From the island of Patmos, John wrote the book of Revelation; he wrote to us in effort to secure the result of the culmination of our faith. As individual churches, temples of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 3:16), these short letters urge us to be present, accountable and productive in genuine faith. They reveal our strengths and weaknesses, and discipline us to either remain steadfast or to mend our broken way before it's too late, too irrelevant to do so.
God intended for these letters to serve as discipline, rather than admonishment. Caution rather than condemnation. Each individual must honestly admit which "church" they are a member of, and decide if they would like to remain there.
EPHESUS:
The church of Ephesus represents a bland faith. That said, members of this church get a lot right. According to God's analysis, they labor for the will of God, and they follow his commands. They are able to identify false preachers and prophets and are not hesitant to call them out as such. Generally, they are patient and forbearing in righteousness.
But God added: “Nevertheless”. As in, despite all of that, they have a significant flaw: they do not love God. They do what is right because He told them to, not because they feel a connection with Him. God requires genuine faith. For Him, it is not enough to do right, we must be righteous.
A person who does the right thing because it's required or because it comes with a reward or because they can use their "righteousness" to lord over others is not a person God is pleased with. God teaches us, from moment to moment, to do rightly because it is right and because we feel it an honor and blessed responsibility to foster righteousness.
SMYRNA:
The church of Smyrna represents a faith God is entirely pleased with. Members of this church endure persecution and tribulation on behalf of God; they are poor in the world but rich in spirit. Their faith is alive and fervent and strong. To this church God wrote not an admonishment but an encouragement: for them to continue persevere.
The strength of their faith makes them targets of their enemies; because the works of their faith constantly confront corruption, the corrupt constantly confront them. Their righteous work is so productive, so impactful that it destabilizes their enemies and enemies' plans. They are seen and known and thus become targets; they stand out as the ones the wicked need to beat to succeed in their plans.
God is wholeheartedly pleased with these types of people because their work is the most important work done on the earth. These are the people who start revolutions in people, families, communities and nations. These are the people who fracture dictatorships and rings of corruption. These are people who often work under the radar in order to reach and to save the people who are not on society's radar. They are not often recognized or celebrated; they do not have material wealth. They quietly unwire the dynamite beneath corrupt people and unjust nations and inhumane ways of life. They allocate all of their personal resources to the community they serve. God has said they will wear the crown of life.
PERGAMOS:
The church of Pergamos represents a useless faith. These are people who believe in God but live neutrally. They make no impact, and that can be as dangerous as making a bad impact. They do not participate in corruption, but they allow corruption to run rampant. They do not confront evil, they do not challenge evil, and thus they give evil free reign.
Their faith is not their life, it is an aspect of their life. It is not enough. Their faith does not exist beyond anyone but themselves, it is not enough. Jesus modeled that life is not about the self, it is about the neighbor. Those who have faith that does not extend beyond the scope of their individual life have an unproductive faith.
God gave each person a fingerprint for a reason: so that we mark what we touch. So that the world is affected by the impact we make here. So that our influence here is imprinted as our own. So make an impact. God is molding a new way of life, ensure that your fingerprints are in the clay of that new creation.
THYATIRA:
The church of Thyatira was led by a corrupt person. Thyatira represents a type of faith that makes allowances for sins. This type of faith is represented in a person who makes excuses for succumbing to their temptations. This is a person who has idols and lusts. Though they profess belief in God, their true god is wealth or vanity, fame or desire.
A person cannot just believe in God's commandments, they must behave within them as well. They must identify the people, desires and mindsets which contradict the word of God, and then they must expel them from their mind and life. We must all be strict about who and what we allow to influence us. For although the spirit is willing, the flesh is weak (Matthew 26:41). We must be aware that we are susceptible to idolatry and desire. Because if we are aware of it, we can build our spiritual defense against it.
Faith like that of the church of Thyatira is weak, distracted. It is so consumed by its own need that it leeches on the earth and humanity. God charged Thyatira to remove its false prophet; and He charged members of this type of faith to remove theirs as well. To remove that thing or person or desire that distracts them from truly productive, selfless, pure faith. The guilty pleasures, the vices, the addictions, the destructive habits and immoral tendencies have to go. Because if they are not put behind, they are before, leading.
SARDIS:
The church of Sardis represents an apathetic and thus lethargic faith. These are the people who are not connected with the reality God wants them to see, from the perspective God wants them to see it. Their state of disengagement from the plans of God renders them prey to the machinations of evil.
They are caught unaware, unprepared, and unable to defend themselves when vultures swoop. And vultures swoop; they constantly search for prey. There is always something God wants an individual to see and to learn from. There is always something God wants an individual to expect and deny. Apathetic faith has neither the awareness nor the skill to do either.
Awareness is a mark of God's children. We are trained by Him to observe, to perceive, to analyze, to inspect. Members of the church of Sardis are easily plucked up by vultures, by unexpected circumstances. It is imperative to be alert in faith because vigilant faith is rooted faith, and a person rooted faith cannot be claimed by a predator, no matter what form in which it comes (a bully, depression, anxiety, a bad influence, a con artist, Satan himself leading you from God).
PHILADELPHIA:
The church of Philadelphia represents an absolute faith. A faith that remains resilient despite all the other options life provides. Members of this faith live in the midst of the world like everyone else, but resist the world, much unlike everyone else. They walk directly through the door of heaven, which has been opened for them, because they acknowledge no other door!
So much in the world is vying to be your god, the thing you devote yourself to: wealth, fame, vanity and desire all use culture's platform to make their case for your reverence. Anger to fuel you. Desire wants you to devote yourself to it. Depression wants you to submit to it. Deny them all; establish God as the authority in your life. Submit to His will. Devote yourself to His word. Submit yourself to His love.
The people who have faith like the church of Philadelphia have chosen to knock on one door, God's door, and it has opened for them. Life presents a series of doors, we have to decide which one we will knock on. So many people knock on other doors, multiple doors, but the rooms they enter are unsatisfactory: empty, corrupt or both. Walk steadfastly toward God's door exclusively, permitting none of your attention to divert from it.
LAODICEA:
The church of Laodicea represents a pitiful faith. It represents people who have placed their faith in the world: in who they have become in the world and in what they have procured from the world. They cater to their flesh by neglecting their spirit. What they have chosen as their sustenance will not sustain them; Jesus taught us that we cannot live on bread alone, Matthew 4:4, we can not serve the body only.
We need every word that comes from the mouth of God. What He has spoken has been said for purpose not for show. God has spoken in effort to uncover their delusions: they think they understand but they are blind to truth; they think they are impressively arrayed but are naked in righteousness; they are so misguided that they pretend their money buys happiness, they pretend to others that their misery is happiness. They think power, property, popularity and pompousness equate with joy.
God counsels such people. They need correction; they need to be properly aligned in order to properly interpret what actual wisdom is, what true happiness is like, how beauty is actually embodied. God pities people of this kind of faith, for they are so off-base, so comprehensively confused. People alive in this century should be especially attentive to this letter because it is descriptive of our culture. It so aptly describes the world we live in, the values that have been exalted in our world. The confusion spoken of in this particular letter, written centuries ago, permeates our society today.
"As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten." (Revelation 3:19). These letters were transcribed to encourage, to discipline, to realign, to correct and heal. Irrespective of God's pleasure or displeasure in each church, He proffered the same to each. At the end of each letter He made promises that the beginning of each letter proclaimed He was able to fulfill. He promised that repentance would result in redemption. That both realignment or continued alignment would result in the same destination: His door, His kingdom.
Ask yourself: At which church do I congregate? Which church am I? For which church do I live and work? It is vital that you know.