In the final book of the Bible Jesus speaks to the Church. But the Jesus in Revelation is hardly recognizable as a humble carpenter from Nazareth. Of course the Jesus in Revelation is the same Jesus who walked in Galilee. But this is an exalted, glorified Christ. It is fitting that the last book of the Bible begins with a vision of a reigning, victorious Christ. This vision sets the tone for the entire book.
The Apostle John needed this vision of Christ. John had been exiled to the lonely isle of Patmos as an old man. He was probably the last living Apostle. And John had every reason to believe that he would die there. So it is fitting that Christ would reveal Himself to John as the One who has died and been raised to life again, and is now holding the keys to Death and Hades!
John was the leader of a Movement that was beginning to feel the wrath of Rome – the most powerful Kingdom the world has ever seen. Rome had devoured every other kingdom in the civilized world up to that time. So it would seem a small thing for the Empire to stamp out a newborn religious movement, just as a horse might swat a fly with the end of its tail. Behind the Beast of Rome was the Dragon, seeking to devour those who worship Christ. And the Dragon has many devices he can use against the churches. As he sat on the shores of Patmos, John must have been thinking about his brethren and how weak and vulnerable the churches seemed to be when he considered the forces arrayed against them.
The churches were on Jesus' mind too. Before He unveils the purpose of God for the consummation of history to the apostle John, Jesus first addresses His churches on earth. With eyes like blazing fire that penetrate into all dark secrets, and with words sharper than a two-edged sword that lays bare the hearts of men, Jesus has a message for the Church. Christ specifically addresses seven churches, all in the Roman province of Asia.
But astute Bible students understand the number seven is not coincidental. Seven is the Divine number representing perfection or completeness. So Jesus is actually addressing the entire Church by speaking to these representative churches of Asia. Jesus is intensely interested in the condition of His Church in the world.
There is an intimate connection between Jesus and the Church. When Jesus appears to John on Patmos Jesus is seen standing in the midst of seven lamp stands – the heavenly representations of the seven Churches of Asia. Jesus is walking in the midst of His Churches. The glorified Christ is dressed in a robe that reminds us of priestly garments. He is interceding for His Church in heaven. It is impossible to see Christ and not see His Church, which is His Body.
The very first priority for Jesus in this Revelation is to speak to His Churches on Earth. And it seems that if anyone is going to understand the Revelation he must first hear what Jesus says to the Church.
The first chapters of the Revelation are often passed over for the more enigmatic material later in the book. This is a serious error! The Revelation should never be read apart from Jesus and His Church. Everything that is said in this book is said with the Church in mind.
And yet a large segment of the professed Church today has adopted a theology that removes the Church from the world by the fourth chapter of this book! Novel doctrine like this is why this book has remained mysterious. The book of Revelation was written with these seven Churches in mind and it should be interpreted first of all as a message for them. But this book is often interpreted futuristically as if it had nothing to do with the seven Churches of Asia, or even succeeding generations of believers, because it is taught that the Church is removed from the world in the rapture. We should make it clear that the rapture is not mentioned in Revelation. And there is no completely new doctrine taught in this book that has not already been expounded by either the Prophets or Apostles.
Christ is no longer in this World but has been exalted into heaven and is reigning at the Father's right hand. This is made clear in John's vision. But the Body of Christ, the Church, is still in this World. This means that the Church is the only representation of Christ on Earth, since Jesus is not here Himself. This also means that if the work of Christ is going to continue on Earth, it must be done by the Body of Christ. With these things in mind it is no surprise that Jesus is intensely concerned about the condition of His Church in the World. Jesus is also concerned about lost people. He came to seek and save the lost. But now that He is in heaven the lost will be saved through the witness of the Church. So the Churches must be strong with their lamp stands shining brightly. Weak Churches bring reproach to Christ instead of a witness for Christ.
Every Church is invited by the Revelation to examine itself! We should do this understanding that Jesus Himself is examining His Churches.
The greatest threat to the Church is internal decline. The Church has some intimidating enemies. In the Revelation these enemies will be unmasked and identified. There is the Beast, the False Prophet, Babylon, and the Dragon himself. But before we see any of these enemies Jesus first focuses His attention, and ours, on the Church Herself. The greatest enemy of the Church is not those coming from the outside, but what arises from within.
Three of the seven Churches of Asia are rebuked by the Lord because of some kind of internal decline. Ephesus is rebuked for leaving its first love for Christ, even though it had retained doctrinal purity. Sardis is rebuked for being dead, though it had a reputation for being alive. And the infamous Church at Laodicea is rebuked for being lukewarm, even though it thought it was rich.
A common thread here is that the true condition of these churches was not obvious, even to the churches themselves. I don't think anyone in these churches would have made this assessment of their church. In fact, they all seemed to come to the opposite conclusion of their true condition. And most outside observers would have probably thought these churches were healthy and successful. But the Lord Jesus sees the truth and He does not judge by appearances.
Of these three examples perhaps the most surprising is Ephesus. They had remained doctrinally pure and worked hard for the Lord. But they had lost their love and tenderness toward Christ Himself. We see how subtle the decline can be! All of the machinery can be kept going while the inside deteriorates.
When He was on Earth, Jesus saw this same tendency in the Jewish religion and He condemned it for being like a whitewashed tomb filled with dead men's bones! There seems to be nothing the Lord hates more than religious hypocrisy. Jesus did not shout at the woman at the well in Samaria or the woman caught in adultery, but He called the Pharisees snakes! Jesus made a whip of cords to cleanse the religious moneymakers from the Temple, but he never chased away the tax collectors and prostitute with a whip. There are those people out there who are sinners and they know it. They may even be proud of it. Then there are those sinners who hide their sin behind a religious cloak. Marx said that religion is the opiate of the people. He was talking about Christianity, at least the kind of Christianity that had dominated Western Civilization for more than two millennia. There is a religious mind set that can dull the senses and make us impervious to the truth about ourselves.
The spiritual condition of any church is just the sum total of the spiritual condition of its members.
If the majority of the people are cold, dead, or lukewarm, then that is what the church will be. There may be a remnant, like at Sardis, but the remnant will only save itself, not the whole community.
The Church is also internally weakened when it compromises its moral purity. One of these Churches, Thyatira, is rebuked severely by the Lord for its immorality. This immorality came from tolerating a false teacher. False teaching will always lead to bad living. False teaching always manages to somehow muddle what is clear. We are often amazed at how people can actually justify all kinds of behavior. And I am talking about Church people!
Some of these arguments can get rather sophisticated. In the ancient world it was commonly taught that there was this dichotomy between flesh and spirit. Some began to teach that you could be spiritual while indulging all of the desires of your fleshly body. Others have taught, and still teach, that since we are under grace and not law, then sin is automatically covered and is therefore permissible, even advantageous, because you can always get more grace. There are those who say that they have no power over their lusts, but are helpless addicts who can no longer control themselves and are therefore not really fully responsible for their actions. We often hear the cultural argument for certain sinful lifestyles. What the Bible seems to clearly condemn was actually only condemned at that cultural moment and was not meant to be a universal prohibition. But now times have changed and we can't possibly remain slaves to something that was commanded so long ago.
While some of the nuances of these arguments change, we know these all come from the same ancient source whence have come all lies and doubts about God's Word. All false doctrines are developed in order to justify some kind of carnal expression while twisting the clear meaning of God's Word, obscuring what once seemed clear.
This happened in Eden, around a golden calf, in the Church at Thyatira, and it continues in our society today.
Now we expect the pagans to live like pagans. Idol worship and immorality have always gone hand in hand. But God's people are supposed to be different. God's people are supposed to be holy, separate, set apart. This holiness is always because of our association with God and with His Son. God is holy, so God's people are to be holy like Him. God will not tolerate His people thinking and living just like everyone else because this makes it seem that God Himself is just like a common thing which can be taken lightly and thrown aside easily. The consequences are sever for treating an association with the living God in a casual manner. Just consider the history of the nation of Israel and her unfaithfulness.
There are those who seem to think that God has changed and no longer expresses wrath. These folks need to read the book of Revelation! If holiness was the standard for Israel, we can expect it to be the standard for those whom Jesus has purchased with His own blood! The logic for holiness is even stronger under grace than under the Law.
It is never acceptable for the Church to tolerate false teachers and their doctrines. Thyatira was not the only Church to have been infiltrated by false teachers. The Church at Pergamum is also rebuked by the Lord for this.
It should be noted that the Lord not only rebukes these Churches for believing these false teachers, but for allowing them to continue in the assembly. These teachers and those who hold to their doctrines should not have been allowed to continue speaking or even to continue in the fellowship. The churches should have exercised discipline and removed those who sinned morally as well as those who either taught or accepted false doctrine. The influence of those who sin is like leaven that works its way through the whole Body.
The purpose of removing immoral people from the assembly is to remove their influence and to also bring about repentance, as we see in the case of the man at Corinth who had his father's wife. This kind of church discipline is almost never seen today in the nominal Church. Churches seem to tolerate almost anything as long as the existence of the organization is not threatened.
In his words to both Thyatira and Pergamum the Lord uses two examples from the Scriptures to illustrate the nature of false teachers and their doctrine. The first allusion from the Scriptures is to Jezebel. This heathen queen was the wife of Ahab, who was the king of Israel, and she did much to harm the nation by introducing Baal worship.
The second example is that of Balaam. Balaam was a prophet hired by the king of the Moabites to curse Israel. God would not let him do this, so Balaam found another way to bring God's curse. He instructed Moab to lure the Israelite men into immorality and idol worship. In both of these examples we see that false teachers are those who bring paganism and worldliness into the Church creating some kind of compromise and unholy union. We also learn that false teachers are usually motivated by some kind of material gain and their teaching and lifestyles promote carnality.
I have no doubt that most false teachers are probably very intelligent and charming individuals who work by deception, just as their Master, Satan works by disguising himself as an angel of light. It is crucial that the churches are able to recognize these deceptive infiltrators who are actually Satan's employees.
We lament the fact that the professed church has welcomed false teachers with open arms, tolerating and promoting their doctrines. This may be because a strong delusion has been sent upon the institutional Church.
Another mark of false teachers is seen in the many divisions that have been created in the nominal Church. Sound doctrine unites. False teaching creates heresies, or divisions, which is a mark of the flesh and is called a sin in the Scriptures. We may have differences of opinions on disputable matters, but we cannot tolerate anyone who preaches another Gospel.
The Church regularly experiences pressure from the surrounding culture. The World-system exerts a tremendous amount of pressure on people to conform. The World is not neutral, in spite of what is often said about tolerance, but demands obedience. If we do not conform there are consequences. Some consequences may simply be getting ignored. But in extreme situations there may be open hostility or even physical and violent retribution.
Jesus is speaking to churches that had already begun to experience this overt kind of pressure or persecution from their culture and we know from history that this situation would become much worse as Rome targeted the Church. The Church at Pergamum had a martyr there: a man named Antipas. That Church was said to dwell where Satan had his throne. That city was like a headquarters for Satan's operations. There are churches in the world that are located in places of concentrated spiritual darkness. The congregations at Smyrna and Philadelphia were enduring persecution from unbelieving Jews. It seems that when the Church is persecuted the hottest opposition always comes from religious people.
Jesus' greatest enemies were religious leaders. Most scholars who study the historical background to Revelation agree that one of the factors contributing to Rome's hostility to the early Church was the Emperor Cult.
While the early Church was persecuted by Jews and then by the Roman Empire, the astonishing thing is that an Apostate and unfaithful Church have been one of the greatest persecutors of the saints. Our Protestant forefathers were relentlessly pursued by the Roman Church and some, like Tyndale, were put to death. (Foxe's Book of Martyrs is a must-read for all serious Christians! I have been particularly encouraged by the story of the martyrdom of Polycarp, bishop of Smyrna, who was asked to recant his faith in Christ and replied, "Eighty-six years have I served Him and He had done me no wrong. How can I deny the Lord who saved me?")
It is interesting that the only two Churches NOT rebuked by the Lord Jesus in Revelation were Smyrna and Philadelphia, both of which were being persecuted. I think we can take from this that persecution tends to have a purifying effect on the Church. If there comes a time when the Church in our culture faces violent persecution there would immediately be a cleansing of all those who are not serious about the Faith! Many worldly distractions and trivial pursuits are instantly stripped away during persecution. It is when the Church becomes comfortable and prosperous, like the Church at Laodicea, when it is in a danger zone.
In our land of freedom and tolerance we might think that persecution is impossible. Yet things are changing and our culture is becoming more hostile to real Christianity. Greater pressure is being put on believers to conform or pay the penalty. Who knows how far it will go? Churches are being pressured to conform on the issue of Sodomy and many are capitulating to culture.
If the churches remain faithful to Christ, He will continue to work through them in this world. A common message through all of the letters to the Churches is the call for the Church to remain faithful to Christ. There are tremendous rewards for those who overcome and abide in Christ. Faithfulness and overcoming are inseparable actions.
On the other hand, there are tremendous warnings for those Churches that are unfaithful. Churches who do not hear these words will have their lamp stands removed.
We can conclude from this warning that Jesus will not recognize or continue to work in an unfaithful church. This aspect of the Lord's character is not taken seriously at all today. There is this modern view of Jesus as patient and a tolerant friend who never condemns anyone. This is not the Christ of Patmos at all! It is often preached that Christ will continue to work in the churches even if the churches are weak, immoral, and unfaithful. This is simply not true, if we take these letters in Revelation seriously.
There are things that will render churches useless to the Lord, and we have some examples of what these things might be here in Revelation. The Lord is offended by spiritual lethargy, immorality, and false teaching. The Lord commands the church to repent of these sins. If the churches repent then the Lord will continue to recognize them as His churches. But there is no evidence here that grace covers these issues.
However, if the Churches keep themselves pure, there will be placed before them an open door, as with Philadelphia. In Scriptural language an open door is some kind of opportunity, particularly an opportunity to serve the Lord. Effectual service is only possible if the Lord opens the door, and the Lord only opens the door for faithful people. Faithfulness brings opportunity and usefulness. This is what the Scriptures teach us about sanctification. If we cleanse ourselves, we will be useful vessels. God will not use something that is unclean. The Lord is looking for people He can use. The Church is the Body of Christ in the World. If there is work to do in the World, Jesus will do it through His Body. But the members must be subject to the Head.
If the churches are powerless and ineffective, as seems to be the case in most of Western Culture today, this is because no door has been opened for them. No door has been opened for them because Christ is no longer working in them. This situation exists in spite of all the religious activities that continue in the Church today.
Churches have the ability to keep the religious organization running even when Jesus has exited the scene. But no matter how impressive the institution, if Jesus is not there opening the door for the churches, then there will be nothing of eternal significance being accomplished. Peter and his associates fished all night and caught nothing on their own. With Jesus their boats were filled.
In the world there are certain people who have clout and are considered authorities in their field of expertise. When these people speak and make judgments, other people listen and take action. We often see this in the financial world. When certain financial leaders talk, the entire market can shift just because of their words!
Now Jesus is the authority on the Church. The Church belongs to Him. He sees and knows everything about the Church. Nothing is hidden from His sight. Jesus' assessment of the Church is the last word on that subject and the Church had better listen.
We can come away from this message in Revelation and use it to criticize other churches. If that's all we do we have not heard Jesus. Can you imagine the Church at Ephesus poking fun at the Church in Laodicea? That would be inappropriate. We are called to examine ourselves. What would Jesus say to our fellowship? Have we lost our first love? Has the Lord opened a door for us? Keep in mind that every member of the Body adds something to the whole. What are you adding to this Body?
Hear what the Spirit says to the Churches!
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