REVELATION 3:1-6: SARDIS

Sardis, the fifth church addressed by the Lord, should have been a victorious church. One commentator described the Church of Sardis as "a church that was too good to be true." It appeared to be spiritually alive in that it was a church of good works, but as we know, works cannot save you, and works will not keep you saved (Eph. 2:8-9; Gal. 3:1-5).

"And unto the angel of the church in Sardis write; These things saith He that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars; I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead. Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die: for I have not found thy works perfect before God. Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee. Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with Me in white: for they are worthy. He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before My Father, and before His angels. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches" (Rev. 3:1-6).

In his book, Dispensational Truth, Clarence Larkin describes this church as picturing the church of the Reformation. While I agree with his starting date for the period represented by Sardis, I seriously doubt that his interpretation of the end of the period. I would suggest that this church period runs concurrently with the next church. The Lord's comment about coming as a "thief in the night," clearly pictures His teaching on the Rapture. I hope to say more on this in connection to the sixth church: Philadelphia. Larkin wrote:

"The Church at Sardis was called a "Dead Church, that is, it was a church given over to "formal" or "ritualistic" worship. The meaning of the word "Sardis" is the "escaping one, " or those who "come out" and so it is an excellent type of the Church of the Reformation, the Church (escaping) the Papal Church. It had the advantage of encouraging and aiding the circulation of the Holy Scriptures, that had hitherto been a sealed book, the revival of the Doctrine of "Justification by Faith, " and a reversion to more simple modes of worship, - but the multiplication of sects only led to bitter controversial contentions, that, while they threw much light on the Word of God, interfered greatly with the spiritual state of the Church, until it could truthfully be said, "That she had a name to live and was "dead."

While the reformers swept away much ritualistic and doctrinal rubbish they failed to recover the promise of the Second Advent. They turned to God from idols, but not to "wait for His Son from the Heavens." The "Sardis Period" extended from A. D. 1520 to about A. D. 1750."