The world seems smaller than ever before. With modern media facilities we can be in touch with anyone, anywhere, within seconds. We can find out what is going on anywhere and feel we are involved in the lives of others even thousands of miles away, as if they were just down the road from us.

This goes for the Church as well as the world. It is relatively straightforward, these days, to build up a general sense of the way the world is going, politically and also prophetically.

Yet, should we be careful? What God is doing and saying in the world is important to understand, yes, but it should not eclipse what He is doing and saying at a local level, within and to our own congregations and prayer groups.

The Churches of Revelation 2-3

Consider the letters to the seven congregations of Revelation 2 and 3. They were all reasonably close to one another in Asia, compared with the scope of the modern world. Yet each had a different set of challenges, according to location and their personal circumstances as congregations of disciples. The Lord had different letters for each of them.

The congregation of Ephesus was hard working, patient and stood against evil, yet they were called to repentance because they had lost their first love.

The congregation of Smyrna had suffered tribulation and the Lord knew that satan was about to bring more suffering, but it was the Lord’s will to let them suffer persecution for ten days. They were to have a testimony of overcomers.

The congregation of Pergamos were living in a very difficult area where satan had set up headquarters, but God still rebuked them for giving ground to false doctrine. Theirs was a spiritual battle.

The congregation of Thyatira were commended for love and good works, but had allowed a false prophetess to be a member of their community and to seduce some of the disciples with immorality. They needed to focus on this and put matters right.

The congregation of Sardis were known for their works, but God judged these works in a different way from the world. They heard the surprising message that they were dead, not alive, and needed to repent of dead works.

The congregation of Philadelphia were commended for their perseverance, promised a special protection from God and encouraged to continue as they were going.

The congregation of the Laodiceans were blind to their own lukewarmness and were at a low point in the Lord’s sight. They too needed to repent, but for different reasons than some of the other congregations.

Unique Messages Today

In our global community there are often tides of new and fascinating things criss-crossing from one area of the world to another. Within the Church, new formulae are always being suggested for what we might sing to please God, what we might focus on in our ministry or how we might be organised. Yet, just as in the early days of the Christian Church, we are all unique in the Lord’s eyes.

Surely then, now is the time for us to learn to listen to the particular word the Lord has to say to each of our congregations. “To the congregation of…write…”

In what unique way will God fill in the blanks for our congregation? We must be listening to Him directly if we want to find out.

Author: Clifford Denton