To the Church in Sardis
He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. Revelation 3:6
Revelation 3:1–6 – The Book of Revelation: Worship. Obey. Endure.
Trinity Sunday – June 12, 2022 (am)
Sir W[illiam] Ramsay said of the ancient city of Sardis that nowhere was there a greater example of the melancholy contrast between past splendour and present decay (Barclay 112; below 112-116). The ancient city was constructed on a narrow plateau that jutted out like a spur from the long ridge of Mt. Tmolus in Lydia, some 1,500 feet above the Hermus River valley and plain. Not only was it a beautiful city, but it was also naturally fortified against invasion in that there was only one entrance along the plateau from the mountain ridge. And the sides of the plateau were steep and smooth, more like caked and crumbly mud than like rock. Sardis was once rich and prosperous, filled with magnificence and luxury. Prospectors found gold in the Pactolus River which also flowed through the valley below. In time, the city outgrew the plateau and expanded down into that valley.
The most notorious of the Sardian kings was the legendary Croesus; his name is synonymous with riches still today. His rule brought Sardis to its zenith during the sixth century bc and he was still in power when they were first defeated. He foolishly mobilized his army to attack Cyrus of Persia in 549 bc and Sardis was soundly defeated. They retreated to the higher city which Croesus thought was impregnable, but Cyrus initiated a siege. After fourteen days he offered a reward to anyone who would find an entry. An observant soldier noticed that one of the Sardians had accidentally dropped his helmet from the wall, and he climbed down to get it. That’s how they first realized that the steep slope must be scalable.
That night [the soldier] led a party of Persian troops up by the fault in the rock. When they reached the top they found the battlements completely unguarded. The Sardians had thought themselves too safe to need a guard, and so Sardis fell (Barclay 114). The Sardians made a few measly attempts at rebellion in the years that followed, but any heroic efforts were preempted by Cyrus’ policies. He forbade any Sardian to possess a weapon, so they were not armed for war. He ordered them to wear tunics and buskins [actor’s boots] instead of sandals, so they were not dressed for war. He ordered them to teach their sons [to play the lyre], … song and… dance, and retail trading, so they were not fit for war. Sardis had been flabby already but the last vestige of spirit was banished from its people and it became a city of degeneration. It vanished from history under Persian rule for two centuries (Barclay 115).
When Alexander and the Greeks rose to power, Sardis surrendered to them. But the city was defeated again in 218 bc, long after Alexander’s death when Antiochus III was pursuing a fleeing enemy that sought refuge there. The city was taken in exactly the same way it had been before: a night invasion at the site of an unguarded battlement. Antiochus had learned from Sardian history, but the Sardians themselves hadn’t—an absolute embarrassment!
There’s even more interesting history of Sardis, but we don’t need to survey it all this morning. What we do need to know is that, by the latter part of the first century ad, this city was wealthy again, but they were still soft and lazy. And as for the church in Sardis, they weren’t much different than their surroundings. We’ll say more about that in a few minutes. But first, let’s just get started into this text and hear what Jesus had to say to them. Again, let’s look at this letter in four stages.
The Ascription – 1a
1 And to the angel of the church in Sardis ….” Let’s talk for a moment about these angels of the churches. The word behind angel, here and in the address to each of the seven churches (2:1, 8, 12, 18; 3:1, 7, 14), means messenger. From that, many have concluded that the most reasonable, perhaps the most believable, reference would be to the pastors of these churches. Now, personally, I really like the idea of Jesus calling pastors angels! But this word isn’t used with that meaning anywhere else in Scripture (Ladd 35, Carson 1995).
Others suggest that messenger is the best translation, and it refers to actual messenger, the one who carried this letter from John on the island [of] Patmos (1:9) to the seven churches that were on the continent (Beale 1999 230). The problem here is that in the rest of the sixty-seven uses of this word in Rev., it refers to heavenly beings (Morris 60).
So, it seems best to understand each of these messengers to be an angel assigned by God to each of these churches. We know that children have angels (Mat.18:10; cf. Heb.1:14), and so do nations (Dan.10:13, 20; cf. 12:1). But why would God tell an angel to tell John (1:1) to tell another angel what Jesus had to say to the churches? I believe the answer is that, in some way which is not entirely clear, each angel represents its church as something like its heavenly counterpart (Beale 1999 217). That may sound odd, especially since there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus (1Ti.2:5), and He is our great high priest who always lives to make intercession for [us] (Heb.7:25). So, why would we need a representative angel?
Well, there’s evidence elsewhere in Rev. of angels being identified with Christians in somewhat unusual ways. For instance, in c.19, John is so impressed with the message of an angel that he 19:10 … fell down at his feet to worship him, but [the angel] said to [John], “You must not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers who hold to the testimony of Jesus. Worship God! These very same final words were spoken again by the angel in 22:9.
Even more unique, though, is the description in c.8. At the opening of the seventh seal (8:1), John wrote: 8: 2 … I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them. 3 And another angel came and stood at the altar with a golden censer, and he was given much incense to offer with the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar before the throne, 4 and the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, rose before God from the hand of the angel. Now, I’m guessing most of us don’t picture our prayers being met at a golden altar before the throne of God by an incense-burning angel who delivers them!
So, while we freely admit that there’s not enough explicit information here to develop a full-blown theology of angels (Carson 1995), we do know something of their roles, as we’ve seen in these texts. And, I believe all of this flows together to suggest that the angels of Rev.2-3 are actual angels, heavenly beings so closely associated with these churches as their representatives in heaven that they even share accountability with them for their victories and struggles (Beale 1999 217).
Back to the text: 1 And to the angel of the church in Sardis write: “The words of him who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. … We know that the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches (1:20). And I told you as we passed through 1:4 that we’d talk later about what the seven spirits of God represent. This description comes up again in 4:5 and 5:6, so, four times in Rev.1-5. Personally, I’ve gone back and forth on whether we should understand this as speaking of one of the high orders of angels surrounding the throne of God (Mounce 46-48; Carson 1995; cf. 8:2) or as a reference to the fullness of the Person and ministry of the Holy Spirit (Beale 1999 189; Ladd 24-24). But I believe I’m landing on the latter, primarily due to the grouping of the seven spirits who are before the throne (1:4) with the Father (him who is and who was and who is to come [1:4, cf. 1:) and the Son (Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings on earth [1:5]. Also, the seven spirits of God grouped with the seven torches of fire that were burning before the throne of God (4:5) seems to draw from Zec.4 where a lampstand all of gold, with… seven lamps on it… (Zec.4:2) is identified as the eyes of the Lord, which range through the whole earth (Zec.4:10), a good image of the Holy Spirit. And this is also the passage where the familiar word of the Lord came to Zerubbabel (6) saying: Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of hosts.
So, Jesus introduces Himself here (1) as essentially the One Who has all the resources that Sardis could ever need!
The Assessment – 1b, 2b, 4
But beyond that, He knows them completely (1b). Nothing is hidden from Jesus. And what He sees in them is that their reputation is the opposite of reality! (1c) Now, there are still a few… in Sardis… who have not soiled their garments (4). They’ve not compromised with the world or stopped short of faithful witness in that lethargic culture. But the main group in Sardis was right there. They were ineffective, unfruitful (cf. 2Pe.18), as good as dead, regardless of what others, or of what they themselves, thought they were. 1 … I know your works, Jesus said. You have the reputation of being alive, but you are dead.
What a chilling statement! Just like their city, they weren’t what they once were. They had something going in the past, but they didn’t amount to much in the present. What an awful thing for a church to hear. It plays on our worst fears. You’re spiritual pretenders. That’s what Jesus is saying. You don’t finish anything. That’s the meaning of v.2b: 2 … I have not found your works complete in the sight of my God. You start well enough, but you don’t finish. You’re lazy. You’ve been spoon-fed for too long and you’ve grown weak. You’ve forgotten how to work.
I came here from a church that’s known around the world. I used to pray we weren’t Sardis. Our church here also has a reputation (Bible exposition, pure doctrine, training and sending, etc.). Is it true, or are we pretending—lazy, and living off the past? God, help us to hear what the Spirit says to the churches (6).
The Assignment – 2a, 3
So, what’s Jesus’ word to Sardis? Wake up! (2) Literally, be watchful, pay attention, be cautious—the very thing they should learn from Sardian history! The same slackness that stained their political and military history was now staining their church. So, the church had become like the world. That was its own issue. But put all this together and it seems the main problem at the church in Sardis was that they just wanted to fly under the radar. They wanted to blend in, not stand out, to keep a low profile (Beale 1999 276).
Outreach activities, spiritual growth initiatives, things of that sort appear to have started up, but never run full-cycle. Whether from lack of support or lack of stamina or maybe just lack of genuine interest, they all petered out. And Jesus was saying, C’mon, man! Get it going! Wake up! Finish something, huh? Get off your duff and get at it!
And how were they supposed to do that? Just as Jesus’ greeting here (1) sounds much like His greeting to Ephesus (2:1-2), this assignment (2a, 3) also sounds much like theirs (2:5). To Ephesus: remember, repent, and [return] (2:5). Here, it’s remember, [return], and repent (3). Remember that message that changed your life! Keep it! Go after your work as a church, being salt and light in this world, carrying the gospel message. You have all you need, just put it to use! Repent of all this sloth and get on with the work of the ministry!
3 … If you will not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come against you. They knew from experience what this was like! Several times in Scripture, Jesus’ coming like a thief refers to the unexpected hour of His return (Mat.24:43; 1Th5:2, 4; 2Pe.3:10; Rev.16:15). As for the righteous, we long for that Day! For the unrepentant, that marks the arrival of judgment. Here it’s probably not referring to Jesus’ ultimate coming, primarily because it’s stated as a conditional: If you will not wake up, I will come…. But, first, this certainly foreshadows His final coming in judgment and, second, it’s not for a picnic that He threatens to come here! He says: I will come against you! When my father used to say: Don’t make me come in there, I was pretty sure I didn’t want him show up! Same here! Again, this threat is not unlike Ephesus. Sardis is virtually dead already. And if Jesus has to come to them, almost certainly they will be.
The Assurance – 5-6
5 The one who conquers will be clothed thus in white garments, and I will never blot his name out of the book of life. I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels. 6 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who conquers is certainly the one who remembers, repents, and [returns] to a vibrant witness and walk with the Lord.
But there’s more here. They will be clothed… in white garments (5), just like those in Sardis who [had] not soiled their garments (4). And those folk were described with a poignant word in this book: worthy (4). The few… in Sardis (4) who’ve resisted the lure of the world—idolatry, complacency, and all the rest—4 … will walk with [Jesus] in white, for they are worthy. And now, so are the conquerors.
What do these white garments mean? If we look to c.7, John wrote (13-14): 13 Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, “Who are these, clothed in white robes, and from where have they come?” 14 I said to him, “Sir, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. These are the worthy ones.
And they’re worthy not in and of themselves. They’re worthy, ultimately, because of the blood of the Lamb. He has [cleansed] and clothed them in His righteousness—He Who Himself was proven worthy, because He was a conqueror (5:5), is now proving them worthy as well.
And as they endure by His enabling—as they remain faithful through trial and suffering in this life—when they finally enter His presence, He’ll identify them as conquerors by granting them these white garments (5).
So, they will walk with [Him] (4), fellowship. He will never blot [their] name out of the book of life (5)—not that He would blot [anyone else’s] out either. This is just an image of surety, of security, assurance. [He] will confess [their] names before [His] Father and before his angels (5; cf. Mat.10:32). So, confess My name in Sardis, Jesus is saying, and I will confess yours in heaven!
Conclusion
What do we make of all this today? O, friends, we have a name! If we have confessed Christ as Savior, we lay claim to a name! This says that we’re alive! We carry His name: Christian, Christ-one. We bear the name that is above every name: the name before which every knee and every tongue, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, should bow and confess (Phi.2:0-11). Do your works match that name? Are you alive? Are you worthy? Or do you need to hear Jesus’ call to Sardis: Wake up! Strengthen what remains! Half-hearted devotion doesn’t cut it. Weekend Christianity won’t do it. Lazy, slow, unfinished works of faith are stained garments, not white! Repent, and get back to work. The time is short!
War against the incessant pull of this world and press on toward (Phi.3:14) purity and in the faithful service we’ve be called and equipped to pursue. Be diligent to make your calling and election sure (2Pe.1:10). Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, [knowing that] it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure (Phi.2:12-13). Don’t leave the battlements of your life unguarded so that you’re vulnerable to the attack of every enemy, and to the attacks of the enemy who can make you soft and lazy, spiritually domesticated, in a very brief time!
So, how do we set a guard? Let me make a few suggestions. Some of you may say, I struggle with lust, but I don’t really need to set a guard on my computer. Friend, set the guard!
Some may say, I struggle sometimes in telling the pure truth, but I don’t really need to set a guard over my mind by committing Eph.4 to memory; that’s a long chapter! Friend, set the guard!
Some may say, I struggle with outbursts of anger, with bitterness, with criticism of others, but I don’t really need to set a guard over my tongue by studying Jam.3.
Friend, set the guard!
Some say, I struggle with gluttony, but I don’t really need to set a guard over what I eat, or to pray through my diet. Friend, set the guard!
Some say, I know I’ve made foolish decision after foolish decision, but I don’t really need to set a guard over my will; I don’t want to have to trouble others for advice and input all the time. Friend, set the guard!
Some say, I’m wandering kind of aimlessly in my spiritual life, but I don’t need to set a guard over my involvements. And I don’t really want to pursue spending more time with the body of Christ. Friend, set the guard!
Some say, I’m not really excited about the gospel—not enough to share it as freely as some do—but I don’t really need to set a guard over my heart. I don’t want to spend and more time meditating on the cross praying for opportunities to share it. Say it with me: set the guard!
What an amazing thing it is to know that we serve a risen Savior who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars (1)—He has everything we need to remember… what [we] received and heard, to keep it, and to repent (3). He has all we require in order to strengthen what remains (2) of our flabby faith and tighten it up for His glory—to wash clean our soiled and stained garments (4) so that they, too, may be made… white in the blood of the Lamb (7:14). He has all that we need to keep us from being ineffective and unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ (2Pe.1:8). That comes to us from a passage that sounds like it could have been the doctor’s prescription for just what ailed Sardis: 2Pe.1:3-11. And Peter’s flock lived in the same region as Sardis (cf. 1:Pe.1:1). Let’s read this passage together.
3 His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, 4 by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. 5 For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, 6 and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, 7 and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. 8 For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins. 10 Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall. 11 For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
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Resources
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, R. T. France, J. A. Motyer, and G. J. Wenham, eds. 1994. New Bible Commentary 21st Century Edition. Revelation, by George R. Beasley-Murray, 1421-1455. Leicester, Eng.: InterVarsity.
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Hendriksen, William. 1940. More than Conquerors. Grand Rapids: Baker.
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MacArthur, John. 1999. The MacArthur New Testament Commentary. Revelation, 2 vols. Chicago: Moody.
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, and Roy B. Zuck, eds. 1983. The Bible Knowledge Commentary. Revelation, by John F. Walvoord, 925-991. Wheaton: Victor.
NEXT WEEK’S SERMON: To the Church in Philadelphia, Revelation 3:7–13