9 I, John, your brother and partner in the tribulation and the kingdom and the patient endurance that are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos on account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. 10 I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet 11 saying, “Write what you see in a book and send it to the seven churches, to Ephesus and to Smyrna and to Pergamum and to Thyatira and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to Laodicea.”
We must pause for another day at Christ's words to the Apostle. It is very impressive to realise that in the midst of the gathering crises of the end-time as recorded in the book of Revelation, the most important thing, and that which comes first of all, is a word of challenge and exhortation and teaching to the Church, not to the outside world. The concern, when events are gathering to their final climax, is with the Church, not the world. This is more in line with the general emphasis of the New Testament than we might at first imagine. Paul's epistles were written for the edification of believers, not as evangelistic tracts. Look at his prayers. They are almost all for believers, not for the unconverted. This does not of course mean that the New Testament is not concerned with the unconverted, and no one could think for a moment that Paul had not a burden in his heart for them. What it means is that both he and the New Testament writers as a whole saw that it is far more important to speak to the Church than to the world, for this reason, that when the Church can be made to shine as she ought, and be herself, then the evangelism of the unconverted will follow as a matter of course. It stands to reason that if the light that is in the Church flickers, burning uncertainly, those outside are unlikely to be enlightened. This is the real justification of a teaching ministry. Until the Church becomes herself, there can be little point in speaking of outreach. Outreach with what, if the light that is in her be darkness? Evangelism, rightly considered, is simply a question of making the Church to shine.
One further point is important here. John was commanded to write what he saw and send it to the Churches. This must surely mean the whole vision (not, as some have mistakenly supposed, the contents of chapters 2 and 3 only). The whole of the Revelation was given by Christ for the Church, and therefore all of it has relevance for the Church's life and experience.