Discovering the Young Church - Chapter 11: The Seven Churches: Sardis, Philadelphia, Laodicea
11. The Seven Churches: Sardis, Philadelphia, Laodicea
The final three churches on our tour of first century Turkish cities are found at Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea.
Sardis
Croesus was King of Sardis in Turkey. To be ‘as rich as Croesus’ was a saying in the ancient world because he was legendary for the gold and wealth that he had accumulated. When Croesus consulted the oracle at Delphi in Greece he sent many gifts, including a pure gold lion weighing 250 kilos set on a pyramid of 117 blocks of gold and silver.
Croesus wanted to embark upon a war with Cyrus King of Persia, but before he launched his massive attack against Cyrus he first of all went to the Delphic oracle. The oracle was available on the seventh day of each month. Croesus asked the oracle if he would be successful. The enigmatic oracle replied, ‘If Croesus crosses the River Halys, a great empire will be destroyed.’ He did and it was. He crossed the River Halys between Lydia and Persia with a great army and he destroyed a great empire – his own! Defeated, Croesus fled back to Sardis and locked himself inside his impregnable city. He felt safe and secure on the great mountain upon which the city stood. The Persians, finding a way up, entered through the wall and found – no guards on duty! Sardis was asleep, safe in its own security! Cyrus and his soldiers let in the other members of his army and the city was captured while it was asleep.
Sardis lies about thirty-five miles southeast of Thyatira and fifty miles due east of Smyrna. The city is at the junction of the highways leading to these cities and to Pergamum. It was not only the home of Croesus, but in time was the headquarters of Alexander the Great and Antiochus the Great. In AD 17 it was devastated by an earthquake and with the help of Emperor Tiberius was rebuilt into a great city.
Sardis was the centre of a very strong Jewish community dating back at least four centuries before Christ. The number of Jews in the city increased dramatically and some of these were involved in the development of the first church. In 1962 a huge synagogue with a beautiful mosaic floor was discovered alongside the main Izmir-Ankara road through Sardis dating from the second century AD. This synagogue had the capacity of containing several thousand worshipers. It contained several well-preserved Jewish carvings and synagogue decorations, including seven- branched candlesticks or menorah, trumpets, lions, palms and seals – all spoken of in John’s Revelation.
Next to it lies a large gymnasium and a colonnade which lies under the highway. The gymnasium was an offence to the Jews, for the men competed naked and Jewish circumcision was exposed to ridicule. Remains of non-kosher food, including pigs, have been found in the area, confirming the offences to the Jews.
In Sardis today, there are the remains of the Temple of Artemis, which was never finished before being turned into a centre for Christian worship, and nearby, the remains of a brick church from the fifth century. Two other nearby churches date from the fourth century. In 1958, archeologists discovered several important Christian relics, including a portrait of the apostle John from the third century.
Each of the other surrounding churches regarded Sardis highly for its vitality. There were no false teachers and no suggestions of a Jezebel, a Balaam or the Nicolaitans. Yet it had an inner disease.
The church was established in Sardis by Clement, one of the young ministers sent by Paul to establish churches in centres away from where Paul himself visited. The church grew well in its early days, but then under the pressures of persecution became quiet – in fact, so quiet that it was asleep. It was the first church of nominal Christians.
The apostle John wrote to the church in Sardis that it should wake up lest it suffer the same fate as did its city: outward vitality but inward decay. The letter to them started sternly: ‘This is the message from the one who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. I know what you are doing; I know that you have the reputation for being alive, even though you are dead.’
First, John’s letter offers a reassurance that Jesus holds the churches – the seven stars – and their pastors safely in his hands. But who are ‘the seven spirits of God’? They are the Holy Spirit, mentioned in Revelation 1:4 where the seven spirits are linked with the Father and the Son as the source of grace and peace. He refers to the Spirit’s seven-fold energies being available for each of the seven churches.
Second, it offers a rebuke. Once more Jesus was able to say, ‘I know… I know…’. He understood the situation the church was in and was able to rebuke them for their lack of persistence and faithfulness. They were a church like many today who were living on their history. It was full of nominal Christians. They had a reputation for being alive, even though they were dead. Many contemporary churches have started well and have had a great history of programs and witness, but in fact are now dead, living on their past reputation and history. Churches like this need a rebuke from Jesus to wake them up.
This is a reminder of Jesus’ criticism of the internally dead. ‘How terrible for you, teachers of the Law and Pharisees! You hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look fine on the outside but are full of bones and decaying corpses on the inside. In the same way, on the outside you appear good to everybody, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and sins.’
Third, John’s letter offers the following remedy: ‘So wake up, and strengthen what you have before it dies completely. For I find that what you have done is not yet perfect in the sight of my God. Remember, then what you were taught and what you heard; obey it and turn from your sins.’
This instruction to wake up is a reminder of Jesus’ words in John’s Gospel where he says: ‘I am telling you the truth: the time is coming – the time has already come – when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear it will come to life.’ In every generation, many hear the voice of God’s Son and wake from spiritual death. They must then strengthen their own spiritual lives. This word ‘strengthen’ was a favourite word among the New Testament pastors; Paul, Peter, James and others use the word to instruct the new Christians to build themselves up in their faith. Many churches have spiritual reserves that are untouched and resources that are not exercised. So Jesus calls the church to strengthen what it already has because, if it does not do so, it dies. They must then obey the command to be the church, repenting of their sin. Obedience and repentance are two daily steps for the Christians to develop a life of discipleship. If they failed in carrying out the remedy for revival that Jesus proposed, Jesus said: ‘I will come upon you like a thief and you will not even know the time when I will come.’
Jesus warned the members in Ephesus that he could come and remove their lamp stand if they did not repent; he warned the church at Pergamum that he would come with the sword of the Spirit; and now he warns the church at Sardis he will come unexpectedly in judgment if they do not quickly respond.
Fourth, Jesus in John’s letter offers them a reward: ‘A few of you there in Sardis have kept your clothes clean. You will walk with me, clothed in white, because you are worthy to do so. Those who win the victory will be clothed like this in white and I will not remove their names from the book of the living.’ Here was the promise that those who kept themselves pure and faithful, as they were when they first wore their white baptismal robes, would walk with Jesus with their names written in God’s book of life.
The names in the book of life were frequently mentioned in Revelation and also in the rest of the New Testament. Clothed in white, they would join the Messianic procession following the rider on the white horse. The poor, ill-clad American Negro comforted himself by thinking of that day in heaven, saying; ‘I got a robe, you got a robe, all God’s children got a robe!’
The life of purity and faithfulness does have its own inherent reward. The Christian is promised the presence of Christ, the gift of eternal life and a future in heaven. The Christian can sing with confidence: ‘When the roll is called up yonder – I’ll be there!’ That reward lies ahead for the faithful. Let me ask you: does your church have a reputation for being alive while it is in fact spiritually dead? Well, wake up to yourselves, strengthen what you have before it dies completely, repent and obey Jesus’ word – a word not only to churches of the first century but to the twentieth as well.
Philadelphia
Over three hundred years ago, in 1681, King Charles II gave William Penn a charter to establish a new colony in North America, to be known as Pennsylvania. This colony was founded on the twin hopes of providing a new environment of religious freedom and a new opportunity for economic growth. The capital was to reflect these hopes and so was named Philadelphia. In time, Philadelphia was to become one of America’s great cities. It was named after the town in Turkey that received the sixth letter from John on Patmos. This church at Philadelphia has, of all cities, the most beautiful name: it means ‘the city of brotherly love’.
The town and church were set in a valley which was the gateway to the central plateau of Turkey. The city was the gateway to the centre of Turkey. King Attalus the Second of Pergamum founded this colony of Philadelphia as an opportunity for spreading the Greek culture further into Lydia and Phrygia.
It was a fierce volcanic area known in Greek as katakekaumene – the very word itself was enough to strike fear in the hearts of people living in this earthquake-prone region. Early writers like Strabo claimed that the persistent earthquakes cracked the walls of houses and caused the people to live with insecurity and great fear.
Today, little remains of the city of the first century when John wrote this letter, and the modern town of Alasehir covers what remains. For a thousand years under Islam a thousand or so Christians kept the faith in Philadelphia when all other cities became Muslim.
The church was small and of little power. It was established by Lucius, a kinsman of the apostle Paul, who appointed him to this area through which he had travelled. Later, Demetrius from Ephesus was appointed pastor by John the apostle. Demetrius became the first bishop of the church.
Its membership was faithful and it suffered, not from internal infidelity or sleepiness, but because of external persecution. Like Smyrna, it is not blamed for heresy or lack of spiritual effort, but rather it is praised for its resistance to Jews who persecuted them and, like the church at Smyrna, it was promised a crown.
John has Jesus saying to this church:
This is the message from the one who is holy and true. He had the key that belonged to David, and when he opens a door no one can close it, and when he closes it no one can open it. I know what you do, I know that you have a little power; you have followed my teaching and have been faithful to me. I have opened a door in front of you, which no-one can close.
That faithful church had an opportunity to witness to the community. They were to be like the early founders of the city who came in a missionary endeavour to spread Greek culture, except this church had the opportunity to spread the true faith.
‘An open door’ was frequently used to describe a missionary opportunity which God was opening for the believers. Paul testified to the open doors of witness God opened for him on numerous occasions. In Rome, Ephesus and Philadelphia God had opened the door, even in the face of opposition. When God opens that door no person can shut it.
John goes on to quote Jesus as saying: ‘Listen! As for that group that belongs to Satan, those liars who claim they are Jews but are not, I will make them come and bow down at your feet. They will all know that I love you.’ Many times the scriptures affirm that those who oppose the Messiah and his people are not true Jews, but are agents of Satan. Christians are the true Jews because they acknowledge the Messiah, and all others will one day acknowledge the church as the people of God.
‘Because you have kept my command to endure, I will also keep you safe from the time of trouble which is coming upon the world to test all the people on earth. I am coming soon. Keep safe what you have, so that no-one will rob you of your victory prize.’
That church had to be faithful in time of difficulty and persecution and they were given the hope that Jesus will soon return. That promise, ‘I am coming soon’, gave great encouragement to the hearts of all Christians who read this letter during their time of persecution, and still encourages them to this day.
As with the other letters, Jesus not only praised the church but gave them the promise: ‘I will make him who is victorious a pillar in the temple of my God, and he will never leave it. I will write on him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which will come down out of heaven from my God. I will also write on him my new name.’ The citizens of Philadelphia knew what it was like to be part of a new city, with beautiful temples and possessing a new name. In a spiritual sense, that promise still abides for those churches who realise that before them God opens the door of opportunity. The second Jerusalem is a spiritual community, and the faithful Philadelphians would be an unshakeable pillar in the temple where no earthquake would cause them to tremble.
The Christ who holds these angels of the churches in his hand, and who walks among them, is holy and true. That means that Jesus Christ has an intimate relationship with God and is utterly reliable.
It is he who has the keys of David, a Messianic figure who attributes to Jesus the authority to open heaven to those who believe. He holds the keys to death and the world of the dead, and has all authority on earth and in heaven. It is he who holds the key to salvation and to heaven’s door. Now he has set before the believer an open door to the sanctuary of God’s presence.
Just as the city had been given the new name of Neocaesarea by Tiberius only decades before, so the Christian is part of a new temple in a new city possessing a new name. We have been promised to dwell with God in heaven. We are promised that we will be citizens in the new Jerusalem. Then we will also wear the name of Christ, the Lord of Lords. What of your church? Is God giving you an open door of opportunity demanding from you faithfulness in your commitment to him?
Laodicea
The seventh church to receive the message from Jesus written by the apostle John was the church at Laodicea.
Today, at the junction of the Lycus and Maeander valleys, the outline of the once proud and wealthy city can easily be seen by the visitor. Great mounds of earth, the accumulation of the centuries, cover what were once noble buildings, and sheep quietly graze round the ruins of long dry aqueducts. Cotton is picked by Turkish women in the fields that cover what were once broad plazas and market places, and the railway from Smyrna to Denizli runs on top of what was once the main road.
The gymnasium, Odeon, stadium, two theatres, temple and aqueduct are visible but unrestored. Apart from the city gate, the aqueduct and part of the city wall, nothing has been excavated.
Laodicea was one of the largest cities in the entire empire by the first century BC. It was named after the wife of Antiochus the Great between 261 and 253 BC. The Emperor Hadrian visited the city in AD 29. By the second century AD, the city was calling itself ‘the Metropolis of Asia’. It was a very wealthy city, the centre of banking and of gold-smithing for the whole region.
Around the wealthy Lycus Valley there were herds of famous black sheep whose raven-black wool was sought after for fine garments. This led to the development of a large textile industry which produced tunics known as trimita. This area was also known for its famous medical school that specialised in the treatment of ear and eye diseases.
The churches of Colossae, Laodicea, Hierapolis and other places were once powerful centres of Christian faith. Today they remain huge mounds waiting for the archeologists. One day they will be opened for the tourists, as has the nearby ancient city of Aphrodisias.
The church was founded by Epaphras, from nearby Colossae. One of the few surviving names from the first or second century in Laodicea is that of one Epaphras, recorded on a marble block. Could it perhaps be the same person who founded the church? The church met in the house of Nympha and for a while we know that Archippus ministered here, for Paul wrote, ‘You are to read the letter the brothers in Laodicea will send you. And tell Archippus, “Be sure to finish the task you were given in the Lord’s service”.’
How we wish we knew which letter that was, if somewhere some of it remains, and what the task was that Archippus had to complete. By the time of John’s letter to the church, Archippus was no longer the minister. However, the letter referred to may be our Letter to the Ephesians.
It is possibly here or at nearby Colossae that Philemon lived, that wealthy slave-owning Christian to whom Paul sent his brief epistle in our New Testament. Archeologists discovered in this city of Laodicea a marble inscription which mentions the name of a prominent citizen named Marcus Sestius Philemon. Could this be the very Philemon to whom Paul wrote?
The letter of Jesus recorded by John to the church at Laodicea starts by affirming the nature of Jesus, the author: ‘This is the message of the Amen the faithful and true witness, who is the origin of all that God created.’ Jesus himself emphasises the insights given by John and Paul that he was the one who was God’s agent, the very originator of creation.
This letter has four parts.
In the first part, Jesus confronts the church which was as lukewarm as the water in the springs nearby. ‘I know what you have done: I know that you are neither cold nor hot. How I wish you were either one or the other! But because you are lukewarm, neither hot nor cold, I am going to spit you out of my mouth!’
He knew those lukewarm members and they made him sick. They reflected their affluent, self-centred, lukewarm environment. The church had no vitality and enthusiasm within it. The early Christians in most places were enthusiasts for their faith. They went preaching the gospel, telling all they met in carriages, boats, shops or on footpaths; teaching, arguing, discussing, announcing, debating, gossiping, chattering, testifying the gospel … but not at Laodicea.
They were not opposed to the message, but they were not enthusiastic for it either. They preferred to be thought respectable rather than religious. They were lukewarm and Jesus said, ‘ I am going to spit you out of my mouth!’ Here was a church that did not have a heart that ‘burned within’ from the presence of Jesus.
At every period of the church’s growth, it has been led by faithful men and women who were enthusiastic for the gospel. John Wesley, for example, rode 250,000 miles on horseback, preached 40,000 sermons and wrote 200 books to help people grow in their faith. One charge brought against him and his early helpers was that he suffered from ‘enthusiasm’ – a very dreadful condition. In the deadness and dryness of the church of his century, those early Methodists brought revival. It is little wonder that the world is unimpressed with the message of the church when it notes the lack of spiritual passion among its members. Does your church recognise itself as a church that is neither hot nor cold? Jesus Christ does not like a lukewarm church.
The second part of this letter confronted them on the self-sufficient attitude. ‘You say, “I am rich and well off; I have all I need.” But you do not know how miserable and pitiful you are! You are poor, naked and blind.’
Even in a city of wealth they were poor; in a city famous for its fine clothing industry they were naked; and in a city famous for its medical school specialising in eye healing, they were blind. The church is always in danger when it becomes self-sufficient, boasting of its buildings, programmes and pastors. That church does not even realise its own poverty in things of the Spirit, its own transparent nakedness in the eyes of God, its own wretchedness.
They were saying, ‘I am rich … I have all …’ but Jesus was calling them to see that their salvation was not of themselves, but was from him. He was the source of their inner satisfaction. Jesus had said, ‘You can do nothing without me’ , but this church was proud of what it could do on its own. Every church has to beware of self-sufficiency and to see its own real condition.
But Jesus did not merely criticise; in the third part of this letter he counselled them to wholehearted commitment:
I advise you, then, to buy gold from me, pure gold, in order to be rich. Buy also white clothing to dress yourself and cover up your shameful nakedness. Buy also some ointment to put on your eyes so that you may see. I rebuke and punish all whom I love. Be in earnest, then, and turn from your sins. 18
Smyrna thought itself poor when it was in fact rich; Laodicea thought itself rich when it was in fact poor. The Laodiceans could purchase from the agora many fine black tunics, but their nakedness needed to be covered by the white robes of righteousness and purity that only Jesus could provide. Those garments are heavenly. The tunics of Laodicea were earthly.
One grammatical point is of interest: Jesus uses the same word for the application of the eye ointment or salve as does the famous physician Galen, who described the ointment in his discussion on what he called Phrygian powders.
Jesus was the answer to their need. The Christians were told to come to him and find in him riches, clothing, and healing. Always the church that is self-sufficient needs to come close to its Master and find from him the answers to their condition.
In the fourth part of the letter Jesus commands personal renewal. Jesus says he rebukes and punishes those he loves. He still loves them and allows them to be refined through trials so they can become the people he wants them to be.
Jesus exhorts them to be in earnest and turn aside from their sins. Repentance is a single act of turning, but being in earnest is a continuous attitude. Those Christians needed to repent and to humble themselves before God and then recommit themselves to fervent faith in the same way as God has called his people in all generations.
Jesus concludes with an invitation that is one of the loveliest invitations of the entire Bible:
Listen I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears my vice and opens the door, I will come into his house and eat with him, and he will eat with me. To those who win the victory I will give the right to sit beside me upon my throne, just as I have been victorious and now sit by my Father on his throne. 19
That invitation is addressed to any individual who hears his call. Even one person is able to respond. His promise is one of personal intimacy and closeness. Jesus graciously calls all of us who are poor, naked and blind to come to him. He stands before us at our heart’s door and knocks, waiting for us to let him come in. And when he enters, our dining room becomes his throne room!
I stood in St Paul’s Cathedral in London and, as I walked down the aisle, I passed a great column where Holman Hunt’s well-known painting, Jesus Christ, the Light of the World, is hung. The picture is of a dark night and brambles cover a house, but Jesus the King is standing outside knocking on the door and the light from his lantern shines upon his kind face. He patiently waits for the door to be opened. There is no handle on the outside of the door: this door can only be opened from the inside! Jesus quietly says that he stands at the door and knocks. Each one of us has the opportunity of inviting him into our lives, our hearts, and our homes. Have you?
So, in the Spirit of Jesus, John wrote those seven letters to the seven churches in Turkey. He was writing them to those places at that time, but there is about those letters something that transcends time and place. They have been written to any church anywhere. As you hear the words of Jesus, may the Spirit of God himself give you ears to hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
Endnotes:
1. Revelation 3:1
2. Matthew 23:27-28
3. Revelation 3:2-3
4. John 5:25
5. Revelation 3:3
6. Revelation 3:4-5
7. Revelation 19:14
8. Revelation 3:7-8
9. Revelation 3:9
10. Revelation 3:10-11
11. Revelation 3:12
12. Isaiah 22:22-23; Matthew 16:19; Matthew 28:18-20; Hebrews 10:19-20; Revelation 1:18
13 . Revelation 3:14
14. Revelation 3:15-16
15. Revelation 3:17
16. John 15:5
17. Revelation 3:18-19
18. Revelation 3:20-21
For personal reading
Theme: The Lord of the Churches III
Monday: The message to the church at Sardis (Revelation 3:1-6)
Tuesday: What the Pharisees are like (Matthew 23:27-28)
Wednesday: The suddenness of the Lord’s coming (1 Thessalonians 5:1-11)
Thursday: The message to the church at Philadelphia (Revelation 3:7-13)
Friday: Paul’s open doors (Acts 14:27; 1 Corinthians 16:9; 2 Corinthians 2:12; Colossians 4:3-4)
Saturday: The message of the church at Laodicea (Revelation 3:14-22)
Sunday: The presence of the Lord within (Luke 24:32; Romans 12:9-21)
For group study
Topic: Jesus speaks to Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea
1. How does Tuesday’s reading throw light on the church at Sardis?
2. Do you ever wonder if the church is asleep? What can you do?
3. The church at Philadelphia clearly had an opportunity. What opportunities has God placed before you and your church? What are you doing about them?
4. How is the message to Laodicea a message of hope to us all?
5. What does Sunday’s reading tell us about the nature of true church life?
