The schedule for the series:
Aug. 9: Revelation 2:1-11
Aug. 16: Revelation 2:12-29
Aug. 23: Revelation 3:1-13
Aug. 30: Revelation 3:14-22, maybe into Revelation 4
Our mindset as we study these chapters in Revelation
2 Timothy 3:1-5
1But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. 2People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, 4treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— 5having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them.In other words, there are people within the body of believers in Christ who are not believers, but pretenders – and they, in these last days will (and do) live and teach such a life. We need to be watchful of them and have nothing to do with them.
Also ...
2 Corinthians 13:5
5Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you—unless, of course, you fail the test?So we’re going to enter a period of self-examination, both as a church and as the people who make up the church, with the help of the Lord Himself through His holy Word.
Warren Weirsbe says this:
Only the Head of the church, Jesus Christ, can accurately inspect each church and know its true condition, because He sees the internals, not only the externals. In these special messages to the seven churches in Asia Minor, the Lord gave each assembly an “X ray” of its condition. But He intended for all the churches to read these messages and benefit from them. (Note the plural “churches” in Rev. 2:7, 11, 17, 29; 3:6, 13, 22.)Jesus said this:
But the Lord was also speaking to individuals, and this is where you and I come in. “He that hath an ear, let him hear.” Churches are made up of individuals, and it is individuals who determine the spiritual life of the assembly. So, while reading these messages, we must apply them personally as we examine our own hearts.
Finally, we must keep in mind that John was a pastor at heart, seeking to encourage these churches during a difficult time of persecution. Before Christ judges the world, He must judge His own people (1 Peter 4:17: “For it is time for judgment to begin with the family of God; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God?”). A purified church need never fear the attacks of Satan or men.
Blessed is the one who reads the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near.The text starting in Revelation 1:19 to 2:11
Revelation 1:3
19"Write, therefore, what you have seen, what is now and what will take place later. 20The mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand and of the seven golden lampstands is this: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.
1"To the angel of the church in Ephesus write:Teaching Point No. 1 (letter to the church in Ephesus)
These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands: 2I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked men, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. 3You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary.
4Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love. 5Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place.
6But you have this in your favor: You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.
7He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.
8"To the angel of the church in Smyrna write:
These are the words of him who is the First and the Last, who died and came to life again. 9I know your afflictions and your poverty—yet you are rich! I know the slander of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.
10Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life.
11He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes will not be hurt at all by the second death.
It’s possible to do great things – have great programs, over the odds in meeting the needs of people around you, standing up for the truth by rejecting falsehoods – without Jesus. It’s possible to love ministry, the activity and results of ministry, and not love Jesus.
2I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked men, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. 3You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary.This was both a commendation (an apporval) and an admonition by Jesus of the church in Ephesus. The church at Ephesus had works, labor, and patience – but no love for Christ.
4Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love. …
6But you have this in your favor: You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.
The commendation is easy to spot: The church had wonderful ministries, and more over, they had a great Christian apologetics program where they defended the faith and had no tolerance at all for errant and false teaching of God’s Word.
(A quick note on the Nicolatians:There are many churches like this in our day. The have great child care, wonderful programs to help you understand your faith and the Bible, they are known in the community for being an asset, they have excellent music ministries.
The word Nicolaitan means “to conquer the people” in Greek. Some Bible students believe this was a sect who “lorded it over” the church and robbed the people of their liberty in Christ. They initiated what we know today as “clergy” and “laity,” a false division that is taught nowhere in the New Testament. All God’s people are “kings and priests” and have equal access to the Father through the blood of Christ.)
Oh, and let’s not forget the parts that make up the church – people like you and me.
For an illustration of how this works with an individual, remember the passage out of Luke 10:38-42, where Jesus visits the home of Martha and Mary? Like Martha, we can be so busy working for Christ that we have no time to love Him. Christ is more concerned about what we do with Him than for Him. Labor is no substitute for love.
To the public, the Ephesian church was successful; to Christ, it had fallen.
Today, for some churches who do great things are are recognized for their efforts, they are missing the key reason for their very existence: the love of Jesus Christ.
The church in Ephesus did not “lose” their love for Jesus, the forsook it … in the original Greek of this passage, the word Jesus used was that they departed from Him, they left him … in the language of today, they took Him for granted.
Let’s contrast the Ephesian church with the one in Thessalonica. This is what it is supposed to look like when Jesus is first:
1 Thessalonians 1:3
We continually remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.In other words, Jesus was their motivation, their everything, and from their love and devotion sprang up good works and the strength to labor meaningfully for the Lord.
So how is this to be fixed? How do we restore our first love?
Application:
5Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place.“First love” can be restored if we follow the three instructions Christ gave.
- First, we must remember (literally “keep on remembering”) what we have lost and cultivate a desire to regain that close communion once again.
- Then we must repent – change our minds – and confess our sins to the Lord (1 John 1:9).
- Third, we must repeat the firstworks, which suggests restoring the original fellowship that was broken by our sin and neglect.
Pray that you will get back to the place where you can truly say, with awe, and wonder and reverence: “I love the King and the King loves me.”
Here’s the warning if we don’t act to restore our first love: the Lord will take away our lampstand.
Warren Wiersbe explains it this way: If we collectively as the church – and we as the individuals who make up the church – do not get its heart back in the right condition, the lampstand will be removed. The local church is to shine as a light in the world. Without true love for Christ, its light will go out.
For reflection (just you, the Lord and His Word, one-on-one):
Have I departed, left, taken for granted, my first love while being active in the works and activities related to the church?Teaching Point No. 2 (letter to the church in Syrmna)
When we follow Jesus with everything we’ve got, when Jesus is our EVERYTHING, there are times we’re going to feel beat up, get beat up, disrespected, insulted, ignored and feel like the whole world is against us.
Revelation 8b-11:
8bThese are the words of him who is the First and the Last, who died and came to life again. 9I know your afflictions and your poverty –yet you are rich! I know the slander of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.Smyrna was the persecuted church, so Jesus reminds them of His own suffering, death, and resurrection. And as Jesus was faithful to the Father’s will by being obedient to death, even death on a cross (Philippians 2), so, too, is He encouraging the Syrmna church: “Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life.”
10Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life.
11He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes will not be hurt at all by the second death.
We learned this in the young adult Bible study on Friday.
John 21:18-19
“I tell you the truth, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go." Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. Then he said to him, "Follow me!"What we learned is that following Jesus has a price on this side of heaven. For a lot of us, it may not be to the point of physical death, but if we are standing up for the truth that is Jesus, it’s going to cost us something. As we learned some weeks ago when we studied how Daniel, Hananiah, Azariah and Mishael stood up for God, we’re not going to be popular.
Jesus offers no criticism of this church. The saints were faithful in spite of suffering, in spite of not being “popular” or in the good favor of their community. They thought they were poor, but were rich – in contrast to Laodicea (we’ll learn more about them in a couple weeks), which thought it was rich and was poor (Revelation 3:17).
But here’s Jesus promise to a church, to His followers, when we suffer hard times for His sake: .. you will suffer persecution for ten days.”
Don’t get too analytical about the number 10 … take this away instead: As your persecution started, so there will be an END to that persecution.
Furthermore, Jesus says, He who overcomes will not be hurt at all by the second death.’’
Warren Wiersbe says, “The enemy may kill the body, but the saint need never fear the second death, which is hell. Those who are born twice will die only once. Those born only once will die twice."
In other words, for those of us who put our full faith and trust and love in Jesus, no matter how bad it may get here on earth, it’s only a flash in the pan, if that, when compared to being in eternity with the Lord.
Application, Revelation 2:10b, Jesus says:
Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life.Be faithful. Trust in Him always, and especially in those times when the persecution – the put-downs, the slander, the disrespect, the criticism and insults of even family and friends – for His namesake look like it won’t end.
Persevere, because He is waiting for you in Heaven with the eternal crown of life.
For reflection (just you, the Lord and His Word, one-on-one):
Have I ever been persecuted for His sake? If not, why not?Post-sermon add
See this item on two women in Iran being persecuted for their love for Jesus: http://www.elam.com/articles/Urgent-Prayer
Thoughts, comments, additional insights, questions??? Feel free to leave them in the comments section below, after the video of Jars of Clay's "Love Song for a Savior".
I get e-mail (added Aug. 11, 2009):
TODAY'S VERSE from HEARTLIGHT
August 11, 2009
VERSE:
And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you.
-- Romans 8:11
THOUGHT:
Romans 8 reminds us again and again of the blessings of the Holy Spirit's living in us, God's children. The Spirit in us is our guarantee that we will be raised from the dead! Because the Spirit that gave Jesus life and raised him from the dead is in us, we can have confidence in our resurrection. Mortality will not claim us -- our bodies may die, but the real and living part of us will go to be with Jesus (see Philippians 1:19-23). The Holy Spirit's life-giving power is stronger than death. We will live! Even though our bodies may die, the Spirit of God animates, inspires, and empowers us to victory.
PRAYER:
Holy Father, thank you so much for the gift of the Holy Spirit. To know that the power of the same Spirit who helped create the universe and who raised Jesus from the dead also lives in me takes my breath away with wonder and awe. You have chosen to live inside me, to bless me, mold me, develop me, and conform me to the goal of Jesus. Thank you. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
http://www.heartlight.org/cgi-shl/todaysverse.cgi?day=20090811
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