Revelation 2

Intro:

There is no possible growth in the Christian life unless we are ruthlessly honest with ourselves—Martin Lloyd Jones

Hard Truths. Thats just what we have in these 7 letters.

Pattern

Christ: Who He is

Commend: What does Jesus commend about the church

Critique: What does Jesus find lacking in the church

Command: What Jesus is calling the church to do

Challenge: What hope does Jesus offer the church

Themes

1. “to the angel of...”—God’s connection to His churches

2. “He who has an ear...”—Specific churches but lessons are for any wise enough to listen

Learn from the mistakes of others. You can’t live long enough to make them all yourself”—Eleanor Roosevelt

3. “Repent”—4/7 letters and 1 more implied includes the command “repent”. Repentance is not how we become a Christian. Repentance is what we become when we become a Christian.

Baby Buddies group. Anonymous posts from women with struggles. Why aren’t they going to their church?

4. “to the one who conqeors”—what does it mean to conquer? How do we win?

Ephesus: Loveless Work

Commend: work, endurance, handle false teachers

Critique: They’ve lost their love

1 Corinthians 13:1–3 ESV

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.

This is surprising because Paul had commended this church already for their love.

Ephesians 1:15 ESV

For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints,

And John, who was for a long time the pastor at Ephesus harped on Christian love:

1 John 3:18 ESV

Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.

1 John 4:7 ESV

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.

The 4th-century theologian Jerome tells a story about the Apostle John. John was old and frail, unable to walk, so his disciples would carry him into the gathering of believers on the Lord’s Day. Every week these were his words to the congregation: “Little children, love one another.”

This went on week after week, until at last, more than a little weary of these repeated words, his disciples asked him, “Master, why do you always say this?”

Christ—Stars and Lampstands: Jesus is right there. He cares. He hasn’t gone anywhere.

Command: Repent (Come Back) or your Lampstand will be Removed

A hard working church without love dies.

Challenge: Persevere and you will eat the tree of life (live forever)

Revelation 22:2 ESV

through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.

So maybe you:

are a punch the clock Christian. Work. Work. Work.

selfish Christian. Its all about you.

Dry Season: Repent! Do what you did. Simple marriage advice.

Smyrna: Fearless Persecution

Commend—Tribulation, poverty, slander. Not necessarily virtues and yet…no critique. 1 of 2 letters as such.

Command—Don’t fear even prison, testing 10 days: “definite, full, but brief period”

—Be faithful unto death

Christ: He is the 1st and the Last, Died and is Alive—So why fear death?

Persecution in America may come. And I’m against. But I don’t fear it. Jesus said don’t be. What can they do?

Challenge: Conquor—crown of life

Not hurt by 2nd death

Revelation 20:14 ESV

Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire.

Revelation 21:8 ESV

But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”

maybe you:

Lost friendships for following Christ

You need to speak hard truth

Children, it may be coming

Be faithful unto death without fear!

Pergamum—Compromised Belief

Commend: Faithful even in persecution—Antipas (pastor?)

Critique: Balaam

Numbers 25 ESV

While Israel lived in Shittim, the people began to whore with the daughters of Moab. These invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods, and the people ate and bowed down to their gods. So Israel yoked himself to Baal of Peor. And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel. And the Lord said to Moses, “Take all the chiefs of the people and hang them in the sun before the Lord, that the fierce anger of the Lord may turn away from Israel.” And Moses said to the judges of Israel, “Each of you kill those of his men who have yoked themselves to Baal of Peor.” And behold, one of the people of Israel came and brought a Midianite woman to his family, in the sight of Moses and in the sight of the whole congregation of the people of Israel, while they were weeping in the entrance of the tent of meeting. When Phinehas the son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he rose and left the congregation and took a spear in his hand and went after the man of Israel into the chamber and pierced both of them, the man of Israel and the woman through her belly. Thus the plague on the people of Israel was stopped. Nevertheless, those who died by the plague were twenty-four thousand. And the Lord said to Moses, “Phinehas the son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, has turned back my wrath from the people of Israel, in that he was jealous with my jealousy among them, so that I did not consume the people of Israel in my jealousy. Therefore say, ‘Behold, I give to him my covenant of peace, and it shall be to him and to his descendants after him the covenant of a perpetual priesthood, because he was jealous for his God and made atonement for the people of Israel.’ ” The name of the slain man of Israel, who was killed with the Midianite woman, was Zimri the son of Salu, chief of a father’s house belonging to the Simeonites. And the name of the Midianite woman who was killed was Cozbi the daughter of Zur, who was the tribal head of a father’s house in Midian. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Harass the Midianites and strike them down, for they have harassed you with their wiles, with which they beguiled you in the matter of Peor, and in the matter of Cozbi, the daughter of the chief of Midian, their sister, who was killed on the day of the plague on account of Peor.”

Numbers 31:16 ESV

Behold, these, on Balaam’s advice, caused the people of Israel to act treacherously against the Lord in the incident of Peor, and so the plague came among the congregation of the Lord.

—Food sacrificed to idols

—sexual immorality

Pergamum: celebrated their culture’s idols and adopted their culture’s sexual ethics

Command: Repent or Christ will war against you

Christ: 2 edged sword

Challenge: But if you conqueor you will get

Manna, stone, new name

Revelation 19:12 ESV

His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself.

Maybe you are tempted to compromise with our culture’s idol of success/American Dream

Or to adopt our culture’s sexual ethics

—LGBT

—Extra-marital affairs

—Lust, Coarse Talk, Television

Or to celebrate our culture’s idol of politics

“If you can keep your head about you when all are losing theirs”—Rudyard Kipling “IF”

Non-Anxious Presence

Unless there is more bravery to stand up for what is fair and right, Christianity will persih—Elon Musk

“I know nothing about satellites, rockets, or electric vehicles…but Musk doesn’t understand the Gospel.

We win. We conqueor, not through fighting for what is right, but by persevere through whatever the world throws at us.

By not compromising to the idols and ethics of this world.

By continuing on through any persecution this world can throw at us.

By continuing to love.

This is how we win.