Letters to the 7 Churches (Part 4)
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Ephesus: Deeds w/o love
Ephesus: Deeds w/o love
Commendation:
2 ‘I know your deeds and your toil and perseverance, and that you cannot tolerate evil men, and you put to the test those who call themselves apostles, and they are not, and you found them to be false;
Concern: Lost your first love.
Correction: Remember, Repent, Return.
5 ‘Therefore remember from where you have fallen, and repent and do the deeds you did at first; or else I am coming to you and will remove your lampstand out of its place—unless you repent.
Smyrna: Persecution
Smyrna: Persecution
Commendation:
9 ‘I know your tribulation and your poverty (but you are rich), and the blasphemy by those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.
Concern: None
Correction: None
11 ‘He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes will not be hurt by the second death.’
Pergamum: Idolatry and immorality
Pergamum: Idolatry and immorality
Commendation:
13 ‘I know where you dwell, where Satan’s throne is; and you hold fast My name, and did not deny My faith even in the days of Antipas, My witness, My faithful one, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells.
Concern:
hold the teaching of Balaam. (Numbers 22-25) Balaamites (Balak)
things sacrificed to idols
commit acts of immorality
hold to the teaching of Nicolatians.
Correction: Repent
Thyatira: Idolatry and immorality
Thyatira: Idolatry and immorality
Commendation:
19 ‘I know your deeds, and your love and faith and service and perseverance, and that your deeds of late are greater than at first.
Concern: Tolerate Jezebel
Jezebel was deceptive, idolatrous, domineering, scheming, and vicious.
- Revelation (Thyatira: The Church Where Tolerance Went to Seed (Revelation 2:18–29))
Correction:
21 ‘I gave her time to repent, and she does not want to repent of her immorality. 22 ‘Behold, I will throw her on a bed of sickness, and those who commit adultery with her into great tribulation, unless they repent of her deeds. 23 ‘And I will kill her children with pestilence, and all the churches will know that I am He who searches the minds and hearts; and I will give to each one of you according to your deeds. 24 ‘But I say to you, the rest who are in Thyatira, who do not hold this teaching, who have not known the deep things of Satan, as they call them—I place no other burden on you. 25 ‘Nevertheless what you have, hold fast until I come.
Sardis: Dead Church
Sardis: Dead Church
Commendation: I know your deeds.
Concern: you have a name that you are alive, and yet you are dead.
signs of a dead church. (Revelation by Charles Swindoll)
a dead church worships its past
a dead church is inflexible and resistant to change
a dead church often has carnal and lazy leadership
a dead church neglects children and youth
a dead church lacks evangelistic and missionary zeal.
Autopsy of a dead church by Thomas Rainer
• refusing to adapt to the needs of the present community;
• moving the focus of the budget inward;
• allowing the Great Commission to become the Great Omission;
• letting the church become preference-driven out of selfishness and personal agendas;
• seeing the tenure of the pastors decreasing;
• failing to have regular, corporate prayer;
• having no clear purpose or vision; and
• obsessing over the facilities.
Correction: 5 Things...
Be constantly alert (wake up)
Strengthen the things that remain
Remember, what has been recieved and heard
keep, what has been received and heard
repent
Philadelphia: Persecuted
Philadelphia: Persecuted
Commendation:
8 ‘I know your deeds. Behold, I have put before you an open door which no one can shut, because you have a little power, and have kept My word, and have not denied My name.
Concern: None
Correction: None
Laodicea: Lukewarm
Laodicea: Lukewarm
Revelation Laodicea: The Church that Nauseates God (Revelation 3:14–22)
Ancient pagans had hundreds of false gods to choose from, but modern pagans who may have rejected the worship of idols still have one false god that controls their lives: self. Self-expression, self-confidence, self-worth, self-reliance—these concepts all revolve around the myth that human beings have an inexhaustible source of strength within themselves. Such worthy people, of course, have trouble attributing all worth to God, which is the very definition of worship!
AD 60 earthquake
Location on Asian trade Routes=wealthiest cities in the region.
Known for 3 things
Banking center of Asia Minor
Textile business (special wool)
Medicine (medical school) - eye salve
LETTER
To: the angel of the church in Laodicea.
From: The Amen, the faithful and true witness, the Origin of the creation of God.
Amen, faithful and true Witness
Isaiah 65:16 “16 “Because he who is blessed in the earth Will be blessed by the God of truth; And he who swears in the earth Will swear by the God of truth; Because the former troubles are forgotten, And because they are hidden from My sight!”
God of Amen (so be it)
Revelation 3:7 “7 “...He who is holy, who is true..:”
The Origin of the creation of God
Revelation 1:8 “8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.””
Revelation 1:17 “17 When I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man. And He placed His right hand on me, saying, “Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last,”
Contents: I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot; I wish that you were cold or hot.
Commendation: NONE
Concern:
v. 16
lukewarm
vomit out of my mouth
Matt 7:15-23.
v. 17
What they thought of themselves (Physical)
I am rich
become wealthy
have no need of anything
What God thought of them (Spiritual)
Wretched and miserable - unclean
6 For all of us have become like one who is unclean, And all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment; And all of us wither like a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.
poor - without the riches of Christ
4 Then I said, “They are only the poor, They are foolish; For they do not know the way of the Lord Or the ordinance of their God.
blind
39 And Jesus said, “For judgment I came into this world, so that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may become blind.”
3 Jesus answered and said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
naked
6 When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loin coverings.
Correction:
Buy from me
44 “The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field, which a man found and hid again; and from joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.
gold refined by fire - may be rich
6 In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, 7 so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ;
White garments - cloth yourself and the same of your nakedness will not be revealed.
5 ‘He who overcomes will thus be clothed in white garments; and I will not erase his name from the book of life, and I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels.
eye salve - so that you may see
15 “And I said, ‘Who are You, Lord?’ And the Lord said, ‘I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. 16 ‘But get up and stand on your feet; for this purpose I have appeared to you, to appoint you a minister and a witness not only to the things which you have seen, but also to the things in which I will appear to you; 17 rescuing you from the Jewish people and from the Gentiles, to whom I am sending you, 18 to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the dominion of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in Me.’
18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, Because He anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives, And recovery of sight to the blind, To set free those who are oppressed,
Repent
19 ‘Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline; therefore be zealous and repent.
12 For whom the Lord loves He reproves, Even as a father corrects the son in whom he delights.
7 It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline? 8 But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. 9 Furthermore, we had earthly fathers to discipline us, and we respected them; shall we not much rather be subject to the Father of spirits, and live? 10 For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but He disciplines us for our good, so that we may share His holiness. 11 All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.
Exhortation:
20 ‘Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me. 21 ‘He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.
Call: “The one who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”
Conclusion
Conclusion
The times we are in...
1 Tim 4:1-3.
2 Tim 3:1-5; 4:1-4.
