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The
Seven Churches of Revelation
by
Mike Stine
Hidden in the back
of your Bible is a book many of you are scared to read.
Hidden in the opening chapters of this book is a story of
seven very different churches. If
you’ve read the book of Revelation, and many people haven’t just
because of the difficulty of understanding it, you probably gave
little to no time pondering the seven churches found in chapters 2
and 3. A wealth of
information can be found in these chapters and by studying them, we
can learn a lot about our church, ourselves, and others in our
church.
The book of
Revelation is broken into three parts; past, present, and future.
In chapter 1, John describes what had already happened.
Christ had come and gave himself as a sacrifice for the lost.
Chapters 2 and 3 are the present.
When the book was written, all seven churches were literal
and in existence. More
importantly, they are representative of all churches as we’ll see
in a moment. Chapters
4-22 discuss what will take place in the future.
The book of
Revelation was written as a letter and it was intended to be
circulated around to the churches.
The seven churches mentioned are located in
Asia Minor
, which is modern day Turkey. Going in order from
Ephesus, all the way around to Laodicea would create a loop. In
all likelihood, the letter was originally circulated in this way.
While each church
is addressed individually, all seven messages are important for each
church to read. At the
end of each address to an individual church John writes, “He who
has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
If the warning was directed at one particular church, it
would have been easy to have said, “
Ephesus
, listen to what Christ has to say to you church.” Instead, the call to be heard is repeated seven times that
all the churches should hear what Christ has to say.
Because of this,
readers needed to heed what was said to all the churches. Obviously not everyone in the
church of Ephesus
had left their first love, but the majority.
Some in the
church
of
Ephesus
were probably better characterized by what Christ said about the
church
of Smyrna or Pergamum
.
The seven letters
to the churches in Revelation depict many things.
First, they depict the state of affairs of seven literal
churches. Some are ok
with some bad points, some are good, some are bad.
Secondly, each church is representative of a span of time
during the church age, beginning during the apostles’ time going
until the church is removed at the time of the rapture.
Thirdly, every Christian can be categorized by one of the
seven churches. Finally,
every church that exists today falls under one of these seven
categories.
The purpose of
studying these seven churches is to evaluate ourselves and our
churches in light of the evaluation Christ made of these seven
churches. By the end of
this sermon, you should be able to determine what church you best
relate to and what church your own church is most like.
Upon doing this, you may need to make some adjustments in
your life and in your church, just as Christ admonished these
churches to do.
Read Revelation
2:1-7.
The church
of
Ephesus
looked like it was in a great place. It
was in the most affluent city in
Asia Minor. It had a long line of
well known preachers; likely founded by Priscilla and Aquilla,
served by Paul, Timothy, and after writing the book of Revelation,
even John is believed to have called Ephesus
home.
The church had
numerous good things said about it.
They are hard working and persevering.
They cannot tolerate wicked men.
They tested those who claimed to be apostles but are not and
found them to be false. They
endured hardships for the name of Christ and did not grow weary.
Finally, they hated the practices of the Nicolaitans which
Jesus himself hated.
Little is known
about the Nicolaitans but writings by others at the same time
mention that the group was short lived.
They were a heretical sect that taught that spiritual liberty
allowed them to practice idolatry and immorality.
The
church
of
Ephesus
had stood against this group and they were commended for it.
However, there is
something wrong with the church.
Verse 4 declares, “Yet I hold this against you: You have
forsaken your first love.” The
church
of
Ephesus suffered the same problem as many Christians today.
When the church
began, they were excited about their salvation.
They proclaimed it in the pagan streets of
Ephesus
. Then time began to
take its toll. The
church matured in knowledge. They
learned right from wrong. And
they acted upon it. What
followed was a ritual obedience to the teachings of Jesus.
The church at Ephesus
was doing the right things. They
stayed away from the practices of false teachers and endured
hardships for the name of Christ.
However, they had forgotten why they did it.
It was not for their first love, their true love that they
labored. The church did
not obey Christ’s teachings because they loved him.
It had either become something that they did to look
spiritual in front of the other Christians in the church, or they
had simply become legalistic in their approach to life.
They did what was right and did not do what was wrong because
they had been told so. They
did not act in love.
Because of this,
Jesus says, “Remember the height from which you have fallen!
Repent and do the things which you did at first.
If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your
lampstand from its place. If
the
church
of
Ephesus
did not regain its love of Christ, the church would be removed.
There is reason to believe that the church did repent as it
flourished until 449 AD when the church faded away after the Third
Council of Ephesus. Ultimately,
the church’s lampstand was removed just as prophecy had warned.
Read Revelation
2:8-11
The church
of
Smyrna
is one of two good churches in this group of seven.
There is no condemnation of this church listed as it is doing
as it should. Jesus
said, “I know your afflictions and your poverty – yet you are
rich!” This church was
poor and afflicted, however, they had become spiritually rich.
It is ironic the
name of the city is derived from myrrh.
Myrrh was used in the embalming and burial process and it was
in this city that many Christians would die.
As a city known as one of the founders of emperor worship,
persecution came early. In
155 bishop Polycarp, a student of the apostle John, was executed in Smyrna .
Jesus said that he
knew of “the slander of those who say they are Jews and are not,
but are a synagogue of Satan.”
There were apparently Jews in the area who spoke falsely of
those in the church. This
is a problem that has plagued Christ’s church since the beginning.
People do not like what is different from themselves and they
are often afraid of it. Because
of this, lies and rumors quickly spread about the church.
Jesus reveals that the true source behind this slander is
Satan himself.
Nevertheless, the church
of Smyrna is not to fear the persecution that would come.
They are warned that they would be put in prison in order to
test them. If they are
faithful, even to the point of death, they would receive the crown
of life.
There is a paradox
shown in the church
of
Smyrna
that Jesus talked about in his ministry.
In Matthew
16:25
he says, “For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but
whoever loses his life for me will find it.”
Many of the church would lose their life, however, they need
not be afraid because through it, they would gain eternal life.
For the one who overcomes, they will not be hurt by the
second death.
Read Revelation
2:12-17
Unlike the cities
of Ephesus and Smyrna, the city of Pergamum
was not known as a commercial city.
It had been given a rare gift by the Roman government, the
ability to enact capital punishment.
Capital punishment was symbolized by the sword in Roman times
and the numerous references to swords link the city to capital
punishment.
Jesus recognized
the difficulty that the church lived with.
He referred to
Pergamum
as “where Satan has his throne.”
In the city was a 40 foot altar to the god Zeus and the city
was also well known for its emperor worship.
Nevertheless, the
church stood firm even when Antipas was put to death in the city.
According to tradition, Antipas died a gruesome death by
being slowly roasted to death in a bronze kettle.
This was likely a recent occurrence at the hands of Emperor
Domitian, the Apostle John’s tormentor as well.
Despite the
faithfulness to the name of Jesus, there was a big problem in the
church. Compromise had
crept into the church. There
were those in the church who were following the teachings of Balaam
and the Nicolaitans.
Both groups led the
church astray into idolatry and into immorality.
These groups fall under many different names in the church
today, and are often not even named.
However, the problem is very real.
Satan had directly
attacked both the churches of Smyrna
and Pergamum
and found that the believers were not afraid of persecution and
death. However, he
introduced small doctrinal errors into the Pergamum
church. The church held
to the name of Christ and stood up for it.
However, it did not follow all of his teachings and believed
that as long as they did 75% of what Christ had taught that they
were alright.
Many churches today
teach about Christ but they are wrong issues such as homosexuality,
divorce, abortion, and evolution.
They believe that they are okay and as long as they teach
about Christ the rest of the truth is not as important.
Jesus calls on the church
of Pergamum
to repent; or the consequences would be dire!
Jesus himself would come and fight against those who followed
the misguided teachings of these groups.
And so there is no mistake about it, they will be struck down
as they are in Revelation 19.
The need to make
sure the church is following correct doctrine and not being led
astray cannot be understated! If
there are false teachers in the church, they need to be thrown out!
Read Revelation
2:18-29
The city of Thyatira
is the least significant of the seven cities of the seven churches
of Revelation. It was
away from the main commercial routes and likewise did not hold much
religious significance. The
church is likewise small. Nevertheless,
it has a big problem.
There is little
good to say about the church at Thyatira.
Jesus knows their deeds, their love, faith and service.
They are doing more than they did at first – the exact
opposite of
Ephesus
which has left its first love.
A woman, referred
to as Jezebel, has entered the church and caused problems.
The name Jezebel immediately links the reader to Queen
Jezebel who lead her husband Ahab deep into idolatry.
This woman, calling herself a prophetess, has done the same
to the church at Thyatira.
The church has
fallen into idolatry and sexual immorality.
Some interpret sexual immorality to be spiritual adultery,
leaving Christ for another god.
However, the sin mentioned may very well be literal as well
as metaphorical.
What angers Christ
the most is that the woman and the church has been given the
opportunity to repent and has not.
Because of this, judgment will fall.
The woman will be cast upon a bed of suffering.
Her children, best interpreted as her followers, will
likewise be put to death.
In spite of all
this, there is a remnant left in the church.
Jesus places no additional burden upon them other than to
simply hold onto what they have until he comes.
It is interesting
to note that he does not tell them to leave the church.
While the tendency today is to flee to a church that better
suits us the moment something goes wrong, the true Christians in
this church are instructed to stay where they are.
The sinful men and women around them would be removed through
judgment.
Once again, a
church that has compromised with sinfulness is dealt with harshly.
However, those who are true to Christ are to remain where
they are and will be spared the judgment falling around them.
Continue
to Part 2
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