The Interesting Content of the Seven Letters

The Interesting Content of the Seven Letters

Part 2

The church in Ephesus was free from harlotry. There the so-called apostles were revealed as liars, so their religious theatrics were useless. There they fought untiringly for truth and righteousness. There it was useless to preach false liberty, for there they hated the doctrine of the Nicolaitans which stated that it did not matter whether you lived in sin as long as you praised the atonement.

Nevertheless, this essentially good battle for which the overseer of the church was praised, unfortunately affected his tenderness and fervency that are in the first love, so that he, in spite of everything that was praiseworthy in his life and ministry, still needed to repent if he was not to be rejected. The seriousness of it!

The leader in Pergamos whose personal life was excellent was, nevertheless, far too weak and lenient in his ministry—the very opposite of the leader in Ephesus—by utterly and mistakenly tolerating the doctrines of Balaam and of the Nicolaitans (false liberty). This is also a lack of the love of Christ. Therefore he was also urgently exhorted: Repent!

This was also the case of the leader in Thyatira, who was also praised for his love and his ministry. He lived a holy and precious, personal life, performing many good works. Yet he too demonstrated a completely unacceptable and disgraceful weakness: namely toward a strong woman who called herself a prophetess and caused a lot of harm. This would never have passed in the church in Ephesus!!! He was made fully responsible for this wretched situation. Instead of saying, “I have this against Jezebel,” the Lord said, “I have . . . against you because you allow that woman . . . to teach . . . .” Christ required the leader to love Him so fervently that he would put a stop to this corrupting, scandalous behavior. Here, too, this genuine, first-class love was lacking.

The leader in Sardis had a name that he was living (splendidly). He certainly said many good things and did much good; otherwise he would not have received such a commendation! Yet it appeared differently to Him whose eyes are like a flame of fire. His works were not perfect. This was sufficient for him to be considered dead instead of alive in God’s eyes! Who can properly express the seriousness as great and as frightening as it is in reality?

Moreover, most people in this church were like their leader. Nevertheless—God be praised—there were still a few there who really were alive in God’s eyes. They were perfect according to their conscience, in love, in deed, and in truth! Their works were perfect! Glory to God! May this become reality in everyone’s life who reads these lines!!!

The leader in Laodicea was lukewarm, which is the same as having a terrible lack of fervent love, which is the same as being totally unacceptable. Either get radically converted, or be spewed out of His mouth!

However, the leader in Smyrna, and the leader of the church in the city of Philadelphia were fully approved in spite of their poverty and little strength. They lived in that first, fervent love so that their lives and their ministries were in perfect order. There was no Jezebel that ruled, and there was neither doctrine nor preaching that permitted false liberty or harlotry.

Therefore their works were found to be perfect before God. Hallelujah!!!