Sardis – Berean Baptist Church

ARE CHRIST AND THE CHURCH SYNONYMOUS?

Berean Baptist on January 6, 2020

The church at Sardis is the fifth of the seven churches of Asia. Christ’s message to this church is a sobering examination of a church that exists, that carries on its work, that meets as usual and appears to be Christian, but is absent of Christ. This is a strange paradox for a Christian church since the church is called the body of Christ.It is possible to have a church without the Christ of the church. This, of course, is according to the common perception of the church.

Most people only know the church by the building where the people meet. If the sign says “Christian,” they must be. This is not the Bible’s definition of the church. The church is a select assembly of people called by God to be unified and cooperating in the doctrines of the faith and commissioned with the gospel of Christ. The doctrines and the commission are the preaching of Christ Himself. It is therefore impossible to have a church without Christ.

This definition of church clarifies the warnings given to Sardis. As the presence of Christ in the church diminishes by allowing factions of heresy and outright admission of unbelievers into membership, the church ceases to be Christ’s body. If enough body parts are cut off, eventually the body dies. The light of the gospel goes out, and the assembly of people are no longer the true church of Christ.

Sardis was a church called to repentance. They were nearing the point of realizing Christ’s threat—I will come on you as thief. In scripture, this expression always equals destruction. As Jesus told the wicked Jews, a thief comes to destroy. In this analogy, Jesus likens His actions to the sudden stealth of a thief. His judgment is leveled at the most unexpected moment.

Some argue this cannot happen because if so, Christ destroys His own body, thus Himself. We must be careful to understand the metaphors of scripture. The church is the body of Christ, but it is not Christ. As one author wrote, “[The church] is founded by Christ, formed by Christ, commissioned by Christ, and endowed by Christ. But it is not Christ. The church can preach salvation and nurture the saved, but it cannot save. The church can preach, exhort, rebuke, and admonish against sin, it can proclaim the forgiveness of sin, and it can give theological definition to sin, but the church cannot atone for sin.”

This observation is correct. Great confusion has been fostered on Christianity by those who teach that Christ and the church are essentially synonymous. This leads to the opposite of nearly every statement in the preceding quotation. The church saves, the church sanctifies, the church forgives sin, and the church atones for sin. If the church is Christ, it can do all these things. If this defines the church, it cannot be adequately rebuked, and thus can become utterly corrupt while still claiming it has authority. Christ will not destroy it because it would be to destroy Himself.

The 2^nd and 3^rd chapters of Revelation strongly refute the concept of church/Christ equality. The church stands in judgment of its faithfulness to Christ. We are required to faithfully proclaim the word by holding up the glory of Christ and renouncing all forms of unrighteousness. This is how the light of Christ is kept burning brightly. This is the church that wards off destruction because its judgment has found it to be worthy. It is a church that keeps the name of Christ. To remain His body, we must heed the warnings and hear the Spirit lest we become a church like Sardis.

Pastor V. Mark Smith

Walking with the Dead

Berean Baptist on December 30, 2019

In the beginning of Revelation 3, the Lord had a letter delivered to the church at Sardis. Using comparative terminology that most people understand, we might cautiously call this church the Zombie church. I use the term only to emphasize the point with a contemporary reference. They had a reputation of being alive, and yet in the Lord’s estimation they were dead. Their reputation of life might well have been their many social works and their benevolent programs practiced without the power of the Holy Spirit.

I believe the issue in Sardis was their attempt to be Christian without knowledge and belief of Christian doctrine. Although some in Sardis were faithful and were not defiled with sin, it seems they were in the minority. The church at one time must have been filled with the faithful, but over time unbelievers became dominant. Membership in the church made them appear to be believers, but they were living a false profession.

How do we know they were not believers? The best indication is the use of the word dead to describe them. The Lord never speaks of His people as being dead. To be spiritually dead is to be without faith in Christ and thus without life in Christ. It is the living (believers) versus the dead (unbelievers). Dead is the often reference in scripture to those still depraved in heart and still in their natural condition apart from God (see Ephesians 2:1-5).

Since the church at Sardis is used as an example of churches across all ages, we conclude there are active churches doing many works without the knowledge of doctrine that proves they are God’s people. I have addressed this issue from this pulpit many times as the reason the Berean Baptist Church does not fellowship with many churches nor care to join with them in cooperative efforts. We have only one method of cooperation—a common belief in the true gospel of Jesus Christ. There is one Lord, one faith, and one baptism. This is the basis of Christian unity—it is doctrinal not emotional. We must be compelled by more than common compassion to work together. It must be doctrinal unity in the faith of Jesus Christ.

We encounter many churches that have a zeal for Christ, but their zeal is not according to knowledge. Ask them about their doctrinal positions and you are greeted with either blank stares or this response, “Does it matter?” It matters because we cannot glorify Christ without knowledge of His ways and works. These are found in scripture encapsulated in the doctrines of the faith. For example, does it matter if you believe Christians are safe and secure in their salvation, or if you believe salvation can be lost? Yes, it matters. The first displays dependence on faith in Christ alone, while the second is dependence on self. One affirms justification by faith and the other justification by works. The first upholds the promises of Christ and gives glory to Him for salvation, while the second glorifies self and our ability to do enough good things to be saved. If salvation can be lost because of doing evil things, it can be gained by doing good things. One ratifies the doctrine of scripture—the other blasphemes the God of heaven.

When we join with churches that are muddled in their doctrine, are unsure of their doctrine, or have no sense of Christian doctrine, we link arms with the dead. We cannot do Christ’s work without the vital connection of life through the belief of the truth. The living in Christ have no business in the graveyard of the dead.

What will we do? Continue to walk in the light of Christ’s truth and have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness. To do otherwise, to work with unbelievers, is to shame the name of Christ.

Pastor V. Mark Smith