Years ago Reader’s Digest published a short story about a cat that had been run over by a car. The cat belonged to 4-year-old Billy, and before he could find out about his cat’s death, his mother quickly disposed of the remains.
After a few days though, Billy finally asked about the cat. She knelt down so she could look Billy in the eye and took his hand and gently said, “Billy, whiskers died.” Then, in an attempt to comfort Billy, his mother said to him, “But it’s all right Billy. He’s up in heaven with God.”
Billy, of course was disappointed, but he had a quizzical look on his face, and after a moment he said, “What in the world would God want with a dead cat?”
And God doesn’t want a spiritually dead Church either.
Sardis was located about 30 miles southeast of Thyatira.The ruins of 1st century Sardis are near a small village called Sart. The once “impregnable” fortress of a city is now only an ancient monument up on the hill top. Several inland roads made the city of Sardis like Thyatira with lots of trade. The city was famous for gold mining, gold mint, woolen, textile, and jewelry industry. Yet, it’s best known for the wool trade. The city was known as a leader in how to dye wool in different colors and this was a source of a great income for many of the Sardis’ residents. The people of Sardis were used to being wealthy.
Sardis had other claims to fame than trade. Five hundred years earlier it had been the capital of the old kingdom of Lydia where the famous King Croesus had reigned. He was reputed to have been the richest man in the world at that time. His wealth, it is said, came from the sands of the River Pactolus in which the fabled King Midas (of Midas touch fame) washed his hands to rid himself of the ‘Midas Touch’ (which turned everything he laid hands on into gold) and in so doing, the legend says, made the sands of the river rich with gold.
The original city of Sardis was built on a mountain about 1500 feet above the valley floor and since three of its four sides were at the top of high, sheer rock cliffs, Sardis was regarded as being virtually impregnable against military assault. It stood like a giant unassailable watchtower guarding the entire Hermus valley. Many armies laid siege to Sardis—but failed to conquer it.
According to Herodotus, the Greek historian, the city was literally impregnable—until King Cyrus of Persia. Cyrus besieged Sardis through a soldier who studied the cliffs, seeking to figure out a way into the city. One of his soldiers, watched a Lydian soldier accidentally drop his helmet over the cliff. The Lydian soldier climbed down, recovered his helmet, and climbed back up. The Persian soldier carefully memorized the way the Lydian soldier had taken step for step and that same night he led a group of hand-picked troops up the cliffs. When they reached the top, they found the walls of Sardis completely unguarded. The Lydian garrison apparently never dreamed that anyone could find a way up those cliffs. They thought they didn’t need guarding. Everyone was sound asleep. So the small commandos entered unopposed, opened the gates, and Sardis was taken. And if that weren’t bad enough, this exact thing happened again 200 years later when Antiochus the Greek besieged Sardis. This is important since it helps explain what Jesus told them about His coming, when they least expect it.
And here’s one other historical fact to help us understand the culture of the city.
In 17 AD Sardis was devastated by an earthquake, but the Roman emperor Tiberius generously refunded them the taxes they had paid for the prior five years and sent generous grants for rebuilding the city.
With all these Roman government bailout funds, the city was easily rebuilt without the residents having to endure any financial hardship at all.
The city had one Greek mythology temple to Artemis. Artemis was the Greek goddess of hunting, wild nature, and chastity. The daughter of Zeus and sister of Apollo, Artemis was regarded as a patron of girls and young women and a protectress during childbirth. There wasn’t any known sexually immoral activity in this temple.
There are two “contextual” things we know thus far when John wrote this letter,
(1) The citizens of Sardis were content.
(2) The residents of Sardis had a complacent lifestyle.
Remember that Jesus judged Ephesus for a lack of love and now we’ll see that Sardis lacked life.
Three choices made by the church in Sardis.
- Christianity without yielding to the Holy Spirit is “dead.”
“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.” Revelation 3:1
Jesus said, “I know your works,” so the believers at Sardis were apparently busy, but religious busyness does not necessarily mean life. Christianity is not a religion; it is not so much about doing, as it is about growing and being in a relationship with Jesus Christ.
Obviously the original readers would have known the cause of their spiritual near-death existence. Perhaps they accepted and involved themselves in the cultural, social and political activities of their society more than accomplishing the will of Jesus Christ (Matthew 20:18-20). They could have been a church that gauged its health by popularity, financial resources, social prestige and acceptance. Yet that is not the chief role of a church.
Just how does a church “die?” It can happen when their individual members cease to grow spiritually. Spiritual growth is the result of a conscious choice. That is why we are called a disciple of Jesus! We are under the discipline of Jesus. Believers have to be intentional when it comes to following Jesus (John 15:4). If we don’t make this choice, our life with Jesus will look dead, “fruitless.”
“Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die, for I have not found your works perfect before God. 3 Remember therefore how you have received and heard; hold fast and repent.” Revelation 3:2-3
- There was an absence of spiritual struggles.
Now that may sound odd: the absence of struggles sounds like a good thing. In fact you may be thinking, “Don’t struggles impede spiritual growth?” But, ironically the opposite is true. Churches and individual believers grow when they encounter difficulties…because those difficulties turn us to God (James 1:4). The trials and tribulations that come with living in a fallen world stimulate spiritual growth—they should make our relationship with God thrive. They also make the church grow because lost people look at the way we cling to our faith. Note that the Sardis church faced no persecution.
• There were no orthodox Jewish opponents like the church at Smyrna dealt with—even though there was a large Jewish population in Sardis.
• There were no Nicolaitans or followers of Balaam teaching heresy there.
• There was no “Jezebel” in this church.
• There was no threat of compulsory Caesar worship like there was in Pergamum.
• There were no trade guilds leading the members astray like there were in Thyatira.
No this church was completely untroubled from without and within.
The lack of persecution in the Church at Sardis had a strange effect. It might have caused them to be Christians in name, but they did not have any power of God to witness and encourage spiritual growth in others.
The apostle Paul described a similar group of people who had drifted from the faith by saying that “they had a form of godliness but denied its power “(2 Timothy 3:5).
Jesus said, “Woe to you, when all men speak well of you!” (Luke 6:26). A Church should have tensions with its culture, one to which there will be opposition and opposition produces a witness for Christ.
Perhaps it was a church that was too good to be true. Its religiously proper appearance may have only meant that it had fully and silently compromised with the truth and the pagan society around it.
And Jesus gives believers at Sardis a command. I think it is interesting that it is the same command Jesus gave to dead people such as Lazarus, Jairus’ daughter and the widows son. He said, “wake up!”
Perhaps Jesus used these particular words to remind the church of what had happened twice in the history of Sardis when the city slept while they were invaded by the enemy. Jesus notes that He will come and take away their ministry if they did not 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.” (Revelation 3:3b).
The third choice made by the church in Sardis:
- A dead church is also an unrepentant church and will be disciplined by Jesus Himself.
I don’t know when Jesus will come back, but it will happen.
But as Romans 13:11-14 says, 11 And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. 12 The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light. 13 Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy. 14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.
Matthew 25:13 says, “Keep watch for you do not know the day or the hour your Lord may come.”
In short, watchfulness is living in a repentitive attitude and that should be the constant attitude of the Christian life.
After the warning, Jesus encourages those in Sardis who had remained faithful:
“You 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.” Revelation 3:4
Verse 4 tells us that there were a few Christians in this church who were still faithful to Jesus in heart and mind.
Every believer is called to be “worthy.” The idea of walking worthily is also found in the apostle Paul’s teaching in (Ephesians 4:1; Colossians 1:10; and 1 Thessalonians 2:12.) To be “worthy” is to “match up” with something—the profession of faith in the mouth matches the reality of faith in the heart.
Now Jesus makes a promise to all the believers in Sardis:
“Those who overcome shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out their name from the Book of Life; but I will confess their name before My Father and before His angels.” Revelation 3:5.
The positives:
- They will receive a white garment (a symbol of righteousness),
- They will have their name written in the book of life (a promise of eternal security),
- Their name will be confessed by Jesus in heaven (cf. Luke 12:8).
The negative:
- The people of Sardis would know what soiled clothing is all about. Remember they were wool dyers. Maybe their problem was that they strived for a lifestyle of ease, celebration and victory; but obtained it prematurely. That’s a believer’s reward in eternity.
- The people knew they were not living for the Lord. And Jesus knows because He looks at the heart and judges our motives.
Note carefully what Jesus says. Jesus explicitly says He will not erase a believer’s name.
First, this verse says their names will not be blotted from the book of life. Roman emperors’ ordered rulers to keep a register of each city’s citizens. When there was a birth, the name was entered into the city’s register of the living, which is also referred to “the book of life.” A city census recorded who was alive for taxing purposes. (see Luke 2:2)
Secondly, this promise is given to overcomers. Yet tragically, some Christians can live lives of sin and hardly be distinguishable from unsaved sinners. Looking at their lives, you and I cannot know for sure if a professor of Christ is truly one of God’s children or simply an empty professor. But those who are His, their names will be in the book of life.
What Jesus is promising here is that He will never blot out the name of any of His followers from the book of life. This promise has troubled some people because they think it somehow implies that one’s name can in fact be blotted out of the book of life and that therefore a Christ-follower can lose his or her salvation. Jesus is actually assuring His followers that there is no possibility of them losing their salvation. Yet, this verse is charging believers to be faithful in their witness and purpose in life as His followers. Those who are faithful are rewarded in heaven. The rest who lived in an unfaithful way it’s like wood, hay and stubble (1Corinthains 3:9-15).
Third, every believer should live for Jesus because His return is immanent.
Anyone who has an ear, let them hear what the Spirit says to the Churches. Revelation 3:6
The Sardis church would have become a place where sin was not mentioned. It would have to be a place where people could be comfortable in their fallen state of sin.
- Maybe the church was a place where people could go to feel good about themselves.
- Maybe people could go there to be entertained and hear messages that validated and approved their lifestyle.
- Maybe Sardis would have been a place where they would not have to hear about and deal with “sin”.
God wants His people to be awake and listening and that implies:
- He wants us to obey Him and be witnesses for Him.
- His message is for us be alive and not live like those that are dead.
- His message is for us to repent and confess sin.
- He wants to clothe us in white garments.
- He wants us to be righteous, to be holy.
- He wants our name to be in the book of life.
- He wants to walk with us.
The main idea is this: Every believer should want those same things.
Finally;
The word “name” appears four times in this passage. They became a church in name. They had a name for being alive, but their name and witness was not as faithful followers. I suggest that was because they were not “set apart” from their culture.
The message to the church of Sardis: They had a reputation, they were known in the city, and they were active, filled with activity, action, and programs. By the world’s standards they were successful and they were probably proud of their church, but Jesus said not so, “you are dead.”
This can be applied as the absence of spiritual life (Ephesians 2:1) and as well as no spiritual fruit and growth (James 2:26).
May we learn the lesson of the church of Sardis, to live for Jesus and make disciples, to walk the talk.