
Episode #795
WEDNESDAY’S IN THE WORD: August 19, 2026, Revelation 3:1-6 “God’s Measure Of A Church - Sardis”
The fifth church being measured by God was the church at Sardis, a wealthy and powerful city sitting built on an imposing hill that made it nearly immune to defeat by opposing armies, a city in which the culture was complacent in their position. While the church was wealthy by human standard, Christ strongly confronts it because of two major problems. First, the church had a reputation without reality, a church that many saw as prosperous and blessed, but which was actually dead. As II Timothy 3:5 explains, the church “had the appearance of godliness but denied its power. God is not impressed by what tends to impress us – numbers, wealth and facilities are not enough! Second, the church was marked by “empty works” – they were doing things, but the works were empty and unproductive in terms of the Kingdom! They were merely “going through the motions”. The answer for Sardis was to wake up, strengthen what remains, and keep the Biblical commands. Christ warns of coming discipline should they continue in merely having the form without the reality.

