Lesson 6 - The Church At Sardis Series

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The Church at Sardis

(Rev. Barry Johnson and Rev. Rodney Johnson)

Introduction

Hello everyone and happy New Year. Barry and I hope that you had a wonderful Christmas holiday with your family and friends and looking forward to what God is going to continue doing in your life in 2022. This is lesson six of our study on the Seven Churches of Revelations and today we will be examining what Jesus said to the Church at Sardis. As always we recommend that you print off the notes-taking page and with the additional Scriptures that we will be referencing in this lesson. Before we get into the lesson, let us pause for a word of prayer.

Sardis was a city in Asia Minor located about fifty miles east of Smyrna. Gold, which was discovered in the city’s sandy bed, was used for coinage. The church in Sardis is condemned more completely than any other church except Laodicea, which we will cover in the last lesson of this series. This church had a name for being alive but had declined into a sham of outward show. It’s interesting that decades before the writing of these words, the original city of Sardis had failed to maintain an active sentry duty and paid a heavy price for its neglect – Barry will tell you more about that shortly. What was assumed to be an impenetrable fortress was overrun thanks to complacency and arrogance. The church, likewise, was negligent and complacent but thankfully, some of the faithful Christians in the church of Sardis had not fallen into the same error. Remember what Peter tells us in First Peter 5:8? He writes, “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walks about, seeking whom he may devour.” We are to always be on guard and watchful – never becoming complacent.

Among all the messages to the Churches, there is no other that is as appalling as this one to the Church of Sardis. The condemnation and the judgment are emphatic. Please note that this church’s partial opinion of itself; in its own and others’ esteem, it was alive.

It had a reputation as an excellent church which caused many to think and speak well of them. However, Christ’s impartial judgment concerning them, as the One Who knew them better than they knew themselves, was that they were dead. We will see with this Church that no religious pretenses can hide a church’s or a person’s hypocrisy from God's eye. As we go through this lesson today, pay close attention to what you hear as it relates to how the Church envisioned themselves versus how Jesus saw them. The difference is striking. Barry, I will turn it over to you.

Verses 1-3

“(1) And unto the angel of the church in Sardis write; these things says He that has the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars; I know your works, that you have a name that you live, and are dead. (2) Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die: for I have not found your works perfect before God. (3) Remember therefore how you have received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore you will not watch, I will come on you as a thief, and you will not know what hour I will come upon you.” (Revelation 3:1-3)

Rodney: I want to begin by looking at the last part of verse 3 which says “If therefore you will not watch, I will come on you as a thief, and you will not know what hour I will come upon you.” What Jesus says does not have the same impact or meaning for us today as it did for those who heard it.

The church at Sardis knew exactly what Jesus meant when He made that statement. It reminded them of the history of King Croesus, who ruled the region and was, at that time, the wealthiest king in the world. To protect his wealth and keep himself safe, the king built a massive fortified city much like the city of Jericho that we read about in Joshua 6. He knew that no army would be able to take it and he was right. When Cyrus realized that he couldn’t take the city he isolated it by camping soldiers all around it. One night one of Cyrus’ soldiers noticed a soldier on the wall looking over the wall and, as he did, his helmet dropped to the ground. A little while later, he saw a door open and the soldier who had dropped his helmet, rushed out, retrieved it, went back inside, and then closed the door.