More than sixty years had passed since the church was established in Jerusalem on the Pentecost following Christ's resurrection. The gospel, first preached in Jerusalem, had spread from there over Judea and Samaria and had gone out into all the world. Wherever it was preached congregations sprang up. Churches were established everywhere. Enough time had now elapsed for the churches to get well on their way, and for each church to acquire a character of its own (for every congregation has its own peculiar character and atmosphere); and it was possible now to forecast from the direction these had taken what would be the career and prospect of the churches of God.

      Now once more, and for the last time, the Lord Jesus breaks the silence of the heavens. Once more He opens the door and sends a word back to His church in these profoundly significant messages to the Seven Churches.

      These seven churches in Asia were selected by the all-knowing Lord, that to them and through them He might speak His mind to all the congregations everywhere whether then or since or now. The seven (as shown in the chapter preceding) form a complete and perfect cycle, embodying either in fact or in principle every possible phase and condition of the church. They were, of course, actual churches, and they are directly addressed, each concerning its own affairs; but through them the Lord speaks to all the churches (22:16). Moreover, to every individual Christian comes in each message the solemn admonition: "He who has an ear let HIM hear what the Spirit says TO THE CHURCHES." In all the New Testament there is nothing more direct and practical for every one of us than these seven epistles.

      Certain features of these seven messages are common to all the seven. They are constructed on the same pattern. There is first, always, the address to "the angel." Each message is prefaced by a short description of Him who sends it; mostly taken from the Vision of Chapter 1. To each one of them He says, [12] "I know"--for all the conditions and circumstances of every church and of each individual member are open to Him. Then a word of praise or blame, or both, follows in each case. In every message there is the admonition, "He who has an ear;" and a wonderful promise to the overcomer. These are features common to all the seven. Let us now make a brief examination of each in particular.

      To the church at Ephesus the Lord presents Himself as the One who holds the seven stars in the grasp of His right hand; and who walks among the seven golden lampstands. He is the Chief Shepherd of the flock. (1 Peter 5:4.) He is the Supreme Bishop (episkopos, overseer) who exercises the oversight; who deals with the lampstands as seems good to Him.

      And what of Ephesus? He knew her deeds, her hard work, her perseverance; her inability to tolerate wicked men; and the fact that they had tested pretended apostles and proved them to be impostors. (Here is a contrast with the easy-going, spineless, convictionless attitude common in our day!) It was not only deeds that Ephesus had, but hard work, and that work steadily-continued. Neither fear nor favor kept them from ridding their fellowship of willful evildoers; nor did they shun the bitter labor and strife required to expose false apostles. And all this the Lord Jesus greatly approves and commends.

      He mentions again that they hated, not the Nicolaitans, but "the deeds of the Nicolaitans"; "which," said the Lord Jesus, "I also hate"; and the fact that they had borne burdens for His Name's sake, and had not grown weary. The Lord's appreciation is sweet and wonderful; if churches today knew what it meant, they would find in it a powerful incentive.

      "But I have this against you, that you have left your first love." In view of their much good, this seems a small blame. But it was not a trifle; it was a very serious thing. Read 1 Corinthians 13:1-3 for reasons. The failure of love depreciated all else they had. Once love is gone, all that is done of work, of worship or sacrifice, or in defense of the faith, is worthless. Truth itself is lost where love is dead.¹

      The solemn warning that follows is therefore perfectly fitting and deeply significant. "Remember"--how it helps us to remember the better days!--"repent:" get back to the old way, and "do the deeds you did at first." Not more works He wants, but works of the first sort: works prompted by, and expressive of real love. Without that no church can shine for Him.

      Lastly, the promise to the overcomer; which of course applies to the overcomer in general, but specifically to him who overcomes this fatal tendency to decline in love. To the overcomer He will give that which was for ever refused to the first Adam and all his seed; the fruit of the tree of life which is in the Paradise of God--which if a man eats he shall live for ever. Note that it is the Lord Jesus who has authority over this gift and bestows it upon whom He will. And this is true of all the promises to the overcomers.

      This church was facing suffering--a great privilege (Philippians 1:29). Since she must pass through these trials, and some among them may have to die for their faith, the Lord Jesus announces Himself to her as "The first and the last, who was dead, and has come to life." He had gone through it all in His own Person, and had suffered all, and had explored all its terrors. "But take courage; I have overcome." His victory counts for us: in the strength of it we also can conquer.

      "I know," He says to Smyrna--not "your deeds" this time, for Smyrna was called to endurance rather than to achievement:--"I know your tribulation and your poverty." Smyrna was a wealthy and prosperous city; yet here as elsewhere (1 Corinthians 1:26f) God's faithful church was composed chiefly of the poor--"but you are rich:" the one short but very meaningful word of commendation the Lord granted her. The reader will consider the contrast between this poor church which was rich, and the rich church in chapter 3:17 so miserably poor. (Also weigh Luke 12:21, 33, 34, and James 2:5.) He mentions specially also the blasphemies they had been enduring from Jews unworthy of the name (Romans 2:28) who were but a synagogue of Satan (John 8:44). Working through such instrumentalities, the devil would cast some of them into prison and they should have persecution for a short and limited time: "ten days." God would use it for their testing and blessing. (Zechariah 13:9; Luke 22:31.) So let them not be afraid of it; and if the worst come to worst, if it mean death for some of them, be faithful even to the point of death, "and I will [13] give you the crown of life"--which, as the "crown of righteousness" (2 Timothy 4:8) and the "crown of glory" (1 Peter 5:4) is awarded, not at death, but when Jesus comes.

      It is indeed not all of life to live nor all of death to die: there is another life, far more worthy of the name; and there is another death far more terrible than the common death. (Luke 12:4, 5; Revelation 20:14, 15.) "He who overcomes," who abides this test, who will not for any threat or suffering turn away from his Lord "will not be hurt by the second death." Over such the second death has no power. (Revelation 20:6.)

      Thus in this message to Smyrna, the shortest of the seven, the keynote is of suffering and faithfulness, of life and death. How few of us have ever suffered anything for the Lord Jesus' sake! How we shrink and hide ourselves from every little trouble and danger! Lord, grant your servants boldness of faith, to enter into the fellowship of Your sufferings!

      He comes to Pergamum with the sharp, two-edged sword, that pierces even to the dividing of soul and spirit (Hebrews 4:12), that smites to slay (19:21) or cuts to heal; which is for execution of judgment or for the excision of evil--the sword that comes out of His mouth (1:16). "I know." It is in her case as in the case of Smyrna, not her works that He specially speaks of. But "I know" the difficulties of your position, the hostile atmosphere, the unfavorableness of your surroundings. How much more difficult is it to be faithful in an unfavorable environment! (Compare Psalms 120:5.) "I know where you dwell, where Satan's throne is; and you hold fast My name, and did not deny My faith even in the days of Antipas, My witness, My faithful one, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells."

      They lived at Satan's headquarters; where Satan dwells, where Satan's throne is. The idea held by many that Satan has his throne in hell is preposterous, and needs no refutation. Satan is "the ruler of this world." (John 12:31; 14:30.) He is "the god of this world." (2 Corinthians 4:4.) "The whole world lies in the power of the evil one." (1 John 5:19.) Now Pergamum was Satan's residence and capital, the seat and center of his rule and authority. From there reigned this world-spirit--"the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience" (Ephesians 2:2). We can easily estimate what it must have meant to be faithful to Christ there! And they had been faithful to the true King, in the very camp of the enemy. The Lord saw it, knew it, appreciated it.

      However, there were a few things, some serious, that the Lord Jesus held against them. Among them were some who held the teaching of Balaam--that hireling prophet who, when he saw that he could not curse Israel, showed Balak (the king who had hired him) how to corrupt the people (Numbers 31:16; 25:1-3)--"to entice the Israelites to sin by eating food sacrificed to idols and by committing sexual immorality." These Balaamites were Satan's agents working from within to betray God's people into Satan's hands. And the Pergamum church was blind to it, and tolerated it! Unless they repented of this, the Lord would come to them quickly in judgment and would war against those evil-doers with the sword of His mouth. (Compare 1 Corinthians 3:17.)

      But the overcomers, those who stood immovable against the power of the world and the devil, seeing they refused the world's sweets and declined its honors and despised its wrath--the Lord will reward them with a threefold honor and satisfaction: they should eat for ever of the secret bread of heaven (as it were, of the golden pot of manna kept hid in the ark of the covenant); and theirs should be a white stone (alluding to the precious stones on Aaron's breastplate on which were engraven the names of Israel), and on that stone written a new name, a secret between themselves and their Lord (indicating a special and exclusive relation to Him. Compare Revelation 19:12). It is to be noted how throughout the message, though it is addressed to "the angel," the Lord is really talking to the church itself; as shown by the "among you" in verse 13.

      To Thyatira He comes as the Son of God. His eyes like blazing fire, His feet like burnished bronze. He knows her works--the motives behind them, (love, faith), their nature (patient service), their steady growth--"your deeds of late are greater than at first." (See 1 Thessalonians 4:1.) But they were tolerating there "the woman Jezebel." This woman, here spiritually named after the wicked mistress of Ahab's house, through whose influence Baal-worship was introduced in Israel, set herself up as a prophetess, and assumed the role of a teacher in the church (in direct defiance of God's revealed will, 1 Timothy 2:12-14; 1 Corinthians 14:34, 35). The seductive influence of her teaching led the servants of Christ into fornication and idolatry. (Compare 1 Corinthians 10:19-22.)

      His dealings with even this wicked woman are wonderful for graciousness. From the church's viewpoint she was an unmitigated nuisance, and should long before have been dealt with. Yet He gave her time to repent! However, she had no intention of repenting; and her judgment was coming swiftly. She and her dupes (unless they repented of her works) should be cast into a bed of terrific sufferings. And as for "her children" (not originally Christ's, led astray by her; but her own evil seed, begotten of falsehood from [14] the start, Isaiah 57:3)--them would He kill with pestilence. And all the churches shall know that His burning eyes search the deepest recesses of the hearts and that His retribution is sure.

      In Thyatira, as in the church next addressed, we mark an important feature: a defined righteous remnant within a corrupt church. Upon "the rest who are in Thyatira,"--those untainted by Jezebel's wicked teaching, unversed in the deep lore of Satan--on these "I place no other burden on you." (Compare Acts 15:28, 29.) But what you have, those excellent things I spoke of (v. 19)--"hold fast until I come."

      "Until I come!" Is not this always the goal and terminus of the Christian's work and hope? "Occupy till I come"(KJV). "Trade ye herewith till I come" (ASV). "Be patient . . . until the coming of the Lord." That the Lord did not come during the time of the Thyatira church does not affect the matter: those who so held fast, their hope fixed on His coming, though they fell asleep before He came, have lost nothing. He might have come in their day; but whether He did or not in that attitude shall they be found when He comes whether they wake or sleep (1 Thessalonians 4:15-17; 5:10).

      The promise to the overcomer here is striking. To this church Jesus spoke as "The Son of God." The title is not, like most of the other descriptive items, taken from the first chapter. There He is spoken of a "one like a son of man." But the Son of man is the Son of God. Psalm 2 prophetically declares Him: "He (The LORD God) said to me, You are my Son." Now it is in this same Psalm that the nations are promised to Him for His inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for His possession; that He might rule them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces as a potter's vessel. Jesus promises to share this rule and power and sovereignty with the overcomer (see also 2 Timothy 2:12, 1 Corinthians 6:2). "And I will give him the morning-star," The Lord Jesus Himself is "the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star." It is the promise, therefore, that they shall share with Him in His kingdom and glory (1 Thessalonians 2:12) when he comes to judge the earth, and the world in righteousness, and the peoples with equity (Psalms 96:13; 98:9).

      To the church reputed to be alive (what was the stir Sardis made that caused men to think she was alive?) but known to the Lord to be really dead, He comes as the One who has the "seven Spirits of God." The Holy Spirit in fullness is His to bestow; and the Holy Spirit is the need of the church because He is the life of the church. The works of Sardis--not her claims and professions--proved that she was dead. Yet she was not so utterly dead but that she might yet be revived. There were works, but no works that came up to the measure of acceptableness: no work of God was fully done, nothing thoroughly, nothing wholeheartedly; nothing carried through with sincere purpose and intent, but all done indifferently and without reality. Such spiritual apathy and paralysis may go side by side with much carnal energy and worldly boost and boast. And what brought her into this spiritual deadness?

      She had started well. "Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; obey it, and repent." The reason is implied in the "Wake up!" ("Be watchful"--KJV.) "Therefore if you do not wake up." ("If you will not watch"--KJV.) They had not watched. Insensibly, carelessly, they had drifted along. They fell asleep and slumbered unto death. There is one kind of watching which includes every other: the watching for the Lord's return. (Mark 13:33-37.) "Therefore if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come to you." Thus will He come upon the unbelieving world (Luke 21:34, 35) and so shall His coming be to a faithless and dead church.

      Yet--here is the remnant again: A few names in the midst of dead Sardis, who kept their garments unsoiled (implying that all the rest had defiled theirs: compare James 1:27, and 1 Timothy 5:6, which throw light upon the kind of life they had been living in Sardis). Think what faith and hope and love it must have been that enabled these few to stand against the whole drift of the times in Sardis: what they must have borne and suffered, how they must have fought! Those who are also anxious to keep their garments white here and now shall surely walk with Him in white when He comes!

      The promise to the overcomer is threefold:

1. the white garments repeatedly afterward referred to in this book;
2. their name shall not be blotted out of the book of life--the book of the living, in which no "dead" church-members have any place (that also means exemption from the second death, chapter 20:14, 15); and
3. "I will confess his name before My Father and before his angels." This latter, because they had confessed His name before men and were not ashamed of Him nor of His words in the midst of a wicked and adulterous generation--they were not even ashamed to be real Christians in the midst of an easy-going, nominal, conventional lot of church-members. And that is often harder than resisting the world. But the reward is sweet! (Mark 8:38.) [15]

      Her name is by interpretation, "Brotherly Love." "He who is holy, who is true, (6:10), who has the key of David, who opens and no one will shut, and who shuts and no one opens"--is the One who addresses this church. For this church there is no censure whatever--only commendation. It is therefore possible, yes, and feasible also, for a church to be well-pleasing to her Lord. Philadelphia was so. The Lord specially commends three things in her; and to her He specially promises three things.

      The three things commended:

1. you have kept My word, vs. 8;
2. and have not denied My name, vs. 8;
3. you have kept My command to endure patiently, vs. 10.²

      The three promises:

1. An open door that no one can shut.
2. Their bitter enemies of the synagogue of Satan shall be made to come and fall down at her feet, and shall acknowledge her as beloved by the Lord--her full and complete vindication. (Compare Isaiah 60:14.)
3. Exemption from the "I also will keep you from the hour of testing, that hour which is about to come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth."

      Then follows the warning: "I am coming quickly; hold fast what you have, so that no one will take your crown."--lest in mistaken security she might forfeit the high reward now in store for her.

      There is also a threefold promise to the overcomer:

4. I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God;
5. He will not go out from it anymore;
6. I will write on him:
   1. the name of My God;
   2. the name of the city of My God, the new Jerusalem; and
   3. My new name.

      All of this needs but little comment. The key of David represents the right and authority which belongs to our Lord because He is the "Descendent of David," sole Heir of all the blessings, rights and privileges that belong to the Davidic covenant of promise.

      The hour of trial, that hour which is to come upon the whole world to try those who dwell upon the earth, is not to be distinguished from that "great tribulation," unparalleled in all the world's history, "such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will" (Matthew 24:21), which immediately, precedes the signs and the appearing in glory of our Lord. (Matthew 24:24:29, 30.)

      Because Philadelphia had kept the word of His patience--had patiently endured and stood true and faithful throughout--the Lord will keep her from (literally, "out of") that hour of the world-wide trial--not only from the trial but from the hour of it. If the meaning of the preposition "ek" translated "from" does not of itself determine whether Philadelphia would be removed out of the great trouble, or kept safely through it, the expression "I will also keep you from the hour of trial" indicates that she will not have to face that time at all. (Compare Luke 21:36; Isaiah 26:20, 21.) In this appears again the representative character of these messages. The Philadelphian church itself may disappear before the great hour of trial actually arrives. But whether it comes in her day or not, she will be kept from it in any case. When finally that awful hour breaks there will be some congregations and individuals here answering to the pattern of Philadelphia, to whom the promise will be literally fulfilled. (1 Thessalonians 4:16.) "I am coming quickly; hold fast what you have." It pays to be true to the Lord.

      For this church the Lord has no good words. Laodicea was utterly displeasing to the Lord: and that not because of gross sins (such as were rebuked in Pergamum and Thyatira) but for her compromising spirit. [16] She was not anything wholeheartedly:--neither openly bad, nor honestly good. She was lukewarm, not hot, not cold. Not hot for the devil (they were too religious for that) not hot for the Lord. Nor were they just cold toward the Lord: but neither were they cold toward the world and the devil. They were a little of both, not very much of either. "I wish that you were cold or hot. So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth."

      Such a half-hearted, double-minded life produces a spiritual blindness, in which a man is apt to become well pleased with himself and impervious to appeal and admonition. Therefore the Lord comes to this church with the most solemn assurance of the truth of His judgment, and His exalted right to speak--"The Amen, the faithful and true Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God." "I know your deeds"; and here as elsewhere it is the deeds that tell the tale. The Lord does not judge by our words, sentiments, or professions (not denying the great importance of these in their place)--the works are the final test. Laodicea's works proved what she was--lukewarm and worthless. She is also self-satisfied, self-complacent, self-deceived--for that goes with it. She is destined, therefore, to a terrible awakening and undeceiving. How much of nominal church-membership stands in her shoes today!

      But the Lord's grace is the more marked toward her. To her He offers, without money and without price (yet at the price of her self-abasement and repentance), that which would meet all her need. (Verses 17, 18.) And the gracious word with it: "Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline; therefore be zealous and repent." He loved her also--even her. Although she has shut Him out, He stands outside, knocking at the door which is closed against Him. And it strikes us that the promise to the overcomer in Laodicea is the most splendid and gracious of the seven. Even she who has so failed may yet rally by His grace and stand and overcome, and may yet inherit the very highest promise of fellowship with Christ in His reign and glory. "He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne." The most worthless church (or Christian) may come to highest place and honor, if there is repentance and turning.

      These, then, are the seven representative churches, the Lord's lampstands.

      Two shone bright and clear: Philadelphia, greatest and foremost; and Smyrna, in her trouble, also.

      Three were more or less mingled: Ephesus, very good, but having begun to decline in the most vital point; Pergamum, good and true, but admitting a leaven of evil that was threatening to infect the whole lump; Thyatira, having much that was commendable, but with a Jezebel and her victims and her abominable brood in her midst.

      Two were utterly bad: Sardis, practically dead, with only a few acceptable names in her midst; Laodicea, without one redeeming feature whose light was practically out.

      Have we in the state of these churches a general forecast of the proportion of the success and failure of the church throughout the age? Would the professing churches today average even as high as these seven? Will the conditions be better or worse as the end of the age draws near? I leave it to the reader to think it over.

      Many have observed how the characters of these seven churches correspond with the prevalent conditions in the professed church at large in successive stages of her history. So, for example, Ephesus portrays the general conditions in the post-apostolic era, when doctrinal purity still prevailed, but love had begun to decline. Smyrna answers to the era of persecution immediately following: and Pergamum to the commingling of church and world in Constantine's day and after. Then (but not so clearly marked) Thyatira and Sardis represent conditions during the supremacy of Rome and the later stages of Protestantism, respectively. Philadelphia and Laodicea are side-by-side developments representing the conditions of the end of the church-age; Philadelphia, the faithful, who will escape the great tribulation; and Laodicea, the mass of professing Christendom (2 Timothy 3:1-5) whom the Lord will spew out of His mouth. This is worthy of consideration. Aside from this, however, the messages to the Seven Churches hold the Lord's last word to all the churches everywhere throughout the age. The church conditions, here examined and set in the light of His countenance, sum up "the things which are" (1:19). In our next chapter we have to do with "things which will take place after these things." (4:1.)

      What could be more soul-searching than these seven messages? Here is an inexhaustible mine of truth, for doctrine, reproof and correction; for exhortation, warning and encouragement. This is the great all-comprehensive word of Christ to all His churches, and to every Christian that "has ears to hear." [17]

      Not only every congregation but every single Christian can be classified under one of these seven main types. Am I an Ephesite? or am I of Pergamum? or a Sardisite? or a Philadelphian? or would the Lord class me with Laodicea? Think on that.

      Though the Lord is speaking to the whole church the promise to the overcomer in each case is addressed to the individual; to any one and to every one that overcomes. "Behold, I stand at the door and knock," He says to the whole church. Then, to the individual, "If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me." None of us have to wait till the whole church repents. Any one of us can respond now.

      He that holds the stars in His right hand, that walks among the seven golden lampstands; whose burning eyes search the minds and the hearts; who is the Overseer and alone holds jurisdiction--it is to Him we need to look; Him only we must please. No other standards will count at all when we are weighed and measured. Are we not apt to forget this?

      He that overcomes. In the end, when all is said and done and sifted, there are just two kinds: the overcomers and the overcome. Should the Lord come today in which class would I be found?

      Overcoming implies difficulty and resistance. There is no land of spiritual ease where we may follow holiness without hindrance or conflict. "Sure, I must fight if I would reign." God wants you to overcome where you are, in the difficulties and trials in which you find yourself today. Do not imagine that you would do better if your situation were different. Overcoming is to be done here and now.

      "This is the victory that has overcome the world,--our faith." (1 John 5:4.) "I can do all things through Him who strengthens me." (Philippians 4:13.)

      Conflict, victory, crown. Do you complain of your difficulties? Know that the Lord has carefully gauged your troubles, and will not suffer too much to come upon you. And He is with us. Through Him "we can certainly do it" (Numbers 13:30). We are "more than conquerors through Him who loved us" (Romans 8:37 ASV).

      "This is My beloved Son, listen to Him!" It is the Son of God that speaks to us here: shall we hear Him?

      "Judgment must begin at the house of God" (KJV). Here is the forecast of the judgment of God's house and the issues of it when the Lord returns. But "what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God?" And, "If it is with difficulty that the righteous is saved, what will become of the godless man and the sinner?" The answer to this question is found in this book.

Our Father: In the presence of these searching words of our Lord Jesus our hearts fail us. Yet we know that He is not only full of truth but also full of grace toward us. Of His fullness would we all receive, grace for grace. If the humble ones of Sardis could please Him, if the remnant in Thyatira and in Sardis, if the congregation of Philadelphia, though by nature no better nor strong than we, we too shall be upheld and we shall overcome through Him that loved us. Keep us in this faith, give us eternal good comfort and hope through grace, and shed abroad your love in our hearts through the Holy Spirit which is given unto us, so that our love may not decline but that we may know you better and love you more and more unto the end. In Jesus' Name.

[TR4R 12-18]