 All right, here we go revelation chapter 3 we're going to be looking at the church in Sardis and I've called this what is it's typically referred to in this way. I'm just using what others have said dead orthodoxy and so beginning at verse 1 chapter 3 reading to verse 6 We read and to the angel of the church in Sardis, right? 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 Be watchful and strengthen the things which remain that are ready to die for I have not found your works perfect before God 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 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 now I'm not sure if we had this that or not I had mentioned something about a slide John. Do you know if it's we have a slide again? I'm gonna show you a slide because I want to point something out If we can okay turn the lights off so they can see it there you go. Thank you Okay, I want you to look at this for a moment and and I've got a light here I'm gonna read and we'll leave the lights off so you can look at this because this is my introduction I want you to see something In in this picture and I want you to look at it very closely because there's something I want to share with you Everybody here has heard of a man named Vincent. We call him Vincent van Gogh though. They pronounce it differently gah I think Vincent van Gogh Lived from 1853 to 1890 he composed a famous painting called the church in Alvarez. That's that painting right there I want you to look at it because the church is situated at a fork in a road and Notice that there's no direct path into the church building Look behind it and you see the night sky and the night sky takes up a large part of the painting and notice It is without stars because that's intended to communicate to us emptiness If you look closely at the church roof, it's unstable. It's even trembling There's no door allowing entrance. There's no light in the church building and the building appears empty as You look you see a woman passing by and she's this is a church in France That woman is a Dutch woman. She's dressed as a Dutch woman. So you see this woman passing by She's heading into the darkness and she's totally alone as she's in a fork in the road going around the church So the church building he painted is simply a building. It's a building with no life within Art critics and experts have said that this was how he viewed the church of his day His father was a Dutch reformed pastor and his grandfather was a theologian At an early age Vincent desired to be a pastor, but was not accepted into seminary He tried to become a missionary and he went to a coal mining village in Belgium at the age of 26 Someone who said taking Christianity to its logical conclusion Van Gogh lived like those he preached to sleeping on straw and a small hut at the back of the baker's house where he was staying The baker's wife reported hearing Van Gogh sobbing at night in the hut His choice of squalid living conditions did not endear him to the church authorities Which dismissed him for undermining the dignity of the priesthood and this experience may have helped him develop his view Of the church it had a name that it was alive, but it was dead From a distance the church building appears welcoming But it was without life and the condition of the church if his day mirrors the concerns for Jesus of Jesus for Sardis it has an appearance of life, but in fact it is spiritually dead You can turn the lights on in Sardis the spiritual darkness of false teaching and bad living Extinguished the light the reputation was that they're alive But in fact Sardis Jesus said is dead in Sardis the spiritual darkness of false teaching has affected them and So what has happened is the true condition is a church without life Now I introduced the study of the seven letters by by saying that each letter has a three-fold application Let me remind you of this as we're going to go through this in a moment I shared with you that you have what is called the primary meaning that the letter that was written has a direct bearing on the Congregation itself the church in Sardis But it also has what is called a personal because there are people within that church there that church body That need to hear what the Spirit has to say to the church and Then third and this is what we'll be looking at today in more a lot more information will be coming because of this We have the prophetic it represents seven stages of church life from Pentecost to the raptures the rapture So these letters from Jesus reveals a slow deterioration throughout church history They reveal that the church over time is slowly losing her witness to the world each letter again Contains a message to specific churches in the first century and these churches were being spoken to by Jesus for current conditions and Problems but prophetically the messages applied to churches throughout history and they're applicable to us today as we read the letters And are instructed by them now as we went and looked at Ephesus Ephesus Prophetically represents the church in her infancy from Pentecost a to 160 This is the church that was on fire, but has lost its first love or left their first love We saw Smyrna representing the suffering church a church that because of the witness for Christ began to suffer Persecution we saw Pergamos representing the compromising church from AD 313 to AD 600 This was a church that was guilty of being worldly and sexually immoral It was infiltrated by by bad teaching and then you look at Thyatira Thyatira prophetically is what is called the apostate church from AD 600 to 1500 and we saw this how they tolerated Jezebel who introduced heresy and idolatry and moral impurity and today We're going to be looking at the next phase of the church prophetically. We look at the church in Sardis Now geographically Sardis was a city situated in a fertile valley 30 miles southeast of the city of Thyatira in modern Turkey It was important and it was a wealthy city It was located on a commercial trade route much of its wealth resulted from textile manufacturing its dye industry as well as jewelry trade Most of the city practice pagan worship With mystery cults and secret societies there was a temple established for Artemis also known as Diana and And she was the Virgin goddess of hunting and childbirth Traditionally associated with the moon They also worshiped the goddess Sibley who was known as the great mother and was a mistress of wild nature She was thought to be a healer and was the goddess of procreation She was worshiped through orgies and sexual depravity The origin of the church is unknown, but there are those who believe Paul or perhaps John may have planted this church When you look at Sardis the word Sardis literally means the escaping ones or those who come out and prophetically Sardis represents the Reformation again each letter had a primary element with a direct bearing on each church Each had a personal application with members needing to hear what the spirit says to the church and each letter has a prophetic element representing eras in church history prophetically Sardis represents what has been called dead orthodoxy that especially refers to the years 1500 to 1750 AD which is also coinciding with what has been referred to as the Protestant reformation Now I have to review a few things with you by 1500 Idolatry impurity and bad doctrine has already leavened the church last time we were together I was sharing with you how certain things had crept into the church praying for the dead the office of Pope worshiping saints and angels the establishment of the mass the worship of Mary the canonization of dead saints the doctrine of trans Substantiation the practice of only priests reading and teaching the Bible Purgatory Catholic tradition given equal authority with the Bible that had all found its way into the church through the Roman church So history records various believers who broke away from the Roman church and the suffering they endured The leaders of this reformation were men like Wickliffe and Zwingli Knox and Calvin and Luther the break really begins around October 31st 1517 when Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to the door of the Catholic Church in Wittenberg, Germany It's been said his voice resounded in the ears of so many who were tired of the Roman system When Martin Luther was called to give a defense of his beliefs. This is what he said Since your majesty and your lordships desire a simple reply. I will answer without horns and without teeth Unless I am convinced by scripture and plain reason I do not accept the authority of popes and the councils for they have contradicted each other My conscience is captive to the word of God I cannot and I will not recant anything for to go against conscience is neither right nor safe Here I stand. I cannot do otherwise. God help me amen And so the reformers believed that the church drifted from the essentials of Christianity and Because of this they summarized their theological convictions with five Phrases we've all heard some of these Sola scriptura the Bible alone is our highest authority So la fidee we are saved through faith alone in Jesus Christ So la gratia. We are saved by the grace of God alone Solus Christus Jesus Christ alone is our Lord savior and king Solidae gloria we live for the glory of God alone and these are the statements called the Reformation statements the essentials the five phrases So the church started out well the reformation went well But over time it became institutionalized and the life of the spirit has been quench We'll see this as we go through this. It's been replaced by what is called dead orthodoxy believing the right things without the passion of conviction So he begins in verse one To the angel of the church in sardis right 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 and that's how Jesus begins the description that we see here about the the one with the Seven spirits and the one who holds the seven stars comes from chapter one verses four as well as verse 16 And I mentioned to you the seven spirits the seven spirits represents what is called the fullness or Completeness of the Holy Spirit It's an image that you find in the Old Testament in the book of Isaiah And it's an image used to speak of Messiah in Isaiah 11 1 and 2 It says there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse a Branch shall grow out of his roots This is a picture of Messiah and the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him the spirit of wisdom and understanding the spirit of counsel and might the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord when you read that You see he speaks of the spirit of the Lord and then he gives to us six other words that relate to that Spirit of wisdom spirit of understanding spirit of counsel spirit of might spirit of knowledge Spirit of the fear of the Lord. These are the seven spirits This is speaking about the fullness of the spirit and so by saying seven spirits Jesus is declaring that he possesses what is called the fullness of the spirit in John chapter 3 verse 34 It says for he is sent by God He speaks God's words for God's spirit is upon him without measure or limit So Jesus Christ is the one with the fullness of the spirit and Jesus is the one who is in control of the church through the spirit of God We need to remember that spiritual work requires spiritual workers and we need the spirits help in our lives We can't accomplish the work that God has for us without without the spirit We cannot accomplish it in the energies of our own intellect and strength It takes the spirit of God to do spiritual work In Jeremiah 9 23 and 24 Jeremiah writes this is what the Lord says That not the wise man boast of his wisdom or the strong man boast of his strength Or the rich man boast of his riches But let him who boasts boast about this that he understands and knows me That I am the Lord who exercises kindness justice and righteousness on earth for in these I delight declares the Lord We don't rest in our own strength and ingenuity our own wealth and talent We're to be walking in the power of the Holy Spirit And Jesus is the one who leads the church by his Holy Spirit and everything that the church does in the world Is intended to be accomplished by the work of the spirit And that's something that the church needs to remember especially in these last days You see I fear that the church is being led to believe more in our own effort than the spirit of God A. W. Tozer said it like this. He said if the Holy Spirit was withdrawn from the church today 95 of what we do would go on and no one would know the difference If the Holy Spirit had been withdrawn from the New Testament church 95 of what they did would stop and everybody would know the difference And I think that the church today is forgetting and what we see here in the church of sardis is something that applies even to this day You see Jesus taught the church that we're to rely on the power and presence of his spirit He said this and and as you go through the gospel of john You'll notice that he says that his spirit is going to abide with us forever that he'll teach a spiritual truth That'll bring to our remembrance the things that Jesus has taught us He taught us that we'd receive power when the Holy Spirit came upon us And it's by his spirit's power and fruit of the spirit that we're to serve him You shall receive power after that the Holy Spirit has come upon you You shall be witnesses of me and Jerusalem Judea Samaria and unto the uttermost parts of the earth You need the power of the Holy Spirit And in Zechariah chapter 4 verse 6 it says this is the word of the lord is irrebable not by might nor by power But by my spirit sayeth the lord You see in sardis Sin and failure were a sure indication that the spirit was being quenched So jesus speaks concerning the fact that he is the one who has the seven spirits of god But he also speaks of the seven stars And we know that the seven stars are the seven angels the pastors of the church And jesus is the one who anointed the pastors of each of the churches And the ministry of the pastor is to be the direct result of jesus anointing him by his spirit It is his spirit that gifts it's his spirit that equips the pastor and the pastor is to know this The pastor is entrusted with oversight of the church the church that they serve The pastor is to take their orders from god as a sovereign lord of the church And the pastor is accountable to jesus christ and that's why jesus is addressing him like this The pastor is to be a shepherd the pastor is to feed The pastor is to care for the people In first peter 5 2 and 3 it says be shepherds of god's flock that is under your care serving as overseers not because you must But because you're willing as god wants you to be not greedy for money But eager to serve not lording it over those entrusted you to you but being examples to the flock And that's what god is calling us to do one is the churches to move in the power of the holy spirit and two The pastor is under the supervision and empowerment and anointing of jesus christ and accountable to him And that's what jesus is beginning by saying when he speaks of the seven spirits of god and the seven stars And he goes on to say i know your works that you have a name that you're alive, but you are dead You're quenching the holy spirit I know your works thoroughly And as i'm looking at your works i see imperfections in them They appear to men as good But i see that they're being done without love for me And without the power Of my holy spirit i'm inspecting you Perhaps they had a reputation in the area Of being a great church active They were the church alive that was worth the drive And so he's speaking to them and he's rebuking them And he's telling them i'm aware of you notice how he says You have a name that you're alive But you're dead You become famous for faith for your diligence for your devotion Your outside appearance of holiness has caused people to think that you're christians You appear to live in the spirit But in fact You're spiritually dead Though you have a reputation of being on fire Your spiritual life is dried up And the appearance of life is solely due to a reputation of a once powerful church You are christian he's saying in name only Your church's theology is correct, but you're unsaved This is a church quenching god's holy spirit caught in dead orthodoxy They have truth without passionate dependence on it There's no genuine faith in jesus christ The members of the church are unsaved They're dead in trespasses and sins They claim to believe the right things, but they're not saved. They've never embraced christ They spiritually are like bodies in a casket dressed beautifully, but without life What can a pastor do to remedy this situation while jesus gives instruction in verse two He says be watchful and strengthen the things which remain that are ready to die For i have not found your works perfect before god, so he says be watchful Jesus is returning soon wake up Give your life to him He's saying expect my return to planet earth to be soon And the pastor should be encouraging the church to be prepared to be with jesus christ The expectation of the rapture is intended to spur us to service to jesus christ There are a lot of believers today if i were to talk to them about the rapture They they know they can speak about it. They can give me scripture about it They can tell me what it is. I didn't know what the rapture was when I first got saved I'd never heard of it in my life You know, I was raised in a in a church. They didn't speak concerning it So I didn't know what the rapture was and when I first got saved I began to hear that there's going to be a time when jesus christ is going to take the The church out of this condition. We'll see this later on But it's going to take us out of the world immediately and And it's going to be in the twinkling of an eye. We're all going to be changed We're going to be with the lord and when I began to hear that I thought man That's really going to happen. That sounds like science fiction. That sounds like just a story Well, there are a lot of people, you know 50 years later that I've heard a lot about the rapture Lots of books have been written lots of movies have been made songs have been sung I wish we'd all been ready from from that song to so many others about jesus is returning soon There are a lot of people who can talk about it I've spoken to numerous people over the years who say oh, yeah, the rapture is going to happen But they don't live as if they expect it to happen They don't live in expectation They go on with their life day in and day out and they have forgotten the promise of christ and jesus is speaking about that He's saying the expectation of my return should be provoking you to serve me every day as if i'm coming that day And what has happened is you have good theology in other words, you know what it says But you don't have good practice. You're not doing what it says So you're able to talk about it, but you don't live as if you believe it You see we're to be we believers are to live as if we expect to see jesus at any time And to be prepared for him Amen amen Now when you read your bible like there's hundreds of verses i'm i'm going to give you just a few just to show you this Believers live expecting christ and matthew 24 42 watch therefore you know, not what hour your lord does come Matthew 25 13 watch therefore for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the son of man is coming James 5 9 do not grumble against one another brother unless you be condemned behold the judge is standing at the door Titus 2 11 through 13 the grace of god that brings salvation has appeared to all men Teaching us that denying and godliness and worldly lust We should live soberly righteously and godly in the present age Looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great god and saviour jesus christ Second timothy 4 8 finally there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness Which the lord the righteous judge will give to me on that day and not to me only but also to all who have Loved his appearance. It's not that we simply desire it. It's that we love it You see and what is happening to the church and I see it today Is it's lukewarm and when jesus is speaking here to sardis he's saying you have a reputation that you're alive, but you're dead Here you look like a a body in a casket dressed up beautiful But no life in you Plenty of activity plenty of good theology But no practice you really don't think i'm going to return jesus is saying Jesus said that a faithful servant is prepared at all times But an evil one is not In matthew 20 24 verses 48 through 51 It says that the evil servant says my master delays his coming And he lives a cruel and sinful life because he doesn't believe that the master is really returning He's delaying. He's not here. He hasn't this doesn't provoke him and he calls that servant the evil servant And so when jesus is speaking here to sardis the church is filled with professing christians who don't believe that he's returning And so he makes it very clear to them that they need to be watchful He also says strengthen the things that remain the things that are ready to die in other words Here's your answer go back to your foundations Fan into flame the dying embers of your spiritual life This church is busy performing deeds, but they're only going through the motions It's a church that's not filled with the presence of the spirit. There's no concern for the lost It's been said a church is in spiritual danger When it is more concerned with appearance than reality When it focuses on current problems more than changing people's hearts by the gospel John mccarthur said no matter what its attendance No matter how impressive its buildings No matter what its status is in the community such a church having denied the only source of spiritual life is dead And then he says in verse three remember Remember therefore how you have received and heard hold fast he says and repent Return to the truths of god's word hold fast in faith trust in them as you once professed to do In second timothy 113 and 14 paul said it like this he said hold fast the pattern of sound words which you have heard from me In faith and love which are in christ jesus that good thing which was committed to you Keep by the holy spirit who dwells in us And then he says to hold fast to his word Return to the truth of god's word Guard it take care of it Cling to it in faith You know, it's true. We can stand in line for movies and concerts for sporting events and political speakers But we need to value his word even more In job 2312 it says i have not departed from the commandment of his lips I've treasured the words of his mouth more than my necessary food And then he says repent Confess and turn away from your sin. I'll restore you I will I can I can drift from the lord for a long time, but it only takes a decision in the heart In a moment to come back So confess turn away from your sin. I'll restore you But if you if you don't watch I'll come to you as a thief If you refuse to come back to me There will be consequences You have a name that you're alive But in reality you have no spirit in you The result will be that You're not going to be ready when I come For the church Again in Matthew 24 43 and 44 Know this That if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come He would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into Therefore you also be ready for the son of man is coming in an hour. You do not expect You know what I believe it's very possible As a matter of fact, it it's it is possible and it is reality That there are many many churches that are median on sunday And I fear for this one to be honest with you That has the right theology but doesn't really practice it That that does say oh, yeah, Jesus is returning But we don't live like you think he is We are more committed sometimes and i'm not saying this to condemn anyone I'm simply saying what I get concerned with as a pastor, which is my responsibility by the way to do But I get concerned That the fire can go out this church has a long history. It's almost 40 years old And I can tell you that as my mind travels back almost 40 years now I can tell you how we began with the handful of people I can tell you how there was so much enthusiasm and excitement How that the church grew at such a rate. We had a couple thousand members within eight years And then we had a rent bigger buildings and we when we had in this building here guys On Easter sunday, we had four Easter services in this building here We would have Easter services 25 years ago with 7 000 people We would have 9 000 plus people show up on Easter And what happened? What happened? Did my teaching get that bad? I think that Did I become that boring? Or did something happen to the hearts of the people who once attended? What happened? Where's everybody at? Where'd they go? What happened? Where's the enthusiasm? Where's the desire? We need it back guys I don't want this church to be a church that Jesus says you're filled with with true orthodoxy But dead people We need to examine our hearts. Are we as enthusiastic as we used to be for the things of the Lord? Do we still share our faith with people? Do we still cry for the loss? Do we tell our friends? Are we more enthusiastic about the Dodgers? I hate them right now I was not a happy camper last night But are we more enthusiastic? Listen, I I was there when Gibson hit that home run I was in that World Series game in 1988. I was in the right field Stands just past first first base And there was an Oakland Oakland fan right in front of me And when he was yelling and and all and I was kind of saying things here and there to bug him And when Gibson hit that home run and we saw that ball fly past us and land in the stands There was an eruption. I had never heard in my life The screaming and the cheering it went on for 20 to 30 minutes and didn't stop Then we went to the parking lot to leave because the people in the stands wouldn't leave And they stayed there as we were able to drive out because they wouldn't leave I heard the cheering and the screaming and the enthusiasm and and and I think that that that's a thrilling moment in my life when it comes to sports But those people were more fanatic Than believers are for Jesus Christ They were more enthusiastic for a home run Than we are about going home to be with Jesus Christ And I think we have to watch out Because it's very easy Now if you're feeling upset right now, you're into conviction repent You're into conviction. Don't get mad at me Get mad at yourself Get mad at what's going on in your own heart Because you have replaced The devotion of christ and you just don't know it with other things And jesus could be speaking to me. He could be speaking to us And he could say you have all the right look When's the last time you came to a midweek bible study? When's the last time you served? When's the last time you did anything for the lord? You know, I noticed people come and go but a lot of times It's the ones who did nothing who expected to be entertained every time they came And when it stopped happening, well, I've heard that story. They go other places to hear other stories But they don't put into practice the things they're being taught and because they're not They drift away And sometimes you have a name that they're alive But they're dead There's no real life and jesus is speaking and it's something to hear He says in verse four He goes 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 Believers will be clothed. He's saying in robes of righteousness In the description of the white robe multitudes in this passage The picture is of righteousness of the saints Not the righteousness of god because it demonstrates the faithful service of the followers of jesus Which is openly manifested And so he's saying in the midst of this lifeless church There are a few who are walking with jesus And that that often occurs amongst the the dryness of the desert Someone said there will always be flowers growing In hebrus chapter six verse 10 it says god is not unjust to forget your work and labor of love Which you have shown toward his name in that you have ministered to the saints and do minister And so he's saying I will bless you notice in verse five. I will not blot him from the book of life Now those who overcome are recognized as god's own throughout eternity. He speaks of the book of life Jesus makes a promise to never erase the name of a genuine believer In romans chapter eight verses 38 and 39 Paul said I am persuaded That neither death nor life nor angels nor principalities Nor powers nor things present nor things to come Nor height nor depth nor any other created thing Shall be able to separate us from the love of god, which is in christ jesus our lord You see the book of life contains the names of those who have been who have entrusted themselves to jesus christ In revelation 20 verse 15 it says if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life He was thrown into the lake of fire In revelation 21 27 it says nothing impure will ever enter it Nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful But only those whose names are written in the lambs book of life Now this isn't a threat by the way that he's going to remove a name. It's a promise that he will not Jesus is promising to never remove their name from the list of the saved And notice how he says I'll confess his name before my father and before his angels When we've been able to give open invitations I will normally Read out of or through memorization quote matthew 10 32 and 33 which says Therefore whoever confesses me before men him. I will also confess before my father who's in heaven But whoever denies me before men Him I will also deny before my father who's in heaven And the lord jesus christ is going to openly and unashamedly identify with you Even as you have openly and unashamedly identified with him The lord desires to do a work in his church We know the right things And we may even do the right things But jesus is saying you have a you have you hold to what is true Without the passion of faith You hold to what is true and you you're you're ready and willing to discuss those things to teach those things But you don't have the power of my holy spirit You know when I was a young man A long time ago now I was raised in a different nation than I see today An entirely different nation A nation that I don't Wish we'd return to by the way. I don't I'm not spouting nostalgia and sentiment sentimentalism. I'm not It was just different It was a time that was different We didn't have for example Sporting events on sunday. So when I grew up there were no sporting events on sundays Because sunday as a nation was a day of rest That's the way it was We didn't have profanity in our movies. We didn't have profanity in our music I mean in the 60s when john lennon went out and said we're more popular than jesus christ There were kids who were taking beatle albums and burning them in bonfire saying you can't say this about jesus christ There was actually a sense in the society. I grew up in That was different I used to walk down the street to the the store. We had a little general store We called it the liquor store But it was just down the street and my dad would give me a quarter And it was only not even a quarter mile from where I lived and I would walk there on sunday mornings with a quarter And that's how much you paid for the sunday edition of the newspaper and you would lift up the top Actually the second one you would lift it up And you'd put your quarter there and drop the paper back down and then take a newspaper and there was a pile of quarters there People wouldn't go and steal the quarters. They actually had honesty. They would leave the quarter there I mean you couldn't even watch tv programs like, uh I love lucy. I mean we used to think was interesting that lucy became pregnant But she and ricky didn't sleep in the same bed It was different. They used to have laws against, uh, what they called undesirables This is history to some of you. I'm speaking You don't know this But this is the world I grew up in they had what they called undesirables a very famous actress um Who was having uh relationships in a fair with uh as a Married man. She was having a relationship with him She came to la and was getting off the plane to come in and she was turned around and sent back to her home country Because she was called an undesirable alien Now doesn't that blow your mind? one of the one of the uh, I think was the um Was it the manager of the dodgers? I was going through a divorce and and the catholic league began to boycott dodger games because this Man was was hat was they considered an immoral man and the dodgers Actually released him for a while because they said that he was his morals Were actually affecting the morals of the youth of america all of that's foreign to you, isn't it? That's not the world you are in anymore. Is it it's not The church used to have an influence But it doesn't anymore Because what has happened in our day is we're like that and have been branded for many years Just those weird wild-eyed stupid ignorant hillbilly intellectual. We're intellectual hillbillies We don't have sophistication. We don't think we don't understand what the real world is, right? And that's what has happened in my lifetime. You know my mom before she went home to the lord to be with the lord said You know david i'm ready to go. I just don't like what i've seen this world has become When we have the kinds of things going on that are regarded as being not only good But normal when we have christians who are saying things about abortion is a woman's choice Without regard to the death of a child in a womb Something has happened and we may claim to believe in jesus christ But we don't show it in the way we think or live I think that jesus could say the same thing to the church today You have a name that you're alive, but you're dead because you don't care about the things that i do And we have to wake up guys. We have to wake up So many christians don't vote Millions don't vote Because they think it's worthless to do so and we allow evil to continue to creep in Because we don't raise a moral voice in opposition And we're afraid to be unpopular in school and and ridiculed on the job for believing the things that gods said are true So in our mind we say i believe In our lives it's another story And jesus says i'm looking at you i'm closely scrutinizing you You have a name that you're alive But you did You're not looking for me to return You're not expecting that i will I'm telling you it's true. Am i lying to you i'm not i'm telling you the truth I'm telling you that if if i in this church right now i have people watching online and i'm grateful that you are But we have become comfortable in the conditions we're living in rather than saying god do something about it And i'm going to be part of the solution I'm going to serve the lord no matter what and i'm going to be there no matter what to know jesus christ i want to know but the church has gotten sleepy The church has gotten sleepy And we've gotten used to certain things and we've normalized that which the lords isn't normal So we need to be awake guys. We really do we need to wake up what the lord is saying to the church today And that's what jesus said in verse six. He who has an ear to hear let him hear what the spirit says to the church You see sardis This church is receiving this letter in the 90s like between 90 96 ad And sardis the church is mentioned in history As having a church until at least 100 and 80 ad There was a bishop named melito and he served the church And that church may have have heated jesus and did so temporarily But today No church exists in sardis I've been to sardis I've been to the ruins There's nothing there Because jesus removed the candlestick Because the church didn't listen The church didn't act out what jesus said they did for a while apparently 70 plus years But it it really didn't transform And now there's no living presence of the church in sardis And jesus made it very clear you have a name that you're alive But you're dead So no i'm not mad at you I'm glad you're here with us this morning It can appear when I speak the way I did that i've got some acts to grind and and I don't I hope you know that But I do have a concern I do have a concern I do I want to see this church alive in christ I want to see us serving jesus christ that's that's my life And I do and I want all of us to love the lord together So no it's not an angry old man up there frustrated because his feet hurt Is that I love you guys Do you believe that I love you guys I really do and that's why I tell you the truth That's why it's not anger at all It's just a concern that I have for us may we be ready when jesus comes for he says i'm even at the door May we be busy until our king comes for us So that we can hear his voice in our ear when he says well done because that's the only thing that matters in the end well done My good my faithful servant And i'm sorry to say that sardis had the right theology but no fire for jesus god help us To not only have the right theology But the fire of the spirit within us Stop avoiding fellowship Stop avoiding service Stop avoiding bible studies Start coming back We need you we need to equip you and we need to reach this this nation for jesus christ We need you