The Church at Sardis Was Spiritually Dead
June 2, 2021
Commentary
Sardis is about 30 miles south of Thyatira, a wealthy city, and the capital of Lydia. The people were proud and thought they could not be overtaken but Cyrus the Great of Persia stormed the city and took it over in the sixth century. From a religious standpoint it was a center of pagan worship and site of the temple of Artemis, the ruins of which remain to this day. Sardis was a dead church, full of empty professions. Like the Pharisees, their outward appearance was a facade hiding their lack of life (v. 1). They were exalted to wake up from their spiritual slumbers and to repent of their falling away (vv. 2-3). His message to them was to REMEMBER, REPENT AND OBEY.
While the church as a whole was dead or dying, Christ recognized a godly remnant who had remained true to the Lord (v. 4). He promised that true believers will be dressed in white (symbolic of the righteousness of God) and their names will be recorded in the book of life (vv. 5-6). The letter to Sardis should be a searching message to churches today that are full of activity and housed in beautiful buildings but never see anyone saved or changed lives among the Christians. They are unable to recognize the difference between profession and possession. The need today is the same as it was in the Church at Sardis and that is to “remember,” “repent” and “obey”.
Application
Lord, help me to evaluate the present true spiritual status of my family and my own personal life? Am I doing all I can to keep myself and my family spiritually alive and productive?
Revelation 3:1– 6 (NET)
1 “To the angel of the church in Sardis write the following:
2 Wake up then, and strengthen what remains that was about to die, because I have not found your deeds complete in the sight of my God. 3 Therefore, remember what you received and heard, and obey it, and repent. If you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will never know at what hour I will come against you. 4 But you have a few individuals in Sardis who have not stained their clothes, and they will walk with me dressed in white, because they are worthy. 5 The one who conquers will be dressed like them in white clothing, and I will never erase his name from the book of life, but will declare his name before my Father and before his angels. 6 The one who has an ear had better hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’
Illustration: A Person Who is Technically Dead But Lives
Each week in America, paramedics arrive on the scene of an accident where the victim has crossed the barrier between life and death. There is no heartbeat. Breathing has stopped. All the vital signs of life are absent. But the paramedics do not accept this death as final. They begin CPR, perhaps inject a drug that stimulates the heart. For a few frantic moments, nothing happens. Then, the victim begins to cough, taking a few ragged breaths, and the heart begins to beat, pulsing life through the body. In a few moments, the victim is stabilized. And instead of sending a corpse to the morgue, the ambulance takes a patient to the hospital. Was the victim dead? Without getting too theological or technical, we would have to answer, yes. If not for the expert care of the paramedics, the accident would have been followed by a funeral. (Source Unknown).