March 6, 2023
Timeless Messages for the Church
By Michael Youssef, Ph.D.
(You can now listen to today’s MY Devotional on Leading The Way’s daily devotional podcast!)
Read Revelation 1:1-11.
These days, it’s rare to get a letter in the mail. Friends and family are more likely to send you a text, an email, or a message on social media. So, if someone were to send you a handwritten letter the old-fashioned way, it would grab your attention.
Imagine, if you will, what it would be like to receive a note in the mail from your Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. You would pore over every word, savor every line, and take every statement to heart, wouldn’t you? Then I have news for you: There are seven letters from Jesus in the book of Revelation, and although they are addressed to seven specific churches in history, Jesus also intended them for you today.
In context, these letters found in Revelation 2-3 are addressed to seven first-century churches. However, these churches represent every church, everywhere, throughout all time. In Scripture, seven is the number of completeness, and so our Lord underscores the perfection of His Word to us through seven churches with seven distinct messages. As you survey these seven letters, you realize Jesus covered everything that needs to be covered.
Of the seven churches Jesus addresses, five were rebuked for tolerating sin—allowing their love for the world to overcome their love for Jesus. Through these letters, we see that if a church wants to stay in love with Jesus, then its members must stubbornly, deliberately, and unapologetically refuse to compromise with the surrounding culture. This was true in the first century, and it’s just as true for us who live in these last days.
Prayer: Lord, thank You for Your message to me in Revelation. May I keep my eyes on You and remember the wonder of Your love, that I might never depart from Your Truth. I pray in the name of Jesus. Amen.
“Write on a scroll what you see and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea” (Revelation 1:11).
Learn more in Dr. Michael Youssef’s sermon Letters from Jesus, Part 1: WATCH NOW
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