The Lord gave less praise to this church than to any of the churches except Laodicea, which received none. The only good thing He said to these Christians was that they had a good reputation, evidently among the other churches. However, they were really a dead church and their good works were not as impressive as they should have been. Only a few of their number were faithful to the Lord (v. 4).
"The temple to Artemis (possibly Cybele) equaled in size the famous temple of Artemis in Ephesus. However, the temple at Sardis was never finished."138
This tendency to fail to finish what they had begun characterized the Christians too.
"No city of Asia at that time showed such a melancholy contrast between past splendor and present decay as Sardis."139
"Death was a special preoccupation of the Sardians, as witnessed by the impressive necropolis seven miles from the city."140
"Dr. Vance Havner has frequently reminded us that spiritual ministries often go through four stages: a man, a movement, a machine, and then a monument. Sardis was at the monument' stage, but there was still hope!"141
