As we covered, the Lord’s messages to His churches are especially directed to the overcomers and that is the nature we must seek. We must not yield to opposition but resolve to do the will of God, regardless of the difficulty or the threats seeking to stop us.

     The seven churches the Lord addressed at the beginning of Revelation each had strengths that He commended them for, and all but one had major problems threatening their purpose as a lampstand. As we covered, the first church at Ephesus had lost their first love. Because of this, they were...

     This “revelation of Jesus Christ” contains some of the most glorious descriptions of Him, His bride (the church), and the age to come. Its conclusion is probably the most encouraging message in the Scriptures about the future. However, the middle of this revelation predicts some of the darkest, most terrifying events in history, along with the antichrist and harlot church. Yet all are part of the “revelation of Jesus Christ.” Why is such evil included in this revelation of Jesus?

     The “man of sin” personifies the sin of man—what we are without Christ. The deep darkness the church...

     Another pattern the Lord established when speaking to the churches was leaving promises for the overcomers in each church. Not all were overcomers, but His ultimate call was to those individuals. So, becoming an overcomer should be a basic devotion.

     Who are the overcomers? They are the ones who overcome. However, we cannot be an overcomer unless we have something to overcome. In the seven churches, we can be sure that they were the ones who overcame the issues the Lord had against their particular church. However, it is more than that. The ones who overcome the big...

         In the Lord’s message to the Ephesian church, we see a pattern followed in His message to each church, or church age. He begins with a commendation followed by a rebuke. Then He gives them a promise and a hope of the reward they will receive for repenting and overcoming their mistakes. This is called “a critique sandwich.” If this is how the Lord speaks to each of the churches here, isn’t it likely that this is the way He will speak to His people today?

         The Lord commended the Ephesian church for testing those who called themselves...

         This week, we will go a bit further in seeking to understand and keep our “first love” (see Revelation 2:4) of the Lord. This is so important that the Lord told the Ephesian church that if they did not recover and keep this, their candlestick would be removed—meaning they would no longer be His church. So, we should be sure to get this right before anything else. In II Corinthians 13:5, Paul exhorts believers to:    

       Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that...