Good morning!
Text: Revelation 3-4; Isaiah 57
The seven letters to the seven churches in Revelation 2-3 are remarkable. Each letter is to a church with some shortcoming. It has been said that a modern Christian might very well leave any one of them to find a “better” church. That said, I believe that those churches are indeed the pattern for all of the church age. Some are taken by false teaching, some by apathy while others are spiritually strong but impoverished…. and so forth.
Here’s the remarkable part. Check out Revelation 1:12-20 and you will find a full-orbed description of the attributes of Jesus and His relationship to His Church. Then, in each letter, Jesus introduces Himself using a few of those attributes. Those few are exactly what that particular church is lacking. For instance, the church at Smyrna is under persecution and at risk of death – Jesus says;
“And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write: ‘The words of the first and the last, who died and came to life. (Rev 2:8)
They are facing death, Jesus has resurrection life. Here’s the big deal in all of this: No matter the shortcoming of any given local church, Jesus has all that is needed. Jesus is our sufficiency. Jesus makes up for all of our gaps and failings. So, whenever we find a crack or a gap or a failure in our own church we need only turn to Jesus. He is our all in all! So, don’t seek the “perfect” church – but make sure to pick a church that seeks Jesus and makes Him the center of all.
in Him, Mike