God's Glory Church

Sardis arose in 1150 BC and was a large and rich city and the capital of the Lydian kingdom. Sardis was fabulously rich. The Pactolus River, once very rich in gold, flowed through the lower city, from where most of the city’s wealth flowed. It was famous for arts and crafts, and was the first center for minting gold and silver coins.

The great earthquake of 17 A.D., which occurred suddenly at night, destroyed Sardis physically and financially. The Romans gave 10,000,000 sesterces to help the stricken city. This shows the scale of the destruction, but the city was never rebuilt. His glory is a thing of the past. Sardis, once a living city, is now a dead city.

Nowadays, in its place there is a small village of Sart, and only ruins all around, piles of walls, cornices, capitals, columns, testify to the ancient, once flourishing city.

“And write to the angel of the Sardis church: Thus says He who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars: I know your works; you bear a name as if you were alive, but you are dead” (Rev.3:1)

Christ holds seven stars, which speaks of His supreme authority over the Church. He has seven spirits, in the fullness of whose perfection He will rule the earth. The one who has all the power and authority over the church speaks to you.

“Sardis” means “those who escaped death” or “the remnant.” Jesus says that the name of the city you are in does not correspond to your spiritual condition. The city has been destroyed many times, but it is still alive, and you are spiritually dead among it. Jesus points out that the church claims to be alive, but is actually dead.

Sometimes we think that whatever you call a church, that’s how it will live. But no matter what city the church is located in today and no matter what it calls itself, this does not speak of its weight and maturity in the eyes of Jesus. Following the example of the Church of Sardis, we can call ourselves whatever we want in front of others (on television, on the Internet, in the newspapers, in the pulpit), but Jesus knows the true spiritual position of the church in the natural and spiritual world. Therefore, it is better not to think too much about yourself and not to say unnecessary things, but to be more modest. This is true and applies personally to every Christian, and this is stated in scripture. (Rom. 12:3, Mark 9:35, 1 Pet. 5:5.)

“Watch and confirm other things close to death; for I do not find that your works are perfect before My God.” (Rev.3:2)

It is written verbatim in the original; “Watch and strengthen those who are close to death.” Due to the literal interpretation of this passage without going into the original language, some have interpreted this passage incorrectly. Jesus couldn’t say to His church, stay awake “children” and keep dying. The word affirm refers to strengthening, supporting, affirming a person. Jesus calls them to watch and strengthen (save) those who are almost spiritually dead. He says something like; “Sardis, don’t sleep and save the church before it’s too late.”

The word “perfect” does not mean perfection at all, but it is translated more precisely – perfect, fulfilled, done, fulfilled. It looks like the church in Sardis only talked about being alive, but it didn’t do anything that it was supposed to do. Jesus is talking about something that should have been fulfilled by the church, but was not fulfilled. Sardis – you didn’t do what needed to be done.

“Remember what you received and heard, and keep and repent. But if you do not watch, I will come upon you like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come upon you.” (Rev.3:3)

Before we talk more about the beginning of this verse, let’s see what Jesus meant by the expression; “I will hunt you down like a thief.”

Seven hundred years before this message was written, the Lydian king Croesus began a war with the Persian king Cyrus, which put an end to the greatness of Sardis. Cyrus began the siege of Sardis, waited two weeks and offered a special reward to anyone who found the entrance to the fortress. The hill on which Sardis stood was about 500 meters high, but it was more compacted and dried mud than rock. Cracks formed in it. And then one warrior from the Persian army named Hierosad accidentally saw how a Sardinian warrior dropped his helmet over the fortress wall, and then went down the cliff and took it out. Hierosades understood that there must be a crack in the rock that an agile man could climb, and that same night he led a Persian detachment up the crack in the rock. Having reached the top, they found the fortress wall completely unprotected.

Jesus speaks to the church in a language they understand. The Sardis fortress, which seemed impregnable during the wars, was twice suddenly captured by the enemy under the cover of darkness. They relaxed and did not even think about mortal danger. Therefore, Christ warns the church in Sardis: “Watch and repent,” or you will suffer the same fate as your city.

At the moment when John wrote this letter to the Sardinian church, this still rich city was sliding further into its decline. Even the once great fortress was just an ancient monument on top of a hill. There was no real sense of life in the city; once the great Sardinians were pampered; their city fell twice due to laziness. In this relaxed atmosphere, the Christian church also lost its vitality and was more a corpse than a living church.

Today, as then in Sardis, Jesus calls us to confess our sins and repent. It doesn’t matter what we call ourselves and what people call us, what matters is what the Lord calls us, what name we bear in His eyes! Are we alive in the eyes of God and are our deeds perfect in His eyes – these are the questions that you and I must honestly answer before God today, so that later His judgment will not be unexpected for us, as Sardis was unexpectedly captured due to his carelessness.