The letter to the church in Sardis (3:1)
Key phrase: Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, Sardis was about 50 miles east of Smyrna and 30 miles south east of Thyatira. It was a wealthy city and most of the city practised pagan worship with its mystery cults and secret religious societies. It had a magnificent temple of Artemis. Its people were idolaters and worshipped the mother goddess, Cybele, which included orgies during festivals held in her honour (Walvoord). Sardis thought it was secure but twice in the history of Sardis the acropolis had fallen to the enemy due to lack of vigilance of its defenders (Mounce). v1 - "To the angel of the church in Sardis write: These are the words of him who holds the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead. - There is no commendation because there was nothing to commend. In 1:16 we see that he holds the seven stars in his right hand, which are the seven angels of the seven churches. In 5:6 he is described as having seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the world, the number seven indicating completeness. He is the one who knows the state of his church, he knows his sheep, John 10:14. The one who holds the seven spirits of God knows their heart and he sees them as dead while the world saw them as alive, see comments on 1:4. The contrast of the word alive and dead is a stinging rebuke, intended to wake them up. They had the outward form of religion but had lost the inward reality of Christ in them. The next verse shows them not to be completely dead, but rather asleep. v2 - Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your deeds complete in the sight of my God. - Spiritually they were asleep, Christ saw them as dead and so he commands them to Wake up! A better translation is 'show yourself watchful' (Mounce). They were like the five virgins who took their lamps with them to meet the bridegroom but did not take any oil (which stands for the Holy Spirit), when the bridegroom arrived they were not ready, Mat 25:1-13. We must be ready for Christ's return which is referred to in the next verse (see also Mat 24:42 ff.). Their deeds were not complete, i.e. perfect, in God's sight, they failed to come up to God's standard, the implication in verse 4 of the soiled clothes is that sin was involved, it could more simply be that of neglect. v3 - Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; obey it, and repent.- They were to remember the word of the gospel that gave them salvation obey it and repent (1 Cor 15:2). Clearly they had forgotten what the gospel meant, and had stopped growing and bearing fruit (Col 1:4-6). They needed once again to hear the gospel of their salvation and to respond to its message afresh. The historicist interpretation would point to Luther as an example of one who heard the gospel afresh and a new vibrant church was formed. The key to their state is to hear the word of God afresh. cf. 2 Pet 1:9. They also need to obey the word, they need to be doers of the word and not just hearers only (Jam 1:22). They also need to repent of their previous attitude, they must change their attitude, wake up and strengthen what remains. v3 - But if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what time I will come to you. - 'I come like a thief' is a reference to his unexpected second coming (cf. 16:15, 1 Thess 5:2-4, 2 Pet 3:10), he warns his church to keep watch, see the warning in Mat 24:42 to keep watch, 'because you do not know on what day your Lord will come'. This is a reminder to them of the lack of vigilance of those in Sardis who were twice unexpectedly overcome by the enemy. It can also be taken to be a reference to his unexpected coming upon them in judgement (Mounce), but it is more likely the second coming he has in view (see the warnings in Mat 24:36-25:46). We should see this as a warning to the church to be awake at His return, this is in line with the message of Revelation which is to ensure that the church is ready for his return (1:3, 16:15, 18:4, 19:7, 22:7, 12-14). v4 - Yet you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes. They will walk with me, dressed in white, for they are worthy. - These few people in Sardis had not compromised with the world. White garments indicate holiness, white robes are worn by the great multitude in heaven, 7:9, white clothes are worn by the armies of heaven who accompany Christ at his return. The Laodiceans are counselled to buy white clothes to wear to cover their shameful nakedness, 3:18. In 19:8 fine linen, bright and clean, stands for the righteous acts of the saints. Therefore soiled clothes refer to sin. In connection with his second coming Jesus says 'Behold, I come like a thief! Blessed is he who stays awake and keeps his clothes with him, so that he may not go naked and be shamefully exposed' (16:15). v5 - He who overcomes will, like them, be dressed in white. I will never blot out his name from the book of life, but will acknowledge his name before my Father and his angels - He will be dressed in white, i.e. forgiven or holy or clean, as were the twenty four elders. For book of life see Psa 69:3, Phil 4:3, Mat 10:32, Luke 12:8-9, Rev 13:8, 17:8, 20:12, 20:15, 21:27. As early as Exo 32:32 Moses asks to be blotted out of God's book if God does not forgive the sin of Israel. Revelation is about two groups of people those whose names are written in the book of life and those who are not. Lang remarks that Sardis was defiled and dying. Each who kept himself undefiled now shall walk in pure white garments in the day of glory. He that triumphed over spiritual death shall never lose spiritual life: his name shall be retained in the book of life. The threat here is that if they do not wake up their names will be blotted out of the book of life. v6 - He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. - Note the formula: 'He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches', we all need to heed what is being said here. |
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