The city of Sardis, as we have come to understand in this study of the churches mentioned in Revelation, chapters 2 & 3, is a city in Asia Minor, now western Turkey. It was situated along an ancient Roman mail route beginning in Ephesus and going north to Pergamum and then south through Sardis to Laodicea, and then back to Ephesus. Sardis was a very old city, perhaps dating back to 2000 BC, boasting of being the ancient capital of the Lydian Empire (1200 BC). The city was a walled city that sat atop of a hill, about 1000 feet high, and for centuries it was considered impregnable. However, in its latter years its walls became cracked through lack of vigilance and effort to repair the damage. Therefore, Cyrus the Great was able to capitalize upon Sardis’ failure to be vigilant and tend to its weaknesses. Cyrus conquered the city, reportedly taking $600,000,000 worth of gold and precious stones.
According to Revelation 3:1, Jesus describes the church of Sardis as having a name that she lives and is dead. Should we really understand Jesus to say the church of Sardis is a dead church? If Jesus claimed the church of Sardis was spiritually dead, they would be unable to repent or do any of the works Jesus commanded them to do in the remaining verses of his letter to them. Certainly, they weren’t physically dead, but neither could they be spiritually dead, because, if they were, they would have needed to be raised from the dead once more, as they had been raised according to Ephesians 2:1, 5. Therefore, they emphatically are not the dead church as is claimed by many commentators.
Jesus doesn’t really describe their works. Rather, he gives us a picture of their works by describing the name of the church in Saris. Their name was that they lived and also that they were dead. In other words they were on fire for the Lord and the Gospel at times, but at other times it was as though there were no church in Sardis at all (i.e. as though they were dead). One is tempted to compare them with the church of Laodicea, who was lukewarm (Revelation 3:16), but such a comparison wouldn’t tell the whole truth. Sardis was both hot and cold, depending upon the season, while Laodicea was neither hot nor cold at any time (cf. Revelation 3:15-16). Sardis was on fire for the Lord one moment and a disappointment in another. At best, she was simply undependable.
Jesus tells the church that their works weren’t perfect (G4137) before God. That is, their works weren’t complete or brought to the full; they didn’t abound in liberality toward God.[1] In other words, the Light (Spirit of God), which the candlestick at Sardis bore to the world, couldn’t always be seen in what they said and did. Therefore, Jesus told Sardis to be watchful and strengthen the things that remain and are ready to die, but what does Jesus mean by watching and what needed to be strengthened?
Prayer is supposed to accompany watchfulness (Luke 21:36; Ephesians 6:18), but watching has to do with waiting upon the word of God and accepting reproof (Habakkuk 2:1; Proverbs 8:34). It also implies that, once the word of the Lord is known, one has the responsibility to warn the people of danger (Psalm 102:7; Isaiah 21:6; Acts 20:31). Near the time when he was going to die (1Timothy 4:6), Paul told Timothy:
2 Timothy 4:5 But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry.
Notice that Paul tells Timothy, the leader of the church at Ephesus (cf. Revelation 2:1) to watch, and, in the process of watching, to endure persecution (afflictions). He was to be faithful to do the work of an evangelist. In other words to preach the Gospel. These same things were the responsibilities of each of the seven churches in Asia, and, if the churches fulfilled this responsibility, they would have made a full proof of their ministry (2Timothy 4:5), which is the reason why Jesus complained to Sardis that he hadn’t found their works perfect (complete) before God (Revelation 3:2).
If we consider Paul’s admonition to Timothy (2Timothy 4:5) as a good and valid interpretation of the responsibilities of the churches in Asia, then Sardis wasn’t watching; she was sleeping. She wasn’t waiting upon the word of God and accepting his reproof (Habakkuk 2:1; Proverbs 8:34). They needed to walk with him and accept his words of discipline. Furthermore, if they weren’t in submission to the Lord, they couldn’t be ready to warn others of danger, as they ought (Psalm 102:7; Isaiah 21:6; Acts 20:31). So, they simply weren’t always ready to do the work of an evangelist, and the Gospel was suffering because of it. Therefore, what needed to be strengthened in Sardis was, the time they spent with the Lord in prayer, listening for his reproof and instruction. They needed to know the word of God and preach it both in word and in example, warning the flock and calling for repentance from those in the world.
Nothing is said in the Jesus’ letter to Sardis about their endurance of persecution, but all who will live godly in Christ will suffer persecution (2Timothy 3:12). Therefore, they had to have suffered some persecution. It may be that persecution halted the Gospel, and this is why they had the name of being alive and being dead? The text simply doesn’t elaborate on this. However, persecution had to have come to Sardis in some form. Otherwise, they could not have been God’s children (Revelation 3:19; cf. 1Corinthians 11:32).
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[1] See Thayer’s Lexicon
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