Hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

Revelation 2:1-17 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.’

It can be helpful to study the early regional churches and know their background and circumstances in order to more fully understand what is being said through the letters to the churches. We can also though understand that none of those churches, or the people in them saw the fulfillment of the prophecy written in the book of Revelation. We can then take the warnings, the encouragements and exhortation and apply it to the church today and ourselves.

When you read what was written to the church at Ephesus it sounds like they were indeed like some churches today, doing all the right things, but for the wrong reason. It sounds as though they were practicing religion, rather than walking in relationship with Christ. The Lord says:  ‘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; and you have perseverance and have endured for My name’s sake, and have not grown weary. But I have this against you, that you have left your first love. 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.  In Matthew 22:37-40, when Jesus was asked what was the greatest commandment, He said:  “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.”     Love is foundational to all that we do as believers and our love is founded in that we first love God with all our heart, soul and mind. 1 John 4:19 says:  We love, because He first loved us.  The things that we do, even the good things are not enough in the sight of God if we do them for the wrong reasons, if we do them without first loving God. 1 Corinthians 1:1-3 says:  If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing.   Like the church at Ephesus, may we repent and return to loving God with all of our heart, soul and mind. May that be the foundation and the motivation of all that we do.

The letter to Smyrna sounds more like what might be said to the church in a third world country or a place where Christians are persecuted. It says:   ‘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. 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. 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.’   Still, the western church could soon know a time when it too will be tested and have tribulation. We too should be faithful until death, that we receive the crown of life.

Finally, in today’s text it says:  to the angel of the church in Pergamum write: The One who has the sharp two-edged sword says this:  ‘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. 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. So you also have some who in the same way hold the teaching of the Nicolaitans. Therefore repent; or else I am coming to you quickly, and I will make war against them with the sword of My mouth.  He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’     There are many churches, ministries and individuals who know that to follow Jesus we must be willing to dwell in the midst of darkness. We must, like Jesus, associate with the outcasts and sinners, and because they will not come to the church, we must go where they are. We must go where Satan dwells. We must though guard against the error of some in the church in Pergamum. We must not allow false teachings and false doctrines to enter into our faith. Jude 3-4 says:  I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints. For certain persons have crept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.   We need to be certain that as we proclaim the gospel of grace to the world, we do not turn the grace of God into licentiousness. We must be certain that we do not tolerate or embrace sin, because we are in places where sin seems to prevail. In Matthew 5:14-16 Jesus says: “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.”   Only by shining the light of God and Christ in the darkness of the world can we truly show the love of God to those in darkness.

The church today and we as individuals need to heed what the Spirit says to the churches. We, in our day, have still not seen the fulfillment of the Revelation of Christ. Jesus promises good for all who endure and overcome. May we be found faithful.  

Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ; precious Holy Spirit; thank You for Your word which never changes. What You spoke two thousand years ago is still true today. May I never leave or forget my first love. May I love You with all my heart, soul and mind. If times of persecution arise, by Your strength may I be faithful and endure to the end. May I truly be a light to the darkness of this world, not hiding Your light behind the doors and the walls of the church, but rather shining it unapologetically and without compromise into the darkness of the world, that they might know Your love.   Amen.