February 14th-Session 6 | Sardis-Dead Church-Nate 1 Corinthians 3:1-4 3 And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. 2 I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able; 3 for you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men? 4 For when one says, “I am of Paul,” and another, “I am of Apollos,” are you not carnal? Hebrews 5:12-14 12 For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food. 13 For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. 14 But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil. Bid Ideas: · Intimate Knowledge of this church. · Exhortations and Praise · Rebuke and warning · How does a church die and how do we combat that? · “He who over comes, I will not blot out your name from the book of life?” · Tapping into God’s Grace and Strength through transformation Revelation 3:1 “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. How does a church die? · Apathy · Complacency · Un-repentant sin · Religion/Self-Righteousness (Matthew 23) Matthew 23:27-28 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness. Revelation 3:3 Remember 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. How does a church combat apathy, complacency, un-repentant sin? · Hold Fast (guard, watch over, preserve) · Repent · Wake up-Strengthen that which remains · Be on watch 1 Corinthians 14:33-34 Do not be deceived: “Evil company corrupts good habits.” Awake to righteousness, and do not sin; for some do not have the knowledge of God. I speak this to your shame. Ephesians 5:8-14 For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth), finding out what is acceptable to the Lord. And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them. For it is shameful even to speak of those things which are done by them in secret. But all things that are exposed are made manifest by the light, for whatever makes manifest is light. Therefore He says: “Awake, you who sleep, arise from the dead, and Christ will give you light.” Revelation 3:4-6 You 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. He 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. “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” ’ · Spiritual maturity (suffer and mature well) Revelation 3:2 Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die, for I have not found your works perfect (mature) before God. James 1:2-4 My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. Commit to suffering by spirit-filled endurance. (tranformation) Romans 5:1-5 Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope. Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us. Justified by faith, we have peace with God through Jesus and therefore have access to the grace of God. 2 Corinthians 12:7-10 And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure. Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong. Proverbs 18:13 He who answers a matter before he hears it, it is folly and shame to him. Romans 12:2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. 2 Corinthians 10:5 casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, Historical Background: Sardis was about thirty miles south of Thyatira. Its location commanded the trade of the Aegean Islands and the military road through the important Hermus River valley. Sardis enjoyed prominence as a commercially prosperous and militarily strategic city throughout its history. The city’s topography was notable for the acropolis; the temple of Artemis (possibly Cybele), which, though never finished, equaled in size the famous temple of Artemis in Ephesus; and the impressive necropolis, or cemetery, of “a thousand hills” (modern Bin Tepe), so named because of the hundreds of burial mounds visible on the skyline some seven miles from Sardis. The acropolis rose about eight hundred feet above the north section of Sardis and was virtually impregnable because of its rock walls, which were nearly vertical, except on the south side. Formerly the site of the original city, the acropolis became a refuge for the inhabitants in time of siege. Only twice in the history of Sardis was its fortress ever captured, though attacks on it were frequent. When Cyrus attacked it in the sixth century BC, a shrewd Persian soldier observed a Sardian descending the southern winding path to retrieve his fallen helmet. Unknown to the soldier, the Persians followed his path back up to the summit and captured the whole city, taking them quite by surprise. There was a similar occurrence when Antiochus attacked Sardis about two hundred years later. Sardis retained its wealth into the first two centuries of the Christian era. But its political brilliance as the capital city of Asia for Persia lay in the past. Ramsay (Seven Churches, 375) aptly remarks, “No city of Asia at that time showed such a melancholy contrast between past splendor and present decay as Sardis.” In AD 26, Sardis begged the Roman Senate to grant it the coveted honor of building a temple to Caesar. The distinction, however, went to Smyrna. The luxurious living of the Sardians led to moral decadence. Herodotus (fifth century BC) wrote despairingly of Sardis and its people as “the tender-footed Lydians, who can only play on the cithara, strike the guitar, and sell by retail” (cited in Barclay, Seven Churches, 71). Sardis was a city of peace—not the peace won through battle but “the peace of the man whose dreams are dead and whose mind is asleep, the peace of lethargy and evasion” (Barclay, Seven Churches, 72). A great wool industry flourished at Sardis, and this may account for Christ’s reference to clothing (v. 4).[1] [1] Johnson, A. F. (2006). Revelation. In T. Longman III & D. E. Garland (Eds.), The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Hebrews–Revelation (Revised Edition) (Vol. 13, pp. 626–627). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.