HE KNOWS US

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

“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.”

Revelation 2:18-19

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Do you know anyone in your life who knows every single thing about you?

I mean everything.

There isn’t anyone on this earth who has this power but as we see in today’s scripture verses, we learn that Jesus isn’t like any typical person who has been in the flesh and in human form. Through His very words, He tells us that He knows all that a person does.

“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.” Revelation 2:18-19

The first thing I want you to see here is that Jesus is addressing the fourth of seven churches specifically addressed in the early chapters of the Book of Revelation. So far in chapter 2, we have looked at his letters to the churches in Ephesus, Smyrna, and Pergamum. Today, we move to the church in Thyatira, also located in the Roman province of Asia, today modern day Turkey. As we have seen, these churches formed a quasi-circle and the letters have followed this circle in a clockwise fashion.

Now, with this we turn to the words of our Savior as He identifies Himself as the Messenger right away, “the Son of God whose eyes are like blazing fire and whose feet are like burnished bronze”, references to the power, might, and majesty that Jesus held. As the One who God had granted authority over all things. With this, when He spoke, the churches and their believers were to take notice and pay heed to everything He had to say.

So what did He have to say to the Christians in Thyatira?

The message was pretty clear right from the start for Jesus made sure that the believers there were fully aware that He knew everything about them. This included:

1. Their deeds.

Not one thing that the believers in Thyratira did was unknown, nothing in public and nothing in private. Jesus knew every single action, every single deed.

2. Their love.

When asked about the greatest commandment, you’ll remember that Jesus said it was to love god with every fiber of one’s being, mind and heart and soul. He then called on His followers to love their neighbors as themselves (Matthew 22:36-40). Love was central to who Jesus was and He expected that it would at the center of all His disciples as well. He is always watching to see that this is happening.

3. Their faith.

Jesus expected His followers to be dedicated to Him and Him alone, trusting Him in every way and in every circumstance. Their faith was to be steadfast and He if it wavered, He wanted His followers to know.

4. Their perseverance.

We have seen that persecution of the early Christian church was a main theme in these letters and here we find Jesus touching on the matter of standing strong in the midst of those who would stand against the Gospel and mistreat those who followed it. Jesus would know if the church failed to stay strong against its opposition and encouraged believers to persevere.

As Jesus finishes this first section of this letter, He validates the fact that He knew what the Christians of Thyatira were doing because He commends them for “now doing more than you did at first.” To this point, it appears Jesus somewhat pleased with this church but as we’ll see in tomorrow’s message, all was not well in Thyatira and Jesus will show that He knew all about it. But before we turn that corner, some self reflection questions:

1. As Christians, do we live our lives as if Jesus is watching our every move? How does this change the dynamics when it comes to how we choose to behave within every day we’re blessed with?

2. Since Jesus knows your every action, how would He grade the way that you behave, love, show faith, and persevere?

Jesus gives us His words so we can grow more in our knowledge of Him and this in turn helps us know how we’re to live because to be Christian is to be Christ-like. Let us all use this message today to examine ourselves and change whatever is needed to ensure our life glorifies and honors our Savior.

Remember, He’ll know whether we do or not.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.