The seven churches that Jesus addressed in this book formed what could be thought of as a mail route throughout Asia Minor. In fact, Jesus instructed John to write these letters so they might be circulated among all the seven churches. (1:11) Each church was addressed. The issues that Jesus had for each church was addressed. Our Lord made an offer to all churches for specific blessings if they would just have a positive response to his criticism.
In Revelation 1:20 Jesus explained the symbolism of the angels and of the candlesticks. It is likely the use of angels in this case leans more toward a messenger or pastor of each church. The candlesticks, according to this verse, represent the churches themselves abiding under the blessing of God. In Revelation 2:1 Jesus explains to John that his intent is to make himself present in each of the churches by saying that he walks among the golden candlesticks.
Make sure to understand the symbolism. Jesus is addressing the pastors who are his messengers. He is making himself known by his presence in each of the churches. So, we have seven pastors of churches where Christ walks among them. The startling concern of Jesus is the church does not fulfill its mission by obeying the Lord, he will remove their candlestick out of its place. In other words, the congregants may insist on calling themselves a church as they gather but they are not! Their candlestick has been removed for lack of repentance, for lack of doing their first works.
Jesus describes himself as having been kicked out of the church and standing on the other side of the door awaiting the invitation to enter. (3:20,21) Today Jesus is still waiting for the rebellious church to hear his knock and invite him back into their meetings. Without Jesus present among them, that all they have- meetings!
By and large, it has been assumed that the seven churches represented seven church ages throughout history in which some are faithful, but most are not. We need to take this as a warning for the modern church. Thousands and thousands of people flock to a building that they call church. Many of them are not practicing the doctrines of Jesus. Some have even promulgated their heresy with a self-deluding doctrine. Just because it says the word church on the lawn sign does not mean they are a real church.
Because many churches cater to emotional whims and adulterate the Scriptures for their own current trends, they are not biblical. They really translate the meaning of the Bible in its warnings and in its instructions to a different polluted purpose. They excite those who attend by what I call razzmatazz music. They are good at presenting a great program. With all their efforts and talent, they are unaware that Jesus has removed their candlestick. In his eyes, they are no longer a real church. Over and over in the seven letters Jesus called for the churches to repent.
It behooves a truly spiritually mature person to be aware of these warnings. If a particular church insists on being lukewarm, catering to the world, run from it as fast as you can. There is no reason to be associated with such a group because Jesus has removed their candlestick. If you are going to serve God in his church, it must be with a group of people that eagerly serve him without any compromise to the Scriptures. This is why a significant familiarity with the Bible is so important so that we might have a measuring rod for what is biblical, and right before the Lord.
Christian Writer 