Sunday Morning Notes 8/9/2015
Revelation 3:1-6 – The Church at Sardis
Recap
1. In Revelation 2-3, Jesus gives John a message to write for each of the seven main churches in Asia.
2. Last week we look at Christ’s message to the church at Thyatira.
a. The church at Thyatira received more criticisms than any other church that Jesus wrote.
b. They foolishly tolerated a woman named Jezebel who was leading their people astray.
Background of Sardis
1. Sardis was a large and wealthy city at the time of Revelation.
a. There was essentially a gold rush that happened in the city, so everyone moved to Sardis
with the hopes of striking it rich, and some did.
2. Because people came from every region of the world to find gold in Sardis, there were as many as
50 different gods that were worshipped in the area.
a. As a result, it became very hard to live for Jesus in a culture where money was
everyone’s goal, and there were also several other gods that could have been worshipped.
Jesus’ Letter to the Church in
Sardis
1. Jesus identifies Himself as
the one who has the seven
Spirits of God and the seven
stars.
a. Remember, the seven
Spirits refers to the Holy
Spirit, and the seven stars
are the seven stars are the
seven pastors of the
An aerial view of the city of Sardis.
churches in Revelation.
Commendations:
1. Jesus literally has nothing nice to say about the church at Sardis.
Criticisms:
1. Jesus starts off by saying that the church in Sardis was spiritually dead, even though they
appeared to be alive.
a. Every time someone is referred to as spiritually dead in Scripture, it always has to do
with sin.
Question: What is the difference between being spiritually dead and being spiritually dry? ________
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Dead vs Dry
1. When we’re spiritually dry, we feel distant from God and we’re going through a spiritual rough
patch that bothers us.
2. When we’re spiritually dead, we are distant from God due to sin. We’re walking away from God
and it doesn’t bother us.
Five Commands for the Spiritually Dead:
1. Wake up! – In other words, start to take your spiritual life seriously.
2. Strengthen the things that remain – Invest in the things that are still producing spiritual fruit.
3. Remember what you have received and heard – Read your Bible because you’ve forgotten
how glorious Jesus is.
4. Keep it – Obey God’s Word and actually do what it says.
5. Repent – Turn from sins that the Bible exposes in your life.