THE SEVEN CHURCHES

The whole book of Revelation was written to seven churchs in the order that a letter would move from Patmos around the Roman postal route in that part of Asia Minor. At the time this letter was circulated, it is believed that there were more than five million Christians and hundreds of churches scattered throughout the Roman empire. This clearly indicates that these seven churches were symbolic of the whole Christian Church.

Bible students and historians have noticed also that there is a close similarity between the seven churches and the stages of church history between the times of the apostles and our modern age. While it is difficult to give exact dates for the transition between one church history type to another, sufficient evidence is available to identify striking characteristics.

Today, not only do you find yourself living in an age characterized by Laodicean Christianity, but you also find individual Christians involved in a religious experience that can closely identify with one or more of the seven churches. It is on this last amazing prophetic truth that this study guide will concentrate.

INTROSPECTION--
HOW DO YOU FEEL?

If you were asked to describe yourself as a light, what sort would it be? Candle, flashlight, floodlight, car light, etc.

What have others said?

How do you feel when someone seems to listen to you but does not hear what you say?

What have others said?

GROW IN THE WORD

Jesus' message to each church follows the same pattern of commendation, reproof, counsel, and promise. Can you find the church for which there is no commendation and the two churches for which there is no reproof?

To the Church of Ephesus

2. 1) To the angel of the church in Ephesus write:	Historically, this church is very similar to the whole picture of Christianity in the first century A.D.
These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands:	Each of the letters to the seven churches begins with a description of Jesus from chapter one.
I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance.	Is it an encouragement to realize that God knows when you have worked hard?
2)I know that you cannot tolerate wicked men, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false.	Cross Reference: How had Paul warned the Ephesians about false Christian teachers? Acts 20:27-30
3) You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary. 4) Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love.	What happens to a Christian when the fire of first love grows dim? What have others said?
5) Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place. 6) But you have this in your favor: You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.	True repentance involves not just sorrow, but right actions. "The Nicolaitans were persons who excused certain forms of impurity, and made the grace of God a cloak for lasciviousness. I believe the heresy was known in latter days as Antinomianism, which declares that grace is sufficient, and that good living is of little moment." G. Campbell Morgan, "Letters of Our Lord." p. 23. Check the meaning of lasciviousness and antinomianism.
7) He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To Him who overcomes, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.	Do you consider yourself an Ephesus type of Christian?

To the Church in Smyrna

8) To the angel of the Church in Smyrna write:	Historically, this church closely resembles true Christianity in the time of persecution that intensified until the Roman Emperor Constantine accepted the religion of Christ.
These are the words of him who is the First and the Last, who died and came to life again. 9) I know your afflictions and your poverty -- yet your are rich!	How could Jesus possibly count you rich in the midst of poverty and affliction? What have others said?
I know the slander of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.	Cross Reference: How is a true Jew described by Paul? Romans 2:28, 29; 9:6-8; Galatians 3:29.
10) Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life.	Historically, the ten most intense years of persecution were from A.D. 303 to A.D. 313. Ten represents perfection of ordinance and law, for example, Ten Commandments. According to God's law of love, temptation cannot go beyond what level of intensity? 1 Corinthians 10:13.
11) He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes will not be hurt at all by the second death.	Do you consider yourself a Smyrna type Christians?

To the Church in Pergamum

12) To the angel of the Church in Pergamum write:	Historically, this church pictures Christianity when it was the popular religion in the time of Constantine, and beyond.
These are the words of him who has the sharp, double-edged sword. 13) I know where you live -- where Satan has his throne. Yet you remain true to my name. You did not renounce your faith in me, even in the days of Antipas, by faithful witness, who was put death in your city -- where Satan lives.	When the Persians overthrew Babylon, the priests fled to Pergamos and it became a center of Satanic religion. Have you ever felt that you were struggling to be a faithful Christian in an evil environment? What have others said? In such an experience what has helped you through? What have others said?
14) Nevertheless, I have a few things against you: You have people there who hold to the teaching of Balaam,	Cross Reverence: Read Numbers 22:25. Balaam was a false prophet who led Israel into corruption with the Moabites.
who taught Balak to entice the Israelites to sin by eating food sacrificed to idols and by committing sexual immorality.	In your view -- what would be spiritual adultery and idolatry today? What have others said?
15) Likewise you also have those who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans. 16) Repent therefore! Otherwise, I will soon come to you and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.	Why doesn't God gloss over false teaching that is done in His name? What have others said?
17) He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will give some of the hidden manna.	Hidden Manna: The bread in the sacred ark of the testimony in the Most Holy place of the temple.
I will also give him a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to him who receives it.	White Stone: A symbol of freedom and honor in Roman times. A badge of entrance. Do you consider yourself a Pergamum type Christian?

To the Church of Thyatira

18) To the angel of the church in Thyatira write:	This is the middle church of the seven, and historically, is very close in likeness to Christianity during the middle ages.
These are the words of the Son of God, whose eyes are like blazing fire and whose feet are like burnished bronze.	This is the only time Jesus is called the Son of God in Revelation.
19) I know your deeds, your love and faith, your service and perseverance, and that you are now doing more than you did at first.	Does it trouble you that God seems to keep so close a check on deeds, love and service? What have others said? Historically, toward the end of the middle ages, reformation began in the church.
20) Nevertheless, I have this against you: You tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess.	Cross Reference: 1 Kings 16:31-33, 18:16-46; 19:1, 2 Jezebel was a princess and priestess of Baal (a nature god). She helped lead Israel into sun worship and other spiritual corruption.
By her teaching she misleads my servants into sexual immorality and the eating of food sacrificed to idols.	How could a Christian church today be deceived by Jezebel type religion? What have others said?
22) So I will cast her on a bed of suffering, and I will make those who commit adultery with her suffer intensely, unless they repent of her ways. 23) I will strike her children dead. Then all the churches will know that I am he who searches hearts and minds, and I will repay each of you according to your deeds.	What indications are given here that God is very upset when His truth is mixed with false teaching or living? What have others said?
24) Now I say to the rest of you in Thyatira, to you who do not hold to her teaching and have not learned Satan's so-called deep secrets (I will not impose any other burden on you): 25) Only hold on to what you have until I come.	Has there been a time in your life when you felt that God was laying another burden on you? What have others said?
26) To him who overcomes and does my will to the end, I will give authority over the nations -- 27) 'He will rule them with an iron scepter; he will dash them to pieces like pottery' -- just as I have received authority from my Father.	In revelation 20 you will see how this promise ties in with the final judgment.
28) I will also give him the morning star. 29) He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.	Do you consider yourself a Thyatira type Christian?

To the Church is Sardis

3:1) To the angel of the church in Sardis write:	Historically, Sardis seems to appear very much like the church from the time of the Reformation to the French Revolution. The church professed to make great changes but settled back into complacency.
These are the words of him who holds the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead.	Cross Reference: Christians have the reputation of being alive in Christ. How does Paul emphasize the urgency for believers to really come to life? Romans 13:11, 12.
Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your deeds complete in the sight of my God. 3) Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; obey it, and repent. But if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what time I will come to you.	Have you had the experience of falling asleep at the wrong time? How did you feel when you woke up? What have others said?
4) Yet you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes. They will walk with me, dressed in white, for they are worthy.	Jesus provides the white robe of His perfect righteousness to all who will accept it. Are you walking in white today?
5) He who overcomes will, like them, be dressed in white. I will never blot out his name from the book of life, but will acknowledge his name before my Father and his angels.	During this historical time period some great Christians like Zinzendorf, Wesely, and Whitfield walked in white. Their influence can still be felt today.
6) He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.	Do you consider yourself a Sardis type of Christian?

To the Church in Philadelphia

7) To the angel of the church in Philadelphia write:	Historically, this could be a prophetic picture of the great spiritual awakening that characterized the first half of the 19th century.
These are the words of him who is holy and true, who holds the key of David. What he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open. 8) I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut.	During this period was the world's most extensive open door of revival, with missionary movements and Bible Societies spreading the Word all over the world. Also, there was a new awareness of the open door of access to the Most Holy Place of the temple in heaven. What doors has God opened and closed for you lately? What have others said?
I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name. 9) I will make those who are of the synagogue of Satan, who claim to be Jews though they are not, but are liars -- I will make them come and fall down at your feet and acknowledge that I have loved you.	False worship and deceptive leaders will be unmasked as God's people trust Him, obey Him, and endure. How will you feel when those who have opposed you finally acknowledge that you were loved by God? What have others said?
10) Since you have kept my command to endure patiently, I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come upon the whole world to test those who live on the earth.	Cross Reference: Daniel 12:1. At the time of earth's worst trouble what will God do for His people?
11) I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown. 12) Him who overcomes I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will he leave it. I will write on him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God; and I will also write on him my new name.	Those who honor God, claiming His strength to obey Him, will be honored by God. In Bible times names represented character. In the final wedding God's people receive His name. Imagine what it will be like to have a new reputation with no fear of defamation.
13) He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.	Do you consider yourself a Philadelphia type Christian?

To the Church in Laodicea

14) To the angel of the church in Laodicea write:	Historically, this description fittingly reveals the dominant characteristics of much of Christianity in the last days --compromise and lukewarmness.
These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God's creation. 15) I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish that you were either one or the other! 16) So, because you are lukewarm -- neither hot nor cold -- I am about to spit you out of my mouth.	Why would God wish that some Christians were cold? What have others said?
17) You say, 'I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.' but you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.	Describe a situation in which you tried to help someone who did not recognize or acknowledge their need. What have others said?
18) I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see.	What is the pure gold that makes a believer rich? Ephesians 2:7, 8; James 2:5. What are the white clothes that cover the believer's nakedness? Isaiah 61:10 What is the eyesalve that enables the believer to see? 1 Corinthians 2:9, 10, 14.
19) Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be Ernest, and repent. 20) Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.	This is the most beautiful and meaningful invitation in all of Revelation. Why not bow and accept Jesus' invitation now.
21) To him who overcomes, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I overcame and sat down with my Father on his throne. 22) He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.	Do you consider yourself a Laodicea type Christian?

SPIRITUAL GROWTH WITH GOD

God's emphasis to the seven churches is on deeds, actions, faithfulness and works. How do you relate this to grace and love in your life today?

What have others said?

What are some ways you can keep your first love for Jesus alive even after you have been a Christian for a long time?

What have others said?

No matter what you nationality by birth, how can you now be a true "Jew?"

What have others said?

Overcoming is mentioned twelve time in Revelation; there are promises to overcomers in each of the seven churches. What is a Christian expected to overcome?

What have others said?

Continue to the next lesson

If you wish to send us your responses to the questions above just enter your name and email address then click on the send button below.

Your Name

Your Email Address
Please accurately enter your full email address!

Comments or Questions:

There have been visitors to this page since 03/30/98.

This page maintained by Allen Roy. Last update on 01/14/2004