WEBVTT 00:00:00.810 --> 00:00:04.990 God, thank you so much for today. And God, this 00:00:04.990 --> 00:00:08.869 morning as we approach this really powerful passage, 00:00:08.970 --> 00:00:11.830 God, I just ask that you would quiet our hearts, 00:00:11.910 --> 00:00:15.789 God. And God, beyond just quieting our hearts, 00:00:15.810 --> 00:00:18.550 I ask that you would give us discernment and 00:00:18.550 --> 00:00:20.969 a humility to be willing to look at our own lives, 00:00:21.070 --> 00:00:29.370 God. God, this is a convicting passage. And God, 00:00:29.410 --> 00:00:31.789 I ask that you would open our eyes to places 00:00:31.789 --> 00:00:34.770 in our own lives where we need to be convicted 00:00:34.770 --> 00:00:37.890 in our walk with you, God. Open our eyes to places 00:00:37.890 --> 00:00:40.350 where we have abandoned our first love, God. 00:00:41.429 --> 00:00:42.869 Lord, this morning I ask that you would give 00:00:42.869 --> 00:00:45.710 me just your words, God, and nothing else, Father. 00:00:47.649 --> 00:00:50.429 Give us ears to hear from you this morning and 00:00:50.429 --> 00:00:53.090 an openness to respond. In your name we pray. 00:00:53.409 --> 00:00:56.539 Amen. Well, as we kind of kick off this series 00:00:56.539 --> 00:00:58.100 through Revelation, I just want to give some 00:00:58.100 --> 00:01:00.560 very, very brief background information about 00:01:00.560 --> 00:01:03.320 Revelation real quick. So first off, Revelation, 00:01:03.560 --> 00:01:06.540 it is written by the Apostle John. He is on the 00:01:06.540 --> 00:01:09.299 island of Patmos at this point, and it's written 00:01:09.299 --> 00:01:12.739 between 94 and 96 AD during a time of pretty 00:01:12.739 --> 00:01:15.879 heavy persecution under the Roman Emperor Domitian. 00:01:18.099 --> 00:01:20.280 Underneath Domitian, the Roman government is 00:01:20.280 --> 00:01:22.260 going around, they're arresting Christians. Anytime 00:01:22.260 --> 00:01:24.180 that a Christian does anything that might be 00:01:24.180 --> 00:01:25.980 on the fringe of being illegal, they're not just 00:01:25.980 --> 00:01:28.659 tried for the crime and found guilty. Their punishment 00:01:28.659 --> 00:01:31.799 then is significantly worse than the average 00:01:31.799 --> 00:01:36.459 person. And John is given this revelation by 00:01:36.459 --> 00:01:39.920 Jesus during this time frame. He's on the island 00:01:39.920 --> 00:01:43.500 of Patmos, sitting there in exile for really 00:01:43.500 --> 00:01:45.700 no crime of his own other than just being a Christian. 00:01:48.590 --> 00:01:50.250 And Jesus says, hey John, I'm going to do something, 00:01:50.310 --> 00:01:52.650 but I need you to write down exactly what it 00:01:52.650 --> 00:01:55.049 is that I'm going to tell you. And that's a theme 00:01:55.049 --> 00:01:58.349 throughout the book of Revelation. This challenge 00:01:58.349 --> 00:02:02.829 to John to write down what it is that Jesus says. 00:02:04.409 --> 00:02:08.349 And so in Revelation 2 and 3, Jesus speaks directly 00:02:08.349 --> 00:02:12.050 to seven churches in Asia Minor. Seven churches 00:02:12.050 --> 00:02:15.909 that are real churches. Seven churches that should... 00:02:16.090 --> 00:02:18.889 inform us and should encourage us should challenge 00:02:18.889 --> 00:02:25.189 us as a body of believers so let me just ask 00:02:25.189 --> 00:02:27.250 if you are able would you stand with me as we 00:02:27.250 --> 00:02:30.789 read revelation 2 1 through 7 just out of reverence 00:02:30.789 --> 00:02:33.189 for this being the very words of our lord and 00:02:33.189 --> 00:02:37.610 savior jesus to us this morning it says this 00:02:38.300 --> 00:02:40.500 Write to the angel of the church in Ephesus, 00:02:40.740 --> 00:02:43.860 thus says the one who holds the seven stars in 00:02:43.860 --> 00:02:45.960 his right hand and who walks among the seven 00:02:45.960 --> 00:02:50.259 golden lampstands. I know your works, your labor, 00:02:50.319 --> 00:02:52.300 and your endurance, and that you cannot tolerate 00:02:52.300 --> 00:02:55.340 evil people. You have tested those who call themselves 00:02:55.340 --> 00:02:57.759 apostles and are not, and you have found them 00:02:57.759 --> 00:03:00.860 to be liars. I know that you have persevered 00:03:00.860 --> 00:03:03.020 and endured hardships for the sake of my name, 00:03:03.080 --> 00:03:06.680 and you have not grown weary. But I have this 00:03:06.680 --> 00:03:09.229 against you. You have abandoned the love you 00:03:09.229 --> 00:03:12.229 had at first. Remember then how far you have 00:03:12.229 --> 00:03:14.969 fallen. Repent and do the works you did at first. 00:03:15.889 --> 00:03:18.430 Otherwise, I will come to you and remove your 00:03:18.430 --> 00:03:23.090 lampstand from its place unless you repent. Yet 00:03:23.090 --> 00:03:27.250 you do have this. You hate the practices of the 00:03:27.250 --> 00:03:30.870 Nicolaitans, which I also hate. Let anyone who 00:03:30.870 --> 00:03:33.770 has ears listen to what the Spirit says to the 00:03:33.770 --> 00:03:36.289 churches, as the Holy Spirit says to the churches. 00:03:36.889 --> 00:03:39.830 To the one who conquers, I will give the right 00:03:39.830 --> 00:03:42.870 to eat from the tree of life, which is in the 00:03:42.870 --> 00:03:50.110 paradise of God. You may be seated. That is the 00:03:50.110 --> 00:03:54.509 letter to the church in Ephesus. There's encouragement. 00:03:55.310 --> 00:03:59.090 There's rebuke. There's instruction. There's 00:03:59.090 --> 00:04:01.629 some more encouragement. There's a promise. There's 00:04:01.629 --> 00:04:04.719 a lot going on in these seven verses. But there 00:04:04.719 --> 00:04:06.819 is one main point that I want to make sure we 00:04:06.819 --> 00:04:11.400 all take away from today. We can never lose our 00:04:11.400 --> 00:04:14.680 first love. We can never lose our first love. 00:04:15.240 --> 00:04:18.019 And hear me on this, that is a challenge to us, 00:04:18.079 --> 00:04:21.980 that we must never let go of our first love. 00:04:22.560 --> 00:04:25.180 That we must never get caught up with caring 00:04:25.180 --> 00:04:27.500 or concerns about the world or something else 00:04:27.500 --> 00:04:30.079 in life and then look back and realize that we've 00:04:30.079 --> 00:04:33.060 gone months and years without our first love. 00:04:34.279 --> 00:04:36.459 And we'll see today what that first love is. 00:04:37.040 --> 00:04:39.199 But before we look at anything else in this passage, 00:04:39.279 --> 00:04:43.519 let me challenge you. We can never lose our first 00:04:43.519 --> 00:04:49.060 love. Throughout Revelation 2 and 3, John's given 00:04:49.060 --> 00:04:52.379 all sorts of different opening statements. It's 00:04:52.379 --> 00:04:55.560 Jesus introducing himself in a way to the church. 00:04:55.639 --> 00:04:58.139 Jesus saying, this is me talking to you. So look 00:04:58.139 --> 00:04:59.759 at Revelation 2 and with me, let's see the first 00:04:59.759 --> 00:05:02.490 of these introductory statements. Once again, 00:05:02.509 --> 00:05:04.509 it says, write to the angel of the church in 00:05:04.509 --> 00:05:07.230 Ephesus. Thus says the one who holds the seven 00:05:07.230 --> 00:05:10.189 stars in his right hand and who walks among the 00:05:10.189 --> 00:05:14.050 seven golden lampstands. So start off just identifying 00:05:14.050 --> 00:05:15.889 a few things from this. So first, there is a 00:05:15.889 --> 00:05:19.069 speaker in this letter. This letter is not John's 00:05:19.069 --> 00:05:22.290 letter to the church in Ephesus. This is Jesus' 00:05:22.490 --> 00:05:26.490 letter to the church in Ephesus. And John is 00:05:26.490 --> 00:05:29.740 simply a middleman here. John is told this. write 00:05:29.740 --> 00:05:31.779 to, and then somebody to write to, write to the 00:05:31.779 --> 00:05:34.500 angel or literally write to the messenger of 00:05:34.500 --> 00:05:37.959 the church in Ephesus. He's given a message to 00:05:37.959 --> 00:05:40.740 pass on to these angels. And before we really 00:05:40.740 --> 00:05:43.420 dive into that message to the church in Ephesus, 00:05:43.519 --> 00:05:45.980 let me take just a few minutes to set the context 00:05:45.980 --> 00:05:49.399 for us of Ephesus. Ephesus is probably the most 00:05:49.399 --> 00:05:51.839 famous, most well -known of these seven churches, 00:05:51.879 --> 00:05:54.300 and it's probably most famous, honestly, for 00:05:54.300 --> 00:05:56.339 the letter that's sent to it. That's the book 00:05:56.339 --> 00:05:57.959 of Ephesians. If you open up your Bible and go 00:05:57.959 --> 00:05:59.720 to the book of Ephesians, it's the letter sent 00:05:59.720 --> 00:06:04.139 to this church, the church of Ephesus. The church 00:06:04.139 --> 00:06:05.980 in Ephesus is also very clearly talked about 00:06:05.980 --> 00:06:09.620 in Acts 19 and Acts 20. In Acts 19, 8 through 00:06:09.620 --> 00:06:11.339 10, we see the following account of Paul's time 00:06:11.339 --> 00:06:14.060 in Ephesus. It says this, Paul entered the synagogue 00:06:14.060 --> 00:06:16.519 and spoke boldly over a period of three months, 00:06:16.720 --> 00:06:18.879 arguing and persuading them about the kingdom 00:06:18.879 --> 00:06:22.480 of God. So preaching about Jesus. But when some 00:06:22.480 --> 00:06:24.579 became hardened and would not believe, slandering 00:06:24.579 --> 00:06:26.680 the way, that is Christianity, in front of the 00:06:26.680 --> 00:06:29.959 crowd, he withdrew from them, taking the disciples 00:06:29.959 --> 00:06:33.040 and conducted discussions every day in the lecture 00:06:33.040 --> 00:06:36.180 hall of Tyrannus. This went on for two years 00:06:36.180 --> 00:06:38.139 so that all the residents, notice that word, 00:06:38.220 --> 00:06:41.740 all the residents of Asia, both Jews and Greeks, 00:06:41.939 --> 00:06:46.019 heard the word of the Lord. There's three things 00:06:46.019 --> 00:06:48.120 that we really see in those verses that kind 00:06:48.120 --> 00:06:51.610 of summarize Ephesus as a church. First, The 00:06:51.610 --> 00:06:56.449 gospel spreads rapidly in Ephesus. Within two 00:06:56.449 --> 00:06:58.769 years, the entire region has heard about Jesus, 00:06:58.790 --> 00:07:00.810 and I don't believe that's just some form of 00:07:00.810 --> 00:07:03.730 hyperbole. That's true. These are believers who 00:07:03.730 --> 00:07:06.509 are on fire for Jesus, and they are telling everyone 00:07:06.509 --> 00:07:08.810 that they meet about who Jesus is because they 00:07:08.810 --> 00:07:11.129 want to see their friends, their neighbors, their 00:07:11.129 --> 00:07:14.209 family members getting saved. The gospel spreads 00:07:14.209 --> 00:07:17.430 rapidly in Ephesus. Secondly, the gospel takes 00:07:17.430 --> 00:07:21.430 root in Ephesus. These believers want to hear 00:07:21.430 --> 00:07:24.750 more about Jesus. So these discussions, these 00:07:24.750 --> 00:07:26.790 teachings in the lecture hall of Tyrannosaur, 00:07:26.990 --> 00:07:30.029 the believers are hungry for God's word on a 00:07:30.029 --> 00:07:33.029 daily basis. Culturally, there would have been 00:07:33.029 --> 00:07:35.029 kind of like a break in the afternoon, a couple 00:07:35.029 --> 00:07:37.089 hour break, two, three hours. And it's believed 00:07:37.089 --> 00:07:39.329 that during this time the believers in Ephesus, 00:07:39.370 --> 00:07:41.110 instead of going home and taking a rest, would 00:07:41.110 --> 00:07:43.170 actually go to the lecture hall of Tyrannus and 00:07:43.170 --> 00:07:45.910 hear Paul preach for two or three hours a day. 00:07:46.490 --> 00:07:48.769 Now as much as that might sound great to me to 00:07:48.769 --> 00:07:51.529 preach for two or three hours today, I'm guessing 00:07:51.529 --> 00:07:54.709 most people here are not signing up for daily 00:07:54.709 --> 00:07:57.709 two to three hours of hearing me talk. But that's 00:07:57.709 --> 00:08:00.550 how hungry they are for the gospel and to know 00:08:00.550 --> 00:08:02.910 Jesus more. So the gospel takes root in Ephesus. 00:08:02.970 --> 00:08:06.170 They love the gospel. And thirdly, the gospel 00:08:06.170 --> 00:08:10.149 inspires the Ephesian church. The gospel inspires 00:08:10.149 --> 00:08:12.990 the Ephesian church to live out their faith. 00:08:13.069 --> 00:08:14.529 We see that throughout the rest of chapter 19 00:08:14.529 --> 00:08:18.230 and then into chapter 20. See, after some more 00:08:18.230 --> 00:08:21.230 traveling, Paul gives a very famous address to 00:08:21.230 --> 00:08:23.689 the Ephesian elders in Acts chapter 20, where 00:08:23.689 --> 00:08:26.540 he exhorts them to obedience in Christ. And he 00:08:26.540 --> 00:08:28.439 challenges them on how to shepherd the church 00:08:28.439 --> 00:08:31.399 of Ephesus well. What to guard them from, what 00:08:31.399 --> 00:08:34.639 to expect, what they're going to face. The gospel 00:08:34.639 --> 00:08:38.220 spreads rapidly, it takes root, and it inspires 00:08:38.220 --> 00:08:42.580 the Ephesian church in obedience. And even beyond 00:08:42.580 --> 00:08:44.919 Paul's time in Ephesus, the early church history 00:08:44.919 --> 00:08:46.879 that we have paints a picture of strong leadership 00:08:46.879 --> 00:08:49.559 in the Ephesian church. Here's just a few notable 00:08:49.559 --> 00:08:51.379 names of some men who served in this church. 00:08:51.909 --> 00:08:54.610 Paul obviously spent about two years there. Tychicus, 00:08:54.789 --> 00:08:56.429 one of Paul's co -workers, spent time there. 00:08:56.570 --> 00:08:59.649 Timothy spent much of his ministry in Ephesus. 00:08:59.769 --> 00:09:01.210 In fact, that's actually where he was when he 00:09:01.210 --> 00:09:03.750 received 1 and 2 Timothy. And then the apostle 00:09:03.750 --> 00:09:06.190 John actually spent a chunk of his time serving 00:09:06.190 --> 00:09:09.590 the Lord in Ephesus. Here's my point with this. 00:09:09.769 --> 00:09:13.149 The Ephesian church grew and was also led towards 00:09:13.149 --> 00:09:15.750 Christ consistently. It had good leadership. 00:09:16.350 --> 00:09:19.250 From the minute it was begun until we get to 00:09:19.250 --> 00:09:21.820 this letter, it's had solid leadership. You know, 00:09:21.840 --> 00:09:22.820 this isn't a church where we're saying, well, 00:09:22.820 --> 00:09:24.279 if they could have just gotten a good leader 00:09:24.279 --> 00:09:26.539 in. If they could have just gotten somebody there 00:09:26.539 --> 00:09:28.340 who could have, you know, led them and pointed 00:09:28.340 --> 00:09:31.960 them towards Jesus. That's not the situation 00:09:31.960 --> 00:09:36.019 in Ephesus. See, as the church grows in Ephesus, 00:09:36.159 --> 00:09:38.759 there's a group that hates that. That's the followers 00:09:38.759 --> 00:09:41.620 of Artemis. Ephesus was a powerful and an influential 00:09:41.620 --> 00:09:43.879 city. In some ways, we could compare it to New 00:09:43.879 --> 00:09:47.620 York City today. It was a powerhouse city. It 00:09:47.620 --> 00:09:49.320 was economically important. It was culturally 00:09:49.320 --> 00:09:52.009 important. It was politically important. It was 00:09:52.009 --> 00:09:53.669 the center of trade. It was the center of the 00:09:53.669 --> 00:09:56.049 worship of Artemis, or as the Romans called her, 00:09:56.070 --> 00:09:58.450 Diana. And people worshipped her. They would 00:09:58.450 --> 00:10:00.590 travel from all around to go worship Artemis 00:10:00.590 --> 00:10:03.929 in Ephesus. And she was the goddess of childbirth 00:10:03.929 --> 00:10:05.269 and actually hunting along with several other 00:10:05.269 --> 00:10:08.210 things. But she was very, very popular in Roman 00:10:08.210 --> 00:10:11.750 life. And the worship of Artemis was very different 00:10:11.750 --> 00:10:15.370 than worshipping God. See, the worship of Artemis 00:10:15.370 --> 00:10:19.610 was highly sexual. It was led by priests and 00:10:19.610 --> 00:10:22.629 priestesses who were extremely hostile to the 00:10:22.629 --> 00:10:26.730 gospel. But as we see in Acts 19, even as the 00:10:26.730 --> 00:10:28.929 priests and priestesses of Artemis attempt to 00:10:28.929 --> 00:10:32.870 shut down the gospel, their worship of their 00:10:32.870 --> 00:10:36.870 idol is no match for the worship of the one true 00:10:36.870 --> 00:10:41.830 Savior. Like we see, everyone in the region hears 00:10:41.830 --> 00:10:45.169 about Jesus, and many believe the gospel takes 00:10:45.169 --> 00:10:48.279 root. The Ephesian church quickly gains a reputation 00:10:48.279 --> 00:10:51.879 as being a fast -growing, influential, well -connected, 00:10:51.879 --> 00:10:55.419 deeply evangelistic congregation. And that is 00:10:55.419 --> 00:10:59.419 the church that Jesus writes to. Now let's look 00:10:59.419 --> 00:11:01.779 at the next part of the introduction. We see 00:11:01.779 --> 00:11:03.419 that Jesus, the speaker here, says that he holds 00:11:03.419 --> 00:11:07.340 the seven stars in his right hand and he walks 00:11:07.340 --> 00:11:10.200 among the seven golden lampstands. Here's what 00:11:10.200 --> 00:11:12.240 that means. The seven stars are the angels of 00:11:12.240 --> 00:11:14.299 the seven churches that Jesus is going to address. 00:11:14.379 --> 00:11:15.820 He holds them in his hand, meaning that he has 00:11:15.820 --> 00:11:18.559 dominion over the seven churches. Yet at the 00:11:18.559 --> 00:11:21.740 same time, he also walks among the seven lampstands, 00:11:21.740 --> 00:11:25.019 which are the seven churches themselves. This 00:11:25.019 --> 00:11:27.659 shows that Jesus is not far off or distant, even 00:11:27.659 --> 00:11:30.220 as he rules over the church. Instead, Jesus is 00:11:30.220 --> 00:11:34.419 close and personal. Now friends, before we ever 00:11:34.419 --> 00:11:36.980 get to the Ephesian church, our main point for 00:11:36.980 --> 00:11:39.240 today, please hear this takeaway from the introduction. 00:11:40.109 --> 00:11:43.230 Jesus is after a personal relationship with you. 00:11:43.289 --> 00:11:46.470 Jesus loves you personally. He knows you and 00:11:46.470 --> 00:11:51.690 he cares about you. Jesus is close to you. Yes, 00:11:51.730 --> 00:11:54.830 Jesus holds the seven stars in his right hand, 00:11:54.929 --> 00:11:58.490 but Jesus also walks alongside and among the 00:11:58.490 --> 00:12:02.570 seven lampstands. Friends, Jesus cares about 00:12:02.570 --> 00:12:06.539 you and Jesus walks with you. Now from verses 00:12:06.539 --> 00:12:09.299 2 and 3, we're going to see Jesus spending a 00:12:09.299 --> 00:12:12.740 little bit of time encouraging the church in 00:12:12.740 --> 00:12:16.799 Ephesus. This is what it says. I know your works, 00:12:16.860 --> 00:12:19.740 your labor and your endurance, that you cannot 00:12:19.740 --> 00:12:23.559 tolerate evil people. You have tested those who 00:12:23.559 --> 00:12:25.440 call themselves apostles and are not, and you 00:12:25.440 --> 00:12:28.019 have found them to be liars. I know that you 00:12:28.019 --> 00:12:29.740 have persevered and endured hardships for the 00:12:29.740 --> 00:12:33.200 sake of my name, and you have not grown weary. 00:12:33.870 --> 00:12:35.610 There's really four main things in here that 00:12:35.610 --> 00:12:38.210 Jesus calls out as encouragement. Jesus has seen 00:12:38.210 --> 00:12:40.990 the church's works, their labor, their endurance, 00:12:41.190 --> 00:12:44.190 or their perseverance here, and also their inability 00:12:44.190 --> 00:12:48.309 to tolerate evil people. So let's take a moment 00:12:48.309 --> 00:12:50.529 to talk about just each one of those, because 00:12:50.529 --> 00:12:52.029 these are four things that we should have in 00:12:52.029 --> 00:12:54.870 our life. Our lives should be marked by these 00:12:54.870 --> 00:12:58.200 four same things. First, we see Jesus talk about 00:12:58.200 --> 00:13:01.100 works. And the word here is a word, ergon. It's 00:13:01.100 --> 00:13:03.879 a word used to refer to servants completing the 00:13:03.879 --> 00:13:06.700 tasks of their master. And it is most famously 00:13:06.700 --> 00:13:09.700 used in Mark 13, 34, and 35. I won't read that 00:13:09.700 --> 00:13:12.299 for us. But essentially, a man goes on a journey, 00:13:12.379 --> 00:13:14.519 and he leaves his servants with work to do, with 00:13:14.519 --> 00:13:19.559 ergon, tasks to do. And the challenge is that 00:13:19.559 --> 00:13:21.559 they need to be going and doing their work while 00:13:21.559 --> 00:13:24.379 he's away, so that when the master comes back, 00:13:24.720 --> 00:13:28.279 Their work is complete. There's a very practical 00:13:28.279 --> 00:13:29.940 application of this idea that we see as Christians. 00:13:30.580 --> 00:13:33.519 What is the task that Jesus has given to us? 00:13:35.059 --> 00:13:36.600 I think it's pretty simple. It's what we read 00:13:36.600 --> 00:13:39.559 at the end of every service. As Jesus leaves 00:13:39.559 --> 00:13:42.019 earth, as he returns to heaven, he gives us a 00:13:42.019 --> 00:13:45.100 simple challenge. Go and make disciples of all 00:13:45.100 --> 00:13:47.279 nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father 00:13:47.279 --> 00:13:49.139 and the Son and the Holy Spirit, and teaching 00:13:49.139 --> 00:13:51.960 them to obey everything that Jesus commanded. 00:13:52.000 --> 00:13:54.600 Not that we can, but that Jesus commanded. And 00:13:54.600 --> 00:13:57.139 remember, I am with you always to the very end 00:13:57.139 --> 00:14:01.019 of the age. That is the work that we are supposed 00:14:01.019 --> 00:14:04.399 to do while the master Jesus is away. The work 00:14:04.399 --> 00:14:08.100 of going and making disciples. Let me read you 00:14:08.100 --> 00:14:10.019 this quote from Charles Spurgeon. It struck me 00:14:10.019 --> 00:14:12.980 really hard in the heart on Monday. He says, 00:14:13.000 --> 00:14:16.919 if we are true servants, we are always about 00:14:16.919 --> 00:14:20.169 our master's business. If we eat or drink or 00:14:20.169 --> 00:14:23.250 rest or sleep, we desire to do all to the glory 00:14:23.250 --> 00:14:27.450 of God. Then he ends with this, we are never 00:14:27.450 --> 00:14:32.990 off duty. We are never off duty. That is the 00:14:32.990 --> 00:14:37.909 challenge that we see, to always be on duty. 00:14:38.370 --> 00:14:41.289 And the church in Ephesus has done this work. 00:14:41.509 --> 00:14:44.269 They have worked for the kingdom of God, and 00:14:44.269 --> 00:14:46.690 Jesus encourages them that he has seen this. 00:14:47.649 --> 00:14:49.710 Just as another practical reminder, Jesus sees 00:14:49.710 --> 00:14:51.970 you. This isn't a scary thing. This is a good 00:14:51.970 --> 00:14:56.110 thing. Jesus sees you serving the kingdom. And 00:14:56.110 --> 00:14:58.629 Jesus encourages them for their work. He says, 00:14:58.710 --> 00:15:01.909 I know your works. I know that you've done the 00:15:01.909 --> 00:15:05.269 tasks I've given you while I've been away. Next 00:15:05.269 --> 00:15:08.049 step, Jesus addresses labor. I'm not going to 00:15:08.049 --> 00:15:10.029 lie, that had me a little stumped. It took some 00:15:10.029 --> 00:15:12.590 time to wrestle through this one. Works and labor 00:15:12.590 --> 00:15:15.919 seem like synonyms for each other. You know, 00:15:15.960 --> 00:15:18.620 you labor while you're at work. You work in your 00:15:18.620 --> 00:15:21.559 labors. They seem very closely connected. But 00:15:21.559 --> 00:15:23.399 in this context, the word labor is linked more 00:15:23.399 --> 00:15:25.320 to the good works that the Ephesian church is 00:15:25.320 --> 00:15:27.580 carrying out, like what we see in actually Ephesians 00:15:27.580 --> 00:15:30.879 2 .10, where we read, for we are his workmanship 00:15:30.879 --> 00:15:33.539 created in Christ Jesus for good works. We can 00:15:33.539 --> 00:15:36.259 read good labor, which God prepared ahead of 00:15:36.259 --> 00:15:39.679 time for us to do. The church is living out there 00:15:39.679 --> 00:15:42.240 doing the good works they're called to do. They're 00:15:42.240 --> 00:15:45.460 obedient to God in that. And third, Jesus encourages 00:15:45.460 --> 00:15:47.340 them for their endurance and their perseverance. 00:15:47.919 --> 00:15:50.440 They've gone through hard times. The cult of 00:15:50.440 --> 00:15:52.600 Artemis has persecuted them, but they've endured. 00:15:53.360 --> 00:15:55.580 The temptation to throw in the towel is real, 00:15:55.639 --> 00:15:58.240 and it's there for them on a daily basis. But 00:15:58.240 --> 00:16:01.820 they haven't done it. They've carried on. As 00:16:01.820 --> 00:16:03.259 hard as it was to be a Christian in Ephesus, 00:16:03.419 --> 00:16:07.059 they are persevering. And Jesus encourages them 00:16:07.059 --> 00:16:10.080 in that. Hey, church in Ephesus, I know it's 00:16:10.080 --> 00:16:12.870 not always easy. Hey, church in Ephesus, I know 00:16:12.870 --> 00:16:14.289 there's a lot of people around the Mediterranean 00:16:14.289 --> 00:16:16.529 Sea that think if we could just be a church like 00:16:16.529 --> 00:16:18.990 them, if we could just be a church with all of 00:16:18.990 --> 00:16:21.230 this stuff figured out, wouldn't it be so much 00:16:21.230 --> 00:16:24.769 better? And Jesus says, hey, I see you enduring. 00:16:24.789 --> 00:16:29.090 I see you persevering. Friends, Jesus sees you 00:16:29.090 --> 00:16:30.970 as you go through trials and hard times in your 00:16:30.970 --> 00:16:33.970 life also. Like I said, everything in this letter 00:16:33.970 --> 00:16:38.169 is also practical for us. Maybe you're in one 00:16:38.169 --> 00:16:40.639 of those hard times right now. Where you're persevering 00:16:40.639 --> 00:16:42.320 and you are doing everything you can just to 00:16:42.320 --> 00:16:44.799 keep your head above water. Where it feels like 00:16:44.799 --> 00:16:47.159 kind of your life is sloping down like this and 00:16:47.159 --> 00:16:49.000 it feels like every day is harder and harder 00:16:49.000 --> 00:16:50.879 and harder and more hopeless and more hopeless 00:16:50.879 --> 00:16:53.960 and more hopeless. If that's you this morning, 00:16:54.059 --> 00:16:58.220 let me encourage you with this verse. Let me 00:16:58.220 --> 00:17:02.200 encourage you that Jesus knows what you're going 00:17:02.200 --> 00:17:04.380 through, that he is with you as you persevere 00:17:04.380 --> 00:17:09.569 and endure this hardship. I know it's not something 00:17:09.569 --> 00:17:12.430 we think about all the time, but sometimes that 00:17:12.430 --> 00:17:15.450 hardship comes because we follow Jesus, because 00:17:15.450 --> 00:17:17.369 our friends or our coworkers don't understand 00:17:17.369 --> 00:17:19.869 the decisions that we're making, because that 00:17:19.869 --> 00:17:21.609 family member doesn't get why it's important 00:17:21.609 --> 00:17:23.390 to us that we are up early on a Sunday morning 00:17:23.390 --> 00:17:27.869 to come to church. Friend, persevere and endure 00:17:27.869 --> 00:17:30.309 whatever that hardship might look like for the 00:17:30.309 --> 00:17:35.640 sake of Jesus' name. He is with you. But as encouraging 00:17:35.640 --> 00:17:38.299 as verses 2 and 3 are, and they are encouraging, 00:17:38.500 --> 00:17:40.519 and we see that the church in Ephesus is doing 00:17:40.519 --> 00:17:43.740 some stuff right, verses 4 and 5 are kind of 00:17:43.740 --> 00:17:46.299 the climax of this passage. It is the rebuke 00:17:46.299 --> 00:17:49.460 that Jesus gives to them. So look again with 00:17:49.460 --> 00:17:52.019 me at verses 4 through 5. He says this, but I 00:17:52.019 --> 00:17:58.440 have this against you. Let that sink in. Jesus, 00:17:58.480 --> 00:18:01.160 their Savior, holds something against them. They 00:18:01.160 --> 00:18:04.150 have erred in this. You have abandoned the love 00:18:04.150 --> 00:18:07.710 you had at first. Let's stop there. We'll touch 00:18:07.710 --> 00:18:12.130 on verse 5 in a minute. Stopping there. As high 00:18:12.130 --> 00:18:13.609 as the highs are for this church in Ephesus, 00:18:13.690 --> 00:18:18.269 there's also a huge area of concern. Jesus rebukes 00:18:18.269 --> 00:18:22.650 the church for something very specific. You have 00:18:22.650 --> 00:18:28.829 abandoned the love you had at first. There's 00:18:28.829 --> 00:18:32.160 two big things here. First, They have lost their 00:18:32.160 --> 00:18:35.140 first love. But equally striking, they didn't 00:18:35.140 --> 00:18:36.759 just passively lose it. They didn't just wake 00:18:36.759 --> 00:18:39.640 up one day and not have it anymore. They abandoned 00:18:39.640 --> 00:18:43.200 it. They turned their back on their first love. 00:18:43.700 --> 00:18:45.319 So before we continue with the second part of 00:18:45.319 --> 00:18:47.740 that verse, let's start with this. What is their 00:18:47.740 --> 00:18:52.089 first love? Simply put, their first love is Jesus. 00:18:52.210 --> 00:18:53.990 Their first love was the gospel and salvation 00:18:53.990 --> 00:18:56.289 by faith. Their first love is summarized in Ephesians 00:18:56.289 --> 00:18:59.650 2 like this. You are saved by grace through faith, 00:18:59.730 --> 00:19:02.470 and this is not from yourselves. It is God's 00:19:02.470 --> 00:19:04.710 gift, not from works, so that no one can boast. 00:19:05.250 --> 00:19:08.450 But now they have abandoned that. They've lost 00:19:08.450 --> 00:19:11.150 loving that. Instead of being focused on faith 00:19:11.150 --> 00:19:12.970 and the freedom that Jesus gives, they've become 00:19:12.970 --> 00:19:17.430 focused on their appearance. Their own walk with 00:19:17.430 --> 00:19:20.380 God is dry. Their corporate walk with God is 00:19:20.380 --> 00:19:23.099 dry. Yes, they're good at identifying the false 00:19:23.099 --> 00:19:27.099 apostle. They're good at that. They're good at 00:19:27.099 --> 00:19:28.640 doing the right thing and making it seem like 00:19:28.640 --> 00:19:31.720 everything's okay. But inside, their hearts are 00:19:31.720 --> 00:19:34.599 dry. They're just going through the motions. 00:19:36.180 --> 00:19:38.980 I could say it like this. Their reputation carries 00:19:38.980 --> 00:19:42.779 them forward, is respected. Their reputation 00:19:42.779 --> 00:19:45.299 tells the world around them, you're doing great, 00:19:45.359 --> 00:19:48.809 church nephesis. Look at how great you are. But 00:19:48.809 --> 00:19:54.170 inside, it is empty. And here's the scary part 00:19:54.170 --> 00:19:55.750 about Revelation 2, because there is a scary 00:19:55.750 --> 00:19:59.309 part to Revelation 2, 1 through 7. That exact 00:19:59.309 --> 00:20:02.410 same thing can happen for us. We can make our 00:20:02.410 --> 00:20:04.869 relationship with God about checking boxes rather 00:20:04.869 --> 00:20:08.269 than passionately, intimately walking with God. 00:20:08.589 --> 00:20:12.069 The Ephesians do all of the right things. They're 00:20:12.069 --> 00:20:13.970 doing good works. They're even telling people 00:20:13.970 --> 00:20:15.630 out the Bible. They're inviting their friend 00:20:15.630 --> 00:20:18.660 to church. But they're doing it for the wrong 00:20:18.660 --> 00:20:21.619 reasons. To be blunt, we could say it like this. 00:20:21.640 --> 00:20:24.720 The church in Ephesus is fake. It is phony. It 00:20:24.720 --> 00:20:27.559 is empty on the inside. It is hollow. They are 00:20:27.559 --> 00:20:29.859 like a tooth with a cavity. To the naked eye, 00:20:29.920 --> 00:20:32.279 everything seems okay. But when you look closer 00:20:32.279 --> 00:20:34.500 at the x -ray, you can see very clearly that's 00:20:34.500 --> 00:20:41.200 not normal. Friends, they are not healthy. They 00:20:41.200 --> 00:20:43.480 need to have this addressed, and it needs to 00:20:43.480 --> 00:20:50.269 be addressed. ASAP. I don't know about you, but 00:20:50.269 --> 00:20:51.890 when I've gone to the dentist and they've found 00:20:51.890 --> 00:20:54.769 a cavity, they come up with a plan for how to 00:20:54.769 --> 00:20:56.329 treat it. They don't just look and say, well, 00:20:56.349 --> 00:21:01.190 you've got a cavity. Have a good day. Like, you 00:21:01.190 --> 00:21:02.369 know, I'll see you again in six months and see 00:21:02.369 --> 00:21:04.329 how your tooth's doing then. It's okay, you've 00:21:04.329 --> 00:21:05.470 got a cavity, and here's what we're going to 00:21:05.470 --> 00:21:07.990 do. We're going to do a filling. We're going 00:21:07.990 --> 00:21:09.730 to take action on this. We're going to do something. 00:21:10.359 --> 00:21:12.160 And just like that dentist tells you both what 00:21:12.160 --> 00:21:14.079 is wrong and also what you need to do to fix 00:21:14.079 --> 00:21:16.880 it, Jesus also tells the church in Ephesus what 00:21:16.880 --> 00:21:20.799 is wrong and what they need to do. There's three 00:21:20.799 --> 00:21:23.559 steps that Jesus gives them in verse 5. Let me 00:21:23.559 --> 00:21:27.359 just read verse 5 again. Remember then how far 00:21:27.359 --> 00:21:30.160 you have fallen. Repent and do the works you 00:21:30.160 --> 00:21:32.640 did at first. Otherwise, I will come to you and 00:21:32.640 --> 00:21:35.140 remove your lampstand from its place, unless 00:21:35.140 --> 00:21:38.480 you repent. There's three steps today that Jesus 00:21:38.480 --> 00:21:40.880 gives to the church in Ephesus. Here they are. 00:21:40.960 --> 00:21:44.859 First, they need to wake up. They need to wake 00:21:44.859 --> 00:21:47.460 up to what's going on. Secondly, they need to 00:21:47.460 --> 00:21:50.079 repent. They need to repent of what they're doing 00:21:50.079 --> 00:21:53.200 wrong. And third, they need to renew their walk 00:21:53.200 --> 00:21:56.119 with God. They need to renew their first love. 00:21:56.180 --> 00:21:58.240 They need to fall back in love with Jesus, back 00:21:58.240 --> 00:22:00.299 in love with the gospel, back in love with their 00:22:00.299 --> 00:22:02.380 salvation. It's not just enough to say, hey, 00:22:02.400 --> 00:22:06.039 God, you're right, we did fall short. Jesus is 00:22:06.039 --> 00:22:08.150 saying, You need to wake up. You need to repent. 00:22:08.289 --> 00:22:11.470 You need to take action about this. So first, 00:22:11.650 --> 00:22:14.549 they need to wake up to their sin and understand 00:22:14.549 --> 00:22:16.650 with them having abandoned their first love, 00:22:16.710 --> 00:22:18.869 they are sinning. They need to wake up to their 00:22:18.869 --> 00:22:21.150 sin. They need to realize that what they're doing 00:22:21.150 --> 00:22:23.490 is wrong. They need to realize they've turned 00:22:23.490 --> 00:22:25.670 from God. They need to see that they're no longer 00:22:25.670 --> 00:22:28.210 this glorious Ephesian church. They're a church 00:22:28.210 --> 00:22:30.970 that's empty on the inside. And we're reminded 00:22:30.970 --> 00:22:32.890 of what the stakes are if they don't wake up. 00:22:34.150 --> 00:22:37.170 Jesus tells us that. I will come to you and remove 00:22:37.170 --> 00:22:40.569 your lampstand from its place, unless you repent. 00:22:41.569 --> 00:22:44.569 Wake up, or else Jesus is going to take away 00:22:44.569 --> 00:22:50.869 the lampstand. For the Ephesians, it's like they 00:22:50.869 --> 00:22:53.750 almost think, well, I come from this great lineage. 00:22:54.349 --> 00:22:56.990 You know, my parents, my grandparents, these 00:22:56.990 --> 00:22:59.289 people, they knew who Paul was, they met Paul, 00:22:59.450 --> 00:23:00.730 they had Paul over to their house for dinner, 00:23:00.789 --> 00:23:04.670 so I'm covered, I'm good. I know more than this 00:23:04.670 --> 00:23:09.049 church and Colossae, let's say. I can sit back 00:23:09.049 --> 00:23:12.950 and I can kind of just, you know, watch and rest 00:23:12.950 --> 00:23:15.930 on my own merits, rest on how much I know, rest 00:23:15.930 --> 00:23:18.950 on how good I am at this rather than who I am 00:23:18.950 --> 00:23:23.569 on the inside. I can't help but think about one 00:23:23.569 --> 00:23:26.549 of the most humbling nights of my high school 00:23:26.549 --> 00:23:30.269 life. My sophomore year of high school. My freshman 00:23:30.269 --> 00:23:31.910 year, we won the state championship in basketball, 00:23:32.029 --> 00:23:35.029 and then we graduated eight of our top ten players 00:23:35.029 --> 00:23:37.910 on that team. And we went in to our first game 00:23:37.910 --> 00:23:39.950 my sophomore year, and we all thought, well, 00:23:39.950 --> 00:23:42.369 this is going to be super easy. Does everyone 00:23:42.369 --> 00:23:44.529 know who we are? We are Faith Christian, five 00:23:44.529 --> 00:23:47.470 -time straight state champions. This is a breeze. 00:23:48.109 --> 00:23:50.390 And we were playing a team. There were two classifications 00:23:50.390 --> 00:23:52.509 larger than us called Denver South. If you ask 00:23:52.509 --> 00:23:54.829 Hope, she might have run against Denver South. 00:23:55.049 --> 00:23:57.599 Denver South was known for really... two things 00:23:57.599 --> 00:23:59.640 in Denver. They were really, really good athletes, 00:24:00.000 --> 00:24:05.000 and they were super athletic, like way more athletic 00:24:05.000 --> 00:24:06.720 than a bunch of Christian school kids from the 00:24:06.720 --> 00:24:09.980 suburbs. They were really good athletes, and 00:24:09.980 --> 00:24:12.579 we came out so confident, and I remember our 00:24:12.579 --> 00:24:13.839 coach being like, you guys got to chill down. 00:24:13.900 --> 00:24:15.119 Let's go through the game plan. We're like, we 00:24:15.119 --> 00:24:20.039 got this. Don't you worry, coach. Well, the 35 00:24:20.039 --> 00:24:22.279 -point deficit we faced at halftime was a pretty 00:24:22.279 --> 00:24:24.000 good wake -up call that we did not have this. 00:24:25.259 --> 00:24:27.460 The 48 -point loss that was the worst in the 00:24:27.460 --> 00:24:29.900 last 20 years of the program history was a pretty 00:24:29.900 --> 00:24:32.059 humbling way to be reminded that we most definitely 00:24:32.059 --> 00:24:34.079 did not have this just because of what our jersey 00:24:34.079 --> 00:24:37.099 said on the front. And I will never forget our 00:24:37.099 --> 00:24:38.579 coach looking at us in the locker room and saying, 00:24:38.660 --> 00:24:40.400 you guys thought tonight you could put on a jersey 00:24:40.400 --> 00:24:42.980 and magically become something you aren't. You 00:24:42.980 --> 00:24:45.319 guys didn't do the work ahead of time. Friends, 00:24:45.319 --> 00:24:47.039 that's the same case for the Ephesian church. 00:24:47.779 --> 00:24:49.980 They think I show up at church on Sunday morning. 00:24:50.380 --> 00:24:53.630 My church is awesome, man. I lead a small group. 00:24:53.750 --> 00:24:55.849 I'm in this Bible study. I'm in that. My church 00:24:55.849 --> 00:24:58.069 is great. I'm good at this. I put on my church 00:24:58.069 --> 00:25:00.329 personality, and that means I'm close with God. 00:25:01.150 --> 00:25:03.789 Friends, that is not the case. There is no church 00:25:03.789 --> 00:25:05.630 jersey you can put on that just magically makes 00:25:05.630 --> 00:25:08.470 you better. No, instead, our life is about what 00:25:08.470 --> 00:25:11.190 we do on a daily basis in our walk with God. 00:25:11.250 --> 00:25:14.289 And so Jesus tells them to wake up. Secondly, 00:25:14.309 --> 00:25:16.730 they need to repent. They need to go to God. 00:25:17.519 --> 00:25:19.359 See, there's a temptation for us to try and fix 00:25:19.359 --> 00:25:21.440 problems either in our church or in our own faith 00:25:21.440 --> 00:25:23.279 by just working harder and relying on our own 00:25:23.279 --> 00:25:25.339 strengths. If I just do a little extra work, 00:25:25.420 --> 00:25:28.619 if I just force this, if I just stop going here, 00:25:28.640 --> 00:25:30.619 stop doing this, and if I just stop this, then 00:25:30.619 --> 00:25:33.440 it'll all be okay. But that isn't the right attitude. 00:25:33.519 --> 00:25:35.720 See, even if the results show up, it's become 00:25:35.720 --> 00:25:39.039 all about us and how good we are, how smart and 00:25:39.039 --> 00:25:41.599 how gifted we are, rather than about who God 00:25:41.599 --> 00:25:45.079 is. They need to repent and go to God and rely 00:25:45.079 --> 00:25:47.680 on God. Their father is waiting there with open 00:25:47.680 --> 00:25:49.859 arms to welcome them back. They need to run to 00:25:49.859 --> 00:25:52.220 that father and accept his love and his help. 00:25:54.839 --> 00:25:56.460 Similarly, I tried to challenge myself to think 00:25:56.460 --> 00:25:58.700 of an example for each one of these so they can 00:25:58.700 --> 00:26:00.119 feel a little bit far off and maybe abstract. 00:26:00.799 --> 00:26:02.900 When I was about four years old, my family had 00:26:02.900 --> 00:26:04.779 just moved to Michigan. I remember trying to 00:26:04.779 --> 00:26:06.980 pour a glass of juice for myself. Now, for perspective, 00:26:07.240 --> 00:26:09.299 I was shorter than the counter. I couldn't see 00:26:09.299 --> 00:26:12.950 the top of the counter. And my mom and my sister 00:26:12.950 --> 00:26:15.009 were gone. My dad was laying down on the couch 00:26:15.009 --> 00:26:16.549 just trying to rest a bit after work for the 00:26:16.549 --> 00:26:18.029 week. And so I decided I would just get this 00:26:18.029 --> 00:26:22.210 by myself. So I took the brand new bottle of 00:26:22.210 --> 00:26:24.089 juice and I started to pour into this glass. 00:26:24.789 --> 00:26:26.589 And if you've ever been around kids, I used to 00:26:26.589 --> 00:26:28.210 work at a daycare, so I saw this firsthand all 00:26:28.210 --> 00:26:30.869 the time. A four -year -old does not have the 00:26:30.869 --> 00:26:32.829 strength to just pick up the bottle of juice 00:26:32.829 --> 00:26:34.450 and just start pouring it and control where it 00:26:34.450 --> 00:26:38.450 goes. It just flows everywhere. It was a recipe 00:26:38.450 --> 00:26:42.299 for disaster. And now I'm looking down, I'm covered 00:26:42.299 --> 00:26:44.640 in juice, and the floor is covered in juice, 00:26:44.720 --> 00:26:46.119 and the counter is covered in grape juice, I 00:26:46.119 --> 00:26:48.039 believe. Really a great thing to spill everywhere. 00:26:51.640 --> 00:26:53.640 And I had to decide what I wanted to do, right? 00:26:54.819 --> 00:26:58.539 Do I tell my dad, hey, Dad, this one's on me. 00:26:59.480 --> 00:27:02.380 I made a big mess in the kitchen. Or do I try 00:27:02.380 --> 00:27:05.859 and hide it, try and fix it on my own? And I 00:27:05.859 --> 00:27:07.920 chose option two. I decided to try to hide it, 00:27:07.940 --> 00:27:10.839 so I wiped down my legs, and then I got a paper 00:27:10.839 --> 00:27:12.759 towel and wiped up a little bit of the floor. 00:27:12.799 --> 00:27:15.599 It's all gone. It was not gone. And then I sat 00:27:15.599 --> 00:27:16.940 down with my glass of juice. I was like, I'm 00:27:16.940 --> 00:27:18.119 going to drink this now. It's going to be great. 00:27:19.059 --> 00:27:22.079 And about 20 minutes later, my dad got up and 00:27:22.079 --> 00:27:24.759 came over, and he found grape juice all over 00:27:24.759 --> 00:27:26.559 the floor. In that moment, I was like, I'm going 00:27:26.559 --> 00:27:28.500 to have to find a new family. Like, this is bad. 00:27:29.079 --> 00:27:31.980 I'm panicking. My dad's going to be yelling at 00:27:31.980 --> 00:27:33.299 me and screaming at me. He's going to send me 00:27:33.299 --> 00:27:35.430 to my grandparents for a month. which would have 00:27:35.430 --> 00:27:38.130 been fine. I love my grandparents. But then instead 00:27:38.130 --> 00:27:41.589 of yelling at me, my dad just asked me a question. 00:27:42.630 --> 00:27:45.410 He said, why didn't you ask for my help? Why 00:27:45.410 --> 00:27:47.490 didn't you just come talk to me? When you spilled 00:27:47.490 --> 00:27:50.569 it, why didn't you just tell me so I could help 00:27:50.569 --> 00:27:54.869 you? He told me he would always help me. He wasn't 00:27:54.869 --> 00:27:56.089 going to scream at me. He wasn't going to disown 00:27:56.089 --> 00:27:59.630 me. He said he got down on my level. He told 00:27:59.630 --> 00:28:02.490 me just to ask for help next time. Listen, that's 00:28:02.490 --> 00:28:04.779 what God's saying to the church in Ephesus. He's 00:28:04.779 --> 00:28:08.640 saying, why don't you just come talk to me? You're 00:28:08.640 --> 00:28:11.099 not where you want to be in your faith. You've 00:28:11.099 --> 00:28:13.680 lost your first love. You're going through the 00:28:13.680 --> 00:28:16.700 motions really good, but you don't love me. But 00:28:16.700 --> 00:28:19.759 why don't you just come talk to me? Why are you 00:28:19.759 --> 00:28:21.059 trying to fix it all on your own? Why don't you 00:28:21.059 --> 00:28:25.619 just come talk to me? Repent and just come talk 00:28:25.619 --> 00:28:30.480 to me. Then Jesus gives them their third instruction. 00:28:30.910 --> 00:28:33.670 After they repent, they need to renew their relationship 00:28:33.670 --> 00:28:36.569 with God. Last fall, we looked at the book of 00:28:36.569 --> 00:28:38.450 Haggai, which is a great example of renewal. 00:28:39.170 --> 00:28:42.789 In Haggai and in here, the people of God needed 00:28:42.789 --> 00:28:46.029 to renew their walk with God by worshiping God 00:28:46.029 --> 00:28:47.950 instead of trying to do everything on their own. 00:28:48.690 --> 00:28:51.289 Jesus is reminding them, enough with halfway 00:28:51.289 --> 00:28:53.750 following me, enough with just saying you follow 00:28:53.750 --> 00:28:58.569 me. Be all in. Jesus is calling for their hearts. 00:28:59.150 --> 00:29:00.670 See, there's no doubt that the Ephesian church 00:29:00.670 --> 00:29:03.950 knew a lot about Jesus. They knew lots about 00:29:03.950 --> 00:29:05.410 Jesus. If you got all the early church together 00:29:05.410 --> 00:29:08.150 for Jesus trivia, they probably would have won 00:29:08.150 --> 00:29:11.069 it all. They were very, very smart. They knew 00:29:11.069 --> 00:29:12.470 what they were doing. You know, we saw that in 00:29:12.470 --> 00:29:13.670 their good works, right? They're very good at 00:29:13.670 --> 00:29:15.309 calling out false teachers. That's something 00:29:15.309 --> 00:29:18.190 we'll see other churches struggle with. But they've 00:29:18.190 --> 00:29:20.069 missed that they're supposed to be growing to 00:29:20.069 --> 00:29:23.809 love Jesus more. There is a book I was given 00:29:23.809 --> 00:29:25.609 at the Southern Baptist Convention called Fruitful 00:29:25.609 --> 00:29:28.289 Theology by a guy named Ronnie Kurtz who was... 00:29:28.349 --> 00:29:32.710 one of my theology professors in seminary. And 00:29:32.710 --> 00:29:35.690 in it, Ronnie writes a chapter on love and the 00:29:35.690 --> 00:29:38.549 theology of love. And he starts with a really 00:29:38.549 --> 00:29:42.869 simple challenge. That as we study who God is 00:29:42.869 --> 00:29:46.289 and that God is love, it should challenge us 00:29:46.289 --> 00:29:49.230 to do a couple things. As we learn more about 00:29:49.230 --> 00:29:52.730 God's love, we should love God more because we 00:29:52.730 --> 00:29:55.240 are appreciative of what God has done. but it 00:29:55.240 --> 00:29:57.160 should also change how we live on a daily basis 00:29:57.160 --> 00:30:01.359 as we grow to be more like Jesus. See, we can 00:30:01.359 --> 00:30:03.480 do theology where we just sit back and we read 00:30:03.480 --> 00:30:05.420 a book and we say, well, that was very enlightening 00:30:05.420 --> 00:30:07.619 to me, and I'm really glad that I read that, 00:30:07.640 --> 00:30:09.000 and there's been a lot of books I've read like 00:30:09.000 --> 00:30:11.680 that. We say, you know, that was great. I learned 00:30:11.680 --> 00:30:13.220 an awful lot about the Trinity in this book, 00:30:13.299 --> 00:30:15.119 and that was, you know, helpful to understand 00:30:15.119 --> 00:30:16.940 more. You know, it was helpful to understand 00:30:16.940 --> 00:30:18.619 the early church's missional strategy. That was 00:30:18.619 --> 00:30:22.319 great. But that doesn't mean that our heart changes. 00:30:25.130 --> 00:30:27.950 And Jesus is challenging the Ephesians. You guys 00:30:27.950 --> 00:30:30.829 know what you need to know. Enough with the classes, 00:30:30.869 --> 00:30:33.230 enough with, you know, that next program or that 00:30:33.230 --> 00:30:35.630 next this to learn a little more. Your heads 00:30:35.630 --> 00:30:37.950 are in the game, but your heart is not. Why? 00:30:38.049 --> 00:30:41.690 Because you've abandoned your first love. You 00:30:41.690 --> 00:30:44.109 know all the answers. You know how to spot the 00:30:44.109 --> 00:30:46.490 phonies from a mile away unless it's yourself. 00:30:47.730 --> 00:30:50.970 You know what it means to obey God, but your 00:30:50.970 --> 00:30:54.599 hearts aren't seeking me. And so, Cornerstone, 00:30:54.640 --> 00:30:56.579 I want to challenge us. We'll talk more about 00:30:56.579 --> 00:31:02.440 this. Do I? Do you? Do we need to renew our relationship 00:31:02.440 --> 00:31:06.420 with Jesus and fall back in love with God? Is 00:31:06.420 --> 00:31:09.539 our fire for Jesus burning as bright as it once 00:31:09.539 --> 00:31:11.779 did? And we will talk more about that in a minute. 00:31:12.059 --> 00:31:15.140 But let that already be on your mind. And look 00:31:15.140 --> 00:31:18.099 at verse 6 with me. Jesus sandwiches his rebuke 00:31:18.099 --> 00:31:21.019 with some positive feedback. And he gets back 00:31:21.019 --> 00:31:24.509 to that in verse 6. You've lost your first love. 00:31:24.569 --> 00:31:26.009 I'm rebuking you for that. I'm calling you to 00:31:26.009 --> 00:31:29.829 repentance. Yet you do have this. You hate the 00:31:29.829 --> 00:31:32.529 practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. 00:31:34.009 --> 00:31:35.750 Jesus encourages the believers, it's good that 00:31:35.750 --> 00:31:37.549 they hate this group. It's good that they don't 00:31:37.549 --> 00:31:39.799 like the practices of this group. No one knows 00:31:39.799 --> 00:31:41.660 exactly what they do, but an early church writer 00:31:41.660 --> 00:31:44.920 says this about them. They lived lives of unrestrained 00:31:44.920 --> 00:31:48.359 indulgence. They used their faith as an excuse 00:31:48.359 --> 00:31:50.960 and even a reason to engage in sexual immorality 00:31:50.960 --> 00:31:56.420 and other sins. And Jesus hates that. Don't miss 00:31:56.420 --> 00:32:00.140 that. You hate the practices which I also hate. 00:32:01.000 --> 00:32:03.400 Jesus didn't go to the cross so we could selfishly 00:32:03.400 --> 00:32:06.160 live lives built around our own pleasure. Instead, 00:32:06.240 --> 00:32:08.039 Jesus went to the cross so we could be set free 00:32:08.039 --> 00:32:11.109 from sin. Jesus didn't die for us to pursue after 00:32:11.109 --> 00:32:14.829 sin. Jesus bought us back from sin. And here 00:32:14.829 --> 00:32:16.490 Jesus encourages the Ephesians that they are 00:32:16.490 --> 00:32:18.849 right to hate those practices. But it's also 00:32:18.849 --> 00:32:21.869 a reminder, a reminder to follow me. Don't just 00:32:21.869 --> 00:32:24.150 follow emotions or yourself like what this group 00:32:24.150 --> 00:32:26.009 does. Don't just follow the way of the world. 00:32:26.029 --> 00:32:28.730 Instead, follow me. Have a personal relationship 00:32:28.730 --> 00:32:32.529 with me. And that brings us to Revelation 2 -7 00:32:32.529 --> 00:32:35.410 where Jesus closes out this letter. He says, 00:32:35.470 --> 00:32:38.269 let anyone who has ears Do you have ears this 00:32:38.269 --> 00:32:41.630 morning? Not if you have ears. Okay. Let anyone 00:32:41.630 --> 00:32:44.670 who has ears listen to what the Spirit says to 00:32:44.670 --> 00:32:47.029 the churches. To the one who conquers, I will 00:32:47.029 --> 00:32:49.029 give the right to eat from the tree of life, 00:32:49.150 --> 00:32:52.480 which is in the paradise of God. He wraps up 00:32:52.480 --> 00:32:54.079 this letter by saying that it's for everyone 00:32:54.079 --> 00:32:57.400 who has ears. If you have ears, this letter is 00:32:57.400 --> 00:33:00.460 for you. Hear the word of the Lord this morning. 00:33:00.500 --> 00:33:03.240 Hear the warning that Jesus gives. Take time 00:33:03.240 --> 00:33:05.680 today to examine your heart in your own life. 00:33:05.900 --> 00:33:09.940 Take time today to examine, do I love Jesus first 00:33:09.940 --> 00:33:12.680 and foremost? That's what we're just about to 00:33:12.680 --> 00:33:16.420 do, in fact. But Jesus' final piece is actually 00:33:16.420 --> 00:33:20.630 an encouragement. To the one who conquers, I 00:33:20.630 --> 00:33:22.710 will give the right to eat from the tree of life, 00:33:22.809 --> 00:33:27.230 which is in the paradise of God. But Jesus isn't 00:33:27.230 --> 00:33:29.769 talking about a Roman soldier. He's not saying, 00:33:29.789 --> 00:33:32.049 dear Roman army, you conquered a lot of the world, 00:33:32.069 --> 00:33:33.710 and I will give you the right to eat from the 00:33:33.710 --> 00:33:35.109 tree of life because you were so good at that. 00:33:36.589 --> 00:33:38.869 Instead, this word, this word conqueror, is from 00:33:38.869 --> 00:33:41.170 the word nika. It's where we get the brand Nike. 00:33:41.730 --> 00:33:44.750 It also means to persevere, to endure, to win 00:33:44.750 --> 00:33:49.289 even. Let's use that word there. Jesus challenges 00:33:49.289 --> 00:33:54.690 us to win, to win by following him, to win by 00:33:54.690 --> 00:33:58.309 loving him first and foremost. Jesus challenges 00:33:58.309 --> 00:34:01.990 us to persevere day after day until the finish 00:34:01.990 --> 00:34:05.430 line by following Jesus. And he promises us something. 00:34:05.650 --> 00:34:07.789 I will give the right to eat from the tree of 00:34:07.789 --> 00:34:09.750 life. That is a shout out back to Genesis chapter 00:34:09.750 --> 00:34:12.210 1 through 3, back to the Garden of Eden, back 00:34:12.210 --> 00:34:14.630 to man's first sin where they eat of the tree 00:34:14.630 --> 00:34:16.800 when they are not supposed to. And now we see 00:34:16.800 --> 00:34:18.159 that to the one who conquers, the one who wins, 00:34:18.219 --> 00:34:19.800 the one who loves Jesus, the one who walks with 00:34:19.800 --> 00:34:22.500 Jesus, Jesus gives the right to eat from that 00:34:22.500 --> 00:34:25.039 tree. But there's something else there also, 00:34:25.099 --> 00:34:28.900 actually. Ephesus was known a little bit, it 00:34:28.900 --> 00:34:30.119 wasn't their major thing, but they were known 00:34:30.119 --> 00:34:34.579 a bit for their date palm trees. Their trees 00:34:34.579 --> 00:34:38.380 were a sign of provision. In the Old Testament, 00:34:38.539 --> 00:34:42.460 for instance, in Exodus 15, God uses palm trees 00:34:42.460 --> 00:34:45.769 to show that he's providing for people. So right 00:34:45.769 --> 00:34:48.050 here, you've got a cool connection. I will give 00:34:48.050 --> 00:34:49.929 the right to eat from the tree of life. I will 00:34:49.929 --> 00:34:55.750 give provision to the one who perseveres, the 00:34:55.750 --> 00:34:58.070 one who endures, the one who conquers, the one 00:34:58.070 --> 00:35:02.750 who follows me. I will provide. I will give you 00:35:02.750 --> 00:35:05.050 the right to eat from the tree of life in the 00:35:05.050 --> 00:35:08.130 paradise of God, or literally, you will be with 00:35:08.130 --> 00:35:12.820 me in paradise forever. It is a call to a church 00:35:12.820 --> 00:35:14.739 that is struggling by reminding them to focus 00:35:14.739 --> 00:35:18.239 on the most important thing. So let's take a 00:35:18.239 --> 00:35:19.699 minute now and let's talk about that most important 00:35:19.699 --> 00:35:22.179 thing. Our first application point today is this. 00:35:22.300 --> 00:35:25.739 Our first love calls. Our first love calls. The 00:35:25.739 --> 00:35:27.500 first question that we have to answer after reading 00:35:27.500 --> 00:35:30.699 Revelation 2, 1 through 7 is this. What is our 00:35:30.699 --> 00:35:35.360 first love? What is our first love? And I'm not 00:35:35.360 --> 00:35:37.820 saying who is your first love as in like, you 00:35:37.820 --> 00:35:41.889 know, that person from first grade. What is your 00:35:41.889 --> 00:35:44.690 first love? What is it that is in that seat of 00:35:44.690 --> 00:35:46.889 preeminence in your life? What is the thing that 00:35:46.889 --> 00:35:49.489 you will build your life on? And I want to take 00:35:49.489 --> 00:35:51.269 you two minutes to tell you what the church in 00:35:51.269 --> 00:35:53.949 Ephesus was originally founded on. The church 00:35:53.949 --> 00:35:56.010 in Ephesus was built on this understanding that 00:35:56.010 --> 00:35:58.789 we live in a broken and fallen world, a world 00:35:58.789 --> 00:36:00.869 that is that way because of sin, which is anything 00:36:00.869 --> 00:36:04.769 that misses God's holy and perfect mark. And 00:36:04.769 --> 00:36:07.280 here's the truth. We are all sinners. We all 00:36:07.280 --> 00:36:09.360 find ourselves in brokenness and we need a way 00:36:09.360 --> 00:36:12.539 out of brokenness, a way to be restored like 00:36:12.539 --> 00:36:16.639 what Jesus just said, to be in paradise of God. 00:36:18.179 --> 00:36:21.719 And Jesus came to earth. He gave his life for 00:36:21.719 --> 00:36:24.019 us on the cross after living a perfect, sinless 00:36:24.019 --> 00:36:28.539 life, the only person to ever do that. And he 00:36:28.539 --> 00:36:30.099 died on the cross and rose again on the third 00:36:30.099 --> 00:36:32.659 day so that we can be saved. And to be saved, 00:36:32.659 --> 00:36:34.960 we need to repent and put our faith in Jesus. 00:36:35.889 --> 00:36:39.369 After all, like Ephesians 2, 8, 9 tells us, it 00:36:39.369 --> 00:36:44.909 is by faith that we are saved. It's not from 00:36:44.909 --> 00:36:48.110 ourselves. We can't brag about it. It's not like 00:36:48.110 --> 00:36:50.329 you can say, well, you know, it's so good yesterday 00:36:50.329 --> 00:36:53.329 that now I'm saved. That's not how that works. 00:36:53.949 --> 00:36:55.449 Trust me, the church in Ephesus would have loved 00:36:55.449 --> 00:36:56.750 that if they could have just had a set of things 00:36:56.750 --> 00:36:59.670 to do, a set of check boxes to hit every day, 00:36:59.769 --> 00:37:01.909 and things to do, things to obey, so they could 00:37:01.909 --> 00:37:04.849 just go through the motions. We're saved through 00:37:04.849 --> 00:37:08.570 our faith. And then after we are saved, we're 00:37:08.570 --> 00:37:10.949 given a new challenge. We are challenged to grow 00:37:10.949 --> 00:37:13.409 in our faith, to grow closer to God, and to go 00:37:13.409 --> 00:37:15.369 to the people around us. And that's what we see 00:37:15.369 --> 00:37:17.789 in Acts 19, right? These people are growing in 00:37:17.789 --> 00:37:20.309 their faith, and they are going back into the 00:37:20.309 --> 00:37:21.849 brokenness that's all around them, and they are 00:37:21.849 --> 00:37:25.210 bringing the good news of Jesus. That right there, 00:37:25.349 --> 00:37:28.989 that is what the church in Ephesus is founded 00:37:28.989 --> 00:37:32.250 on. It's founded on knowing Jesus, on following 00:37:32.250 --> 00:37:35.349 Jesus, on loving Jesus. And so I want to challenge 00:37:35.349 --> 00:37:37.750 you with something this morning. This morning, 00:37:37.789 --> 00:37:40.530 do you know Jesus personally? Not just do you 00:37:40.530 --> 00:37:42.110 know that there was a man named Jesus who lived 00:37:42.110 --> 00:37:46.909 a long time ago. Do you know that Jesus died 00:37:46.909 --> 00:37:50.610 on the cross for you personally? Do you know 00:37:50.610 --> 00:37:53.809 that Jesus loves you? I'll just preach that to 00:37:53.809 --> 00:37:59.880 you and preach that to me too. Do you have a 00:37:59.880 --> 00:38:02.579 relationship with Jesus? Have you placed your 00:38:02.579 --> 00:38:05.400 faith in Jesus for the forgiveness of your sins? 00:38:06.239 --> 00:38:08.340 And if you're here today and you cannot confidently 00:38:08.340 --> 00:38:10.480 say that, you cannot confidently say that you 00:38:10.480 --> 00:38:12.500 know your faith is in Jesus, that you have been 00:38:12.500 --> 00:38:18.500 forgiven by Jesus, washed clean by his death 00:38:18.500 --> 00:38:21.900 and resurrection, then let today be that day. 00:38:22.500 --> 00:38:25.579 Let today be the day that you cry out to Jesus 00:38:25.579 --> 00:38:30.239 in saving faith. Today, put your faith in Jesus 00:38:30.239 --> 00:38:33.420 for the forgiveness of your sins and be saved. 00:38:35.199 --> 00:38:37.000 Let me challenge all of us here this morning 00:38:37.000 --> 00:38:42.539 with this. Today, let our first love challenge 00:38:42.539 --> 00:38:47.219 us to make sure that our first love is Jesus. 00:38:49.500 --> 00:38:51.860 That our first love is not drifted, we have not 00:38:51.860 --> 00:38:53.880 abandoned it, it chased after something else. 00:38:54.380 --> 00:38:57.500 Like position. or influence, or popularity, but 00:38:57.500 --> 00:39:01.980 that our first love is Jesus. Here's our second 00:39:01.980 --> 00:39:04.980 application point. Our first love calls us back. 00:39:06.179 --> 00:39:10.519 Our first love calls us back. The church in Ephesus 00:39:10.519 --> 00:39:12.840 has a history of knowing Jesus, of walking with 00:39:12.840 --> 00:39:15.019 Jesus, of seeing God move in a bunch of different 00:39:15.019 --> 00:39:17.679 ways, but their hearts have grown cold and distant 00:39:17.679 --> 00:39:19.960 from God. They needed a wake -up call, right? 00:39:19.980 --> 00:39:22.579 They need their alarm clock. And to renew their 00:39:22.579 --> 00:39:26.159 love for Jesus, or to make it new, But it's not 00:39:26.159 --> 00:39:28.980 just the Ephesian church. It's all of us. We 00:39:28.980 --> 00:39:31.519 can all struggle with this. We can all struggle 00:39:31.519 --> 00:39:33.059 with feeling that we've grown distant from God. 00:39:33.119 --> 00:39:34.780 We can all struggle with finding out one day 00:39:34.780 --> 00:39:36.360 that we wake up and our hearts aren't burning 00:39:36.360 --> 00:39:39.619 passionately for God. That our quiet times don't 00:39:39.619 --> 00:39:41.980 seem as fruitful. We don't have the same passion 00:39:41.980 --> 00:39:43.980 to tell people around us about Jesus. That prayer 00:39:43.980 --> 00:39:45.860 is less of something that we long for and it's 00:39:45.860 --> 00:39:46.960 more of something we do out of habit because 00:39:46.960 --> 00:39:50.719 after we pray, then we can go eat. We all go 00:39:50.719 --> 00:39:52.920 through these seasons. I'm saying that from firsthand 00:39:52.920 --> 00:39:55.860 experience. There's days, weeks, months where 00:39:55.860 --> 00:39:58.199 I find myself not following Jesus with the passion 00:39:58.199 --> 00:40:01.699 that I want to follow Jesus with. But there's 00:40:01.699 --> 00:40:04.840 something incredible about following Jesus. When 00:40:04.840 --> 00:40:06.780 we're in these lows, when we're struggling in 00:40:06.780 --> 00:40:09.719 our relationship with him, Jesus doesn't leave 00:40:09.719 --> 00:40:12.199 us. He doesn't just say, well, that's too bad 00:40:12.199 --> 00:40:13.940 for you that you're not feeling it. I'll see 00:40:13.940 --> 00:40:17.159 you again in six months. Good luck. Instead, 00:40:17.260 --> 00:40:20.579 Jesus calls to us. That's what this letter is. 00:40:21.629 --> 00:40:23.670 This letter is a call to the church in Ephesus 00:40:23.670 --> 00:40:26.869 to come back. It's a call to them to renew their 00:40:26.869 --> 00:40:31.369 love. A few weeks ago, I officiated a wedding. 00:40:32.190 --> 00:40:34.110 You know, when you're doing a wedding, when you're 00:40:34.110 --> 00:40:35.429 getting married, if you've gotten married before, 00:40:35.489 --> 00:40:39.090 you know this, there's vows. Also, if you're 00:40:39.090 --> 00:40:40.429 married, you know there are days where it is 00:40:40.429 --> 00:40:42.750 harder to live out those vows than other days. 00:40:44.150 --> 00:40:45.570 There are days where you're thinking to yourself, 00:40:45.710 --> 00:40:49.369 did I really promise that? That's going to be 00:40:49.369 --> 00:40:51.909 hard today. I'm not feeling very patient today. 00:40:52.309 --> 00:40:57.150 I'm not sure I want to do that today. But it's 00:40:57.150 --> 00:41:01.409 something we promise. Friends, sometimes you 00:41:01.409 --> 00:41:03.110 might hear somebody go through and renew those 00:41:03.110 --> 00:41:06.110 vows or take some time to sit down and talk through 00:41:06.110 --> 00:41:09.829 their vows again and renew them together. That's 00:41:09.829 --> 00:41:10.989 what this letter is calling for the church in 00:41:10.989 --> 00:41:13.530 Ephesus to do. It's Jesus saying, I know you're 00:41:13.530 --> 00:41:15.030 in a dry spell right now. I know you're in a 00:41:15.030 --> 00:41:17.510 spot where following me is not really what you 00:41:17.510 --> 00:41:23.030 want to do. Come back to me. Come back to me. 00:41:23.909 --> 00:41:25.550 There's a practical challenge in this for us 00:41:25.550 --> 00:41:27.769 today. It's one that honestly might make us uncomfortable. 00:41:27.849 --> 00:41:29.349 It's a question I've wrestled with this week, 00:41:29.409 --> 00:41:31.869 and so now I want to ask you to really take this 00:41:31.869 --> 00:41:35.050 to heart and to wrestle with this too. Are you 00:41:35.050 --> 00:41:37.909 filled with the same fire for Jesus that you 00:41:37.909 --> 00:41:41.250 had when you were first saved? Does your heart 00:41:41.250 --> 00:41:44.489 long with every ounce of itself to be close to 00:41:44.489 --> 00:41:48.079 Jesus? Or is our spiritual life more on the back 00:41:48.079 --> 00:41:49.920 burner behind all the other things in life, the 00:41:49.920 --> 00:41:51.260 responsibilities, the distractions, everything 00:41:51.260 --> 00:41:55.760 else that goes on on a daily basis? Let me challenge 00:41:55.760 --> 00:41:57.559 you to really take inventory of that and then 00:41:57.559 --> 00:42:01.300 to do something about that. Let me give you a 00:42:01.300 --> 00:42:03.119 really simple, manageable application that's 00:42:03.119 --> 00:42:06.179 relevant to what we've seen this morning. You 00:42:06.179 --> 00:42:07.619 want to fall more in love with Jesus? I think 00:42:07.619 --> 00:42:09.699 one of the best books for that is the book of 00:42:09.699 --> 00:42:12.639 Ephesians. Ephesians paints a beautiful image 00:42:12.639 --> 00:42:16.159 of salvation. of how we are saved, of who God 00:42:16.159 --> 00:42:19.880 is. So let me challenge you this week. Reflect 00:42:19.880 --> 00:42:21.800 on where you're at with God and then read through 00:42:21.800 --> 00:42:23.619 Ephesians. But don't just like read it, flip 00:42:23.619 --> 00:42:24.960 through. Okay, great, I did what Daniel said 00:42:24.960 --> 00:42:29.380 to do. Meditate on it. Consider it. Let it spur 00:42:29.380 --> 00:42:33.719 your heart into a deeper walk with Jesus. And 00:42:33.719 --> 00:42:35.659 as we do that this week, let me encourage us 00:42:35.659 --> 00:42:39.019 to ask God to reignite the fire in our heart. 00:42:40.320 --> 00:42:42.380 That is a prayer I can promise you he will answer. 00:42:44.110 --> 00:42:47.429 Ask God to reignite that fire. And here's our 00:42:47.429 --> 00:42:49.769 third and final application this morning. Our 00:42:49.769 --> 00:42:54.610 first love challenges us to endure. As we walk 00:42:54.610 --> 00:42:57.690 with Christ, there is one more challenge. It's 00:42:57.690 --> 00:43:00.190 really clear in Revelation 2, 1 through 7. That 00:43:00.190 --> 00:43:02.670 is the challenge over and over to endure, to 00:43:02.670 --> 00:43:05.690 persevere, or even in verse 7, that challenge 00:43:05.690 --> 00:43:10.590 to win. That's what I want to talk about. How 00:43:10.590 --> 00:43:12.900 do we experience that victory? It's simple. We 00:43:12.900 --> 00:43:15.420 do so by walking with God until we return home. 00:43:16.480 --> 00:43:18.179 So I want to encourage you, dear brothers and 00:43:18.179 --> 00:43:22.880 sisters, endure. Stand strong and walk with God. 00:43:22.900 --> 00:43:25.400 And there's a way that we can and should do that, 00:43:25.500 --> 00:43:27.840 a way that I want to challenge us with this morning 00:43:27.840 --> 00:43:29.639 that's not directly in here, but I think should 00:43:29.639 --> 00:43:32.960 be a part of how we endure, a part of how we 00:43:32.960 --> 00:43:37.500 go through life. See, worship is our response 00:43:37.500 --> 00:43:42.280 to God's revelation. We could safely say that 00:43:42.280 --> 00:43:45.019 if we're going to endure until the end, then 00:43:45.019 --> 00:43:48.679 we need to worship God. It's not just a piece 00:43:48.679 --> 00:43:50.860 of advice or a thought or an idea, it's a necessity. 00:43:51.159 --> 00:43:53.659 If we're going to endure through this life, if 00:43:53.659 --> 00:43:55.880 we're going to persevere and be with God for 00:43:55.880 --> 00:43:58.619 eternity, then we need to fix our eyes on Jesus. 00:43:59.210 --> 00:44:01.070 And so let me just give us three ways that we 00:44:01.070 --> 00:44:03.409 can worship as we wrap up. First, we worship 00:44:03.409 --> 00:44:05.469 God every single day. We see that in 1 Corinthians 00:44:05.469 --> 00:44:08.989 10 31 and Colossians 3 23. Colossians 3 23 says 00:44:08.989 --> 00:44:11.510 this, whatever you do, do it from the heart as 00:44:11.510 --> 00:44:13.510 something done for the Lord and not for people. 00:44:14.230 --> 00:44:17.230 Worship on a daily basis. Worship in your work 00:44:17.230 --> 00:44:19.670 that you do tomorrow. Worship at home. Worship 00:44:19.670 --> 00:44:21.989 in your relationships. Parents, grandparents, 00:44:22.190 --> 00:44:24.429 worship God in the way that you talk to your 00:44:24.429 --> 00:44:26.829 kids and grandkids. Worship in these things by 00:44:26.829 --> 00:44:30.449 fixing your eyes on Jesus. Rather than getting 00:44:30.449 --> 00:44:32.610 angry at your coworker, take it to Jesus. Your 00:44:32.610 --> 00:44:34.530 child isn't listening to you? It's hard. I'm 00:44:34.530 --> 00:44:36.730 not a parent, but I get it. Let's not lose hope. 00:44:36.809 --> 00:44:39.449 Instead, take that frustration to Jesus and take 00:44:39.449 --> 00:44:40.730 that and turn that into a situation where you 00:44:40.730 --> 00:44:43.869 can worship Jesus. Whatever the situation you 00:44:43.869 --> 00:44:46.550 face, let's make our lives about worshiping Jesus 00:44:46.550 --> 00:44:50.480 by taking our lives to Jesus. Secondly, Worship 00:44:50.480 --> 00:44:53.980 by loving the people around you. Worship God 00:44:53.980 --> 00:44:56.280 by loving the people around you. Let's reflect 00:44:56.280 --> 00:45:00.139 God's love by loving the people who are around 00:45:00.139 --> 00:45:04.300 us. This gets after the good works and the labor 00:45:04.300 --> 00:45:06.800 that we talked about earlier. Love that person 00:45:06.800 --> 00:45:11.340 around us. Third, actually with our second one, 00:45:11.780 --> 00:45:14.500 worship by loving that person by bringing them 00:45:14.500 --> 00:45:17.980 next Saturday. Worship by loving that person. 00:45:18.489 --> 00:45:21.269 By bringing them next Sunday morning. Worship 00:45:21.269 --> 00:45:24.730 by loving that person and bringing their kids, 00:45:24.829 --> 00:45:26.449 even if they're not free, by picking up their 00:45:26.449 --> 00:45:29.610 kids and driving their kids here for VBS. Worship 00:45:29.610 --> 00:45:31.989 by loving that person. And when we reveal the 00:45:31.989 --> 00:45:34.269 full food truck schedule this week, choosing 00:45:34.269 --> 00:45:36.110 one of those nights and saying, why don't we 00:45:36.110 --> 00:45:38.710 get together and go eat from this food truck? 00:45:39.050 --> 00:45:40.889 Why don't we go get some Watsons together this 00:45:40.889 --> 00:45:44.829 night? Worship by loving the people around you. 00:45:45.170 --> 00:45:49.119 Third and final, worship. By the way that you 00:45:49.119 --> 00:45:53.519 corporately praise God. We worship as we gather 00:45:53.519 --> 00:45:57.139 together and praise God. We worship as we gather 00:45:57.139 --> 00:45:59.980 here and we preach the word of God. We worship 00:45:59.980 --> 00:46:02.059 when we sing together. We worship when we talk 00:46:02.059 --> 00:46:04.119 together in the lobby about the things of God 00:46:04.119 --> 00:46:06.239 when we're there for one another in those hard 00:46:06.239 --> 00:46:09.159 situations. We worship as we gather together 00:46:09.159 --> 00:46:11.519 and hold one another in those hard times and 00:46:11.519 --> 00:46:15.480 pray for one another. Worship is our response 00:46:15.480 --> 00:46:19.190 to God's revelation. Let me challenge you with 00:46:19.190 --> 00:46:21.090 this. It is encouraging when we all come together 00:46:21.090 --> 00:46:28.030 for corporate worship. There's been some hard 00:46:28.030 --> 00:46:30.469 seasons in my life. I'm not going to deny it. 00:46:32.530 --> 00:46:35.590 And maybe you've gone through some too. But our 00:46:35.590 --> 00:46:39.969 singing together helps us to endure. Last year, 00:46:39.989 --> 00:46:43.449 right before my grandfather passed away, I was 00:46:43.449 --> 00:46:46.849 really close to that grandpa. Did a lot with 00:46:46.849 --> 00:46:49.869 him. And it was really hard. I'm not going to 00:46:49.869 --> 00:46:53.730 lie. It really sucked. But there's something 00:46:53.730 --> 00:46:56.889 really special about gathering with a group of 00:46:56.889 --> 00:47:01.409 believers and singing praise to God. It was a 00:47:01.409 --> 00:47:03.670 great reminder that no matter what it is that 00:47:03.670 --> 00:47:06.469 we are going through in this moment, that God 00:47:06.469 --> 00:47:08.929 is still with us. You think about that second 00:47:08.929 --> 00:47:14.739 song we sang today, Living Hope. That even as 00:47:14.739 --> 00:47:16.699 we might mourn or be going through a difficult 00:47:16.699 --> 00:47:19.780 time at work or at home, that Jesus is our living 00:47:19.780 --> 00:47:22.639 hope. That Jesus is our one true living hope. 00:47:22.699 --> 00:47:26.400 And so let me challenge you with this. Worship 00:47:26.400 --> 00:47:31.500 God by gathering together. Come together. Come 00:47:31.500 --> 00:47:34.559 to church when it's hard. That day where you 00:47:34.559 --> 00:47:35.980 say, I don't even know if I want to go to church 00:47:35.980 --> 00:47:37.420 because life is just a little too much for me 00:47:37.420 --> 00:47:39.400 this week. That's the day you need to be here 00:47:39.400 --> 00:47:43.030 the most. So let me challenge you. Right now 00:47:43.030 --> 00:47:45.349 as the worship team is about to come up and lead 00:47:45.349 --> 00:47:49.130 us in two more songs, let me challenge you. Fix 00:47:49.130 --> 00:47:51.150 your eyes on Jesus no matter what you're going 00:47:51.150 --> 00:47:54.650 through and worship him this morning. God, thank 00:47:54.650 --> 00:47:57.030 you so much for the chance that we have to come 00:47:57.030 --> 00:48:00.949 together and to worship you. God, we are beyond 00:48:00.949 --> 00:48:06.469 thankful, beyond grateful for the opportunity 00:48:06.469 --> 00:48:09.989 that we have, God. And God, I just ask that you 00:48:09.989 --> 00:48:12.829 would be with us now. God, I ask that you would 00:48:12.829 --> 00:48:18.690 just help us to fix our eyes on you, God. Lord, 00:48:18.710 --> 00:48:25.630 help us to worship you today, God, through our 00:48:25.630 --> 00:48:28.170 singing, through being with one another, God. 00:48:28.250 --> 00:48:31.510 Help us to worship you, God. Help us not to worry 00:48:31.510 --> 00:48:33.769 about what someone around us might think of us, 00:48:33.789 --> 00:48:37.030 God. Help us to worship you, to respond to you 00:48:37.030 --> 00:48:41.440 and what you're putting on our hearts, God. Lord, 00:48:41.500 --> 00:48:44.000 above all else this morning, I just ask that 00:48:44.000 --> 00:48:50.619 you would secure us in our first love, God. God, 00:48:50.659 --> 00:48:53.780 if we are here and we don't know you, or if we're 00:48:53.780 --> 00:48:55.760 here and our hearts have drifted away from you, 00:48:55.780 --> 00:49:00.260 God, would today be the day that that stops, 00:49:00.380 --> 00:49:04.039 God? That today we would hear the words of verse 00:49:04.039 --> 00:49:05.980 5, that we would wake up to that, we would be 00:49:05.980 --> 00:49:10.730 aware of that. That we would repent. of that, 00:49:10.789 --> 00:49:16.510 God. We bring it back to your feet. We just say, 00:49:16.510 --> 00:49:20.929 God, help us to love you more. God, renew our 00:49:20.929 --> 00:49:24.349 walk with you. We ask this in your name.