The Seven Churches of Revelation

The Church at Sardis

Revelation 3:1-6 (KJV) · A once-mighty fortress city trading on its past glory · 5 of 7

The church at Sardis had a reputation for being alive, but Christ, who sees the truth, pronounces it dead. It is the only church he commends almost nothing in, warning that its works are not perfect before God and that it must wake up before it is too late. Yet a few in Sardis had kept their garments undefiled, and to the one who overcomes he promises white raiment, an unblotted name in the book of life, and confession before his Father.

The letter of Christ to Sardis

And unto the angel of the church in Sardis write; These things saith he that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars; I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead. Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die: for I have not found thy works perfect before God. Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee. Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with me in white: for they are worthy. He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.Revelation 3:1-6 (KJV)

How Jesus describes himself to Sardis

To the church that looked alive but was dead, Christ presents himself as he that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars. The seven Spirits speak of the fullness of the Holy Spirit, the very life and breath of God. The seven stars are again the messengers of the churches, held in his hand.

It is a pointed way for him to appear to a dying church. He comes as the One who holds the fullness of the Spirit, the source of the very life Sardis has lost. A church cannot manufacture life out of its reputation, its history, or its activity. Life comes only from the Spirit of God, and the Spirit is held by Christ. He introduces himself as the only One who can breathe life back into a congregation that has the name of the living and the reality of the dead.

What Christ commends, and what he does not

This letter is startling for how little praise it contains. I know thy works, Christ says, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead. Where other churches are commended before they are corrected, Sardis is met almost at once with the verdict. Its reputation said one thing; the Lord who sees said another. It had the name of a living church and the reality of a corpse.

There is no list here of labor, love, patience, or endurance. Instead, I have not found thy works perfect before God, he says, not complete, not filled full. Whatever Sardis was doing, it was hollow at the center, activity without life, form without the Spirit. Christ does not flatter a church that is coasting on its history. He tells it the plain and painful truth, because only the truth can wake it. Even so, his very warning is mercy, spoken in time, while there is still something left to save.

The warning, and the faithful few

Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die. The situation is grave but not hopeless. Something remains, though it is at the point of death, and Christ calls the church to wake up and strengthen it before it is gone. Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. They are to return to the gospel they first received and take hold of it again.

The alarm is sharp: if therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee. A sleeping church will be caught off guard. Yet even here Christ sees individuals the church has overlooked: thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with me in white: for they are worthy. In the most spiritually dead of the seven churches, a faithful few had kept themselves pure, and Christ knows every one of them by name. He never loses track of his own, even in a dying place.

His call, and his promise to the one who overcomes

The promise gathers up the images of the letter. He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment. The white garments of the faithful few become the promise to all who overcome, the pure robe of those who belong to Christ. And I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, he says. To a church trading on its name and reputation, Christ offers the only name that finally matters, the name written and kept in the book of life.

But I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels. The Lord who confesses that Sardis is dead promises to confess the overcomer's name as his own before the throne of heaven. This is the reversal at the heart of the letter. A church can have a great name among men and be dead before God, or it can be small and overlooked and have its name confessed by Christ himself in glory. What counts is not the reputation men give but the life the Spirit gives and the name Christ owns.

Sardis, the real city

Sardis had once been among the greatest cities of the ancient world, the fabulously wealthy capital of King Croesus, set on a high ridge that made it seem impregnable. But its glory was in the past. By the first century it was a city living on its reputation, proud of a history far more impressive than its present.

Twice in its history Sardis had been captured because its defenders, trusting the city's steep and seemingly unassailable walls, failed to keep watch, and an enemy climbed the cliffs by night while the guards slept. The city that thought itself safe was taken because it did not watch. Christ's words to the church, be watchful, and I will come on thee as a thief, would have struck home with painful familiarity. A church, like a city, can be undone not by a mighty assault but by a quiet, confident sleep.

What this letter says to the church, and to us

Sardis is the letter for the church, or the soul, that looks alive and is not. It is the danger of reputation, of coasting on past faithfulness, of activity that no longer springs from the life of the Spirit. A congregation can keep its programs and its standing while the reality has drained away, and outsiders and insiders alike may not notice, because the name still says living.

But Christ sees, and he holds the seven Spirits of God who alone can restore what has died. His warning is not despair but a summons: wake up, strengthen what remains, remember the gospel you received, and repent. And his knowledge of the faithful few is a comfort, that he never confuses reputation with reality and never overlooks a single soul who keeps its garments clean. Whether a whole church is dead or only drowsy, the call is the same, to turn back to the living Christ who alone can make it live.

The gospel hidden inside this hard letter is that Christ speaks to the dead. He does not wait for Sardis to revive itself and then approve; he comes to a church he calls dead and commands it to live, and the command carries the power to obey it, because it comes from the One who holds the breath of God. This is how he has always worked, calling light out of darkness and life out of the grave. No reputation can save a church, and no deadness can be beyond his reach. The same voice that told a dead man in a tomb to come forth still says to every drowsy soul and sleeping congregation, awake, and Christ shall give thee light. The honest thing, and the hopeful thing, is to stop trusting the name that says we are alive and to ask the living Christ to make it true.

These were seven real churches in real cities of Asia Minor, near the end of the first century, and the letters were addressed to them by name. The church has always read them also as a word of the risen Christ to his whole church in every age, and to each believer who has an ear to hear. They are not a coded calendar of the end of the world, and no date is set here. They are the searching, loving words of the Lord who still walks among his churches.

The other churches: Ephesus · Smyrna · Pergamos · Thyatira · Philadelphia · Laodicea · All seven