Today I head into rough territory. There is not a Pastor I have listened to that doesn't admit to being... well, "scared", of preaching from Revelation, because it is the hardest- and the most necessary. Not wanting to bite off more than I can chew, I thought to tackle the very first part- the letters to the Seven Churches, which were not only meant for seven real churches in John's day, but for the 'types' of churches that exist even now. Even this is a tough task, and I really need to set the picture before I even start.
Now we start in around the year 95 or so, and John has been the last of the Apostles for a very long time. His brother James was beheaded first, way back in 44. Peter and Paul were executed in 67-68 by Nero; the latest date I found- by admittedly unsure sources- I believe was the death of Simon the Zealot in 74. Even Luke was dead by 84. Timothy was still around- though not much longer. John himself, who had been living and pastoring in Ephesus, had been exiled offshore to an island called Patmos by Emperor Domitian in the last few years of his reign (he would be freed two emperors later by Trajan just before John's own death around 98) and his disciple Polycarp was pastoring the church by then.
John came to Ephesus around 70. This was a church where Apollos got his start, Priscilla and Aquilla mentored him, and Paul taught us about grace. between about 85 and his exile, John wrote the Gospel in his name and the three letters that pounded over and over the same beat: Love one another. Now he was in a lonely exile, and one day he had a vision of the Resurrected Jesus. It wasn't a Jesus he knew from earlier...
Rev 1:12 Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands, 13 and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest. 14 The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire, 15 his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters. 16 In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength.
And He had something important to share with John, that he was to write down:
19 Write therefore the things that you have seen, those that are and those that are to take place after this.
This in effect was the outline of the book. What he had seen was Christ in His glory; what was now was the letters to the seven churches; what was to come was going to follow the letters. This would be the last times the Church would be mentioned in the tale, leading many pastors to believe that the Church will be removed, or 'raptured', before the judgment on the earth, probably at the point in Revelation 4 when the voice told John, "Come up here". Before he started, Jesus had one last bit of information to share, to help John understand:
Rev 1:20 As for the mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand, and the seven golden lampstands, the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.
By 'angels' here, logic and commentators agree that what is meant is the base meaning of 'angel'- a messenger- and that these were the pastors of the Seven. With that, the first letter is written...
Rev 2:1 "To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: 'The words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand, who walks among the seven golden lampstands.
Rev 2:2 "'I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false.
Rev 2:3 I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name's sake, and you have not grown weary.
Rev 2:4 But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first.
Rev 2:5 Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent.
Rev 2:6 Yet this you have: you hate the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.
Rev 2:7 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.'
The first letter goes to Ephesus, the Church that John knew well. Jesus describes what they are doing as a church: They work hard, they don't compromise with evil, and have discerned and cast off many of the false Apostles of the type likely that we met in Hebrews. One of which was someone named Cerinthus, who taught that spirit was good, matter was bad, God had created angels, they had created lower angels, and eventually arose a set of angelic beings low enough from God that THEY created matter and the world. This kind of idiocy had no place in Ephesus. They have faced persecution- such as John's exile- and come through shining.
But, they had lost their "First love." And what was this? Many commentators admit they aren't sure- they assume it was love for Jesus Himself, that they were losing Him in the business of the work. Maybe, but I'm not so sure. Jesus doesn't paint these works as superficial. So I pondered- what are the first works? When one is saved, what do you want to do most? Then I thought of what the apostles did first.
In John chapter 1, what was the first thing John the Baptist did after Jesus revealed Himself? He told the crowd, then John and Andrew. Andrew went and told Peter; John presumably told James, and next we find Phillip telling Nathaniel. First works? YOU TOLD SOMEBODY.
This is what I think happened in this church- the were content amongst themselves and whoever wandered in, but they were not getting out and evangelizing. So content at loving friends, they forgot to love their enemies. So what happened next?
Well, first they had to deal with the Nicolaitans. Another term that experts disagree on, I found out that it may have come from 'Nicolaous'- the Greek form of Old Testament Baalam. And Peter described what Baalam was known for:
2Pe 2:15 Forsaking the right way, they have gone astray. They have followed the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved gain from wrongdoing,
2Pe 2:16 but was rebuked for his own transgression; a speechless donkey spoke with human voice and restrained the prophet's madness.
About 40 years before, the business of the seaport at Ephesus really exploded, and they became a hub of commerce. It would not be a stretch to see 'prosperity gospel' preachers trying to make a quick buck- and at this point, they were quick to turn them out. But time rolls on, and we can see in it a church that began to take on a sense of importance right along with the city. In 155, Polycarp- the last man standing who'd been trained by an Apostle- was martyred. And in 190, a 'bishop' named Ireneaus got involved in one of the idiotic debates of the day- whether the Lord's Resurrection should be celebrated on Passover ( and thus float around the calendar) or be pinned to a fixed date. Paul told the Church in Romans 14 that this kind of thing was a worthless division, but the church had forgot. Goths sacked the town in 262, but this did not keep the Ephesian Church from striving to be first among equals- but that came to an end in 330 when Constantine established his 'base church' in Constantinople, looting Ephesus for ecclesiastical artifacts- as well as the Lampstand, spiritually, that Jesus had warned them about.
Lesson to today's church. To grow, a church needs to be Evangelical- go out and bring people to the church, and to Christ. To forget this 'first love' is to court a slow death.
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What a damn good post
ReplyDeleteSo glad you liked! These aren't easy for me...
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