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Rev 3:1-6 AV:
1 And unto the angel of the church in Sardis write; These things saith he that hath the seven Spirits of God,
and the seven stars; I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead.
2 Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die: for I have not found thy works
perfect before God. 3 Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch,
I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee.
4 Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with me in
white: for they are worthy.
5 He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name
out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father,
and before his angels. 6 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.
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From Robertson's "Word Pictures:

In Sardis (en Sardesin). Some thirty miles south-east of Thyatira, old capital of Lydia,
wealthy and the home of Croesus, conquered by Cyrus and then by Alexander the Great,
in B.C. 214 by Antiochus the Great, at the crossing of Roman roads, in a plain watered
by the river Pactolus, according to Pliny the place where the dyeing of wool was
discovered, seat of the licentious worship of Cybele and the ruins of the temple still there,
called by Ramsay (op. cit., p. 354) “the city of Death,” city of softness and luxury,
of apathy and immorality, “a contrast of past splendour and present unresting decline” (Charles).
Along with Laodicea it was blamed most of all the seven churches."

From Marvin Vincent's "Word Studies":

Sardis -- The capital of the ancient kingdom of Lydia. It was situated in a plain watered
by the river Pactolus. The city was of very ancient origin. Herodotus (i., 84) gives the account
of its siege and capture by Cyrus, and of its previous fortification by an old king, Meles.
It was ruled by a series of able princes, the last of whom was Croesus, celebrated for his wealth
and his misfortunes. In the earlier part of his reign he extended his dominion over the whole of Asia Minor,
with the exception of Lycia and Cilicia. The Lydian rule was terminated by the conquest of Cyrus.
From the Persians it passed into the hands of Alexander the Great, after which, for the next
three hundred years, its fortunes are obscure. In b.c. 214 it was taken and sacked by
Antiochus the Great after a siege of two years. The kings of Pergamus next succeeded
to the dominion, and from them it passed into the hands of the Romans.
In the time of Tiberius it was desolated by an earthquake, together with eleven or twelve other
important cities of Asia, and the calamity was increased by a pestilence.
Sardis was in very early times an important commercial city. Pliny says that the art of dyeing
wool was invented there, and it was the entrepôt of the dyed woolen manufactures, carpets, etc.,
the raw material for which was furnished by the flocks of Phrygia. It was also the place where the metal
electrum was procured. Gold was found in the bed of the Pactolus. Silver and gold coins
are said to have been first minted there, and it was at one time known as a slave-mart.
The impure worship of the goddess Cybele
was celebrated there, and the massive ruins of her temple are still to be seen.
The city is now a heap of ruins.
In 1850 no human being found a dwelling there.

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