Topical Studies
What the Bible says about
Sardis, Church of
(From Forerunner Commentary)
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Hebrews 10:23
Let us hold fast the confession of our hope - This is Paul's reason for writing the epistle. They were enduring great pressure to relax their standards. Some were beginning to return to their former beliefs and to the world. Apostasy had begun to set in. Today in the confusion of the times, we can allow our foundations to be chipped away by listening to the myriad of differing opinions and beliefs. So many voices babble incessantly, each one trying to get our attention, that they can nearly drive us mad with confusion! Confusion not only affects what we believe but also our zeal for God's way of life. It is imperative we "contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints" (Jude 3). Jesus gives us this warning in His messages to the Thyatira, Sardis, and Philadelphia churches: But hold fast what you have till I come. . . . Remember therefore how you have received and heard; hold fast and repent. . . . Behold, I come quickly! Hold fast what you have, that no one may take your crown" (Revelation 2:25; 3:3, 11). It is of paramount importance to keep a firm grip on the true teachings of God's Word.
John O. Reid
Contend Earnestly
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2 Peter 1:10
Each passing day reinforces the fact that we live in dangerous times. Surely, the return of Jesus Christ cannot be many years away! When we consider this along with the greatness of our God-given opportunity, we should be urgently motivated to ensure our calling and election. The very magnitude of the issues involved emphasizes that we must do something now because of who we are—the called—and each person receives only one calling to salvation. Taking action secures two things. First, it ensures we will not stumble from neglect, forgetfulness, or laziness (verse 9). We live in the age of Laodiceanism. One can easily become lured into and then entrapped in this destructive attitude that produces spiritual blindness. Second, it ensures that a way will be opened to us into God's Kingdom (verse 11). In the letter to the Sardis church, Jesus clarifies who will be in God's Kingdom: 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. 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. (Revelation 3:4-5) Our part in salvation is small compared to God's, but vital. Those who are worthy and those who are clothed in white are the same: They are the ones who overcome! It is that simple.
John W. Ritenbaugh
The Elements of Motivation (Part Five): Who We Are
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Revelation 2:7
The sense is that these messages for each church—for all Christians. This means that the attitudes and conduct described dominate the group accused or complimented by Christ, but they also exist in the other groups as well. Otherwise, the advice to whoever hears would not apply. In other words, the Ephesian attitude might also be in Smyrna, Pergamos, Laodicea, Philadelphia, etc., but it dominated the church in Ephesus. The attitude that dominated in Smyrna would also describe, though with less accuracy, one or more of the other groups. The same would be true of Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea. All the messages apply to all of the churches. All the messages apply to each of us as individuals, and it is a matter of "if the shoes fits, wear it." That is God's approach here. We are to live by every word of God. It is only under this principle that we can apply these messages.
John W. Ritenbaugh
What Is the Work of God Now? (Part Four)
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Revelation 3:2-3
One can only have a remainder when he has had a whole previously. Some portion of it is gone. For many of these people, the relationship is dead. However, He still makes reference to a previous, better condition: "Remember therefore what you have received and heard." It is as if He is recalling something that they had once shared, something that He had given them. They had received it and grasped it, but it was slipping away—to the extent that some of them were dead. The relationship in these cases was broken. Thus, to those who remain, He exhorts them to hold on to what they have been given: "Strengthen the things that remain."
John W. Ritenbaugh
What Is the Work of God Now? (Part Four)
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Revelation 3:2-3
Jesus gives them three urgent commands: remember, hold fast, and repent. Spiritually, they are “dead men walking.” The revealed truths Christ had given them “are ready to die,” thus He warns them to take heed because they risk losing what they have “received and heard,” either through neglect or distraction. Many people today are straying from what God has revealed, allowing themselves to reject it piecemeal for titillating but false ideas that regularly float through the church or simply by failing to build on the fundamental doctrines (see Hebrews 5:12-6:3). This number includes some who, despite fleeing apostasy, are allowing sound doctrine to be eroded and lost.
Richard T. Ritenbaugh
The Seven Churches (Part Seven): Sardis
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Revelation 3:2
Christ first addresses their “works,” which He finds imperfect. God desires quality, godly works, full of love and faith toward Him. The works of Sardis seem to be blemished like unworthy, ritualistic Old Covenant sacrifices, lacking holiness and the intent of pleasing Him. While they may still have some truth, their dead works indicate a lack of living faith (James 2:17-20), suggesting people who perceive themselves to be alive but are standing still, spiritually catatonic, even comatose. They may exist as stones in the Temple but not as “living stones” (I Peter 2:5).
Richard T. Ritenbaugh
The Seven Churches (Part Seven): Sardis
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Revelation 3:3
A characteristic of the dead, physically or spiritually, is that they are unaware. Perhaps those of Sardis are not aware of what is really happening in the church and world. Maybe they think Christ "is delaying His coming" and have relaxed spiritually. Perhaps they actually fear spiritual growth because of the demands it will put upon them. Whatever the reason, they are standing still and not growing, slowly losing what real life they had. In this sad spiritual state, end-time events could catch them by surprise like a thief in the night.
Richard T. Ritenbaugh
The Seven Churches (Part Seven): Sardis
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Revelation 3:4
A few names in Sardis are still alive spiritually, working faithfully. One might judge himself of another group entirely if he judges himself alive, but God says some are living among the dead. Are any of us willing to call himself or herself dead? We all judge ourselves as part of any group but Sardis! Yet God says Sardis exists, maybe not “alive and well,” but existing nonetheless. Therefore, we all need to examine ourselves (II Corinthians 13:5). Would God judge our works as lively, our faith as living? Or are we slowly losing what we originally received and heard? Perhaps we need to reinvigorate our prayer, study, efforts to overcome our carnal nature, and the serving of our brethren—to show some life!
Richard T. Ritenbaugh
The Seven Churches (Part Seven): Sardis
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Revelation 6:11
Before God answers their question ("How long . . .?"), they are each given a white robe. Much has been made of the fact that this robe is a stolé, a long, stately, often status-indicating garment, while the overcomer in Sardis receives a white himation, an ordinary outer garment like a cape or cloak (Revelation 3:5). This distinction should not be taken too far, as Christ Himself returns in a himation dipped in blood (Revelation 19:13), not a stolé. The important element is that the robe is white, the color of purity and righteousness, as well as joy, victory, and perfection. The giving of a white robe, formal or common, is a symbol of salvation for these martyred Christians. Finally, God responds to their question: ". . . it was said to them that they should rest a little while longer, until both the number of their fellow servants and their brethren, who would be killed as they were, was completed." The immediate answer, "a little while longer" (literally, "yet a little time"), is ambiguously short-range. At this point in the prophetic timeline as we have learned it—the Great Tribulation has just commenced—this uncertain period is probably at most three and a half years long. Yet, because Revelation was written to the church late in the first century—more than nineteen hundred years ago—this comforting and expectant phrase implies a longer duration for Christians through the ages since then. II Peter 3:8 reminds us "that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day." There is even biblical backing to regard the day of the Lord as the whole period since Christ's first advent nearly two millennia ago! Written around the same time as Revelation, I John 2:18 goes even further: "[W]e know it is the last hour"! Certainly, God marks time differently than we do. Nevertheless, the phraseology assures us that, though it is still future, God's vengeance will fall justly on the guilty, and His saints will be free of suffering and receive their promised reward.
Richard T. Ritenbaugh
The Fifth Seal (Part Two)
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