Today I dip my toe into the Book of Revelation. Notice I am not plunging in. The Book of Revelation is the only book that begins with a blessing and ends with a curse. “God blesses the one who reads the words of this prophecy to the church, and he blesses all who listen to its message and obey what it says, for the time is near.” (Rev 1:3)
“And I solemnly declare to everyone who hears the words of prophecy written in this book: If anyone adds anything to what is written here, God will add to that person the plagues described in this book. And if anyone removes any of the words from this book of prophecy, God will remove that person’s share in the tree of life and in the holy city that are described in this book.” (Rev 22:18-19)
We should understand how urgent this message is to the church and how delicately it should be handled. I assure you I take this charge very serious and I pray you will also. We must tread these prophetic waters lightly. So let us begin with a prayer for understanding.
I want to discuss the seven churches found in the opening chapters of Revelation. These were seven actual churches that existed at the time Revelation was written. Therefore, it is safe to assume that these letters were addressed to these particular churches. Some scholars also think they reflect the seven different ages the church has gone through from the time of the Apostles, to the dark ages, until finally the end time church. However, I believe that it also paints a picture of the church today.
When addressing the seven churches Jesus has a five-fold format. He reveals himself. He encourages the church. He points out their shortcomings. He pleads for them to repent. He reveals his blessing or his cursing against them. This format holds true to five of the seven churches but two churches we will discover have no shortcomings or need to repent.
Before we begin to develop our seven characteristics of today’s church let us discover how He reveals himself. He does so in Revelation chapters 2 and 3.
He says walks among his church. The word “church” comes from the Greek word “Ekklesia” meaning “called out one’s”. Jesus “called out the one’s He wanted to go with him.” (Mark 3:13) We have been “called out of the darkness into the light”. (1 Peter 2:9)
Jesus walks with us in every aspect of our life through the presence of the Holy Spirit. He proclaims his mastery over us by reminding us that, through his resurrection, He is the beginning and the end of all things. He proclaims the ability of his word to wound and to heal. His eyes are like flames of fire revealing every hidden thing in our lives and his feet like bronze treading where He wishes to go. We cannot hide from him or escape from him. He is the absolute perfection of God, equal to him in every way. He is the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the new birth.
Now that He has revealed himself let us discover the seven traits of our modern day Christians.
1) Are you the “Ephesus” Christian?
“I know all the things you do. I have seen your hard work and your patient endurance. I know you don’t tolerate evil people. You have examined the claims of those who say they are apostles but are not. You have discovered they are liars. You have patiently suffered for me without quitting. But this is in your favor: You hate the evil deeds of the Nicolaitans, just as I do.” (Rev 2:2, 6)
We work hard in serving the Lord. We patiently endure while waiting on his return. We have no tolerance for evil people. We recognize false teaching and are not easily persuaded. We do not give up when we are discouraged. We pay heed to Paul’s advice,
“I know that false teachers, like vicious wolves, will come in among you after I leave, not sparing the flock. Even some men from your own group will rise up and distort the truth in order to draw a following.” (Acts 20:29-30)
When exposed to the doctrine of living however you desire without fear of any judgment we rejected it. We reject the teaching that it does not matter what we do with our body as long as our spirit is saved. We understand that you can in fact walk away, by your own choosing, from Jesus and lose your salvation. “For it is impossible to bring back to repentance those who were once enlightened—those who have experienced the good things of heaven and shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the power of the age to come— and who then turn away from God. It is impossible to bring such people back to repentance; by rejecting the Son of God, they themselves are nailing him to the cross once again and holding him up to public shame.” (Hebrews 6:4-6) Jesus should be pleased with our performance.
Listen Christian “But I have this complaint against you. You don’t love me or each other as you did at first! Look how far you have fallen! Turn back to me and do the works you did at first.” (Rev 2:4-5)
Jesus says our heart is not right. Outwardly, this is the Christian to be. People envy our walk with the Lord. We look spiritually healthy and vibrant. But on the inside, we are sick and depraved. Serving Jesus is routine. There is no more excitement.
Jesus says remember, repent, and love. With every song, remember his sacrifice for us, repent of our uncaring heart, and love. With every word taught, remember how deep in sin we once were, repent of our ungratefulness to be taught by the Holy Spirit, and reflect his teachings by loving those around us.
If we do not we run the danger of diminishing the influence of the Holy Spirit in our lives. However, if we do we are promised eternal life.
2) Are you the “Pergamum” Christian?
“I know that you live in the city where Satan has his throne, yet you have remained loyal to me. You refused to deny me even when Antipas, my faithful witness, was martyred among you there in Satan’s city. (Rev 2:13)
We live in the midst of an evil world. We are constantly bombarded by temptations, on TV and internet. We see every day the wickedness of mankind against each other. We are told very clearly by the Word that “Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe.” (2 Cor 4:4) While it is true that God cast him down, it was the sin of man that empowered his kingdom and still does. But we remain faithful to Jesus. We can hold our head high.
“But I have a few complaints against you. You tolerate some among you whose teaching is like that of Balaam, who showed Balak how to trip up the people of Israel. He taught them to sin by eating food offered to idols and by committing sexual sin. In a similar way, you have some Nicolaitans among you who follow the same teaching. (Rev 2:14-15)
We have become tolerant. We tolerate sexual immorality in our gatherings. We tolerate the worship of idols. We brag about our tolerance. Paul found the same situation in Corinth. “I can hardly believe the report about the sexual immorality going on among you—something that even pagans don’t do. I am told that a man in your church is living in sin with his stepmother. You are so proud of yourselves, but you should be mourning in sorrow and shame. And you should remove this man from your fellowship. Your boasting about this is terrible. Don’t you realize that this sin is like a little yeast that spreads through the whole batch of dough? Your boasting about this is terrible. Don’t you realize that this sin is like a little yeast that spreads through the whole batch of dough?” (1 Cor 5:1-2, 6)
Jesus is not pleased with sins that are tolerated. We must take a stand or we have this promise. “Repent of your sin, or I will come to you suddenly and fight against them with the sword of my mouth.” (Rev 2:16) He promises to send his living word, the Holy Spirit to do battle against our sin resulting in our lives being restless and empty of joy.
3) Are you the “Thyatira” Christian? “I know all the things you do. I have seen your love, your faith, your service, and your patient endurance. And I can see your constant improvement in all these things. (Rev 2:19)
We are the growing Christian. We are constantly showing more love, more faith, more service, and more endurance. People look at us and shower us with praises by telling us all the great things we will accomplish for the Lord. But we must be careful.
“But I have this complaint against you. You are permitting that woman—that Jezebel who calls herself a prophet—to lead my servants astray. (Rev 2:20)
Over the years I have experienced many people prophesying. Without doubt most of these were women. Women seem to have a more natural tendency to be sensitive to God’s directives. There is, however, a risk to allowing prophecy to take place. There are people who will prophecy based on their knowledge of our desires. And they can easily disrupt a church body and lead astray from God’s will an individual. Prophecy spoken into my own life caused me to walk in rebellion against a lead pastor that led to devastating results for that particular body. Due to my lessons learned prophecy must be and will be channeled through my leadership. I consider God’s warning in this situation to be greatly feared. “Therefore, I will throw her on a bed of suffering, and those who commit adultery with her will suffer greatly unless they repent and turn away from her evil deeds. (Rev 2:22)
I also recommend reading “Thus saith the Lord” by John Bevere.
4) Are you the “Sardis” Christian? “I know all the things you do, and that you have a reputation for being alive—but you are dead. Wake up! Strengthen what little remains, for even what is left is almost dead. I find that your actions do not meet the requirements of my God. (Rev 3:2)
I have put myself all the other categories but I will not put myself in this one. If you are the “Sardis” Christian you are in some serious trouble. There is absolutely nothing good about being this Christian. You are dead. You are a zombie. You look alive. You act the part of a Christian, but inside you are spiritually dead. “Just as the body is dead without breath, so also faith is dead without good works.” (James 2:26) Do not leave here today dead. Strengthen what little remains. Because if you are completely dead, you are completely apart from God. And Jesus warns that He will come for you like a thief in the night.
5) Are you the “Laodecia” Christian? “I know all the things you do, that you are neither hot nor cold. I wish that you were one or the other! But since you are like lukewarm water, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth!
(Rev 3:15-16)
Let’s understand the terminology. Jesus is not speaking of our lack of enthusiasm. If that were the case He would never be indifferent to us being “hot” for him. This is a reference to the usefulness of water. Hot water cleanses, cold water refreshes. We can have a ministry of repentance, calling others to be cleansed from their sin. Or we can have a ministry of encouragement. But we have neither.
When I was a kid I couldn’t understand why something cold got warm but something warm got cold. Room temperature did not make sense to me. We become “room temperature” Christians. We adapt to whatever is going around us. We do not reflect Jesus enough to lead others to repentance, nor are we pleasant enough to encourage others. We are hypocrites. And Jesus says He will spit us out. Remember, you had to have once been in to be spit out.
6) Are you the “Smyrna” Christian? “I know about your suffering and your poverty—but you are rich! I know the blasphemy of those opposing you. They say they are Jews, but they are not, because their synagogue belongs to Satan. (Rev 2:9)
In the eyes of Jesus we suffer for our beliefs. We suffer because we can not afford to give into the call of the flesh as the world and some fellow Christians do. We deprive ourselves of worldly pleasures and luxuries. We live in poverty. Not material but spiritual poverty realizing our need for Jesus. We are ridiculed for our beliefs by those who enjoy “life” the way we can’t. Jesus finds no fault with us. And we have a promise that they don’t have, “The Crown of Life”
7) Are you the “Philadelphia” Christian? “I know all the things you do, and I have opened a door for you that no one can close. You have little strength, yet you obeyed my word and did not deny me. (Rev 3:8) We confess our weakness and rely on Jesus for our strength to obey his word. We are known by our
life-style to be one of his followers therefore not denying him. Jesus finds no fault with us and gives us an amazing promise.
“Because you have obeyed my command to persevere, I will protect you from the great time of testing that will come upon the whole world to test those who belong to this world.” (Rev 3:10) Could this be a reference to the Rapture of the church? If so, it’s only promised to those who obey his word and lives a life that does not deny him.
The truth is there is a bit of all these traits in us. There are times when we have not truly reflected his church. But as the time draws near for his return we must recapture that first love. We must not be tolerant of the sin in our lives. We must have a better knowledge of the truth of his word. We must became encouragers and call others to repentance. Let us be the Christians that rely on Jesus, that obey him, and never deny him with our words and our lives.
