Prior Book | Prior Chapter | Prior Verse | Next Verse | Next Chapter | | Viewing NASB and Amplified 2015 | |
NASB | Revelation 1:11 saying, "Write in a book what you see, and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus and to Smyrna and to Pergamum and to Thyatira and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to Laodicea." |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Revelation 1:11 saying, "Write on a scroll what you see [in this revelation], and send it to the seven churches--to Ephesus and to Smyrna and to Pergamum and to Thyatira and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to Laodicea." |
Bible Question: Does anyone have a summary of the letters to the seven churches |
Bible Answer: Part of 2 The message to the seven churches are the words of Christ to the Church. If you ever wandered what Jesus would say about your church if He were to show and and tell you, you do not have to wonder any longer. All you have to do is read and prayerfully meditate on Reve 2 and 3. The angel tells John what the meaning of the vision of the Glorified Son of God is. He is told that the stars He holds are the angels of the seven churches and the candlesticks are the seven churches. The KJV scholars being faithful to the greek translated it angels and that is exactly what the Lord wanted us to understand. Without going into it so I can fit everything in this post, using angels was to convey the promise that if the pastors and leadership and preachers are faithful they will inherit great rewards and be “as” the angels. The candlesticks in Jesus hand speaks of all the church and not just these 7. Is Jesus only holding these 7 churches in his hands or are not all saints, (all the church) in the palm of His hand? So why 7, it speaks the whole true church and not just those that call themselves church.The Lord knows whos are his and let every man that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity. As you review each church I believe you are seeing a type of church, denomination, local assembly, or even individual Christian conditions of the heart. In church history you might even be able to identify certain church “ages” or historic periods where a particular church in this list fits the condition of the church world wide until a certain change like the reformation etc.. As much as has been written about those things, they never edify me or bear witness in my spirit. I feel that the best application is, a type of local assembly, denominational or otherwise, and a type of Christian condition. So from the time it was written until today we have always had all 7 types with us and all saints of all ages can read this portion and determine to please Christ based on what is revealed here about what Jesus hates and what he likes in our lives and in our churches. So in Ephesus, you have a type of denomination, local church or even a Christian that is very effective at identifying false doctrine and hates the teachings that lead to compromise as it relates to sin, but in their perfection of doctrine and their willingness to “contend” for the faith, they have left their first love. What is the first love? We can say it is the affectionate adoratioin of the believer to Jesus Christ, or the whole hearted devotion to the person of Jesus. It is very common for very educated theologians who began with no knowledge of scripture at all and were known for their fervency of spirit and love for the Lord, to grow cold over time and after learning all doctrine, to leave off worship and adoration of Christ who washed them from their sins. It is also common for denominations who started off with a fresh revelation the church needed, to perfect that doctrine and become champions of that doctrine and yet loose their love for Christ and the freshness of that doctrine they once knew, so that they become a mechanized machine going through the motions. The Smyrna church is that type of church or Christians that have nothing in the eyes of the world,even living in government projects or worse in persecution in countries that arrest Christians, that have all that really matters, a love for the Lord and willing heart to go all the way with Christ. These saints are poor in the eyes of the world, but they bubble over with the love of Christ and are rich in heaven. These are they that keep on glowing even when the world seems set on stamping them out. They don’t follow the name it and claim it crowd because they don’t really care what they drive, their heart is set on higher things and so they are counted WORTHY to suffer for his name so that they might receive treasures this world can never know. (continued on next post) |