Cross Examined 2 | Where Is The Love?

Good morning. God is good.

Okay, would everybody stand, please? As you're standing, take out this little piece of paper in your bulletin before we open the Word real quick. Your sermon guide on the back side of it says "Neighborhood Harvest Party." If you've been a part of Cross Connection for any length of time, you know that one of the ways we start our fall holiday season is with our harvest celebration. We're still going to be doing that this year, but it's going to be a little bit different.

You may have noticed when you came into the sanctuary today that the candy barrel is in the lobby. Please bring in candy donations. As we've been praying and thinking about this, we talked about it last year and realized that every single year, there are people throughout our county going door to door, trick-or-treating. They come to the houses of Cross Connection members, and it's dark. We thought, "That's not what we want to do."

So, we're taking the harvest celebration on the road. Our connect groups are going to be hosting mini harvest celebrations in their yards and neighborhoods, reaching out to the people who come to their doors. If you're interested in being a part of that, maybe hosting a harvest party or serving at one, we'd love for you to sign up. You can do that at the connection point out in the courtyard after the service or online at harvest.ccsco.com. If you have questions about it, you can come talk to me or one of the other pastors. We'd love to share with you some of the things we're doing.

We're excited about what we believe the Lord is leading us to do because here at Cross Connection, our mission is to live life in connection with God, one another, and the world through Jesus. We want to connect with the world, and they're going to be out there in the community on Halloween. So, we want to be a part of that. That's coming up, just so you know.

Now, with that, open your Bibles to the book of Revelation. If you don't have a Bible, you can raise your hand, and one of our ushers will bring you one. Revelation chapter 2 is where we're going to pick up our reading this morning. Revelation chapter 2, verse 1. Remember, Jesus is the one who is speaking. King John the Apostle is writing these things down, and Jesus says this: "To the angel of the church at Ephesus write: These things says He who holds the seven stars in His right hand, who walks in the midst of..."

The seven golden lampstands. I know your works, your labor, your patience, and that you cannot bear those who are evil. You have tested those who say they are apostles and are not, and have found them liars. You have persevered, have patience, and have labored for My name's sake

A white Ford Bronco. Some of you remember that whole debacle back in the 90s as well. But that series, "Law and Order," ran for 20 seasons. Not only did it run for 20 seasons, but it also started a whole bunch of spinoffs. There was the Special Crimes Unit, Criminal Intent, and all these other "Law and Order" shows that came from it.

Now, many years later, you can watch legal dramas seven days a week, 24 hours a day, if that's what floats your boat. There are reruns constantly from all these different shows that have emerged from this franchise. The reason that shows like this have done so well is that there is something about legal drama that draws us in.

It's not just television; authors like John Grisham have made millions of dollars by writing bestsellers in the legal thriller genre. He has written more than 20 books that follow this genre, and many of them have gone on to be bestsellers. Some have even become box office hits when adapted into movies in Hollywood. This is a significant area of interest for many people.

The courtroom scene fascinates us. It draws us in with the judge, the jury, the plaintiff, the prosecution, and the defense. There are court reporters, bailiffs, indictments, objections, sidebars, and sentencing. For some reason, all of this pulls us in. However, it's a lot more exciting when you experience it in your imagination while reading a book or watching it on screen. In reality, if you've ever sat through a legal proceeding, it's about as exciting as putting together Ikea furniture. It's just not all that great, especially if you've ever been on a jury or sat in a courtroom during such proceedings.

But here before us in the book of Revelation is something akin to a courtroom scene. Jesus, the prosecutor and the ultimate judge, is shining the light upon His church. He is examining His church in light of the cross. That's why we've called this series "Cross Examined." Jesus is examining His church in the light of the cross in this passage in Revelation chapters 2 and 3, as He writes these seven letters to seven different churches. We talked a little bit about this last week. Yes, we recognize that these seven churches actually existed about 1,900 years ago.

In what is now southwestern Turkey, known as Asia Minor during that time, these letters had very clear applications to the people living 1,900 years ago. They were addressed to churches like Ephesus, which we will look at today, as well as Smyrna, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and others. These churches did actually exist, but I believe that although these letters were written to them, the Lord has a prophetic application that He wants to speak to us living in the 21st century. The Lord wants to convey important messages to us from these passages.

These letters point to a larger word that God wants to speak to His church corporately and globally. Although these seven churches existed 1,900 years ago, each of them reveals something about the church today. We can identify with some of the issues that were occurring in these churches. They reflect back to us like a mirror when we examine the words written in these letters. Therefore, there is application for us.

Some may object that the book of Revelation primarily focuses on the judgment that the Lord will one day pour out upon a Christ-rejecting and sinful world. This is true; there is much in the book of Revelation that points to a future judgment when Judge Jesus will ultimately pour out His wrath upon a sinful world. However, the beginning of the book of Revelation, specifically chapters 2 and 3, focuses on the church. In these chapters, the same examining gaze of Jesus is directed toward His own people—those who are followers of Him and profess His name and gospel.

This reminds us of the words of the Apostle Peter in 1 Peter 4:17, where he states, "The time has come for judgment to begin at the house of the Lord." God begins by first examining what is happening within His own church and among His own people. This is not unusual for the way that God operates. When we look back at the Old Testament and read some of the prophetic books, we see similar patterns. For instance, the book of Isaiah begins with the first 11 or 12 chapters focusing on God's own people—His followers in the city of Jerusalem and the nation of Judah. He speaks to them, identifying their problems and sins.

When you come to chapters 13 through 23 of Isaiah, he shifts the focus. At that point, he looks at all the nations of the world, beginning with his own people. In Revelation chapters 2 and 3, we see that the Lord is looking at us, His church. One day, Judge Jesus will sentence a guilty world to the ultimate capital punishment, but first, He looks at His church. They are the subject; they are the focal point in this passage.

Last week, when we read Revelation chapter 1, verses 12 through 20, we saw one of the things that John observed when he saw the glorified Jesus: His eyes were a flame of fire. Now, that bright gaze looks upon the church. One of the things we see as we go through these seven letters is that the church is not perfect. I see some people here nodding their heads, affirming that the church is not perfect. We all know that the church is not perfect. If you've been around church for a while, you understand that the church is full of people, and people are full of problems. Consequently, the church has all kinds of issues. It has been like that for the entire time the church has existed. The church has never been perfect; it has never had a golden era or golden time. There are always problems.

The Lord is seeking to address those problems. In the book of Ephesians and many other places in the New Testament, the church is referred to as the bride of Christ. In Ephesians chapter 5, Paul reveals that God desires, and Jesus hopes, that one day His church, His bride, will be presented before Him blameless, without spot or blemish, without any wrinkle.

How many married couples are here today? Please lift your hands. Ladies, do you remember when you were getting ready for your wedding day? Was there some work that went into that preparation to ensure you looked just perfect for your bridegroom, for your spouse, and for all those in attendance? You wanted to make sure that everything was just right. Now, us guys, we kind of just go and rent the tuxedo, thinking, "Well, I got the color they told me to get," and just throw it on, right? But not the ladies. Not the ladies. We are the bride of Christ, and we want that one day, when we stand before the Lord, we would be without spot or blemish.

Or wrinkle or any such thing. And yet, when you look at the church now, sometimes she looks more like Shrek. There is a problem, and the Lord wants to transform us. What we have here in these seven letters is Jesus examining His church for the purpose of preparing us—preparing us for His glorious revelation. The day when we stand before Him, the day when we see Him, and we stand there in His presence. He is readying us for that.

Although we see the imperfections of the church in Revelation chapters 2 and 3, we also see the grace of Jesus in this passage. The grace of Jesus is such an awesome thing. I am nothing like that in a lot of ways, just in my default nature, just who I am. Christ has given me His grace, and He uses me to extend His grace, and us to extend His grace. But in our normal, everyday life, we are not the most gracious and merciful people. Thank God that I am not Jesus, right? Because if I were Jesus and I were looking at the church and all the problems, I would probably just say, "Suck it up. Fix it. Get it done." But the Lord is gracious. He comes and works differently, and we see that here in this passage.

As John 1:14 reveals, Jesus is full of grace and truth. He is full of grace and truth, and I am grateful for that. A lot of times, many Christians are so full of truth but lack grace. They hammer people with the truth repeatedly. Yet Jesus, although He is full of truth, is also full of grace, which counterbalances that. The way in which He works here in this passage is an awesome thing; He mercifully and graciously reaches out to His people, His church.

As we go through these seven letters, we will find that each of them follows a fairly consistent outline, an easy pattern. They basically go through about five steps. This is point number one on your outline, and we will call these five steps the rap sheet. The rap sheet consists of:

1. The revelation 2. The commendation 3. The indictment 4. The summons 5. The promise

The revelation, the commendation, the indictment, the summons, and the promise.

All seven of these letters basically follow that pattern. We're going to be looking at that as we go through this passage.

One other thing that I quickly mentioned last week is that we see a connection, although it's not a perfect connection. There is a correlation between how Jesus works in Revelation chapters 2 and 3, in speaking to the churches, and what the Apostle Paul gives us in 2 Timothy chapter 3, verse 16. You can turn there if you'd like. It's to the left in your Bibles from Revelation and comes right after 1 Timothy, interestingly enough.

2 Timothy chapter 3, verse 16 is a verse that, even if you don't know the verse reference, you probably have heard before. A lot of times when we're praying for our service, I begin the service with prayer, and I even pray this verse. The Apostle Paul, inspired by the Spirit of God, says this: "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God." So, it's revealed by God, and it reveals God. All Scripture, what we hold in our hands right here, is given by inspiration of God. It reveals God, and it is profitable for doctrine or teaching. It's useful for teaching, giving us what we are supposed to know.

God reveals Himself through His Word, and in revealing Himself, we see ourselves in the light of who He is. As He gives this revelation of Himself, He provides us with doctrine—good teaching about who He is and how He works. When we see that doctrine and see Him, the next thing it's useful for is reproof. Reproof, or maybe a rebuke. When we see Him in light of who He is, we recognize that we are not like that. We realize that we don't measure up.

It's exactly what happened to the prophet Isaiah. In Isaiah chapter 6, it says that he was caught up and saw the Lord high and lifted up, seated upon a throne, and the train of His robe filled the temple. There were angels surrounding the Lord, crying one to another, "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord; the whole earth is full of His glory." Isaiah records, "And when I saw this, I was undone. And I said, 'Woe is me, for I am a man of unclean lips.'" You see, Isaiah, when he saw Jesus high and lifted up, when he had a revelation of God and saw himself, he was reproved in His presence.

He was rebuked just by the mere revelation of who Jesus is. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God. It is useful for doctrine and reproof. It shows us where we are in light of where He is.

Notice that the next thing it is useful for is not only reproof but also correction. He says, "Here I am, there you are, and this is how you get back to where you're supposed to be." I don't want you to stay there. How many recognize that when you came to Jesus, there were a lot of things in your life that were out of order? Jesus didn't want those things to stay that way. We see Him, we see ourselves in light of Him, and He says, "This is how you are to live." He corrects us and brings us back to where we should be.

The next thing that Scripture is useful for is instruction in righteousness. After He brings us back to where He wants us to be, He says, "Okay, this is how you stay here." We see that similar pattern in Revelation chapters 2 and 3. The Lord reveals something of who He is, and in light of who He is, it reveals just how far we are from Him. Then He says, "This is what you need to do. You need to come back over here and stay right here."

We come to Revelation chapter 2, verse 1, and we read, "To the angel of the church of Ephesus, write." Now, two things we have to quickly look at. First, the angel of the church. Each of these letters opens in the same way: to the angel of the church of Ephesus, to the church of Smyrna, to the angel of the church of Laodicea.

There is a lot of discussion and not much agreement within the body of Christ, the church, as to who or what the angel of the church is. Some put forth a good case that the angel of each of these churches is an angelic being who has an overseeing presence over that church in that particular area. If that's the case, then it would seem that each church has some sort of angelic presence from God that is an overseer and maybe even a recorder of the things that are happening within that church.

Another commonly put forth view is that the angel of the church, because the Greek word translated "angel" is "angelos," which means "messenger," refers to the overseeing elder or pastor, the messenger of the Lord. But we don't necessarily know. In the end, it doesn't much matter; it's just the way that the Lord...

addresses the church in that area. Secondly, here in this one, Revelation chapter 2, verse 1, we see to the angel of the church at Ephesus. We already know a little bit about the city of Ephesus if you've been with us here at Cross Connection for any length of time. The Apostle Paul, in his second missionary journey, described for us in Acts chapters 16 and 17, passes through the city of Ephesus on his way back to Jerusalem. Then, in Acts chapters 18 and 19, he goes back to Ephesus on his third missionary journey. God primarily uses the Apostle Paul to plant and establish a church in this great city of antiquity called Ephesus. It was one of the chief cities of Asia Minor, in what is now southwestern Turkey.

In this great city of Ephesus, God birthed a church. Many of the churches that we will read about over the next several weeks—Smyrna, Thyatira, Philadelphia, and Laodicea—were probably planted by the offshoots of Paul's ministry in Ephesus during that third missionary journey. After Paul left, he later wrote a letter to the church at Ephesus, which we will actually be studying at the beginning of next year. So, at the beginning of 2015, we will be studying through Paul's letter to the church at Ephesus. That letter was written almost 40 years before this letter of Jesus was written. By the time Jesus inspires this letter to be sent to them, the church of Ephesus is 40 to 50 years old.

Jesus says to John, to the angel of the church at Ephesus, "Write: These things says He who holds the seven stars in His right hand and walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands." Number one on your rap sheet was the revelation. Each one of these seven letters begins with a revelation of Jesus, and here He reveals something of Himself. He says, "These things says He who holds the seven stars in His right hand and walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands."

You may wonder, what in the world is being said here in this passage? Well, point number two on your outline reveals to us that Jesus is intimately involved with His church. Jesus is intimately involved in His church. Now, you may wonder, how in the world do you get...

Jesus is intimately involved with His church. He is the one who holds the seven stars in His right hand and walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands. To understand this, we have to refer back to what we read last week in Revelation chapter one, because there we find a key, if you will.

Everybody knows what a key is when you're looking at a map. You see all these symbols, but in the corner, there is a little box with a key that explains what each symbol means. Revelation chapter one, beginning at verse 10 through 20, serves as a key for what we are reading here.

Look at Revelation 1:10. John records, "I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day." So, on Sunday, he is walking around the island of Patmos, where he was exiled as a prisoner of the Roman Empire. On the Lord's day, he is in the Spirit. We don't know exactly what that means, but he is probably worshiping the Lord on Sunday, the Lord's day.

He hears behind him a voice, a loud voice like a trumpet. Picture this: there he is, out on a hike on a Sunday morning, worshiping the Lord in nature. The heavens declare the glory of God; the earth shows forth His handiwork. Suddenly, behind him, he hears this big, booming trumpet of a voice.

Then, in verse 12, he says, "Then I turned to see the voice that spoke with me." Having turned, he saw seven golden lampstands. In the midst of the seven golden lampstands stood one like the Son of Man. Revelation 2:1 states, "This is He who has the seven stars in His right hand and who walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands." John saw this in Revelation 1:12, where he describes the one like the Son of Man walking among the seven golden lampstands.

In verse 16 of Revelation 1, it says that the one walking in the midst of the seven golden lampstands had in His right hand seven stars. We have the picture now. Revelation 1:12 and 16 convey essentially the same message as Revelation 2:1.

But what are the stars in the lampstands? If we skip down to verse 20 of Revelation 1, we find the answer. It reveals the mystery of the seven stars, which you saw in My right hand, John, and the seven golden lampstands. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands, which you saw, are the seven churches.

There is the key; it helps us to understand what is going on.

There in Revelation 2, verse 1, Jesus says to the church at Ephesus, "I am he who holds the seven stars in my right hand and who walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands." What does that mean? He is saying, "I am the one who has your church, your overseeing angel, or your pastor, however you interpret the idea of the angel of the church. I am the one that holds you in my hand, and I am the one who walks in your midst."

From this, we understand that Jesus is intimately involved in His church. He walks in the midst of them and holds them in His hand. His presence is there, and His protection is with them. I don't know about you, but I am thankful for this today. Some of us need to be reminded that Jesus is not distant. Some of us need to be reminded that He is alive and actively and intimately involved in what is happening with us right here in Escondido, at 1675 Seven Oaks Road, the corner of El Norte Parkway. He is intimately involved in what is happening, not just in this church, but in each of our lives.

In another place in the Scriptures, we are told that God knows the number of the hairs on your head. For some of the guys in this room, you make it really easy on Him. But that doesn't mean He is up in heaven counting each one, marking it off when one falls out. No, it simply means that He is intimately involved in what is happening in our lives. He knows what is going on.

This understanding flies in the face of what was commonly referred to, especially in the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries, as deism. It was a mindset, a worldview at that time that had grown quite large. This idea suggested that there is a God who wound up the clock but is now somewhere on the edge of the universe, not caring about what is going on. However, the reality is that, as we look at the Scriptures, Jesus is intimately involved in His church. Some of you today need to remember that.

This being true, point number three is that Jesus knows what is going on. We see this in verses two and three of Revelation 2. There, Jesus says to the church at Ephesus, "I know your works, your labor. I know your patience. I know that you cannot bear those who are evil, and you have tested those who say that they are apostles and are not, and you have found them to be liars."

You have persevered, have patience, and have labored for my name's sake, and you have not become weary. Revelation 2:1 presents the revelation, while Revelation 2:2 and 2:3 provide the commendation. This is the second point on our rap sheet: the commendation. Jesus looks at the church at Ephesus and says, "You guys are doing a lot of things really well. I know your works. I know your patience. I know your labor. I know that you cannot bear with those who are evil. You don't put up with people's junk. You don't tolerate their wickedness and retain them."

Does the church sometimes do that? If you remember, when Paul was writing his letters, one of his letters to the church at Corinth addressed this issue. He said, "Hey, you guys, you've been retaining sinful, wicked people in the church, and you just think it's okay." Apparently, that would not have happened at Ephesus. Jesus acknowledges their works, labor, and patience. They do not bear with people's sin, and they test those who claim to be traveling evangelists or preachers. When someone says, "Hey, I'm an apostle of God," they do not just take them at their word; they test them to see if they really are apostles, and they have found some of them to be liars.

This is interesting because very early on, when the church at Ephesus was just starting, there was an itinerant teacher named Apollos who traveled through. When he arrived, there were two solid believers in that church named Priscilla and Aquila. Apollos knew some aspects of the gospel, but he did not have the whole picture. Priscilla and Aquila pulled him aside and said, "Hey, we need to sort out your theology a little bit because it's not entirely right." From its earliest days, Ephesus was a church that said, "We are testing those who claim to be apostles and are not," and they found some to be liars.

During Paul the Apostle's very last personal visit with the elders of the church at Ephesus, which is recorded in the book of Acts, specifically Acts 20, he warned them, "Listen, after my departure, savage wolves, false teachers, are going to come in; they are going to try to deceive you." The people in Ephesus took that to heart. Now, 40 years later, Jesus says, "Listen, you cannot bear with those who are evil, and you have tested those who say they are apostles and are not, and you have found them to be liars." Jesus knows all of this that is going on because he is intimately involved in his church.

He is the one that holds the seven stars in His right hand and walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands. Of course, this is a blessing. It's a blessing to know that Jesus is intimately involved in my life, your life, and in our church. However, there are probably some who are seated here today that realize that, while that's a blessing, it can also be kind of challenging.

I heard a story once about a burglar who broke into a big house. It was empty because the people who lived there were gone on vacation. The burglar entered the house, which was pitch black, and all he had for light was a little flashlight. He went from room to room, trying to find the goods. Finally, he entered a room and could tell, just by shining the light, that this was where it was at. As he started to look around, he heard a voice behind him say, "Jesus is watching you." The guy freaked out; his heart started pumping. He looked around with the light but couldn't see anything. Again, he heard, "Jesus is watching you."

He turned the light and saw a parrot in the corner. He asked, "Did you say that?" The parrot replied, "Jesus is watching you." The burglar then asked, "Who are you?" The parrot said, "I'm Moses." The burglar responded, "What kind of people would name their parrot Moses?" The parrot replied, "The same people that would name their Rottweiler Jesus."

It's a silly story, I know. I borrowed it from a pastor years ago. "Jesus is watching you" can be a blessing to some, but the reality is that it can also be challenging. He knows what's going on, both the good and the bad.

In Revelation 2, verse 1, we have the revelation; in verses 2 and 3, we find the commendation; and in verse 4, we see the indictment. Nevertheless, you've probably experienced this before. Someone comes up to you and says, "You did really well. I really like this and this and this," and you're just waiting for the "but." I have to confess, I get that regularly. People say, "I love your church; it's all this and wonderful," and then I wait for the "but." Nevertheless, I have this against you. Jesus says,

Ephesus, you have a lot of good things going on. There is commendation, but I have this against you: you have left your first love. You have left your first love. They had their doctrine in order, and they seemed to have their practice in order, but somewhere along the line, they lost something. We can't even say that they lost it as if they dropped it along the way. We can't even say that they just drifted, because there seems to be some sort of deliberate neglect here, some disregard for something very important. In spite of all the good things that they had done, those good things had not outdone this one big thing: they had left their first love.

Everything on the outside looked great, but deep within the church, there was something very important that was missing. It was a deliberate departure from the most important thing. You remember there was a lawyer who came to Jesus in the Gospels and asked, "Master, what's the greatest commandment in the law?" Every Jew in the first century, and many even in our day, knew the answer to that question. It's taken right out of Deuteronomy 6, verse 4, known as the Shema: "Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord, and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and strength."

So, this lawyer comes to Jesus and asks, "Master, what's the great commandment in the law?" Jesus replies, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and strength," and the second is like it, from the book of Leviticus: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." Another time, someone came to Jesus asking, "What must I do to get eternal life?" He responded, "Well, how do you read the law?" The answer was the same: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and strength, love your neighbor as yourself."

You see, they knew this question and this answer. Not only was that the greatest commandment in the law, but in John chapter 13, verse 35, Jesus says to his disciples the very night that he would be betrayed by one of his disciples, "By this, all men shall know that you are my disciples if you have love one for another."

Think about this for a moment. The church at Ephesus had everything that you would need to be identified as a church, but they lacked the very thing that would identify them as Christian. That's challenging.

That you can be identified as a church and yet be missing the very thing that makes you Christian. This reminds us of point number four on your outline: we are nothing without love. In the minds of some of you, you instantly connect that point with the great statement of the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians chapter 13. You can turn there if you like. It is called by many the love chapter.

In 1 Corinthians chapter 13, verse 1, the Apostle Paul writes, "Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become like a sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing." We are nothing without love.

There are certain things in our lives that, as we live our lives, as we get older, as we become adults, as we become husbands or wives, as we become parents, we leave certain things in the past. There are things we no longer do that we did when we were children or in our 20s, but love is something we never move away from as Christians.

We have the revelation in verse 1, the commendation in verses 2 and 3, the indictment in verse 4, and now the summons in verse 5. Revelation 2:5 states, "Remember, therefore, from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place unless you repent."

Point number five presents the three R's: remember, repent, and return. Jesus says, "You've got a lot of things in order, a lot of good things going on there. You don't bear with people who are wicked. You test those who are false prophets, but I have this against you: you have left your first love."

So here’s what you need to do—the summons. I’m calling you back. Remember from where you have fallen. Repent, that is, change your mind and change your direction, and return to the first works. Do the first works, or else. Now notice this, "or else," because this is so interesting to me. As I was thinking on this this week,

It just leapt off the page at me: "Or else I will come quickly." It's amazing that so many people in the church are saying, "Lord, come quickly. Lord, come quickly." He says, "Repent, or else I'm going to come quickly, and I'm going to remove your lampstand." The lampstand is a symbol of the church. I'm going to remove the church, and there are a whole bunch of people saying, "Lord, come quickly. Get the church out of here," but they don't recognize that if the Lord came quickly today and removed the church, there are some of you that might still be here. He says this as a caution: "Watch out. I might come quickly and remove the church." That's striking. It kind of puts a different spin on the rapture, if you think about it.

"Or else I will come quickly and remove your lampstand, your church, from its place, unless you repent." This brings up the question: We know we need to remember from where we've fallen; we need to repent. But what is doing the first works? What are the first works? Perhaps they are the early things of the faith. Before all our doctrinal positions were buttoned up and perfect, before our Christian ease was fluent, we need to remember and do the first works. Maybe just the simple things of loving God, loving others, and praising the Lord Jesus for His salvation would be the first works that He mentions. "Or else I will come quickly."

Now, you remember last week, if you were here, I said there are a couple of different kinds of predictive prophecy. One is predictive cause and effect, a kind of conditional prediction. Here is one of those: "If you repent, and if you don't repent, if you don't repent, then I will come and remove your lampstand from its place. I will come quickly if you don't repent."

But now, look at the fifth part of the rap sheet: the promise, the revelation, the commendation, the indictment, the summons, and the promise. Verse 6 actually comes in verse 7. We'll come back to verse 6 in a second. Look at verse 7: "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, the promise: I will give to eat from the tree of life which is in the midst of the paradise of God." So now, we have that conditional "if, then." If you will repent...

And you overcome, then you'll be able to eat of the tree of life. But if you don't repent, I will come to you quickly and remove the lampstand.

Now, back to verse 6, because this is a strange juxtaposition here, this footnote, this verse in the middle of it. He says in the previous verses, "Ephesus, you're unloving." And then he says in verse 6, "But this you have, this is a good thing, that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate." Wait, what? Ephesus, you're unloving, but I'm glad you hate these guys?

The first thing we need to recognize is that Jesus says, "You hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans." Not the people themselves, but you hate their sinful actions. Because God said, "I hate their sinful actions too."

Now, this brings up a big discussion. Who are the Nicolaitans and what did they do? There are about as many different theories on who the Nicolaitans are as there are commentators. Some people, like Irenaeus, one of the early church fathers, said that the Nicolaitans were followers of Nicholas, who was one of the early followers of Jesus and one of the early deacons of the church in Acts chapter 7. However, he went kind of sideways in his theology and veered off into a heretical thing called Gnosticism.

There are a number of early church teachers who believed that the Nicolaitans were followers of a Gnostic heresy. Some say that they were a very carnal and sexually immoral group of people who called themselves Christians. We don't know for certain who they were. All we know is that the things they did, Jesus hated. The church at Ephesus was commended for the fact that they did not like these things.

Now, why would Jesus say this? I think it's very instructive. He says, "You have left your first love. I need you to get back to the basics, back to love, back to Jesus." But in doing that, we need to be careful that we do not go so far that we just tolerate all kinds of sinful actions.

There are a lot of people who say, "We're loving; we're a loving church." They believe it's okay to continue to walk in adultery, fornication, homosexuality, or whatever it may be, and still be a Christian and still be in the church. Jesus says, "No, no, no, no, no, no." I hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans. I am still the most loving thing in all the universe because God is love. But there are certain things that the God of love hates.

For more on this, you can read Proverbs chapter 6. The six things the Lord hates, yea, seven, are an abomination. But he says to this church there, "I am he who holds..."

The seven stars are in my right hand, and I walk in the midst of my church, the seven golden lampstands. You've done so many good things. You've labored, you've worked, and you've not grown weary in well-doing, but you've left your first love. Therefore, you need to remember, repent, and return to me, or else a judgment will come.

But to him who overcomes, and we finish with this, to him who overcomes, I will give to eat from the tree of life. How many of you say, "I want to eat from the tree of life someday?" I don't know exactly what that is, but it sure sounds good. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil? Not so good. The tree of life? Yes.

Now, the tree of life was seen in the book of Genesis, and there was an angel with a flaming sword that was put to guard the way under the tree of life. Obviously, the tree of life is not for people who are sinful, but for those who have been made righteous by Christ; they have access to the tree of life. He says, "He who overcomes, I will give to eat from the tree of life," which is in the paradise of God. I say, yes and amen, that sounds good.

How do we overcome then? Well, let’s turn just to the left to the book of 1 John, specifically 1 John chapter 5. It comes right after 2 Peter. Look at verses 4 and 5. John, the same one who received the revelation years after he wrote this, says in 1 John 5:4, "For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world." You might ask, "What do we have to do to have victory and overcome the world?" The answer is our faith.

He who is he who overcomes the world? Good question. It is he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God. Another passage in Revelation chapter 12, verse 11 says, "And they overcame by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony." What overcomes? What has victory? Our faith in Jesus.

So, repent and do the first works, and return to our faith, our simple faith in Jesus. There are some here today who recognize, as we go through this, that although you may have fluent Christianese and buttoned-up theology, deep inside, there is something about this that resonates with you.

That speaks to you because there's something that's missing, and the Lord would say, it's time to repent. Remember from which you've fallen; repent and do the first works. Return to the simplicity of the faith, to loving God and loving one another, even those who may have a different opinion on eschatology than you do. Simply put your trust and your faith in Jesus like you did in the early days, whenever you just read something from the Scriptures and thought, I think I'm supposed to do this, so I'm going to do this.

I remember years ago, a couple came to our church because their marriage was falling apart. I sat down and began to counsel with them, sharing the good news of the gospel. They both got saved in that counseling meeting, and they asked, "What do we do next?" I said, "Listen, we're going to meet next week on a Wednesday night. I want you to go home; here's a Bible. I want you to read the book of Ephesians."

They came back the following week after reading through the book of Ephesians. They got to that passage in Ephesians chapter 4 where it says, "Do not be drunk with wine." They returned the next week and said, "Hey, we were reading this, and we think we should stop getting drunk." I replied, "Yeah, that's a good idea." For a series of weeks, it was the same thing. They would come back and say, "Hey, we were reading this." After finishing Ephesians, I told them to read Philippians. They would come back and say, "Hey, we think we should do this." I would respond, "That's a good thing; you should do that."

You remember how it was when you first started reading the Scriptures and knowing God. You read and said, "Do this," and you thought, I'm going to do that. And you did it. It was done. Now, when you read it, you might think, "Well, maybe there's something I need to look at in the Greek to make sure it's really saying what I think it's saying." You might question, "What? Thou shalt not." Then you think, "Well, I think that 'thou shalt not' has some nuance in the original." No, there is not. Just stop. Repent. Or else I will come quickly and remove your lampstand from its place. That's a scary thought.

Would you stand with me as we pray? Lord God, there are some sobering things in this passage. God, open our eyes. Help us to walk circumspectly, not as unwise, but as those who know what it is that they are to do, understanding the times. God, work in us these things from this passage, from this text. Help us to be in a position where our hearts are soft and ready to receive what you want to speak to us. And Lord, it may be that as we're standing here, there are some who, maybe for the first time or perhaps a second or third time, realize that they're not where they should be.

In their walk with You, would You bid them to come? Jesus' word is simple: remember, repent, and return to simple faith and obedience in Him.

Maybe that's you today. If that's you, I'm just going to ask you to pray with me out loud.

Dear Jesus, I recognize that I have fallen. I recognize that I'm not where I should be. I ask You, God, to work in my heart. Lord, please forgive me. Receive me to Yourself again.

In Jesus' name, Amen. Thank you.