“To the angel of the church in Sardis write.” Revelation3:1
God’s word does not tell us but it is believed that the Apostle Paul founded the church at Sardis as an outreach of Paul’s ministry at Ephesus. We read of Paul’s ministry in Acts 19:10 “This went on for two years, so that all the Jews and Greeks who lived in the province of Asia heard the word of the Lord.”
The church at Sardis would be a prime assignment for a pastor. The
city had its share of idolatry and a lot more immorality than other
cities but the city was safe, wealthy and the amount of persecution from the idolatrous religions or government was minimal at best.(That’s not necessarily a good thing because the complacency and ease of the citybegan to seep into the hearts of the church.)
There were a lot of famous people that lived in Sardis. Thales, the Greek philosopher who invented the scientific method lived in Sardis. Solon, one of the seven wise men of Greece, was from Sardis. He ended exclusive aristocratic control of the government, substituted a system of control by the wealthy, and introduced a new and more humane law code. Xerxes, the great general and Aesop, the teller of fables was from Sardis as was wealthy King Croesus. Why are these men important? Because they are known but the pastor of the church at Sardis is not. John, when he wrote this letter, knew who the pastor was. Was John surprised at the Lord’s words? Did this unnamed pastor, like the city of Sardis, look healthy and strong on the outside but inside he was full of dead man’s bones? Was he exhausted and had given up in trying to battle the enemy at Sardis. Had it just become too hard for him to endure against evil? Had the wealth and ease of the city seeped into his life until he loved ease more than Christ?
It is a sad thing that this man’s name is not mentioned for it implies his work was so insignificant that it was not even worthy to enter his name in the record. To be sure the Lord knows his name and his works. If he is a true believer he will stand, with us, at the Bema Seat, and give an account . Will he look at a life of compromise, of wood, hay and stubble and be in tears over what could have been?
We do know of another pastor at Sardis. He comes much after this letter is written to Sardis. His name is Miletus. He wrote the first commentary on the book of Revelation as well as a theological treatise on Easter called “The Lord’s Passion”. He addressed a discourse to the Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius, arguing that Christianity should be made the state religion of the Roman Empire.
Does this mean that the church at Sardis listened to this letter from the Lord and heeded His words? Did they experience a revival, even for a short while? We do not know.
What we do know is that at the time this letter was written to Sardis they had grown too lazy to be watchful. While the enemy was scaling their walls he could have been easily defeated if the church had stayed awake. They may have started out well and had a strong Christian influence but as time went by, they grew to be more like the world they lived in than like Christ. The message to us from Sardis is
one of danger – “take heed, lest we fall”.