Dear Sardis

Do you remember the last time that you got a notification of a text or email from someone you weren’t necessarily expecting to hear from, and you quickly realize that—based on the first few words and the length of the text box or message—this is not going to be good. For the first half of my life, that was usually my mom. In the second half of my life, however, it’s usually been my wife.

As we continue our series in Revelation, we see right away that the message Jesus gives to the fifth church (Sardis) starts off with a different tone compared to the messages he gave to the past four churches—even right from the greeting. It’s as if Dear Sardis was lacking the word “dear.”

The Greeting

“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” (3:1a).

Now, we’ve already seen this language of seven spirits from Rev. 1:4, but this vision comes from Zechariah 4, Zechariah sees a vision of a lampstand with seven lamps and seven lips on each of the lamps. And when He asks what they are, what He’s told by the angel is: “Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of hosts” (Zech. 4:6). And then, he’s eventually told, “These seven are the eyes of the Lord, which range through the whole earth” (Zech. 4:10).

As we’ve emphasized throughout this series, the original readers of the Bible would’ve read the number seven and understood that it had a meaning, signifying totality and completeness. So Zechariah 4 is not saying that God has seven eyes as opposed to six or eight. It’s that seven represents the totality, the completeness, of God, by his Holy Spirit, who is completely able to see all things.

So, Revelation 3 says: To the church in Sardis, here are the words of him who has the Holy Spirit of God and the “seven stars,” all the angels of all the churches (Rev. 1:20)—the One who sees all things. And what does Jesus see here? All the things that the church in Sardis has been doing: “I know your works” (3:1b).

With the past four churches, this was usually a positive note. We saw that Jesus always acknowledged their good works right off the bat. With Ephesus, it was their strong discernment against false teaching. With Smyrna and Pergamum, it was their faithfulness through suffering. Then, with Thyatira, it was their love, faith, service, and patient endurance.

Sardis, however, gets zero acknowledgment for any good works. So this isn’t like a friendly employer saying, “I know about all the good work you’ve been doing!” Instead, it’s like a disappointed father sternly telling his seemingly innocent child, “I know everything that you’ve done.” Jesus gets right to the problem and tells the church in Sardis what he has against them.

The Problem

“I know your works. You have the reputation of being alive, but [in reality] you are dead” (3:1b).

In other words, the church in Sardis was well-known for their external well-being. They stood out within their region because they had a high standing (literally). Interestingly, we know from history that the city of Sardis was built on top of a high cliff that overlooked their surrounding region—making it seemingly invulnerable to enemy attacks.

And not only was Sardis secure in war, but also through their wealth. History tells us that Sardis was home to a river with gold-bearing sands, and its location was a central hub for trade and commerce. So, similar to its city’s reputation, the church in Sardis was known as a healthy, thriving church who is alive and well! Yet, Jesus knows their actual condition, and his diagnosis says otherwise.

Do you remember the last time you heard about a person who seemed to be doing good in life based on their social media updates—then suddenly, you hear about their death? And not because of an accident, but because of their health condition—whether it was a due to a sickness that they didn’t know about, or a diagnosed sickness that they chose to ignore because they wanted to “think positive” and keep living a “normal” everyday life, even though deep down they knew they were dying? This hypothetical person embodies the church in Sardis.

And many churches today are like the church in Sardis, and they look different from one another. Some of them are churches who think they’re doing good simply because people still come to their services every week. Other churches think they’re growing simply because they’re a very welcoming church and their numbers are growing (along with their budget lines). Then there’s the churches who are well-known in their communities because of their vibrant worship music and exciting programs for the young people.

Many people would come away from these churches and say, “this is a good church” based on their Sunday services. Yet, Jesus knows the church in Sardis and their superficial Christianity: “You are like embalmed and dressed up corpses in caskets. You might look the part, but you’re not actually living the part (or living at all).”

And beyond being dead, Jesus identifies the other problem at the end of verse 2: I [the One who can see completely] have not found your works complete in the sight of my God” (3:2b). So Jesus does say that the church in Sardis has been doing good works—but only in their eyes and others’ eyes. But according to Jesus, their works were deficient in God’s eyes. Why?

Because these works were done by people who were Christians in name only (in other words, “nominal” Christians). In fact, the word “reputation” in verse 1 is translated as “name” (which is repeated four times in this section) to emphasize that their works were merely external and superficial like their name. The church in Sardis is the epitome of what we would call a “nominal” church today.

The prophet Isaiah describes the nominal Israelites of his day as “people [who] draw near with their mouth and honour [God] with their [lip service], while their hearts are far from [him], and their fear of [God] is a commandment taught by men [i.e. tradition]” (Is. 29:13)—which Jesus would eventually apply to the Pharisees.

This is exactly who the Christians in Sardis really were. On the outside, they were saying and doing all the right Christian things. These people grew up in Christian homes. They could quote the Bible in their sleep. They attended church services and took communion regularly. But Jesus knows and sees right through their cultural Christianity. Yet, Jesus offers a solution to their problem in verse 2.

The Solution

“Wake up, and strengthen what remains and is about to die” (3:2).

Now, this call to wake up would’ve sounded an alarm to the citizens of Sardis, because they know (and we know) from history that the Persians eventually  invaded Sardis by climbing up, finding an opening in the wall, and opening the city gates from within while their watchmen slept through the whole thing. Then a few centuries later, another nation would invade Sardis again in similar fashion.

Against that backdrop, Jesus sounds this alarm on the church’s spiritual slumber. Unlike the last four churches, we hear of no immediate threat or opposition to the Christians in Sardis. This was not a church that was being persecuted. But that’s exactly why Jesus calls them to wake up—they were getting too comfortable and complacent! So they are to wake up and strengthen “what remains,” which is likely referring to their incomplete works that Jesus knows about (3:1b-2).

In other words, much of this church’s ministry is weakening and about to die because they’ve been sleep-walking and mindlessly going through the motions. But which part of their ministry are they to strengthen? What are the remaining works that they need to complete?

We don’t know specifically, and that’s okay because Jesus was content leaving out the specifics. But what we do know is that Jesus calls them to action (period). Get up and get to work! And how are they supposed to do this? Verse 3 lists the specific action items:

“Remember, then, what you received and heard. Keep it, and repent” (3:3a).

How should the church in Sardis complete their works and get to the finish line? By going back to where they started. Much like Ephesus, Sardis needed to remember the apostolic teaching that they had received and heard at first. Now, some scholars also note that the word “what” here is actually translated as “how” in the original language, which emphasizes the manner in which the church initially received and heard the message of the gospel. In other words, the church needs to remember how they started in their journey of faith. So was the church full of life at the start? Did they receive the gospel with authenticity and zeal?

Regardless, the church in Sardis now needs to keep what they received and heard (that is, to do the works that they did at first), and repent of (or turn away from) their complacency and lack of spiritual vitality. With all the glaring similarities to Ephesus, could it be that Sardis had the opposite struggle? While they might’ve had the warm, welcoming love that Ephesus was missing, was Sardis lacking the doctrinal vigilance that Ephesus had?

Either way, the point is clear: the way forward is back. The church in Sardis needed to get back to the fundamentals and keep those fundamentals moving forward. But to stay where they were at—unrepentant in their contentment with complacency—would have eternal consequences. Yet, Jesus doesn’t want them stay there, so he gives them a warning (halfway through verse 3).

The Warning

“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” (3:3b).

Now, a plain reading of this verse naturally assumes that this is talking about the second coming of Jesus due to all the times that the NT describes that event as a thief in the night (Matt. 24:43; Lk. 12:39; 1 Thess. 5:2-4; 2 Pet. 3:10; Rev. 16:15). While that could be the case, many Bible teachers also understand this verse to be referring to acoming of Jesus to discipline and judge unrepentant Christians in light of his second coming—which also happened multiple times in the NT.

Remember the sudden deaths of Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5:1-11), as well as the Corinthian Christians who either got sick or died due to their misconduct at the Lord’s Table? In fact, do you remember Jesus’ warning to discipline Ephesus (Rev. 2:5) and war against some in Pergamum (Rev. 2:16)?

Either way, the warning is clear: if these nominal Christians in Sardis don’t wake up and recover their Scriptural foundation, Jesus will come to judge them—and it will surprise them because they fooled themselves into thinking that everything was fine the way it was. It’s as if Jesus was saying, “Remember those times when your city got invaded in the night while everyone was snuggled in bed? I will be like that enemy nation sneaking in at night to kill you if you don’t wake up.”

And if this sounds cruel or merciless, just pause and see Jesus’ mercy towards these nominal Christians. The fact that he warns them means that he wants to gives them time to wake up and repent as opposed to bringing judgment right then and there. As Peter says, Jesus delays his coming wrath and judgment because he “is patient toward [us], not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance” (2 Pet. 3:9).

Jesus is not a hard taskmaster who wants to see his people fail. No. Jesus is a gracious master who wants them to succeed (and will make sure that they succeed)! Warnings throughout the Bible are good news for Christians, because that’s God being a gracious father who warns his children in order to keep them from death and help them persevere. So these warnings should comfort us who are Christians today and give us assurance of our eternal security in Christ.

In fact, Jesus knows this church in Sardis. He knows his own sheep by name (John 10:3), so not only does he warn this nominal church, but he also makes sure to acknowledge the faithful few among them.

The Faithful Few

“Yet you have still a few names in Sardis, people who have not soiled their garments, and they will walk with me in white, for they are worthy” (3:4).

This imagery of soiled garments appears a few times in the OT (Zech. 3), but Isaiah 64 gives the clearest meaning behind the imagery: “We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment [or filthy rags, which is the more familiar translation from the KJV]” (Is. 64:6). So, we see that the garments here symbolize deeds (or works). And the soiled garments here represent the deficiency of the sinner’s righteous deeds.

Yet, in Revelation 3:4, Jesus is saying that there are a select few in Sardis whose righteous deeds were not like soiled garments and that their good works are not deficient in God’s eyes (in connection to verse 2). There was a small minority of Christians in this nominal church who displayed spiritual vitality through their good works—and thus have not soiled their garments. Works don’t make you alive, but works do show if you’re alive. This was the case with the faithful few.

And the promise for them is that, in the end, they will walk with Jesus in white. We get a glimpse of this in Revelation 19 when the Bride is clothed at the marriage supper of the Lamb: “It was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure”—for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints” (Rev. 19:8). We talked about how the garments (or linens) represent works, but the white garment represents the righteous deeds of the saints.

And why does Jesus say they will walk in white? Because they are worthy. Wait— isn’t Jesus the only one who gets the title of “worthy” according to Revelation 5? Well, notice who clothes them in white? Jesus. Their righteous deeds are not what makes them worthy—but Jesus who deems them worthy to walk in white.

Yet, this promise is not just for the faithful few in verse 4, but also for those who heed Jesus’ warning and wake up! And beyond being clothed in white, Jesus gives comforting promises in verse 5 regarding the names of those who conquer.

The Promises

“The one who conquers will be clothed thus in white garments, and I will never blot his name out of the book of life” (3:5a).

In contrast to the nominal Christians who merely have the name or reputation of being alive, Jesus promises those who conquer the reality of eternal life. How? Jesus will never blot their names out of the book of life. This provides total comfort and assurance—or does it? Doesn’t this imply that God could blot someone’s name out of the book of life?

There are a few OT passages (like Ex. 32:32-33 and Ps. 69:28) that explicitly talk about God blotting out names from a book, but the short answer is that these passages refer to a heavenly registry with names being blotted out of physical life. What we see in Revelation (and even from Daniel 12:1-2), however, is a different book of life that records the names of those who have eternal life.

And in Revelation 3:5, Jesus promises conquerors that he will never erase their names from this book. Note that Jesus gives a promise here—not a threat. For those who wake up and those who don’t soil their garments, Jesus is promising that he will never blot their names out of the book of life, as opposed to threatening them that he will blot their names out of it.

In fact, Rev. 13:8 and Rev. 17:8 tell us that God had already written these names in before the foundation of the world—so God isn’t some malevolent character who is maliciously waiting to white-out names of anyone who steps out of line. God is not in the business of blotting out names from—but writing in names to— the book of life. And those are names that he will never erase.

This is why Paul, in Philippians 4, pleads with his fellow Christians to resolve their conflict based on the fact that their names are written in book of life (Phil. 4:2-3)—don’t burn bridges with your brothers and sisters today because Jesus didn’t do that with you despite your sins. He doesn’t block you and your name out of his life (as in, eternal life with him).

Instead, Jesus promises to do the opposite for the one who conquers: “I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels” (3:5b).

To Pergamum, conquerors are promised a new name that only they will recognize. To Sardis, conquerors are promised they will get this hear their name acknowledged by Jesus himself. Just pause and stew on that for a bit. Jesus, one day, will open the book of life and read names out loud from that long list in front of his Father and his angels. Can you imagine the moment once you hear him say your name?

When Jesus says to you, “I know you. I know everything you’ve done for my sake. You were dying, but you listened to me and you woke up. You remembered what I said, and you obeyed and turned back to me. I know it was hard—but I know you kept going. Well done, good and faithful servant, for conquering. Here’s your white robe—you’re worthy of it.”

I want that. Don’t you?

And this doesn’t have to be wishful thinking or imagination—this is a promise for those who conquer. For those of us who wake up or keep their garments unsoiled—our names will be recognized by Jesus. So what does this look like for us today, as we wait for that day? What does this look like for this church to conquer?

“He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches” (3:6).

To Emmanuel

Maybe you resonate with Sardis. Maybe you have had little to no desire to grow in your faith. And yet, you’ve been content with coasting where you’re at.

Or maybe you’ve been living on autopilot mode weekly—going to school or work, going to the grocery store, going home and watching TV, going on your phone, going to bed—then repeat the weekly cycle without the thought of God or the Bible crossing your mind much outside of Sunday mornings (and even then, you might still be on autopilot as you sit through prayers and listen to familiar songs).

Wherever you’re at, I hope you’re hearing Jesus’ words here this morning and that He is sounding the alarm for you to wake up! Don’t be fooled into thinking that doing Christian things is Christian living.

Or maybe you are aware that you are putting on a facade. Maybe you’re saying and doing the right Christian things when people are around, either to get your parents’ or family’s approval or just to blend in—but you still think and talk and laugh and live the same old way when no one’s looking.

You might fool others, but not Jesus. He knows his church, and he knows your works—He can see right through your nice church clothes. Call yourself a Christian all you want. Take communion like everyone else, but if you stay where you are and think that you’ll be okay, hear the warning: Jesus will come against you one day—you won’t see it coming, and you may not get another warning call.

So, remember how you first heard and received the good news of Jesus Christ that he died to take your sins away. Maybe receive it afresh even as we take the bread and the cup today!

And maybe you’re only hearing it today for the first time—this is Jesus’ merciful offer to repent before he comes to judge. Turn from current way of living and turn to Jesus and ask him to help you live truly.

And you’re gonna need help from others too, so ask some faithful Christians who are part of this church to walk alongside you in that journey! This is how you get up and get to work (as in, your primary job—not just your secondary job that pays your bills and sustains your lifestyle).

But for the faithful few—church, there’s a corporate sense here in that we need to wake up. We need to look around and look out for dying people among us. We can’t be overly optimistic when assessing the overall health of our church and assume that people are doing good based on what we see or hear externally. We’re already so good at looking like we’ve got everything together.

Unlike Sardis, we can’t be fooled just because we might feel like we’re a healthy church—we still need to be aware of, and strengthen any, areas of weakness in our church life and ministry together. Not soiling our garments individually does not mean that we look past the (potentially) soiled garments of others.

As Jude says, “Have mercy on those who doubt; save others by snatching them out of the fire; to others show mercy with fear, hating even the garment stained by the flesh” (Jude 23).

And this might get us in sticky mud—this may give us a reputation that we might not want to have. It might be reputation of not being alive in other’s eyes, but it may very well be the opposite in Jesus’ eyes. The books might show one thing, but we need to be rich in good works. We might get a bad name out there (even in our community), but we need to care more about what Jesus thinks. Because he’s the one who sees. He knows our church, and he knows our works. So we need to be faithful.

So hear what the Spirit says, Emmanuel: “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.”