Rev 3:1 | TNotes | STEP | Summary for Rev 3:1-6: 3:1-6 The letter to the church in Sardis warns Christians who are reputed to be spiritually alive (when actually dead) that without genuine transformation they face God’s judgment. 3:1 Sardis , nearly 50 miles (80 kilometers) east of Smyrna on the southeast highway from Pergamum and Thyatira, was home to a large colony of prosperous Jews, called “Sephardic” after the city’s ancient name. Its fortified acropolis gave its inhabitants an overconfident sense of security. • a reputation for being alive—but you are dead: Other churches may have believed that the Sardian Christians comprised a dynamic church, but their secularism revealed their lack of spiritual life.

‏ Revelation of John 3:1

Summary for Rev 3:1-6: 3:1-6 ^a The letter to the church in Sardis warns Christians who are reputed to be spiritually alive (when actually dead) that without genuine transformation they face God’s judgment. 3:1 ^b Sardis, nearly 50 miles (80 kilometers) east of Smyrna on the southeast highway from Pergamum and Thyatira, was home to a large colony of prosperous Jews, called “Sephardic” after the city’s ancient name. Its fortified acropolis gave its inhabitants an overconfident sense of security.

• a reputation for being alive—but you are dead: Other churches may have believed that the Sardian Christians comprised a dynamic church, but their secularism revealed their lack of spiritual life.