1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:08,100 So it's now April. 2 00:00:08,100 --> 00:00:15,940 We started our study in Revelation in January and we're finally in Chapter 2. 3 00:00:15,940 --> 00:00:18,180 And we'll go pretty quickly through these next ones, right? 4 00:00:18,180 --> 00:00:24,100 Because we're going into this fun section where it's Jesus' letters to the seven churches. 5 00:00:24,100 --> 00:00:29,100 And so these are more preachy than teachy, which is convenient that I don't have my whiteboard 6 00:00:29,100 --> 00:00:33,000 with me right now, but we're starting with these letters. 7 00:00:33,000 --> 00:00:38,080 And remember, he's writing to real churches in a real place at a real time and they're 8 00:00:38,080 --> 00:00:39,760 dealing with real problems. 9 00:00:39,760 --> 00:00:44,120 Each one is dealing with a different problem and in a different way. 10 00:00:44,120 --> 00:00:46,800 And he starts with this church in Ephesus. 11 00:00:46,800 --> 00:00:55,160 And this church, when I think of Ephesus, I think of a seemingly perfect church because 12 00:00:55,160 --> 00:00:57,600 they had a lot going for them. 13 00:00:57,600 --> 00:01:04,440 And it's pretty dangerous when you have a seemingly perfect church because there's no 14 00:01:04,440 --> 00:01:07,080 such thing as a perfect church, right? 15 00:01:07,080 --> 00:01:08,640 Not this side of glory. 16 00:01:08,640 --> 00:01:13,080 And it's really tempting for us too, right, to look at other churches and say, wow, look 17 00:01:13,080 --> 00:01:14,080 at them. 18 00:01:14,080 --> 00:01:17,680 They've got this, they've got that, they've got all these people, they do all these things. 19 00:01:17,680 --> 00:01:19,960 They look like a perfect church. 20 00:01:19,960 --> 00:01:25,400 But that's dangerous because looks can be very deceiving, right? 21 00:01:25,400 --> 00:01:31,240 Yes, he was, and then got passed to Timothy. 22 00:01:31,240 --> 00:01:39,760 So yeah, and I think of a church that was, that I had interactions with early on in my 23 00:01:39,760 --> 00:01:41,240 faith, I think Jordan would be familiar. 24 00:01:41,240 --> 00:01:43,640 There was a church called Morris Hill. 25 00:01:43,640 --> 00:01:47,080 And this church was a seemingly perfect church. 26 00:01:47,080 --> 00:01:49,120 I mean, just some data on it. 27 00:01:49,120 --> 00:01:53,560 It was planted in 1996 with 30 people, right? 28 00:01:53,560 --> 00:01:59,520 And over the next 18 years, it grew to 15 locations in 13,000 people. 29 00:01:59,520 --> 00:02:02,680 I mean, this was a huge church. 30 00:02:02,680 --> 00:02:04,720 It was one of the biggest churches in America. 31 00:02:04,720 --> 00:02:09,240 They had thousands of baptisms, thousands of salvatians. 32 00:02:09,240 --> 00:02:12,500 This church, they were theologically conservative. 33 00:02:12,500 --> 00:02:14,080 They were doctrinally sound. 34 00:02:14,080 --> 00:02:15,880 They were completely orthodox. 35 00:02:15,880 --> 00:02:17,480 They opposed heresies. 36 00:02:17,480 --> 00:02:19,200 They called out false teachers. 37 00:02:19,200 --> 00:02:23,240 I mean, they were as doctrinally sound as you could be, right? 38 00:02:23,240 --> 00:02:26,120 But not only that, they were full of good works. 39 00:02:26,120 --> 00:02:28,400 They were active in their community. 40 00:02:28,400 --> 00:02:33,600 They were constantly serving their community, their state, the nation. 41 00:02:33,600 --> 00:02:40,160 They started a church planting organization that still exists to this day and has started 42 00:02:40,160 --> 00:02:45,320 at this point hundreds upon hundreds of churches all across the world. 43 00:02:45,320 --> 00:02:49,440 So if you were to look at a church and you saw Morris Hill, you would think this is a 44 00:02:49,440 --> 00:02:51,040 seemingly perfect church, right? 45 00:02:51,040 --> 00:02:52,840 They've got everything going for it. 46 00:02:52,840 --> 00:03:01,400 And at the very height of their success, when they were just on top of the world, church 47 00:03:01,400 --> 00:03:03,960 closed, it's done. 48 00:03:03,960 --> 00:03:06,080 No longer exists today. 49 00:03:06,080 --> 00:03:09,240 And you think, how is that possible? 50 00:03:09,240 --> 00:03:14,520 How does a church that seems like it has everything going for it just shut down? 51 00:03:14,520 --> 00:03:16,640 Why did this happen? 52 00:03:16,640 --> 00:03:17,960 Because they were dutifully obedient. 53 00:03:17,960 --> 00:03:19,080 They were doctrinally sound. 54 00:03:19,080 --> 00:03:25,200 They were active in their world and yet they failed as a church and now they are gone. 55 00:03:25,200 --> 00:03:26,920 And that's kind of like the church at Ephesus. 56 00:03:26,920 --> 00:03:29,360 They had all these same things going for them. 57 00:03:29,360 --> 00:03:32,400 The church at Ephesus, they were doctrinally sound. 58 00:03:32,400 --> 00:03:36,480 They refused to conform to the culture and they were active in their community. 59 00:03:36,480 --> 00:03:38,400 They did all sorts of stuff. 60 00:03:38,400 --> 00:03:46,880 And yet Jesus says to them, you better straighten up or I'm going to put out your lamp. 61 00:03:46,880 --> 00:03:51,160 Jesus looks at the church at Ephesus and he's not pleased with them. 62 00:03:51,160 --> 00:03:52,680 And so that leads me to ask this question. 63 00:03:52,680 --> 00:03:56,320 If we're studying this passage together and you're reading all this, the question that 64 00:03:56,320 --> 00:04:02,640 at least comes to my mind is, well, when is Jesus not pleased with dutiful obedience? 65 00:04:02,640 --> 00:04:03,640 Right? 66 00:04:03,640 --> 00:04:05,720 That's a good question to ask. 67 00:04:05,720 --> 00:04:09,600 You look at what they're doing and they're doing all the right things. 68 00:04:09,600 --> 00:04:11,160 And yet Jesus is not pleased with them. 69 00:04:11,160 --> 00:04:15,480 So if we're looking at this and you're trying to walk with Christ, the question you should 70 00:04:15,480 --> 00:04:21,440 be asking yourself is, when is Jesus not pleased with obedience? 71 00:04:21,440 --> 00:04:25,560 And that's the question I want us to consider as we start reading this letter to the seven 72 00:04:25,560 --> 00:04:26,560 churches. 73 00:04:26,560 --> 00:04:32,040 Notice how he starts in verse one, Revelation chapter two and verse one, to the angel of 74 00:04:32,040 --> 00:04:34,360 the church in Ephesus, right. 75 00:04:34,360 --> 00:04:42,160 The words of him who holds the seven stars in his hand, who walks among the seven golden 76 00:04:42,160 --> 00:04:43,160 lampstands. 77 00:04:43,160 --> 00:04:47,800 Now, if you remember the last time we were together in Revelation, we had John's vision 78 00:04:47,800 --> 00:04:51,400 of Jesus and he said all these amazing things about Jesus, right? 79 00:04:51,400 --> 00:04:56,760 Well, in each of the seven letters, Jesus is going to start by referencing one of those 80 00:04:56,760 --> 00:04:58,600 attributes from the vision. 81 00:04:58,600 --> 00:05:03,240 And he does so here by saying he's the one who holds the seven stars in his hands and 82 00:05:03,240 --> 00:05:06,360 he walks among the seven golden lampstands. 83 00:05:06,360 --> 00:05:11,080 Jesus is going to start each one of these letters by telling the church something about 84 00:05:11,080 --> 00:05:12,080 himself. 85 00:05:12,080 --> 00:05:14,200 I want us to notice that. 86 00:05:14,200 --> 00:05:18,640 Jesus starts each letter by saying what we need to know about him. 87 00:05:18,640 --> 00:05:20,040 That's of utmost importance. 88 00:05:20,040 --> 00:05:21,800 Here's what you need to know about me. 89 00:05:21,800 --> 00:05:25,640 And what he wanted them to know first and foremost is that he holds the seven stars 90 00:05:25,640 --> 00:05:30,160 in his hands and he walks among the seven golden lampstands. 91 00:05:30,160 --> 00:05:31,800 So what does that communicate to us? 92 00:05:31,800 --> 00:05:33,680 What does Jesus mean by these things? 93 00:05:33,680 --> 00:05:38,160 Well, first he's wanting to communicate his power, right? 94 00:05:38,160 --> 00:05:42,440 He holds the seven stars in his right hand. 95 00:05:42,440 --> 00:05:43,440 What did that mean? 96 00:05:43,440 --> 00:05:50,280 Do you remember what the reference to the seven stars? 97 00:05:50,280 --> 00:05:53,520 You look back to Revelation 1 verse 20. 98 00:05:53,520 --> 00:05:59,920 What are the seven stars? 99 00:05:59,920 --> 00:06:02,800 The angels, yeah, the angels of the seven churches. 100 00:06:02,800 --> 00:06:06,920 So something interesting here, angels of the seven churches. 101 00:06:06,920 --> 00:06:07,920 What does that mean? 102 00:06:07,920 --> 00:06:08,920 Good question. 103 00:06:08,920 --> 00:06:12,280 You know, we'll have to ask Jesus when we get to glory. 104 00:06:12,280 --> 00:06:17,160 But because some people will say each church has their own guardian angel and a lot of 105 00:06:17,160 --> 00:06:22,480 it comes from this verse here where it says there are the seven angels of the seven churches. 106 00:06:22,480 --> 00:06:25,480 And so some people say each church has their own guardian angel. 107 00:06:25,480 --> 00:06:26,480 Is that possible? 108 00:06:26,480 --> 00:06:27,480 Absolutely. 109 00:06:27,480 --> 00:06:29,000 It is 100%. 110 00:06:29,000 --> 00:06:31,000 We should not be dogmatic here. 111 00:06:31,000 --> 00:06:37,400 However, in the Greek, the word that is used here on gloss is just the word that means 112 00:06:37,400 --> 00:06:41,440 messenger and doesn't always mean angel. 113 00:06:41,440 --> 00:06:42,940 Just means a messenger. 114 00:06:42,940 --> 00:06:47,200 For instance, it's used of many human beings throughout the Bible. 115 00:06:47,200 --> 00:06:53,240 In Matthew chapter 11, Jesus refers to John the Baptist as an ungoloss. 116 00:06:53,240 --> 00:06:54,720 He was not an angel, right? 117 00:06:54,720 --> 00:07:00,000 He's just a human being, a voice crying out in the wilderness, eating some locus, wearing 118 00:07:00,000 --> 00:07:01,240 some weird stuff, right? 119 00:07:01,240 --> 00:07:02,920 So he's not an angel. 120 00:07:02,920 --> 00:07:04,800 He's just a guy, but he was a messenger. 121 00:07:04,800 --> 00:07:06,920 He was the one who was leading the way for the Christ. 122 00:07:06,920 --> 00:07:11,560 And so the context of a word determines its meaning. 123 00:07:11,560 --> 00:07:12,880 So could it mean angel? 124 00:07:12,880 --> 00:07:13,880 Sure. 125 00:07:13,880 --> 00:07:17,120 But most likely what this is referring to here, messengers. 126 00:07:17,120 --> 00:07:20,000 Who were the messengers within a church? 127 00:07:20,000 --> 00:07:21,000 The pastors. 128 00:07:21,000 --> 00:07:25,840 Do you think it makes sense if Jesus is writing letters to the churches that he says, oh, 129 00:07:25,840 --> 00:07:30,840 by the way, I hold the messengers of those churches in my hand? 130 00:07:30,840 --> 00:07:35,000 That's some power right there, is it not? 131 00:07:35,000 --> 00:07:38,200 It's actually a challenge too. 132 00:07:38,200 --> 00:07:39,200 How does it challenge? 133 00:07:39,200 --> 00:07:42,520 Can you think of anything? 134 00:07:42,520 --> 00:07:49,840 What would it challenge? 135 00:07:49,840 --> 00:07:54,920 Challenges are our idea of who actually runs the church, right? 136 00:07:54,920 --> 00:07:57,880 I know of pastors who rule with an iron fist. 137 00:07:57,880 --> 00:07:59,520 Actually, I kid you not. 138 00:07:59,520 --> 00:08:00,760 I want this one even in my notes. 139 00:08:00,760 --> 00:08:02,480 This one's for free. 140 00:08:02,480 --> 00:08:08,000 This very day, I saw a video that was posted of a pastor who was exerting his power and 141 00:08:08,000 --> 00:08:09,480 authority in the church. 142 00:08:09,480 --> 00:08:11,440 He made a church member come forward. 143 00:08:11,440 --> 00:08:16,120 He literally told the church members, a grown man, to get down on the ground on all fours 144 00:08:16,120 --> 00:08:18,880 and start barking because he said so. 145 00:08:18,880 --> 00:08:21,080 And the man did it. 146 00:08:21,080 --> 00:08:24,600 And then the man stood up and he hugged the pastor and thanked him. 147 00:08:24,600 --> 00:08:27,160 And then he walked back. 148 00:08:27,160 --> 00:08:28,160 Yeah. 149 00:08:28,160 --> 00:08:33,360 If I ever tell you to do something like that, just tell me to get out of here, okay? 150 00:08:33,360 --> 00:08:35,480 I'm not qualified at that point. 151 00:08:35,480 --> 00:08:38,800 There are plenty of pastors who want to rule the church with an iron fist. 152 00:08:38,800 --> 00:08:40,920 It's their way or it's the highway. 153 00:08:40,920 --> 00:08:41,920 They know best. 154 00:08:41,920 --> 00:08:42,920 They are always right. 155 00:08:42,920 --> 00:08:47,400 They are dogmatic and they rule and don't you dare question them. 156 00:08:47,400 --> 00:08:50,120 And Jesus says here, that's my bride. 157 00:08:50,120 --> 00:08:52,080 Do you remember that? 158 00:08:52,080 --> 00:08:53,080 That's my bride. 159 00:08:53,080 --> 00:08:54,800 I'm the head of the church. 160 00:08:54,800 --> 00:08:59,160 I hold every messenger of every church in my hand. 161 00:08:59,160 --> 00:09:01,640 I run the church. 162 00:09:01,640 --> 00:09:04,320 So George's Creek, let me just remind you, I don't run this church. 163 00:09:04,320 --> 00:09:06,000 I've never claimed to run this church. 164 00:09:06,000 --> 00:09:09,360 I've always tried to tell people I have no desire to run this church. 165 00:09:09,360 --> 00:09:11,400 I will gladly lead this church. 166 00:09:11,400 --> 00:09:15,120 But the church is run by Jesus. 167 00:09:15,120 --> 00:09:20,600 Not me, not Jordan, definitely not Joseph, by Jesus. 168 00:09:20,600 --> 00:09:22,920 And Jesus is reminding us of that here. 169 00:09:22,920 --> 00:09:26,680 But there's something else he's reminding us of here that he wants us to know. 170 00:09:26,680 --> 00:09:29,640 And that's when he says that he walks among the seven golden lampstands. 171 00:09:29,640 --> 00:09:32,040 What are the lampstands? 172 00:09:32,040 --> 00:09:33,040 You remember? 173 00:09:33,040 --> 00:09:35,840 They're the churches, right? 174 00:09:35,840 --> 00:09:37,320 So what is Jesus reminding us? 175 00:09:37,320 --> 00:09:38,960 First he reminds us of his power. 176 00:09:38,960 --> 00:09:42,400 I need you to know of my power and my sovereign authority. 177 00:09:42,400 --> 00:09:45,280 But here, it's a comfort. 178 00:09:45,280 --> 00:09:47,240 The first phrase was a challenge. 179 00:09:47,240 --> 00:09:48,760 Guess who really runs the church? 180 00:09:48,760 --> 00:09:55,280 But this one is a comfort because Jesus reminds us that he is present with his people. 181 00:09:55,280 --> 00:09:59,480 That he is not some far off, aloof God. 182 00:09:59,480 --> 00:10:01,800 That's like the God of Islam, right? 183 00:10:01,800 --> 00:10:04,880 They believe in Allah and they believe that he's God. 184 00:10:04,880 --> 00:10:09,440 But the thing about him is, even within their own theology, he is distant and far and you 185 00:10:09,440 --> 00:10:13,360 cannot be in some sort of close relationship with him. 186 00:10:13,360 --> 00:10:16,240 Jesus says, I walk with my people. 187 00:10:16,240 --> 00:10:18,280 I am present with my people. 188 00:10:18,280 --> 00:10:22,200 And so you have this challenge and you have this comfort. 189 00:10:22,200 --> 00:10:27,720 And this is the point is that Jesus is wanting us to understand that his power and his presence 190 00:10:27,720 --> 00:10:32,560 in the church should visibly impact the church, right? 191 00:10:32,560 --> 00:10:37,880 If Jesus is powerful within the church and if he is present within the church, that should 192 00:10:37,880 --> 00:10:43,400 visibly impact our attitudes, our worship, and our actions, should it not? 193 00:10:43,400 --> 00:10:45,360 Let me give you an example, right? 194 00:10:45,360 --> 00:10:49,760 When I worked at Lowe's, they used to have this phrase and I heard it early on, I had 195 00:10:49,760 --> 00:10:50,920 no idea what it meant. 196 00:10:50,920 --> 00:10:54,640 But they'd say, hey, you got straightened up, we got company today. 197 00:10:54,640 --> 00:10:57,600 I'm like, people come in here every day. 198 00:10:57,600 --> 00:10:59,200 Is that what you're referring to? 199 00:10:59,200 --> 00:11:00,200 Like the customers? 200 00:11:00,200 --> 00:11:01,200 And they're like, no, we got company. 201 00:11:01,200 --> 00:11:05,880 And I came to learn that if someone said, company's here, we have company coming, it 202 00:11:05,880 --> 00:11:10,840 meant that the higher ups were coming, the district managers, you know, all the big wigs, 203 00:11:10,840 --> 00:11:11,840 right? 204 00:11:11,840 --> 00:11:12,840 Here's what's interesting, right? 205 00:11:12,840 --> 00:11:16,720 Like, I mean, I don't want to talk bad about any of my coworkers, but let's just say that 206 00:11:16,720 --> 00:11:23,000 they were not all as dutiful, I don't know if that's appropriate. 207 00:11:23,000 --> 00:11:27,240 They didn't all take their job as seriously as others. 208 00:11:27,240 --> 00:11:29,880 They didn't have the hardest work ethic, a lot of them. 209 00:11:29,880 --> 00:11:34,080 And so you'd see them lounging around and stuff and not taking things seriously, bad 210 00:11:34,080 --> 00:11:36,480 attitudes, joking, talking, all that kind of stuff. 211 00:11:36,480 --> 00:11:42,600 What was interesting though is when company was around, all of that changed. 212 00:11:42,600 --> 00:11:46,720 All of a sudden, all the slackers were just hard at work all the time. 213 00:11:46,720 --> 00:11:50,400 All the people who were in the break room, normally joking and goofing off and stealing 214 00:11:50,400 --> 00:11:52,720 time and all that kind of stuff, they were out on the floor. 215 00:11:52,720 --> 00:11:54,640 They were greeting it, oh, can I help you carry that? 216 00:11:54,640 --> 00:11:55,640 Can I take that to your car? 217 00:11:55,640 --> 00:11:56,640 All this kind of stuff. 218 00:11:56,640 --> 00:12:03,840 I mean, when someone who had power and authority was present, everything visibly changed. 219 00:12:03,840 --> 00:12:04,840 Does that make sense? 220 00:12:04,840 --> 00:12:07,680 And that's what Jesus is saying here. 221 00:12:07,680 --> 00:12:13,080 He's saying if I truly am in your midst and you truly do believe that I have power and 222 00:12:13,080 --> 00:12:17,400 I am with you, why don't you act like it? 223 00:12:17,400 --> 00:12:21,120 Why isn't that evident in your church gatherings? 224 00:12:21,120 --> 00:12:25,400 I wonder if that's evident in us, George's Creek. 225 00:12:25,400 --> 00:12:31,520 Do you think that we're a church that visibly shows that we believe Jesus is powerful and 226 00:12:31,520 --> 00:12:32,920 present in our midst? 227 00:12:32,920 --> 00:12:40,480 Do you think that His power and presence visibly impacts our worship, our attitudes, our decisions, 228 00:12:40,480 --> 00:12:44,880 the way that we talk with one another, the way that we talk about one another? 229 00:12:44,880 --> 00:12:48,080 Does Jesus make a difference in the life of our church? 230 00:12:48,080 --> 00:12:52,760 That's what He wants us to consider as He begins to say these things. 231 00:12:52,760 --> 00:12:57,080 So He wants them to know of His power and His presence, but He also wants them to know 232 00:12:57,080 --> 00:13:00,000 something very terrifying. 233 00:13:00,000 --> 00:13:02,880 Jesus knows what's going on in the church. 234 00:13:02,880 --> 00:13:12,080 Did you notice, look at verse two, Jesus begins and He says, I know your works. 235 00:13:12,080 --> 00:13:13,080 Now that's terrifying, right? 236 00:13:13,080 --> 00:13:17,360 I mean, I just think of all the bad things that I did growing up and thankfully my mom's 237 00:13:17,360 --> 00:13:21,160 here to testify that I never did anything bad, right? 238 00:13:21,160 --> 00:13:26,120 Okay, so when I would do something bad, the most terrifying thing mom could do is she'd 239 00:13:26,120 --> 00:13:28,840 come to me and she'd say, I know you weren't at school today. 240 00:13:28,840 --> 00:13:31,320 Oh no, how'd you know that? 241 00:13:31,320 --> 00:13:33,520 You got spies everywhere. 242 00:13:33,520 --> 00:13:35,720 I know that you left school early. 243 00:13:35,720 --> 00:13:40,240 The most terrifying thing she could tell me was, I know what you did. 244 00:13:40,240 --> 00:13:44,760 And Jesus says here, I know your works. 245 00:13:44,760 --> 00:13:46,200 But notice what He says about their works. 246 00:13:46,200 --> 00:13:47,600 I know your toil. 247 00:13:47,600 --> 00:13:52,000 I know your patient endurance, how you cannot bear with those who were evil, but have tested 248 00:13:52,000 --> 00:13:57,000 those who call themselves apostles and are not and found them to be false. 249 00:13:57,000 --> 00:14:00,200 So He says a bunch of good things about them, right? 250 00:14:00,200 --> 00:14:03,440 You would expect Jesus to say, hey, I know about your works. 251 00:14:03,440 --> 00:14:04,440 There aren't any. 252 00:14:04,440 --> 00:14:05,920 I know about your works. 253 00:14:05,920 --> 00:14:07,040 All the bad things you're doing. 254 00:14:07,040 --> 00:14:09,360 But He says no of your toil. 255 00:14:09,360 --> 00:14:15,040 And that word toil there, it's not just another word for labor or anything like that. 256 00:14:15,040 --> 00:14:21,720 It's actually in the Greek, it refers to the most intense, instrenuous kind of labor. 257 00:14:21,720 --> 00:14:23,080 So notice that. 258 00:14:23,080 --> 00:14:27,520 This was a church that didn't, they weren't content simply to write a check and say, I've 259 00:14:27,520 --> 00:14:28,920 done my work, right? 260 00:14:28,920 --> 00:14:33,440 A lot of churches like that today, a lot of Christians like that today, you hear about 261 00:14:33,440 --> 00:14:36,960 a mission trip, I could go or I could just write a check and that'll be fine. 262 00:14:36,960 --> 00:14:38,840 They don't want to get their hands dirty, right? 263 00:14:38,840 --> 00:14:40,480 They don't want to do the work themselves. 264 00:14:40,480 --> 00:14:44,320 They are happy to pray for the work, happy to financially contribute to the work. 265 00:14:44,320 --> 00:14:45,640 They don't want to get their hands dirty. 266 00:14:45,640 --> 00:14:47,800 Well, that was not the church in Ephesus. 267 00:14:47,800 --> 00:14:53,080 They were always doing the hard work themselves, the most strenuous kind of work. 268 00:14:53,080 --> 00:14:55,560 And so Jesus says, hey, I know about that. 269 00:14:55,560 --> 00:14:58,880 Not only that, He says I know about your patient endurance. 270 00:14:58,880 --> 00:15:04,480 And notice that Ephesus, you have to remember this, Ephesus was the most important city 271 00:15:04,480 --> 00:15:06,960 in Asia Minor where these letters are going. 272 00:15:06,960 --> 00:15:09,720 There's no wonder Jesus starts with them first. 273 00:15:09,720 --> 00:15:15,680 So the most important city was a city known for commerce and trade, a city of education. 274 00:15:15,680 --> 00:15:21,600 It was a city that was known to worship a lot of false deities. 275 00:15:21,600 --> 00:15:26,120 In the city itself, they had an entire temple to the goddess Artemis. 276 00:15:26,120 --> 00:15:27,520 They had a temple to her. 277 00:15:27,520 --> 00:15:29,040 They had a statue for her. 278 00:15:29,040 --> 00:15:30,680 They worshiped the emperors there. 279 00:15:30,680 --> 00:15:33,440 They would treat the emperors as if they were gods. 280 00:15:33,440 --> 00:15:38,160 And so if you are a Christian living in a culture like that, if you're a Christian living in 281 00:15:38,160 --> 00:15:42,680 a city like that, there's going to be a lot of pressure to conform, isn't there? 282 00:15:42,680 --> 00:15:47,760 If everybody in your city is worshiping at the temple of Artemis and they're calling 283 00:15:47,760 --> 00:15:52,720 Caesar God and you're not, what do you think they're going to do to you? 284 00:15:52,720 --> 00:15:56,280 Everything they can to get you to conform to what they're doing. 285 00:15:56,280 --> 00:15:59,680 And Jesus says, this church hasn't done that. 286 00:15:59,680 --> 00:16:01,320 They have not conformed. 287 00:16:01,320 --> 00:16:03,360 They are patiently enduring. 288 00:16:03,360 --> 00:16:09,920 It refers to steadfastness in the face of evil and to withstand pressure to conform. 289 00:16:09,920 --> 00:16:11,640 And so they were doing all this. 290 00:16:11,640 --> 00:16:14,440 They were standing firm for Jesus. 291 00:16:14,440 --> 00:16:18,160 And yet Jesus was not pleased with this church. 292 00:16:18,160 --> 00:16:19,960 Isn't that amazing? 293 00:16:19,960 --> 00:16:23,800 He's already said, you've done good things. 294 00:16:23,800 --> 00:16:25,120 You have not conformed. 295 00:16:25,120 --> 00:16:26,720 You're steadfast. 296 00:16:26,720 --> 00:16:30,920 They weren't pleased with them. 297 00:16:30,920 --> 00:16:35,920 And then not only that, notice too that he says he knows that they're doctrinal purity. 298 00:16:35,920 --> 00:16:39,160 He knows that they've identified these false prophets. 299 00:16:39,160 --> 00:16:40,280 They've tested them. 300 00:16:40,280 --> 00:16:42,640 They cannot bear with those who are evil. 301 00:16:42,640 --> 00:16:44,680 Notice, they could bear persecution. 302 00:16:44,680 --> 00:16:45,680 They could not bear heresy. 303 00:16:45,680 --> 00:16:47,480 Oh, I like that, right? 304 00:16:47,480 --> 00:16:51,160 I like a people who are just, they know that theology matters. 305 00:16:51,160 --> 00:16:53,400 And I've got plenty of shirts that say that. 306 00:16:53,400 --> 00:16:54,400 They know this. 307 00:16:54,400 --> 00:16:55,920 They know that theology matters. 308 00:16:55,920 --> 00:16:58,360 They stand firm, doctrinally. 309 00:16:58,360 --> 00:17:03,120 They are on high alert for any potential wolves and sheep's clothing. 310 00:17:03,120 --> 00:17:04,120 And they've tested them. 311 00:17:04,120 --> 00:17:07,000 They identified the false apostles. 312 00:17:07,000 --> 00:17:10,240 We could learn a thing or two about that today. 313 00:17:10,240 --> 00:17:11,920 I wish we would. 314 00:17:11,920 --> 00:17:15,760 A lot of people today going around calling themselves apostles. 315 00:17:15,760 --> 00:17:19,400 You see it on Facebook and social media everywhere else. 316 00:17:19,400 --> 00:17:21,600 And I'm going to give you a simple test today. 317 00:17:21,600 --> 00:17:24,120 If you want to know, you don't have to submit it in the podcast. 318 00:17:24,120 --> 00:17:26,200 Again, this one's free, right? 319 00:17:26,200 --> 00:17:30,160 How can we know if someone is a true apostle today? 320 00:17:30,160 --> 00:17:33,480 Or how do we know how to identify false apostles today? 321 00:17:33,480 --> 00:17:34,480 Great question. 322 00:17:34,480 --> 00:17:35,480 Let me answer it. 323 00:17:35,480 --> 00:17:39,280 Anyone who calls themselves an apostle today is false. 324 00:17:39,280 --> 00:17:43,480 There are no apostles today that ended with the apostles of Jesus. 325 00:17:43,480 --> 00:17:45,000 They are the foundation of the church. 326 00:17:45,000 --> 00:17:48,720 You can read that in Ephesians chapter two. 327 00:17:48,720 --> 00:17:49,960 Ephesians chapter four as well. 328 00:17:49,960 --> 00:17:51,520 Paul continues the same thought. 329 00:17:51,520 --> 00:17:54,480 There are no apostles today that office has ended. 330 00:17:54,480 --> 00:17:56,040 So don't fall for that nonsense. 331 00:17:56,040 --> 00:17:57,040 That's your free one. 332 00:17:57,040 --> 00:17:58,040 Now back to Revelation. 333 00:17:58,040 --> 00:17:59,040 Okay? 334 00:17:59,040 --> 00:18:01,200 Yeah, two free ones. 335 00:18:01,200 --> 00:18:03,680 Let's see how many more I got. 336 00:18:03,680 --> 00:18:07,080 The Ephesians could not tolerate sin. 337 00:18:07,080 --> 00:18:09,480 They could not tolerate heresy. 338 00:18:09,480 --> 00:18:11,200 I mean, even look at verse six. 339 00:18:11,200 --> 00:18:13,520 Notice what Jesus says in verse six. 340 00:18:13,520 --> 00:18:16,280 Yet this you have. 341 00:18:16,280 --> 00:18:21,080 You hate the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. 342 00:18:21,080 --> 00:18:26,080 So Jesus was saying that they were standing firm against these heretics, the ones who 343 00:18:26,080 --> 00:18:28,800 were trying to corrupt the church. 344 00:18:28,800 --> 00:18:29,800 They were orthodox. 345 00:18:29,800 --> 00:18:31,520 I mean, just think about this. 346 00:18:31,520 --> 00:18:32,840 You have to wrap your mind around this. 347 00:18:32,840 --> 00:18:37,440 You have a church where you think they're checking all the boxes, right? 348 00:18:37,440 --> 00:18:39,000 Are you doctrinally sound? 349 00:18:39,000 --> 00:18:40,000 Check. 350 00:18:40,000 --> 00:18:41,000 I've got it. 351 00:18:41,000 --> 00:18:42,760 Are you doing good works in your community? 352 00:18:42,760 --> 00:18:43,760 Check. 353 00:18:43,760 --> 00:18:44,760 We're doing the most strenuous kind. 354 00:18:44,760 --> 00:18:48,400 Well, are you standing firm against the culture and refusing to conform? 355 00:18:48,400 --> 00:18:49,400 Check. 356 00:18:49,400 --> 00:18:50,400 We've done that too. 357 00:18:50,400 --> 00:18:54,080 We've identified false teachers and calling them out and warning the church. 358 00:18:54,080 --> 00:18:55,440 Absolute we are. 359 00:18:55,440 --> 00:19:01,120 You would think Jesus says you're my favorite church. 360 00:19:01,120 --> 00:19:06,040 In fact, this is the only church that Jesus addresses where he threatens to put out their 361 00:19:06,040 --> 00:19:07,040 lampstand. 362 00:19:07,040 --> 00:19:09,040 Isn't that crazy to y'all? 363 00:19:09,040 --> 00:19:11,720 I mean, if we're just reading this together, you're reading the Bible. 364 00:19:11,720 --> 00:19:14,760 I always encourage you ask good questions to the Bible. 365 00:19:14,760 --> 00:19:17,200 The question that comes to your mind right now is this. 366 00:19:17,200 --> 00:19:19,720 Why was Jesus not pleased with them? 367 00:19:19,720 --> 00:19:21,240 You're doing everything right. 368 00:19:21,240 --> 00:19:28,360 How can he not be pleased with this church? 369 00:19:28,360 --> 00:19:32,640 And the point is this. 370 00:19:32,640 --> 00:19:39,440 Obedience to God, in obedience to God's requirement, is only pleasing when it flows forth from 371 00:19:39,440 --> 00:19:42,440 love. 372 00:19:42,440 --> 00:19:46,080 And that's the thing that the Ephesian church missed. 373 00:19:46,080 --> 00:19:50,160 They were focusing on all the actions, all the works. 374 00:19:50,160 --> 00:19:52,280 They were focusing on doctrinal purity. 375 00:19:52,280 --> 00:19:53,280 Good for them. 376 00:19:53,280 --> 00:19:55,280 Heretics, get out of here. 377 00:19:55,280 --> 00:19:59,400 But they had no love. 378 00:19:59,400 --> 00:20:03,040 The church had everything except the main thing. 379 00:20:03,040 --> 00:20:07,600 And if you have everything except the main thing, what do you have? 380 00:20:07,600 --> 00:20:08,600 Church? 381 00:20:08,600 --> 00:20:09,600 Nothing. 382 00:20:09,600 --> 00:20:12,920 Notice what Jesus said to them there in verse four. 383 00:20:12,920 --> 00:20:18,120 He said exactly this, but I have this against you. 384 00:20:18,120 --> 00:20:24,160 You have abandoned the love you had at first. 385 00:20:24,160 --> 00:20:27,720 I can't imagine hearing Jesus say those words. 386 00:20:27,720 --> 00:20:28,720 Can you? 387 00:20:28,720 --> 00:20:30,200 Let me think about your life. 388 00:20:30,200 --> 00:20:31,680 You're reading scripture every day. 389 00:20:31,680 --> 00:20:32,680 Good for you. 390 00:20:32,680 --> 00:20:34,720 You're participating in missions work. 391 00:20:34,720 --> 00:20:35,720 Good for you. 392 00:20:35,720 --> 00:20:36,720 Community outreach. 393 00:20:36,720 --> 00:20:37,720 Good for you. 394 00:20:37,720 --> 00:20:38,720 You're going to church. 395 00:20:38,720 --> 00:20:40,520 Good for you. 396 00:20:40,520 --> 00:20:42,760 You doctrinally sound good for you. 397 00:20:42,760 --> 00:20:46,240 Do you love Jesus? 398 00:20:46,240 --> 00:20:51,000 And are you doing all of those things out of a pure love for Jesus? 399 00:20:51,000 --> 00:20:52,760 That's where it gets hard, right? 400 00:20:52,760 --> 00:20:53,760 Anyone can go to church. 401 00:20:53,760 --> 00:20:55,640 A heretic can go to church. 402 00:20:55,640 --> 00:20:58,400 The devil himself could walk in here and attend church. 403 00:20:58,400 --> 00:21:01,360 It doesn't take a Christian to go to church. 404 00:21:01,360 --> 00:21:05,200 It doesn't take a Christian to give out a Bible, to give money to the homeless. 405 00:21:05,200 --> 00:21:06,740 Anybody can do that. 406 00:21:06,740 --> 00:21:11,360 The question is, are you doing the things that you do out of a love for Jesus and what 407 00:21:11,360 --> 00:21:12,880 He has done for you? 408 00:21:12,880 --> 00:21:17,360 Because if not, Jesus says you're no better than the church in Ephesus. 409 00:21:17,360 --> 00:21:23,120 If you have everything except the main thing, you have nothing. 410 00:21:23,120 --> 00:21:30,040 Jesus said in John 1335, by this all people will know that you are my disciples if you 411 00:21:30,040 --> 00:21:33,160 love one another. 412 00:21:33,160 --> 00:21:41,520 If a church does not have love for God and love for others, is that a church? 413 00:21:41,520 --> 00:21:46,080 What did Jesus say were the first two and most important commandments? 414 00:21:46,080 --> 00:21:49,240 Most important commandment? 415 00:21:49,240 --> 00:21:51,200 Love the Lord your God. 416 00:21:51,200 --> 00:21:53,240 The second one's pretty similar to it. 417 00:21:53,240 --> 00:21:55,520 What is it? 418 00:21:55,520 --> 00:21:57,600 Love your neighbor as yourself. 419 00:21:57,600 --> 00:21:59,120 Love God. 420 00:21:59,120 --> 00:22:00,600 Love others. 421 00:22:00,600 --> 00:22:05,760 If a church doesn't have that, can they even be called a church? 422 00:22:05,760 --> 00:22:07,480 Makes you think, right? 423 00:22:07,480 --> 00:22:09,760 I mean, look at the church of Ephesus. 424 00:22:09,760 --> 00:22:14,680 They had all these other things that you would think these mark this as a church, but they 425 00:22:14,680 --> 00:22:21,160 had abandoned their love of God and love of others. 426 00:22:21,160 --> 00:22:24,040 You see, the church in Ephesus had become a church. 427 00:22:24,040 --> 00:22:27,120 I hope our church never becomes like this. 428 00:22:27,120 --> 00:22:32,560 They were a church where the Pharisees would feel right at home. 429 00:22:32,560 --> 00:22:36,000 The Pharisees would feel comfortable in the church of Ephesus. 430 00:22:36,000 --> 00:22:38,880 Now, this is a church that's rigorous. 431 00:22:38,880 --> 00:22:40,640 Oh, yeah. 432 00:22:40,640 --> 00:22:43,440 This is a church that studies the Scriptures in your Orthodox. 433 00:22:43,440 --> 00:22:44,440 Oh, yeah. 434 00:22:44,440 --> 00:22:46,400 This is a church where you don't permit heretics. 435 00:22:46,400 --> 00:22:47,400 Oh, yeah. 436 00:22:47,400 --> 00:22:50,560 This is a church where you're going and doing a bunch of stuff and other people can see 437 00:22:50,560 --> 00:22:52,160 you do a bunch of stuff. 438 00:22:52,160 --> 00:22:53,160 Oh, yeah. 439 00:22:53,160 --> 00:22:55,960 Sign me up. 440 00:22:55,960 --> 00:22:59,760 This is a church where you don't actually have to have a close relationship with Jesus 441 00:22:59,760 --> 00:23:05,400 and not be visible to everybody, where you can disconnect all of the religious activities 442 00:23:05,400 --> 00:23:07,960 from the person who saved you from your sins. 443 00:23:07,960 --> 00:23:09,200 Oh, yeah. 444 00:23:09,200 --> 00:23:11,120 Sign me up for that. 445 00:23:11,120 --> 00:23:16,560 Isn't that scary when a church becomes a type of church where the Pharisees would feel 446 00:23:16,560 --> 00:23:19,920 very comfortable being members there? 447 00:23:19,920 --> 00:23:22,920 I hope our church never becomes that. 448 00:23:22,920 --> 00:23:29,280 I hope a Pharisee hates our church where they would never feel comfortable here because we 449 00:23:29,280 --> 00:23:33,840 are so devoted to God and have so much love for God and love for others that it makes 450 00:23:33,840 --> 00:23:37,840 others uncomfortable. 451 00:23:37,840 --> 00:23:41,160 That's what happened to the church in Ephesus. 452 00:23:41,160 --> 00:23:44,640 You might say, well, is it really that serious? 453 00:23:44,640 --> 00:23:47,840 You know, I mean, we're going on and on about this, but is it really that serious? 454 00:23:47,840 --> 00:23:48,840 I think it is. 455 00:23:48,840 --> 00:23:52,080 Notice what Jesus said in verse five. 456 00:23:52,080 --> 00:23:55,920 He said, remember therefore from where you have fallen, repent and do the work you did 457 00:23:55,920 --> 00:23:56,920 at first. 458 00:23:56,920 --> 00:24:03,080 If not, I will come to remove your lampstand from its place unless you repent. 459 00:24:03,080 --> 00:24:06,240 The only church, there's churches that are going to be conforming. 460 00:24:06,240 --> 00:24:08,400 There are churches that are going to be tolerating sin. 461 00:24:08,400 --> 00:24:13,640 There's a church that's called the dead church, and yet this is the only one that Jesus says, 462 00:24:13,640 --> 00:24:18,120 I will remove your church. 463 00:24:18,120 --> 00:24:20,560 That makes you think, doesn't it? 464 00:24:20,560 --> 00:24:24,840 But Jesus seems to hate hypocrisy more than even all these other things. 465 00:24:24,840 --> 00:24:29,680 You see, that's why I mentioned the church at Morris Hill at the beginning. 466 00:24:29,680 --> 00:24:36,600 It's because the main reason they shut down is because they abandoned their first love. 467 00:24:36,600 --> 00:24:40,000 The pastor no longer had love for God and love for others. 468 00:24:40,000 --> 00:24:42,800 He was one of those who was rolling with an iron fist. 469 00:24:42,800 --> 00:24:48,040 He was kicking people out of the church, telling people they couldn't be members or like elders 470 00:24:48,040 --> 00:24:52,360 or deacons because they were overweight, they wouldn't fit the brand of the church. 471 00:24:52,360 --> 00:24:57,920 He started just doing all these abusing people, cussing people out, just all sorts of heinous 472 00:24:57,920 --> 00:25:01,680 things, and it stemmed from abandoning your first love. 473 00:25:01,680 --> 00:25:05,080 When you abandon love for God and love for others, you're no longer in a church. 474 00:25:05,080 --> 00:25:08,840 You're in a community, and you're having some sort of social gathering, but it is not a 475 00:25:08,840 --> 00:25:10,000 church. 476 00:25:10,000 --> 00:25:13,800 And that same thing is happening all around even our county today. 477 00:25:13,800 --> 00:25:14,800 There are multiple churches. 478 00:25:14,800 --> 00:25:19,760 There's like nine or 10 churches in our own county who have either shut down or are about 479 00:25:19,760 --> 00:25:23,400 to shut down because they abandoned their first love. 480 00:25:23,400 --> 00:25:26,200 They lost their love for God and love for others. 481 00:25:26,200 --> 00:25:32,120 If that's not what fuels a church, you've lost your fire. 482 00:25:32,120 --> 00:25:34,600 So then this leads to that question. 483 00:25:34,600 --> 00:25:37,600 What can a church do? 484 00:25:37,600 --> 00:25:42,800 If you're in this situation and you're thinking, my church might be going down that path, we 485 00:25:42,800 --> 00:25:45,400 might have abandoned our first love, what hope is it? 486 00:25:45,400 --> 00:25:46,400 What can we do? 487 00:25:46,400 --> 00:25:47,640 And I want you to notice what Jesus says. 488 00:25:47,640 --> 00:25:49,680 He says three things here. 489 00:25:49,680 --> 00:25:53,040 First and foremost, he says remember. 490 00:25:53,040 --> 00:25:57,880 He says remember therefore from where you have fallen. 491 00:25:57,880 --> 00:26:03,480 And actually in the Greek here, it's written in a tense that means keep on remembering. 492 00:26:03,480 --> 00:26:07,720 Never stop remembering from where you are falling. 493 00:26:07,720 --> 00:26:13,280 He's saying think back to that great love of God you experienced in those early days 494 00:26:13,280 --> 00:26:14,280 of salvation. 495 00:26:14,280 --> 00:26:16,760 Are those sweet memories for you? 496 00:26:16,760 --> 00:26:17,760 They are for me. 497 00:26:17,760 --> 00:26:23,000 When I look back on just that first week, first couple months of salvation, I don't know 498 00:26:23,000 --> 00:26:24,600 if there's a sweeter time in my life. 499 00:26:24,600 --> 00:26:28,680 I mean, I was just in love with the Lord, everything about my life. 500 00:26:28,680 --> 00:26:32,080 I was just reading the Bible all day long, writing scripture for people, taking it to 501 00:26:32,080 --> 00:26:33,080 people. 502 00:26:33,080 --> 00:26:38,320 I was just obsessed and it was beautiful and it was great. 503 00:26:38,320 --> 00:26:39,960 And then life happens, right? 504 00:26:39,960 --> 00:26:42,000 And a lot of that gets removed. 505 00:26:42,000 --> 00:26:48,240 A lot of that becomes harder to maintain because you're just so enveloped in life. 506 00:26:48,240 --> 00:26:51,560 And Jesus is saying here, I'm the same God. 507 00:26:51,560 --> 00:26:53,600 I'm the same Savior. 508 00:26:53,600 --> 00:26:55,880 Remember from where you have fallen. 509 00:26:55,880 --> 00:26:58,680 Remember how great salvation is. 510 00:26:58,680 --> 00:27:03,160 Things like David said in the Psalms restore to me the joy of my salvation. 511 00:27:03,160 --> 00:27:07,920 I don't think hardly anything will rekindle our love for God and others like remembering 512 00:27:07,920 --> 00:27:12,560 those first days of salvation and remembering how sweet it is. 513 00:27:12,560 --> 00:27:17,800 I know they say that like familiarity breeds contempt, but with God familiarity just breeds 514 00:27:17,800 --> 00:27:19,680 more love for God. 515 00:27:19,680 --> 00:27:26,400 The more you know him and you walk with him and you see who he is, the more it just fuels 516 00:27:26,400 --> 00:27:29,680 that fire and that love for him. 517 00:27:29,680 --> 00:27:33,400 And so he says keep on remembering and never forget. 518 00:27:33,400 --> 00:27:38,320 But the other thing he says here, notice again in verse 5, he says to repent. 519 00:27:38,320 --> 00:27:40,120 To repent, that's what you must do. 520 00:27:40,120 --> 00:27:44,760 It means to again turn away from your sins, to turn in a commitment to God. 521 00:27:44,760 --> 00:27:48,920 And in order to do that we need to know what things that are that lured us away in the 522 00:27:48,920 --> 00:27:50,760 first place, right? 523 00:27:50,760 --> 00:27:55,840 If Jesus is calling us to repentance, it means that we have chosen something else over him. 524 00:27:55,840 --> 00:28:00,400 And so what we need to do is identify the things in our lives that are taking away our 525 00:28:00,400 --> 00:28:02,840 love for Jesus. 526 00:28:02,840 --> 00:28:05,760 What's taking away our time with Jesus? 527 00:28:05,760 --> 00:28:11,120 What's taking away our commitment to prayer and communing with Jesus? 528 00:28:11,120 --> 00:28:16,000 What's taking away our time from getting in the Word and communing with Jesus in his 529 00:28:16,000 --> 00:28:17,680 Word? 530 00:28:17,680 --> 00:28:20,920 What is it that's actually become Jesus in our lives? 531 00:28:20,920 --> 00:28:23,480 What's taking his place in our lives? 532 00:28:23,480 --> 00:28:28,320 When you find that thing, that's the thing that you've abandoned your first love for, 533 00:28:28,320 --> 00:28:30,320 Jesus says remove it. 534 00:28:30,320 --> 00:28:31,320 Get it out of your life. 535 00:28:31,320 --> 00:28:35,320 It has no place, no business being in my place. 536 00:28:35,320 --> 00:28:40,760 It's like the altar of Hebrews said in Hebrews 12, 1, let us also lay aside every weight 537 00:28:40,760 --> 00:28:44,840 and sin which clings so closely. 538 00:28:44,840 --> 00:28:48,760 He says we need to lay aside all things that will hinder our walk with him and separate 539 00:28:48,760 --> 00:28:50,360 us from him. 540 00:28:50,360 --> 00:28:55,120 And then finally I want you to notice this last thing he says here in verse 5. 541 00:28:55,120 --> 00:28:56,800 He says to redo. 542 00:28:56,800 --> 00:28:59,160 Remember, repent and redo. 543 00:28:59,160 --> 00:29:05,320 Do again the works you did at first. 544 00:29:05,320 --> 00:29:07,360 What does that mean? 545 00:29:07,360 --> 00:29:13,080 It means that when we allow ourselves to be consumed with love for God and love for others, 546 00:29:13,080 --> 00:29:16,880 we must do the things that flow forth naturally from that love. 547 00:29:16,880 --> 00:29:20,400 So if you love God, that's going to be evident in the things that you do, right? 548 00:29:20,400 --> 00:29:23,720 It's going to be evident in the way that I spend my money, the way that I talk to my 549 00:29:23,720 --> 00:29:27,400 spouse, the way that I prioritize my time and my commitments. 550 00:29:27,400 --> 00:29:30,720 I'm going to be in the Word, I'm going to be in prayer, I'm going to be fellowshiping 551 00:29:30,720 --> 00:29:32,200 with other believers. 552 00:29:32,200 --> 00:29:37,360 That love for God is going to manifest itself in the same way that love for others will 553 00:29:37,360 --> 00:29:39,320 manifest itself. 554 00:29:39,320 --> 00:29:42,160 It's not doing these things just to do them, right? 555 00:29:42,160 --> 00:29:47,440 Again, it's like I said, any non-Christian can do the things that Christians do most 556 00:29:47,440 --> 00:29:49,160 of the time. 557 00:29:49,160 --> 00:29:52,240 And so you have to ask yourself, how am I different from the hypocrites? 558 00:29:52,240 --> 00:29:56,240 Am I here at church just because it's Sunday or it's Wednesday? 559 00:29:56,240 --> 00:30:00,640 Or am I here because I love the Lord and I recognize that He has given us the church 560 00:30:00,640 --> 00:30:05,080 as a good gift and we have other believers here to do life together and I want to just 561 00:30:05,080 --> 00:30:07,960 gather with them and I want to praise God and worship Him. 562 00:30:07,960 --> 00:30:14,480 If that's not our desire, how are we any different than a non-believer coming and sitting in 563 00:30:14,480 --> 00:30:15,480 these peeps? 564 00:30:15,480 --> 00:30:19,760 This is my, I mean, I get on this point a lot, but it's because it's so relevant and 565 00:30:19,760 --> 00:30:25,560 just absolutely prevalent in our world today, this nominal cultural Christianity which I 566 00:30:25,560 --> 00:30:26,960 can't stand. 567 00:30:26,960 --> 00:30:31,600 I cannot stand people just going through the motions, going through the actions, patting 568 00:30:31,600 --> 00:30:34,360 themselves in the back, convincing themselves that they are Christians and they're going 569 00:30:34,360 --> 00:30:39,960 to spend forever and all eternity with God simply because they're doing religious activities. 570 00:30:39,960 --> 00:30:42,720 Religion has never saved anyone. 571 00:30:42,720 --> 00:30:43,920 Jesus does. 572 00:30:43,920 --> 00:30:49,480 And so if you have separated your religious actions from Jesus himself, you're in a non-saving 573 00:30:49,480 --> 00:30:50,960 relationship with religion. 574 00:30:50,960 --> 00:30:53,800 You need to turn to Jesus. 575 00:30:53,800 --> 00:30:58,400 I think so many churches in our world today are just like this church where they've got 576 00:30:58,400 --> 00:31:00,520 all the right things going on. 577 00:31:00,520 --> 00:31:02,600 They've got all the right things going for them. 578 00:31:02,600 --> 00:31:09,240 They seem like a seemingly perfect church and yet they have abandoned their first law. 579 00:31:09,240 --> 00:31:16,200 There are more faithful churches with 20 members than some churches that have 20,000 members. 580 00:31:16,200 --> 00:31:21,080 And so we need to hear and heed the words of Jesus here. 581 00:31:21,080 --> 00:31:24,240 You see, Jesus gives the Ephesian church this morning. 582 00:31:24,240 --> 00:31:29,520 He says, if you don't remember, if you don't repent, if you don't redo, I'm going to remove 583 00:31:29,520 --> 00:31:30,520 your lampstand. 584 00:31:30,520 --> 00:31:32,520 You know what happened? 585 00:31:32,520 --> 00:31:33,520 Is it a happy ending? 586 00:31:33,520 --> 00:31:36,040 Did they do the things? 587 00:31:36,040 --> 00:31:37,200 No. 588 00:31:37,200 --> 00:31:40,200 They did not remember. 589 00:31:40,200 --> 00:31:41,200 They did not repent. 590 00:31:41,200 --> 00:31:42,200 They did not redo. 591 00:31:42,200 --> 00:31:45,840 And the church in Ephesus had its lampstand removed. 592 00:31:45,840 --> 00:31:49,600 There's not even a city of Ephesus today. 593 00:31:49,600 --> 00:31:56,120 And the place where it was is now overrun, not with Christians, but with who? 594 00:31:56,120 --> 00:32:00,880 Muslims. 595 00:32:00,880 --> 00:32:06,640 The very place that started as one of the epicenters of Christianity is now totally devoted to 596 00:32:06,640 --> 00:32:09,240 a false God and a false hate. 597 00:32:09,240 --> 00:32:12,720 Do you think Jesus is serious about this warning? 598 00:32:12,720 --> 00:32:15,160 Do you think it continues today? 599 00:32:15,160 --> 00:32:19,680 Do you think any church that abandons his first love, he still says, I will remove your 600 00:32:19,680 --> 00:32:21,760 lampstand. 601 00:32:21,760 --> 00:32:24,600 So we need to heed this warning, George's Creek. 602 00:32:24,600 --> 00:32:27,080 We need to remember our first love. 603 00:32:27,080 --> 00:32:30,960 We need to repent of anything that would keep us from putting him first. 604 00:32:30,960 --> 00:32:34,720 We need to redo our works with that renewed love for Christ. 605 00:32:34,720 --> 00:32:40,200 And we need to rely on Jesus to give us the grace that we need to be able to live as his 606 00:32:40,200 --> 00:32:41,640 people. 607 00:32:41,640 --> 00:32:48,680 This is his message to a seemingly perfect church and may it never be a message to us. 608 00:32:48,680 --> 00:32:55,320 All right, Michael, give us a word of wisdom as we close. 609 00:32:55,320 --> 00:32:57,320 Thank you. 610 00:32:57,320 --> 00:33:26,320 Thank you.