1 The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things that must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, ² who bore witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw. ³ Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near Rev. 1:1-3

          The letters to the seven churches seem to most people the least interesting (and maybe the least important) part of the Book of Revelation.  No one here would admit that.  But is there a temptation to hurry past these letters because there we encounter Jesus pointing His finger at us?  Not Jesus rescuing us; not the destruction of the wicked; not His return; not the wonder of our eternal home; but a call for the church to repent.  The blessing is for those who teach and those who obey the instructions given in these letters.

⁴ John to the seven churches that are in Asia:

Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, ⁵ and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth.

To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood ⁶ and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. ⁷ Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so. Amen. Rev. 1:4-6

⁸ “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.” Rev. 1:10

          Two things from these verses:

1. Jesus us the ruler of kings on earth. This is why the Romans objected to Christianity.  To the Roman mind there could only be one Lord and they were right.  Either Jesus was your Lord or Ceaser was your Lord.  Christians under Roman persecution were given an opportunity deny Jesus and avoid imprisonment and death by simply uttering the words, “Ceaser is Lord.”  That Jesus is ruler over all human authority is extremely important in the context of the persecution that was taking place.  The world thinks, ‘Ceasar can give me what I want.’  Faith knows that only Jesus can give me what I need.
2. ‘(E)very eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him.’ No one will be sent to Hell protesting their innocence.  ‘Every knee shall bow and every tongue confess to God.’  (Rom. 14:11; Isa. 45:23)

⁹ I, John, your brother and partner in the tribulation and the kingdom and the patient endurance that are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos on account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. ¹⁰ I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet ¹¹ saying, “Write what you see in a book and send it to the seven churches, to Ephesus and to Smyrna and to Pergamum and to Thyatira and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to Laodicea.” Rev. 1:9-11

          John was exiled on Patmos because of the ‘testimony of Jesus.  While eager to suppress Christianity, Roman governors were loath to cause riots or go to the time and trouble to imprison or execute Christians.  Making an example of a respected and popular leader was a tactic used to discourage his followers.  However, to put a well-loved, kindly old man to death was risky.  It could lead to unrest in the streets.  The account of Polycarp’s execution which has been handed down to us has the governor practically begging Polycarp to just say the words, “Ceasar is Lord.” 

          You might notice that the cities where the seven churches were located form sort of a ring on the map.  Imagine the person or people who went out to deliver the letter travelling that route.  The messenger who delivered the letter probably read the letter to the congregation when he arrived in town.  Go back to 1:3: “Blessed is the one who reads aloud these words of prophecy.”  This is John saying, “Wish I could deliver this message myself, but listen to this guy.  He has God’s blessing.”

 

¹² Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands, ¹³ and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest. ¹⁴ The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire, ¹⁵ his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters. ¹⁶ In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength. Rev. 1:12

          This is not the ‘meek and mild’ Jesus of the popular imagination.  His appearance is terrifying as we will see in the next verse.  The whole world will fall down in fear when he appears as the glorified Son of the Most High God.  And we should bow in awe and reverence when we approach Him.

¹⁷ When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, “Fear not, I am the first and the last, ¹⁸ and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades. ¹⁹ Write therefore the things that you have seen, those that are and those that are to take place after this. ²⁰ As for the mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand, and the seven golden lampstands, the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches. Rev. 1:17-20

          John fell down like a dead man when he saw Jesus in His Glory.  How many times in scripture do we see individuals gripped in absolute terror when they realize that they have seen God?  My favorite example of this is Manoah, the father of Samson in Judges 13.  When the angel ascended to heaven in the flame from the alter, He said, “We have seen God!  We are going to die!”  His wife responded, “If God wanted to kill us, we’d be dead already.” 

          Of course, Jesus came and died so that we could live.  And he is coming back so that we can live forever.  He reassures John saying, “I have the keys to Death and Hades.”  Jesus is terrifying because He can lock us up for eternity.  But He is our great and only hope because only He can set us free.

          So let us consider as we reflect on these seven letters that Jesus stands among His churches watching.  He is watching my congregation and he is watching yours.  What letter would he send to your congregation or mine.  In fact, don’t worry about mine.  That’s my concern.  What would he say to your church.

          Of the seven churches: Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea He finds something against three, nothing to praise in two and nothing but praise and encouragement for only two.  Two faltering, two holding to the faith and three putting on a mediocre performance.  Does that sound like the churches of our day?  I will leave it to the reader to identify which churches belong in each category.  These letters are for us as much as they were for the Christians who received them in the first century.

          It is left to us to evaluate our congregations and ourselves not by our own standards or the standards of surrounding churches and certainly not by the standards of the world.  What kind of letter would Jesus send to your church?  What would He write to you?  Jesus sets the only standard we can trust.  He wants us to grow in faith and succeed.  He is on our side.  We must be willing to listen to His rebukes and repent as needed so that we can be assured of His approval.

David Ford lives in Bruceville, IN–He  is an Elder at the Central Church of Christ in Vincennes, IN