We are beginning to study the letters to the churches in Revelation, chapters 2 and 3, as a congregation. As the team is preparing to visit Smyrna, I am contemplating what it looks like when the Smyrna and Philadelphia churches meet the churches in Ephesus, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, and Laodicea.
I suppose that the answer depends on individual, personal decisions and how the Lord works in one's heart. Some are granted grace for repentance and some aren't. For those who aren't, do they become part of the "synagogue of Satan" - those who call themselves Jewish (or Christian) but lie, deceive or resort to political tactics and solutions? For the persecuted, God calls them to patient endurance to the end. They can't see how their endurance is a testimony to those who are apathetic, compromised, naive, asleep, or complacent. No one knows who may eventually repent.
Patient endurance means an open door that no one can shut (Rev 3:8). Jesus promises rewards that no one else receives or recognizes (3:12). He promises that this "synagogue" will bow at their feet and acknowledge that He has loved them (3:9). The ones who are appointed to be martyrs will never be hurt again for all eternity (2:11).
As we are preparing to take this journey, I am wondering who will encourage whom the most? We think we will encourage them to be strong and stand firm, while we are the ones with feeble arms and weak knees (Heb 12:12). I am praying that we will be as willing to receive as we are to give, that we are as willing to learn as we are to teach, as willing to give honor as we are to receive it, and that God will grant us all grace to endure to the end.
I suppose that the answer depends on individual, personal decisions and how the Lord works in one's heart. Some are granted grace for repentance and some aren't. For those who aren't, do they become part of the "synagogue of Satan" - those who call themselves Jewish (or Christian) but lie, deceive or resort to political tactics and solutions? For the persecuted, God calls them to patient endurance to the end. They can't see how their endurance is a testimony to those who are apathetic, compromised, naive, asleep, or complacent. No one knows who may eventually repent.
Patient endurance means an open door that no one can shut (Rev 3:8). Jesus promises rewards that no one else receives or recognizes (3:12). He promises that this "synagogue" will bow at their feet and acknowledge that He has loved them (3:9). The ones who are appointed to be martyrs will never be hurt again for all eternity (2:11).
As we are preparing to take this journey, I am wondering who will encourage whom the most? We think we will encourage them to be strong and stand firm, while we are the ones with feeble arms and weak knees (Heb 12:12). I am praying that we will be as willing to receive as we are to give, that we are as willing to learn as we are to teach, as willing to give honor as we are to receive it, and that God will grant us all grace to endure to the end.