Scripture: Revelation2:1-7, 1 John 4:19-21
As we begin this new series of messages, we will be focusing
on the lessons that come to us from the word that God gave to the 7 churches of
Revelation. Each one has, generally,
something good that God wishes to commend them for, as well as some
shortcomings that are named in no uncertain terms. There are two exceptions though – there is
one church that only receives praises and no corrections, as well as one that
only receives rebukes, and no praises.
But more on each of these in later messages.
But the one word that every one of the seven has in common
is this – if you have an ear to hear, then listen to what the Spirit says to
the churches. At first glance, you
might think that the divine observations that are handed down in these initial
chapters of Revelation are for the seven churches alone, but the truth is that
they are actually Godly advice for all churches, both then, as well as now
and beyond!
We will notice that each message is addressed to
“the angel” of each specific church. But
since God’s heavenly host wouldn’t need to be informed this way (they would
already know!), I believe that each reference to “the angel of the church” is
being directed toward the leadership of each congregation.
And why the churches, and not to the people
directly? It is the church’s
responsibility to be discerning of the difference between the one who is
teaching the truth of God, and the one who is a false prophet, the “wolf in
sheep’s clothing”, if you will.
In the gospels, Jesus, over and over again, speaks a
warning against false teachings and for those who are involved in heretical instruction.
In Matthew24:10-12, we read these words from Jesus - “10 At that time many will turn away from the
faith and will betray and hate each other, 11 and many false prophets will appear and
deceive many people. 12 Because of the increase of wickedness, the
love of most will grow cold…”
The Church must always be on the alert for any
teaching that falls short of that which Jesus offered, as well as the truth of
God that the prophets and the epistle writers shared throughout scripture. And as we venture into the messages behind
God’s word to these seven churches, we will consider what the words for each say
to the Church of today.
Read Revelation 2:1-7
Paul had spent several years in Ephesus, and held an
affection for the church that he had founded there. He may have even used that city as a home
base as he reached out to other communities in that region of Asia Minor, which
today is the nation of Turkey. As we
read through Paul’s letter to that church, that which we now know as the book
of Ephesians, we see a message of strengthening and faith for this church. Paul, very likely, wrote that letter while in
a Roman prison awaiting his execution, and while still under his tutelage,
Ephesus may have been growing and gaining in grace and faith. But what happened to them after Paul’s
encouragement and support ended?
In the book of Judges, we see that while each of the
Judges were alive and actively leading the people, faith was, typically, strong
and true, but what happened as soon as the Judge died, and before a new leader
was raised up? “The Israelites did
evil in the eyes of the Lord.” (Judges 6:1a,
as an example) Its very possible that
this is exactly what happened in Ephesus.
Revelation seems to indicate that faith had been
strong in Ephesus, at least for a portion of the 30 to 40 years after Paul
wrote his letter to that church! They
had been discerning of what was faithful teaching and what was not. They were diligent in their work on behalf of
the kingdom of God. They even “endured
hardships” during those times of persecution that came at them from the
world’s hatred of Jesus Christ. Grace
had seen them through some very trying times, and yet, without a continuing
true faith and strength within the church’s leadership, even the most faithful would
be susceptible to the world’s lies!
And when we fall away from the faith that sustains
the church in times of Godly service, the Lord describes this separation as forsaking
our first love. The truth is that
whether in our human relationships, or in our commitment to God in Christ, love
requires dedication and continuous renewal if it is to survive the “storms” of
this world. While this constant call to
renewal must be a major responsibility of the church’s senior leaders, leadership
is far more than that which is upon just one person – it will be the charge
that many have been given.
So how do we get back into the good graces of God
when we have fallen so far? The Lord
tells us all to “Repent and do the things you did at first.” When we give our lives to Christ, and begin
to learn and follow the ways that He has lived and professed, we need to strive
to remain on that track. Unfortunately,
over confidence, self-assurance, personal pride, and worldly influence will
always be at work within us, to overcome and replace the love that we once had
for our Lord and Savior with sinful thoughts and false faith.
Repentance for our sins, and a return to truly
loving God and His ways, is the only way for the wayward traveler, and when we
rededicate our lives to the Lord Jesus, we are told that we will, once again,
be granted the “right to eat from the tree of life”.
And this will always be our hope!
Read 1 John 4:19-21
This passage fits so very well with Jesus’ response
to the question that the Pharisees asked Him in Matthew22:34-40 - which was, what is the greatest commandment
within the law? Basically, Jesus’ answer
is to live our life in the same way that He did – first, love God, and then
through that love, to love others!
If either one of those loves is weak, if either of these loves is
missing, then there is no true love within us.
And when John speaks about “hating” another, it isn’t actually
describing the emotion of hatred, but rather simply the lack of love for any other
person.
The love that we feel and share with others
originates with God, as His love is the example that helps each of us to love
in His way! Unfortunately, the world’s
version of love is so worn and weary, that unbelievers are unable to understand
the difference between pure Godly love and the human form that is so far
removed from the way of the Lord that His is nearly always rejected as a falsehood!
The problem that humanity has with loving in the way
that Jesus loved, is that it is so vast, so diverse, so inclusive, so multi-faceted,
so perfect that there is no human way to duplicate it, let alone
understand it. Our only hope of loving
God as deeply as He has loved us, is through our love for His Son Jesus – for
all that He has done, in all that He has taught, in ways that He has called us
to live and love, in as powerful a way as we possibly can. And when we don’t, whether intentionally or
not, we have denied the love that the Lord has first showed to each and
every person on the face of the Earth.
This is the first true love that we will ever know,
and it is our responsibility to never love in any other way as long as we live
in this lifetime and beyond.
