"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."
“And unto the angel of the church in Sardis write”
Sardis was a wealthy city thirty miles southeast of Thyatira. In the sixth century B. C., it was one of the world’s great cities, ruled by the fabled Croesus, called Midas by the Greeks, and known for its golden treasures. However, the glory of Sardis was passed, for the city had fallen to the Persians in 546 B. C. and to the Greeks in 334 B. C. In A. D. 17, Sardis was destroyed by an earthquake and rebuilt by Tiberius Caesar. When John wrote Revelation, the local Church established on the Gospel was spiritually “dead.” This indicates that John wrote this message long after this Church’s founding, an essential consideration in dating the book of Revelation.[1]
Situated on a natural acropolis rising 1,500 feet above the valley floor, Sardis (modern Sart) was nearly impregnable. Around 1200 B. C., it gained prominence as the capital of the Lydian kingdom. Its primary industry was harvesting wool, dying it, and making garments from it. The famous author, Aesop, came from Sardis.[2]
Sardis means “escaping ones” or “the ones who got out.” I indicated there is no direct evidence that these seven letters to the angels of the seven Asian Churches necessarily represent periods or phases of Church history. However, some similarities exist between what Churches have gone through and periods of history, for no other reason than because there is nothing new under the sun. Such similarities would result from congregations being tragically led into decline by pastors like this Church in Sardis.
With that noted, that there will be some similarities between the Sardis Church’s experience and a critical turn in Church history. If this Sardis situation is similar to a period of Church history, it would probably correspond to when Protestantism escaped Rome and the Papal religious system.
“These things saith he that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars”
In this letter, the Lord Jesus Christ introduced Himself as the Possessor of “the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars.”
Seven is frequently a significant number in the Bible. In addition, we have already seen that the phrase “seven spirits of God” represents the Holy Spirit of God. The reference for that would be Isaiah 11.2:
“And the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD”
As well, there is Revelation 1.4:
“John to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace be unto you, and peace, from him which is, and which was, and which is to come; and from the seven Spirits which are before his throne”
The seven stars refer to seven messengers, which I consider the seven pastors of the seven Churches. The Lord Jesus Christ reminded His preachers that the Holy Spirit, Who empowers the Gospel ministry, and the man who physically leads the Church’s ministry conduct their ministries under His leadership.
He said to that pastor, “I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead.”
This was the first pastor mentioned thus far in John’s Revelation who received no commendation from the Lord. There was no praise, no slap on the back of any kind. Instead, the Lord Jesus began His message to this man with a strong pronouncement:
“I know thy works” Apparently, this man was not lazy. But our Lord’s omniscience was again emphasized. He knew.
“that thou hast a name that thou livest” The man had every external appearance of being alive. He was hustling and bustling.
“and art dead.” The man was dead, in some sense of the word, and did not even know it. This can happen in a Church, as well. William Barclay observed that a Church “is in danger of death when it begins to worship its own past ... when it is more concerned with forms than life ... when it loves systems more than Jesus Christ ... when it is more concerned with material than with spiritual things.”[3] May the Lord spare your congregation from that kind of death. Such might have been the case with this pastor. Either that or the Lord Jesus Christ was letting the pastor know in no uncertain terms that he was lost. Lost? Many Churches vote into the pastorate unsaved men. The complete absence of any attempt by the Savior to persuade this man to repent and clean up his act may be the strongest evidence that he was a lost man, but for the next couple of verses. My opinion tends toward surmising that what we have here is a lost man in the pastorate. He was going through the motions, functioning in an orthodox ministry, with the Church possibly thriving because the pastor was clever and had organizational skills, without actually knowing Jesus as his Savior and possessing eternal life. This is a pattern I have observed over decades of pastoral ministry.
Congregations must carefully scrutinize the conversion testimony of any pastoral candidate of a Church. Care should be taken carefully to how the candidate declares he was converted. Question him, interrogate him, interview him, and examine him. Then come back at him a week or two later and do it again. Please do not call anyone to be the pastor based on his speaking skills, based upon his past successes, based upon his organizational skills, or based upon his sense of humor. Hire a private investigator to thoroughly check him out in every conceivable way by doing a background check, running a credit report, and questioning his neighbors, relatives, former employers, and past subordinates. Then, when you ask him about his doctrines and practices and satisfy yourselves that this is the man God would have you to call, examine his conversion testimony all over again more thoroughly than you have ever evaluated anyone’s testimony. Why? You do not want anyone like the pastor in Sardis to be your pastor.
What kind of man do you want to deal with your grandchildren about their eternal destinies? What about the man you want to guide your grandchildren to Christ? It is rational and reasonable for someone to love and be loyal to the man who guided him to Christ. Anyone who does not love and exhibit loyalty to the pastor who guided him to Christ, his father in the faith, is likely not truly converted. But what about the man who replaces your present pastor? You will want to be as sure about him as ever about anything you have ever considered. Why so? Suppose you are not careful, cautious, and critical in your evaluation (not of the man’s personality or gifts, but of his relationship with Jesus Christ). In that case, you may end up with the kind of pastor being rebuked here or worse. If that happens, do not lay the blame at Jesus’ feet but at your own.
[1]
See footnote for Revelation 3.1 from Tim LaHaye Prophecy Study Bible,
(Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers, 2000), page 1368.
[2] See footnote for Revelation 3.1 from John MacArthur, The
MacArthur Study Bible, (Nashville: Word Publishing, 1997), page 1996.
[3] Quoted in John Walvoord, The Revelation Of
Jesus Christ, (Chicago, Illinois: Moody Press, 1966), page 80.
