The Church at Sardis | Revelation 3:1-6 | J. Allen Mashburn

The church in Saradis had taken on the character of the city in which she resided.  A little background on the city will help us understand the condition of this church.

·         Sardis was the capital city of Lydia. 

·         It was founded about 1,200 BC. 

·         The original city sat on the top of a 1,500 foot high plateau.  There was one narrow road leading into the city. The other sides of the plateau were just steep cliffs.  This made the city very safe and nearly impenetrable by invading armies.

·         Sardis was the home of Aesop, who’s fables we all heard as children.

·         Gold and silver coins were first minted here.

·         The city of Sardis was famous for the industries that operated there.  

Carpet, wool and dyed cloth were their primary products.  It is said that the art of dyeing was invented at Sardis.

·         At one time, Sardis had been one of the greatest cities in the world.  It reached its zenith under King Croesus. King Croesus and Sardis were famed around the world for their wealth.  In that part of the world, it is still common to hear the phrase, “As wealthy as Croesus”.

·         While Sardis reached its zenith under Croesus, it also fell under his reign.  He and the people of the city became complacent in their wealth, their power and their city’s apparent invincibility.  When that region where Sardis was located came under attack by Cyrus the Persian, King Croesus and his people retreated to their city, believing they were safe.  One night, one of the Persian soldiers saw a Sardinian soldier drop his helmet over the wall of the city.  He watched as that soldier followed a hidden path down the side of the mountain to retrieve his helmet.  

When nightfall came, Cyrus and his troops followed the hidden path up the side of the mountain, entered the city while the guards slept and conquered Sardis.

·         Sardis regained some of its former wealth under the reign of Alexander the Great, but was invaded and defeated by Antiochus the Great, who also entered the city at night while the guards slept.

·         When the Romans came, Sardis was still a wealthy, powerful city, but it was just a shell of its former self.  By John’s day, Sardis was just a shell of what it had been.  The people had grown lazy, degenerate, immoral and complacent. Sardis was dying through apathy and indifference.

·         The city was proud of its past; it was proud of its reputation.  But, its reputation was all it had left.  For all intents and purposes, the city of Sardis was dead, even while it lived.

 

Apparently, the church in Sardis had adopted the atmosphere of the city.  The church had become a thermometer that registered the temperature of the city instead of a thermostat that changed the temperature of the city.  It is to this church that had become lazy, apathetic and complacent that the Lord Jesus comes.  Just as surely as the city of Sardis was dying, so was the church if Christ in that city.  Jesus has no words of commendation for them, but He does have some words of counsel.  I would like for us to look at our Lord’s words to this dying church.  There is a word of warning for us in these verses as well.