Latest / INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living / The Church with Everything but the Greatest Thing Msg 412 - Pastor Chuck Swindoll Insight for Living

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The Church with Everything but the Greatest Thing Msg 412 - Pastor Chuck Swindoll Insight for Living · INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living

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  Speaker 1: If you have a copy of the scriptures with you,
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  Speaker 1: will you turn to the last book in the Bible,
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  Speaker 1: the book of the Revelation? And this would be a
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  Speaker 1: good time to take the outline we've prepared for you
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  Speaker 1: and place it here where we'll be reading. We'll return
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  Speaker 1: to it in a moment. Have a pen handy and
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  Speaker 1: or pencil that you can use to record your thoughts.
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  Speaker 1: Revelation 2, beginning at verse 1. A message we've entitled,
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  Speaker 1: The Church with Everything but the Greatest Thing. To the
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  Speaker 1: angel of the church in Ephesus write, The one who
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  Speaker 1: holds the seven stars in his right hand, the one
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  Speaker 1: who walks among the seven golden lampstands, says this, I
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  Speaker 1: know your deeds and your toil and perseverance and that
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  Speaker 1: you cannot tolerate evil men. And you put to the
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  Speaker 1: test those who call themselves apostles and they are not.
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  Speaker 1: And you found them to be false. And you have
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  Speaker 1: perseverance and have endured for my name's sake and have
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  Speaker 1: not grown weary. But I have this against you. that
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  Speaker 1: you have left your first love. Therefore, remember from where
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  Speaker 1: you have fallen and repent and do the deeds you
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  Speaker 1: did at first, or else I'm coming to you and
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  Speaker 1: will remove your lampstand out of its place unless you repent.
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  Speaker 1: Yet this you do have, that you hate the deeds
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  Speaker 1: of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. He who has
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  Speaker 1: an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to
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  Speaker 1: the churches. To him who overcomes, I will grant to
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  Speaker 1: eat of the tree of life, which is in the
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  Speaker 1: paradise of God. We bow before you, our Father, in
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  Speaker 1: a world that is troubled and uneasy. whether in these
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  Speaker 1: United States or across our borders or across the seas
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  Speaker 1: beyond us, there is a growing sense of uneasiness. But
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  Speaker 1: we want you to know, our Father, it is well
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  Speaker 1: with our souls. We are surrounded by those who lack
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  Speaker 1: a sense of peace. Not knowing what the future holds,
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  Speaker 1: it is very difficult for those without roots to understand
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  Speaker 1: how there can be stability in the midst of what
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  Speaker 1: is apparently chaos, uncertainty. But having come to know a
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  Speaker 1: relationship with you, our Father, through your dear Son, because
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  Speaker 1: of your grace, it has become for us a comfort
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  Speaker 1: to know that you are sovereign, That nothing is out
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  Speaker 1: of control. That nothing touches us that does not first
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  Speaker 1: pass through the permissive hands and fingers of our God.
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  Speaker 1: And so it's well with our souls. Thank you for
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  Speaker 1: those who do good work today in shadowy places, in
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  Speaker 1: obscure places. within the walls of hospitals and homes of care,
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  Speaker 1: for the medical profession and the nurses, for those who
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  Speaker 1: do assisting work in counseling and ministering and encouraging and, yes, confronting.
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  Speaker 1: Thank you for their courage and their insight and their faithfulness.
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  Speaker 1: Thank you for using them to help those who stand
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  Speaker 1: alongside children clinging to life, and loved ones sick, afflicted, discouraged.
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  Speaker 1: Minister through these very capable professionals, these servants of yours
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  Speaker 1: who minister to us in our needs. For those who
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  Speaker 1: wear the uniform of these United States and for those
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  Speaker 1: of our allies, we pray today. May it be well
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  Speaker 1: with their souls. May they be given courage beyond their
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  Speaker 1: years and determination even beyond their own emotional makeup. May
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  Speaker 1: they have a sense of confidence and assurance that if
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  Speaker 1: war does come, they walk into it unafraid with you
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  Speaker 1: in their midst. Watch over them. Watch over their parents.
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  Speaker 1: who anxiously stand back and release them to their courageous deeds.
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  Speaker 1: Thank you for our commander-in-chief, for his wife and family.
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  Speaker 1: Take good care of them and protect him and them
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  Speaker 1: from harm. Give good guidance and wisdom to those who
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  Speaker 1: whisper in his ear and have his attention when doors
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  Speaker 1: are closed. May good direction be given so that this
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  Speaker 1: man might be strengthened when it seems as though half
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  Speaker 1: the world turns against him. Hold us all close, our Father,
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  Speaker 1: during this tender time. Minister through this church and any
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  Speaker 1: other like this one that loves your word, stands for it.
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  Speaker 1: Encourage those who serve you this day In places unknown
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  Speaker 1: to us. Far reaching. In lonely places. And hard places.
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  Speaker 1: And persecuted places. May their souls be at peace. And
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  Speaker 1: may it be well with them as well. Now our
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  Speaker 1: father we have the pleasure of all things of giving
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  Speaker 1: to you. What a privilege it is to do that.
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  Speaker 1: We do it. with assurance that you will superintend these
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  Speaker 1: monies for your purposes and for your will. As that unfolds,
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  Speaker 1: remind us over and over, Lord, that you are blessing
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  Speaker 1: the work of our hands. You are using this ministry effectively.
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  Speaker 1: And now, our Father, we pray our hearts will be
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  Speaker 1: prepared to As we prepare ourselves for the sowing of
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  Speaker 1: the seed of the good word of God. In the
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  Speaker 1: name of the Lord Jesus, who makes it all well
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  Speaker 1: with us, we pray. And everyone said, Amen. Church analyst
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  Speaker 1: George Barna is pretty grim as he predicts the future
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  Speaker 1: of today's church. He spent 25 years of his life
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  Speaker 1: studying American people, the American church scene, and our contemporary culture.
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  Speaker 1: He predicts one of two outcomes, either massive spiritual revival
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  Speaker 1: or total moral anarchy. He's praying for the former. He's
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  Speaker 1: fearing the latter. Listen to Barna's words from his book
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  Speaker 1: entitled The Second Coming of the Church. Americans today are
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  Speaker 1: more devoted to seeking spiritual enlightenment than at any previous
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  Speaker 1: time during the 20th century. Yet at this moment of
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  Speaker 1: optimum opportunity, Christianity is having less impact on people's perspectives
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  Speaker 1: and behaviors than ever. Why is that? Because a growing
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  Speaker 1: majority of people have dismissed the Christian faith as weak, outdated,
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  Speaker 1: and irrelevant. Interestingly, Barna adds, the stumbling block for the
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  Speaker 1: church is not its theology, but its failure to apply
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  Speaker 1: what it believes in compelling ways. The downfall of the
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  Speaker 1: church has not been the content of its message, but
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  Speaker 1: its failure to practice those truths. Christians have been their
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  Speaker 1: own worst enemies when it comes to showing the world
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  Speaker 1: what authentic biblical Christianity looks like and why it represents
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  Speaker 1: a viable opportunity and alternative to materialism, existentialism, mysticism, and
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  Speaker 1: other doctrines of popular culture. Now those are the words
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  Speaker 1: of a man, a mere man, a church specialist, an analyst,
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  Speaker 1: but a man, fallible, could be mistaken, He could be
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  Speaker 1: taking the problem to its extreme, he could be himself misguided,
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  Speaker 1: or he could be more right than wrong. So it's
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  Speaker 1: the opinion of a man. His book is troubling. But
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  Speaker 1: what would it be like if the Lord himself conducted
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  Speaker 1: a performance review of the church? What would that be like?
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  Speaker 1: How good would that be? The unmistakable, perfect, all-seeing, sovereign
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  Speaker 1: Son of God, the risen Christ. What if he Examined
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  Speaker 1: the church today, or a group of churches, more compellingly,
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  Speaker 1: this church. Wouldn't that be a more reliable piece of work?
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  Speaker 1: It would certainly lack faulty judgments, mistakes, and incorrect conclusions. Well,
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  Speaker 1: the good news is that God's Word, the Bible, contains
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  Speaker 1: just such a performance review. Makes no difference that the
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  Speaker 1: churches happen to exist in the first century. What he
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  Speaker 1: says in the second and third chapters of the Revelation
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  Speaker 1: sound as though they have been written in these recent days.
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  Speaker 1: Because these seven performance reviews, if you will, contain relevant, timely, penetrating,
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  Speaker 1: I would even say piercing words for any church in existence.
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  Speaker 1: If you have your Bible handy, I invite you to
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  Speaker 1: look again at the 19th verse of the first chapter
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  Speaker 1: of Revelation. We suggested that this is a helpful outcome,
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  Speaker 1: I should say outline, given by the Lord himself for
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  Speaker 1: the whole book of Revelation. John is instructed to write
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  Speaker 1: first the things which you have seen. He did that
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  Speaker 1: in the first chapter and we have examined it. John
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  Speaker 1: wrote what he saw, and we have, through his pen,
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  Speaker 1: seen it with him. And then the second part of
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  Speaker 1: the book is in chapters 2 and 3, where John
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  Speaker 1: is instructed to write the things which are. In the
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  Speaker 1: days of John the Apostle, these churches that we're going
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  Speaker 1: to be examining in our study through Revelation were all
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  Speaker 1: in existence. They were thriving. They were, some of them, growing.
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  Speaker 1: They were, at that time, having an impact, whether positive
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  Speaker 1: or negative or neutral. They were there. They were the
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  Speaker 1: things that are. And John recorded them. And then in
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  Speaker 1: the days to come, we will look at the last
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  Speaker 1: of verse 19 and toward the things which will take
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  Speaker 1: place after these things. And that's chapters 4 through 22
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  Speaker 1: of Revelation. Let's begin by taking a glance at all
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  Speaker 1: seven churches. Will you do that with me in chapters
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  Speaker 1: 2 and 3? Keep a pen handy to make notes
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  Speaker 1: as we work our way through this book. You'll return
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  Speaker 1: to them. I learned a little statement years ago. Thoughts
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  Speaker 1: disentangle themselves over the lips and through the fingertips. And
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  Speaker 1: I'll call that to mind. I often take a pen
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  Speaker 1: with me and a card, a four by six card
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  Speaker 1: or three by five card and have it handy to
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  Speaker 1: take notes to remember things I've observed or things that
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  Speaker 1: I could use later on. You might find that helpful
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  Speaker 1: as we work our way through this book of Revelation.
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  Speaker 1: We have an inspired performance review of Christ as he
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  Speaker 1: specifically addresses seven local churches. Now, in some cases, there
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  Speaker 1: are things he says to all of them that are
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  Speaker 1: not only similar, but occasionally identical. Let me point out
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  Speaker 1: four or five of them. You do that with me.
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  Speaker 1: Watch as I read through this section. Verse 1 to
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  Speaker 1: the angel of the church in Ephesus. Verse 8 to
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  Speaker 1: the angel of the church in Smyrna. Verse 12 to
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  Speaker 1: the angel of the church in Pergamum. Verse 18, to
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  Speaker 1: the angel of the church in Thyatira, later Sardis, and
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  Speaker 1: then Philadelphia, and finally Laodicea. First observation, each evaluation is
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  Speaker 1: addressed to the angel. Each one of these evaluations, or
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  Speaker 1: if you will, performance reviews, is addressed to the angel.
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  Speaker 1: We've learned in earlier days that angel means messenger. I
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  Speaker 1: suggest it refers to the pastor. Who was serving that
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  Speaker 1: particular local church. So this is a letter written to
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  Speaker 1: the pastor of the church in Ephesus. Or the pastor
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  Speaker 1: of the church in Smyrna. And on and on. Each
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  Speaker 1: one of them is addressed to the messenger. Let me
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  Speaker 1: notice a second observation. Each church is identified by the
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  Speaker 1: city in which it was. The church in Ephesus. The
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  Speaker 1: church in Smyrna. The church in Pergamum. These are names
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  Speaker 1: that mean little to us unless you travel in modern
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  Speaker 1: day Turkey and you will see the remains of some
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  Speaker 1: of these. Not all. You can't find them all. But
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  Speaker 1: you will see some of the remains. These are actual places.
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  Speaker 1: If he were writing today to our church, he would
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  Speaker 1: be writing to the messenger to the church in Frisco.
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  Speaker 1: That's the way it would be if he were writing today.
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  Speaker 1: So he identifies the church not by denomination but by location.
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  Speaker 1: In the first century, there were not the preponderance of
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  Speaker 1: denominations as there is today. He doesn't write to the
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  Speaker 1: Methodist church at Ephesus or to the Presbyterian church in
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  Speaker 1: Smyrna or the Baptist church in Pergamum. He writes to
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  Speaker 1: the church. Probably the only assembly of believers... In that
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  Speaker 1: particular town or city. Hence the single the church. There's
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  Speaker 1: a third observation I make. In each evaluation Jesus immediately
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  Speaker 1: identifies himself. But he does it in various ways. In
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  Speaker 1: each one of the seven he immediately identifies himself. Chapter
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  Speaker 1: 2 verse 1. He identifies himself as the one who
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  Speaker 1: holds the seven stars in his right hand. And walks
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  Speaker 1: among the golden lampstands. Chapter 2 verse 8. He calls
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  Speaker 1: himself the first and the last. Who was dead and
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  Speaker 1: has come back to life. Same person but described differently.
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  Speaker 1: So in each one of these it is the Lord
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  Speaker 1: himself who gives the performance review. And he identifies himself
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  Speaker 1: in various ways. Fourth. In each letter he makes it
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  Speaker 1: known that he knows them well. I've underlined the words
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  Speaker 1: I know, which appear in each one of the letters.
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  Speaker 1: To Ephesus, I know your deeds, verse 2. To Smyrna,
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  Speaker 1: I know your tribulation and your poverty, verse 9. To
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  Speaker 1: the church at Pergamum, verse 13, I know where you dwell,
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  Speaker 1: where Satan's throne is. What a statement. Interesting. We'll get
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  Speaker 1: to it. They ministered where Satan's throne was. Verse 19,
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  Speaker 1: I know your deeds, he says to the church at Thyatira.
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  Speaker 1: And says the same thing to Sardis and to Philadelphia
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  Speaker 1: and to Laodicea. Now, fifth and finally, the similarities would
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  Speaker 1: be in all seven letters, there's a same pattern that's followed.
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  Speaker 1: He does virtually the same thing in his performance review.
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  Speaker 1: It's almost as if he has a form he's filling out. First,
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  Speaker 1: he gives them their strengths. He commends them for their strength. Second,
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  Speaker 1: he states his concern over their weakness, or weaknesses, plural. Third,
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  Speaker 1: he offers correction. In order to strengthen this area of weakness,
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  Speaker 1: here's a course of correction to follow. So he does
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  Speaker 1: that in all seven of the letters. Fourth, he concludes
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  Speaker 1: each letter with words of wise counsel. So we have
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  Speaker 1: commendations and then concerns followed by corrective words and then
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  Speaker 1: counsel so that the church might become even more effective
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  Speaker 1: than it is. Let me mention a couple of uniquenesses
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  Speaker 1: about these letters. I've read them over and over and
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  Speaker 1: I've found a few things are altogether unique. One of
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  Speaker 1: them is in Laodicea there were no strengths mentioned. No strings.
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  Speaker 1: No commendation to the seventh letter that he wrote to Laodicea. Second,
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  Speaker 1: except Smyrna and Philadelphia, all of them received rebukes or reproves.
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  Speaker 1: He's concerned about something in all five of the churches,
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  Speaker 1: but two of them he names nothing that we would
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  Speaker 1: call a weakness. That would be the second and would
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  Speaker 1: be the six churches that are addressed, Smyrna and Philadelphia.
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  Speaker 1: By the way, in every one of the letters, you
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  Speaker 1: will be delighted, as I have been, to find how
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  Speaker 1: relevant they are. You would think he's addressing a church
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  Speaker 1: down the street. or the church in which we find ourselves,
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  Speaker 1: or maybe the church where we were reared. It is
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  Speaker 1: right on target, as it mentions some very up-to-date issues
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  Speaker 1: that go on. on to this very moment. Now let's
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  Speaker 1: take a close look at this performance review of the
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  Speaker 1: church at Ephesus. Immediately the addressee is identified as the messenger.
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  Speaker 1: Chapter 2, verse 1. The one who ministers to the church.
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  Speaker 1: Now here's the way I think it worked. John wrote
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  Speaker 1: the revelation while he was on the island of Patmos.
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  Speaker 1: The scroll was then taken by a, perhaps a scribe
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  Speaker 1: or someone who was trustworthy, taken to the mainland and
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  Speaker 1: then read, or at least given to the messenger to
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  Speaker 1: read at each of the seven churches. The messenger would
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  Speaker 1: unroll the scroll and would read it to the congregation
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  Speaker 1: because no one in those days had Bibles of their own.
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  Speaker 1: And this priceless scroll, written under the inspiration of the
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  Speaker 1: Spirit of God, was read word for word to the churches.
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  Speaker 1: And it has found its way through the years into
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  Speaker 1: our Bibles today. This particular church is located in Ephesus.
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  Speaker 1: If you travel to Turkey today, as Cynthia and I
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  Speaker 1: have done, you will be delighted with what you see
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  Speaker 1: when you get to Ephesus. It has been wonderfully unearthed.
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  Speaker 1: You will see literal roads that were there, walked on
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  Speaker 1: by the apostle himself. You will see the library of Celsus,
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  Speaker 1: built a little after Paul's time, but nevertheless of that era.
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  Speaker 1: Two-story column structure that is breathtaking as you sit on
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  Speaker 1: the marble steps or the rocks outside and look at it.
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  Speaker 1: There are roads that tie the town together. You can
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  Speaker 1: see places that would have been communities where people lived.
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  Speaker 1: And I think the most impressive is one of the
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  Speaker 1: places mentioned in the Book of Acts. The theater has
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  Speaker 1: been unearthed, and you can literally see the amphitheater and
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  Speaker 1: can actually walk and sit in it, a theater that
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  Speaker 1: is able to seat 40 or more thousand people. I
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  Speaker 1: smiled when we looked at the road out front. There
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  Speaker 1: were deep ruts that were dug into the road outside
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  Speaker 1: the theater, right in front of the theater, and Cynthia
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  Speaker 1: made the classic comment. She said that those were speed
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  Speaker 1: bumps for teenage chariot riders. That's a classic comment, I thought,
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  Speaker 1: that Slowed the chariots down when they went by the theater.
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  Speaker 1: It's at that theater that the Apostle Paul was. It's
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  Speaker 1: at that theater where persecution occurred. And when you stand
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  Speaker 1: there in that theater, that amphitheater, something happens to you.
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  Speaker 1: You are reliving the moment of the middle of the
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  Speaker 1: first century. A remarkable city. It was at that time
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  Speaker 1: the most... prominent city in the Roman province of Asia.
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  Speaker 1: And by the way, if you have a map in
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  Speaker 1: front of you of Asia, you will observe that it
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  Speaker 1: really is what we call today modern-day Turkey. The reason
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  Speaker 1: that the letters first went to Ephesus, if you look
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  Speaker 1: at the map, is because Ephesus is the closest in
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  Speaker 1: proximity to Patmos. If you took a direct sail west,
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  Speaker 1: I should say east, from Patmos to the at Ephesus.
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  Speaker 1: It's now silted in, and it's several miles from the water,
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  Speaker 1: but in those days, there was a harbor that would
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  Speaker 1: lead you right to Ephesus. It was along the trade
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  Speaker 1: route to the east, wealthy city, prominent city. And by
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  Speaker 1: the way, speaking of Ephesus, Paul and Aquila and Priscilla,
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  Speaker 1: and for a bit of time, Apollos helped found the church.
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  Speaker 1: You can read of this if you Take the time
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  Speaker 1: to read Acts, the end of Acts 18 and all
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  Speaker 1: of chapter 19. You'll read how the church was founded.
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  Speaker 1: Fascinating story. And then Paul pastored there. He ministered there
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  Speaker 1: for over three years, followed by Timothy, his son in
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  Speaker 1: the faith, followed by John in his aging years before
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  Speaker 1: John was exiled to Patmos. So as John is writing
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  Speaker 1: this letter, something in his heart must have beat a
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  Speaker 1: little faster when he mentioned Ephesus. He has pastored the church.
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  Speaker 1: And tradition tells us that after the exile, John returned
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  Speaker 1: and lived part of his life in the city of Ephesus.
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  Speaker 1: But I should also tell you that it was not
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  Speaker 1: an easy place to minister. One of the seven wonders
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  Speaker 1: of the world was there. It was the temple of Artemis,
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  Speaker 1: or Diana, as she is sometimes called. The multi-breasted figure
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  Speaker 1: who and whose lifestyle, followed by its worshippers, was totally immoral.
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  Speaker 1: She was the goddess of the continent of Asia in
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  Speaker 1: those days. And there were those who followed her in devotion.
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  Speaker 1: There were little idols made of her that were sold
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  Speaker 1: by craftsmen who carved them. All of that is a
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  Speaker 1: part of the lifestyle of ancient Ephesus. even though it's
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  Speaker 1: not mentioned here, I wanted you to know that's the
• 25:29
  Speaker 1: kind of place where this church existed. I'll say more
• 25:33
  Speaker 1: about it when we get to the point of perseverance.
• 25:36
  Speaker 1: Jesus identifies himself as the writer or the one who
• 25:40
  Speaker 1: dictates this letter at the end of verse 1. Notice
• 25:43
  Speaker 1: a little bit has changed. He not only has the
• 25:47
  Speaker 1: seven stars, he's holding them in his right hand. He's
• 25:50
  Speaker 1: not only there in the In the midst of the
• 25:55
  Speaker 1: golden lampstands, verse 1 tells us he's walking among them.
• 25:58
  Speaker 1: He knows everything about every church. He knows every one
• 26:02
  Speaker 1: of us completely. He knows all about our background. He
• 26:06
  Speaker 1: knows all about our makeup. He knows every trial, every struggle,
• 26:10
  Speaker 1: every success, every failure. He knows all of that. He
• 26:14
  Speaker 1: knows us thoroughly. It surprises us to read that he
• 26:18
  Speaker 1: knows the hairs on our head. For some, it's not
• 26:21
  Speaker 1: a big thing to know that, but for most, it's
• 26:23
  Speaker 1: an amazing thought to think that every person's hairs are numbered.
• 26:28
  Speaker 1: Every thought is recorded. Every intention, every motive is known
• 26:33
  Speaker 1: by our Lord and Savior. He walks among the candle
• 26:36
  Speaker 1: stands or the lamp stands, and he holds us in
• 26:41
  Speaker 1: his hand. And with that in mind, are not surprised
• 26:46
  Speaker 1: to read, I know. Immediately in verse 2. And he
• 26:51
  Speaker 1: names three strengths that were true of the church at Ephesus. First,
• 26:56
  Speaker 1: they were actively energetic. They were engaged. I know your
• 27:01
  Speaker 1: deeds and your toil. They were known for their hard work.
• 27:08
  Speaker 1: Busy in the service of the king. There was no sloth.
• 27:12
  Speaker 1: There was no indifference there. They were known for their
• 27:16
  Speaker 1: exhausting and impressive toil. There were people who visited the sick.
• 27:22
  Speaker 1: There were those who mended clothes. There were those who
• 27:25
  Speaker 1: cooked the meals. There were those who served the meals
• 27:28
  Speaker 1: to shut-ins. There were people who were part of the leadership.
• 27:32
  Speaker 1: There were committees held. There were activities going on. There
• 27:35
  Speaker 1: There were those who worked in the chariot parking lot.
• 27:39
  Speaker 1: I don't know. All kinds of things were going on
• 27:41
  Speaker 1: in the church at Ephesus. And he says, I know
• 27:44
  Speaker 1: all about that. I know all about your deeds and
• 27:48
  Speaker 1: I know all about your toil. And he's commending them.
• 27:51
  Speaker 1: There's not a word of criticism. And then he mentions
• 27:55
  Speaker 1: their patient endurance. He calls it perseverance. I prefer the
• 28:01
  Speaker 1: word endurance. I know you're In fact, look at verse 3.
• 28:09
  Speaker 1: You have perseverance and have endured for my name's sake
• 28:13
  Speaker 1: and have not grown weary. If you had lived in
• 28:22
  Speaker 1: and ministered among the people who worship Diana of the Ephesians,
• 28:27
  Speaker 1: the mother goddess, you would be terribly unpopular. You would
• 28:31
  Speaker 1: be a marked individual, snubbed in public and maligned in private.
• 28:36
  Speaker 1: Your business would be boycotted. You'd be marked as one
• 28:40
  Speaker 1: who wasn't a worshiper of the emperor or of the goddess.
• 28:46
  Speaker 1: You'd be like the Jewish merchant in Berlin in 1930s.
• 28:51
  Speaker 1: Not an easy place to be. He says, I know
• 28:55
  Speaker 1: you are people who hold up under the load. They
• 29:03
  Speaker 1: were active and they were faithful to stay true to
• 29:09
  Speaker 1: the truth. And they endured. They bore up under the load.
• 29:15
  Speaker 1: Hupomone is the word translated perseverance more than once here.
• 29:19
  Speaker 1: Once in verse 2 and verse 3. Remember, it's the
• 29:25
  Speaker 1: four-footed beast that carries your burdens. Back in ancient days,
• 29:28
  Speaker 1: when you made a trip, you piled all of your belongings,
• 29:31
  Speaker 1: and the animal was said to hupomone, to endure under
• 29:36
  Speaker 1: the load. Under the load of persecution, they endured. There
• 29:41
  Speaker 1: are churches today who do that. You and I may
• 29:47
  Speaker 1: be in touch with some of them, and there is
• 29:50
  Speaker 1: a deep sense of respect we have for the odds
• 29:53
  Speaker 1: they work against and the role of unpopularity that they fill.
• 29:57
  Speaker 1: Some of them must meet in secret. due to the
• 30:01
  Speaker 1: persecution that would ensue. So he commends them for their
• 30:06
  Speaker 1: patient endurance. Third, they were doctrinally discerning. I hope you
• 30:12
  Speaker 1: saw that when we read through the verses earlier. He says,
• 30:17
  Speaker 1: you cannot tolerate evil men. He goes further. You put
• 30:22
  Speaker 1: to the test those who call themselves apostles, and they
• 30:27
  Speaker 1: are not. And you found them to be pseudice. Pseudice,
• 30:34
  Speaker 1: interesting word. You put your lips together and say S. Pseudice.
• 30:37
  Speaker 1: We get our word pseudo from it. It means liars.
• 30:41
  Speaker 1: They look like apostles, but they're liars. And you spot that.
• 30:47
  Speaker 1: Just because they walk around spouting verses from the Old Testament,
• 30:51
  Speaker 1: just because they say they are prophets of God, just
• 30:54
  Speaker 1: because they wear the garb of the evangelist does not
• 30:57
  Speaker 1: make them true apostles or prophets. We recently brought out
• 31:04
  Speaker 1: into the open a man who calls himself a prophet
• 31:06
  Speaker 1: of God who kidnapped a young girl in Salt Lake
• 31:10
  Speaker 1: City and took her to himself in that strange and...
• 31:19
  Speaker 1: wayward way of thinking you and I discern that cannot
• 31:24
  Speaker 1: be of God you don't do that as a man
• 31:29
  Speaker 1: or woman of God and these people spotted that kind
• 31:33
  Speaker 1: of error and they didn't mince words they called a
• 31:37
  Speaker 1: spade a spade they called a liar a liar in
• 31:40
  Speaker 1: fact they weren't growing weary in doing that verse 6
• 31:45
  Speaker 1: tells us specifically you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans,
• 31:52
  Speaker 1: which I also hate. We're intrigued by that. I'll go
• 31:55
  Speaker 1: further into it when we get to the church at
• 31:57
  Speaker 1: Pergamum because it was really a problem there. Nicao is
• 32:03
  Speaker 1: to conquer and Laos is people. It's a conqueror of people.
• 32:08
  Speaker 1: I take it to mean it was the early signs
• 32:11
  Speaker 1: of those who believed in the hierarchy of the clergy.
• 32:15
  Speaker 1: the unaccountable and untouchable role of leadership. And they took
• 32:20
  Speaker 1: advantage of people, and it led ultimately to an immoral lifestyle.
• 32:24
  Speaker 1: And you hate that. And Jesus, please notice, says it also.
• 32:27
  Speaker 1: I also hate that. I read verses like the end
• 32:32
  Speaker 1: of verse 6, and I nod knowingly, grateful that it
• 32:38
  Speaker 1: helps clarify who Jesus Christ is. He is not some spineless...
• 32:45
  Speaker 1: sort of wimp out individual who sort of shuffles through
• 32:50
  Speaker 1: life saying, love, love, love, you know, everywhere he goes.
• 32:54
  Speaker 1: There are things that are false that he hates, and
• 33:00
  Speaker 1: he commits the church for hating that kind of error.
• 33:04
  Speaker 1: And boy, this church spotted it, and they named it.
• 33:07
  Speaker 1: They were a discerning body of people. You know when
• 33:10
  Speaker 1: you're around discerning folks, by the way. You know. When
• 33:14
  Speaker 1: I preach in churches that are discerning churches, there are
• 33:17
  Speaker 1: people that have their Bibles open. And when I refer
• 33:20
  Speaker 1: to things, I'll see them go back and check it
• 33:24
  Speaker 1: with that verse and frown and look back at another verse.
• 33:27
  Speaker 1: And then they'll go over here and then they'll listen.
• 33:29
  Speaker 1: And they're listening. They're not impressed. They shouldn't be impressed.
• 33:34
  Speaker 1: They're there to grow and to learn and to develop
• 33:37
  Speaker 1: their knowledge of the word and their relationship with Christ.
• 33:41
  Speaker 1: And they're not going to be led astray. They can
• 33:44
  Speaker 1: spot error. They can tell about what you say or
• 33:46
  Speaker 1: what you leave unsaid. Those who are discerning get both sides.
• 33:52
  Speaker 1: That's the Ephesians. I mean, this is some kind of place.
• 33:57
  Speaker 1: I like the way Stephen Lawson describes the church at Ephesus.
• 34:01
  Speaker 1: This is one dynamic church, he writes in his book,
• 34:04
  Speaker 1: Final Call. We need more congregations like this. Toiling, persevering, strict,
• 34:09
  Speaker 1: sound church. steadfast and strong they had all the right
• 34:13
  Speaker 1: stuff if you attended one of their church services you
• 34:17
  Speaker 1: would immediately sense you were with God's spiritual marines the
• 34:21
  Speaker 1: few the proud the Ephesians they had something for everyone
• 34:26
  Speaker 1: ministries were abounding people were plugged in programs were busting
• 34:31
  Speaker 1: loose the place was hopping what could possibly be wrong
• 34:34
  Speaker 1: with a church like this plenty plenty Look at verse 4.
• 34:44
  Speaker 1: In the midst of the strength and all the commendations,
• 34:49
  Speaker 1: you find that little particle, but, and it's Allah. It's
• 34:55
  Speaker 1: not a simple little particle. It's an emphatic negative to
• 34:58
  Speaker 1: turn the corner. But, or however, it's kind of like
• 35:04
  Speaker 1: when your boss calls you in for a performance review.
• 35:07
  Speaker 1: And he starts, or she starts, by naming the things
• 35:10
  Speaker 1: they really appreciate. And they go on and on. What
• 35:14
  Speaker 1: are you thinking? There's a but in this somewhere. I
• 35:19
  Speaker 1: know there's going to be another shoe that's going to
• 35:21
  Speaker 1: fall when it gets to it. But there is something
• 35:24
  Speaker 1: I need to make. All of a sudden, the people
• 35:27
  Speaker 1: in Ephesus sat on the edge of their seats as
• 35:30
  Speaker 1: the messenger read the letter to them. But what? Now
• 35:35
  Speaker 1: look closely. I know you who've been in church since
• 35:38
  Speaker 1: you were born have read verse 4. so much that
• 35:43
  Speaker 1: you maybe have missed something. But I have this against you,
• 35:49
  Speaker 1: that you have left your first love. It's too important
• 35:55
  Speaker 1: to go over quickly. In fact, it's too important to
• 35:59
  Speaker 1: just leave it in English. We'll go to the language
• 36:03
  Speaker 1: in which it was written, which says your love, the
• 36:08
  Speaker 1: first love. You've abandoned. In the Greek language, there are
• 36:16
  Speaker 1: occasional syntactical constructions in a sentence that shout certain things,
• 36:24
  Speaker 1: if you will. One of those unusual constructions is called
• 36:28
  Speaker 1: a restrictive attributive. Here's a case in point where the
• 36:32
  Speaker 1: adjective is placed with a definite article following the major
• 36:38
  Speaker 1: term for emphasizing the adjective. For example, I am the
• 36:43
  Speaker 1: true vine. My father is the husbandman. That's a restrictive attributive.
• 36:47
  Speaker 1: I am the vine, the true one. You hear it?
• 36:51
  Speaker 1: As opposed to all who are false. John 15, 1 says,
• 36:55
  Speaker 1: I am the true vine. In the Greek language, when
• 36:58
  Speaker 1: you want to emphasize the adjective, in this case, first,
• 37:02
  Speaker 1: you put it after the term that it would normally
• 37:06
  Speaker 1: come before, love. You have left your love. The first
• 37:11
  Speaker 1: one you've abandoned. In fact, the word called rendered left
• 37:18
  Speaker 1: suggests not a rapid departure, but an erosion. It's a
• 37:23
  Speaker 1: slow process. No one suddenly wakes up some morning and says,
• 37:28
  Speaker 1: I don't love Jesus anymore. I'm tired of Jesus and
• 37:31
  Speaker 1: I'm finished with all that stuff. That's not going to
• 37:33
  Speaker 1: go on anymore in my life. How naive could I be?
• 37:35
  Speaker 1: It doesn't happen like that. Happens over the years. After hardship,
• 37:42
  Speaker 1: questions you can't get answered, trials that don't seem to
• 37:45
  Speaker 1: have reason, loss of health, loss of hope, loss of
• 37:51
  Speaker 1: a loved one. Little by little, something happens that you,
• 37:58
  Speaker 1: if you were visited by a Robinson Crusoe in your
• 38:01
  Speaker 1: life who looked back on the way it once was
• 38:03
  Speaker 1: and now sees you as you are, that person may say,
• 38:05
  Speaker 1: you're not like you once were. Something different. Their love
• 38:13
  Speaker 1: had cooled off. Stay here. Stay right here. You don't
• 38:22
  Speaker 1: have the same devotion for me that you once had.
• 38:25
  Speaker 1: Remember when we met together and often, just you and me?
• 38:34
  Speaker 1: The tide of warm affection has turned. Oh, you... You
• 38:40
  Speaker 1: work hard and you toil with vigor, but it's without love.
• 38:45
  Speaker 1: You endure patiently. You hold up under the pressure of
• 38:50
  Speaker 1: those around you who are idol worshipers, but you do
• 38:53
  Speaker 1: it without love. And you find error and you point
• 38:56
  Speaker 1: it out and you discipline, but you discipline without love.
• 39:06
  Speaker 1: I like the way Earl Palmer describes it. The first
• 39:09
  Speaker 1: love has been abandoned and in its place is the starchy,
• 39:13
  Speaker 1: high cholesterol diet of activity and church work that will
• 39:18
  Speaker 1: never nourish the human soul. Oh, you got busy. I mean,
• 39:25
  Speaker 1: you're a member, aren't you? Hey, here's a job. We
• 39:28
  Speaker 1: need you to be here. You need to work there.
• 39:31
  Speaker 1: We need people in the parking lot. We got more
• 39:34
  Speaker 1: chariots than we've ever had before. I mean, this place
• 39:36
  Speaker 1: is running over with folks. We got a lot of
• 39:39
  Speaker 1: sick people. We need you to be in the prayer group.
• 39:42
  Speaker 1: We need you to meet on Thursday, and we've got
• 39:44
  Speaker 1: the committee. Get at it, and you do it. You
• 39:50
  Speaker 1: do it. But you don't have your heart in it.
• 39:57
  Speaker 1: It's dried up. Didn't happen fast. As a matter of fact,
• 40:05
  Speaker 1: I thought about this. I thought, how much time has
• 40:08
  Speaker 1: lapsed between the year Paul wrote them and the year
• 40:14
  Speaker 1: John wrote them? 35 years. 35 years. From 61 to 96,
• 40:20
  Speaker 1: we got a 35-year gap, right? Go back to Ephesians.
• 40:27
  Speaker 1: Let me show you something. Let's see if they've always
• 40:30
  Speaker 1: had this problem. 1 and 2 Corinthians, Galatians. There it is, Ephesians. 1, 15.
• 40:42
  Speaker 1: Look at this. Paul writing to them, early 60s. For
• 40:48
  Speaker 1: this reason, I too, having heard of the faith in
• 40:50
  Speaker 1: the Lord Jesus, which exists among you and your love
• 40:54
  Speaker 1: for all the saints. So they were known for their
• 40:56
  Speaker 1: love for one another. Do not cease to give thanks
• 40:59
  Speaker 1: for you while making mention of you in my prayers.
• 41:05
  Speaker 1: Do not cease to give thanks while making mention of
• 41:08
  Speaker 1: you in my prayers. They have a love for one another.
• 41:11
  Speaker 1: And he mentions that in his prayers. Interesting. Look at
• 41:17
  Speaker 1: the end of the letter. See how he ends it.
• 41:20
  Speaker 1: Maybe there's, yep, there it is. A little blessing where
• 41:24
  Speaker 1: he says, peace to the brethren, love with faith from
• 41:26
  Speaker 1: God the Father and the Lord Jesus. Now that's God's
• 41:29
  Speaker 1: love to them. It's a blessing placed upon him. Then
• 41:32
  Speaker 1: he adds, grace be with all those who love our
• 41:38
  Speaker 1: Lord Jesus with, our Lord Jesus Christ with incorruptible love.
• 41:42
  Speaker 1: See the word love in italics? It's not in the
• 41:44
  Speaker 1: original text. It's been added. It's implied by the editors
• 41:48
  Speaker 1: of our Bibles, but it really says with incorruptible. Meaning,
• 41:53
  Speaker 1: grace be with all those who love our Lord Jesus
• 41:56
  Speaker 1: Christ incorruptibly. I had an incorruptible love. It was pure.
• 42:01
  Speaker 1: It was impressive. It was the kind of love Paul
• 42:05
  Speaker 1: wrote about in 1 Corinthians 13, that without it, you're
• 42:08
  Speaker 1: like a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And even
• 42:11
  Speaker 1: though you give your body to be burned, if you
• 42:13
  Speaker 1: don't have love, it rewards you with nothing. And even
• 42:17
  Speaker 1: though you have all knowledge and all faith to remove mountains,
• 42:20
  Speaker 1: says 1 Corinthians 13, if you don't have love, zilch, zero.
• 42:26
  Speaker 1: And then he lists 15 characteristics of love. And of
• 42:29
  Speaker 1: all things, at the end of this great treatise on love,
• 42:33
  Speaker 1: he says, now abides faith and hope and love. But what?
• 42:38
  Speaker 1: The greatest of these is love. This church had everything
• 42:46
  Speaker 1: but the greatest thing. You say, well, Chuck, I think you,
• 42:50
  Speaker 1: I mean, don't forget what they were putting up. I mean, don't. Well,
• 42:54
  Speaker 1: let me ask you, ladies. Let's say you've been married 25, 26,
• 42:59
  Speaker 1: 27 years and it's a Friday evening and your husband
• 43:02
  Speaker 1: worked a little later and came in tired and your
• 43:07
  Speaker 1: kids were gone doing a lot of different things. So
• 43:09
  Speaker 1: it's just the two of you. You sit down to
• 43:11
  Speaker 1: a sandwich and your husband sighs and pulls his tie
• 43:14
  Speaker 1: loose and says, now that we're alone, I need to
• 43:18
  Speaker 1: tell you something. I just don't have the love for
• 43:26
  Speaker 1: you that I had when we got married. I just
• 43:30
  Speaker 1: don't have it anymore. Now, I'm not walking out. I'm
• 43:35
  Speaker 1: going to keep being a good dad. I'll continue to
• 43:41
  Speaker 1: eat at this table and we'll sleep together and we'll
• 43:45
  Speaker 1: live together and we'll go places together. We'll even vacation
• 43:49
  Speaker 1: as a family. I'm not going to stop that. I'll
• 43:55
  Speaker 1: make enough of a good living that we can pay
• 43:58
  Speaker 1: our bills and we'll buy Christmas gifts at Christmas and
• 44:02
  Speaker 1: we'll celebrate the holidays we'll go to church and we'll
• 44:08
  Speaker 1: watch TV and we'll watch the kids grow and graduate
• 44:12
  Speaker 1: and leave but I gotta tell you I just don't
• 44:16
  Speaker 1: love you anymore is that okay? No. Nothing's right. Is it?
• 44:29
  Speaker 2: Nothing.
• 44:31
  Speaker 1: It's just a series of activities to deaden the pain
• 44:34
  Speaker 1: of an empty life. If he doesn't love you anymore.
• 44:43
  Speaker 1: This broke the Lord's heart. We don't talk like we
• 44:49
  Speaker 1: used to talk. We aren't intimate like we used to
• 44:54
  Speaker 1: be intimate. Well, I know you're busy, and I know
• 44:59
  Speaker 1: you're putting up with a lot, and I also know
• 45:03
  Speaker 1: that you're dealing with difficult times. But I miss you.
• 45:14
  Speaker 1: The you that I met at the cross. One of
• 45:23
  Speaker 1: the things I love about God's word is it doesn't
• 45:26
  Speaker 1: leave us in the enormity of our guilt. And by
• 45:31
  Speaker 1: the way, this isn't a verse just for first century's sake.
• 45:37
  Speaker 1: I just described you. Are you? Are you? There have
• 45:48
  Speaker 1: been times in my life when my love for the
• 45:51
  Speaker 1: Lord grew thin. It was awful. It was dreadful. I preached.
• 46:03
  Speaker 1: I served. I stayed married. But it wasn't like it
• 46:10
  Speaker 1: used to be. So he says in verse 5, therefore,
• 46:17
  Speaker 1: I want you to do something about it. Here's a
• 46:21
  Speaker 1: course correction. Let's stay with this. Get your pen. Mark. Remember. Repent.
• 46:31
  Speaker 1: Do the deeds. It's right there in the text. Let's
• 46:36
  Speaker 1: fix this. Let's turn this corner. He's no longer criticizing.
• 46:47
  Speaker 1: He's saying let's do something about this. This is like
• 46:50
  Speaker 1: a good counselor who says okay. We got our finger
• 46:53
  Speaker 1: on the problem. All right, wait. Don't walk out. Here's
• 46:57
  Speaker 1: what's got to be done. First of all, remember from
• 47:03
  Speaker 1: where you have fallen. Memory can often be the first
• 47:07
  Speaker 1: step on your way back to where you were. The
• 47:12
  Speaker 1: prodigal son in the pigsty remembered home and his daddy.
• 47:19
  Speaker 1: And remembering how it was, He began to turn and
• 47:23
  Speaker 1: it wound up at his return. At the arrest and
• 47:26
  Speaker 1: trials of Jesus with the Lord sitting isolated in the
• 47:31
  Speaker 1: midst of his captors, he turns and looks at Peter
• 47:34
  Speaker 1: and it says Peter remembered and wept after he had
• 47:40
  Speaker 1: denied him three times. Joseph's brothers, when they remembered what
• 47:44
  Speaker 1: they had done to their brother and came to realize
• 47:47
  Speaker 1: they're standing in front of their brother, who is now
• 47:50
  Speaker 1: prime minister of Egypt, remembered what they had done and
• 47:55
  Speaker 1: feared and turned. David, sitting with Nathan alone, smeared with
• 48:06
  Speaker 1: the dirt of adultery and Murder and hypocrisy remembered when
• 48:16
  Speaker 1: Nathan said, you are the man. And he turned. Just
• 48:22
  Speaker 1: remember where you started. Go there. Repent. What a great word.
• 48:32
  Speaker 1: What a great word. The first term, remember, is a
• 48:35
  Speaker 1: present tense. Keep on remembering. Remembering. Keep on fueling your
• 48:39
  Speaker 1: mind with reminders of how it once was. But now,
• 48:42
  Speaker 1: in a point of time, repent. Change your mind. Turn
• 48:48
  Speaker 1: your course. Do it now. Take responsibility. Acknowledge your part
• 48:54
  Speaker 1: in the cooling off. The Lord hasn't moved. We've moved.
• 49:02
  Speaker 1: And then he says, do that. Do the deeds you
• 49:06
  Speaker 1: did at first. Go back to the beginning. And repeat.
• 49:13
  Speaker 1: Your life. Your habits. And he adds. Or else. Boy,
• 49:21
  Speaker 1: look at that. Or else. I'm coming and I'm going
• 49:29
  Speaker 1: to remove your lampstand out of its place unless you repent.
• 49:32
  Speaker 1: What does that mean? Well, a lampstand held light. Added warmth.
• 49:38
  Speaker 1: I'm going to take your light and I'm going to
• 49:41
  Speaker 1: turn it off. You're not going to have an impact.
• 49:46
  Speaker 1: It's not going to be like it once was. You
• 49:49
  Speaker 1: stay like you are, the light goes out. Many a
• 49:54
  Speaker 1: church today with the light out, having lost its first love.
• 50:01
  Speaker 1: It's time for me to give you a statement I
• 50:03
  Speaker 1: hope you'll never forget. I want you to write every
• 50:06
  Speaker 1: word of it down. It is never too late to
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  Speaker 1: start doing what is right. It is never too late
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  Speaker 1: to start doing what is right. That will save you
• 50:25
  Speaker 1: from more heartaches than you can name. Now is the
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  Speaker 1: time to turn. Now is the time to remember. Now
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  Speaker 1: is the time to do what you once did. And
• 50:37
  Speaker 1: then strong words of counsel come at the end. I
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  Speaker 1: see two things. He who has ears to hear, let
• 50:42
  Speaker 1: him hear. First statement I would say is listen to
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  Speaker 1: what the Lord is saying. Take it personally. Listen to
• 50:49
  Speaker 1: what the Lord is saying and take it personally. And
• 50:53
  Speaker 1: then he says to him who overcomes, I think is
• 50:57
  Speaker 1: a synonym for repenting, for returning, for doing the deeds.
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  Speaker 1: I will grant to eat of the tree of life.
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  Speaker 1: That's a place of fellowship, which is in the paradise
• 51:05
  Speaker 1: of God. That is all the joy. It's a picturesque
• 51:08
  Speaker 1: scene in the apocalyptic literature of intimacy with the Almighty,
• 51:13
  Speaker 1: of endearing and enduring love. It'll all come back. We
• 51:20
  Speaker 1: got time for some practical advice? I think so. Here's one.
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  Speaker 1: Jesus knows us completely. No reason to run and hide.
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  Speaker 1: Hard to hide from omnipotence and omnipresence. Omniscience. Jesus knows
• 51:40
  Speaker 1: us completely. You're known. You can kid us, but you
• 51:45
  Speaker 1: can't kid him. He knows us completely. Second, Jesus loves
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  Speaker 1: us unconditionally. Isn't that a great thought? Knowing all he
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  Speaker 1: does about us, you'd think he'd say, well, that is
• 51:58
  Speaker 1: the end. But he doesn't. I am fed up. He
• 52:05
  Speaker 1: doesn't do that. He still comes back to the Ephesians
• 52:08
  Speaker 1: and says, come on. So he loves us unconditionally. So
• 52:13
  Speaker 1: there's every reason to return and abide. Third, he rewards
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  Speaker 1: us abundantly. He says he'll give us this kind of
• 52:22
  Speaker 1: fellowship that Adam and Eve knew. You'll eat the tree
• 52:27
  Speaker 1: of life and you'll enjoy the paradise of God. You'll
• 52:29
  Speaker 1: have a fellowship that was once rich and enriching for
• 52:33
  Speaker 1: you as well as rewarding. He rewards us abundantly. You
• 52:41
  Speaker 1: know what else? He calls us tenderly. You hear him?
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  Speaker 1: I can almost hear his voice. He calls us tenderly.
• 52:54
  Speaker 1: Fanny Crosby wrote it back in the mid-19th century. Jesus
• 52:59
  Speaker 1: is tenderly calling you home. Calling today. Calling today. Why?
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  Speaker 1: From the sunshine of love. Will you roam farther and
• 53:10
  Speaker 1: farther away? He's calling. Clarence Edward McCartney, longtime pastor of
• 53:20
  Speaker 1: First Presbyterian Church in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, used to love to
• 53:24
  Speaker 1: tell the story of the Scottish people who lived in
• 53:26
  Speaker 1: the highlands. And especially of a highland shepherd who lived
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  Speaker 1: in a village and reared his little daughter who meant
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  Speaker 1: the world to him. McCartney writes, he would take her
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  Speaker 1: with him when he went out over the moors to
• 53:42
  Speaker 1: tend and fold the sheep. Most of all, the daughter
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  Speaker 1: liked to hear her father call the sheep with a
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  Speaker 1: shepherd's call, sounding free and beautiful down the wind and
• 53:54
  Speaker 1: over the moors. By and by, the little girl became
• 53:59
  Speaker 1: a beautiful young woman and went off to the great
• 54:03
  Speaker 1: city of Edinburgh to take a job. At first, her
• 54:08
  Speaker 1: letters came regularly every week. Then there were intervals between
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  Speaker 1: them that were longer, and finally they ceased altogether. There
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  Speaker 1: were rumors, too, in the village and among the shepherds
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  Speaker 1: that the shepherd's daughter had been seen in rough company
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  Speaker 1: and in questionable places. One day, a lad from the
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  Speaker 1: village who knew her well saw her in the city
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  Speaker 1: and spoke to her, but She pretended she had never
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  Speaker 1: seen him before. When the shepherd heard this, he gathered
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  Speaker 1: a few things together and clad in his shepherd's smock
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  Speaker 1: with his plaid wrapped around his shoulders and his staff
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  Speaker 1: in his hand, he set out for the city to
• 54:53
  Speaker 1: find his lost daughter. Day after day, he sought her
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  Speaker 1: on the avenues and in the slums. in the closes
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  Speaker 1: of the city, all in vain. Then he remembered how
• 55:08
  Speaker 1: his daughter loved to hear him give the shepherd's call.
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  Speaker 1: Again he took to the quest, and out of sorrow
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  Speaker 1: mixed with love, this time he sounded out loud and
• 55:21
  Speaker 1: free the shepherd's call. Passersby turned with astonishment to look
• 55:28
  Speaker 1: on the old shepherd in his smock and with his
• 55:31
  Speaker 1: staff as he went up and down the streets Sounding
• 55:34
  Speaker 1: the shepherd's call. At long last in a house on
• 55:39
  Speaker 1: one of the degraded streets of the city. His daughter.
• 55:47
  Speaker 1: Sitting in a room with her loose living companions suddenly
• 55:51
  Speaker 1: looked up. With astonishment. There was no doubt about it.
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  Speaker 1: It was her father's voice. It was the shepherd's call.
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  Speaker 1: Flinging wide the door, she rushed upon the street, and
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  Speaker 1: there was her father who took her in his arms
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  Speaker 1: and carried her with him to the highland home and
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  Speaker 1: loved her back to decency and to God. May we
• 56:31
  Speaker 1: bow our heads together. What a love letter written in
• 56:42
  Speaker 1: the first century for the 21st. What a story. That
• 56:52
  Speaker 1: tells our story. He tenderly calls you home. Wouldn't you
• 57:05
  Speaker 1: like to come to him today? Wouldn't that be the
• 57:09
  Speaker 1: greatest thing? Wouldn't you like to come back into the
• 57:13
  Speaker 1: love relationship that's cooled off over the years? Come today.
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  Speaker 1: You're surrounded by a flock of people who would love
• 57:29
  Speaker 1: to talk with you. Most importantly, you have a Lord
• 57:36
  Speaker 1: who's missed you. And waits for you to come. Our
• 57:50
  Speaker 1: father we thank you for speaking to us. So directly
• 57:54
  Speaker 1: about the savior. Thank you for the tenderness in the
• 57:59
  Speaker 1: midst of the reproof. So like Christ. Thank you for
• 58:07
  Speaker 1: caring for us even when we've lost our way. And
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  Speaker 1: never cooling in your love for us. Thank you for
• 58:18
  Speaker 1: accepting me back when I had cooled. Thank you for
• 58:24
  Speaker 1: putting us on a new course. That brings such sense
• 58:29
  Speaker 1: of satisfaction and fulfillment. Minister deeply to our hearts today.
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  Speaker 1: From this ancient passage. About an ancient church. May the
• 58:45
  Speaker 1: message be vibrant. And real. And enriching. And life changing.
• 58:54
  Speaker 1: I ask it in the name of. Jesus. Our magnificent savior.
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  Speaker 1: And everyone said. Amen.
• 59:05
  Speaker 2: The preceding message.
• 59:07
  Speaker 1: The church with everything.
• 59:08
  Speaker 2: But the greatest thing. was copyrighted in 2003, 2006, and 2024.
• 59:15
  Speaker 2: And the sound recording was copyrighted in 2024 by Charles R.
• 59:20
  Speaker 1: Swindoll, Inc. All rights are reserved worldwide.
• 59:24
  Speaker 2: Duplication of copyrighted material for commercial use is strictly prohibited.