THE CHURCH AT THE CROSSROADS (REVELATION 2)
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"Which way to town?" the stranger asked.
The local resident pointed to the right.
"And how long will it take to get there?"
The native stared at the stranger intently and shrugged.
"I know you can hear me!" the stranger shouted. "How long will it take me to get to town?"
The host shrugged again, and the stranger stomped off angrily.
A minute later, the resident shouted, "About half an hour."
The stranger turned and shouted back, "Why didn't you say so?"
"I had to see how quickly you were walking," The local replied, smiling.
The seven churches of present-day Turkey may be seen from a historical perspective, geographical nearest to the island Patmos, and ever-present challenges. Two churches are good (2nd and 6th), and the others bad and so-so. Chapter 2 rightly begins with the seven churches since the letter or the book was meant for them in the first place, as stated in the first chapter (1:4).
How would you, the church, the bride of Christ react to the Lord’s coming? Are you flippant, favorable or fearful of His coming? Would you make the turnaround, make a U-turn, return to God and turn things around?
Recall and Repent
1 "To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands: 2 I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked men, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. 3 You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary. 4 Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love. 5 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. 6 But you have this in your favor: You hate the practices 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 give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.
Yesterday was the fifth anniversary of Doris’ loss (1963-2016). I have done a few things to remember her death, as a beloved husband should do. More importantly, my grief was increasing and not decreasing at that time. On my Mondays off, I go to Flower street to buy flowers to remember her. Next, I started wearing a small locket with a sprinkle of her ashes in it. I do kiss it occasionally. Her other two sisters have the same locket. Later I wore a pair of glasses that attracted a lot of attention because one of the lenses was round and the other was square, but few noticed it immediately. Most young people would say, “Cool!” when they found out, but they looked uneasy when I told them the glasses reflect my life as a “square peg in a round hole, nothing seems to fit” mentality. A year later I decided to cut my hair off every 22nd of the month on the day she passed away. That, surprisingly, took much of my grief away. We have our names on all our books even now.
I KNOW
AGAINST YOU
IMPERATIVE
OVERCOME
VIEW
E
P
H
E
S
U
S
V 2 I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance.
4 Yet I hold this against you: (that) You have forsaken your first love.
V 5 Remember
Repent
do
V 7 hear
V 7 To him who overcomes, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.
The Functional Church:
Good vv 2-3
Bad v 4
Imperative v 5
Good v 6
S
M
Y
R
N
A
V 9 I know your afflictions and your poverty
V 10 (not) be afraid Be faithful
V 11 hear
V 11 He who overcomes will not be hurt at all by the second death.
The Faithful
Church:
v 9 Good
v 10 Imperative
P
E
R
G
A
M
O
S
V 13 I know where you live — where Satan has his throne.
V 14 Nevertheless, I have a few things against you: (that) You have people there who hold to the teaching of Balaam
V 16 Repent
V 17 hear
V 17 To him who overcomes, I will give some of the hidden manna.
The Free Church:
13 Good
14-15 Bad
16 Imperative
T
H
Y
A
T
I
R
A
V 19 I know your deeds, your love and faith, your service and perseverance
V 20 Nevertheless, I have this against you: (that) You tolerate that woman Jezebel
V 25 hold on
V 29 hear
V 26 To him who overcomes and does my will to the end, I will give authority over the nations
The Frisky Church:
v 19 Good
v 20 Bad
v 25 Good
Imperatives
S
A
R
D
I
S
3:
1-
7
Rev 3:1-2
know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead.
NIV
Rev 3:1
I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead.
NIV
Rev 3:1
write
NIV
Rev 3:2
Wake up! Strengthen w
NIV
Rev 3:3
Remember
NIV
Rev 3:3
obey it, and repent.
Rev 3:5
hear
Rev 3:5
He who overcomes will, like them, be dressed in white.
NIV
The Frozen Church:
P
H
I
L
A
D
E
L
P
H
I
A
3:
7-
13
Rev 3:8
I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut.
NIV
Rev 3:8
I know that you have little strength,
Rev 3:7
write
Rev 3:8
See
Rev 3:11
Hold on
Rev 3:13
hear
Rev 3:12
12 Him who overcomes I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will he leave it.
NIV
The Fruitful Church:
productive
L
A
O
D
I
C
E
A
3:
14-21
Rev 3:15
I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot.
NIV
Rev 3:15
5 I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot.
Rev 3:14
write
Rev 3:19-20
be earnest, and repent.
Rev 3:22
hear
Rev 3:21
21 To him who overcomes, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne
NIV
The Flat
Church:
Paul founded the church in Ephesus on his second missionary journey and its location is nearest to John at Patmos. The nouns “deeds” and “hard work” (v 2) is dependent, with no “your” in Greek. Labor/hard work in KJV (kopos) connotes trouble (Matt 26:10), weariness (2 Cor 11:27) and labor (John 4:38). While “deeds” and “hard work” are actions, perseverance or patience is attitude. Patience (vv 2,3) abound in the church. There is more patience in this chapter (vv 2, 3, 19) than any chapter in the Bible.
There are three “not” (ouk) in the “you” sentences (vv 2-3):
- you cannot tolerate wicked men
- you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. - you have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary (v 3).
For all their perfections, there was one imperfection: they have left their first love. They have lost the loving feeling. There is no devotion in their deeds, lots of action without affection and plenty of projects but no passion. God was not first place in their life, not 100 percent, front and center of their lives. Everything is perfunctory, partial and predictable. Their service was heartless, hardened and hollow.
Remember (mnemoneuo = memory) and repent (meta-noeo) are derived from the “mind.” The third imperative “do” is the motion. You might be surprised to know “do” in the imperative only occurs twice in the epistles (2 Tim 4:5) and once in Revelation (30x “do” in Revelation). The key, however, is repent, because half of its 12 occurrences in Revelation are in chapter 2 and it occurs twice in verse 2. The imperatives “repent” and remember” are inseparable in Revelation. Repent (meta-noeo) is “after” (meta) and nous (mind). It means after-mind or later-thinking.
Remember (VM)
Awareness
Brain
Repent
Attitude
Being
Do
Action
Behavior
Resist and Repel
8 "To the angel of the church in Smyrna write: These are the words of him who is the First and the Last, who died and came to life again. 9 I know your afflictions and your poverty — yet you are rich! I know the slander of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. 10 Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful, even to the point of 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 at all by the second death.
PASTORING A CHURCH IN 2020 BE LIKE...
3 Weeks Ago:
Church Member #1, “Pastor, why in the world are you reopening church services so soon?”
Church Member #2, “Pastor, why in the world did you ever shut down church services in the first place?”
2 Weeks Ago:
Church Member #1, “Pastor, you don’t seem to care about the struggle of minorities.”
Church Member #2, “Pastor, why haven’t you been more supportive of the police?”
1 Week Ago:
Church Member #1, “Require Masks! Clearly you don’t care about human lives.”
Church Member #2, “Require Masks? Clearly you don’t care about human liberty.”
This Week:
“Lord, are you sure you don’t want me to sell cars for a living?”
The second church is the shortest of seven messages. Notable in the passage is the fact that there is no rebuke, reproach and reprimand for the faithful, suffering Christians of Smyrna. This is in striking contrast with Christ's evaluations of five other churches. Notable are three words: tribulation (vv 9, 10), prison and death (v 10, 11), of which tribulation and death are mentioned twice. Smyrna's sufferings, though extremely difficult, had helped keep them pure in faith, passionate for Christ and persistent in life. A church without suffering is a church without substance, sacrifice and strength. The church in Smyrna faced three tests of character: afflictions, poverty and slander (v 9), or harassment, hunger and humiliation.
“Do not” (do not be afraid) in verse 10 is not the regular “not” that occurs 18 times in Revelation, but the irregular, emphatic “never” (mede) that occurs the first time and only one other time in the book (Rev 3:11) Even the first “do not be afraid” admonition in the book, (1:17) uses the regular “not.”
The kind of suffering Smyrna faced is worth our study and scrutiny. Verse 10 has all the five W’s and 1 H, a journalist’s favorite questions:
“What
Fear not (v 10) + be faithful
Danger
“Who”
the devil (v 10)
Devil
Where
In prison
Detention
When
Ten days
Duration
Why
In order (hina) to test you
Depth
How
To the point of death
Determination
“Be faithful even to the point of death” is not lightly given. Faithfulness and death are linked for the first time in the Bible, because desperate and difficult times call for defiant and die-hard tenacity.
Reprove and Remove
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.
In C. S. Lewis’ book The Screwtape Letters, a senior demon (Screwtape) advised his protégé (his nephew Wormwood) how to make man sin:
“I know we have won many a soul through pleasure. All the same it is His invention, not ours. He made the pleasures: all our research so far has not enabled us to produce one.
All we can do is to encourage the humans to take the pleasures which our Enemy has produced, at times, or in ways, or in degrees, which He has forbidden. Hence we always try to work away from the natural condition of any pleasure to that in which it is least natural, least redolent of its Maker, and least pleasurable. An ever increasing craving for an ever diminishing pleasure is the formula.”
The text suggests the false teachers were actively involved the church, fellowship and even leadership. The third and fourth church suffered the most condemnation for their diabolical teachings. Like the Israelites of old, Balaam knew the Moabites could not harm the Israelites physically, so the best way was to seduce them to sin morally. Two words are prominent in English. The first is “entice” or “skandalon” in Greek. A scandal is an occasion to fall (Rom 14:13), flop or fumble.
This verb “commit sexual immorality” in Greek is “porneuo,” where the noun pornography is derived, occurs 8 times in the Bible, thrice for the church in Corinth (1 Cor 6:18, 10:8 twice) and the most in the last days of Revelation (Rev 2:14, 20, 17:2, 18:3, 9). Skandalon and porneuo are contrast. The first is before and the latter is after.
The adjective “sharp” (v 12) occurs three times in the Bible. It means dangerous, destructive and damaging. piercing, penetrating and painful. The only occurrence for “double-edge” outside of Revelation refers to “penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” (Heb 4:12-13) The sword is to stab, slice and slay.
Remain true (v 13) is lay hold (Matt 12:11), retain (John 20:23) and hold fast (Rev 2:13). It is not to let go, lay aside or leave behind.
Revive and Reign
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.
One of the saddest moral lapse is that of international Christian apologist Ravi Zacharias. When the massage parlor scandal broke but before the executive committee investigated, I said to the leader heading the local chapter near me: “Better investigate!”
The leader said, “Hello Victor, yes. The ministry takes this allegation seriously. We do not believe this allegations, of course, but do not to want to simply brush them aside either.”
Four months later the investigation found the late apologist had abused massage therapists in the United States and abroad over more than a decade while the ministry led by his family members and loyal allies failed to hold him accountable. A 12-page report released the man’s ministry confirms abuse at day spas he owned in Atlanta and uncovers five additional victims in the US, as well as evidence of sexual abuse in Thailand, India, and Malaysia. A limited review of his old devices found hundreds of images of young women, including some that showed the women naked.
https://www.christianitytoday.com/news/2021/february/ravi-zacharias-rzim-investigation-sexual-abuse-sexting-rape.html
Thyatira is the first church Paul went to in Europe (Acts 16:14). “His eyes a flame of fire” is in Revelation only (Rev 1:14, 2:18, 19:12). The noun “fire” (v 18) occurs 75 times in the Bible, one third of it is in Revelation, the first two times referring to “his eyes a flame of fire.” Eyes and feet are repetition of chapter 1. The pronoun “your” shows I know your deeds, your love and faith, your perseverance and your service (works).
The third church’s “repent” (v 21) in the chapter 2 is the form of purpose clause “hina subjunctive, in contrast with imperative in verses 5 and 16), even with the conclusion that she did not repent. The verb occurs 34 times in the Bible, but one third or 12 times are in Revelation, more than any gospel book, and about half or six times is in chapter 2. What is to repent? It is to run from sin and run to God, leave the past behind and move ahead, not profess but confess.
The Lord condemns these heretics in harsh, humiliating and hopeless language. Note the verbs:
21 I have given (aorist tense) her time to repent of her immorality, but she is unwilling.
22 So I will cast (present tense) 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 (future tense) her children dead.
Unrepentance leads to three things – upon self, upon her children and upon her fellow accomplice: (1) I will cast her on a bed of suffering, (2) I will make those who commit adultery with her suffer intensely, unless they repent of her ways. (3) I will strike her children dead (vv 22-23). Jesus is the only ‘active” person to kill in Revelation - “I will kill,” because all other “kill” verb are passive in the book. Tribulation occurs five times in Revelation, but thrice in chapter 2 (2:9, 10, 22). It is a time of unbearable??, unimaginable?? and unrestricted?? fire, compared to lampstand (v 5), sword in the last church.
Conclusion:
Revelation 2 was written not for our condemnation but for our correction. We are to hear (vv 7, 11, 17, 29) and overcome (vv 7, 11, 17, 26) to obtain a gift (vv 7, 10, 17, 26) from God.
Ephesus
Smyrna
Pergamum
Thyatira (vv 19
7 let him hear
11 let him hear
17 let him hear
29 let him hear
7 To him who overcomes
11 He who overcomes
17 To him who overcomes
26 To him who overcomes
7 I will give the right to eat from the tree of life
10 I will give you the crown of life.
17 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.
26 I will give authority over the nations—
Rev 2:27-29
7 'He will rule them with an iron scepter;
28 I will also give him the morning star.
(1) Are you fearful or faithful?
(2) Are you favored or flawed?
(3) Are you fruitful or flaky?
