Revelation 3:1-6

Thirty miles south of Thyatira, nearly one hundred miles east of Ephesus and Smyrna, the city of Sardis was much farther inland than any of the previous four cities Jesus had addressed. Built atop a natural citadel some 1,500 feet above the vast, fertile plain of Hermus, it was a natural location for a prominent city. Indeed, at one time, the city of Sardis was the capital of the vast Lydian Empire, which controlled most of the western half of Asia Minor (i.e., modern Turkey). After the fall of the Lydian Empire, Sardis became a key city of the Persian Empire, and by John’s day, it was the seat of the Roman proconsul, capital of the province of Lydia.

Sardis had a reputation as a military stronghold, but as this very brief history would suggest, the city was actually conquered several times. In the seventh century BCE, Sardis was overrun by the Cimmerians; in the mid-sixth century BCE, it was the Persians. In the fifth century BCE, the Athenians came, followed by the Seleucides in the late third century BCE and the Romans in the early second century BCE.

So also, Sardis had a reputation as an economic powerhouse. The city was located on an important highway leading from the interior to the Aegean Sea, and it was widely known for its production of purple cloth and other, advanced industries. Indeed, in its heyday, Sardis was extremely wealthy, but by the end of the first century CE, it had already been in decline for centuries.

Although Sardis had a reputation for being the place to be, by the time John recorded his revelation, it was already well on its way down.

With this in mind, Jesus’ words to the church there, recorded by John in Revelation 3:1-6, begin to make some sense:

“Write to the angel of the church in Sardis: Thus says the one who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars: I know your works; you have a reputation for being alive, but you are dead. Be alert and strengthen what remains, which is about to die, for I have not found your works complete before my God. Remember, then, what you have received and heard; keep it, and repent. If you are not alert, I will come like a thief, and you have no idea at what hour I will come upon you. But you have a few people in Sardis who have not defiled their clothes, and they will walk with me in white, because they are worthy.

“In the same way, the one who conquers will be dressed in white clothes, and I will never erase his name from the book of life but will acknowledge his name before my Father and before his angels.

“Let anyone who has ears to hear listen to what the Spirit says to the churches.

Jesus knows our hypocrisy.

As has been his form, Jesus used the first words of his letter to the church at Sardis to introduce himself. In each of the previous four letters, Jesus’ identity was specifically relevant to the recipient church and their situation, and such was the case, again, with Sardis. To the saints there, Jesus called himself “the one who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars.”

One of the basic concepts of Bible study is that, when you see a word repeated in Scripture, it is probably key. In the case of Jesus’ signature here, then, our attention is drawn to the word “seven.” In Jewish culture, the number seven was considered perfect. It was therefore used to represent holiness, perfection, and completeness. By emphasizing the seven spirits and the seven stars, Jesus is saying that he possesses the full and complete Spirit of God, and ultimately, he has full and complete command of his real Church. More, he is announcing to the believers at Sardis that he is perfectly, completely holy.

This is the Jesus who declares, still in verse 1, “I know your works.” This, of course, is precisely how Jesus opened his letter to the church at Thyatira in Revelation 2:19, prompting wariness, but then he went on in that letter to commend the saints at Thyatira for their love, faithfulness, service, and endurance. It is therefore tempting to expect that this letter is going to go the same way. Unfortunately, that is not the case.

It is here, still in verse 1, where the letter to the church at Sardis veers alarmingly off course when Jesus announces, “You have a reputation for being alive, but you are dead.” As if that was not bad enough, he adds in verse 2, “I have not found your works complete before my God.” In an instant, it becomes clear that Jesus was not commending or complimenting the church at Sardis. In fact, Jesus’ letter to the church at Sardis is the only one of the seven letters in Revelation 2-3 that includes absolutely no opening commendation. Talk about a distinction you do not want to have!

To fully appreciate what Jesus just said, though, we must pull apart his words just a bit. He said, “You have a reputation for being alive, but you are dead.” In John 10:10, Jesus declared that he had come so that we, his followers, would have abundant life. That is, he came so that we could be really, truly alive. What is interesting is that, while many people thought the church at Sardis was really, truly alive, that could not have been farther from the truth. They were, in fact, spiritually dead. Jesus was neither in nor with them.

Further, when Jesus declared that he had found their works incomplete before God, he was establishing a stark contrast to himself and the seven spirits and seven stars he held. Put another way, Jesus had just presented himself as perfect and holy and complete, but the church at Sardis’ works were anything but.

In short, the Christians at Sardis were not who everyone thought they were. They had worked very hard to project a reputation of life, but they were hypocrites. And Jesus knew it.

Jesus knows all about our hypocrisy. Google defines that word as “the practice of claiming to have moral standards or beliefs to which one’s own behavior does not conform.” It should be noted that, sooner or later, unchecked complacency, compromise, and tolerance will result in hypocrisy. 

What makes hypocrisy so insidious is that, usually, a hypocrite will go to great lengths to preserve the reputation and make everyone else think they are good. They will therefore talk good, make grand overtures, and even play good in public. All the while, as soon as the spotlight turns away from them, they are doing whatever they please. They think they have fooled everyone, that no one knows. Indeed, no one on earth may know.

Yet, Jesus knows. In Psalm 139:12, the psalmist declared, “The night shines like the day; darkness and light are alike to You.” In Jeremiah 11:20, the prophet describes the messiah as “Lord of Hosts, who judges righteously, who tests heart and mind.” And in 1 Corinthians 4:5, St. Paul pronounced that, when Jesus returns, he “will both bring to light what is hidden in darkness and reveal the intentions of the hearts.” In other words, all the stuff we thought we had hidden from everyone else is in plain sight to Jesus, and he will reveal it in due time.

Yes, Jesus knows our hypocrisy. Everyone thinks we are godly, upstanding men and women, but he knows what is on the computer screen when no one else is around. Everyone thinks we have got our mouths under control, but he hears everything we think before anything ever leaves our tongues. Everyone thinks we love people, but he sees that we condescend them based solely on their gender, sexuality, the color of their skin, sin, immigration status, or some other thing. They think we are peaceful; he knows we are full of hate and rage. They think we are growing in grace; he knows we are just playing charades.

They think we are alive, but he knows we are utterly dead inside.

Jesus’ language – particularly, the contrast between “alive” and “dead” – raise a key point: hypocrisy is not just about the stuff we do that is inconsistent with our faith. After all, death is not something that you do. Rather, it is something that you do not do: you do not live. This is significant given the phrasing of Jesus’ indictment of the church at Sardis: “I have not found your works complete.” The Christians at Sardis, then, were like the Pharisees in the New Testament. Throughout the Gospels, everyone’s favorite legalists were renowned for doing everything exactly right. In Luke 11:42, Jesus observed that they even tithed their mint, rue, and other herbs! Yet, twelve times through the gospel of Matthew, Jesus referred to them as hypocrites! Why? Because for all that they did right, they did not seek justice and love for God (Luke 11:42).

Often, hypocrisy is not just about the sins that we keep hidden in the closet. It is about the stuff that we conveniently forget to do. It is about the attitude and motivation that we simply neglect to have. Indeed, hypocrisy is ultimately about what is missing from our lives: abundant, eternal life. So are you really alive? Really?

Because Jesus knows.

The Battle Plan: Hypocrisy must stop.

And to put it simply, he declares starting in verse 2 that the battle plan for eliminating the stronghold of hypocrisy from our lives is simple: our hypocrisy must stop. But how? How will we rid ourselves of this stronghold? Fortunately, Jesus outlines a five-step battle plan to help us.

Be alert.

The first step is found in verse 2: “Be alert.” For the Christians at Sardis, this simple mandate would have been especially significant. In 547 or 546 BCE, Cyrus II of Persia was able to sack the city because watchmen on the city’s walls were asleep and failed to raise the alarm as the invading army scaled the supposedly impregnable cliffs and walls surrounding the city. Moreover, in 214 BCE, when Antiochus III of the Seleucids came to town, the same thing happened again! Not once, but twice, the city of Sardis was conquered because someone was not alert, and that story was told far and wide as a cautionary tale.

Jesus’ call here is, essentially, to wake up! And given that everyone in town was familiar with that embarrassing historical bit, that call would have been like a slap across the face. It was exactly what they needed to hear! Why? Because more often than not, hypocrisy starts not with blatant sin, but with the assumption that it will be okay. As a result, we lower our guard for just a moment. We take a nap for just a bit. And while we are not paying attention, Satan is scaling our walls and invading our lives! We need to wake up and be alarmed by hypocrisy!

Strengthen what remains.

The second step of Jesus’ battle plan for removing hypocrisy from our lives is also found in verse 2: “strengthen what remains, which is about to die.” Once again, the phrasing here is military in nature. In this case, the idea was to send reinforcements to the areas where the good guys still control before even they are overwhelmed. In other words, Jesus was commanding the believers at Sardis – and us – to seek out whatever embers of life remained in their church and renew their commitment to those things. They were to dig in and refuse to let the hypocrisy advance any farther!

Remember what you have received and heard.

Once you have redoubled your commitment to the areas where you are still holding on, it is time to make plans to retake the rest of your life. To this end, in verse 3, Jesus commanded, “Remember… what you have received and heard.” And what had they received and heard except the gospel of Christ? Jesus, then, was saying that, if you cannot remember the gospel, it is probably a good idea to re-read it. I would suggest starting in Mark. Take note of the things Jesus did, the things he said, and all the details that Mark chose to record. Nothing in Mark is extraneous, so as you read, ask yourself why he wrote what he did. Most importantly, look for clues as to Jesus’ motivations. And take special note of this: Jesus, the Son of God, died so that you would not have to suffer the consequences of your sin, and he rose again so that you would not have to bow to the ongoing power of sin. Did you hear that? You can say no to sin! And you can say yes to abundant life driven by love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, and self-control.

Here, though, is the key to remembering the gospel. Most hypocrites have no trouble remembering the gospel because they are still talking the talk. If you find yourself caught in a stronghold of hypocrisy, then, the key here is to really start listening to the stuff you already know and say!

Keep it.

Listening, though, is not enough. Still in verse 3, Jesus says, pointedly, “Keep it.” That is, we must begin to keep the gospel message, following Jesus’ example and living according to his commandments. Our actions must be consistent with his. More than that, though, we must endeavor to be the type of people Jesus calls us to be. To keep the gospel, then, boils down to following the Great Commandment and doing the Great Commission.

It is important to recognize at this juncture that both of these familiar passages are intentionally vague. The Great Commandment does not list a single specific action. Rather, it calls for us to adopt a motivation: love of God and love of people. If you need help figuring out how to do that, go back and check out Jesus’ advice to the Ephesians. Similarly, the Great Commission offers some actions – go, make disciples, baptize, and teach – but does not prescribe a specific procedure for getting these things done. I think this is because Jesus knew that different procedures would be needed for different people in different contexts. Think about how Philip’s tactic with the Samaritans was different from how he witnessed to the Ethiopian eunuch, and Paul’s tactics with the people of Athens were different from how he ministered in Ephesus. We must, therefore, keep our eye on the ball: the point is not exactly how we keep the Great Commandment and the Great Commission, but that we keep them. We have work to do!

Repent.

Finally, Jesus issues to the church at Sardis the blunt charge to repent. Repentance, as we have seen, is acknowledging the reality and magnitude of our own sin, asking God to forgive, and then resolving to live from this point on a changed life. More specifically, the Christians at Sardis were to stop doing the stuff that was not consistent with the gospel and start doing the stuff that was. We, also, must heed this charge!

Therefore, before you read another paragraph, pause to take inventory of your life. What are you doing that you should not be doing? Stop it! What are you not doing that you should be doing? Start it!

Really, if you did not pause to take inventory of your life, do so right now because destroying the stronghold of hypocrisy really is that important. Indeed, consider the consequences which Jesus threatened if the church at Sardis failed. Still in verse 3, he warned, “If you are not alert, I will come like a thief, and you have no idea at what hour I will come upon you.” Given the history of Sardis, they understood exactly what Jesus was saying. What strikes me here, though, is that this time, instead of the Persians or Seleucids coming, it will be Jesus.

Notice, though, the implications of that statement. First, if Jesus is going to come upon or against the hypocrites, then he is on the outside, coming in. In other words, he is not inside the hypocrite, contrary to the hypocrite’s opinion. No, Jesus is not in the hypocrite; neither is the hypocrite in Jesus. Instead, Jesus is diametrically opposed to the hypocrite, just as he was to the Pharisees of his day. More than that, the warning he extended to the Christians at Sardis was that, if they did not straighten up and fly right, he would be the one coming to take them out.

The Promise

On the other hand, consider the encouragement Jesus offers to those who will heed his warning. This encouragement is key because, as Jesus well knew, once someone has decided to wake up and pursue God’s battle plan for his or her life, Satan will inevitably counterattack. In fact, the enemy will do anything and everything in his power to try to overwhelm us, and I think the first thing he tries to do is make us think we are utterly alone in our commitment. Why should I endeavor to be an authentic Christian when all the Christians I have ever known were hypocrites?

For just such occasions, Jesus offered a glimmer of encouragement in verse 4: “But you have a few people in Sardis who have not defiled their clothes, and they will walk with me in white, because they are worthy.” The word “but” is key because it marks a stark contrast from the ominous warning of the previous statement and introduces hope. All is not lost! The church at Sardis is not yet completely devoid of life! There are some who remain faithful! They “have not defiled their clothes.” That is, they have not compromised or yielded to temptation and sin, the implication of which is that, even in the hostile environment of Sardis, it is still possible to live a holy life. “They will walk with me in white.” White in Revelation is the color of saints and winners, and the message Jesus conveyed is that the battle against hypocrisy can be won! And “they are worthy.” Again, this is a stark contrast to the incompleteness of the Sardis church as a whole. Of course, this worthiness is not in and of themselves. Rather, it is only by the grace and power of Jesus Christ, the source and perfecter of our faith (Hebrews 12:2), that our fervent offering is made good enough. And because it is, as imposing as the stronghold of hypocrisy may be in our church and in our lives, there is still hope!

In fact, more than hope, Jesus offered in verse 5 a promise of success: “In the same way, the one who conquers will be dressed in white clothes, and I will never erase his name from the book of life but will acknowledge his name before my Father and before his angels.”

Now, please understand. Jesus does not offer any promise that overcoming hypocrisy will be easy or cheap. Rather, he is saying that, if we fix the hypocrisy in our lives, he will make it worth our time in three ways. First, “the victor will be dressed in white clothes.” Again, white is the color of saints and winners, and the point is that, as bad as we may have been before, Jesus will make us pure, clean, and holy. As much as we may have failed in the past, he will make us champions. Second, “I will never erase [the victor’s] name from the book of life.” Notice that this is an unconditional promise, but that does not mean that Jesus is offering us eternal security. No, do not miss the causal relationship: if we win against hypocrisy and remain victorious against hypocrisy, then our name will never be erased from the heavenly ledger that serves as the guestlist for heaven. And finally, Jesus “will acknowledge [the victor’s] name before my Father and before his angels.” That is, as far away as we may have been from God, as wide as the gulf between us and God may have been, Jesus will nevertheless say, “Look at this one! He’s mine!”

According to Barna Research Group, 35% of Millennials cite “the church’s irrelevance, hypocrisy, and the moral failures of its leaders” as the reason they do not attend church. Barna says that these three factors were cited by equal numbers of people, but if you really think about it, they are all one and the same thing. They are all hypocrisy. Sadly, if you have spent any time in the church, you have likely seen with your own eyes that church people can be some of the most bitter, selfish, ignorant, judgmental, hard-hearted people on the planet. That is, they are hypocrites. The thing is, this problem is not new. Throughout history, God’s people have wrestled with hypocrisy and hypocrites. In Judges, Nehemiah, Kings, Chronicles, and several of the prophets, we see people effectively touting the title “person of God” but living like all the rest of the world. In addition to the Pharisees, Sadducees, and their ilk outside the church, Jesus acknowledged the presence of tares in the field (Matthew 13:24-30). What were Ananias and Sapphira except hypocrites? And the church at Corinth was, at least when Paul wrote 1 Corinthians, filled with people who were the same.

It is not a stretch to say that hypocrisy is the number one threat to the church in North America because so many other issues can be huddled under this one umbrella. It is past time that we knock out this stronghold!