Alliance Witness, 1969.06.11, P.6-8.

WE HAVE BEEN talking about the failures and problems of the seven churches, but that is not the whole picture. If it were it would be a total defeat, not only for the churches but also for God Himself. The churches had strengths and victories which make glorious reading. There was always a nucleus of people within the churches who showed forth the power and triumph of God. Those people are challenging examples for us today.

Some found victory over limitations (Rev. 3:8). The church in Philadelphia had “a little strength.” It was limited in its natural resources. Yet the people obeyed the command of the Lord, entered the open door and fulfilled their mission. They had real victory over limitations.

The history of missions is filled with illustrations of how churches and groups with limited natural strength accomplished great things for God. They believed in the God of impossibilities. The Lord said to His small group of disciples, “Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom” (Luke 12:32).

The Moravian missionary movement began with a group of about six hundred people, but it developed under divine resources into a mighty movement which sent out 2,710 missionaries in 120 years to very difficult places all over the world. A page of glorious victory over limitations was written in church history.

If we wait until we have adequate natural resources before we begin making thrusts in evangelism we shall never start, because we never have enough. Our victory is constituted in obedience to the command of God, moving out in faith even with all our limitations. The first law of nature is self-preservation; the first law of grace is self-denial, and the first law of faith is to look away from self to God.

A grumbling church can never be a missionary church. Let us stop deploring our shortage of natural resources and lay hold on the same Lord who enabled the church at Philadelphia to fulfill its commission.

Some found victory over evil and impurity (Rev. 2:2). The Ephesian Christians maintained purity in conduct. They did not condone sin or impurity in their church. Rather, they held high spiritual and ethical standards in a prosperous but corrupt society.

There is no evidence that the city of Ephesus had a more favorable environment for Christians than did Laodicea. In all probability the inhabitants of the two cities were equally materialistic and equally polluted by the impure temple worship and festivals. Perhaps it was worse at Ephesus because of the famous temple of Artemis with its huge open auditorium known as one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. The Ephesians were fully exposed to the influence of Greek philosophy and mythology, fully subject to intrinsic evils commonly woven into the life of wealthy metropolitan cities. Yet while the Laodicean church sank in worldiness and materialism, the Ephesian church resisted and overcame the adverse tide.

It was a remarkable spiritual achievement and proves that victory is not determined by environment or social conditions. Christian purity triumphed over social corruption. This is a glorious testimony to the transforming power of the gospel.

The Ephesian church did not accept the moral standards of the day. The believers were willing to pay a dear price to withstand the degrading influences in their community. This has much to say to our generation.

Many modern religious theorists have succumbed to popular moral sophistications and deny the validity of Biblical morality. They say that love is the only guiding light in making a moral decision, that everything else is irrelevant. They substitute love for all Biblical precepts and rules, forgetting that, when undefined by principles and commandments, love is only a blind motivation. But love, as Professor John Montgomery has pointed out, must get its direction from the wise counsel embodied in the explicit commands in the Word of God.

The church is like a boat sailing on the sea. The secret of keeping it afloat is to keep the water out. The boat is indeed involved in the water, but if enough water is allowed to get into the boat it sinks. So the church should be involved in its community, yet it must keep out of it in spirit. When the sins of the world get into the church there can be only one result: the church sinks. It is buried, not involved, in the world.

Some found victory over “tribulation” (Rev. 2:8-11 ) . The Christians in Smyrna remained faithful to the Lord even in times of adversity and persecution. This reflects the quality of their spiritual life and the solidity of their foundations. The typhoon of trials could not shake them out of fellowship with God. This is glorious strength and victory.

The word Smyrna refers to myrrh, and this church had indeed presented to the Lord its King the gift of myrrh, just as the Wise Men did. What fragrance has the Smyrna church’s myrrh of suffering wafted down the corridor of church history! The great story of Polycarp’s glorious martyrdom at the age of eighty-six crowns the record of victory of this church.

“How can I deny my Lord who has loved me so much?” asked Polycarp. Those wonderful words of testimony before he was burned to death still vibrate in our ears! Indeed, church history will never be complete without these glorious pages of heroism for the Eternal King.

Our hearts are hushed with solemn gratitude and admiration before all those who have suffered for the sake of Christ. We owe them a debt that we can never repay. Today we salute all our brethren who are standing true to the Lord under persecution, and our hearts cry out to God for them.

What comfort there is in the gracious words of our Lord: “I know thy tribulation. I know thy poverty.” The Lord knows and that is enough. Does He really understand? Yes, sorrow and affliction, rejection and loneliness were His portion. He is the One who died-died the most terrible death-and rose again. He is now our merciful High Priest, praying for us at the right hand of God. He became poor for our sake, and we praise God for those who are willing to become poor for His sake.

The Lord did not say that He would remove the affliction and persecution. On the contrary, He told His followers that they would suffer. He encouraged them in the face of persecution. “Fear not,” He said. “In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” The only ground for our cheer is the fact that our Lord has overcome.

It is a mystery that the Lord has permitted His church to suffer heavy persecutions, but we are reminded of the heroes of faith recorded in Hebrews 11 who went through terrible experiences without losing their faith. They did not receive God’s promise by sight. Even Moses had to find his comfort and victory in “seeing him who is invisible.”

G. Campbell Morgan has left us a wonderful thought in regard to the Lord’s comfort to the Smyrna church. He writes that, to our great surprise, the Lord said very little in the way of commending the Smyrna church three words only, “Thou art rich,” and even they were parenthetical. But in truth He gave those Christians the highest commendation. He will see that the suffering Smyrna church reaps a rich harvest. He is the Author and Finisher of our faith!

He identified their experience with His own when He was on earth. This is our greatest comfort in tribulation. We are suffering with Him!

Some found strength to increase in good works (Rev. 2:19). The church in Thyatira increased in good works and the Lord commended those believers: “Thy last works are more than the first” (ASV).

This is a remarkable phenomenon of love-service. The usual path is downward – from an enthusiastic start to a colorless, spiritless end. But the Thyatira church traveled upward in its service of love. It was a wonderful show of spiritual strength and victory over self-centeredness. The Thyatira church was justly commended by the Lord.

Good works have always been closely linked with Christianity. They are an integral part of the Christian faith. Any normal growth of the Christian church carries with it the sign of good works. They characterized the ministry of our Lord He “went about doing good” (Acts 10:38). They also marked the early Christians. For instance, Dorcas, a disciple at Joppa, was “full of good works” (Acts 9:36). Hospitals, schools, orphanages, homes for the aged, relief-all these have been a real part of the church’s testimony to the love of God.

The movement under the leadership of Wilberforce to abolish slave trade, prison reform under John Howard, Florence Nightingale’s efforts to improve hospital conditions, the movement pioneered by Damien to care for lepers, the movement under Barnardo and Shaftesbury for child welfare-all were motivated by the teachings of Jesus Christ and initiated by concerned Christians.

Some found victory over false apostles. The Ephesian Christians realized the great danger of false leaders. They dared to unmask the pretenders for the good of the church. It was an unpleasant task because they had to stand up and oppose someone and thus be accused of unfriendly criticism. They had to do it, however, to save the church. The Lord commended them for it, and that settles the question for us.

Satan is adept at exploiting two situations. He either instigates headstrong diehards to quarrel over petty differences or he intimidates Christians into quiescence in the face of vital issues. The church of Christ has been plagued by both. Balance is absolutely essential for the good of the church.

We are told that the Ephesian church put the false apostles to the test. It is a very wise thing to do. What was the test? Evidently the Christians examined their sayings in the light of the teaching of the true apostles. They knew what the apostles of the Lord had preached; they had it in black and white. Yes, the apostolic preaching as we find it in the Bible is always the test for every theory and doctrine.

The Lord repeats His warning against dangerous teaching seven times in these seven letters (2:2, 6, 9, 14, 15, 20; 3:9). Is that surprising? Its repetition is in proportion to its importance. Sound doctrine is a vital issue. We must heed -the Word of our Lord.

Some found strength to toil patiently for the Lord (2:2-3, 19). The words “labor” and “patience” appear several times in the Lord’s commendations to the churches in Ephesus and Thyatira. This repeated emphasis indicates that the Lord recognized their perseverance in toiling for Him. They toiled without growing weary (2:3). These are precious words. Patient toil has been one of the outstanding features in the history of missions.

Dr. R. A. Jaffray, a well-known missionary in South China, Southeast Asia and Indonesia, suffered from a weak heart and diabetes for most of his life. In spite of these handicaps he would get up at four o’clock in the morning to meditate and pray and write articles for his Bible magazine. He designed a special kind of desk which could be pulled over his bed so that he could write while reclining and thus conserve his strength.

Henry Martyn walked in the sun in Persia in temperatures of 120 degrees to preach the gospel. Bishop Schereschewsky, the nineteenth century Anglican Bishop of Shanghai and the founder of St. John’s University, suffered from a stroke which paralyzed both arms. Yet he worked for twenty-five years to translate the Bible, using his only two unparalyzed fingers to type it in Chinese. His translation is sometimes called the Version of Two Fingers.

Christian workers of this caliber seem to be increasingly rare. But strong Christians in this “foam-rubber age” are a great asset to the church.