The Things Which Are
God’s Message to the Church Age
By Tim Moore
For almost 2,000 years, the world has lived through what we call the Church Age. In terms of living memory, it is all we know. For every Christian alive today, the Church has always been—even before we were individually born again and grafted into the Body of Christ here on Earth.
There was a time prior to the Church Age when the people of God knew Him only through what He had revealed to His servants, the prophets. Until just less than 2,000 years ago, there was no knowledge of the Gospel—only a prophetic foreshadowing of the Promise that God would provide for Himself a sacrifice and cleanse His people of their iniquity. There will be another time after the Church Age, when the Antichrist will rise to power and the Tribulation will ensue.
John the Baptist came as a forerunner of the Messiah and preached, “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand!” (Matthew 3:2). Jesus, the embodiment of the invisible God and the manifestation of the Promise, preached the same message (Matthew 4:17). He proclaimed: “good news to the poor, release to the captives, sight to the blind, and freedom to the oppressed.” And those blessings were not merely physical and temporal, they were spiritual and everlasting.
In the years that followed Christ’s death, burial, resurrection, and ascension into Heaven, the Church grew exponentially. First, the Holy Spirit was poured out on Jesus’ disciples in Jerusalem during Pentecost. The Apostles then began sharing the Gospel near and far—to Jews and Gentiles alike. By the end of the First Century, the Church had gotten the attention (and raised the ire) of the Roman Empire.
One by one, the Apostles were martyred. Other early Christians were persecuted and killed, including Stephen. By late in the First Century, the only Apostle that remained was John, the disciple Jesus loved. Exiled to the island of Patmos by the Romans, John recorded a testimony of Jesus that makes us ponder, even as it thrills our hearts still today.
The Things You Have Seen
In Revelation chapter 1, John recorded the vision he had while on Patmos. He leaves no room for misunderstanding the Source of the message he received or its intended recipients:
“The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show His bond-servants, the things which must soon take place; and He sent and communicated it by His angel to His bond-servant John, who testified to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw” (Revelation 1:1-2).
Jesus is the Revealer, sharing with His bond-servants all that God the Father gave Him to reveal. And while His dictated letters are addressed to seven churches scattered throughout Asia Minor (modern-day western Turkey), this prophecy is for all who are bond-servants to Jesus Christ—from the First Century down through the end of time. There is even a promise of blessing for all who read, hear, and heed the words of the prophecy, recorded in 1:3 and again in 22:7. More on how to heed later, but the urgency of that promise is made obvious: “because the time is near.”
The rest of Chapter 1 contains John’s opening salutation to the original seven churches who were recipients of Jesus’ message, as well as an affirmation of Jesus’ authorship. The grace and peace offered to those who heed the prophetic message is from “Him who is and who was and who is to come” (1:4). Jesus Christ is referred to as “the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth.” He is the wonderful One who “loves us and released us from our sins by His blood—and [has made] us to be a kingdom, priests to His God and Father” (1:5-6).
John’s description of Jesus is pulled straight out of Daniel 7:9-14, with attributes blending what Daniel saw as the Ancient of Days and the Son of Man—Jesus’ frequent title for Himself. In so doing, John is confirming that Jesus and God the Father are indeed One (Deuteronomy 6:4). Jesus has all authority to reveal what the Father has willed (Matthew 11:27; John 5:19-20).
I Am
Every letter opens with Jesus revealing another facet of Himself as the eternal I AM. He is:
- “the One who holds the seven stars”
- “the first and the last, who was dead, and has come to life”
- “the One who has the sharp two-edged sword”
- “the Son of God”
- “He who has the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars”
- “He who is holy, who is true”
- “The Amen, the faithful and true Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God”
Each of these self-descriptions pulls from other prophetic texts. They also affirm that Jesus has the omniscience to see and know what is happening at each church.
I Know
Jesus’ next statement to each church demonstrates His ability to discern. Hebrews 4:12 says, “the word of God is living and active and sharper than any twoedged sword, and piercing as far at the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” The NASB rendering of this verse suggests that it is the Scripture that is being touted as living and active—and that is certainly true. But the very next verse brings out the true Source of that discernment: “And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him to whom we must answer” (Hebrews 4:13).
What is it Jesus says He knows? The deeds of the seven churches—both good and bad. And His knowledge extends beyond the collective whole to the acts of each individual within those churches—again, both good and bad.
It should come as no surprise to us that Jesus knows. No action, thought, or motive is hidden from His view. This should come as both a welcome relief and a sanctifying warning.
Those I Love, I Discipline
We know there is “no condemnation” for those who are in Christ Jesus. Not even a little condemnation; nor a lingering doubt of condemnation, or a false doctrine of Purgatory to cleanse us of our remaining sin. NO condemnation!
And yet, Jesus is very clear in calling out sins of commission and omission in five of the seven Churches. He calls the churches—and individual believers within those churches—to repent. This begs a question: Do we need to repent over and over again? Or, is our salvation secure when we first believe in Christ unto salvation?
The surprising answer is: Yes.
When we believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, our sins are covered by His shed blood. There will be no condemnation for us when we stand at the Judgment Seat because Christ has already borne the punishment for our sins. The wrath of God that we deserve was poured out on Him at Calvary. We have entered into an eternal covenant. And like the covenant God sealed with Abraham while he slept (Genesis 15), Christ’s finished work has done for us what we cannot do for ourselves. This is “the repentance for forgiveness of sins” Jesus spoke of in Luke 24:47 and is the definition of justification.
But throughout our mortal lives, He is sanctifying us. Through the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit, we are expected to grow more Christlike, day-by-day. We are to “die to self” as we grow in our faith. Jesus said, “whoever wants to be My disciple must deny themselves, take up their cross daily and follow Me” (Luke 9:23-24). Paul boasted that he gladly “died daily” so he could manifest Jesus through his life (1 Corinthians 15:31; 2 Corinthians 4:7-11).
It is within that context that Jesus rebukes and disciplines those whom He loves. This is the same context in which He sent His prophets to warn His Chosen People, Israel (Jeremiah 29:19; 35:15). They did not listen. But if our Lord takes the time to speak—especially to rebuke and discipline—surely, we should listen.
This leads to an important realization. Repentance is not a singular event in our lives. The word “repent” means “to turn back” or “to feel or express sincere regret or remorse about one’s wrongdoing or sin.” In Hebrew, the word we translate as repent is shuv; in Greek it is metanoiein.
- shuv (ובּשׁ) means “to turn and go a different direction”
- metanoiein means “to change one’s mindset”
Both words connotate a change of direction. And just as we can take a wrong turn when driving down the highway, we can also veer off the straight and narrow path of faith. (“Prone to wander, Lord I feel it; prone to leave the Lord I love…”) When we do, our Good Shepherd calls us to turn back. Only by heeding His voice will wandering, straying sheep keep returning to follow Him.
Act Your Age
First Chronicles 12:32 says the sons of Issachar were men who understood the times and had knowledge of what Israel should do. As followers of Christ in the Church Age, we have the Holy Spirit to lead us into all understanding (John 16:13). We have the complete canon of Scripture. We have the prophets, the prophecies, the promises, and the multiplying and converging Signs of the Times. Surely, we should reject the temptations all around us and live “on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God” (Deuteronomy 8:3, cited by Jesus in Matthew 4:4).
Living as we are in the Church Age, we should be growing in faith and acting our spiritual age (1 Corinthians 3:1-3). Part of acting our age is readily heeding (believing, obeying, and applying) the Word of the Lord—even when it contains discipline and admonishment. The writer of Hebrews addressed those referred to as sons when he cited God’s exhortation from Proverbs 3:11, “My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord.”
Jesus made the same point in His letter to the church at Laodicea: “Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline; therefore be zealous and repent” (Revelation 3:19).
He Who Has an Ear
“The Things Which Are” in Revelation chapters 2 and 3 refer to the Church Age—the only age any of us living today have ever known. But soon, the Church Age will come to an end when Jesus comes for His Bride. John modeled the suddenness of the Rapture when he was instantaneously whisked into Heaven to witness “what must take place after these things” in Revelation 4:1-2.
What is clear from Jesus’ messages to the churches (and the Church) is that during the things which are, some things simply should not be—and some things that are not, should.
At Lamb & Lion Ministries, we believe that the seven churches in Revelation reflect time periods throughout the Church Age. By that reckoning, we are living in the period of Laodicea right now. But the churches are also representative of the types of local churches that have been evident for the past 2,000 years. Every church demonstrates characteristics of one or more of these seven.
But the messages also have application to individual believers. Some have left their First Love. Some are being tested and persecuted. Some have become tolerant to fit in or been lulled to sleep in the lap of “wokeness.” For others, fervor for God has simmered down to a lukewarm, half-hearted effort.
First John 5:5 defines an overcomer as “he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.” If that describes you, then you should already have a spiritual ear to hear. Gird up your loins and “hear what the Spirit says to the churches” (Revelation 3:22).
More From This Category
