The Church in Sardis

1“And to the angel of the assembly in Sardis write: “He who has the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars says these things: “I know your works, that you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead. 2Wake up, and keep the things that remain, which you were about to throw away, for I have found no works of yours perfected before my God. 3Remember therefore how you have received and heard. Keep it, and repent. If therefore you won’t watch, I will come as a thief, and you won’t know what hour I will come upon you. 4Nevertheless you have a few names in Sardis that did not defile their garments. They will walk with me in white, for they are worthy. 5He who overcomes will be arrayed in white garments, and I will in no way blot his name out of the book of life, and I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels. 6He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the assemblies.

As she was going out, a mother asked her two sons not to make a mess of the house. Above all, she told them not to jump from high places, because they could get hurt. But the boys loved nothing more than pretending to be Superman, and though their mother had asked them, they could not hold back. They knotted wrapping cloths around their necks. Taking turns, they climbed onto the dressing table, shouted, and leapt off, again and again, and had the time of their lives.

The cosmetics their mother had set out so neatly lay scattered across the floor, the wastebasket had been kicked over, and the whole house was a mess. The boys reasoned that if everything was clean by the time she came home, their mother would never know, so they hurried to tidy up. When she returned, they looked around at a house that seemed spotless, as though they had done just as they were told, and thought this would be enough to fool her.

But their mother saw at once that the boys had climbed up high and had put the dressing table back together. She knew because she saw the sweat running down their foreheads, the bruises on their knees from jumping, and the cosmetics that were not where they belonged. Her heart was not on a clean house. What she cared about was how much her children respected what she had told them. So however much they wanted to deceive her, the boys could not. It would have been better for them to be honest with her than to try to fool her.

Christians who do not obey God’s word are just like these children. The reason is that they have no idea what they have done wrong, because they do not really know what God wants. They imagine that God has no idea what they think, say, and do from day to day. But because his Spirit is always with his people, God knows everything.

Sadly, believers imagine that God is shut up inside the church and the pages of the Bible. So they live as they please out in the world, then put on a show of holiness when they come to church. But God is not deceived, because he is with his people at every moment. Anyone who believes that God is living and almighty must always watch their words and actions, humble themselves, and live the wise life that lifts God high. God asks nothing extraordinary of his people. He simply wants them to live as his children should. All he longs to see is that we live honestly by his word, and yet we fail to do even that.

What we can be truly thankful for, though, is that God knows it all: every tear his children shed when life is hard, every small thing that makes them happy. He knows how they keep striving, for all their shortcomings, because they long to do better, and how sorry they feel when they have given their best and still fallen short. So God’s people enjoy blessings far greater than anything they have given for the Kingdom of God. Since God is not looking for some great result from them, he gladly accepts even their small offerings of service. Those who serve such a God as their Father must come to understand his will through the Bible, and they ought to show him their faith by striving to live holy lives.

Sardis, the capital of the kingdom of Lydia in western Asia Minor, was a center of trade and a military city, lying 85 kilometers east of Smyrna. Its fortress walls in particular were so impregnable that, apart from Cyrus of Persia and Antiochus III of Syria, no one ever conquered them in all its history. Life there was therefore secure. The city was famous for its dyeing and its jewelry, and it was also the first place to mint coins of gold and silver.

In Sardis the worship of the goddess Cybele flourished. Jesus Christ rebuked them as a church that was alive and yet dead because many Christians had fallen into this idolatry. Cybele was known as the mother of the mountain gods. She was worshiped throughout Asia Minor, and the Roman emperors revered her as a goddess of fertility. Later, when Christianity spread, her temple was destroyed and St. Peter’s Basilica was built on the site. Opposition to Cybele went so far as to leave its mark on the witch hunts of the Middle Ages, which tells us how many people had worshiped her.

It is astonishing that Christians who believed in the one true God worshiped Cybele and the emperor as well. They offered worship to God and sacrifices to Cybele, and that alone shows how badly their faith had gone astray. Once we know this background, what Jesus said to the church in Sardis should become easier to understand.

To the church in Sardis, Jesus Christ described himself as the one who has the seven Spirits and the seven stars. It is a symbolic picture of Christ at work together with the ‘seven Spirits,’ that is, the Holy Spirit, and the ‘seven stars,’ the angels who help the seven churches. Jesus gave himself as a sacrifice to save sinners. Having conquered death, Jesus Christ rose again and took his seat on the throne, and he is now at work to save people. And the Holy Spirit is the one who labors so that the word of God is fulfilled.

So when Jesus revealed himself to the church in Sardis as the one who has the seven Spirits and the seven stars, he was making it known that only Jesus Christ could bring that church back to life, and that only by relying on Jesus and repenting could they live, through the help of the Holy Spirit. In Jesus’ eyes the church in Sardis is now spiritually dead because of its sin. Yet if they rely wholly on the Holy Spirit, they can still be restored.

In those days, founding a church was far from easy. Because of the devotion of the people who had founded the church in Sardis, Jesus could not have given it up lightly. He wanted to establish them firmly if they would hold on to his words and repent, and that must be why he told them to wake up and keep the things that remained, which they were about to throw away. He was calling them to remember the joy they had at first, and to recover the faith that had once given thanks for the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

But the church in Sardis, lacking spiritual discernment, failed to show God a wholehearted faith. Yet something still remained, like a small ember, and for that reason he gave them a chance to repent and turn back before he came as a thief.

Proverbs 8:22-32

22“Yahweh possessed me in the beginning of his work, before his deeds of old. 23I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, before the earth existed. 24When there were no depths, I was born, when there were no springs abounding with water. 25Before the mountains were settled in place, before the hills, I was born; 26while as yet he had not made the earth, nor the fields, nor the beginning of the dust of the world. 27When he established the heavens, I was there; when he set a circle on the surface of the deep, 28when he established the clouds above, when the springs of the deep became strong, 29when he gave to the sea its boundary, that the waters should not violate his commandment, when he marked out the foundations of the earth; 30then I was the craftsman by his side. I was a delight day by day, always rejoicing before him, 31rejoicing in his whole world. My delight was with the sons of men. 32“Now therefore, my sons, listen to me, for blessed are those who keep my ways.

Friends, as you read these words, do you not find them glorious? It is because here Jesus Christ is making known how great he is. Jesus, who was there before heaven and earth were made, is telling you, his creatures, that he loves you. We fix our eyes on the world rather than on the Almighty, and yet he forgives us and tells us in detail all that he has done.

Can you believe that one so mighty is right beside us? Jesus Christ recounts the works of creation one by one, speaking with an earnest longing that people would believe these things.

Proverbs 8:30

30then I was the craftsman by his side. I was a delight day by day, always rejoicing before him,

Proverbs 8:30 tells us that he was the craftsman by God’s side, making heaven and earth and humankind together with him. For us who believe in God, that is an astonishing blessing, a miracle. He goes on to say that those who keep his ways are blessed. If only we live by the word of God, who created the whole universe, he promises to give us the blessing of salvation.

If you take this word to heart just as it stands, you can see many miracles in the course of your life and discover how beautiful the grace of God is. Jesus was there before the ages. He made the heavens, laid the foundations of the earth, and created all things, and he willingly gave his life for sinners who had fallen into death. That is a grace too great for anything to match. If this word has truly taken hold of you, you will never doubt, grumble, or act foolishly. Nor will you betray God for the sake of a life that is worth less than dust.

Revelation 3:1

1“And to the angel of the assembly in Sardis write: “He who has the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars says these things: “I know your works, that you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead.

Jesus Christ spoke fearful words to the church in Sardis. He told them that they thought they were alive, but that in his sight they were dead. Put simply, he was rebuking them for boasting of a faith that, in his eyes, was no faith at all, and telling them they were not a church that held the word in its fullness.

Faith that God does not recognize is not faith. If Jesus Christ did not accept the faith of the church in Sardis, they would not be saved. People think about salvation, weigh it, and settle it from where they stand, but salvation belongs to Jesus Christ from beginning to end. In other words, we can be saved only if God approves our faith.

The boys thought that if they just cleaned up the house after playing to their hearts’ content, their mother would never know. Since she could not see them, they assumed it did not matter how they had played, as long as the house was clean. When their mother scolded them for not doing as they were told, they talked back, asking whether a clean house wasn’t all that mattered. This is how Christians think, too. It is the same as thinking that God will not know how we live from day to day, and that even if he does, it is enough just to go to church. Those boys had no respect for their mother in everyday life. That is how they could lie to her, and why they brushed aside the love of a mother who feared they would get hurt jumping. It also explains why they could not understand her when she reproved them for disobeying. Of course, a house can be cleaned. But children who at heart never listened to their mother, and who refused to the end to admit their wrong, will not win her trust.

Can you say with confidence that you are walking faithfully with God? Those who have been forgiven through the blood of Jesus would not presume to say that they were saved because they repented, or that they were blessed because of their devotion. And now, while Christ is telling them they have not been saved, the believers in Sardis are certain that they have.

This reveals how firmly they trusted in their own righteousness, and how little they understood what salvation is. They may have thought that they knew the word, had made the church grow, and were generous in caring for the poor. But because Jesus knew all about how they lived from day to day, he told them their faith had gone wrong. He knew whether what they were doing came from gratitude for God’s grace or from a desire to display their own righteousness.

Those who love to be honored in the church mistake it for faith when they are pleased with their own deeds. They think that this much is surely enough for God to recognize their faith. Convinced that the offerings and service they have given are faithfulness itself, they are gripped by the thought that God will bless them. All of this is human thinking and self-satisfaction. It springs from a hunger for blessings, and for that reason it is not the truth.

When faith truly gives out of gratitude to God, it can be faithful to death and never think of itself as faithful, give everything and never feel that it has given. It is only right to come to worship with a heart that adores God. But if something keeps you from coming, it is not right to be afraid that God will punish you. Such religion is empty, because rather than being whole trust in God, it is bound up with the blessings of the world.

To be clear, I say this on the premise that we must do our very best to be present at worship. Through worship we can give glory to God, and it is a marvel that we may call the Almighty our Father. If we understand that to be called a saint is to stand in a holy place, from which we may lift our praise to the Creator, we will treasure God’s word all the more and take care over what we say and do.

The same is true of offerings. An offering given out of fear that God might take away our property is money thrown away. God the Creator lacks nothing. We need the faith of a steward, knowing that everything we now possess has been entrusted to us by God. Only then does the faith take root in us that sets apart for God what is his, and only then can our faith be honest.

Not long ago I was told that our church was to be pitied, since with so small a building and so few members, we must have no money. I also heard someone boast that the church they attend has thousands of members and a building so large you could get lost in it. Christians today think a church needs a big building to be a real church. So people flock to megachurches and keep their own burden as light as possible. It is truly sad when people mistake the size of the crowd for their own faith, and regard a huge building as the fruit of their own devotion. It is true that if many people gather, a larger building may be needed, and that to carry on the church’s work we must give offerings and service beyond our means.

But all of this is needed for spreading the gospel; a building and a headcount are not anyone’s faith. We are told that wherever two or three gather in the name of Christ, there is the church, and the Lord said that where people gather in his name, he will be there with them. Outward growth has its place, but it matters more, I believe, that God’s people stand firm on the truth. We must be the Lord’s fruit, the kind that does not fall however hard Satan shakes the tree. My earnest hope is that the megachurches will labor to proclaim the truth to their multitudes. Then the church in Korea will go on standing firm.

When I began my ministry, I was drawn to the fact that Jesus kept his disciples with him for three years. In those three years he told them to repent, to believe God wholeheartedly, and to be faithful to death, because the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to those who take it by force.

Why, then, did it take so long to teach these things? For three years Jesus taught his disciples intensively, yet in the end not one of them stood firm. Seeing that, I came to think that for a person to cast off their old nature and be born again through the word, even three years is short. We need to be saved, so we must understand the word rightly; and to share the gospel, we must learn it over and over. It may seem that we hear and learn the same word every time, but we must keep at it until the word is fully engraved on the tablet of our hearts.

What I have learned in ministry is that teaching the word to a congregation takes a great deal of time. I have seen how long it takes for people to grow with the help of the Holy Spirit. Because of this difficulty, I came to think, churches teach works before the word in order to achieve growth. And because churches do not teach the word faithfully, those who preach cannot preach it rightly, and those who hear cannot truly receive Jesus.

When we see that Jesus did not recognize the faith the church in Sardis boasted of, our own church, too, ought to stop for a moment on the road we have been traveling and consider once more what kind of faith God desires. In calling the church in Sardis dead, Jesus did not mean that their bodies were dead. He meant that they had no faith that honored Christ as King. This was because they had made their own gain the supreme value of their religious life.

The church in Sardis had grown enough for people to take notice. It was so busy that those who watched it at work would not have been able, as Jesus was, to judge its sin rightly.

Revelation 3:2

2Wake up, and keep the things that remain, which you were about to throw away, for I have found no works of yours perfected before my God.

The command to keep the things that remain means that they must cast off their listless, formal religion and recover the truth they first received, the faith that filled them when the church in Sardis was founded. When they started the church, they would not have been preoccupied with rewards and worldly blessings. They strove to follow God’s will and his word, but as life grew prosperous, their faith was diluted before they knew it. So we must repent every day, to set right a faith that crumbles under human righteousness and a life of plenty. When longing fades as riches increase, it is because hope was not set on heaven. If we become servants of God who work for the eternal Kingdom rather than setting our hearts on a passing world, then however much we own here, we will not be shaken.

Revelation 3:4

4Nevertheless you have a few names in Sardis that did not defile their garments. They will walk with me in white, for they are worthy.

Even as the church in Sardis grew dark spiritually, God left in it people whose faith remained spiritually full. They grieved over the decaying faith of those around them and did everything they could to live by the truth. While the other brothers exalted themselves and grew proud, these men and women armed themselves with an even humbler faith, so as not to defile their garments of faith, and they served and worshiped God alone.

Those who labored to guard the church with a full faith would have urged the ones swayed by the world’s temptations to keep the faith together with them. They pleaded with them, sharing the word earnestly, but the others had already given their hearts to idols and shut their minds and ears. There was nothing left to do but pray to God for their salvation. Physical hardship can be relieved with material help, but spiritual decay is different. Because the power of Satan holds it down, those once gripped by evil do not easily turn back, however much help they are given.

Throughout the Bible, people are divided into those who stand spiritually on the side of Cain and those who stand on the side of Seth. These two streams have never once mingled, yet neither has ever been cut off. The descendants of Cain held great power to rule the world, and great wealth, because they did not hesitate to sin. That was how they could attack and torment the descendants of Seth, who strove not to sin. Lamech, the seventh generation from Adam, and his children likewise became the ancestors of those with outstanding talents and great wealth in the world.

Now, in the church in Sardis too, those who are doing well in the world speak the loudest. But God has always protected his spiritual children who keep the faith and serve him, and he has blessed their faith. Only a few in Sardis wore white garments and kept the faith, so they must have felt lonely. However hard they tried to keep the church from being corrupted, those who held the world’s power stood in their way, and powerless as they were, they could likely do nothing. Having nothing, they thought themselves utterly insignificant, but God commended them for not defiling their garments of faith. And he rejoiced in them as people whose faith was worthy. God sees faith so differently from the way people see it.

The church in Sardis shows us that however great our wealth, if it does not become an instrument of faith, it is not a blessing but a curse. God’s people need not choose poverty. If God has entrusted us with ability, whether money, knowledge, or power, we must use it as an instrument of faith.

Jesus Christ will confess before God and his angels those who did their utmost not to defile their white garments even under persecution, and he will lead them on the way of eternal life. If we look only to Jesus, who promised to be with those who kept the faith though it might cost them their lives, we need not fear any suffering or persecution. Since no one can win peace and rest in this life by their own effort, it is when we entrust our lives to Jesus and keep the faith that we can enjoy peace and rest.

Those whose faith Jesus has approved will have their names written in the book of life, and they will live in the eternal Kingdom, sharing in God’s glory. If your name is not written in the book of life, you will never enter heaven. I hope you will believe this and hold to a steadfast faith now. God will remember your names and send the hosts of heaven and his angels to guard you, so that your faith does not fail.

To have our names written in the book of life, we must keep God’s law now. If you lay aside human righteousness and live by the law God has given, your name in the book of life will shine all the brighter. Do not be greedy to rush ahead in the world. Even if you go a little more slowly, if you stay faithful so as not to defile your white garments, God will give you a blessing that cannot be taken away.

May you always worship God and receive the blessing of having your name written in the book of life. I bless you in the name of Jesus Christ.