Last week, my assignment was to meditate on the letters to the seven churches in chapters 2 & 3 of Revelation. After making all my studies and observations, I had to write an application. See my video review of this below.
How should believers apply what is written in those two chapters, where we read Jesus’ message to each church? There’s so much for us to ponder there! I hope you’ll read the chapters again, then consider my applications in this blog.
There are several ways in which we can apply this passage to the 7 churches. First, we should consider the picture they paint for us of the Lord’s constant oversight and awareness of the state of every church and by implication, every individual. He knows what we are going through and the struggles we face. He knows our areas of strength as well as our failures and weaknesses. We do not all face the same circumstances or challenges and we do not all have the exact same capacities in life.
What we do all share equally is the Lord’s presence with us and the promise of His provision for every need. We must strive to always live in the light of this reality, by cultivating our awareness of God and seeking His provision for us, knowing He is watching us and we are accountable to Him for what we do here. We will not all receive the same rewards, regardless of what we do, so it is important that we apply ourselves and strive to please God in how we live (2 Cor. 5:9, 10).
These churches were not all in the same condition. Most had at least some things they were doing that were commended by the Lord, and most had at least some things with which He was not pleased, things He warned them about. Two of the churches (Sardis, Laodicea) had nothing good to say about them, and two of the churches (Smyrna, Philadelphia) had nothing bad to say about them. All of this goes to show that it is possible to fail God, to allow sin or false teaching or apathy to creep into our relationship with Him, and it is also possible to excel, to be faithful, and to please God in all we do.
Surely what makes the difference is not some sovereign act of God over which we have no control, but is rather determined by our responses of faith and obedience to what He has provided. If this were not the case, what would the purpose of judgment be? If all believers automatically and with no personal initiative always did the will of God, why then would He commend some and rebuke others? Why would He warn against dangerous or sinful practices? The lesson here is that we must each “work out our own salvation with fear and trembling.” (Phil. 2:12) We must apply ourselves and appropriate what God has made available in Christ.
The various weaknesses and sins exposed by the Lord in these epistles should also be taken into careful consideration. All of us will probably face, if not the exact same kind of false teaching or wrong tendency, something equivalent to it in our day. The tendency for example, to leave our first love or to succumb to some temptation of the flesh or compromise with the world is present in or with all of us. We apply what we read here by being alert to these dangers and avoiding them.
Lastly, and related to all the above, we apply this passage when we consider that each church was told of the rewards which would come to those who would overcome. The fact that even the churches which had fallen the farthest were still given such promises should prove to all of us that overcoming or conquering is something even the weakest and most sinful believer can lay hold of. As quoted above, Paul made it clear that we are all more than conquerors through Christ (Ro. 8:37). But there are two sides to overcoming we should consider:
On the one hand, overcoming cannot be something only the elite or super-spiritual may achieve. If it were, such people would boast of their accomplishments. But the same Book of Revelation portrays the elders of God casting their crowns before the throne (Rev. 4:10). Surely their action is meant to show their awareness that anything they may have achieved in life was only because of the grace and provision of God. We do not therefore overcome because of anything special about ourselves. Rather, we overcome through the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony, as we confess and proclaim all God has done for us in Christ (Rev. 12:11).
What this means is that God in Christ has made an overcoming life possible and available. His grace is surely sufficient for us. We must never forget this! We must never allow our fears or doubts or the sin which so easily besets us (Heb. 12:1) to overcome us. We must not look to ourselves as though sufficient in ourselves for this, but we must always “wholly lean on Jesus’ name” and trust that He will enable us to conquer. His grace is made perfect in our weakness (2 Cor. 12:9), and it is our faith in that truth that enables us to overcome the world (1 Jn. 5:4).
On the other hand, however, though Paul says we are all more than conquerors through Christ, nobody ever conquered or overcame without enemies to confront, battles to fight, and challenges to face. We must not be surprised or discouraged that the Christian life is tough at times. Instead, we must face these challenges confidently, knowing that if we will listen to what the Spirit is saying to us, we can all certainly prevail. The means for overcoming are surely provided to us by God’s grace, but we are not to be idle or think God will just do this for us. We are responsible to take hold of what He has provided and use it. We must fight the good fight, and if we do, we can be sure He will enable us to overcome.
Well done Pastor!
Always appreciate new ways to receive the word of the Lord.
Thank you!