Week 49: Christ’s Letters to Seven Churches
Week 49: Christ’s Letters to Seven Churches
We come now to the last book of the Bible, the book of Revelation. It claims in its first verse to be “the revelation of Jesus Christ” (Rev. 1:1), and in its first chapter John is given a magnificent vision of him, once crucified, now glorified. He announces himself as “the First and the Last … the Living One” (vv. 17–18) and “the ruler of the kings of the earth” (v. 5), which is the very title which the Roman emperor assumed.
With Revelation 2 the scene changes. The resurrected and glorious Jesus is now patrolling and supervising his churches on earth. He tells John to write a letter to each of seven churches in the Roman province of Asia. The seven letters all have the same outline, beginning with Christ’s claim that he knows their circumstances and concluding with a message of praise or blame appropriate to each church and a promise to those who overcome.
It seems legitimate to regard the seven individual churches as representing the universal church. Together they tell us the marks of an ideal church.
Sunday: The Letter to Ephesus—Love
Monday: The Letter to Smyrna—Suffering
Tuesday: The Letter to Pergamum—Truth
Wednesday: The Letter to Thyatira—Holiness
Thursday: The Letter to Sardis—Sincerity
Friday: The Letter to Philadelphia—Mission
Saturday: The Letter to Laodicea—Wholeheartedness