Here in Revelation chapter 1 we've been looking at the first main vision that we have in the book of Revelation. That goes from chapter 1 verse 9 through chapter 3 verse 22. One of the indications of at least different chapters within the vision of Revelation, or perhaps four distinct visions themselves. How we indicate that is when John says, I was in the Spirit. We find that four different times, and it does seem like there's sort of a change from what he had seen before to what he has seen at that point in that vision. So they could be four separate visions at separate times, or they could be four kind of progressions in that one vision, but we're just kind of calling it the first vision. But it goes from chapter 1 verse 9 through chapter 3 verse 22. We've already looked at several things about that vision. We saw the great setting of John's vision, how it all began. Then we learned about the great sound and sight of a brilliant figure that was before him. And, of course, something we remember is that the sound came before the sight, and that leads to the great encounter between John and the Lord Jesus Christ in all of His glory. And that's what we looked at really last Sunday, the encounter, because Jesus Himself tells John that he is this brilliant figure that stands before him. And the purpose of that encounter is to give John the rest of this vision, what we can describe as the great substance of John's first vision. And the substance of this vision encompasses two chapters, chapter 2 and chapter 3. And it's what we commonly describe as the seven letters to the seven churches of Asia. And in one sense, that is correct. In another sense, they're actually seven letters to the seven angels of the seven churches, and we saw that even last Sunday. Again, this covers all of chapters 2 and 3, and that's what we're going to start considering this morning. Of course, we've already been briefly introduced to these seven churches. In fact, if you go back to chapter 1, verse 4, John actually begins his formal introduction as, John to the seven churches, which are in Asia. So we know that this is the primary audience, the initial audience, of all of the book of Revelation. And this is why it is in the form of an epistle. This is something that you see in all the other New Testament letters and epistles. But then John does this in obedience to what God Himself told him to do in verse 11. So if you jump there real quick, Jesus Himself, or God Himself, says to him, what thou seest, write in a book. That's what we have. and send it unto the seven churches. And these are the seven churches that he would have known about and probably had been an overseer, an apostle of for many years, the churches that are in Asia. And then he gives seven distinct cities in which these churches resided. Unto Ephesus, unto Smyrna, unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea." And again, these are all historical cities in which historical churches were founded. And really, both the leaders of those seven churches as well as the churches themselves were represented in that vision, if you recall. The seven stars were the seven angels, and I mentioned to you some of the different ways that they can be looked at and how I personally take them as some leaders in those churches, perhaps even the primary teaching or preaching pastor. And then, of course, the seven golden candlesticks, or seven lampstands, were the symbol for those churches, those seven churches. And so before we actually start looking into the individual messages into these seven letters, there's some things I think will be helpful for us as an introduction to this, the significance or the substance of John's vision. And the first thing is the sequence of the seven letters. The sequence of the seven letters. The sequence that we're given in chapter one, verse 11, is actually the order in which the book of Revelation was to be sent, right? And that's something that we looked at even back in chapter 11. So it was the order in which Revelation was sent. But then, when we come to chapter 2 and chapter 3, we realize that the order in which the book of Revelation was to be sent is also the order in which the individual letters to those churches were written. And so that's why, picking up there in chapter 2, verse 1, we see under the angel of the church of Ephesus. That was the first one that John mentioned there in verse 11. If you jump down to verse 8, under the angel of the church of Smyrna, right? Jump down to verse 12, under the angel of the church in Pergamos, and you can just kind of follow those seven along. So the order in which the book of Revelation was to be sent is also the order in which the letters were written And the most likely reason for this sequence and order really has to do with geography. And I know some people weren't very good or didn't like geography when they were students in high school or even in college, but geography was important even for the book of Revelation. Because this sequence, this order, is actually the direction that the book was then to be delivered. And of course, this is something that we can even see on a map of what is today modern Turkey. And here's a quick look at the map. We've seen this before. Here we go. So we kind of see that it is not just a circular letter, but it goes in a circular delivery pattern. And it starts from Ephesus. I don't think my thing is working. But if you go out just a little further from Ephesus, down and a little south, you'll actually come to Patmos. And so Ephesus would have been the most direct place to get this book to. And then it would just transfer and be submitted to Ephesus and go around this circle, if you will. And the final church in the final city was Laodicea. It probably looks more like a triangle or an angle than a circle. But this is the way it was to be delivered. But the question is then, why these churches? Weren't there other cities? Weren't there other towns? Weren't there probably other churches? And the fact is, yes. In fact, we know of some of those churches. Not far from the city of Laodicea was the city of Colossae, where we actually have a letter written by the Apostle Paul to the church there in the city of Colossae. It wasn't very far. In fact, Laodicea, Herapolis, and Colossae were known as the triple cities region in that neck of their woods. And so they were very, very close to each other and were able to disseminate a lot of information together. And there were churches in other cities as well. So why these cities? These were not the only cities that had churches in them. So why these cities? And why these churches? Well, first of all, it's clear from the messages themselves that the seven churches had a wide range of issues that they were facing, a wide range of issues that needed to be addressed. And we will look at those fairly in depth as we go through each of these letters, each of these seven letters. So really to provide the widest possible message to the church as a whole. And again, even though these are written directly to these seven churches, it wasn't meant just for these seven churches. And we know that because we've already seen that it's directed to all of the servants of God. In fact, there's a common refrain that we will see in every one of these letters that says, he who has an ear to hear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. And so we recognize that this message is not just for those seven churches, but for all of God's church as a whole. But those churches were chosen by Jesus for this purpose. Because in some way, their issues that they were facing would represent a lot of the issues that the rest of the churches were facing, and even perhaps all the church of all time would face, and how to deal with those issues. So this is surely a comprehensive plan given by the Lord to John, to these churches, that represent us all. And so these messages are for us as well. But also, another reason why these churches might have been chosen by Jesus, these churches were also located in some of the largest cities of their region. That is certainly the case for Ephesus, a very prominent city there. It used to be a port city. Then a lot of the silt from the river that went down through there actually clogged up the port and clogged up a lot of the water features there, so that now if you go to Ephesus, the ancient city of Ephesus, it's like six miles away from the water. And so you think, well, how is this a port city? Well, 2,000 years ago it was a port city, and a very prominent one as well. But from these churches, these seven churches that are listed here, the book of Revelation could then be sent out to the other churches nearby. And so really, each of these churches may have had a significant part to play in churches in their region. And so kind of like spokes to a wheel, they would go out from their locations into the villages and the towns around them to get that message out. And so there was a practical reason why these churches were chosen as well, not just a moral reason based on the issues that they were facing, but also a practical reason, because it's the fastest way to get it out. You have seven messages, you want to get them to those seven churches, and from those seven churches they can disseminate widely. So the sequence of the letters seems pretty self-explanatory. It was just really the order in which they would be delivered. But the selection of the churches may not be entirely self-explanatory, at least to our satisfaction, but it does seem like God chose them so that we could have a specific message for all of God's people. These were the churches that God wanted to get His message to, and that's good enough reason for us. But then that leads us to another way of looking at these seven letters, and that is what we can describe as the significance of the seven letters. What is the significance of this first part of Revelation? What is the significance of chapters 2 and 3? This has been something that's been considered in a few different ways throughout church history. The first way in which the significance of the seven letters has been seen is simply in a historic way. This is the historic interpretation of the seven letters. This is something that pretty much everyone would hold to. Pretty much. Not everybody, surprisingly. But pretty much everybody would believe that these letters were written to real churches that existed in real cities at the real time in which John was writing to them. So that's the historic interpretation. These were historical churches in historical cities dealing with historical matters and issues that they faced. in a historical time period, it would correspond with what Jesus told John to write, write the things which you have seen and the things which are. And so this would be the present situation of the churches in Asia, the historic situation. This is usually the best way of approaching any book of the Bible. You need to look at it from the historical lens. That doesn't mean that it doesn't have relevance or application to us today, because it certainly does. But there was a real intended meaning for the audience back then. And the more you can get back there, and the more you can learn about that situation, the better our understanding can be. It doesn't always get there. We don't understand everything that was taking place. But a lot of times, it really helps us in understanding the message, even for us today. And that's why, even though these messages were real issues that they were facing, those messages can further be applied to every church, in every age, in every place. And so even though these churches were in modern-day Turkey, they have relevance to every church, in every age, in any place, no matter the geography, has relevance as just as much relevance to us over here in America as it does to our brothers and sisters in the churches in China. And so we see that it's a wide range of application of God's Of course, I mentioned that there's that common refrain, a common call of each letter. In fact, if you go to chapter 2, verse 7, to the church of Ephesus, again it says, the very end, or first part there, let him, he that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto churches. And again, you hear that time after time after time, seven times all through these letters, because it is to be applied to every church. So yes, they were written directly to the angels of the seven churches, but they were also written to the seven churches and to all of God's church, no matter where or when we would exist. And so most likely, because seven churches were chosen, of course that number seven is a significant number throughout the book of Revelation. It's a symbolic number. It has the idea of completion, of even not necessarily perfection, but of wholeness Perhaps the number seven, and these particular churches were chosen to represent, again, the entire church in every age of the church. This interpretation, the historic interpretation of these seven churches, has been a long-held view in church history. It's something that even the church fathers recognized and addressed, and yet applied what they learned was written to those churches to their own church in the day in which they lived. But there is a second way of looking at the significance of these letters, and that can also be called the prophetic interpretation. Now, I mentioned to you that not everybody sees these as historic churches, because those who hold to this view, which really, this is a minority position. It simply means, and I think I put this quote there on your lesson guide, there is absolutely no historical meaning, or meaning, sorry about that, in them. Their import is intended for assemblies yet to be established on the earth. So for someone who sees Revelation as strictly and purely as a futurist book, they would see when Jesus says, write those things that you have seen, those things that are, and those things that are to come, the things that you've seen and are are restricted to chapter one, and the things that are to come are chapter two on. So they would see chapter two and chapter 3 referring to churches that will exist at the very end of the age, the very end of this period of time before the coming of Christ, before the establishment of his kingdom. And so we see, again, this is seeing things that shall be hereafter. One of the things that this interpretation fails to recognize, though, is actually history itself. They may look back in history and say, well, There's a few of these cities that we have no record of churches existing. And that certainly might be the case, but sometimes you just can't argue from historical silence. We don't have history books on every little moment of every little place of every little historical thing that could have happened out there. Histories are, by nature, selective. And you can look at the book of Revelation as history. And so it, too, is selective in the churches that it has recorded. However, the existence of these churches are also found in other records outside Revelation. So there might be one or two that you might have a hard time finding extra biblical information about, but pretty much all of the rest of them are found very clearly, not just in Revelation, but in some of the early church historians as well. So this is a very minor position. It's not very prominent, but I thought it might be something that you would want to be familiar with, because there are those who would see pretty much all of Revelation as yet in the future, including the churches here in chapters 2 and chapter 3. But that leads us to a very, very common way of looking at the significance of the letters, and that's a third way which can be called the historical prophetic interpretation. So it kind of combines the historic interpretation with this prophetic interpretation that we've looked at already. This particular view accepts that each church existed in the past, and really did experience the issues that are brought about in these letters. So they are historical churches with historical issues, living in historical places that receive these historical letters, and they accept that. But they do believe that there is more to each letter and more to each of these churches because they look at them in a prophetic way. So that each church in the past actually lends its chief characteristics to future ages of the church to come. So yes, there's a historic past of these churches and cities, and yet Through the sweep of church history, they would say, you can identify segments of church history based on the characteristics of those seven churches themselves. This is something that we're probably familiar with, having grown up in Baptist churches. The first church age would have been called the Ephesian age. So again, there was a church in Ephesus that received this letter. But the characteristics of that church really represented the period of the church just after the apostolic age. And of course, we know when the apostles went out, the doctrine was pure and sound and wholesome. And there was an energy and a vibrancy by the apostles. They got the gospel out there, they would say. And of course, it spread like wildfire. These were the men that turned the world upside down, it was said of them. And so there was a period of time in which the apostles would have lived and served, and then, of course, they end up dying. Most of them were martyred for their faith, and John here is left alone, we believe, toward the end of the first century. He's there in exile on Patmos. He's the last surviving apostle, and the Lord is saying to him, based on this view, that when you die, there's going to be an age, a period in the church, that's going to be much like the Ephesian church. So the character of that age, we don't know how long it would be. There's various ideas of how long this period would last. But the character of this age would be sound orthodoxy. So they would hold to the fundamentals of the faith, but they left their first love. And so they were sound in their mind, but their heart was cold. And so many would look at this and say, well, from the second century up until maybe the third or fourth century, somewhere in there, that would be described as the Ephesian age. And then they would look all the way back through the quarters of time here, and they would say, yet in the future, or maybe even in today's day, the final church age would be called the Laodicean age. You've heard this before. because it is the period of the church just before the return of Christ. And some of the elements of this make sense, because even Jesus said, when the son of man returns, will he find faith in the earth? So the idea is that there's not going to be a lot of people that are believing in Christ. The church is going to be somewhat, as he would say to the Laodicean church, lukewarm. And so the character of that church that was historic would lend its characteristics to the age of this future church because of what happens, as Jesus said in Matthew 13, 22, the cares of this world, this deceitfulness of riches, choke the word and becometh unfruitful. And I think that there are elements of this in our own country when we see churches that experience this. But again, this is not the historic view or interpretation of these churches. This particular view, this prophetic historical view, became popular in the 19th century, So just really about 200 years ago. There is a little evidence of this view back to the 1200s, but it doesn't go beyond that that we know of. However, it does fail to account for the differences in churches all around the world during the same age and time period. This is kind of what you'd describe as a myopic view of the Church, where they see just sort of the Church in their own locality, their own community, even perhaps their own country, and they fail to recognize the character of the Church of Christ as a whole. Because, you know, the Church of Greenfield, if you will, and all the congregations that make up the Church of Greenfield, might have a different character than the churches of Indianapolis versus the churches of New York City versus the churches out West versus the churches in the Middle East versus the churches in China versus the churches in Australia, and so you can go on and on and on. You know, so I think that this fails to kind of recognize that there is a worldwide church really primarily has focused on the Western church that they have looked at. So it does fail to account for the differences in the churches all around the world They're in the same age and the same time period. And even if you looked at all seven of those and tried to map out the ages of the churches on a historical timeline, which scholars have done, historians have done, theologians have done, there really is no particular agreement as to when one age ends and one age begins. And the differences are huge. Also, one of the issues about this view is that if you're really waiting for the Laodicean age, then the imminency of the return of Christ is not something that anyone else in any other future age is really able to look forward to. So there are some real problems to this particular view, and I personally do not hold to this view. I don't believe we're living in the Laodicean age, though, we might be in a Laodicean church. I think what we have here is the completion of the characteristics of the Church of Jesus Christ in any place at any time. And so when we think of our brothers and sisters in North Korea, even though we don't know really anything about or much about our brothers and sisters in North Korea, they would be described in terms of this as the suffering church, the Church of Smyrna. And so certainly that's a case there, and in the Middle East, and certainly in China. However, even in China, we see a church that is on fire. Maybe we also see some of the differences of some of the churches, or quote unquote churches, that really have gone into idolatry and immorality, which we're going to see later on here, and they become quite dead. There might be a few in some of those churches that have strayed from the truth of God's word and the the truth of righteousness. You think of congregations that would say that they are affirming of sins that are condemned in scripture, yet there might still be in that church building people who are part of the true church. They haven't yet separated from that congregation yet, but they would still be Christ's, and there are some real warnings to them, and there are some real admonitions and commands to them that they need to heed. And so we see, again, that this is something that can exist in any age. We can have the gamut of all of these different kinds of churches. So when it comes to the significance of the seven churches, I think it's probably best to stick with a historic interpretation. and really learn as much as we can about those churches and those cities in which the letters are written, and then see how they can apply to each church that we belong to, into our own lives, our church, so that we might not only read and hear the lessons, but then apply and keep them too. So that's just something to keep in mind. the different interpretations of these, and probably the best one, at least from my perspective, is the historic one, and we really can learn so much from these churches and apply them accordingly. And churches can take on different spirits and characteristics over time, right? There can be one that is persecuted, and then one that is faithful, And then after that period of time wears off, maybe some of the ones that were most faithful died off, the doctrinally sound ones, and they lose their first love. So if you look at even the history of the church, you can see the elements of all of these different churches in them as well. All right, that leads us to the structure of the seven letters. This is also a fascinating thing because one of the things you will notice as you read through these letters is how much they have in common. Obviously, there are differences, but there's a lot in common. And so much so that they almost appear like some kind of a form letter. Some kind of a form letter. You might have gotten one of those in the mail, and then a few days later, you get another one of the same letters. And maybe it was signed differently, but it's the same information. Maybe you can look at the letters that your neighbors got. It's the same letter, just names and addresses are different. Well, it kind of has that feel, because there's a lot of commonalities, a lot of similarities. And really, one way that you can look at these letters is not just one at a time, just going from chapter 2 to chapter 3 and on, but to look at the similarities. and the differences, even within those similarities. There's some things that you can learn about. And so we're going to actually do both. We're going to look at the similarities across the seven letters, and then we're going to hone in on each message itself, because I think there's a lot that we can glean from both. But when it comes to the basic structure of each letter, they can be broken down into seven elements. And again, this has been recognized by a lot of commentators and theologians, so the wording is mine, but the segments are probably very common to a lot of people that have studied the book of Revelation. Again, seven is very common in Revelation, not always stated, but seen. And so the first element is the element of the commission by Jesus to write And there is a common formula for each letter. And again, we can see this in the example there to the first letter to the church, and really to the angel of the church of Ephesus. And Ron pointed this out. Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write. And you see that again. Verse 8, unto the angel of the church in Smyrna write. Verse 12, unto the angel of the church of Pergamos write. And you can go on and on and on through those seven letters. It's the same formula. The only difference is whether it's the church of, whether there's a preposition, or maybe sometimes it's an adjective, so the Ephesian church, if you will, there are some differences there, which is very telling, I think, of the makeup of a church. What can we learn about the church based on the various descriptions of these churches even in the salutation, even in the commissions for each letter. We'll look at that, Lord willing, next Sunday. Of course, we've looked at some of the suggestions as to who those angels might be. Again, I believe they represent the church in some way, but they have a responsibility for that church as well. But then it comes to the second element, and that is the character of the author of the letter. Who is the author of these letters? It's not John. Holy Spirit, that's right. It's God Himself. And so He is giving these messages to these angels, to these churches, and of course, Jesus Himself is relaying this to John, and so we have a character of Christ Himself in each one of these letters. Most of the descriptions are related to the vision that John had of Jesus already in chapter one. We can see this in verse one. Remember, these things saith he that, what? holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, and who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks." So, we've already seen those in chapter 1, we've seen this part of the vision, and so Jesus himself, through the Spirit, is speaking to John and these churches in these ways, but there's something interesting about this description that we didn't see earlier. Earlier, Jesus was standing amongst the seven candlesticks. Here, he is walking in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks. And we'll explore that a little bit more when we get to the Ephesian church. The phrase, these things, the Greek is tare lege. It is a common phrase to each of the letters. And it really kind of has the idea of what we see in the Old Testament when the prophet would say, thus saith the Lord. It was a formula of deity, a formula of God himself speaking. And that is something we see in each of these churches. Tare lege. These things saith he. And of course, that is applied in every letter. The third element is the comprehension of the church. And even though it varies for each church, they all begin, again, with a common phrase. I know thy works. Some of the works are good works. And of course, some of the works are not so good works. And then it leads into all that God knows about these churches. Now, within this comprehension of the church, Jesus proceeds to offer commendations to the church for the good things that he finds there. the things that honor him. So there are commendations, but then there are also challenges to the church, and those challenges are either within or from without. The challenges from within are usually sinful challenges. The challenges from without are usually persecution, like we see in the church of Smyrna. So Jesus knows all about every church and every Christian within those churches. He knows all their works, and He is willing to commend those that look like Him and apply to Him, and He is going to challenge those, especially when it comes to sinfulness and the need for repentance before God. So that's the third element. The fourth element are commands, commands to each church and what Jesus expects the church to do in response to the challenges they face. Repentance is a common command, especially for those that are facing challenges of sin. However, faithfulness is another command for those who have the challenge of persecution or even just opportunities to serve the Lord, like the Church of Philadelphia. And so there are commands, and these commands are especially worthy of the attention of every church of ours. No matter what church we would place ourselves to be, All of these commands are relevant to us, no matter what we face. And remember, part of the responsibility of us when we come to Revelation is not just to read it or hear it, but to keep it and to obey the commands. So look for commands, look for imperatives. That leads us to the fifth element, and that are the consequences to the churches that will be based on their responses to the challenges commands given to them by the Lord. Now, consequences sometimes we think in negative terms, but consequences can also be in positive terms. So if you're faithful, there will be some rewards that God promises to you. However, if you are unfaithful, there will be some punishment and chastening by God. So these consequences. After the consequences, each letter ends with two more elements that are not always in the same order. Everything else is kind of in the same order, elements 1 through 5. Elements 6 and 7 can be reversed. The first three have them in the order of chapter 2, verse 7, where you have the call first, and then the comfort with a promise. So the call is always, he that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto churches. And then we have the comfort, to him that overcometh will I give, a promise. So I'm just going to put the sixth element as the comfort, and it's always given to those who overcome. We'll look at more what that word means and how it is applied throughout the book of Revelation later on. But to those who overcome, the challenges that they face within their context will receive a gracious promise from God, from Jesus. And that's a comfort. And of course, that leads us to the seventh element, which is the call. He that hath an ear, let him hear. Again, the first three letters, the order of those two last elements, are call, then comfort. The last four letters is comfort, then call. Is there some significance to that, perhaps? Because the very last thing that Jesus wants us to hear from these letters in chapter 3, verse 22, is that call. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith in the churches." That should be ringing in our ears as we go forward in the book of Revelation. So our approach to the letters will be to, again, first look at the common elements together, and then look at the individual elements and message in each letter to the churches. Before we end here, one more quick thing to note about the structure of these letters is their parallel arrangement in what can be called the form of a chiasm. Chi is simply the Greek word that we would look as an X, the Greek letter for chi. And the idea is that there is a specific arrangement of these letters that is really to, again, emphasize the completion, the completeness of this message, but also to kind of show parallels between the churches themselves. And here's perhaps a little graphic way to look at it. The first and the last churches. actually face a similar challenge of complacency. Because Ephesus, the first church, is the church that lost her first love, while Laodicea is the church that is lukewarm before the Lord. And so, again, you see a common parallel challenge of complacency. And so those would be the bookends to these particular churches in these particular letters. The second and the sixth churches, so the church in the city of Smyrna and the church in the city of Philadelphia, are the only churches that are given commendations with nothing negative given to them. And so the church of Smyrna is a persecuted church, And so the Lord primarily wants to comfort that church in that persecution. Philadelphia is a faithful church, though very small. It's faithful in the things that God has given to that church to do. And so he wants to encourage and comfort them in their faithfulness. And so again, you see a parallelism between the second and the sixth. And then the middle ones, Pergamos, Thyatira, and Sardis, those last three, they're kind of stuck in the middle. They can actually be seen from going from bad to worse. in their relationship with God. Pergamos is a compromising church. Thyatira is a tolerant church of the evil that is within them, idolatry and immorality specifically. And then Sardis even says, you say you're alive, but you're actually dead. So again, from bad to worse. Because really, that's where compromise and tolerance of sin, like immorality, like idolatry, will always lead in any kind of congregational setting, it will lead to the death of that church. And then I have the middle one kind of sticking out a little further, Thyatira, because that's interesting. In the very middle, we have the longest letter written. The longest letter. It's almost to suggest that it's in a position where it could go either way. Whether it could become one of the faithful churches, or whether it's going to go on to the extreme, to the worse, as well. They can either go backward or forward in their faithfulness to the Lord. Of course, that can be said of all the churches, but there's something to be said about even the parallel arrangement, the chiastic arrangement of these letters, which I thought was relatively interesting as well. So that is our introduction to the seven churches. We'll get right into it, again, looking at the similarities next Sunday. Let's close with prayer. Father, we thank you again for what we've learned about the book of Revelation and what we've learned about these seven churches. I pray, O Lord, that you'll help us to once again see that every message to every angel, to every church, is relevant to us. I pray, O Lord, that we won't just hear it and read it, but then apply it and keep it, keep the commands especially that we find therein, to apply to our own lives so that we might be more faithful in our walk and relationship with you. We ask these things in Jesus' name. Amen.