The Seven Lost Churches of Revelation
10/03/2004 - The Power of Worship
A few years ago while I was visiting my parents I decided to take a nostalgic ride over to the baseball field that I played on as a little leaguer. It wasn't far from my house, in fact, as a kid I used to ride my bike there with my glove dangling from the handlebars. I was excited to see the field again and relive some of the best memories I had as a child playing baseball.
But when I got there I wasn't prepared for what I found or should I say, what I didn't find. The field was gone. There was no trace of it anywhere. I looked for the backstop behind home plate, but it was gone. I looked for the outfield fence that I always wanted to hit a home run over, but never did, and it was gone. The pitchers mound, the infield, the bleachers where my parents would sit and watch me play were all gone. I couldn't find any of them. Instead, all that was left was an empty, overgrown lot full of tall grass, sticker bushes, and locust trees. And I can remember a wave of sadness coming over me. I felt old and like part of my past was gone, lost forever.
It reminded me of a similar experience that I had when I was in college. A few years after Connie Mack stadium was closed, the ballpark where the Phillies used to play before Veterans stadium was built, I drove by it with a friend and couldn't believe what I saw. The ballpark had suffered an extensive fire and had been badly damaged. The roof had collapsed, windows were broken, large sections of the walls surrounding the stadium were missing.
We parked our car and walked through a gaping hole right onto the overgrown field. We went down into the dugouts that were half filled with water, walked around the splintered bleachers, and climbed up behind the dilapidated scoreboard that once stood so proudly in right field.
And I couldn't believe this was the same stadium where I saw my very first Phillies game as an eight year-old boy. I can remember watching games at home on our black and white television set and how shocked I was the first time I entered the ballpark and discovered that the grass was green, not gray. I had a lot of good memories in that place of times spent with my Dad and later on with good friends, but now it was all gone. Lost forever. And once again, I had that same feeling of sadness.
No doubt some of you have had similar experiences perhaps returning to your old neighborhood or the house where you grew up or the church or school you once attended as a child. It's hard to see things that were once so alive and so full of rich memories, gone for good.
This morning we begin a brand new series at Valley View called The Seven Lost Churches of Revelation. Once upon a time there were seven thriving churches, impacting the world for Jesus Christ, changing lives, making a difference, exciting places to be. But now they're all gone. Lost forever. And all that's left behind are the lessons they have to teach us, lessons about what it means to follow Jesus Christ individually and as a church. And each week we're going to explore one of these lost churches and discover what it has to say to us.
If you have a Bible turn with me to the last book in your Bible, the book of Revelation. Today I want to introduce the series by looking at Revelation 1 and then next week we'll start looking at each of the seven churches beginning with the church in Ephesus.
Look at the prologue in Revelation 1:1-3, The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, 2 who testifies to everything he saw - that is, the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. 3 Blessed is the one who reads the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near.
The first word of the book of Revelation in the Greek language is the word "apocalypse." The word apocalypse literally means "a revealing" or "an unveiling." This is the apocalypse of Jesus Christ. In the book of Revelation God lifts the curtain and let's us peek into the future to see the things that must soon take place.
This apocalypse was given by God the Father to Jesus Christ who then revealed it to the apostle John through an angel to give to us. And John gives us his word that what he writes in these twenty-two chapters is absolutely accurate. It is the word of God he says.
In other places in the New Testament John is described as Jesus' closest friend. He was probably a teenager or a young man in his early twenties when Jesus picked him to be one of the twelve disciples. He later wrote the gospel of John and the letters of 1st, 2nd, and 3rd John. And now he's an old man, perhaps in his eighties, when God gives him his final assignment.
This revelation is about events that must soon take place, because the time is near. Now when I read that I think to myself, "Wait a minute. How can John say that these things will take place soon? It's been almost 2,000 years since he penned these words?"
The word "soon" can also be translated "suddenly." So some have suggested that John is saying that these events will take place suddenly and without warning. And that maybe true. But it's also true that God has a very different view of time than we do. In 2 Peter 3:8 we read, With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
God's clock hasn't stopped ticking. For him it hasn't even been two days since Jesus rose from the dead. And he's waiting patiently for as many people as possible to come to him before he sets the horrific events of this book into motion.
This is the only book in the Bible where God guarantees a blessing just for reading it as well as a blessing for those who believe it and take it to heart. Do you want a blessing this fall? Then read through the book of Revelation. Don't worry about understanding it. You don't need to understand it to be blessed, thank God for that, just read it and take it to heart.
Now look at verse 4, John, to the seven churches in the province of Asia. Grace and peace to you from him who is, and who was, and who is to come, and from the seven spirits before his throne, 5 and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth.
John is writing the words of this revelation to seven local churches located in the Roman province of Asia, which today is the modern day country of Turkey. He brings greetings from God the Father whom he describes as eternal, he who is, and who was, and who is to come, and from the seven spirits before his throne, which could be a symbolic reference to the Holy Spirit, or perhaps some angelic beings, and then from Jesus Christ himself whom he calls the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth.
In other words John is saying, "Make no mistake about it. Jesus Christ can be trusted. He's the faithful witness. Whatever he says is true. He's the firstborn from the dead. He's active and alive. He's the ruler of the kings of the earth. He's in charge around here." That's who Jesus is. And for the rest of the chapter, John can't get his mind off of Jesus. It's all about Jesus.
Now look at verse 5 , To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, 6 and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father - to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen.
After describing who Jesus is, John reminds us of what Jesus did. He loves us and died for us so that we can be set free. What an image. Set free! Set free from the penalty of our sins, which is an eternity without God. Set free from the power of our sins right here and right now. We don't have to be slaves anymore to past hurts and mistakes and addictions. And one day set free from the presence of our sins, when we finally open the door to our heavenly home.
Jesus loves us. Jesus sets us free. And Jesus has made us part of his kingdom with the privilege of serving him like the priests who served God in the Old Testament. And that takes John's breath away, to him be glory and power forever and ever! Amen.
Do you know that Jesus loves you today, no matter who you are or what your life is like? Have you trusted him alone as the only one who can set you free? Are you part of his kingdom? Have you discovered the joy of serving him that at times can take your breath away? It's all about Jesus!
That's who Jesus is and that's what Jesus did and now John says in verse 7, Look, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him. And all the peoples of the earth will mourn because of him. So shall it be! 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."
After describing who Jesus is and what he did for us, John tells us what he is yet to do. He is coming back and everyone will see him. When he came the first time, not everybody saw him. His birth was concealed in a cave in Bethlehem. But at his second coming, the entire world will know that he's back. And it won't be a happy day for those who didn't take him seriously and who refused to believe in him. So there's an urgency to trusting Christ, because it could be today that he comes through the clouds. And no one will miss it this time!
He's the Alpha and Omega. Alpha is the first letter in the Greek alphabet and Omega is the last letter in the Greek alphabet. Today Jesus would say to us, "I am A to Z. I am the eternal now. The future is as clear to me as the past. I'm not locked into time and space so I can speak with authority about the future, because it's as clear as the present to me."
I love this truth about Jesus. I think of it often when I need the courage to trust Jesus with the things going on in my life. I love the fact that he knows what's around the corner for me. He sees what's around the bend. He's already been where I'm headed and that helps me to trust him with all the stuff I just don't understand.
Now the actual revelation begins. Look at verse 9, I, John, your brother and companion in the suffering and kingdom and patient endurance that are ours in Jesus, was on the island of Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. 10 On the Lord's Day I was in the Spirit, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet, 11 which said, "Write on a scroll what you see and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea."
The apostle John did not have an easy life. Even though he outlived all the other disciples, he took his share of shots for Jesus. History tells us that at one point the Romans arrested him for his faith and threw him into a cauldron of boiling oil. But God miraculously spared his life and he survived unscathed. And when the Romans saw that they were totally freaked out. They didn't know what to do with him so they exiled him to the island of Patmos, which was like the Alcatraz of the Roman Empire, a barren rock in the middle of the Aegean Sea.
And that's where John is when God gives him the apocalypse. He's worshiping God, in the Spirit, on the Lord's Day, when he hears a loud voice that tells him to write down what he sees and send it to the seven churches. And here they are - Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea - the seven lost churches of Revelation. Why these churches? Because John had a connection to them. It's possible that he had his hand in starting most of them, perhaps all of them, except the church in Ephesus, which was started by the apostle Paul. Although there is evidence that John lived in Ephesus and was part of that church as well. He knew these people. He loved them. He had poured his life into them. And he was very concerned about their future.
Now while he's worshiping this is what he sees. Look at verse 12, I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned I saw seven golden lampstands, 13 and among the lampstands was someone "like a son of man," dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet with a golden sash around his chest. 14 His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. 15 His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. 16 In his right hand he held seven stars, and out of his mouth came a sharp double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance. 17 When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead.
Trapped on this lonely, desert island, while deep in worship on the Lord's Day, John has a vision of Jesus. Again, it's all about Jesus! Its a strange vision of one "like a son of man," with hair that's white like wool, eyes that blaze like fire, a double-edged sword coming out of his mouth, feet and a face that shine like the sun, and hands that hold seven stars. And John collapses in a pile at his feet.
Then comes one of the most tender moments in Scripture. Look at verse 17,Then he placed his right hand on me and said: "Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. 18 I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.
"John, John, don't be afraid. It's me. It's your friend, Jesus. The one you love. The one who went to the cross for you and died and rose again. The Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the ruler of the universe. It's me, John. Please don't be afraid."
Verse 19, "Write, therefore, what you have seen, what is now and what will take place later. 20 The mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand and of the seven golden lampstands is this: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches."
After Jesus picks John up off the floor he puts a pen in his hand and says write down this revelation and deliver it to the seven churches symbolized by the seven golden lampstands. In John's day a lampstand held up a light that illuminated a dark room. That's what the church was always meant to be, a lampstand holding up the light of Jesus to a dark world. When we stop doing that we're done.
And so the table is set to hear what Jesus has to say to these seven lost churches and for us to discover the lessons that we can learn. But the truth that impacts me the most from this passage is the power of worship.
I love what Eugene Peterson, the author of The Message, says about the power of worship from this passage. "John of Patmos, a pastor of the late first century, has worship on his mind, is preeminently concerned with worship. The vision, which is the Revelation, comes to him while he is at worship on a certain Sunday on the Mediterranean island of Patmos. He is responsible for a circuit of churches on the mainland whose primary task is worship. Worship shapes the human community in response to the living God. If worship is neglected or perverted, our communities fall into chaos or under tyranny."
"Our times are not propitious for worship. The times never are. The world is hostile to worship. The Devil hates worship. As the Revelation makes clear, worship must be carried out under conditions decidedly uncongenial to it. Some Christians even get killed because they worship."
A core value for Valley View and any devoted follower of Jesus Christ is worship. It's in worship that God loves to reveal himself to us in ways that can bring us to our knees or cause us to dance with joy. Our souls were made for worship. It's in worship that we often get the clearest vision of Jesus. And that's what we all need.
In a moment we're going to sing, "I Can Only Imagine." Well, this is John's imagine experience. "Surrounded by your glory, what will my heart feel? Will I dance for you, Jesus, or in awe of you be still? Will I stand in your presence, or to my knees will I fall? Will I sing hallelujah? Will I be able to speak at all?" John didn't have to imagine. It happened to him. He collapsed. What will you do?