Revelation 2:1-7
“I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars:” Revelation 2:2
“But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitanes, which I also hate” Revelation 2:6
Yay, we finally made it to our 2d verse!
Jesus starts here with some commendations, some kudos, for this church. He had something good to say to six of the seven churches; only the church at Laodicea received no positive words from our Lord.
“I know thy works” Jesus knows. I have said this before: I am absolutely not any sort of Greek scholar. However, even cursory use of a good concordance and word study, or inter linear Bible, can really shed light on deeper meaning in Scripture. In this case, “I know,” means more than it might appear. This is not some gradual acquisition of knowledge Jesus is coming to. The tense seems to be more like, “I have known your works.” He knows them perfectly from the beginning to the end. It seems to me this harkens back to Jesus holding the seven stars in His hand and walking among the candlesticks. His literal presence and omniscience gives Him perfect knowledge of His churches. Because of that He can evaluate them perfectly.
After Jesus tells the church that He knows their works, He proceeds to evaluate them. I think we’ll leave off there and pick up next time.
August 12, 2019 at 12:40
I don’t mean to intrude but to add to your thought. If you look at Revelation 3:2, Jesus told the Church of Sardis that He has not found their works perfect before God.
The word “found,” is one that indicates that Jesus strictly examines and scrutinizes the activities of not only the Church of Sardis but all the churches. So, as you expressed, Jesus is giving them more than a casual glance. He knows (is completely intimate) with every aspect of the ministry.
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August 12, 2019 at 12:47
Patrick, you are never an intrusion. That’s one reason these are so short. I want room to talk. See? There are so many common threads in the letters!
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August 12, 2019 at 16:03
Reblogged this on a simple man of God and commented:
The second verse of the letter to the Ephesian church! Get to know this work. 😉
Daniel
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August 12, 2019 at 16:14
Thanks Daniel and I hope you had a good start to your week
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August 12, 2019 at 16:18
Actually, I started today with a migraine, but otherwise things are going great!
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August 12, 2019 at 16:20
That bites. I am blessed to have never suffered from those.
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August 13, 2019 at 04:06
Knowing Christ will evaluate our church; that’s sobering!
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August 13, 2019 at 06:42
It should be, but since don’t seem to care
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August 13, 2019 at 12:45
Sadly…
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August 13, 2019 at 12:46
Yep
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August 13, 2019 at 13:53
👍
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August 13, 2019 at 10:40
“His literal presence and omniscience gives Him perfect knowledge of His churches. Because of that He can evaluate them perfectly.”
Since we are the Body of Christ and members of it individually, (Romans 12:5) this is a GREAT point to remember that we sometimes (often times) overlook or just don’t think about!!
Thanks Brother. God bless for this teaching!
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August 13, 2019 at 10:41
Thanks for reading, brother, and your encouragement.
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August 14, 2019 at 06:49
Reblogged this on Broken Pieces and commented:
Another good study from Wally Fry.
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August 14, 2019 at 06:49
Thanks again for sharing!
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August 14, 2019 at 14:23
I enjoy the study of Revelation of Jesus.
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August 14, 2019 at 08:31
Amen! It wise to know that He neither slumbers or sleeps! All-knowing and ever present…be not deceived. Thanks for this series!
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