The Seven churches of Asia minor in the book of Revelation

Paul, thanks for your post. I agree with what you say and have realised that it matches what I have learnt from bible study lessons in Sandy Bay Baptist Church.

In my bible study sessions, my pastor, paul went through Rev 1-3 with us. In the bible, John wrote about the seven churches in Asia Minor (Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, & Laodicea). To each of the seven churches, Christ was addressed differently. John also mentioned a series of commendation, rebuke, exhortation and a promise for them. There were however no condemnation against Smyrna and Philadelphia, and no commendation for Laodicea.

The description of Ephesus (Rev 2:1-7) is related to what Paul(NWC) had mentioned in the previous post.

The church of Ephesus performs deeds, hard work, does not tolerate wicked men, endures hardships, hates the practices of Nicolaitians( to lord over people). However, in Rev 2:4, she has forsaken her first love. It means that the followers in Ephesus have lost their relationship with christ. They have followed the laws of God and obeyed the doctrine but lost the love for the Lord.

The characteristic of the church of Ephesus has a model similar to our society today. A lot of churches today focus a lot of in doing the good things for the society; they are involved in lots of missionary work and charity, but fail to address their love for the lord and the need to believe in Christ.

John also mentions about the characteristic of the Church of Sardis (Rev 3:1-6)in the book of revelation. The church of Sardis is a church reputable of being alive, but is actually dead. It is a church which is seemingly alive on the outside; many people would think that it is a church that do things in the favour of the Lord and is full of spirit. However, John mentions that it is actually a dead church.

My pastor, paul goes on to mention the 4 characteristic of an alive church:
1. Takes the word of God seriously
2. Reverence for Christ
3. Concern for the Lost
4. Preaching of the Gospel

It is through the scriptures that we can understand the guiding principles behind running a church. A church does not need a lavish and nicely-decorated building, it doesn't need a live-band with loud music and it defintely doesn't need celebrities to attract people. What a church needs is her followers to have a heart for worship, love for one another, a good knowledge for the word of God and to preach the gospel.

The characteritics of the other five churches in revelation have things for us to learn from as well. For those who are interested, I do have notes for them. If anyone wants to find out more about them, I can pass you guys the notes when I am back in Singapore.

Jerry