“To the angel of the church in Sardis write:
Christ addresses Sardis as the One who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars, and says the church has a name for life while actually being dead.
This verse opens the message by pairing Christ's fullness with the church's exposed emptiness.
1“To the angel of the church in Sardis write: 2I know your deeds; you have a reputation for being alive, yet you are dead. Wake up and strengthen what remains, which is about to die; for I have found your deeds incomplete in the sight of My God. 3Remember, then, what you have received and heard. Keep it and repent. If you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know the hour when I will come upon you. 4But you do have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their garments, and because they are worthy, they will walk with Me in white. 5Like them, he who overcomes will be dressed in white. And I will never blot out his name from the Book of Life, but I will confess his name before My Father and His angels. 6He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.