Chapter 61 The Seven Churches We left this first part of Revelation till late, because it is not the most important, and it is fairly straightforward. In essence, I do not differ with the interpretation of the Adventist pioneers on this aspect of Revelation. We will look at it briefly, and not in detail, highlighting some interesting aspects of the Seven Churches that may not be that well known. In the introduction to Revelation, John is commissioned to write down the vision he is receiving, and to send it to the Seven Churches in Asia Minor: Rev 1:10 I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet, 11 Saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last: and, What thou seest, write in a book, and send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia; unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea. John obeys the command and addresses the Book of Revelation to the Seven Churches: Rev 1:4 John to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace be unto you, and peace, from him which is, and which was, and which is to come; and from the seven Spirits which are before his throne; 5 And 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, In Revelation chapters 2 and 3, Christ gives John a short letter to each of the consecutive churches in Asia Minor. They contain commendations, reproofs, and then a promise to those in the church that overcome. Each of the churches have their own characteristics, and Christ addresses these. The promise to the overcomers is eternal life, expressed in a way unique to every church. Many scholars also recognize in the Seven Churches of Asia Minor, seven consecutive periods of time throughout the Christian era. Each period is characterised by virtues, challenges and short-comings, parallel to those of the respective churches in Asia Minor. The periods of time are as follows: Ephesus: Faithful church but with diminishing love: AD 27 – 100. Smyrna: Persecuted church: AD 100 – 323 Pergamos: Apostate church: AD 323 – 538 Thyatira: Reigning church: AD 538 – 1565 Sardis: Reformation church: 1565 – 1740 Philadelphia: Evangelical church: 1740 – 1844 Laodicea: Advent church: 1844 – 202? There is a chiastic structure in the Seven Churches: The middle church is Thyatira. The three churches preceding Thyatira represent the Christian church more or less in decline. The three churches that follow are splinter churches from the mother church – daughters and granddaughters if you please. Sardis showed promise of reform, but very rapidly elapsed into structures with creeds and formalism. Then there was the Evangelical awakening with Charles Wesley in the lead. They brought a more dynamic relationship to God in their worship and liturgy but also ended up with creeds. Finally, Adventism was born in the expectation of the Second Advent in 1844. After the Great Disappointment, the church developed a structure, priding themselves as not having a creed. This changed in the 20th century when the church was infiltrated by the Trinity doctrine of the Catholic Church and in 1980 the church formulated a set of 28 fundamental beliefs, in essence a creed. This stifled fundamental Biblical research and a quest for obtaining truth from God and the Word. We have, therefore, a collection of churches that resort under Christianity, but worship the Babylonian Trinity, incorporated into Christianity by Pergamos, the church of the third period. We have Babylon (chapter 47) and her daughters (chapter 48). The last four churches exist in parallel until the Second Advent. This can be seen in the letters to the respective churches: Thyatira: Rev 2:25 But that which ye have already hold fast till I come. In the letter Christ says to the faithful in that church they must hold fast that which they have until He comes. This coming refers to the Second Advent. Thyatira, the Catholic Church, will exist at the Second Advent. Sardis: Rev 3:3 Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee. Christ admonishes this church to remember where they come from – a Reform Church bringing new life into the staleness of Catholic ritual. He then uses the language of expecting the Second Advent: watch, come as a thief in the night, know not the hour I will come. This is an indication that the fifth church of Revelation will exist at the Second Advent – the Reform churches. Philadelphia: Rev 3:11 Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown. For each of these churches Christ says they must hold on to what they have till He comes. The existence of Philadelphia, the Evangelical Churches, at the Second Advent is obvious, indicated directly in this verse. Laodicea: Since it is the last church, it will exist at the end of time. No Scripture indicates it though. Another chiastic occurrence in the Seven Churches is that Christ reprimands all the churches except the second church, Smyrna, and the penultimate church, Philadelphia. Considering the 4-2-1 principle, we see the first four churches are all the original mother Christian church, which evolved into the Roman Catholic Church. The next two churches are daughter churches: the Reform churches and the Evangelical churches. The climactic church is the Advent church. Laodicea means judgement. It is the church that came into being in the time of the expectation of the Second Advent and judgement. A very interesting difference of Laodicea when compared to all six of the previous churches of Revelation is that the first six churches all received commendations from Christ. Christ has no commendations for Laodicea. It is a proud church, believing that it has complete truth. Christ has no place for pride. The Bible calls pride the worst sin: Prov 6:16 These six things doth the Lord hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him: 17 A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, The first of the seven things God hates is a proud look – pride. God tells Laodicea that they think they have need of nothing, but are wretched, naked and blind: Rev 3:17 Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: Christ offers a remedy: His righteousness – white raiment, the riches of His love – gold and His insight – eyesalve to cure our blindness: Rev 3:18 I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see. He ends His reprimand to the Laodiceans with one of the most beautiful verses in Scripture, where he shows His yearning for a personal relationship with the members of Laodicea. He is knocking at the doors of our hearts, wanting to come in and have a meal with us: Rev 3:20 Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. This then concludes a very brief look at the Seven Churches, where I offer what is probably less known. If you hear a tender knocking at the door of your heart today, do not turn away. Open the door and let the King of Love come into your heart and bring you joy – real joy.