Faithful Until the End (Revelation 1-3)

Resource by Eric Weiner

We’ve been on a journey through The Whole Story of the Bible this year from Genesis to Revelation and today we finally crack open the last book. So go ahead and make your way to the book of Revelation.

Depending on your church background, opening the book of Revelation, I know, either excites you or incites fear in you. What we’re covering today hardly scratches the surface of the book. We’re not gonna get into how the millennium works, the tribulation, the four horseman, the bowls of judgment, the mark of the beast, and all that stuff, and that either brings a sigh of relief or disappointment.

But in two weeks, Pastor Peter’s your guy. He’ll finish our series by covering all the other parts of the Bible we didn’t get to yet.

But no matter how you feel about the book, I can say with absolute confidence: that Revelation was written to encourage us.

Just imagine this: you’re living in a time of uncertainty and fear. Your faith is under pressure, the world around you feels chaotic and broken, and then, out of nowhere, someone pulls back the curtain and you’re given a glimpse from heaven about what’s really going on and where the course of human history is headed. That’s what the book of Revelation offers.

It’s not just a book about the end of the world; it’s a book about the victory of Jesus, the faithfulness of God, and the hope we can hold onto no matter what we face.

But listen, if you think it’s difficult for the church to thrive in Malaysia, the early church would like a word.

At least in Malaysia, there’s some tolerance of Christianity. People just think we‘re unserious about our faith because, for example, if we were asked when and how often we’re supposed to pray Christians would say you can pray any time. And if we were asked what we’re required to wear, we’d say we’re not commanded to dress a certain way. Our faith doesn’t have those kinds of rules.

And, of course, we’ll be accused of having an illogical faith because, you know, the whole 3 in 1 thing, among other things.

But the Romans hated Christians in those days because Christians were untrustworthy, atheistic, cannibals. You might wonder how they earned that reputation. Well —

Christians were reluctant to serve in the imperial army, which gave lots of reasons for people to be skeptical of them.
And the growing distrust of Christians made them easy targets for persecution. There are stories of Christians being martyred because they were wrongly blamed for burning down parts of Rome.
At the time Revelation was written, pretty much all the Apostles had been martyred except for John who’d been exiled to the Isle of Patmos. That’s why in Rev. 1:9 he calls himself a “brother and partner in the tribulation…”
Christians were exclusively monotheistic, which bothered people. Why wouldn’t Christians worship the gods that brought favor upon the Empire? Don’t you care about the common good?
Christians had the reputation of being cannibals because they were known for eating the body of Christ as part of their ritual practices, which we’re going to do today. So, you’ll get to see just how cannibalistic Christians are.

Now we’re going to spend some time looking at the seven letters Jesus had John write for him at the beginning of Revelation, but before we do that, let me give you some thoughts and observations as we start to ground ourselves in the world Revelation presents to us in chapter 1 because it gives us some helpful clues for understanding the book.

First, Revelation is an uncovering of God’s person and purposes. Let’s just focus on his purposes for now.

[v. 1] – The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things that must soon take place…

Revelation just means to make known. It’s an uncovering of how things are and how they will be.

We talked about this last week: We need to look at the world with spiritual eyes. We need to stay dressed and ready for action because there’s more happening in the world than what the eye can see.

Revelation is telling us that Jesus is coming soon, and when he does the veil of this world will be lifted and you’ll see things as they really are. No more corruption. No more lies; but only the truth. That should excite us.

Second, you don’t have to check your theology at the door…when you come to Revelation. Just the opposite: We should use what we know to be true to ground us as we discern what we don’t yet understand.

[v. 3] – Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near.

There’s absolutely no reason to believe that the fullness of God’s revelation in Christ would be in contradiction to what Christ has instructed us to do everywhere else. God wants us to live now like we’re going to live forever. And we do that by walking in faith, hope, and love.

And if that’s not convincing enough for you, look at how John grounds his writings to the seven churches in rich theology:

[v. 4b] he reminds us of the eternality of God when he says – Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come…

[v. 5] – and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood — Packed in one verse you have the trustworthiness of Christ’s testimony, his resurrection, his lordship. You have atonement, redemption, salvation.

And then [v. 6] says he made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. We get the doctrine of last things. We have the promise of God’s eternal kingdom and life with the Father forever.

See, we need to use what we know to be true to inform what we don’t yet understand.

Third, Revelation presents us with a symbol-rich world. Meaning, things like numbers, colors, and images are layered with meaning. For example, when we read in v. 4 that John wrote “to the seven churches in Asia…” there is no doubt John was writing to these 7 ancient churches. They were real churches with real people.

But do you think he’s only writing to these 7 churches? Were there not more who would resonate with his words and who needed this message? There’s more going on here. See, the number 7 would’ve jumped out to the original audience because 7 is the number for completion. Numbers are layered with meaning.

And when Jesus is described in v. 13 as being “clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest” we might make mental notes about why it sounds like Jesus is dressed for a beauty pageant but these churches would have understood Jesus to be dressed like a High Priest. And that image carries a whole category of responsibilities that clarify the kind of relationship Jesus has with his people. It’s a symbol-rich world filled with biblical images.

Which is why fourth, Christians should be avid students of the Bible. Do you want to know what the best commentary available on the book of Revelation is? This is for free. If you have a pen write this down: the best resource out there to help you understand the book of Revelation is…the Bible.

And if you want me to be more specific, here’s what I’d recommend: Read Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy and keep going…1&2 Samuel, 1&2 Kings…all the way till you get to the prophets and then pay extra special attention to Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel, Ezekiel, and Zechariah. And keep going until you get to the gospels and through the epistles and all the way to this little book called Jude.

Seriously, Revelation is filled to the brim with biblical allusions. Reading Revelation without knowing the rest of the Bible is like watching the last movie of a trilogy before you’ve seen the first two. You can make some sense of it, but you’ll wish you had the backstory.

A couple of years ago, WandaVision came out on Disney+. If you’ve ever paid attention to the Marvel Universe, you’ll recognize those names. I wasn’t ready to commit to watching 20+ movies, so I had no idea. But the trailer for WandaVision looked cool.

I was actually telling this to one of the students in my student ministry at the time who’s a die-hard Marvel fan. Loves everything, Marvel. He’s seen it all.

I told him I’d barely watched any of the movies, but I was enjoying WandaVision. You know what he said to me?

He said, “You can’t do that.” “Are you the Marvel police? It’s fine. It’s been a good show.” But I told him, “What really surprised me was finding out Vision was already dead. It was a huge plot twist. They should really give some more background about that. I think it’d be a good movie.” At that point, he was lost for words.

Spoiler alert: Apparently they did make that movie and it’s called Avengers: Infinity War and you should know that before you watch WandaVision. Now, that student didn’t want to let my lack of appreciation for Marvel hurt our friendship, but he did graciously stop talking to me for a time after that.

The book of Revelation is like that. It’s filled with all these allusions to stories that come before it. Now, I won’t get mad at you for not reading the Bible, but if you want to understand more of Revelation you really should. Some scholars suggest that there are more biblical allusions contained in Revelation than there are verses in the book. So if you haven’t immersed yourself in the story of the Bible, reading Revelation is going to feel like jumping into the deep end of the pool before you’ve learned to swim.

Fifth, Revelation was written to encourage the Church that Christ is for you.

At Christmas time we celebrate the birth of Jesus. We’ll sing lyrics like “veiled in flesh the Godhead see; hail the incarnate deity.

And mild he lay his glory by; born that man no more may die.”

But Revelation doesn’t give us meek and mild Jesus. It shows us the exalted Jesus in all his glory and he’s so wonderful it’s terrifying. It’s like drawing near to the radiance of the sun. It’s beautiful and life-giving but it also contains the power to destroy you.

Just listen to John’s description of Jesus:

[v. 14] – The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire, 15 his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters. 16 In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength.

He’s too wonderful for words. When Jesus put on flesh and dwelt among us, we saw Jesus in humility, but in the end, John says we’ll Jesus in all his glory. When he looked at Jesus as he really is, the text says he fell down like a dead man.

But look at how Jesus responds. Remember, Jesus is very God of very God and when God speaks, darkness shakes. Broken things mend. Chaos comes into order. And with all his power and the authority of his word at his disposal [v. 17] says Jesus…laid his right hand on [John], saying, “Fear not, I am the first and the last, 18 and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.

Maybe you’ve never seen Jesus like this before – all-powerful yet gentle in heart. Compassionate yet mighty to do all that he wills. And if not, I pray John’s vision of Jesus stops you dead in your tracks. Maybe you need to sit here for a moment and look at the One who’s too wonderful for words.

You need to see that the One who holds all things together – he’s the first and the last. The gates of hell could not defeat him – He will accomplish everything he purposes.

And he will use the same mighty hands he allowed man to nail to the Cross to comfort you and remind you that you have nothing to fear because he’s in control and he is eternally for you. Don’t you remember? He died and rose again to save you.

Now in [v. 11] Jesus tells John to write down everything he sees and to send it to the seven churches. So, we’re going to spend the rest of our time looking at those letters.

As I said before, we don’t need to check our theology at the door as we do that. Ephesians 5:23 says “…Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior.” So Jesus is not some independent third party who came to give them some objective feedback. These churches belong to him. He’s the head. Meaning that he takes the responsibility upon himself to see that his church is cleansed by his word and presented as holy and blameless in him.

That’s why he wants to commend what’s commendable, to correct what’s corrupted, and to encourage his churches to conquer.

We’re not going to go into each church one by one, but what we do need to be aware of are the schemes the enemy often uses to destroy Jesus’s church: persecution, deception, and seduction, which if we’re not careful, can produce churches that are spiritually weary, theologically shallow, or spiritually apathetic.

1. The spiritually weary church

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had people tell me the church needs to go back to being like the church in Acts. In those early days, there was so much excitement. People were devoted to one another. They were devoted to the Word. They trusted God. They didn’t fear what man could do to them.

But people who say that are often high on zeal and low on life experience. I don’t say that to be negative. But when you’re exposed:

To a long and difficult season of hardship
When you’re not as fruitful as you hoped you’d be
When you take great risks for God, and see what feels like little ROI
OR when it seems like people are just always against you

It wears you down. You start to doubt your purpose. You may even feel discouraged about your faith. The enemy will use persecution to make you spiritually weary because he wants to take your crown.

That’s the concern Jesus has for Smyrna. He tells them in [Rev. 2:9] – “I know your tribulation and your poverty…Do not fear what you are about to suffer…Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.”

They don’t need rebuke. They need encouragement to stay the course. To be faithful to the end because the end is near. The race is almost finished.

In [Rev. 3:8] – Jesus tells the church at Philadelphia, “I know your works…I know that you have but little power, and yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name…11 I am coming soon. Hold fast what you have, so that no one may seize your crown.

It’s like when you’re running a race and you’re near the end. You know you don’t have much left in the tank, but the closer you get to the finish line the louder the voices become of those who came to cheer you on. It doesn’t take away the pain you feel, but it gives you the fight you need to press on.

Jesus cheers on the weary saints by reminding them their patient endurance will be honored. You may feel overlooked, broken, and crushed. But Jesus says, “I see you, I know your works, and I’m honored by them.”

So, even when you feel like no one cares. Even when you get passed over for that promotion at work. Even when you’re treated like an outsider among your friends because of your faith, Jesus wants you to remember the light and momentary nature of your affliction and that nothing done in his name is ever done in vain.

Faithfulness, even with little strength, Jesus honors because it brings honor to him.

2. The theologically shallow church

These churches tend to prioritize the public witness of the church because they want to see people won to Christ.

This is what Jesus celebrates about the church at Thyatira. He says in [2:19] – “‘I know your works, your love and faith and service and patient endurance, and that your latter works exceed the first.”

But while they’ve been steadfast in good works, [v. 20] saysthey’ve tolerated teaching that’s seduced Jesus’s “servants to practice sexual immorality and to eat food sacrificed to idols.”

In their pursuit of cultural relevance, they’ve been willing to tolerate sin and that’s a dangerous game to play because theological compromise always leads to spiritual and moral decay. In their attempt to win people to Christ, they’ve lost what made them spiritually distinct. They’ve lost their saltiness.

No matter how well-intentioned they are, they’ve been undiscerning, which leaves God’s people susceptible to all kinds of deception. They may do a lot of great things in Jesus’s name, but there’s nothing loving about giving Jesus’s blessing to endorse a life of sin.

And you can’t say you’re winning people to Christ if the kind of life you’re winning them to looks nothing like Jesus.

See, compromise with sin always leads to spiritual decline because it says I know how to love people better than God and it doesn’t multiply a life of godliness in others.

3. The spiritually apathetic church

This is the biblically knowledgeable church. It cares about theological precision and carefully handling the Word. These are the kind of churches that want you to have the Bible out when you’re listening to someone preach.

They’re vigilant defenders of the truth. You can expect churches like this to be on guard against false teaching, which is exactly what Jesus finds commendable about the church at Ephesus.

In [Rev. 2:2] – Jesus says, “‘I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false.”

This is the kind of church – at least on paper – that I’d want to be a part of. A church that celebrates the Word. That takes sin seriously. But, more and more, I’ve come to appreciate the words that Paul gave to the pastor he left in charge of Ephesus. He tells Timothy in [1 Tim. 4:16] – “Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers.”

It’s possible to confess the truth with our mouths but then deny the truth with our lives. It’s possible to love God’s Word, but not walk in love. And that’s the problem with the spiritually apathetic church. Like the church at Ephesus, they’ve abandoned their first love. Their vigilance toward sin has made them cold toward God and others.

Maybe you like doing the heavy lifting of theological study but these truths get stuck in your head and never take root in your heart. And that posture over time will lead you into a place of complacency and indifference.

Spiritually apathetic churches risk becoming so inward-focused that they lose sight of their missional purpose. They start to become so distinct from the world that they never welcome outsiders in to hear the wonderful news of the gospel.

This is why I loved one of my theology professors so much. He was always trying to counteract this error. He’d spend an hour lecturing us through these rich theological truths about the person and works of Jesus. And then, at the end of every class, he’d always ask us: Who needs to hear this news you’ve just received? Go tell them.

This is obviously a quick survey of these 7 churches and there’s so much more to dig into, but let me end by giving us two observations to keep chewing on:

First, these letters teach us that Victory and reward await all who remain faithful.

Jesus has just given mixed reports about these 7 churches. And while some are commended and others corrected, every single one is offered a promise to those who conquer. All 7 are offered the hand of fellowship and the promise of victory. Not a single one is beyond the ability to overcome the world in Christ.

To Ephesus [2:7] he says, I’ll let you eat from the tree of life in paradise. That tree that I blocked Adam and Eve from eating I now open to all who conquer.

To Smyrna [2:11] he says to those who conquer, the final judgment won’t sting because you don’t need to fear death anymore.

Even for Laodicea [3:21], who Jesus didn’t have anything good to say about, he says to those who conquer, you will get to sit with me on my throne.

How do we conquer? How do we win? You win the same way we’ve been saying you win all year.

Do you remember what Jesus said to his disciples on the night of the Last Supper? He told the disciples he was leaving but not to worry. Things are going to look bad for a time, but in the end, when everything’s been revealed, your sorrow will turn to joy.

[John 16:33] – Jesus says, “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

That word for overcome is the same word used in Revelation being translated as conquer. IOW, we overcome the world through repentance and faith in Jesus. We conquer by trusting in Jesus alone for salvation.

[Illustration of Pa on deathbed] – Earlier this year, Sarah’s grandfather’s health took a turn for the worse, so Sarah’s parents made the decision to stay with them indefinitely to help out. Over the summer, Sarah’s mom told the family a story about being in the room with Pa as he was staring at the ceiling. Eyes fixed.

She asked him if he was alright. Without taking his eyes off the ceiling he asked her, “Can I go through that door?” and Sarah’s mom told him, “Whenever you’re ready.” You know what he said to her? He said, “it’s a really big house.” I just can’t help but think about Jesus’s words that he won’t leave us as spiritual orphans; that he’s always faithful to us.

Weeks later Pa entered that door. But I want to know how Pa knew he was welcomed in that home.

It shouldn’t be lost on us that somehow the message that initially gripped the church in Ephesus. That gospel that came to life in Sardis and Philadelphia and Laodicea. It must not have flamed out with them. Because it’s reached towns and villages in rural parts of the world most of us have never heard of.

We can’t lose sight of that. We can’t lose sight of our mission. We have a responsibility to steward the gospel to those who haven’t heard the gospel preached.

But I think Pa knew he could enter God’s house because he had learned to count himself among the conquerors. He didn’t have to fear the second death because he had already begun to enjoy eternal life with the Father in this life. That’s what’s promised to all who believe.

Second: Repentance is always an invitation back into the fullness of life. Jesus opens the door to life and we choose death. He opens the door to peace and we choose destruction. So the call to repent is just saying come back to life.

See, repentance is not a one-time event you experience when you first believe. Martin Luther believed repentance was something Christians needed to practice daily.

When Jesus tells his churches they need to repent, he’s telling them they’ve made choices that led them to places He will not go. And he’s telling them not to stay there, but to come back to him. And I want you to know you can do that today. You can come back to the Lord.

The ultimate invitation Jesus makes to all of us he says in Matthew 11:28 – Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

We don’t conquer by learning how to bear the weight of life ourselves. We conquer by coming back to the one who saved our souls. We conquer by loving His Word and loving the good works he’s set before us to do. And we conquer by trusting that He will never leave us or forsake us.

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