The Seven Churches of Revelation
Revelation 2 & 3

In Revelation chapters 2 and 3 we read about seven churches that existed at the time the book of Revelation was written. This was probably about thirty years after the cross. These were real churches, but they are in the Bible because they are examples of the churches throughout the Early Rain, which began in 33 AD and continued to the beginning of the Great Tribulation (see Study on The Latter Rain). One way we can know this is because seven times in these chapters God says, “He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.” (Revelation 2:7, 2:11, 2:17, 2:29, 3:6, 3:13, 3:22). In each case, God is addressing a single church, but He then reminds us that He is speaking to all churches.

It’s like when you were in grade school taking a math test. As the teacher walked around the class during the test she would notice that one of the students was just writing down the answers without writing out the steps he took to arrive at that answer. The teacher would say, “Just a reminder everyone, please show your work on each problem.” The teacher would use the single observed violation to address the whole class. Likewise, chapters 2 and 3 of Revelation are really addressing all churches.

The Church of Ephesus (Revelation 2:1-7)

God had good things to say about this church, but then says they left their first love:
“Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love.” (Revelation 2:4)

When we read about the church of Ephesus we can clearly see that they had a strong interest in God, so at first glance it seems contradictory that God is saying they didn’t love Him. However, when we let the Bible define “love” for us we find that the way we show our love for God is by keeping His commandments:
“He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.” (John 14:21)
“And this is love, that we walk after his commandments. This is the commandment, That, as ye have heard from the beginning, ye should walk in it.” (2 John 1:6)
“If ye love me, keep my commandments.” (John 14:15)
“By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments.” (1 John 5:2)
“Therefore thou shalt love the LORD thy God, and keep his charge, and his statutes, and his judgments, and his commandments, alway.” (Deuteronomy 11:1)
“And it shall come to pass, if ye shall hearken diligently unto my commandments which I command you this day, to love the LORD your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul” (Deuteronomy 11:3)
“And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.” (Exodus 20:6)

The church of Ephesus had some good things about it, but it was not keeping God’s commandments. This church had only been in existence for maybe thirty years. In fact, possibly some of its members had even personally seen Jesus preach. Yet, they were already disobeying His commandments.

The Church of Smyrna (Revelation 2:8-11)

Again, we find that God has some good things to say about this church, but we also find that Satan was already at work among this congregation:
“I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty, (but thou art rich) and I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan. Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.” (Revelation 2:9-10)

If God allowed Satan’s work to come into this church so early on after the Early Rain began, then we should not be surprised that God allows it today.

The Church of Pergamos (Revelation 2:12-17)

Once again, God has some good things to say about this church, but we find that Satan’s work was present among this congregation as well:
“I know thy works, and where thou dwellest, even where Satan's seat is: and thou holdest fast my name, and hast not denied my faith, even in those days wherein Antipas was my faithful martyr, who was slain among you, where Satan dwelleth.” (Revelation 2:13)

False gospels were present in this church:
“But I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac to cast a stumblingblock before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication. So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitanes, which thing I hate.” (Revelation 2:14-15)

This is another church where we find evidence that God allowed Satan’s work to come into the church and bring false gospels. The fact that God still had good things to say about the church indicates that the Holy Spirit was still working in it so it was still a legitimate church of God. This was not a false church, and yet Satan’s work was present within it.

It’s important to note that the members of this church believed they were followers of God. They weren’t openly worshipping other gods. Yet, there were false gospels there. The reason this is important to note is because it helps us understand God’s view on false doctrines, even if the church “means well.” It is entirely possible for a church full of professing Christians to hold ungodly doctrines unbeknownst to them. This is not a matter to just shrug our shoulders at and say, “All that really matters is that I love God.” This church’s false doctrine is referred to as a doctrine of Balaam, which is not unlike the “doctrines of devils” we are warned about:
“Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils” (1 Timothy 4:1)

Too many people read this verse and think, “I would know if a doctrine was of Satan,” but that just isn’t what the Bible says. This church was not intentionally following doctrines of Balaam. It certainly did not intentionally allow Satan to influence it, but that’s what happened.

Keep in mind it was still a true church because the Holy Spirit was still there. How long do you think God would put up with that? How long did God put up with Israel’s rebellion before His patience wore out? What would happen to this church if the Holy Spirit wasn’t there? These kinds of questions are answered in our Study on The Antichrist.

The Church of Thyatira (Revelation 2:18-29)

We find that God has good things to say about this church, but we also read that the church chased after false gospels:
“I know thy works, and charity, and service, and faith, and thy patience, and thy works; and the last to be more than the first. Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols.” (Revelation 2:19-20)

The fornication in view here is spiritual adultery:
“And I saw, when for all the causes whereby backsliding Israel committed adultery I had put her away, and given her a bill of divorce; yet her treacherous sister Judah feared not, but went and played the harlot also.” (Jeremiah 3:8)

Spiritual adultery has to do with, among other things, chasing after other gods:
“Thou hast also taken thy fair jewels of my gold and of my silver, which I had given thee, and madest to thyself images of men, and didst commit whoredom with them” (Ezekiel 16:17)
“Thus she committed her whoredoms with them, with all them that were the chosen men of Assyria, and with all on whom she doted: with all their idols she defiled herself.” (Ezekiel 23:7)
This doesn’t mean that the church of Thyatira was blatantly worshipping pagan gods, but rather that it was tolerating false doctrines to be a part of its teaching.

Remember, false doctrines are not a harmless thing:
“Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils” (1 Timothy 4:1)

We once again find these false gospels identified with the work of Satan within the church:
“But unto you I say, and unto the rest in Thyatira, as many as have not this doctrine, and which have not known the depths of Satan, as they speak; I will put upon you none other burden.” (Revelation 2:24)

The Church of Sardis (Revelation 3:1-6)

This church had the name of Christ. In other words, it proclaimed and fully believed it was a church of Christ rather than a false religion. However, God says it was a dead church:
“And unto the angel of the church in Sardis write; These things saith he that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars; I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead.” (Revelation 3:1)
This is a serious warning that just because a church truly believes it is worshipping Christ, that doesn’t mean Christ is there.

Though the church was a dead church, it did have some truly saved individuals within it:
“Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with me in white: for they are worthy.” (Revelation 3:4)

By placing this in the Bible God has taught us that it’s possible for a church to proclaim to be a God-fearing church and even have true believers within it but still be a dead church.

The Church of Philadelphia (Revelation 3:7-13)

God has good things to say about this church, but we find another reference to the synagogue of Satan:
“Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee.” (Revelation 3:9)

Notice that God defines the synagogue of Satan as those who say they are Jews but are not. This is being written after the cross when we know that God no longer has a special regard for national Israel. God is speaking here of spiritual Jews, which is a term God applies to the saved:
“For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.” (Romans 2:28-29)

So “the synagogue of Satan” is not a reference to a group of individuals who follow a clearly false gospel such as the Buddhist or Islam religions. It is a reference to a group of unsaved individuals who claim to be followers of Christ, a group of individuals who believe they truly are saved. However, they are not and therefore still fall under the rulership of Satan.

The Church of Laodiceans (Revelation 3:14-22)

This was a church that God refers to as having been neither hot nor cold:
“I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.” (Revelation 3:15)

The cold identifies with bringing the cool water of the Gospel:
“And whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you, he shall in no wise lose his reward.” (Matthew 10:42)

The Greek word that was translated “hot” is zestos, which is only found in this verse and the next verse. It comes from a family of words that mean “zealous.” We find an example of this four verses later:
“As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous [zestos] therefore, and repent.” (Revelation 3:19)
This verse also informs us that, even though this church was not zealous in spreading the Gospel, it was not a dead church because God was active within it as is evidenced by His chastisement.

Conclusion

The seven churches presented in these chapters really did exist, but God put them in the Bible as an illustration of the kinds of churches we could expect to find throughout the Early Rain period. This doesn’t paint a promising picture for the Early Rain, does it?

These churches were in existence shortly after the Holy Spirit was poured out at the beginning of the Early Rain in 33 AD (see Study on Christ). Some of the people within them may have even witnessed Christ’s miracles first hand. However, we see how quickly the church organization as a whole was already beginning to fall away. These weren’t blatantly false churches practicing other religions. They were God’s churches in which He was working, but even from the beginning of the Early Rain God was allowing Satan’s work to enter them.

God tolerated this for nearly 2,000 years. In Revelation chapters 2 and 3 we read of God warning these churches to repent from their wickedness. However, just as national Israel did not repent the church has also not repented of its errors. They have continued to countenance false doctrines and wickedness within their congregations.