Sardis- Fifth Church

(Rev 3:1 KJV) 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.

Chapter 2, had the first four churches: Ephesus, Smyrna,
Pergamum, and Thyatira. Chapter 3 focuses on the next
2 along the ancient trade route of Asia Minor: Sardis and
Philadelphia.

Asia Minor during the First Century A.D. was similar
to the USA, today. It was wealthy, and it was the
repository of wisdom with large libraries. The artisan
trades were very active.

Silver craftsmen flourished in Ephesus, and Sardis, making
idols and other silverware. Silver represented the moon
goddess Diana, aka Artemis. She was fused into the
Egyptian traditions. This was the great mystery religion,
the one that got fused into Christianity, and which is now
called, the Great Whore. The city also celebrated Cybele,
the Goddess who heals. These elements became fused
with the early Christianity, and it's in Rev. 3 when
Jesus visits them, are they given one last chance
to clean up their act.

Here's another Temple of Artemis:


The region of Sardis was also very affluent for it's
convenient location, as a port region between Europe
and the Middle East.
Ruins of the great temples of Artemis reveal more about the
ruin of the Church, which incorporated the Mystery Religion,
with Christmas worship, and Sunday Sabbath. This is very
disturbing, because, when we read Revelation, we like to
feel like we're all the good Philadelphians, the Church with
the most godly qualities.

Like Sardis, and Laodicea, how we like to pat ourselves
on the back, and murmer that non-Christians and
gays are the offenders of God. How ironic that the
worst betrayals of faith, are these being addressed
by Christ to the 7 churches.

http://www.luthersem.edu/ckoester/Revelation/Sardis/Main.htm
Sardis was one of the legendary cities of Asia Minor in what is today Turkey. In the seventh century B.C., Sardis was the capital of the kingdom of Lydia. Gold was found in the river near Sardis and the kings who lived there were renowned for their wealth. The Persians captured Sardis in the sixth century and made it the administrative center for the western part of their empire. The fabled "royal road" connected Sardis with the Persian cities to the east. In New Testament times, Sardis was part of the Roman province of Asia.


Many approach the seven churches as a metaphor
for the church ages. This was how I was taught.

There may be something to that, but, there's
also a little of every church in these 7.

Christ warns them, because, their works
are not complete or perfect. They
are barely alive. Like many churches today,
they exist, have pleasant services, have
charity and mission outreaches, but, the
power of God is lacking, because, they
do not yield their hearts or understanding
to God.