07.02. General Observations

2. GENERAL OBSERVATIONS This chapter on the analysis is the second revelation, Revelation 2:1-29, Revelation 3:1-22, an earth scene of "the things that are." It consists of the letters to the seven churches, and is a revelation of their condition in God’s sight. Now, upon these seven letters I wish to make some general observations. My first is that you should find a map ¾ generally the last map in your Bible ¾ of the eastern part of the Mediterranean Sea. That will show you the province of Asia - the southwestern part of Asia Minor. And on that map you must locate the seven churches. Commence at the southwestern coast of Asia Minor ¾ there you will find the first church, Ephesus, a seaport, or used to be, situated on a little river that flows into the Aegean Sea. Follow the coast line north until you come to Smyrna, another seaport. Still going north you come to Pergamum, or Pergamos (either is correct). That is not a seaport, but is close to the sea. The first three churches, then, are found by following up the coast going north. The other four churches are inland, and you will find them by commencing a little north of where Pergamos is located, and by following a line south you come to the other churches in the order named: Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, Laodicea. Now, look a little off that coast from the southwestern part of Asia Minor, and you will find a little island, barely discernible on the map, called Patmos. That is where John was. So, my first observation is that the reader should locate on a map the province of Asia, the seven churches (noting which are seaports and which are inland) and Patmos. My next observation is based upon what we considered in the last chapter, that is, the key passage of the book (Revelation 1:12-16), representing Christ as the original light, the Sun of Righteousness, shining as the sun in its full strength, reflecting His light upon the churches, and through them here on earth His reflected light is to illuminate the world. The description of this glorified Christ shows Him in the garb of a high priest, and invested with kingly rule ¾ a royal priest. If that be the key passage, then the whole of this book up to Revelation 20:11, where you strike the climax of the book - the whole of the book up to that point is what is called the Spirit’s dispensation, or the dispensation of the churches, or the dispensation of the gospel preached. Everything up to Revelation 20:11, where Christ comes to raise the dead and judge the world.

Now take that key passage of Christ as the light of the world, and trace its connection through this section we are studying, Revelation 2:1-29, Revelation 3:1-22. In order that you may trace it, open your Bible and read the following verses ¾ the beginning of each letter to a church ¾ Revelation 2:1; Revelation 2:8; Revelation 2:12; Revelation 2:18; Revelation 3:1; Revelation 3:7; Revelation 3:14. As you read these verses introducing what is said to each church, you will see that the titles or appellatives applying to Christ, through whom this light comes, are all citations or allusions to the first revelation. So all of this section shows that this key passage unlocks everything said to the churches. In the same way we may trace the key passages through the whole of the book unlocking the meaning of every vision. The connection, therefore, between this section and the first revelation is evident in these verses. To impress that on you perhaps you had better read these verses. Begin at Revelation 2:1-29 and read only the beginning of each letter to the churches: "To the angel of the church at Ephesus write, These things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, that walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks." Now that is a quotation from Revelation 1:1-20, where the key passage is given; Christ is seen walking in the midst of the candlesticks; Christ is holding the seven stars in His right hand.

Revelation 2:8 : "And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write, These things saith the first and the last, who was dead and liveth again." By reading the first chapter you will find these allusions to Christ: "The first and the last, who was dead but liveth again to die no more."

Revelation 2:12 : "To the angel of the church at Pergamos write, These things saith he that hath the sharp two-edged sword." In that first revelation a two-edged sword is represented as issuing from His mouth, standing for His word of judgment.

Revelation 2:18 : "To the angel of the church in Thyatira write, These things saith the Son of God, who hath eyes like a flame of fire and feet like unto burnished brass." That is the description of His eyes and feet as seen in the first revelation.

Now Revelation 3:1: "And to the angel of the church in Sardis write, These things saith he that hath the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars."

Evidently that is an allusion to the first revelation.

Revelation 3:7 : "And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write, These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth and none can shut, and he that shutteth and none can open."

These things are alluded to in the first revelation.

Revelation 3:14 : "And to the angel of the church of Laodicea write, These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God." My third general observation is based upon Christ’s own uses of the word "church" as found in Matthew and Revelation. There are twenty-three instances of Christ’s using the Greek word ecclesia ¾ church. In Matthew 16:18, He says, "I will build my church." In Matthew 18:17, He says, "Tell it to the church." The references in Revelation where he uses the term church or churches are the following:

Revelation 1:4; Revelation 1:11; Revelation 1:20, and again Revelation 20:1-15; Revelation 2:1; Revelation 2:7-8; Revelation 2:11-12; Revelation 2:17-18; Revelation 2:23; Revelation 2:29; Revelation 3:1, Revelation 3:6-7, Revelation 3:13-14, Revelation 3:22; Revelation 22:16.

Now here are twenty-three examples of the use of the word ecclesia - church - as spoken by our Lord Jesus Christ Himself; and it is evident from a study of these twenty-three instances of the use of the word, that Christ never said anything about an invisible or universal church. His teaching is to the contrary; He does not say the church in Asia, but "the churches in Asia." He does not use the word church in any provincial sense, or state sense, or national sense, or denominational sense. This is a very convincing exhibit of the uses of the word, as coming from the lips of our Lord, rebuking the contention of many people of the present day who talk about a universal church here on earth, whether visible or invisible ¾ the New Testament does not know anything about either one. It is true that in Revelation 12:1 under the symbol of a woman, also in Revelation 17:3, under the symbol of another woman, He presents first the church as an institution and then the apostate church as an institution, and it is equally true that in Revelation 9:7-8 He presents the church in glory, under the symbol of a bride, and in Revelation 21:9, under the symbol of the heavenly Jerusalem, a city. So that we may say that Christ used the word to describe the time church as an institution, and to name the concrete example of this institution particular churches, and to foreshadow the coming glory church ¾ something which does not yet exist. My fifth general observation is the significance of Christ walking amid the candlesticks, knowing, revealing, rebuking, threatening, promising. The body of each letter will show their condition: "I know thy works," or "where thou dwellest" - and the rest of the terms to the churches telling the condition of each church. He tells the things favorable, and the things unfavorable, He rebukes, exhorts to amendment, and closes each with a precious promise. This unseen presence, this exercise of actual omniscience, this authority to rebuke or remove, this diversity and wealth of promise, tend to produce extraordinary results: it encourages the faithful that He knows and will reward; it stimulates the backslidden to revival and amendment; it alarms the unworthy and terrifies with certain and speedy judgment. My next general observation is that this presence of Christ in the churches is not a personal presence ¾ He is up in heaven, but He is present through the Spirit, His alter ego, the one that came down according to His promise to be His vicar, His vicegerent here on earth. Now, as proof that this is the meaning, read Revelation 2:7 : "Hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches"; Revelation 2:11 : "Hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches"; Revelation 2:17 : "Hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches"; Revelation 2:29 : "Hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches"; Revelation 3:6: "Hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches"; Revelation 3:13 : "Hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches"; Revelation 3:22 : "Hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches." So that every time He says anything to any of these churches, He closed by calling it "what the Spirit saith unto the churches." That teaches that Christ is present with His people here on earth, not in a personal sense, but through the Holy Spirit, whom He sent after He ascended into heaven. So in the Great Commission, "I am with you all the days, even unto the end of the world." He is not with us in person: we cannot see Him, touch Him, feel Him, but He is present in the Spirit. That also shows that this whole book comes in the Spirit dispensation, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit all through the book, up to Revelation 20:11. Christ stays up in heaven until the time of restoration of all things. While He stays up there the Spirit represents Him down here. When He comes (Revelation 20:11), the Spirit dispensation is ended, the gospel dispensation is ended, the gospel preaching is ended. My seventh general observation is that the condition of no two of these churches is exactly the same. Look and see that the deficiency of one is not the deficiency of another. Ephesus is sound in doctrine, but deficient in love. Smyrna was poor but rich. Laodicea rich but poor. Pergamos was faithful in persecution, but wanting in discipline. In Ephesus the first works were greater than the last, while Thyatira the last works were greater than the first, and in Sardis none of its works, first or last, was perfect in God’s sight. Smyrna was attaining to a crown of life, while Thyatira, having a name to live, was dead. Philadelphia glowed with fervor while Laodicea was lukewarm. I ask you to note this diversity of condition in the seven churches, that you may apply it to any seven churches in Texas. The same examination of the First Church in Fort Worth, in Dallas, Austin, Houston, San Antonio, Waxahachie, Galveston, or of the seven leading churches in any one city, would reveal similar diversity of conditions in God’s sight. This application goes to confirm what is evident, namely, that these are real letters to seven contemporaneous churches. My eighth observation, that Christ’s titles, and Christ’s threats, and Christ’s promises are adapted to meet the specific condition of each church as it comes up: He does not use the same threats, He does not use the same titles; He does not offer the same promises, but in every case there is an adaptation to the need, showing the infinite diversity in Christ so as to suit the diverse needs. My ninth observation is that you may gather up into one sentence the promises made to the faithful ones in all of the churches - make one sentence of it. A special succeeding chapter will expound these promises to you. Let us make up that sentence now (Revelation 2:7): "To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life"; Revelation 2:11 (latter part): "He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death"; Revelation 2:17 : "To him that overcometh will I give of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, and upon that stone a new name written which no one knoweth but he that receiveth it"; Revelation 2:26 : "To him that overcometh and he that keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give authority over the nations, and he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of the potter are broken to shivers; as I also received of my Father, and I will give him the morning star"; Revelation 3:5 : "He that overcometh shall be arrayed in white garments, and I will in no wise blot his name out of the book of life, and I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels"; Revelation 3:12 : "He that overcometh I will make a pillar in the temple of my God and he shall go out thence no more; and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is the new Jerusalem which cometh down out of the heaven from my God, and I will write upon him my new name"; Revelation 3:21 : "To him that overcometh I will give to sit down with me in my throne, as I also overcame and sat down with my Father in his throne." Only by grouping all of these promises into one great sentence do we understand the riches of the heavenly reward to the faithful. My next observation is that a calm survey of the imperfect conditions of the churches and pastors makes it seem impossible that such instrumentality can bring about the glorious results set forth in Revelation 11:15 - "The kingdom of the world is become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ." There are, however, two elements of hope in the picture: Christ is walking in the midst of the churches, leading to repentance, and the Spirit is directing and enabling. I know the first time I very carefully studied the condition of the seven churches in Asia, and then applied the revelation to any seven churches around me, with their seven pastors, I found no perfect pastor and no perfect church. Every church had some fault or faults and every pastor had some weakness or faults. So I said in my heart: "How are preachers like these and churches like these to capture the world?" and I never got over that discouragement until I read Revelation 4:1-11, Revelation 5:1-14, when the heaven scene of the "things that are" revealed the throne of grace with agencies and activities helping the churches and preachers on earth. My next observation is: That the doctrine of this book of Revelation necessitates the perpetuity of the churches. The doctrine is just this: Christ will appoint no other instrumentality for the evangelization of the world; the world is to be lighted through these churches, and that when a candlestick is removed, another church is raised up, and that in every age of the world there will be some churches faithful to the Lord. That is the teaching of this book, and particularly do you find it when you come to that view of the church presented as an institution under the symbol of a woman, and the apostate church presented under the symbol of a woman. You will see the woman that represents the true church driven into the wilderness, where she is in hiding for a long time; just like Israel led out of Egypt wandered in the wilderness for thirty-eight years, and as historians would have a hard time tracing every day’s steps of Israel in the wilderness, so a church historian now has a hard time in putting the surveyor’s chain on the trace of the true churches in this wilderness period. There is no difficulty in tracing the New Testament history. Nor is there any difficulty from the Reformation period to the present. It is easy to prove that there are now churches similar in faith, doctrine, ordinances, officers, and purposes to the New Testament churches. My next general observation is, that a candlestick be removed ¾ that is, a particular church organization be dissolved ¾ has no bearing on the preservation of the true Christians who are members of that church. Sardis, as a church organizer, was declared to be "dead," but "thou hast a few names in Sardis that did not defile their garments: and they shall walk with me in white, for they are worthy." The church was blotted out, but "I will in no wise blot out their names from the book of life." My last general observation is this: Since Christ has appointed these churches for the evangelization and illumination of the world, what is the law on the preacher or the member that destroys one of these churches? Paul answers that question for us. He says to the church at Corinth: "Ye are God’s building, ye are the temple of God, and him that destroys the temple of God will I destroy." And I tell you that is a very solemn thought for a preacher who so ministers that he destroys a church, or for any deacon, or deacons, who so act as to blot out a church of our Lord. The candlestick is indeed removed, but woe to him that causeth its removal. You would do a thousand times less harm to reach up and blot out the most brilliant planet in the sky than to blot out the feeblest little church here on earth which is trying to do good. Every pastor ought to bring this question up in his own heart: Is my ministry of this church building it or pulling it down; is it strengthening or destroying? What a solemn responsibility upon anybody who takes charge of a church. You may track some preachers by a trail of decayed, divided, or dissolved churches. You may track some other preachers by a trail of growing, illuminating churches - every one they labor with prospers.

I put my hand on a man’s shoulders, once, when he asked me to congratulate him on being called to a certain church. I said to him: "I will give you just six months to split it into shivers." He said, "What do you mean?" I said: "Is not that the result wherever, so far, you have preached? Go back over your ministry and name a church that you really built up." To my astonishment that man still thinks a great deal of me, and the last talk I had with him he promised that if he was ever a pastor again he would prove by his pastorate that he did not split things.