Directions: Carefully read Revelation 1-3 and all of the following information. Then write an essay about what you learned and about what means the most to you. This assignment is worth 3 units, so write at least 4 quality pages (single spaced lines and no redundancies).

Note: This first page information is from the Thompson Chain Study Bible. Revelation was
written by the Apostle John on the island of Patmos, a rocky and desolate isle located in
the Aegean Sea, twenty four miles west of the coast of Asia Minor, and about seventy
miles southwest of Ephesus. The Seven Churches mentioned by John were all founded in
the immediate neighborhood of this city. Ephesus was the leading church of the group
where the Apostle Paul labored with great success. The other churches may have been
the outgrowth of his missionary work, but there is no record of his doing such. Tradition
says that Ephesus was the center of John's later ministry, and he probably had the
oversight of the Seven Churches.

Sins and
Weaknesses
Rebuke

good works, patience,
sound doctrine, church
discipline, steadfastness,
hatred of evil

active churches over
emphasizing
Orthodoxy or religious
ceremony, but lacking
in spiritual fervor

The Early
Centuries of
Persecution

missionary and other
churches enduring
persecution

tolerance of
corrupt doctrines
and heretics

hidden spiritual
blessings, divine
food, and a new
name

The Age of
Constantine--
Temporal
Prosperity

the churches
supported by the
Government

lax discipline
and tolerance of
a corrupt
prophetess

the development of
numerous modern
cults

none for the majority of
the members, a few
commended for purity

extreme
formalism,
spiritual death
imminent, and
inactivity

a robe of
righteousness,
Heavenly
registration and
recognition

churches which
manifest a growing
formalism
accompanied by
spiritual declension

to become spiritual
pillars bearing a
divine inscription

The Period of
the
Reformation--
Luther's times

Luke-warmness,
spiritual conceit,
no conscious
need, spiritual
poverty, spiritual
blindness, and
spiritual
wretchedness

divine fellowship
and spiritual
enthronement

Note: The Evangelical Commentary on the Bible states: \u201cThese chapters contain letters to the
seven churches. These were local churches in Asia Minor, but they were each
representative of a particular age in church history.\u201d But also what Jesus says about the
actual churches can help us understand more about what is God-pleasing Christianity.
Much of what is being professed as Christianity is legalistic religion and not \u201cto God be
the glory\u201d behavior. \u201cEach of the letters is addressed to the leader of the church, who is
called an angel for some uncertain reason.\u201d

1. Who is all powerful: \u201cHe Who holds the seven stars in His right hand, Who walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands.\u201d (2:1) -- This indicates Christ\u2019s intimate involvement in the life of Christian churches.

3. Who is hoping for professing Christians to learn God\u2019s truth and wisdom, and
overcome sinful living: \u201cHe who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the
churches.\u201d (2:7, 11, 17, 26 & 29, 3:5-6, 12-13, 21-22)

4. Who is giving: to the overcomers of the church of Ephesus-- \u201copportunity to eat from
the Tree of Life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God\u201d (2:7); to the overcomers
of the church in Smyrna-- \u201cthe crown of life\u201d and \u201cshall not be hurt by the second
death\u201d (2:10-11); to the overcomers of the church in Pergamos-- \u201csome of the hidden
manna to eat\u201d, \u201ca white stone\u201d on which \u201ca new name written which no one knows
except him who receives it\u201d (2:17); to the overcomers of the church of Thyatira--
\u201cpower over the nations\u2026 as I [Jesus] have received from My Father\u201d and \u201cthe
morning star\u201d (2:26-28); to the overcomers of the church in Sardis-- permission \u201cto be
clothed in white garments\u201d and a promise that his or her name will not be blotted out
from the Book of Life but confessed by Him before His Father and His angels (3:5); to
the overcomers of the church in Philadelphia-- becoming \u201ca pillar in the temple of\u201d
God with permanent residence in the New Jerusalem (3:12); and to the overcomers of
the church of the Laodiceans-- permission to sit with Him on His throne (3:21).

5. Who is \u201cthe First and the Last, Who was dead, and came to life\u201d (2:8)
6. Who has \u201cthe sharp two-edged sword\u201d (2:12)
7. Who has \u201ceyes like a flame of fire, and His feet like fine brass\u201d (2:18)
8. Who has \u201cthe seven Spirits of God and the seven stars\u201d (3:1)
9. Who is \u201choly, He Who is true, \u2018He Who has the key of David, He Who opens and no

name\u2019s sake and have not become weary\u201d; \u201cname\u201d is this context means character)
2. Patience (mentioned twice, 2:2 & 3)
3. \u201cCannot bear those who are evil\u201d (2:2)
4. \u201cTested those who say they are apostles and are not, and have found them liars\u201d (2:2)

6. \u201cHate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate\u201d (2:6) -- The Evangelical
Commentary on the Bible states: \u201cLittle is known about this group except that they
were active in Ephesus and Pergamos and that they encouraged immorality and the
eating of meat sacrificed to idols\u2026. They seem to have been liberalists or modernists
who felt that the church was too strict in its standards, and they advised compromise.\u201d

2. \u201cYou hold fast to My name, and did not deny My faith even in the days in which Antipas was My faithful martyr, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells.\u201d (2:13)

1. \u201cI know your works. See, I have set before you an open door, and no one can shut it;
for you have a little strength, have kept My word, and have not denied My name.\u201d
(3:8)

2. Because Jesus Christ loved the Philadelphia Church, He \u201cwill make those of the
synagogue of Satan, who say they are Jews and are not, but lie\u201d and \u201cwill make them
come and worship\u201d before the Philadelphia church members\u2019 feet. (3:9)

3. \u201cBecause you have kept My command to persevere, I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the Earth.\u201d (3:10)

1. \u201cYou have there those who hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a
stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to
commit sexual immorality.\u201d (2:14) -- In Balaam\u2019s day, there was a ritual of
fornication and of eating of meat sacrificed to idols. (Numbers 15:1-3)