Why Some Churches Die
Revelation 3:1-6
Rev 3:1 -6
1. For all practical purposes many churches are dead but have not yet been buried.
2. Many churches are spiritually sick. If they do not find out what is wrong with them soon, they will be dead.
3. The Lord stands at the door of the church knocking to be let in in order to give her life.
4. In the passage just read, Jesus signed the death certificate for the church in Sardis.
I. Sardis was a manufacturing city whose glory lay in the past. The church in Sardis had at one time a glorious past. Dependence upon the past will kill a church.
A. The glorious past of the church in Sardis was not sufficient to keep her alive.
During its days as a Roman city, Sardis became an important Christian center. The church at Sardis was evidently affected by the complacency of the city and its reliance on past glory: "You have a name that you are alive, but you are dead" Rev. 3:1. Sardis, the dead church, was like "whitewashed tombs which... appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men's bones". Its thriving, healthy appearance masked an inner decay.
Mat 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.Mat 23:28 Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.
B. The glorious past of the church in Sardis was not sufficient to continue bringing blessing. Continual blessing is dependent upon continual fellowship.
Phil 3:13 Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, Phil 3:14 I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
C. The glorious past of the church in Sardis was not sufficient
to
prevent the judgment of the Lord falling upon her.
Revelation 3:3 "…I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee."
1 Pet 4:17 For the time is come that judgment must begin at
the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the
end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?
II. Sardis as a city was suffering from economic and material
dry-rot
and deadness. The church in Sardis was suffering with spiritual
dry-rot and deadness. Spiritual dry-rot and deadness will kill
a church.
A. The works of the church in Sardis were known to be imperfect. They were neither fulfilled nor matured.
Titus 3:8 This is a faithful saying, and these things I will that thou affirm constantly, that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable unto men.
B. The name of the church in Sardis declared her to be alive but she was in fact dead.
Isa 59:10 We grope for the wall like the blind, and we grope as if we had no eyes: we stumble at noon day as in the night; we are in desolate places as dead men.
C. The fruit of the church in Sardis was known and they were not producing in kind.
John 15:16 Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.
III. Sardis was a city saturated with false gods. The temple
of Cybele
was located there. Cybele is said to be the mother of all gods.
The church in Sardis as a whole was filled with defiled persons.
Defilement will kill a church.
A. To be defiled is to be made unclean or impure.
James 1:27 Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.
B. The children of God are warned not to become defiled.
An application can be drawn from Ezekiel 20:7-8
Ezek 20:7 Then said I unto them, Cast ye away every man the abominations of his eyes, and defile not yourselves with the idols of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.
Ezek 20:8 "But they rebelled against me, and would not hearken unto me:…."
C. Defilement affects the fellowship one has with the LORD.
Isaiah 59:1-2
Isa 59:1 Behold, the LORD'S hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear: Isa 59:2 But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.
IV. Sardis was a city which had not separated herself from evil. The church in Sardis condoned the defilement of her membership. Condoning sin will kill a church.
A. The church was not separate in doctrine.
Amos 3:3 Can two walk together, except they be agreed?
B. The church was not separate in conduct.
2 Pet 3:11 Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved,
what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation
and godliness,
C. The church was not separate from the world.
1 John 2:15-17
1 John 2:15 Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 1 John 2:16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. 1 John 2:17 And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.
V. Sardis was a city which had lost her vision for prosperity. The church in Sardis had lost her vision for spiritual prosperity. Having no vision will kill a church.
A. The Word of God is explicit when it states where there is
no vision the people perish.
Prov 29:18 Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.
B. Where there is no vision there is no spiritual understanding of the urgency of the hour.
John 4:35
John 4:35 Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest.
C. Having no vision indicates a failure of labourers to go
into the
harvest.
Mat 9:37 Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few; Mat 9:38 Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest.
Conclusion:
1.The Lord knows the true condition of the church for nothing
is hidden from Him.
2. The Lord knows whether a group of people are meeting as usual or in the power and demonstration of the Holy Ghost.
3. Many churches are devoid of the presence of the Holy Spirit and the power of God. They have a form of godliness but deny the power of it.
4. A church without the Holy Ghost is a church without life.