Revelation 3:1-6 Church in Sardis

Rev. 3:1   “To the angel of the church in Sardis write:

 He who has the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars, says this: ‘I know your deeds, that you have a name that you are alive,  but you are  dead. 2 ‘Wake up, and strengthen the things that remain, which were about to die; for I have not found your deeds completed in the sight of My God. 3 ‘So  remember what you have received and heard; and keep it, and  repent. Therefore if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at  what hour I will come to you. 4 ‘But you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their garments; and they will walk with Me in white, for they are worthy. 5 ‘ He who overcomes will thus be clothed in white garments; and I will not erase his name from the book of life, and  I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels. 6 ‘ He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’

Map created in Accordance Bible Atlas 2.2

 1.  To whom are verses 1-6 addressed? 

“the angel of the church in Sardis” (3:1).

•        Sardis was an affluent city in the Roman province of Asia Minor (modern Turkey), located 50 miles east of Smyrna.

2.  How is Jesus described? (3:1)

“He who has the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars” (3:1).

•        “the seven Spirits of God” (3:1)

o   “The Spirit of the LORD will rest on Him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and strength, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD” (Isa 11:2).

•        “the seven stars” (3:1)

o   “In His right hand He held seven stars, and out of His mouth came a sharp two-edged sword; and His face was like the sun shining in its strength” (1:16).

o   “As for the mystery of the seven stars which you saw in My right hand, and the seven golden lampstands: the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches” (1:20).

3.  Of what does Jesus know concerning the church in Sardis? (3:1)

“I know your deeds, that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead” (1).

4.  What does Jesus have against the church in Sardis? (3:1-2)

“. .  . you are dead” (1).

“. . . I have not found your deeds completed in the sight of My God” (2).

5.  What does Jesus tell the church in Sardis to do? (3:2-3, 6)

“Wake up, and strengthen the things that remain, which were about to die; for I have not found your deeds completed in the sight of my God. So remember what you have received and heard; and keep it, and repent . . .” (2-3).

“He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches” (6).

6.  How does Jesus warn the church in Sardis? (3:3)

“. . . Therefore if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come to you” (3).

7.  What does Jesus promise the church in Sardis? (3:4-5)

“But you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their garments; and they will walk with Me in white, for they are worthy. He who overcomes will thus be clothed in white garments; and I will not erase his name from the book of life, and I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels” (4-5).

•        Other biblical occurrences of  the phrase “book of life” (bold printed added):

o   Psa. 69:28  May they be blotted out of the book of life

                        And may they not be recorded with the righteous.

o   Phil. 4:3 Indeed, true companion, I ask you also to help these women who have shared my struggle in the cause of the gospel, together with Clement also and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life.

o   Rev. 13:8 All who dwell on the earth will worship him [the beast], everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who has been slain.

o   Rev. 17:8   “The beast that you saw was, and is not, and is about to come up out of the abyss and go to destruction. And those who dwell on the earth, whose name has not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, will wonder when they see the beast, that he was and is not and will come.

o   Rev. 20:12 And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds.

o   Rev. 20:15 And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

o   Rev. 21:27 and nothing unclean, and no one who practices abomination and lying, shall ever come into it, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.

8.  How does the message to the church of Sardis apply to the church today?

Sleeping saints with soiled garments need to wake up and finish strong.

Father, what You begin, You bring to completion. All that You plan, You do. Not one of Your purposes can be thwarted. You who began a good work in us will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus. You are worthy of uncompromising devotion. May You strengthen us in the Lord, and may we be sensitive and fully yielded to the Spirit, diligent in worthy deeds, persevering in prayer, eager students of Your Word. May those who have fallen into a sleepy stupor be awakened to the upward call of Christ. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.