O my soul,
What is reputed to be alive but is in fact dead?
One answer of course is the church in Sardis.
And to the angel of the church in Sardis write: ‘The words of him who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars.
‘I know your works. You have the reputation of being alive, but you are dead.’
― Revelation 3:1
(But we would be fools to think this is the only answer.)
Let’s see what we can understand about Jesus’ diagnosis of this dead church. Firstly and quite surprisingly, given the severity of the indictment, doesn’t his judgment seem to be rather non-specific?
Here it is in its entirety.
Wake up, and strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your works complete in the sight of my God. Remember, then, what you received and heard. Keep it, and repent. If you will not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come against you.
― Revelation 3:2-3
What has been going on here?
There are works but they are not complete. What was received and heard has been forgotten. Repentance is required. And they are asleep. Jesus’ verdict is that the net effect of these apparently innocuous elements is that the church is dead. Dead, no less!
Let’s see if we can understand how that could be.
The word used to describe those works which were not complete is the Greek verb plēroō, which mostly gets translated fulfilled or fulfil. Their works were not fulfilled. So we should ask, what would be works that were fulfilled? Paul tells us, using the parallel Greek noun plērōma.
Love is the fulfilling of the law.
― Romans 13:10b
Perhaps there was a deficit of love in Sardis.
Now let’s consider what could have been received and heard and subsequently forgotten.
More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
― Romans 5:11
For if, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.
― Romans 5:17
For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!”
― Romans 8:15
What had been received was reconciliation, abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness, and the Spirit of adoption as sons and daughters, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!”
O my soul, grieve with Jesus that this could have been forgotten. How could this be? What could possibly happen that such things be forgotten? Here’s what. What happens is that pride enters the human heart, and self-satisfaction displaces gratitude such that one’s own status as one who has been rescued is no longer foremost in the mind. It is pride and self-satisfaction that kill humble gratitude and love.
So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.
― Philippians 2:1-3
Just as in the church in Thyatira so too in Sardis there was a call to repent. Isn’t it complacency which deafens ears to such a call?
And Jesus urges them to wake up lest he come like a thief in the night, unexpected and frankly unwelcome. Does this not remind us of Jesus’ warning to his own disciples, concerning his return in glory?
“But concerning that day or that hour, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Be on guard, keep awake. For you do not know when the time will come. It is like a man going on a journey, when he leaves home and puts his servants in charge, each with his work, and commands the doorkeeper to stay awake. Therefore stay awake⸺for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or in the morning⸺lest he come suddenly and find you asleep. And what I say to you I say to all: Stay awake.”
― Mark 13:32-37
O my soul, stay awake!
And tremble also because of Jesus’ words to the church in Sardis.
If you will not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come against you.
― Revelation 3:3b
Against you! Against the ones who had received reconciliation, abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness, and the Spirit of adoption as sons and daughters. These ones who were now found by Jesus to be on the other side.
O my soul, was there ever such complacency? But wake up. It is in fact all around us. All. Around. Us.
But despite this we must notice something vital. While it may have been endemic, this spirit of complacency had not vanquished all.
Yet you have still a few names in Sardis, people who have not soiled their garments, and they will walk with me in white, for they are worthy.
― Revelation 3:4
O my soul, do not despair. There was a faithful remnant, even here.
So what is to be done? Two things.
Firstly, be appalled at those who have soiled their garments. Those complacent ones. Those who have a reputation of being alive but are in fact dead.
Secondly, put aside your own complacency and smug self-satisfaction, choose the path of humility, and walk with Jesus in white. And you must be careful to understand what that means.
After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”
Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, “Who are these, clothed in white robes, and from where have they come?” I said to him, “Sir, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
― Revelation 7:9-10, 13-14
There is no other way to walk with Jesus in white other than by being washed in the blood of the Lamb, other than by receiving reconciliation, abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness, and the Spirit of adoption as sons and daughters. And holding on to these with humble gratitude! O my soul, hold on to these precious gifts.
But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ⸺by grace you have been saved⸺and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
― Ephesians 2:4-9
So walk with a grateful heart in humility, as one rescued, as one whose life now belongs to another. For it is so.
O my soul, wash your robes in the blood of the Lamb and walk worthy! 🙏