8 The Church at Sardis

The destination of the fifth letter in verse which is Sardis, which means "those escaping" or the remnant. In the historical-prophetic interpretation, it represents the Church of the Reformation, which began in 1517 with Martin Luther's posting of his Ninety-Five Thesis on the Wittenberg Church door, and ended in 1648 with the signing of the Peace of Westphalia. They have a name that lives but actually they are dead. This is a valid description of the church of the Reformation as it developed in its latter stages. They had a name that lived: the Reformation resulted in much doctrinal correction and some good creeds. The Reformation corrected much of the doctrines promulgated by the Roman Catholic Church. They had good creeds and mostly solid Biblical doctrine. Nevertheless, they were dead; there was no spiritual vitality. They became dead because they failed to rectify the basic problem, which was the unity of the church and the state. After they broke away from the Roman Church, they too became state churches. In Germany and Scandinavia, the Lutheran Church became the state church; in England it was the Anglican Church or the Church of England; in Scotland it was the Presbyterian Church; in one part of Switzerland, the Calvinists or Reformed Church; in another part the Zwinglian Church. The Reformation failed to correct the problem of church and state unity. Therefore, it became a dead church. What corrupted Pergamum also corrupted Sardis. Because of the existence of state churches, children who were born in a given locality were simply baptized and therefore became members of the church. Personal faith had nothing to do with becoming a member of the church.