Sardis was a city of former glory. About seven hundred years previously, it had been the capital of the ancient kingdom of Lydia, and one of the greatest cities in the ancient world. Since then, it had fallen to the Persian King, Cyrus, who liberated the Jews from Babylon. Sardis fell to the Greeks under Alexander and was eventually passed to the rule Rome.
Its main claim to fame was the rich gold and silver deposits in the area. It was the first place in the world where silver and gold coins were printed. During the days of the Lydian kingdom, they discovered a way to separate gold and silver from one another. This ushered in an economic revolution, because previously it was difficult to trade with an allow of gold and silver, not knowing how much of each there was in any coin. Once Lydia could make coins of pure gold and pure silver, it made them reliable as a source of currency throughout the ancient world. It made Sardis and the kingdom of Lydia rich.
By the time of Jesus’ letter to the church in Sardis, the city’s wealth and glory was long faded. It was a place degeneration. It was a place which traded on its past reputation, but the present reality was a disappointment to the visitor. Since its glory days it had been conquered, first by the Persians and then by the Greeks. They were caught unaware on both occasions, thinking they were impregnable in their mountainside citadel.
The church seemed to mirror the city in this respect, with a lack of spiritual vigilance, hence Jesus’ command to ‘wake up!’ It appeared relaxed about heresy and so it was free from outside opposition in the city. The church seemed to fit so well into the pagan environment around it, that although it looked like it was full of life from the outside, in reality it was spiritually dead. Jesus’ letter came at the eleventh hour, urging them before it was too late. And perhaps the warning was heeded, because by the second century the city was home to the most prominent bishop in Asia, Melito of Sardis.
Sardis - 'Faded Glory'
City Biographies
August 25, 2021 • Christopher Alton • Revelation
Named & Shamed
September 8, 2021 • Richard Jones, Mike Shuter
We review episodes 1 & 2 of Things That Make You Go Mmmm where we looked at Rewards & Riches and Insightful Imagery, and then look at a group and an individual who are Named & Shamed by Jesus Himself! As we look at these themes in the letters to the churches we can learn about what God wants for us and how we can live fully for Him.
To The One Who Conquers
August 22, 2021 • Mike Shuter
We've seen in the letters to the churches the opportunity for great eternal rewards for those who conquer and are faithful to the end. The question is how do we conquer? As we explore this we'll see the scriptures have great insights for us in what it means to conquer and be victorious in Christ
Laodicea - 'Lukewarm & Laidback'
August 25, 2021 • Christopher Alton • Revelation
Laodicea lay about forty miles east of Ephesus, near the banks of the river Lycus. There were at least six cities called Laodicea at the time, so it was often referred to as ‘Laodicea on the Lycus’. It was founded by Antiochus of Syria, around two hundred and fifty BC, and named after his wife Laodice. It became a rich and prosperous city, a centre of banking and finance, and famous for the soft black glossy wool from its sheep. It was so wealthy that when it was struck by an earthquake in AD 60, unlike many other cities, it needed no financial help from Rome to rebuild. The church in Laodicea must have been founded early on, probably while Paul was living at Ephesus, and most likely through the ministry of Epaphras, according to Paul’s letter to the nearby Colossians. Paul mentions Laodicea five times in this letter, including another letter he also wrote to its church, which has been lost to history. Sadly, it’s the only one of the seven churches about whom Jesus doesn’t have a good word to say. He tells them that they’ve become complacent in their comfortable lifestyle. Paul’s letter to the Colossians speaks of the struggle he had for the Laodiceans. He wanted them to ‘reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God’s mystery, which is Christ’. Laodicea was a rich and prosperous city, and in such a place, it could be easy for the church to ignore its true spiritual riches. Perhaps even thirty years earlier, Paul had begun to see the rot set in at Laodicea? Jesus speaks about two further aspects of the church, which are reflected in the city of Laodicea. Firstly, the warm spring water. Laodicea had been cited on a strategic trade route, but not close to a water source. Its water arrived through several miles of an underground aqueduct, which meant it was lukewarm when it arrived. This contrasted with the hot springs at nearby Hierapolis, and the cold refreshing water at Colossae. For Jesus, the church was like the city’s water supply, lukewarm and sickly to the taste, and so neither use nor ornament! Secondly, Jesus refers to the ointment for which Laodicea had become famous. The city was a leading medical center for eye treatment in the ancient world. One of its most graduates produced a reference work which was still be used up to the Middle Ages. Laodicea’s ‘Phrygian Powder’ was exported throughout the world, to treat eye diseases. And with no small trace of irony, Jesus calls out the church for its spiritual blindness, offering them as a cure, His own salve to anoint their eyes.