REVELATION SIMPLIFIED

 

CHAPTER 3.1a

Gleanings from the Book of Revelation:

A Weekly Verse-by-Verse Bible Study Series

 

The

REVELATION TO JOHN

(The Apocalypse)

 

Chapter Three

 

LETTERS TO THE SEVEN CHURCHES

 

CHAPTER 3

 

 

Outline

1.  The Addressee – To whom the letter is addressed (3:1)

2.  The Address – To where the letter is addressed (3:1)

3.  The Addresser – From whom the letter is addressed (3:1)

4.  The Approval – The acclamation of good qualities (3:4)

5.  The Accusation – The presentation of bad qualities (3:1c, 2b)

6.  The Appeal – The application to change (3:2a,3)

7.  The Advice – The recommendation to change (3:5-6)

 

Sardis

The church in Sardis is the fifth letter to the seven churches in Asia Minor. In reviewing the first four churches we notice a digression of spirituality.

1.  Ephesus - The church that fell out of love with Jesus Christ

2.  Smyrna – The poor but rich church in Christ, the persecuted myrrh church

3.  Pergamum – The church at Satan’s throne who was married to the world

4.  Thyatira – The church that became completely engrossed in the world because it tolerated sin within its congregation

5.  Sardis – The church often referred to as the dead or sleeping church

 

The Letter to the Church at Sardis

 

1. The Addressee – To whom the letter is addressed

(Verse 1)

 

And unto the angel (pastor, elder, messenger) of the church in Sardis write; These things saith He that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars; I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead.

 

The Church

The word Sardis or Sardes in the Greek language is a plural feminine noun of unknown origin. In Greek, the word means ‘escaping ones’ or ‘those who came out of’.

 

There is uncertainty as to the origin of the church in Sardis. Most likely it was founded as an outreach of Paul’s ministry in Ephesus. The character of the church differs from the first four churches in that it represents the protestant period of church history – The Reformation.

 

Following Thyatira, the Reformation Period emerged as a schismatic reaction against the ecclesiastical hierarchy of the Dark Ages. Freedom from non-biblical restraints of false doctrine and dogmatic practices resulted in confusion rather than orthodoxy.

Great reformers of this age were:

1.  Martin Luther

2.  John Wycliffe

3.  John Calvin

4.  John Knox

5.  Huldrych Zwingli

6.  William Tyndale

7. The Wesleys

 

During this time, many creeds ("I believe…") were developed. An adage states: A man who believes in anything has a creed. The Word of God – God’s Truth – does not need to be contained in a creed. Along with many ministers occupying orthodox pulpits, they simply add to the demise of religion.

 

Protestantism became a great organization, but in most cases showed little or no evidence of spiritual life. New congregants were being born again, baptized, placed on membership rolls, receiving the Lord's Supper, and trusting in ceremonies but devoid of saving faith. However, the new birth requires faith in Jesus Christ.

 

Principles of Saving Faith

Scripture documents saving faith principles as such:

John 3:16-17 - For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved.

 

1 Timothy 1:15 – Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.

 

Ephesians 2:8 - For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God.

 

Acts 16:31 - Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.

 

Romans 10:9 - If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.

 

John 14:6 - Jesus saith unto him, I (Jesus) am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me (Jesus).

 

Acts 4:12 - Neither is there salvation in any other (name): for there is none other name (Jesus) under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.

 

The Lord Jesus Christ singled out the church in Sardis as a reflection of their condition:

1.  They were spiritually asleep

2.  The Spirit of the Lord was not at work in their lives

3.  Their actions did not meet their reputation

4.  There was no deliverance of sin

5.  They were, ‘Standing on the promises but sleeping on the premises.'

6.  They were Christian in name but self-righteous

7.  They had a superficial faith

 

Question

 How does a church become this way?

 

Answer

1.  When live members are overtaken by dead ones

2.  When a church becomes more concerned with forms, liturgy, events, and programs than it does with life on a spiritual level

3.  When a church becomes more concerned with material things, welfare, and social ills than a spiritual reality

4.  When a church loves systems more than Jesus Christ

5.  When unbelievers take over positions in the church

6.  When a church substitutes boards rather than the direction of the Holy Spirit

7.  When the toleration of sin supersedes moral biblical standards.

 

A brief anonymous synopsis of The Rime of The Ancient Mariner by Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1798) best describes the Church in Sardis:

·        Corpses manned the ship.

·        Dead men pulled the oars.

·        Dead men hoisted the sails.

·        Dead men steered the vessel.

·        The whole operation was functioning by dead people.

 

Today, Sardis now named Sartmahmut (Sart), in the Manisa Province of Turkey has a very small population and is void of a church, because their watchman fell asleep.

 

 

2. The Address – To where the letter is addressed

Unto the angel of the church in Sardis

History

Seven hundred years before Christ wrote this letter, the city of Sardis, the capital of the Anatolian Kingdom of Lydia in Asia Minor, was the oldest and most important city in ancient times. It may have indeed been considered the wealthiest city anywhere in the world. The city was destroyed by an earthquake in A.D. 17 and rebuilt by Emperor Tiberius Caesar.

 

The citadel remained occupied until the early fifteenth century. Many of the buildings of the lower city stand in rubble covered by dirt from above over time. Princeton University initiated explorations of Sardis from 1910 to 1914. In 1958, amid its ruins, a synagogue was unearthed by Harvard and Cornell University archaeological expeditions.

 

Geography

Sardis is located about thirty miles inland southeast of Thyatira (Akhissar), fifty-six miles northeast of Smyrna (Izmir), and is situated on a commercial east-west trade route through Lydia. It is also seventy-five miles southwest of Ephesus - a two-hour and fifteen-minute ride. Sardis was initially built on an elevated plateau (50 feet in height) along a long ridge of mountains called Mount Tmolus (modern Bozdag) rises above the fertile Hermus Valley and is well watered by the Pactolus River. Three sides of this plateau are smooth and perpendicular, except the backside had a narrow path of rocks, thus rendering the city practically impregnable.

 

As the population and commerce grew more complex, the high plateaued Acropolis became overcrowded begging the need for a lower city to be built on the western side of the original city, thus making it a dual city (Sardis).

 

Commerce

Sardis or Sardeis became the center of textile manufacturing and the carpet industry. Even though Thyatira was renowned for its purple dye, Sardis was the first city to discover and develop the method to dye wool.

 

There also emerged a lucrative jewelry industry because of its natural resources of gold and silver. The finest silver and the first true gold coins were minted in Sardis, causing Sardis to become the most luxurious city in the ancient world.

 

Croesus

Croesus was a famous king of the Lydian Kingdom (560-547 B.C.). He ruled from the capital in Sardis. Because of the gold found on the shores of the Pactolus River, Croesus gained notoriety as the wealthiest man in the world. His name became legendary as everything he seemed to touch turned into gold. Popular expressions like “as rich as Croesus” or “richer than Croesus” became synonymous with the Greek mythological Phrygian King Midas - The Midas Touch.

 

Croesus was also responsible for funding the construction of the seventh wonder of the world – The Temple of Artemis at Ephesus. His signature remains on the base of one of its ruined columns on display in the British Museum.

 

Worship

As far as worship was concerned, Sardis embraced many mystery cults or religious secret societies apart from the two prominent pagan deities:

A. Cybele – the main goddess. (Artemis in Greek, Diana of Rome). Her Temple (one of the few buildings in ruins still seen) was built in the lower city. In Sardis, Cybele was the goddess of the moon (inland she was commonly known as a nature goddess). Orgies, like those of Dionysus (Bacchus), were practiced in her honor at festivals.

 

B. Apollo – the god of the sun. Apollo and Cybele were brother and sister in mythology.

 

 

C. Judaism – A synagogue discovered in 1958 lends evidence of a Jewish community during the Roman era. It contained a large gymnasium that housed a bath complex with changing or resting rooms having mosaic floors.

 

D. Remains of a Christian church building were also unearthed adjacent to the Temple of Cybele.

 

One can deduct from the factual evidence why Sardis became so decadent.

1.  For its love of money

2.  For its love of luxury

3.  For its immorality caused by the corrupt worship of Cybele 

 

The Greek historian Herodotus stated that the citizens of Sardis had acquired a reputation for lax moral standards, and open licentiousness.

 

Military

Apart from being a naturally well-fortified city, the inhabitants built a gigantic watchtower on the side of the upper city, overlooking the entire Hermus Valley and warning them of any approaching enemy attacks. The Practolus River also served as a moat around the citadel for additional security.

 

At least four times the city was captured by invading forces. In the seventh century by the ancient Cimmerians, in the sixth century by the Persians under Cyrus the Great, in the fifth century by the Athenians, and in the third century by Antiochus III the Great. It is unclear how the city was attacked for the first time since the Cimmerians are clouded by legend.

 

However, there is a very interesting story of how the besiege of the city came about in the same manner. On both occasions, the city was conquered by two different invading armies: once by the Persians under Cyrus the Great and the second time under Antiochus III the Great’s army.

 

Cyrus the Great

Herodotus tells the story: As Cyrus’ army approached Sardis and surrounded the city, the strategy needed for defeat was to capture the upper part of the city first to conquer the lower city. So, one of Cyrus's Median soldiers continuously stood to watch at the base of the south backside of the mountain. One evening, a Mardian soldier named Heroeades, son of a Sardian soldier, dropped his helmet from the top of the watchtower of the citadel. The helmet rolled over the edge to the bottom of the mountain.

 

Hyroeades, right about sunset, climbed over, made his way down the backside of the mountain to the base of the valley, retrieved his helmet, and climbed back the same way he came down. In their overconfidence, the Sardian sentries left the city gate unguarded while the entire city was asleep.

 

Upon observation, the Cretan soldier from Cyrus’ army gathered an elite group of men and followed the same path. The Cretan then slipped over the wall, opened the gate, let the army in, and the city was destroyed.

 

Cyrus, after capturing Sardis confiscated all their weaponry, coerced the captives to wear tunics, and taught them to dance while the lyre was playing.

 

Antiochus III the Great

After the Persians destroyed the city in 546 B.C., the city remained vacant except as a military citadel. Later in 215 B.C., a second soldier named Lagoras, from the army of Antiochus III the Great, repeated Hyroeades’ tactic and discovered an identical approach to capture the city. Not thinking anyone could impregnate the city, Sardis was attacked again because they failed to keep a soldier on guard. Two times the city was lost because they were too lazy to watch and taken like a thief in the night (cf. Matthew 24:43).

 

Notice the first two words of verse two of the letter to Sardis:

Revelation 3:2a - Be watchful.

Needless to say, the Church of Sardis became a dead church in a dying city – Too lazy to keep watch. But, amid this degenerating atmosphere, a small remnant of Christians held fast and true to the Word of God.

 

In our next study, we will discover Sardis’ good and bad qualities along with Christ’s recommendation to change.

 

 

QUESTIONS:

1.  What period of history does Sardis represent?

2.  How does a person receive salvation through Jesus Christ?

3.  How does a church become a dead church?

4.  What is significant about the geography of Sardis?

5.  What is significant about the commerce of Sardis?

6.  What were the circumstances surrounding Sardis’ defeat?

7.  What was the key to Sardis’ failure as a church and city?

 

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