Church For All Nations

The Seven Churches of Revelation are a group of early Christian churches in the Roman province of Asia, mentioned in the Book of Revelation in the New Testament. These churches were located in the cities of Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea, and they received individual letters from Jesus Christ, delivered through John on the island of Patmos. 

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• Ephesus: Known for its hard work and endurance, but admonished for forsaking its first love. 

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Good Day my dear family in Christ.

It is always important before we start our bible studies, whether we are studying together as a group or studying, or just reding our bibles alone, to pray and to ask our Lord to open our hearts to His word, to give us a new understanding of His word and to bless His word to our hearts.

Who would like to open in prayer?

It is been a very long time since I attended school but one thing that has been implanted on my mind was that we were always afraid of asking any questions. We encourage all of our students to ask questions about something that you haven’t understood, after the study time has finished.

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Revelation 2:1

V1: The Revelation or Apocalypse, the word Apocalypse means; the complete final destruction of the world, as described in the biblical book of Revelation, was given to John on the island of Patmos where John was exiled.

Johns letter was sent to the Seven church that were in Asia

The Seven Churches of Revelation, also known as the Seven Churches of the Apocalypse and the Seven Churches of Asia, are seven major churches of Early Christianity, as mentioned in the New Testament Book of Revelation. All of them are located in the Asia Minor, present-day Turkey as the maps will show.

Many of the Christians who study the book of Revelation start at Chapter 13 and miss the important study of John’s letters to the seven churches. Our Lord gave this Revelation to John as it was very important, not just from the thirteenth chapter but the whole of the Revelation that was given to John.

I have shown two maps which will give to you an understanding of the importance of the area and the country that the seven churches were in.

2 “To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: The One who holds the seven stars in His right hand, the One who walks among the seven golden lampstands, says this:

2 ‘I know your deeds and your toil and perseverance, and that you cannot tolerate evil men, and you put to the test those who call themselves apostles, and they are not, and you found them to be false; 3 and you have perseverance and have endured for My name’s sake, and have not grown weary. 4 But I have this against you, that you have left your first love. 5 Therefore remember from where you have fallen, and repent and do the deeds you did at first; or else I am coming to you and will remove your lampstand out of its place—unless you repent. 6 Yet this you do have, that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. 7 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will grant to eat of the tree of life which is in the Paradise of God.’

 

The letters to the seven churches follow’s the example of Paul’s writing a letter to all of the churches under his care, to Paul it wasn’t just a case of preaching the gospel and saving souls and then forgetting about those people, Paul, when led by the Holy Spirit would make a second and sometimes a third journey back to visit those churches and would always leave them all with an encouraging word. No matter where Paul was or the ordeal that he faced, he would always pray for all of the churches and the people that made up the church congregations, but this time was different, Paul was given specific churches to write letters too, WHY? Because they were very important for the growth of the church, but unfortunately many were doing their own things, they had become proud and complacent as I hope that you will also recognise as this study progresses.

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Anatolia which is modern day Turkey was important and Christianity has a very long history in Anatolia (Turkey) and was the birthplace of numerous Christian Apostles and Saints.

The seven churches were in Anatolia which is modern day Turkey, you will notice how thriving churches can sometimes walk their own way instead of the way of Jesus very much like some of the churches in our world today.

This is why those letters to the seven churches are so important in our lives today, encouraging all Christians to keep their eyes, not on the world and the riches of the world, but only on Jesus.

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Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Hebrews 12:2

 

Ephesus was an ancient Anatolian city and was the greatest commercial city of Asia Minor and the capital of the province of Asia. Wealth or the fixation of wealth, another word for fixation could be obsession of wealth which leads a Christians heart away from serving Christ and serving others.

There is nothing wrong in being wealthy, it is how a person has become wealthy that can be construed as honest or dishonest and secondly what a person does with that wealth, would they keep it for themselves or use it to help others for the glory of God?

 

I want you all to pay special attention to what our Lord is saying to the seven churches. Don’t imagine that we are exempt from such sinful behaviour in the church today. Once any church takes their eyes off Jesus Christ, ignores the prompting of the Holy Spirit, ignores the word of God, refuses to pray or to help those who are less fortunate than themselves and set their eyes on personal wealth, they have turned their backs on Christ Jesus.

 

V1-3. The words of Him who holds the seven stars in His right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands: Revelation 1:1:13;19;20

 

Our Lord’s walking amongst the golden lampstands (the churches) may imply that He was inspecting their condition one by one.

 

Our Lord Continues; I know your deeds, you cannot tolerate wicked men, have tested those who say they are apostles and are not, and have found them false.

 

We often forget when we are in church that Jesus Christ is right there with us,

For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst.” Matthew 18:20

 

There is no spoken word that He does not hear, there is no thought that can be hidden from Him, there is no heart that He cannot look into.

Jesus knows all and sees all, He knows you’re going out and coming in, He also know your deeds and whether those deeds are done from love and compassion, nothing is hidden from our Lord.

“But I know your sitting down And your going out and your coming in And your raging against Me.

Isaiah 37:28

 

The Lord will guard your going out and your coming in From this time forth and forever. Psalm 121:8

 

You cannot tolerate wicked men! The men who do evil, especially those who were infiltrating the church to cause trouble.

 

Beware of the dogs, beware of the evil workers, beware of the false circumcision; Philippians 3:2

 

Hate wickedness: As you follow our Lord’s final command to reach the lost souls with the gospel, it is so easy to pass judgement, it is not our place to judge anyone for the lifestyle that they are living, there is only one perfect judge, Jesus Christ and as we judge we also shall be judged,

 

For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you. Matthew 7:2

 

We must keep our eyes firmly fixed upon Jesus and remember that Jesus hated the SIN but loved the SINNER, should we do any less?

 

You have tested those who say they are apostles and are not, and have found them false.

 

For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ.

2 Corinthians 11:13

 

The signs and the tests of a true apostle in the early church must meet certain criteria:

 

1) They must be chosen out of the group of disciples who followed Jesus from his baptism by John until his resurrection.

2) They must have consistently sat under Christ’s teaching, his ministry and life.

3) Apostles had to be “eye witnesses” (Acts 10:38-41), which makes it seem that true apostles could only be chosen out of a very small band of disciples.

 

You know of Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him. We are witnesses of all the things He did both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They also put Him to death by hanging Him on a cross. God raised Him up on the third day and granted that He become visible, not to all the people, but to witnesses who were chosen beforehand by God, that is, to us who ate and drank with Him after He arose from the dead.  Acts 10:38-41

 

There are no more that hold the office of Apostle today, but the gift of apostleship continues in a different sense.  Jesus gave apostles, prophets, evangelists, shepherds and teachers at His ascension (Ephesians 4:7-12), and these represent a distinct category of apostles.  They do not have the authority to write Scripture as the original Apostles did.  They also have a different purpose in the sense of establishing the church – the foundation has already been set.

 Later within the church we see different kinds of Apostles such as Paul (Saul of Tarsus), those Christians who had never known Jesus during His life

 

Different kinds of apostles

 

It wasn’t too long, before the church would see other apostles emerging, apostles who were regarded as being authentic and were accepted by the early church as being vital for the future health and growth of the church. None of those apostles were “eye-witnesses” of Christ’s life, or even witnesses of Christ’s resurrection.

Those who were now apostles simply emerged within the churches, were recognised as being graced uniquely to function as apostles within the churches. They worked closely with elders – planting churches, ordaining new elders, and working in teams into the churches of the New Testament.

They brought correction, rebuke and encouragement. They were active in guarding the churches against false doctrines, helping the churches process difficult cases and exhorting the churches onwards in Christ.

These apostles included men like Barnabas, who is called an apostle in Acts 14:4;  Andronicus and Junias (Romans 16:7), Silas and Timothy (1 Thessalonians 2:6, 1:1), James the brother of Jesus (Galatians 1:19), Apollos (1 Corinthians 4:6,9) and Epaphroditus (Philippians 2:25)
 

Who called these men to be Apostles?

 

The only Christians that are allowed to be an Apostle are those who have been chosen by the Holy Spirit and who have the title of an Apostle.

Those chosen to be Apostles by the Holy Spirit in the church today are vital for the ongoing health and growth of the churches.

Apostles are called to work with the Pastor’s and in the churches, building upon the foundations of the twelve and Paul, to ensure that the buildings of the church would grow strong and healthy.

 

We must also be very careful, as there were false apostles in the early church there are many false apostles rising in our church today and leading the church astray.

We will know the tree by its fruit, Do not be led away by someone calling themself an apostle with testing them as they were tested by the Church at Ephesus.

 

V3. You have perseverance for My names sake and have not grown weary. There ministry was moving forward in the Power of the Holy Spirit, they welcomed all of the saints in love.

 

V4. I hold this against you, you have forsaken your first love. So penetrating a diagnosis, especially of people who have just been praised for persevering and not growing weary.

For all their commendable endurances, the fervour of their original love, their love towards all the saints, has decreased and become much weaker.

 

For this reason I too, having heard of the faith in the Lord Jesus which exists among you and your love for all the saints. Ephesians1:15

 

And nothing, no amount of good works could ever replace love, “agape” in a Christian community, unless there was a change of heart and a return to the original works of love, its lampstands would be removed and that churches days are numbered.

 

V6. But you have this in your favour (This to your credit) you hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, this word means followers of Nicolaus. Nicolaism was an early Christian sect mentioned twice in the Book of Revelation of the New Testament.

The adherents were called Nicolaitans and were a religious sect. They were considered heretical by the mainstream Church. According to Revelation 2:6 and 15, they were known in the cities of Ephesus and Pergamum.

 

V7. He who as an ear let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, that is to repent of his sin and to ask Jesus to fill their hearts with His love and once again to be a church that moves forward in the power of the Holy Spirit, letting the light and the love of Jesus shine through in everything that they do.

 

Question

 

What is the letter to the church at Ephesus teaching the church today on what we should do and how we should be as Christians?

 

How can we recognise a true Apostle from a false Apostle?

 

What signs should we look for in discerning the false from the true. Paul describes false apostles in 2 Corinthians 11 by saying that:

 

• They commend themselves and boast beyond proper limits.

• They lead believers astray from pure and sincere devotion to Christ.

• They preach another Jesus and a different gospel

• They create the impression that they are “super” apostles.

• They look for opportunity to be considered equal with true apostles.

• They are deceitful

• They are servants of Satan and will be judged.

• They push themselves forward, even to the point of abuse and control.

Christ said that “By their fruit you will recognize them.” (Matt 7:16)

 

A true Apostle is chosen by the Holy Spirit, their ministry within the church consists of:

 

The mission for those with the gift of apostleship today is to plant new ministries and churches, go into places where the Gospel is not preached, reach across cultures to establish churches in challenging environments, raise up and develop leaders, call out and lead pastors and shepherds, and much more.  They often have many different gifts that allow them to fulfil their ministry.  These are leaders of leaders and ministers of ministers.  They are influencers.  They are typically entrepreneurial and are able to take risks and perform difficult tasks.  Missionaries, church planters, certain Christian scholars and institutional leaders, and those leading multiple ministries or churches often have the gift of apostleship.  See also Ephesians 4:11, I Corinthians 12:28, Acts 1:21-22, 1 Corinthians 9:1.

 

May our Lord give to each one of us the discernment of recognising false prophets and those wanting to cause problems and dis-unity within the church. Amen

 

Please close in Prayer.

 

Many blessings to you all.