The Seven Churches Series

THE CHURCH OF SARDIS

**The city of Sardis was built around B.C. 500 and was located on a narrow plateau fifteen hundred feet above sea level, about thirty-five miles southeast of Thyatira.

__Because the city was built in a mountainous region it was a natural citadel.

__It was the capital of the Lydian Empire and was still an important city during the Roman Empire.

__Sardis had become famous for their abilities in arts and crafts.

__They made lavish use of the local brightly colored and semi-precious stones such as fire opal and banded agate.

__The number seven represent, is a symbol of, completeness, or perfection.

__ The word Spirits is capitalized, which mean they are part of, and are in essence, God himself.

__The word Spirits is the Greek word “pnedma” which means breath or wind. Perhaps the seven Spirits are personifications of God, or maybe they represent seven of His powers.

__In Isaiah 11:2, the prophet speaks of the Spirit of Lord resting upon Jesus the Messiah. Perhaps these are the seven Spirits. Let's take a look at Isaiah 11:2.

__” And the Spirit of the Lord will rest on Him, the spirit of wisdom, and understanding, the spirit of counsel, and strength, the spirit of knowledge, and the fear of the Lord”.

__Now let's take this verse apart.

1) And the Spirit of the Lord

2) the spirit of wisdom

3) and understanding

4) the spirit of counsel

5) and strength or power

6) the spirit of knowledge

7) and the fear of the Lord

__ If the Spirit of the Lord, wisdom, understanding, counsel, strength, knowledge, and the fear of the Lord, are the seven Spirits in front of the throne, what we are seeing is perhaps, a sevenfold ministry of the Holy Spirit.

__ Revelation 3:1 we find the phrase, “I know your deeds”. This indicates two things; one is that Sardis was an active church. They were doing things, having programs, and reaching out to the surrounding community.

__This was a church “on the go,” a lively church, a flourishing church.

__It was a church with a good reputation.

__It was a church that was in good standing with the community.

__ Many churches today don't even have any deeds.

__They are not doing anything for God. People show up for Sunday morning services and the church does nothing for the rest of the week. Sound familiar?

__The second thing that the phrase I know your deeds indicates is that God is watching.

__This is something that we hardly ever think about. God watches and knows our deeds. He doesn't only know what we do, He knows why we do.

__He knows us better than we even know ourselves. We should be encouraged by this because even when it seems like no one notices the things we do, God knows.

__ The flip side of this coin is that when we are doing deeds and works that we do not want anyone to know about, God knows.

__” That you have a name that you are alive”. What exactly is a name? My name is Pastor Duncan which means “a crown,”

__A name is what other people commonly think and say about you (or the church in Sardis in this case). The church in Sardis has good reputation, a name, that they are alive and active. But that is not what this means. A name carries with it both reputation and character.

__ “But you are dead”. The church had a name, and a reputation for being alive; but that name and reputation were with the world.

__Their name and reputation did not come from God. They were so busy doing things and trying to entertain and please the world that they forgot what the church is all about.

__They had stopped doing their works and deeds for God. In all their activity they were too busy to notice that the church had died. They were too busy trying to convince each other that they were “Spiritual” to notice that they were dead.

__All the outward manifestations of the Spirit meant nothing. All the works and deeds meant nothing. All the church activity was worthless. Why? It is because the church is really dead.

__The church is going through the motions, but they are not measuring up to God's standard of Holiness. What looked alive and active to man was dead as far as God was concerned.

__They thought were very active for the Lord, but they were not intimate with the Lord. God looks at the heart and judges our motives. He watches to see why we do what we do.

**(Revelation 3:2)

“Wake up, and strengthen the things that remain, which were about to die; for I have not found your deeds completed in the sight of My God”.