Words of encouragement, warning and rebuke to the church

Revelation 2:1-17 (NASB) from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

“To the angel of the church in Ephesus write:

The One who holds the seven stars in His right hand, the One who walks among the seven golden lampstands, says this:

² ‘I know your deeds and your toil and perseverance, and that you cannot tolerate evil men, and you put to the test those who call themselves apostles, and they are not, and you found them to be false; ³ and you have perseverance and have endured for My name’s sake, and have not grown weary. ⁴ But I have this against you, that you have left your first love. ⁵ Therefore remember from where you have fallen, and repent and do the deeds you did at first; or else I am coming to you and will remove your lampstand out of its place—unless you repent. ⁶ Yet this you do have, that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. ⁷ He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will grant to eat of the tree of life which is in the Paradise of God.’

⁸ “And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write:

The first and the last, who was dead, and has come to life, says this:

⁹ ‘I know your tribulation and your poverty (but you are rich), and the blasphemy by those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. ¹⁰ Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to cast some of you into prison, so that you will be tested, and you will have tribulation for ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life. ¹¹ He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes will not be hurt by the second death.’

¹² “And to the angel of the church in Pergamum write:

The One who has the sharp two-edged sword says this:

¹³ ‘I know where you dwell, where Satan’s throne is; and you hold fast My name, and did not deny My faith even in the days of Antipas, My witness, My faithful one, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells. ¹⁴ But I have a few things against you, because you have there some who hold the teaching of Balaam, who kept teaching Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols and to commit acts of immorality. ¹⁵ So you also have some who in the same way hold the teaching of the Nicolaitans. ¹⁶ Therefore repent; or else I am coming to you quickly, and I will make war 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, to him I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, and a new name written on the stone which no one knows but he who receives it.’

As we read these letters to the churches in Revelation we need to remember that they are that. These are words of encouragement, warning and rebuke to the church. These letters were written to the seven specific churches which  had been established in the regions where the apostles had carried out their call and commission. Rather than getting overly analytical regarding who and where these churches were, let’s look at the message for the church and individuals today. There are elements in each of the messages to the churches which can be applied to our individual lives and to the church as a whole in our time. Keep in mind again that these words of encouragement, warning and rebuke are for the church, for believers. We should not look outward, trying to judge or hold the world or unbelievers to these standards.

The teaching or the works of the Nicolatians is mentioned twice in these letters. The church at Ephesus was commended for hating the deeds of the Nicolatians, while the church at Pergamum was rebuked for having some who held to the teaching. The exact doctrine of the Nicolatians is not what I want to focus on. Rather this excerpt from light source .com, reveals something about the nature of the Nicolatians.

The name "Nicolaitans" is derived from the Greek word nikolaos, a compound of the words nikos and laos. The word nikos is the Greek word that means to conquer or to subdue. The word laos is the Greek word for the people. It is also where we get the word laity. When these two words are compounded into one, they form the name Nicolas, which literally means one who conquers and subdues the people. It seems to suggest that the Nicolaitans were somehow conquering and subduing the people.

Certainly in the world, in our society and our culture the goal of many is to subdue, to conquer or control others, causing them to come into alignment with a way of thinking or to actually manipulate them to do certain things. This should not be within the church. Intimidation and manipulation for the purpose of domination is witchcraft. While there are some today who boldly and proudly profess to practice witchcraft it should not be in the church. Yet anyone who uses manipulation, hype or intimidation to control others or to illicit a certain response is guilty of it. The pastor who tries to manipulate his people to follow something other than sound doctrine or the parent who uses manipulation to control their children are both guilty to some degree. As Christians we should stand firmly on the truth of God’s word. 2 Timothy 3:16 says:   All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness       We should seek and proclaim the truth of scripture, all scripture, not using out of context verses to create a doctrine to our own liking, but rather we should balance the word of God with the word of God, being careful that our doctrine is in agreement with God’s heart and will revealed throughout His word.

Let’s look at the commendation that is spoken to the churches: ‘I know your deeds and your toil and perseverance, and that you cannot tolerate evil men, and you put to the test those who call themselves apostles, and they are not, and you found them to be false; ³ and you have perseverance and have endured for My name’s sake, and have not grown weary…‘I know your tribulation and your poverty (but you are rich), and the blasphemy by those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. ¹⁰ Do not fear what you are about to suffer…¹³ ‘I know where you dwell, where Satan’s throne is; and you hold fast My name, and did not deny My faith       These all represent some of the good which can be found in the church today as it seeks to follow the will and the way of God in these dark times. The idea that we dwell where Satan’s throne is becomes more clear and more relevant as time goes on. Surely the darkness of Hell is permeating our world. Jesus though had this to say about that increasing darkness and the church; in Matthew 16:16-19 , it says: ¹⁶ Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” ¹⁷ And Jesus said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven… upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it. ¹⁹ I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.”     Jesus says that upon the rock, the foundation of the revelation that He is the Christ, the Messiah, the Savior the King of kings, the church will be built and established and the gates of Hell will not overpower it. The church today has no reason to fear at dwelling where satan has his throne. Jesus has already won the victory and has given us authority over evil and darkness.

Finally let’s look at the rebuke to the church at Ephesus. “ But I have this against you, that you have left your first love. ⁵ Therefore remember from where you have fallen, and repent and do the deeds you did at first”   As we look around and throughout creation we see that God is a God of order. The intricate and interwoven order of the design of all creation testifies of the truth of its creator. The natural laws of physics (entropy) say things will tend toward randomness not order. That natural law speaks against the thought that something of order would come from nothing or from disorder, aka a big bang.  God created the order of creation from the formlessness and void that was in the beginning.(Genesis 1) God is still and always will be a God of order. The rebuke to the church was that they had lost their first love. Jesus says the first and great commandment is: "YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.” (Matthew 22:37) If we lose that first love or even if we put anything else before that first love, we are out of order. 

 We love, because He first loved us. (1 John 4:19) All that we do, all that we say must flow out of this response. We must be people of order, keeping what is first, first and foremost.  The Spirit says:

^“ Therefore remember from where you have fallen, and repent and do the deeds you did at first; or else I am coming to you and will remove your lampstand out of its place—unless you repent… ⁷ He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will grant to eat of the tree of life which is in the Paradise of God.”

I say: Amen. Thank You heavenly Father, Lord Jesus the Christ and Holy Spirit, my guide and the revealer of truth.  Amen.