(Revelation 3:1-6)

"To the angel of the church in Smyrna write:

These are the words of him who holds the seven spirits of God and the seven stars.  I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead.  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.  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.  Yet you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes.  They will walk with me, dressed in white, for they are worthy.  He who overcomes will, like them, be dressed in white.  I will never blot out his name from the book of life, but will acknowledge his name before my Father and his angels.  He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches".

Sardis was located in W. Central Asia Minor some 100 miles from the Mediterranean sea; about 30-35 miles south east of Thyatira.  It was located on the northern ridge of Mt. Tmolus, some 1500 ft over the the Hermus or Pactolus river.  In history prior to the first century, it was an extremely wealthy city.  It was in fact the ancient capital of Lydia.  History shows that they mined gold & that money was minted there.  It is reported that there were sheer walls on 3 sides making the city virtually impregnable, giving its citizens a strong sense of comfort and safety. However, the city did go through a fall in approx. 549-546 B.C., when Cyrus king of Persia took the city.  Tradition says that a soldier found a crevice in the rock hill up which he led a band of soldiers to the summit, taking the city by surprise.  And again, some 330 yrs later Antiochus the Great took the city in the same way.  Sardis had been caught napping each time it was taken.

Apparently Sardis started out strong, doing good works, as noted in the letter of "having a name" and "strengthen the things that remain", suggesting they once had more.  But somehow they wavered or faltered.  They failed to persevere.  Sardis was apparently trying to ride on the reputation of the past; but was suffering from neglect & indifference.

The Dispensational View of

the Letter to Sardis

(1520 A.D. to 1750 A.D.)

This time period covers the "Church of the Reformation".  It could be nicknamed the "Dead" church or the "Alive in Name only" church.  

The word "Sardis" means "escaping ones" or "those who come out".  Martin Luther was the basic emphasis of the Reformation with the rediscovery of "The Just shall live by Faith".  This sparked a resurgence and interest in the Holy Scriptures (remember prior to that time the reading of the Bible had been forbidden by the "laity" or "people").  However, Bibles were not available to the vast majority of people and those that were were in Latin.  This is a picture of those Reformation churches that have come out of the Roman Church of Pergamum and Thyatira.  The Ones escaping from the Roman Church.  

Sardis is called the Dead Church because God says "You have a name that you are alive, or you have a reputation that you are alive, but you are in reality, dead."   Most of us today would not think of the churches that came out of the Roman church during the Protestant Reformation as dead, but that is how Christ sees them.  Why is this so?

  • They became State Churches

    • For instance, Martin Luther worked with and sought out the approval of the political leaders, the the Lutheran Church became the State Church of Germany.  Entire countries became Protestant without being Born-Again...ie. the Anglican Church of England.  Much the same way as when Constantine made Christianity the official religion of Rome strongly encouraging all citizens to convert.  The Reformation church included the entire population of the country, often without a true conversion and personal acceptance of Jesus Christ as Savior (not much different from Christian America).  Therefore, God says... "You have a name that you are alive, but you are really dead". 

  • They did not change much of what they left in the Roman Church Remember, those who were in the Reformation Churches came out of the Roman Church of Pergamum and Thyatira and therefore brought much of the old with them.  Infant baptism was continued, so was baptism by sprinkling, along with much of the Ritualism of the Roman Church and the Sacraments.

    • Just as the city of Sardis stayed "living in their past" glories and works became careless and neglectful , the Reformers too started off well, (like the letter says, they "developed a name") but they did not complete the works of fully reforming the Church (like the letter says, God "did not find their works perfect or complete") , stopping far short of what the Bible calls for.  They prided themselves and rested on their past glories and works and became careless and neglectful.  God councils this church to:

     

    "Be Watchful..."

    The reformation lacked prophetic teaching and watching for Jesus and his return.  Remember, this teaching (the Imminent Return of Jesus) pretty much died in the third Church Age, Pergamum).  And this church also failed to be separate from the world.  Only if you are expecting and watching for the return of Jesus do you keep His word and remain separate from the world.

     

    "Strengthen what remains..."

    Stop your slide.  Don't let anything else go.  Salvage any good that is still in your reformed churches.  These churches today are still letting go and dying.  Abortion, Homosexuality, the Authority of Scripture, the Deity of Christ, the Fatherhood of God vs. the Father/Motherhood of God, etc. are invading all the churches.

     

    "Remember how you have received and heard..."

    Return to what you originally had received.  Hold fast to the Scripture and the "Just shall live by Faith".

     

    "Hold Fast..."

    Don't let go of anything.  Don't let go of the Scriptures.  Don't compromise with anyone (the world).

     

    "Repent..."

    God is the answer for all our problems.  Repent and Return.  Return back to Jesus.

     

    Personal Application

    It is very easy to get trapped into the "Ritual of Church".  This happens when we a individuals continue to merely go through the motions (as dead), but have no real heart for Jesus.  Many of us have drifted so far from Him that we may not even really believe that there even was or is a "Jesus", or if we still believe, we certainly don't believe He will actually return, much less return soon.  We must get back to Jesus, not just "get back to church".