Today's sermon text is in Revelation chapter 2, very end of the Bible, Revelation chapter 2.
We'll read from verses 1 through 7.
For our visitors, I'll just give some context that on the past one year as a church, we were mostly preaching through the gospel of John.
We left off around John 14.
Once we're finished with this series on the church, we'll pick back up where we left off and we'll finish preaching through the gospel of John.
Over the summer, we also had a special little break and we looked at one psalm every Sunday.
So we started at Psalm 1 and we ended with Psalm 8.
Lord willing, next summer, we'll start with Psalm 9 and we'll keep that going.
And so today, we'll have our fourth of seven in a series called Life in the Father's House.
And that's a reference to what Jesus said in John 17, that he's going to his father's house to prepare a place for you, his church.
And while we're on earth, the church is the way that God prepares us for heaven, for his father's house.
Today's focus is church discipline.
And that just comes because we're following through our constitution three or four pages at a time.
And that's the section we got to in Sunday school.
So I wanted the sermon to complement that focus.
And so in our constitution, we looked at formative discipline and corrective discipline.
And so as a point of reference, this text, I see it as Christ providing formative discipline, ongoing discipline as he walks among and speaks to his church.
As I read this, keep in mind, we believe this is God's inspired, inerrant, infallible, clear, and sufficient word.
It's God's very own word for you, his church.
So when I'm done reading, I'll say this is the word of God.
And if you believe this, you respond, thanks be to God.
Revelation 2, 1 through 7.
1 through 8.
Verse 3.
And as born and as patience for my name's sake, you have labored and has not fainted.
Verse 4.
Nevertheless, I have somewhat against thee because thou hast left thy first love.
Remember, 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 this place, except thou repent.
But this thou hast, that thou hast hated the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.
Verse 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 of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.
This is the word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
You may be seated.
The Bible says that the grass withers and the flower fades, but the word of the Lord, it endures forever.
Let's pray.
Father, we ask that you will give the eyes of faith and the ears of faith.
That though we're in this world that's fallen, and though the darkness hides you,
that by the power of your Holy Spirit, you will open our eyes to behold the glory of Jesus Christ
as he ministers to his church.
That you will minister here yourself, Lord Jesus.
We pray, Lord, that we can hear the gospel,
that we can hear the truth that Jesus Christ desires for his church,
from his throne room in heaven,
and from his ministry as the great high priest.
We ask all of this for your glory alone,
and for Christ's sake.
Amen.
Beloved congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ,
my prayer for you and for me today is simply that we would see Christ discipling his church.
We read the word, you hear the word,
but in Revelation, when John hears the voice, he sees a vision.
That's why I think it's appropriate that we would ask the Lord to help us to see Christ
through his word as it's ministered from this glorious text.
And to see how Christ disciples his church.
Let me ask you that question.
What do you think?
How long does Christ need to disciple his church?
How long does Christ disciple you?
I read this week of a young man as a teenager,
and he lived in England in the countryside,
later moved into London.
His name was Robert Robinson.
As a teenager, he and his buddies were mocking this lady who was on the street,
and she was known to make predictions,
and so they went around to mock her and ask her what the prediction was,
and she looked at this man, Robinson,
and said that one day your grandkids will know how to read,
which was more than he could say for himself or his entire family.
But that stirred in his mind,
and it actually led him to go hear a preacher preach for the first time.
It happened that that preacher was George Whitefield,
the first great awakening evangelist.
And the Lord did not save Robinson when he first heard the gospel,
but the gospel, like Pilgrim's Progress, it worked on him for three years,
and his own sin became like a burden on his back.
And later, the Lord saved this man and brought him into a church to be discipled.
The church he was taken into was the church in London.
The pastor at the time was John Gill.
John Gill came about 100 years before Charles Spurgeon in that same church.
The reason I tell you about Robinson,
after he was saved, after he was discipled in a wonderful church for many, many years,
he wrote this hymn, and the hymn begins this way.
Prone to wonder, Lord, I feel it.
Prone to leave the God I love.
Is your heart prone to wonder like Robinson?
I know mine is.
And doesn't that thought terrify you?
So for how long does Christ disciple you?
Think about the perspective of our author here to give some context on Revelation.
It comes from the pen of the Apostle John.
John was most likely the youngest of all the disciples of Jesus
who walked with him in his ministry for three years.
And John, his last thoughts before our Lord Jesus was crucified
was of all of the disciples wandering away from Christ,
forsaking him and abandoning Jesus.
They did not love Jesus to the end, did they?
And maybe that's why the main message on John's tongue
that he wanted to preach or that he wanted to put in every epistle
and in his gospel, the main message is that Christ loves you to the end.
For how long do you need to be discipled?
Look at our sermon text, verse 4.
Verse 4 is the heart of this passage.
And not only do I want us to see where the church in Ephesus needed reprimand,
I want us to see how Christ discipled them and brought that to them.
In verse 4, John writes,
You, church of Ephesus,
you abandoned the love you had at first.
Remember and repent.
So we need Jesus Christ to disciple us,
to call us to himself,
for as long as our hearts are prone to wonder, don't we?
That's how long Christ keeps discipling the church.
The word discipleship, according to the Oxford Dictionary,
it comes from the Old English, a Latin phrase,
or a Latin word called discipulus,
and it means a learner.
A learner, and it comes from the term to discern.
So what was it that John learned?
He was a disciple of Christ.
Well, when John introduces himself in the Gospel of John,
he doesn't say I'm the last living apostle.
He doesn't say I'm the senior pastor
at the wealthiest, most prominent church,
which was the church of Ephesus.
He says,
I am the one whom Jesus loved.
That's all you need to know about me.
I ran away from Christ,
and he loved me to the end.
All of John's letters
elevate the theme of love
more than any other New Testament writer.
To give a comparison,
1 Corinthians uses the word love 15 times,
and that's our glorious love chapter.
But by comparison,
the Gospel of John uses that word
of the love of God
and to love his people 39 times.
And in that short little epistle
called 1 John,
26 times he writes
for the church to have that love.
John's main point
is stated really well
in that epistle,
1 John 3.1.
He says,
See what kind of love
the Father has given to us
that we should be called
children of God.
And so we are.
See, it's the love of God
shown in Christ.
You get to belong
to the family of God.
If you're a Christian,
by the love of God,
you are in the house
of the Father.
Well now,
this vision that he gets
in Revelation,
it comes from banishment
to the island of Patmos.
Most likely before this time,
tradition has it
that John had been
taken and tortured,
a boiling vat of oil,
and he was dipped inside of that
and pulled back out
before he could die.
So there's this old,
disfigured man
with chronic pain
in exile,
away from the church.
But by God's grace,
the Lord,
he says,
I'm worshiping on the Lord's day
and I'm in the Spirit.
And what God gives him
in Revelation 1.17
is a vision of heaven itself
opened up.
John writes,
I saw Jesus.
I fell at his feet
as though dead.
What was it that Jesus said to him?
Fear not.
I am the first and the last,
the living one.
I died and behold,
I am alive forevermore.
And I have the keys
of death and Hades.
Verse 19,
write therefore these things
that you have seen,
those that are,
and those that are
to take place
after this.
And so we come to our sermon text
and what I want to walk you through
are five descriptions
that John gives
to all the churches
of how Jesus disciples his church.
The first one is this.
See how close Christ is
to his church.
By the language John uses,
we see that Jesus Christ
is very, very close to his church.
Three evidences from the text.
First,
John tells us
that it is Christ himself
who speaks to his church.
Look at verse 1.
Revelation 2,
verse 1.
To the angel,
the word angel is messenger,
of the church in Ephesus,
write the words of him.
The Lord Jesus Christ
wants John
to write these letters
telling the church,
Jesus Christ speaks to you.
that phrase,
the words of him.
It's used 60 times
in the minor prophets.
You've heard it translated,
thus saith the Lord.
Jesus Christ
is the final prophet.
And he stands
from his throne in heaven
as prophet
speaking to his church.
How close is Jesus?
He speaks
through his word
to his church.
Jesus is acting
like one of those
minor prophet
covenant prosecutors.
But he's not
prosecuting
the Mosaic covenant.
He's shepherding.
He's using words
of encouragement
and words of exhortation
to shepherd his church
in the covenant of grace
until they're ready
for heaven with him.
And it's words
of encouragement
and exhortation
because we need both,
don't we?
That's how our Lord Jesus
speaks to his church.
Why is he telling
these words
to the church in Ephesus?
Think about
what a powerful church
this is.
The apostle John
became the elder
of the church in Ephesus.
Can you think of that?
You know,
the longest living apostle now,
one of the elders,
shepherding,
preaching to the church
in Ephesus.
Apollos,
a very gifted
man of rhetoric
who was discipled
on the side
and then came back
preaching the glorious gospel.
He was a preacher
to the church in Ephesus.
Paul was a pastor
or at least apostle
ministering and preaching
and teaching
in Ephesus
for three years.
And when Paul left,
you know who he left
as the pastor,
one of the elders
to preach to the church
in Ephesus.
It was Timothy.
This is the church
we're talking about.
A mature,
well-established church
that had been discipled
through Christ's messengers
one after the other.
And yet,
they still need Christ
to disciple them now.
They didn't arrive
after all of that.
Now,
don't think that this message
is only for one church
at that time in history.
Look at verse 7
of our sermon text.
He who has an ear,
let him hear
what the Spirit says
to the churches.
So,
from the island of Patmos,
the closest church
would have been
the church in Ephesus,
right off the coast.
And then,
the Roman courier circuit
would have included
these seven churches
in this exact order.
Why seven?
Well,
there are many more
than seven,
and these letters
were to be circulated
among all of them.
Seven represents
the number of completeness
and fullness.
So,
by addressing
individual churches,
he's lifting up
like case studies
for all of the churches,
even those who have
an ear to hear now.
This is the ministry
of God to you, church.
My first application
is that Christ
actively speaks
to his church
every day.
Whoever has an ear
to hear
must hear
the words of Jesus Christ.
He is close to you,
and he speaks.
So,
what the church needs today,
just as much as ever before,
to use the phrase
from Haggai 113,
is the Lord's messenger
in the Lord's message.
He speaks
through his messengers
at every faithful
biblical church
the message
of Jesus Christ
himself.
You see how close
Christ is to his church?
He speaks to his church.
Second evidence
of how close Christ is
is that he holds
his church.
Verse 1
describes Jesus
as he who holds
the seven stars
in his right hand.
In each of these
addresses
to these seven churches,
there's a little prologue.
It describes the speaker.
It describes Christ.
And each prologue
has a point.
And the point
is customized
to what that church,
that congregation
needs to hear.
To give you an example,
the church in Smyrna
was persecuted.
And what Jesus
tells them
that they need to hear
is a message
from he who died
and came to life.
You're persecuted.
You're going to be martyred.
Hear the message
from him who died first
for you
and came to life.
His resurrection
is your hope.
To the church
in Pergamum
in the prologue,
they had allowed
false teaching
and heresy
to creep in.
And the message
to them is this.
It's the words of him
who has the sharp
two-edged sword.
In Ephesians,
back to Ephesians
chapter 6
tells us
that's the sword
of the Spirit,
the Word of God.
That's what they need.
So what is the message
to the church
of Ephesus?
What is it
that they need to hear?
In verse 1,
it's that Christ,
he is the one
who holds
the seven stars
in his right hand.
Jesus Christ
holds the messenger.
He holds
the spiritual
representation
of every congregation
in his right hand
in heaven.
They need to hear
that this is
Christ's church.
Christ
is the one
who holds it.
I think that
this is an inference,
but my best guess
is that the church
in Ephesus,
based on what comes next,
they might have been
tempted to think
that the kingdom
of Christ
on earth
will rise or fall
on them.
Think of all those
who had preached to them.
Think of how well
established this church
was.
They need to hear
Christ
holds his church.
It is not
by your works
that anyone
will be saved.
You be faithful
and you serve
in the church
out of love for Christ
because he is the one
who holds you, church,
and there is no amount
of manly effort
that you can bring
to the table
because if you lose
the love for Christ,
your lamp
will go out.
It is Christ's church.
You cannot hold it
all together
by your own strength.
Isn't that a relief
to us?
It is Christ
who holds his church.
And with that also
is the promise
that no matter
what happens
to his church
on earth,
spiritually,
we are held
by Christ.
He holds us
in his hands
and we are persecuted
but we are united
to Christ.
In the week ahead,
the next five days,
each of us
in our different industries
and lines of work,
we will go through
hardship.
In this world,
we will have trouble,
various kinds.
Christ holds you
because in Christ
you are united
to God himself.
We get this promise
in 1 Corinthians 6,
15, and 17.
Your bodies
are the members
of Christ
and he that is
joined to Christ
is one
spirit.
You and I
are only truly
held by Christ
if we enjoy
that union
with Jesus himself
as mediator.
The third evidence
that Jesus is very
close to his church
is that he walks
among his church.
Look at verse 1 again.
Jesus describes himself
as one
who walks
among
the seven
golden
lampstands.
this is a word
picture of the
menorah.
The menorah
was the seven
lamps
that were set
in the holy
place
so that the
priest would go in
and trim the wick
and clean up the wax
and add oil
so they would be
continually burning.
And the purpose
of these
seven lamps
was to light
the way
into the holy
of holies.
So Jesus
is describing
himself
as the high
priest
who ministers
as a high
priest
leading you
by the light
of his work
to the holy
of holies
itself.
That's who
Jesus is.
He's the one
who walks
among his
church.
He is the
great final
and everlasting
high priest.
Church,
it is Christ
who trims us.
It's Christ
who pours the
oil of his
Holy Spirit
in us,
in our lives,
our hearts,
in a congregation.
He is the one
who keeps the
lamp burning.
He ministers.
He prays God.
Do you see
how close
Jesus is
to his church?
The second thing
I invite you
to see here
is how well
Christ knows
his church.
He is so close
to his church
and he knows
his church
so well.
in verse
two we read
Jesus says
to the church
I know
your works,
your toil,
and your
patient endurance.
He gives this
list of three
and it's called
a triad.
He gives three
of those.
So three triads.
This is the first
one.
I know your works,
your toil,
and your patient
endurance.
that's how
the church
of Ephesus
was known.
Christ says
I see you
getting up early.
I see you
arriving
and going
the extra mile.
I see you
sweating
and laboring
alongside one
another.
I see how
you heard
my message
and you've
been living
it out.
The message
in Ephesians,
the same church
Ephesians 4.28
was labor.
Do honest
work with
your own
hands
and share
with anyone
in need.
And it seems
like the Ephesian
church was
obeying that.
Paul had
written to
Timothy.
Paul probably
worked anyone
under the ground.
Paul was a
hard worker.
And Paul
admonished
Timothy,
though he was
weak and frail
in the body,
Timothy,
labor in
preaching and
teaching.
Christ sees
the toil of
his church.
What else
does Christ
know?
Well,
Christ commends
his church
for also
hating what
Jesus hates.
Look at
verse 6.
He says,
this you have,
you hate the
works of the
Nicolaitans,
which I also
hate.
And Christ
commends them
for this.
The Nicolaitans
was a heresy
and it got
long gospel
wrong.
Nothing new
under the sun,
right?
We get long
gospel wrong,
all kinds of
problems creep
into the church.
The Nicolaitans
had said that
there is a
special type
of enlightenment
that some
people can access
and when you
do that,
it doesn't
matter how
you live.
So it led
to licentiousness
and all kinds
of evil sin
and the
Ephesian church
says,
no,
that's not
what the
apostles revealed,
that's not
what God
gave in his
word,
that's not
what our
Bible says.
Paul had
been there
for three
years and
he is using
disciplined
language by
saying this.
He's saying,
it's right for
a biblical church
that knows the
Bible well,
it's right for
such a church
to hate what
Christ hates.
When there is
false teaching
that's harmful,
you need to
hate that.
He's saying this
is a good thing.
Why?
Because I hate
that,
says Jesus.
They're preaching
a lesser gospel.
They're distorting
the good news
and they're distorting
all that I have
revealed in my
word.
You need to
know my word
and it's good
that you hate
heresy.
So Christ knows
that they worked
hard,
he knows that
they hated the
right things
and in verse
two he says,
you cannot bear
with those who
are evil but
have tested
those who
call themselves
apostles and
are not and
found them to
be false.
That's our
second triad.
Let me give
some context
to this.
There was so
much corrupted
living in the
city of Ephesus.
The temple in
Ephesus was called
the temple of
Diana and people
would come from
all over the
world to worship
the goddess
Diana which
would then,
it was syncretism
where it was
combined with
Greek mythology
as well.
So like the
twin sister of
Apollo got
merged with
Diana and it
was the goddess
of fertility.
So around this
temple were all
kinds of sexual
practices that
were extremely
perverse.
There were
those who would
take the silver
and make it into
little statues so
all these pilgrims
who came to
worship at the
temple of Diana
could take back
a silver souvenir.
Well when the
gospel arrived in
Ephesus they wanted
to kill Paul
because the
gospel undermined
this entire
industry.
And because
there was so
much worship
and people
giving money
to the temple
of Diana
it became a
banking system
so it was like
the London of
all of Asia
Minor.
And Paul had
written to them
those who go
the way of the
world and those
who bow down
their knee to
Diana this goddess
of perversity.
It's Satan.
It's represented
in Revelation as
Babylon and other
things.
You are choosing
idolatry over the
love of the true
God.
You're rejecting
the love of Christ
and you're turning
to adultery.
And so he's
admonishing the
church to you
need to discipline
within the church
any that are
loving an idol
more than they're
loving Christ.
If they're loving
their sin more
than they love
the Lord Jesus
their Savior
it's right for the
church to test that
and to call it
false and to not
bear with that
evil anymore.
It's right for the
church to do
that.
Well Christ
he knows their
toil he knows
they hate the
right things and
he also commends
them for patient
endurance for his
name's sake.
This is the third
and final triad in
verse 3.
Jesus says to the
church in Ephesus
I know you are
enduring patiently
and bearing up for
my name's sake and
you have not
grown weary.
Praise God.
In Ephesians 4
they had been told
as we are to walk
in a manner worthy
of Christ's calling.
Do you remember
that last week?
And they're to walk
with all humility
and gentleness and
patience bearing with
one another in love
and the Lord Jesus
Christ saw them obey
what he told them by
the spirit and he
commends them for
doing just that.
You have been walking
together as I called
you to do.
We've seen how close
Christ is to his
church and we see how
well Christ knows
his church.
Number three, see
what Christ cares
most about for
his church.
Verse 4.
The words of the
Lord Jesus Christ.
Church, I have
this against you
that you have
abandoned the love
you had at first.
He brings correction.
He brings exhortation.
But there were nine
words of encouragement,
specific affirmation
to this church.
Nine of them to one
correction.
That's the ratio
Jesus sets up.
Who are we to make
up a different ratio
than that, right?
We should always be
speaking the truth
in love, encouraging
one another, building
one another up.
And when we need
to, there can be a
place for correction,
but it's wrapped in
so much love and
specific affirmation
that it's not
critiquing and it's
not nitpicking and
it's not discouraging.
I'm convicted of my
flesh and my tendency
to bring any
correction that way.
I need to learn from
the example of the
Lord Jesus.
This is how he
disciples.
This is how he
disciplines his
church.
There's a tradition,
I'm not sure, you
know, if this is, you
can prove it anywhere,
but, you know, the
message in 1 John is
little children love
one another.
And the one historian
has it that the
apostle John, before
he got exiled, he
had been imprisoned
and he had to, you
know, leave Ephesus,
but he didn't get to
come back one last
time as an old man.
And what did he
preach to them?
He said, little
children of Ephesus,
love one another.
And that's the theme
that's on John's
heart as an apostle
and it's not because
it's John's idea,
that's because that's
what Jesus taught
John.
And that's what the
Lord Jesus himself
had to say to the
church in Ephesus.
Love one another.
John Owen makes a
good observation and
I don't know of
anyone who gets law
and gospel better
than John Owen,
at least more
thoroughly than
John Owen.
And he said that
some abandoned their
first love for
Christ because they
think that abiding
in Christ is a
plant that needs
neither watering,
fertilizing, or
pruning, but that
will thrive to
itself.
Have you fallen
into that?
Well, we know it's
true from Ephesians
2.8 that by grace
we have been saved
through faith and
this is not our own
doing, it is the
gift of God.
Amen.
We're not saved by
works that no man
should boast.
But in verse 4 of
Revelation 2, we read
that they had a love
at the beginning
that they no longer
have now.
The word there is
that the love that
you had, and that
verb is possession,
to have a love.
The Greek term, it
brings all these
connotations.
It means to have
and to hold.
It's to possess in your
mind in a way that
agitates the emotions.
It's to cherish, to
hold fast, to keep,
and to highly regard.
That's how they
viewed the Lord Jesus
when He first saved
them out of their
sin.
That's how they
viewed one another
when they first got
started.
But somewhere along
the way, by not
watering and
fertilizing and
tending to that
love, it was
abandoned.
It was neglected.
That little plant of
their love, the
leaves are starting
to turn yellow.
You can see some
other stuff starting
to grow.
It's smaller.
It seems dried up.
And the Lord Jesus
is the gardener, and
He's walking in the
midst, and He says,
you need to tend to
this.
You love because I
first loved you.
now grow in my
love.
He gospels them
back to that kind
of love.
He gospels His
church.
They need to
remember how the
letter of Ephesians
began.
Ephesians 1.5,
In love God
predestined us for
adoption to
Himself as sons
through Jesus
Christ.
How in love He did
that.
Ephesians 1.15,
Paul encourages the
church at that
stage.
He says, I have
heard of your
faith in the Lord
Jesus, and I have
heard of your love
toward all the
saints.
You need to get
back to that place.
You need to do
that again.
So fourth, I want
us to see together
how Christ
disciplines His
church.
Three observations
on how Christ
disciplines.
look at verse
five.
Remember, therefore,
from where you
have fallen.
Jesus doesn't
say, think about
how you fell or
why you fell.
He says, remember
from where you
fell.
Think back.
Recall.
Remember, therefore,
from where you
have fallen.
Put your sight on
that.
That's what I've
called you to.
Grow back into
that.
It's going to take
work.
It can't be
neglected and
abandoned.
You must grow into
that.
Remember that vision
I have for you.
I was trying to think
of a good illustration
of this.
And I picture a
family going on a
hike up a climb.
And I'm not going
to put an age on
this child who
loses the love,
okay, but you can
picture whatever you
need to.
One of the children
in this family is
still walking along,
but they are
emotionally checked
out.
They're still taking
the steps, but they
are very bothered by
their sibling.
They don't want to
share their water.
They're not enjoying
this.
They're just putting
one foot in front of
the other out of
duty.
Remember what it
was like when we
first started, when
there was more shade,
when the dirt smelled
good and wet, and
when you're having fun
jumping up on the
boulders and back
down.
Remember that.
That's how we want
it to be.
We need to get back
to that.
And the Lord Jesus
next says not only
remember it, but he
calls them to take
action.
He calls his church
to repent in verse
five.
Repent and do the
works you did at
first.
A mature, well
established, well
taught church needs
to repent.
They need to return
to the love that
Christ first put in
their hearts.
He says to them,
you are mature, you
have sound doctrine,
and you have worked
hard for a long
time.
But now you need to
preach the gospel to
yourselves again.
You need to have joy
in all those little
things like you used
to.
Remember the gospel,
church.
Never forget that.
Ephesians 2, 3
through 5.
You once lived in the
passions of your flesh.
That's who you were.
You were carrying out
the desires of the body
and of the mind.
And you were by nature
children of wrath,
like the rest of
mankind.
Have you forgotten
that that's what you
were?
But God, being rich in
mercy because of the
great love with which
he loved us, even when
we were dead in our
trespasses, made us
alive together with
Christ.
That's what God did
because he is love.
And if you think of the
gospel, it will be a
reflex to obey.
You will do the works
you did at first.
At first, remember how
you used to serve
others.
You used to have
someone else over to
your home.
You used to encourage
others, even when you
were tired yourself.
You will do those works
again when you gospel
yourself back through
this.
When you ask God to
fill you with his love
because you ran out on
your own, you will do
all those little things
again.
And God will bring your
joy back into your heart
as you serve one another.
It's an expression of
your love for him.
How else does Christ
disciple and discipline
his church?
He uses covenantal
terms.
He brings them curses and
blessings.
Like an Old Testament
prophet, like Moses said
this pattern in Deuteronomy
28 and 29.
If you go this path that
leads to death, there are
warnings.
There is eternity at stake.
But if you walk the
narrow way, there are
blessings for those who
belong to Christ.
He lays out curses for
disobedience and blessings
for obedience.
Jesus is a covenant
prosecutor.
What is the curse or the
threat that he brings
them for disobedience?
Look at verse 6.
If you do not remember
and do not do those
works, I will come to
you.
Jesus Christ himself will
come to his church and
remove your lampstand from
its place unless you
repent.
That means that that
congregation's light in
heaven will be
extinguished.
Their lamp will be turned
off.
Let me clarify.
I don't see anywhere here
that necessitates this to
be referring to an
individual losing their
salvation.
I see this as
congregational accountability.
That congregation, the
doors will be closed.
It will become a junior
college.
church.
The work of Jesus as
prophet and as priest is
to fill the lamp with
oil, the Holy Spirit, the
love of God to trim and to
manage it, maintain it so
that it does burn brightly
pointing the way to the
Holy of Holies.
When a church does not do
those things for which God
intended it to do, what
purpose does it have?
It should shut down.
It's Jesus himself who
brings judgment and his
judgment starts with the
church.
When Christ comes, his
second coming, it will be a
day of terror.
And the ones who should
tremble the most are those
who are in a church.
You need to look around and
be ready for that day within
whatever church you're at.
He begins his judgment with
his own people.
1 John 4.20
If anyone says, I love God
and hates his brother, he
is a liar.
For he who does not love
his brother whom he has
seen cannot love God whom
he has not seen.
That's why it's so important
to remember the love, the
union you have in Christ.
It will play itself out in
all your other relationships.
All those works that I'm
calling you to do, that's a
simple expression of whether
or not you belong to Christ.
Revelation 3.19
He reminds them, it's those
whom I love, I reprove
and discipline, Jesus says.
So be zealous and repent.
And I will praise God if
right now he's convicting you
like he's convicted me this
week and again now.
I need to repent.
I need to remember that love.
Praise God.
Because that means that Christ
loves you.
He reproves and disciplines
you if he loves you.
What does this mean for
congregational church
discipline?
That's our focus in the
series a little bit with
Sunday school.
Well Hebrews 13.17
is the admonition that the
elders of each congregation
are to keep watch over your
souls as those who will give
an account to Christ
Christ himself.
Church discipline has Christ
in mind from the very
beginning to the very end.
We will give an account to
Christ for every single soul
entrusted to the care of a
congregation.
And if the congregation as a
whole has gone so far from
forgetting Christ, they deserve
to be shut down.
Let that congregation close its
doors.
That's what Jesus says.
He'll do it himself.
The church is the dwelling
place of God in Christ.
So church life is life in
God's house.
He judges his own house first.
So what do you pray?
What's your response with the
thought of Christ coming to
judge and his judgment
beginning within his own
church?
Let's go back to that hymn.
Prone to wonder, Lord, I feel
it.
Prone to leave the God I love.
Take my heart, Lord.
Take and seal it with your
Holy Spirit in thy courts
above.
I don't trust myself with my
heart, with my soul.
Seal me, Lord.
May your Holy Spirit live in me
and fill me so that I don't
need to question that.
Do I belong to you?
Your Spirit will reassure me of
that.
And you seal me, Lord, in a
place that I can't touch, in a
place I can't mess up, in
heaven itself.
And then the fifth, last
heading I've got here is, see
how Christ disciples his
church.
We saw how he disciplines
through covenant curses and
threats, but he disciples by
also extending covenantal
blessings.
Blessings promised for
obedience.
Look at verse 7.
To the one who conquers.
He's not talking about an
entire congregation.
He's talking about an
individual now.
To the one who conquers.
I will grant to eat of the
tree of life, which is in the
paradise of God.
The Lord Jesus stands in
heaven and he, he prosecutes
his covenant of grace to his
church.
Respond to my love and I will
bless you.
I am the second Adam, he says.
But remember with the original
Adam in the garden of Eden, he
was under a covenant of works.
Adam had to obey Christ, obey
God personally, perpetually and
perfectly in every way.
And Adam fell short of the glory
of God.
And all who are under Adam as the
first federal head are under the
curse of death because of sin.
Adam's sin as well as our own sin
added on to that.
And Jesus says, I am offering to
you the blessing of heaven as the
great and final Adam.
Why can Christ offer this?
That we get to eat from that
tree of life that Adam could
never touch?
It's because Christ already has
it.
He fulfilled that demand of the
law.
He himself put himself under the
law.
He accomplished the covenant of
works that Adam fell short of.
And Christ holds, he holds that
fruit of the tree of life.
So when he says that to the one
who conquers, I will give this,
it's because he already has it.
It's in his hands.
There's nothing that can take that
out of Christ's hands.
He merited it, not because he
lacked anything, but because we
lack everything.
And the Father has placed that in
his hands.
And it's to the one who conquers.
To the one who conquers an apathy
toward others.
To the one who conquers being
passive in your walk with the
Lord.
You conquer by remembering that
love of God for you, by
gospeling yourself back through that
once again.
Do you see how Christ disciples his
church?
He's the good shepherd.
His rod and his staff, they comfort
us.
His rod of correction puts us back on
the path when we stray.
And his staff, it guides us in the
way of life everlasting.
Christ's true church, every believer,
has love only because God first
loved you.
And he calls us to tend that love,
cultivate it, take care of it.
On this earth, it will always feel
like a battle to cultivate this love
that comes from God.
And that's because we have remaining
sin in our flesh.
Our hearts are prone to wonder.
So how long does Christ need to
disciple his church?
As long as your heart is prone to
wonder in mine.
How long does Christ keep discipling
us, his church?
He keeps discipling us as long as he
loves us.
And his love is unending for his
church.
How long does Christ disciple his
church?
As long as we are still on this
fallen earth and he is in heaven.
And there will be a day when he
comes and his kingdom of heaven is
fully on earth.
That day will be prepared for
eternity with him.
But in the meantime,
remember, beloved congregation of
our Lord Jesus Christ, how close he
is to you, his church.
How he speaks to you.
He holds you.
He walks among us.
Stay close to him one step at a
time.
I love the picture of the Lord
Jesus of his yoke, his light.
You're yoked to Christ.
But he does all the work.
He's pulling and plowing and you're
walking in step with him.
And as you walk with him, he teaches
you.
And what he loves, you love.
What he hates, you hate more and more
and more.
What you lack, you see right here,
yoked to Christ, I have it all.
In John 13, 34 through 35, Jesus said,
just as I have loved you, you are to love
one another.
And by this, all people will know that
you, dear church, are my disciples.
If you have love for one another,
your little lamp will be burning bright
and the weight of the Holy of Holies
will be visible.
Don't hide that light.
Let it shine brightly that the world
can see you are ones who I've saved
and I put my love in you and you point
the way to the only one who can give
such love to sinners that have been saved.
Never forget, beloved church,
what Christ cares most about.
And it's that we love him,
that we love one another.
Christ's heart never wonders from his church.
His love never runs out.
He loved you until the end of his death
on the cross and he loves you
until the very end
and into all eternity.
Praise the Lord of love.
We're going to sing this in a moment.
Crown him the Lord of love.
Behold his hands inside,
rich wounds yet visible above,
in beauty glorified.
All hail, Redeemer, hail,
for thou hast died for me.
Thy praise and glory shall not fail
throughout eternity.
We welcome the discipline
of our loving Christ.
He is so near to his church
and he is so worthy of our love.
And we do have the promise
as a congregation,
by God's help,
that as long as his love remains in us,
the lamp of this congregation
will never go out
because he is the one
who holds his church.
And he who rescued us
from our sin
because he is love,
he is the same one
who disciples us
because he is love.
Praise this God we have.
Would you pray with me?
Lord, our love for you
and for yours,
it is so prone to wonder.
But Father, we put our eyes
back on Christ.
We see him ministering to us
and we see how you rescued us
from sin and danger,
how we are purchased
by your blood.
And we ask, Lord,
that by your help
we will walk on earth
as a stranger
because we are sons
and heirs of God
in heaven.
Amen.
Take some time
to reflect on the gospel
that you have heard.
Let the Lord stir back up
your love for him.