The church in Sardis (Rev. 3:1-5)

Jesus describes himself as the one who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. The seven spirits of God are mentioned in the doxology in Revelation 1:4-5 as being, along with the Father and the Son, the source of divine grace and peace. Since only a divine person could be so described, and since the Father and the Son are mentioned, the seven spirits of God must be a way of describing the Holy Spirit. The number ‘seven’ is often used to describe perfection.

Jesus received the Holy Spirit in a special manner when he ascended to heaven. He had described this reception as being connected to a promise made by the Father to give him the Spirit in this new way. Jesus also stated that the coming of the Spirit from him to his disciples would mean that they would experience incredible power as they declared the gospel and commenced the New Testament church. We see what this looked like in Acts 2.

It is clear from the description of the church in Sardis here that they were not experiencing the power of the Spirit. Instead of being marked by spiritual life, they were the opposite. What they needed was to experience anew the refreshing presence of the Spirit in their meetings and activities. So when Jesus describes himself as having the Spirit, he is making an incredible offer to the church there. He is reminding them that they can have the Spirit in power once again.

I suspect that many churches go through a Sardis experience, some for longer than others. The church in Sardis seemed content to stay there, and other churches had not realised there was a problem. Yet it is not difficult to work out if the Spirit is present in power. Are there conversions? Is the gospel drunk as living water? Is brotherly love obvious? If not, Jesus has the remedy – the presence of the powerful Spirit of God.

The reference to Jesus having the seven stars (the angels of each of the seven churches) is probably another reference to his power and authority. Maybe the church in Sardis would not like to hear what Jesus had to say to them through his messenger. They needed to be reminded that the messenger had Jesus behind him as they listened to what was in the letter.

The rebuke

The striking feature of the church in Sardis is that no defects are highlighted. The sins that marked Pergamum and Thyatira are not mentioned, nor is the lack of love that marked Ephesus. Yet although those churches were rebuked for those sins, they were also commended for what they did as churches. Sardis was not commended as a church. There is no mention of the Nicolaitans or other false teachers. They were not experiencing persecution either, which suggests that neither the state or the powers of darkness regarded them as a threat.

Obviously, other churches had a very high opinion of the church in Sardis. Since Jesus does not list the practices of the church there, we do not know what it was that caused other congregations to admire. Their problem seems to have been their inability to complete what they commenced to do. Were they a church marked by initiatives rather than by stickability? It is easy how such a congregation would be noticed, and perhaps even how new projects would hide the fact that they had not completed any.

Why did they not complete it? Jesus uses two pictures of inactivity to describe their state – death and sleep. Perhaps he is reminding the people of Sardis of the history of their city. Although it was built in what seemed to be an impregnable location, it had twice been captured by enemies by means of night attack. In other words, to be asleep was a time of danger. Spiritually, they were asleep, and were not aware of the inroads the enemy had made into the church.

It looks as if their problem was that they had no strength. Here is the explanation as to why they did not complete whatever they began. Therefore they are commanded to obtain strength, otherwise even what they still have will die. Where would they get strength from? They would find it when they utilised what they had already received and heard about.

What had they received and heard in the past? No doubt, there is a reference here to the gospel and other instructions that the church would have received. Yet it is unlikely that they would have departed from them because other churches would have noticed such a relapse and not regarded them with such enthusiasm. There was something else missing that they once had, and I suspect that the reference is to the workings of the Holy Spirit. They had become a church without power because they had grieved the Spirit and he was no longer empowering them to serve the Lord. We can see now why the Saviour introduced himself to the church by reminding them that he could give the Spirit to them.

It is strange, but sad, that a church without the workings of the Spirit could be regarded as alive. Yet do we not see that happen many times? There are many church buildings where experiences of divine power were once common, but today are warehouses and auction rooms because at some stage the congregation that used to be there lost divine power, even if for years it survived by the glories of the past and was regarded as alive. Of course, the important question is, Are we in that timeline?

If they did not repent, Jesus states that he will come suddenly and deal with the situation. Again he makes use of the history of the city to make his point when attackers captured the city when no-one in the city expected it. The implication is that Jesus prefers the church to go out of existence rather than remain in a sleeping state.

The faithful

Jesus mentions that he is aware that some of the congregation have remained faithful to him. Sardis was well-known for its woollen industry and Jesus makes use of this local feature to make a distinction within the congregation. It was not appropriate for a citizen to wear dirty garments when they took part in important duties. Obviously, the wearing of dirty clothes could be connected to laziness, that they could not be bothered either to change into clean clothes or to clean the dirty clothes.

The application of this to the church is that some of the members had approached life differently from the majority. What does Jesus mean when he says that they have not soiled their garments? I would suggest that he is referring to sanctification, to the purity and carefulness that should mark the followers of Jesus. He cannot be referring to the garments of justification or adoption because they illustrate unchanging spiritual states. But sanctification has degrees, and if the Spirit is grieved, what degree will there be?

Those who are committed to Jesus will have the blessing of walking with him. When will this take place? At his second coming, as the next verse makes clear. The point here is that Jesus regards them as being worthy of this privilege. They are worthy because they remained loyal to him. We are not to think that Jesus is saying that his righteousness makes them worthy as if there was no connection with their discipleship. They served him and he will reward them out of his grace. Perhaps the others in Sardis thought the few were over scrupulous about completing their expressions of loyalty. Jesus thought differently. 

Overcomers from Sardis

The Saviour mentions three blessings that will be given to overcomers and each of the blessings is connected to the Day of Judgement. One of the blessings, that of wearing white robes, refers to what took place when people celebrated great victories. They would wear white garments of triumph.

In the previous verse, Jesus had stated that the faithful few in Sardis would walk with him in white, which is probably a reference to victory parades when loyal soldiers would be given the great privilege of accompanying the triumphant leader as he led the celebrations. Spiritual overcomers are going to share the victory of the King. Of course, they will give him all the praise, and we know that he will deserve eternal honour. Nevertheless, several times in Revelation God’s people are described as clothed in white robes as they rejoice in the triumphs of Jesus (7:9-10; 19:14).

The second blessing is guaranteed residence of the heavenly city. Ancient cities had registers containing the names of the residents. Of course, the register was only as viable as the competence of the rulers to ensure the existence of their cities. If they could not, and Sardis had known such failures, having their names recorded was of little worth. In contrast, those whose names are written in the register of heaven will enjoy it forever.

It seems that a resident of Sardis who received the death penalty would have his name deleted from the city register. Perhaps Jesus is indicating that some of his people there would experience that in the future when they were martyred. Yet even if their names were removed from the register in Sardis, they would not be taken out of the book of life. Their eternal security did not depend on anything on earth.

The third blessing is that Jesus will confess their names before his Father and the angels. Perhaps the idea is that he is reading out the names in the book and indicating their place in his city. It is a beautiful picture of the sovereign and his subjects. Confession by definition is public, and here Jesus promises to state publicly that they are his people. Perhaps the best sound they will ever hear.