Letters to the Seven Churches of Asia
Introduction
Revelation 1:9-20
9 I, John, I am your brother. All of us share with Christ His suffering, His kingdom, and patience for staying strong. I was on the island named Patmos, why? I preached the Word of God. I informed the message about Jesus.
10 Happened: On the Lord’s day, I was in the Holy Spirit. I heard behind me: a loud voice that sounded like a trumpet.
11 That voice said, "What you see, write that in a scroll and send that to seven churches: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea."
12 I turned and saw who was talking to me. I saw seven golden lamps [flames].
13 and I saw a person standing among the lamps. He looked like a "Son of Man." He was clothed in a long robe. He had a gold band around His chest.
14 His head and hair were white as sheep-wool, as white as snow. His eyes looked like fire.
15 His feet looked like metal bronze that shines hot in a furnace[fire]. His voice sounded like the noise of flooding water.
16 He held seven stars in his right hand. A sword, having two sharp edges, it came out of his mouth. His face looked like the sun shining most brightly.
17 When I saw him, I fell down at his feet like a dead man. His right hand touched me and He said, "Don't be afraid. I am the First and the Last.
18 I am the One who lives; previously I died, but see, I am alive forever and forever! And I hold the keys to death and hell.
19 Now, you write the things you see, things happening now and what will happen later.
20 You saw seven stars in my right hand, and you saw the seven gold lamps[fire]. What do those mean? Their secret I now inform you: The seven lamps mean the seven churches, and the seven stars mean the announcers for those seven churches.
While Jesus lived among us on earth, did Jesus send a letter to anyone?
Peter sent letters.
Paul sent letters.
John sent letters.
But did Jesus? We don't know. The Bible doesn't say. But the Bible says that Jesus sent seven letters from heaven!! Jesus spoke, and John wrote. Those seven letters are now in our Bible, in the last book, named REVELATION, chapters 2 and 3.
For the next seven weeks here in church we will study those seven letters, and we will try to learn what Jesus wants to teach us in those letters.
But before we can begin studying those letters, we must look-at four important questions:
What? Who? Where? Why?
1: What?
The last book in the Bible is named REVELATION. That word REV means what? [Invite people to answer.]
Possible answers:
Inform
Show
Vision [think-expand]
We name that last book in the Bible "REVELATION." That is really an abbreviation [sign = summarize]. The full title is...
"The Revelation of Jesus Christ to the Apostle John"
That full title answers part of our #2 "who" question:
The information is from who?
Answer: From Jesus
Notice John's description for Jesus:
Peter sent letters.
Paul sent letters.
John sent letters.
But did Jesus? We don't know. The Bible doesn't say. But the Bible says that Jesus sent seven letters from heaven!! Jesus spoke, and John wrote. Those seven letters are now in our Bible, in the last book, named REVELATION, chapters 2 and 3.
For the next seven weeks here in church we will study those seven letters, and we will try to learn what Jesus wants to teach us in those letters.
But before we can begin studying those letters, we must look-at four important questions:
What? Who? Where? Why?
1: What?
The last book in the Bible is named REVELATION. That word REV means what? [Invite people to answer.]
Possible answers:
Inform
Show
Vision [think-expand]
We name that last book in the Bible "REVELATION." That is really an abbreviation [sign = summarize]. The full title is...
"The Revelation of Jesus Christ to the Apostle John"
That full title answers part of our #2 "who" question:
The information is from who?
Answer: From Jesus
Notice John's description for Jesus:
He was clothed in a long robe.
He had a gold band around His chest.
His head and hair were white as sheep-wool, as white as snow.
His eyes looked like fire.
His feet looked like metal bronze that shines hot in a furnace[fire].
His voice sounded like the noise of flooding water.
He held seven stars in his right hand.
A sword, having two sharp edges, it came out of his mouth.
His face looked like the sun shining most brightly.
He is the First and the Last.
He previously died, but now He lives forever.
That picture is not the "gentle soft Shepherd!"
That picture shows Jesus in His glory,
true man and true God.
Now, REV is from Jesus, to who?
Answer: to JOHN. Yes, Jesus' Disciple.
That same John wrote the Gospel,
the 4th book in the New Testament.
That same John wrote three other letters
in the New Testament that have his name.
First John
Second John
Third John
Last, John wrote everything Jesus informed-him
for the book we name REVELATION.
The information is from Jesus, to John, for who?
?To us? Yes.
But exactly, Jesus told John:
That picture shows Jesus in His glory,
true man and true God.
Now, REV is from Jesus, to who?
Answer: to JOHN. Yes, Jesus' Disciple.
That same John wrote the Gospel,
the 4th book in the New Testament.
That same John wrote three other letters
in the New Testament that have his name.
First John
Second John
Third John
Last, John wrote everything Jesus informed-him
for the book we name REVELATION.
The information is from Jesus, to John, for who?
?To us? Yes.
But exactly, Jesus told John:
"What you see, write that in a scroll.
And send that to seven churches."
And Jesus lists the names of those seven churches.
That leads us to our 3rd question: Where?
That leads us to our 3rd question: Where?
Where is John?
And where are those seven churches?
John says he is on the Island named PATMOS. That was a prison in the ocean, between Greece and Turkey.
Some of you maybe remember the California jail island named ALCATRAZ. That island PATMOS has the same idea.
John says he is in jail because he preaches about Jesus. This happened in a time that ROME increased persecution against Christians.
And those seven churches are in western TURKEY. In New Testament times, that area was named ASIA.
Church history tells us that John himself served as pastor in that area.
Jesus has a special message for each church in that area.
The things that Jesus tells them are important for us, also.
That leads to our 4th question: Why?
Jesus gave John that special vision[think-expand], why?
People often interpret the book of REVELATION two different ways.
One interpretation is history -- things happen finished.
The other interpretation is prophecy -- will happen.
Which is right?
Both are right.
Jesus told John:
And where are those seven churches?
John says he is on the Island named PATMOS. That was a prison in the ocean, between Greece and Turkey.
Some of you maybe remember the California jail island named ALCATRAZ. That island PATMOS has the same idea.
John says he is in jail because he preaches about Jesus. This happened in a time that ROME increased persecution against Christians.
And those seven churches are in western TURKEY. In New Testament times, that area was named ASIA.
Church history tells us that John himself served as pastor in that area.
Jesus has a special message for each church in that area.
The things that Jesus tells them are important for us, also.
That leads to our 4th question: Why?
Jesus gave John that special vision[think-expand], why?
People often interpret the book of REVELATION two different ways.
One interpretation is history -- things happen finished.
The other interpretation is prophecy -- will happen.
Which is right?
Both are right.
Jesus told John:
"Write the things you see,
what is now
and what will happen later."
You maybe will see some teachers say that the seven churches in REV are only SYMBOLS. Those teachers say that each church represents[means] a span-of-time in church history. They say that the first church in REV chapter two describes the church in the New Testament, during the time of the Apostles. And they say that the 7th church in REV describes our church today.
[Note to preacher/teacher: This interpretation is taught by teachers of Dispensationalism and Millenialism. See the Bible study about "Left Behind" .]
The book of REV has many symbols, yes. But the seven Churches in REV chapters 2 and 3 were real churches. And everything that Jesus tells them is all important for today. The problems in all seven churches are the same problems that we see our churches today. And Jesus' answers for those problems are the same answers He has for us today.
Notice some of the true SYMBOLS that we see in our lesson today. Lucky for us, we don't need to guess about what those SYMBOLS mean. The Bible itself tells us their meaning.
[Note to preacher/teacher: This interpretation is taught by teachers of Dispensationalism and Millenialism. See the Bible study about "Left Behind" .]
The book of REV has many symbols, yes. But the seven Churches in REV chapters 2 and 3 were real churches. And everything that Jesus tells them is all important for today. The problems in all seven churches are the same problems that we see our churches today. And Jesus' answers for those problems are the same answers He has for us today.
Notice some of the true SYMBOLS that we see in our lesson today. Lucky for us, we don't need to guess about what those SYMBOLS mean. The Bible itself tells us their meaning.
The Sword, having two sharp edges from Jesus' mouth.
Means what?
God's Word
Law and Gospel
that stabs deep to our heart
touching our sin
and healing us with the Good News
about forgiveness.
Means what?
God's Word
Law and Gospel
that stabs deep to our heart
touching our sin
and healing us with the Good News
about forgiveness.
The Keys
The Bible says that Jesus has "Keys to death and hell."
Jesus opens heaven for all people
that trust Him
and receive His forgiveness.
And one day in the future,
Jesus will throw the devil back into hell,
shut-the-door, and lock it.
The Bible says that Jesus has "Keys to death and hell."
Jesus opens heaven for all people
that trust Him
and receive His forgiveness.
And one day in the future,
Jesus will throw the devil back into hell,
shut-the-door, and lock it.
Seven Lamps (flames)
Mean what?
Seven churches. Each lamp means one church.
Seven Stars in Jesus' hand
Mean what?
Seven messengers[announcers] for the 7 churches.
Notice that some translations say, "Angels." That is because the Greek word ANGELOS means announcer. And God's announcers can either be people or angels. Which one here? ? ?
The announcers in church are people - the preachers.
And those announcers are where?
In Jesus' hand!
Starting next week we will begin our study about 7 churches:
1. The Cold Church
2. The Suffering Church
3. The Mixed Up Church
4. The Tempted Church
5. The Big Busy Church
6. The Strong Little Church
7. The Comfortable Church
Mean what?
Seven churches. Each lamp means one church.
Seven Stars in Jesus' hand
Mean what?
Seven messengers[announcers] for the 7 churches.
Notice that some translations say, "Angels." That is because the Greek word ANGELOS means announcer. And God's announcers can either be people or angels. Which one here? ? ?
The announcers in church are people - the preachers.
And those announcers are where?
In Jesus' hand!
Starting next week we will begin our study about 7 churches:
1. The Cold Church
2. The Suffering Church
3. The Mixed Up Church
4. The Tempted Church
5. The Big Busy Church
6. The Strong Little Church
7. The Comfortable Church
We pray:
Father in heaven, Thank You for Your Word that teaches us about You, and also teaches about ourselves. Please make Your word the same-as that sword that will touch our hearts and our minds. During the next seven weeks, help us to see the things You want to teach us about our church. Help us become more as You want. And we will announce Christ and His salvation to the world. Amen.
Father in heaven, Thank You for Your Word that teaches us about You, and also teaches about ourselves. Please make Your word the same-as that sword that will touch our hearts and our minds. During the next seven weeks, help us to see the things You want to teach us about our church. Help us become more as You want. And we will announce Christ and His salvation to the world. Amen.