This study was first taught on September 29, 2019

Topic: The Assessment of the Churches (18): The Church in Sardis (There is Still Hope)

(use the audio to study)

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Background
Last week we saw how a Christian or a church can be classified as dead though they may have a reputation of being alive. We said that this is possible as follows:
 Where the Holy Spirit is not in the person/the church;
 When the person/the church is living to please themselves, rather than God;
 Where there is worldliness in the person/the church;
 When the person is living in sin and enjoying it or where the church is tolerant of sin and does not speak against it;
 Where we cannot differentiate between the world and the church;
 When falsehood, deception, lying wonders, etc., are preponderant;
 Where Christ is absent from a person’s life or a local assembly;
 When we are not shinning forth the light of Christ;
 Where the growth in the knowledge of God is absent either in the individual or in the church.

The causes of spiritual death, we noted were from messages that are not from Christ; messages that focus on the world, money, self, etc.; messages that do not focus on Christ and Him crucified, salvation, sanctification, holiness, etc.; spiritual lethargy; abandonment of the word of God; prayerlessness; and such like.

We noted that in the church today, we see the following and more in many local assemblies giving proof of the state of spiritual death in many churches:
 Worldly meetings;
 False prophecies and human predictions;
 Comedians in the pulpit (both professional and even pastors);
 Messages that make people to become covetous, unholy, disregard the word of God, and eulogize men rather than God and His Christ;
 Placebo and lying wonders hold sway;
 The object of meetings is not to meet with God, but to have personal problems met no matter how and where from;
 Those who should be called believers in Christ are more or less doubters and sceptics;
 Those things that should have died and buried are now rising up again (things like, sin, worldliness, prayerlessness, selfishness, hatred, etc.)
 Those things that should be alive and active are now dying if not dead (spirit-filled meetings, prayer and fellowship, holy living, etc.)
 The gospel of liberty has been transformed into a gospel of licence, where anything goes.

Indeed, we need divine intervention in many churches!

Scripture Text(s)
Revelation 3:1-4
Whilst <strong><em>v.1</em></strong> gives an overview of the state of the church in Sardis, the verses that follow are more specific about what was really going on in the church in Sardis, which reveals that there were three groups of people in the church: the dead, the dying, and the devoted/dedicated (the few who were still alive). And this was from the Assessor of the churches, which suggest that there was in Sardis, as there is in today's churches a glimmer, some remedies, indeed, hope!
When we speak of hope in the church in Sardis and in today’s church, we speaking of a living/lively hope (<strong>1 Peter 1:3</strong>) which speak of our expectation being met. So we can say that in spite of the preponderance of dead churches, there are still living churches around today, even though they may be few, and in spite of many dead and dying Christians, there are still a few living and active Christians out there.
Hebrews 9:27; 2 Corinthians 6:2; 1 Kings 19:13-14, 18; Acts 10:34-35; Isaiah 1:9; Romans 9:29; Isaiah 37:31; Acts 14:17; Revelation 3:2-3; Ephesians 5:14; 1 Peter 5:8; Matthew 26:40-41; 1 Peter 5:10; 2 Peter 1:12; Acts 14:21-22; 16:5; Hosea 6:1-2; John 5:21; 11:25.

Conclusion
We have seen that as bad as things looked in the church in Sardis, and indeed, as bad as things look in the church today, there is still hope for the church of God; and it is a living/lively hope. There is hope because:
1. This is an assessment, not a pronouncement of judgment, which means that there is room for us to make amends;
2. In the midst of the dead and dying, God has preserved a remnant to let us know that He still wants the church to be restored;
3. Not all have died! Even those at the point of death still stand the chance of being revived through repentance and a return to the word of God; and,
4. Even those who are considered dead can be resurrected (quickened) by the Holy Spirit, and made alive again.

Let us therefore thank God for this living hope and cry to Him for revival and restoration of churches and lethargic Christians (<strong>Isaiah 42:22; Ezekiel 18:30-32</strong>).

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