Undisputably, there are lot of lessons to learn from the letters Jesus instructed John to write to the seven churches of Revelation situated in Asia.
To reinforce the significance of some of these lessons, I will list out and expanciate on just seven of them.
1. Not all Christians will die peacefully
Truth being told, being a Christian does not make you immune to the problems of life. Even our Lord and personal savior was beaten, spitted on, slapped, severly punished and nailed & naked to the cross.
Of course, dying peacefully is not a guarantee that the person will make heaven. More so, the way Christians die has nothing to do with their destination on the other side of life.
So, when you hear of the bad way an Apostle, prophet, pastor, evangelist or teacher dies, after being a devoted and righteous Christians for years, do not conclude, hastily, that the man of God is a sinner.
Elisha had become sick with the illness of which he would die. Then Joash the king of Israel came down to him, and wept over his face, and said, “O my father, my father, the chariots of Israel and their horsemen!”
2 Kings 13:14
As you’ve read above, Elisha, a man who got the DOUBLE ANOINTING of a man who never tasted death but was taken to heaven by a whirlwind, died of sickness. Intuitively, if Elisha could die of sickness, possessing such kind of anointing, no man of God or Christian should be judged based on the way he or she dies.
This will lead us to the death of Antipas at the Pergamos church where Satan dwelleth among the faithful ones.
Jesus told the members of the Smyrna church that the devil would imprison some of them. In fact, the tribulations will be so much that some would die in the process. That faithfulness to death guaranteed their crown of life. That, of course, is another confirmation that being a faithful Christian who belongs to any church (Redeem Church, Deeper life Church, Anglican Church, Methodist Church, Baptist Church, Salvation Ministries, Celestial Church etc) does not mean one will die peacefully.
2. Each Church, no matter how small, has its own Angel
He had in His right hand seven stars, out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword, and His countenance was like the sun shining in its strength.
Revelation 1:16
The mystery of the seven stars which you saw in My right hand, and the seven golden lampstands: THE SEVEN STARS ARE THE ANGELS OF THE SEVEN CHURCHES, and the seven lampstands which you saw are the seven churches.
Revelation 1:20
When John described what he saw after he looked back to see the person who spoke to him, astonishedly, he saw seven candlesticks in the middle of which Jesus stood and held seven stars in his hand.
Without asking, Jesus himself explained what the seven candle sticks and seven stars meant. He told him the seven stars were the angels of the seven churches he was sending him to.
That confirms all the Godly churches — Redeem Church, Deeper life Church, Anglican Church, Methodist Church, Baptist Church, Salvation Ministries, Celestial Church etc — has its own angel, including the smallest church among them, which was the THYATIRA church. This is the reason every member must ensure he or she doesn’t joke with the affairs of his or her church as being a bonafide member guarantees one's recognition by the assigned angel.
3. Satan has a seat in the best churches of the world
Of course, it is not a new thing for Satan to present himself wherever the children of God are presenting themselves before God.
Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them.
Job 1:6
The book of Job revealed Satan has been like that right from time. In that Job 1:6, Satan joined the angels in heaven when they presented themselves before God. Just as he did among the angels in heaven, so does he do among Christians in the church nowadays.
Onward, Jesus specifically mentioned that Satan has a seat in the Pergamos church. Surprisingly, this church was a faithful church, yet Satan situated himself there.
Conclusively, being a righteous church doesn’t mean Satan would not raise people up to persecute it as he persecuted the Pergamos church, killing Antipas, a faithful martyr (Revelation 2:13).
4. Jesus, himself, is taking note of the work of each church member
Significantly, all the letters written to the seven churches of Revelation started the same way. John, of course, wrote as Jesus stated the content of the letter to him. In other words, the same introduction given to all the letters with different content was intentional.
All of them started with the statement: “I know thy works,” to make all the members and leaders of those churches realize Jesus, himself, is taking note of all the works of each member, including the church.
In fact, from each letter, one can decipher the extent to which Jesus was taking note of the works of the then Christians as he was specific in his report, and in as much as he doesn’t change — Hebrew 13:8, Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and forever — he is definitely carrying out the same task of watching over every Christian today in all the churches all over the world: Redeem Church, Deeper life Church, Anglican Church, Methodist Church, Baptist Church, Salvation Ministries, Celestial Church etc.
Since he is the one taking note of each person’s work in the church, no Christian will be able to deny all report given about him or her when he or she is being judged in heaven.
5. The word of God is the only weapon Christians need to fight and conquer any battle of life
Repent, or else I will come to you quickly and will FIGHT against them with the SWORD OF MY MOUTH.
Revelation 1:16
Jesus is the only warrior that has never lost a battle before. Ever before the creation of the world up on till now, he has not lost a single battle. His kind cannot be found in heaven, on earth or under the earth.
Notably, as special as he is, he uses nothing to fight except his two-edged sword, which is the word of God, in his mouth.
If the greatest warrior, Jesus, uses nothing else but the word of God to fight and win all battles, I wonder why any Christian will depend on another weapon.
To show and prove its efficacy, he used the same to fight Satan during his temptation in the wilderness and he won.
As a Christian, if you are still losing a battle against your enemies, it means you are not using the greatest weapon — in your possession — known in the whole universe, which is right in your mouth.
6. Being the smallest does not make any church insignificant before Christ
As mentioned earlier, Thyatira church was the smallest of the seven churches of Revelation, yet received the longest letter among them.
In other words, Jesus doesn’t ignore even the small churches of the world. If you leave a small church to a big church because its membership is not impressive and seem the Holy Spirit is not working there, you are mistaken.
Jesus, in his letter to the Thyatira church, revealed just as he paid attention to the Ephesus church, Smyrna church, Pergamos church, Sardis church, Philadelphia church, Laodiceans church, so does he pay attention to the small Thyatira church.
7. Jesus is not in support of the leadership of some church leaders everyone holds in high esteem
The Thyatira church held one of their church leaders known as Jezebel in high esteem even though they knew she was a bad leader. Of course, we know that according to the leadership hierarchy of the church, prophets and prophetess come second according to Apostle Paul.
Having a bad leader in the church annoys Jesus except the leader turn a new leaf (Revelation 2:21). Not repenting is dangerous for the church as a whole as he or she can negatively influence members as the Jezebel did influencing the members of the Thyatira church to fornicate and eat abominable food, which were sacrificed to idols (Revelation 2:20).
Lastly, in order for you to learn more about about the churches in the Bible days irrespective of your denomination (Redeem Church, Deeper life Church, Anglican Church, Methodist Church, Baptist Church, Salvation Ministries, Celestial Church etc)
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