Holy Mirror

Revelation 2:23 I will kill her children with death, and all the churches shall know that I am He who searches the minds and hearts. And I will give to each one of you according to your works.

In the midst of all the letters to the seven churches, Christ is proving that He knows the heart. Here He is speaking to the church at Thyatira, where a seductress is leading the church and leading the men of the church into sexual sin with her. She has been called to repent, but turned her back on God. 21 And I gave her time to repent of her sexual immorality, and she did not repent. Christ is pronouncing the judgement due for the un-repented hearts that live in this great sin. What must be seen in all of these pronouncements to the churches, is that only God knows our true hearts, which drives our motives and actions in all that we do; Pslam 44:21 Would not God search this out? For He knows the secrets of the heart. There should be a reverent fear in us with the understanding that there are no secrets with God. These letters to the seven churches reveal the evidences of that Sovereignty, and with it should come holy fear.

When you look at your life in the mirror, what evidence do you see of Christ? These letters to the churches are a mirror to the churches of their good, bad, false, and true traits only known by God. This is a holy mirror that will reveal all is known of their hearts. When you look at your life as a student; what was the assignment of the teacher? Christ called you to be a disciple, to spread the hope found in him to all that would hear. Matthew 28:19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen. These were Christ’s last words as he ascended into heaven; when he returns he will ask (and already know), how did you do with the assignment. What evidences are in your life of the price He paid for your life?

Only two of the seven churches received no condemnation; Smyrna and Philadelphia. They exhibited grace and endured persecution all while keeping His Word and and honoring His name. They lived lives focused on eternity, and the promises found in the price He had paid for that eternity for them. They endured the trials of life for their short time here; they sought to keep true to the faith in the face of evil and persecution. As the faithful in Smyrna were told, they understood the promise to those that lived their lives faithfully to Him. They understood that this life was temporary, but what awaited them was eternal paradise after this one. Revelation 2:11b :He who overcomes shall not be hurt by the second death. A life that truly grasps this temporal, and the coming eternal, is a life that will reflect Christ. If you understand the price that was paid with a Holy sacrifice, you will do all that you can to live your life to honor that sacrifice. Anything less is found in these letters to the seven churches.