LENTEN SERIES: The Seven Churches of Revelation—Sardis, the Hypocritical Church Revelation 3:1-6
Shakespeare said: “All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players; They have their exits and their entrances…”
Consider the entrance and exit of Shakespeare’s Othello. He wore a mask of love for his Desdemona, yet he wore a mask of jealousy. He killed her, then himself. He wore two masks with a tragic end. Good theatre; bad church on God’s stage where hypocrisy does not play well.
Hypocrisy comes from the Greek word hypokritḗs, derived from two words: hypo, (under) and krínō (to judge). It literally means, a judging of what is under. In the case of theatre, in ancient Greece, judging who was under the mask as actors wore masks to fit the part; often men wearing female masks for women roles. They were figuratively a two-faced person. The question that intrigued the audience was: Who was under face? The question is asked of the Church, as well, where profession and practice sometimes don’t match. They say one thing but do another. Without the process of Lent: reflection—a looking within for repentance, and expectation—a looking forward to renewal, we set the stage for the hypocritical church.
In our Lenten Series on the Seven Churches of Revelation, Revelation 3:1-6 unmask the hypocritical Church—Sardis. We will see their looking within to discover their acted reality—a church of the living dead. And we will see their looking forward for an authentic role—a church of the dead, living.
First, the reality of the hypocritical church is this: it has a reputation given by man that does not live up to the expectations of God.
Revelation 3:1b "I know your works, that you have the reputation of being alive, but you are dead.
In the movies, they call the living dead zombies. To have the reputation of being alive yet being dead is the height of hypocrisy; the pentacle of pretend; the summit of charades. How can you tell if a church is dead? Like a doctor with a stethoscope, you can listen. If a predominance of your churches’ conversation is below, you might be showing early signs of a potentially dying, hypocritical church:
· “Back in the day, we were this.” That’s history worship.
· “This is the way we always do it here.” That’s ritual worship.
· “The policy and procedure manual says this.” That’s policy worship.
· “We have this much money in the bank.” That’s material worship.
Look on the inside as God does (1 Sam. 16:7) and always be asking: Am I hypocritical Saul or an authentic David? Read 1 Samuel 16.
Second, the remedy for the hypocritical church is spiritual revival.
Christ called Sardis to look forward and to repent, to get back to the Spiritual basis or die out. There are five imperatives for a revival seen in verses 2-3.
2 Be watchful and strengthen what is left, which is going to die, for I have not found your works complete in the sight of my God. v.3 Remember then how you accepted and heard; obey it, and repent. If you are not watchful, I will come like a thief, and you will never know at what hour I will come upon you.
First, wake up from spiritual sleep and watch out for your weakness (2a). Every rock has a crack; every Titanic, an iceberg. Every church has a church killer.
Second, strengthen your spiritual embers (2b). Don’t let your spiritual fire go out. Prayer keeps a lit church lit. (Read Leviticus 6:9).
Third, remember your spiritual roots (3a). Those roots begin on the Day Pentecost in Acts 2 when the church received the power of Holy Spirit.
Fourth, obey the Holy Spirit (3b). He is a Counsellor. Christ wouldn’t have given you an advisor unless he wanted you to follow the Holy Spirit’s advice.
Lastly, Repent of your spiritual laziness (3c). Turn from a napping Christianity lest He comes as a thief in the night and take your lampstand.
The reward for the authentic church is a authentic spiritual reality, outside and inside, a name worthy to be in the book of life (not in an obituary).
5 'He who overcomes shall thus be clothed in white garments; and I will not erase his name from the book of life, and I will confess his name before My Father, and before His angels.
We all have a stage-exit to consider. Lent is a looking in and a looking forward to a stage where you are more than the living, spiritually dead. You are dead men walking in the newness of life (Ro. 6:4)—spiritually alive and authentic—no mask required. The exit choice is yours.
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