Christians are called away from a life characterized by sin and called to a life characterized by righteousness. What does this life look like? It’s a life that reflects the perfect character of Jesus.

You may have seen a sickly church that still boasts of its great history. It is an ungainly sight. Jesus was not interested in what the professing Christians in Sardis had done, but who they were today. There were so few true Christians left in that poor assembly. Yet, God knew who they were and He was not going to let them go.

As churches begin to re-open across Ontario, we have great reason to rejoice and give thanks. But this doesn’t mean we can afford to become idle in our walk in Christ. As our circumstances change, there are things we should always remember, always pray for, and always do for the good of the church and the glory of God.

Is there a Jezebel in our church? Can Christians really get taken up with the “Deep things of Satan?” There is more than one way to fail at this race. And when Jesus looks at the church in Thyatira, He finds so much good in them. Really, He does! And then He spots a glaring fault. We too easily miss the fact that tolerating sin will almost inevitably relax our grip on our Saviour. And that is not good. He wants our church to be hanging on tight to Him.

Nobody wants to be labelled a sell-out; a person who violates their convictions just to save their neck. But compromisers like this do exist. The problem becomes, what to do with them when they are in the church. Do we just pray for them? Should we ignore them? Should we scold them? Jesus looks at the church in Pergamum and sees compromisers in the membership. His response to this might shock you!

There are many things every church should seek to be, but perhaps none as daunting as setting their mind to be willing to die if that is what it takes to follow Jesus in their day. The church at Smyrna got that news from Jesus Himself. Would they be willing?

The Revelation of Jesus Christ is not just a piece of exciting and colourful apocalyptic literature, it is a letter to real churches. It is letter in which Jesus addresses those churches directly and spells out ways in which they are doing well and ways in which they need to immediately change. Each church is unique in her situation, but taken together, Christ’s instructions to these Christians gives a very good idea of the church we ought to try and be.