THOUGHTS TO CONSIDER:

The message to the seven churches have one common theme: a promise to those who overcome. To overcome means to conquer, to get the victory.  The idea of overcoming is also mentioned in the following verses in Revelation.

12:11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.

17:14 These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful.

21:7 He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.

Are you an overcomer? Are you walking in the victory that Christ provides his people? Will you finish the Christian race even if it means loving not your life to the death? If you have been born again, made a new creation, given the Holy Spirit, and redeemed by the blood of the Lamb, you will be an overcomer. We see this by carefully examining the promise given to overcomers in each of the churches. Read them slowly and carefully.

Ephesus - To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God. 

Smyrna - He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death. 

Pergamum - To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it. 

Thyatira - And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations: And he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received of my Father. And I will give him the morning star. 

Sardis - He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels. 

Philadelphia - Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name. 

Laodicea - To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne. 

These promises are only made to overcomers. We also see that the promises are what every Christian receives. Therefore, every Christian is, and will be, an overcomer! This is because it is God who works in every Christian to accomplish his purposes.

We are overcomers, not by our own strength or determination, but by the blood of the Lamb. The power is truly in the blood of Christ and not ourselves. John also says they overcame by the word of their testimony. Albert Barnes comments on this with these words: "The faithful testimony which they bore to the truth. That is, they adhered to the truth in their sufferings, they declared their belief in it, even in the pains of martyrdom; and it was by this that they overcame the great enemy - that is, by this that the belief in the gospel was established and maintained in the world." Finally, we must not love our lives unto the death. Even in the face of persecution to the point of death, we must not love our lives more than Christ.

How do we prepare? By laying down our lives daily for the sake of others. By loving Christ above all else. By daily walking in obedience to our Savior. In other words, we are to work out our salvation, because it is God who is working in us to do His good pleasure.

Why wait for more difficult times to come? Be an overcomer today by humbly walking with the Lord. Walk in the victory over temptation that has already been provided to you as a follower of Christ.