HEAR WHAT THE SPIRIT SAYS

During my senior year in college, I looked forward to going to my on-campus mailbox and getting my mail every day. That fall, at the suggestion of a friend, I began writing to a young lady I had not yet met who attended college in another state. Thankfully she wrote back, and for 2 ½ months we wrote to each other before we met. We met just before Christmas that year at the home of the person who had suggested we write each other. For the next year, we not only wrote, but we saw each other as often as possible. One year after we met, we were married. We have now been married for 35 years, and the person who suggested that we write each other is still our friend!

Mail from someone special is a wonderful thing. Today it has mostly transitioned to email, but if the email is from someone special you look forward to it. We read and reread mail and email from someone we love.

The church has received some mail from God. We need to read and reread what he has written to us, and we need to hear what he says. One of the places God has written to us comes in the form of 7 letters to 7 churches in 7 cities. They are the 7 letters to the churches in Revelation 2 and 3. Each one closes with the exhortation from the writer, “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” If we are going to be the church in an increasingly secular culture, we need to hear what the Spirit says to us through these letters. Here is just a sampling of what we need to hear:

(1) Jesus complimented the church at Ephesus for how they had persevered and endured hardships for his name and for refusing to tolerate wicked men. In the process, though, they had forsaken or lost their first love. While we still love Christ, sometimes the quality and intensity of our love becomes diminished with time. We lose some of the passion that we knew when we first came to Christ. Jesus says we should remember the height from which we have fallen and repent and do the things we did at first. Do you remember your early days of faith when you would do anything for the Lord? Does your church remember its early days when the people would do anything to build the church? Remember what those days were like, and return to your early zeal and passion for serving the Lord.

(2) In these letters, Jesus encourages us to be faithful through suffering. The church at Smyrna was about to face suffering, and the Lord encourages them to be faithful even to the point of death, and he will give them the crown of life. The church at Pergamum was already facing suffering. Their city was a center for the execution of Christians. Yet Jesus said he knew where they lived – where Satan lived. He knows when we live in the midst of evil, and he protects us with the “sharp, double-edged sword,” a powerful symbol for the power of life and death. If we overcome, he will give us eternal life. Christ knows where we live; he knows the community in which your church ministers; and he knows that our culture is becoming more and more antagonistic toward Christians and Christian morals. Does your church hold faithfully to the teachings of the Gospel, instead of succumbing to the teaching of the world?

(3) Jesus introduced himself to the church at Thyatira, as one having eyes like blazing fire and feet like burnished bronze. By using these images, the Lord sought to assert his authority over this church because they had tolerated the teachings of an evil woman who had brought her immoral teachings into their midst. Has your church allowed false teaching into its midst? Do you deal with it when it comes in? Jesus calls for us to hold on to what we have until the end. We need to work in the church to remain faithful to the teachings of Jesus and his Word.

The above is just a sampling of what is taught in Revelation through the seven letters to the seven churches. There Is much more to gain from these letters. If your church, if you, need insight into facing a difficult and antagonistic culture, read the seven letters to the seven churches, and ground yourselves once again in the teaching of Jesus.