Title Opening Letter/Rev 1:4-6
(Explanation of Revelation 3)
Opening letter with an anthem/Revelation 1:4-6
Today's sermon is the content that John sends a letter to the seven churches and first greets them in the name of the Triune God and blesses them. John first opens his letter with an anthem. First of all, it deals with God and Jesus among the Triune Gods. Although we are dealing with it briefly, we do not leave out the work of the Holy Spirit through the phrase ‘seven spirits’.
And it emphasizes that the seven churches, the objects of God's blessing, become the kingdom and priests. But in the end the glory is returned to God. The book of Revelation has a lot of difficult sentences and symbolic words, so it preaches a sermon, but it has no choice but to focus on explanation and interpretation anyway. Today's sermon will be like that. Today, we will discover the great work of the Lord buried in John's song and share the grace.
seven churches
John is writing to seven churches in Asia. Asia is not the wide Asia we think of now, but the region of Asia Minor along the Mediterranean coast belonging to the Roman Empire with Pergamum as its capital. What do the seven churches mean? These are the seven churches that actually existed. [11] These are the churches of Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea. Why are there seven churches? At that time, there were only seven churches in Asia. no. There were also churches in Colossae, Hierapolis, Troas, Miletus, Magnesia, and Trales.
Seven churches were selected, and when mail was delivered to this area, the letter was circulated to other nearby areas. The seven churches were the center of culture and the road. Also, it can be said that these churches were the ones John knew well. That's why I first sent them my experiences and evidence.
The number ‘7’ is often used in the Book of Revelation. Used 54 times. These are the seven candlesticks, stars, lamps, seals, horns, eyes, thunder, angels, plagues, and golden bowls. Wrong interpreters claim that the '7' is a mistake and a specific seven churches. It is said that the ‘seven churches’ were chosen because the ‘seven spirits’ were active and held onto one church to work. Seven is a perfect number. This letter is addressed to the entire church, to all the saints. From the frequent use of the phrase, “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches,” we can see that the seven churches are the churches of all Christ. ‘Those who have ears’ are ‘hearers’ and saints in [verse 3].
God
The main article is Song Young. However, it speaks well of the Triune God. God is expressed in [verse 4] as “the one who is, and who was, and who is to come.” Some people deny the Trinity by citing the phrase “He who is to come” and say that God himself, not Jesus, will return. However, this expression is a general expression applied to God. It speaks of the omnipresence and immutability of God. John does not use any inflection in this expression. This is impossible under the Greek grammar. It is a passage that speaks of his unchanging faith emphasizing the immutability of God.
seven spirits
This is the most difficult part of the text. What are the seven spirits before the throne of God? Another interpretation is the seven angels. Their names are Uriel, Raphael, Raguel, Michael, Gabriel, Cygael, and Jeremial. This is due to the Jewish tradition and is due to the primitive belief that worshiped seven gods. The opinion that the seven angels (spiritual beings) were placed on the throne in order to lift the seven churches is wrong. Angels are creatures. “Seven” is the result of over-interpreting the number.
Angel (Angelu) and Spirit (Pneuma) are completely different. If you equate them, you're in trouble. [Matthew 4:11] “Then the devil left Jesus, and angels came and ministered to him.” If you identify with Jesus, you fall into the error of having the Holy Spirit as the servant of Jesus. Although angels are spiritual beings, we should not assume that they are angels. Spirit (靈) means the perfect Spirit of the Trinity, that is, the Holy Spirit. This scene is the beginning of the opening letter with the anthem of the Triune God. There is no way an angel, a creature, would appear there. [Psalm 8:5] “You made him a little lower than the angels, and crowned him with glory and honor.”
Some even use [Isaiah 11:2] to explain. “The Spirit of the Lord will descend upon him, the God of wisdom and understanding, the God of counsel and talent, the God of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.” This is a good verse that conveys the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit. Also, ① the eternal Spirit (Hebrews 9:14), ② the Spirit of life (Romans 8:2), ③ the Spirit of truth (John 14:17, 15:26, 16:13), ④ the Holy Spirit (Isaiah 1: 4, 3l:1), ⑤ the Spirit of promise (Ephesians 1:13), ⑥ the Spirit of grace (Hebrews 10:29), ⑦ the Spirit of glory (1 Peter 4:14).
The seven spirits and the seven churches can also be interpreted in conjunction. [Heb 2:4] “God also testified with them by signs and wonders and by various powers and by the distribution of the Holy Spirit according to His will.” In other words, it is a portion, and the seven spirits are the portion of the Holy Spirit that God has given to each of the seven churches. Whatever the interpretation, it means that it is not seven spirits, but a spirit with seven gifts. ‘Seven’ expresses the perfection of the Holy Spirit and the speed of fulfillment. It is an expression of the diversity of abilities and gifts.
Jesus
[Verses 5-6] are about Jesus. Jesus is the first ‘faithful witness’. He is the one who directly knows the truth of God, and the one who testified of death and resurrection with his own hands. [John 3:11] He says this. “Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak what we know and testify of what we have seen, but you do not accept our testimony.” This is the image of Jesus as a prophet. His loyalty lasted until death.
Such a Jesus is “the one who loved us and freed us from our sins by his blood and made us a kingdom and a priest.” It is the Lord's blessing for the saints who are redeemed by the blood of Jesus on the cross and become citizens of heaven. There is an interpretation that ‘we’ are not the saints, but people who know the book of Revelation in particular, but there are also interpretations that ‘blood’ is the word, but that is an incorrect interpretation.
[Ex 19:6] “You shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy people, and you shall speak these words to the children of Israel.” “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the goodness of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.” It is Priests should not be limited to special leaders. We can all go out boldly (Hebrews 4:16).
Dear saints,
The content of the song is grace (charis, God's free love) and peace (Eirene, break is restored because of Jesus) from Jesus Christ. And to God, we return glory (serpents, an inaccessible seat that only God has) and power (kratos, the power to advance God's glory in history). Blessings and songs are to give grace and peace to the saints and glory and power to God.
Today's Bible says just that. It seems that the blessings and songs of the Triune God have been diluted by explaining a lot about the Triune God, but it is a part that cannot be neglected. The saints are happy with grace and peace, and God is the one who will receive praise with glory and power forever. The members of the seven churches believe that whether they eat or drink or whatever they do, they must live as people who do everything for the glory of God (1 Corinthians 10:31). Hallelujah!!