Revelation 1:9 – 3:22 “Letters to the churches”
We have been talking about the church as
the “Bride of Christ” and what the Bible has to say concerning the church and all
that goes into preparing for the return of the bridegroom. This morning we are
going to begin by reading the scripture from the Book of Revelation. If the
church is the “bride of Christ”, then you could say that these are letters
written to the bride as she awaits the return of the bridegroom.
Don’t miss the fact that these
7 letters have a 3-fold application…First, they were literal churches that existed in this day when John says he was “in the spirit” on the island of Patmos. The Apostle John was a pastor…no doubt God used him to write down these letters from his pastor’s heart to these 7 literal churches that he knew personally.
Second, these are for all churches in all centuries throughout this church age. The messages in these 7 letters apply directly to our churches today.
Third, there is a chronological application (most interesting) - A complete panorama of church history can be found in these 7 letters. From the apostolic church of John’s day, to the day in which we now live. For example:
Ephesus—the careless church—A.D. 30-100—abandoned their first love—turned devotion into duty. They started out deeply in love with Christ. Read Ephesians and you’ll hear Paul speak of their love for Christ twenty times! “You are rooted and grounded in love” he said…but years later in today’s passage in Rev. 2 John relays Jesus’ words, “you have left your first love.” And that was the general state of the church at large in the first century: they had left their love, devotion turned to duty and complacency, and they were careless!
Smyrna—the crushed church—A.D. 100-300—verse 10 - “10 days” Study church history and you will see that the 2nd and 3rd centuries hosted 10 great waves of persecution…the 10 Roman persecutions, from Nero to Diocletian.
Pergamos—the compromising church—A.D. 300-500
Thyatira—the corrupted church—A.D. 500-1500 (the dark ages)
Sardis—the crippled church—A.D. 1500-1700
Philadelphia—the consistent church—1700-1900—the reformation…a church for which the Lord did not have one word of rebuke.
Laodicea—the cooled off, lukewarm church—1900-present…we live in this period of church history.
You and I live in the Laodicean church age, but we can be a Philadelphia church during this Laodicean age, and other combinations as well. Before telling them what they’re doing wrong, the Lord tells them what they’re doing right; but let’s find out where we stand as the bride of Christ;
Ephesus – “You have forsaken your first love”… In Matthew 24 Jesus said “at that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold…” Let me see if I can explain what “you have lost or forsaken your first love” means; You have a car…not a new car…but a nice car. It has a 3.0 six cylinder engine; automatic transmission; power steering and power windows and power locks; cruise-control; and “zoom-zoom-zoom”…but all of that is absolutely useless without the most important thing you need… a key. Without the key, my car is useless.
Jesus says that the church has lost something; something’s missing. Something’s not quite right. Something’s out of sorts. We have a church that can have new paint, new carpet, new tables and chairs, a church with structure, but without power. We have a church with a discipline, but no convictions. We have a church with money, but is spiritually bankrupt. We have a church with talent, but lacking anointing. We have a church with history, but seemingly no future…We have a church that goes through the motions of being the W.I.F.E.
( Worship, Instruction, Fellowship, and Expression ) but, like a car with no keys, we have lost our first love. The “Key” the one most important thing that is needed in the hearts of the people to make the church run and move forward and have a future is missing.
Smyrna – The persecuted church… Jesus focused on three areas of struggle for the Church in Smyrna – First Jesus says, "I know your afflictions"…"I know your tribulations"…"I know the pressure you are under"…"I know the stress that you have in your life"…This word has the meaning of "a steady, crushing force"…Are we under any less pressure today?
Second, Jesus said, "I know your poverty"…Jesus knew about the financial struggles that faced those early Christians. Christians today have no idea...We really don’t understand that kind of poverty. But even still, whatever our financial situation Jesus knows about it! He understands our financial struggles. But Jesus didn’t only mention their poverty, he went on to say; "but you are rich!" Wait a minute! How can they be rich if they are living in poverty? Jesus knows that outwardly, the Christians in Smyrna were poor, they struggled to make ends meet, but inwardly they were rich in faith and spiritual blessings.
Third, Jesus said, "I know the slander that you are facing"…"I know the blasphemy"…"I know the cruel things that are being said about you" "I know about the people who are going out of their way to try to tear you down"…And today, Jesus knows what people say about the church...and religion, but Jesus says “Be faithful!”
Pergamum – The compromising church - First of all they had some of their members who held to the teaching of Balaam. What is Balaamism? Vance Havner said "There have never been more Balaamites in our churches than now. We call them ’worldly’ Christians." The second group condemned by Christ is the Nicolaitans. Though it is difficult to know exactly who these people were it appears they claimed to have a special relationship to God…a “special anointing” that others don’t have. God was calling them to no longer compromise on what was true, condone what was ungodly or crave anything that wasn’t pure. We live in a time and a place where it is so easy to compromise our stand. It is easy for us to get caught in the “grey areas.” I’m not talking about those who are old and grey, but those that like the Balaamites and Nicolatians, try to live with one foot in either camp. If we are guilty of living a compromised Christian life, Christ calls us to repent.
Thyatira – The corrupted church. - How can we tell whether a teaching or a doctrine is from God or from a Jezebel? Here are some things we can look for: Firstly Jezebel doctrines teach that something evil can be good. Such as; Homosexual marriages are okay as long as they are based on love. Seeking after material possessions is okay as this is a sign of God’s blessing. Doing away with the bible is okay as long as you are in communion with God and relying on his spirit’s revelation. (You don’t need to read or study God’s Word…just follow the Spirit”) All these are wrong, but seem to be good.
Christians who are bound by Jezebel’s doctrine similarly have no regard for God’s word. They would rather “experience” God rather than study his word. They would rather worship God or fellowship with other believers than sit under biblical teaching. (In other words, worship and praise are o.k. but, they don’t attend anything else, and therefore are easily swayed by Satan’s counterfeit schemes for lack of a knowledge of truth.)
I will continue next time with Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea…
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