Revelation 2:26
And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations:

What is the refrain, the common theme of the messages to all the churches?  Faithfulness.  There was a way established—the way of the cross, the way of Christ, His truth that was given.  The church was to be built upon the work of Jesus Christ.  But then there arose false preachers and teachers and doctrines that opposed this established way and followed the ways of the world and the way of Satan.  Some things had crept into these early churches that didn’t quite line up with what Jesus taught and what He wanted for His church.

So those who stick to the true way are approved, rewarded, and praised for doing so.  Those who have turned aside in any way are admonished to repent of that, to turn back to the right way, whether it was the first love lost at Ephesus, the doctrine of Balaam or the Nicolaitanes in Pergamos, the sins of Jezebel in Thyatira, or the lukewarmness of Laodicea.  The local church wasn’t to be about whatever the people wanted to make it into, but it was to stand firmly upon the Rock.

And so what does Jesus want from His church and each local church still today?  Faithfulness to Him and his way.  He doesn’t want us to be overcome by the world, but, though Christ, to overcome all enemies and false paths.  He wants us to spread His truth, the pure message of salvation.  He wants us to be those beacons of light in a dark world that exemplify what Jesus Christ is all about.  We wants us to be sanctified and made holy as He is holy, and that means forsaking whatever opposes Him and His truth.

So, are we willing to be faithful?  Will we hold fast to the pure truth of Jesus Christ and proclaim that message alone?  Will we forsake those things that may have tainted our testimony a little bit so that Jesus is pleased with us and glorified by that?  The rewards will be great for living the kind of life that stands for and upholds His absolute truth, that follows His way alone.  So let’s not turn aside.  Let’s be diligent about it.  Let’s be faithful to our faithful Lord.