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They were a dead church! The other churches were deceived. Sardis was not spiritually alive, growing, healthy, or a model church for anyone else to follow. They were dead! City of Sardis. The city of Sardis was surrounded by other significant churches like Philadelphia, Smyrna, and Ephesus. God had only good things to say to the churches in Philadelphia and Smyrna, but not to this church. It was not like Ephesus, Thyatira, or Pergamum. In spite of their problems, they were alive, but Sardis was like a chocolate bar filled with little worms. The church was located in a famous city. Sardis was famous, since it was once the capital of the Lydian empire. It was built on a cliff that was 1,500 feet (457 meters) above the Valley of Hermus. It once produced gold and silver coins and was a center for the mining of gold and silver. In A.D. 17 a significant earthquake destroyed most of the city, and Rome helped rebuild the city. Today all that remains of this once famous city that had a name are ruins. All that remains are the ruins of the acropolis, the Temple of Artemis , a gymnasium, and the tumuli or burial place of the once proud Lydian kings. The city was known for its pursuit of eternal youth. They wanted to be young, to be alive, and not be dead. The hot springs which are located about 2 miles (3.2 km) from the city were believed to be the key to youthfulness. This was wrong . It is sad, but we will find out in a few verses that many in the church were deceived, too, and thought the church was alive. Dead or Alive? About twenty years ago there was a large church, located in a large city, with a seating capacity for 600 persons, but only six people attended. A group of strong Christian leaders and a pastor started a new church in the area. This new church had grown to about one hundred people and needed a larger place to meet on Sunday morning. So they asked the six people who were attending this older, large church if they could meet in the church on Sundays in the early afternoon. These six people said, “No, not unless we are included in the leadership of your church.” Those six people wanted to be in control. What a disappointment that was to this new growing church. One church was alive and another was dead. Most of us would agree that the old church was dead. |
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