Our Letter

In Revelation 2-3, the Lord wrote letters to the seven churches of Asia. He started them by identifying Himself and then dealt with positives and negatives. Next, He gave some type of encouragement to be faithful. He then closed with an admonition that he who has ears is to hear which might be interpreted as, “Listen to what I have said, and encourage the good and correct the bad.”

Here is what He said to Ephesus (2:1-7): He knew their deeds and perseverance and how they had tested false apostles, but they had left their first love. To the church at Smyrna (2:8-11), He said He knew their trials and faithfulness, and He encouraged them to remain faithful. To the church at Pergamum (2:12-17), He wrote about how they had not denied His faith even in the face of death, but He had a few things against them. Some held to the teachings of Balaam and some to the teachings of the Nicolaitans. To the church at Thyatira (2:18-29), He wrote that He knew their deeds and how they were greater than at first but some tolerated the woman Jezebel. To the church at Sardis (3:1-6), He wrote that they had a name that they were alive, but they were dead. To the church at Philadelphia (3:7-13), He wrote that He knew their deeds and had put an open door before them because they had kept His word. To the church at Laodicea (3:14-22), He wrote that they were lukewarm, and He was going to spit them out of His mouth.

The thought comes to me: What if Jesus wrote the church I attend a letter? He would know everything so we could not hide anything from Him. What would He say? Would there be some positive things that we need to encourage? Would there be some negative things we need to fix? The question comes to me: If there are some things Jesus would encourage, how can I encourage those things, and if there are some things He would correct, what can I do to correct those things?