Church At Sardis

Revelation 3:1-6

Let’ start off with a little background on this church and city.....Sardis was an active commercial city and very wealthy. It had been the capital of Croesus who was proverbial for his riches. The city’s easy wealth seems to have made for slackness. It was captured by Cyrus the Persian (549 BC) and by Antiochus (218 BC), both times because of its slackness. The city was built on a hill so steep that its defences seemed impregnable.

Jesus starts off His dictation to John, by, as He always did, introducing Himself. He continues to reveal His character and power in these intros.

7 Spirits of God........Some have said this is a reference to Isaiah 11:2 “And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, The spirit of wisdom and understanding, The spirit of counsel and might, The spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord;” I only count six here, but I am not good at counting, I could be wrong.

Jesus references this in Rev. 1:4 “John to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace be unto you, and peace, from him which is, and which was, and which is to come; and from the seven Spirits which are before his throne;”

This also could be a reference to the “menorah” (seven lampstands) mentioned in Zechariah 4:2 “And said unto me, What seest thou? And I said, I have looked, and behold a candlestick all of gold, with a bowl upon the top of it, and his seven lamps thereon, and seven pipes to the seven lamps, which are upon the top thereof:”

We could just say that 7 is the number of completion to God, so , when Jesus mentions it here, He could just simply mean the complete work of the Holy Spirit!

Now, Jesus starts right off with this church, no commendation, just to say that He knows their works. No elaboration about their works! There was mentions of persecutions in the other churches, but none here.

Jesus declares this church dead! The One Who moves in the midst of the churches, declares it dead!

It either looks alive or maybe it was once alive and still called alive, but Jesus sees the whole thing and they are dead!

Jesus said I have not found your works perfect before God!!!! What does that mean?

Sardis went through the motions: “I know your deeds, your deeds.” They were sufficient to give them a name among men. Maybe they helped with some of the social ills in Sardis; maybe they did some philanthropic things there. Maybe they provided some service to the community. But whatever they did, “Their deeds were not sufficient in the sight of My God.” That’s what our Lord says. It’s not enough. The church is a living lie. Really, there wasn’t any reason to persecute the church, that’s why there’s no persecution, at least at this point.

What kills a church? There is a lot of talk about this....I have heard several speak ignorantly about dead churches!

I had one lady tell me at a birthday party once that she said all of the Freewill Baptist churches are dead, because they do not speak in tongues. A few of us was told that we wasn’t spiritual enough to recognize the power of God!

Folks do a lot of talking, instead of hearing from God! He that has an ear let him hear what the “who” says??? The Spirit, not man!

So, what kills the church? Why is the church dead? Sin kills a church. Error kills the church. Compromise kills the church

One writer wrote that you can tell a dead church. It’s concerned with tradition. It’s concerned with form. It’s concerned with the way church is conducted. It’s concerned with welfare. It’s concerned with social ills. It’s concerned with tolerance of sin. It’s preoccupied with systems. It’s concerned with material things, not spiritual things. It doesn’t proclaim the gospel. It doesn’t uphold the Scripture. It doesn’t pursue holiness.

2 Timothy 3:1-5 gives a good description of a possible dead church…hold your place and turn there quickly......

Form of godliness but denying the very power of God!! Looking the part but is for themselves or for the world!

I am not too concerned about being called a dead church by a person, but when Christ calls us dead then we are in extreme peril!

Sardis resembled the fig tree Jesus encountered in Matthew 21:19 “And when he saw a fig tree in the way, he came to it, and found nothing thereon, but leaves only, and said unto it, Let no fruit grow on thee henceforward for ever. And presently the fig tree withered away.”

The fruit is Jesus Christ, if there is no fruit only leaves, then it is good for nothing! Jesus cursed this tree!

How to fix this??? Whatever was good according to God’s Word, strengthen it before it dies!

How? Hebrews 4:12 “For the word of God is alive, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”

I have heard people talk about very small churches, smaller than ours, referring to them as dead because not many folks are going there! They have no idea what is being taught there, no idea, but boldly proclaim a church alive because of it’s great numbers and if you do not have those numbers then you are dead!

First, I would ask who are they to declare judgement on a church based on numbers!

Secondly, David was punished for numbering his people!

The only thing that makes us alive, is Jesus Christ!

John 6:63 “It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.”

OK, that brings me back to Hebrews 4:12.............The Word of God, John 1:1-4 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 The same was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men.”............ John 1:14 “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.”

Jesus is the Word of God, everything from the OT, which is a shadow of things to come, all the way through to the New Testament is about the Gospel of Jesus Christ!

Sardis had a few that hadn’t stained their garments, Jesus knew them and they will be rewarded for they are worthy! These are those their intentions toward God are pure, it is not defiled by human infection!

To the overcomer (those that remain in their faithful following of Jesus)......... They will be robed in white (pure) and not blotted out from the book of life!

Confessing of our names before the Father and His angels by Jesus Christ, is the greatest thing the world has ever known!

These are for the genuine! No, we are not perfect, but only the genuine produces true fruit!

Works are works and they have no merit before God, but they do however, reveal a genuine heart or not!

What happened to this church, well all we know is that of a man name MELITO. Melito who was a pastor there, and he was a pastor several decades after this letter was delivered, several decades; and he was a faithful man. That historically argues for the fact that there may well have been a revival in Sardis. Some of those who were dead came to life. Some of those who were a little indifferent remembered the truth that they had heard and strengthened what remained, and held fast to Christ.

Some say that he was the first to write a commentary on the book of Revelation!