A few different "themes" jumped out at me as I read the Revelation passage.
The first one is the fact that God is all-knowing and therefore He knows, not only every word we speak and every thing we do, but He knows the motive behind it.
I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked men, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary. Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love. Revelation 2:2-4
Here the Ephesians were being commended for their hard work, perseverance, resistance to sin, knowledge and ability to test false teachings and enduring hardships without growing weary. But it seemed that all these good efforts did not spring from a love for Jesus and God called them on it because He knew the motives behind their words and actions. Without love, we are simply clanging symbols (1 Corinthians 13). Good works must be motivated by love.
I know your afflictions and your poverty - yet you are rich! I know the slander of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crowns of life. Revelation 2:9-10
God knew that the church in Smyma was coming up against some serious persecution. He could see through the deception of the Jews who were actually serving Satan's purposes, not God's. And He asked them to be faithful through the persecution.
He did not stop it. He did not save them from persecution. He asked them to remain faithful in their suffering. In light of eternity, their suffering lasted a short time, and they received the gift of the crown of life.
What faithfulness!
And what shame when I think how hesitant I am to share my love for Jesus with those around me, under threat of what? Ridicule? Being labelled a "Jesus freak"? Being rejected? May God give us a spirit of courage and strength to be faithful as He calls us to be faithful in the circumstances He has put us in - He knows all about it.
There are similar words for the church in Pergamum - God knows where they live and how evil it was. But some of them were giving in a little. This quote from my Life Application Bible really hit me....
Don't tolerate sin by bowing to the pressure to be open-minded.
How true does that statement ring out today!
And then in Thyatira...
I know your deeds, your love and faith, your service and perseverance, and that you are now doing more than you did at first. Nevertheless, I have this against you: You tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess. By her teaching she misleads my servants into sexual immorality and the eating of food sacrificed to idols. Revelation 2:19-20
The church in Thyatira was doing a lot of good things, but they were beginning to be deceived into thinking that sexual immorality was not a serious matter for believers. Oh, does that sound like today's society!
But despite what society would like us to believe, sex outside marriage always hurts someone. It hurts God because it's going against what He has created and intended for us to enjoy and goes against His Word. It hurts others because it violates commitments we have made to them. It hurts ourselves, sometimes affecting us physically, but always affecting us emotionally and spiritually because God has designed that all to be connected with sexual intimacy.
My Life Application Bible hits the nail on the head again....
Sexual immorality has tremendous power to destroy families, churches, and communities because it destroys the integrity on which these relationships are built. God wants to protect us from hurting ourselves and others; thus we are to have no part in sexual immorality, even if our culture accepts it.
God knows.
He knows where He has placed us and what our circumstances are. He knows what temptations we are fighting. He knows our strengths and weaknesses. He knows our actions, words, thoughts and motives.
And He asks us to be faithful.
Will we be faithful to the end, no matter the cost?
Tomorrow's passage: Zechariah 13-14, Revelation 3-4
2 comments:
It's funny how easy it is to forget that God not only knows our outright evil thoughts, but He knows about our motives, too ~ things that we often haven't really even given much thought to!
ROH did an AWESOME series on the letters to the churches a while back. There's some great significance to the way each letter follows roughly the same form, but is personalized for each church. I highly recommend it.
Great reminders and great post! I also particularly noticed a verse in Zechariah as well - "The LORD, who stretches out the heavens, who lays the foundation of the earth, and who forms the human spirit within a person..." - Zechariah 12:1
To me, this says "each individual person". Sometimes it's easy to forget that He forms our spirits individually. Sometimes it seems maybe He turns out batches, like cookies. Cookie-cutter people, cookie-cutter gifts and abilities, cookie-cutter weaknesses and struggles. This verse reminded me that He creates us EACH purposefully and individually. It makes me feel better about my struggles and weaknesses when I know that He also gave me... ME as an individual person... gifts and strengths as well.
Post a Comment