WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.139 Well, good morning. It's good to see you all. 00:00:08.199 --> 00:00:12.019 I have to remember not to look at the clock because it stopped. 00:00:13.419 --> 00:00:15.839 We could be here for a long time. 00:00:16.480 --> 00:00:20.000 I've still got 35 minutes according to that. 00:00:20.559 --> 00:00:23.379 So I'm going to take my watch off so I can see that as well. 00:00:24.500 --> 00:00:25.859 Alright, good. 00:00:25.859 --> 00:00:31.420 But will you pray with me as we go to God's Word? 00:00:36.340 --> 00:00:40.619 Lord, this morning we come and we ask for you to be with us by your Spirit. 00:00:41.460 --> 00:00:44.600 You have revealed yourself to us in your Word. 00:00:45.920 --> 00:00:54.280 And Lord, we recognize that, Lord, by ourselves, Lord, we would not be able to understand or receive it. 00:00:54.280 --> 00:00:57.320 But by your Spirit, Lord, help us this morning. 00:00:58.200 --> 00:01:00.579 Help us to receive your Word as we ought. 00:01:02.840 --> 00:01:05.740 And Lord, help us to respond as you call us to. 00:01:06.340 --> 00:01:08.500 Help me, Lord, as I speak this morning. 00:01:08.659 --> 00:01:11.640 Give me clarity of thought and of expression. 00:01:13.200 --> 00:01:15.939 Lord, that together we might sit under your Word. 00:01:16.340 --> 00:01:18.200 We pray in Jesus' name. 00:01:18.200 --> 00:01:19.200 Amen. 00:01:20.040 --> 00:01:20.640 Amen. 00:01:21.540 --> 00:01:24.439 You know, it's a fascinating thing when you drive around New Haven. 00:01:25.600 --> 00:01:32.480 Because you see buildings that clearly were once thriving congregations, or at least seemingly so, 00:01:33.040 --> 00:01:41.680 that are now museums, condos, or if you've been around long enough, some of them are now parking lots. 00:01:41.680 --> 00:01:44.560 And there is no more church building. 00:01:46.260 --> 00:01:51.640 The church that was once alive is now dwindled. 00:01:54.100 --> 00:01:57.680 There are some churches in New Haven as well where they still have a building. 00:01:57.840 --> 00:01:59.300 They still have a marquee out front. 00:01:59.940 --> 00:02:06.600 But if you went inside, you would similarly see there's no church left inside. 00:02:06.599 --> 00:02:10.120 Whatever they gather for, it could be a social gathering. 00:02:11.319 --> 00:02:13.359 But there is no God in the middle. 00:02:13.560 --> 00:02:14.400 There is no gospel. 00:02:14.599 --> 00:02:15.439 There is no Bible. 00:02:17.299 --> 00:02:18.439 How could this happen? 00:02:20.439 --> 00:02:21.799 What might cause this? 00:02:21.879 --> 00:02:23.079 Well, there are lots of reasons. 00:02:23.359 --> 00:02:25.799 We're not going to try to explore all of them this morning. 00:02:26.280 --> 00:02:29.699 But I want to point to one because it's related to our text. 00:02:30.280 --> 00:02:35.819 And that is the problem, the issue of loveless orthodoxy. 00:02:36.599 --> 00:02:44.019 That is, there are churches that can, while on one hand holding to true doctrine, historic doctrine, 00:02:44.599 --> 00:02:48.959 lose their love for God in the midst. 00:02:50.840 --> 00:02:54.680 And this is what our passage this morning brings us to. 00:02:55.240 --> 00:02:59.419 If you want to turn with me in your Bibles, we're on page 965. 00:02:59.879 --> 00:03:04.639 We're in Revelation chapter 2, which is our passage this morning. 00:03:04.639 --> 00:03:07.579 As we continue our series in the book of Revelation. 00:03:08.539 --> 00:03:13.539 And we're going to, as we're thinking about this, just as a reminder, 00:03:13.979 --> 00:03:18.899 the book of Revelation is a vision that God gave to John, 00:03:18.979 --> 00:03:23.199 a letter, a message to the church to encourage them. 00:03:23.199 --> 00:03:33.299 And the content over all of this vision is to see Christ victorious over all of the opponents and forces 00:03:33.299 --> 00:03:35.619 that stand up against God and His kingdom. 00:03:36.219 --> 00:03:41.679 And it is given to strengthen resolve, to encourage faithfulness, 00:03:41.939 --> 00:03:47.839 to live for Christ even when it was costly, even in the face of persecution. 00:03:47.840 --> 00:03:59.180 And as we've talked about, this vision is a beautiful, lovely, but sometimes slightly confusing vision 00:03:59.180 --> 00:04:04.199 because it uses a language of apocalyptic imagery to communicate. 00:04:05.000 --> 00:04:09.060 And so we'll see this morning, this comes into our passage a little bit as we come back and forth. 00:04:09.060 --> 00:04:14.000 And so we need to be prepared for that, right? 00:04:14.039 --> 00:04:18.759 Because we're going to be talking about normal things like endurance and faithfulness, 00:04:18.839 --> 00:04:21.040 and then suddenly we'll be talking about lampstands. 00:04:21.180 --> 00:04:22.459 And you'll be like, what in the world? 00:04:22.720 --> 00:04:23.519 Well, we'll get there. 00:04:23.780 --> 00:04:24.920 You'll see what it's about. 00:04:26.079 --> 00:04:29.860 Our passage is in Revelation chapter 2, verse 1 through 7. 00:04:29.860 --> 00:04:36.220 And as we're looking at this, we need to remember what John has already seen and said. 00:04:36.400 --> 00:04:41.280 What he's seen at the beginning is an introduction where Jesus is speaking to John saying, 00:04:41.680 --> 00:04:43.080 this is a letter for the churches. 00:04:43.340 --> 00:04:45.340 And then in verses 9 through 20, he's saying, 00:04:45.800 --> 00:04:49.000 and the one who is speaking to you is the exalted Christ. 00:04:51.000 --> 00:04:56.980 This, again, we see this apocalyptic literature of Christ who is the one who brings life, 00:04:56.980 --> 00:05:00.680 the one who has all power, the one who will win the victory. 00:05:03.120 --> 00:05:07.259 And he's bringing to them, in this first section in the book of Revelation, 00:05:07.480 --> 00:05:10.319 seven messages to seven churches. 00:05:11.120 --> 00:05:14.020 And again, we might think, well, you know, did Paul just think, 00:05:14.200 --> 00:05:17.960 or did Jesus just think these were the churches that he most need to speak to? 00:05:18.220 --> 00:05:19.319 No, we don't think so. 00:05:19.460 --> 00:05:23.439 Because there are seven of them, we think he's speaking actually to the whole church, 00:05:23.439 --> 00:05:26.600 and he's picking seven real churches in real time, 00:05:26.600 --> 00:05:32.460 but he's taking them and saying, in this, we see the church throughout all ages 00:05:32.460 --> 00:05:34.420 and throughout all times and in all places. 00:05:37.000 --> 00:05:43.439 So he speaks these seven words, these seven letters and seven messages in chapters 2 and 3 00:05:43.439 --> 00:05:48.720 to the churches, both at that time and to us today. 00:05:48.720 --> 00:05:57.460 And what we want to be asking is, God, what do you have to say to us, our church, today, through this letter? 00:05:58.000 --> 00:06:03.320 So let's read Revelation chapter 2, starting in verse 1 from 1 to 7. 00:06:03.319 --> 00:06:09.360 To the angel of the church in Ephesus, write this. 00:06:09.360 --> 00:06:14.139 The words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand, 00:06:14.220 --> 00:06:17.360 who walks among the seven golden lampstands. 00:06:18.360 --> 00:06:21.840 I know your works, your toil, and your patient endurance, 00:06:22.160 --> 00:06:24.759 and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, 00:06:25.100 --> 00:06:29.680 but have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, 00:06:30.220 --> 00:06:33.000 and found them to be false. 00:06:33.000 --> 00:06:39.439 I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name's sake, 00:06:39.540 --> 00:06:41.240 and you have not grown weary. 00:06:43.000 --> 00:06:44.899 But I have this against you, 00:06:45.399 --> 00:06:48.500 that you have abandoned the love you had at first. 00:06:49.560 --> 00:06:52.319 Remember, therefore, from where you have fallen, 00:06:53.139 --> 00:06:55.699 repent and do the works you did at first. 00:06:56.699 --> 00:06:58.920 If not, I will come to you 00:06:58.920 --> 00:07:01.360 and remove your lampstand from its place, 00:07:01.360 --> 00:07:03.420 unless you repent. 00:07:05.240 --> 00:07:08.379 Yet this you have, 00:07:08.439 --> 00:07:10.340 you hate the works of the Nicolaitans, 00:07:10.500 --> 00:07:11.879 which I also hate. 00:07:13.000 --> 00:07:14.319 He who has an ear, 00:07:15.160 --> 00:07:17.660 let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches, 00:07:18.259 --> 00:07:20.180 to the one who conquers, 00:07:20.480 --> 00:07:22.660 I will grant to eat the tree of life, 00:07:22.780 --> 00:07:25.319 which is in the paradise of God. 00:07:26.460 --> 00:07:27.720 This is God's Word. 00:07:29.360 --> 00:07:30.639 As we look at this, 00:07:31.360 --> 00:07:37.379 as we look at this passage this morning, 00:07:37.939 --> 00:07:39.580 I want us to see five things. 00:07:39.680 --> 00:07:41.480 We're going to just walk through the passage. 00:07:41.780 --> 00:07:43.220 It's pretty simple, pretty straightforward. 00:07:43.379 --> 00:07:44.620 We're going to look at five things 00:07:44.620 --> 00:07:48.280 about what God wants to say to us through this passage. 00:07:48.400 --> 00:07:50.819 The first is he's going to talk about the context, 00:07:51.199 --> 00:07:53.160 the cultural pressures that the Ephesians 00:07:53.160 --> 00:07:54.780 and that the church today faces. 00:07:55.180 --> 00:07:57.840 The second thing is the commendation, 00:07:57.839 --> 00:07:59.859 that Jesus has words of praise, 00:08:00.000 --> 00:08:02.179 that they have fought for doctrinal purity. 00:08:02.739 --> 00:08:04.139 And then the third thing is that 00:08:04.139 --> 00:08:06.159 Jesus has a concern, 00:08:06.159 --> 00:08:08.699 that they have lost their first love. 00:08:09.279 --> 00:08:10.139 The fourth thing, 00:08:10.319 --> 00:08:12.659 Jesus calls the church to respond 00:08:12.659 --> 00:08:16.519 by remembering, repenting, and renewing. 00:08:16.519 --> 00:08:19.919 And then the fifth thing that I want us to see 00:08:19.919 --> 00:08:22.539 is that Jesus reminds us of a consolation, 00:08:22.539 --> 00:08:26.139 that is, there is a future goodness, 00:08:26.939 --> 00:08:30.479 a comfort for those who are faithful 00:08:30.479 --> 00:08:32.340 in response to it, 00:08:32.379 --> 00:08:36.199 that we get to partake of life with our eternal God. 00:08:36.200 --> 00:08:38.200 So if you're taking notes, 00:08:38.920 --> 00:08:39.780 there's your five, 00:08:40.140 --> 00:08:41.560 I even got five C's, 00:08:41.640 --> 00:08:42.340 did you notice that? 00:08:42.420 --> 00:08:44.020 A context, commendation, 00:08:44.340 --> 00:08:46.980 a concern, a call, and a consolation. 00:08:47.420 --> 00:08:49.980 So I'm feeling pretty proud about that. 00:08:50.120 --> 00:08:51.780 I'll be really honest with you. 00:08:52.140 --> 00:08:53.280 So, okay. 00:08:53.480 --> 00:08:54.340 So here we go. 00:08:54.440 --> 00:08:56.580 Let's walk through this passage together. 00:08:57.420 --> 00:08:58.700 First, the context. 00:08:59.360 --> 00:09:01.160 To the church in Ephesus. 00:09:01.360 --> 00:09:03.020 Now, what do we know about Ephesus? 00:09:03.019 --> 00:09:06.240 Well, Ephesus in the first century was a major city. 00:09:06.319 --> 00:09:08.740 It was probably one of the top five or six cities 00:09:08.740 --> 00:09:11.279 in the whole Mediterranean Roman Empire. 00:09:11.720 --> 00:09:14.019 It was known for its cult of the emperor. 00:09:14.220 --> 00:09:16.819 It was also known for one of the seven wonders 00:09:16.819 --> 00:09:19.120 of the ancient world, the Temple of Artemis. 00:09:19.179 --> 00:09:21.279 It was a huge physical structure. 00:09:22.179 --> 00:09:25.860 And it employed thousands of priests 00:09:25.860 --> 00:09:28.899 who were, many of them also, temple prostitutes 00:09:28.899 --> 00:09:32.579 because of the way that worship happened in those areas. 00:09:33.019 --> 00:09:36.699 Ephesus was a major city 00:09:36.699 --> 00:09:39.860 that was full of lots of worship, 00:09:40.379 --> 00:09:41.399 including a cult. 00:09:41.559 --> 00:09:43.899 If you go and read Acts 19 and 20, 00:09:43.960 --> 00:09:46.139 you'll see some of the different stories 00:09:46.139 --> 00:09:49.240 about what happens as the church is growing up. 00:09:49.460 --> 00:09:51.639 During that time, Priscilla, Aquila, and Apollos 00:09:51.639 --> 00:09:52.879 seem to have planted the church. 00:09:53.360 --> 00:09:56.519 Paul spent almost two years ministering to the church here. 00:09:56.960 --> 00:09:58.340 He caused a ruckus 00:09:58.340 --> 00:10:00.980 because the gospel started to have such an impact 00:10:00.980 --> 00:10:03.879 that it was affecting the economics of the city 00:10:03.879 --> 00:10:07.639 because the idols, the metal idols that were being produced, 00:10:08.060 --> 00:10:10.980 were no longer such a hot commodity. 00:10:11.500 --> 00:10:13.940 And so they created a riot in the city. 00:10:14.039 --> 00:10:15.740 The metal workers created a riot 00:10:15.740 --> 00:10:18.659 because the gospel was transforming the city. 00:10:18.659 --> 00:10:24.079 But what we do know is that for Christians in that day, 00:10:24.199 --> 00:10:26.919 it also was a hard place to be a believer 00:10:26.919 --> 00:10:32.500 given all of the other religious practices in the city. 00:10:32.600 --> 00:10:34.899 The prevailing culture would not have been 00:10:34.899 --> 00:10:38.939 to support the worship of Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. 00:10:40.219 --> 00:10:43.199 In fact, in Acts 20, when Paul comes back through 00:10:43.199 --> 00:10:45.179 and he meets with the elders at Ephesus, 00:10:45.179 --> 00:10:46.559 we'll read this passage later, 00:10:46.659 --> 00:10:48.159 but he warns them, 00:10:48.799 --> 00:10:51.079 false teachers will come among you. 00:10:51.339 --> 00:10:52.599 There will be people who will come 00:10:52.599 --> 00:10:56.659 and seek to distract and destroy this church. 00:10:57.059 --> 00:11:00.739 So be ready and be on guard against these things. 00:11:03.120 --> 00:11:05.399 Friends, I wonder if you can make the connection 00:11:05.399 --> 00:11:06.859 that our day is not that different. 00:11:07.639 --> 00:11:10.199 Our temples are not particularly religious. 00:11:11.019 --> 00:11:12.159 They might be financial. 00:11:12.159 --> 00:11:14.199 They might be cultural. 00:11:15.059 --> 00:11:18.399 We certainly have some really churchy-looking buildings 00:11:18.399 --> 00:11:20.879 right over in that university, right over there, 00:11:21.039 --> 00:11:24.299 that feel a lot like places of worship, don't they? 00:11:24.360 --> 00:11:25.439 In different ways. 00:11:27.219 --> 00:11:30.439 The things that we worship may not be 00:11:30.439 --> 00:11:34.939 Artemis or other gods of statues, 00:11:34.940 --> 00:11:40.840 but they might be power, wealth, pleasure, independence. 00:11:41.680 --> 00:11:44.400 And they offer, as in the first century, 00:11:45.120 --> 00:11:47.480 things like security and meaning. 00:11:49.660 --> 00:11:51.220 This is what our idols do, 00:11:51.260 --> 00:11:53.080 and we live in a culture just like that. 00:11:53.760 --> 00:11:57.540 Let us not fall into the misperception 00:11:57.540 --> 00:11:59.860 that we live in an exceptional age 00:11:59.860 --> 00:12:03.760 where somehow the church is in a different kind of challenge. 00:12:03.759 --> 00:12:04.980 It's not. 00:12:06.120 --> 00:12:07.879 We are in a characteristic age. 00:12:08.460 --> 00:12:10.659 And so God speaks to us. 00:12:11.039 --> 00:12:13.500 Jesus comes, the one who holds the stars, 00:12:13.939 --> 00:12:15.559 which, again, you go back to chapter 1, 00:12:15.639 --> 00:12:16.899 the stars are the angels, 00:12:17.019 --> 00:12:18.500 are the spirit of the church. 00:12:19.019 --> 00:12:20.200 And as there are seven of them, 00:12:20.240 --> 00:12:22.500 he's talking to all of the churches, right? 00:12:22.679 --> 00:12:26.039 And Jesus comes as one who walks among the lampstands. 00:12:26.139 --> 00:12:28.960 That means that he not only sovereignly oversees them, 00:12:29.000 --> 00:12:30.620 but he also knows them intimately. 00:12:30.620 --> 00:12:35.259 So he comes to us speaking in a context he understands. 00:12:36.799 --> 00:12:37.259 And he says, 00:12:37.419 --> 00:12:39.940 I know where you live, 00:12:40.200 --> 00:12:42.279 and I know what you're facing. 00:12:44.159 --> 00:12:45.740 So then to this church, 00:12:46.240 --> 00:12:47.659 the second point is, 00:12:47.860 --> 00:12:49.659 he speaks a word of commendation. 00:12:50.120 --> 00:12:50.679 He says, 00:12:51.080 --> 00:12:54.879 you have loved truth and resisted false teaching. 00:12:54.879 --> 00:12:58.240 They have pursued in doing this. 00:12:58.740 --> 00:13:01.279 There have been those who have come among them who are evil, 00:13:01.480 --> 00:13:03.100 who claim to be apostles, 00:13:03.360 --> 00:13:04.840 that is, people sent from God, 00:13:04.939 --> 00:13:06.480 who are not actually from God, 00:13:06.539 --> 00:13:07.960 who are not speaking truth, 00:13:08.059 --> 00:13:11.779 because it's been measured against the teaching of the apostles 00:13:11.779 --> 00:13:14.259 that has been recorded and laid down 00:13:14.259 --> 00:13:17.639 and now is preserved for us in the New Testament Scriptures 00:13:17.639 --> 00:13:19.360 and the Old Testament Scriptures. 00:13:19.500 --> 00:13:21.259 And people have come into Ephesus 00:13:21.259 --> 00:13:22.659 and taught different things, 00:13:22.819 --> 00:13:24.819 and they've tested and they've tried them, 00:13:25.019 --> 00:13:28.500 and they've clearly seemingly had conflict with them 00:13:28.500 --> 00:13:29.759 in the sense that they have said, 00:13:30.080 --> 00:13:31.299 no, that's untrue. 00:13:31.580 --> 00:13:33.539 They've resisted false teaching. 00:13:36.259 --> 00:13:37.899 They've done a good thing. 00:13:37.899 --> 00:13:42.759 They've done it in the face of things 00:13:42.759 --> 00:13:45.139 that the apostle Paul knew would happen. 00:13:45.819 --> 00:13:49.279 Here's the words he spoke to the elders of Ephesus in Acts 20. 00:13:49.840 --> 00:13:51.220 I know that after my departure, 00:13:51.519 --> 00:13:54.139 fierce wolves will come in among you, 00:13:55.159 --> 00:13:56.840 not sparing the flock. 00:13:57.199 --> 00:14:00.299 And from among your own selves will arise 00:14:00.299 --> 00:14:02.139 men speaking twisted things 00:14:02.139 --> 00:14:04.699 to draw away the disciples after them. 00:14:04.700 --> 00:14:07.620 And then later on he wrote to Timothy 00:14:07.620 --> 00:14:10.480 in 2 Timothy chapter 4 verses 3 and 4 00:14:10.480 --> 00:14:11.840 a similar warning. 00:14:12.020 --> 00:14:13.660 The time is coming when people 00:14:13.660 --> 00:14:15.600 will not endure sound teaching 00:14:15.600 --> 00:14:16.820 but having itching ears, 00:14:16.920 --> 00:14:18.320 they will accumulate for themselves 00:14:18.320 --> 00:14:21.379 teachers to suit their own passions 00:14:21.379 --> 00:14:24.460 and will turn away from listening to the truth 00:14:24.460 --> 00:14:26.440 and wander off into myths. 00:14:29.020 --> 00:14:31.300 And Jesus says to this church, 00:14:31.299 --> 00:14:35.779 you have done well to resist these men 00:14:35.779 --> 00:14:38.779 and these false teachers that have come in. 00:14:39.699 --> 00:14:42.299 They even hated, in verse 6, the Nicolaitans. 00:14:42.779 --> 00:14:43.399 And you know what? 00:14:43.479 --> 00:14:45.959 We don't know much about the Nicolaitans, right? 00:14:46.240 --> 00:14:47.859 There's a little bit more information. 00:14:48.019 --> 00:14:50.779 It's referred to in chapter 2 verse 15. 00:14:51.519 --> 00:14:53.059 We could make some guesses 00:14:53.059 --> 00:14:55.299 but here's the thing that we most need to know. 00:14:55.719 --> 00:14:58.279 Jesus hated whatever the Nicolaitans were 00:14:58.279 --> 00:14:59.479 and whatever they were selling. 00:14:59.480 --> 00:15:03.560 And the church stood with Jesus in doing so. 00:15:06.100 --> 00:15:09.720 And so Christ commends them for their right belief. 00:15:10.840 --> 00:15:13.240 Recognizing again in the cultural context 00:15:13.240 --> 00:15:15.659 that holding to this message, 00:15:15.840 --> 00:15:17.700 this message of Jesus Christ, 00:15:17.800 --> 00:15:20.840 the God-man who lived and died and rose again 00:15:20.840 --> 00:15:22.100 for the forgiveness of sins, 00:15:22.259 --> 00:15:23.480 this would have made them outcasts. 00:15:24.200 --> 00:15:25.759 This would have made them outsiders 00:15:25.759 --> 00:15:27.159 in the world that they lived. 00:15:27.159 --> 00:15:29.600 It would have exposed them to persecution. 00:15:33.779 --> 00:15:35.679 Friends, does this sound familiar to you? 00:15:37.240 --> 00:15:39.819 It can be hard in our day as well, can't it? 00:15:39.860 --> 00:15:43.539 To hold to faithful, biblical Christianity. 00:15:44.199 --> 00:15:46.500 We live in a world in the West here 00:15:46.500 --> 00:15:49.139 where once there was a lot more resonance 00:15:49.139 --> 00:15:52.379 between at least a Judeo-Christian worldview and ethic, 00:15:52.379 --> 00:15:55.419 but not so much. 00:15:55.759 --> 00:15:57.240 And things that might have been assumed 00:15:57.240 --> 00:15:59.700 in generations past can no longer be assumed. 00:16:00.059 --> 00:16:01.799 And we live among a culture 00:16:01.799 --> 00:16:03.840 that has different values, 00:16:04.840 --> 00:16:07.620 different gods. 00:16:07.620 --> 00:16:13.960 And not only is the Christian faith regarded 00:16:13.960 --> 00:16:19.240 perhaps as optional or unimportant, 00:16:19.899 --> 00:16:21.980 but we're coming to the point 00:16:21.980 --> 00:16:24.399 where it may be viewed as evil or destructive. 00:16:25.399 --> 00:16:27.980 We're extending forgiveness to someone 00:16:27.980 --> 00:16:29.779 who has wronged you, 00:16:30.200 --> 00:16:32.899 is seen as evil. 00:16:33.259 --> 00:16:35.539 We're sacrificing personal advancement 00:16:35.539 --> 00:16:38.179 or success to serve others 00:16:38.179 --> 00:16:40.099 is seen as foolishness. 00:16:41.500 --> 00:16:43.659 The exclusivity of the gospel 00:16:43.659 --> 00:16:46.019 rankles our pluralistic world. 00:16:47.019 --> 00:16:49.439 We are viewed as offensive, arrogant, 00:16:49.860 --> 00:16:51.599 even colonial or oppressive 00:16:51.599 --> 00:16:54.339 to say Jesus is the only way 00:16:54.339 --> 00:16:56.899 that we can know the God of the universe. 00:16:56.899 --> 00:17:00.860 And you know, here's the thing. 00:17:00.959 --> 00:17:02.959 It's not just in the culture out there. 00:17:04.420 --> 00:17:06.779 The problem that, as Paul warned, 00:17:07.059 --> 00:17:08.740 the problem is in the church too. 00:17:09.220 --> 00:17:12.660 The church in the cultural milieu of the day 00:17:12.660 --> 00:17:14.839 is struggling to know what is true. 00:17:16.160 --> 00:17:17.940 We can think of people like Rob Bell 00:17:17.940 --> 00:17:20.819 who loves the love of God so much 00:17:20.819 --> 00:17:25.720 that he excluded other parts of clear God's, 00:17:25.899 --> 00:17:28.859 clear ways that God has revealed himself. 00:17:30.299 --> 00:17:32.299 And he's abandoned biblical Christianity. 00:17:32.919 --> 00:17:34.619 We can think of someone like Bart Ehrman 00:17:34.619 --> 00:17:36.639 who denies the deity of Christ 00:17:36.639 --> 00:17:38.419 and the authenticity of the scriptures. 00:17:38.420 --> 00:17:43.080 And this is not to say anything 00:17:43.080 --> 00:17:44.779 about how in the last 10 years 00:17:44.779 --> 00:17:46.740 there's been a whole movement 00:17:46.740 --> 00:17:50.360 within even our tribe of biblical Christianity 00:17:50.360 --> 00:17:51.720 or evangelical Christianity, 00:17:51.720 --> 00:17:53.880 not the political kind, but the spiritual kind, 00:17:54.340 --> 00:17:56.720 even in that where there's been a movement 00:17:56.720 --> 00:18:00.039 to abandon clear biblical teaching 00:18:00.039 --> 00:18:02.200 on gender and sexuality. 00:18:03.640 --> 00:18:05.779 And look, we don't need to be fighting the culture wars, 00:18:06.000 --> 00:18:07.759 but we do need to hold to the truth. 00:18:08.420 --> 00:18:12.080 And when we do that, 00:18:12.160 --> 00:18:13.660 we too will feel like outsiders. 00:18:14.840 --> 00:18:17.440 And we may face ridicule and ostracization 00:18:17.440 --> 00:18:20.880 or even anger and scorn. 00:18:23.160 --> 00:18:26.360 And I know you feel the pressure. 00:18:27.860 --> 00:18:29.660 I know I feel the pressure. 00:18:31.500 --> 00:18:34.140 And so Jesus commends the church in Ephesus, 00:18:34.340 --> 00:18:36.240 you have held fast to this. 00:18:38.420 --> 00:18:40.680 Will Jesus do that with us? 00:18:41.380 --> 00:18:44.900 What would Jesus say to you, to me? 00:18:45.220 --> 00:18:48.840 How are we holding fast to truth? 00:18:50.140 --> 00:18:53.600 Have we become afraid of doctrine 00:18:53.600 --> 00:18:55.980 because it's felt too divisive? 00:18:57.039 --> 00:19:00.960 Have we become so enamored with religious experience 00:19:00.960 --> 00:19:02.900 that truth doesn't matter anymore? 00:19:02.900 --> 00:19:06.940 Friends, let us hear this commendation 00:19:06.940 --> 00:19:11.660 and let us be encouraged to pursue truth 00:19:11.660 --> 00:19:15.840 and to defend it the way the early church did in Ephesus. 00:19:16.820 --> 00:19:18.019 But not all is well. 00:19:18.680 --> 00:19:20.160 Not all is well in Ephesus. 00:19:20.360 --> 00:19:22.300 Though this is true and this is good, 00:19:22.360 --> 00:19:24.280 they have held to a kind of orthodoxy. 00:19:24.519 --> 00:19:26.920 He says, this I have against you. 00:19:26.920 --> 00:19:30.860 This is the concern, point three, that Jesus has. 00:19:31.620 --> 00:19:32.920 That though they maintain truth, 00:19:33.580 --> 00:19:36.900 they have lost their first love. 00:19:37.100 --> 00:19:40.759 That is, they have lost the love that they had at first. 00:19:42.039 --> 00:19:45.300 Believers, do you remember what it was like 00:19:45.300 --> 00:19:47.440 when you first understood the gospel? 00:19:48.080 --> 00:19:49.720 Some of you may have grown up in church 00:19:49.720 --> 00:19:52.340 and you don't remember a time when you didn't know it. 00:19:52.620 --> 00:19:53.900 But that's not my story 00:19:53.900 --> 00:19:55.400 and I know it's not a lot of your story. 00:19:55.400 --> 00:19:57.700 Do you remember how amazing it was 00:19:57.700 --> 00:20:00.780 when you realized that the God of the universe 00:20:00.780 --> 00:20:03.560 cared about you and he loved you 00:20:03.560 --> 00:20:06.440 and that the problem that you felt in your heart 00:20:06.440 --> 00:20:08.780 was actually the problem of sin 00:20:08.780 --> 00:20:11.580 because you were alienated from God 00:20:11.580 --> 00:20:14.420 and from others and from yourself because of your sin. 00:20:14.940 --> 00:20:18.740 And God had come to reconcile you to himself 00:20:18.740 --> 00:20:20.700 by sending his son. 00:20:20.700 --> 00:20:28.920 Do you remember how wonderful that message is? 00:20:30.580 --> 00:20:32.460 This is the first love. 00:20:34.220 --> 00:20:41.360 This is the first love that Jesus is reminding them about. 00:20:41.359 --> 00:20:45.740 And listen, that first love may have many aspects 00:20:45.740 --> 00:20:47.759 because it has an object. 00:20:47.919 --> 00:20:50.259 We love God and because we love God, 00:20:50.339 --> 00:20:53.299 we love his people and we love the world in his name. 00:20:54.579 --> 00:20:57.659 So our first love has this characteristic 00:20:57.659 --> 00:20:59.659 of being loving people. 00:21:00.779 --> 00:21:03.740 Loved first and foremost for God 00:21:03.740 --> 00:21:06.039 and then from him to others. 00:21:06.039 --> 00:21:10.159 And it is a wholehearted love. 00:21:10.539 --> 00:21:14.339 It's not a when I get around to it kind of love. 00:21:17.420 --> 00:21:19.399 Paul says, do you remember this? 00:21:21.659 --> 00:21:22.980 You've forsaken it. 00:21:22.980 --> 00:21:27.860 It's so easy to do, isn't it? 00:21:28.940 --> 00:21:30.819 Why do we forsake our first love? 00:21:31.460 --> 00:21:33.839 A couple of thoughts pastorally for us. 00:21:34.519 --> 00:21:36.640 I think we often get distracted. 00:21:37.400 --> 00:21:40.079 We lose sight of God in the midst of the busyness 00:21:40.079 --> 00:21:41.759 of our everyday lives. 00:21:42.019 --> 00:21:44.860 Sometimes it's because our lives are full of pleasure, 00:21:45.099 --> 00:21:47.500 friends and family and hobby or even our work, 00:21:47.599 --> 00:21:48.660 things that we love to do, 00:21:48.660 --> 00:21:52.019 but it draws us away and we love these things 00:21:52.019 --> 00:21:53.200 more than we love God. 00:21:53.920 --> 00:21:55.860 Sometimes it's urgent needs 00:21:55.860 --> 00:21:57.540 when we're facing health crisis 00:21:57.540 --> 00:22:00.060 or care for children or different things 00:22:00.060 --> 00:22:04.120 where we just get distracted from our devotion to God. 00:22:04.640 --> 00:22:08.480 Sometimes it's when we let good things in our life 00:22:08.480 --> 00:22:10.279 become ultimate things. 00:22:11.420 --> 00:22:15.060 So our desire for success or desire for a family 00:22:15.059 --> 00:22:20.659 or our desire to be a certain kind of person in the world, 00:22:20.819 --> 00:22:25.859 these things get exalted above our devotion to God. 00:22:27.559 --> 00:22:30.599 So I think distraction is one of the reasons we do this. 00:22:31.339 --> 00:22:33.759 The second thing is that there are times 00:22:33.759 --> 00:22:37.059 we lose our first love because maintaining it is costly. 00:22:37.059 --> 00:22:45.299 It costs us to pursue truthfulness in our workplace 00:22:45.299 --> 00:22:48.919 when it runs against the prevailing ethic. 00:22:49.559 --> 00:22:56.079 It costs us to value corporate worship on Sundays over fun. 00:22:57.779 --> 00:22:58.659 Now you guys are here. 00:22:58.879 --> 00:22:59.679 I'm preaching in the choir. 00:22:59.799 --> 00:23:00.339 I get it. 00:23:00.519 --> 00:23:02.220 But let's recognize that. 00:23:02.220 --> 00:23:07.079 It costs us to prioritize gathering with the saints. 00:23:07.480 --> 00:23:12.279 It costs us to forgive one who's wronged us 00:23:12.279 --> 00:23:13.680 rather than harbor bitterness. 00:23:17.279 --> 00:23:20.620 It costs us when we are persecuted for our faith, 00:23:21.160 --> 00:23:24.360 when we feel the scorn of our peers, 00:23:24.740 --> 00:23:25.799 our fellow students, 00:23:26.519 --> 00:23:28.819 when we are overlooked at work, 00:23:28.819 --> 00:23:32.439 when we are excluded from social circles 00:23:32.439 --> 00:23:33.939 in our high schools. 00:23:35.279 --> 00:23:36.679 It costs us 00:23:36.679 --> 00:23:40.220 when we love God first. 00:23:41.720 --> 00:23:43.119 So we might be distracted. 00:23:43.579 --> 00:23:45.399 We might find that the cost is high. 00:23:45.839 --> 00:23:47.639 The third thing that can cause us, I think, 00:23:47.700 --> 00:23:50.139 to lose our first love is suffering. 00:23:50.140 --> 00:23:55.840 Because when you've walked a road of loss and trial, 00:23:56.660 --> 00:23:59.780 we just get overwhelmed 00:23:59.780 --> 00:24:02.040 and we lose sight of Jesus. 00:24:03.180 --> 00:24:05.560 Some of you who are facing chronic pain, 00:24:06.180 --> 00:24:09.180 how easy it is for that pain to just fill the screen 00:24:09.180 --> 00:24:11.360 and you can't see anything, including God. 00:24:11.359 --> 00:24:17.059 Sometimes the relational pain of a broken relationship 00:24:17.059 --> 00:24:20.459 can do the same thing with our emotional life 00:24:20.459 --> 00:24:22.639 and we are no longer able to love God. 00:24:23.519 --> 00:24:25.099 We lose sight of Him. 00:24:27.379 --> 00:24:29.319 Friends, how easy it is for us 00:24:29.319 --> 00:24:31.899 to lose our first love. 00:24:33.859 --> 00:24:35.699 This Jesus warns. 00:24:35.700 --> 00:24:40.140 This is His concern about the church in Ephesus 00:24:40.140 --> 00:24:44.200 and is a church for a warning for us as well. 00:24:45.880 --> 00:24:47.700 But Jesus does not leave us there. 00:24:48.880 --> 00:24:51.340 Having expressed His concern for us, 00:24:51.420 --> 00:24:53.380 He then, point four, 00:24:53.940 --> 00:24:54.779 He calls us. 00:24:54.860 --> 00:24:56.279 He calls us to respond. 00:24:56.660 --> 00:24:58.160 And He says two things in this. 00:24:58.220 --> 00:24:59.259 This is in verse five. 00:24:59.360 --> 00:25:00.460 Look with me if you want to. 00:25:00.940 --> 00:25:02.180 We can look at it together. 00:25:02.180 --> 00:25:05.259 Remember, therefore, from where you have fallen, 00:25:05.700 --> 00:25:08.879 repent and do the works you did at first. 00:25:09.279 --> 00:25:13.000 So these are the two commands to respond, right? 00:25:13.400 --> 00:25:17.379 Remember, like children, little children, 00:25:17.519 --> 00:25:19.859 we often lack object permanence, right? 00:25:20.519 --> 00:25:22.420 With a little baby, you can show them something 00:25:22.420 --> 00:25:23.980 and then take it away and they're like, 00:25:24.039 --> 00:25:24.980 where did it go? 00:25:25.339 --> 00:25:27.119 They have no idea that it actually 00:25:27.119 --> 00:25:28.359 is just behind your back, right? 00:25:28.480 --> 00:25:30.680 So we do that with God, spiritually. 00:25:30.680 --> 00:25:32.920 We are like little children in that way. 00:25:33.359 --> 00:25:34.900 And that's why the Bible tells us 00:25:34.900 --> 00:25:35.900 over and over again. 00:25:36.460 --> 00:25:39.460 Remember, remember God's work 00:25:39.460 --> 00:25:40.680 and His faithfulness. 00:25:41.160 --> 00:25:43.880 Remember God's faithfulness in your story. 00:25:44.360 --> 00:25:46.800 Can you remember seeing the fingerprints 00:25:46.800 --> 00:25:48.960 of God's hand in your life? 00:25:49.280 --> 00:25:50.940 Can you recount the stories 00:25:50.940 --> 00:25:53.400 of the ways you've seen God intervene, 00:25:53.519 --> 00:25:54.840 the way He's taught you, 00:25:55.180 --> 00:25:56.540 the way He's molded you, 00:25:56.640 --> 00:25:57.860 the way He has shaped you, 00:25:58.160 --> 00:25:59.680 the way He has helped you? 00:26:00.500 --> 00:26:01.940 Do you remember those things? 00:26:02.440 --> 00:26:03.460 And then the Bible says, 00:26:03.680 --> 00:26:06.160 don't simply remember those things, 00:26:06.240 --> 00:26:08.640 but remember what God has done in history. 00:26:09.160 --> 00:26:11.259 Go back to the creation of the world 00:26:11.259 --> 00:26:13.640 where He laid the foundations of the earth 00:26:13.640 --> 00:26:15.960 and separated the water and the sea 00:26:15.960 --> 00:26:17.720 and put the lights in the sky 00:26:17.720 --> 00:26:20.160 so that we might have life, right? 00:26:20.620 --> 00:26:22.299 Remember the Exodus 00:26:22.299 --> 00:26:24.779 when God with a mighty hand 00:26:24.779 --> 00:26:27.860 delivered His people from slavery to Egypt, 00:26:27.859 --> 00:26:30.619 the greatest power in the world at that time. 00:26:32.779 --> 00:26:35.199 How He overcame their army, 00:26:35.319 --> 00:26:36.639 how He parted a Red Sea, 00:26:36.919 --> 00:26:38.299 how He provided for them 00:26:38.299 --> 00:26:40.419 with water and manna in the wilderness 00:26:40.419 --> 00:26:41.979 and cared for them 00:26:41.979 --> 00:26:43.939 and brought them into a land, 00:26:44.539 --> 00:26:45.859 a promised land. 00:26:49.359 --> 00:26:51.519 Remember Jesus Christ 00:26:51.519 --> 00:26:54.559 who humbled Himself 00:26:54.559 --> 00:26:56.639 took on human form, 00:26:57.099 --> 00:26:58.940 became a human like us, 00:26:59.679 --> 00:27:01.019 walked this earth, 00:27:01.799 --> 00:27:03.899 lived a sinless life for us, 00:27:04.399 --> 00:27:06.119 and then went to the cross 00:27:06.119 --> 00:27:09.200 to die for our sins. 00:27:10.659 --> 00:27:11.960 And yet He did not stay dead, 00:27:12.059 --> 00:27:13.779 but He rose from the grave 00:27:13.779 --> 00:27:16.119 to conquer sin and death 00:27:16.119 --> 00:27:18.299 and to accomplish a redemption 00:27:18.299 --> 00:27:20.200 that is His great victory 00:27:20.200 --> 00:27:22.940 over all the forces of evil in the world, 00:27:22.940 --> 00:27:24.299 His great redemption 00:27:24.299 --> 00:27:26.039 that He is now working out now. 00:27:26.160 --> 00:27:26.759 And one day, 00:27:26.860 --> 00:27:28.059 as Revelation will tell us 00:27:28.059 --> 00:27:28.720 in just a minute, 00:27:29.100 --> 00:27:32.960 one day we'll remake the whole world 00:27:32.960 --> 00:27:35.920 in a glorious beauty 00:27:35.920 --> 00:27:37.320 that's beyond our imagination. 00:27:40.519 --> 00:27:42.860 Remember these things. 00:27:44.200 --> 00:27:45.759 We should be those 00:27:45.759 --> 00:27:47.420 who build Ebenezer piles. 00:27:47.580 --> 00:27:48.660 You know what Ebenezers are? 00:27:49.160 --> 00:27:51.180 Thus far the Lord has helped us. 00:27:51.220 --> 00:27:51.940 That's what it means, Ebenezer. 00:27:51.940 --> 00:27:52.600 Ebenezer. 00:27:52.720 --> 00:27:53.880 It's a stone of remembering. 00:27:54.860 --> 00:27:56.299 And if you remember, 00:27:56.860 --> 00:27:58.759 when God brought Israel 00:27:58.759 --> 00:28:00.320 across the Jordan River 00:28:00.320 --> 00:28:01.420 in Joshua 4, 00:28:02.120 --> 00:28:03.279 He stopped the river 00:28:03.279 --> 00:28:04.600 so that they could walk across 00:28:04.600 --> 00:28:05.380 on dry land. 00:28:05.480 --> 00:28:05.940 And then He said, 00:28:06.220 --> 00:28:07.559 before I'm going to bring the water back, 00:28:07.680 --> 00:28:09.200 go into the middle of the river, 00:28:09.660 --> 00:28:11.019 pull out 12 stones 00:28:11.019 --> 00:28:12.200 to represent the fullness 00:28:12.200 --> 00:28:13.039 of God's people, 00:28:13.380 --> 00:28:14.759 and make a cairn 00:28:14.759 --> 00:28:16.660 on the side of the river 00:28:16.660 --> 00:28:18.680 so that when your children come 00:28:18.680 --> 00:28:19.539 and ask you, 00:28:19.779 --> 00:28:21.220 what do these stones mean, 00:28:21.220 --> 00:28:22.100 you can say, 00:28:22.100 --> 00:28:24.039 the Lord has been faithful 00:28:24.039 --> 00:28:26.180 to deliver His people. 00:28:31.019 --> 00:28:33.079 And so Jesus says to us, 00:28:33.279 --> 00:28:33.740 remember. 00:28:36.640 --> 00:28:38.019 Remember Jesus 00:28:38.019 --> 00:28:42.059 and all that He has done for you. 00:28:42.059 --> 00:28:45.819 And then He says, 00:28:46.000 --> 00:28:46.819 on top of that, 00:28:46.980 --> 00:28:47.240 repent. 00:28:49.379 --> 00:28:49.819 Now, 00:28:50.119 --> 00:28:52.099 repentance is just turning away, 00:28:52.179 --> 00:28:52.440 right? 00:28:53.720 --> 00:28:54.639 The phrase, 00:28:54.879 --> 00:28:55.299 biblically, 00:28:55.399 --> 00:28:56.299 is the idea of, 00:28:56.720 --> 00:28:57.799 I'm looking in this direction 00:28:57.799 --> 00:28:58.659 and I'm turning 00:28:58.659 --> 00:29:00.259 and looking in a different direction. 00:29:00.599 --> 00:29:01.960 I'm going in this direction 00:29:01.960 --> 00:29:02.759 and I turn 00:29:02.759 --> 00:29:03.720 and I go in a different... 00:29:03.720 --> 00:29:05.200 There are four parts of repentance. 00:29:05.200 --> 00:29:06.860 One is to agree 00:29:06.860 --> 00:29:07.600 that the direction 00:29:07.600 --> 00:29:08.559 I'm going right now 00:29:08.559 --> 00:29:09.480 is not good. 00:29:09.880 --> 00:29:10.980 If we have lost 00:29:10.980 --> 00:29:11.860 our first love, 00:29:11.980 --> 00:29:12.960 we must recognize 00:29:12.960 --> 00:29:14.400 this is not a good thing. 00:29:14.940 --> 00:29:15.900 This is the warning 00:29:15.900 --> 00:29:16.740 He gives at the end 00:29:16.740 --> 00:29:17.600 of verse 5. 00:29:17.920 --> 00:29:18.620 The lampstand 00:29:18.620 --> 00:29:19.900 will be removed from us. 00:29:20.120 --> 00:29:22.519 If we don't restore ourselves 00:29:22.519 --> 00:29:24.000 to a relationship with God, 00:29:24.380 --> 00:29:25.120 we in the end 00:29:25.120 --> 00:29:26.440 will be lost. 00:29:26.920 --> 00:29:29.200 We will not be one of those... 00:29:29.200 --> 00:29:30.819 We will not be His people. 00:29:30.940 --> 00:29:32.019 We will be an empty, 00:29:32.620 --> 00:29:33.559 dead church. 00:29:33.559 --> 00:29:35.779 We will be an empty, 00:29:36.019 --> 00:29:36.940 dead person 00:29:36.940 --> 00:29:38.480 if we do not see 00:29:38.480 --> 00:29:39.619 this renewal happen. 00:29:40.000 --> 00:29:40.700 So agree 00:29:40.700 --> 00:29:41.960 that where we're going now 00:29:41.960 --> 00:29:42.659 is bad 00:29:42.659 --> 00:29:44.139 and it needs to be changed. 00:29:44.960 --> 00:29:46.119 Turn away from it. 00:29:46.240 --> 00:29:46.399 Say, 00:29:46.659 --> 00:29:48.159 that's not what I want to pursue. 00:29:48.819 --> 00:29:50.579 I want to pursue something else. 00:29:51.460 --> 00:29:52.659 Forsake our allegiance 00:29:52.659 --> 00:29:53.359 and our loyalty 00:29:53.359 --> 00:29:55.119 to whatever is so capturing 00:29:55.119 --> 00:29:56.000 our hearts over here 00:29:56.000 --> 00:29:57.220 and then turn. 00:29:57.799 --> 00:29:59.200 Turn towards, 00:29:59.659 --> 00:30:00.379 back towards 00:30:00.379 --> 00:30:01.500 our first love. 00:30:02.119 --> 00:30:03.379 Turn back towards 00:30:03.380 --> 00:30:04.000 Jesus 00:30:04.000 --> 00:30:06.580 and His redemptive work 00:30:06.580 --> 00:30:07.360 in our life. 00:30:08.620 --> 00:30:10.100 Turn towards this. 00:30:12.120 --> 00:30:13.240 This is the hope 00:30:13.240 --> 00:30:14.160 that Jesus gives us 00:30:14.160 --> 00:30:15.760 is that we can do this. 00:30:16.540 --> 00:30:18.040 If you've placed your faith 00:30:18.040 --> 00:30:18.460 in Christ, 00:30:18.540 --> 00:30:19.940 you've already done it once. 00:30:20.500 --> 00:30:21.680 Because when you came 00:30:21.680 --> 00:30:22.460 to faith in Christ, 00:30:22.540 --> 00:30:22.940 you said, 00:30:23.400 --> 00:30:23.940 I'm a sinner. 00:30:24.260 --> 00:30:25.420 I can do nothing 00:30:25.420 --> 00:30:26.260 to make myself 00:30:26.260 --> 00:30:27.260 right before God. 00:30:27.480 --> 00:30:28.800 But Jesus has done 00:30:28.800 --> 00:30:29.960 everything for me 00:30:29.960 --> 00:30:31.059 so that I can, 00:30:31.180 --> 00:30:31.640 by faith, 00:30:31.900 --> 00:30:33.519 receive His acceptance, 00:30:33.759 --> 00:30:34.440 His forgiveness, 00:30:34.920 --> 00:30:36.059 new spiritual life. 00:30:38.000 --> 00:30:38.980 All we're doing 00:30:38.980 --> 00:30:39.720 is remembering 00:30:39.720 --> 00:30:41.120 and re-walking 00:30:41.120 --> 00:30:42.319 down that path again. 00:30:42.779 --> 00:30:44.319 Not for a new salvation, 00:30:44.559 --> 00:30:46.759 but a re-engagement 00:30:46.759 --> 00:30:47.620 with the salvation 00:30:47.620 --> 00:30:48.519 that we have. 00:30:48.519 --> 00:30:51.139 So repent 00:30:51.139 --> 00:30:54.039 and return 00:30:54.039 --> 00:30:55.579 to God 00:30:55.579 --> 00:30:56.700 who loves you. 00:30:59.500 --> 00:31:00.559 And Jesus finishes 00:31:00.559 --> 00:31:01.079 His word 00:31:01.079 --> 00:31:01.639 with a word 00:31:01.639 --> 00:31:02.420 of consolation. 00:31:02.519 --> 00:31:02.980 This is what 00:31:02.980 --> 00:31:04.220 verse 7 is. 00:31:04.519 --> 00:31:05.519 It's a part of a form. 00:31:05.639 --> 00:31:06.619 We'll talk about this form 00:31:06.619 --> 00:31:07.279 as we go along. 00:31:07.639 --> 00:31:08.859 All of these seven letters 00:31:08.859 --> 00:31:09.680 to seven churches 00:31:09.680 --> 00:31:10.779 have seven parts 00:31:10.779 --> 00:31:11.920 that have a form 00:31:11.920 --> 00:31:12.559 that goes to it. 00:31:12.599 --> 00:31:13.279 And there's this form 00:31:13.279 --> 00:31:13.700 that says, 00:31:13.700 --> 00:31:14.940 to him who has ears, 00:31:15.059 --> 00:31:15.559 let him hear. 00:31:15.640 --> 00:31:16.480 Kind of like what Jesus 00:31:16.480 --> 00:31:17.519 said about parables. 00:31:17.900 --> 00:31:19.460 Listen to what I'm saying 00:31:19.460 --> 00:31:21.319 and as you receive it, 00:31:21.680 --> 00:31:22.980 let it do the work 00:31:22.980 --> 00:31:24.400 that I want it to do in you. 00:31:24.600 --> 00:31:25.140 And He says, 00:31:25.420 --> 00:31:26.740 here's the consolation. 00:31:26.920 --> 00:31:27.920 Here's the prize. 00:31:28.340 --> 00:31:29.240 Here's the hope. 00:31:29.759 --> 00:31:31.220 To those who overcome, 00:31:32.840 --> 00:31:33.700 to those who continue 00:31:34.220 --> 00:31:34.880 in faith, 00:31:35.080 --> 00:31:35.900 who don't lose 00:31:35.900 --> 00:31:37.140 their first love permanently, 00:31:37.299 --> 00:31:38.420 but who turn back, 00:31:39.259 --> 00:31:40.519 I will give them 00:31:40.519 --> 00:31:42.960 the ability to eat 00:31:42.960 --> 00:31:44.480 from the tree of life 00:31:44.480 --> 00:31:46.680 which is in the paradise of God. 00:31:47.639 --> 00:31:48.059 Friends, 00:31:48.519 --> 00:31:49.579 this is drawing on, 00:31:50.019 --> 00:31:51.379 obviously there's no tree 00:31:51.379 --> 00:31:52.740 that Jesus is talking about 00:31:52.740 --> 00:31:53.500 that we can find 00:31:53.500 --> 00:31:54.220 over on the green 00:31:54.220 --> 00:31:55.460 and pluck a fruit from, right? 00:31:55.680 --> 00:31:56.680 We're moving back 00:31:56.680 --> 00:31:58.720 into imagery here. 00:31:58.879 --> 00:31:59.700 But the image 00:31:59.700 --> 00:32:00.759 is such a rich one 00:32:00.759 --> 00:32:01.700 because you remember 00:32:01.700 --> 00:32:02.660 in the Garden of Eden, 00:32:02.900 --> 00:32:04.019 there actually was 00:32:04.019 --> 00:32:06.379 a tree of life 00:32:06.379 --> 00:32:08.119 as well as a tree 00:32:08.119 --> 00:32:08.599 of the knowledge 00:32:08.599 --> 00:32:09.279 of good and evil. 00:32:09.279 --> 00:32:10.460 and Adam and Eve 00:32:10.460 --> 00:32:12.680 had only to obey God 00:32:12.680 --> 00:32:13.639 and they could eat 00:32:13.639 --> 00:32:14.859 from this tree of life. 00:32:15.599 --> 00:32:16.680 But they didn't. 00:32:17.220 --> 00:32:18.119 And so they lost it 00:32:18.119 --> 00:32:19.019 and they were barred 00:32:19.019 --> 00:32:20.180 from the tree of life, 00:32:20.319 --> 00:32:22.160 from life with God, 00:32:22.279 --> 00:32:22.899 their creator, 00:32:23.039 --> 00:32:23.720 for eternity. 00:32:26.859 --> 00:32:27.940 And we have lived 00:32:27.940 --> 00:32:29.160 in that ever since. 00:32:32.519 --> 00:32:33.319 But Revelation 00:32:33.319 --> 00:32:34.240 is going to tell us 00:32:34.240 --> 00:32:35.000 that there's going to be 00:32:35.000 --> 00:32:37.000 a day when we can go back. 00:32:37.000 --> 00:32:39.980 Revelation 22, 00:32:40.119 --> 00:32:41.660 the visions of the new heavens 00:32:41.660 --> 00:32:42.480 and the new earth 00:32:42.480 --> 00:32:44.980 after Jesus remakes the world, 00:32:45.539 --> 00:32:46.700 the angel showed me 00:32:46.700 --> 00:32:49.339 a river of the water of life 00:32:49.339 --> 00:32:50.559 bright as crystal 00:32:50.559 --> 00:32:52.940 flowing from the throne of God 00:32:52.940 --> 00:32:53.759 and of the Lamb 00:32:53.759 --> 00:32:54.400 in the middle 00:32:54.400 --> 00:32:56.119 of the street of the city. 00:32:56.440 --> 00:32:57.980 Also on either side 00:32:57.980 --> 00:32:58.559 of the river, 00:32:58.740 --> 00:32:59.920 the tree of life 00:32:59.920 --> 00:33:01.900 with its 12 kinds of fruit, 00:33:02.480 --> 00:33:04.000 yielding fruit each month. 00:33:04.000 --> 00:33:04.480 month. 00:33:06.900 --> 00:33:08.900 Now this is apocalyptic imagery. 00:33:09.200 --> 00:33:09.920 I don't think 00:33:09.920 --> 00:33:10.960 that there's going to be 00:33:10.960 --> 00:33:12.240 a river with 12 trees 00:33:12.240 --> 00:33:13.299 planted beside it. 00:33:13.500 --> 00:33:14.819 I think there's going to be 00:33:14.819 --> 00:33:15.859 a new creation 00:33:15.859 --> 00:33:16.779 and a new world. 00:33:17.019 --> 00:33:18.359 But what there will be 00:33:18.359 --> 00:33:20.220 is a reality 00:33:20.220 --> 00:33:22.079 that we will eat of 00:33:22.079 --> 00:33:23.059 that is spiritually 00:33:23.059 --> 00:33:24.519 take hold of the life 00:33:24.519 --> 00:33:26.319 that God has given us. 00:33:26.339 --> 00:33:27.640 And we will have fellowship 00:33:27.640 --> 00:33:30.279 with an eternal God forever. 00:33:30.279 --> 00:33:34.059 And it's not just life 00:33:34.059 --> 00:33:35.559 meaning we're not dead, 00:33:35.819 --> 00:33:36.740 but life meaning 00:33:36.740 --> 00:33:37.759 we have the fullness 00:33:37.759 --> 00:33:39.259 of life in fellowship 00:33:39.259 --> 00:33:41.059 with our creator God. 00:33:41.279 --> 00:33:43.779 What an amazing thing it is. 00:33:46.480 --> 00:33:47.539 And you know, friends, 00:33:47.619 --> 00:33:48.579 there's one more tree. 00:33:50.339 --> 00:33:51.519 There's one more tree 00:33:51.519 --> 00:33:52.139 in scripture. 00:33:53.139 --> 00:33:54.339 It's actually referred to 00:33:54.339 --> 00:33:54.899 a number of times 00:33:54.899 --> 00:33:55.879 in the book of Acts. 00:33:55.880 --> 00:34:00.700 But 1 Peter probably 00:34:00.700 --> 00:34:02.020 says it the most clearly. 00:34:03.620 --> 00:34:04.420 And this is where 00:34:04.420 --> 00:34:04.980 I want to end 00:34:04.980 --> 00:34:05.940 because for us 00:34:05.940 --> 00:34:06.880 to take hold of this, 00:34:06.940 --> 00:34:07.940 for us to respond 00:34:07.940 --> 00:34:08.700 in repentance 00:34:08.700 --> 00:34:09.980 and remembering 00:34:09.980 --> 00:34:11.380 and returning to God, 00:34:12.200 --> 00:34:12.800 the picture, 00:34:13.340 --> 00:34:14.680 how do we do this? 00:34:15.619 --> 00:34:18.119 How can we renew ourselves? 00:34:18.240 --> 00:34:19.500 We can't do it on our own. 00:34:19.760 --> 00:34:21.180 We will stumble and fall. 00:34:21.720 --> 00:34:23.059 But if we would simply 00:34:23.059 --> 00:34:24.519 remember Jesus, 00:34:24.519 --> 00:34:25.780 he who, 00:34:25.920 --> 00:34:26.619 these are the words 00:34:26.619 --> 00:34:27.320 of 1 Peter, 00:34:27.800 --> 00:34:29.440 he who committed no sin, 00:34:30.380 --> 00:34:31.320 neither was deceit 00:34:31.320 --> 00:34:32.340 found in his mouth. 00:34:32.539 --> 00:34:33.659 When he was reviled, 00:34:33.780 --> 00:34:35.639 he did not revile in return. 00:34:35.980 --> 00:34:36.820 When he suffered, 00:34:36.920 --> 00:34:37.759 he did not threaten, 00:34:37.860 --> 00:34:40.000 but continued entrusting himself 00:34:40.000 --> 00:34:42.360 to him who judges justly. 00:34:43.019 --> 00:34:45.659 He himself bore our sins 00:34:45.659 --> 00:34:48.440 in his body on the tree. 00:34:48.440 --> 00:34:53.200 that we might die to sin 00:34:53.200 --> 00:34:54.920 and live to righteousness. 00:34:55.700 --> 00:34:56.880 By his wounds, 00:34:56.980 --> 00:34:57.820 you have been healed. 00:34:58.940 --> 00:35:00.420 You were straying like sheep, 00:35:01.179 --> 00:35:02.300 but have now returned 00:35:02.300 --> 00:35:03.079 to the shepherd 00:35:03.079 --> 00:35:06.400 and overseer of your souls. 00:35:06.400 --> 00:35:11.700 You see, my friends, 00:35:12.800 --> 00:35:14.460 Jesus went and ate 00:35:14.460 --> 00:35:15.559 from the tree of death 00:35:15.559 --> 00:35:17.980 by hanging on the cross 00:35:17.980 --> 00:35:20.579 so that we could eat 00:35:20.579 --> 00:35:21.940 from the tree of life 00:35:21.940 --> 00:35:22.720 forever 00:35:22.720 --> 00:35:24.900 with him. 00:35:27.599 --> 00:35:28.880 Do not forsake 00:35:28.880 --> 00:35:29.720 your first love. 00:35:30.820 --> 00:35:31.460 Let's pray. 00:35:31.460 --> 00:35:31.500 Let's pray. 00:35:31.500 --> 00:35:31.539 Let's pray. 00:35:31.539 --> 00:35:31.579 Let's pray. 00:35:36.400 --> 00:35:39.980 Lord Jesus, 00:35:40.180 --> 00:35:47.220 we confess to you 00:35:47.220 --> 00:35:48.380 how easily our hearts 00:35:48.380 --> 00:35:49.760 grow dim. 00:35:51.079 --> 00:35:52.900 We confess to you 00:35:52.900 --> 00:35:55.680 how easily our hearts 00:35:55.680 --> 00:35:56.320 grow cold. 00:35:57.860 --> 00:35:59.139 Lord, how easily 00:35:59.139 --> 00:36:00.160 we are distracted. 00:36:01.660 --> 00:36:02.440 How easily, 00:36:04.059 --> 00:36:05.880 Lord, we lose heart. 00:36:06.400 --> 00:36:07.760 how quickly 00:36:07.760 --> 00:36:08.980 we count the cost 00:36:08.980 --> 00:36:09.740 and find you 00:36:09.740 --> 00:36:10.420 not worthy 00:36:10.420 --> 00:36:13.320 of all of our hearts. 00:36:16.680 --> 00:36:18.119 Lord, help us today. 00:36:19.139 --> 00:36:20.019 By your Spirit, 00:36:20.160 --> 00:36:21.220 show us the things 00:36:21.220 --> 00:36:23.360 that we must repent of. 00:36:25.019 --> 00:36:26.440 Show us the path 00:36:26.440 --> 00:36:27.119 of remembering 00:36:27.119 --> 00:36:28.680 and returning to you. 00:36:31.099 --> 00:36:32.500 Renew our vision 00:36:32.500 --> 00:36:33.180 of Jesus, 00:36:33.880 --> 00:36:35.820 the one who died 00:36:35.820 --> 00:36:37.340 so that we might live, 00:36:39.100 --> 00:36:40.300 that we might love him 00:36:40.300 --> 00:36:41.400 as we first did. 00:36:44.080 --> 00:36:45.340 We pray these things 00:36:45.340 --> 00:36:46.160 in Jesus' name. 00:36:47.260 --> 00:36:47.519 Amen. 00:36:47.519 --> 00:36:47.620 Amen. 00:36:48.680 --> 00:36:49.140 Amen.