The Book of Revelation: Part 7

Revelation 3:1-6 (BSB)

To the Church in Sardis

We are in week seven of our sermon series on the Book of Revelation and today we are looking at the fifth of seven letters written to seven different churches. Today’s letter was written to the church in Sardis. Unlike some of the other churches, Sardis is not mentioned anywhere else in the Bible outside of the Book of Revelation.

To understand this letter correctly, let’s begin by looking at this city. Located in what is today western Turkey, it was about fifty miles east of Smyrna and about thirty miles southeast of Thyatira. Sardis began as the ancient capital of the Lydian Empire, and when King Croesus ruled in the mid-500s B.C., the city is credited with being the first to mint gold and silver coins, and Croesus’ name became synonymous with wealth. Later, Sardis became an important Greek city, and eventually it was brought under Roman rule, where it continued to be prosperous. At the time of this letter, it was a significant trade center.

But despite its vast history, today all that is left are ruins. So many ruins, in fact, that just this year (2026), it has been added to the UNESCO World Heritage list. There are so many archaeologists working in that area that a website, https://sardisexpedition.org/en/essays/about-wings-over-sardis has been created so that anyone who wants to can view the digging. If you watch the videos, you can see how, “the cliffs of the Acropolis demonstrate why Polybius called Sardis ‘the strongest spot in the world.’” You can also see at the foot of the mountain the remains of a huge temple to the false god Artemis. It’s easy, then, to imagine how, at one time, this area was wealthy, beautiful and proud. 

Now, with that background in mind, let’s read the letter they received. Revelation 3:1-6 says:

1 “To the angel of the church in Sardis write: 

These are the words of the One who holds the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. 

I know your deeds; you have a reputation for being alive, yet you are dead. 

2 Wake up and strengthen what remains, which is about to die; for I have found your deeds incomplete in the sight of My God. 

3 Remember, then, what you have received and heard. Keep it and repent. If you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know the hour when I will come upon you.

4 But you do have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their garments, and because they are worthy, they will walk with Me in white. 

5 Like them, he who overcomes will be dressed in white. And I will never blot out his name from the Book of Life, but I will confess his name before My Father and His angels.

6 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

In the first three letters we looked at—the letters to Ephesus, Smyrna, and Pergamum—we see that the churches were being persecuted for their faith. In the fourth—the letter to Thyatira—there is one statement commending them for persevering, but it doesn’t say perseverance was needed because of persecution. In this letter to the church in Sardis, you might have noticed that there is no mention of persecution or persevering. In the case of the church in Thyatira, they were tolerating false teachers and, by doing so, they were most likely fitting in well with the unbelievers in their city, and so their suffering may have been minimal. What they needed was to persevere in keeping their faith and to not tolerate or adopt the false doctrines of the day. In the case of these believers in Sardis, I think they’re not facing any persecution because they’re already dead. They’re doing nothing to warrant unbelievers’ ire. And the devil would have been content to let them stay dead, because after all, what else could he do to them if they’re already spiritually dead or dying?

But now, let’s read through it again, one verse at a time. I’m sure you noticed that this letter begins the same way the others do. Verse 1 says, “To the angel of the church in Sardis write:” Then He adds a unique statement: “These are the words of the One who holds the seven spirits of God and the seven stars.”

This is an echo of the beginning of this book. In the first chapter of Revelation, it mentions “the seven spirits before His throne” and tells us, “the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches.” So here, He’s saying that these are the words of the One who holds both the seven spirits before His throne and the seven angels to the churches. This imagery will come up again. Revelation 5:6 says in part, “The Lamb had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth.” We will study the meaning of that further when we get to that chapter, but I think the point that’s being made here is that the seven spirits are the seven eyes of the Lord, and He is the one who sees everything.

And so, unlike other letters, He doesn’t commend them for anything, because it seems that as a group, He had nothing to commend them for. He, who sees everything, says, “I know your deeds; you have a reputation for being alive, yet you are dead.”

Ouch. I wouldn’t want to be a member of that church, would you?

This church in Sardis looks, from the outside, like they are alive. Their reputation—their name—implies that they are filled with faith, but they are not. They are dead. On the outside, they must have looked prosperous and healthy. Since they had a reputation for being alive, the surrounding culture must have given them their stamp of approval. Maybe even other neighboring churches thought they were doing well. But the Lord, who has perfect eyesight, can see into their hearts and see that they are not alive. He could see that they had not just compromised with their surrounding culture like Thyatira—they had fully embraced the culture. And so, He could see by their deeds that they were not alive. As He says, “I know your deeds.”

This, of course, should cause us to remember the words of James, who says, “Faith without deeds is dead.” Let’s read a portion of this important section of Scripture. James 2:14-17, 24 & 26 says, “What good is it, my brothers, if someone claims to have faith, but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you tells him, ‘Go in peace; stay warm and well fed,’ but does not provide for his physical needs, what good is that? So too, faith by itself, if it does not result in action, is dead…a man is justified by his deeds and not by faith alone…As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.”

James was saying the same thing Jesus was saying to this church in Sardis. Jesus was telling them that He had looked at what they were doing and nothing gave evidence of life. To paraphrase it, He was saying, ‘I know your deeds, and you don’t have any deeds that show that you are alive; you don’t have any deeds that prove you have faith in Me.’

So, then He says to them in verse 2, “Wake up and strengthen what remains, which is about to die; for I have found your deeds incomplete in the sight of My God.”

Here we learn that not all of them were totally dead. Some still held a glimmer of light. But what little remained of these Sardis Christians’ faith was on the verge of dying. And unless they were to wake up, it would die out completely. To put it another way, their lampstands were about to flicker out. Their deeds were “incomplete.” Was all hope for them lost?

The Greek verb translated ‘incomplete’ is pléroó, and it means, “To fill, to make full, to complete, to fulfill.” If you read a direct translation, it says, “I have found your works not having been completed.” Jesus is saying that He has not found their works to be fulfilled. This means they still had more works to do. If they didn’t wake up and strengthen what little remained, then it would all die out, and they would be found lacking. Their oil was about to run out.

Now, I can imagine that to some evangelical Christians, this message to this church might not sit very well with their understanding of salvation. Calvinists, as well as some other denominations, teach that no one can do anything to be saved. They teach that not only can someone not choose to be saved, but there are no works that are needed to be saved. But here, in this letter, we see that is not true. And as N.T. Wright so concisely stated when discussing the book of James, “We are certainly not ‘saved by works’, but James’s point is that neither are we saved without them” (The New Testament in its World, p. 754).

The reason why is pretty straightforward. As we saw in the James text we read earlier, our works give evidence that our faith is real. If we don’t have any good works, then that’s proof we don’t have any real faith. Doing good works cannot earn us salvation—we are saved by grace through faith—but the only way we know if we have faith or not is by looking at our actions.

In 1 John, the same John who wrote this book of Revelation, tells us all throughout that letter that the way to know whether we or someone else is actually following the one true God is by looking at our actions. He says in 1 John 3:7-10, “Little children, let no one deceive you: The one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as Christ is righteous. The one who practices sin is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the very start. This is why the Son of God was revealed, to destroy the works of the devil. Anyone born of God refuses to practice sin, because God’s seed abides in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God. By this the children of God are distinguished from the children of the devil: Anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is anyone who does not love his brother.”

In other words, anyone who has no good works of righteousness does not have faith. He or she may call themselves a Christian, but if they do not practice righteousness or if they do not love their fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, then they are a Christian in name only; they do not have faith. Real faith will produce right actions. Because if we love Jesus, we will obey His commandments. As John said in 1 John 2:3-6, “By this we can be sure that we have come to know Him: if we keep His commandments. If anyone says, ‘I know Him,’ but does not keep His commandments, he is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But if anyone keeps His word, the love of God has been truly perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him: Whoever claims to abide in Him must walk as Jesus walked.”

That’s why Jesus then warns the church and says in verse 3, “Remember, then, what you have received and heard. Keep it and repent. If you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know the hour when I will come upon you.”

If we learn more about the city of Sardis, then this verse takes on even greater meaning. History tells us that this seemingly strong city of Sardis was captured some 600 years earlier, and I think it’s safe to assume the people who lived there knew what had happened. N.T. Wright, in his book, Revelation for Everyone, summarizes the story. He says, “During the reign of the famous King Croesus, the invading Persian army found a way in. Someone, greatly daring, got up part of the sheer cliff and managed a surprise attack. Because nobody was expecting it, the result was all the more devastating. Cyrus the Persian, who features in various biblical stories as well, conquered Sardis in 546 BC: a never-to-be-forgotten moment” (p. 29).

Just like the people who slept while their city was invaded, these people in the church in Sardis had fallen asleep and seemed to have not even realized it. They had lulled themselves into a deadly false sense of security because they were not on guard. And because of this, Jesus warns them that just like a thief, they won’t know when Jesus is going to show up.

Now, some people think Jesus is talking about His second coming in this verse, and He could be. After all, 1 Thessalonians 5:2 says, “For you are fully aware that the Day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.”

Or He could be talking about the judgement that was soon to befall this particular church. I think it’s probably both. He’s giving them a warning that, like the days of old, their city was soon to be taken from them. They each, too, would die a physical death, and like all of us, none of them knew when that moment would come. As we know from history, the city of Sardis no longer even exists. The surrounding area is known as Sart, but the exact location of Sardis is demolished; all that remains has been covered by dirt. As it’s being uncovered by archaeologists, the lesson to be learned from the remains of this city is not that this was once a thriving city, but that this thriving city was wiped out because they did not repent and wake up.

Everyone who did not wake up and repent would soon be sorry. But then, remarkably, verse 4 says: “But you do have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their garments, and because they are worthy, they will walk with Me in white.”

That means that there were some people in that church who had kept their garments clean. They had not soiled themselves like everyone else. There were some people who did have real faith and were not participating in the corrupt culture surrounding them. But there is a theological lesson to be learned in this. This means that if a person can soil his or her garments, then he or she can keep them clean.

How do we keep our garments clean?

First, we must come to faith in Jesus. When we repent of our sins and have faith that Jesus died on the Cross and rose again, then He washes us clean and gives us new garments of salvation to wear. Isaiah 1:18 says, “’Come now, let us reason together,’ says the LORD. ‘Though your sins are like scarlet, they will be as white as snow; though they are as red as crimson, they will become like wool.’” And Psalm 51:7 says, “Purify me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.”

But the second way we keep our garments white is by walking in purity. There are many verses in the Bible that instruct us to walk in a manner worthy of the salvation we have received:

·       Colossians 1:10 says, “so that you may walk in a manner worthy of the Lord and may please Him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God.”

·       1 Thessalonians 2:12 says, “urging you to walk in a manner worthy of God, who calls you into His own kingdom and glory.”

·       Ephesians 4:1 says, “I urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling you have received.”

·       Philippians 1:27 says, “Nevertheless, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ.”

How do we walk in a “manner worthy”? We obey God’s commandments and love one another. To do both of those things, we cannot walk in the manner of the world. That’s why we see verses such as the one in 2 Corinthians 6:17, which says, “Therefore come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you.”

Whenever we trip and get dirty, soiling our garments, so to speak, then we must go to the Lord and confess our sins. 1 John 1:6-9 tells us, “If we say we have fellowship with Him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

So, it’s not that our garments won’t ever get spots on them—they do—but Jesus can cleanse them for us. However, did you notice that it’s as we are walking in the light as Jesus walks in the light that He cleanses us? It doesn’t say that if we are purposely walking in darkness, rolling around in the dirt, then Jesus will cleanse us. Most of the people in the church in Sardis were filthy from sin. Only a few of them were making any attempt to keep their garments clean—these are the people whom Jesus says are worthy and will walk with Him in white.

Then finally, the third way we can keep our garments white is by reading the Bible. Ephesians 5:26 tells us that Christ washes His church through the Word, so we must daily be in the Word of God, allowing His Word, by the power of the Holy Spirit, to wash us and renew our minds.

But to those people who are keeping their garments white, Jesus makes a promise. He adds in verse 5, “Like them, he who overcomes will be dressed in white. And I will never blot out his name from the Book of Life, but I will confess his name before My Father and His angels.”

The BSB translation we are using adds the word “never,” but the Greek does not use that word. It says, “And no not will I blot out the name of him from the book of life.” I think it’s important that I mention this, because the word “never” brings into this something that isn’t there. Now, I do think that once someone is dressed in white and has overcome and is with Jesus in eternity, then Jesus will never “blot out his name from the Book of Life,” but that’s jumping ahead. This verse is merely saying that those who overcome, the same way that the few people in Sardis who have not soiled their garments have overcome, Jesus will certainly not blot out their names from the Book of Life but will confess their name before the Father and the Father’s angels. But as it stood at the time of this letter, if the people in this church didn’t overcome, and they continued to walk unworthy, then their names would be blotted out of the Book of Life. Likewise, if someone overcame for a time but then fell away again, then their names could be blotted out again. It could only be “never blotted out” after they are with Jesus.

I want to emphasize this distinction because there is a huge segment of Christianity that teaches that once a person has become a Christian, then he or she can never lose their salvation. They say that this verse is not saying that people can lose their salvation, and that the promise here is that Christians can’t lose their salvation. But if that were true, then this promise that Jesus is making to these people is meaningless. Jesus is telling this church that only those who overcome will be dressed in pure white and will not be blotted out of the Book of Life. Do you see how adding the word “never” confuses the message?

Alexander MacLaren, in his commentary on this verse, says: “That truth is perfectly consistent with the other truth on which it reposes—that the Christian man owes to Christ the reception of the new garment of purity and holiness. The evangelical doctrine, ‘not by works of righteousness which we have done,’ and its complement in the words of my text, are perfectly harmonious. We cannot weave the web except Christ gives us yarn, nor can we work out our own salvation except Christ bestows upon us the salvation which we work out. The two things go together. Let us remember that, whilst in one aspect the souls that were all clad in filthy garments are arrayed as a bridegroom decketh his bride with a fair vesture, in another aspect we ourselves, by our own efforts, by our own struggles, by our own victories, have to weave and fashion and cut and sew the dress which we shall wear for ever.”

MacLaren takes the clothing analogy and says that through our faith in Jesus, He gives us the garment to wear, but we must weave and fashion it into the sort of clothes we wear for eternity. I like that analogy, but I like to say that Jesus gives us the garment of salvation, but we must put it on and keep it ready. If we get it dirty, we must go to Him and have Him wash it clean again. That’s what Jesus’ parable of the wedding garments is all about. He gives us the clothes as a gift. We have to put them on and keep them clean, and He is so faithful to even cleanse them for us, but if we are willfully soiling them, why would we think we’re walking worthy of wearing them?

Jesus says of anyone who overcomes the world and temptation and keeps their garments clean: “I will confess his name before My Father and His angels.”

In Matthew 10:32-33, Jesus tells us, “Therefore everyone who confesses Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father in heaven. But whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father in heaven.” If we are denying that we follow Jesus by our words or by our actions, then why would we think He will confess to God the Father that we follow Him?

Fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, let us hear what Jesus is speaking to us. Just as this letter ends, in verse 6, “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”

I can only speak for America, but there are many churches here that are doing the same thing the church in Sardis was doing. They may have beautiful buildings, lots of money in the bank, they may have a great reputation with the world, and look great on the outside, but inside they are dead. They have no life of the Spirit of God. They are going through the motions, but they have compromised the faith so much that they are just an empty shell. They are no more than a social club. Like the church in Sardis, they may have some members who are not dead yet, and those few believers remain out of obligation or tradition, but unless they wake up, I’m afraid their faith will die, too.

The message to them is the same now as it was then: Wake up! If you don’t, there will be consequences.

Let us not be like the church in Sardis. We must strive to keep our garments clean. We must not look like the world. We must come out from the world and be separate. We must walk in a manner worthy of the name we confess. We must walk like Jesus walked. We must overcome so we can walk in white with Jesus for all eternity, holding to our faith so it does not die out.

Prayer:

Heavenly Father, we thank You and praise You for Your great love for us. Thank You for sending Your Son Jesus to die on the Cross for our sins, so that we may be cleansed and proclaimed holy. Please help us to keep our garments clean so we can walk with You in eternity. Thank You for Your great mercy that promises to forgive us and cleanse us when we fail. Please strengthen us by Your Holy Spirit and by Your grace to walk in a manner worthy of what You have done for us. We love You. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.