The Spirit gives life1 but the church at Sardis was dead. Oh, yes, it looked quite good. The modern equivalent praises would sound like this: just look at that church! It’s wonderful how they are organized. Just look at all the activities they plan. See how orderly and well prepared they are, with lots of written notes, committee meetings, church council meetings, the deacons, the workgroups and the management committees and the discussions about church responsibilities. They are a real example! However, Christ says to the church at Sardis: “You have a reputation of being alive, but I see through all this. It looks wonderful on the outside, but there is nothing inside—a dead church.” A Dutch expression says: like priest, like people. Meaning: the way the spiritual leadership behaves herself, in that way the people will behave themselves. Wrong example will result in wrong following. This is why Jesus points out: “I have the seven stars. There is only life in My hands, only when the Church is connected to Me, only then is there a powerful, living testimony in the preaching. A Church is only alive when the Spirit, in His fullness, transforms lives. Pastor and Church members are called to return to the Lord: to allow the revealing light to shine in their life. Both leaders and members should get down on their knees and confess their guilt. Only then is there hope. Christ gives fullness of Spirit. He sends it out.2 This too demonstrates His unity with the Father.3 It is only through the Spirit that the stars, the pastors, the preachers and the teachers, and the churches give light.4 Christ addresses the church at Sardis. The city’s glory lay in the past. Once the capital of the kingdom of Lydia, where Croesus was king, who, according to Herodotus, reigned for 14 years: from 560 BC until his defeat by the Persian king Cyrus the Great in 546 BC. Croesus’ legendary wealth leads to the expression ‘rich as Croesus’ and according to Herodotus, Croesus was the first monarch to mint gold and silver coins. Lydia was conquered by the Persians and then by the Greeks under the leadership of Alexander the Great. It was bequeathed to General Seleucus and his descendants the Seleucids, after Alexander’s death and was subsequently conquered by the Romans. Its glory was tarnished. There was indeed still commerce and industry—woolen and dyed cloths in particular—as it was situated at a crossroads. There was much wealth therefore. Its paramount deity was Cybele, the goddess of one of Asia’s most well-known mystery religions. The inhabitants of Sardis were known far and wide for their luxurious, loose way of life. There is no hint of enmity towards Jews, nor of open persecution, nor of heretical doctrines, only of spiritual death—deep spiritual apathy.5 Spiritual life was perhaps smothered by prosperity. Do the spiritual problems of Sardis not draw our attention in the church in the rich Western world? Materialism and wealth often quench the fire of the Spirit.
• There is only persecution where there is spiritual life. Satan does not concern himself with those who are already his. He loses his prey if people come to Christ however, and he does everything in his power to prevent this happening, or to pull such people back into the realm of darkness as soon as possible.
• The expression ‘you have a name’ means ‘you have a reputation’. This may indicate that the church put much store in its ‘name’ and ‘reputation’. The expression ‘Christian in name only’ means a Christianity as an outward religion, a set of ethics and rules on the outside. In this sense Europe is called a ‘Christian’ continent. The name “Christendom” is perhaps derived from this: ‘…you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead.’ This church is more like Christendom (‘dom’ in Dutch means dumb, boring, silly, stupid, not very intelligent) than vibrant, intelligent ‘living’ Christian faith.
• A Christian culture does not mean the manifestation of true Christianity. Although within those nominally Christian Churches and nations there can and will be ‘pockets of light’, of people that practice true Christianity.
Bible References:
1.John 6:63 2.John 16: 3.John 15:26; Acts 2:32–33 4.Revelation 1:4, 16 and 20 5.Comp. Ezekiel 18:21–32, 37:1–14
