The heart of the matter

by

I’ve been hovering over the first chapter of the Book of Revelation in recent blogs, seeking to hear the Spirit of God speak into the current situation we find ourselves in and how we as a christians should respond. To that extent I have embarked on a series of sermons with our church family, exploring the message Jesus gave to the seven churches in the book of Revelation. The opening statement of John to the readers cannot be overlooked. It sets the tone on how the reader approaches the book of Revelation.

Revelation 1:3 (NKJV) Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it; for the time is near.

The book is not a reference guide to current affairs. It is not to be treated like another document foretelling the future like Nostradamus or the ancient seers of the Mayan civilization. The reader is blessed for reading the book but with the reading comes the responsibility to hear (listening with the intention to understand). Not only is reading and hearing with understanding required, but the reader must also make a deliberate decision to keep it (to attend to it with great care). A time component is added to it indicating the urgency of the season the reader was living in.

The lack of exposure to the book of Revelation may be the reason why the church has lost her urgency in the way she carries out the Father’s business. How we have approached the book has to be reviewed too. So much of what we take from this book is to do with speculation and projection. We speculate dates and times of Christ’s second coming and project current events to back these speculations. We forget the clear instructions of our Lord to the apostles:

Acts 1:7-8 (NKJV) And He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

The instruction is clear. The apostles were asking if God was going to restore the Kingdom to the nation Israel. They were treating the apocalyptic literature the way their forefathers did. Speculating and projecting times (chronos) and seasons (kairos) in light of the nation Israel. We are doing the same thing this time with the church.

The message of the book of Revelation is for the heart not for the head. That is the reason why it is full of metaphors, symbols and allegories. The intention is to make space for the reader to allow the message of the book to reveal the condition of his or her heart – to read, to listen in order to understand and act accordingly. The final instruction and warning in chapter 22 is sobering and should cause us to remove our shoes as we approach this book.

Jesus’ instruction

Revelation 22:7 (NKJV) “Behold, I am coming quickly! Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.”

And John’s warning

Revelation 22:18-19 (NKJV) For I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds to these things, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book; and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the Book of Life, from the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.

So in these next few blog entries, I want to look at the first three chapters of the book of Revelation, seeking to listen with my heart what the Spirit is saying to the church.

The message to the seven churches

John is told to write letters to seven churches that were a physical presence in seven cities in what is modern day Turkey. It was a message from the head of the church, Christ our Lord, given to the apostle John with clear instructions on how to administer the revelations John had received.

Revelation 1:19-20 (NKJV) Write the things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which will take place after this. The mystery of the seven stars which you saw in My right hand, and the seven golden lampstands: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands which you saw are the seven churches.

The scope of the book

John was told the scope of these revelations he was to receive. They were things past, present, and the future. When exposed to unfamiliar information, the brain tends to process things logically based on these three categories. It will first attempt to draw from experiential knowledge from the past and interpret the information based on that experience. If the information is relevant for the present, decisions are made not to reinterpret the information in light of current events but to make decisions on how to reapply the knowledge gained in the past to navigate current situations. We do the same when anticipating future events. Based on past and present experiences we plan how to act if and when similar events occur to us in the future.

The book of Revelation however is a book of mysteries. No two generations have experienced exact same situations. The context and environment the church finds itself produces conditions which it needs to react or respond to. The book of Revelation provides principles and practices that can train and equip the church of every generation to stay faithful to Christ.

The posture of the reader

The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands which you saw are the seven churches.

John received instructions that the completed work needed to be sent out to seven specific churches. Seven letters, addressed to seven “angels” and seven churches. The term “angels” used by Jesus is the greek word aggelos – which literally means messenger of God. In most usage in the New Testament the messengers have been supernatural beings sent by God and so nearly always translated as angels. In this particular context however the word aggelos cannot possibly be angels. Five out of the seven aggelos and their churches were given stern rebukes and told to repent. They were required to make adjustments in attitude and behaviour before Christ’s return. Nowhere in Scriptures do we see angels being chastened or requiring repentance (apart from the fallen angels who have already been judged). The word aggelos must surely be meant for those who were entrusted with the message and given the responsibility to steward that message in the churches they were shepherding. Along with these aggelos, the ekklēsia (church), believers who have gathered around these aggelos and the message they were representing were receiving direct feedback on their representation of Christ to the world.

Let me say this, I believe leaders carry an aspect of God’s message and those who gather around that message have a responsibility to steward that message faithfully till the end. Every local church family has a distinct way of expressing the message of the gospel God has entrusted us with. We need to ensure we are focusing on that and not trying to be something we are not. So many churches try to emulate mega churches to the point they infuse a DNA that is so foreign to the call and message they have been untrusted with. I do not mean a different gospel but a different expression of the gospel that is unique to that particular community of believers. The uniqueness of a particular “lampstand” that is witnessing Christ in a particular locality is uniquely fitted for purpose to react and respond to the environment they are in.

I will use the two “lampstands” that I have been entrusted to shepherd in our city as a way of explaining my point. Together with my wife and a team of amazing and committed men and women of God, I pastor two churches that have distinctly different composition of believers and ways of expressing their faith. Both churches however are led by the same Pastoral and leadership team. As aggelos of these two “lampstands”, we want to be faithful to preaching the whole gospel of Jesus Christ. We do realise however there are a few distinct “messages” that we have been particularly assigned to bear witness to because of the unique spiritual and physical environments we find ourselves in as a corporate body of believers.

Through seasons of spiritual warfare, challenges and victories, we have come to realise that there are distinct lessons we have learnt as a body of Christ that have become very much who we are. Distinct messages like:

  • “Church means family” – We don’t do faith alone. When one suffers we all suffer with them. When one rejoices we all rejoice with them. We are brothers and sisters, fathers and mothers, sons and daughters – we are family. To realise that every individual who has gathered around this message has to make room in their immediate circle they consider family and expand that to include the new family which is the local church they now belong to.

  • “Sickness and poverty are not part of God’s Kingdom” – We are convinced that the Scriptures teach us that every good gift comes from above, from the Father of lights in whom there is no shadow of turning. In other words good things come from heaven. Sorrow and evil are not from heaven and not part of the Kingdom of God. We believe strongly that when faced with sickness and poverty in our midst, it is our duty to pray until we see that eradicated in our midst. We will hold on to that message faithfully till Christ’s returns. Everything we do – whether it is praying for the sick, or helping an individual navigate through their addictions, or the grocery parcels we distribute to the poor in our community is backed with this strong prayer – Your Kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

So as we approach the book of Revelation, we do not come as a casual reader reading another literature from the apocalyptic genre. We come as either aggelos or the church that is gathered around the message (the gospel) and distinct expressions of the message that are unique to the environment we are in.

The format of the letter

Before John gives details of the vision he saw, he is instructed to write seven messages to seven churches. There is a set template that he uses to address each church. Christ reveals Himself to each church in unique and distinct ways that speak into the unique environments each church find themselves in. The Lord then proceeds to use the following format:

  • Commendation – “I know your works” – The message to most churches carries with it a recognition of the challenging context the church is in and how their are responding to those challenges in order to be faithful witnesses of Christ.

  • Criticism – “I have this against you” – Five of the seven churches receive strong criticism and rebuke from the Lord because they have allowed the environment they were in to affect the conditions of their hearts. The Lord highlights behaviour or attitudes that were harming their testimony.

  • Correction – “Remember… be faithful… repent… hold fast… strengthen…” Every church was given areas to address immediately in order to restore the light in their lampstands. There were areas to adjust, make changes and to overcome.

The 7 heart conditions

Each church was in a city that had distinct spiritual atmosphere which was hostile to Christ and the gospel message. The hostility experienced by the church produced a condition of the heart that began to affect their relationship with Christ and their ability to be witnesses for Him.

  • The church in Ephesus – A heart that lacked love – “you have left your first love” (Rev 2:4)

  • The church in Smyrna – A heart that was overwhelmed by prolonged suffering – “Do not fear any of those things which you are about to suffer” (Rev 2:10)

  • The church in Pergamos – A heart of compromise that became a stumbling block to others – “Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the children of Israel” (Rev 2:14)

  • The church in Thyatira – A heart that was corrupt – “that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, to teach and seduce My servants” (Rev 2:13)

  • The church in Sardis – A heart that was dead to the things of God – ”you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead” (Rev 3:1)

  • The church in Philadelphia – The heart that persevered and remained faithful – “you have kept My command to persevere” (Rev 3:10)

  • The church in Laodicea – The heart that was “stale and stagnant” – “you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot” (Rev 3:15)

Each church had a specific context they lived in that produced a heart condition that required specific actions in order to be overcomers.

As we reflect on the messages to these seven churches, let us look more closely to the conditions of our own hearts. Every time we struggle to obey God, its always to do with the matters of the heart. The heart of the matter is always the matters of the heart. Jesus when teaching on the condition of the heart in the parable of the sower (Matthew 13), quoted the prophet Isaiah to address the problem with disobedience.

Matthew 13:14-15 (NKJV) And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says: Hearing you will hear and shall not understand, And seeing you will see and not perceive; For the hearts of this people have grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing, And their eyes they have closed

Isaiah gives us a window into understanding how our hearts can become calloused, unbelieving and disobedient. It has to do with what we are seeing and what we are hearing. The eye gate and the ear gate are entrances to our understanding. Your understanding will determine how you respond.

Seeing and hearing affects the condition of your heart. The condition of your heart determines how you will respond to God. Your response to God will determine your life and your testimony.

DAILY REVELATION FROM GOD IS SO IMPORTANT TO MAINTAIN A HEALTHY HEART. GOD REVEALS HIMSELF THROUGH HIS PRESENCE, HIS VOICE, HIS WISDOM AND HIS WAYS.

Everyday look out for God activity. Don’t focus on what the devil is doing, or what evil people seek to do. Focus on God happenings – good things are God things – then you will be able to rejoice and be thankful.

SEEK TO EXPERIENCE GOD’S PRESENCE EVERYDAY. IT WILL CREATE A THANKFUL HEART.

SEEK TO HEAR HIS VOICE DAILY. IT WILL CREATE A TEACHABLE HEART

THEN SEEK TO ENQUIRE OF HIM DAILY. IT WILL CREATE A DISCERNING HEART

SEEK TO FOLLOW HIS WAYS. IT WILL CREATE AN OBEDIENT HEART

A W Tozer said it well:

“The world of sense intrudes upon our attention day and night for the whole of our lifetime. It is clamorous, insistent and self-demonstrating. It does not appeal to our faith; it is here, assaulting our five senses, demanding to be accepted as real and final. But sin has so clouded the lenses of our hearts that we cannot see that other reality, the City of God, shining around us. The world of sense triumphs. The visible becomes the enemy of the invisible; the temporal, of the eternal.”

As we look at the messages given to the seven churches, let us approach it consciously evaluating the condition of our heart in each of these situations the believers found themselves in. In this fast paced, everyday world, our attention is so divided that God can sometimes be an after thought and pursuing God an activity when we can spare the time. The reality is, the only way we are going to experience the complete healing and restoration we are longing for, is if we pursue God with all our heart. The problem does not lie with the world or the external environment we live in. It really is about the condition of our hearts.

THE HEART OF THE MATTER IS ALWAYS THE MATTERS OF THE HEART