I was sitting down for a delicious lunch of homemade Lunchables in the PreK 4 classroom this past week. After discussing how delicious the ham and cheese combination was and whether or not it was an acceptable use of food to wear the deli ham as a necklace, the conversation turned to Halloween costumes.
 
One little girl was excited to tell me that she was going to be a unicorn.
Another little girl was excited to tell me that she was going to be a princess.
One more said that she would be a unicorn.
And a fourth said that was would be a princess.
 
Finally, the little girl, who had been waiting and shaking with excitement to tell me her costume got her chance.
 
And she told me she would be something different:
An Elsa Unicorn.
 
I was curious. “What did that look like? Cause that might be hard to be both.”
She said, “I wear a crown and a horn on my head. Princess unicorn.”
 
A compromise.
 
Today we are continuing our series called Dear Church. It’s a series based on letters from Jesus to his church. Today’s letter is to a church that was compromising. But not in a good way. Compromising in a way that made them look about as silly as an Elsa Unicorn compromise. Our goal today is to identify why Jesus was reprimanding their compromise, when compromise is bad in our Christian lives, and what to do about fixing it.
 
Before we begin, a prayer: O Lord, strengthen us by the truth, your Word is truth. Open our eyes to see what you want us to see, our ears to hear what you want us to hear and our hearts to believe what you would have us believe. Amen.
 
I. The Good
 
This letter starts in Revelation 2:12 “To the angel of the church in Pergamum write: These are the words of him who has the sharp, double-edged sword.
 
Pergamum was an ancient city located on a lofty hill. It was also a key state in Roman control of their empire and home to the Red Basilica of the Greek god, Isis.
 
To put it simply, everywhere that the people of Pergamum looked there was symbols of authority:
 
The high impressive hills showing the authority of nature.
The Basilica reminded them of the authority Greek gods had in their culture.
The large amount of soldiers representing the authority of the Roman government.
 
No wonder Jesus starts his address by reminding the Pergamum church of where true authority resides: Himself. He says that his words are a sharp double-edged sword.

Not just sharp on the left.
Not just sharp on the right.
Sharp on both sides.
 
That means his words don’t just take out everything on the left.
Nor do they take out everything on the right.
But both sides. He has all authority.
 
Briefly, I don’t think this is a direct reference to American politics, but still… It might be worth saying:
The right isn’t the ultimate authority.
The left isn’t the ultimate authority.
Jesus is the ultimate authority.
 
Next, Jesus gives the congregation a compliment: “I know where you live—where Satan has his throne. Yet you remain true to my name. You did not renounce your faith in me, not even in the days of Antipas, my faithful witness, who was put to death in your city—where Satan lives.” (v. 13)
 
Pergamum was home to a large library of over 200,000 books. It was called The Library at Pergamum and is second in renown only to the Library at Alexandria.
 
Of course, this wasn’t Lifeway Christian Bookstore -- not all of these books were commentaries on the Bible. In fact, they often proposed ideologies and moralities in opposition to the Bible. These ideas from the books came influential in shaping Pergamum thought. Books that might have had titles like:
 
Greek Mythology – It’s not a Myth Anymore
101 Ways to a Good Relationship with the god, Isis
Temple Prostitution and You – a Beginners Guide
Food Sacrificed to Idols – 15 Minute Recipes for the Idol Worshiper on the Go
 
Pergamum was also home to a large theater. (Again, aptly named The Theater of Pergamum). It held over 10,000 people. By the way, its ruins are still there today.
 
At the time, attending the theater was a common way to spend the weekend. And common plays glorified things that weren’t so godly: worship of idols, pursuing money at all costs, adultery being okay as long as you sleep with the one you truly love, and generally bucking traditional morality and doing whatever you feel like doing. 
 
In essence, this theater was doing what Hollywood does today.
 
That’s why Jesus calls this place Satan’s home.
There’s temptation everywhere.
There’s false teaching everywhere.
There’s evil everywhere.
 
In fact, it had gotten so bad that a believer named Antipas is killed.
Murdered.
Put to death because he witnessed to the truth of Jesus.
 
Pergamum was hard place to plant a church.
Yet… The church survived.
 
The Good:
The church held onto FAITH in a city surrounded by VIOLENCE against it.
 
That word “held onto” means to “grasp firmly.”
 
It’s like playing tug of war with a dog. You are holding one end of the rope until your dog grabs onto the other end. Then…
 
It pulls.
It tugs.
It bares its teeth.
It shakes its head back and forth.
It growls as it tries to wrestle that rope way.
 
That’s what was happening in Pergamum – the culture was like a dog trying to wrestle faith away from the Pergamum church.
 
But…
They didn’t let them.
They held on tightly to their faith.  
 
That was good.
 
II. The Bad
 
But that’s also not the end of the letter. Look at what Jesus says next: “Nevertheless, I have a few things against you: There are some among you who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to entice the Israelites to sin so that they ate food sacrificed to idols and committed sexual immorality. Likewise, you also have those who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans." (v.14-15)
 
Notice the word that Jesus uses.
He says, “Some of you hold to” these teachings.
That’s the same Greek word.
The one that involves holding tightly as if you’re in a canine tug of way.
 
The church at Pergamum was holding onto the teachings of Jesus.
But also…other teachings.
 
We talked about the Nicolaitans in the letter to Ephesus. Not much is known about them other than that Jesus hated their practices. (Revelation 2:6) It isn’t surprising he wasn’t impressed by the fact that some of the Pergamum church was holding onto practices that he hated.
 
But Balaam…
 
Balaam was a false prophet in the Old Testament. He dabbled in occult type stuff. (Appropriate for Halloween, right?) He used spells, secret chants, and the power of the devil to see the future and cast curses onto people.
 
He was good at it.
 
In fact, he was so good at it that a guy named Balak who was king of the Moabites, hired Balaam to cast a curse on the people of Israel. If you remember, the people of Israel were God’s people in the Old Testament. He guided and blessed them, because one day the Savior Jesus would come from their race. But this was back at the time when the Israelites didn’t own any land, but were simply desert nomads.
 
Still, at over one million people in camp, the nation was impressive. It’s why Balak was concerned that they might come into Moab and destroy his nation. So, he hired Balaam to curse Israel.
 
Balaam was a big fan of money, so he agreed.
He stretched.
He shook out his hands.
He began cursing:
 
Hocus, Pocus…Hocus Crocus…Hocus…How can I curse those whom God has not cursed? (Numbers 23:8)
 
Sorry, King. Let me try again:
Bibbiddiy, boddiy, bless….God has blessed Israel and I cannot change it. (Numbers 23:20)
 
Just a second. Maybe we need to change up the curse location. Let’s try over on that hill there:
Eye of newt and ointment of Gibraltar – God’s kingdom will be exalted. (Numbers 24:7)  
 
Balaam couldn’t curse Israel.
God wouldn’t let him.
 
But Balaam was sly. He still wanted money. So, he offered some advice to Balak.
 
If you can’t curse them, maybe you can tempt them.
Send out some women.
Scantily clad.
Get their men, to…you know.
And you’ll become a part of their kingdom.
And lead them away from their God that way.
 
It worked. Numbers 31:16 says this: Some followed Balaam’s advice and enticed the Israelites to be unfaithful to the Lord.
 
Israel compromised.
 
Thousands of years later, the same problem was happening in the Pergamum church.
Sure, they were believers in Jesus. But some wanted to cover their bases:
 
I believe in Jesus, but I also believe that Isis might be able to help me with my crops. So, I’ll bring some offering to him and while I’m there I’ll sleep with the temple prostitutes. I’ll just have to remember to set my alarm so that I can get up for worship tomorrow. I’m ushering.
 
THE BAD:
Some held onto a TEACHING violently opposed to JESUS’ TEACHING. 
 
And I do mean violently opposed.
 
Balaam said, “Worship false gods.”
Jesus said, “Worship the Lord your God and serve him 0nly.” (Mt. 4:10)
 
Balaam said, “Do anything to store up treasure on earth.”
Jesus said, “Do anything to store up treasure in heaven.” (Mt. 6:19)
 
Balaam said, “Sexuality is yours. Do with it whatever you want.
Jesus said, “Sexuality is God’s gift. Use it within marriage as He tells us.” (Mt. 19:4-5)
 
Do you see the problem?
The Pergamum church held onto Jesus’ teaching.
But they also held onto things that were the exact opposite of Jesus’ teaching.
 
They were compromising.
 
III. The Compromise
 
Now usually compromising is a good thing.
 
Kids on the playground compromise and they both get to be Spider-man.
Teens in school compromise and they both work on parts of the school project.
Adults at work compromise and they go the meeting for half an hour today and half an hour tomorrow.
Spouses compromise and they have asparagus (like mom wanted) with Doritos sprinkled on top (like dad wanted).
 
Compromise can be good.
But not always.
 
I was listening to a podcast called the Liturgists the other day. (Sounds Christian right?) And the topic was pornography. I thought – That’d be good to hear. Some good tips on how to continually teach people the extreme danger of this destructive thing.
 
But as I was listening. One of the speakers said this:  
I’ve had some experiences with porn. And I found it to be helpful. I think it allows the opportunity to learn about sex and explore one’s sexuality. It’s just the lusts of the flesh, so whom does it harm?
 
And I started thinking in my head:
Your wife: who will feel like she can’t live up to it.
The actress: who will continue to feel like her worth is defined by how many watch her.
The industry: as you continue to give dollars to greedy jerks who don’t care how they treat women.
Me: because society will still see it as monetarily valuable and pump out pop-up ads and sultry material on the most tame websites.
And Jesus…who said – “I tell you if you look at a woman lustfully, you are guilty of adultery.”
 
But the people on the podcast?
The “Christians?”
They said:
 
You’re right. Porn is good.
 
Here’s the TRUTH:
Compromise is wrong when it treats BAD as GOOD.
 
Jesus loves good.
Jesus hates bad.
And he doesn’t compromise.  
 
Which means there is no compromise in the Christian faith.
 
You can’t love Jesus and love watching porn.
You can’t fill your spirit with Jesus and fill your stomach with moonshine.
You can’t be faithful to Jesus and be faithful to your spouse.
You can’t worship Jesus and worship your bank account.
You can’t say the Gospel is most important, but them make your traditions most important.  
You can’t claim to follow Jesus and then, do whatever you want.
You can’t claim to have the truth and then hold to teachings opposed to the truth!
 
In short,
If you want to hold onto Jesus, you can’t hold onto things that are opposed to Jesus.
 
Otherwise…
Look at what Jesus says:
Repent therefore! Otherwise, I will soon come to you and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth. (v.16)
 
And my words are sharp.
They will cut your soul.
Your heart.
 
Because if you want to keep compromising your faith,
And keep doing the things opposed to my kingdom.
 
Then, I’ve got compromise for you:
 
You get to keep doing all that sinful stuff.
And I get to kick you out of my kingdom.  
Forever.
 
IV. What Now?
 
Jesus says, “Repent.”
Look at your life.
See where you’re compromising your faith.
Drop anything that’s against your Savior.
Put your faith in your Savior.
 
Because….
Faith in Jesus isn’t about compromises:
Faith in Jesus is about promises:
To the one who is victorious, I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give that person a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to the one who receives it.”  (2:17)
 
Did you follow that section? It’s symbolic and yet rich with very real promises from Jesus:
 
(1) Hidden Manna
 
I had mentioned earlier that the people of Israel used to be nomads in the desert. Deserts don’t normally have a lot of food. There aren’t fast food places on every corner. Uber Eatz couldn’t bring you fried chicken. It wasn’t even a good place for growing your own crops.
 
So here what God did.
Early in the morning God send little pieces of bread, raining down from the clouds and landing softly on the ground next to their tents. These little wafer-like things tasted a bit like a honey, but not quite. A bit like bread, but not quite.
 
The food was so strange that the people simply called it: Manna.
In Hebrew, that means, “What is it?”
 
Manna was unexplainable. Its mystery was hidden. Yet God provided nourishment through it.
 
The same is true with the Gospel.
The message is mysterious.
Yet, God provides nourishment for souls filled with guilt.
 
In fact, Jesus said this: “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry.” (Jn. 6:35)
 
Because in his Word, he gives us nourishment.
For all the times we’ve compromised.
For all the times we’ve done what we shouldn’t.
For all the times we’ve loved evil more than Jesus, God’s Word tells you: 
 
Jesus loved you.
Jesus died for you.
Jesus rose for you.
 
And through faith in him, you will be given a:
 
(2) A White Stone
 
In the ancient courtroom, a judge would lead the trial and give the verdict. But around the time of this letter, the Greek world began to introduce trial by jury. A jury would listen to the case. They would listen to the prosecution. They would listen to the defense. Then, they would vote.
 
If a juror found the person to be guilty, he would take a black stone and drop it into the official vote casting bag.
But if the juror found the person to be not guilty…?
 
White stone.
 
Jesus says to the repentant: “I am giving you a white stone.”
You are innocent.
You are not guilty.
You are forgiven.
 
In fact, to illustrate the farther.
It says that on that stone will be…
 
(3) A New Name
 
Because if you are someone who has been compromising your faith, you might not have the greatest name.
You might call yourself:
 
A Failure.
A phony.
A fake.
 
A porn addict.
A drunk.
An easy woman.  
 
A bad Christian.
 
But God?
He has a new name for you.
It isn’t based on you.
 
God calls you:
His.
Loved.
Forgiven.
 
And there’s no compromise on that.
You are God’s.
 
Don’t compromise on him. Amen.

When I was in Seattle, WA, I had the goal to get to the top of the highest point in the lower 48 states, Mt. Rainier. I bought the right gear. I went into training. I learned from a woman who had been up Mount Everest three separate times.
 
On the day of the climb, we hiked up to Camp Muir, a base camp about 10,000 feet up. From there, we slept in a tiny wooden cabin to acclimate to the altitude and rest up for the final ascent. We went to bed at 6pm and woke up around Midnight. (You have to leave early in order to cross the ice bridges before the daylight gets too hot, the bridge melts and you fall to your death.)
 
It was about eight hours up when a blizzard kicked in. The air was sparse. The wind was frigid. My fingers were frozen. And it was only getting nastier. Some of the other climb groups had already turned around and gone back.
 
About an hour from the top, the lead expeditions said:  
“This is getting pretty bad. I haven’t seen it this bad before. What do you think? We could go to the top and see the marvelous views, but…
If we don’t turn around, we could get frostbite or die.
 
So we thought about it and said:
 
“I’m sure Google images probably has some might fine photos of the top. So...
 
Sometimes suffering isn’t worth it.
 
Today we are continuing our series called Dear Church. It’s a series based on letters from Jesus to seven different churches. The letter for today looks at a church that was dealing with suffering…even suffering because they were believers. Our goal today is to understand what kind of suffering believers have to deal with and whether it’s worth that suffering.   
 
Before we begin, a prayer: O Lord, strengthen us by the truth, your Word is truth. Open our eyes to see what you want us to see, our ears to hear what you want us to hear and our hearts to believe what you would have us believe. Amen.
 
I. The One who Knows Suffering
 
This letter starts in Revelation 2:8: “To the angel of the church in Smyrna write: These are the words of him who is the First and the Last, who died and came to life again. I know your afflictions and your poverty —yet you are rich!” 
 
A few notes:
 
The letter is again written to the angel. We said that’s most likely referencing their pastoral leadership which, in turn, means it’s a letter written to the church in Smyrna.
 
Smyrna was an ancient Greek city at a central point on the Aegean coast. Because its positioning allowed for advantageous port conditions and an easily defendable city, Smyrna was full of people. In other words, it was a great place to start a church.
 
And someone had. We don’t know the exact apostle or disciple that founded it, which shows that the Gospel was spreading beyond the work rate of the apostles alone. This church was probably not started by one of the 12 apostles, yet Jesus considers it a church. Similarly, our church wasn’t started by one of the Apostles, yet Jesus would call it a real church.
 
Why?
Because the Holy Spirit was at work in the word.
In Smyrna.
Here in Raleigh.
 
So, both are churches.
 
Finally, the speaker is Jesus. This is his letter. And since this is a letter to a church that is suffering, he offers his credentials on the subject:
 
(1) Jesus Existed before SUFFERING
 
These are the words of him who is the First (v.8) Jesus existed eternally long before suffering ever existed. He created a world that was perfect, apart from suffering. Then, he watched as humans foolishly were led by the devil into suffering.
 
Don’t think that Jesus’ main goal is to end suffering?
To bring life back to the way that it once was?
 
It’d be like cleaning your living room, putting all the toys in their place and removing all the crumbs from the floor – making the place a gorgeous Better Homes and Gardens style living area.
 
Then, your kids happen.
And you’d like to see it back to the way it was when you were finished cleaning.
 
The same is true for God. He has on his heart a desire to bring things back to the way they were long before suffering happened.
 
And here’s the good news about that:
 
(2) Jesus will OUTLAST Suffering
 
These are the words of him who is the Last. (v.8) As in, he will last beyond all suffering.
He will outlast cancer.
He will outlast financial difficulties.
He will outlast persecutions.
He will outlast terrorism.
He will outlast racism.
He will outlast the little angry emojis that people put upon Christian content on Social Media.
 
He will outlast every form of suffering.  
But…
That doesn’t mean he hasn’t suffered.
 
(3) Jesus is FAMILIAR with suffering
 
These are the words of him who died. (v.8)
 
Do you know how Jesus died?
He was arrested by a mob.
He was beaten by that mob.
He was smacked and slapped till the early hours of the morning.
He was whipped thirty times with a 7 stranded leather whip that had metal shards on the end. (Also known as flogged)
He had a crown of thorns smashed down onto his head.
He was hit with a staff.
He was laid down upon two giant pieces of wood.
He had one nail driven through his right hand.
He had another nail driven through his left hand.
He had one more nail driven through his feet.
He hung on that cross as his lungs slowly collapsed.
 
He was abandoned by his friends.
He was betrayed by his disciples.
He was crucified by his people.
He had our sin and guilt and shame plaguing his soul.
 
He was familiar with suffering.
Suffering even to death!
 
And yet--
Now – he lives.
He lives and walks among his churches.
And…
 
(4) Jesus Knows YOUR suffering
 
Pause and reflect on that truth.
Because it’s easy to think:
No one knows my suffering.
No one understands.
No one gets this sadness I feel.
No one grasps the loneliness that I go through.
No one truly gets the depths of my depression.
 
Jesus does.
He knows.
He understands.
 
Jesus is speaking to you. He says:
 
“I know.
I know it feels like no one knows, but I know.
I know what it’s like to suffer.
I know that you are suffering.
I know what it is you’re suffering:
I know that you feel so poor because you are suffering.
 
But…
In the midst of suffering…
Never forget…
You are rich.
 
(5) Jesus Gives Eternal RICHES to the Suffering
 
Wait, what?
You are rich.
Rich in my love.
Rich in forgiveness.
Rich in the promise of eternal life.
You have a place in my family that all of the money in the world would be unable to buy.
You may be suffering, but you are not suffering from a lack of my promises.
 
II. Truths about Our Suffering
 
After giving his credentials as to why he is an expert in suffering, Jesus has a few things to say about the suffering that the people of Smyrna were going through. He says:
I know about the slander of those who say they are Jews and are not but are a synagogue of Satan. (v.9)
Apparently there was a group that was slandering the church. It was a group that claimed to be Jewish but wasn’t. This isn’t genealogical. Jesus is referring to people who were did not have a faith that matched the Old Testament faith, but pretended they did.
 
Because the Old Testament Jewish faith was that God would send a Messiah to save us from our sins. Overtime some Jews abandoned that faith and replaced it as, “God doesn’t need to save us from our sins, because I am Jewish and do Jewish things.”
When Jesus showed up, a “phony” Jewish faith is exactly what the Pharisees had. Jesus was the Messiah. The real Jewish faith would have believed in him. Instead, the “phony” Jewish faith rejected Jesus as Messiah because “they were good enough Jewish people on their own.”
 
Now after Jesus, this group was persecuting the church in Smyrna and it was bad enough to be called “suffering”:
 
Maybe they were calling them names.
Maybe some of them worked on the local tax board and were taxing their church building heavily.
Maybe some of them paid of the Roman soldiers to throw church members in prison.
Regardless, the church was suffering. What did Jesus say about this suffering? A few things:
 
(1) Believers WILL Suffer for their Faith
 
Look at what Jesus says in Verse 10:  Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. At first glance, this seems comforting. But if you are a Smyrnian, don’t you think they read this and responded by saying:
 
What? About to suffer? You mean this isn’t even done yet?
 
Yes.
That’s the truth.
For the Smyrnian people.
And for us:
 
The truth is that believers in Jesus will suffer.
 
Some suffering will happen because we’re on a sinful world where sinful people hurt one another. (Gossip, racism, and unfaithfulness)
Some suffering will happen because we’re in an imperfect world. (Cancer, pollution, and natural disasters)
Some suffering will happen because we’re believers in Jesus. (Things like angry comments on your Christian blog, being excluded from parties because you’re “That lousy Christian,” being yelled at by your spouse because “I’m not into that Jesus junk.”)
 
Jesus said this:
Whoever listens to you listens to me; whoever rejects you rejects me. (Luke 10:16)
Just like you might not like a football team and, as a result, you don’t like fans of a certain football team.
Or you don’t like a politician and, as a result, you don’t like followers of that politician.
 
It’s the same thing with Jesus:
 
If someone doesn’t like Jesus.
They don’t like his followers.
 
If sinners made Jesus suffer,
They will make his followers suffer too.
 
(2) The Real Villain is the DEVIL
 
Because if it was just a bunch of humans making us suffer, you might think:
I can take them, Jesus. I took a few defense classes once, so…I got this.
 
But these people aren’t the real ones behind it. Look at what Jesus says about who was really behind the Smyrnian suffering:
I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you. (v.10b)
 
Now it wasn’t as if the devil showed up with a red pitchfork in his hands and pointy ears like some kind of Halloween costume.
But he influenced.
He tempted.
He gave people ideas like:
 
You should tell that Jesus supporter that he’s an idiot.
You should tell that Roman guard that Christian is breaking law by praying in public.
You should break up with your wife because the amount of Bible talk she has is crazy.
 
The same is true today.
The real villain isn’t whoever is persecuting you.  
It’s the devil himself.
 
(3) Suffering Lasts for AWHILE
 
Because look at what Jesus says next:
You will suffer persecution for ten days.” (v.10c)
 
That doesn’t sound awful.
It’s the reason I sign up for ten days at a fitness camp. I figure – that’s not too long. I can handle it.
Or maybe you sign up for a ten day visit to your in-laws. You figure – that’s just over a week. I got this.
 
10 days of persecution? That’s doable.
 
But here’s the thing about numbers in revelation. They are metaphoric:
 
The number 3 represents God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
The number 4 represents humans. Humans were created in God’s image, but aren’t God.
The number 7 represents the church. It’s 3 plus 4, where God connects with humans.
 
The number 10? It represents completeness.
Meaning the church at Smyrna would suffer until the suffering was completed.
 
In other words, for a while.
 
And the reality is that Christians will suffer…until their suffering on earth is completed.
 
Suffering will be a part of your life when you’re 5.
When you’re a teenager.
When you’re middle aged.
When you’re a senior.
 
Suffering…
Even suffering for your faith…
…will be a part of your life for a while.
 
But…
Only for a while.
 
Not…
Forever.
 
(4) The faithful will receive the CROWN of LIFE
 
Look at what Jesus says at the end of verse 10:
Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you life as your victor’s crown. 
 
Back at this time, the victor’s crown was associated with the Olympics. It was made of olive branches and given to the winner.
 
To the winner of the 100-meter dash: Victor’s crown.
To the winner of the 1600-meter run: Victor’s crown.
To the winner of the pole vault: Victor’s crown
To the winner of the steeple chase (whatever a steeple chase is): Victor’s crown.
 
After all the training.
After all the sweating.
After all the suffering.
 
A victor’s crown.
 
Look at what Jesus promises to those who are victorious.
Who go through suffering in this life.
But hold on to Jesus:
 
A victor’s crown.
 
But not just any victor’s crown. This isn’t made from olive branches.
It’s made of life.
 
Do you get it?        
If you hold to Jesus despite the suffering this life brings, you will have eternal life.
Death won’t win.
You will defeat it.
 
Just like Jesus defeated death, you will defeat death too.
 
You will live.
 
And about this life…
It won’t be one of suffering.
Because…
 
(5) The Faithful’s SUFFERING will END
 
Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who is victorious will not be hurt at all by the second death. (v.11)
 
Second death?
That’s sounds awful.
 
First death is bad enough.
 
Second death?
That’s terrible.
 
It’s nothing but suffering.
Nothing but awful.
Nothing but hell…
 
…because it is hell.
 
But dear believers, that’s not anything you have to be worried about. The faithful will not be hurt even in the slightest by hell.
 
Because in heaven? There is no hell.
In heaven? There is no death.
In heaven? There is NO suffering.
 
No suffering for faith.
No cancer.
No loneliness.
No sadness.
No diseases.
No arguments with spouses.
No rebellious kids.
No ostracization from friends.
No racism.
No sexism.
No terrorism.
No violence.
 
No suffering of any amount, variety or kind.
 
In heaven, SUFFERING is done.
Because you’re with the one that defeated suffering.
 
You’re with Jesus.
 
III. WHAT NOW?
 
Jesus’ words are simple: Be Faithful.
 
Because when being a believer gets hard, it’s tempting to not be faithful.  
 
“I became a believer and I still get sick.
I still have work problems.
I still have financial difficulties.
Only now people ridicule me for my faith.”
 
It might seem easier to stop being faithful so that you won’t have this momentary suffering.
But…
If you stay faithful, in the midst of the momentary suffering, you will have eternal blessings.
 
Not might.
Not could.
Not possibly.
 
Will.
 
Because God is faithful.
That won’t change.
He sent his Son Jesus for you.
And through faith in him you will be removed from suffering…forever.
 
Amen.  

When you go to a restaurant, you can often tell what’s important to them based on what happens while you’re there:

A restaurant might have hired a five-star chef, serve food you can’t pronounce, and for a price you can’t afford because they love quality.

Another might have a laid-back atmosphere, chilled jazz music, and eclectic decorations because they love atmosphere.

Another might have inexpensive prices, smiling faces, and quick turnover on dishes because they love customers.
 
There’s a restaurant on one of Gordon Ramsay’s show a while back called Amy’s Baking Company. And after watching the episode, it’s pretty obvious that Amy’s Baking Company loved their own Amy. There were photos of her hanging throughout the restaurant. The food took hours to complete because Amy needed her time to work. The customers were sent away without any of their complaints being answered because Amy was always right. Even Gordon Ramsay left the show without turning the restaurant around because they didn’t love becoming a good restaurant as much as they loved Amy.
 
It’s easy to tell what a restaurant loves by looking at how they operate. It’s the same thing with churches:
 
This church loves community outreach.
This church loves beautiful music.
This church loves fantastic architecture.
 
Today we are continuing our series called Dear Church. It’s a series in which we examine letters from Jesus to seven different churches. The letter for today looks at a church that had the wrong love. Our goal: Identify what that love is, compare it with what we love as Gethsemane Church, and consider what we should love most of all.

Before we begin, a prayer: O Lord, strengthen us by the truth, your Word is truth. Open our eyes to see what you want us to see, our ears to hear what you want us to hear and our hearts to believe what you would have us believe. Amen.

I. The Wrong Kind of Love
 
The lesson comes from Revelation 2:1. Take a look at the beginning of this letter from Jesus: “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.”  
 
A few notes:
 
The letter is written to the angel. That’s either a reference to (1) an actual angel or more likely (2) the pastor of the church in Ephesus. Angel literally means “messenger” and since the pastor is the messenger bringing God’s Word to the people, the angel could easily represent that.
 
This church is the one in Ephesus. Ephesus was a church that started up after Paul did some groundwork there during his second missionary journey. If you remember, that’s the place where Paul stayed for two years until a riot started by the merchants and workers behind the Artemis of the Ephesians industry. Granted that would have been around 45 A.D. and Revelation would be around 90 A.D. So, a great period of time has passed within this church.
 
The one writing the letter is John, but these are the words of Jesus. Flashback to last week’s sermon:
Jesus is the one holding the seven stars.
Jesus is the one walking among the golden lampstands.
Jesus is the one speaking to his churches.
 
And remember, Revelation 1:20 reveals that the lampstands are the churches.
The symbolism is that Jesus walks amongst his churches.
He is there with his people.
He is with believers.
He is with YOU.
 
This was true for the Ephesian church. Jesus had been with the Ephesian church, he knows a thing or two about what is important to them. Look at what Jesus says to them:  
 
I know your deeds. (v.2a) I know how you’ve been bringing bread to the local widows. I know how you’ve helped the poor in your community. I know how you’ve been kind to any foreigners who come to the area.  
 
I know your hard work and your perseverance. (v.2b) I know that you’ve been battling city ordinances aimed against you at the hands of idol making industry. I know that some of your members have left because of persecution. I know that you’ve gathered up extra funds just to keep the church’s budget above water.
 
I know that you cannot tolerate wicked people. (v.2c) I know that you speak out against the greed of the city. I know you speak out against the temple prostitution ring. I know that you speak out against the local merchants as they go get wasted every evening after work.
 
I know that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not and have found them false. (v. 2d) I know that people have been coming to you claiming to be from Jesus, but they teach anything but Jesus. I know that rather than keep them around, you called them out. You pointed out their hypocrisy. You told them what was right.
 
You have persevered.
You have endured hardships for my name.
You have not grown weary.  
Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first. (v.3b-4)

Do you see the problem? Because as the letter begins, Jesus addresses them doing a bunch of things that a church ought to be doing!
It looked like there wasn’t any problem with what they were doing.
At least, not to the human eye.

But remember:
Jesus’ eyes, are blazing fire. (1:14)
And his eyes saw the heart.
And their hearts had forsaken their first love.
And their hearts now had the wrong love.

TRUTH: The Ephesian church had the WRONG love.
 
Because they had forsaken their first love. Their first love was Jesus. When Paul had brought the message of the Gospel to them forty years earlier, they had loved the incredible news that he brought.

They loved how Jesus had been the only real God in a city of fake gods.
They loved how Jesus had made them a part of His kingdom.
They loved how Jesus had brought them forgiveness.
They loved how Jesus gave them confidence in the promise of eternal life.
 
But now, years later…
But now, years removed from when they first believed.
But now, they loved something else.
Now they had the wrong love.

Since this letter was written down and preserved, we’re able to reflect upon it today. Here’s where it’s a big deal. When our love becomes anything other than Jesus.
 
For example:

1) Doing Good
 
There’s a lot of good for churches to do: Food banks, food drives, working with youth, working with seniors, working with children, helping widows, helping veterans, singing down at the retirement home, knitting sweaters for refugees, collecting Toys for Tots, Bottles for Babies, and Doritos for Daddy’s.
 
It’s not wrong to do good.
It’s not wrong to love doing good.
In fact, if you aren’t doing any good, there’s a problem in your church.

But…
If the thing you love most is simply “doing good” …

Did you know that the Church of Satan has a Facebook page? It’s a church dedicated to worshipping Satan. The page is filled with pictures of the devil and ancient cult-like worship. But it’s also filled with a request for socks.

The church of Satan ran a sock drive. They collected dry socks to give out to the homeless in their area. The idea was simply to “do good” and help people in the community.

And so I ask…

If all we love is doing good, then what’s the difference between this church and the church of Satan?
If we leave out Jesus, then what’s the difference between us and anything else?

2) Enduring
 
Enduring as a church can get hard. You lose a couple of members. The cost of keeping a building open increases. The budget becomes harder and harder to make work.
 
So, if you have been around for a while, that’s awesome. You might love the fact that you’ve been around for awhile and you might be wiling to do whatever it takes to continue to be around for a while.

But if you love enduring more than anything…

Then, maybe you don’t teach what God’s Word says about hell. (We don’t want people to leave.)
Maybe you don’t rebuke that church member for sleeping with his girlfriend. (We don’t want to upset him.)
Maybe you don’t call out that church leader who gives a lot of money for bitter attitude because (We need his funds to survive.)
 
Suddenly, you’re enduring.
But not as a church of Jesus.

3) Hating Evil
 
Understand. God hates evil, too.
In fact, God is holy.
That means he hates evil more than you ever could.
 
But if our first love is pointing out evil:
Then, I imagine my sermons would just be about how bad everyone is out there.
Your homework would be to go on Facebook and put an angry face next to every article that supports something evil.
Our elder’s job would be to simply go onto blog posts and write angry messages.

Without mentioning Jesus.
 
Imagine that you were struggling with lying. Lying is a sin. Lying is evil. Then, you came to me and said: “Pastor, I have been lying. It’s wrong. It’s a sin. I’m so sorry.”

And I leaned in.
Looked you in the eye.
Then said: “You know lying is an awful sin deserving of God’s hellfire wrath. Go and do better or else.”
 
How do you feel?
Close to Jesus?

Here’s the truth:
If we loving “Hating evil” more than Jesus, then it leads us to not teach Jesus.
And if we don’t teach Jesus, isn’t that…
 
…Evil?

4) Being Right
 
At the time of the Early Church, pastors would travel from city to city. They’d introduce themselves as “a pastor of Jesus” and then ask to preach in the local church.  

The problem is that some people weren’t really teachers of what Jesus taught. As they’d begin preaching things that Jesus didn’t teach and say things that Jesus didn’t. So, it was good for the church in Ephesus to point out where those apostles were wrong so that they didn’t lead people away from Jesus.

The problem was that over time the church seemed to stop teaching what was right because it would lead the people to Jesus, but because it meant “they were right.”
 
I think this is an especially important warning for our church. As Lutherans we trace our roots back to people who defend the truth. 500 some years ago a monk named Martin Luther defend the truth that we are saved by faith in Jesus against Catholic teaching that we had to earn it. 50 some years ago our group of Lutherans decided to hold to the truth instead of teaching what the Bible doesn’t say like so many other varieties of Lutherans.

That’s good.

But if our main love becomes “Being right” instead of “teaching Jesus”, then suddenly: 
 
We aren’t right.

And all of this about the wrong love is a big deal. Look at what Jesus says next: 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. (2:5)
 
Remember what the lampstand represented?
The Church.

Remember who walks among them?
Jesus.
 
And Jesus says that you if you are a church that keeps having the wrong love, he’s going pick up your lampstand, remove it from where he walks, and leave you by yourself.

Do you get it?

If you are a church whose first love is not Jesus, then, you are NOT a church.

If you aren’t a church, then you aren’t part of God’s family.
And if you aren’t a part of God’s family, then you’re far from Jesus.
 
II. The Right Love
 
The word used for love in verse 4 is AGAPE. AGAPE is a Greek word that means, “unconditional love.” It’s a love that’s all the time. It’s a love that’s independent. It’s a love that continues from one side, even when the other side does not reciprocate.
It’s also a type of love that humans fail miserably at.

That’s why in the Bible humans aren’t often described as having that type of love.
Most often the one described as having that type of love is God.

Why?
Because God is AGAPE…This is AGAPE: not that we AGAPED God, but that he AGAPED us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. (1 Jn. 4:8, 10)
Do you get it?
Even when our first love is lost.
Even when we love other things more than God.;
Even when our love for Him grows cold.

God’s love for us does not.

TRUTH:
God’s first love is YOU.
God loved you more than being in heaven.
God loved you more than staying away from this world.
God loved you more than suffering.

So, God came to earth.
God loved you more than his own blood.
God loved you more than his own breath.
God loved you more than his own life.
God lived for you.
God died for you.
God rose for you.

And that “first love” is more than just ordinally. As in, “you are my number one.”
God also loved you chronologically “first.”

Because God didn’t say: “I’ll wait up until you love me back before I do this.”
Nope.

While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)
While we were still with the wrong love, God showed love for us.
While we were still void of love for Him, God filled our hearts with His love.  
 
In fact, that leads to a second truth:  
Because God loved us FIRST God is our FIRST LOVE.
 
It’s like Kool Aid. If had a cup of Kool Aid and I wanted to give you Kool Aid, but didn’t have any Kool Aid in my cup, then I couldn’t give you any Kool Aid because of my severe lack of Kool Aid.

But…

When God is involved.
And God is a pitcher of Kool Aid.
And God pours his love in my heart.

Then, God has just enabled me to show love.
Love for God.
Love for Jesus.
Love for the Gospel
Love for others.
 
1 John 4:20 says this, “We love because Christ first loved us.”
 
The truth is that God’s loved empowers us to love him.

And our love for Jesus compels everything else.
 
Because notice that after Jesus reprimands the church for losing their first love, he gives them a compliment. He says: “But you have this in your favor: You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.” (v.6)

Who exactly the Nicolaitans were is unknown.
That’s lost to history.

What isn’t lost to history is that Jesus was against them.
Which means the stuff that the Ephesians church had been doing, they should continue to do.
They should do good.
They should endure.
They should hate evil.
They should hold to what was right.

But they should do so, because of their love for Jesus.
 
Instead of doing good because “I love being called good;” we do good “because God is good to us.”
Instead of enduring because “I enjoy enduring;” we endure because “God’s love keeps us enduring.”
Instead of hating evil because “I like to think of myself not evil,” we hate evil because “God has saved me from evil.”
Instead of holding to what is right because “I like to be right,” we hold to what is right because the truth of Jesus is what saves.

III. WHAT NOW?
 
Look at how Jesus ends this letter to the Ephesians: Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. (v.7a)
And if you’re wondering if that applies to you, put your hands to the side of your head.
Do you feel some flappy, cartilage things?
Those are ears.
You have them.
Please listen to Jesus’ letter.

Because I can’t look at your heart.
And you can’t look at mine.

So, God is asking each of us to look within ourselves:
To see where has our love grown cold.
Where have we loved other things more than Jesus.

When we find the answer, to repent:
To confess the wrong love that we have. 
To return our first love, Jesus.
 
Look at Jesus’ promise: 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.” (v.7)  
 
Paradise.
Doesn’t that sound good.

For you, paradise might be a trip to the beach, sitting under a fancy umbrella, sipping martini’s and listening to Bob Marley.
But this is the paradise of God.

What’s God’s version of paradise?
Being with you.  
Apart from things that get in the way.
Apart from sin.
Apart from fear.
Apart from shame.
Apart from guilt.
Apart from pain.
Apart from death.

By the tree of life.
So you’re with him forever.

That’s God’s version of paradise.
To be beyond the very last, with his very first love.

May God keep our hearts strong with him. Amen.

At Gethsemane, we get a goodly amount of mail. At times, I’ll open the mailbox and it will be chocked full of letters. If I’m honest, I feel excited. Maybe I’ll get something cool.
 
So, I read the envelopes:
 
Precious Lambs’ Director.
Precious Lambs’ Director.
Bill.
Financial Secretary.
 
Gethsemane Admin.
Gethsemane Admin.
Bill.
Treasurer.
 
Letter to Julianna.
Letter to Julianna.
Bill.
Letter to…Me!
 
Oh!
How thoughtful.
Let me look inside:
 
“Dear Pastor,
I didn’t have Julianna’s address.
Could you get this to her.”
 
Maybe you feel the same way. If the letter is for someone else, it isn’t that exciting to you.
 
Our next sermon series is called Dear Church. It’s a study of the first chapters of Revelation. These first chapters contain a collection of seven letters written to seven first-century churches.
 
Yet none of these letters are addressed to “Gethsemane Church in Raleigh.”
None of them have the address of delivery listed as 1100 Newton Road.
None of them have your specific name on it.
 
So, you might wonder: “How valuable is studying a bunch of ancient letters that aren’t written to me?’
 
Today our goal is to identify the author, identify the recipients and discover the value these letters have for us. Before we begin, a prayer: O Lord, strengthen us by the truth, your Word is truth. Open our eyes to see what you want us to see, our ears to hear what you want us to hear and our hearts to believe what you would have us believe. Amen.
 
I. The Writer
 
Our lesson starts in Revelation 1:1-2. It says: The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servant what must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, who testifies to everything he saw. (Revelation 1:1-2)
A couple of notes:
 
The word Revelation is the Greek Word apocalypsis. It’s where we get the word Apocalypse. It means the “unveiling of something that previously was hidden.” In this case, what is being unfolded is the future of the Christian church.
The writer is a guy named John. This is John the Apostle. The apostles were a special group of twelve men that Jesus had specially called to follow him for three years of ministry and continue his ministry after he left. During the time he was with Jesus, John learned deep theological truths and witnessed other worldly miracles.
 
In fact, John was one of a group of three Apostles that were witness to a few special events:
John saw Jesus’ face transformed into a brilliant sun like light.
John saw Jesus touch a dead girl’s hand and bring her back to life.
John saw Jesus in deep anguish as he prayed deep within a garden the night before he died.
 
In addition,
John saw Jesus die.
And John was an eyewitness to Jesus’ resurrection.
 
As a result, John wanted to share his experience. He wrote a book in the Bible called John. In that book, he wrote about all that Jesus said and did while on earth. Later, John wrote a letter to believers everywhere called 1st John. It encouraged believers in their Savior Jesus. Finally, John writes two more letters called: 2nd and 3rd John that deal with supporting the truth of God’s Word.
 
That’s four books of the Bible that John had already authored. Revelation is his 5th book.
This letter has value, because it comes from a guy whose life was intimately connected with our Savior.
 
Look what else John says about himself: I, John, your brother and companion in the suffering and kingdom and patient endurance that are ours in Jesus, was on the island of Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. (1:9)
 
Notice that John calls himself brother. Even though he has led an impressive life, John does not refer to himself as “The apostle” or “the guy who knows a lot more than you.”
 
Nope.
 
John calls himself a brother.
A brother in sin.
A brother in salvation.
A brother in faith.
A brother in the church.
And…
A brother in suffering.
 
Like you, John knew suffering.
He knew the physical pain of life on this earth.
He knew the emotional pain of being ridiculed for his faith.
He knew the spiritual pain of fighting sin, of fighting guilt, of fighting loneliness.
 
Matter of fact, John wrote this letter while he was on the island of Patmos. He had been exiled there because of his faith. He was alone. He probably felt lonely. He was familiar with suffering.
This letter has value, because it comes from a guy who understood the struggles of believers.
 
II. The Voice behind the Writer
 
Yet…
 
John wasn’t a millennial.
He’s never been to the Triangle.
He didn’t own an iPhone.
He wasn’t familiar with how to run Windows 10.
He didn’t know any of the characters from Stranger Things.
John didn’t know what it was like for 21st century believers in Raleigh NC.
 
His letter might be valuable for a history class,
But not nowadays…
 
Look at what John writes next:
 
On the Lord’s Day I was in the Spirit. The Lord’s Day would have been Sunday. The fact that John was in the Spirit seems to indicate that he was in some form of worship.
 
Maybe singing songs to God’s praise.
Or on his knees in prayer.
Or preaching himself a sermon and writing down his own sermon responses.
 
When suddenly…
In the middle of worship all by himself.
On the island all by himself.
In prayer all by himself.
 
John heard someone else:
 
I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet, which said: “Write on the scroll what you see and send it to the seven churches.” (v.10)
 
Do you get it?
John’s letter; isn’t his own.
He wrote it down.
But it came from someone else.
 
It’s kind of like Siri. If you’re driving down the road and you don’t want to text and drive (because you shouldn’t text and drive), you can tell Siri: “Siri. Text Julianna: Hi Love, I’ll be home at seven.” Siri will write it down. Siri will send the message. Siri will let Julianna know: “Hi Bub, I’ll be home at eleven.”
 
Jokes aside. When you send a message through Siri, Siri writes it down, but it’s really your message.
 
It’s the same thing here.
John wrote it down, but the letter come from this voice.
 
So, who is the one behind John’s letter? The text is full of clues:
 
(1) Trumpetlike Vocal Chords
 
It says the voice was like a trumpet. (v.11) On the one hand, it could be a reference to the decibel level. A trumpet is loud and boisterous, so this simile may be a reference to the voice being loud and boisterous. (There’s a reason the trumpet plays the daily wakeup call in the military)
 
Or perhaps has a brass instrument like quality to it. It literally sounds like a trumpet with a nasal, air filled quality to its melodies.
 
Either way, trumpetlike vocal cords are other worldly. Because most people can’t speak louder than a trumpet. And most people can’t speak in a voice that perfectly mimics a trumpet. (Go ahead and try – I’ll wait.)
 
(2) Surrounded by High Priest Gear
 
When John heard the voice, he turned around to see where it was coming from. He wrote, “When I turned, I saw seven golden lampstands and among the lampstands was someone like a son of man, dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest. (v.13)
 
All that language is very Old Testament.
Old Testament worship involved these very ornate golden lampstands that held the burning candles during worship.
Old Testament worship was led by a high priest who wore a long white robe reaching down to cover his sandals.
Old Testament worship robes were decorated by a golden sash across the chest.
 
John, who was familiar with Old Testament worship, would have understood that this was a high priest.
The only thing he wouldn’t have understood was…
 
Where did the high priest come from?
And how did he set up the lampstands without making a sound?
And can you get the golden sash on sale down at Target?
 
(3) Human-Ish
 
Look at John’s description of the high priest. He describes him as, “like a son of man.” (v.13)
 
A son of man is a human.
Just like a son of a cow is a calf.
And the son of a cat is a kitty.
 
But John is careful in his words. He doesn’t say, “a son of man,” but, “like a son of man.”
As in similar, but not quite.
As in like, but also unlike.
As in human, but more…
 
(4) Otherworldly Facial Features
 
Verse 14 describes why John didn’t consider him your average human. He writes, “The hair on his head was white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire.”
 
White hair isn’t unheard of. It’s common. Yet the emphasis on it being “white like snow”; gives the impression this is an otherworldly type of white.
 
And check out the eyes!
Yes, there are now contacts that exist that you can put into your eyeballs to change the color of your iris. If you have blue eyes and want brown, there’s contact lenses for that.
If you have brown eyes and want blue, there’s contact lenses for that.
If you have regular colored eyes and want yours to look like fire, there’s contact lenses for that.
 
But…
Those colors contact lenses weren’t invented until 2010.
And contact lenses in general didn’t exist until 1887.
 
So…
 
That’s fire in his eyes.
Otherworldly.
 
And that’s not it for the otherworldly facial features:
 
In verse 17 it says, “Coming out of his mouth was a sharp double-edged sword.”
And in verse 18 it says, “His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance.”
 
Otherworldly.
 
(5) Otherworldly Footwear
 
Look at verse 15: His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace.
 
Bronze is a precious metal. It’s used in making beautiful plates, decorations, and lampstands.
 
But…
 
How many of you today are wearing bronze shoes?
How many of you own bronze shoes?
How many of you have ever seen bronze shoes?
 
But then, notice that the bronze was glowing! Did you know that bronze begins to glow & melt at about 1562 degrees Fahrenheit?
 
This is other worldly.
 
(6) Trumpetlike Riverlike Vocal Chords
 
I love this note. Because earlier John said that the voice was like a trumpet. And then at the end of verse 15 he says, “his voice was like the sound of rushing waters.”
 
What’s the deal? Can John not tell the difference between the sound of trumpet and the sound of a river? Nope.
 
John’s just in such shock at the other worldly voice of this being that he is struggling for metaphors.
 
The voice is that amazing.
That otherworldly.
 
(7) Star Grasping
 
Verse 16 records, “In his right hand he held seven stars.” There is no distinction here.
It doesn’t say, “In his right hand were seven things like stars.”
Nope.
 
It doesn’t say, “Seven lights like stars.”
It doesn’t even say, “Seven shapes like stars.”
 
Just stars.
Legitimate, gas burning entities.
 
Three white dwarves.
Four red giants.
 
Or maybe…
Four red dwarves
And three blue giants.
 
Regardless, the fact that this being has legitimate stars in his hands…
Otherworldly.
 
(8) The First & the Last
 
Because the voice speaks again and said this: “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last.” (v.17)
 
Think about that.
 
The voice says He is the First.
As in before all the sun.
As in before the moon.
As in before the earth.
As in before Adam.
As in before Eve.
As in before everything.
 
God.
 
And the voice says He is the Last.
As in after the sun.
As in after the moon.
As in after the earth.
As in after all Adams.
And after all Eve.
As in after everything.
 
Also, God.
 
But…
More specifically.
 
(9) Formerly Dead
 
The voice continues, “I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive for ever and ever!” (v.18)
 
How many people do you know who are dead? Lots.
How many people do you know who are dead, but then came back to life?
Did you know the Bible records at least 9?
 
The widow of Zarephath’s son…dead; brought back to life.
The Shunnamite woman’s son…dead; brought back to life.
A random Israelite body…dead; brought back to life.
The young daughter of Jairus…dead; brought back to life.
The young man at Nain…dead; brought back to life.
Jesus’ friend Lazarus…dead; brought back to life.
Tabitha, the faithful church widow…dead; brought back to life.
Eutychus, the sleepy church goer…dead; brought back to life.
 
But did you know…
All those people died again.
 
There’s only one.
Only one who died.
came back to life.
And stayed alive.
 
Jesus Christ.
 
TRUTH:
This letter is from JESUS.
 
Your Savior.
The one who lived for you.
The one who died for you.
The one who rose for you.
The one who lives for you.
The one who protects you.
The one who rules all things for you.
The one who will take care of you.
The one who will bring you home to heaven.
The one who will grant you eternal life.
 
This is a letter from Jesus Christ himself!
 
III. The Recipients
 
But there’s more. Look at the people to whom Jesus wrote this letter:
 
 Jesus said, “Write, therefore, what you have seen, what is now and what will take place later. 20 The mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand and of the seven golden lampstands is this: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.”
 
And to be fair John mentions the seven churches that will receive the letter earlier. The churches of Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea. (v.11)
But…
Numbers are important in Revelation.
A few numbers come up frequently.
 
3 is the number of God. It represents the Triune God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
4 is the number of humanity. It’s close to God, but not quite. It represents the four corners of the earth that humans live upon.
7 is the sum of the two. It represents God in communion with humanity. It represents where God graciously connects with the souls he loves. It represents the place where God brings sinful lost humans into his family.
 
We’re talking about the Church.
 
Here’s the truth:
This is a letter written to YOU.
 
Dear believer.
Dear brother.
Dear sister.
These letters are important.
Because they are written to YOU.
And they have been preserved for YOU.
And they are being proclaimed to YOU.
And these words are from Jesus for YOU.
 
IV. What Now?
 
Pay Attention
 
There is no letter you have ever received more important.
No letter you’ve ever received with more value.
No letter you have ever received that comes from a higher place than these letters from Jesus himself.
 
Pay attention.
Take notes.
Read ahead.
Make sure you’re here.
If you can’t be, listen online.
 
Don’t miss the very important words of Jesus himself.
He loves you.
He cares for you.
He has a message for you, dear church.
Amen.