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Chapter Two
Chapter Three
I have mentioned that the seven churches were actual historical churches at their time. In addition, they also represent the conditions and history of all the churches on the earth at different times. Strictly speaking, these seven epistles were sent to the seven designated churches of that day to exhort the churches to hold on to their good works and to repent of their evil ways. Nevertheless, these seven churches also represent all the churches. Therefore, these seven epistles represent Christ's view concerning His church. As such, they form part of the prophecies. This means that these seven epistles are prophecies concerning the history of all the churches on earth.
Some have said that Revelation 2 and 3 are "a collection of love letters." Although this description does not fully represent these two chapters, it does reveal how concerned the Lord is for His church. These seven epistles are the last written communication from the Lord to His church. How crucial this is! But how few are those who would carefully read through these seven epistles! That Christ would personally and directly send these seven epistles to His churches indicates that they are of special value and deserve His servants' special attention. But how many actually care for the Lord's heart?
These seven epistles are divided into two sections. We know that at the end of each epistle there is a promise to the overcomer and an admonishing warning to him who has an ear. In the Bible the number seven is often divided into four and three, but in these seven epistles, it is divided into three and four, the first three epistles forming one section and the last four another. This division is as follows: in the first three epistles the sequence is first the hearing of what the Spirit says to those who have an ear and then the promise of reward to the overcomer, but in the last four epistles this sequence is reversed. It is very meaningful to divide the number seven into three and four in this way. Three is a number of God, and four is a number of man. This indicates that the church will fall from her position. At the beginning, the church had God's glory and grace, but at the end, she is filled with man's traditions and organization. Before we examine the prophecies and spiritual instructions of these seven epistles individually, let us first consider some general points regarding them.
(1) The recipients of these seven epistles were the messengers of the seven churches. As I have mentioned earlier, these messengers were not pastors of churches nor were they other officials. Instead, they were those in every church who were saved by the Lord's blood, who were willing to bear responsibility for the Lord, and who were serving the Lord faithfully. They had received gifts from God to influence and to build up the church where they were. The Lord regarded them as His lights; they were shining as the stars. The rise or fall of the churches was their responsibility. May the Lord raise us up to be the messengers of His churches! May we serve the Lord faithfully!
(2) In every epistle a different priestly title is revealed. Ephesus was a church on the decline, so the Lord revealed Himself as One walking in their midst inspecting His churches. He is the unchanging One. Therefore, the church in Ephesus should not change either. Smyrna was a church in tribulation, so the Lord revealed Himself as One who died and rose again, preparing them for martyrdom. Pergamos was a church with heresies, so the Lord spoke to them with a two-edged sword showing His judgment. Sardis was a church in death, so the Lord revealed Himself as the Spirit of life and as the bright shining star. Philadelphia was without blemish, so the Lord opened wide the door of preaching to them that they might have an enlarged work. Laodicea was a worldly church, so the Lord revealed Himself as One kept outside the door. Even though His church failed, He Himself still witnessed faithfully and remained as the One who is above all. Although to each church the Lord revealed one aspect of Himself for the purpose of exhorting and warning them, these revelations were not limited only to the individual church that received the epistle. They also served to reveal His nature in general to all the churches.
(3) Concerning the meaning of these seven churches, we already know that they represent all churches past and present. Let us now consider further what they represent.
The word Ephesus means "loose." At the beginning, the church had a very deep love for the Lord, but after a while, this love gradually cooled down. This was the condition of the church after the apostles.
The word Smyrna means "suffering." This was the stage when the church underwent persecution and suffered martyrdom. Christians underwent countless persecutions under the hands of the Roman emperors. In the church some had forsaken the gospel and joined the Jewish religion.
The word Pergamos means "high tower." During this time, the Roman emperor Constantine joined Christianity, and the tribulation of the church ended. The real faith was lost, and the church was united with the world!
The word Thyatira means "her untiring sacrifice." This is the age of Roman Catholicism. During this time, the priests became corrupted and the truth was covered by darkness. Christ's rightful position was usurped, and the church committed fornication.
The word Sardis means "restoration." After many years of darkness the church had her restoration. This is the time of the reformation. They returned to the Lord Jesus, but they were still weak unto death.
Philadelphia means "brotherly love." This was the condition of the church during her revival over a century ago. Christians were not divided into sects but were joined by brotherly love. They diligently kept the word of the Bible, the word of God's patience.
The word Laodicea means "opinions of men." This typifies the church today. She is increased with material goods, fallen in spirituality, becoming neither hot nor cold, and listening to man more than keeping the Lord's command. This is the age of the secularization of the church.
Prophetically, the conditions of these seven churches match church history perfectly. However, in actuality the confused situations of all seven churches exist at every stage of the church's history, only, at times the condition of one of these seven becomes more prevalent and more obvious than that of the others.
(4)Concerning their works, in almost every epistle, there is the sentence "I know your works" (2:2, 19; 3:1, 8, 15). The Lord knows every work, whether it be good or evil. Each church must bear her own responsibility — "I know your works." While Ephesus has works but has no love, Thyatira has both works and love, and while Laodicea is completely worldly, Philadelphia is completely godly. The sin of Laodicea is not imputed to Philadelphia. Every church ought to bear her own responsibility. None is accountable for others, and none can escape blame because of others. All will be judged according to their own works. Judgment is based on the individual's works. This judgment has nothing to do with salvation or perdition because here it talks about the matter of works. Works have nothing to do with our salvation (Eph. 2:8-9; Titus 3:5). Concerning the two churches in Smyrna and Pergamos, the Lord did not mention anything about their works, as if they had none. However, just as the Lord "knew" the works of the other churches, He also "knew" the condition of these two. Although they had no other works, the enduring of persecution at Smyrna and the martyrdom at Pergamos were the best works in the Lord's eyes (Rev. 2:9, 13). In these seven epistles, the Lord stated their works, their afflictions, and His view regarding all their works and environments. This was a precursor to the coming judgment seat of Christ. As the Lord judged His churches then, in the same way He will also judge His churches at that day.
(5)In every epistle there are the Lord's examination and commands. Even in judgment our Lord still exhibited His kindness. Although there were many errors and evils in His churches, He did not conceal their good works. On the one hand, He was just in exposing their sins; on the other hand, He was kind in revealing their merits. Moreover, He did not rebuke their sins right away. Instead, He first praised them as much as possible and then rebuked. Therefore, woe is he who receives no praise from the Lord!
The judgment of the Lord is just. He did not leave any goodness without praise nor any evil without rebuke. He mentioned the churches' loyalty, tribulation, poverty, faithfulness, works, love, faith, diligence, patience, good works, purity, and endurance (2:6, 9, 13, 19, 24; 3:8, 10). He also spoke of the churches' coldness, heresy, fornication, self-exaltation, worldliness, weakness, imperfection, being alive in name but dead in reality, being neither cold nor hot, wretchedness, misery, poverty, blindness, and nakedness (2:4, 14, 15, 20; 3:1, 2, 15, 16, 17).
There were two churches that were perfect and were without any rebuke from the Lord, namely Smyrna and Philadelphia. There were two churches completely in failure, having no praise at all from the Lord, namely Sardis and Laodicea. There were other churches that had many good works as well as many evil deeds. We observe that at the beginning the Lord always commended their virtues, and at the end He always had to reprimand them! Turning from praise to rebuke, the Lord often used the word "but." How unfortunate this is! "Although...but..." — such flaws amidst excellence! In 2:2-3 the Lord mentioned many virtues about the church in Ephesus, but in verse four He says, "But I have one thing against you...." In 2:13 the Lord commended the faithfulness of the church in Pergamos, but verse 14 says, "But I have a few things against you..." In 2:19 the Lord revealed the good works of the church in Thyatira, but verse 20 says, "But I have something against you..." All praises for us cannot conceal our slightest mistakes. It is indeed a pity that in all of our goodness we unavoidably find a "but"! May the Lord keep us perfect in Him, and may our "ointment" contain not one single "dead fly."
At whichever point the church of the Lord fell, there the Lord commanded them to repent (2:5, 16; 3:3, 19). The church still needs to repent! Saints still need to repent! We think that repentance is the means for sinners to believe in the gospel and that it is not necessary for us, the believers, to repent. However, repentance of the saints is spoken of by the Lord Himself. We wish that the Lord could use nicer and prettier words to regulate us, but the Lord says "repent." It is easy for the saints to talk about consecration, work, zeal, faith, and love, but the Lord Jesus says these are not enough; we ought to "repent." How humbling and humiliating this word is! Once a person has sinned, whether he be a sinner or a saint, he must repent. One may have many good deeds and virtues, but if he has not repented of the evils the Lord rebuked, he will receive the Lord's chastisement. Even though this is not eternal perdition, it is still quite a severe punishment. A saint ought not to consider his own good deeds so much. Instead he ought to repent of his own failures so that he can reach a state of perfection.
We ought to repent. This is the Lord's command and exhortation. If we do not obey His will, we will surely come under the judgment. "But if not, I am coming to you and will remove your lampstand out of its place, unless you repent" (2:5). "Repent therefore; but if not, I am coming to you quickly, and I will make war with them with the sword of My mouth" (2:16). "If therefore you will not watch, I will come as a thief" (3:3). The Lord calls us to repentance because we have flaws. If we repent, we will receive the help, but if we do not repent, He will execute judgment. Therefore, backslidden Christians ought to rise up in haste! In these seven epistles the Lord is promising special spiritual blessings to the seven churches. If they want them, they can all receive them. Ephesus can return to the first love, Smyrna can receive the martyr's crown, Pergamos can recover the pure truth, Thyatira can remove Jezebel, Sardis can renew its vigil for the Lord's return, Philadelphia can enter the wide open door, and Laodicea can fill all her lack. The Lord has grace. Who is willing to receive it?
(6)Concerning the promise of the Lord to the individual overcomers, the Lord has warned, exhorted, called, rebuked, and commanded the church in general. However, who will listen to His voice? Although the Lord desires that the entire church would obey, He fully realizes that only certain individuals will overcome and will obey. There is no such thing as the whole group turning and repenting. For this reason, He promises great rewards to those overcoming individuals. Please see 2:7, 10, 11, 17, 26-28 and 3:5, 12, and 21.
After reading these seven epistles, one will realize the confusion in the churches at that time, but are the churches at the present time not in the same condition? I am afraid that the corruption of the churches today is much worse than that in those days. Therefore, now is the time for us to overcome. If we overcome, we shall receive the wonderful glory of the Lord's promise, but if we are unfaithful, we shall also face very severe consequences. May we, who have received abundant grace from the Lord, not be complacent about our salvation. May we care for our Father's desire daily. May we be separated from others in all sinful situations, whether they be in the world or in the church, and may we overcome as our Lord has overcome so that we may please God and obtain His reward.
These promises are special rewards from God. We cannot receive them if we do not overcome. The condition to gain these rewards is to overcome. We should not confuse overcoming with salvation. Salvation is through our believing in the redemption accomplished on the cross by our Lord Jesus. After salvation, overcoming is through drawing upon the Lord's grace daily and allowing His cross and the Holy Spirit to work in our lives with the result that we overcome sin, the world, the flesh, and Satan. A person who is saved but has not overcome can never obtain these special rewards and glory from the Lord. Every saint can be in danger of losing God's promise! How severe is God's word to Sardis and Laodicea! Even with Philadelphia the Lord still asks that she keep what she has! We ought to be careful or else we will lose our blessing. May the glory of the next age attract our hearts so that we may be willing to forego the pleasures of this life and to endure the scorns of this world.
These promises match the particular condition of every church. For example, the Lord promises Smyrna, the one being faithful unto death, that she will not be hurt by the second death. See how kind our Lord is! Not only does He give us the power to make us faithful, He also promises us the reward to motivate us to overcome. To Laodicea, the church which is most unlikely to overcome, the greatest promise is given in order that they might aspire to the coming glory. May we live today for the coming glory!
(7)In every epistle we find the Lord's calling, so that those who have an ear may hear what the Spirit says to the churches. All who have an ear must hear, and all who can hear must not disregard it. The Holy Spirit of God is calling us to be faithful servants to obtain the glory. Therefore we ought to listen. Otherwise, we will miss the opportunity for the reward. All those who are willing to listen should not only hear what the Spirit says to their own church but should also hear what the Spirit says to all the churches. We who have an ear must listen to all the speaking of the Spirit. To miss even one sentence is a loss to our spiritual welfare. Do you have an ear?
The above seven points are common to all the seven epistles. Once we understand the general overview, then we can study their contents in a more detailed way.
