Have you noticed that Jesus has had more against the churches? In this daily devotional, Pastor Steve looks at the dead church of Sardis.
Devotions in the Pastor Steve Sermon Series
“And to the angel of the church in Sardis write: ‘The words of him who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. “‘I know your works. You have the reputation of being alive, but you are dead. Wake up, and strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your works complete in the sight of my God. Remember, then, what you received and heard. Keep it, and repent. If you will not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come against you. Yet you have still a few names in Sardis, people who have not soiled their garments, and they will walk with me in white, for they are worthy. The one who conquers will be clothed thus in white garments, and I will never blot his name out of the book of life. I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’”’” (Rev. 3: 1-6 ESV)
We are continuing our study on the Seven Churches of Revelation in this devotion with the church of Sardis. This church probably wasn’t so very different than the other churches we have studied already.
The biggest thing about them is that they were simply dead.
Background information on Sardis
The city of Sardis was nearly 50 miles east of Smyrna on the southeast highway from Pergamom and Thyatira. It was home to a large colony of prosperous Jews, called “Sephardic” after the city’s ancient name.
It was a fortified acropolis that gave its inhabitants an overconfident sense of security. An acropolis is a citadel or fortified part of an ancient Greek city, typically built on a hill.
If you have ever seen The Lord of The Rings, Return of the King movie, the city of Gondor is a good example of an acropolis. Though it is a fantasy story and probably bigger than reality would have it, it gives you a good idea of what an acropolis was.
Now, this letter to the church in Sardis warns the Christians there, who were reputed to be spiritually alive (they were spiritually dead), that without genuine transformation, they would face God’s judgement (Rev. 3: 1-6).
How Does Jesus Address Himself in This Letter?
“This is the message from the one who has the sevenfold Spirit of God and the seven stars ...” (Rev. 3: 1)
Sevenfold Spirit literally means the “seven spirits.” Some argue that the seven spirits mean seven angels, but it is acknowledging the Holy Spirit’s perfection, as the number 7 indicates.
When it comes to the biblical meaning of the number 7, it is said that it is the number of perfection and completeness. God created the earth in 7 days, then he was done. And when you see 777 together, it represents the threefold completeness of the Trinity.
God Sees Everything We Do
The way many live their lives, one could get the idea that God has no idea what they do. However, Jesus said here to the church in Sardis that He was well aware of what was going on.
Revelations 3:1b says “… I know your works. You have the reputation of being alive, but you are dead” (ESV).
The church in Sardis was well known for being an alive church, but Jesus knew that they were not truly alive at all. They were dead.
This kind of death occurs when we rely on our flesh to go about serving the Lord, instead of relying on the Spirit to serve him. Anything done of the flesh is not of God, which is something I said in a previous study.
There are so many churches today that are in the same boat. They put on a pretty good show of being alive, but they are actually dead. This is a seriously bad place to be in.
Who was the Sardis Church?
Other churches in the area may have believed that the Sardian Christians comprised a dynamic church, but their secularism revealed their lack of spiritual life.
Outwardly, they looked like they had it all together and were very spiritual in all that they did, but the reality was they weren’t that at all.
They Weren’t at All What They Seemed to Be
God told Samuel when He was having him anoint the next king, since Saul had failed, that he should not pay attention to outward appearances. “But the Lord said to Samuel, ‘Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart’” (I Sam. 16: 7 ESV).
Likewise, we should not look at outward appearances either, whether it is a church, a person or whatever the case may be.
Granted, it is often difficult to tell who is true and who is not. That’s why it’s important for us to seek God about people.
Who Were the Hypocrites in Jesus' Day?
Many times, Jesus chastised the Pharisees for being hypocrites. It was clearly a problem with them. People being hypocrites in our time is no less a problem.
- “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness. So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness” (Mt. 23: 27-28 ESV).
- “You hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, when he said: ‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’” (Mt. 15: 7-9 ESV)
The Church in Sardis apparently had the same problem . They appeared to be alive from the outside observation, but they were truly dead spiritually.
They Were Warned
The Church in Sardis needed to wake up or it would suddenly fall. They were already so far gone that, spiritually, there was very little left. Even what little was left was almost dead.
Jesus pointed out in verse 2, “I find that your actions do not meet the requirements of my God“ (Rev. 3: 2 NLT).
It’s interesting how we can go about doing things in the name of God, but totally miss the mark in what we are doing. Clearly, Sardis had that problem.
If what they had was pretty much gone, what was left to revive? That’s difficult to say. However, there must have been something still there, otherwise, Jesus would not have warned them to wake up. He did encourage them to strengthen what was left.
What Did They Need to Do to Wake Up?
Jesus told them plainly, “Go back to the beginning!” Find their first love – Jesus!
Just like the Ephesian Church, they left their first love! “Repent and turn to me again! If you don’t wake up, I will come to you suddenly, unexpected, as a thief” (Rev. 3: 3 NLT).
Repentance is something that we all must do from time to time. The longer we wait to repent, the longer and harder it may be to repent.
Apparently, considering how dead Jesus said they were as a church, repenting was a long time coming. And yet, He was giving them one last chance to repent.
What Is This about the Soiled Clothes?
Jesus said in verse 4 of Revelation 3 that they still had a few names left in Sardis. People who had not spoiled their clothes. It might be said that there was a remnant of people in Sardis who were still dedicated to Jesus.
The soiled clothes mentioned here represent an impure life. Isaiah 64: 6 says, “We are all infected and impure with sin. When we display our righteous deeds, they are nothing but filthy rags. Like autumn leaves, we wither and fall, and our sins sweep us away like the wind” (NLT).
White clothes depict purity in life. As it says in Psalm 51: 7 “Purify me from my sins, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow” (NLT).
Repentance brings about that purifying.
So, What about Being Victorious?
Those who are victorious will be clothed in white. Those who are faithful to Jesus to the very end of their lives shall be called victorious. “His face shone like lightning, and his clothing was as white as snow” (Mt. 28: 3 NLT).
To the very end means until we pass away and stand before God on the Judgement Day. This is a very important thing to be ready for, don’t you think?
In verse 5b, Jesus says that He will “… never erase their names from the Book of Life.” The Book of Life records those who have received Jesus as their Lord and Savior and are going to heaven.
Erasing their names indicates that the there are people who had their names recorded in the Book of Life, but because of their unrepentant sin, they got their names erased from it. It implies condemnation and eternal death.
In case you doubt that, please read Revelation 20: 11-15. “And I saw a great white throne and the one sitting on it. The earth and sky fled from his presence, but they found no place to hide. I saw the dead, both great and small, standing before God’s throne. And the books were opened, including the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to what they had done, as recorded in the books. The sea gave up its dead, and death and the grave gave up their dead. And all were judged according to their deeds. Then death and the grave were thrown into the lake of fire. This lake of fire is the second death. And anyone whose name was not found recorded in the Book of Life was thrown into the lake of fire” (Rev. 20: 11-15 NLT).
There is little doubt that we will all stand before God on the Judgement Day. The main thing is to be sure that your sins will not be counted against you on this day, by accepting Jesus as your Lord and Savior and by repenting of you sins thereafter as much as you need to.
Lord God, help us to see where we have sinned and help us to readily repent as you convict us of our sins. By your saving Grace we ask this in Jesus’ name. Amen.
What do you think?
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