When Technique Eclipses Relationship-2 Series

WHEN TECHNIQUE ECLIPSES RELATIONSHIP-II—Revelation 2:1-7

Firstless Love

Attention:

When they were first married Ken watched & learned as his new wife Karen, prepared the boneless ham. Karen precisely measured 3 inches from the butt of the ham inward & cut off the end of the ham.

Ken immediately starts wondering why it was so important to cut the ham so oddly, so he asked Karen.

She said it was very important for the taste of the ham & that she would bake the removed portion at a later time.

Ken couldn’t stand it so he asked again about how the flavor of the ham could be so effected simply by slicing the end off.

Karen replies, “Momma always does it that way, & her ham is always perfect.”

Ken complies.

At a family gathering, Ken inquires of his mother-in-law about the ham, in Karen’s presence.

Karen’s mother responded simply that, for nostalgias’s sake she had always use the very same baking pan that had belonged to her mother. Her mother’s pan was roughly three inches too short for any full-sized ham so she had to remove it in order to bake it properly!

Karen’s relationship with her mother regarding the recipe had never been established.

The way in which we approach anything can be Liableous...And Technique can eclipse Relationship.

Jesus reprimanded the Ephesian church because their first love for Jesus had taken second place & lapsed into technique/maintenance.

The local church must prevent her relationship with Jesus from lapsing into a technique.

What occurs when technique overshadows relationship?

9 liabilities of a relationship that is eclipsed by technique.

We previously found that...

When technique eclipses relationship our...

LEADERSHIP is Liable(:1)

2—When technique eclipses relationship...

Our WORK is Liable(:2a & 3)

Explanation:(:2a & 3)Involvement/Programs/Ministries

:2a—“‘I know your works, your labor, your patience, & that you cannot bear those who are evil.”

Jesus is fully aware of the Ephesian church’s “works/deeds”, “labor/toil”, “patience/perseverance.”

“Works/Deeds”—erga—Focus upon the Enterprises, Employment, Undertakings involved in.

“Labor/Toil”—kopon—Focus upon the weariness resulting from the work.

Not lazy—Put their nose to the grindstone

“Patience/Perseverance”—upomonhn—‘Steadfastness, Constancy, Endurance’. Won’t easily give up the ship.

:3—“& you have persevered & have patience, & have labored for My name’s sake, & have not become weary.”

:3(NASB)—“& you have perseverance & have endured for My name’s sake, & have not grown weary.”

Lit.—“...For the sake of My name have labored & have not wearied.”

The Ephesian church had also “persevered,” ‘endured,’ & worked hard.

Reversed word order in TR & MT.

“Persevered/Borne/Endured”(See :2—“Bear/Endure/Tolerate”)—bastazw—1) To take up with the hands; 2) To take up in order to carry or bear, to put upon one’s self (something) to be carried—2a) To bear what is burdensome; 3) To bear, to carry—3a) To carry on one’s person, 3b) To sustain, i.e. uphold, support; 4) To bear away, carry off. Strong—To lift, literally or figuratively(endure, declare, sustain, receive, etc.).

“Patience”—upomonhn—Same as above.

Jas. 1:3-4—“knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect & complete, lacking nothing.”

“Labored”—kopiaw—1) To grow weary, tired, exhausted(with toil or burdens or grief); 2) To labor with wearisome effort, to toil—2a) Of bodily labor. Strong—To feel fatigue; by implication--To work hard.

“Weary/Tired/Exhausted”—kamnw— 1) To grow weary, be weary; 2) To be sick. Strong—apparently a primary verb; properly, To toil, i.e. (by implication) To tire (figuratively, faint, sicken). Used 3X.

TR— “hast labored, & hast not fainted.”—Wearied yourself & not fainted.

*“FOR MY NAME’S SAKE”—That Jesus may be known.

Argumentation:

Eph. 4:11-13—“And He gave some as apostles, & some as prophets, & some as evangelists, & some as pastors & teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, & of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fulness of Christ.”

1Cor. 15:58—“Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord.”

Php. 1:6—“For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.”

Php. 2:12-13—“So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear & trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, both to will & to work for His good pleasure.”

Illustration:

Titheing—Sunday School(Bible Study)—Fellowships—Missions projects—

Family meals/New mother/Prepare meal anticipating giving best for family/1st Love/ OR Drudgery/Putting food on table can be a Work of Love or a Work of Enslavement/Our WORK is Liable