Learn the Revelation

This letter is a strong rebuke to the church that has departed from the faith. There is no praise, no mentioning of good works, and no apparent remnant of true believers in the congregation. At the same time, however, the picture of Jesus standing and knocking at the door of a heart He has deemed repugnant is also one of the most remarkable evidences of the love and mercy of God found anywhere in the Bible.

3:14 “And to the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write,

This message to the Ephesians is a grieving complaint that the congregation had left its “first love” and thus stopped loving Jesus sincerely.

2:1 “To the angel of the church of Ephesus write, ‘These things says He who holds the seven stars in His right hand, who walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands:”

Two things in this opening address are consistent in all seven letters:

1. The letter is addressed to “the angel of the church”
2. Jesus
   
   

v.19 ‘Write the things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which will take place after this.

Okay, dear ones, now we come to the virtual outline of the Revelation, and as such, the “key” to understanding the vision. John is instructed to write the Book in three sections.

• “Write the things which you have seen…”
• “Write…the things which are…”
• “Write…the things which will take place after this.”

The first, “the things which you have seen” is clearly in the past tense. This concerns that which John had seen earlier as he beheld Christ. Thus corresponding with John’s

v.9 “I, John, both your brother and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was on the island that is called Patmos for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ.”

The fact that John the Apostle was chosen to write the Revelation speaks volumes about God’s ability to accomplish His purposes. Despite even the most adverse of circumstances, whether from natural causes, or the cunning devices of devil and man.

John, after all, was about ninety years old and therefore long past what might be considered a practical age for such an arduous task. Moreover, John’s work and ministry was meant be silenced when Rome banished him to the remote island of Patmos. In other words, given the

v.4-6 “John, to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from Him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven Spirits who are before His throne, and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth. To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be the glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen”

These seven churches in Asia were real congregations that existed at the time of John.

Throughout Scripture, however, the number “seven” is also taken to signify that which is “complete” and “whole”. Seven days, for