Revelation 2:1-17

To the Churches

The Church is a glorious mysterious magnificent thing. It is the Bride of Christ. It is Christ’s Body. (The two shall become one flesh.) It is both invisible and the most visible of all institutions. It is invisible because membership in the Church has nothing whatsoever to do with membership in any organization. There are members of the Church who have never attended an “organized” church. There are members (some of them quite prominent) of “organized” churches who will hear Christ say, “I never knew you.” Yet, with over 2,000,000,000 adherents worldwide there are few places on the globe where one can go and escape the influence of the Church. 

Jesus is seen here standing among the seven lamp stands representing the seven churches. Seven is the number of completion in Scripture. While these specific local congregations no longer exist they represent the completed church of which Christ is the Head. Some go so far as to read into these churches a chronological progression representing stages in the “Church Age”. We really don’t have any authority to make such an assumption; however, I do believe we have the authority to see these churches as being representative of the Church as a whole, from the time of John to the return of Christ.

Here are a few note to observe about the church.

All churches have problems. They are a mixture of those who are doing well and those who are struggling. They are virtually all a blend of the righteous remnant and the not so righteous. (While two of the churches are given no rebuke both of them would be described by the world as “poor” and “suffering”. Not the kind of attributes most people are looking for in a church.)

Yet, Christ claims them all. Even the church at Laodicea still has a lamp stand and makes up the completed church. Does Christ have warnings for those who wander and are “rich” and self satisfied? Yet bet, but He hasn’t disowned them. He will sort them out for God disciplines those He loves and claims as His own, but He is the one who sorts them out, not us.

To all of the churches He extends hope and promise. 

Whether we have lost our enthusiasm in Ephesus, are tried in Thyatria, or simply living in Laodicea there is hope and there is promise for all who belong to the Church. Let him who has ears here what the Spirit says to the churches.