A Study Of The Book Of Revelation
Lesson No. 6: Chapter 3

Date: June 11^th, 18^th, 25^th and July 9^th, 2003, Wednesday Evening Adult Bible Class
Speaker: John Phillis
Note: Much of the information for this Study of Revelation was taken from the book “Revelation Through First Century Glasses” by W. B. West. Other sources: “The Living Word, Study of Revelation, Parts I & II” by Dr. Frank Pack; “Revelation” by Jim McGuiggan; “Commentary on Revelation” by Homer Hailey; “Commentary on Revelation” by Burton Coffman; “The Book of Revelation – Spiritual Sword Lectureship, October 18 – 22, 1998”; “Commentary on Revelation” by Howard Winters; “Revelation for Christians Today” by Lonnie Woodruff; “Unlocking Revelation” by J. Stafford North.

Objectives in Studying this Chapter:

1) To examine the last three of seven letters to the churches in Asia, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea.

2) To glean what we can about the condition of each church: their strengths and weaknesses, the warnings and promises given.

LETTER TO THE CHURCH IN SARDIS (verses 1-6)

We are going to look at what the Lord has to say to the church in Sardis. My Testament has a heading over this portion which says, “The Dead church.” Let’s begin reading chapter 3, verse 1: “And to the angel of the church in Sardis write, ‘These things says He Who has the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars: “I know your works, that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead.

[Verse 2]“ ‘ “Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die, for I have not found your works perfect before God.

[Verse 3]“ ‘ “Remember therefore how you have received and heard; hold fast and repent. Therefore if you will not watch, I will come upon you as a thief, and you will not know what hour I will come upon you.

[Verse 4]“ ‘ “You have a few names even in Sardis who have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with Me in white, for they are worthy.

[Verse 5]“ ‘ “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.” ’

[Verse 6]“He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”

Introduction to the City of Sardis

Here is a church in the City of Sardis who gets a letter as part of this overall epistle, but there is very little here to commend this church. One archeologist and historian of this region, Sir William Ramsey, points out that Sardis itself was something of a city of degeneration. It was once a very proud and a very thriving city. It was the capital of the ancient Kingdom of Lydia, and it was feared by those neighbors surrounding it because of its military might.

The name of this city, “Sardis,” is a plural noun. Sardis is a combination of two towns—one that was in the valley, and one that was on the plateau. Its wealth and prosperity had been legendary because of its greatest king, King Croesus. One writer made the point that there was a phrase that was coined about King Croesus, that you would refer to someone as “being as rich as King Croesus [in our day, we would say of a fabulously wealthy person, “He’s as rich as Croesus.”].” There was a river named Pactolus, which ran through the edge of the City of Sardis and was a source of gold. So little wonder that the city prospered, and little wonder that their King had a phrase that was coined about himself. If someone says, “He’s as rich as Croesus,” that refers to the King of Sardis. Indeed, he was a multi-millionaire! In fact, he was so wealthy that he was the model for the legend of King Midas. Thus, the phrase was born, “Midas, with the touch of gold,” or “The Midas Touch.”

King Croesus, even though he was rich, eventually came under the control of the Persians. The Persians conquered the kingdom, and it later became a part of the Roman Empire. The City of Sardis was devastated by an earthquake in AD 17, but because of the generosity of the Roman Emperor Tiberius, it was rebuilt. Yet, they say, it never achieved its former glory and importance under the Romans.

As I was studying for this lesson, I read the statement that “sometimes a church becomes like the community that it is a part of.” As I was pondering this statement, I was trying to think of some ways that we are like the community that we are a part of. I think there are many ways, because we are citizens of this community, of this state, of this nation, and so on. Our congregations reflect some of those things and some of these values. But I pray that our spiritual values reflect that we are citizens of the kingdom of God. But the point about this statement in regard to Sardis is that the church was dead. Remember, this community was referred to as not ever achieving its former glory, and that they were a community of degeneration. Well, here’s the church in that community which is referred to as “dead”. Even though it had the name of being “alive,” it was, in fact, “dead” [verse 1].