Article - Notes on Revelation

WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 21
REVELATION 1:1-8
The View from Heaven

How do we keep a vision of the heavenly Christ before us day by day, so that it makes a difference to the way we live? How can we live in the present while truly believing "the time is near"? (1,4) The world constantly fills our minds with images of the immanent - comfort, enjoyment, security… And some expressions of Christianity only serve to reinforce these secular images: these false securities of 'health & wealth'. Praise God for the good things of the earth to enjoy and receive with thanksgiving. But they will pass away. I regularly sit in my study and look at my lovingly accumulated library of 6,000 books, and say to myself: "They will all burn!" Or sit and listen to a sublime rendition of Tallis's church music and deliberately think: "Heaven will be better!"
In the first of a septet of blessings in Revelation, John reminds his readers that the unfolding of history can only be understood from a heavenly perspective (3). Whether the 'now' is the first century or the twentieth, the Seer always takes us 'Back to the Future' - to heaven where the end is known from the beginning; where Jesus, the Start and Finish, the Alpha and Omega (8) eternally reigns in glory. For Christians of every generation, the time is always near (3), for the timeless Christ is near and silently, mysteriously ruling human destiny (5).
It is sometimes said of Christians that they are so heavenly minded that they are no earthly use. It would be truer of many of us that we are so earthly minded that we are no heavenly use. "If you read history you will find that the Christians who did most for the present world were just those who thought most of the next." (CS Lewis) Catch a glimpse of glory from John today, and Christ will change the mundane and the frustrating into a ladder up to heaven.

THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 22
REVELATION 1:9-20
The Sustaining Vision

A peregrine is a bird that soars alone and it was St Brenden of Ireland (born 484) who introduced peregrinatio, voluntary exile, which became a fashionable spiritual discipline for many centuries. There was nothing voluntary about John's exile and neither is there about the spiritual exiles which we sometimes suffer (9). It may be the exile of grief and bereavement; or the exile of singleness; or the exile of pain and bewilderment; or the dark night of the soul when even God seems to be deaf to our cries. Christ comes and confronts our fears (17) and displays his awesome powers (12-15). He reassures us of his risen presence and reminds us that he has suffered ultimate exile: "My God! My God! Why have you forsaken me?" But through the agony of that separation, he has brought us life and conquered death & hell (18).
If John had not suffered for his faith through his enforced solitude, then the church would have been deprived of this marvellous Revelation of the unseen spiritual realities. There is nothing so painful and enriching as solitude with God. Personally, I hate it. I identify with Louis Bouyer: "Solitude is a terrible trial, for it serves to crack open and burst apart the shell of our superficial securities. It opens out to us the unknown abyss that we all carry within us… and discloses the fact that these abysses are haunted."
Each of us must find ways of sustaining our vision of Christ the Time Lord. Reading Revelation in one sitting in a prayerful place can help. I love Lewis's Narnia Chronicles and the works of Tolkien. Poetry and music can envision us with the glorious Christ. Buying a pair of green wellies was a spiritual exercise for me. It allowed me to walk through the woods and over the downs with my eyes on the shadows of heaven which are the glories of earth.

FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 23
REVELATION 2:1-7
Heresy Hunting

Ephesus was both the first city of Asia Minor, for finance, temples and trade, and probably the most important and influential church in the world at the end of the first century. So all the false teachers and cranks flocked to this city to make their case and win converts to their sects. There were the Ascetic Gnostics, who with super-spiritual fervour and secret revelations from the heavenly Christ, abhorred the flesh and hated those Christians who insisted that Christ was fully human. Then, much more appealing for many, there were the Licentious Gnostics, who dismissed the flesh as irrelevant to the spiritual quest, and therefore to be indulged its every whim! This led to the evil practices of the Nicolaitans (6).
The Ephesians were commended for their zeal for truth and their denouncing of error (2,3). But this was not to be the primary mark of Christ's disciples. Love is our Lord's command to his followers: love for God and love for one another. Both could be in mind for the Spirit's rebuke in verse 4.
When I look at some of my Christian friends who are deeply concerned for truth and doctrinal purity, then I am glad that they are not God. For few would pass their scrutiny: "There's only me and my wife - and I'm not too sure about her…" Somehow, they have lost 'charity', without which, all else is as a clanging cymbal. Christ, who has the power of the churches in his hands (1), solemnly warns them that he will remove the life from their congregation (5). "Ichabod" - the glory will have departed.
We must remember the height from which we have fallen (5): the love we first had for Christ and our brothers and sisters; the vibrancy of an early faith that might have had fuzzy doctrinal edges! Remember that the Lord always reserves the right to use the man I disagree with.

SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 24
REVELATION 2:8-11
Hold On!

Smyrna (modern Izmir) was a beautiful place, with a natural harbour, streets of gold, majestic temples perched on its slopes… But it was not always like this. A Greek colony from about 1000BC, it was overrun by the Lydians in 600BC and lay in ruins till it was rebuilt in about 200BC. Lysimachus was the Capability Brown of the time, and he rebuilt the city to a magnificent grand design. It was a city that was like Christ: it died and came to life again (8). It was a highly cultured city, full of social climbers, who, when they became Christians, had to learn that he alone was the First and Last (8)
Throughout its early Christian history, there was fierce persecution and the Jews (so very far away from Christ, because so near) joined the pagans in trying to eradicate the church through violence and financial pressure (9). God's message to them is not one they would have wanted to hear: "I know your difficulties. There's more to come - on and off for short periods ('ten days' (10)). Some of you will even die. But hold on! Don't be afraid! You're going to share the glory of life in heaven with me."
So why doesn't God do something? Well, listen to what the Spirit is saying: "Live in the light of the future. Judgement will come. Be faithful." Polycarp was just a young man in his twenties when Revelation was penned and about twenty years later in 115AD, Ignatius wrote to the now middle-aged Bishop Polycarp. Forty years further on, after at least sixty years of persecution, the church at Smyrna wrote a detailed account of the martyrdom of their beloved bishop. He was offered the choice of worshipping Caesar or of being burned to death. Polycarp had ears to hear the Spirit (10,11) and spoke in defiance: "Eighty and six years I have served Christ and he has done me no wrong. How can I blaspheme my King who saved me?"

MONDAY SEPTEMBER 26

REVELATION 2:12-17
Could Do Better

You may be noticing that all seven letters have a similar form and we will trace it through today:
Address: Pergamum was another ancient and important capital city, notable as a centre for Emperor Worship with its temple to Augustus, 'Satan's throne' (13).
Description of Christ: the bearer of the sword of judgement (12,16) and the Word.
Commendation: despite Antipas's martyrdom, the Pergamenes had remained faithful (13). Pat someone on the back today for holding on in difficult circumstances - any teenager who is known to be a Christian at school would do!
Reprimand: (none for the church at Smyrna) they tolerate the Nicolaitans, who like Balaam, lead the people of God into idolatry. They eat food sacrificed to idols in a religious context, enjoying the pagan practices (14,15). Do we embrace evil from our culture; like the cult of self-centredness?
Exhortation: Repent! (16) This is a command for both the false teachers and those who tolerate them. There must be that love that the Ephesians lacked, but there must be church discipline and sanctions designed to bring those in error back to fruitful faith - the aim of all church discipline.
Promise: hidden manna and a white stone (17). There was a Jewish tradition that, when the temple was destroyed, Jeremiah had hidden a golden pot of manna which would only be revealed at the coming of the Messiah. In contrast to giving food to the idols, the living God would give sustenance to his followers. The white stone has many possible explanations. Perhaps it symbolised a 'Universal Ticket' which athletes won at public festivals. It had their name on it and granted them free entry to all events and feasts - for us, that will be the marriage feast of the Lamb.

TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 27
REVELATION 2:18-29
Choose Who You Will Serve

The cult of Freemasonry grew out of tradesmen's guilds, which accrued all sorts or religious practices from craftsmen as they travelled round the world. And this was at the heart of Thyatira's problems, for it was a relatively unimportant city, but full of merchants and craftsmen.
Here is the problem. You were a Christian who was perhaps a mercer (a dealer in cloth, like Lydia). So from time to time you were expected to attend the mercer's guild for a big meal, a sacrifice to your particular patron god, and a bit of cultic debauchery. You were pretty sure that Paul had said something in his letters about not doing all that. But the Nicolaitans, and in particular, a charismatic prophetess called Jezebel (probably John's disparaging nickname for her) assured you that as it was only spiritual things which mattered, you could do what you wanted with your body; the Spirit would keep you safe. And of course, if you didn't join the guild, then you got no trade.
Now the Thyatirans were as loving and accommodating (19) as the Ephesians were not. They were too tolerant of the 'deep teaching' (24) and needed to stand firm in the faith of the apostles (25) and join Christ in warning the heretics that the judgement day is at hand (21-23). It's a difficult balance, this love and discipline. We must be in the world but not of it; we must not be conformed to this world, but transformed by the renewing of our minds. But there are grey areas, when it is difficult to know whether we are compromising our faith, or being 'all things to all men'. To avoid the Nicolaitan danger we must monitor any shift of allegiance, for "You cannot serve God and mammon." Are there any areas of your life where your motives and allegiance are suspect?

WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 28
REVELATION 3:1-6
Wake Up!

As the world goes, so goes the church. Sardis had many past glories as a city, but now it was run-down and neglected, yet still trying to live off its former reputation. As an aspiring young preacher, I would occasionally be ushered into the vestry of some preaching centre, whose name was a byword in evangelicalism. There I was proudly shown the great preachers from the past who stared down from the walls. Then as I entered the pulpit and looked out on the ranks of vacant pews, and tiers of empty balconies, I realised that the church's reputation far surpassed its present vitality. (Or the congregation had heard in advance that I was coming to preach!) The rumours of its being alive were greatly exaggerated! (1)
There is another connection between the city of Sardis and its Christian community. Sardis was built on a mountain with an acropolis built on an all but impregnable outcrop of rock. But twice in its history, a surprise attack had delivered the city to its enemies. Christ warns the church that he will come (or leave!) at a time when they are least expecting it (3). So they must be ready and start the revival right away (2).
But what is true of the church is true of its members. Self-deception is at the heart of much of our individual spiritual turpitude. Perhaps we have a great personal testimony, and we are still telling stories of God's blessings in the past, but there is no fresh manna; no present living by faith and answered prayer; no daily vibrancy in our spiritual disciplines but only well-worn habits. We must act before it is too late. If we don't stoke and refuel the fire, the remaining embers will grow cold. Perhaps you need to book a serious appointment with God in your diary, right now!

THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 29
REVELATION 3:7-13
Belonging at Home

"If we may deduce from John's writing that the Jews in this city taunted the Christians of having no part in the Messiah and his kingdom, the purport of the letter becomes luminously clear. It is a sustained assurance of participation in the kingdom of Christ." (George Beasley-Murray)
The "open door" (8) then, is not primarily an opportunity for missionary service as it is popularly interpreted. Rather it is an assurance by the Lord of the Keys (7), that whomever Christ has welcomed into the kingdom, no-one shall exclude. The weak and beleaguered church at Philadelphia (8,11) needs encouragement and, like Smyrna, has no reprimand from Christ; only assurance of future vindication and glory. At Judgment Day, all will know that God has loved these downcast Philadelphians (9), and the church of little strength (8) "will be thrice sealed, as belonging to God, belonging to God's city and belonging to God's Son (12). His tender promise to those who are painfully aware of weakness and insecurity is that they shall finally belong." (Michael Wilcock)
With such a sense of security, now the "open door" can indeed be an opportunity for the Philadelphians, geographically placed at the borders of Phrygia, Mysia and Lydia and founded as a missionary town for Greek language and culture. When we have that assurance that we belong to Christ and that we are loved by God, then we experience that confidence which will allow us to walk into a hostile world and make Christ known. If you find it hard to share your faith, maybe you should remind yourself that you are thrice sealed as belonging to him and his heavenly city. Remember you are seated with Christ in heaven and then you will talk of him with confidence here on earth.

FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 30
REVELATION 3:14-22
You Make Me Sick!

I had six brothers and sisters and my mother had a panacea for all childhood illnesses. "You'll feel better after you've been sick." She would give us warm, salty water to encourage the process! The hot springs of Hierapolis, six miles from Laodicea, gathered mineral salts until they tumbled, lukewarm over the cliffs opposite the city. "You are like this" says Christ, "you make me sick!" (16) This final letter is probably the most famous because of its stinging rebuke from Christ and tenderest invitation (19,20).
Laodicea was famous for its banks, eye-ointment and glossy black wool. These were matters of pride and Christ uses each of them as spiritual metaphors of rebuke. You are poor, blind and naked (17) and need my refined gold, eye salve and white robes of righteousness (18). How had the church become so spiritually indifferent and full of proud self-deceit? Probably through success. There is nothing more destructive. As Martyn Lloyd-Jones once commented, "The worst that can happen to a man is to succeed before he is ready."
But Christ still loves this church as his wayward bride (19). He invites them to recognise their true state of powerlessness, and to let him in (20). "The only cure for lukewarmness is the re-admission of the excluded Christ." (G Campbell Morgan) But Christ's loving rebuke usually comes through human agency. Here it is through John. And there's the rub. For sometimes he uses immature and disagreeable people to bring his truth home to us. He sometimes uses people we don't like, and people who don't like us, and non-Christians and family members… It is a sign of our maturity that we can still respond to the rebuke and re-admit Christ into that area of our life that needs his attention.

Scripture Union Notes 1994