Sermons from the Book of Revelation: 04/11/2010
Sermon #1: The Church at Ephesus:
The Church That Had Lost Its First Love:
Scripture Ref: Revelation 2:1-7
Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write; ‘These things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks; 2I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars: 3And hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name's sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted. 4Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. 5Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent. 6But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitanes, which I also hate. 7He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.
Introduction:
The APOSTLE JOHN wrote this book of REVELATION. This was JOHN, the BELOVED DISCIPLE that was so CLOSE to JESUS. This was the DISCIPLE that JESUS while HANGING on the CROSS, COMMITTED the CARE of HIS MOTHER, MARY, after HIS DEATH.
CHURCH HISTORY teaches us that JOHN went to the city of EPHESUS & he PASTORED the CHURCH there. The LORD BLESSED the MINISTRY of JOHN & many people were SAVED & HEALED through his MINISTRY. Some were even RAISED FROM THE DEAD by JOHN’S PRAYERS. From the LOOKS of THINGS I would say that JOHN was STILL CLOSE to JESUS, wouldn’t you?
About 30 years after the DEATH of JESUS, the EMPORER of ROME DOMITIAN didn’t APPRECIATE the MINISTRY of JOHN, so he had JOHN ARRESTED & he was brought to JERUSALEM & was placed in a POT of HOT OIL & HIS INTENTIONS were to BOIL JOHN to his DEATH. JOHN was 90 YEARS OLD when he PASTORED at EPHESUS. Not very many CHURCHES TODAY would even ACCEPT a 90 YEAR OLD PASTOR!
It is said that JOHN CONTINUED to PREACH from INSIDE the BOILING POT of OIL & JESUS INTERVENED and JOHN wasn’t HARMED. It PAYS to BE CLOSE to JESUS!
So then the EMPORER had JOHN EXILED on the nearby ISLE called PATMOS. It was a PLACE where HARDENED & CRUEL & VIOLENT CRIMINALS were SENTENCED.
But we find SOMETHING VERY UNUSUAL.
I John 1:10- 11 ‘I was IN THE SPIRIT on the LORD’S DAY & heard behind me a great voice as of a trumpet, Saying, I am Alpha & Omega, the first & the last, & What thou seest, write in a book & send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia..’
COMMENT:
GOD WASN’T FINISHED with PASTOR JOHN. The HOLY SPIRIT was about to GIVE JOHN a MIGHTY REVELATION.
{Do you think JOHN was just SITTING THERE, BORED & THUMBING through the SONG BOOK with a WANDERING MIND that was OFF of GOD. when SUDDENLY he was SLAIN in the SPIRIT & was in a DIFFERENT WORLD for a TIME?}
Would we LIKE to be MINISTERED TO by the HOLY SPIRIT when we are FACING TRIALS & taken to a DIFFERENT WORLD for a while? Don’t you THINK that we NEED to SERIOUSLY FIX our HEARTS & MINDS on PRAISING & GLORIFYING GOD?
Psalm 112: 7 ‘He shall not be afraid of evil things, his heart is fixed, trusting in the LORD.’
Psalm 57:7 ‘My heart is fixed o GOD, I will sing & give praise.’
GOD is GOOD REGARDLESS of WHAT we are GOING THROUGH!
I CANNOT GARAUNTEE that we’ll be SLAIN in SPIRIT & SHOWN DEEP & MYSTERIOUS THINGS like JOHN was, but I do BELIEVE the SPIRIT of GOD will MINISTER STRENGTH & GRACE & POWER to us WHEN we SERIOUSLY begin to WORSHIP & EXALT JESUS CHRIST.
That is WHERE we are MISSING IT church! We have to REALLY WANT a MOVING of GOD in our lives!
Most of the book of REVELATION deals with the FUTURE EVENTS that are YET TO COME.
Revelation 1: 1 ‘The revelation of JESUS CHRIST, which GOD gave unto HIM, to show unto HIS servants; things which must shortly come to pass.’
The FUTURE is IMPORTANT. The BIBLE says that we are FOOLISH to LIVE TODAY and NOT TRY to PREPARE for the FUTURE. I mean, the CHANCES are HIGH that MOST of us will SEE TOMORROW so we SHOULD’T LIVE JUST for TODAY.
We NEED to FOCUS on TODAY because the WAY we LIVE TODAY is what DETERMINES WHERE we’ll BE & WHAT we’ll BE DOING in the FUTURE.
We SOMETIMES FOCUS on the PRESENT.
• We TALK ABOUT HOW BAD SOME THINGS ARE in this PRESENT WORLD.
BAD ECONOMY: PEOPLE CANNOT FIND EMPLOYMENT:
HARD TIME FINANCIALLY: PRICES KEEP GOING UP: (GASOLINE UP THIS WEEK)
• We TALK ABOUT the WAR in the MID EAST.
It is NOW the COSTLIEST WAR in OUR NATION’S HISTORY. We’re having to BORROW MONEY from OTHER COUNTRIES so we can GO to WAR AGAINST OTHER COUNTRIES. We’re DEEPLY in DEBT to CHINA.
It is NOW the LONGEST WAR the UNITED STATES have been involved in.
• We TALK ABOUT the TERRIBLE CALAMITIES that are TAKING PLACE around the WORLD TODAY.
EARTHQUAKES: HURRICANES: FLOODS: FIRES:
• We TALK ABOUT the CRIME & WICKEDNESS & the MORAL DECLINE of our PRESENT SOCIETY.
DARK DAY SPIRITUALLY: EVIL is EVERYWHERE we LOOK:
MORALS & CONVICTIONS & ETHICS & PERSONAL CHARACTER have PLUMMETED RAPIDLY.
We NO LONGER take WICKEDNESS & RIDE IT OUT of TOWN on a RAIL.
Instead, we PARADE IT down MAIN STREET with SIGNS & BANNERS & then TELEVISE IT so MULTIDUES can see it.
The HOME as we ONCE KNEW IT is a THING of the PAST. It is a RARITY TODAY for CHILDREN to LIVE in a HOME where BOTH of THEIR PARENTS are STILL TOGETHER.
MOST TEENAGERS TODAY are SEXUALLY ACTIVE before they turn 16.
PARENTS realize they have LOST CONTROL of their CHILDREN so rather than COMING DOWN HARD on them they ACCEPT & RATIONALIZE their WRONGS & say, ‘Well, they’re NOT the ONLY ONES doing it as IF that JUSTIFIES THEIR WRONG.
Before the LORD began to SHOW the FUTURE to JOHN there is a BREAK in CHAPTERS 2 & 3 where the VISION is NOT on the FUTURE but on the PRESENT.
But GOD & the HOLY SPIRIT does not BEGIN by FOCUSING on the PRESENT CONDITION of the WORLD.
BEFORE GOD gives a REVELATION of the THINGS COMING upon the WORLD, GOD lets JOHN SEE the CONDITION of the PRESENT CHURCH operating in the WORLD TODAY & PRIOR to the COMING of JESUS CHRIST.
SADDER to GOD than WHAT is HAPPENING in the PRESENT WORLD is WHAT is HAPPENING in the PRESENT DAY CHURCH.
These 7 CHURCHES represent the CONDITION of the CHURCH throughout the CHURCH AGES & UNTIL JESUS returns for HIS CHURCH.
The CHURCH is its PEOPLE.
What the LORD wants us to do is to LOOK for OURSELVES in these 7 LETTERS both as a LOCAL CHURCH & as an INDIVIDUAL. EVERY LOCAL CHURCH & EVERY INDIVIDUAL will FIND THEMSELVES SOMEWHERE in these LETTERS.
The 1st LETTER:
The CHURCH at EPHESUS:
Revelation 2:1 ‘Unto the angel of the church of EPHESUS write, These things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks.
The CHURCH AT EPHESUS:
Founded by the APOSTLE PAUL on his 2nd MISSIONARY JOURNEY:
MINISTERS THERE:
ACQUILLA & PRISCILLA – APOLLOS --- PAUL for 3 years ---- TIMOTHY-- & then JOHN.
While JOHN was PASTORING in EPHESUS he was ARRESTED & thrown in EXILE on the ISLE of PATMOS.
This CHURCH was PRECIOUS to JOHN.
It had once been a THRIVING SPIRITUAL CHURCH that LOVED GOD & REACHED OUT to PEOPLE.
PAUL PRAISED THEM in his letter to them:
Ephesians 1:15-16 ‘Wherefore, I also, after I heard of your faith in the LORD JESUS & love unto all the saints. Cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers.’
Back to Revelation 2:1
Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write:
The ANGEL according to Revelation are the same as the SEVEN STARS – PASTORS of EACH LOCAL CHURCH:
ANGEL is one who only listens to & does the bidding of JESUS CHRIST. That is what a PASTOR is to do.
The SEVEN GOLDEN CANDLESTICKS are the LOCAL CHURCHES: BEARING the LIGHT of CHRIST
PRAISE 1st:
1: Revelation 2: 2 “I know thy works & thy labour & thy patience.’
They were a HARD WORKING CHURCH: Some people in the CHURCH are LILY CHRISTIANS they don’t TOIL nor SPIN.
PATIENCE they ENDURED UNDER TRAIL & HARDSHIP. EPHESUS was a very WICKED CITY filled with IDOL WORSHIP & FALSE RELIGIONS.
2: “& how thou cannot bear them which are evil: but hast tried them which say they are apostles, & are not, & has found them liars.’
Verse 6 ‘But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitanes, which I also hate.’
NICOLAITANES RELIGIOUS SECT who claimed to BELIEVE in CHRIST but they FELT they were SUPERIOR SPIRITUALLY above all others.
THEY BELIEVED IN A HOLY STANDARD: CHURCHY
3: ‘& hast borne & hast patience& for my name’s sake hast laboured & has not fainted.’
THEIR DIAGNOSIS:
Revelation 2: 4-5 ‘Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast LEFT thy FIRST LOVE. Remember from whence thou art fallen & repent & do thy first works, or else I will come unto thee quickly, & will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.’
I have somewhat AGAINST thee.
Now the LORD wants us to LOOK at SELF & NOT OTHERS in the CHURCH.
PROFESSIONAL CRITICS who FOCUS on the FAULTS & the FLAWS of OTHERS.
We need to LOOK AT SELF.
‘you have LEFT YOUR FIRST LOVE.’
I believe they LOVED JESUS but they DID NOT LOVE JESUS like they ONCE DID.
Remember when you were FIRST SAVED?
THRILLED, Read your Bible, Prayed, Went to Church Faithfully, Witnessed to others
Being a CHRISTIAN was the GREATEST THING in the world to you.
The church where CHARLES SPURGEON pastured & preached for over 25 years:
Over 10,000 per Sunday service. Metropolitan Tabernacle now has less than a 100 scattered throughout with a FEW trying to carry the financial load.
When we DON’T LOVE JESUS as we SHOULD then OTHER THINGS take HIS PLACE as #1:
THE THREAT:
I will remove my candlestick out of his place.
The CURE:
REMEMBER from where you have fallen.
REPENT confess & turn away from
REDO thy 1st WORKS.
Revelation 2: 7 ‘He that hath an ear let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches, To him that overcometh, will I give to eat in the midst of the paradise of GOD.’
To him that OVERCOMES
Tried & tested & OVERCOMES
Has a PLACE RESERVED in HEAVEN;
As the Holy Spirit places the stethoscope to YOUR HEART this morning is this what he finds?
