The Dead Church

We are now at the fifth church that received a letter in the Book of Revelation, the Church of Sardis. You may remember from the last article that Sardis was an important stop in the trade route from Pergamum that went through Thyatira. It was the opulent capital city of the ancient Lydian Empire. Again, like the other churches, it is in modern-day Turkiye (Turkey), in a town now known as Sart. Sardis is believed to be the first place where gold and silver coins were minted. This ancient city was also the end of what was known as the Persian Royal Road, which was built by King Darius I in the 5^th century B.C. to connect Susa, the capital of the Persian Empire, with Sardis. So this was no ordinary city. Nevertheless, Sardis was one of two churches that received no praise from Jesus.

“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. 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.” ’

Jesus had the seven Spirits of God, which represented the fullness of the Holy Spirit, and the seven stars are the angels of the churches. Seven represents perfection in the Bible, which contrasts with the imperfection of the Church of Sardis. This church had a reputation for being “alive”, but the Lord who does not look at outward appearance, but who searches the heart, knew that they were indeed dead and that what had not yet reached the point of death were moribund. They had previously heard the word of God and received it. They were not only hearers of the word, but doers of it. However, somewhere along the line, their works may have become mere rituals lacking God’s Spirit. Therefore, they had dead works that were no longer perfect before Him. Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary describes the Church of Sardis.

Hypocrisy, and lamentable decay in religion, are sins charged upon Sardis, by One who knew that church well, and all her works. Outward things appeared well to men, but there was only the form of godliness, not the power; a name to live, not a principle of life. There was great deadness in their souls, and in their services; numbers were wholly hypocrites, others were in a disordered and lifeless state. Our Lord called upon them to be watchful against their enemies, and to be active and earnest in their duties; and to endeavour, in dependence on the grace of the Holy Spirit, to revive and strengthen the faith and spiritual affections of those yet alive to God, though in a declining state. Whenever we are off our watch, we lose ground. Thy works are hollow and empty; prayers are not filled up with holy desires, alms-deeds not filled up with true charity, sabbaths not filled up with suitable devotion of soul to God.

Thankfully, there were a few who had remained undefiled. But, they had to remain watchful and hold fast to their faith so that they would overcome and their names would not be scratched out of the Book of Life. Without the Holy Spirit breathing life into a church or a Christian, they are dead, no matter how many activities or how great a performance of godliness. These Christians had to take care not to be like those Jesus mentioned in Matthew 7.

 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’ Matthew 7:21-23

We can be busy with church work and still be lawless and lifeless. Sometimes church work becomes more about a show to receive accolades and a good reputation, rather than about humbly serving the Lord. In such cases, the Holy Spirit stops moving, and the church suffers and dies. McLaren’s Expositions explains more about dead churches and Christians.  

In some animals of low organization you may see muscular movements after life is extinct. So churches and individual Christians may keep on performing Christian work for a time after the true impulse that should produce it has ceased. A train will run for some distance after the steam has been shut off. Institutions last after the life is out of them, for use and wont keeps up a routine of action, though the true motive is dead, and men may go on for long, nominal adherents of a cause to which they are bound by no living conviction. How much of your Christian activity is the manifestation of life, and how much of it is the ghastly twitchings of a corpse under galvanism?

This is a good question. But can we even recognize that we and our Christian activity are dead? Sometimes we go through the motions in our churches for decades without noticing our lifelessness. However, Jesus is the remedy for our deadness. He is the truth, the way, and the life. We can do nothing apart from Him, so we should cease being self-sufficient and die to self to have our life in Him. Then, He will fill us with His Spirit so we can bring His light and life to a dark, dead world.