The Seven Churches of Revelation

“Write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter; The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in My right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks.  The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches: and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches.”  Revelation 1:19-20

Upon witnessing the glorious sight of the King of kings and Lord of lords, the Apostle John fell prostrate on the ground at Jesus’ feet as if he had suffered a fatal blow rendering him nearly lifeless.  The sight of Jesus had caused John to become excruciatingly aware of his own sinfulness and insignificance when compared to the Lord of glory.  A true encounter with the Savior makes one aware of his or her own spiritual poverty and the need for a touch from Jesus who did reach down and touch John to raise him up and give him assurance that he was accepted by the Lord.  Jesus had a work for John, that is, to write down the current situation as related by Jesus regarding the worship and service in the seven representative churches.  These would include commendations and condemnations.  The seven candlesticks represented the pastor and all the members.  A burning candlestick symbolized the church because it was designed by God to be a light to a dark, depressing, and sin-cursed world.

These churches were located in Asia Minor (modern day Turkey).  Jesus had much to say about these churches, but for the sake of time, I will give a brief summary of each one including a description, any commendations, and/or condemnations, and Jesus’ command to each church. The first church was in Ephesus.  They were described as losing their “first love”.  I call it the “forgetful church”.  Jesus commended them for their hard work and zeal for truth, but they had allowed their service to override their love for Christ.  Maybe they were like Martha who was so caught up in preparing a meal for Jesus that she didn’t take any time to sit at His feet and hear His words of wisdom as her sister Mary did (Luke 10:38-42).  Jesus’ solution for the church’s lack of love for Him was to repent and put Him first above all else.  The second church Jesus addressed was in Smyrna, known as the “suffering church” or, as I call, it, the “politically incorrect” church.  Jesus commended them for their unwavering faithfulness and had no words of condemnation for them.  He told them not to fear but remain faithful.  They had their priorities in order.

The third church was in Pergamos, the “compromising church”.  I named it the “go along to get along” church.  Jesus praised them for not denying the faith, but He chastised them for allowing false teaching to infiltrate the church.  His solution: repent.  The fourth church was in Thyatira, “the evil tolerant church” or the “politically correct” church.  They did do some things right:  hard work, love, service, faith, and patience, but their downfall was that they tolerated idolatrous worship.  There was a woman in the church who was like Jezebel, King Ahab’s wife, a “mean, razor-totin’ woman” who brought into the church idolatry and sexual perversions.  Jesus gave her opportunity to repent, but she would not.  Churches need to be extremely careful about who or what they allow to come in among the congregation.  Jesus urged the church to repent.  The fifth church was Sardis, the “dead church”, or the “dead as a doornail” church, as I call it.  Jesus commended the few who were completely faithful but rebuked the church for their imperfect works.  They were like so many churches today–just going through the motions, playing church, but having no real zeal for the gospel.  Again, repentance was called for.

The sixth church was in Philadelphia, the “persevering church” or the “big little church”.  It was a faithful church, seeking the truth, and truly committed to Christ.  Jesus found nothing for which to condemn them.  He did command for them to hold fast to their faith.  The seventh church of Revelation was Laodicea, the “lukewarm” church.  I call it the “culturally elite” church.  Jesus had no words of commendation for this church.  They were filled with pride, materialism, and pretense.  Of course, the only solution was repentance.

There were also warnings of punishment for the churches who chose to ignore Jesus’ admonitions.  These included the removal of the candlestick, that is, the light of Christ.  They could also face tribulations and exposure of their shame.  But He also had rewards for those who heard His words and heeded them–partaking of the tree of life, avoidance of the second death, power over the nations, the privilege to sit with Christ as He sat on His throne, and others.  These seven churches are representative of today’s churches.  What Jesus said to them, He would say to us, as well.  Only two of them were positive examples of what a church should be, loving, faithful, and giving Christ the pre-eminence that He rightfully deserves.  One of my former pastors said that he would drive well out of his way to find a Christ honoring, Bible preaching church rather than dry up and blow away in a dead church.  When the church goes the way of the world, we all suffer.