April 6
Zombies In Sardis
Re 3:1 …I know thy works, that thou hast a name
that thou livest, and art dead.
The parking lot was full and I had only minutes
to get to class so I parked on a street near a large church near campus. To
save time I hurried across the lawn behind the church. That was when I saw
something so startling I remember it almost 50 years later.
I have forgotten the name of the church but it
was one of those big busy churches often found near a university. Maybe it was
named the “Nondenominational, Universal Church of World Peace” or some such
meaningless title. But the thing that caught my eye was an old cornerstone. It
was located in the most remote corner of the back of the church and was nearly
moss covered. It read “First Baptist Church of Flint, Michigan.” There was a
date from the late 1800’s. Here was a modern day Sardis. They thought they were
alive but were dead.
Christ had a message for the church in Sardis.
Re 3:1 ¶ And unto the angel of the church in Sardis
write;
These things saith he that hath the seven Spirits of God,
and the seven stars; I know thy works,
that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead.
I know thy works. There is no listing their good
qualities for this church. Just the reminder that what they were doing was
known to Christ. What were those works? There are some clues. There was no
mention of persecution in this church. They were an active church. Christ said
He knew their works. They may have had several busy committees in this church. We
don’t know what the works were but they were the kind that made people in the
area regard them as a living church. But Christ said they were dead!
Christ had also confronted the religious leaders
of Jerusalem with the same charge.
Mt 23:27 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!
for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward,
but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness.
James says faith without works is dead faith,
but Christ acknowledged they had works and they had a reputation. So how could
they be dead? The answer from Hebrews 9:14 is they had dead works. They had
works without faith!
We do not know what they had done to be well
spoken of in the community. We do know that a huge temple of Artemis was in the
city and had been for nearly 500 years. When the Romans took over they changed
the Greek god Artemis to the Roman god Diana. In Acts 19 we can see the
enthusiasm of the worshipers of Diana. But in Sardis neither the pagan
worshipers of Diana nor the large Jewish settlement had anything bad to say
about the church in Sardis.
The devotional thought from the Church of
Sardis is simply how does a church that was alive become dead? The text tells
us that not everyone was dead. There were some who were still alive unto Christ
and He tells them to hang in there. Then He addresses what they must do to be
awakened and restored.
How do great churches of today die? The Crystal
Cathedral went broke. The pastor of the 2nd largest church in
Florida resigned over “moral issues” (infidelity and porn). Jim Baker was a
crook and Tammy Faye was……who knows? (Who cares!)
But the
normal, everyday local church seldom dies with such fanfare. What kills them?
I knew a marvelous man of God who used to say humorous
things like, the thing that kills everybody is they stop breathing. The same is true of churches. The root cause
is failure to know and apply what God has said in His Word.
I could list dozens of verses that say “Thy
word have I hid in my heart”, “Study to show thyself approved…”, “They searched
the scriptures daily”, “But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law
doth he meditate day and night.” But you already know these verses.
Nearly every church I have been in has the
Matthew verses (18:15-17) that talk about going to your brother, take some
witnesses, then take it to the church. It is not only in Scripture it is part
of the church constitution and a requirement of both God’s Word and ecclesiastical
governance. When problems arise I have never seen it applied! Not even when
suggested. I think the real reason those verses in Matthew are not obeyed is
because some pastors or congregations are more concerned with winning than
healing.
Let us not be confused by the term dead church.
The building is not what is dead but the people who make up the church. You and
me. Every time we ignore what scripture says we should do, we die a little. Every time we sit quietly while a pastor or
church leaders depart from the Scriptures, even in minor ways, the whole body
dies a little. It is a slow process. But it only takes one generation or one
bad pastor and the church that thinks it is still alive because it is filled
with activity becomes spiritually dead.
Let us search our hearts and ask God to point
out the places where we are slow to obey His Word. Our reasons to not obey are
but treason. May we have wisdom to understand the Word and courage to obey. May
it not be said of us “I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest,
and art dead.”
Jas 1:23 For if any be a hearer of the word,
and not a
doer, he is like unto a man
beholding his natural face in a glass:
24 For he
beholdeth himself, and goeth his way,
and straightway forgetteth what manner of
man he was.
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