* All scriptures within this study are linked to BibleGateway.com using the "NIV".
What in the world is happening? Earthquakes, volcanoes, natural disasters, and unrest in the Middle East are signs of worsening global disturbances. Human nature is spiraling downward into destructive narcissism [2 Timothy 3:1-2]. Even religious skeptics are beginning to see the trend and ask why. Our Lord warned that such signs would increase in frequency and intensity as His return draws near [Matthew 24:4-8].
Things are definitely getting worse. But a definitive sign of end times disintegration is when the church joins the same slippery slope--and comes close to hitting bottom. How much of the church is filled with well-meaning but apathetic pew sitters, "...having a form of godliness but denying its power," [2 Timothy 3:5]? The seven letters to the churches chart the downward spiral of the church from beginning to end. Do you know the signs of a healthy church? A compromising church? Now, more than ever, the study of God's prophetic scripture prepares us for the day in which we live.
THE SEVEN LETTERS TO THE CHURCHES:
The Church Age has existed for over 2,000 years. It began on the day of Pentecost in Acts chapter 2. Although the age of the church has been victorious at times, the church age as a whole ends in apathy and compromise according to Revelation chapters 2 and 3. How close are we to the end of the church age? Many Christian teachers believe we are near the end, the church of Laodicea. Just as the Laodicean church was characterized by pride, apathy and materialism, so the institutionalized church of our day has more of a human, social agenda than a Godly one. Christ stands outside the door of the church knocking to get in and many congregations don't even know He's missing... ]
In every stage, there is a remnant of true believers that overcome the weaknesses of church history.
But the general characteristics of the current church as a whole is disturbingly similar to what is described in The Revelation 3:14-22.
THE RAPTURE OF THE TRUE CHURCH TO END THE AGE IS IMMINENT--IT COULD HAPPEN AT ANY MOMENT.
But the general characteristics of the current church as a whole is disturbingly similar to what is described in The Revelation 3:14-22.
THE RAPTURE OF THE TRUE CHURCH TO END THE AGE IS IMMINENT--IT COULD HAPPEN AT ANY MOMENT.
Chapter 1 of The Revelation completes the first part of the 3-part outline Christ specified in 1:19. "What was," The Vision of the Glorified Christ. As John saw it, it was now PAST.
Chapter 2 begins the "What is" section of the book, the PRESENT. Until the Church is taken out in the Rapture, we are living in the PRESENT section of the vision. As this book describes the completeness of Christ, so the next section describes the complete Church.
THE COMPLETE HISTORY OF THE CHURCH IN 7 LETTERS:
* The 7 letters represent 7 actual churches existing in John's day.
* The 7 letters represent 7 characteristics of churches that always are. In every age, representative
churches for each letter can be found.
* The 7 letters represent the spiritual condition of individual Christians of any age.
* The 7 letters represent the 7 stages of church history from beginning to end.
The number 7 represents completeness in scripture. The Revelation naturally divides into seven sevens:
1. 7 Churches, Rev. 2:1-3:22
2. 7 Seals, Rev. 6:1-8:5
3. 7 Trumpets, Rev. 8:7-11:19
4. 7 Personages [Characters], Rev. 12:1-13:18
5. 7 Bowls [Vials], Rev. 15:1-16:21
6. 7 Dooms, Rev. 17:1-22:15
7. 7 New Things, Rev. 22:1-22:5
The divisions of "7" define the book within the greater outline of past, present and future. Between these series of "sevens," and between some of the parts of a series, there are parenthetical statements or INTERVALS to answer questions or add important details.
The 7 letters to the churches must describe the Church throughout its complete history. We cannot see Christ in His completeness without seeing the Church in its fullness.
Christ is the head of the Church as the husband is the head of the bride [Eph. 5:22-33]. The Church is the "body of Christ" [Romans 12:4].
The general form of the 7 letters is in 7 parts, with 3 exceptions: Laodicea has no praise portion and Smyrna and Philadelphia have no complaint:
1. Title
2. Salutation
3. The Commendation
4. The Complaint
5. The Warning
6. Praise
7. The Promise
The 7 churches which received the letters were located in Asia Minor, what is now modern Turkey. Beginning with Ephesus, the first letter, the cities form a rough geographical circle listed clockwise. They were also cities on the Roman postal route.
EPHESUS [2:1-7]--The Apostolic Church Age, AD 70 to AD 170
Our Lord begins with John's home church, a church he pastored. John's reputation probably drew many seekers, and John was the last living Apostle. Jesus commended Ephesus for their excellent labors, but also confronted them because they had "abandoned the love you had at first" [2:4]. Woodrow Kroll describes such a church as a "successful megachurch." The city name, Ephesus, literally means "to relax," a fitting title for the Ephesus congregation--a backslidden [relaxed] church marked by cold, mechanical orthodoxy--all form but no heart. Dr. J. V. McGee calls Ephesus a compromising church full of plastic, apathetic Christians. I think of Ephesus as representing a large, once-healthy church that is still busy but lacking in spiritual depth. It survives on its past reputation and mechanical programs.
Ephesus was an inland city in Asia Minor three miles from the Mediterranean sea, but the broad mouth of the Cayster River allowed access and created the greatest harbor in Asia Minor. Four major trade routes went through it, creating a junction of overland and sea routes. Ephesus was known as the gateway to Asia, linking East and West. It was also the capital of the 16 Roman provinces of Asia and one of the largest and wealthiest cities in the eastern Mediterranean area.
THE SNARE
In such an atmosphere of material prosperity and growth, it would be easy to confuse worldly success and numbers with God's pattern for growing a church. God works from the inside-out, not from the outside-in and is more concerned with a sincere remnant than loveless masses. God's pattern is to nurture the Saints and create quality, rather than quantity. A true church BEGINS with believers; and church leaders are to enable believers to grow in the Lord. Sanctified, growing believers, in turn, draw others to the church because of their sincere witness. [Ref. Acts 2:40-47; 4:32-37; 5:12-16.] The Church was born at Pentecost in its pure form. But after only one hundred years, the church lost the personal love relationship with Christ with which Ephesus began and relied on works to sustain it.
Salutation
Verse 2:1--The letter is from "He who holds the seven stars in His right hand, who walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands." In each letter, the salutation the Lord uses refers to a description of Himself from chapter one that has relevance to the particular church. It is fitting that Ephesus represents the Apostolic Age of the Church--the beginning of the church--as it was pastored by the last surviving Apostle, John. As the church of Ephesus launches the church age, the reference to Christ as its head, dwelling in its midst, is appropriate.
The Commendation
Verse 2:2--In each letter except Laodicea, the Lord begins His evaluation positively, mentioning what the church is doing right. He commends Ephesus for good works and for testing false apostles who try to infiltrate. Ancient Ephesus was a center of the ancient worship of Artemis [Greek] or Diana [Roman], whose temple was one of the 7 Wonders of the Ancient World. Diana was the chief deity of the city. Ephesus was a religious center as well as a kind of tourist attraction. Merchants became wealthy selling silver images of the goddess, shrines, and other religious tokens. [See Acts 19:23-41] Diana of the Ephesians also assumed characteristics of an Eastern fertility goddess and was worshipped through legal prostitution in her temple.
Ephesus offered all the carnal enticements of a large, cosmopolitan city of our day. The church was surrounded by pagan worship and superstition that also fueled the city's economy. [Ephesians 4:18; 5:3-12] And yet the Ephesians held fast to the Lord's teaching and were able to discern false teachers, "those who say they are apostles." Credit for this discernment must have come in part from excellent pastors who served at Ephesus such as Paul, Timothy and Tychicus, as well as John. The church remained faithful to Apostolic teaching for 40 years. [Ref. Acts 20:31; Acts 20]
The Complaint
Verse 2:4--"Nevertheless, I have this against you, that you have left your first love." To be a Christian is to love the Lord Jesus Christ [John 14:21, 23; 1 Cor. 16:22]. Christianity is not a religion--It is a relationship, with Jesus. A relationship that is not nurtured does not grow; and when there is no growth, the relationship stagnates. Ephesus was in danger of becoming stagnant. Their first "passion" for Christ had cooled. Doctrinal purity and service were no substitute for the love of Christ that they had forsaken.
The Warning
Verse 2:5--"Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place." Repentance is the answer to any backslidden church or believer, but today the city of Ephesus is in ruins. If the church that benefited directly from Apostolic teaching could lose its close relationship with Christ and cease to exist, it is a serious warning to every believer to "repent and do the first works."
Praise
Verse 2:6--"But this you have, that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate." As soon as the church was formed, Satan attempted to infiltrate it with false teachers who claimed to be Apostles. One such false teacher was Nicolas, a false believer who was for a time a deacon in the Jerusalem church [Acts 6]. Irenaeus writes that Nicolas became an apostate and attempted to lead the young church astray with heretical teachings. Nicolas literally means "one who conquers the people," or one who rules over the laity [lay people]. As the Apostles were martyred, the people were concerned about who would take their place. Nicolaitans wished to set up an apostolic succession after the deaths of the Apostles, appointing "holy men" to be priests and elders. However, such leaders used their position to serve themselves more than the people. Out of this heresy came not only clergy but bishops, archbishops, cardinals, and finally popes. These leaders served as over-lords to the people rather than as self-less servants as Christ demonstrated.
The Promise
Verse 2:7--"He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches" The Lord repeats this phrase in each letter to stress its importance. Only through the Holy Spirit can the believer truly HEAR. Dr. Breese cautioned the Church repeatedly to pray for spiritual discernment and wisdom in the last days because of rampant deception. Deception is the first sign of the end times Christ lists in Matthew 24, but the church is becoming deaf to God's warnings and calls to repentance.
The Lord promises to those who overcome that "I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God." The promises are taken from the last chapters of The Revelation which describe heaven and New Jerusalem. Note that the tree of life originated in Eden [Genesis]. Jesus is "the first and the last, the beginning and the end." As an end note, our Lord transplants the tree of life from Eden to New Jerusalem where nothing will prevent the redeemed from eating freely for eternity.
The Ephesians are promised that eternal life from the tree of life is for all who "overcome." How do we overcome? 1 John 5:4-5 -- "For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world--our faith. Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God." Overcomers are believers who place their faith in Jesus Christ.
THE APOSTOLIC AGE:
Ephesus also represents the first historical period of the Church Age, the Apostolic Age, which immediately followed the birth of the church at Pentecost. The first center of Christianity was Jerusalem with Peter the most prominent leader. The center shifted to Antioch in Syria after the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70. In Antioch, the Church was composed of both Jews and Gentiles and the central figure of this period was Paul. The disciples were first called Christians in Antioch according to Acts 11:21-26.
Due to the missionary work of the 12 Apostles and their disciples before their deaths, the Church continued to spread. However, in only one hundred years, the Church slid into cold orthodoxy. Doctrine replaced a zeal for the Lord--a first love. The followers of Christ were religious but without the love that truly marked them as "overcomers" or believers. Those who had a first-hand account of Jesus had died and the Church became an institution. The Lord always has a plan, and His plan to awaken His Church comes in the description of the second letter to Smyrna--PERSECUTION.
APPLICATION:
God's wake-up call to Ephesus is our wake-up call. If we hope to overcome, we must maintain our relationship with Jesus Christ. Those who have lost their first love for Him are called to repent, which literally means to turn around and go in another direction. If we do not repent and turn on our own, the Lord may re-align our path through another means, such as trial or persecution. Persecution purifies the church, causing believers to cling to Christ as they once did; and it weeds out those who are not true believers. Let us pray that we maintain a love relationship with Christ making such purification un-necessary.
In Him We Wait, Work, and Watch,
[Luke 12:35-59]
Sharon
[Prophecy Chat is a weekly commentary of current events in light of Bible prophecy. Sharon L. Clemens is an evangelical, premillennial, dispensational teacher of eschatology. She can be reached for comment or questions by e-mail at farmgrove@frontier.com]
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