Bible Story Rev: Letters

Introduction

Now, as we open the book of Revelation and we review it today, we find that this book is not the revelation of John. It’s the revelation of Jesus Christ. We know that some Bibles state that it is the revelation of John, but that’s incorrect, as the very beginning of our sacred text proves. Revelation 1 1 says the revelation of Jesus Christ. Our Lord Jesus is doing the speaking. You will not appreciate the letters to the seven congregations until you realize that our Lord is speaking to them personally. He mentions at the very outset to whom this book is addressed. Revelation 1 4 tells about things that must shortly come to pass. And furthermore, it is written in signs and symbols and imagery. He said, What you see shall be signified unto them.

Revelation 1 1. So the book of Revelation is written in signs and symbols, and a sign does not represent itself. For people to sit around and argue what each sign represents will be to miss the point of the whole book. Furthermore, a very important point is he says to John in Revelation 1.11, What thou seest, write in a book, and send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia. The book of Revelation was the result of what John saw by Revelation, by unveiling, by inspiration. That which he wrote in a book and sent to the seven congregations of Asia concerning things that must shortly come to pass. And we have his writing in what is called the book of Revelation. Therefore, the major fulfillment was in the first two or three centuries as it was addressed to the congregations of Asia, Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamus, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, Laodicea, concerning things that would shortly come to pass.

Someone might say, Then you mean the book of Revelation does not apply to us. No, that isn’t what we mean. For instance, the book of 1 Corinthians was written to the Church of God at Corinth, and yet it applies to us, but they had a primary application of those to whom it was first addressed, and the background, the backdrop concerning problems they faced in Corinth in the first century. And the same is true of the book of Revelation. To whom was it written? The seven congregations of Asia. For what purpose? To correct their problems and to give them hope in the midst of the duress, persecution, tribulation, opposition they faced under the cruel, despotic Caesars of the Roman Empire of the first century. Now in chapters two and three, instead of something difficult to understand, they are difficult to misunderstand, for they hit us right in the face.

1. Ephesus Had Left Their First Love

You talk about passages that are clear and straightforward. These two chapters that deal with the letters to the congregations that we have just mentioned are exceedingly clear and straightforward and challenging. As we read these two chapters, we see ourselves walking down the street and the Lord talking to us. Now these seven congregations, Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamus, Diatyrus, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea, were very typical of all congregations that existed then. They were in the region of Asia Minor. The problems and good points that they possessed are very typical of our problems today. People have not changed, sin hadn’t changed, the devil hadn’t changed. The same thing it took then, it takes now to redeem mankind. And that is the gospel of Jesus Christ applied to our lives. The major problem with the church at Ephesus was that they had left their first love.

The church at Ephesus had been richly blessed. Paul had preached there, he had sent Timothy to work in Ephesus, and now, according to history, the beloved apostle John lived the last fifty years of his life in that city. Jesus speaks to the church at Ephesus, Revelation 2, verses 1 to 7. They had some good points. They had found some that claimed to be apostles and had proved them false. Verse 2. They had some good works, but they had left their first love. I can conclude that according to the context of chapter 2, 1 to 5, this can mean but one thing. Things they did were not motivated by love. The Lord told them to remember from whence they had fallen, repent of their evil deeds, and repeat the good works they once did, motivated by love.

2. Smyrna Rich, Pergamos and the Nicolaitan Doctrine

To the church at Smyrna in chapter 2, verses 8 to 11, he told them that they were in deep poverty and intense persecution, but he would bless them, and in God’s sight they were rich. Even though you’re in poverty, you’re wealthy in my sight. Later he will say to the church at Laodicea, you’re wealthy in earthly goods, but in my sight you’re poor. It makes a lot of difference how the Lord views us, how heaven thinks of us. It isn’t any crime to be poor, but it is to be spiritually poor, because there’s no excuse for that. And then to the church at Pergamos, Revelation 2, verses 12 to 17. We do not know enough about the history of the church at Pergamos to know all of the problems they faced, but we do know from history that in the year 29 BC, Octavian Caesar changed his name to Augustus Caesar, that is the August one, the one to be revered in worship.

He erected temples to his memory for emperor worship, and the first one and finest one he built in Pergamos. From 29 BC forward, Pergamus had been the center or the seat of emperor worship. This was a constant problem for members of the church of the Lord. Just as it had been a problem for Daniel in the days of Babylon, not to bow down to the image of the king, it was a problem for Christians in the first century not to bow down to emperor worship. When many failed to, they lost their jobs. They were outcasts in society. For emperor worship and the trade guilds blended their services together in those pagan temples. So the Christians had a problem. One of their basic problems was the Nicolaitan doctrine.

3. Thyatira Tolerated Sin

From everything I’ve been able to study and find, the Nicolaitans were the first people to teach the doctrine of once saved, always saved. Their attitude was once you come in contact with the blood of Christ, it makes no difference what you do. You can live any way you want because you cannot be lost once you contact Christ. But God said, I hate their teaching, I hate their deeds, and he still does. The doctrine of once saved, always saved is a tool of the devil. It’s going to cause a lot of people to be lost in the day of judgment. No wonder Paul said, Let him that thinketh he stand to take heed lest he fall, 1 Corinthians 10 12. And then to the church at Thyatira, Revelation 2, verses 18 to 29.

You may remember that Lydia, the great woman of Acts 16, was from Thyatira, a city 180 miles from Philippi. The problem with the church at Thyatira is a very common one today. In fact, if the Lord were still writing letters to congregations, most of us would get one like this. They tolerated sin. They allowed that woman Jezebel, a necessary reference to the old testament queen, the evil one who introduced Baal worship, idolatry into Israel. They allowed her to commit sin in their midst. God said, Because you tolerate sin, because you will not discipline those guilty of iniquity, then you’re going to come to naught. And too many people today in the church tolerate sin. We’ve allowed people to come into our midst to bring the world into the body of Christ into the kingdom of God.

4. Sardis Dead or Alive, Philadelphia Faithful

And the lesson here is that we should not put up with evil. We must use discipline or the cause of Christ will go down the drain. Withdrawal from that ungodly fellow is still the clarion call of 1 Corinthians 5. And now to chapter 3 of Revelation, three congregations addressed here the church at Sardis, the one at Philadelphia, and the beleaguered one at Laodicea, the self-righteous one. You can always remember Sardis by remembering the statement, dead or alive. They had a name that they were alive, but God said you’re dead. Like the evil woman of 1 Timothy 5 6, she is dead while she liveth. And a lot of congregations are like that. The next time you talk to someone that says you cannot fall from grace, dare them to read the first five verses of Revelation chapter 3.

Jesus said, I will blot your name out of the book of life. And he couldn’t blot it out if it wasn’t there. I will blot your name out of the book of life if you do not cleanse your garments. If a man’s name is not in the Lamb’s book of life, he is gone. To the church at Philadelphia, a small congregation in a small town of about 8,000 people, the Lord said, You’ve been faithful to do the best you can, and I’m going to open a door that no man can shut. Isn’t it great, according to the parable of the talents, that the Lord only expects us to do the best we can with what we’ve got, but he demands that we do that. And the little congregation in Philadelphia and Asia Minor in the first century, without much talent, was faithful to do the best they could.

5. Laodicea Was Self-Sufficient

And that’s what the Lord requires. But the church at Laodicea is the familiar one in the book of Revelation. They were self-sufficient. They had marvelous natural resources, manufacturing plants. It was the earthly headquarters for a famous I salve and the woollen industry. And so the church there was self-sufficient, like the city was. They had everything but crash, so really they had nothing. They said they were rich and powerful, but the Lord said, No. You’re wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked. Jesus said, You make me sick, and I will spew you out of my mouth. But then the Lord said, As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten, be zealous therefore and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If any man will open the door, I will come into him and sup with him, and he with me.

6. He Knows Us Inside Out

You see, the Lord is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance, 2 Peter 3 9. And he wants all men to be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth, 1 Timothy 2 4. So in the first three chapters of the book of Revelation, we learn some marvelous truths. We learn first of all that Jesus Christ has eyes like a flame of fire. And when he says, I know thy works, believe me, he knows us inside out. Thou, O God, seeest me. Genesis 16 13. The eyes of the Lord are in every place, beholding the evil and the good. Proverbs 15 3. He sees us as we really are. Also, he is one who walked with the Hebrew children in the fiery furnace of affliction, and he walks with us in our trials.

Conclusion

He walks with us day by day to guide us to mansions in the sky. The book of Revelation is a book of hope, of beauty, of joy, of peace, of challenge. And if there is one statement that sums it up best, it’s the one we started the lesson with. The Lord said, If you will overcome Satan, self, sin, the world, you can overcome and come over to live with me. We’re more than conquerors through him that loved us. For worthy is the Lamb that was slain from the foundation of the world to receive blessing and honor and glory and power and dominion forever and ever. The Book of Revelation gives us hope. And if we’ll be faithful to the Lord, obey his will, one day we can walk with him in robes of white.