Sardis was not only a glorious city in the ancient world, but it was thought to be impregnable. Three sides of the city were surrounded by fifteen hundred foot cliffs, and on the other side there was a steep incline, leading up to the gates of the city. So, there was thought to be only one way into the city, one area of the city that needed to be defended, and that was an area with gates. It seemed to be such a military stronghold that the phrase “capturing Sardis” came to be a saying that meant doing something impossible. We might say that capturing Sardis in the ancient world seemed as likely as pigs flying in our own.
However, Sardis was in fact captured – twice! It was first captured around 546 B.C. under the leadership of Cyrus. And the way they took the city was as remarkable as it was unexpected. One of Cyrus’s troops climbed up a crevice in one of those seemingly impossible-to-climb, steep cliffs, came into the city at an unguarded point, and opened the gates for Cyrus’s men to enter. Why wasn’t anyone posted there to guard? Obviously they were at rest because they thought they were okay. They had let themselves drift into a place of being basically asleep at the post because they thought all was well.
So, the city that was once deemed impossible to capture had been captured. And, as I’ve mentioned, it happened again, around 214 B.C., under the leadership of Antiochus the Great. And what is even more remarkable than the fact that this impregnable city was captured again is that it was captured the exact same way. The city had guarded who watched for intruders carefully, but (again) they were only keeping watch at the main entrance into the city. Therefore, a man named Lagoras climbed one of those cliffs (accompanied by fifteen other men), entered the city, and opened the gates. The impossible not only had taken place in Sardis’s history, it had happened twice.
And after that second point of capture Sardis was never really the same again. This ancient city of glory was eclipsed by other cities. Pergamum, for example, because more important in most respects. The city that had a long history of being great could now only point to stories of their past.
What’s interesting about this history of Sardis is that it almost seems as if Jesus has it in mind when he speaks about the state of the church at Sardis. It seems as if the church parallels the history of the city. Like Sardis in the day in which they were captured, those who make up the church have fallen asleep. Jesus actually says to them in verse 2, “Wake up.” There’s no alertness. It’s as if they’re going through they’re going through lifeless motions. Also, like Sardis, if they don’t repent, they’re going to be surprised with judgment. Just as those who scaled the cliffs and caught the people at an unsuspecting time, Jesus says warns in verse 3 that he will come like a thief against them at an hour they will not know or expect. And finally, like the city, this church was glorious in name only.
In fact, the word “name” is echoed throughout this text. It doesn’t always come through in the translation, but it’s there. In verse 1, where Jesus mentions their reputation, he literally says that they have a “name.” He mentions in verse 4 that they have a few “names” in Sardis, who haven’t soiled their garments. Then in verse 5, he says of the overcomer that he will not blot his “name” out of the book of life but will confess his “name” before the Father and his angels. The word “name” is echoed throughout the text. Why?
Perhaps the reason is because the only thing they have going for them, in any sense, is that they have a good name. This is one of the first letter we’ve seen where Jesus basically says nothing good about the church. He declares at the end of verse 1, “I know your works.” And typically this is followed by a list of things that he commends or applauds. It usually follows a “you’re doing this well, but I have this against you” pattern. But in this case, the only “positive,” if you will, is that they have a good reputation. However, even that is pulled out from under them when Jesus declares that it is false: “You have the reputation for being alive, but you are dead” (v. 1).
If you want to look for biblical support for talking about a church being dead (or dying) as we sometimes speak, you need look no further than Revelation 3:1. Here it is. Jesus says that this church is dead. Now, he does qualify it a bit in verse 2 when he tells them to strengthen what remains and is “about to die.” It seems that there’s just a bit of life there, but not much. For all practical purposes, they are a dead church.
But again, what’s interesting in that they don’t look dead. When we speak of churches dying or being dead, we typically think of a church where the building is basically empty on Sunday mornings or has only one age group of people, namely, those who are older so that at the point of their deaths the church would be empty. Those are the churches we mostly speak of as being dead, aren’t they? Yet, those churches don’t have reputations for being alive, as the church in Sardis does. So, perhaps the church in Sardis looks much different. Maybe it is full of people. Maybe they’ve got all age groups. Somehow they had a good reputation. But there is absolutely nothing Jesus commends them for. Apparently, they were merely walking through life with the appearance of godliness, but they were believers almost exclusively in name only.
That’s what we mean when we speak of nominal Christianity in our own day, isn’t it? There are many who are Christians in name only. That is, they have professed faith in Christ, and they still profess faith in him. They may even go to church on Sundays, sit through the sermon, sing the songs, partake of the table, etc. However, Christ isn’t their goal, or focus, or passion, or hope. They’re not living their lives trying to honor him in how they live or think or act. There’s no real life in them. It’s as if they’re asleep and need to wake up. And when you have many of these type people in a church, it’s fair to call such a church dead, as Jesus does here.
But, this morning, we don’t merely want to try to dissect the situation in Sardis. We want to see how this text might pierce, challenge, convict, rebuke, encourage, and comfort us as well. After all, this letter (as do the others) ends with a call for anyone who has an ear, to hear what the Spirit is saying here.
And when we consider that Jesus is calling them out of spiritual deadness or away from walking that direction, then I think we can see that this letter contains for us helps to ensure that we do not wind up at the place where the church in Sardis was as Jesus wrote this letter. Therefore, this morning, I want to point out some of these helps from Jesus’ letter to the church in Sardis. The first thing we need to do in order to fight against spiritual deadness or sleepiness is,
Now, this might not be immediately obvious that this is a point that can be drawn from this text, but I want to show why I think it’s a legitimate truth we need to see here. First, this letter is harsh isn’t it? I’ve already mentioned that Jesus says nothing good about this church. This is a blistering. He says, “You have a reputation for being alive, but you are dead.” He later says that he has “not found [their] works complete in the sight of my God” (v. 2), which I think is a scathing remark as well.
In order to see how scathing it is, consider that all the end-times judgment scenes in the Bible include our works. That is, it’s not as simple as standing in judgment and saying, “You believe, you don’t believe, etc.” Rather, our works are brought are brought up as a vindication of our faith. In Matthew 25, for example, Jesus can say that the sheep obviously have faith, since that is what moved them to feed their brothers when they were hungry, clothe them when they were naked, visit them when they were in prison, etc. This is the same reality that James brings up in regard to Abraham. How do we show that Abraham had faith? James tells us, “Look at his works.” He so utterly believed God’s promise that he would bless him through Isaac, that even if God said to kill Isaac, Abraham would do it, believing that God would raise him back to life if he had to. What shows that Abraham believed the promises of God? It was his obedience to God’s commands.
And the same is true with us. On that final day, the Lord will point to our works, our obedience, as vindication before all men that we belong to him. Our works will be laid before the Father as clear evidence that our faith is genuine.
Yet, with those in Sardis, Jesus says, “Your works aren’t complete.” That is, your works simply don’t testify to the notion that you have genuine saving faith. There’s nothing sufficient to point to. There’s nothing that I could bring before my Father that would show that you have genuine saving faith. Your works are lacking. They’re not complete or sufficient. This is a blistering and scathing word of rebuke to a church to which he says, “You are dead.”
So, why in the world would I say that this text reminds us that we must see that all rebuke from Christ is for our good? Reason number one is because if these people were hopelessly condemned, then Christ would need not waste his and their time calling them to repentance.
But the second reason I say that is because of how Jesus introduces himself. We’ve noted over the past several weeks that Jesus is introduced in line with some aspect (or aspects) of the vision of himself from chapter 1 that is fitting with the letter he writes. So, for example, when he calls the church in Smyrna to be faithful unto death, he introduces himself as the one who died and came to life. And he wanted the church in Pergamum to exercise discipline against those teaching and holding to immoral beliefs and practices, he introduced himself as the one who has the sharp two-edged sword. And we could go on with other examples. But I think this will suffice.
However, look at how he introduces himself in 3:1. He says that he’s the one who has the seven stars, which represent the angels, or churches themselves. So, they need to know that he is aware of what’s going on in their churches and holds their judgment in his hand. But he also introduces himself as the one who “has the seven spirits.”
Now, you’ll remember that the seven spirits from 1:4-5 is a reference to the Holy Spirit, who is the seven-fold Spirit, or complete and perfect Spirit, able to carry out the work of the Father and the Son in all the churches and in no way limited by lack of ability, might, or power. Furthermore, you’ll remember that this picture of Christ isn’t found in the vision that John sees of the Son in 1:9-20 but actually precedes that. It’s part of John’s greeting. So why is it that Jesus introduces himself in a way that pulls from a different element than the vision he’s already given of himself in 1:9-20 as one who has the Holy Spirit (at his disposal, we might say)?
I think the answer is because he wants this dead church and these in-name-only believers to know that he has what they need. You see, they lack life, and it’s the Spirit who gives life. So, Jesus pictures himself as the one who has (and can give them) the Spirit.
You see, Jesus is not revealing himself to them as their enemy. Now, yes, he will judge them if they don’t repent. But he’s introducing himself to them as one who has the solution. He’s introducing himself as one who wants to give them life through the Spirit. This is not like a picture of a man chasing a lost child with an axe, but rather a like a man running after a lost child because he wants to tell the child where his mother is so that the child might go to her.
Now this is important for us because some of us think that if the Lord rebukes us, confronts us, or disciplines us, then he must be putting himself in the position of being our enemy. But that is simply not the case. Therefore, if the Lord brings conviction to you even this morning concerning anything, it is not because he wants to destroy you but because he wants you to have what you’re lacking. So, if you’re someone for whom honoring the Lord isn’t a priority and you’re just coasting through life, consider this morning that the Lord is targeting you, rebuking you, and wants you to see that he’s not okay with how you’re living. And he’s doing it because he wants you to repent, turn to him, and find in him all he has for you as you walk in faithful obedience to him.
As we go through life, there are going to be plenty of occasions when we need rebuke from our Lord. And if we’re not going to drift toward deadness, then we need to see this rebuke as our Lord’s kindness in turning us back in the direction of life, for the one who rebukes us is the one who has the seven spirits of God.
But fighting against deadness requires more than just realizing something. We also see in this text that,
After identifying that the reputation they have isn’t a true reflection of reality (they are in fact dead), Jesus charges them move out of their dead state. Specifically, he says in verse 2, “Wake up, and strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have no found your works complete in the sight of my God.”
The call to wake up reveals a parallel between the deadness in which they existed and sleep. That is, it’s as if they were sleeping in regard to living a life that would vindicate any genuine faith on the final day. Jesus, thus, calls them to wake up and strengthen anything that had life in them that was getting ready to die.
The charge to do something active and intentional (i.e. wake up and strengthen) lest something in them dies highlights an important reality we’ve seen affirmed at other places in the Scripture, namely, that we do not drift toward spiritual maturity, growth, and life but away from it.
No one driving down the street starts to lose focus and drifts into a pattern of staying perfectly between the lines. When we fall asleep, we drift off of the road. That’s why they often have those divots in the pavement that make loud noises to wake you. Think of a guard keeping watch over the city. You’ll never hear a guard say that he became drowsy on his post and drifted into being really focused and attentive. We don’t drift toward such things but away from them.
Similarly, we don’t drift toward alertness but drowsiness, not life but death. This is why Jesus calls them to action. Wake up, and then find areas in your life that reflect some vitality and strengthen them.
So, to us – be alert. You don’t automatically find your mind renewed to truth as you go through life, so memorize some scripture. Listen to the sermons being preached attentively. Actively engage in your small group and look for ways to tangibly show your care and love for your brothers and sisters. Consciously look for efforts to advance the gospel. Consider ways to store up treasure for yourself in heaven instead of spending it all on your perks here. This is the kind of active, intentional effort required for growth in maturity.
Perhaps the best visual is to consider those walking pads at airports – the kind that are like an escalator laid flat. And imagine that you’re trying to go the wrong way on one of those. If you’re going to move in the right direction, it requires active, intentional effort. If you stop and just see where you go, you’ll always end up drifting in the wrong direction. So, ask yourself how you might grow, what steps you might take, and pursue radical obedience in becoming Christlike.
Yet, I don’t want you to think this is merely about putting forth effort in doing good. It’s certainly not less than that, but there is more. We also see that,
Jesus not only calls them to wake up and actively strengthen areas in their lives drifting toward death, but he calls them to remember something. He says in verse 3, “Remember, then, what you received and heard. Keep it, and repent.”
Now, when he tells them to remember what they received and heard, he means the gospel. If they profess faith in Christ, it’s because there was some time in their lives when they heard the gospel and professed to receive it in faith. Yet, now they’ve drifted from it. Jesus, therefore, calls them to remember the gospel and turn back to it, repent of walking away from it, and root themselves in the gospel.
Therefore, I’ve said that we must root ourselves (again and again) in the gospel. And the reason I’ve said that we must root ourselves again and again is because we typically think of putting down roots as a one-time activity. Once a tree has taken root, you’re good to go; it’ll grow. However, because our tendency is to drift away from the gospel, you must put your roots in the gospel and then do it again and again.
The gospel is the means by which you first moved from death to life, and faith in the gospel will be the strength by which you’ll continue in and grow in life. This is why Paul asks the Galatians, “Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? . . . Does he who supplies to the Spirit to you [consider Revelation 3:1] and works miracles among you do so by works of the law or by hearing with faith? (Gal. 3:2-5). The gospel is always your foundation and strengthening for obedient, Christian living, and it must be remembered and returned to again and again.
I have no doubt that part of Sardis’s problem is that they’d drifted away from focused attention on, appreciation for, and celebration of the gospel. The gospel nourished life. But it only produces life when we turn to the gospel in faith again and again. Make sure we’re a people who consistently focus ourselves on the gospel.
So, if Christ is rebuking us, we see it for our good, see that we need to actively and intentionally seek obedience to Christ and growth in maturity, see that we need to root ourselves again and again in the gospel, and, we can add,
Jesus ends this letter with a warning and a promise. First, as a warning, he declares, “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” (v. 3). If these nominal Christians will not turn to showing real genuine faith, then Christ will come and bring judgment on them.
Now, what’s a little confusing is this reference to him coming like a thief in the night. On the one hand, this is the kind of language Jesus uses to refer to his second coming. Therefore, we might think that this is a reference to the second coming. On the other hand, this seems to be a warning about judgment that would perhaps come on them quickly. That is, unless these believers repent right now, they’ll face soon and coming judgment in the first century. So, if it’s soon-coming judgment, then why use the language of the second coming?
I think the answer may well be that what happens when Christ brings judgment on his enemy in this age is not altogether different than the judgment that they’ll know in the end. Consider, for example, our salvation. We await our final salvation that will only be known when Christ returns, those who are dead are raised, and those who are living are glorified. But he also brings salvation to us now, doesn’t he? We rightly delight in being saved now and in awaiting our salvation. And our salvation now and our salvation to come are not altogether different realities. What we have no is simply a taste of what awaits us fully in the end.
I think that’s perhaps why Jesus uses this language of second coming judgment in threatening them now. If they don’t repent, they’ll face his judgment, and it’ll be a taste of what will await them in the end.
But he also gives a promise to those who are indeed showing themselves to be genuine believers. He writes, “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” (vv. 4-5).
Those who show themselves to belong to Christ will one day be clothed in white garments, which are the righteous deeds of the saints. Their works will vindicate their faith in judgment. They, whose names were written in the book of life before the foundation of the world will have their names never blotted out so that their name will be there on the final day. They, who confess Jesus by their witness and life now, will hear Jesus testify to the Father on the last day, “These are one with me.”
We might label this group of genuine believers, “Those who allow eternity to fashion their lives in this age.” This is what we must do. This is why it’s easy to drift, isn’t it? I don’t see treasure in heaven, I just see my dollars here and now. So, it’s easier to live for riches in this life. I don’t see the greatness in the kingdom, only greatness now. So, it’s easier to strive for prestige and praise in the here and now. I don’t see the life that is ours then, so it’s easier to live our lives for life now.
But we must not be those who allow our lives in this age to be fashioned by what we see in this age. We must look to eternity, of the promises that await those who belong to Christ, and we must live as those alert, awake, waiting for our Lord to come and take us so that where he is, there we must be also.
How do we keep from drifting toward deadness? See Christ’s rebukes as a work for our good. Give ourselves to active and intentional effort in growing in maturity. Root ourselves again and again in faith in the life, death, and resurrection of Christ for our justification. And keep eternity in mind so that we allow it to shape our decisions, words, and lives in this age. May our Lord give us grace and his Spirit so that we might display that we are alive. Amen.