Latest / The TakeAway / Revelation 2:1-7 The church of Ephesus who left their first love.

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Revelation 2:1-7 The church of Ephesus who left their first love. · The TakeAway

• 0:25
  SPEAKER_00: Hello, and welcome again to the takeaway.
• 0:28
  SPEAKER_00: I'm your host, Pastor Harry Barns.
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_00: In today's episode, we're going to be looking at Revelation chapter 2, verses 1 to 7, the Church of Ephesus.
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_00: In these verses, we're going to see what Jesus has to say to this church about what they are doing good as well as bad and the repercussions of their choices.
• 0:45
  SPEAKER_00: Ultimately, his desire is that we enter into the promises that he has for us, not only now, but in eternity as well.
• 0:53
  SPEAKER_00: In our last episode, we looked at chapter one and discovered that this book is all about King Jesus.
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_00: John described to us all the attributes of our King so that we could better understand who he is and how he meets us in whatever situation we find ourselves in.
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_00: As we will see, he meets every church where they are by identifying with them by the attribute that best fits their current situation.
• 1:17
  SPEAKER_00: As we read about these churches, it's important that we understand that Jesus wants to meet each and every one of us right where we are right now.
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_00: There is nothing that can separate us from the love of God and his pursuit for us.
• 1:31
  SPEAKER_00: Romans 8 38.
• 1:33
  SPEAKER_00: For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
• 1:49
  SPEAKER_00: Now, before we get started, we need to understand that there is a pattern that repeats in the letters to the seven churches, so that we know what to take away from these letters as we read them.
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_00: First, Jesus identifies with the characteristic of Himself that best fits their current situation.
• 2:07
  SPEAKER_00: Second, he encourages them in their good works.
• 2:09
  SPEAKER_00: Third, he points out their bad works.
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_00: Fourth, he tells them what their judgments will be if they don't repent.
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_00: And fifth, he tells them what the reward will be if they endure till the end.
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_00: This is God's promise to us, to every single church and believer.
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_00: Jesus meets us where we are and offers promise to us if we endure till the end.
• 2:29
  SPEAKER_00: However, as we will see, not every church is doing something bad, and some are doing both good and bad.
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_00: Our goal is to learn from these churches so that we can enter into the promises of God and receive the reward He has for us.
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_00: Now, as we look at verse one, we read to the angel of in of the Church of Ephesus, right?
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_00: The words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand, who walks among the seven golden lampstands.
• 2:55
  SPEAKER_00: We saw this back in chapters one, verse twenty, that the seven stars are the seven angels, which are the messengers, which most likely is talking about the pastors.
• 3:04
  SPEAKER_00: Jesus walks in the midst of the lampstands, which are the seven churches, as we saw in chapter one.
• 3:11
  SPEAKER_00: Verse two I know your works, your toil, and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false.
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_00: Now, as we can see here, from the very beginning of the church age, there have been false teachers.
• 3:29
  SPEAKER_00: Jesus commends this church for their patient endurance and toil in testing these teachers who claim to be apostles, to find out if they are indeed genuine.
• 3:37
  SPEAKER_00: We see the same thing with the Jews in Acts chapter 17, when they searched out the scriptures to see if what Paul was saying was true about Jesus being the Messiah.
• 3:46
  SPEAKER_00: Acts 17, 11.
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_00: Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica.
• 3:51
  SPEAKER_00: They received the word with all eagerness, examining the scriptures daily to see if these things were so.
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_00: As we can see here, this is a great practice for the church.
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_00: Not only then, but now also.
• 4:03
  SPEAKER_00: False teachers are all around us, and Jesus desires for us to be wise and test those who claim to be teachers of God.
• 4:09
  SPEAKER_00: There are many false teachers that have infiltrated the church with the desire to lead men astray.
• 4:15
  SPEAKER_00: Second Peter 2 1.
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_00: But false prophets also rose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the master who bought them, bringing upon themselves Swiss swift destruction, and many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed, and in their greed they will exploit you with false words.
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_00: Their condemnation from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.
• 4:44
  SPEAKER_00: We need to always be alert and aware that many teach for selfish gain, and couldn't care less about yours or anyone's salvation.
• 4:51
  SPEAKER_00: At the end of the day, you and you alone are responsible to work out your own salvation.
• 4:55
  SPEAKER_00: Philippians 2, 12 to 13.
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_00: Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence, but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.
• 5:13
  SPEAKER_00: In addition to false teachers, there are false apostles, as we see here in verse 2, which takes it a step further.
• 5:19
  SPEAKER_00: Apostles were those chosen by Jesus to lay the foundation of the doctrine of the church.
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_00: So they needed to really be careful of these types of people, to test not only if what they were saying was true, but who they claimed to be.
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_00: There were those individuals during this time period that taught false doctrine, as if they had authority to reveal the mysteries of God.
• 5:39
  SPEAKER_00: Only true apostles and prophets were gifted for this task.
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_00: And in fact, many of these false teachers tried to discredit Paul so that they could continue to take advantage of the people.
• 6:14
  SPEAKER_00: Now listen to this, verse four.
• 6:17
  SPEAKER_00: For if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus, then the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or if you accept a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it readily enough.
• 6:31
  SPEAKER_00: So as we see here, this was indeed a big issue, and I would argue still is today.
• 6:37
  SPEAKER_00: Now continue on in verse five.
• 6:39
  SPEAKER_00: He says, Indeed, I continue I consider that I am not in the least inferior to these super apostles.
• 6:45
  SPEAKER_00: Even if I am unskilled in speaking, I am not so in knowledge.
• 6:50
  SPEAKER_00: Indeed, in every way we have made this plain to you in all things.
• 6:55
  SPEAKER_00: Or did I commit a sin in humbling myself, so that you might be exalted, because I preached God's gospel to you free of charge.
• 7:02
  SPEAKER_00: I robbed other churches by accepting support from them in order to serve you.
• 7:07
  SPEAKER_00: And when I was with you and was in need, I did not burden anyone, for the brothers who came from Macedonia supplied my need.
• 7:16
  SPEAKER_00: So I refrained and will refrain from burdening you in any way.
• 7:20
  SPEAKER_00: As the truth of Christ is in me, this boasting of mine will not be silenced in the regions of Achaea.
• 7:27
  SPEAKER_00: And why?
• 7:28
  SPEAKER_00: Because I do not love you?
• 7:30
  SPEAKER_00: God knows I do.
• 7:31
  SPEAKER_00: And what I am doing, I will continue to do, in order to undermine the claim of those who would like to claim that in their boasted mission they work on the same terms as we do.
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_00: For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen disguising themselves as apostles of Christ.
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_00: And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.
• 7:53
  SPEAKER_00: So it is no surprise if his servants also disguise themselves as servants, servants of righteousness, their end will correspond to their deeds.
• 8:02
  SPEAKER_00: Now, there are a few indications of a true teacher and apostle.
• 8:06
  SPEAKER_00: First, there is nothing that would stop them from teaching, even if they weren't paid for it.
• 8:11
  SPEAKER_00: That doesn't mean they don't deserve to be paid.
• 8:13
  SPEAKER_00: It just means that the calling is not conditional based on pay.
• 8:17
  SPEAKER_00: As we see here in Second Corinthians, Paul preached free of charge to show that he wasn't a deceiver.
• 8:22
  SPEAKER_00: What other purpose would he have had to teach the word if it wasn't being paid?
• 8:28
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe because it was truly his calling.
• 8:30
  SPEAKER_00: False teachers will never teach free of charge.
• 8:33
  SPEAKER_00: They are always out for deceitful gain.
• 8:35
  SPEAKER_00: Second, apostles could perform miracles like Jesus did to authenticate the calling.
• 8:40
  SPEAKER_00: That's not to say miracles don't happen today.
• 8:43
  SPEAKER_00: It's just that true apostles performed them to back up who they were.
• 8:47
  SPEAKER_00: Jesus did the same thing.
• 8:48
  SPEAKER_00: The miracles he performed didn't save anyone from their sin, but they did prove that he was the Messiah who was able to forgive sin.
• 8:57
  SPEAKER_00: Matthew 9, 6.
• 8:59
  SPEAKER_00: But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins, he then said to the paralytic, Rise, pick up your bed, and go home.
• 9:08
  SPEAKER_00: Another example of a true teacher is that they will not contradict the Word of God.
• 9:13
  SPEAKER_00: At the time of the apostles, all they had was the Old Testament, which they used to prove that Jesus was indeed the Messiah.
• 9:20
  SPEAKER_00: Today we have the New Testament in addition to the Old, and the two complement each other, not contradict.
• 9:25
  SPEAKER_00: Many teachers today teach that the Old Testament isn't relevant for the church today.
• 9:29
  SPEAKER_00: I would say you can't teach the New Testament without the Old.
• 9:32
  SPEAKER_00: If you are in a church that believes this, then you need to get out fast and find one that teaches the entire Word of God.
• 9:38
  SPEAKER_00: The more you learn the Old Testament, the more you can understand the new.
• 9:42
  SPEAKER_00: 2 Timothy 3, 16-17.
• 9:45
  SPEAKER_00: All scripture is God breathed out, is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.
• 9:58
  SPEAKER_00: Now moving on to verse 3.
• 10:00
  SPEAKER_00: I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name's sake, and you have not grown weary.
• 10:06
  SPEAKER_00: As we can see here, they were still doing good works in the name of Jesus.
• 10:11
  SPEAKER_00: Verse 4, but I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first.
• 10:17
  SPEAKER_00: Now, even though they were doing good works, they still managed to leave their first love.
• 10:21
  SPEAKER_00: The question is then, what was their first love?
• 10:24
  SPEAKER_00: If you are a believer, then you will know.
• 10:26
  SPEAKER_00: Just think back to when you were first saved.
• 10:29
  SPEAKER_00: You had nothing to offer God.
• 10:30
  SPEAKER_00: And in fact, you should have realized that you actually had less than nothing, as you realized you were a sinner and broken.
• 10:36
  SPEAKER_00: So not only did you realize what he had done for you, you also realized that he still that you still needed to do something, or that he needed to do something in you.
• 10:45
  SPEAKER_00: What Jesus promised was so much more than salvation.
• 10:49
  SPEAKER_00: It was a life full of life and promise filled with the Holy Spirit.
• 10:53
  SPEAKER_00: This then should have generated a love for God that drew you closer to him, that would be your first love.
• 10:59
  SPEAKER_00: The relationship you entered into with him, trusting him to change you and use you for his glory.
• 11:05
  SPEAKER_00: The danger comes in time when he starts to clean us up and teach us.
• 11:09
  SPEAKER_00: We can easily start to think that we are something when in reality we are still nothing.
• 11:14
  SPEAKER_00: We are only something because of him, and that will never change.
• 11:18
  SPEAKER_00: The Ephesians never changed the works that they did from the beginning.
• 11:23
  SPEAKER_00: The issue was that their hearts had changed, which changed the reason for their good works.
• 11:28
  SPEAKER_00: They forgot that Jesus was the one doing the work, not them.
• 11:33
  SPEAKER_00: John 15, 5.
• 11:34
  SPEAKER_00: I am the vine, you are the branches.
• 11:36
  SPEAKER_00: Whoever abides in me, and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit.
• 11:41
  SPEAKER_00: For apart from me, you could do nothing.
• 11:44
  SPEAKER_00: This is a slippery slope that many of us will find ourselves on from time to time.
• 11:48
  SPEAKER_00: It's important that we take a step back as much as possible to just be with Jesus in prayer and word.
• 11:55
  SPEAKER_00: That is ultimately what is desired what he desires more than works.
• 11:59
  SPEAKER_00: Matthew 6, 6.
• 12:01
  SPEAKER_00: But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your father who is in secret, and your father who sees in secret will reward you.
• 12:09
  SPEAKER_00: So moving on to verse 5.
• 12:11
  SPEAKER_00: Remember therefore from where you have fallen.
• 12:14
  SPEAKER_00: Repent and do the works you did at first.
• 12:16
  SPEAKER_00: If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place unless you repent.
• 12:22
  SPEAKER_00: Again, works are not the main thing.
• 12:24
  SPEAKER_00: It's relationship.
• 12:26
  SPEAKER_00: The works should flow from the relationship, and that's what Jesus is asking them to get back to.
• 12:31
  SPEAKER_00: When he says that if they don't, he will remove their lampstand.
• 12:35
  SPEAKER_00: It's not him saying they will lose their salvation.
• 12:38
  SPEAKER_00: He is telling them they will lose their place as a church body.
• 12:41
  SPEAKER_00: The church exists to glorify God, not to earn their way to him.
• 12:45
  SPEAKER_00: First Peter 2 9.
• 12:47
  SPEAKER_00: But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
• 12:58
  SPEAKER_00: We were chosen by him for him, not the other way around.
• 13:02
  SPEAKER_00: This should generate a profound love for God that drives you to know him more.
• 13:06
  SPEAKER_00: Don't ever let works become the thing you do or the thing you are known for.
• 13:11
  SPEAKER_00: Many fall into this trap because it entices our sin nature to make it about us and not him.
• 13:17
  SPEAKER_00: Don't ever lose sight of that, and remember to make time for him separate from works.
• 13:22
  SPEAKER_00: The natural outcome of a healthy relationship with Jesus will be works, but they will be empowered by him and for him.
• 13:29
  SPEAKER_00: Whenever you start to feel the weight of your work as if it's burning you out and it's no longer enjoyable, you have probably left your first love.
• 13:37
  SPEAKER_00: How many churches have you seen come and go?
• 13:39
  SPEAKER_00: The issue is they left the first love.
• 13:41
  SPEAKER_00: Somewhere along the way, they became more about the missions, charity, classes, even the worship.
• 13:47
  SPEAKER_00: Those are all good things.
• 13:48
  SPEAKER_00: However, they aren't the main thing.
• 13:50
  SPEAKER_00: A great sign of a healthy church is disciple making, as they, as they are doing everything they can to help you mature in the word so that you could better know the one who called you in the first place.
• 14:02
  SPEAKER_00: They should be encouraging you to grow in the Lord as you are called by Him.
• 14:07
  SPEAKER_00: The issue is that many congregations are looking for people to serve the ministry to fulfill their purpose and not yours.
• 14:14
  SPEAKER_00: God has something unique for each and every one of us.
• 14:18
  SPEAKER_00: And for some that will be serving in the ministry, but this is not for all.
• 14:22
  SPEAKER_00: The church exists to encourage and equip the saints for the purpose of glorifying God, Ephesians 4, 11 to 16.
• 14:29
  SPEAKER_00: And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds, and teachers to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness, in deceitful schemes.
• 14:55
  SPEAKER_00: Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into Him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.
• 15:14
  SPEAKER_00: Now moving on to verse six.
• 15:16
  SPEAKER_00: Yet this you have, you hate the work of the Nicolaitians, which I also hate.
• 15:20
  SPEAKER_00: In Revelation 2, verses 14 to 15, John links the Nicolaitians to the practices of those who listen to Bala, which we can see back in Numbers chapters 22 to 24.
• 15:30
  SPEAKER_00: Those who followed Balaam used the Midianite women to seduce the men of Israel so that they would worship foreign gods.
• 15:36
  SPEAKER_00: Since Ephesus was immersed in a pagan Roman culture, the Christians in this area probably dealt with the same types of temptations as the men in numbers did.
• 15:44
  SPEAKER_00: However, Jesus commends them for hating these things, which means they were very much aware and on the lookout for these practices to keep them out of the church.
• 15:54
  SPEAKER_00: Unfortunately, I don't think that that could be said of many churches in America today.
• 15:59
  SPEAKER_00: Our society has been seduced by Hollywood in many ways, and that has crept into our churches.
• 16:05
  SPEAKER_00: So many of the issues we deal with in the lives of believers come from a false sense of reality that is created by Hollywood.
• 16:12
  SPEAKER_00: The way we dress, act, and even the things we desire come from what we are shown.
• 16:17
  SPEAKER_00: It is so easy to just follow the flow of society.
• 16:20
  SPEAKER_00: And when you walk into a church, you tend to see more of the same thing you see outside of it.
• 16:25
  SPEAKER_00: The church in Ephesus understood this and fought against it.
• 16:28
  SPEAKER_00: If only the church in America would do the same.
• 16:32
  SPEAKER_00: Verse 7: He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
• 16:36
  SPEAKER_00: To the one who conquers, I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.
• 16:42
  SPEAKER_00: The overcomer or conqueror is talking about true believers.
• 16:46
  SPEAKER_00: John in his epistle makes us abundantly clear that all true believers will overcome death.
• 16:51
  SPEAKER_00: First John 5 4.
• 16:52
  SPEAKER_00: For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world.
• 16:55
  SPEAKER_00: And this is the victory that has overcome the world, our faith.
• 17:00
  SPEAKER_00: The one who overcomes will be granted to eat of the tree of life, which we will see again in Revelation chapter 22, verse 2.
• 17:07
  SPEAKER_00: This tree is not a tree that saves us from death or keeps us from dying.
• 17:10
  SPEAKER_00: It is, as we will see in chapter 22, for healing, which is translated from the Greek word that means therapeutic.
• 17:17
  SPEAKER_00: This tree will be satisfying to eat from and pleasant.
• 17:20
  SPEAKER_00: There will not be a need for healing in heaven.
• 17:23
  SPEAKER_00: However, we will experience things that will enhance our already great joy that we will have there.
• 17:30
  SPEAKER_00: The takeaway here in verse 7, as Jesus ends his letter to Ephesus with a promise that if they overcome, they will indeed be in heaven, taking part in things that are therapeutic and enjoyable.
• 17:42
  SPEAKER_00: No longer will they experience any suffering.
• 17:44
  SPEAKER_00: As we will see as we read the letters to all seven churches, Jesus has promises for all of them.
• 17:50
  SPEAKER_00: It's his desire that we receive these promises, but we have to do our part to receive them.
• 17:55
  SPEAKER_00: They are, in a sense, conditional promises.
• 17:58
  SPEAKER_00: They require something of us to receive them.
• 18:00
  SPEAKER_00: And Jesus here is giving us the what so that we can.
• 18:04
  SPEAKER_00: So many believers get caught up on their sin and unworthiness that they never move past the work of God that He has done in them to rescue them from that sin so that they can enter into the promises of God.
• 18:17
  SPEAKER_00: One of our Lord's greatest pleasures is to pour out blessings upon his followers.
• 18:22
  SPEAKER_00: We just have to live by faith to receive them.
• 18:24
  SPEAKER_00: Ephesians 1, 3 and 4.
• 18:26
  SPEAKER_00: Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him.
• 18:41
  SPEAKER_00: Let's pray.
• 18:43
  SPEAKER_00: Father God, please be with us today to help us enter into the promises you have for us.
• 18:47
  SPEAKER_00: It is our desire that we hold on to our first love at all times.
• 18:52
  SPEAKER_00: Please convict us whenever we stray away and give us the ability to recognize and repent so that we could be in right relationship with you at all times.
• 19:02
  SPEAKER_00: You are an awesome and wonderful God, and we thank you for pursuing us wherever we may wander off to.
• 19:10
  SPEAKER_00: In Jesus' name.
• 19:11
  SPEAKER_00: Amen.
• 19:12
  SPEAKER_00: I want to thank you for joining us today.
• 19:14
  SPEAKER_00: I hope this message helped you take a step closer in your relationship with Jesus and that you have a better understanding for just how much God loves you and wants you to know Him.
• 19:23
  SPEAKER_00: In our next episode, we will be looking at the Church of Smyrna, the Martyr Church.
• 19:27
  SPEAKER_00: In this episode, we will discuss how to stand firm in the midst of great persecution and what encouragements our Lord gives us to finish the race strong.
• 19:36
  SPEAKER_00: And before we go, I want to encourage you to visit us at thetaway.
• 19:40
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• 19:48
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• 19:53
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• 19:59
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• 20:00
  SPEAKER_00: hear from you and encourage you to send us a message soon.
• 20:02
  SPEAKER_00: God bless, and we'll see you next time on the takeaway.