“…we ought to remember just how exalted Christ is now, and yet, even with His exaltation, He is bringing us up to be exalted with Him, so that we too may have a perfect relationship with God. The exalted Christ is not One who is far off, nor will He be brought near (as if He will have to lose His exalted status to come down to our base state), but we will be brought near to Him. There can be no greater honour that a human being can experience than what we have in Christ.”

“Jesus truly loves his churches, and so he lovingly rebuked, commanded, and exhorted them to obey Him with all their heart. He desires for them to remain with Him forever…Each of the seven church’s situation is unique, and has a broad range of application for us today. We have, for instance, a theologically-correct church that has forgotten its first love (Ephesus), the faithful persecuted church (Smyrna), the internally compromised church (Pergamum), the externally compromised church (Thyatira), the seemingly vibrant but actually near-dead church (Sardis), the small but divinely preserved and effective church (Philadelphia), and the double-allegiances church (Laodicea). I believe that if we are careful to heed these messages from Christ, we could avoid many of the pitfalls that came about on those churches.”

“…while the church in Laodicea did not forget the gospel or what God desires, they simply compromised with the world around them, all the while claiming and affirming the gospel of Christ and His Word. In some ways the church in Laodicea was worse than in Sardis, since they both knew the truth, but chose to reject it anyway through their hypocrisy. Laodicea was not ignorant of the truth, but sought to hold onto the benefits and privileges of both the kingdom of God and the kingdom of the world.”

“…even though Christ promises to preserve those that are truly His, He still commands them to persevere and to be steadfast. Perseverance will mark those He preserves. May we not be self-deceived into thinking that God does not require any faithfulness, or self-discipline, or endurance in us. That Christ’s Name is attached to His own is not a point of chance, but is a testament to their perseverance. It is a reward for enduring. May we strive for this endurance with the grace that He supplies. If we are His own, then we will endure.”

“  In light of the corruption in the church in Sardis, we need to be diligent to test our desires, practices, and experiences by the Word of God. If God’s Word teaches anything contrary, then we must be willing to follow the Word over anything else. This may initially sound obvious or easy, but few often realize how much their own thinking and beliefs actually affect their faith. There are often so many untested assumptions in our beliefs that come to corrupt our faith and practice. Rather, in order to avoid becoming like the church in Sardis, we need to diligently test and affirm the truth with God’s Word, and reject all that is contrary, regardless of how precious those things may seem to us.”

“All sorts of perverse and wicked activities happened before idols, and some professing believers in Thyatira were regularly engaging in those things. Perhaps the worst part was that the elders and practicing members of this church were giving a blind eye to the life and conduct of some of its members. Sadly, many professing churches often do the same thing today. Rather than calling out the evil, and seeking for those practicing such evil to repent, many view the life and conduct of professing believers as their own business, which then allows evil to penetrate and invade the regular life of the church. Because the church in Thyatira was not willing to call out evil, the whole church bore the blame and responsibility for what they knowingly permitted.”

“At the root of the problem was the toleration of false doctrine and practice. So, those who want to claim that doctrine does not matter, and that we should simply “tolerate” other allegedly Christian viewpoints in our churches, actively oppose Christ, who personally holds such people as those who are in open rebellion to Him. What we need to realize is that every false teaching comes with a false corresponding practice. This cannot be avoided, since one’s doctrine determines one’s practice. Hence, Jesus said to such people, “Therefore repent. If not, I will come to you soon and war against them with the sword of my mouth” (verse 16).”

“The reason why Christ gave the church in Smyrna a glowing commendation is because they hold the desires and purposes of God over their desires for comfort and wealth. They were not willing to compromise—compromise which would demonstrate that they view those other things as greater than God. So, since they chose to follow God—even when it meant living in poverty and in tribulation—they therefore are said to possess great riches: true riches in Christ that are eternal and of infinitely greater value than what they gave up. They chose to give up worldly pleasures—pleasures that only last for a season—to gain true riches in Christ. These riches are inherently rooted in one being faithful to God above all, even when that faithfulness leads to poverty and suffering. They did not lose sight of their first love.”

“How can the church in Ephesus be commendable in doctrine and practice, but forsake their first love? The condition of the heart is the key to this love. It is very-well possible to hold to both good doctrine and practice and still be corrupt in heart…Jesus is addressing the whole church, which is a mixture of true and false believers. The false do not (and cannot) love Christ with their hearts, but can only practice good doctrine and practice without the love of Christ. This difference may be largely imperceptible to many, but there is always that distinction to be made in any church. So, the proper response of the saved is not apathy or thinking, ‘Because I am saved I don’t really need to change or repent,’ but, ‘Lord, save me from myself that I may return to you.’ The truly saved will turn from his evil ways. He will remember, repent, and do the works, showing a whole heart for the love of Christ. Don’t let apathy or laziness get in your way. Do not think that this message is not for you. It is. Rather than being self-deceived, repent and turn to Christ.”

“The humble and low Christ—who came in the form of a servant—is now the exalted and glorified Christ, showing His true form to all. For Jesus to place His right hand upon John showed His favour upon him, even with all of His great majesty and glory. Such are we in Christ. In Christ, we have nothing to be afraid of. Yes, we are to fear the Lord (reverence and awe towards careful obedience to Him), but not be afraid of Him (as if we lack Christ’s righteousness and God’s grace in salvation, which was designed to fit us for the glory of Christ)…the majestic glory of God in Christ—His presence with us—is what defines us as the distinct people of God. Without God’s presence, we are nothing, and so we are to live to Him in everything—giving up all so as to gain Christ as our most precious and treasured possession. All else can die a thousand deaths, as we kill all in us that opposes this end.”