The Letter To The Church At Sardis Series

THE LETTER TO THE CHURCH AT SARDIS

Revelation 3:1-6

I once heard a story of a little boy who found a snake on his grandfather’s farm. He informed his grandfather, and he took a shovel and cut its head off. Even with its head separated from the rest of its body, the snake hissed and tried to bite the end of the shovel. The little boy remarked “Grandpa, that snake is dead, he just doesn’t know it yet!”

Unfortunately, there are many churches that are like that snake, they are dead; they just don’t know it! There was a church located in Asia Minor many years ago that had this problem. They had a reputation of being alive, but Jesus said that they were dead.

Even though the church was dead, there was a glimmer of hope. There was a faithful remnant of Christians who worshipped there, and Jesus encouraged them to remain faithful to Him. Perhaps it was because of them that Jesus gave the Church at Saris the opportunity to repent instead of completely destroying them. Though Jesus was not pleased with the current condition of this church, He was longsuffering, patient and merciful; He sent them a letter confronting their error and warning them of their future if they failed to repent and return to Him.

Thankfully, I don’t see many parallels between the Church at Sardis and Stockdale but there are some important lessons that we can learn from this letter. Join me as we examine “The Letter To The Church At Sardis”.

- We will begin by considering:

THE RECIPIENTS OF THIS LETTER

v1a "And to the angel of the church in Sardis write,

Sardis was a city that was located 30 miles southeast of Thyatira; it had been the capital of Lydia. Like Ephesus, the people of Sardis were involved in the worship of the Roman Caesar as well as the pagan goddess of fertility, Artemis. The primary industry in Sardis was harvesting and dying wool and making clothing out of it. There was a church located in Sardis, but it was in pitiful shape, there were a handful of genuine believers in that church but most of the congregants were unregenerate. Sardis had a reputation as being a Christian church, but for the most part they were going through the motions with no signs of spiritual life.

Jesus knew all about the sad state of the church at Sardis and He wrote this letter to warn them and to encourage them to remember, repent and return to Him. This leads us to:

THE AUTHOR OF THIS LETTER

v1b 'These things says He who has the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars:

Jesus identifies Himself as the one who “has the seven Spirits of God”. This phrase is likely a reference to the completeness of the Holy Spirit. It is in the power of the Holy Spirit that Jesus controls the churches and their messengers. Jesus also declares that He has “the Seven Stars”, as we have seen in previous letters, this is speaking of the “angels of the seven churches”. This is encouraging; for even in dead churches made up of a majority of unregenerate people, Jesus holds His faithful servants in His hands.

- As we move further we will see:

THE REBUKE IN THIS LETTER

v1c "I know your works, that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead.

Sardis was a church with lifeless profession. The members professed to know Christ, but they did not possess salvation. Though this church had a reputation for being active and vibrant, Sardis was consumed with sin. They looked really good on the outside, but they were corrupt on the inside. Jesus examined the spiritual condition of this church and he said to them “I have not found your works perfect before God.” He declared that this church was dead; however there were a handful of faithful Christians in that assembly.

This faithful remnant is likely the only reason that Jesus gave this spiritually dead church the opportunity to make things right before He destroyed them. His desire was not to destroy this church, He wanted to redeem it, therefore He sent this letter to instruct them as to how to make things right.

- Notice:

THE COMMAND IN THIS LETTER

v2 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; hold fast and repent.

Even though Jesus declared that this church was spiritually dead, He saw some signs of life. He said, “be watchful, and strengthen the things that remain, those that are ready to die”.

Sardis was a church that needed to go back to the beginning; They needed to return to the fundamentals of the faith. They had drifted away from the Apostles teaching, they had ceased growing in their faith, they had abandoned evangelism, and they had lost their focus and turned away from the Lord. Sardis was a church that had gone to sleep; they did not possess the positive attributes that were present in the surrounding churches. There was no love, devotion, good works, sound doctrine, Christian service or evangelism for Jesus to praise them for. They were dead and this was their last chance for a revival. If Sardis would not heed the words of Jesus in this letter, they would face His judgement.