THE SARDIS SYNDROME

Ephesians – The Loveless church
Smyrna – The faithful church
Pergamos – The Compromising church
Thyatira – The Corrupt church
And now we have

Revelation 3:1
And unto the angel of the church in Sardis write;

Sardis is a fitting name meaning 'remnant'. Built on a 1,000 foot bluff, Sardis was an extremely wealthy city which seemed invincible a city once famous for arts, crafts and wealth.
Invincible until the year 549 BC when Cyrus, conqueror of the city of Babylon also conquered Sardis. Sardis was conquered again 300 years later, a fact to which Jesus will refer to later.

The main description of Sardis is that it IS a dead church (Revelation 3:1). Although it had a recognizable name and pieces of the Truth, it never did much with that precious information. The Sardis church was also urged to be watchful—but, as we will see, they did not know what to watch for! They lacked a vital key for understanding Bible prophecy.

The lesson of Sardis is sobering: Do not let the Truth die—hold on to the Truth you have been given; bear fruit with this precious Truth, or be blotted out of the Book of Life! Sadly, Scripture indicates that despite these strong warnings, many believers then and even today will "turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables" (2 Timothy 4:4).

Isaiah wrote of a time before Christ returns when Truth will be "fallen in the street" (Isaiah 59:14). The cost will be high if we let the Truth die, failing to learn from the lessons of the church in Sardis.

I. DESCRIPTION OF JESUS/LAMB
How is Jesus The Lamb identified here? Why?
Revelation 3:1
These things says He that has the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars;
Notice the salutation. Once again Jesus said, “To the angel of the church in Sardis” speaking to the inner personality of this church. The self-designation is “. . . These are the words of Him who holds the seven spirits of God and the seven stars . . .” (Revelation 3:1).

Jesus holds the seven
• Letters to the Seven Churches,
• the Seven Spirits and
• the Seven Stars

The seven spirits of God meaning He is able to give perfect eternal help.
He holds the seven stars which means He controls the destiny of the Church.

Jesus holds this Church in His hand both as their eternal help and the controller of their destiny.

II.PRAISE: what the Lord is pleased with

Jesus did not offer a commendation to the church as a
whole in Sardis.

He said, “. . . I know your deeds; you have a
reputation of being alive, but you are dead” (Revelation 3:1).
If He was going to offer any approval or praise, it could have been for their deeds, but even at that, those deeds told a lie.
Although Jesus had much to correct in Thyatira, He commended them in Revelation 3:19 for their works and charity, service, faith, and patience. But here at Sardis, He simply says, "You're dead."
They were doing what was right and they had the reputation of being alive, but that was all a lie. The inner being of the church was dead. A person cannot always tell by looking at the outer manifestations of a congregation whether or not it is alive.

All the deeds, works, and the great things they accomplished may not tell the whole truth.

In Sardis, for example their deeds said the church was alive, but Jesus said they were dead. There are churches and individuals like this today whose reputation is great, but one day God will say, “This person is dead. This church is dead.”

III.CONDEMNATION: what the Lord is upset about

They were sleep walking!

Jesus gave Sardis a warning in Revelation 3:2–3:
“Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to
die, for I have not found your deeds complete in the
sight of my God. Remember, therefore, what you have
received and heard; obey it, and repent. But if you do
not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not
know at what time I will come to you.”

The church in Sardis was dead. They were asleep. They
had allowed the world and the things of the world, perhaps
even the riches of their city and the fun of their feasts, to lull
them into a spiritual sleep. They were still going to church.
They were still singing the songs and praying the prayers. They were probably still preaching and teaching all the right lessons.

They were giving liberally of their means to God, but they were asleep. Jesus urged them to “WAKE UP!” They needed to strengthen what remained; they needed to work on what was“ about to die.” Jesus told them to remember how they had received the blessings from God — “what you have received and heard; obey it, and repent.”

IV The Exhortation
Revelation3:2
Be watchful ...

Revelation3:2- 3
... and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die: for I have not found your works perfect before God. Remember therefore how you received and heard, hold fast, and repent.
Why should Sardis be watchful? Because their city fell when they weren't watching. So too, spiritually, they were saying, "We're on solid ground. No one's going to knock us down. You guys in Sardis should know better than that," Jesus says. "Your own history should tell you the results of being haughty and arrogant, resting in a false sense of security."
BE repentant…
They needed to repent of being dead and falling asleep. If they did not repent, Jesus was going to judge them. He would be the One who would take away their candlestick. Their candlestick was their light, their candlestick was the very presence of God in their midst.

Strengthen what remains

What remained? What is Jesus talking about here? Things that are ready to die. Their spiritual foundation was crumbling away. You strengthen by remembering, remembering your beginning when you first became a Christian, how you totally surrendered yourself and became alive and awake in Christ.

V Promised Blessings

Now take note that in the midst of this deadness, there was a little bit of life. Jesus said,

“Yet you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes. They will walk with me, dressed in white, for they are worthy” (Revelation 3:4).

That is a tremendous phrase, “. . . they are worthy.” God
looked down on this living remnant and saw them as worthy.
Not only was He going to give them a robe of purity and allow them to walk with Him, but He was going to recognize them before all the world as people who were worthy.

They were probably weak and still committing sin; they were still falling short of the mark that God had in mind for them, but God recognized them as “worthy.”

They were overcomers,
Notice the promise Jesus gave to the “overcomers”: “He
who overcomes will, like Him be dressed in white. I will never blot out his name from the book of life, but will acknowledge his name before my Father and his angels” (Revelation 3:5).
OVERCOMERS ARE

1. Dressed in White; clothed in righteousness
2. Never blotted out of the Lamb’s book of life
3. Will be acknowledged before the Father and the angels

Jesus is going to give the “overcomers” a white robe. These
will be the people who did not bow to the teachings in Sardis.

He is going to write their names in the book of life and it will
never be erased. He is going to acknowledge their names to
before His Father and His angels. There can be no greater honor than this.

The church in Sardis was in the midst of a situation that
was characterized by spiritual deadness. A Christian today might find himself or herself in the same situation. He/she needs to grab hold of what they have and hold on.

It should be every Christian’s desire that Jesus would one day name his/her name before all the angels of heaven and His Father and say, “This is a worthy brother. This is a worthy sister.”

Revelation3:6
He that has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says unto the churches.
Every generation needs its own Reformation, its own revival. It's not enough for a generation to hear about how it was in Dad's or Mom's day. The Jesus Movement of the 60's was wonderful but the days to come are going to be grander still. God's heart is to go from glory to greater glory whenever we get out of the way and don't fall prey to the Sardis Syndrome