Grace Presbyterian Church, Montclair, New Jersey

I. The Letter to Sardis – Revelation 3:1-6

Sardis was a very ancient city in Asia Minor. It was on an important commercial route leading to the Aegean Sea and from there to Greece and Italy. Sardis was known for its textile industry and its production of linen. It was a wealthy and also complacent city. Its complacency had been the cause of its downfall in the past. Guarded by a wall thought to be impenetrable, the inhabitants of Sardis were confident in their defense. However Cyrus the Persian (the unknown servant of God in Isaiah 45:1-13) offered a reward to any one of his soldiers who could scale Sardis’ wall. One of his soldiers saw one of the Sardians climb down the allegedly impassible wall to recover a helmet that had fallen. Convinced that the wall could be scaled the Persians climbed it encountering no opposition on the wall because of the overconfidence of Croesus, the ruler of Sardis.

Jesus’ word to the church in Sardis echoes this well known past of the city. This was a church that was overconfident. They had a name, a good reputation of being safe and prosperous in an unsettled and conflicted world. Yet Jesus puts the matter bluntly: “but you are dead” (Revelation 3:1). The members of the church could protest that they were active, they had growing numbers and they were well established economically.

These things don’t ultimately matter to Jesus. Jesus does not find their works perfect. We could also ask, who has perfect works? The root word here for “perfect” means fulfilled or complete. The issue for the church in Sardis is that they had an incomplete faith. Jesus calls them to remember the gospel which they heard (Revelation 3:3). They are to obey and repent. This may have sounded strange to the Christians in Sardis (as it might to us today). After all they clearly believed in Christ as Lord and Savior. They were a prosperous and apparently growing church. What could be wrong? However there is no suggestion that the church was facing persecution or opposition of any kind. They had become content and comfortable. The obvious danger is that they had made peace with their world. Jesus’ peace is very different from what is found in the world (John 14:27; John 16:33). They had followed the path of least resistance. Their discipleship was fatally compromised. 

Jesus uses the example of soiled clothes. This in all probability is a reference to the cult of Cybele, emphasized by Caesar Augustus more than a hundred years earlier. The rites of Cybele dealt both with male ejaculation and open sexual contact between women and men. According to the law of Moses these represented “soiling,” “uncleanness” and fornication (cf. Leviticus 15:1-18; Numbers 25:1-9). This was all part of the ancient world’s preoccupation with the cycle of life. For Jews and Christians God alone was the author of life. There was no area of life in which the church differed more from its Roman surroundings than in the area of sexual behavior. This was a major issue in the early church. We see it in the other churches of Revelation as well as in Corinth (I Corinthians 6:12-20), Rome (Romans 1:24-27) and Thessalonica (I Thessalonians 4:3-8). This is a serious struggle in the church today where we, often like those in Sardis, follow the non-biblical standards of our culture. 

Invoking Sardis’ past, Jesus warns that he will come to the church suddenly “like a thief” (Revelation 3:3). This is like the famous sneak attack that Cyrus used to defeat the city. It is important here to note two critical points. One, Jesus has not abandoned the church in spite of the fact that he sees it as spiritually dead. Second, there are those in the church who have not soiled their clothes and are presented as being dressed in white (Revelation 3:4). As in the case of the other churches, Jesus calls those in Sardis to conquer in his name (Romans 8:37). He will confess us before his Father (Revelation 3:5). The implication is obvious that we need to confess him before our world. We need to confess with our lives as well as our lips. This assures those in Sardis and us of being found in the Book of Life (Revelation 3:5). 

II. The Letter to Philadelphia – Revelation 3:7-13

Of the seven churches in these letters Philadelphia is the most notable. Jesus has only praise for this congregation. Philadelphia (“city of brotherly love”) was relatively small for the very good reason that it was a city vulnerable to earthquakes. Those who could, had moved out of it. Yet this church, though they had little power in human terms, nonetheless were faithful to the Word of God in both senses of the Scriptures and the person of Jesus Christ (the “word made flesh,” John 1:14). Jesus emphasizes here again his role of having the keys, in this case the “key of David.” In the ancient world the keeper of the keys was second virtually to the king. Having the keys to open and close gave one enormous authority. Jesus has nothing less than the “keys of Death and of Hades” (Revelation 1:18). He sets before this church an “open door” which no one can shut. This is the second reference to a “synagogue of Satan” (cf. Revelation 2:9). Again he refers to those who claim to be Jews but are not (Revelation 3:9; Revelation 2:9). This is a puzzling reference and I’m not convinced by some of the interpretations put forth. Could this group include those Christians who demanded that believers should follow the law of Moses (as in Galatians)? Were they opponents who tried to use Jewish arguments against the early Christians? Or were they followers of the false gods of the empire as in those who held to “the deep things of Satan” (Revelation 2:24)? As I read this I don’t think (in contrast to many commentators) that this is a reference to actual Jews since Jesus says explicitly that these people are not Jews (Revelation 2:9; Revelation 3:9). I am not persuaded that Jesus can be speaking of the church as the “new Israel” and that somehow only Christians can really be “Jews” in this sense. This is especially the case since Jews are referred to throughout the Gospel of John as an historic people in both a positive and negative sense (John 4:22; John 8:39-48).

The key to understanding this reference is, I believe, found in the frequent mention of Satan not only throughout what we call the Johanine literature (the Gospel and Epistles of John and Revelation) but in these specific letters to the seven churches (cf. Revelation 2:9, Revelation 2:13, Revelation 2:24; Revelation 3:9). In these texts Satan is the prince or ruler of this world yet at the same time he has been “driven out” by Jesus and has no power over him (John 12:31; John 14:30; John 16:11; I John 3:8; 1 John 5:19; Revelation 20:7-10; Ephesians 2:2). Behind all this I find the overly neglected doctrine of Jesus’ descent into hell (or Hades) which begins on the cross (John 12:31; Mark 15:34) and was a major theme of the Reformers. Fortunately this doctrine is coming back into prominence (the current Pope among others has emphasized it) (cf. Ephesians 4:8-10; Colossians 2:13-15; Hebrews 2:14; I Peter 3:18-20).

We can take several things from the example of the church of Philadelphia. While they are being targeted by Satan they rest in the supreme power of Jesus who has driven Satan out (not in the sense that Satan is no longer present in the world but in the sense he no longer has the authority and power he previously held). The followers of Satan will finally bow down before the Christians in Philadelphia. This holds out a promise for their final conversion (John 12:32). They will learn of Christ’s love for his church. Jesus then promises the Philadelphians that he will keep them from the “hour of trial that is coming on the whole world.” This is not a promise of escape from the world. Nor is it necessarily a word about persecution. Testing or trial in scripture often refers to temptation (Matthew 6:13; I Corinthians 10:13; James 1:2-4). Jesus prays not that we be taken out of the world but that we be protected from the evil one (John 17:15). This can refer to spiritual assault but it can also refer to being tempted as seems to have been the case with the other churches.

Jesus gives the church in Philadelphia a whole series of assurances. They like the other churches are called to conquer (Revelation 3:12). They are also promised the name of God and the name of the city of God, the new Jerusalem (Revelation 3:12). To this day the church in Philadelphia remains a model. 

III. The Letter to Laodicea – Revelation 3:14-22

The church in Laodicea is the most famous of all the seven churches of Revelation chapters 2-3. They are also the most notorious. The conditions of the church in Sardis exist here in a more extreme form. This church has made its peace with the world to a point. They are following Scripture to a point. They are faithful to Christ to a point. The problem with this church is that they are worse than dead. They are not really alive and not really dead. They are neither cold nor hot. Jesus says he wishes they were either cold or hot, rather than just lukewarm. They are somewhat faithful and somewhat unfaithful. They can abide both Christ and Caesar, Jesus and Cybele. They’re in the middle without a firm commitment for or against Christ or the world. They have all the appeal of lukewarm coffee or tea. Simply put, they are complacent. Jesus says dramatically that he will spit them out of his mouth (Revelation 3:16). This is a church which is prosperous and rich in its own eyes. No doubt like Sardis, they have a reputation of being active and alive. Yet Jesus calls them “pitiable, poor, blind and naked” (Revelation 3:17). They have been successful rather than faithful.

Yet the most encouraging thing about their situation is that Jesus will not abandon them. He uses the example of the refiner’s fire to purge away their imperfections (Revelation 3:18; Zechariah 13:9; Malachi 3:2). This will not be an easy process but it is a necessary one so that they may receive the gold the Lord has for them. The white robes symbolize purity, not the purity of moral perfection (which no one has), but the purity of faith, a faith completely focused on Christ. Taking away the “shame of their nakedness” (Revelation 3:18) again suggests the theme of sexual immorality so common among these churches (Nakedness by itself could refer to vulnerability but the mention of “shame” suggests a sexual dimension). Finally Laodicea was known for its salve which cured eye ailments. Jesus promises them a salve to enable their eyes to see. In all these churches Jesus refers to specific elements that characterize them in a unique way.

Jesus says he reproves and disciplines those he loves. Even though he finds this church to be disgusting he still loves them. This is a great hope for all of us!  Jesus calls them to repent, to repent from their indifference. He then expresses this great statement that he stands at the door of the church knocking asking to be let in. This describes the relationship between Jesus and the wavering church. Jesus does not abandon the church no matter how far it has fallen away (This cannot be seen, as is sometimes the case, as Jesus knocking on the door of the unbeliever’s heart. The unbeliever, being dead in sin, is incapable of opening up her heart. In this case God must first make the heart alive through grace (Ephesians 2:1-10; Acts 16:14; Ezekiel 36:26)).

Jesus then ends with the same admonition he has made to all the other churches. He calls them to conquer in his name. He promises a place alongside himself on his throne. The picture is unmistakable. We are in a great conflict. In this conflict, seduction and temptation may be more deadly than outright persecution. Yet we are never abandoned by the Lord Jesus, “the Amen, the faithful and true witness” (Revelation 3:14). We are called to conquer in his name (Revelation 3:21-22).

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