this country are not that far off from the times of Revelation.
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Remember your first love you'll recall who is Jesus John said and prefer nothing and no one to him. And secondly um be living martyrs. That was the message to the church in Sardis. be sold out for Jesus serving the cause of the gospel no matter the cost. And thirdly, um be pure in heart, soul, and body, which was um the message to the church in Pergamum. The empire has much to offer uh to cater to our base desires. Abstain, urges John, don't give in. Remain pure in Christ.
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When we say Jesus is Lord, we're also saying that Caesar is not. Not anyone or anything else is Lord because Jesus is Lord. Be loyal to him. John pleads. Other powers will demand our allegiance and try to determine the course of our lives and in the midst of that remain loyal to Jesus who is our only king.
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And as I hope we'll see in reflecting on the letter to the church in Sardis, there are times like when a speeding Tesla is about to rear end you that good enough is not good enough. The church in Sardis worked just fine. It was good enough. It even looked like the church was doing great. You have a name of being alive, said Jesus in verse one. But inside, he continued, there's no life.
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There's just a bunch of nuts and bolts and wires which are not enough to see and respond to the evil fast approaching. Good enough in evil times is not good enough, says Jesus. to the live to the alive on the outside but dead in the inside church. Don't settle for just being good enough because that's not good enough in the age of empire.
[00:08:56]
Our movement toward maturity in Christ shouldn't mustn't stop. That is if we want to be a church that remains very much alive and agile in the context of high-speed chaos or intensifying evil. The fifth response to the question of what the church should be amid empire is this. Be completed in Christ. Be completed in Christ. Be made whole. keep on maturing in the ways of the kingdom.
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Jesus calls the church in Sardis and all churches to be fully developed to remain on the journey toward being made complete and whole in Christ. Because you see, if we're if we're halfway there and begin to entertain the notion that, you know, we're in a good enough place, we're good enough. If we begin to say that or think that as a kind of excuse to simply maintain in the faith, then we'll likely learn the hard way that to be good enough is not good enough.
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If and when we find ourselves resting on our laurels and thinking we like it here, why strive any longer? We're in a good place. No need to change, to grow, to be challenged with new things, to move forward. Where we are, it's good enough. It's good enough. The church when we begin thinking like this then we begin to slow we begin to die a slow death inside.
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Wake up church in Sardis and all the churches past and present says the one who according to verse one has the seven spirits of God which by the way is apocalyptic for Holy Spirit and who holds the seven stars or the seven angels or God ordained leaders of the churches. and don't neglect the things that still remain for you to grow and mature in. That's what that that's what the admonition, the call is. It's wake up. That's the call this morning. Wake up.
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Remember, that is such a critical word in biblical faith, isn't it? Remember that you were slaves in Egypt. Remember the Sabbath. Remember all the good things God has done for you. Remember Christ's death and resurrection. Every time you gather via the bread and the wine and so on, to remember has some kind of power.
[00:13:29]
When in doubt, reminisce. When God feels distant, when life's circumstances cause me to forget why I do what I do, when my hope begins to flag that Christ is the answer, I simply need to remember how God rescued me from the jaws of my own self-destructive behavior and how up close and personal I have been able to experience the living God. The living memory of these things keeps me going.
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If we think that somehow salvation means simply waiting around for heaven, then we have miscalculated the cost of our salvation. Yeah, it was free. But it has also demanded that we dedicate our whole lives to Jesus and his purposes. To those asleep in the light, to use the words of Keith Green, Jesus warns us in verse three, to those asleep in the light.
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It's when we forget, you see, when we forget the gospel that we stop moving and start settling in a particular place on the path of faith and no further. I call this the sin of settling. The sin of settling. I remember conducting a workshop years ago with a group of church leaders that included a section entitled maintenance versus mission.
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It's just not the church. You want to be a club, fine, but it's not the church. I realized now that I was speaking to the pastor of the church in Sardis. That church was asleep contentedly. So, the pastor in my opinion being the chief snorer of them all. For my read of the letter to the church in Sardis, Jesus is calling such churches, such pastors, such people to repent of this kind of thinking and keep moving, keep growing, keep learning in Christ toward a life ruled by the seven spirits of God, the Holy Spirit.
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Church, we have to be ready, alert, and able to move out of the way to counter it. Even awake therefore from your spiritual lethargy, says Jesus. name, confess, and repent of the sin of settling and then resume the journey toward full maturity in Christ.
[00:21:50]
Regard the woke. Now, I I hesitated to use that loaded term, but I figure if Pope Leo can use it, I can, too. In verses four and five, Jesus pointed out that not everyone in the Sardis Sardisian church is asleep. There were those among them who had remained awake to what was going on in their city and around the Roman Empire. They were woke to the prompings of the spirit and therefore woke to advocate for those most vulnerable in society.
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The call here is to regard these woke folk in a serious kind of way. There aren't many among you, said Jesus in verse four. There's only a few of you. But take them seriously. See what they do. Listen to what they have to say. And then join them lest you sleep your way right out of the book of life.
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And when the woke decide to band together, the empire will have its hands full. Remember the beautiful, powerful gospel. Repent of the sin of settling and regard the woke among us. That's how we wake up from spiritual lethargy, according to the letter to the church in Sardis and by waking up we become in part poised to challenge the powers that be.
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