What Christ Thinks of the Church: Preaching from Revelation 1 to 3

By John Stott

Christ’s letters to the seven churches still resonate today. Like those ancient churches, most churches today lie somewhere on the continuum between flourishing and withering, between faithfulness and faithlessness, between comfort and persecution. Using seven key themes, John Stott illustrates the timeless relevance of Christ’s exhortations and warnings to the universal church, while pointing to Christ, the Lamb turned Shepherd, who knows the unique opportunities and challenges that face each church. This is a helpful guide for preachers looking to feed their flock with this often visited passage from John’s vision of the apocalypse.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Langham Preaching Resources
• Release date: Nov 30, 2019
• ISBN: 9781783687039

John Stott

John Stott is known worldwide as a preacher, evangelist and communicator of Scripture. His books have sold millions of copies around the world and in dozens of languages. He was honored by Time magazine in 2005 as one of the "100 Most Influential People in the World."

Book preview

Foreword

The church today is growing in various places, but in many areas it is plagued by problems, both local and international. Some of these problems are so severe that they threaten to bring divisions in the fellowship. The result of this is that a church tends to look inwards to defend its own position, or outwards only insofar as it is watching to see what the others will do.

Into this situation Stott’s book, What Christ Thinks of the Church, comes as a breath of fresh air, and a much needed gentle but very firm reminder that what counts, and what will count in eternity, is not what we think of ourselves, or even what other people may think of us, but rather what Christ thinks of us and what Christ thinks of his church. Christ’s is the only judgement that matters, and if the church is to gain Christ’s approval, we must be clear about the guidelines, the expectations and the standards required. The letters to the seven churches, as found in the opening chapters of Revelation, hold the key to what the church should be, give valuable advice about dangers and how to avoid them, and offer wise counsel as to the godly road ahead.

For most of his life, John Stott preached and taught all over the world, and thousands owe their lives as Christians to his ministry. He is a master of biblical exposition, and this book is no exception in that regard. He teases out the meaning of the text, explaining its significance at the time when it was first written and also showing its significance for the twenty-first century. He has the gift of writing deep theological and spiritual truths with disarming simplicity and in a style of English that is clear and can be readily understood by all, including those for whom English is not their first language.

His thumbnail picture of each of the seven cities vividly conjures up a picture of what life there must have been like. On this basis he is able to show clearly the relevance of Christ’s words of commendation or criticism. The same words are then applied with gentle but searing relevance to the church today. As he draws his picture of each of the seven churches, Stott highlights seven characteristics that are essential for the church in any age, including our own: love, suffering, truth, holiness, reality, opportunity and wholeheartedness. The church needs to consider these diligently through a thorough study of the word of God, which is the source of growth in Christ and of life in Christ. Such study will be a crucial factor in determining what Christ will think of our church today.

This study may be attempted in many different ways. In the last three years, for example, we have dedicated our diocesan synod to the study of Matthew 25 and the parables of the ten virgins, the talents, and the sheep and the goats. The benefits of such a study for a whole diocese may not be immediately visible, but the importance of grounding the church in the word of God cannot be denied and must never be downplayed: it is a lifeline. What John Stott presents in this book is a lifeline not just for a local assembly, a synod or even a national church: the message is to the whole body of Christ across the nations and denominations. The church must prepare itself for Christ’s return and judgement by taking seriously the message of the Scriptures, the authority of the word of God, and the application of the same in daily life. This book lays a firm foundation for those who will be faithful teachers in any and every church.

This gifted teacher has bequeathed to the church a book that is a compelling read, an invaluable guide, a spiritual and theological treasure – and an urgent challenge. It is a book for everyone: clergy, laity, seminary students and non-theologians. It is not a book to be left on the bookshelf: it is a book whose warnings must be heeded and whose teachings must be lived. If the biblical truths exposed here with such clarity and urgency were put into practice, the church and the world would not remain the same.

The Most Rev Dr Benjamin A. Kwashi

Bishop of Jos, Nigeria

General Secretary,

Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON)

Editor’s Preface to Revised Edition

Copyeditors see many manuscripts and work with many writers. They do not always get excited about the books they are working on. So it is noteworthy that the copyeditor working on this book commented, What an amazing writer John Stott was! and returned the manuscript with a note saying, Reading the book was an enriching experience – such wonderful insights. He puts them across so beautifully!

Our prayer is that you as the reader of this updated edition will have a similar experience.

You, however, may be asking why it was necessary to re-edit an already published book by an amazing writer. The answer is that the writer has not changed, but the readers have, and so has the English language

When this book was originally written, readers were still steeped in the language of the King James Version and would immediately have recognised allusions to it. Today, most readers know only modern translations and will miss, or misunderstand, such allusions. Readers today are also used to much more succinct communication and shorter sentences. So in editing this book we used the well-known New International Version (NIV) and cut some long sentences in the original in two.

The readers have also changed in that they are now more diverse. Whereas John Stott wrote primarily for Western readers, today his books are read all around the world, often by those for whom English is a second language. Minor changes to sentence construction can make a book far more accessible to such readers.

At the same time as the readers have changed, so has the English language. Words that were once common are now seldom used, and he is no longer perceived as a gender-neutral pronoun. Accordingly, some minor changes were made to the vocabulary.

Those who loved John Stott’s originals still have them. But we pray that the changes we have made will take his message to a new generation of readers, and make them look at their churches, wherever they are in the world, with new eyes when they grasp how Christ sees the church.

Preface

What Christ thinks of the church is a question of great concern to all Christians. What we ourselves think of it from the inside and what others think of it from the outside are also important. But far more significant is the view of Jesus Christ himself, since he is the church’s founder, head, and judge.

From every standpoint the church is an extraordinary phenomenon. From its tiny beginnings in Palestine it has developed over the centuries into a unique multiracial, multinational, multicultural community. Other religions are rightly called ethnic, because they are largely limited to particular peoples; only Christianity can truly be called universal, for Jesus Christ has won adherents from every race, rank, and religion. Moreover, the Christian community continues to grow, in many places rapidly, even if sometimes its growth lacks depth.

So what does Christ think of his church? Fortunately we are not without the means to answer our question. For the New Testament contains much information about Christ’s purposes for his people. From his own words recorded in the Gospels, from Luke’s portrayal of the early church in Acts, and from the detailed instructions of the apostles in their letters we can glean much about the nature and functions of the church.

But there is another resource at our disposal which tends to be neglected, namely the book of Revelation. Its second and third chapters contain seven letters, each addressed to a particular first-century Christian community in the Roman province of Asia. Although these letters were written by John, it is claimed that they were given to him directly by the ascended and glorified Christ. Although their message is related to the specific situations of those churches, it expresses concerns which apply to all churches. By praise and censure, by warning and exhortation, Christ reveals what he wants his church to be like in all places and at all times.

The substance of this book was first used in embryonic form as a series of expository sermons in All Souls Church, Langham Place, London in 1957. It was then elaborated and published the following year. But now, more than forty years later, it has been thoroughly revised.

My prayer is that this book may help church leaders to grasp where Christ’s priorities lie. There is much here to call us to repentance and renewal, much to humble and shame us, much to warn us of the malice of our enemy, and much to incite us to fortitude and perseverance. May Christ speak again to our churches the truths he spoke to the churches of Asia centuries ago, and may our ears be opened to listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches!

John R. W. Stott

2003

Introduction

The revelation from Jesus Christ . . .

Revelation 1:1–20

The revelation from Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, ² who testifies to everything he saw – that is, the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. ³ Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near.

Greetings and Doxology

⁴ John,

To the seven churches in the province of Asia:

Grace and peace to you from him who is, and who was, and who is to come, and from the seven spirits before his throne, ⁵ and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth.

To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, ⁶ and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father – to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen.

⁷ Look, he is coming with the clouds,

and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him;

and all peoples on earth will mourn because of him.

So shall it be! Amen.

⁸ I am the Alpha and the Omega, says the Lord God, who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.

John’s Vision of Christ

⁹ I, John, your brother and companion in the suffering and kingdom and patient endurance that are ours in Jesus, was on the island of Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. ¹⁰ On the Lord’s Day I was in the Spirit, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet, ¹¹ which said: Write on a scroll what you see and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea.

¹² I turned round to see the voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned I saw seven golden lampstands, ¹³ and among the lampstands was someone like a son of man, dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash round his chest. ¹⁴ The hair on his head was white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. ¹⁵ His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. ¹⁶ In his right hand he held seven stars, and coming out of his mouth was a sharp, double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance.

¹⁷ When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: "Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. ¹⁸ I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.

¹⁹ "Write, therefore, what you have seen, what is now and what will take place later. ²⁰ The mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand and of the seven golden lampstands is this: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.

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