Wake Up: The Warning No Church Can Afford to Ignore

Wake Up: The Warning No Church Can Afford to Ignore

Revelation 3:1–6 and the Church at Sardis

Some churches look alive from the outside. The parking lot is full, the programs are impressive, the community speaks well of them. But Jesus sees past the reputation. In Revelation 3:1–6, He delivers one of the most sobering verdicts imaginable: “You have the reputation of being alive, but you are dead.” That was Sardis. And tragically, many churches today are walking the same path.

Sardis was a wealthy, comfortable, morally soft city. It was known for gold, luxury, and ease—a “don’t worry, be happy” kind of place. And the church inside it mirrored the culture around it. While other churches in Revelation faced persecution, pressure, false teachers, or satanic attack, Sardis faced none of that. The devil didn’t need to fight them. They weren’t a threat.

And that’s Jesus’ indictment.

The Spirit Absent, the Leaders Unfaithful

Jesus introduces Himself as the One who “has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars.” The seven spirits represent the Holy Spirit in all His fullness. The seven stars represent the pastors of the churches. Sardis lacked both. There was no evidence of the Spirit’s life, and the leadership had allowed the church to drift into lethargy and compromise.

A church can build a strong brand, draw crowds, do charity, and still be spiritually dead. Why? Because without the Holy Spirit—without a commitment to truth, repentance, holiness, and the real gospel—it’s simply a religious performance.

Sardis had mastered the performance.

A Church the World Loves Is Almost Always a Church Christ Warns

Why was Sardis admired by the culture? Simple: they went along with it. They didn’t preach against the worship of Caesar. They didn’t confront idolatry. They likely joined the same trade guild rituals everyone else did. They tolerated the whole city’s spiritual climate.

No persecution.
No pressure.
No satanic opposition.
Why?
Because a dead church comforts the world instead of confronting it.

When a church refuses to preach sin, repentance, holiness, and the exclusivity of Christ, it loses its saltiness. It becomes flavorless, useless, spiritually rotten—good for nothing but being trampled underfoot. Jesus said as much in Matthew 5.

Sardis had blended in so completely that no one could tell the difference between the world and the people of God.

Sound familiar?

The Call: Wake Up and Remember

Twice in its history, Sardis had been conquered by surprise attacks because its guards fell asleep. Jesus uses that very image: “Wake up.” He warns that if the church doesn’t repent, He will come against them like a thief. Not to rapture them—but to judge them.

This church had forgotten the gospel. They had abandoned the message they “received and heard.” They may have talked about Jesus, but the cross had become optional. Obedience optional. Holiness optional. Exclusivity optional.

A church that forgets the gospel is no church at all.

And Jesus tells Sardis exactly how to return:

1. Remember the gospel.

2. Keep it—obey it.

3. Repent—turn back now.

4. Wake up—stop drifting, stop coasting, stop blending in.

This is not just for Sardis. It’s for every church today tempted to compromise for acceptance, applause, comfort, or survival.

The Remnant and the Reward

Even in Sardis, Jesus saw a few faithful believers who hadn’t “soiled their garments.” They hadn’t stained their lives with worldliness or idolatry. They stood firm, even when most around them drifted.

Jesus makes three promises to those who conquer:

1. They will walk with Christ in white.
   In the ancient world, white garments symbolized victory and honor. Jesus says His faithful ones will one day join Him in a triumphal procession no one can take from them.

2. Their names will never be blotted out of the Book of Life.
   Salvation is secure. Christ does not lose His own. Their names—written before the foundation of the world—cannot be erased by the world’s rejection or the church’s faithlessness.

3. Jesus Himself will confess their names before the Father and the angels.
   Imagine your Savior, the Lord of glory, declaring your name in heaven:
   “Father, this one belongs to Me.”
   The world may despise you, but heaven will know you.

That is worth more than any reputation on earth.

A Message for Today’s Church

Sardis stands as a warning. Churches die long before their buildings close. Death begins when the Spirit is ignored, the gospel is forgotten, the culture is obeyed, and leaders care more about reputation than repentance.

Jesus tells every church, including ours:

Wake up. Strengthen what remains. Remember the gospel. Keep it. Repent.

We don’t need the world’s applause. We don’t need the city’s approval. We don’t need to be impressive, relevant, trendy, or popular.

We need to be faithful.

We need the Holy Spirit.
We need the true gospel.
We need to resist the drift toward comfort, compromise, and spiritual sleep.
We need to care more about being known by Christ than being known by the world.

A church may be small and faithful or large and faithful—that isn’t the point. But a church cannot be worldly and faithful.

May God protect us from becoming Sardis.
May He keep us awake, alert, and anchored in the gospel.
And may we long for the only reputation that matters: that our names are written in the Book of Life, and that our Savior will confess us before the Father.

Lord, keep us alive. Keep us awake. Keep us faithful.