A Millenium Message for the Church
SARDIS – Alive in Christ (REV. 3:1-6)

 

Rev Bill Van Schie
 

Approaching Sardis one is struck by the impregnable fortress it must have been in ancient times. The ancient city of Sardis with a population of 120,000 people is found 80 kilometres east of Ephesus and was built on a mountain spur overlooking the fertile Hermus valley.

Entering the ruins of the ancient city one is impressed by the wealth and the history of the place. You enter Sardis walking on what was the main north south, “Marble road” – a fully colonnaded road made from huge blocks of marble.

On the left are many public buildings and community activity areas. On the right is a largely residential area where, for the convenience of the people, many of the temples were located. Also in this area we find a 15,000-seat theatre, a stadium, a gymnasium and a bathhouse.

The most prominent temple of the New Testament era was the temple of Artemis, the god who, it was claimed, could bring the dead back to life. Some of the Ionic columns of this temple still stand today.

In the 6th century BC Sardis was one of the most powerful cities in the ancient world. By the time of the Roman era, although it had declined in strategic importance, it was still wealthy, had its place in history and was prosperous, as gold was discovered nearby. It had a thriving manufacturing industry and the farming was good in the fertile valley.

It was in this historic city, famous for its prosperity, luxury and licentiousness, that the Lord planted one of his early Christian Churches. The church in Sardis did not do well at all. Of all the seven letters to the churches, Sardis receives the most sever reprimand.

The people in the church of Sardis thought that the Lord had blessed them richly. They faced no persecutions from without, no heresies from within and they were active in their ministries and were blessed with personal prosperity and peace. They thought that they were an alive and blessed church but in actual fact they were dead, ready to be buried.

Today we too can think that we are an alive church just because we are prosperous. We think that because we have no religious opposition, enjoy growing personal prosperity, are able to perform our church ministries without being rocked by heretical discords that therefore the Lord has blessed us. Like Sardis we too can think that we are alive but in actual fact we are dead! How do we know if we are alive or dead?

Listen to what the Lord says to the Church in Sardis.

The Lord who holds the life of the churches in His hands says that their works for Jesus are ‘incomplete’. There is a busy barrenness about their activities. They worship and serve the Lord but their righteous ‘garments’ are soiled by their compromise with the materialistic world. They were a church whose god was called ‘comfort and peace’. They were the comfortable Christians whose number-one-aim was to seek the prosperous and luxurious life of Sardis.

The Lord comes to this church and reveals their deadness. He warns them to wake up and repent. The good life is not found in the luxuries of Sardis but in walking with the Lord. Instead of building their own little kingdoms they should use their gifts and resources in service of the Lord so that His kingdom comes. The matter is urgent! Only a little time is left before the Lord will come and close the church.

The Lord says to the faithful few that theirs is the righteousness in Christ, theirs is the citizenship in heaven, and they have the acknowledgement of Jesus in heaven, because they are alive in Christ and alive for Christ. What more would they want?

As we go into this new millennium we too face the same challenges as the church in Sardis. We too are told by our consumerist culture that life is made up of having ‘more’ and having ‘newer’ – that we are all entitled to have the good materialist life of modern Australia. Nothing could be further from the truth!

Our life is not in our personal prosperity, our comforts, our successes! Our life is in Christ. We are alive in Him and we are alive for Him. We are not here to build our kingdoms using God as our Assistant, we are here to build His kingdom and we are His assistants. All that we are and have is because of the life we have in Christ.

“Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the LORD your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the LORD is your life...!” (Deut.3019-20)


 

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