Imagine what it would be like to be the pastor of an
apparently successful church and receive a letter from the founder of
Christianity that reads, in part, like this:
“I know all
the things you do, and that you have a reputation for being alive—but you are
dead. Wake up! Strengthen what little remains, for even what is left is
almost dead. I find that your actions do not meet the requirements of my God. Go back to what you heard and believed
at first; hold to it firmly. . . . Yet there are some in the church in Sardis
who have not soiled their clothes with evil. They will walk with me in white,
for they are worthy. All who are victorious will be clothed in white”
(Revelation 3:1-6, NLT).
At the time this letter was written, the city of Sardis had
seen its best days and was in decline. Sardis had a reputation for being an
apathetic city that loved its luxury and immorality. It was still a wealthy
city, situated at the juncture of several important trade routes. The
combination of wealth and pleasure-loving gave the city a notorious reputation
for decadence.
The love of soft living and the lack of discipline were
historical problems for Sardis. Situated on a mesa surrounded by cliffs, it seemed
to be a city safe from attacking enemies. At about 550 B.C., Cyrus of Persia
attacked the city but could not find a way to capture it. One of his soldiers
studied the problem carefully and one day observed a defender accidentally drop
a piece of equipment over the wall and down the cliff. The enemy soldier
watched as the defender climbed down a hidden trail and retrieved the dropped
item. The Persian soldier marked the location of the secret trail and that
night he led a detachment of Persian soldiers up the trail and into the city.
When the Persians got to the top and came to the city
walls, they found the city totally unguarded. The people of Sardis were so overly
confident in their natural defenses that they felt no need to keep a diligent
watch. No one was on guard and the city was easily captured!
Jesus, the founder of Christianity, said of the church at
Sardis, “You have the reputation of being
alive but you are dead.” This was a church full of activity; in fact, the
calendar was loaded with activities and it was really a happening place. But
the broken heart of the Savior said, “You
are dead!” He then went on to say, “I
find that your actions do not meet the requirements of My God.” In other
words, “What you are doing, the way you are living, is not pleasing to Me or to
My Father.”
Jesus’ challenge to His church in Sardis was, “Wake up! Strengthen
what little remains. Go back to what you heard (were taught and believed at
first); hold to it firmly.” The church was as lax in its vigilance as the defenders
of the city were, and in their arrogance they were wide open to spiritual
attack.
Because Sardis was an affluent town, apparently many of the
Christians were enamored by the prosperity and began to hunger after it, drifting
away from the teaching of Scripture toward a materialistic mindset.
Jesus telling them to wake
up implies that this church had gone to sleep; they were not alert and
awake, but were pretending to be so with all their activities and the desire to
be accepted by the culture. “Strengthen
what little remains” implies that the church had begun with a life of
faithful service but over time had become so attracted to the world around them
that their life in Him was being impeded.
But not everyone in Sardis had been infected by the culture
that surrounded it. In verse 4 Jesus says, “Yet there are some
in the church in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes.”
What did He mean by “who
have not soiled their clothes”? These are people who have put on the whole
armor of God and are living their lives according to the teachings of the Word
of God. They have kept their attention and their affection upon God and His
Kingdom and not on the cultural kingdom that surrounds them. These are born-again,
Spirit-filled people who understand that they are sojourners here on earth;
they understand that this world is not their home. They are hardworking,
compassionate, God-fearing people whose primary love is the Lord and His work
and they have not been seduced and soiled by our materialistic, carnal culture.
Thank the Lord that dirty clothes can be washed. The word repentance to a Christian is not an
unnecessary word; it is not a word to be cast off or thought of as having no
place in the life of a New Testament believer. John, the writer of the book of
Revelation, also wrote this to the churches in Asia Minor: “If we confess our sins, he
is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all
unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).
If our garments get soiled, He’ll make them clean again. We
just have to ask!
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