Wake Up

Have you ever been part of a plateaued, dying or even a dead church? You know the type: they have a storied history; they’ve done some really great things for God; they’re a beehive of activity, but there seems to be something missing. They have a form of godliness, but at a closer inspection, there seems to be no real Holy Spirit power. The preaching is okay, but the praise of Christ is half-hearted. People are proud of their past, but few can remember the last time anyone was saved. Their services are widely attended, but rarely anyone shows up for corporate prayer. They have a beautiful vision statement, but they’ve lost their evangelistic passion for lost people. The Great Commission has become the great omission. Have you ever been a part of a church like that? I have. In fact, I came to pastor a church like that, and it was the worst three years of my ministry career. Why? Because this church was so focused on its past, that it was content to rest on its laurels rather than live by faith in Jesus in the present.

And by the way, this can happen with any church. It can happen with us. After all, we just celebrated 10 years of God doing some pretty awesome things with us here at Rock Springs. We’ve baptized nearly 30 adults, we’ve packed and sent nearly 20,000 shoe boxes, we’ve provided food and resources for thousands of meals, we’ve supported the Regeneration and Mosaic Church plants. We’ve seen numerous answered prayers and lives changed. But like any church, no matter what we’ve done in the past, we can slowly lose our life changing power in Christ and end up – not just plateauing but dying as a Church.

Here’s the reality: Thom Rainer, one of the leading experts on dynamic and growing churches in the United States says that he expects 15,000 churches to close in 2025. Yes, there are many new churches being started today, but there are more that are dying and closing their doors. And there are many reasons for this. But here’s the good news: Jesus doesn’t want any of His churches to die. And that’s what we get to learn from Him as we return to the Book of Revelation. For in giving us His autopsy of a dead church in Revelation 3:1-6, Jesus not only shows His love for His church, but reveals what can awaken us to be the dynamic and powerful church He wants us to be. So, if you brought your Bible with you today, I want to encourage you to find Jesus’ message to the church of Sardis – where He shows us how He can revive a dead church.

And it all begins with Him revealing to us a powerful image of who He is: A Powerful Savior! “To the angel of the church in Sardis write: These are the words of Him who holds the seven spirits of God and the seven stars.” Revelation 3:1a There are two images here. The first: Jesus holds the seven Spirits of God. This signifies the complete fullness of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the One who gives life to the Church. The Church age is the age of the Holy Spirit. It was the Holy Spirit who gave birth to the Church on the day of Pentecost. And when the Spirit of Christ is present in a church: there is a passion for God’s Word, a spirit-filled community, an emphasis on the gospel, and a devotion to prayer. That’s what we see in the early Church: They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Acts 2:42 Not only that, but they loved praising God, they enjoyed the favor of the people and had an effective witness with lost people.

But what I really love about this image is that it recalls how Jesus is described in Isaiah: There is a seven-fold description of the Spirit in Christ: The Spirit of the Lord will rest on Him – the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of might, the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the Lord—and He will delight in the fear of the Lord. Isaiah 11:2-3 So this image of the seven Spirits helps us to see that Jesus is the One who gives His presence and power to His Church. He gives His wisdom, His counsel, His reverence and might. Jesus fills His church with His power. So that, whenever the Spirit of Christ is present, His church will be full of His life. Jesus has life, but this church, Sardis, is dead. That’s the first image Jesus wants us to see today!

The second is this: Jesus holds the seven stars. The seven stars are the seven angels of these churches. These angels belong to Jesus and so do the churches they serve. This image reminds us that every church belongs to Jesus, and every church is under His protection. He holds us in the grip of His grace. He’s aware of what we’re going through and what we need. He sees; He knows; He cares.

Do you understand what this means for us? Jesus loves Rock Springs Church! We belong to Him. He holds us. He protects us. He doesn’t want us to die. He doesn’t want us to rest on our past. He wants to give us His life-giving Spirit so we can be a dynamic, living testimony of Jesus in our community. He doesn’t want us to become like the church of Sardis. So how does He describe this church? He describes it as…

A Dead Church: “I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead.” Revelation 3:1b The church receives no word of commendation from Jesus. There’s not a single word of praise. Chuck Swindoll says the church at Sardis was “a morgue with a steeple.” This was most likely a church with size, money, and ministries that caused people to stop and take notice. She appeared to be and claimed to be a healthy fellowship, a successful church. And there had been a time when her reputation and reality matched up. There had been a day when she was truly doing great things for God. But now all they had was a name, and a reputation for how great they had been.

What we learn here is this: Looks can be deceiving. A body that from all outward appearances seems strong and healthy can, on closer inspection, be found to be racked with cancer or some other terminal disease. But Jesus gave this church a battery of spiritual tests. He gives her a divine CAT-scan and the diagnosis is far worse than any external, superficial examination could have ever revealed: she is dead! The church of Sardis is a zombie church!

Now, I want you to notice something else about this church. There was no threat of persecution or false teaching at Sardis. This church was so spiritually ineffective, that Satan didn’t even bother with her. This should serve as a warning to any church and especially to us as Christ followers. We need to be careful about resting on our past, and be reminded, that just because your life is full of “religious activity,” it’s no indication that you are actually spiritually alive. But the good news is that Jesus is going to address our tendencies to rest on our past.

Christianity is a living faith, and it is recognized by the power of His Spirit working in and through your life. Jesus doesn’t want you to rest on your laurels. He wants your life and our church to be full of HIS POWER. He doesn’t want your faith to be complacent or lethargic, but FULLY alive. He wants us to be His witnesses. He doesn’t want us going through the motions. He wants you and His church to be a dynamic and life changing instrument to bring hope and salvation to our world. So, He’s NOT CONTENT to leave you just passing time with frivolous entertainment and diversions until you die, because if that’s what you are doing, then you’re already dead. So, what does Jesus want for you and for His church? What He wants is this:

A Call to Revival: Jesus loves us, and He loves His church too much to leave us to die. He wants to breathe new life into you, and into our church. So, He says: Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have found your deeds unfinished in the sight of my God.” Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; hold it fast, and repent. But if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what time I will come to you.” Revelation 3:2-3 The good news is that you or any church doesn’t have to be stuck in the past. The good news is that any church or any Christ follower can be revived and make a difference for Jesus. That means you! If you’ve got the Spirit of Christ living in you, then Jesus wants to awaken you to the fullness of your potential for Him. So, the good news there is hope for you and hope for His church, if we listen to Jesus’ prescription to wake up and be His church! So, that’s what we see now, as Jesus gives us five imperatives to wake us up:

Imperative #1 “Wake up” Jesus wouldn’t give this command, if it wasn’t possible for you to come fully alive with all the power of His Spirit. You don’t have to be spiritually lethargic! You don’t have to be stuck in your past. You just need to listen to Jesus. His voice is the voice of resurrection. His voice is the voice of hope. His voice is the voice of life. Jesus wouldn’t issue this command to us if we were completely dead. So, here’s the good news. You may feel like you’ve “been there done that.” You may feel like you’ve got nothing left in the tank. And if that’s how you feel, then great! Because it’s not about you. It’s about His Spirit in you. And He wants to awaken His Spirit in you. So, if you have the Spirit of Christ in you, you have His resurrection power, you have His spiritual DNA, you have all you need to come fully alive in Christ. You just need to start listening to the voice of Jesus! Jesus is in the resurrection business. Listen to Him! So what does He want us to hear?

Imperative #2 “Strengthen what remains” A Christian or a church that is weak needs to be strengthened by God’s grace. The primary means of grace is God’s Word. Peter wrote that we are born again only by “the living and abiding word of God.” Paul said that God’s Word is “profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction and for training in righteousness” This was God’s command to Ezekiel when that faithful prophet was summoned to minister in the Valley of Dry Bones. Facing a grisly scene of decomposed bodies – symbolic of the situation in Sardis and many other places – God told the prophet: “Prophesy over these bones, and say to them, O dry bones, hear the Word of the Lord” Ezekiel 37:4. As Ezekial preached God’s Word, “the breath came into them and they lived and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army.”
Again, This is how the Spirit empowers us: through His Word! Do you feel spiritual weak or anemic? Then you need an infusion of God’s Word. You need to drink deep of God’s Word, sit and soak in God’s Word, memorize God’s Word, read God’s Word! Do you know the greatest tactic of the evil one uses to keep you away from God’s Word? He wants you to fill your mind with empty philosophies, mindless trivia, endless entertainment. You’re not going to get His power by watching CNN or Fox news, or scrolling the internet, or binging a Netflix show. And you’re not going to come alive spiritually if you wish you could get spiritually stronger. You need to exercise your heart and mind with God’s Word. You need a steady diet of God’s Word! Then you can stand on your feet and come alive with Jesus. Strengthen what remains!

Imperative #3 “Remember what you received and heard” What we are to remember is the gospel. We need to continually recall the truth of the gospel we have “received and heard.” We need to preach the gospel to ourselves over and over again. Remember, we live in a performance-based culture. The emphasis is always on what you have done or what you do. But the gospel focuses on what God has done for us through Jesus. It’s all about remembering God’s grace to us. We need to remind ourselves over and over again, that Jesus did for us what we could not do for ourselves. Jesus lived the sinless life we could not live, so He could offer the perfect sacrifice for our sins. Jesus died the death we should have died, so we don’t have to face God’s wrath for our sin. Jesus paid the penalty for our sin with His blood to set us free. Jesus shed His blood to give us forgiveness we can’t earn. Jesus made us right with God when we had no way to make things right ourselves. And Jesus gave us a place in His forever family and restored our relationship with God. Jesus did it all. We can’t do anything. And it’s all God’s gift to us when we put our trust in Jesus. Remember what you received and heard.

Imperative #4 “Keep it” Jesus wants His church to hold on to and guard what we have received and heard. The truth of the gospel is our most precious possession. It is a precious treasure that should never be taken for granted. We must never let it slip away… The fact is, we never drift toward anything worthwhile. Never. We never slide into truth, but we can slide into error. So, we need to hold onto the gospel. We need to KEEP IT centermost in our faith. Finally,
Imperative #5 “Repent” I’ve said this before, but the gift of repentance is one of the greatest gifts Jesus gives. Jesus always gives us a way back to Him. Jesus always gives us a way back to life and to all the potential and power He has to give. He knows how easy it is for us to stray. Obviously, this church had strayed from their love for Jesus, from Jesus’ love for the lost, and from their call to make disciples. This church had become content to not making a difference in their world. Jesus saw this and announced that they were dead. But He offered them grace. He gave them a way back. All they had to do was turn away from their lethargy and turn back to Him.

And Jesus is the same today as He was then. Jesus refuses to condemn us and turn His back on us. He gives us a way back. He always gives us a way back. That’s who our God is. He’s the God of second chances. That’s why He calls us to repent. That’s why He calls us to wake up, strengthen what remains, remember the gospel and never let it go. For when we come back to Him, He not only restores us, but gives us the life we crave. He’s in the redeeming business. He wants us to give us His life and power so we can come alive with Him. So repent!

Now, you would think this is where His message ends. But he closes his message with some encouraging and gracious promises. First, he has some encouraging words for A Worthy Remnant: “Yet you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes. They will walk with me, dressed in white, for they are worthy.” Revelation 3:4 His message is for those who have not soiled their clothes. What does he mean? Simply that there were a few believers who were unspoiled by the secular influence of Sardis, unboiled by sin. And Jesus has a word for them. He promises that they will walk with him, dressed in white, for they are worthy.

These were not perfect Christians, but sincere ones who earnestly lived out their faith with Jesus. Think about what Jesus was saying to them? HE calls them worthy. You see, many of us struggle with the sense that we don’t have much to offer Jesus. We’re not all that talented or gifted. And we wonder if our lives ever really make a difference. But here, even in the dead church of Sardis, Jesus praises THESE FAITHFUL FEW and calls them worthy. What made them “worthy?” Their faithfulness. No matter how weak or unspiritual you may be, or our church might be, Jesus promises to always walk with those who remain faithful to him. Jesus loves His church! Then he adds these promise to those who are faithful, to those who overcome:

A Conqueror’s Promise: “The one who is victorious will, like them, be dressed in white. I will never blot out the name of that person from the book of life but will acknowledge that name before my Father and his angels. Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” Revelation 3:5-6 Jesus has already given the first promise saying, “They will walk with me in white” They will always experience intimate fellowship with Jesus. He will always be with them.

To this he adds a second promise: “I will never blot out the name of that person from the book of life.” Jesus’ wants you to know that if you believe in Him, He will never let you go. Your membership in the rolls of heaven is rock solid secure. This is consistent with what Jesus said of his sheep in John’s Gospel: “I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand” John 10:28. And later, in Revelation 13:8 we will learn that those who believe in Jesus had their names “written before the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who was slain.” Jesus promises you will always have a place in heaven with Him.

And finally, His third promise, “I will acknowledge that name before my Father and His angels.” Do you hear what Jesus says about your name? Your name, all that you are is precious to Jesus. It was your name that lay on Jesus’ heart as he died on the cross. And it is your name He will confess when He stands before the Father on the last day, saying, “Behold, I and the children God has given me.” Hebrews 2:13

And with that Jesus concludes His message to this dying church in Sardis. His message is not of condemnation, but of hope. Jesus has the power to change the demise of this Church! They don’t have to die. But they CANNOT keep resting on their laurels. They need to wake up! Strengthen what they already have. Keep preaching the gospel to themselves and to all those around them. And Jesus will raise this church from the dead and fill it with His life and power.

Isn’t that what we want? To have Jesus awaken us to be the kind of Church He has called us to be: To be a church full of His wisdom, His power and His life, so we might be His witnesses to a lost and broken world. Isn’t that what we want? Yes! But the good news is this: Jesus wants it more!

May Jesus wake us up to be a people who are so full of His life that we can’t help but bring His life and power to our broken and troubled world.