Sermon Tone Analysis

*Sardis*

* *

*Rev 3:1-6*  And unto the angel of the church in Sardis write; These things saith he that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars; I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead.

(2)  Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die: for I have not found thy works perfect before God.  (3)  Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent.

If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee.

(4)  Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with me in white: for they are worthy.

(5)  He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.

(6)  He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.

*1.

**The Commission*

a.

The word Sardis means “those escaping” .

b.      Escaping what?

Thyatira means continual sacrifice.

So in Sardis, we will see those who escaped the corruption of Jezebel and her false doctrines.

*2.              **The City*

a.       *Historically  *-

                                                               i.

Sardis was the capital of the great kingdom of Lydia and one of the oldest and most important cities of Asia Minor.

ii.

It was located inland and built on a small, elevated plateau which rises sharply above the Hermus Valley.

iii.

On all sides but one the rock walls are smooth, nearly perpendicular and absolutely unscalable.

The only access is on the southern side by a very steep and difficult path.

                                                           iv.

As the civilization and the commerce grew more complex, the high plateau became too small, and a lower city was built chiefly on the west side of the original city.

v.

The old city was used as an acropolis.

Actually this made it a double city, and it was called by the plural noun /Sardeis/ or /Sardis/.

vi.

The plain was well watered by the Pactolus River.

It became the center of the carpet industry and was noted for its wealth.

vii.

Coins were first minted there.

viii.

Its last prince was the wealthy Croesus who was captured by Cyrus.

He was considered the wealthiest man in the world, and everything he touched seemed to turn to gold.

ix.

Sardis was ruled by the Persians, by Alexander, by Antiochus the Great, and finally by the Romans.

It was destroyed by an earthquake during the reign of Tiberius.

x.

Extensive excavations have taken place at Sardis.

They are rebuilding the gymnasium and also the synagogue.

And they have dug up the Roman road that is there.

The thing that thrilled me when I looked at that road was that I knew the apostle Paul had walked up and down it.

[1]

*b.      **Commercially - *

                                                               i.

Sardis was in very early times an important commercial city.

ii.

Pliny says that the art of dyeing wool was invented there, and it was the entrepôt of the dyed woolen manufactures, carpets, etc., the raw material for which was furnished by the flocks of Phrygia.

iii.

It was also the place where the metal /electrum/ was procured.

Gold was found in the bed of the Pactolus.

Silver and gold coins are said to have been first minted there, and it was at one time known as a slave-mart.

*c.       **Religiously - *

                                                               i.

The impure worship of the goddess Cybele was celebrated there, and the massive ruins of her temple are still to be seen.

ii.

In our day the ruins of the temple of Cybele and also of the temple of Apollo can still be seen.

iii.

It is one of the few double temples that you will find in the world.

Cybele was known as Diana in Ephesus, but when you get inland, she becomes a nature goddess.

She was the goddess of the moon, and Apollo was the god of the sun—they were brother and sister.

iv.

This was a very corrupt worship, much like the worship of Diana at Ephesus.

                                                             v.

The city is now a heap of ruins.

In 1850 no human being found a dwelling there.

*3.              **The Character of Christ*

a.       * Seven Spirits of God*

                                                               i.      that is, /He/ is the One who sent the Holy Spirit into the world.

ii.

As we have seen, Sardis represents the Protestant church.

My friend, the church today needs the Spirit of God working in it.

We think we need methods, and we have all kinds of Band-Aid courses for believers in which you put on a little Band-Aid, and it will solve all your problems.

iii.

What we really need to do is to get to the person of Christ whom only the Holy Spirit can make real and living to us.

This is the thing Protestantism needs today.

iv.

Following the dark night of the Dark Ages, the Holy Spirit was still in the world doing His work.

He moved in the hearts of men like Martin Luther, John Calvin, John Knox, and many, many others.

v.

Isa 11:2-5  And the *spirit of the LORD* shall rest upon him, *the spirit of wisdom and understanding,* the *spirit of counsel and might,* the *spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD;*  (3)  And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the LORD: and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears:  (4)  But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked.

(5)  And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins.

vi.

Rev 1:4  John to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace /be/ unto you, and peace, from him which is, and which was, and which is to come; and from the seven Spirits which are before his throne;

* *

                                                          vii.

*The seven stars*;

1.       Dan 12: the ministers of the Gospel;  these were filled by Christ at this time with evangelical light and knowledge; and were sent, and held forth by him as lights in the world; and were instruments in his hand for great good; and were wonderfully held, kept, and preserved by him, notwithstanding the greatness of their work, their weakness in themselves, and the power, rage, and fury of the antichristian party;

*4.             **The Commendation*

a.       *I know thy works*; good works chiefly; the nature and imperfection of them; and also bad works: that

b.      *thou hast a name that thou livest*:

                                                               i.

The church in Sardis was a dead church.

ii.

It had a name for spiritual living, by faith on Christ's righteousness only for justification, t and here was in them an appearance of liveliness, by their zeal for Gospel doctrine and worship, and a form of living according to godliness; they were esteemed, were celebrated, and famous for these things, especially for living by faith on Christ's righteousness:

c.       *and art dead*; or "but art dead";

                                                               i.

for, the most part, or greater part of the members of these churches, are dead in trespasses and sins; and as for the rest, they are very dead and lifeless in their frames, in the exercise of grace, and in the discharge of duties; and under great spiritual declensions and decays, just as it were ready to die; and but few really alive in a spiritual sense, and especially lively, or in the lively exercise of grace, and fervent discharge of duty; yea, dead as to those things in which they had a name to live:

*5.              **The Condemnation*

a.

This is the second word of condemnation, and it is a word of warning which had particular meaning in Sardis.