5th Church: Sardis

To the Angel of the Church of Sardis

Revelation 3:1-6

Historical Setting: Sardis, population 120,000 at John’s writing, was once the capital of the ancient kingdom of Lydia, and located at the foot of Mt. Tmolus, about 50 miles east of Smyrna and 35 miles south of Thyatira. In AD 17, “the greatest earthquake in human memory” destroyed Sardis and 11 other cities in a single night. Thus, the warning of Christ, “Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain…Therefore if you will not watch, I will come upon you as a thief, and you will not know what hour I will come upon you,” was especially ominous. The city, like the church, was filled with former glory, but was now dead. “The captives of Jerusalem who are in Sepharad shall possess the cities of the South” (Obadiah 1:20). Sepharad (“separated”) is believed to be the Semitic name for Sardis, which housed one of the largest known ancient synagogues.

Name Defined:  Sardis is associated with the city “Sepharad ” which means separated. Others have seen Sardis (which literally means “red” like the sardius stone) with Edom (which also means “red”), who are descendants of Esau. Sardis/Edom/Esau/Dead Church is in contrast with Philadelphia / Israel / Jacob / Living Church. Sardis is dead, slumbering, and hated like Esau. Philadelphia is vibrant, “loving of brothers” and loved by Christ (Rev. 3:9).

Church History Parallel: “The Protestant Church” (1520-Tribulation)-Like the church at Sardis which had a name of being alive but in fact was dead, the churches from the Reformation “separated” from the Thyatira “Jezebel” church, but did not have its works “fulfilled” or completed before God (Rev. 3:2). Luther’s church in Germany soon became a state church and retained much of the problems of the Roman Catholic Church. The same can be said of the churches in Zwingli’s Switzerland, Calvin’s France, and Henry VIII’s Church of England.

     I.      Christ’s Description-Has The Seven Spirits Of God, The Seven Stars-see 1:4, 16 (Rev. 3:1)

   II.      Commendations (3:1,4)

1. Reputation-A name that it was alive

2. Remnant-A few had not defiled their garments, worthy to walk with Christ in white

  III.      Condemnations (3:1-2)

1. Dead-The church was dead

2. Deeds Incomplete-Its works were not fulfilled before God

 IV.      Commands (3:2-3)

1. Watch-Be watchful

2. Work-Strengthen the things which remain but are about to die

3. Remember-it had once received and heard

4. Retain-Hold fast to the early teachings

5. Repent-Turn around in your thinking so that your actions change.

   V.      Consequences (3:4-5)

1. The Overtaken

                           i.    Unwatching-Christ to come upon them as a thief (See also Rev. 16:15)

                         ii.    Unaware-The time will be sudden

                        iii.    Unprepared-for Christ’s return

2. The Overcomers

                           i.    Clothed-in white garments

                         ii.    Continued-Name not blotted out from the Book of Life

                        iii.    Confessed-Christ will confess his name before Father and angels

 ¹ “And to the angel of the church in Sardis write,'These things says He who has the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars: “I know your works, that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead.”

BE ALIVE: Christ has the seven-fold complete and fullness of the Holy Spirit. Yet the dead church was lacking the vitality of the Holy Spirit. As you study the book of Revelation, are you asking God to reveal truths to you today, for you to apply to your lives today? Is our church, the local church, is it in the hand of Christ? Is our church alive or dead? What are we doing and what are our works? Do we have a good reputation and a good name? Do we live up to our name?

The correlation of the Spirit of God, the Church of Christ’s hand and death are made clear in Romans 8:2 “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death” and again in 8:5-6, “For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace,” in  8:13 “For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live” and again in 1 Peter 3:18 –“For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit.”

²Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die, for I have not found your works perfect (fulfilled-as in Rev. 6:11; complete-NASB,NIV) before God. ³Remember therefore how you have received and heard; hold fast and repent. Therefore if you will not watch, I will come upon you as a thief, and you will not know what hour I will come upon you.

WATCH: Can you imagine finding out about some land for sale that had a huge supply of oil hidden beneath it? What would it be worth to you to purchase that land, knowing that once it was in your possession, all of your investment would be returned hundreds if not thousands of times over? The Sardis Church, and the dead Reformation/Protestant church is like the treasure hidden in the field. It had a name, but was dead. It had good buried within it, but on the outside it was languishing, weakening, ready to die. It had potential, but not brought to completion before God. It had received and heard, but it was forgetting and letting go of the truth. The church was more like the world, not even ready for Christ’s return.

What if you bought the land and spent all of your possessions for it, and then never used the treasure hidden within? What a waste! The joy of the purchase would turn to mourning. What if we as a church let the star’s flame flicker out? We know the answers. Paul told the Philippians that they had to do the things that they had “learned and received and heard and saw” in him in order to have the “God of peace” with them (Phil. 4:9). Paul rejoiced over the Thessalonians because the truth, the word of God, was effectively at work in them. “For this reason we also thank God without ceasing, because when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you welcomed it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which also effectively works in you who believe” (1 Thes. 2:13). The word “perfect” is nowhere else translated as perfect. Instead, it is translated as to “fulfill” or “complete.” Did you know that God has a work for you to do that no one else can do as well as you? Only you can fulfill the works that God has designed you to do. “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them” (Eph. 2:10). We are “thoroughly equipped” by the Scriptures (2 Tim. 3:16-17), and empowered by the Spirit of God (Acts 1:8)

A Sardis Church is a dead church and may have the name of church but does not have the spirit within it. It is a cold church, with the fire hidden, almost ready to forever be extinguished. Like the Corinthians to whom Paul wrote in 1 Cor. 15, they believed in vain, because while they received the word in part, they did not “hold fast” to all of the truth. Paul concludes with a charge that the Corinthians should “be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.” What happens to those who “hold fast”? Jesus commands John to write:

⁴You have a few names even in Sardis who have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with Me in white, for they are worthy. ⁵He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life; but I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels. ⁶“He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”

Notice the journey of the names in Sardis whose garments had not been defiled. Those names will not be blotted out of the Book of Life. Those names will be confessed by Jesus Himself. Greater than any graduation day, we will hear our own names being read off by Jesus Christ Himself. God the Father, on that great and glorious throne will listen as your name is read off by His own Son. In His nail-scarred hands, Christ will hold the Lamb’s Book of Life, and in permanent, indelible ink, your name will be forever listed as an overcomer. 

Your garments may have looked undefiled on earth, but look at the clothes you’ll receive in heaven! Never again will we endure shame as our white garments will cover all of our nakedness and sin (Rev. 3:18, 16:15). But look! Christ doesn’t stop with a new white wardrobe and a new name written on a white stone and a declaration of our name before His Father and His angels. Christ, with His hair all white, is clothed in garments of white, described in Matthew 17:2 as white as light. Christ rises from His seat at the right hand of the Father, as He did with Stephen (Acts 7:55), He stands and he walks with us in white, in purity and before all in heaven, Jesus Christ, the holy Lamb of God, declares us WORTHY. What does the Spirit say to the churches? 

Stay undefiled. Hold fast. Be separate. Be watchful. Work. Remember. Hold Fast. Repent. Be ready. Overcome.