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Jesus’ Message to the Church in Sardis

Introduction

The American people and many in the western world were shocked on September 11, 2001, as they watched and listened with the nation when two planes flew into the World Trade towers and then watched these buildings collapse onto the people of New York City. I remember my first thought: What kind of horrible problem went wrong with the plane that would make it fall in New York and why on earth didn’t the pilot do anything to miss the city? I could not believe it, and many others could not believe either, when we learned that the one piloting the plane was a terrorist. What was even more alarming was that those terrorists lived in the U.S., worked there, learned there, ate there, and were trained to fly there. They had infiltrated the nation and then struck a death blow upon the nation from the inside.

That is the worst kind of enemy, an enemy that you cannot see, that you are not expecting, an enemy that joins the ranks of your army and then turns the guns on your own, except in that case, the guns were petrol laden airplanes and the targets were not soldiers, but civilians. In the mind of the terrorists there were no civilians. To the radical terrorists of the world, all Americans are the enemy. And chances are there are still many walking and living among the American population, waiting for the opportunity to strike again, when the nation once again falls asleep.

I think this is a perfect parallel to what has happened to many churches around the world. We have had enemies enter into our churches, penetrate its leadership, lull the church to sleep, and then strike with a death blow—division, immorality, apathy, and bitterness. All of these are like petrol-laden airplanes crashing into the church of God. Some of these internal enemies, these penetrations to our church walls, have begun within. They were not enemies on the outside who went undercover in order to destroy. These are enemies who slowly grow on the inside, as the heart hardens, as unforgiveness builds, as apathy for the vision and purpose of the church grows. The church lulls itself to sleep only to be kicked by passers-by, because they think it is a dead corpse.

Exposition

The church of Sardis was on its death-bed before it was personally visited by the Doctor. Sardis was fifty miles east of Ephesus. A large temple was dedicated to Artemis, destroyed in the sixth century B.C.120 and then partially rebuilt and dedicated to a local Asian goddess, Cybele, by the time of Alexander the Great in the 4th century B.C. The city suffered a severe earthquake in 17 A.D. but was rebuilt with the financial assistance of the emperor, Tiberius. Gold and silver coins were first struck at Sardis.121 Aune estimates that the population of the city was between 60,000 and 100,000.122

Jesus is identified, like in chapter 1, with the seven-fold Spirit and the seven stars. He is identified in this way because of his presence through the Spirit amidst the church in Sardis. Because Jesus alone is the One who sends the Holy Spirit and holds the fate of the church in his hand, we must submit to him and listen carefully to his diagnosis as the Great Doctor. The church in Sardis had a reputation of being a vibrant church. They maybe had a good community reputation. They had a good reputation among the churches of the area. They probably had visible leadership and good programs. They were outwardly prosperous, busy with externals of religious activity, but devoid of spiritual life and power. Deep down, under the surface, the church was really dead. And just like in the history of the city which fell because of unseen vulnerabilities, the church in Sardis must heed the warnings of its Lord.

Think about what this says to reputation. There are so many “doctors” giving churches a healthy report around the world, when actually they are sick to the core. But there is only one Doctor’s diagnosis that matters. What does Jesus think? A church can have a great music program, ministries for all the age groups that are flashy and expensive and smartly run. A church can have a clean, sprucely kept building. A church can have a reputation in the community of being a great place to belong. “Wow! You belong to that church? How did you get to do that? It’s a special honor to belong to that church!” A church can have a radio or television broadcast, or an audience of 5,000 people. It can have all these things and still be dead.

What was the Doctor’s prescription for the church in Sardis? He commanded them to wake up and strengthen what remained and was about to die. There was still life in the church, but it was dying. What Jesus considered dead in verse 1 he then called asleep in verse 2. Thus, they are commanded to wake up. Their works had not been complete. In other words, there was no evidence of a full faith, or a fully-matured faith. Beale comments, “The so-called Christians of Sardis are living in such a way as to call into question whether or not they possess true, living faith in Christ.”123 Mounce writes that the “wake up” should be translated “show yourself watchful.” This would be meaningful for Sardis because of the two times they had been attacked and conquered by their enemies because of their lack of vigilance.124

Jesus commanded them to remember what they had received. What is it that they had received? Probably the gospel message and instruction from the likes of Paul and/or his associates, or from John himself. They were commanded to obey and repent. Repent from their walking death. Repent from their lethargy. And repent from their neglect of their faith heritage. Thomas comments that there is a concrete action envisioned in this call. They are to be awakened, strengthen what remains, remember the things received, and heard, as well as keep those things.125 If they continued in their lethargic spiritual state, Jesus promised to come to them like a thief, at an unexpected time. This can be understood both as reference to an imminent visitation as well to the Parousia of the day of the Lord. Jesus used the idea of thief for his second coming in Matthew 24:42–44.126

In application, the message is clear for the church today. Proverbs 6:9–11 says, “How long will you lie there, O sluggard? When will you arise from your sleep? A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and want like an armed man.” The enemy wants to penetrate the church from the outside and the inside. The church must be alert and prepared for battle. We cannot let him in and, when even the hint of disunity, immorality, or bitterness begin to creep in, the alarm must be sounded by those who see it.

There are a lot of depressed people in the world. With some of them, if you look at their sleeping habits, you begin to get a clue why they are depressed. Some stay up real late watching television, and then do not get up until 12:00pm or 1:00pm. The morning is gone, and the opportunity for productivity as well. This is going to contribute to depression. The church is the same. The longer we sleep, the more we flirt around with the night, the more depressed we will become and the more sleep we will want. It is a vicious cycle and only the Holy Spirit can break us from it. The prayer of the church must be, “Revive us, Lord. Wake us up. Keep us alert and on guard, against the desires of the flesh and the attacks of the enemy.”

If the people of the church in Sardis did not wake up, they would miss the coming of the Lord. As in the parable of the wicked servant in Matthew 24, if the servant in charge of the Master’s household begins to lose faith and begins to beat his fellow servants and to eat and drink with drunkards, “the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know and will cut him in pieces and put him with the hypocrites.”

Not all in Sardis were asleep. There were a few who had not compromised or had not forgotten the heritage of faith. They had kept themselves clean, which implies that the problem in the church may have been a moral issue. It also means that their Sardis church friends had probably participated in the idolatrous feasts of the city, thus staining their clothes and their reputations as follower of Jesus. See the use of the word “defiled” in 14:4, 6–9. Those who remain faithful will be dressed in white (see Revelation 19), white clothes being the righteous deeds of the saints and given to them by the Lamb.

Literally the Greek in verse 4 means, “They will walk with me in white.” The primary thrust of the white clothes and walking with Jesus is purity and holiness,127 but a purity and holiness that came as the result of being justified by Jesus.128 There is a parallel here with Revelation 7:9, 13–14 and possibly with Daniel 11:35 and 12:10 where the saints are made white through the fires of persecution.129 2 Corinthians 3:18 says, “And we all, with unveiled faces, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.” All purity, holiness, and glory come from Jesus. Romans 13:14 says, “But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.”

The one who proves faithful will show himself faithful. The one who overcomes will wear white clothes as well, and their names will not be blotted out of the book of life. For more on the book of life see Revelation 13:8; 17:8 and Revelation 20:12, 15; 21:27, as well as Daniel 12:1–2 and 7:10ff. In Revelation, there is a book of life and a book of judgment. The blotting out of the name means not that names that are there are erased, but that their nominal following of Jesus shows their lack of real commitment to him. For the faithful, Jesus will act as a witness to their status before God and the angels. The same word for “confess” in verse 5 is the word used in 1 John 1:9. Jesus will not be ashamed to confess our association with him as we stay faithful.130

Conclusion

The Disney movie, Sleeping Beauty, is the story of a princess who was lured by the evil witch to the castle where she pricked her finger on the spinning wheel and fell asleep. She was awoken later by the prince who had to fight his way to the castle against a dragon and thorns and obstacles. The prince, Jesus, is coming for his church. But what is different in this story is that “Sleeping Beauty,” the church, needs to be awake before he gets here. The church must be alert and vigilant for the coming of the Lord.

120. Osborne, Revelation, 171, notes that the surprise attack of one of Sardis’s men against Sardis, when he found a weakness in the wall at an unobservable point, led to the downfall of the city after only a fourteen-day siege in 546 BC. This led to the phrase “capturing Sardis” in the Greek world for doing the impossible.

121. Mounce, The Book of Revelation, 109.

122. Aune, Revelation 1–5, 219.

123. Beale, The Book of Revelation, 273. Ladd, A Commentary on the Revelation of John, 56, adds, “Here is a picture of nominal Christianity, outwardly prosperous, busy with the externals of religious activity, but devoid of spiritual life and power.”

124. Mounce, The Book of Revelation, 110.

125. Thomas and Macchia, Revelation, 114.

126. Mounce, The Book of Revelation, 111. See also 1 Thessalonians 5:2 and 2 Peter 3:10. Johnson, Hebrews through Revelation, 449, believes Christ’s threat of judgment is a coming of historical judgment, not the Parousia. Ladd, A Commentary on the Revelation of John, 57, understands this as a historical visitation as well. I think this can be fairly understood as a both/and situation. Jesus is threatening a coming and imminent judgment, but ultimately, they would face the judgment of the coming Judge and King when he comes back.

127. Osborne, Revelation, 179

128. Mounce, The Book of Revelation, 112.

129. Beale, The Book of Revelation, 277.

130. See also Matthew 10:32 and Luke 12:8.