Scripture: Revelation 2:12-3:6
To the Church in Pergamum
“To the angel of the church in Pergamum write:
These are the words of him who has the sharp, double-edged sword. I know where you live—where Satan has his throne. Yet you remain true to my name. You did not renounce your faith in me, not even in the days of Antipas, my faithful witness, who was put to death in your city—where Satan lives.
Nevertheless, I have a few things against you: There are some among you who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to entice the Israelites to sin so that they ate food sacrificed to idols and committed sexual immorality. Likewise, you also have those who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans. Repent therefore! Otherwise, I will soon come to you and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.
Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious, I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give that person a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to the one who receives it.”
To the Church in Thyatira
“To the angel of the church in Thyatira write:
These are the words of the Son of God, whose eyes are like blazing fire and whose feet are like burnished bronze. I know your deeds, your love and faith, your service and perseverance, and that you are now doing more than you did at first.
Nevertheless, I have this against you: You tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophet. By her teaching she misleads my servants into sexual immorality and the eating of food sacrificed to idols. I have given her time to repent of her immorality, but she is unwilling. So I will cast her on a bed of suffering, and I will make those who commit adultery with her suffer intensely, unless they repent of her ways. I will strike her children dead. Then all the churches will know that I am he who searches hearts and minds, and I will repay each of you according to your deeds.
Now I say to the rest of you in Thyatira, to you who do not hold to her teaching and have not learned Satan’s so-called deep secrets, ‘I will not impose any other burden on you, except to hold on to what you have until I come.’
To the one who is victorious and does my will to the end, I will give authority over the nations— that one ‘will rule them with an iron scepter and will dash them to pieces like pottery’—just as I have received authority from my Father. I will also give that one the morning star. Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”
To the Church in Sardis
“To the angel of the church in Sardis write:
These are the words of him who holds the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead. Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have found your deeds unfinished in the sight of my God. Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; hold it fast, and repent. But if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what time I will come to you.
Yet you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes. They will walk with me, dressed in white, for they are worthy. The one who is victorious will, like them, be dressed in white. I will never blot out the name of that person from the book of life, but will acknowledge that name before my Father and his angels. Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”
Devotional: We are continuing in our study of the letters that were written to seven different churches in the book of Revelation. So far, we have looked at the lessons that we can learn as a Church and individually from the heartless church and the suffering church. This week, we are going to look at the compromising churches.
Three of the churches that were written to were all compromising in some way. The church in Pergamum was allowing compromised teaching. The church in Thyatira was allowing compromised leadership. And the church in Sardis was allowing compromised zeal. I say “allowing” because not everyone was a teacher, leader, or lacking zeal. But they also were not confronting others when they saw compromise in this area. They lacked the courage to do so. But, in the letters to these churches, Jesus condemns them for this. We need to be willing to stand up for what we believe in and stand on the truth of God’s Word.
In order to do this, first and foremost, we need to live an uncompromised life for ourselves. Matthew 7:3-5 says, “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.” To be in a position of holding people accountable for their actions, we must look at our own actions and our own lives.
How has God commanded me to live? When people look at me, what should they see? How should I look different from the world? Am I living the way God has called me to? These are all good questions that need to be addressed before we can start confronting others. This week, we will look at what Scripture has to say about how we should live. Then we can make sure that we are pursuing an uncompromised life while being able to spur one another on to do the same.
Reflect:
- How do you feel about confronting others when they are living a compromised lifestyle?
- How do you think you should prepare for and enter these kinds of conversations to best honor God and the other person?
- Pray that this week, God would help you to see any areas that you are compromising in your own life.