Revelation
1:20 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.
Jesus
reveals the holy mysteries that even angels longed to see, as he explained to
John what these visions mean, to avoid misunderstanding and to ensure that
idolatry does not infiltrate the church.
As we have seen during our study of the introduction of this study, the
truth of Scripture is proven by the prophecies and the revelation of the gospel
throughout the ages.
Daniel 12:9 He replied,
"Go your way, Daniel, because the words are closed up and sealed until the
time of the end.
Joel 2:28 'And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your
young men will see visions.'
Amos 3:7 Surely the Sovereign LORD does nothing without revealing
his plan to his servants the prophets.
Zechariah 12:10 "And
I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit
of grace and supplication. They will look on me, the one they have pierced, and
they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly
for him as one grieves for a firstborn son."
Matthew 11:25 At that time
Jesus said, "I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you
have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little
children."
Matthew 16:17 Jesus
replied, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed
to you by man, but by my Father in heaven."
Revelation
1:20 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.
Jesus
makes sure that we understand what the seven stars and the seven lampstands
mean. The seven stars are the angels of
the seven churches, but we may rightly ask, who are these seven angels?
Jesus'
luminous appearance is reflected and miniaturized in the seven stars that he
holds in his right hand. The key to their identity lies in the fact that each
of the letters is addressed to the angel of the church that is in each city and
not the church directly that is in each city.
We also know that the Greek word angelos can be applied to human
messengers, as we see in the following passages,
Mark 1:2 It is written in
Isaiah the prophet: "I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will
prepare your way"
Matthew 11:10 This is the one about whom it is written: 'I will
send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way before you.'
Luke 7:24 After John's
messengers left, Jesus began to speak to the crowd about John: "What did
you go out into the desert to see? A reed swayed by the wind?
Luke 9:52 And he sent messengers on ahead, who went into a
Samaritan village to get things ready for him.
One may
infer that the messengers are seven people who will deliver copies of the book
to the seven congregations, but the order in which the churches are listed and
the geography of their locales rather indicates that one messenger will carry
one original copy from city to city from Ephesus north along the coast through
Smyrna to Pergamum, then inland to Thyatira and south through Sardis and
Philadelphia in the interior to Laodicea.
The angels cannot be mere messengers either, because they had special
connections with the churches since Jesus addresses his encouragements and
rebukes to the angels rather than to the churches.
We can
make the case that these angels are the churches' pastors whom Jesus holds
responsible for the congregations' spiritual welfare. But we have to carefully consider two aspects of this argument as
Scripture reveals it to us, namely, angels elsewhere in Revelation are always
God's superhuman messengers, which is consistent with the usual meaning in the
rest of the New Testament, and, although Jesus usually addresses each angel in
the letters as a single individual, he sometimes switches to plural forms of
'you' in addressing the angel of a church.
Let's look
at some passages where angels are portrayed as superhuman beings:
Revelation 1:1 The
revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must
soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John.
Revelation 5:2, 11 And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming in a loud
voice, "Who is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll?" 11Then
I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon
thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and
the living creatures and the elders.
Revelation 8:2 - 12 And I saw the seven angels who stand before
God, and to them were given seven trumpets. 3Another angel, who had
a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense to
offer, with the prayers of all the saints, on the golden altar before the
throne. 4The smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of the
saints, went up before God from the angel's hand. 5Then the angel
took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and hurled it on the
earth; and there came peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning and an
earthquake. 6Then the seven angels who had the seven trumpets
prepared to sound them. 7
The first angel sounded his trumpet, and there came hail and fire mixed
with blood, and it was hurled down upon the earth. A third of the earth was
burned up, a third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was
burned up. 8The second angel sounded his trumpet, and something like
a huge mountain, all ablaze, was thrown into the sea. A third of the sea turned
into blood. 9A third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a
third of the ships were destroyed. 10The third angel sounded his
trumpet, and a great star, blazing like a torch, fell from the sky on a third
of the rivers and on the springs of water-11the name of the star is
Wormwood. A third of the waters turned bitter, and many people died from the
waters that had become bitter. 12The fourth angel sounded his
trumpet, and a third of the sun was struck, a third of the moon, and a third of
the stars, so that a third of them turned dark. A third of the day was without
light, and also a third of the night.
Speaking
to the angels in these letters, they are sometimes addressed in the plural form
of 'you' refering to subgroups within the congregation and at other times they
refer to the congregation as a whole:
Revelation 2:10, 14 - 15, 20 - 22, 24 - 25 Do not be afraid of
what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in
prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful,
even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life. 14Nevertheless,
I have a few things against you: You have people there who hold to the teaching
of Balaam, who taught Balak to entice the Israelites to sin by eating food
sacrificed to idols and by committing sexual immorality. 15Likewise
you also have those who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans. 20Nevertheless,
I have this against you: You tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a
prophetess. By her teaching she misleads my servants into sexual immorality and
the eating of food sacrificed to idols. 21I have given her time to
repent of her immorality, but she is unwilling. 22So I will cast her
on a bed of suffering, and I will make those who commit adultery with her
suffer intensely, unless they repent of her ways. 24Now I say to the
rest of you in Thyatira, to you who do not hold to her teaching and have not
learned Satan's so-called deep secrets (I will not impose any other burden on
you): 25Only hold on to what you have until I come.
Here are
some passages in which they are addressed in the plural form of 'you' referring
to the whole congregation:
Revelation 2:10, 13 Do not be afraid of what you are about to
suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and
you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful, even to the point of
death, and I will give you the crown of life. 13I know where you
live--where Satan has his throne. Yet you remain true to my name. You did not
renounce your faith in me, even in the days of Antipas, my faithful witness,
who was put to death in your city--where Satan lives.
We see
here a different image of angels than we have in the rest of Scripture, as if
Jesus wants to evoke in John's mind something that means more than just mere
'messenger.' They are also not distant from the congregations that they
represent. These images of stars being
messengers are the objects of Jesus' message; they are not mere couriers
thereof; they are charged with protecting the people of God and bringing his
messages to them, such as guardian angels.
Let's look at a few passages where guardian angels are revealed to us in
Scripture:
II Kings 6:16 - 17 "Don't be afraid," the prophet
answered. "Those who are with us are more than those who are with
them." 17And Elisha prayed, "O LORD, open his eyes so he
may see." Then the LORD opened the servant's eyes, and he looked and saw
the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.
Psalm 34:7 The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear
him, and he delivers them.
Psalm 91:11 For he will command his angels concerning you to guard
you in all your ways.
Matthew 18:10 "See
that you do not look down on one of these little ones. For I tell you that
their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven."
We see in
Daniel 10 these same human characteristics ascribed to angels, referred to as
princes:
Daniel 10:11 - 13 He said, "Daniel, you who are highly
esteemed, consider carefully the words I am about to speak to you, and stand
up, for I have now been sent to you." And when he said this to me, I stood
up trembling. 12Then he continued, "Do not be afraid, Daniel.
Since the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble
yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to
them. 13But the prince of the Persian kingdom resisted me twenty-one
days. Then Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, because I was
detained there with the king of Persia."
The angel
was literally detained against his will until one of the chief princes came to
help him. Scripture reveals to us the
existence of an angel realm in which good and wicked angels continuously do
battle and that the wicked angels would be bound and imprisoned.
Isaiah 24:21, 22 In that day the LORD will punish the powers in
the heavens above and the kings on the earth below. 22They will be
herded together like prisoners bound in a dungeon; they will be shut up in
prison and be punished after many days.
The 'kings
on the earth below' represent wicked nations that will be punished with their
'powers in the heavens' indicating that wicked angels align themselves with
wicked nations.
In Daniel
10:20 the angel promises Daniel that he will return to the king of Persia,
Daniel 10:20, 21 So he
said, "Do you know why I have come to you? Soon I will return to fight
against the prince of Persia, and when I go, the prince of Greece will come. 21But
first I will tell you what is written in the Book of Truth. (No one supports me
against them except Michael, your prince.)"
So, the
wicked angel of Persia tried to prevent the angel Gabriel from announcing God's
will to Daniel, and perhaps this wicked prince wanted Daniel to become
impatient while fasting and mourning for three weeks as we read in Daniel 10:2,
3.
It is not
the intention to give a complete exegesis of the Daniel passages here except to
contrast the characteristics found in the angels sent to Daniel with those of
the angels represented by the stars in Jesus' right hand. Even though the angel
Gabriel and Michael fought with the wicked angels of the enemies of Israel,
they were still merely conveying the message of God's will. The angels
represented by the stars in Jesus' right hand are more than mere messengers in
that they are directly involved and responsible for the congregations, charged
with a duty for which they will be held accountable.
Both
angels and demons are creatures and their powers, though greater than that of
humans, are limited.
Just
briefly: it appears as if there could be doubt concerning the sovereign power
of God when one reads these accounts of angels being detained and that it
required other angels to intercede, but the fact that an evil spirit associated
with the pagan kingdom of Persia obstructed this holy angel's mission does not
compromise the comprehensive power of God to achieve his will. Let's read what Nebuchadnezzar confesses
after his sanity was restored:
Daniel 4:34 - 37 At the end of that time, I, Nebuchadnezzar,
raised my eyes toward heaven, and my sanity was restored. Then I praised the
Most High; I honored and glorified him who lives forever. His dominion is an
eternal dominion; his kingdom endures from generation to generation. 35All
the peoples of the earth are regarded as nothing. He does as he pleases with
the powers of heaven and the peoples of the earth. No one can hold back his
hand or say to him: "What have you done?" 36At the same
time that my sanity was restored, my honor and splendor were returned to me for
the glory of my kingdom. My advisers and nobles sought me out, and I was
restored to my throne and became even greater than before. 37Now I,
Nebuchadnezzar, praise and exalt and glorify the King of heaven, because
everything he does is right and all his ways are just. And those who walk in
pride he is able to humble.
John's
vision has a different motif than the accounts of angels in the Old
Testament. From what we have shown so
far, the angel of each church is not literally an angel, that is, a distinct
spiritual being. Rather each angel is the church, viewed from the perspective
of Christ's control over his churches:
The stars are in his hand.
It is
challenging to think of the stars symbolizing angels, who in turn, symbolize
the churches from the standpoint of their control by the authoritative hand of
Jesus. This two-layered symbolism is not unique in the book of Revelation:
John sees
the woman labeled as 'Babylon'.
Revelation 17:4, 5 The woman was dressed in purple and scarlet,
and was glittering with gold, precious stones and pearls. She held a golden cup
in her hand, filled with abominable things and the filth of her adulteries. 5This
title was written on her forehead: MYSTERY BABYLON THE GREAT THE MOTHER OF
PROSTITUTES AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.
Then the
woman is symbolized as a great city, which rests on seven mountains, clearly
recognizable as Rome.
Revelation 17:18, 9 The woman you saw is the great city that rules
over the kings of the earth. 9"This calls for a mind with
wisdom. The seven heads are seven hills on which the woman sits."
Moreover,
the interpretation of the vision makes it clear that the city should not be
viewed as a geographical site, with shops, homes, and other buildings, but as a
center of political and economic power and influence.
Back to
the stars and the angels. It could also
be problematic if one considers the letters as addressed literally to angels
because the 'individual' addressed as 'you' in most letters consists of a
mixture of faithfulness and sin.
Scripture nowhere gives us any reason to believe that holy angels are
anything but holy in motive and action, so the flaws identified in the letters
are flaws not found in holy angels but in human churches, as anyone
instinctively recognizes.
Stars and
lampstands both speak of the churches as reflecting the light of their King,
but the lampstands highlight his presence while the stars emphasize his
protective possessiveness. The glorious Son of Man, who lives among his
congregations and holds their lives in his hand, has specific instructions and
promises for each of them.[1]
More time
than usual was spent on the study of the stars in Jesus' hand, so that we may
not imagine that they mean something that we cannot support and confirm from
the rest of Scripture. It clearly
points to the ministers and pastors that work in each congregation, emphasizing
the awesome responsibility of these offices, not to be held in contempt or with
disrespect. The congregations, also,
have to show respect and reverence for those ministers and pastors who are
worthy of the office of 'star' in Jesus' hand.
Those ministers and pastors who abuse this office, measured against the
truth of the gospel, are to be considered counterfeits and imposters and
reaching to grab that which they cannot have, namely, a firm place in the hand
of Jesus Christ.
Pay
particular attention to the admonitions in the passages below for the
consistent warning to test what ministers and preachers teach and discern the
message whether it is from God, and whether the preacher is a star in the hand
of Jesus.
Matthew 13:23 But the one who received the seed that fell on good
soil is the man who hears the word and understands it. He produces a crop,
yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.
John 3:21 But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so
that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God.
Acts 17:11 Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the
Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined
the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.
Acts 20:30 Even from your own number men will arise and distort
the truth in order to draw away disciples after them.
Romans 16:18 For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but
their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the minds of
naive people.
II Corinthians 2:17 Unlike so many, we do not peddle the word of
God for profit. On the contrary, in Christ we speak before God with sincerity,
like men sent from God.
Galatians 2:4 [This matter
arose] because some false brothers had infiltrated our ranks to spy on the
freedom we have in Christ Jesus and to make us slaves.
Galatians 4:17 Those
people are zealous to win you over, but for no good. What they want is to
alienate you [from us], so that you may be zealous for them.
Philippians 1:15, 16 It is
true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of
goodwill. 16The latter do so in love, knowing that I am put here for
the defense of the gospel.
Philippians 3:2 Watch out
for those dogs, those men who do evil, those mutilators of the flesh.
Colossians 2:4, 8 I tell you this so that no one may deceive you
by fine-sounding arguments. 8See to it that no one takes you captive
through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and
the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ.
I Timothy 1:4 - 7 Nor to devote themselves to myths and endless
genealogies. These promote controversies rather than God's work--which is by
faith. 5The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure
heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. 6Some have wandered
away from these and turned to meaningless talk. 7They want to be
teachers of the law, but they do not know what they are talking about or what
they so confidently affirm.
I Timothy 4:1, 2 The
Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow
deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. 2Such teachings come
through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot
iron.
I Timothy 6:3 - 5 If anyone teaches false doctrines and does not
agree to the sound instruction of our Lord Jesus Christ and to godly teaching. 4He
is conceited and understands nothing. He has an unhealthy interest in
controversies and quarrels about words that result in envy, strife, malicious
talk, evil suspicion 5and constant friction between men of corrupt
mind, who have been robbed of the truth and who think that godliness is a means
to financial gain.
II Timothy 4:3, 4 For the time will come when men will not put up
with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather
around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to
hear. 4They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside
to myths.
II Peter 2:1 - 3 But there were also false prophets among the
people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly
introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought
them--bringing swift destruction on themselves. 2Many will follow
their shameful ways and will bring the way of truth into disrepute. 3In
their greed these teachers will exploit you with stories they have made up.
Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has
not been sleeping.
I John 4:1 Dear friends,
do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from
God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
II John 1:7, 10, 11 Many
deceivers, who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh, have
gone out into the world. Any such person is the deceiver and the antichrist. 10If
anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not take him into your
house or welcome him. 11Anyone who welcomes him shares in his wicked
work.
Jude 1:4 For certain men whose condemnation was written about long
ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are godless men, who change the
grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only
Sovereign and Lord
Incidentally,
this is why we believe that the Presbyterian form of government is scripturally
correct and that it provides for the proper oversight of all the offices in the
congregation of Christ. The mission of
a pastor or minister is not to be a sovereign power ruling over the congregation,
but to remain in the hand of Christ as a star, reflecting the light and power
of Christ as an angel charged to shepherd those over whom Christ is the Chief
Shepherd.
Revelation
1:20 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.
We have
dealt with the lampstands earlier in verse 12 and 13. It is important to
understand the symbolism of the lampstands as we follow it from the Old
Testament through to Revelation.
Exodus 25:31, 33
"Make a lampstand of pure gold and hammer it out, base and shaft;
its flowerlike cups, buds and blossoms shall be of one piece with it. 32Six
branches are to extend from the sides of the lampstand--three on one side and
three on the other. 33hree cups shaped like almond flowers with buds
and blossoms are to be on one branch, three on the next branch, and the same
for all six branches extending from the lampstand.
Numbers 8:4 This is how the lampstand was made: It was made of
hammered gold--from its base to its blossoms. The lampstand was made exactly
like the pattern the LORD had shown Moses.
II Chronicles 4:20 The lampstands of pure gold with their lamps,
to burn in front of the inner sanctuary as prescribed.
Zechariah 4:3 - 6 Also there are two olive trees by it, one on the
right of the bowl and the other on its left. 4I asked the angel who
talked with me, "What are these, my lord?" 5He answered,
"Do you not know what these are?" "No, my lord," I replied.
6So he said to me, "This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel:
'Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,' says the LORD Almighty."
Revelation 2:5 Remember the height from which 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.
The
lampstands were hammered out of pure gold, signifying the suffering of Jesus on
the cross. Similar symbolism exists in the bread and wine of the Lord's Supper.
The light-giving functions of the lampstands prefigure the Light that would
later be sent into the world. Here in
Revelation it is then not surprising that Jesus would be among the
lampstands in this vision to illustrate his intimate relationship with his
congregation.
Jesus is
among his congregations with the stars of the ministers firmly in his hand,
they being charged with the duty to go to all the congregations and deliver the
contents of the letters, which we will deal with in chapter 2.
Revelation
2:1 "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:
The
address of the recipient of this letter and the identification of the Author
are contained in this verse. Jesus is
identified as the one 'who holds the seven stars in his right hand' to impress
upon the congregation that the angel that goes before them as their pastor is
what he is only by the grace of God.
Revelation
2:2 I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that
you cannot tolerate wicked men, that you have tested those who claim to be
apostles but are not, and have found them false.
In
absolutely every sense does Jesus know the heart of the angel to whom this
letter is addressed. It also admonishes
the congregation that their hearts are known too and this letter carries with
it the image of the sword that comes from the mouth of Christ, indicating the
double-edged character of Christ's association with his church: blessing and
judgment.
The
following passages show the concern that Christ has for his congregation, and
the admonishment to retain the truth of the gospel. Pay particular attention to
the words of this verse of Revelation 'I know your deeds' as it remains
ever-present as the basis of these instructions.
Psalm 1:6 For the LORD watches over the way of the righteous, but
the way of the wicked will perish.
Matthew 7:23 Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you.
Away from me, you evildoers!'
Galatians 1:6 - 8 I am astonished that you are so quickly
deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a
different gospel - 7which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some
people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of
Christ. 8But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a
gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned.
Ephesians 4:14 Then we
will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here
and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in
their deceitful scheming.
I Thessalonians 1:3 We continually remember before our God and
Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your
endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.
II Timothy 2:19 Nevertheless, God's solid foundation stands firm,
sealed with this inscription: "The Lord knows those who are his,"
and, "Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from
wickedness."
Hebrews 6:10 God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and
the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help
them.
II Peter 2:1 - 3 But there were also false prophets among the
people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly
introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought
them--bringing swift destruction on themselves. 2Many will follow
their shameful ways and will bring the way of truth into disrepute. 3In
their greed these teachers will exploit you with stories they have made up.
Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has
not been sleeping.
I John 2:21, 22 I do not write to you because you do not know the
truth, but because you do know it and because no lie comes from the truth. 22Who
is the liar? It is the man who denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a man is
the antichrist--he denies the Father and the Son.
I John 4:1 Dear friends,
do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from
God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
Revelation
2:2 I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that
you cannot tolerate wicked men, that you have tested those who claim to be
apostles but are not, and have found them false.
Acknowledgement
is given to their hard work and perseverance, what they have done so far and
what they endured under the pressure of resistance. When we dealt with verse 1:9 we covered the suffering and patient
endurance of the congregation when John was on the island of Patmos.
The
following passages give us an insight into the struggle that the apostles
endured in their ministry, which ties in with Revelation 2:2.
II Corinthians 6:1 - 10 As God's fellow workers we urge you not to
receive God's grace in vain. 2For he says, "In the time of my
favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you." I tell you,
now is the time of God's favor, now is the day of salvation. 3We put
no stumbling block in anyone's path, so that our ministry will not be
discredited. 4Rather, as servants of God we commend ourselves in
every way: in great endurance; in troubles, hardships and distresses; 5in
beatings, imprisonments and riots; in hard work, sleepless nights and hunger; 6in
purity, understanding, patience and kindness; in the Holy Spirit and in sincere
love; 7in truthful speech and in the power of God; with weapons of
righteousness in the right hand and in the left; 8through glory and
dishonor, bad report and good report; genuine, yet regarded as impostors; 9known,
yet regarded as unknown; dying, and yet we live on; beaten, and yet not killed;
10 sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; poor, yet making many rich;
having nothing, and yet possessing everything.
Revelation
2:2 I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you
cannot tolerate wicked men, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles
but are not, and have found them false.
The wicked
men that John refers to here pertains to the preachers who worked to deceive
the congregation, as we have seen when we studied the words 'I know your deeds'
in this verse.
Acts 17:11 Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the
Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined
the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.
Acts 20:28 - 30 Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of
which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of
God, which he bought with his own blood. 29I know that after I
leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. 30Even
from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away
disciples after them.
II Corinthians 11:13 - 15 For such men are false apostles,
deceitful workmen, masquerading as apostles of Christ. 14And no
wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. 15It is
not surprising, then, if his servants masquerade as servants of righteousness.
Their end will be what their actions deserve.
These
false apostles failed the very basic test that they preached a gospel other
than the one proclaimed by Christ and announced by Scripture. It's truly a
victory for sola scriptura!
Revelation
2:3 You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not
grown weary.
The
spiritual character of the pastor or minister is of such a nature that he
cannot tolerate wicked men but are infinitely tolerant of the burdens of the
cross. The love of Christ for his
congregation is reflected in the love and perseverance of the pastor or
minister in the shepherding of the flock of Christ. The following is a
collection of some passages that reflect that relationship of endurance of
hardships and perseverance in Christ.
Psalm 37:7 Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him; do
not fret when men succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked
schemes.
Psalm 69:7 For I endure scorn for your sake, and shame covers my
face.
Luke 14:27, 21:19 And anyone who does not carry his cross and
follow me cannot be my disciple. 21:19By standing firm you will gain
life.
Romans 2:7 To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory,
honor and immortality, he will give eternal life.
Romans 5:3 - 5 Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings,
because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4Perseverance,
character; and character, hope. 5And hope
does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by
the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.
Romans 8:25 But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait
for it patiently.
Romans 12:12 Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in
prayer.
Romans 15:4 For everything that was written in the past was
written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the
Scriptures we might have hope.
II Corinthians 4:1, 16
Therefore, since through God's mercy we have this ministry, we do not
lose heart.
II Corinthians 4:16
Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away,
yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.
II Corinthians 5:9 So we make it our goal to please him, whether
we are at home in the body or away from it.
Galatians 6:2, 9 Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you
will fulfill the law of Christ. 9Let us not become weary in doing
good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.
II Thessalonians 3:13 And as for you, brothers, never tire of
doing what is right.
I Timothy 5:17 The elders
who direct the affairs of the church well are worthy of double honor,
especially those whose work is preaching and teaching.
Hebrews 12:3 Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful
men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
James 1:3, 4 Because you know that the testing of your faith
develops perseverance. 4Perseverance must finish its work so that
you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
James 5:11 As you know, we consider blessed those who have
persevered. You have heard of Job's perseverance and have seen what the Lord
finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.
and
represent the ministers of the seven churches.