Revelation 3:1-2; Dead!

Revelation 3:1-2 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. Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die: for I have not found thy works perfect before God.

The dead church is a church still in her sins. Dead as the world is as Paul puts it in the book of Ephesians 2.

Ephesians 2:1 And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; 2Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: 3Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. 4But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, 5Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)

There was a system, there was form, there were rituals but there is no life. Martin Luther was made alive, when he went back to study the Scriptures that gave to him spiritual life, a spiritual awakening to see the deadness of the Roman church in her man-made laws that methods. Salvation was by works – you have to be a member of the Church to be saved, you have to be baptized, to be saved, you pay money to the church to have your sins forgiven. When men’s laws overtook God’s laws, man’s wisdom overshadows God’s Word. 

The Jewish religion at the time of Christ was lifeless, rejecting the Messiah that came. Jesus had to expose the deadness of their profession. Religion was an outward profession with no true spiritual life. Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews, came to know how to come out of this dead orthodox of the Jewish religion. He used the word “hypocrite” to describe such false profession. 

When Nicodemus, the Pharisee came to look for Jesus – he was spiritually dead. Jesus said to him, “Ye must be born again.” To be born again is the Scripture term to describe having spiritual life, having fellowship and communion with the living and true God.

In John 3:8, Jesus uses the illustration of the “wind” to describe one having spiritual life – He says, “The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.” 

The wind is invisible, you cannot see the wind with your bear eyes but you can hear feel its breeze. When you try to fly a kite, you see the reality of the wind blowing when you see the kite lifted up in the sky. The presence of the Holy Spirit and spiritual life is as such. Not visible to the naked eye and yet the true believer is able to overcome sin and temptation by the power of the indwelling Spirit.

The members in the church in Sardis were like the people in the world – dead in sin and trespasses. The true character of the church is different from the character of the people in the world in this sense they have spiritual life, the church is alive whereas the people in the world are spiritually dead. Now, this church is like the world, consisting of as it were, walking corpses. 

May the Lord breathe life to His church through the faithful preaching of the gospel and the Holy Spirit opening the hearts of men. Amen.