said when I started my series on Revelation was that I wouldn't give you a bunch of charts and graphs and timelines. Well, I've included a chart in the Bullets in the day. On page seven, I have taken from Vern Poethers' wonderful little book, The Returning King, a chart that he has laid out which helps us see some of the distinctive features of the seven churches that are written to in Revelation chapters two and three. I offer that to you for your own benefit, your own study, and perhaps as a helpful tool is we make our way through these next two chapters in the book of Revelation. As I've said to you already on a number of occasions, I'm working my own way through the book of Revelation, and I've been so blessed as I have studied and immersed myself in God's word, and yet as I mentioned earlier, there are things that I said at the beginning which already I'm going against offering you charts and things, and I'm still unsure as to how we are going to make our way through the next two chapters. I was talking with some of the folks in Al-Rody Sunday School this morning. I went to the webpage for the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals to see if Dr. James Boyce had preached on the book of Revelation, and indeed he had. Now we recognized God's sovereignty and the death of Dr. Boyce last year, but it was sort of frightening to me that he died while he was preaching Revelation. He only made it through the first eight verses of chapter six, so I really need you to pray for him. But he also took a very different approach as he went through the letters to the seven churches. He spent a week on each letter, and so it was almost two months in making his way through chapters two and three, and I'm not going to do that. But I want us to at least begin to touch this morning on these letters, and I want us to see the importance of the fact that they are written to the churches. One of the things that I enjoy so much, one of the things that I am greatly blessed by, is spending time with many of you here at Abbott talking about the good old days in Highland Town. I've set on numerous occasions, I would love it if I had the opportunity like one of these movies to get into a DeLorean, and fly back in time, 50 years, and walk down Bank Street, and up to Patterson Park, and through the neighborhood, and see the big flashing neon SK signs still elit, and the different activities that were taking place in Highland Town at that time. One of the reoccurring things that has always said to me about this neighborhood, during those years is that there was such a strong community, that people helped each other raise one another's children, that there was such a sense of trust that no one locked their doors, that families would go during the hot summer months and sleep together in the park, and people trusted one another, they loved one another, and there was a real sense of community. Unfortunately, in many ways, in our day in not just in Highland Town, but throughout our country and America, we've seen the death of community. I think about the neighborhood that I lived in in Florida, particularly, where every home had an eight-foot high, wooden privacy fence around the yard, and every garage was equipped with an electronic garage door opener, and you would literally never see your neighbors unless you happen to be cutting your grass at the same time, which most people did at night to avoid the heat, so you didn't see them anyway. There was no sense of community in that neighborhood. We can look at a number of things like air conditioning that have eliminated community. People stay inside their homes now, and they don't spend time fellowshiping with one another anymore. There are many things that we can look at to see that, but it's even magnified in our culture by a media that preaches to us individualism and being your own person and making a way for yourself in this world. I was struck very recently by the fact that the army has abandoned their long-time slogan, be all that you can be, and embrace a new slogan, an army of one. Come join the army and be an army of one, be an individual, be someone that stands for himself, and more and more we see the death of relationships in community in our culture, but the gospel always comes to us in the context of community. The gospel always pulls us as God's people into community. You see when we embrace the gospel, when we come to know Jesus Christ, one of the very first things that changes is our grammar. We begin to say we instead of I. We begin to say our instead of my. We begin to say us instead of me. We begin to speak in the plural, recognizing that we are not alone anymore. The same salvation that brings us into relationship with God also reunites us as a community of faith. Every time we tend to be isolated individuals, every time we try to live out our Christian life in private, we distort and falsify the gospel of Jesus Christ. The opening words of the book of Revelation, which we've read over and over and voted over again in our series already, are that there is a blessing to those who read the words of the book of Revelation and to those who hear them. And the assumption there is that this book is going to be read where? The privacy of your own home in front of the television on the couch to take the scrolls from the synagogue down to your place and read it there? No, it's assumed that it's going to be read in church in the context of community and the word the revelation itself comes to us, not in private, but in the community of faith. The believing community is the context for a life of faith. But in spite of how very clear this is in Scripture, there is still the tendency in our life to want to go at it alone. I'm sure you're like me all have encountered people who live in our world, people that we work with, people in our neighborhoods, people in our own families who say, well, I believe in God and I believe in Christ, but I don't want anything to do with the church. It's full of hypocrites. Someone was saying they saw a church sign somewhere that said, we need more hypocrites. Come on in and join us. There's plenty of hypocrites here, you'll feel right at home if you come and visit with us. But that's often an excuse. People don't want to be part of a community of faith because they just get fed up with other people in the body of Christ, so they tend to try and go at it alone. The reality is, is that just because someone is a Christian doesn't make them an interesting conversation with. When we become Christians, it's not necessarily the fact that our personality is instantly becoming charming and engaging and we're fun to be with all the time. I looked hard this week to find the exact quote from Charles Spurgeon that I love so much. I couldn't find it but I remembered it well enough. Spurgeon once spoke about some folks who were Christians and he said of them, I would much rather spend all of eternity in heaven with them than five minutes with them here on earth right now. He said for some of them, distance adds enchantment to the view. And that's the reality, that's the truth. Within the context of church, it's not always pretty and it's not always easy. But when we are prone or when we make an effort to go out of the loan, the scripture always calls us back to the fellowship of believers. It always calls us back to the context of community. Throughout scripture we read things from the very beginning, like God saying it is not good for man to be alone, saying to Abraham, I will make your seed as the sands of the sea. Hebrews we read, let us not give up meeting together as some are in the habit of doing. We prayed the Lord's prayer this morning. And how did it begin? When you pray, say, our Father, our Father, not my Father, again being brought into the context of community. Well-known passages in scripture that even pagans know, love your neighbor as yourself. Bear one another's burden. We are called back again and again to the church. And when we look at the book of Revelation, the very first thing that John sees. We go back to chapter 1. John hears this amazing voice. He turns to see the voice and what is the first thing that he sees? He sees lamp stands. And what does the text tell us that those lamp stands are? They are churches. The first thing in John's vision is the church. And Jesus himself, we looked at last week in the heavenly vision of Christ, Jesus is set among the churches. Revelation begins with this glorious, majestic vision of Christ. And it ends with his finally established, triumphant, glorious kingdom. But to get to that point, you've got to go through the church. You've got to go through chapters 2 and 3. You've got to deal with the church. We would often prefer to move directly from this wonderful vision of Christ in chapter 1 straight to chapters 4 and 5 and the glorious ecstasy of worship in heaven. And then move through the grand and victorious battles where we triumph over the dragon and wickedness and evil in much of the book and make our way to the final end where the new heavens and the new earth and the final establishment of God's kingdom. We'd like to skip right over the church, but we can't. We have to first negotiate the church and not just one church, but seven churches, not just one, but seven. You see, the church of Jesus Christ only has being in relationship to Jesus himself. The very beginning of each letter, as we get into chapters 2 and 3, the very first thing we see is how each church is identified with Jesus Christ himself. Elements of the vision that we saw last week in chapter 1 are highlighted and used to define the church communities in chapter 2 and 3. You have your bottles and you're just looking. Each letter begins. The church in Ephesus, the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands. The church in Smyrna, the words of him who was the first and the last who died and came to life again to the church in Pergamum. These are the words of him who has the sharp double-edged sword to the church in Thyatira. These are the words of the son of God whose eyes are like blazing fire and whose feet are like burnished bronze. To the church and sardis, these are the words of him who holds the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. To the church in Philadelphia, these are the words of him who is holy and true, who holds the key of David and to the church in Laodicea. Laodicea, these are the words of the Amen, the faithful and the true witness, the ruler of God's creation. We begin each letter to each church because there is no church apart from Jesus himself. The church is formed by his word and sustained by his being. The church is about Christ and it is defined by him and given its existence through him as we see once again the defining characteristic of Christ that gives meaning to each of the churches. I said a minute ago, we have to go through seven churches. Take just a second to deal with the question of why seven churches weren't there more churches in Asia than the seven that are here? Why these particular seven? I think that it's important for us to notice that it is seven because seven is a number that will recur throughout the book of Revelation and it has significant. It's also been noted by many that the Apostle Paul wrote letters to seven different churches and now John and the Revelation writes to seven churches and the number seven throughout scripture symbolizes completion. It symbolizes the fullness of all things and now the seven churches summarize for us all churches. There's a very specific message to a very specific people had a very specific time in history and yet the use of seven brings to us a picture of the fullness of this message for all churches at all times and helps us see the significance for ourselves today. We could very well take each of these letters and say to the church in Highland Town, God's gathered people at Abbott and see our sins reflected in these words and see the blessings of God reflected in the words to these churches. Another aspect of this is that while all churches gain their identity and their being from Christ, each of these congregations and each of their identities is only partial. Every church is defined by only a piece of the vision. There's not a single church that exhibits in every way the fullness and the fullness of Christ but when we focus on God's word, when we listen to the Spirit, when we have ears to hear, we can begin to experience the wholeness of what Jesus desires his church to be as we put together the messages to the churches.
Each letter begins with a picture of the character of Christ and his defining character to the church and each letter ends as well with a similar, not a similar, the exact same message. The letters begin with a picture of Christ and they end with the message he who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The exact same refrain is given in each case. Whatever the differences there were between these seven churches, two things are constant. The two constant things in every letter are that they are defined by the person of Jesus Christ and that they are called to listen. The Spirit speaks, the people listen. It reminds us of the promise that Jesus made to his disciples in John chapter 16 verses 7 through 11 and verse 13. Jesus said this to his disciples, but I tell you the truth, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the counselor will not come to you, but if I go, I will send him to you. When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment, in regard to sin because men do not believe in me, in regard to righteousness because I am going to the Father where you can see me no longer, and in regard to judgment because the Prince of this world now stands condemned. But when he, the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own, he will speak only what he hears and he will tell you what is yet to come. This is the Spirit that is being spoken of in Revelation chapters 2 and 3 when he says, he who has in the air, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The promised Spirit that Jesus said he would sin to enable us to hear, to understand. This is the common task of the churches. The common task is to listen. Listening is such a crucial aspect that it cannot be ignored. The importance of hearing is utmost. We know from Paul's letter to Roman that faith comes how? Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. It's God himself who enables us to hear. There's a wonderful passage in Isaiah chapter 50 verses 4 through 5 where Isaiah says, the sovereign Lord has given me an instructed tongue to know the word that sustains the weary. He wakens me morning by morning, wakens my ear to listen like one being taught. The sovereign Lord has opened my ears and I have not been rebellious. I have not drawn back. Hearing is a gift from God as well. We hear only in so much as that the Spirit of God enables us to hear that he opens our ears. This morning in our call to worship, we read from Isaiah chapter 35 and in that passage it spoke of the dawning of the Messianic age and one of the signs of the Messianic age in the coming Messiah was that the ears of the death would hear. Now when we look at the ministry of Jesus, his earthly ministry is life in Galilee and in the land of Israel we know that one of the hallmarks of his ministry was healing those who were dead. He gave literal hearing to those who could not hear. It's interesting, one of the commentators said that in the admonition and scripture that if your hand causes you to sit and chop it off, if your eye causes you to sit and block it out, there's no mention of the ear. Why? Perhaps because hearing is absolutely essential for hearing the proclamation of the gospel, for understanding the truth. It's interesting that in Matthew, Mark, and Luke, all three make the very first parable of Jesus' ministry, the parable of the Sower, which is really a parable about what? About hearing throughout the parable. Jesus talks about different soils which are like ears and how do they respond to the Word that falls upon me. Hearing is of the utmost importance in the hallmark of God's people is that we are to be a listening people. We can look at the parable of the Sower and think of it as a self-administered hearing test. What is the quality of our hearing? How do our ears receive the message of the Word? Do we hear and not listen and comprehend? Or does the Word fall upon fertile soil and take root and grow? Are we really listening with our ears? That's the call to the churches. Every church has the same admonition to listen to the Word of God. It's a challenge. It's a call to us this morning to listen to what God would say to us. It was Word. So we begin each letter to each church with the Christological images, the identifications of the church, and conclude with a call to be a listening people. And in between each letter there is a specific individualized message for each church. Perhaps next week we'll take some time and look at some of those individual messages, but quickly I just want to show you that there is a common purpose in each message. And the common purpose in each and every message to each of the seven churches is to provide them with spiritual direction, and it's done in three ways. In each case it begins with a positive affirmation, affirming in them where the character of Christ is evident, where the work of God in their lives as a church is seen, affirming in them the things that are right. It moves from this positive affirmation to corrective discipline, dealing with the things that are wrong, dealing with the things that are not in accord with what Christ would have his church to do and be. And he ends each individual message with a motivating promise, a promise of eternal glory, eternal life, eternal blessing. And it's not promised as a reward, it's not promised in order to motivate us, boy if we just work hard enough we'll get this reward, but it's a motivating promise to show us what awaits us as God's people. What he is promised that he is going to give us, not on the basis of who we are or what we do, but on the basis of his glorious goodness and grace to us in the person of Christ. This is the spiritual direction that is offered to the seven churches. Every church is offered the spiritual direction that they need. Not every church has all of these elements, some avoid the corrective discipline, it's not seen. Others avoid the affirmation, they don't evidence anything necessarily worthy of affirmation. But in all of these things, they're designed to bring about spiritual direction in their lives. And as we go through and look at these letters to these seven churches, we need to examine our own hearts and see where we need to be directed and how we can be led by the Spirit of God in faith in obedience. I want to conclude this morning by just looking at all of these seven churches and gaining some encouragement from that. As we look at these seven churches we see for the most part a bunch of messed up people, a bunch of messed up churches, a bunch of places and communities with problems. And that should be an encouragement to us. I was especially encouraged as I read Eugene Peterson's thought on this. Let me share it with you from his book Reversed Thunder. He says, the churches of Revelation show us that churches are not Victorian parlors where everything is always picked up and ready for guests. They are messy family rooms. Entering a person's house unexpectedly, we are sometimes met with a barrage of apologies. St. John does not apologize. Things are out of order to be sure, but that is what happens to churches that are lived in. They're not showrooms. They're living rooms. And if the person's living in them are sinners, they're going to be closed scattered about handprints on the woodwork and mud on the carpet. Or as long as Jesus insists on calling sinners and not the righteous to repentance. And there is no indication as yet that he has changed his policy in that regard. Churches are going to be an embarrassment to the fastidious and an affront to the upright. St. John sees them simply as lampstand. They are places, locations where the light of Christ is shown. They are not themselves the light. There is nothing particularly glamorous about churches. Nor on the other hand, is there anything particularly shameful about them? They simply are. That was an encouragement to me just thinking about Mount House. But it's an encouragement to me thinking about our church, too. We're...