Scripture:
Revelation 2.1-3.22
Translation: 2.1To the angel
of the church in Ephesus, write [the following]: The One Who’s holding the
seven starts in his right hand is saying this, the One Who’s walking in the
middle of the seven gold lampstands! 2I know your actions and the
work and your endurance and that you can’t put up with evil people, and you
tested those who are calling themselves apostles and are not [apostles] and you
found them liars. 3And you have endurance and you’ve carried the
burden because of My Name and you aren’t even getting tired! 4But I
hold against you that You left your first love! 5So, look at where
your truly falling from and repent! and do your first actions! And if you
don’t, I’m coming to you and I will remove your lampstand from its place, if
you don’t repent! 6But you have this going for you: you have the
works of the Nicolaitans, which I hate too! 7The person who has ears
had better listen up to what the Spirit is saying to the churches! For the
person who takes victory I will give him [the blessing] of eating from the Tree
of Life, which is in the Paradise of God!
8And to the angel of the church in Smyrna,
write [the following]: The First and the Last, Who became dead and lived is
saying this: 9I know your suffering and poverty, but you are rich,
and the verbal abuse from the people saying they are Jews and are not, instead
[they are] a synagogue of Satan. 10Don’t fear anything that you are
about to suffer. Look, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, so
that you are tested and will have suffering for ten days. Become faithful to
the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life! 11The
person who has ears had better listen up to what the Spirit is saying to the
churches. The one who’s taking victory definitely won’t not be harmed by the
second death!
12And to the angel of the church in
Pergamum, write the following: The One holding the sharp double-edged sword is
saying this: 13I know where you’re living, where the throne of Satan
is, and you’re holding on to My Name and I won’t deny My faith. And in the days
of Antipas, My faithful witness, who was killed among you, where Satan lives. 14But
I’m holding a few things against you: you have there those who are holding the
teaching of Balaam, who was teaching Balak to throw a stumbling block before
the sons of Israel to eat idol sacrifices and commit sexual sins. 15In
this way, similarly, you also have those who’re holding to the teaching of the
Nikolaitans. 16So, repent! And if you don’t, I’m coming to you
quickly and I will make war with them with the sword of My mouth! 17The
person who has ears had better listen up to what the Spirit is saying to the
churches! To the person who takes victory, I will give to him from completely
hidden manna and I will give to him a white voting stone. And on the stone there
will be a new name inscribed, which no one knows, except the one getting it.
18And to the angel of the church in
Thyatira write the following: The Son of God, the One Who has His eyes like
flames of fire and his feet are like fine bronze, is saying this: 19I
know your actions and love and faith and teaching and your endurance, and your
latest actions are better than your first ones! 20But I’m holding
against you that you’re allowing the woman Jezebel, the one calling herself a
prophetess, and she is teaching and deceiving My slaves into committing sexual
sins and eating food offered to idols. 21And I gave her time, so
that she could repent, and she doesn’t want to repent from her sexual sin. 22Look,
I’m throwing her to a bed and those who are committing adultery with her to
great suffering, if they don’t repent from her actions! 23And her
children I will kill with death. And all the churches will know that I am the
One searching minds and hearts, and I will give to each of you according to
your actions. 24And I’m saying to the rest of you in Thyatira, as
many of you as are not holding to this teaching, whoever doesn’t know the
depths of Satan as they say. I’m not throwing on you another burden, 25but
what you have, hold on to it until whenever I will come! 26And the
one who takes victory and the one keeping My practices until the end, I will
give to him authority over the nations 27and “he will shepherd them
with an iron staff; like ceramic objects he will smash [them]!” 28As
I too really have received from My Father, I will also give him the morning
star! 29The person who has ears had better listen up to what the
Spirit is saying to the churches!
3.1And to the angel of the church in
Sardis, write the following: The One Who has the Seven Spirits of God and the
Seven Stars is saying this: I know your actions, that you are holding on to a
name that you’re alive, and you are dead! 2Become on the alert and
finish the rest of the things that are about to die, because I haven’t found
your actions truly completed before My God! 3So remember how you
have truly received and you heard and were keeping and repent! So if you don’t
get on the alert, I will come like a thief. And you definitely won’t know what
hour I will come to you! 4But you have a few names in Sardis, whose
clothes are not stained. And they are walking with me in white clothes, because
they are holy! 5To the person who takes victory in this way will be
dressed in white clothes and I will definitely not take his name out of the
Book of Life and I will confess his name before My Father and before His
angels! 6The person who has ears had better listen up to what the
Spirit is saying to the churches!
7And to the angel of the church in
Philadelphia write the following: The Holy One, the True One, the One holding
the key of David, the One Who opens and no one will close and Who closes and no
one opens is saying this: 8I know you actions. Look, I gave before
you an open door, which no one is able to close, that you have little power and
you have kept My message and I will not deny My Name! 9Look, I’m
locking up [those] from the synagogue of Satan, from those saying they are Jews
and are not, but are lying. Look, I will make them, so that they will come and
fall down before your feet and they would know that I love you! 10Because
you have kept the message of My endurance, and I will keep you from the hour of
testing that is about to come on the whole world to test those living on the
earth. 11I’m coming quickly! Hold on to what you have, so that no
one receives your crown! 12The person who takes victory—I will make
him a beam in the Temple of My God and he definitely won’t go outside anymore,
and I will write on him the Name of My God and the Name of the City of My God,
the New Jerusalem that is coming down from Heaven from My God, and the My New
Name! 13The person who has ears had better listen up to what the
Spirit is saying to the churches!
14And to the angel of the church in
Laodicea write the following: The Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the
Ruler of the Creation of God is saying this: 15I know your actions,
that you’re neither cold or hot. How I wish you were cold or hot! 16In
this way because you are lukewarm and neither hot nor cold, I’m about to vomit
you out of My mouth! 17Because you say “I’m rich and I’m truly full
and I don’t need anything” and you don’t know that you are the wretched and
pitiful and poor and blind and naked person! 18I’m advising you to
buy from Me gold refined in the fire, so that you will be rich, and white
clothes, so that you’d be wearing something and the shame of your nakedness
wouldn’t be exposed, and healing eye ointment to put on your eyes so that you
could see! 19whoever I love I confront and discipline! So get
excited and repent! 20Look, I’m standing at the door and I’m
knocking. If anyone would hear My voice and open the door, I will come to him
and eat with Him and He with me! 21The person who takes victory—I
will give Him [the blessing] of sitting with Me on My Throne, as I too took
victory and sat with My Father on His Throne! 22The person who has
ears had better listen up to what the Spirit is saying to the churches!
Interpretation
1.
Structure
a.
Letter to the Church in
Ephesus (2.1-7)
b.
Letter to the Church in
Smyrna (2.8-11)
c.
Letter to the Church in
Pergamum (2.12-17)
d.
Letter to the Church in
Thyatira (2.18-29)
e.
Letter to the Church in
Sardis (3.1-6)
f.
Letter to the Church in
Philadelphia (3.7-13)
g.
Letter to the Church in
Laodicea (3.14-22)
2.
Themes
a.
Love
b.
Endurance
c.
Sexual sin
d.
Idolatry
e.
False-prophecy
f.
Jesus is speaking
g.
The Spirit is speaking
h.
Repentance is needed
i.
Actions matter
j.
The Return of Christ
k.
Holiness
l.
Purity
m.
Rewards
3.
Doctrines
a.
Jesus is coming back
b.
Those faithful to Christ
will be rewarded
c.
Judgment is coming to the
unfaithful
d.
Actions and doctrine matter
to Jesus
Applications
1.
Outline
a.
When the church lets you
down, know that Christ feels your pain more intensely because above all they
have let Him down
i.
In 5 of the 7 churches,
Jesus has a problem with them
1.
Failure to continue in love
2.
Idolatrous compromise and
sexual sin
3.
False prophecy
4.
Refusal of repentance
5.
Arrogance
6.
Unholy lifestyles
7.
Lack of readiness for
Christ’s return
8.
Lack of passion for Christ
9.
Thinking they don’t need
Jesus
10.
Excluding Jesus from their
lives and the church
ii.
Take comfort though in the
fact that although most the churches were letting Jesus down, not all of them
were, and in fact most of them were doing something right (5 of the 7)
1.
Evaluating teachers,
preachers, “apostles” and not tolerating evil and heretical people
a.
This also means that a
failure here lets Jesus down
2.
Commitment to Christ and
the Gospel despite circumstances
3.
Willingness to die for
Christ, and actually doing it when necessary
4.
Loving others
5.
Trusting God
6.
Good doctrine
7.
Endurance
8.
Growth
iii.
Go to Christ with your
sorrows, hurts, disappointments, and the like, He will understand and comfort
you
iv.
But also reframe your experience
away from a highly egotistical perspective. You are not better or more loved in
the church than Jesus, and if the church fails at loving Jesus from time to
time, and perhaps even a lot of the time, they are going to fail you.
1.
Should you expect the
church to be the church that Jesus has called the church to be? Yes, of course.
2.
But on the other hand
should you forget that churches are filled with failing and sinful people, No.
Don’t expect the church to treat you any better than it does Christ, even if it
should.
a.
Put another way, the church
will probably at some point in your life let you down, but when that happens
you need to grieve it and go to Jesus with it and identify with Him. Don’t give
up on the church, follow Christ’s example and continue to love the Body of
Christ, that Jesus died for, and if necessary call it to repentance—but don’t
give up.
b.
When the church lets you
down, check your own heart and life and see if you are part of the problem or
one of the faithful
i.
It is easy for us to blame
other and fail to see our own part of the problem. We often fail to see the sin
in our own life or we make it seem so small to ourselves that we take greater
offense at the church’s sin than our own.
1.
Sometimes it will be worse,
but other times it won’t. and even when it is we need to be humble and wise and
love in our response.
ii.
Ask:
1.
Are you letting Jesus down
personally? Is there unrepented sin in your life?
2.
Are contributing to the
church’s problem either by doing something or by doing nothing?
iii.
If you do have sin and/or
are a part of the problem, repent!
iv.
If you are one of the
faithful, don’t get proud, stay humble. Don’t get hostile, stay loving! Hold on
to what you are doing right and hold on to Christ in hope of His return and the
rewards He gives!
c.
Has our church let Jesus
down?
i.
If not, generally speaking,
we need to keep our hearts and minds and lives focused on Christ and living in
hope of His return
ii.
If so, then we need to
repent of our sins and not let go of what we are doing right
1.
The truth is, I think our
youth group and our church in general has sin and problems in it. I mean all
churches have issues and sinners in them, but the question is really are there
some sins our church is marked by? And is there any systemic failure in our
church?
a.
Evangelism
b.
Prioritizing Jesus and
worship
c.
Lack of passion
d.
Lack of prayer
e.
Lack of communication or
concern for one another, perhaps
f.
Living in the past
g.
Lack of reconciliation
d.
Has our church let people
down?
i.
If not, generally speaking,
we need to keep our hearts and minds and lives focused on Christ and living in
hope of His return
ii.
If so, then we need to
repent of our failures and sins and not let go of what we are doing right
1.
I think we could be more
loving
2.
I think I could communicate
better
3.
I think we are letting down
the people who would know Christ if we had told them
2.
Discussion Questions
a.
Have you ever felt let down
by a church or church in general? How did you handle it?
b.
Do you think you have ever
let the church down or contributed to the church letting Jesus or people down?
c.
Do you think our church is
letting Jesus down right now? if so, how and why? If not, what do we need to
make sure we keep doing?
d.
Do you think our church is
letting people down right now? if so, how and why? If not, what do we need to
make sure we keep doing?
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