The church at Sardis received no commendation, only warnings, and calls to repent while time remained – Revelation 3:1-6. 

Sardis was situated approximately sixty kilometers south of Thyatira, near the crossroads between Smyrna and Pergamos. Therefore, regional commerce was vital to the economic and cultural life of the city. Woolen goods figured prominently in local trade. Sardis is mentioned in Obadiah – (“They of the captivity of Jerusalem who are in Sepharad shall possess the cities of the South”), “Sepharad” being the Hebrew form of ‘Sardis.’