Revelation Chapter 3:1-13
3:1 “To the angel of the church in Sardis write”: The city of Sardis was the capital of ancient Lydia and was located thirty-miles SE of Thyatira. Here five important roads join, making it one of the world’s great trading centers. “Sardis is best remembered as the birthplace of modern money because here the first coins were minted” (Harkrider p. 46). 3:1 “He who has the seven Spirits of God”: Compare with Revelation 5:6. Like the Father, Jesus possesses the same Omniscience, He sees all and sees the complete and total reality of each congregation. 3:1 “I know your deeds, that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead”: Here there appears to have been no threat from the Jews or the Gentiles. “Sardis was a very ‘peaceful’ church. It enjoyed peace, but it was the peace of the cemetery!” (Hendriksen p. 73). The church here became like the culture that surrounded them (Romans 12:1-2). McGuiggan notes, “It was a city of tremendous past reputation. But it was more; it was a city that spelled ‘failure’, a city whose history was marked by the ruin of great kings and the downfall of great military strength. It was the city whose name was almost synonymous with pretension unjustified, promise unfulfilled, and appearance without reality, confidence that heralded ruin. Reputed an impregnable fortress, it had repeatedly fallen short of its reputation, and ruined those who trusted in it” (p. 63). 3:2 “Wake up”: Like the congregation in this city, the city itself had been very confident of its security. Sardis was built on a smooth, almost perpendicular rock hill that arose to a height of 1500 feet above the Hermus Valley, inaccessible from three sides and easily defended from the fourth, it seemed like an impregnable city. Sardis had been a place of tremendous wealth, Croesus, the richest king in history had ruled here, yet the tendency was to become soft and weak. In 549 B.C. and 218 B.C. the city was taken by surprise. “Tradition says that a soldier found a crevice in the rock hill up which he led a band of soldiers to the summit, taking the city by surprise” (Hailey p. 143). “They found the battlements completely unguarded because the Lydian king never thought
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