Doubtless, we’ve all read one or more of the 21 letters, or epistles, in the New Testament. In each one, the author was writing to a specific church, including greetings, personal names, and specific spiritual issues. The “mini-epistles” we find in Revelation 2–3 are shorter but otherwise the same. These letters from Christ are aimed at specific churches, while also being aimed at readers throughout church history, including us.

These letters include five main ingredients: (1) something about Christ, the author of the letters—typically a quality already mentioned in chapter 1; (2) something good or praiseworthy; (3) a weakness or area for improvement; (4) a call to hear and respond rightly; and (5) rewards for those who are “victorious.” Not every letter has every ingredient, but the pattern is consistent. While we cannot exhaustively discuss each letter here, we’ll hit the highlights.

The first letter is to the church in Ephesus (vv. 1–7). The believers there are praised for their hard work, perseverance, and hatred of wickedness and false teaching. But they’re admonished to repent of their cold hearts to return to their “first love.”

The second letter is to the church in Smyrna (vv. 8–11). This congregation is recognized for their endurance of afflictions and poverty, slander and persecution from others. Impressively, no weaknesses are mentioned.

The third letter is to the church in Pergamum (vv. 12–17). They are praised for being faithful and true under pressure, even to the point of martyrdom, though some do follow false teaching and need to repent. Culturally, the “white stone” reward probably symbolizes admission to the Messianic banquet (Isa. 25:6; Rev. 19:9).

The fourth letter is to the church in Thyatira (vv. 18–29). They do well in love, faith, service, perseverance, and good deeds, but they’re much too tolerant of a certain false teaching.

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