Seven letters and time for personal reflection, part 2

(Rewritten notes from a message given on Aug. 16, 2009, at Corona International Christian Fellowship.)

The remaining schedule (reading ahead is encouraged!):

Aug. 16: Revelation 2:12-29
Aug. 23: Revelation 3:1-13
Aug. 30: Revelation 3:14-22, maybe into Revelation 4

Our mindset as we study these two chapters in Revelation

2 Timothy 3:1-5

But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God — having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them.

In other words, there are people within the body of believers in Christ who are not believers, but pretenders – and they, in these last days will (and do) live and teach such a life. We need to be watchful of them and HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH THEM.

2 Corinthians 13:5

Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you—unless, of course, you fail the test?

So we’re going to enter a period of self-examination, both as a church and as the people who make up the church, with the help of the Lord Himself through His holy Word.

Warren Weirsbe says this:

Only the Head of the church, Jesus Christ, can accurately inspect each church and know its true condition, because He sees the internals, not only the externals. In these special messages to the seven churches in Asia Minor, the Lord gave each assembly an “X ray” of its condition. But He intended for all the churches to read these messages and benefit from them.

But the Lord was also speaking to individuals, and this is where you and I come in. “He that hath an ear, let him hear.” Churches are made up of individuals, and it is individuals who determine the spiritual life of the assembly. So, while reading these messages, we must apply them personally as we examine our own hearts.

Finally, we must keep in mind that John was a pastor at heart, seeking to encourage these churches during a difficult time of persecution. Before Christ judges the world, He must judge His own people (1 Peter 4:17: “For it is time for judgment to begin with the family of God; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God?”).

A purified church need never fear the attacks of Satan or men.

Jesus said this:

Blessed is the one who reads the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near.

Recap of last week (Aug. 9):

Teaching point No. 1
Revelation 2:1-12, the letter to the church in Ephesus

It’s possible to do great things – have great programs, over the odds in meeting the needs of people around you, standing up for the truth by rejecting falsehoods – without Jesus. It’s possible to love ministry, the activity and results of ministry, and not love Jesus.

Application, from Revelation 2:6, Jesus says:

Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place.

For reflection (just you, the Lord and His Word, one-on-one):
Have I departed, left, taken for granted, my first love while being active in the works and activities related to the church?

Teaching Point No. 2
Letter to the church in Syrmna

When we follow Jesus with everything we’ve got, when Jesus is our EVERYTHING, there are times we’re going to feel beat up, get beat up, disrespected, insulted, ignored and feel like the whole world is against us.

Application, Revelation 2:10b, Jesus says:
Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life.

For reflection (just you, the Lord and His Word, one-on-one):
Have I ever been persecuted for His sake? If not, why not?

Aug. 16 study

Revelation 2:12-29

12 “To the angel of the church in Pergamum write:

These are the words of him who has the sharp, double-edged sword. 13 I know where you live—where Satan has his throne. Yet you remain true to my name. You did not renounce your faith in me, even in the days of Antipas, my faithful witness, who was put to death in your city—where Satan lives.

14 Nevertheless, I have a few things against you: You have people there who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to entice the Israelites to sin by eating food sacrificed to idols and by committing sexual immorality. 15 Likewise you also have those who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans. 16 Repent therefore! Otherwise, I will soon come to you and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.

17 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give him a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to him who receives it.

18 “To the angel of the church in Thyatira write:

These are the words of the Son of God, whose eyes are like blazing fire and whose feet are like burnished bronze. 19 I know your deeds, your love and faith, your service and perseverance, and that you are now doing more than you did at first.

20 Nevertheless, I have this against you: You tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess. By her teaching she misleads my servants into sexual immorality and the eating of food sacrificed to idols. 21 I have given her time to repent of her immorality, but she is unwilling. 22 So I will cast her on a bed of suffering, and I will make those who commit adultery with her suffer intensely, unless they repent of her ways. 23 I will strike her children dead. Then all the churches will know that I am he who searches hearts and minds, and I will repay each of you according to your deeds. 24 Now I say to the rest of you in Thyatira, to you who do not hold to her teaching and have not learned Satan’s so-called deep secrets (I will not impose any other burden on you): 25 Only hold on to what you have until I come.

26 To him who overcomes and does my will to the end, I will give authority over the nations—

27 ‘He will rule them with an iron scepter;
he will dash them to pieces like pottery’—

just as I have received authority from my Father. 28 I will also give him the morning star. 29 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

Teaching Point No. 1
Letter to the church in Pergamum

While many in the church will follow Jesus wholeheartedly as evil and immorality surround them and attack them, they need to also be watchful of compromises in morals or teaching, and be against deviating from the purity of Biblical truth required of Christians.

The city of Pergamum, or Pergamos, was a wealthy city, but also wicked. People in its pagan cults worshiped Athena, Asclepius, Dionysus, and Zeus. They lived where Satan has his throne. This may refer to the great temple of Asclepius,a pagan god of healing represented in the form of a serpent. Further recognition of Satan is indicated at the close of the verse. Pergamum was where Satan lives. The saints there were commended for being true, even when Antipas (which means “against all”) was martyred. Nothing is known of this incident. But, some Bible scholars say that it is possible Antipas stood for Christ against all opposition, and was martyred because of it. But we don’t know for sure.

Jesus does commend them for their steadfastness to their faith in Him in spite of all these obstacles. And think of it in our day. Isn’t there a lot of opposition to the things of Jesus and all that He stands for? Don’t we face that in some shape or form? Aren’t there some in the church who are being martyred for the sake of His name?
YET, Jesus holds this against them. They:

1) tolerated immorality among them. Jesus refers to Balaam (more on him in Numbers 22-25, 31), and that, like the Israelites in the desert. Balaam couldn’t curse the Isrealites as Balak, the king of the Moabites wanted him to, but he did somehow influence Balak to send women to the Israelite men. That corrupted them, both physically, but also spiritually, because these women led the Israelite men into idolatry. In Pergamum, the church apparently was doing nothing about it. It’s sort of like the situation with the church in Corinth. Remember in Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, he sharply rebukes them for allowing sexual immorality to take place among them? It was blantant, and no one said anything to the one who was sinning – they acted either as if they didn’t know, or as if it was OK.

NOTE on the meat sacrificed to idols: in Acts, the church leaders say Gentiles don’t have to be circumsized, but said they should not eat meat sacrificed to idols. In 1 Corinthians, Paul says that believers can eat meat sacrificed to idols because it’s not as if an idol is real. But he urges mature believers not to do so if it will make a new believer sin. And now, Jesus condemns some in the Pergamum church for doing so. Contradiction??? No … the historical context wasn’t so much the meat itself, but where people when to get this meat … usually at the temples of false gods … and in those days, those temples also had temple prostitutes. And that presented a huge temptation for the believers to fall into immorality and get drawn into idol worship (see Solomon). Can you say Balaam and Balak all over again?

2) followed the teachings of the Nicolatians (meaning “to conquer the people”). Bible scholars say this teaching called for “cleregy” and “laity” ranking in the church, where the clergy class ruled over the church, which is nowhere taught in the Bible. Remember that the church in Ephesus did not tolerate false teaching, yet the church in Pergamum somehow allowed it to happen. The sin here is to not hate what God Himself hates.

Just an observation: Don’t we see tolerance of immorality and false doctrine today? And I’m not just talking about church as a body, but also church as individuals. Just reading articles about the debate of allowing gays and lesbians into ministry, for example, it seems that some in the church are compromising Biblical principle in favor world’s idea of what is moral. The idea is to make church more “acceptable” to society, rather than the church be the moral compass for society. And, as individuals, we may know of a brother or sister who is making moral compromises with the world and instead of lovingly pulling him or her away from that, we just stand by and watch.

So Jesus says this has to be fixed. In verse 16, the Lord says: “Repent therefore! Otherwise, I will soon come to you and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.”

And they have to fix it by repenting – turning away – from allowing these things to happen.
Jesus uses this characteristic of Himself in verse 12 also: The One “who has the sharp, double-edged sword” (also mentioned in 1:16; 2:16; 19:15, 21). The sword is a symbolic representation of the Word of God’s twofold ability to separate believers from the world and to condemn the world for its sin. It was the sword of salvation as well as the sword of death.

Hebrews 4:12

For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

So Jesus, the Logos, the Living Word, the Living Truth, rebukes those sinning in Pergamum, urging them to repent or face judgment. And those who do, those who overcome, there is this in verse 17:

1) hidden manna – which may refer to Christ as the Bread from heaven, the unseen source of the believer’s nourishment and strength.

John 6:48-51

I am the bread of life. Your forefathers ate the manna in the desert, yet they died. But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which a man may eat and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world."

Whereas Israel received physical food, manna, the church receives spiritual food, and food that gives man eternal life.

2) There is also this “white stone with a new name written on it, known only to him who receives it.” There are several ideas Bible scholars have on what this means. Because of that, because Jesus said “known only to him who receives it,” and because I don’t want to confuse you, I’m going to be a wimp and say the Lord makes all things new (Revelation 21:5), and also refer to this verse:

Deuteronomy 29:29

The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law.

Application:
Know the Word. Know the Word to know when YOU are slipping and sinning. Know the Word to know when your brothers and sisters are slipping and sinning. Know the Word to know how to correct yourself and those who are slipping and sinning, and get back on the straight and narrow path of the Lord.

For reflection (just you, the Lord and His Word, one-on-one):

Has there ever been a time when YOU did something wrong or you saw something wrong and ignored it when you knew full well that God, through His Word, asked you to act on it?

Think of James 5:19-20

My brothers, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring him back, remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save him from death and cover over a multitude of sins.

Teaching Point No. 2
Letter to the church in Thyatira

In the face of a false teacher in your midst, stand firm on the truth of God.

Thyatira was a small church in smaller city than Ephesus, Smyrna and Pergamum. In Acts 16:14-15, we learn that Lydia, a businesswoman and trader of purple cloth from Thyatira, came to know the Lord in Philippi when Paul was there. So it’s a reasonable guess that Lydia shared the Gospel in her hometown. And while Jesus did credit it for the things they did, their love and faith and perseverance, the opened the door for a false teacher, ironically also a woman to come in and start leading people away from the truth of God.

Jesus’ major condemnation concerned that woman Jezebel, who claimed to be a prophetess and taught believers to take part in the sexual immorality that accompanied pagan religion and to eat food sacrificed to idols. The sin is similar to the one happening in Pergamum – and accepted as normal in Thyatira. Yet what was acceptable to that local society was abhorred by Christ. Their departure from morality had gone on for some time (v. 21, Jesus said he had time to repent, and the Lord is patient).

The prophetess name “Jezebel” suggests that she was corrupting the Thyatira church much like Ahab’s wife Jezebel corrupted Israel (1 Kings 16:31-33). Jezebel of the OT became so powerful that the prophet Elijah ran into the wilderness when he heard that she wanted to kill him – and this after he witnessed the Lord Himself wipe out 450 prophets of the false god Baal.

Christ – whose self-description was the “Son of God” whose eyes were like blazing fire and whose feet were like burnished bronze, signifying his deity – promised sudden and immediate judgment, called her sin adultery and promised that all who followed her would suffer intensely. He also promised, “I will strike her children dead,” meaning that suffering would extend also to her followers. The judgment would be so dramatic that all the churches would know that Christ is the One who searches hearts and minds.

Yet, for those who remained faithful to Him, Jesus encouraged them this way: Stay the course, which leads to the application

Application
Stand firm in Him who saved You.

Jesus said in verses 24-25:

Now I say to the rest of you in Thyatira, to you who do not hold to her teaching and have not learned Satan’s so-called deep secrets (I will not impose any other burden on you): Only hold on to what you have until I come.

It’s easy to not stand firm, especially when there is such an bad influence near you, and that bad influence says, “Be like everyone else.”

But we were called to be different from everyone else. We were called to be NOT of the world, even though we are in the world.

In Jesus prayer the night before He went to the cross, He said to the Father:

John 17:15
My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one.

If Jesus, God in the flesh, God whose promises never fail, prayed that for you and me, rest assured that we will overcome. And to those who overcome

and does my will to the end, I will give authority over the nations—
‘He will rule them with an iron scepter;
he will dash them to pieces like pottery’—
just as I have received authority from my Father. 28 I will also give him the morning star.

We will rule with Jesus in the millennium – the 1,000-year reign – after His return, as it says later in Revelation.
And the morning star that is given? The Bible doesn’t explain what it is in this context, but Bible scholars say that just as the morning star appears in the darkness just before dawn, this could symbolize the Rapture, when Jesus comes for His church just before the darkness of the seven-year tribulation.

For reflection (just you, the Lord and His Word, one-on-one):
Two keywords today:

Repent
Turn away from the things you are doing that are wrong, and turn back to your first love.

Overcome
That in Jesus, when we repent and turn back to him, we will have peace even in a troubled, fallen world. But if we are in Him, we have overcome all that with Him.

John 16:33

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."

Questions? Insights? Have you been like a Berean and done the noble thing by check what's here against Scripture? Leave your comments below, after the video of Hillsong United's "Till I See You," a great reminder of what awaits him who overcomes ...