CHAPTER FOUR
THE BOOK FOR SEVEN CHURCHES
John was told to write what he saw in a book. This again
emphasizes the fact that John actually SAW the things he wrote down; he didn't just
dream them up. The fact that John really saw these events is mentioned SEVEN times in
the first chapter of Revelation.
There were several hundred churches in existence at this time. yet the angel
specifies that John's book should be sent to ONLY SEVEN of them. Why do you suppose
these were singled out for special instructions?
FIRST, these congregations had problems which were typical of church problems
everywhere, then and down through the ages.
SECOND, the order in which these seven church situations are presented
in the Book of Revelation parallels the changing condition of the church as a whole
down through the centuries from the time of Christ until the true Church is taken out
of the world.
It is obvious that Paul or the churches these letters were address to could
never have foreseen these applications – that these precious letters would be so
prophetic in nature.
Of course, the people who lived during the early centuries of church history
would not have known of this parallel. This kind of historical perspective of the
church is invaluable because we can learn important lessons from the failures and
successes of earlier Christians. Also, we can identify the period of time we are
living in now by the condition of the church of our day.
Also, isn't it amazing the striking resemblance of these upcoming passages
concerning the SEVEN (7) Churches in the Book of Revelation and the SEVEN (7) Mysteries
that Christ himself talked about in person while He was yet on earth.
(Matthew 13).
And it has to be more than coincidence that the church is the mystery talked abut
elsewhere in Scripture.
A PANORAMA OF CHURCH HISTORY
In a very real sense, reading the Book of Revelation is like reading mail that
belongs to someone else. The whole revelation is addressed primarily to seven local
groups of believers of John's day, although without question, the intention of the
revealing angel was that ALL people through all ages should benefit from it. But the
primary recipients of this document were seven actual churches of the first century
A.D.
It is significant that each of these letters of comfort and admonition to the
seven churches found here in Chapters 2 and 3
are dictated to John by Jesus himself. These letters represent the last recorded
quotations of Jesus and are the only words He ever spoke directly to the Church
on earth.
Notice that with all the terrible calamities of judgment that are about to
fall on men, the first thing in Jesus' mind and His greatest concern is His Church,
His "Little flock." Before He shows them the horrors ahead, He first seeks to get them
in shape spiritually, so that they will see God's perspective of the coming judgments.
At the time John wrote these messages, there were probably several hundred
small congregations of Christians throughout Asia Minor. Many of these had experienced
enough persecution to make them wary of meeting openly, so they met quietly and often
in secret. Those who did gather openly were isolated by the populace at large.
The seven churches to whom these letters were sent were not the largest or
best-known of their day. The churches at Rome and Antioch, for example, no doubt had
larger congregations and more prominent people for members.
Why were these SPECIFIC churches chosen to receive these special messages of
commendation, rebuke, exhortation, and challenge? This question has intrigued Bible
students for hundreds of years and has led to a variety of explanations.
I personally agree with the fourfold application as described by the editorial
committee of the Scofield Reference Bible. (Page 1331 – See Reference Note 3).
This group of Biblical experts represent a long tradition of scholarly research on
Bible prophecy.
The messages to the seven churches have a fourfold reference:
Revelation 1:20
Revelation 1:20
The mystery of the seven stars which you saw in My right hand, and the seven golden
lampstands: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven
lampstands which you saw[1] are the seven churches.
Footnotes
1:20 NU-Text and M-Text omit which you saw.
1. Local--to the churches actually addressed
2. Admonitory--to all churches in all time as tests by which they may discern their
true spiritual state in the sight of God.
3. Personal--in the exhortations to him "who hath an ear," and in the promises "to
him who overcometh."
4. Prophetic--as disclosing in two areas the phases in the spiritual history of
the church.
a) a pattern that has been repeated again and again through the centuries
b) the progress of its spiritual state until the end of the Church Age.
It is interesting to note that the church does not appear on earth after
Revelation chapter 3:22.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
FOUR PURPOSES OF THE LETTERS
As you read through Revelation chapters 2 and 3, you will notice that each
letter is a personal message from Jesus to a specific local church. He commends each
church for any good deeds He finds and rebukes each one for any sin or worldly
tendencies He sees.
The Lord obviously chose these particular churches because they had the
combinations of strengths, weaknesses, and differing characteristics that would
convey many lessons to the church throughout its history.
The second application of the truths of these letters is to the individual
believers within each congregation. For instance, when Jesus says to the church of
Laodicea that He is standing at its door and knocking for entrance. He is not
requesting entrance into the door and life of the church; He also wants to come
personally into the life of each INDIVIDUAL in the church.
From these truths we urge a person today to invite Jesus to come into his
heart and life, since this is a valid application of this great statement of Jesus.
It is such a shame that so few Christians through the centuries have availed
themselves of the tremendous comfort and challenge Jesus gives in these letters. More
than once when my finances was running low and things were not going as smoothly as I
liked, I have read the letter to Smyrna
and heard Jesus say, "You're not really poor; in My estimation you are rich, and the
things you are suffering now are going to result in a crown of life for you if you
have to endure to death itself."
On a few occasions I've also needed to hear Jesus' words to the church at
Ephesus:
"I have somewhat against you, Bob Craig, because you have left your first love,
Me! Remember what our relationship has been like in the past, and repent and come
back into fellowship with Me!" One has to wonder when put to the task, whether or
not one has "remained" in a close relationship with the Lord as that relationship
was initiated at the time of salvation.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
AN OUTLINE OF THINGS TO COME.
Before we look at each letter in closer detail, it might be good if we pull
together all of our facts up to this point. In Revelation, Chapter 1, Jesus gave
John the simple, three part outline he was to follow in writing down the
revelations he had seen.
1. He was to write about "THE THINGS HE HAD SEEN" in the vision of the
resurrected Christ who had appeared and conversed with him.
2. He was to write about "THE THINGS WHICH ARE", referring to the churches
of his day and the letters which Christ was going to dictate to them.
3. The last division of the Revelation was to contain "THE THINGS WHICH CAME
AFTER" the period of the churches. Everything from Revelation chapter 4 to the end
of the book covers these events.
A COMMON FORMAT IN THE LETTERS
Each of the seven letters was addressed to a literal church, and each of these
churches a special messenger or representative would receive the letter and present its
contents to the congregation. Each letter also follows a common, concise format as
follows:
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
SEVEN THINGS
1. DESTINATION--This includes not only the city where the church is located
but pertinent historical background of the city.
2. DESCRIPTION OF JESUS CHRIST--In each letter Christ gives a description
of Himself which is designed to meet some need existing in that church.
3. COMMENDATION--Christ seeks to praise each church for something, but
unfortunately no praiseworthy thing can be found about Thyatira, the counterfeit
church; or Laodicea, the apostate church.
4. REBUKE--The only churches Christ doesn't have to rebuke for sinful
activities are Smyrna the suffering church, and Philadelphia, the missionary church.
5. EXHORTATION--Christ counsels and encourages each of his churches to add
what is needed to make them more godly and to remove anything that hinders their
single-hearted devotion to Him.
6. PROMISE--Christ promises fabulous blessing to everyone who "HAS AN EAR"
and heeds His advice to the church and the individuals in it.
7. PROPHETIC APPLICATION--This is the historical role which each church was
to play during the subsequent nineteen centuries.
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