“To the angel of the church in Sardis, write this: “‘The one who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars says this: “I know your works, that you have the reputation of being alive, but you are dead. 2 Be watchful and strengthen what is left, which is going to die, for I have not found your works complete in the sight of my God. 3 Remember then how you accepted and heard; keep it, and repent. If you are not watchful, I will come like a thief, and you will never know at what hour I will come upon you. 4 However, you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their garments; they will walk with me dressed in white, because they are worthy. 5 “‘“The victor will thus be dressed in white, and I will never erase his name from the book of life but will acknowledge his name in the presence of my Father and of his angels. 6 “‘“Whoever has ears ought to hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”
Sardis was an important city of the Persian Empire built on a hill and was thought to be impregnable. However, it was captured by surprise twice, once by the Persian conqueror Cyrus the Great who liberated the Jewish people from their Babylonian captors circa 539 BC (2 Chron. 26:22-23), and by Antiochus the Great at the end of the 3rd century BC.
The Church is warned to be on guard. Do the works of the Christian community really indicate that they are alive or are they dead in God’s eyes? They must repent and regain the fervor for the faith they had when they were first converted and observe the word of God otherwise their faith will die and Christ will come like a thief in the night upon them for the particular judgment (Mt. 24:42; Rev. 16:15)). In Catholicism, particular judgment is the divine judgment that a person is subject to immediately when they die (Lk. 16:19-31). Some of the Sardian Christians who have kept their Baptismal vows and have avoided sin will receive glorified bodies at the resurrection (Rev. 6:11). The book of life (Mal. 3:16-17) is a roster of names of those destined for heaven who will survive God’s wrath and enter the new Jerusalem, the Lord God almighty and the Lamb (Rev. 21:22-27).
Almighty God, your Glory is the light that guides nations and the path to your glory is lit by the lamp of the Lamb. Guide us, we pray, that we may avoid sin and not be subject to your wrath so that the gates to eternal life will be opened to us forever. This we pray through Christ our Lord. Amen!
Chiu, José Enrique Aguilar, et al. The Paulist Biblical Commentary. Paulist Press, 2018.
Brown, Raymond Edward, et al. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Upper Saddle River, NJ, United States, Prentice Hall, 1990.
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