Sermon Tone Analysis

Revelation #3

*7 Stars and 7 Lampstands - part 1*

Rev 1:20 - 3

V 19 WRITE - what you have seen, what is now, and what will be

 

The things you have seen - chapter 1

The things which are - ch 2 and 3 the dispensation of the church that John was a part of as are WE

Things which will take place (hereafter ~/ after these things) - More later but in chapter 4:1 /come up here / the church is never mentioned again on earth.

V 20 - The mystery of the 7 stars in my right hand and the 7 lampstands is this: 7 stars are the angels ~/ messengers of the 7 churches and 7 lampstands are the 7 churches

 

7= sacred symbolic - Criswell calls it sacred Arithmetic

7= completeness ~/ fullness "7 Spirits" = the Holy Spirit who is ONE yet the fullness of 7 represent him and the fullness of God's Spirit

 

7 churches = All ~/ fullness ~/ completeness of the church - he speaks here to ALL the Church

Actual Churches ?

YES  But these things relate to US as well

 

Church = 2 words /ek (out of) kaleo (to call out from) ek kaleo /or ecclesia is a group of people called out from among

The church is a called out group by the grace of God, selected, Saved, Separated, Sanctified

Almost always used to describe a local group

 

These 7 are historically ~/ actual and thus have a pastor, deacons, lay people, servants, etc

 

7 Real Cities

 

Ephesus - Western Asia Minor - commercial city - large manmade harbor 3 miles up river from the coast - East ~/ West trade went through Ephesus.

Worshipped the goddess Diana.

Timothy was pastor of the church there, later John was pastor there for 30+ years - Was a city of 250,000 - Housed the great Temple of Diana a Wonder of the Ancient World.

(425 ft long ~/ 220 wide ~/ 60 high - 127 marble pillars)  Today Ephesus is a desolate place -

 

Smyrna

          30 miles north on a bay in the Aegean Sea - beautiful wide streets - one of the largest cities of Asian Turkey today

many temples to different God's down the wide and beautiful "Golden Street" Today called Izmir - destroyed in WWI but rebuilt and beautiful still

 

Pergamos

          50 miles north 15 miles inland was at one time the World Capital.

Noted for 1) Its Library - 200K books.

The word Parchment is from the word Pergamos - Ptolemy had become angry with them and removed the trade of paper to them so they began to bring on animal skins ~/ parchment.

Also 2) the Temple of Aesculapius - the god of healing, housed the greatest medical school in the world at that time to study the sciences of healing.

A city of pagan worship - many gods worshipped.

Today just a desolate place

 

Thyratira

30 miles south - not much history known - mercantile commerce - manufactured purple, copper, silver - trade guilds for each - a "union town" - today is in ruin and decay

 

Sardis

          30 miles south hand an impassable location along a mountain with a river running like a mote around it - Gold in the area made it wealthy-  Money was invented with the 1st gold ~/ silver coins minted there - Today in ruins

 

Laodicea

          43 miles southest 100 miles inland from Ephesus.

Mercantile town.

So wealthy … when earthquake destroyed in 60 AD they refused Rome's financial assistance and rebuilt themselves - Today in ruins

 

 

Back to the 7 Stars -

 

7 Stars = 7 Angels of the church.

Well the Angel part here can't be symbolic or then BOTH words would be symbolic and that wouldn't make sense

So the Angels must be real messengers

 

Messenger = "one entrusted with a communication"

 

An angel can be heavenly, spiritual, or human

 

Haggai 1:13 - Haggai, the Lord's messenger (malak -/ mal-*awk*)/ gave the message of the Lord to the people

 

/Malak - (mal-*awk*) /translates into Greek as /aggelos (ang-*e*-los)/ - ANGEL

 

Angel = God's anointed messenger to deliver God's Word

 

Malachi 2:7 - /…priest's lips should keep knowledge … for he is the messenger (aggelos ~/ malak) / /of the Lord of hosts/

 

Where are  stars and lamps?

In the Dark

 

We the Pastor and the Church shine in a dark world

 

 

Why THESE 7 churches and not Rome, Corinth, Jerusalem

-7  God was using them and their personalities to show us something that the church developing and in history would need to see

-8  These letters are LIKE parables to teach us

-9  Each ends "has an ear … hear" that's US

-10 There is a mystery … more to dig into than just a letter to churches

-11 These Messages are in a prophesy book so it's not JUST for one church but for all of us

 

7 Promises in these letters

 

-12 First - in the Garden the Tree of Life was forfeited - in Christ we regain the right to the Tree of Life

-13 Second - we are afflicted with a curse of sin and death to our souls - but now we need not fear death or the 2nd death in Christ

-14 Third - in the Exodus they ate manna and their names were worn on the breastplate of the priest, close to his heart.

Now we are feed the Manna of Life by Christ the bread of life and our names are inscribed on his heart

-15 Fourth - O T victories over enemies - now we are promised victory over the nations

-16 Fifth - the book of life and walking in life and victory yet to come

-17 Sixth citizens of the New Jerusalem and the New Temple - not made with human hands

-18 Seventh - trust him and overcome and sit with the Lord and rule in glory

 

7 Churches can be seen as periods in Church History and all 7 can be seen in every age of the church and all 7 can be seen in every CHURCH in the members

 

Ephesus - Waning Love - Church up to 100 AD

Smyrna - Martyrdom - the Roman persecution - Historians mark 10 Persecutions of the Church - "after 10 days" - Church from 100 - 313 AD

Pergamum - Identity with the World - live where Satan has his throne - Seated where Satan rules - Constantine 313 - 500 AD -

Thyratira - dressed in purple - like the harlot - Wicked Church sold out to the World - enticing and adorned with the worlds adornment - AD 500 - 1500

Sardis - men stand to preach - Church during the Reformation - 1500-1700 -

Philadelphia - Open Door - Missionary era - 1700 to present

Laodicea - wealth affluence, self sufficiency - silver and gold - no power, Christ on the outside - Liberal Church of Today the Content Church of Today

 

 

* *

*The Church at Ephesus - You Don't Bring Me Flowers Anymore?*

Weirsbe calls this the "Backsliding Church"

Remember that JOHN had been the Pastor of this church from 69 AD to before his imprisonment but now with him gone everything had changed.

It doesn't take long, no matter how good the teaching for us to abandon truth for

 

*  A.

Jesus Speaks on the Authority of* - v1 - /Him who holds the 7 stars in his right hand and walks among the 7 golden lampstands/

 

Why is that significant?

- *He holds in his hand* - for protection, for direction, for control, and for reprimand if necessary - *the Stars ~/ Pastors *-

- *walks among the lampstands* - among - that shows him to be the High Priest who has the job of maintaining the lampstands in the Temple - He makes sure that they are filled with oil so they do not go out.

He maintains them and he also replaces them

- *both Pastor and Church* - are at his mercy, in need of his guidance, in need of his care, and subject to his reprimand and removal if necessary

 

  *B.

Acknowledgment * - I know your deeds

    1.

hard work

    2.

perseverance - endured hardships, remain fresh

    3.

no toleration for wicked men, false teachers

    4.

hate the practices of the Nicolaitans - followers of Nicolas or his ways - Irenaeus writes that Nicolas, one of the 1st deacons was a false believer who later became apostate.

Because he was a deacon, he was able to lead the church astray into immorality and wickedness.

His followers, Nicolaitans, were immoral and brought it to the church.

Clement says they "abandoned themselves to pleasure like goats (with) self-indulgence"  They replaced grace with liberty

 

  *C.

Accusation -  */I hold this against you - /"have" - /echo (*ekh-*o) hold in hand /- "against" /katá (ka-*ah*) - down from according to; toward/ i.e. he is holding in his hand this charge against them

    1.

you don't bring me flowers anymore

    2.

we don't sit beside each other in the Car anymore - "I haven't moved"