LIKE A THIEF
Revelation 3:1-6
The Church That Was Dead – 1500AD to 1700AD

The other parts of this series are in The Bride folder. 

The vast neurotic misery of the world could be termed a neurosis of emptiness. Men cut themselves off from the root of their being, from God, and then life turns empty, inane, meaningless, without purpose. So when God goes, goal goes. When goal goes, meaning goes. When meaning goes, value goes and life turns dead on our hands. Carl Gustav Jung

It was once the capital of the ancient kingdom of Lydia and its inhabitants enjoyed a voluptuous mode of life. This commercial city was located just 30 miles southeast of Thyatira on a key trade route and was the center of pagan worship with a temple to Artemis, one of the nature cults built on the idea of death and rebirth. It also prided itself on its huge necropolis; the “cemetery of a thousand hills.”

Physically it sat upon the acropolis, which rose some 1,500 feet above the main roads and provided the citizens with an almost impregnable military outpost. But in its history this city, although well fortified, had been successfully conquered two times; both of which were the result of complacency and overconfidence.

The city was aptly named after a gem as its wealth was legendary. It was known for the art of dyeing wool, the place where the metal electrum (white gold) was procured, the gold found in its river and it was the first place gold and silver coins were minted. But for all its worldly success and luxurious living it was a degenerate environment within which the church found itself a willing partner. It was a city of peace but not the peace won through battle, it was the peace of one whose dreams are dead and mind is asleep; the peace of lethargy and evasion.

Perhaps William Ramsay summed it up best: No city of Asia at that time showed such a melancholy contrast between past splendor and present decay as Sardis. And within this gem of a city was an overconfident church that was asleep at the switch. Just like the city, the church thought it had arrived … self satisfied and complacent.

Rev 3:1 And to the angel of the church in Sardis write, These things says He who has the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars: “I know your works, that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead.   

First we need to remember that Jesus sent this letter to the “church” at Sardis and not to the corrupt inhabitants of the city. And once again we are reminded of all the references John gives us for its author, and critical to this letter is the statement that He has the seven Spirits of God; the sevenfold fullness of the Holy Spirit. Jesus knows their works and He has the infinite power of the Spirit to convict them of their sin; the present state of their deeds (works), which are far less than He expects or demands.

The church had once been known for its spiritual vitality but Jesus saw it as dead. He told them that they had a “name,” and for us that is a very telling clue as to the heart of the problem in the church. In the Greek that word is onoma, from which we get our word “denomination.” Jesus brought to light the fact that they were depending upon their “denomination” and their “reputation in history;” what they used to be and not on their relationship with Him.

They thought they were alive and healthy but in reality they were dead. The church at Sardis was the first church in history to be filled with “nominal Christians.” They were living proof that if a man accepts sin long enough there comes a time when he can’t accept anything else. His sinful habits grow so strong that they can’t be broken and his feelings begin to die. While Smyrna was put to death and yet lived, Sardis appeared to be alive but was dead.

Jesus chose an example that they were well acquainted with as the Sardians were preoccupied with death and the practice had crept into the church; the necropolis, the “city of the dead.” The church had made such peace with the surrounding society that to them the cross had lost its preeminence. 

The question is how did such a vital, spirit-filled church die?

The citizens of Sardis were living off past fame and so was the church. This was the emergence of the denominational church with its soft traditions, its denial of Israel’s prophetic destiny and the de-emphasis of the gospel. Their loyalty and service to Christ was in the past; spiritually they had died. This is what brought about the Reformation and Luther and Calvin. 

1Tim 5:6 But she who lives in pleasure is dead while she lives.

2Tim 3:5 having a form of godliness but denying its power.

Moffatt translates verse 5 this way: Though they keep up a form of religion, they will have nothing to do with it as a force. Phillips puts it this way: They will maintain a façade of religion but their conduct will deny its validity. No matter how you put it, the church was so lethargic it failed to produce any opposition from the pagan world around it; its witness for Christ was dead.

The church did not die from persecution, a church can’t be killed from the outside, it only occurs from within. History has continually proven that the greater the church is persecuted the stronger it becomes and the larger it grows. Sardis did have some who were alive but they were surrounded by those who were dead; who had become nothing better than hypocrites.

A church dies when its individual members die and when it relies on its past reputation; complacency and overconfidence. It dies when sin is allowed to abound. Many go around wearing soiled garments and beneath their outward reputation is secret – unconfessed – sin, which ultimately leads to relaxed moral standards in the church. But most importantly a church dies when there is a lack of spiritual sensitivity; when it fails to sense its own spiritual condition. Consider the example of Sampson; he lost God and didn’t even know it. 

Judge 16:18-20 When Delilah saw that he had told her all his heart, she sent and called for the lords of the Philistines, saying, “Come up once more, for he has told me all his heart.” So the lords of the Philistines came up to her and brought the money in their hand. 19 Then she lulled him to sleep on her knees, and called for a man and had him shave off the seven locks of his head. Then she began to torment him, and his strength left him. 20 And she said, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” So he awoke from his sleep, and said, “I will go out as before, at other times, and shake myself free!” But he did not know that the Lord had departed from him.

When the church doesn’t stand apart from the world around it and doesn’t carry the challenge of the gospel outside its walls it is a dead witness for Christ. 

Luke 6:26 Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for so did their fathers to the false prophets

The church at Sardis had failed to watch. 

Rev 3:2 Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die, for I have

Be watchful (ginou greegoroon) means “be what you are not;” watchful, vigilant, awake or constantly alert. “Wake Up!” The first step toward renewal in a dying church is to admit the problem exists, and then be watchful to protect it from further decay. The Sardians didn’t miss the message; their city had been lost because of their failure to “watch.”

The first time it happened was when Cyrus laid siege to the city. One of his men saw one of the soldiers high up on the Acropolis lose his helmet and crawl down a path in the rocks to retrieve it. Once the way was known Cyrus’ army simply filed into the city and captured it. Their complacency cost them the city and sadly it happened a second time in the very same manner. Jesus reminded them that they needed to be watchful because as their city fell so would the church. Like their high hill they thought they were standing firmly and strongly spiritually but they weren’t. Their own history should have told them the results of being haughty and arrogant; standing on a false sense of security.

Therefore they needed to strengthen (steerison; establish steadfastly) those things which remained (loipa; a remnant, residue); the remaining few graces. The situation was not totally hopeless but they needed to radically reverse their attitudes. Their complacency led them to give up their identification with Christ and their mission for Him. There is no word concerning conflict within or without; the church simply did not have the faith to witness to the city of Sardis. This is reminiscent of Paul’s challenge to the churches at Rome and Corinth: 

Rom 13:11 And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed.

1Cor 16:13 Watch, stand fast in the faith, be brave, be strong.

We need to watch out for the devil, watch out for temptation, watch out for false teachers and watch out for Jesus if our works — love, faithfulness, perseverance, keeping His Word and not denying His name — are to be perfect before God (pepleeroomena; accomplished, fulfilled, fully preached; complete).

Rev 3:3 Remember therefore how you have received and heard; hold fast and repent. Therefore if you will not watch, I will come upon you as a thief, and you will not know what hour I will come upon you.  

As we have seen in previous letters the very first thing to do is to “remember.” Remember what they had received; the gospel at the teaching of the apostles and prophets. Not to remember how joyfully they received it but remember how it was originally given. In that way they could not deny having received it. They were not holding fast (teerei) the Word of Christ; the opposite of fleeing from an enemy. They were to hold fast (present tense) with what they received and heard (past tense) and bring themselves to repentance. Only then could they once more start obeying the truth of Christ’s Word. 

Col 2:6-7 As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, 7 rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving.

1Tim 6:20-21 O Timothy! Guard what was committed to your trust, avoiding the profane and idle babblings and contradictions of what is falsely called knowledge — 21 by professing it some have strayed concerning the faith.

We need to be ready because the day of Jesus’ return is not to be known. It is not known so that we will anxiously observe each and every day expectantly. Jesus told them He would come like a thief; a clear reference to the successful attacks by Cyrus and Antiochus. The loss was all the result of their failure to watch; like the warning to the church at Ephesus (Rev 2:5). We too are cautioned to be watchful for the very same reason: 

Matt 24:42-44 Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming. 43 But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. 44 Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.

We need to be sure we don’t miss the point here. Jesus told them to remember the importance of the Holy Spirit. They had made Him the forgotten member of the Trinity and I wonder how many churches (denominations) have done the same today? The message is “get back to basics.” The whole concept of creating “denominations” has caused us to lose our basic doctrine in the process. 

Rev 3:4 You have a few names even in Sardis who have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with Me in white, for they are worthy. 

Jesus used the idea of white garments alluding to the fact that those with soiled garments were removed from the public list of citizens in Sardis. It also refers to the Roman practice of clothing their nobles and competitors that were victorious in white The pagan religion forbade approaching the gods with soiled or stained garments and the reference was to those who had mingled in pagan life and defiled the purity of their relation to Christ. But those that have not defiled their garments have not defiled their Christian profession. 

2Cor 7:1 Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.

James 1:27 Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.

These are the ones who will walk with Christ, which symbolizes salvation and fellowship with Jesus; something others had forfeited through sin. 

1John 1:6-7 If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.

White refers to wedding garments. In the case of the Christian it represents righteousness, victory and the glory of God and they are not to be sullied. 

Eph 5:25-28 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, 26 that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, 27 that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish.

Those who have stayed true to the Word of God and have kept their garments white by the blood of the lamb will walk with Him in white for eternity. But the Sardians were interested in outward appearance and not inner purity. That was the problem for which Christ admonished them. They were not reflecting His character in their outward moral life in a pagan society; there was no witness. 

Matt 23:27 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness.

The truth of the matter is that only those who “overcome” will wear the white garments. Next time we’ll look at that in more detail as we explore some critical promises that have been made to the over comers.