The addresses to the seven churches have an unusual character that is in keeping with the church’s testimony down here. They relate to the history of the church on earth, not in heaven, and have to do with its responsibility before the Lord as a witness on the earth. Because it subsists on earth as owned of God, certain things connected with it are predicted. In His wisdom God selects seven churches in Asia which afforded the moral character of the states into which the church would successively fall and gives His moral judgment of these states. There is no mention of its relationship to God as Father and no mention of God’s grace in meeting the saints in their need and failure — all that is left for other scriptures. Rather, we see the Lord as judge in respect of that which professes to bear His name.
A Heavenly Calling
The church has a heavenly calling, and her hopes are all centered in heaven. Her home is there, and her character in this world is that of a pilgrim and a stranger. More than this, her affections are focused on Christ who is in heaven, and as His bride she ardently waits for Him to come and take her to Himself. Prophecy, on the other hand, is for the earth and deals with God’s purposes on earth. For these reasons, the church is not the subject of prophecy, and her time in this world is not reckoned in prophetic time. The church is not viewed in connection with the earth until she is displayed with Christ and takes part in the government of the earth. This will not take place until the marriage of the Lamb has taken place, the millennial kingdom is established, and the church is seen as “the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God” (Rev. 21:1010And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, (Revelation 21:10)).
However, we must remember that while the church is not the subject of prophecy, it is vital to view prophecy from an understanding of the truth of the church. Paul could say to Timothy, “Consider what I say; and the Lord give thee understanding in all things” (2 Tim. 2:7). An understanding of the church and its peculiar position in the purposes of God is crucial to an understanding of prophecy, and indeed of all the ways of God. Thus the Book of Revelation is written for the church, even if it is not mainly about the church. Although the book mainly concerns “things which must shortly come to pass” (Rev. 1:11The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to show unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John: (Revelation 1:1)), John was told to “write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter” (Rev. 1:1919Write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter; (Revelation 1:19)). These are the three parts of the book. The things which John had seen are found in the first chapter, for Jesus Christ has already been “the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead” (Rev. 1:55And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, (Revelation 1:5)). He has already “washed us from our sins in His own blood” and has “made us kings and priests unto God and His Father” (Rev. 1:56). In chapters 23 we have the “things which are” — the Lord’s judgment of the church in responsibility as a testimony. Then, beginning with chapter 4, we have “things which shall be hereafter.”
It is fitting that God speaks to the church both at the beginning and at the end of the book, for it is to her that the book is mainly addressed. At the beginning, she is addressed in responsibility, while at the end she is reminded of her blessed relationship with her bridegroom. At the beginning the Lord takes His place as judge, for “judgment must begin at the house of God” (1 Peter 4:17), while at the end He takes His place as “Jesus . . . the bright and morning star” (Rev. 22:1616I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star. (Revelation 22:16)). As to the addresses to the seven churches in chapters 23, there is a twofold message in them.
A Twofold Message
First of all, these were seven actual assemblies going on in Asia at the time that John wrote. Certain conditions existed in each of the assemblies addressed which the Lord saw and caused John to write to them for their benefit. Similar conditions can exist in any assembly of believers, at any time. God intends us to take this to heart, for declension may come in very easily. The church is left on earth to be a testimony for God. Here in these remarks to the seven churches, the Lord is acting as judge and giving His estimate of the state of each assembly that professed to be His testimony. In Laodicea we have what is false, yet still takes the place of God’s testimony in the earth; it is obnoxious to the Lord and is spued out of His mouth. This will not, of course, take place until after all true believers have been taken up at the Lord’s coming. When the false church has been judged, God will bring Israel back into blessing again and once more establish them as His testimony on the earth.
A Panoramic View
However, there is another message for us in what is said to these assemblies. It is evident that the seven churches, taken in the order in which they are given, are a panoramic view of the various epochs in the church’s history. It was not intended to give the church a “preview” of her history, but rather to speak to her heart and conscience about her state throughout her history. The church is always to have the present hope of the Lord’s coming for His saints at any moment. We, who live, can always and rightly speak of ourselves as “we which are alive, and remain unto the coming of the Lord.” It is only at the end of this dispensation that God has allowed us to see the whole prophetic significance of these addresses. Now, when the church period is almost finished, God has permitted us to see how He foresaw all that would happen in the church testimony during its history and has given His evaluation of it.
The Church’s Prophetic History
Ephesus gives us the state of the church right after the apostles had been taken home — a carefulness to do everything right, but leaving their first love. Love is the basis of our relationship with the Lord in Christianity and must be maintained. This early departure paved the way for every other evil that came along later. Smyrna pictures the period of savage persecution that took place under the Roman Empire during the second and third centuries A.D. There were ten distinct periods of persecution, and many were “faithful unto death” during this time. But then Constantine became emperor in 325 A.D., and he professed to be a Christian. He made Christianity the official religion of the empire and constrained many to be baptized as Christians. This state of things is typified in Pergamos. Although the persecution ceased, it was the beginning of a downward course for the church, for she became allied with the world. This condition of things eventually degenerated further into Roman Catholicism, with its hierarchies of officials, bad doctrine and awful persecution of all who did not submit to its dictates. The church was not only part of the world, but actually ruled the world. This condition of things is described in the address to Thyatira — a condition which continued almost unchallenged until approximately 1500 A.D. Surely the Lord had His own faithful ones during this time, often referred to as the Dark Ages, but for the most part Rome held sway over Europe. When the condition of the testimony had degenerated to this point, there was no hope of full recovery, and thus the various conditions described in Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea coexist until the Lord’s return.
Sardis brings before us, not the Reformation, but that which came out of the Reformation. No doubt the Reformation was of God, but Protestantism, or quiet settlement in the world, has a name to live, but is dead. The restoration of the precious truth of the gospel in the Reformation was succeeded by deadness and formalism. But early in the nineteenth century God graciously interposed Philadelphia, a people conscious of what the church is and what it means to Christ. Before the Lord they are willing to keep His Word and not deny His name. The Lord has a special message for them, and perhaps there is no greater word of encouragement in the entire Word of God than that which is found in Revelation 3:1212Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name. (Revelation 3:12).
Finally, there is Laodicea, where lukewarmness is combined with worldliness, pride and self-satisfaction. God’s assessment is different, for He discerns only poverty, blindness, misery and nakedness. The end result is that it is spued out of Christ’s mouth, no doubt a reference to the awful end of the false church that seeks to take the place of that which is true.
The Blessed Hope
The knowledge of the course of events that the church has passed through and succeeding judgments from the Lord is helpful in understanding the end of things on earth. But they have no bearing on the blessed hope of being called to be with Christ in glory. Christ loved the church and gave Himself for it. Our place is to respond in kind. Affection for Him is everything.
In Revelation 1:99I John, who also am your brother, and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ. (Revelation 1:9) (JND), John describes himself as being “your brother and fellow-partaker in the tribulation and kingdom and patience, in Jesus.” It is this character of walk that was forgotten by the church, as evidenced in at least six, if not all, of the seven churches. The church has been called to share Christ’s glory, but that calling is never apart from suffering down here. We must be willing to be a partaker in the kingdom and patience of Jesus, while waiting for Him to be manifested in glory, and we with Him. May we take to heart what God has said and apply it faithfully in our own lives.
W. J. Prost