Seven Letters to Seven Churches
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Exegetical Purpose: Jesus writes to encourage, chastise and warn his churches as representatives of the Church universal.
Homiletic Purpose: To encourage, chastise and warn the church at Flooding Creek.
Introduction
Introduction
Have you ever had an employee review? You know, maybe when your probation ends or some employers do them every year or 6-months?
It’s meant to be an opportunity to get some clear feedback on how you’re performing at work, sharing areas of improvement, and areas where you’re doing well. It helps you know as an employee that the boss is aware of your work, appreciates the good stuff and needs you to pick up the work in some areas.
When it comes time for the performance review, it’s both exciting and scary. You want to know what you’re doing well, but you can also be afraid that you’re going to be told something you don’t want to hear.
Maybe where you think you’re excelling is actually not good enough.
Maybe you might be made aware of something where you dropped the ball.
Maybe you already know where you’ve messed up but you know the boss is going to have some hard things to say about that.
In the end though, a performance review is a good thing because knowing whats great and what’s not-so-great in your work helps you do better in the coming months, keeping you on track and focused on what’s important.
Essentially today what we’re looking at in Revelation 2-3 is Jesus’ performance reviews of 7 Churches in modern day Turkey. He gives them an honest assessment of where they’re up to, but it’s ultimately for their good, so they make course corrections and focused on what’s important.
These Churches were planted in the few decades after Jesus had risen to heaven and sat down at the Father’s side. Many of them would have been planted by the Apostles, or people closely associated with the Apostles and they had been serving Jesus for a few decades now.
They had experienced the emotional highs of receiving the Gospel and being joined together as a church, potentially seeing signs and miracles that testified to the authenticity of the Gospel message.
But now, when Jesus is sending these letters to the church they have had a few years experience as Christians. They’re into the day-to-day, year-to-year reality of following Jesus. Things have adjusted to the new normal, many of the church members will be children who have grown up in the Church and don’t know anything different.
On top of this many of them are facing persecution by the world. The Christians are a minority group who are in many places disliked or hated by the Jews and the majority pagan-Roman population.
And, like all people, they have to deal with their own sinfulness that rises up from within us to oppose Jesus and his control on our life.
These Churches are blessed by God in the way he addresses them specifically with these letters, and indeed with the whole book. These letters are a key part of the book’s structure, it’s not as though chapters 2-3 are somehow isolated from everything else that’s happening in the book. All the words and curious language that gets used in these 7 letters gets explained or illustrated somewhere else in the book, not to mention that the chain of seven letters is the first in a series of Cycles-of-Seven that you see later in the book with seven scrolls, seven trumpets and seven bowls.
That’s for some other time. Right now however we’re in Rev 2-3 with the individual addresses to individual churches. If you’ve had a chance to read the whole two chapters you will have noticed that they all follow a similar format, even though each is distinct, each has a pattern, and it is through the pattern that we will be investigating the text today. What we see through the pattern is seven ways that Jesus the conqueror speaks to his people, which in turn means there are seven things that we need to see in the passage for the good of our own church. The repeating refrains, or the obvious absence of something, press home the massage that Jesus has for his church.
1. The Conqueror speaks to his people
1. The Conqueror speaks to his people
Firstly, the Conquering Jesus speaks to his people.
Jesus, meets with John on the Island of Patmos to deliver a message to these Church.
saying, “Write what you see in a book and send it to the seven churches, to Ephesus and to Smyrna and to Pergamum and to Thyatira and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to Laodicea.”
This book of revelation is addressed specifically to these seven churches, but just like the letters of Romans or Galatians or Corinthians, they are for the benefit of the whole church. That is plainly obvious by the way that there are 7 recipients. They’re were much more than seven churches in the area, but Jesus chooses 7 (the number of completeness) who were in various stages of health and faithfulness to be representative of the whole church in that day and the whole church through time.
So this passage is directed to those churches specifically, but to the universal church generally. As we read through the letters we will find ourselves asking: “Is our church like that?”
It’s a good question to ask, because there’s serious consequences for failing to heed the warnings of the Conquering Christ.
Let’s take a closer look at the letters. You will see that each of the seven starts something like this:
“To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: ‘The words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand, who walks among the seven golden lampstands.
So each letter is addressed to “the Angel of the Church in XYZ.” It’s a bit of an odd designation. Why the “angel of the church”?
In chapter 1 :20 we’re told that in the vision of Jesus he is holding seven stars in his hand:
As for the mystery of the seven stars that 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 are the seven churches.
So in this symbology the stars are the angels of the churches, the ones to whom the letters are addressed. And the Lamp stands are the churches themselves, to whom the book is written. So the whole language of the angels of the churches is a little confusing.
Who are these angels?
There are a couple options of who these angels are. I will put them before you now, and let you have a think about it, but which ever of the options you think is best fit, it doesn’t change the meaning of the text.
Remember: Angel is just a Greek word for messenger. It’s a simple word, but most often in the Bible is is referring to spiritual beings who are messengers of God. So that’s option 1:
The Angels of the church are spiritual beings that God has sent as messengers, and maybe protectors of these churches. Kind of like guardian angels. In other parts of the bible we get glimpses of this kind of thing, where God sets angels courier tasks, or puts them in a position of authority over something, so it’s not far fetched. But, it does seem a little odd, and redundant, seeing as John is the one who is delivering the message to other humans. But the angels are described as stars, which has a strong correlation in the Bible to divine beings.
Secondly, it could be that the messengers here are the leaders of the churches (pastors/ministers/overseers). They are the mouth-pieces of God to the church so it makes sense that Jesus would address the letter to the leader as the one who would share the message and then act on the contents of the letter. But nowhere else are church leaders described as “angels”. That doesn’t mean it’s wrong, it just means it’s not normal in the Bible.
Third option is that the angels are a kind of symbol for the whole local church. The local church is a light in the midst of the darkness (like a star) and a messenger of God to the world with the Gospel. In essence the local church can be called an angel of God in such&such a place. But this too would be out of the ordinary for the use of the language in the bible. And it would also seem odd that in the one sentence by Jesus the same churches would simultaneously be described as the lamp stands and the stars, but then again it would not be far fetched for the apocalyptic genre to do something like this..
Options for the “angels” in Rev 2-3:
Spiritual Beings
Church Leaders
Symbol for the Whole Church
Whatever the case, which ever floats your boat, the point is that Jesus delivers his message through his light-bearing-star-messengers to his light-bearing-lampstand-churches. They need to hear what he has to say and he sends his messengers to bring the communique.
Each letter is separately addressed to a local church in ancient Turkey.
The conquering Jesus speaks to his people. Back then he sent them letters, and now he has preserved this letter to speak to us! The Conqueror of Satan, Sin and Death speaks to his people in the past, and even now!
You who have an ear, hear what the Spirit says to the churches!
2. Meet The Conqueror
2. Meet The Conqueror
Next we see that each letter opens with a little description of Jesus. Here we get to meat the Conqueror in some of his revealed glory. Each letter we get a small facet of what Jesus is like, so that when we put them together like a puzzle, we can see an overall picture of what he’s like.
Lets look at them in turn, one after the other and lets see what our conquering Christ is like:
English Standard Version Chapter 2
‘The words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand, who walks among the seven golden lampstands.
English Standard Version Chapter 2
The words of the first and the last, who died and came to life.
English Standard Version Chapter 2
‘The words of him who has the sharp two-edged sword.
English Standard Version Chapter 2
‘The words of the Son of God, who has eyes like a flame of fire, and whose feet are like burnished bronze.
English Standard Version Chapter 3
‘The words of him who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars.
English Standard Version Chapter 3
‘The words of the holy one, the true one, who has the key of David, who opens and no one will shut, who shuts and no one opens.
English Standard Version Chapter 3
‘The words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God’s creation.
These snippets paint a picture of the glory and beauty of Christ. This awesome figure who is
ruling and
in control and
eternal and
faithful and
worthy of our honour and obedience.
If someone writes you a letter and signs off with all their titles and achievements it is meant to show their authority, knowledge and experience in that arena. It could be for your benefit, like if they were writing a letter of commendation as a referee for a job application. Or, it could be to put you in your place and remind you of their superiority in that arena, such as if you handed in a uni assignment where you really messed up and the lecturer had to come down hard in their marking.
Here, in Revelation, Jesus is doing both. He’s preparing the churches for what he has to say by reminding them that he is their powerful king. He will both commend them, and condemn them, and he has every right as their divine sovereign to say the hard things, and the positive things for their own good.
You who have an ear, hear what the Spirit says to the churches!
3. The Conqueror Commends our work
3. The Conqueror Commends our work
Thirdly, we see in the pattern of the seven letters, that Jesus knows where his people are excelling, and he lets them know what he approves. He tells them where things are going good, encouraging them even in the middle of hard circumstances. For instance Jesus says of the Church in Thyatira:
“ ‘I know your works, your love and faith and service and patient endurance, and that your latter works exceed the first.
Jesus is pleased by their faithfulness. They work hard, they persevere and they love so that they’re in a better place now than they used to be. That’s a great commendation to hear from our Lord and Master Jesus Christ, that he knows your efforts and sees what your’re going through.
What a comfort this would be to the church. Especially when most of these churches were facing persecution from without and sin problems within. Jesus was aware. He knew.
It is a comfort to know that Jesus is ruling and reigning, yet aware of what is going on in the life of his churches in every place. He knew what was going well in the ancient Turkish churches, and he knows now what is going well in Flooding Creek.
What do you think Jesus would commend us for?
If he were to write a letter addressed to Flooding Creek, what would he pick-up on as commendable? What would please Him the most if he was singling something out?
Could he say:
“ ‘I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false. I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name’s sake, and you have not grown weary.
I would hope so, but I’m not sure I could be so bold as to claim that it matches us. It seems a little prideful to assume we would know exactly what he would say, but we certainly know what does please him, and we ought to seek that!
It’s worth noting that in Revelation Jesus didn’t always have something nice to say. Sometimes the local church is soooo messed up that Jesus just has to dive into the problems that need sorting out straight up!
Our work in this life matters. Jesus is watching. And even though he’s not likely to send us an individual message, he will one day pass judgment on what we have done.
It’s not a matter of heaven or hell, but it’s still pretty serious thing that Jesus will test our work on his behalf!
each one’s work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.
You who have an ear, hear what the Spirit says to the churches!
4. The Conqueror Condemns us
4. The Conqueror Condemns us
Next comes the hard truths. In these letters Jesus picks up on what’s going well, but he usually needs to make some comments on where the churches are failing.
This is the part of the performance review that is most uncomfortable!
Jesus has some pretty hard things to say. But he wouldn’t pull his punches. This was too important to soften the message and make it more palatable.
Jesus comes down hard on his churches. Because He loves them! A Father disciplines the children he loves!
The Conquering King is not satisfied to have his churches being un-enthused, halfhearted, with false teaching, sexual immorality, dead hearts, and lukewarm faith. He wants them to push back against the ways of the world and stand firm. He wants them to conquer, not literally, but spiritually. He calls them to stand firm, to strengthen themselves in the tough times and get rid of the ungodliness among them.
The Churches couldn’t coast through. They had to take action to fix the problems that Jesus brought to their attention. Their years of experience as Chirstians didn’t make it easy for them to remain faithful.
Brothers and Sisters, I think these seven letters are representative of all kinds of churches throughout time. What we ought to do when we read this is ask, seriously, which one of these best represents us. In what way are we as a church community failing to honour Christ?
What parts of our church do you think would Jesus condemn?
Are we all activity and no heart like the church in Ephesus?
Are we accepting of false teaching like the church in Pergamum?
Are we accepting of ungodly expressions of sexuality like the church in Thyatira?
Do we look like Christians on the outside while actually being far from God on the inside like those in Sardis?
Are we lukewarm to matters of faith like the church in Laodicea?
I think the one that hits closes to home is Laodecia.
Laodecia was a wealthy city, like we are wealthy. Laodecia had a solid financial system, like we do. Laodecia had a reputation for it’s medical industry, like we have a free healthcare system.
You might think that we are a pretty modest church of middle class people, but in the scope of the world we are filthy rich in material wealth.
We have abundance of earthly possessions.
We get paid holidays and maternity leave.
We get to stuff our faces with endless varieties of food and
We buy huge houses to fill them with many trinkets that we buy online and get servants to deliver to our front door.
We complain at the quality of our clothes while we stuff cupboards full of more things we got on sale,
We whinge that our cars only tow two tonne when we want to tow five,
We waste hours being mildly entertained by gimmicks on a screen,
We have so much. So much wealth. So many options. And it distracts us from what’t really important.
We love Jesus, no doubt about that, but our love is diluted by our worldly interests. Puffed up by pride and arrogance we dare to think that we can coast through this Christian life while busying ourselves with selfish pursuits!
We’re half and half. We’re a people here at Flooding Creek that tries to play both sides of the field. Bit of the World, Bit of Jesus. Mix it together. Everybody is happy. Right?
I ask you to seriously consider for a moment, how much of your life truly revolves around Jesus? Can you say honestly that Jesus is your all? That you love him more than your own mother and father? Than your own life?
I’m guessing that most of you are like me and I think abstractly that if it came to it i would be willing to die a martyrs death to stay faithful to Jesus. But you know what? Sometimes, I can’t even be bothered to wake up early enough to speak to him in the morning… or stay up a little later to speak to him at night...
Maybe you identify with this following sentiment:
“I’m happy to talk big picture, Jesus changes lives and all that, but in the day-to-day reality I act as if Jesus has no right to intrude on my schedule and my desires and my feelings. It inconveniences m. It’s uncomfortable. I want things my way. And yet I still have the audacity to come here this morning and sing things like:
Thou and Thou only, first in my heart,
High King of Heaven, my Treasure Thou art.”
I want Jesus, I truly do! And for you Christian I’m sure you do too! But we’ve been infected by the culture that we live in, which in turn is a product of our sinful hearts, and we are like the world around us, distracted by our material wealth and half-hearted in our devotion to anything.
Jesus says:
“ ‘I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth.
We think that we have it all. We think that we’re spiritually healthy and doing ok. Is that true or are we just deceiving ourselves?
For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked.
Friends, If Jesus were to arrive today, he would expose us for the half-hearted selfish people we are. The way we present ourselves to the world is the opposite of of spiritual condition.
You who have an ear, hear what the Spirit says to the churches!
5. The Conqueror Warns us
5. The Conqueror Warns us
Church, this is hard to hear, but we need to hear it! There are consequences! The Conqueror Warns us!
In Revelation Jesus warns his churches that there are consequences for our actions. Even though we are the saved people of God, our actions, our attitudes, our affections matter. Jesus will discipline those whom he loves!
Throughout these seven letters, where there is a recognition of failure, there is a warning. This cannot go on. Things must change. This is not satisfactory.
In the case of the loveless Ephesians, Jesus says repent or I will destroy your local church:
Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent.
Serious stuff. If the Ephesians didn’t repent Jesus himself would take away that local church. He warned them that there was consequences. Real time consequences to their failure, but an opportunity to prevent the outcome if only they would turn away from what they were doing.
You who have an ear, hear what the Spirit says to the churches!
6. The Conqueror Urges us
6. The Conqueror Urges us
The warnings are not the harsh commands of an aloof God. These warnings are for the benefit of God’s people, brought by a loving king.
Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent.
Jesus brings the hard word of truth, and warns of consequences to his churches, but he lovingly urges them, exhorting them to change their ways and to live.
The theme of exhortation is repent and endure.
Only hold fast what you have until I come.
The churches have received the Good News, they have received salvation, they have received the Holy Spirit. They have everything they need to live the life of Christian faithfulness, but they must turn from their failures and endure to the end.
Friends, the whole Christian life is one of repentance, and it’s the one that the Conquering Christ calls his churches to. When there is sin, failure and rebellion we must turn away, turn around, spiritually speaking we “run away” from our sin and hold fast to Christ.
Church, If I am right, and our church is truly lukewarm like the Laodecians, neither cold nor hot, what should repentance look like for us?
Well, we’re told:
I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see.
Instead of being caught up in the riches of this world, we must seek the riches of Christ. We must reject the attitudes of the world that tell us to chase careers, romance, family goals, material wealth, exotic experiences, sexual fulfillment, whatever the flavor of the month is.
We must seek first the Kingdom of Heaven and Christ’s righteousness knowing that he’ll give us all the other stuff we need. Wealth is good, it is a gift from God, but it is way down the list of priorities.
Christ’s worth far surpasses all the things of this world, so why do we chase after them?
Repent of your half hardheartedness and plunge you entire heart into Christ.
Come and be clothed by him in robes of righteousness.
Come have your eyes opened so you can see through the fog of the secular materialistic world we live in,
Come gain riches that are eternal and of far greater value that anything your savings account can provide!
“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
You who have an ear, hear what the Spirit says to the churches!
7. The Conqueror Promises to us
7. The Conqueror Promises to us
Lastly, When Jesus speaks to his churches he makes promises. The Conquering King Jesus promises to reward and prosper eternally those who respond to his message. This is a light of hope, that even though we need to be chastised, Jesus will abundantly bless his people who are faithful and endure. It is an encouragement to repent from our faliures and live well while we wait for Jesus to return, or until we go to him:
Jesus promises:
English Standard Version Chapter 2
To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.’
English Standard Version Chapter 2
The one who conquers will not be hurt by the second death.’
The one who conquers and who keeps my works until the end, to him I will give authority over the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron, as when earthen pots are broken in pieces, even as I myself have received authority from my Father. And I will give him the morning star.
Imagine that! If we endure, if Jesus people remain faithful they can receive eternal life, freedom from death and even share in ruling over the universe with him!
What a disproportionate blessing! You remain faithful for a little while, then you reign forever with Jesus!
This is the joy of the Christian, that while we suffer ridicule and shame in this life Christ will vindicate us and lift us up in honour in the end.
It will be hard road to get there, the Christian life is not easy, but we must repent, remain faithful and hold onto Jesus then we can receive what Jesus has promised to his people!
What promises bring comfort and joy in your Christian walk?
You who have an ear, hear what the Spirit says to the churches!
What now?
What now?
What would be our performance review?
How would Jesus applaud?
What would Jesus condemn?
This morning Jesus speaks to us through the Scriptures, he shows himself to us by revealing some of his glory, he will commend our good works, but he will condemn our failures. He has warned us that there is consequences to how our church behaves and urges us to repent. If we do, he will fulfill his promises to us and bless us eternally.
Christ is the conqueror, and if we join him in his conquering, we will sit with Christ eternally.
