THE CITY OF SARDIS

The city of Sardis is about 30 miles southeast of Thyatira and 50 miles due east of Smyrna. The original city of Sardis sits 1,500 feet above sea level, on a plateau overlooking a large valley at the western end of the Great King's highway from Susa. In ancient times, because it was only assessable from the narrow neck of land from the south, the city was considered essentially impregnable and easily defended. Hence it became the capital of the kingdom of Lydia.  It is the home of King Croesus, better known to us as King Midas, and was very wealthy in ancient times, and still moderately prosperous in the first century.  It was destroyed by an earthquake in 17 AD, and never fully recovered the level of prosperity it had before its destruction.

 It enjoyed not only political influence, but economic prosperity in harvesting wool and dying it, which was very lucrative during ancient times. The strip of land along the Aegean sea was settled by peoples who spoke Greek and they brought with them a preference for wool clothing. The breeding of sheep for its wool was a predominate occupation from Sardis north into the plateau regions. Sardis was well known for its wool industries, the weaving, dying and carpet-making industries. Indeed, they promoted the idea that the art of dying wool was invented at Sardis.

Long before NT times, the rules of warfare had changed and cities had become larger, demanding that the city of Sardis occupy mostly the foothill of the high plateau.  It became a city that was weakly defended, was overrun several times. It was a city of the past, who enjoyed the prestige of former glory, i.e., "a name that thou livest" (cf. Rev. 3:1) but was now in decline. The once proud impregnable city had even become a Greek metaphor of arrogance and overconfidence. No doubt Christ addresses the local church with their historical background in mind, as Christians had spiritually fallen into the same overconfidence as the city had. Not only had she been conquered by Cyrus of Persia but both Alexander the Great and Antiochus the Great. The city was also destroyed by an earthquake in A.D. 17 and through a five year tax free grant by Emperor Tiberius was rebuilt but never retained her former glory. Nothing is known about the founding of the church of Sardis but it is presumed to come from the impact of the teaching ministry of the Apostle Paul, over three decades previously. cf. Acts 19:10. v [http://www.grace4u.org/newtest/rev/rev03_01-6.htm].

Inside Sardis during John’s life was the largest Jewish synagogue in the world at the time.  The synagogue was built inside the large gymnasium where Greek games were played by naked athletes.  Inside the Jewish synagogue were statues of lions representing Asherah worship – the goddess of fertility. There was also a statue of the Roman eagle, which represented to the Jews of the time all that was evil in the sight of God.  Any Jews who followed God’s laws would have been horrified to have either statue found within holy precincts, since this was an express violation of the first commandment, “Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness [of any thing] that [is] in heaven above, or that [is] in the earth beneath, or that [is] in the water under the earth.”  Ex 20:4.  This signifies that the level of corruption of the Jewish community in Sardis was extreme.

Also within Sardis was another large temple to Asherah, the fertility goddess, called a “kibbelah”, an open air Temple, and inside that temple the local Christian church was built. The close proximity of the completely immoral fertility rites taking place all around or adjacent to the Christian church is another measure of the corruption of the local church.  However, local believers would signify their religion by putting a cross on the doorpost of their homes, or for Jews, a menorah, so there appears to have been little economic significance to Christianity in the diluted form it took at Sardis.  It appears likely they did not suffer greatly for being associated with the church, and therefore publicly proclaimed their Christianity, i.e., they had the appearance of being alive. 

THE LETTER TO THE CHURCH AT SARDIS

Jesus describes himself as: “This is the message from the one who has the sevenfold Spirit of God and the seven stars”.  Jesus is the one who has both the complete wisdom of the Holy Spirit, but also controls the messengers, and he comes to Sardis bearing judgment. It is he who is the complete source of life, to whom Sardis must return if it is to have any hope. 

No words of commendation are found for this church, but instead, condemnation begins immediately.  Their works are found incomplete before God, and since the Lord judges on motivation, their works were not to please the Lord but to please themselves and other men. 

They had a name that they were alive, but the Lord sees lifelessness, a reliance on past glory and a semblance of life not actually recovered.  “ its congregation was quite large for those days and was growing and even fashionable. Its program included many excellent projects. It was positively humming with activity…But outward appearances are notoriously deceptive; and this socially distinguished congregation was a spiritual graveyard. It seemed to be alive, but was actually dead. It had a name for vitality but it had no right to its name. Its works were beautiful grave clothes which were but a thin disguise for this ecclesiastical corpse. The eyes of Christ saw beyond the clothes to the skeleton. It was dead as mutton. It even stank. “  Stott, What Christ Thinks of the Church; http://www.grace4u.org/newtest/rev/rev03_01-6.htm#FTNT6;

Overcomers promise:  “He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life; but I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels.  Since Sardis was known for its fine woolens, and it’s dyeing proficiency, Jesus relates to them with a promise of a white garment – the most difficult to make.  There is no dye that will make a garment white – dyes only make them darker.  So a white garment was the one most unusual, most precious, only the best for Jesus’ Bride.  Jesus further promises not to blot their names from the Book of Life.  It is this Book that is checked to see if each person can enter heaven – it records no works.  Jesus promises that these will never be blotted from the Book of Life – and what greater gift could he give his Bride?

So What is the meaning of a Thief in the Night??