Revelation Lesson 3

Revelation

Lesson 3

Messages to 4 of The 7 Churches

In Lesson 1, we looked at Chapter 1 of the Book of Revelation and learned a lot including Who was giving this prophecy (Jesus), who was receiving it (John and the other servants of God, including the 7 churches in Asia and us), and we also learned much about the Lord Jesus Christ.

In Lesson 2, we did an overview of the entire book of Revelation and discovered the big picture of what is in the book.

Now, and for the rest of this course, we are going to look at many of the individual pieces in the big picture and study them in more detail. We will begin with the 7 Churches.

As you will recall, in Chapter 1 of Revelation, Jesus was standing in the midst of 7 golden lampstands and He held 7 stars in His right hand. At the end of Chapter 1, the meaning of the lampstands and the stars was given to us. Turn to Revelation 1:20 in your Bible, find the meanings of the stars and the Lampstands, and record them in the space below.

The 7 stars in Jesus right hand represent (1:20): __________________________

The 7 Lampstands are (1:20) _____________________________________

Yes, you are correct, the 7 Lampstands are the 7 churches and the 7 Stars which Jesus held in His right hand are the angels (messengers) to the churches.

And speaking of angels (messengers), Why is this word sometimes translated angels? And other times messengers? Well, the Greek word is angelos (Strong's # 32) which can be translated as either angels or messengers. So, if your Bible uses one translation and your friend's Bible uses another, not to worry, both translations are correct. However, since the Greek word, Angelos, can be translated as either messengers or angels, some people believe this word is referring to pastors of the churches while others believe actual angels are being referred to. Unfortunately, we don't have time to go into a study of who is correct, or if both are. But, fortunately, the precise interpretation of this word really does not matter as far as the Prophecy being related in the book of Revelation is concerned, so let's continue on.

In this and the next lesson, we are going to look at the 7 Churches and the messages that Jesus told John to specifically give them! So, in these two lessons we are going to be reading and studying Chapters 2 and 3 of Revelation.

The messages to the 7 Churches really should have a LOT of time and attention devoted to them because they are so very important and have many many applications which would be very good for us to study today. However, again, since this is a brief study, we will only be able to hit the highlights. One day, Lord willing, it would be a good thing for us to just do an entire course on the 7 churches and the messages that Jesus gave them and why. But, for now, let's just get the main points and continue on!

Your Assignment is:

So, your assignment now, should you choose to accept it, is to read Chapters 2 and 3 of Revelation. And, as you read, observe what Jesus is telling the Churches. Each church is given some very specific information. For each church, your assignment is to note and record specific things about each of the 7 churches. These things are:

1. The Description of Jesus which was given to that particular Church. In fact, if you have time, and I hope you do, you might want to go back and add the description of Jesus, given to each church, to the list you made about Jesus in Lesson 1. You don't have to do this, but it will certainly help you love, appreciate and worship Jesus even more.

2. The Specific Commendation or commendations (good things which Jesus said they were doing or with which He was pleased) which Jesus gave to the church.

3. The Specific Criticisms or Complaints which Jesus had concerning the church and or its members.

4. The Specific Warnings (or what to do to shape up) which Jesus gives to each church.

5. What will happen if they don't heed the warning that Jesus gives them.

6. The Reward they will receive if they DO what Jesus is telling them to do.

I have provided the suggestion a chart for you to use to record this information in summary form. Of course, this chart is not big enough, so feel free to put it on a separate piece of paper. Make the columns as wide and as long as you need so you will have room to write all that needs to be written. Anyway, your chart should look something like this:

The Messages of Jesus to the 7 Churches in Asia

...............................1................2...............3................4..............5.............. 6................. 7

Name of Church ......Ephesus.........Smyrna........Pergamum........Thyatira...... Sardis..... Philadelphia.......Laodicea

Description

of Jesus

Good things

(Commendations)

Complaints

(Criticisms)

Warnings

What will happen

if don't heed warning?

What will happen

if they Do what Jesus asks?

(Rewards they will receive)

Whew! That was quite an assignment, wasn't it! But, did you notice a pattern? Sure. And Did you learn anything? I sure hope so.

But, guess what! There is still more that is involved in what Jesus said to each church. He was not just saying things in isolation or in a vacuum. Jesus had a specific reason for what He said to each particular church. And the members of each church could and would understand what He said to them and why He was saying it because they also knew specific things about themselves and their particular circumstances.

EPHESUS

For example, when Jesus spoke to the church at Ephesus, what if I told you that:

EPHESUS.....THE CHURCH THAT HAD LEFT ITS FIRST LOVE

This was John the Apostle's home Church. (Yes, this is the same John who recorded the prophecy of Jesus in the Book of the Revelation which we are now studying.) Mary, the mother of Jesus was a member of this Church! (Remember, John was told by Jesus while on the cross to take care of Mary). This Church in Ephesus was founded by Paul in about 52-55 AD, after Priscilla and Aquilla's initial efforts which began in about 50 AD. Ephesus was an important commercial city because it had a seaport. It was the largest city in this area of Asia, having a population of about 300,000. It was the home of the famous Temple of Artemis (Diana), which was so beautiful and large that it was one of the 7 wonders of the world. A long line of Bishops in the Eastern church lived there and the church was still present in the 6th century AD. So they apparently, at least initially, heeded the reproof that they had left their first love. However, the City is now in ruins and the Church there is no longer in existence. Hmmmm.

Now, based on what you now know about Ephesus and the Church there, do the words of Jesus to them make more sense to you? Can you now understand why He said what He said to them? Sure! And let's think about a few of the things that He said?

? What were the specific Good things (Commendations) that Jesus said to this church?

______________________________________________________________________

? What was the specific Complaint (Criticism) that Jesus gave to this church?

______________________________________________________________________

? Why, based on what you now know about the History of the Church and who some of its members were, do you think Jesus gave this particular criticism to this church?

______________________________________________________________________

? How about you? Are you doing all the right things' spiritually, like the Church at Ephesus? They did deeds, toiled, persevered, etc. And, perhaps you are doing all those things, too. And yet, like the Church at Ephesus, something seems to be missing in your relationship with Christ.

Is that something that you've lost the first love, that fire, that Christ only? Do you want that love back?

Christ told them and us how.

He said to simply get back to the basics, the 3 R's.

No, not Reading, wRiting, and aRithmatic, but to another set of 3 R's.

Read Rev. 2:5 and write, in the space below, the 3 things that Jesus told them to do to Regain their first love.

Yes, Remember..., Repent..., and do again (Redo) the deeds you did at first. That was what Christ told them to do. And that is what we need to do. We need to get back to the Basics, the 3 R's of Remembering, Repenting, and Redoing.

If the Message to the Church of Ephesus also applies to you and if you want to return to your First Love for Jesus, you can!

Pause right now in this Bible study. Bow your head to God and Worship Him by Returning to Him. Remember and Repent. And then ask Him to help you to Regain your first love for Him and to Redo the things you used to do at first with the same joy and enthusiasm that you had before.

As you do this, on a separate piece of paper, or, using the prayer below, write out your prayer to Him. You could pray something like this:

Oh God, I confess that I have lost my first love for you.Yes, I do things for you. But, it's not the same as before. The joy is gone! So much of what I do just seems to be work' Father, I Remember when I _____________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________.

But, now, that enthusiasm and joy is gone. Oh Jesus, I do Repent of my drifting away from you.

I ask your forgiveness for _______________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________

and, Jesus, I desire to once again have joy and increasing love for you and to Do (Redo) the things I did at first: to read and study your word with enthusiasm, eagerness and joy; to be with your people and to enjoy their presence as we worship you; to witness to others and to tell them about you; to

____________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________.

Oh, Jesus, Thank you for being so faithful to me when I have been so unfaithful to you!

And _______________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________.

I Do want you to be FIRST in my life!

I do want you to be my God.

I do want to Worship and Serve only You and to have NO other gods or people or things

or ambitions or ________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________to come before you in my life.

Thank you.............Amen.

SMYRNA

Jesus then gave a specific message to the Church at Smyrna. And, as with the Church in Ephesus, He was not just saying things in isolation or in a vacuum. He had a specific reason for what He said to the Church in Smyrna. And the members of the Church could and would understand what He said to them and why He was saying it because they also knew specific things about themselves and their particular circumstances.

For example, when Jesus spoke to the church at Smyrna, what if I told you that:

SMYRNA....THE SUFFERING CHURCH

Smyrna was a trading city and the most beautiful of the 7 cities. Indeed, it was so beautiful that it was often called the crown of Asia, the flower of Asia, the ornament of Asia and the Crown City. Behind the city there was a hill covered with temples and beautiful buildings which were actually called the CROWN OF SMYRNA! Therefore, Smyrna definitely knew about crowns (verse 10). Smyrna was founded as a Greek colony in about 1000 BC, but in about 600 BC it died when it was destroyed in a disaster. Then it remained dead (no city for about 400 years) and existed only as several little villages until about 200 BC when Lysimachus rebuilt it. So, when Christ said He was the first and the last, He was showing them that He was first and better than they (they thought they were the first, the most important, and the greatest of all the cities and even called themselves the first city of Asia). And when Jesus said He was dead and has come to life, they could understand this, since as a city they had been dead and now had come back to life again. In verse 9, speaking of poverty, the Greek word used for poverty is PTOCHEIA which means utter abject poverty, indigence, beggary, destitution, having nothing at all. This word, ptocheia, is also used to refer to the poverty which Christ voluntarily experienced on our behalf instead of PENIA (another Greek word for poverty) which just means that you are not wealthy and have to work with your hands. Concerning their suffering, which Jesus mentioned, yes, they had experienced suffering in the past. But Christ is, perhaps, also prophesying to them of a future event. For, about 50 years in the future after this message, POLYCARP, who had been a disciple of John (yes, the same John who wrote Revelation) and who became the Bishop of the Church of Smyrna, was martyred there by being burned at the stake on Saturday Feb. 23 AD 155. (You might want to read about this in a commentary....what a story!). So the references to Suffering and Tribulation to this Church were very meaningful. And, by the way, the word used for TRIBULATION was the Greek word THLIPSIS (pressure...from without...). Today Smyrna is known as IZMIR and is one of the main cities in modern Turkey.

So, When Jesus gave His specific message to the Church at Smyrna, it was definitely appropriate to their experiences in the past, present, and even in the future. And they understood what He was saying to them. And, now, you, by knowing some of their history and background, can also better understand why Jesus said what He did to them.

? What did Jesus tell the church at Smyrna concerning suffering? (2:10)

________________________________________________________________________

? Had they suffered before?........(circle your answer)..........YES.........NO

? Was Jesus telling them that they would suffer in the future?

.............(circle your answer) ..............................................YES ........NO

? When would this suffering occur?

..............(circle your answer)...............NOW.........VERY SOON..........CAN'T TELL

? How long would it last? (2:10)__________________________

? Are the 10 days referred to in this message (circle your answer)

.....................................literal...............symbolic..............both...............can't tell

? Based on what you learned by reading the information which I gave you about the church, did they experience any suffering in the future?

...............(circle your answer)............................YES..............NO

? What? _______________________________________________________________

? Was the death of Polycarp ALL the suffering they would experience?

..............(Circle your answer)...................YES...............NO...............CAN'T TELL

Hmmmmm. that is all very interesting and there is much more that we could look at concerning suffering. But, we will save that for later in the course.

PERGAMUM

But, let's continue on with still another bit of history and see if it helps us understand why Jesus said what he said to the Church at Pergamum. And, as you read this information, underline anything that helps you to better understand why Jesus said what He said to the Church at Pergamum.

PERGAMUM....THE COMPROMISING CHURCH

Pergamum was located about 75 miles north of Ephesus and was the Capital of Asia for about 400 years. It was not on any great commercial road so it was not famous for trade but it was very famous for its culture. There was a huge temple to Ascepulus here, which should ring a bell for you Medical folks who are doing this Bible Study. Ascepulus, you will recall was the God of Medicine, so, in a sense, Pergamum was a Medical Center in its day. The most common and best known title for Ascepulus was ASCEPULUS SOTER which means Ascepulus the Savior. The emblem of Ascepulus was the serpent. There was also a famous Temple to Zeus located in this city. Concerning the reference to Satan's throne and the reference to Antipas, Jesus' faithful witness (in 2:13), according to Church tradition, Antipas was thought to have been the first Christian Martyr in Asia. He was killed by being roasted to death in a kettle! This occurred during the reign of the Casesar-Emperor Domitian. And, there was still, of course, much Caesar worship in Pergamum. In fact, it was the law that once a year every Roman citizen should go to the temple of the Emperor, burn a pinch of incense to the statue of Caesar, and say: "Caesar is Lord." If he did not do this, he could be killed with the sword. So, when Jesus said that He has the sharp two edged sword, this was a very significant illustration to this church by which Jesus was reminding them that, even though the power of Rome was powerful, He was more powerful. Also, since the Sword of the Lord is the WORD, this would also be significant to this city which had invented parchment and which had the largest library in the world! Pergamum's library contained over 200,000 volumes and had been given to Cleopatra by Mark Anthony. Parchment actually got its name from Pergamum (which means parchment). Concerning the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, (also mentioned in the message to the Church in Ephesus), the Nicolaitans tried to persuade Christians that there was nothing wrong with conforming to the world's standards and urged the church to compromise with the practices and morals and customs of the world. A major doctrinal error of the 'Nicks', then, was that they were seeking to cause Christianity to compromise to the level of the world rather than to lift the world toward the level of Christianity. In other words, they encouraged people to compromise their Christian beliefs and principles.

WOW! What significance there is to the message Jesus gave to this Church at Pergamum! And, now that you know the history of this city, the statements of Jesus sure make a lot more sense, don't they?

? And how about you? Do you identify with anything Jesus was saying to this Church? Are you like a Nicolaitian? Do you compromise? Do you fail to put Christ in First place in your life? Are you afraid of what others might say? Would you, do you, give your worship, service, and allegiance to Caesar (the world, or anything or anyone other than God?)

If so, you need to stop now and confess this as sin and ask God to forgive you for this. .

-----------Pause while you think about your life----------

and if you need to talk with God about this, do so now!

THYATIRA

Well, we must continue on.... Let's look now at THYATIRA and the Message which Christ gave to that church. Again, let me tell you some interesting and significant history. And, as you read this, underline anything that helps you to better understand why Jesus said what He said to this Church.

THYATIRA..........TOLERATING CHURCH

This was the longest of the 7 letters and was written to the church in the least important of the 7 cities. Thyatira was in a valley near the capital, Pergamon. Since it was in a valley, it could never win wars, but could only fight a delaying action while the nearby city of Pergamon armed itself. Thyatira had a fortune telling shrine which was presided over by a female oracle named SAMBATHE. Women were very influential and significant in this city, for example,.Sambathe, Jezebel, and LYDIA (Acts 16:14). Lydia, as you recall (Acts 16:14) was the first Christian convert in Europe and was a resident of Thyatira. She was a merchant, a seller of purple. Indeed, Thyatira was a commercial center of the dying industry and produced the much sought after Purple dye which was used in dying wool, etc. This purple color, which is what Lydia sold, is now known as Turkey Red.. Since this was a commercial city, there were many trade guilds in it and for a Christian to refuse to join a trade guild was to give up all hope of prosperity. The guilds had common meals in the temple and, therefore, the members ate things sacrificed to idols. Obviously, the Christians had problems doing that. Jezebel, then, apparently, among other things, urged the Christians to compromise and join the trade unions and eat the meals and the meat sacrificed to idols. The description of Christ with feet like burnished bronze was also significant to Thyatira because this city was famous for its Brass working industry. They also would understand that, as Son of God, Jesus has the authority and right to Judge because having Eyes like flame of fire means He sees and purifies what He sees, and having feet like Burnished bronze means he judges and tramples under foot all sin.

Wow! That information really helps us to understand a lot about Jesus's message to the Church at Thyatira. Let's think about it.

! First of all, we saw in 2:18 an additional description of Jesus. How is He described?

_______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

Yes, Jesus had eyes like blazing fire and feet like burnish bronze. You might want to add those two descriptions to the list you made about Jesus in Chapter One.

? What does having 'eyes like a flame of fire' mean?

_____________________________________________________________________

? And, what does the description of Jesus having 'feet like burnished bronze' mean?

_______________________________________________________________________

? Why did this church understand about bronze?

_______________________________________________________________________

? What kinds of things did this church tolerate that Jesus said they should not? (2:20)

_______________________________________________________________________

? Would those who did the things that Jezebel taught get away with them? Or will Jesus Judge these deeds of sexual immorality and of eating foods sacrificed to idols?

_____________________________________________________________________

? How do you know? (Write the verses here. 2:22-23)

_____________________________________________________________________

? Ok, so it was BAD to do those things 2000 years ago. But, does Jesus hold us to the same standards today?

........................circle your answer..........YES.................NO

Explain your answer:

_________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________

? How about you? Is there anything in your life that is sexually immoral? And, do you eat meat sacrificed to idols'? (ie. tolerate ungodly practices)?

..................... circle your answer................YES...................NO

? Does God KNOW that you are doing these things?

......................circle your answer................YES...................NO

? How do you KNOW that He knows that you are doing these things? (2:23) Write your answer concerning How you know that He knows here:

___________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________

? So, WHAT are you going to DO about this? Are you going to admit that you are sinning, renounce your immorality and your toleration of ungodly practices, and SERVE God?

Or are you going to continue them and thereby, SERVE Satan?

? And, by the way. How do we KNOW that we are serving Satan when we do these immoral things? (2:24) Write the phrase from that verse that tells you.

_____________________________________________________________

Hmmmmmmm. Very significant. It seems that once again we are being warned that

every person must individually make a choice about Whom to SERVE. Hmmmm.

And the choice is to serve either

_____________________________ or _____________________________

Yes, either we choose to either Serve GOD and obey HIS commands OR we will serve Satan.

There is NO other option.

And the consequences of this choice are eternally significant and vastly different. I wish we could spend more time considering that now, but, we will return to this later in this course. In the meantime, just HOLD that thought and ponder it in your heart! This is very very very important!!!!!!

And now, as you ponder on the things God is revealing to you about your life, let's end this lesson. We'll continue our study of Jesus' messages to the 7 churches in Lesson 4.

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