Today’s message summary of September 4, 2016 from Pastor Gus Brown:
This final segment of the study of Revelation will look at the role of the church and what it will become. There will be an end as to its role. Over time, the church has changed, and we will look at the seven churches that Jesus Christ reveals to us. He paints the picture as to what will take place, and what has taken place in the church over generations.
The church has changed over generations, and the Lord reminds us to look back at the older churches, and one can see how the word of God and His name seems to have diminished over time.
Apostasy (drifting or sliding away from the truth) within the church has been present from the very beginning of the church.
With apostasy, you can move away from truth, and yet still be religious. You can be “religious” and still disobey God.
What we know from history is that many have professed Christianity without accepting Jesus Christ as personal Lord and Savior.
If there is no growth in Christ or a hunger for His Word or desire to be a walking testimony for Christ, then it calls to question the commitment that one has for Jesus Christ.
Theodore Epp, author of Christ Speaks to the Churches, wrote about the various churches referenced in Revelation:
Ephesus – the first century church (Love of Jesus)
Smyrna – Roman persecution of God’s people (falling away from the true love of Jesus)
Pergamos – church corruption and the uniting of church and state
Thyatira – the Dark Ages (6th-15th Century – era of knowledge; the Age of Enlightenment – teaching) – knowledge without Christ is useless; doctrine infused with man’s knowledge instead of godly wisdom
Sardis – The Reformation (church did not maintain spiritual strength) – what Martin Luther started in the Reformation is no longer what is practiced today.
Philadelphia and Laodicea – a picture of the church condition running side by side preceding the church rapture, where today we see the evangelical, fundamental church on one side running concurrent with the liberal church in this day.
All of the churches have had a degree of false teaching within them. While the majority of the church may be on a solid rock, Satan will still find a way to infiltrate the body of believers. Sometimes it may even affect the church leadership. Here is where discernment comes into consideration. The issue is how large the degree of false teaching takes place and what effect will it have on the church. Can it be dealt with or will it take a permanent hold? (How many hypocritical people will the church allow through its doors? The church battles this matter all of the time because of financial considerations.)
Jesus says that He knows our deeds. He addresses all seven churches:
Revelation 2:1-7
“Write to the angel of the church in Ephesus:
“The One who holds the seven stars in His right hand and who walks among the seven gold lampstands says: I know your works, your labor, and your endurance, and that you cannot tolerate evil. You have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and you have found them to be liars. You also possess endurance and have tolerated many things because of My name and have not grown weary. But I have this against you: You have abandoned the love you had at first. Remember then how far you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. Otherwise, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place—unless you repent. Yet you do have this: You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.
“Anyone who has an ear should listen to what the Spirit says to the churches. I will give the victor the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in God’s paradise.
–The good and the wrong
- Ephesus: The neglect of Jesus leads to a loss of love for Jesus.
Matthew 23:23
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You pay a tenth of mint, dill, and cumin, yet you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy, and faith. These things should have been done without neglecting the others.
Psalm 119:9-16
How can a young man keep his way pure?
By keeping Your word.
I have sought You with all my heart;
don’t let me wander from Your commands.
I have treasured Your word in my heart
so that I may not sin against You.
Lord, may You be praised;
teach me Your statutes.
With my lips I proclaim
all the judgments from Your mouth.
I rejoice in the way revealed by Your decrees
as much as in all riches.
I will meditate on Your precepts
and think about Your ways.
I will delight in Your statutes;
I will not forget Your word.
Hebrews 2:1-3
We must, therefore, pay even more attention to what we have heard, so that we will not drift away. For if the message spoken through angels was legally binding and every transgression and disobedience received a just punishment, how will we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was first spoken by the Lord and was confirmed to us by those who heard Him.
The sin of neglect is the starting point of loss (faltering and weakening of the church and its people). It is when love is lacking. (Jesus refers to this within Rev. 2:4-3:20 – Ephesus through Laodicea).
- Smyrna. Jesus reminds them that they are rich even though they were afflicted and in poverty (Revelation 2:8-11). They dealt with the pretenders in the church who represented “the synagogue of Satan” (v. 9). They were told that they would suffer but to be encouraged and remain faithful (v. 10).
Matthew 10:28
Don’t fear those who kill the body but are not able to kill the soul; rather, fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
2 Corinthians 8:9
For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ: Though He was rich, for your sake He became poor, so that by His poverty you might become rich.
- Pergamos. The center of idol worship – Satan’s seat. Some of the things worshiped include medicine, science and nature. Satan worship began in Babylon under Nimrod. All religious movements except Christianity have the infusion of some of Nimrod’s beliefs that began back in Babylon; for example, one of the main teachings in all other religions is that Jesus was created as a man (not a deity – John 1:1).
Revelation 2:13
I know where you live—where Satan’s throne is! And you are holding on to My name and did not deny your faith in Me, even in the days of Antipas, My faithful witness who was killed among you, where Satan lives.
Remaining true to the name of Jesus…not denying faith in Jesus Christ.
- Thyatira. The Word was willingly set aside for a Jezebel, who called herself a prophetess. The question is if these things really come to pass. He tells that church that it is time to repent.
Revelation 2:20-22
But I have this against you: You tolerate the woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess and teaches and deceives My slaves to commit sexual immorality[a] and to eat meat sacrificed to idols. I gave her time to repent, but she does not want to repent of her sexual immorality. Look! I will throw her into a sickbed and those who commit adultery with her into great tribulation, unless they repent of her practices.
Good (v. 19). Jesus noted that they were doing more good than they did at first (knowledge of Jesus Christ had improved over the years).
- Sardis. The sleeping church. It’s time to wake up! The church was not alive but dead.
Revelation 3:1-6
“Write to the angel of the church in Sardis:
“The One who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars says: I know your works; you have a reputation for being alive, but you are dead. Be alert and strengthen what remains, which is about to die, for I have not found your works complete before My God. Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; keep it, and repent. But if you are not alert, I will come like a thief, and you have no idea at what hour I will come against you. But you have a few people[e] in Sardis who have not defiled[f] their clothes, and they will walk with Me in white, because they are worthy. In the same way, the victor will be dressed in white clothes, and I will never erase his name from the book of life but will acknowledge his name before My Father and before His angels.
“Anyone who has an ear should listen to what the Spirit says to the churches.”
The counsel of the Lord: be watchful and strong for what remains will soon perish. What needed to be done was to remember what you have received in the Word, obey and repent. Be awake and alert and meet your responsibilities.
- Philadelphia. The true church (v. 8) …it has the key of David. They also had their pretenders, too (v. 9).
Revelation 3:7-13
“Write to the angel of the church in Philadelphia:
“The Holy One, the True One, the One who has the key of David, who opens and no one will close, and closes and no one opens says: I know your works. Because you have limited strength, have kept My word, and have not denied My name, look, I have placed before you an open door that no one is able to close. Take note! I will make those from the synagogue of Satan, who claim to be Jews and are not, but are lying—note this—I will make them come and bow down at your feet, and they will know that I have loved you. Because you have kept My command to endure, I will also keep you from the hour of testing that is going to come over the whole world to test those who live on the earth. I am coming quickly. Hold on to what you have, so that no one takes your crown. The victor: I will make him a pillar in the sanctuary of My God, and he will never go out again. I will write on him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God—the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God—and My new name.
“Anyone who has an ear should listen to what the Spirit says to the churches.”
Isaiah 22:22-23
I will place the key of the House of David on his shoulder; what he opens, no one can close; what he closes, no one can open. I will drive him, like a peg, into a firm place. He will be a throne of honor for his father’s house.
- Laodicea. (It means the “voice of the people.”) They would rather hear the voice of man than the voice of God. There was a greater concern with man’s words than the Word of God. The church accepted formality over truth. God’s Word was not a good fit for our present culture or social life.
Revelation 3:14-22
“Write to the angel of the church in Laodicea:
“The Amen, the faithful and true Witness, the Originator of God’s creation says: I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish that you were cold or hot. So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I am going to vomit[b] you out of My mouth. Because you say, ‘I’m rich; I have become wealthy and need nothing,’ and you don’t know that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked, I advise you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire so that you may be rich, white clothes so that you may be dressed and your shameful nakedness not be exposed, and ointment to spread on your eyes so that you may see. As many as I love, I rebuke and discipline. So be committed[c] and repent. Listen! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and have dinner with him, and he with Me. The victor: I will give him the right to sit with Me on My throne, just as I also won the victory and sat down with My Father on His throne.
“Anyone who has an ear should listen to what the Spirit says to the churches.”
People of the church are neither cold or hot (v. 15). They say they are rich (v. 17) and that they need nothing.
In all seven of these churches, there is a part of each one of us. God selected these seven churches to give us a picture of what we need to do to improve our relationship with Jesus Christ. We need to answer questions raised from these passages because we are the church. God wants to use His church for greatness and for His glory.
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