Thing Which Are

By Pastor Tim Hitchcock

 

Introduction:

--John outlined the book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ in Revelation 1: 19.  Last week, we looked at "Things Seen."  This week we want to look at "Things Which Are".

--In chapters two and three John spoke of seven churches, which existed at the time of his writing.  Each message follows a certain format that includes seven elements:

1.) An address to the angel or messenger of each congregation

2.) A description of Christ from Revelation 1 that is unique to the church

3.) The expression, "I know thy works"

4.) A critique or an evaluation of the church

5.) An allusion to Christ's coming

6.) Admonition to the individual

7.) A promise to the overcomer

--The last four churches named reverse the order of six and seven.

--Even though these represent "Things Which Are", there is still a prophetic implication.  The seven were chosen by God and named in a specific order with information provided that actually reveals the history of the church.  We will give the name of the church, a one-word summary of the message, followed by the approximate dates of the fulfillment.

 

I.) Ephesus--Doctrine (A.D. 60-100):

Scripture: Revelation 2: 1-7

--The first church named is Ephesus, which represents the church at the close of the apostolic age.  The one word that summarizes this church is doctrine.  It was a very old and established work at the time that John wrote.  It was highly commended in various areas representing doctrinal soundness.  In spite of that there was a major flaw.

--Verse four says that the church left its first love.  This is so significant that in verse five Christ told the assembly to repent or be snuffed out.

-- The image of Christ in verse one is significant, because He is seen as the one who has the seven stars in his right hand and is in the midst of the seven candlesticks (See Revelation 1: 20).

--Christ wanted this church to understand that they had lost their focus.  They were turned aside from relationship to intellect.  They knew and understood Bible doctrine, but they forgot what it was to experience a relationship with Christ.  This is a pretty apt description of what has happened in fundamental Bible believing and preaching churches today.

--Unfortunately, doctrinal soundness is no substitute for relationship, and without doctrinal soundness it is impossible to have a relationship.  We need both to be effective Christians.

 

II.) Smyrna--Persecuted (A.D. 100-312):

Scripture: Revelation 2: 8-11

--The message to Smyrna is one of the shortest and contains only encouragement.  The word for it is persecuted. This church attempted to live their faith in Christ and was severely persecuted with wave after wave of persecution.  Foxe's Book of Martyrs details the many cruel tortures used to torment and slay the Christians.  In spite of all that, the church grew dramatically.

--The image of Christ in verse eight is that of the one who was dead and is alive.  The disciples were weak and feeble at the crucifixion, but became bold and powerful after the resurrection.  Paul's desire was to know the power of the resurrection (Philippians 3: 10).  We should have the same desire.

 

III.) Pergamos--Compromise (A.D. 312-400):

Scripture: Revelation 2: 12-17

--The word to Pergamos is compromise.  They abandoned biblical separation and compromised with the world.  In verse thirteen, they held up the name of Christ, but in fourteen they married the world.

--In A.D. 312 Constantine merged civil and spiritual authority in an unholy alliance.  The church married the world.  Balaam counseled Balak to defeat God's blessing on Israel by marrying the daughters of Moab to the sons of Israel.  In this way they would be corrupted and bring down God's judgment upon themselves.  This is what happened to the church.

--Constantine made Christianity popular.  Emperor Theodosius who died in A.D. 395 made it mandatory.  Thus the compromise was complete.

--We should note that the image of Christ in verse twelve is that of one who has the sharp sword with two edges. (Joshua 5: 13-15)  This is the sword of judgment.

 

IV.) Thyatira--Idolatry (A.D. 400-700):

Scripture: Revelation 2: 18-29

--The word is idolatry.  When Theodosius mandated Christianity, Pagan idol worshippers became Christian idol worshippers.  Jezebel seduced King Ahab to idol worship and spread this abomination to the kingdom.  Elijah the prophet tried to call Israel back to God but to no avail (I Kings 18).  The damage was done and ultimately Israel went into captivity.  God promised judgment to this church that worshipped idols too.

--The image of Christ is that of the eyes of fire and the feet like molten brass.  This fearful image speaks of life, power, and judgment.  Idols are nothing more than the work of man.  (See Isaiah 40: 19--the chains were to keep the idol upright.)

 

V.) Sardis--Darkness (A.D. 700-1500):

Scripture: Revelation 3: 1-6

--The word here is darkness.  This church represents the period of time known as the "Dark Ages."  To the secularist unbeliever, this darkness stemmed from ignorant people of faith who were caught up in religious myths and fables.

--To God, it stems from a dead church (verse one).  The church became so corrupt that the light of the gospel was hidden.  Only a remnant remained faithful (vs. 4).

 

VI.) Philadelphia--Enlightenment (A.D. 1500-1980):

Scripture: Revelation 3: 7-13

--The word is enlightenment.  Martin Luther and others attempted to reclaim the glorious light of the gospel by preaching justification by faith. God set before them an open door (verse seven) and the Reformation led to the Great Age of Evangelism.  Beginning with Carey and others in the late 1700's missions began to snowball, reaching a peak in the 1960's or 1970's.

 

VII.) Laodicea--Lukewarmness (A.D, 1980-      ):

Scripture: Revelation 3: 14-22

--The key word is lukewarmness or non-committal.  The church was characterized by material wealth and spiritual poverty.  It was exactly the opposite of the Church of Smyrna.  This material wealth led to a lukewarm attitude about the things of God.  They could take it or leave it.  They were not against the gospel but not really for it either.

--The image of Christ portrayed in verse fourteen is as the faithful and true witness.  The problem of the Laodicean church is that they were not faithful and true to the witness of Christ.  This is very much the problem of the church of our day.  The attention has shifted from the gospel of Christ to a casual, fun, and entertaining gospel of ease.  Christ has become the ticket from hell and the ticket to good times.  He is not the Christ of the Bible.

 

Conclusion:

Scripture: Revelation 3: 20

Christ's message for Laodicea and the one for our day is that He stands outside the door of the church and knocks.

Will we open the door and allow Him to come in?

Will we be His faithful and true witness to this lost and dying world?