<p>2:23<em> And I will strike her children dead- </em>John's letters use &quot;children&quot; to mean converts or those over whom a person has pastoral authority. This lends support to the impression that Jezebel was in the leadership of the church, see on :20. This could have been a threat of literal death, just as Ananias and Saphira were smitten with death. Or the reference could be to the second death at the last day, the judgment for which was given by the Lord in this life when He perceived their refusal to repent.</p><p><em>And all the churches will know that I am he who searches mind and heart, and I will repay each of you as your works deserve</em>- &quot;I <em>am</em>... and <em>I will</em>...&quot; alludes to the Lord's manifestation of the Yahweh Name, He who is, was and will be. And He is <em>now </em>(Gk.) ordained as judge of living and dead (Acts 10:42)- and we should preach Him as such. He <em>is </em>now the judge of the dead in the sense that His very being and victory is in itself the judgment of all men. Those who reject His message right now are judging themselves. Note the parallel here between mind and works; this was at the core of the Lord's doctrine of the Kingdom, that the thought is seen by Him as the action. The Lord Jesus continually searches our hearts or spirit, in His function as &quot;the Lord the Spirit&quot; (Rom. 8:27; 1 Cor. 2:10; 2 Cor. 3:18). The extent to which this is true will be manifested in the Lord's final judgment.</p>