Fresh Speaking
(Judy's notes from Lord's Day fellowship, Jan. 17, 2010)
The book of Revelation was written around 90-95 AD. It is the revelation of Jesus Christ which God gave to Him, sending it by His angel to His slave John. (Rev. 1:1) and was written to the seven churches which are in Asia (Rev. 1:4). The letters to these churches have an historical meaning, the literal things which were occurring in each of those churches. They also referred to the churches throughout the ages. Ephesus sets the stage. Smyrna is the suffering church, the church which was under Roman persecution at that time. Pergamos was a couple of centuries later. It was the church that was married to the world under Constantine. This marriage to the world lasted for a few centuries.
What we often miss is that each letter to the churches is also to all the churches (He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches (Rev. 1:4, 2:7, 2:11, 2:17, 2:29, 3:6, 3:13, 3:22). These letters are also applicable to us too. They are also to you and to me.
Each letter begins by describing who He is. How He reveals Himself is important to that church's situation. In the letter to Ephesus, He is no longer in Judaism, the age of the law. Now is the age of grace, the church age. The meaning of Ephesus is desirable His desire. Ephesus is the beginning of the charge. He reveals Himself - who I am. He is the One who holds the seven stars in His hand, walking in the midst of the churches (Rev. 2:4). In this desirable new age, He is no longer in the synagogues, now He is in the churches! The seven stars are the messengers of the seven churches (Rev. 1:20), not the elders or leaders, but they are messengers. They are stars, something heavenly, shining from the heavenlies. They are those in whom the Spirit is moving through man for the building up of the church. We experience this shining. In every meeting we have His speaking, His shining in the darkness. This speaking and shining comes through the saints, the brothers and sisters around us.
Smyrna, as the suffering church, needed the Christ in resurrection (Rev. 2:8) be faithful unto death (Rev. 2:10)
Pergamos, means marriage (to the world). In our Christian life, we experience a process. He gets into me, and He melts my heart. It is however, easy to get distracted from the Lord being our best love, the center of our heart. We find that there's a big "self" in us that needs to die. We see this through His shining. We lay ourselves down, but find everything around us, the world around us, is against Christ in order to take us away from Him so that we don't experience or give ourselves to the Lord. The world has thousands of ways to distract our heart.
In Thyatira we see that the church fell deeply, very far. In Pergamos, Antipas had taken a stand and died (Rev. 2:13). If we don't take a stand (from Pergamos), we slide deeply. With Thyatira we read, "But I have something against you, that you tolerate that woman, Jezebel " (Rev. 2:20). Jezebel is in reference to 1Kings 16: 30-33 - "And Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the Lord above all that were before him. And it came to pass, as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, that he took to wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Zidonians, and went and served Baal, and worshipped him. And he reared up an altar for Baal in the house of Baal, which he had built in Samaria. And Ahab made a grove; and Ahab did more to provoke the Lord God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel that were before him." The worshipping of Baal was through Jezebel's urging. Under the Lord's light all the churches will know I search the inner parts and hearts (Rev. 2: 23) here, in Thyatira, it is not just a matter of the world, but it is a matter of my heart itself! According to Jeremiah, the heart is deceitful above all (Jer. 17: 9-10). Thyatira is a very deep slide from the Lord away from Him. Still, God's heart is "That Christ may make His home in our hearts " (Eph. 3: 17)! Our hearts go after every other thing that's Thyatira. To Pergamos, the church married to the world, the Lord comes as the sharp two edged sword, but to Thyatira, who would take the world as if it were a light thing, He comes as flaming eyes, and feet like shining bronze for judging. His flaming eyes look at us, and judges. Our life can be going on seemingly just fine, but as we walk with Him, His feet, like shining bronze, comes to judge. In Thyatira, the matter is the heart, however, He is the living water! The water gets deeper. Every day, the "tide" comes in to the heart. Although the heart is so against Him and for His enemy, still, day by day, the "tide" comes in and washes, cleanses us again and again. This "tide" is His blood, which constantly comes to wash us. Lord! Wash our heart that's against You by Your flowing water, so that You may make Your home in our hearts.
Some testimonies:
The work of the Spirit is to speak and to convict us.
Leaving our first love once we loose our first love, all the rest follows. May we have an endeavoring each and every day to overcome whatever situation we are in, and to eat the tree of life that we'd be supplied to hear what the Spirit is speaking to the churches.
Because He does love us, He shines in us and allows us to repent. He keeps exposing us and keeps bringing our hearts back to Himself.