The Message to Ephesus (2:1-7)

   Many Americans who favor a strong work ethic are suspicious of people who sit and read the book of Revelation too much, or go on and on about the "battle of Armageddon" or the "second coming of Christ" or the "rapture of the church," as those who actually believe in such things. Such believers are often perceived, even in "Christian" America, as religious fanatics--unpredictable, unstable and not to be trusted. Even President Reagan was widely criticized some years ago for referring to Armageddon and the coming of Christ, not because he was being too openly Christian in a public pronouncement, but because it was suggested that he might recklessly plunge the country into nuclear war. Americans, for all their religiosity, are suspicious of those who seem "so heavenly minded that they are no earthly good," since they have traditionally valued consistency, stability and hard work. And yet these values are the first ones to emerge in the book of Revelation, specifically in the message to Ephesus!
Besides being the capital of the province of Asia, Ephesus was, from a New Testament standpoint, the most important of the cities to which John wrote. The apostle Paul found there a group that had already believed in Jesus but knew only John the Baptist's baptism (Acts 19:1-7). For three years Paul made Ephesus his home (Acts 20:31), as well as his base for evangelizing the entire Asian province (Acts 19:10). Paul wrote a letter designated in some ancient manuscripts as a letter to "the saints in Ephesus" (Eph 1:2) and in others without reference to a specific location (Eph 1:2, NIV margin). Possibly this letter, called "Ephesians," was actually a circular letter to several of the same congregations that were recipients of the book of Revelation. In any event, Ephesus was also the sphere of Timothy's ministry, according to 1 Timothy (1:3; compare 2 Tim 1:18), and the sphere of the apostle John's ministry, according to later Christian tradition (for example, Irenaeus, Against Heresies 3.22.5; Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History 3.31.3; 3.39.1-7).
Whether the "John" of Revelation is the "apostle John" remembered by later writers or not, his vision places Ephesus at the head of the list of congregations to which his letter is addressed. The dominant values in the message to Ephesus are the same as those recognized and praised by Paul and others in their congregations. I know, says the risen Jesus, your deeds, your hard work, and your perseverance. . . . You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary (vv. 2-3). That the deeds of the Ephesian congregation were works of love is clear from what follows: Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love. Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first (vv. 4-5).
Such language recalls Paul's words to the Thessalonians ("We continually remember . . . your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope," 1 Thess 1:3), as well as those of another New Testament letter possibly sent to Christians at Rome ("God . . . will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them" Heb 6:10; compare 10:32-36). The values accented in such texts are not so different from the values Americans like to claim as their own--love, generosity, hard work, courage and persistence. Despite its apocalyptic character, so foreign to our achievement-oriented society, the book of Revelation highlights these same values. Its work ethic is alive and well, even as the end of the world draws near.
Another value Americans respect, even when they do not practice it, is the ability to distinguish between a phoney and the real thing. The message to Ephesus acknowledges that the congregation has this ability: I know, says Jesus, that you . . . have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false (v. 2), adding that you hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate (v. 6). The one sin in the book of Revelation that stands out above all others is lying, after the manner of those who pretend to be something they are not (compare, for example, 2:9; 3:9; 14:5; 21:8; 22:15). It is unclear in the present instance who the "false apostles" were and what their message was (compare Paul's opponents in 2 Cor 11:13), but in any case the Ephesians were not deceived. A decade or two later, Ignatius of Antioch would write to them that their bishop, Onesimus, had praised them because "you all live according to truth, and no heresy dwells among you; in fact you will not even listen to anyone who does not speak about Jesus Christ in truth" (Ignatius, To the Ephesians 6.2). "I have learned," Ignatius added, "that some from elsewhere who have evil teaching stayed with you, but you did not allow them to sow it among you, and stopped your ears, so that you might not receive what they sow" (To the Ephesians 9.1).
There is no way to be certain whether or not the "false apostles" at Ephesus were the same as the Nicolaitans (v. 6), about whom we will learn more in the message to Pergamon (2:14-15). The claim to be apostles may suggest a group sent "from elsewhere" (as Ignatius put it); the word apostle (Greek apostolos) means literally "someone sent"--a missionary or a messenger. In the case of the Nicolaitans, nothing is said as to whether they were traveling messengers or a faction within the congregation itself. There is in fact no evidence that the Nicolaitans were even present in Ephesus. The reference here could simply mean that the Ephesians frowned on their activities at Pergamon (compare 2:15).
Clearly, there was much to praise at Ephesus. The view that this congregation (perhaps along with Laodicea) is the most severely condemned of the seven (Wall 1991:69) is an exaggeration. The persistence and courage of the Ephesians in the face of outside threats had not lapsed (v. 3), and their attitude toward false teaching was exemplary. The same could not be said, however, of their love toward God and their generosity toward each other (v. 4). In Matthew, Jesus had predicted that "many false prophets will appear and deceive many people" and that "the love of most will grow cold" (Mt 24:11-12). The message to Ephesus was that it was no good to avoid the first of these warnings only to fall victim to the second. Loss of your first love is not primarily the death of passion, as in a stale marriage, but the failure to maintain the commitment once made to help and serve one another. Here as everywhere in the Bible, love for God and love for one another are inseparable.
For this alone the angel at Ephesus is criticized and is told, Repent and do the things you did at first, with the stern warning, If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place (v. 5). The lesson for all who value a work ethic is that such an ethic must be motivated by generosity, love and compassion, or it is worthless. The message to Ephesus is a message to Christians today as well. It is doubtful that the threat of the risen Jesus to come to you and remove your lampstand from its place was directed only to the Ephesian angel. More likely it is implicit in all seven messages, if those who "have ears" in all the churches fail to listen to what is said (v. 7). Quite simply, if they--if we--do not pay attention, we will lose our identity and cease to exist.

The Message to Smyrna (2:8-11)
Smyrna was a port city with a good harbor about thirty-five miles northwest of Ephesus. The seven cities formed a natural postal route from Ephesus up the coast to Smyrna and Pergamon, and from there inland by the imperial road to Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea (Ramsay 1904:186). This is the route contemplated in John's vision, even though it is impossible to prove that the book of Revelation actually circulated in this fashion. The vision, after all, took place on the island of Patmos (1:9), and a messenger traveling by boat from Patmos would normally land either at Miletus, where Paul in his day met the Ephesian elders (Acts 20:17), or at Ephesus itself (see Acts 20:16). Ephesus is therefore the natural starting place from a literary standpoint. Yet because the actual place of writing of the book of Revelation is unknown, it is impossible to say historically which city in Asia it reached first or in what direction it circulated from there.
In any case, the first three cities (Ephesus, Smyrna and Pergamon) were rivals for power and prestige. Smyrna (the modern Izmir) laid claim on its coins to being the "first city of Asia in size and beauty" (Ramsay 1904:255), and it was indeed a city of great natural beauty. Well over a century after Revelation was written, the traveler Apollonius of Tyana urged the Smyrneans "to take pride rather in themselves than in the beauty of their city; for although they had the most beautiful of cities under the sun, and although they had a friendly sea at their doors, which held the springs of the zephyr, nevertheless, it was more pleasing for the city to be crowned with men than with porticoes and pictures, or even with gold in excess of what they needed" (Philostratus, Life of Apollonius 4.7; translation from Loeb Classical Library edition, 1.357). Smyrna had also a long history of loyalty to Rome, having dedicated a temple to the goddess Roma as early as 195 B.C. (Tacitus Annals 4.56).
There is no record of how Christianity came to Smyrna. Like the other Asian cities, Smyrna was probably reached as a result of Paul's ministry in Ephesus (compare Acts 19:10). The message to Smyrna accents the contrast between the Roman city and the congregation of Christians who lived there. If the city was rich (as Apollonius implies), the Christian community was poor, yet had its own kind of riches (v. 9). If the city was crowned "with porticoes and pictures, or even with gold in excess of what they needed," the angel of the church in Smyrna was promised the crown of life (v. 10), or (in the words of another New Testament writer) the crown consisting of the "life that God has promised to those who love him" (Jas 1:12). By the early second century (a decade or two after John's visions), the congregation at Smyrna had a pastor or bishop named Polycarp. Ignatius of Antioch wrote letters, which still exist, to both Polycarp and his congregation. Polycarp himself wrote a letter to the Philippian Christians in Macedonia and (according to an account in the Martyrdom of Polycarp) was martyred in Smyrna in the year 156. Nowhere were the words be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life, more aptly fulfilled than in the life and death of Polycarp.
When we were children, most of our mothers taught us not to call names. In recent years the academy, the media and the church have taken our mothers' places by urging us to be always polite and politically correct in language we use about various religious or etenic groups. Yet the Bible is sometimes far from politically correct! There is a considerable amount of name calling, or labeling, in Jesus' teaching and in early Christianity. Nowhere is this more evident than in the book of Revelation. The message to Smyrna assumes that the congregation will soon face an outbreak of persecution, linked to a group labeled a synagogue of Satan (v. 9) and composed of those who say they are Jews and are not. Like the "false apostles" who had come to Ephesus, these bogus Jews are liars (compare 3:9) in claiming to be something other than what they are. Most commentators (for example, Beasley-Murray 1974:82; Wall 1991:73) identify this group as actual Jews in Smyrna who refused to accept Jesus as Messiah (compare Paul's distinction between those who are Jews "outwardly" and those who are Jews "inwardly . . . by the Spirit, not by the written code," Rom 2:28-29). The assumption is that Christians, even Gentile Christians, by the end of the first century were regarding themselves as the true "Jews," and the actual etenic Jews as no Jews at all.
It is true that many Jews in Smyrna were deeply hostile to Christianity, at least by the mid-second century, and eagerly joined with the Romans in consigning Polycarp to the flames (Martyrdom of Polycarp 11.2; 12.1). Still, when the message to Smyrna speaks of those who say they are Jews and are not (v. 9), it is safer to take the words literally. Do we really want to put John (much less the risen Jesus) in the position of claiming that when a Jew calls himself a Jew, he is lying? Even the fine art of name calling requires fair play!
A better interpretation is that the synagogue of Satan consisted of Gentile Christians who had "Judaized," that is, who adopted Jewish ways or even converted to Judaism, perhaps in order to avoid persecution by the Romans (Wilson 1992:613-15). Judaism was an ancient religion, largely tolerated in Roman Asia, while Christianity, being relatively new, was regarded with suspicion by many Asians as an erratic and possibly subversive cult. Judaism may have seemed to some Christians in Smyrna a tempting haven of safety. Ignatius commented in the second century that "it is absurd to talk of Jesus Christ and practice Judaism, for Christianity did not develop into faith in Judaism, but Judaism into faith in Christianity, in which people of every language who believed in God were brought together" (To the Magnesians 10.3; Grant 1966:64). He also warned that "if anyone interprets Judaism to you, do not listen to him. For it is better to hear Christianity from a man who has received circumcision than Judaism from one who has not" (To the Philadelphians 6.1; Grant 1966:103). Such parallels from the Asian cities support the view that the label synagogue of Satan was directed not at Jews, but at Judaizing Gentiles. Some in the Jewish community may even have agreed with this judgment!
Possibly these Judaizing Gentiles are the "cowardly" (21:8), who at the end of John's visions find their place in the lake of fire along with other liars, as well as murderers, the immoral, sorcerers and idol worshipers. The message to Smyrna, however, focuses less on the group's cowardice or avoidance of persecution than on their slander (literally "blasphemy," v. 9) against Christians in that city. Like the Jews of Smyrna in Polycarp's day, they may have actually fomented persecution against others to divert attention from themselves. Whatever the range of reasons, the message to Smyrna views the synagogue of Satan as enemies of the Christian community in that city. The very name "Satan" meant the "Enemy" or "Adversary," as it still did after nineteen centuries (when the Ayatollah Khomeini stirred up the people of Iran by calling America "the great Satan"). The corresponding label, the devil (v. 10), meant the Accuser (compare 12:10), the ultimate source of all false charges against Christians before the Roman authorities.
The congregation at Smyrna, unlike the one at Ephesus, was facing persecution, imprisonment for some, even death. The heart of the message was not "repent," but be faithful, even to the point of death, and the command was reinforced not by a threat (as in 2:5), but by a promise: I will give you the crown of life (v. 10), matching the promises to those who "overcome" in all seven messages (compare v. 11). In the message to Smyrna, the angel is a "conquering" angel, and the Christians there a whole assembly of "conquerors."

The Message to Pergamon (2:12-17)
The name calling continues in the next message. The city itself, Pergamon, once the center of a small kingdom, is here labeled a place where Satan has his throne, or where Satan lives (v. 13). One reason often suggested for this statement is that Pergamon housed a famous temple to Asklepius, the Greek god of healing, symbolized by the figure of a snake (Finegan 1981:173). An evil dragon in one of John's later visions is labeled "that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray" (12:9; compare 20:2). Another possible reason for placing Satan in Pergamon is that Antipas, possibly the first Christian martyr in Asia, was killed there (v. 13), and "Satan" is simply the label attached to his persecutors (like "Satan" or "the devil" at Smyrna).
Other "bad names" are drawn from the Old Testament: Balaam in this message (v. 14) and "Jezebel" in the message to Thyatira (2:20). Both were foreigners linked to false prophecy in Israel. In these messages both are linked to certain prophetic groups in the congregations. Balaam in Numbers 22--24 appeared to be a true prophet who refused to utter a curse against Israel, but in Numbers 31:16, and consequently in later Jewish and Christian tradition, he was blamed for Israel's idolatry and immorality as described in Numbers 25 (see Philo, Life of Moses 1.48-55; Josephus, Antiquities 4.126; 2 Pet 2:15-16; Jude 11). The "Balaamites" and the "Nicolaitans" at Pergamon are almost certainly not two groups but one, "Nicolaitans" being a coined nickname based on what some believed to be the Greek equivalent of "Balaam." The latter, in Hebrew, could be read as "master of the people" (ba`al `am), while "Nicolaitan" in Greek could be read as "conqueror of the people."
The point at issue was not so much the conduct of the Nicolaitans as their teaching. Like Balaam of old, they were urging believers to sin by eating food sacrificed to idols and by committing sexual immorality (v. 14). This was a problem that had plagued the Christian movement almost from the beginning. In the book of Acts, the Jerusalem Council decided not to force circumcision on Gentile converts, provided they agreed to "abstain from food polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from the meat of strangled animals and from blood" (Acts 15:20; also v. 29). In 1 Corinthians Paul struggled with the issue of sexual immorality (chaps. 5-7) and food offered to idols (chaps. 8-10). His letter, like Revelation, cites as examples Israel's conduct in the desert: "Do not be idolaters, as some of them were . . . We should not commit sexual immorality, as some of them did" (1 Cor 10:7, 8). Paul's argument in Romans traces all human sin back to idolatry (Rom 1:20-23, 25) and sexual immorality (1:24, 26-27). Yet Paul seems to have distinguished idolatry, in the sense of actual participation in pagan feasts (1 Cor 10:19-22), from the mere eating of food that had been consecrated for such feasts (1 Cor 8:1-6; 10:25-30).
No such distinction is evident in the decree of the Jerusalem Council in the book of Acts, nor in the seven messages of the book of Revelation. Probably the "Nicolaitans" were prophet-teachers who were urging compromise with Roman values and Roman religion in order to gain social acceptance (and avert economic disaster) in the Asian cities. Probably their arguments were similar to arguments Paul encountered at Corinth: "everything is permissible" (1 Cor 6:12; 10:23); "food for the stomach and the stomach for food" (1 Cor 6:13); "we know that an idol is nothing at all in the world and that there is no God but one" (1 Cor 8:4). Paul accepted such arguments in principle, but then qualified them in such a way as to negate the conclusions his opponents had drawn from them, for example, "but not everything is beneficial" (1 Cor 6:12; 10:23); "but God will destroy them both" (1 Cor 6:13); "but not everyone knows this" (1 Cor 8:7).
The book of Revelation, by contrast, does not even give such arguments the time of day. The Nicolaitans are idolaters and immoral. It is as simple as that. The message could have stated that they would have their part in the lake of fire (both "the sexually immoral" and "idolaters" are mentioned in 21:8 and 22:15), but contents itself with Christ's threat that I will soon come to you and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth (v. 16; compare v. 12; 1:16). Notice that the threat is against them, not "against you." The angel, and presumably therefore the congregation as a whole, is not implicated in the sins of the Nicolaitans--yet! There is still time to repent. But as for the Nicolaitans, they will find themselves allied not with Christ but with his enemies in the great battle at the end of the book, and they will perish at the hand of the one with the sharp sword coming out of this mouth (19:15).
Not everything is bad in Pergamon, and not all the labels are negative. The message acknowledges that you remain true to my name and did not renounce your faith in me (literally "my faith"), even in the days of Antipas, my faithful witness, who was put to death in your city (v. 13). Antipas is otherwise unknown, but the fact that one martyr can be singled out indicates that martyrdom was not yet a common experience in the cities of Asia. The first identifiable martyr in Pergamon, possibly in all the Asian provinces, is labeled here with a term ("faithful witness") reserved elsewhere for Jesus (1:5; 3:14)-- because he followed in Jesus' footsteps. If there is one value that emerges from the message to Pergamon, it is this "faithfulness," or firm commitment to what is right, coupled with a stubborn refusal to compromise in order to achieve respectability and status in Roman society or any other society.

The Message to Thyatira (2:18-29)
For some people today tolerance is the only real virtue and intolerance the only vice. The message to Thyatira goes against the grain of modernity by setting limits to tolerance. The main criticism of the angel of Thyatira is that he has tolerated something--and someone--that should not be tolerated
(v. 20).
Thyatira was a smaller city located further inland in the fertile Lycus River valley. Little is known of its history beyond the fact that it once belonged to the kingdom of Pergamon, and few archaeological remains have been found. Yet the message to Thyatira is the longest of the seven messages. According to Acts 16:14, Thyatira was the home of Lydia, a "dealer in purple cloth" and a "worshiper of God" whom Paul encountered at Philippi in Macedonia. The reference suggests the city's significance in connection with the dye industry, and perhaps also the relative freedom and mobility of at least some of its women in pursuing careers.
The situation at Thyatira was similar to that at Pergamon, except that the false teaching (and consequently the name calling) centers on a single individual. This is unique in the seven messages. Antipas, the only other named individual (2:13), was singled out for praise rather than scorn or condemnation. That woman Jezebel, by contrast (v. 20), is given not her real name but a nickname, after Israel's idolatrous queen (1 Kings 16:31; 21:25) whose terrible fate at the hands of Jehu was prophesied by Elijah (1 Kings 21:23; 2 Kings 9:30-37). The power and influence of this Jezebel, a self-styled prophetess at Thyatira, must be viewed in light of three facts: (1) women prophesied freely in early Christianity (see, for example, Acts 2:17; 21:9; 1 Cor 11:5); (2) women often played major roles as priestesses in contemporary Roman and Eastern cults in Asia Minor; (3) the Christian Montanist movement in the same region a century later assigned conspicuous leadership roles to two prophetesses--Priscilla and Maximilla (Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History 5.14-19).
Clearly, Jezebel is not a true prophetess in the eyes of the risen Jesus. There is no reason to think that the book of Revelation has anything against "prophetesses," any more than against "apostles" or "Jews." But as with those who claimed to be apostles at Ephesus (2:2) or Jews at Smyrna (2:9), the implication is that Jezebel is a liar. Like the Nicolaitans at Pergamon, she was urging sexual immorality and the eating of foods sacrificed to idols (v. 20; compare 2:14), in other words, the violation of the decree of the Jerusalem Council. A possible further reference to that decree appears in words directed to the rest of you in Thyatira, to you who do not hold to her teaching, when Jesus says, I will not impose any other burden on you (v. 24; compare Acts 15:28, "not to burden you with anything beyond the following requirements").
The risen Jesus makes no distinction between prophets who condone idolatry and immorality and those who practice such things. He compares Jezebel to a prostitute, like the prostitute "Babylon" in chapters 17-18. She has had time to repent, but has not done so. Her punishment is to be put to bed (v. 22), "a bed of sickness in contrast with the bed of adultery" (Beckwith 1922:467). Her followers at Thyatira (those who commit adultery with her) still have time to repent, but are similarly in danger of intense, though unspecified, sufferings (v. 22). As for her children, that is, anyone who perpetuates her teaching, they will be struck dead by a plague (v. 23). Like Jezebel of old, her name and her influence will disappear from the earth (compare 2 Kings 10:1-28).
Jezebel seems to have justified her freedom from traditional restraints by appealing to the spiritual maturity of herself and her followers. She may even have quoted Paul to the effect that "God has revealed it to us by his Spirit" and "the Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God" (1 Cor 2:10). Possibly with Paul's statement in view, the risen Jesus announces, not just to Thyatira but to all the churches (v. 23), that I am he who searches hearts and minds, and I will repay each of you according to your deeds, adding that the "deep things" of such groups as this are not the profound trutes of God, but the deep secrets of Satan himself (v. 24).
The angel at Thyatira is, if anything, even less implicated with the false prophets than was the angel at Pergamon. He is not charged with any of Jezebel's crimes, only with excessive tolerance of her and her partisans. In contrast to the angel at Ephesus (2:4-5), he is commended for doing more than you did at first (v. 19). He is not, like the angel at Pergamon, told to "repent," but simply to hold on to what you have until I come (v. 25). Consequently, the "coming" of the risen one is not a threat (as in 2:16), but a hope. This suggests that Jezebel and her clan may not have been an actual part of the congregation, but a separate community trying to entice away its members. As for the angel, the words of praise at the beginning of the message (I know your deeds, your love and faith, your service and perseverance, v. 19) are still in effect.

The Message to Sardis (3:1-6)
"We have met the enemy," Walt Kelly announced a generation ago in his comic strip Pogo, "and he is us!" The message to Sardis lists no specific enemies, internal or external. There is no name calling--no liars, no Balaam or Jezebel, no deep secrets of Satan, no synagogue of Satan, no throne of Satan. Consequently, of all the congregations in Asia, we know least about Sardis and its problems. Yet no other message is more damaging or more urgent than this one. Walt Kelly was right. Too often, when we encounter no spiritual adversaries, it is because we are the enemy. The only enemy named at Sardis is the angel to whom the message is addressed.
Sardis was situated almost directly south of Thyatira, in the direction of Smyrna and the sea. Its greatest days were behind it, but this once proud capital of the ancient kingdom of Lydia (later the western capital of the Persian Empire) was still, under Roman rule, an important center of the woolen industry. Abundant archaeological remains include a temple to Artemis, a huge gymnasium and the largest synagogue yet found in the ancient world, suggesting a Jewish community numbering in the thousands (Finegan 1981:177-78). A sermon of Melito, a Christian bishop at Sardis, entitled On the Passover (see Hawthorne 1975:147-75), testifies to a spirited, sometimes bitter, debate with this Jewish community in the second century. Yet as far as we are told, the problem of the congregation in John's time was not with the Jews, nor with the Roman Empire, nor with false prophecy, but solely with itself.
The Speaker's grim indictment of the angel at Sardis swings between overstatement (3:1) and understatement (v. 2). You are dead (v. 1) is a dramatic way of saying "you are spiritually asleep" (compare Eph 5:14), for the angel is then told, Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die (v. 2). The call to awake, and to remember, obey and repent (v. 3) assumes the real possibility of change. Yet the milder-sounding words that follow, I have not found your deeds complete in the sight of my God (v. 2), are deliberately understated, implying that the angel's works are unacceptable to God, and therefore a failure (Beckwith 1922: 474; compare Dan 5:27, "You have been weighed on the scales and found wanting").
This message makes it clear that the angel, like any human leader, is deeply involved in the life of the congregation. The message recalls Jesus' words to the faltering Simon Peter in Luke 22:32, "I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers." This angel, dead or not, has the responsibility to strengthen what remains and is about to die (v. 2). He functions much like a human pastor, except that what is said to him is actually said to the congregation as a whole.
Sardis faces a threat: if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what time I will come to you (v. 3). Many (for example, Ramsay 1904:377-78; Mounce 1977:110-11) have tried to link this pronouncement to certain incidents in the history of Sardis, when the city was taken unawares by hostile armies. This is unlikely because (1) these incidents were centuries earlier; (2) the message is to the Christian congregation, not the city of Sardis; (3) the image of the thief in connection with a command to "watch" or "stay awake" was common in early Christianity, based on well-known sayings of Jesus (see Mt 24:43-44 par. Lk 12:39-40; 1 Thess 5:1). The warning could as easily have been directed to Ephesus or Laodicea, or to the unfaithful in any congregation.
The message to Sardis reveals nothing definite about the church's predicament beyond the fact that it is about to die. Only the metaphorical reference to those few people in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes (v. 4) offers a possible clue. They are promised that they will walk with me, dressed in white, for they are worthy (v. 4), a promise immediately reinforced by a word to those who "overcome," who will, like them, be dressed in white, whose names will not be blotted from the book of life, but rather acknowledged before my Father and his angels (v. 5; compare Mt 10:32-33 par. Lk 12:8-9). At Sardis, clearly, the few who had not soiled their garments were the "overcomers."
Clean, white clothing in the book of Revelation is consistently a symbol of religious and moral purity, especially in the face of persecution (see 3:18; 4:4; 6:11; 7:9, 13), while soiled or disheveled clothing, or no clothing at all, is a symbol of religious and moral impurity and shame (see 3:17-18; 16:15). It is likely that the problem at Sardis was a strong tendency to compromise Christian faith for the sake of conformity to social and cultural standards set by Asian society and the Roman Empire. This spirit of compromise was linked not to one particular faction in the Christian community (as at Pergamon and Thyatira) but to the majority. The ones who had not soiled their clothes had become marginalized. They were the small faction. This explains the severe tone of the message, but it is impossible to be more specific as to the exact nature of the compromises made at Sardis.

PHILADELPHIA (Currently Alasehir - Revelation 3:7-13)
Philadelphia which is known as Alasehir now, is about 130 Kms to the east of Smyrna (Izmir).
It was the least important cities of the ones mentioned in Revelation of St.John. The city was located on the eastern edge of the Ionian civilization. But it had the most difficult task of spreading the Christian faith to the east, outside the Ionian region. Philadelphia, together with Smyrna was considered as one of the distinguished churches out of the seven churches of Revelation about which nothing bad was mentioned by St.John.
Philadelphia means "brotherly love" and it was founded by the king of Pergamon, Attalus II, Philadelphus of Pergamon. He was given the title of Philadelphus because of his love for his brother Eumenes, who was the previous king os Pergamon.
The geographical position of the city was very important. It was on a high hill overlooking the Persian Royal Road and the two important valleys of Ionia, the Hermuz (Gediz) and the Meander (Menderes).
By the year 19 A.D. native language Lydian had ceased and only the Greek language was spoken.
The city was in the middle of the grape country. So, the most respected god was Dionysus. The regional town center of Alasehir still continues the tradition of harvesting grapes.
In his famous letter of Revelation, St.John wrote to the people of Philadelphia:
"(3:7) To the angel of the church in Philadelphia write :
This is the message from the one who is holy and true. He has the key that belonged to David, and when he opens a door, no one can close it, and when he closes it, no one can open it. (3:8) I know what you do; I know that you have a little power; you have followed my teaching and have been faithful to me. I have opened a door in front of you, which no one can close. (3:9) Listen! As for that group that belongs to Satan, those liars who claim that they are Jews but are not, I will make them come and bow down at your feet. They will all know that I love you. (3:10) Because you have kept my command to endure, I will also keep you safe from the time of trouble which is coming upon the world to test all the people on earth. (3:11) I am coming soon. Keep safe what you have, so that no one will rob you of your victory prize. (3:12) I will make him who is victorious a pillar in the temple of my God, and he will never leave it. I will write on him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which will come down out of heaven from my God. I will also write on him my new name. (3:13) If you have ears, then, listen to what the Spirit says to the churches!"

LAODICEA(Revelation 3:14-22, Colossians 2:1, 4:13-16)
The origin of the city goes back to the 3rd century B.C. It is thought to have been named to the honor of king Antiochus II's wife Laodicea.
Cicero is known to be lived in the city in 50 B.C.
Laodicea was on the crossroads between the important Ionian cities of that time. This helped the city to claim a big wealth due to the existing high volume commercial activity in the region. There was a rich and influencial Jewish community long before the Christian era. But, most of the locals were respecting Zeus more than any other god.
During the time of St.John, the church of Laodicea was one of the seven most important churches of Christianity. On his message of God to the church of Laodicea which was written in Revelation 3:14-22, he said :
"(3:14) To the angel of the church in Laodicea write : This is the message from the Amen, the faithful and true witness, who is the origin of all that God has created. (3:15) I know what you have done; I know you are neither cold nor hot. How I wish you were either one or the other! (3:16) But because you are lukewarm, neither hot nor cold, I am going to spit you out of my mouth! (3:17) You say, 'I am rich and well off; I have all I need.' But you do not know how miserable and pitiful you are! You are poor, naked, and blind. (3:18) I advise you, then, to buy gold from me, pure gold, in order to be rich. Buy also white clothing to dress yourself and cover up your shameful nakedness. (3:19) I rebuke and punish all whom I love. Be in earnest, then, and turn from your sins. (3:20) Listen! I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come into his house and eat with him, and he will eat with me. (3:21) To those who win the victory I will give the right to sit beside me on my throne, just as I have been victorious and now sit by my Father on his throne. (3:22) If you have ears, then, listen to what the Spirit says to the churches.