"I know thy works, and charity, and service, and faith, and thy patience, and thy works; and the last to be more than the first." (Revelation 2:19)

 

Seven times in the letters to His seven representative churches in Revelation 2 and 3 the Lord Jesus says: "I know thy works". Whatever we are doing--or not doing--He knows!

 

Sometimes such knowledge can bring--or at least should bring--great consternation. He knows, for example, all our hypocrisies: "I know . . . that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead". He also knows when our outward display of religious activity masks a real heart-attitude of compromising self-interest. "I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot".

 

Of these seven testimonies of His knowledge, the central one is in our text. He knows when we really love Him, for the "charity" mentioned is nothing less than agape, or unselfish love. He knows all about our sincere "service" and true "faith" in His Word, as well as our "patience" of hope.