DAY 41 – WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?
Your Spiritual Journey — Post 40 Days #1
Revelation 2:2-5
Adapted from Outline by Rick Warren—Saddleback Church
INTRODUCTION:
What’s the highest point on earth? Mount Everest standing 29,035 feet. Since 1921 about 1,600 people have climbed to the summit Mt. Everest. They’ve literally made it to the top of the world. Of those who have attempted to climb Mount Everest over 160 have died; that means that 1 in 8 dies. The average cost to climb Mount Everest is about $60,000, plus 3 months “vacation time” to make the trip. I don’t think many of us will be making the journey to the top of Everest any time soon! Why do you think people want to attempt to climb to the top of Mount Everest? Because it’s there! Reaching the top of a mountain gives you a unique perspective of the world. Being able to look down on the world is compelling.
Let me ask you a question. Is it more dangerous to climb Mt. Everest, or to descend down the slope of Mt. Everest? More people have died descending the mountain than climbing it. Can you make the spiritual application to that? We have to be careful after a spiritual high; it is often after reaching the top or having a spiritual victory that we face the greatest challenges. Some never recover.
Together many of us have completed the 40 days of purpose. We have learned the answer to the question: “What on Earth am I here for?” Let’s take a couple of minutes and hear from some of you; what are some of the important lessons you have learned along the way through our 40 days of purpose? (Allow for responses.)
DAY 41 – Where do we go from here? (Alright for the Type A folks it’s really Day 43, but who’s counting?) How do we keep going and growing in our spiritual journey, especially, if we have been on a spiritual high? This morning we are going discover where we go from here.
We’re going to look at a message to the church in Ephesus. The Ephesian church was a good church. I don’t know if they had completed 40 days of purpose or not, but they were on the right track. Nevertheless Jesus had some instruction for this good church that will help us as we move beyond our 40 days. Yesterday isn’t good enough. None of us can live with our past successes and coast into heaven. We need to choose to fulfill our purpose each and everyday.
• Revelation 2:2-5 (NIV)
[2] I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked men, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. [3] You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary. [4] Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love. [5] Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place.
Where do we go from here? We have had a spiritual high and grown as we have discovered our purpose for life. What next? This morning we are going to look at the condition and the cure. Just as Jesus gave instruction to the church in Ephesus, may we too hear what the Lord would say to us today so that we can continue to live a purpose driven life.
1. The Condition
Jesus said, “I know your deeds.” Jesus knowledge about the church is absolute. Here in Revelation 2-3 Jesus speaks to seven churches. Five times Jesus says, “I know your deeds.” He also says “I know your affliction;” “I know you have little strength,” and “I know where you live.”
Jesus knows the condition of the church; He knows us. We could put it this way: “I know you inside and out! I know all about you; you can’t hide anything from me.”
Jesus knows what we have done as a church during the 40 days of purpose. He knows some of us have worked a little harder; we’ve attended small groups; we’ve prayed. Jesus knows many of us have grown; many have taken steps of faith. Yesterday isn’t good enough.
What will the next 40 days be like? Will we continue to grow? Will we strive to live out our 5 God given purposes? Or will we fall back into old routines and lose the momentum we gained in the last 40 days together?
Our 40 days of purpose are a good indication of what the next 40 days will be like, but it is not a guarantee. While the last 40 days have been a wonderful journey of growth, we must daily choose to continue to put into practice the things we have learned.
The past may show the direction we are headed, but the heart will determine if we stay the course. Look again at what Jesus said.
• Revelation 2:2, 4 (NIV)
I know your deeds [I know all the good things you have done] . . . Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love.
The church in Ephesus was continuing to do all the right things, but the heart of the church was wavering. Instead of being motivated by love, they were driven by duty.
Notice Jesus does not say, “You have lost your first love.” He says, “You have forsaken your first love.” I like how the Message Bible puts it:
• Revelation 2:4 (MsgB)
But you walked away from your first love—why? What’s going on with you, anyway?
Like the waning of the moon our love can gradually diminish. In the same way you can’t flip a switch to turn off the moon, none of us would ever think of flipping a switch and just turning our love off. Still the Bible makes it clear that sometimes we walk away from our first love.
Many of us have a deeper love for the Lord today than what we did 40 days ago. If we were to take a poll I would venture to say 100% of us would say we want to stay close to God. We would all like to leave the problems of daily life below and stay on the mountain top with Jesus! Unfortunately, that’s not possible. All of us have lived long enough to know life goes through a series of highs and lows—ups and downs.
o We all want to live from high to high. Unfortunately life is a lot like the weather; it changes. Our weather alternates between the highs and lows. Which would you rather have parked over Ohio? Give me the sunshine and blue skies of a high pressure system! It’s the low pressure systems that bring the unstable story kind of weather.
Sometimes the low points of life are so painful we would just like to escape. That’s why we would like to hold on to the high points. We want to capture as much of heaven on earth, as we possibly can.
Jesus’ disciples wanted to hold onto the highs of heaven on earth. Jesus took Peter, James and John with him to a mountain top. Suddenly Jesus was transfigured before them and had all the glory that was His in heaven. Moses and Elijah stood with Jesus and the three disciples were awe struck. Peter spoke up and said, “Master, this is a great moment! What would you think if I built three memorials here on the mountain” (Matthew 17:4 MsgB). Peter sounds just like us. “Lord, couldn’t we just hold on to this moment a little longer? Let’s stay on the mountain and forget all our problems!”
The Bible shows us that real life—even the Christian life is not all highs. Life is a series of highs and lows, one right after another. Here are a few examples:
o David is anointed to be king—high. His father still sends him out to take care of the sheep—low. Kills Goliath—high. Saul tries to kill him—low.
o Daniel faithful to God praying three times a day—high. Thrown into a den of hungry lions—low. The lions don’t eat Daniel—high.
o Jonah is a prophet of the Lord—high. Sent to Nineveh but tries to run away from God—low. Thrown overboard and swallowed by a great fish—lower! The fish vomits Jonah onto dry ground—is that a high or a low? High, there are only two ways out of a fish!
Do you get the picture? We all go through good times and bad times. The question is how will we handle the lows in life? Even Jesus went through highs and lows.
o Jesus, baptized in the Jordan River, the Holy Spirit descends upon Jesus as a dove and Jesus hears the voice of the Father saying, “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.” That’s a high! Immediately after that Jesus is led into the wilderness where He is tempted by the devil for 40 days. That’s a low! Jesus taught about the kingdom of God and the people loved Him—that’s a high. The religious leaders hated him—that’s a low! Jesus did miracles—that’s a high. The religious leaders weren’t impressed; they claimed it was a trick of the devil—that’s a low! The people hailed Jesus as their king—that’s a high. He was betrayed by a friend—that’s a low. He was led away to be crucified—that’s lower still. He was raise from the dead—now that’s the highest of highs!
Jesus remained faithful to God even through the highs and lows. Jesus has shown us how we too can live a life pleasing to God even through the highs and lows. Remember what we learned about discipleship—God wants us to be more like Jesus. Therefore, He is more concerned about our character than our comfort. Highs and lows are a normal part of life, and God will use the low points of life to make us to be like Jesus.
What causes us to walk away from love—to forsake our first love? Jesus answers that question this way:
• Matthew 24:12 (NLT)
Sin will be rampant everywhere, and the love of many will grow cold.
• (NIV) Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold.
We have a choice to make each day. We can either do things to cause our love for Christ to grow, or we can focus on the things in the world around us. The things of the world—entertainment, pleasure, money, lust of the eye—these things are calling for our affection too. Love is like a fire; it needs fed to grow. As a fire will over time burn out, so too our love can grow cold.
How can we know if our love has grown cold, or that we have forsaken our first love? Sometimes our love for God can seem rather abstract. We go to church, read our bibles and pray; we do all the things Christians are supposed to do—or at least we try. How can we know if we have left our first love?
We know by how we treat each other. Our first love is more than just love for God. First love is a lifestyle of love; it’s love for God and our neighbor.
• Revelation 2:4 (NLT)
But I have this complaint against you. You don’t love me or each other as you did at first!
What have we learned through our 40 days of purpose? Our first purpose in life is to worship God, to love God back. But worship is more than just 30 minutes of singing on Sunday morning. Worship is a lifestyle of loving God. Our love for God overflows into our relationships with one another; that’s fellowship—we love other Christians like family. But it doesn’t stop there. Our love for God motivates us to want to serve God, and we serve God by serving one another—that’s ministry.
The purposes of our life are all interconnected. It begins and ends with loving God, but loving God means we love one another. It’s not one or the other, but both!
• 1 John 4:20-21 (NIV)
[20] If anyone says, "I love God," yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. [21] And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother.
The way we love each other is the litmus test for how we love God. If we stop loving each other, then we’ve stopped loving God—regardless of how many worship songs we may sing.
2. The Cure
I’m glad the Bible never shows us our condition without also showing us the cure. And here is the best part—not only will the cure restore those who are sick, it’s also good preventative medicine! You know the old saying, “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” We don’t have to wait until we have walked away from our first love at some low point in life. We can apply the cure in advance to keep us from ever getting in that place!
So regardless of where you are today the cure is beneficial to you. If you’re on a spiritual high walking close to God fulfilling your purpose for life, or down in the doldrums; so low that you doubt if anyone loves you—even God, THIS IS WHERE WE GO FROM HERE!
• Revelation 2:5 (NIV)
Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first.
Jesus shows us three things we need to do to return to our first love. If you have forsaken your first love, these three steps are the cure. If you’re on a spiritual high this is what you need to keep from walking away from your first love when the low times of life come your way. Where do we go from here? REMEMBER, REPENT and RENEW.
A. Remember
Jesus says to “remember the height from which you have fallen!”
• 2 Timothy 2:8 (MsgB)
Fix this picture firmly in your mind: Jesus, descended from the line of David, raised from the dead.
• Psalm 42:6 (MsgB)
When my soul is in the dumps, I rehearse everything I know of you.
• Psalm 63:6 (NIV)
On my bed I remember you; I think of you through the watches of the night.
As we come today to the Lord’s Table it is a time for us to stop and remember. Jesus said whenever we eat the bread and drink from the cup we do it in remembrance of Him. (See 1 Corinthians 11:24-25)
B. Repent
Jesus said, “Repent.” What does it mean to repent. Real repentance is more than just saying, “I’m sorry.” Repentance is to change direction—it’s to change your mind.
• Revelation 2:5 (GW)
. . . Return to me and change the way you think and act . . .
• Romans 12:2 (NIV)
Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will.
• Lamentations 3:40 (MsgB)
Let’s take a good look at the way we’re living and reorder our lives under God.
C. Renew
Jesus said, “do the things you did at first.”
• Philippians 3:16 (MsgB)
Now that we’re on the right track, let’s stay on it.
Where do we go from here? Regardless of whether you’re on a spiritual high, or down in the dumps DO THE NEXT RIGHT THING. You can’t change the past, but you can choose to do the right thing now.
But you don’t feel like it? MOTION LEADS TO EMOTION! FAITH RENEWS YOUR FEELINGS.
• Psalm 51:10 (NIV)
Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
Lord, make me faithful! Give me persistence and a stick to it heart that won’t quit when the going gets tough. Help me to do the right things regardless of how I may feel.
• Psalm 145:14 (MsgB)
God gives a hand to those down on their luck, gives a fresh start to those ready to quit.
