Text: Revelation 3:1-6
This morning we are introduced to the church at Sardis. In vrs 1 Christ tells this church, you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead. Jesus comes to the sleeping corpse of Sardis and takes their pulse and finds it to be very faint indeed. Imagine if sick churches could be admitted to hospital. Some of them, like Ephesus would be admitted to a general ward for treatment. Other churches, like Thyatira are in seriously bad shape and would be rushed to a high care facility. The church at Sardis however was in a critical condition. It was in grave danger of being wheeled out of ICU and into the hospital morgue.
TO THE CHURCH IN SARDIS
In Christ’s last four letters he has always started with some words of commendation and we expect him to follow the same pattern here. What is he going to commend Sardis for? Nothing!! He dispenses with the pleasantries and gets right down to business. I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead. This church had been bitten by Tsetse flies. They were in real danger. Spiritual sleeping sickness needs radical surgery.
- CHRIST’S REMEDY (vrs 2, 3) – The risen Christ gives this church their prescription. Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your deeds complete in the sight of my God. Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; obey it, and repent. There are a few components to Christ’s prescription. Firstly, there is the urgent need to wake up! Historically Sardis was an exceedingly prosperous city. It was situated on top of Mt Tmolus which was 1500 feet high. Because it sat perched at the top of a mountain the citizens of Sardis could defend themselves quite easily against attack. This however made the people very complacent. In the 5th century the king of Sardis engaged Cyrus king of Persia in battle. He retreated into Sardis with its towering walls. The people thought that they could not be taken. One day a Persian soldier saw a Sardian soldier accidentally drop his helmet over the battlements and go to retrieve it. The Persian correctly concluded that there was a crack in the wall and that night he led a party of soldiers to climb the crack. The overconfident Sardians had not even bothered to post a guard. They were asleep and the town was lost. Now the Lord Jesus Christ says that the church has not learned this lesson from history. They too were complacent and sleeping. They needed to wake up otherwise it would not be the Persians or the Greeks who would catch them unawares. In vrs 3 Christ says, but if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what time I will come to you. Secondly, in vrs 3 they needed to repent and produce the fruit of repentance, remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; obey it, and repent. What had they received? The apostolic teaching on which every church is founded. The sleepy Sardian believers had forgotten the Scriptures. Their bibles had been placed in quarantine. They needed to be taken off bookshelves, dusted down and carefully studied.
- CHRIST’S REASSURANCE (vrs 4-6) – Evidently there were a few believers in Sardis who had not soiled their clothes. Christ promises these that they will walk with him in clothes of white. He repeats himself again in vrs 5 and extends the promise to all faithful overcomers. White robes are a symbol of Christ’s righteousness. But Christ has a second promise for these faithful overcomers. I will never blot out his name from the book of life but will acknowledge his name before my Father and his angels. In Philippians 4:3 Paul mentions those whose names are written in the book of life. This book has never been published by God and so the names are not divulged. Listen to what John Newton says, “when I get to heaven, I shall see three wonders there. The first wonder will be to see many there who I did not expect to see. The second wonder will be to miss many people who I did not expect to see. The third and greatest of all will be to find myself there.”