Sardis, the church that appeared to be alive, but was dead. What a sad statement. Let’s continue our visit with this church. I believe we will find a small glimmer of hope within it’s walls. Refresh your memory of Jesus’s words to the church.
Revelation 3: 1-6 (NIV)
1 ”To the angel of the church in Sardis write: These are the words of him who holds the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead.
2 Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your deeds complete in the sight of my God.
3 Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; obey it, and repent. But if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what time I will come to you.
4 Yet you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes. They will walk with me, dressed in white, for they are worthy.
5 He who overcomes will, like them, be dressed in white. I will never blot out his name from the book of life, but will acknowledge his name before my Father and his angels.
6 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
Christ’s Commendations
- None, nada, not a single one to the church in general
- There is no indication of opposition or persecution of this church, probably because the church, in general, was not a threat to Satan.
- A ‘few people’ were commended as not having soiled their garments, which means there were a few Christians in the church.
- The word used here for ‘soiled’ is from moluno which means to stain, to defile, to smear, to pollute. This would have spoken intently to the people in Sardis because of the wool dyeing industry that thrived there.
Christ’s Rebukes
- Outwardly the church appeared alive and may have fooled men, but Christ was not fooled. The church was dead.
- “The church at Sardis was like a museum in which stuffed animals are exhibited in their natural habitats. Everything appears to be normal, but nothing is alive.” (John MacArthur New Testament Commentary p.111)
- Wake up! Be watchful! Strengthen what remains.
- While the church’s deeds were enough to make it look alive, their deeds were not complete in the sight of God. ‘Complete’ is the word pleroo and carries the idea of being ‘full’. The church at Sardis had not ‘filled the expected standard of the risen Lord’. (New American Commentary) p. 122
- Christ told those who were faithful in the church how to get the church back on track. They were told to remember two things:
- That which they received – the Word, salvation, grace
- That which they heard – message of redemption
- They were told to be obedient and repent
- The fact that Jesus said if the church did not repent, he would come like a thief is a reminder of the city’s past when, although Sardis was considered impenetrable, it had been conquered twice because of negligence of its leaders and citizens.
Christ’s Promises
- The promise to those who had not ‘soiled their garments’ was that they would walk with the Lord in white. Again, the white garments promised to the overcomers would have been noteworthy to the Sardians because of the wool dyeing industry.
- White robes symbolized purity and holiness. They were worn for festive occasions and by those celebrating a victory in battle.
- The overcomes were promised that their names would not be blotted from the Book of Life and would be acknowledged before the Father and his angels.
- Citizenship was of vital importance in that day. In antiquity the name of a condemned person or a person who died was deleted from the town registers prior to the execution or after the death of the individual.
- The background for this reference is probably the ‘curse of the Minim’, which read “May the Nazarenes and the Minim suddenly perish and may they be blotted out of the book of life and not enrolled along with the righteous.” It is speculated that most in the Sardis church had maintained a religious relationship with the synagogue in order to avoid the curse of the Minim.
- Christ will confess every believer’s name before God and the angels. Matthew 10: 32 and Romans 8: 28-39
- The fact that Melito served as bishop of Sardis several decades after John wrote would lead one to believe that there was repentance in the church.
Takeaway for 2013
- It is never too late to repent.
- Be aware of sin and false doctrine. We must know true doctrine in order to recognize false.
- Don’t ever think you are too spiritual too fall – 2 Corinthians 11: 3-4
