Revelation 2:8-3:6
Please re-read Revelation, Chapters 2 and 3 (I posted the complete New English Translation of those two chapters at the end of my last post). Do you remember the basic pattern we talked about in the previous post?
- Commendation
- Condemnation
- “Repent”
- “The one who has an ear had better hear…”
- A promise to the one who overcomes (or, “conquers”)
I say, “basic,” because it is just that: “basic”. There are certain deviations from that pattern. For instance, in the letter to the next church, the church at Smyrna, there is no condemnation. Jesus did not rebuke them for anything. (see Revelation 2, verses 8-11) Jesus said, “I know the distress you are suffering.” He went on to say, “I know your poverty (but you are rich). Jesus is better at evaluating our condition than anyone else. If Jesus calls you a success it does not matter if everyone else calls you a failure! You are successful if He says so. Had I been a member of the church at Smyrna, I would not have liked the next words from Jesus. More suffering is on the way. That was the bad news. The good news: it would be temporary. I really liked a phrase I read in a devotional from YouVersion a few weeks ago – “Evil has an end date.” That is an important theme of the Book of Revelation. Evil will end. Your trouble is temporary! The message from Jesus to the folks at Smyrna: “Do not be afraid of the things you are about to suffer…Remain faithful even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown that is life itself. (Rev. 2:10)
We live in a sin cursed world. Revelation tells us that there will be a definite end to sin and suffering. Jesus says to all of us: “These things have I spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but TAKE COURAGE; I HAVE OVERCOME THE WORLD.” (John 16:33 NASB) The message to Smyrna is also to us because He said, “The one who has an ear had better hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who conquers will in no way be harmed by the second death.” The word for conquers is frequently translated, “overcomes”.
Nay, in all these things WE ARE MORE THAN CONQUERORS through Him that loved us. (Romans 8:37)
We will talk more about “the second death” in chapter 20. It refers to eternal death; spiritual death; the death after physical death; the death that means to be completely separated from God and everything that is good forever and ever without any hope. As a believer in Christ you “will in no way be harmed by the second death.” Praise the Lord!
The next church is Pergamum. (See Revelation 2:12-17) Jesus, again, says “I know…” He knew where they lived. Obviously, a very wicked place: “where Satan’s throne is.” (I wonder which city or cities would be described that way today?) Even in such a wicked, difficult place, the Christians there continued to cling to the Lord and they continued to remain faithful. However, there were some problems there. Some followed the teachings of Balaam and some the teachings of the Nicolaitans. Both cases involved compromising with the world. “Pergamum chose to love the sinner and accept the sin.”1 We should love the sinner and hate the sin. They had hope though! They could “repent” – change the way they thought and change the way they lived. “To the one who conquers, I will give him some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone…” More hope and more promises for the future! The manna refers to the divine food provided to the Israelites as they wandered in the wilderness. The white stone could refer to the white and black stones that were cast in that day indicating innocence or guilt. A study of history and culture can help us determine the meaning of some difficult phrases. There could be some disagreement about the white stone and the hidden manna. One thing that I am sure of is what the Bible says. It says God gives good gifts (James 1:17). I am ready to receive anything God wants to give me because I know that it will be good and right and true to the character of God.
To the church at Thyatira, Jesus, once again, declared, “I know…” He knew their deeds, their love, their faith, their service to others, and their steadfast endurance. A bunch of gold stars for the believers at Thyatira. Not only that, He said, “your more recent deeds are greater than your earlier ones.” They seemed to be getting better and better. But not all peaches and cream: they tolerated that Jezebel of a woman, who called herself a prophetess, but was deceiving believers and leading them into immorality and compromise. The Lord gave her time to repent but she would not. It is NOT commendable for churches and believers to tolerate immoral behavior and immoral teaching. The actions of some people in the church are not to be tolerated. But not everyone at Thyatira held to those teachings. To those who did not, He said, “Hold on to what you have until I come. And to the one who conquers and who continues in my deeds until the end, I will give him authority over the nations” – Revelation 2:25,26. When Jesus sets up His Kingdom on earth, we will rule and reign with Him. Paul wrote this to Timothy: If we endure, we will also reign with Him… – 2 Timothy 2:12.
The Lord’s message to the church at Sardis (Revelation 3:1-6) bothers me more than any of the other messages. He did not have much in the way of commendation for them. True to form, He told them that He knew their deeds, but, He declared: “I have not found your deeds complete in the sight of my God.” – 3:2. They were lacking! What really scares me is His statement, “…you have a reputation that you are alive but in reality you are dead.” – 3:1. Not only did they think they had it all together, but everyone who knew anything about them thought that they had it all together. I can just hear some people talking: “If you want to visit a church that is really on fire, check out the church at Sardis. It is exciting! They are really making things happen!” Tragically, that is not the way Jesus saw it. There was probably plenty of activity. Perhaps their committees were all in place. They may have even been increasing in numbers, but it was all a façade. Hearts and lives were not being changed. They were not making true disciples. It seems that they were going through the motions in zombie-like fashion, so Jesus told them to wake up! “Therefore, remember what you received and heard, and obey it, and repent.” – 3:3. There were still some in the Sardis church who had not “stained their clothes and they will walk with me dressed in white, because they are worthy.” – 3:4. Next comes the promise: “The one who conquers will be dressed like them in white clothing…” – 3:5.
In Revelation, chapter 7, John was given a vision of the throne room of Heaven where he saw an enormous crowd of people from all over the world, all of whom were dressed in long, white robes and were praising and worshipping God. One of the elders asked John who those in robes were. “So I said to him, ‘My lord, you know the answer.’ Then he said to me, ‘These are the ones who have come out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb! – Revelation 7:14. White robes, then are a symbol of redemption; worn by the redeemed. Revelation 19:8, speaking of the bride of the Lamb, says, “She was permitted to be dressed in bright, clean, fine linen (for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the Saints).”
Bringing it home:
So, a church can have a reputation of living and active: growing in numbers; busy with exciting activities; making use of the latest technologies; yet in reality dead as far as the Lord is concerned. If that can be the case with a church, then what about an individual like me? I could be busy with church activities and appear to be doing all the things a Christian should be doing and maintaining a reputation as an outstanding church member while being spiritually dead. What can I do? Look at the remedy He gave to the Sardis church: “Therefore remember what you received and heard and obey it, and repent.” (3:3a). He is talking about the Word of God! They had received it and heard it. Now, they needed to obey it: do what the Bible says. That is the remedy for you and me. Books have been written about the word “repent” (and I would like to write one myself) but basically and simply, to repent would be to change the way you think; to start thinking biblically about EVERYTHING. Remember, as a believer you are more than a conqueror through Him who loved us (Romans 8:37).
Digging a little deeper:
You can get more insight into these letters to the 7 churches of Asia by learning some of the background of the cities and the culture. You can get some of that from a good Bible dictionary. Books on church history provide another source. Commentaries should provide some good background information. Chuck Swindoll’s commentary on Revelation does that (see footnote below). Many of these books are far less expensive on Kindle. (You can get a free Kindle app for your smartphone.) The late Dr. S. Louis Johnson was a phenomenal preacher and seminary professor. His sermons from his time at the Believers Chapel in Dallas are available free of charge at https://sljinstitute.net/ . I usually download the PDF to save time, but sometimes I just have to listen to his Charleston accent. Audio and PDF are both available. Another resource I like is https://www.gotquestions.org/ . I have found it to be a very reliable source. You can find and answer to hundreds of thousands of Bible questions there. You can find some background information there, as well. I have to be careful on that website because I can easily spend too much time there.
Until next time,
Mike
Swindoll, Charles R., Swindoll’s Living Insights New Testament Commentary, Revelation, Tyndale House Publishers, p. 72.
