Beloved, I am glad to share with you today the above theme from Rev 2.1 and following. Indeed, the letters to the seven assemblies of Asia describe in as many successive paintings the history of responsible Christendom. The Lord presents Himself to each of these churches, makes a precise inventory of what He finds there… and does not find there, exhorts and promises His reward to the victor. “To the angel of the assembly who is in Ephesus, write: This is what he who holds the seven stars in his right, who walks among the seven lamps of gold, says.” This first epistle considers the state of Christian witness on earth in its most extensive form, and from the very days of the Apostle John. As a result, the Lord presents Himself to this broad point of view. He holds the seven stars in his right and walks among the seven golden lamps. This is his position, both ministerial and ecclesiastical: his relationship with the angels, that is, with those who, in his eyes, morally represent the assemblies, and his relationship with the assemblies themselves. The star is what had an action on the congregation, which openly was the vessel intended on the part of the Lord to cast light on God’s saints. If this light was ineffective, if evil was mixed in it, the state of the assembly should be affected. If it was brilliant, the moral level of the assembly was raised.
Not only fidelity, but persevering dedication characterized them: “You have patience, and you have endured afflictions for my name, and you have not tired.” However, the Lord has a complaint against them: “But I have against you that you have abandoned your first love.” It is clear that this is, as always, the first step, the most general symptom of decline. What harms and ultimately leads to ruin, constantly comes from within, never from outside. It is in vain that Satan seeks to overthrow those who, relying on the love of Christ, have within him the beloved object that fills their thoughts and their lives. Wasn’t that so when Paul was writing to the Ephesians? But they had given up that first love. They had failed in this regard and had relaxed, although they diligently pursued their works, their work and their patience. But was it the work of faith, the work of love, and the patience of hope of our Lord Jesus?
In the epistle to Smyrna, we find ourselves in the presence of a completely different state of affairs. This is essentially a special case. After the Church has fallen from apostolic purity, and above all, after she has abandoned her first love, it seems good for the Lord to send affliction upon her. He lets go of the bridle to the power of Satan acting by pagan persecutors and allows all kinds of trials to fall on his own. This is the occasion of the letter to the angel of the assembly of Smyrna. Notice that it is no longer false apostles who experience the saints: a new evil appears. As long as the true apostles were on earth, Satan could never have Judaism recognized in God’s Church.
“To the angel of the assembly who is in Pergamon”, comes a very different message and which is also quite special. “You dwell where Satan’s throne is.” How could this have happened? It is understandable that they would have to pass through the scene where Satan deploys his power, but dwell there! Did they like to be near a throne, to dwell there, even though it was Satan’s? Were they seeking protection from the brilliance of human power? The Lord recognizes, however, what is good. “You hold my name firm, and you have not renounced my faith.” It is worthy of note that after the greatest persecutions, when Christianity and Christians had allowed themselves to be seduced to the point of accepting the patronage of the world, even then there was enough fidelity to repel all efforts made against the divinity of the person of Christ. Then was also published the symbol or confession of faith vulgarly called Nicaea, whose purpose was to affirm the consubstantial deity of Christ. One cannot help but think that it is to this state of affairs that reference is made here. Strange and solemn association of things: The closeness of Satan’s throne to the outside, and within, God’s mercy continuing to maintain faith in this fundamental truth: the personal glory of Christ!
“And to the angel of the assembly who is in Thyatira, write.” There is no doubt that this epistle contains an exact sketch and as complete as it could be by means of the facts then present, of what we find in the times of the Middle Ages. “This is what the Son of God says, who has his eyes like a flame of fire, and whose feet are like shining brass.” Christ is presented now, not only with that power of moral judgment that discerns everything, but ready to act judicially against evil: “His feet are like shining brass.”
“I know your works, and your love, and your faith, and your service, and your patience, and your last works that surpass the first.” For all the darkness and ignorance that existed in the Middle Ages about doctrine, there was remarkable devotion. Those who loved the Lord showed their love, less by their understanding of His ways, than by a habitual and unreserved renunciation of themselves. It is not a question of what superstition produced towards Mary or towards the church, when of each one one made a kind of “good goddess”, but it is the fruit produced in life by a heart turned simply towards Christ, however weak knowledge was. “You let the Jezebel woman who calls herself a prophetess do it.” Jezebel was a mother, in truth, a holy mother, as the deceivers among her and those who were deceived called her, called her. It is not a passing error like a cloud, it is a body constituted and occupying the highest position in the world, it is a queen, but a queen who also claims the highest spiritual power, it is a so-called prophetess, now permanently established in Christendom and giving birth to a posterity of distinct iniquity, who is called “his children”.
The following verses have been compiled for your edification and grouped together for your better understanding.
Letters to the Church of Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamon and Thyatira:
- The Seven Churches of Asia
Ephesus: The Orthodox Church Rev 2:7 Let him who has ears hear what the Spirit says to the Churches: To him who overcomes I will give food from the tree of life, which is in God’s paradise.
Smyrna: The Poor but Rich Church Rev 2:9-10 I know your tribulation and poverty (although you are rich), and the slanders on the part of those who call themselves Jews and are not, but who are a synagogue of Satan. 10 Do not fear what you will suffer. Behold, the devil will throw some of you into prison, so that you may be tested, and you will have a tribulation of ten days. Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.
-Pergamon: the Church in a bad environment Rev 2:17 Let him who has ears hear what the Spirit says to the Churches: To him who overcomes I will give hidden manna, and I will give him a white pebble; and on this pebble is written a new name, which no one knows, except the one who receives it.
-Thyatira: the Church of the false prophetess Rev 2:26-27 To him who will overcome, and who will keep my works to the end, I will give authority over the nations. 27 He will graze them with a rod of iron, as one breaks the clay vessels, as I myself have received the power of my Father.
-Sardinians: the moribund Church Rev 3:5 He who overcomes will be clothed in white clothes in this way; I will not erase his name from the book of life, and I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels.
-Philadelphia: the weak but loyal Church Rev 3:12 He who overcomes, I will make of him a column in the temple of my God, and he will not come out of it again; I will write on him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, of the new Jerusalem that descends from heaven from my God, and my new name.
-Laodicea: the rich but poor Church, no virtue mentioned Rev 3:21 He who conquers, I will make him sit with me on my throne, as I conquered and sat with my Father on his throne.
- Orderly patience
1 Cor 13:7 she excuses everything, she believes everything, she hopes for everything, she supports everything. Eph 4:2 in all humility and meekness, with patience, supporting one another with charity, Eph 6:9 And you, masters, do the same to them, and refrain from threats, knowing that their master and yours are in heaven, and that before him there is no acceptance of persons. Col 3:13 Support each other, and if one is inclined to complain about the other, forgive each other. Just as Christ forgave you, forgive yourself too.
- Spiritual Foods
Jer 3:15 I will give you shepherds according to my heart, and they will feed you with intelligence and wisdom. John 6:51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats this bread, he will live forever; and the bread I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. Rev 2:17 Let him who has ears hear what the Spirit says to the Churches: To him who overcomes I will give hidden manna, and I will give him a white pebble; and on this pebble is written a new name, which no one knows except the one who receives it.
- False Doctrine
Isaiah 32:6 For the foolish professes folly, And his heart indulges in evil, To commit ungodliness, And to say falsehoods against the Lord, To leave empty the soul of the hungry, And to remove the beverage of the thirsty. Col 2:8 Be careful that no one makes you his prey by philosophy and by vain deception, relying on the tradition of men, on the rudiments of the world, and not on Christ. Hb 13:9 Do not allow yourselves to be carried away by various and foreign doctrines; for it is good that the heart be strengthened by grace, and not by foods which have served no purpose to those who have attached themselves to them.
From all the above, we note that in Ephesus in appearance everything was going as well as possible. But it is in the heart that the Lord looks (Jer 2.1-4). Unfortunately He no longer sees it as the answer to His own love; He stopped occupying the first place! Beloved, let us ask ourselves. What about our zeal, not our zeal, but our affections for Christ? To halt this decline, the faithful Lord will use a strange remedy: trial. He let go of satan’s power. After Ephesus (the kind) comes Smyrna which means “the bitter”. It was the time of the martyrs under the cruel Roman emperors. Then, in the arenas, in front of the ferocious beasts, the Christians of Smyrna had the opportunity to prove their love for their Savior by fidelity to the death. During the Smyrna period, ten great collective persecutions did not defeat the Christian faith. So Satan uses another tactic, and that is Pergamon. What the violence has not been able to produce, the favor of the authorities will accomplish. During the reign of Emperor Constantine in the year 312, the adoption of Christianity as the state religion, an event that many may have considered a great success of the truth, favored relaxation, worldliness, the introduction of foreign doctrines. But in Thyatira, a church that goes all the way to the end, evil takes a step further. It is the darkness of the Middle Ages, compared here to the sinister reign of Ahab that his wife Jezebel urged to do evil (1 Kings 21:20-29). The Church has grown tired of being a stranger here on earth. She wanted to rule. And we know the political role it has always wanted to play. The domination that this Church of Thyatira sought with such arrogance is promised to those whom it has oppressed, tortured, burned at the stake… but who are the real winners. They will reign with the One who comes as the Morning Star. Our prayers are with you all.
PRAYER OF ACCEPTANCE OF JESUS CHRIST AS LORD AND PERSONAL SAVIOR
I now invite every person who wants to become a new creation by walking in the truth, to pray with me the following prayer:
Lord Jesus, I have long walked in the lusts of the world ignoring your love for humans. I admit to having sinned against you and ask your forgiveness for all my sins, because today I have decided to give you my life by taking you as Lord and personal Savior. I recognize that you died on the cross of Calvary and rose from the dead for me.
I am now saved and born again by the power of the Holy Spirit. Lead me every day to the eternal life that you give to all who obey your Word. Reveal yourself to me and strengthen my heart and faith, so that your light may shine in my life right now.
Thank you, Lord Jesus, for accepting me into your divine family, so that I may also contemplate the wonders of your kingdom.
I will now choose a nearby waterpoint to baptize myself by immersion, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
All adoration, power and glory are yours, now and forever and ever. Amen!
I would be happy to respond to any questions and comments you may have, before sharing with you tomorrow “letters to Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea. »
May the Lord Jesus Christ bless you abundantly.
David Feze, Servant of the .