Revelation 3:1-3

Revelation 3:1: “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.”

Sardis represents the church of the Reformation (1517 – 1648). We can see that Jesus gets right to the point: despite this church’s reputation, they are actually dead. They have the appearance of life but they’re not actually alive.

Why is that? Well, today when we talk about the Reformation we tend to focus on the fact that Martin Luther accused the Catholic Church of preaching a false gospel. While Luther was exactly right about that, what we overlook is what happened after people began splitting away from the Catholic Church. In each country the newly-formed Protestant churches became state churches, just like the church that they were leaving! In Germany there was the Lutheran Church; in England there was the Anglican Church; and in Switzerland there was the Reformed Church. All of these churches were state churches, which meant that the whole country was required to be a member – both those who believed and those who did not. A state church is not a genuine church, but is a dead one. This is why Jesus was so upset with these churches: by forcing everyone to be a member, what you ended up with was not a living body but a corpse. Although their creeds may have been good, their pews were filled with people who were spiritually dead, so therefore the churches were spiritually dead as well.

Revelation 3:3: “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.”

Jesus urges this church to repent and become spiritually alive. He points out that if they stay spiritually dead they will be caught by surprise when He returns – and as a result they will be left behind.

In Europe there are a great many grand cathedrals, but few people attend them and even fewer are spiritually alive. Many of these people are not looking for Jesus to return and have no real interest in spiritual matters. When He does come back they will be caught by surprise, and since they are not actually Christians at all they will be left behind.

Incidentally, this is another indication that these letters actually give an overview of church history. The church at Sardis did not see the Lord return; it disappeared a very long time ago. Despite this, Jesus said “I will come on thee as a thief”. However, the dead reformed churches of Europe are still around, and they will remain until the Lord returns – at which time He will indeed “come on thee as a thief”. The promise makes sense if applied historically; it does not make sense if applied to the ancient (and long-gone) church at Sardis.