Imagine if the Lord Jesus Christ had appeared in His glory to one of His apostles, with letters to be delivered to several of His churches. These letters would deal with local situations, but would also convey general and universal principles to all Christians. If Jesus had done this, and if the letters were preserved in the New Testament, surely they would wield vast influence among Christians and churches of all times.

In fact, Jesus did commission the apostle John to provide letters to seven churches in Asia Minor, and these letters are recorded in chapters two and three of the book of Revelation. Yet, surprisingly, these letters exert little influence on the thinking of Christians today.

There is no reason to think that their message is any less relevant, nor Christ's mandate for reformation any less authoritative, now than it was in the late first cen­tury. If the writer of Hebrews was right in saying that "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever" (Heb. 13:8), then it is imperative for churches to embrace Christ's ancient call to reforma­tion and heed the warnings he issued to his churches of old.

The seven letters of Revelation 2-3 are preceded by the vision of Christ in chap­ter 1. Here, Jesus appears in His majesty as Lord, bearing His emblems of sovereignty, glory, and power. John was brought to his Master the way that Moses was brought to Mount Sinai, with a trum­pet blast summoning him to divinity (Ex. 19:16, 19; 20:18); like Ezekiel, the voice he heard was "like the sound of many waters, like the sound of the Almighty, a sound of tumult like the sound of an army" (Ezek. 1:24).

Jesus' voice, so often heard at John's side during His earthly life, comes forth now as the voice of the Almighty. Jesus is "one like a son of man" (v. 13), an allu­sion to the vision of Daniel 7, and dressed in the robe and golden sash of the true high priest (Ex. 28:4; 29:9). He is the Great Prophet, with "a sharp two-edged sword" coming from His mouth (Is. 49:2). John worships Him as the high and holy king, falling down like Isaiah for the sense of his own defile­ment. Jesus is the Lord Almighty, reigning in power in His threefold office of prophet, priest and king.

This vision also highlights Christ's pre­sent relationship to the church. John sees Him standing in the midst of seven golden lampstands. In His right hand are seven stars which "are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches" (v. 20). The seven letters that follow are each addressed "to the angel of the church" in that place. Jesus probably means a guardian angel charged with protecting God's people in a certain place (see Dan. 10:12-13). The stars and lampstands also indicate the function of the churches.

Dennis Johnson writes,

Stars and lampstands both speak of the churches as reflecting the light of their King, but the lampstands highlight His presence and the stars emphasize His protective possessiveness.

Here, then, is the picture: the exalted Christ is Lord Almighty of the church, among which He himself walks, which He possesses and protects, and in which He seeks the display of His own glory and light.

Jesus' appearance anticipates the content of the messages He will send. From His mouth comes the sword of God's Word, and this He expects to see proclaimed, defended, and applied in the church. His appearance and clothing speak of priestly holiness, and these he seeks in those who follow him. As He holds the churches as lights in His hand, He looks to them to shine the light of the gospel in the world. Since He holds, as He tells John, "the keys of Death and Hades" (Rev. 1:18), so He speaks to the church as One who can enforce His com­mands and reward those who remain faithful.

First, the seven letters highlight the importance that Jesus attaches to upholding the truth in His church. His first letter praised the Ephesians for test­ing those falsely claiming to be apostles, as well as for opposing the heresy of "the Nicolaitans" (2:2, 6). Just as Moses charged the Israelites with testing a sup­posed prophet for his conformity to the Scriptures (Dt. 13:1-5), so all teaching in Christ's church is to be assessed for its biblical fidelity. Jesus thus praised the Ephesians because they "tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false" (Rev. 2:2).

Today, those who test doctrines and challenge false teaching are despised as being narrow-minded and uncharitable. But Jesus praised those who carefully guarded the truth within His church. According to Dennis Johnson, the politically incorrect and intolerant Ephesians merely "reflected Jesus' intolerance of poisonous lies and of liars who prey on his sheep."

Jesus took a similar stance towards the church at Pergamum, which held to the truth in the face of deadly persecution (2:13). Nonetheless, they came under His criticism for permitting false teaching that encouraged licentiousness (which seems to be the point of "the teaching of Balaam") as well as the Nicolaitan heresy (2:14-15). It is noteworthy that while only some people had gone in for these false teachings, the whole church was charged by our Lord for permitting it. Similarly, the church in Thyatira was charged for permitting a figure Jesus iden­tifies as "that woman Jezebel", whose false teaching led to sexual immorality and idolatry (2:20).

Jesus' interactions with His ancient churches should disabuse us of the possibility of neutrality when it comes to matters of truth. There are good reasons for us to avoid controversy; we should nei­ther seek it nor love it. But Christ charges His church to reject neutrality when it comes to the truth of His Word. There is fidelity to Christ and there is friendship with the world. Faithful churches, which receive His commendation and blessing, are those that fiercely stand against the worldly currents of errors and lies.

Christ's call to single-mindedness is also revealed in the second theme of His seven letters: His urgent insistence on holy living. False teachers in Pergamum led believers to "eat food sacrificed to idols and practice sexual immorality" (2:14), and the "Jezebel" in Thyatira is condemned for "seducing my servants to practice sexual immorality and to eat food sacrificed to idols" (2:20). Jesus is urgently concerned, then, over His peo­ples' sensual sin and involvement in idolatry.

These warnings are coupled with severe warnings. Jesus makes clear that trials suffered in the church are His response to their gross immorality, a warning many evangelical churches ought seriously to consider today (2:21-23). Jesus holds churches responsible for the dissolute among them, and He treasures those who have pursued purity. To Sardis, He writes, "Yet you have still a few names in Sardis, people who have not soiled their garments, and they will walk with me in white, for they are worthy" (3:4).

The third theme that dominates these letters is Jesus' unfailing zeal for gospel mission. He emphasises both the witness of the church and its ministry of mercy and justice. Ephesus is called back to the works of her first days, when together with Paul and his associates they "turned the world upside-down" (Acts 17:6) by their ministry of word and deed. Works of ministry are emphasised in the letters to Sardis and Laodicea, both of which have substituted a false glory for the true glory of gospel mission.

What does Jesus demand of His churches? According to the letters to the churches in Revelation, the exalted Lord demands a zeal for Scriptural truth (seen in testing and opposing false teachers), holy living (especially sexual purity and the these mandates is to conquer: "The one who conquers," He concludes, "I will grant him rejection of cultural idols, and gospel mission (through the witness of both word and deed). To uphold to sit with Me on My throne, as I also conquered and sat down with My Father on His throne" (3:21). But to churches and professing Christians who refuse the Lord's reformation call, He warns: "If you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what time I will come to you" (3:3).

As Almighty Lord, Jesus calls His churches to triumph and persevere in the world, in spite of the fierce opposition to true and saving Christianity. He depicts our situation in stark terms that few are willing to conceive of today. Those who will not reform will have their lampstand removed from its place (2:5) — a judgment history records as being visited upon these seven churches, which now consist only of mounds of rubble. Against those who fail to guard the truth Jesus "will come ... and wage war against them with the sword of my mouth" (2:16). To those who will not repent of unholy living, He promises to "give to each of you as your works deserve" (2:23). To those who burn nei­ther hot nor cold for His gospel, Jesus says, "I will spit you out of My mouth" (3:16). The Sovereign Lord calls all Christians to reformation: "Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent" (3:19).

So what would Jesus have us do in order to reform our lives and churches? First, he urges us, to remember. Twice in these letters, Jesus gives this call: "Remember therefore from where you have fallen" (2:5); "Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard" (3:3).

This means that if our churches are going to experience reformation today, it will be through a rediscovery of God's Word. James Montgomery Boice identified a lack of confidence in Scripture as perhaps the chief problem in the church today.

He wrote,

It is possible to believe that the Bible is the inerrant Word of God, the only infallible rule of faith and practice, and yet to neglect it and effectually repudiate it just because we think that it is not sufficient to today's tasks and that other things need to be brought in to accomplish what is needed.

Because of a neglect of Scripture, churches today are increasingly governed by the principles of the world — therapeutic psychology, secular business practices, and even New Age mysticism — rather than the rule of Christ. He calls to us with the double-edged sword of his mouth: "Remember."

Coupled with the call for the church to remember is an urgent mandate to repent: "Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first" (Rev. 2:5). "Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; obey it, and repent" (Rev. 3:3).

Jesus never merely threatens, but He also woos His purchased bride with sweet promises, and these ought especially to enliven us today to Christ's call to reformation. To those who press on in truth and in love, He says, "I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God" (2:7). Those who follow Him to the end "will not be hurt by the second death" (2:11). Jesus adds His gift of "the hidden manna ... and a white stone" (2:17). He promises authority to those who conquer, "and I will give him the morning star" (2:28).

Having sprinkled His seven letters with these marvelous incentives, Jesus concludes His reformation charge with the greatest incentive of all:

Christ's gift of Himself: 'Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with Me. The one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with Me on My throne, as I also conquered and sat down with My Father on His throne. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.'Revelation 3:20-22