Letters to the Churches
In “Letters to the Churches”, Pastor Dave Gustavsen shows us how much we have in common with churches that existed many years ago and encourages us to stand firm in our faith during difficult circumstances. The benefits of perseverance far outweigh the struggles that are before us.
Good morning Chapel family. Great to see you all today. Thanks to all of you who came to our Annual Meeting last Sunday—it was really fun: we approved a new budget; we affirmed four great new elders (Gene Amore, Dion Morreale, Ryan Olsen and Bill Sayre); we shared our ministry plans for the new year; and we just celebrated how, through two really tough years, God has kept The Chapel strong. Amen? Then this past Friday was the Night to Shine for our friends with special needs! And it was awesome. So thank you to the great team that made that happen. Special Needs inclusion is a high priority for The Chapel; we live that out every Sunday in our Chapel Kids. And here’s something exciting: we are just a few months away from spring planting in our Special Needs Community Garden. So, good things ahead.
So…this is week number two in our series on the book of Revelation. We said last week that the main purpose of Revelation is not to help us figure out who the Antichrist is or to nail down the exact sequence of end-time events on a chart. Revelation is actually a long letter, written to a group of churches in the first century. And the message to those churches is basically this: The world is getting darker. Opposition to Christ and his church is getting stronger. But God is in control, and in the end, God wins. So stand firm in your faith. That’s the message of Revelation, and by the way, I was encouraged to see those phrases from last week’s message shared by a lot of you on social media last week—it clearly struck a nerve. Because this is where we live, right? We see the world becoming more secular and materialistic and self-absorbed, it’s easy to get discouraged and just blend in with the darkness, which would be a huge mistake. So we need to hear this message.
In chapter one we found out that Revelation was written by John the Apostle—the disciple of Jesus. He was in exile on the island of Patmos around 95AD, and he had this incredible vision of Jesus, who told him to write down everything he was about to see. So the rest of the book is what Jesus told John in that vision.
So today we come to chapters two and three, which consist of personal messages for each of these seven churches. These are like mini-letters within the big letter. We don’t have time to read all seven, but let’s read the first one and the last one—that’ll give us a flavor—and then we’ll kind of zoom out and talk about the general message in all of the letters, and what that means for us.
So, starting in Revelation 2, verse 1, I invite you now to hear the Word of God…
1 “To the angel of the church in Ephesus write:
These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands. 2 I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked people, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. 3 You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary.
4 Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first. 5 Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place. 6 But you have this in your favor: You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.
7 Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.
And then here’s the last one: Revelation 3, beginning in verse 14…
14 “To the angel of the church in Laodicea write:
These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation. 15 I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! 16 So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. 17 You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. 18 I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see.
19 Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent. 20 Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.
21 To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I was victorious and sat down with my Father on his throne. 22 Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” This is the Word of the Lord.
As you read these letters, you start to see a pattern. Look at Revelation 2:1…These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands. Who’s that talking about? Jesus. How do we know? Because in that vision that John had, back in chapter one, this is exactly how Jesus is described: seven stars in his hand, walking among seven golden lampstands, which represent the seven churches. And it’s the same in all seven of the letters: it starts by saying, “These are the words of him who…”—and then each time it mentions a different piece of that chapter one vision. In other words, the giver of all seven of these letters is the glorious, risen Jesus Christ. So they carry that kind of weight—that kind of gravitas.
Here’s one more thing that repeats in every letter: did you notice what it says toward the end of each letter? Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. In other words, this isn’t just for the people in Ephesus or Laodicea; it’s meant for whoever has ears to us. It’s meant for our church, in North Jersey, in 2022. So…if we have ears to hear, and I pray we do, let’s listen to what the Spirit is saying to our church.
Let’s do two points today: What Jesus Sees, and What Jesus Says. What Jesus sees, and what he says.
So, first: What Jesus Sees. Back in that vision John saw, do you remember how it described the eyes of Jesus? His eyes were like blazing fire. Which means…he sees everything. The eyes of Jesus burn through the surface and go straight to the heart. So when he looks at some churches, Jesus sees Unfaithfulness. Remember the overall challenge of Revelation: As you see the world getting darker…what? Stand firm. And some of these churches were not standing firm. They were intimidated by the culture around them. Instead of being distinctively different from the world, they were blending into the world. And I see three main ways these churches were being unfaithful.
First, Half-hearted faith. Half-hearted faith. Look at Revelation 2:4… Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first. Some translations say, “You have forsaken your first love.” Remember, this is Jesus talking. And he says, “You used to be so fired up about your faith. You never missed a morning prayer time! You showed up early for church! You brought up my name in every
conversation! You were offering to pray for complete strangers! You were on fire for me! But something has happened. But you’ve lost that passion. You sleep in more often, and shoot up a quick prayer in the car on the way to work. You hardly ever bring up my name. You skip church to watch the Super Bowl pregame show.” So Jesus isn’t saying they’ve abandoned their faith—nothing so drastic—they’ve just cooled off. They’ve gone from passionate to casual, and that’s a dangerous trajectory to be on.
He says the same kind of thing to another church—look at Revelation 3:15-16…15 I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! 16 So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. A couple of days ago Norma Jean and I walked into a Starbucks, and I ordered a latte. The barista behind the counter said, “Would you like that hot or cold?” I said, “Hot.” So she got me made my latte, and she gave it to me, and she went back to heat up this pastry that Norma Jean had ordered—it was a tiny piece of cake for $7, I think. So while we were waiting, I took a sip of my latte. And it was neither hot nor cold. It was just slightly warmer than room temperature. So I spit it out…no, I didn’t do that. But I said to Norma Jean, “I have to get them to heat this up.” And she just rolled her eyes—because she’s lived with me for quite a while now. She said, “Don’t say anything.” I said, “Honey—I must.” So the barista came back and I said, “I hate to be picky, but do you have a microwave back there—could you just heat this up for about 25 seconds.” And she did, and all was well.
Anybody with me on this? Anybody laughing at me on this? I mean, I like iced latte, or iced coffee. And I love hot coffee. What I can’t stand is in-between coffee. It’s like, “Make up your mind.”
And God was saying to the people in this church, “Make up your mind. I see your deeds—I see the way you live. You’re not cold—it’s not like you’re renouncing your faith. But you’re also not hot. You have one foot in the world and one foot in my kingdom. You’re trying to make everybody happy—but you’re actually useless to everyone…like room temperature coffee.
Is this speaking to you? You’re become lukewarm in your faith? You’ve forsaken your first love? It’s really easy to drift there. And Jesus, with those blazing eyes, sees that in our hearts, and he lovingly calls it out. He wants more for us. Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.
Another kind of unfaithfulness he calls out is Sexual immorality. Revelation 2, verse 20: Nevertheless, I have this against you: You tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophet. By her teaching she misleads my servants into sexual immorality… The Greek word for sexual immorality here is the word porneia, which is obviously the root of our word pornography. But it means more than that. Porneia means any use of sex outside of a marriage covenant. And the Bible always defines a marriage covenant as a lifelong commitment between a man and a woman. So as always, God sets a high bar for the way we use sex. So apparently there was a teacher in that church named Jezebel who was trying to lower God’s standards of sexuality—teaching people that God’s ways are outdated or repressive or harmful. And of course that became a popular message, and a lot of people were swept up in it. And Jesus says, “Here’s what I have against you: you’re tolerating that.”
This has no relevance for us today, does it? When I think of areas where it’s tempting for the church to compromise, this is at the top of the list. Because we don’t want to seem judgmental, right? We hesitate to say that sex was intended to only be enjoyed within a marriage covenant, because we don’t want to be mocked as clueless and regressive. We think twice before saying that a marriage covenant means a lifelong commitment between a man and a woman, because we don’t want to be labeled as hateful. It is so tempting to cave in this area. Now, don’t hear me wrong: I’m not saying we should be standing on street corners, condemning people for their sexual sins. Please, no. We should
turn our eyes first on ourselves, and recognize our own areas of hypocrisy. But then, from that place of humility, we should hold up God’s standard of sexuality. This dark world needs to hear that truth, spoken in love.
Do you see yourself in this one? Are you living out of step with God’s design for sexuality, and you rationalize it because it’s so culturally acceptable? Jesus, with those blazing eyes, sees. And he doesn’t condemn, but he warns. He wants more for us. Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.
And then, third, Jesus calls out the unfaithfulness of Materialism. Look what Jesus says to the church in Laodicea—Revelation 3:17…You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. Laodicea was a hub of commerce in the ancient world—it was at the intersection of two rivers; it was right on a major trade route for the Roman Empire. So this would be like addressing the church in London or Tokyo or New York—right in the middle of the action. Lots of successful, wealthy people, even in the church. By the way, I was studying these letters with my small group last week, and I said, “Which one of these churches do you think best fits North Jersey and The Chapel?” Almost every guy said, “This one.” Laodicea. So look what Jesus says to them: “Your wealth is blinding you. You look in the mirror, and you see success. Here’s what I see: you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.” Ouch. Why don’t you tell us how you really feel, Jesus?
Is Jesus speaking to you on this one? You gain so much of your sense of happiness and well-being from money and material things, and Jesus says, “You’re actually a mess.”
Look: if you see yourself in any of these rebukes—whether it’s half-hearted faith, or sexual immorality, or materialism—and there are times that Jesus has needed to confront me about all these things—so if you have ears to hear and you’re hearing Jesus speak—never forget, these are not words of condemnation. Two verses later—in Revelation 3:19—Jesus says, Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. He loves us! And that’s why he tells it to us straight. So whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.
Thankfully, when Jesus looks at the churches, he also sees Faithfulness. In the midst of the world’s darkness and world’s pressure to conform, he sees them standing firm. Imagine hearing these words from Jesus…
Revelation 2:2—I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance.
Revelation 2:13—I know where you live—where Satan has his throne. Yet you remain true to my name.
Revelation 3:8—I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name.
If I heard Jesus saying those words to me, what could possibly be more encouraging? And for some of you, this is exactly what Jesus is saying to you. I’m not suggesting you’re perfect—of course not. But there are places in your life right now where it is really tempting to give in and be like the world, but you’re standing firm.
You could go to those high school parties and get trashed on Friday nights, but you choose not to because you’re trying to represent Jesus well. And sometimes that’s a really lonely place to be. And you need to know Jesus sees. He sees you!
You could be a workaholic and bring in more income and upgrade our lifestyle, but you’re choosing to live more simply so you have time to serve God and spend time with people. And Jesus sees that.
You could flirt with that guy in the office who’s obviously interested in you, but you’re choosing to keep your distance and be faithful to your marriage. And Jesus sees you.
As a church, we could become captive to the politics of the Right or the politics of the Left; we could broaden the definition of marriage; we could stop preaching Christ as the only path to eternal life; and if we did, we would get applause from all kinds of people…but we won’t do that. And it’s so important for me to know that Jesus sees that.
Every time you resist the temptation to click on that porn site; every time you choose not to post something harsh toward someone who disagrees with your politics; every time you’re watching a Netflix series and you realize that it’s more violent or crass or sexually explicit than you realized, and you listen to the prompting of the Holy Spirit and turn it off, Jesus sees you.
In other words, every time we’re confronted with the darkness of the world and we make the choice to stand firm in our faith, Jesus sees, and he’s pleased. And some of you really need to hear that, because it’s been rough. And maybe, because of the stand you’ve taken, you’ve lost some friends. You’ve lost some sleep. You feel beat up. And you need to know Jesus sees you, and your faithfulness brings him joy. So stand firm.
So…for each of the seven churches, Jesus either sees unfaithfulness or faithfulness, or in some cases, a combination of both in the same church. So he points that out, and then there’s an overall message he has for both kinds of people.
And that leads to our last point: What Jesus Says.
First, To The Unfaithful, he says: “Open your door.” Look at Revelation 3:19-20. This comes at the end of the letter to the seventh and final church, so I believe this is what Jesus says to all the unfaithful in all the churches: 19 Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent. 20 Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me. Those are Jesus’ words to us when we’re being unfaithful.
In Middle Eastern culture, eating with someone meant more than just eating with someone. If you invited someone to eat with you, it meant you wanted to have a close friendship with them. A deep relationship. So think about this: when someone’s unfaithful to you—when they hurt you—how do you feel about them? “Get away from me.” Right? When we’re being unfaithful to Jesus, he says, “I’m not giving up on you that easy.” He knocks; he pursues. It’s an incredible picture of grace.
Now: if you’ve been around the Christian world for a while, you may have seen a painting that depicts this verse. (Show painting). Have you ever seen this? Jesus knocking at the door. It’s a nice painting. I guess. But remember how John described Jesus in Revelation 1? His eyes were like blazing fire. His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance. And John says, “When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead.” So I’m just saying, this guy doesn’t sound like that guy. Look: we have to know who it is that’s knocking on our door. It’s not the soft, glowy, Hallmark Jesus; it’s the risen, exalted Messiah, and he knocks on our door with the same hands that had nails driven through them on the cross. Sometimes I think we continue messing around with sin and living with one foot in the world because we forget who it is who pursues us.
So to those who are unfaithful, Jesus says, “Open your door.” He won’t break it down. He won’t force us to repent. This door only opens from one side. We have to choose.
See, ultimately, when we are unfaithful to God, it’s not because of lack of effort; it’s not because we’re not trying hard enough; it’s because we don’t have a close relationship with Jesus. So let him in—maybe for the first time; or maybe for the first time in a long time. Let him in. Let him love you. Walk with him. Worship him. Spend time listening to him and talking to him. Remain in him like a branch stays attached to a vine. Receive his strength. Come to the communion table regularly, and let him fill you with his presence. And as you do that, you will find yourself passionate to be faithful to him. If Jesus is knocking at your door today, open your door.
And finally, To the Faithful people in the churches, Jesus says Raise your Eyes. Raise your eyes. Psychiatrists tell us that one of the lies that depressed people believe is that things will never change. Some of you have been there. You think, “I’ll always feel this sad. I’ll always feel this hopeless and listless and despondent. I’ll always feel this dead inside.” So you get trapped in the present, and you can’t see beyond those walls. And it’s a lie. And when we’re being faithful to Jesus, and it’s so hard, we can fall into the same kind of lie. We see how our culture is turning against God, and we start thinking the darkness is winning. And Jesus says, “Don’t be stuck in this moment. Raise your eyes and let me show you how this ends.”
Every single one of these letters ends with a staggering promise of heaven for the people of God. Listen to some of these promises—I’m just going to read them:
To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.
The one who is victorious will not be hurt at all by the second death.
To the one who is victorious, I will give some of the hidden manna. (Honestly, I’m not even sure what that means—but it’s got to be good).
To the one who is victorious and does my will to the end, I will give authority over the nations…
They will walk with me, dressed in white, for they are worthy.
To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I was victorious and sat down with my Father on his throne.
And on, and on, and on. I don’t think our minds can begin to grasp the magnitude of what heaven will be like. I think trying to describe heaven to our human minds is like trying to explain advanced calculus to a toddler. You can try, but good luck. You’re going to be talking about integrals and derivatives, while they’re playing with blocks. They just don’t have the capacity to grasp it. So in these letters, Jesus talks about heaven on a level that we can understand—he gives us these glimpses, using human language and human categories—like white robes and thrones and eating from the tree of life. And it’s an amazing picture! It’s clearly a place of beauty and joy and wonder. But it’s so much more than that—more than we have the ability to grasp. Like it says in 1 Corinthians, “No eye has seen…no ear has heard…no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him.”
So look: if you’re being faithful to God, and you’re feeling the pressure and the darkness of the world, raise your eyes. Remember how this all ends. Remember the incredible future that awaits.
God is in control. And in the end, he wins. So stand firm in your faith.
