Yet more sand flows through the neck of the hourglass.
Six churches called to faithfulness – that their lampstand may not be removed.
Nearly two thousand years – grain by grain – the sand draws through the hourglass into the abyss of eternal time.
The Revelation of Jesus Christ
Greeting to the Seven Churches
1:4 John to the seven churches that are in Asia:
Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, 5 and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, andthe ruler of kings on earth.
To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood 6 and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
7 Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail[c] on account of him. Even so. Amen.
8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”
Vision of the Son of Man
9 I, John, your brother and partner in the tribulation and the kingdom and the patient endurance that are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos on account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. 10 I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet11 saying,
“Write what you see in a book and send it to the seven churches, to Ephesus and to Smyrna and to Pergamum and to Thyatira and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to Laodicea.”
12 Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands, 13 and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest. 14 The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire, 15 his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters. 16 In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength.
17 When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying,
“Fear not, I am the first and the last, 18 and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades…
Before any more time trickles away from us, let us be clear that our twenty-first century IMAGE of the CHURCH is not Biblical.
The Church: though identifiable by location, by continent, by symbolism and by many other pictures; is NOT the “church” to whom the risen Christ Jesus speaks.
Jesus is not a statue or building or grande idea; He IS God our Creator and Savior. His CHURCH is ALL of His saints and followers of the Way (as Christians were called in the First Century).
Each warning to the seven churches has been a personal letter written to a practicing group of saints in a specific city and circumstance.
Our own church and personal circumstance is of no less importance to our Lord.
To the Church in Laodicea
14 “And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write: ‘The words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God’s creation.
15 “‘I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot!
A scathing indictment of christians who show up at a building for just an hour a week (most weeks), give a little money and go out into the world claiming the Name ‘christian.’
16 So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth.
17 For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor,blind, and naked.
- Our church buildings testify against us: We are rich. We preach prosperity. We need nothing.
- Jesus says: We are wretched. We are pitiable. We are poor. We are blind. And before the Lord, our God — we stand naked in our sin.
Most Christians are not HOT for Christ, burning with the desire to witness the Gospel and BE the CHURCH. In fact, even if the worship and the music and the fellowship seem HOT for Jesus; in fact, once the hour in the hourglass of their Sunday morning obligation has past, most grow COLD for Christ before they cross the threshold of their very nice home.
We may sing of Amazing Grace. We may think of others as ‘the wretch,’ when in fact our hearts are hardened stone-cold against the repentance of our continuing sin. We pitiably rejoice and celebrate the ‘cheap grace’ of this hour. We are poor. We are blind. We are warm for a moment. We are less than warm as the sands drain into the abyss of the hourglass.
18 I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see.
Are you ashamed of the nakedness of your continued sin, dear brother? Dear sister, do you stand before Jesus unable to hide your seduction to sin?
Repent, dear believer, that the Lord might not remove the golden lampstand from the lukewarm wick of your witness.
19 Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent.
20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock.
Our Lord and Savior, Christ Jesus – Who Was and IS and IS to come once more on the clouds for His faithful Bride, HIS CHURCH – exhorts and encourages the seven churches.
Jesus spoke though the Apostle John to seven churches — to your church.
Christ Jesus speaks His words of Revelation to YOU! (Also to me.)
If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.
21 The one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I also conquered 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.’”
Even so, come Lord Jesus.
10 And he said to me, “Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is near.11 Let the evildoer still do evil, and the filthy still be filthy, and the righteous still do right, and the holy still be holy.”
12 “Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense with me, to repay each one for what he has done. 13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.”
17 The Spirit and the Bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price…
20 He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!
21 The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen.
Let the Church hear the Revelation of the Lord.
Amen.
