The Lord's message to the church: "I know."

Revelation 2:1-17 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

2 “To the angel of the church in Ephesus write:

The One who holds the seven stars in His right hand, the One who walks among the seven golden lampstands, says this:

² ‘I know your deeds and your toil and perseverance, and that you cannot tolerate evil men, and you put to the test those who call themselves apostles, and they are not, and you found them to be false; ³ and you have perseverance and have endured for My name’s sake, and have not grown weary. ⁴ But I have this against you, that you have left your first love. ⁵ Therefore remember from where you have fallen, and repent and do the deeds you did at first; or else I am coming to you and will remove your lampstand out of its place—unless you repent. ⁶ Yet this you do have, that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. ⁷ He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will grant to eat of the tree of life which is in the Paradise of God.’

⁸ “And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write:

The first and the last, who was dead, and has come to life, says this:

⁹ ‘I know your tribulation and your poverty (but you are rich), and the blasphemy by those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. ¹⁰ Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to cast some of you into prison, so that you will be tested, and you will have tribulation for ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life. ¹¹ He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes will not be hurt by the second death.’

¹² “And to the angel of the church in Pergamum write:

The One who has the sharp two-edged sword says this:

¹³ ‘I know where you dwell, where Satan’s throne is; and you hold fast My name, and did not deny My faith even in the days of Antipas, My witness, My faithful one, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells. ¹⁴ But I have a few things against you, because you have there some who hold the teaching of Balaam, who kept teaching Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols and to commit acts of immorality. ¹⁵ So you also have some who in the same way hold the teaching of the Nicolaitans. ¹⁶ Therefore repent; or else I am coming to you quickly, and I will make war against them with the sword of My mouth. ¹⁷ He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, to him I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, and a new name written on the stone which no one knows but he who receives it.’

In today’s text, the first three messages to the churches in Revelation, we see one thing that is consistent in each of the messages; Jesus says: “I know.”  This is true also today, both for the church and for individual believers. Jesus is one with the Father and the Holy Spirit. He is omniscient. Jesus, the Father and the Holy Spirit know our deeds, our tribulation, our need and where we dwell. In Matthew 6:8, Jesus says:   “Your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.”     Jesus knows the good we have done and He knows any wrong we have done. He knows where we dwell, whether we have made Him our dwelling place or we have chosen to remain in the habitation of the world.    

To the church at Ephesus, the Lord says:   “I know your deeds and your toil and perseverance, and that you cannot tolerate evil men, and you put to the test those who call themselves apostles, and they are not, and you found them to be false; and you have perseverance and have endured for My name’s sake, and have not grown weary.  But I have this against you, that you have left your first love. Therefore remember from where you have fallen, and repent and do the deeds you did at first; or else I am coming to you and will remove your lampstand out of its place—unless you repent.”      The church at Ephesus was like many churches today. They were a faithful, hardworking church, enduring and persevering for the Lord. They tested those who claimed to be apostles. Yet for them, like many churches today, they left their first love. All that they did had become more religious than relationship. They still did the right things, but it was no longer out of love for God, it was no longer their loving response to God’s gift of salvation, redemption and reconciliation. Jesus says the first and foremost commandment is to:  “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” (Matthew 22:37) He says everything else depends on this. All that we do in serving others, in ministering for the Lord, in toiling and persevering is lost if we do it for any reason other than for love of the Lord. Even though there was no immorality or rebellion against God among them, the Lord called them to repent. So too must we repent, change the way we think, if our faith has become religion rather than relationship.

The church at Smyrna was a small and not well known church. The Lord’s message to them was: “I know your tribulation and your poverty (but you are rich), and the blasphemy by those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to cast some of you into prison, so that you will be tested, and you will have tribulation for ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.”     If there is or are churches like the church of Smyrna today, they’re probably not housed in huge buildings. They probably don’t look successful by human standards. They probably don’t have huge gatherings. The pastor probably gets little or no salary. They struggle and they are poor. But Jesus says they are rich. Jesus says:   “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Matthew 6:19-21)  Jesus doesn’t promise that things will get better here. He promises the crown of life to those who are faithful.  

Finally to the church at Pergamum, the Lord says:  “I know where you dwell, where Satan’s throne is; and you hold fast My name, and did not deny My faith even in the days of Antipas, My witness, My faithful one, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells.”     Satan dwells in the world. The church who is taking the message of the gospel to the world is ministering in Satan’s domain. There will be persecution against those who bring the Light of Christ to the darkness of the world. Like the church at Pergamum, the church and believers must not deny the name of the Lord, it does no good to be in the darkness if there is no light, if we deny our faith. The Lord also says this to the church:   “But I have a few things against you, because you have there some who hold the teaching of Balaam, who kept teaching Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols and to commit acts of immorality. So you also have some who in the same way hold the teaching of the Nicolaitans.”       We must be careful that while we associate and fellowship with the world and unbelievers, while we minister to them, we don’t incorporate their teaching, their beliefs, their traditions into the gospel. We need to guard against holding to teaching that tolerates and embraces immorality, manipulation and domination. The Lord says, both to them and to those who hold to those teachings today:  “Therefore repent; or else I am coming to you quickly, and I will make war against them with the sword of My mouth. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”    The sword of the Lord’s mouth is the truth of His word. Hebrews 4:12 says:  For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.    We can debate with each other, making arguments for our own interpretation of scripture, adjusting it to meet our own preferences and to hold to and tolerate the things we choose. But we are foolish if we think we can debate or war with the Lord and the truth of His word. Remember He knows. He is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.  “Therefore repent”

Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ; precious Holy Spirit help me to hear and see what is in these messages for me. Help me not to look at and judge others, seeing what they need to do regarding Your word, but rather pierce my heart, reveal to me any area in my life which needs repentance. I desire to love You with all my heart, soul and mind. I desire to dwell and abide completely with and in You. My desire is to be faithful, not concerned about the things of this world but rather to receive the crown of life, eternal and abundant life with and from You.   Amen