Message to the Churches Part 1

Recap of Series Thus Far

The prologue set the tone and introduced the main characters for the rest o the book. Jesus is the central theme of Revelation. We learned that Jesus is indeed the glorified Christ who is in control not only of the churches but also the secular rulers and the evil forces. Last week we received our first picture of the resurrected Christ in all of His glory.

The letters are in essence sent from Christ to the angel who is relaying them to John who in turn is now relaying them to the church. Chapters 2 and 3 are all part of the introductory vision of John.

John appears to have intimate pastoral knowledge of each one of these churches. Each of the letters ends with “hear what the Spirit says to the churches,’ so all the churches of Asia Minor were to heed the promises and warnings given to each church and apply it to their own particular situation.

WEEK 3 Letters to the first four of the seven churches.

We are going to see the first 4 of the seven Churches. The Church at Ephesus, the church at Smyrna, and the church at Pergamum, and the Church at Thyatira.

You will notice that for most of the Churches, the writer starts out by listing the things that Jesus is pleased with in the Church’s walk with Christ. This is like how a good teacher before they give the areas that need improvement trying to encourage by giving some of the good first.

Churches should never feel as if they have arrived spiritually. We should constantly be doing a self - evaluation of where we are currently in our walk with Jesus Christ.

Churches need to be careful about sitting back on what we have done thus, becoming nearsighted and not seeing the glaring areas that need to be worked on if we are going to be effective for the Kingdom of God.

Body of the Letter

A. Strengths and weaknesses

Strengths (“I know our deeds...”)

Weaknesses (“Yet I hold this against you...”)

B. The Solution (“Command to repent” et al.)

Conclusion

A. Promises to Claim

a. Call to Listen (“Let anyone who is willing to hear listen to what the Spirit is saying”)

b. Challenge to overcome (“to anyone who overcomes”) promise intended for those who overcome.

Revelation 2:1–7 ESV

1 “To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: ‘The words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand, who walks among the seven golden lampstands. 2 “ ‘I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and how 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. 3 I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name’s sake, and you have not grown weary. 4 But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. 5 Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent. 6 Yet this you have: you hate the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. 7 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.’

THE CHURCH AT EPHESUS

Ephesus was one of the four most powerful Roman cities in the Empire. It was a city of a quarter of a million people, that lay at the harbor where the Cayster River met the Aegean Sea in western Asia Minor.

In ancient times it became a major city after being captured b Croesus of Lydia who contributed greatly to rebuilding the temple of Artemis and establishing the city. Alexander the Great moved the population from the temple site to the harbor, and a thriving city developed. The Temple called (Artemision) had been burnt to the ground but was rebuilt in the fourth century and became one of the seven wonders of the ancient world.

Ephesians quickly became a center of commerce and trade for all of western Asia Minor, one of the most prosperous provinces in the Roman Empire.

What drives your passions?

Jesus lists all of the things He is pleased with from the Church in Ephesus first. However, the glaring problem had to do with abandoning their first love. Where were their passions focused and how did a church that had so many good things going for it loos their passion for Christ?

Tell me what you think about, and I will tell you what you love. Tell me what you talk about, and I will tell you what you love. Tell me what excites you, and I will tell you what you love. My prayer for you, as well as for myself, is that the answer will be same for all these. May the answer always be Jesus

Notice that Jesus is described in two way in verse one of chapter two.

CHRIST CARES: He is the one who holds the seven starts in His right hand. (Note this is present tense) He holds the Church firmly in his grasp and no one can snatch them out of his hand (see John 10:28).

CHRIST IS THERE: Christ walks (present tense) among the seven golden lampstands. Our Lord walks among His people, His church. He is not an absent Father who never shows up. He sees what we do, hears what we say, and knows how we think about what is in our hearts.

The Average Adult Loses 9 Items a Day

Most of us regularly lose things: keys, wallets, TV remotes, glasses, and phones. Some of us are more prone to misplacing things than others. It’s not surprising that men are twice as likely to lose their phones than women. One study concluded that the average person misplaces nine things a day and spends an average of fifteen minutes looking for lost items. Why does this happen? What is the psychology and science behind it? It comes down to a breakdown of attention and memory. When we misplace our belongings, "we fail to activate the part of our brain responsible for encoding what we're doing." The hippocampus part of our brain is responsible for taking a snapshot and preserving the memory in a set of neurons that can be activated later. We lose things when we do not have a clear reference point of when or where we put down objects like our keys or glasses.

One of the ways we can improve our memory is through practicing mindfulness. We do this by stepping back and calming our thoughts, focusing on being present in the moment

Revelation 2:8–11 ESV

8 “And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write: ‘The words of the first and the last, who died and came to life. 9 “ ‘I know your tribulation and your poverty (but you are rich) and the slander of those who say that they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. 10 Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and for ten days you will have tribulation. Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life. 11 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who conquers will not be hurt by the second death.’

THE CHURCH AT SMYRNA

Smyrna is the only city that has continued to the present day, having the modern name of Izmir. Another harbor city with a thriving export trade thirty-five miles north of Ephesus, it was renowned for its beauty and its civic pride, calling itself “the first in Asia” as well as the birthplace of Homer. It was one of the first cities to erect a temple to the goddess Roma, and in A.D. 26, because of its long loyalty to Rome, it beat out ten other cities for the privilege of building a temple for the emperor Tiberias. It had a large Jewish population that aggressively opposed Christianity. In the 80s Judaism had excommunicated the Christian “heretics” from their synagogues, and they wanted nothing to do with them. In A.D. 155 the famous bishop of Smyrna, Polycarp, was burned alive for refusing to call Caesar “lord” during extensive persecution instigated by the Jews.

SERMON ILLUSTRATION Chief Rabbi: When Judaism Is Easy People Lose Faith

Jonathan Sacks, the former Chief Rabbi of Great Britain, once referenced what he called the "counter-intuitive phenomena of Jewish history"—a phenomena that applies to Christians as well. "When it was hard to be a Jew," Sacks wrote, "people stayed Jewish. When it was easy to be a Jew, people stopped being Jewish. Globally, this is the major Jewish problem of our time."

What does being a Christian cost you?

This is one of only two of the Churches without weaknesses, and they were the two most insignificant among the churches.

There is a famous statement, well known from the early history of the church: “The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church.”

It was made by one of the early church fathers Tertullian in Ad 197 in a defense of Christianity to the Roman Empire. The actual quote listed in his Apolegeticus reads, “We multiply whenever we are moved down by you; the blood of Christians is seed”.

The suffering, persecution, and martyrdom of the church have been the calling card of the church of Jesus Christ.

Never forget that Jesus knows the situation right now not only in your life but in the whole world and everything that breathes oxygen on this earth. He will have the last word. He has always been aware of the circumstances of His people. Time is in His hands, you can trust Him with your today, your tomorrow, and your final destiny.

The Church at Pergamum and Thyatira

Revelation 2:12–17 ESV

12 “And to the angel of the church in Pergamum write: ‘The words of him who has the sharp two-edged sword. 13 “ ‘I know where you dwell, where Satan’s throne is. Yet you hold fast my name, and you did not deny my faith even in the days of Antipas my faithful witness, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells. 14 But I have a few things against you: you have some there who hold the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, so that they might eat food sacrificed to idols and practice sexual immorality. 15 So also you have some who hold the teaching of the Nicolaitans. 16 Therefore repent. If not, I will come to you soon and war against them with the sword of my mouth. 17 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, with a new name written on the stone that no one knows except the one who receives it.’

Fifteen miles inland lay the city of Pergamum north of Smyrna by fifteen miles or so. It became an important city in the 3rd century (some think that the Persians had deliberately refrained from developing it due to its natural military capabilities) when the successor Alexander the Great turned it into a major military fortress.

Pergamum gained fame for the architectural innovations of Eumenes II, who built up the acropolis by adding a circuit wall, the temple of Athena, a great alter to Zeus, and a library that held two hundred thousand volumes. It also became the leading religious center of Asia. Temples, altars, and shrines. A huge section of the city and temple were dedicated to Asklepios and the healing arts.

The City of Thyatira

Thyatira had similarities with Pergamum, it was a military outpost 40 miles southeast of Pergamos. It was most important for its commerce of wool, linen, leather work, bronze, and especially purple dye. The trade guilds each had its own union with a patron deity, feasts and seasonal celebrations often included sexual immorality. Apollo the sun god and Diana the fertility goddess were the most significant deities. We read about Lydia in Acts whom Paul led to Christ at Philippi, she was from Thyatira and a seller of purple.

What Compromises have you Made?

In a culture that is not hospitable to Christianity, opposition and persecution can make living for Christ hard. It can even be deadly. But be assured that Christ knows what we are facing. He is aware of our circumstances in intimate detail. This was the situation at Pergamum, and so our Lord commends them and seeks to comfort them.

CHRIST CONDEMNS EXCESSIVE TOLERANCE

THINGS THAT PLEASE JESUS

EPHESUS CHURCH

Jesus is Pleased with our deeds, dedication, and doctrine.

The community was busy with the work of the Lord almost to the point of exhaustion.

Five of the seven letters begin with the phrase (oida ta egra sou, ‘I know what you are doing’, lit. ‘I know your works’). The one who walks among the lampstands knows the achievements of those who are faithfully laboring for the kingdom.

Faith is Demonstrated by Action

Most Churches tend to go one of two ways when it comes to works. They either put too much emphasis on works moving to a means of Salvation or they place too little emphasis on works moving to as Bonhoeffer says “Cheap Grace.”

James 2:18-20 most clearly points out that faith apart from our works is a dead faith. That means a faith that has no action. We also see the picture displayed throughout the entire New Testament that one of the key markers of a true disciple of Christ is the fruit that their lives are bearing for the kingdom of God. (John 15; Matt. 7:15-20 “every healthy tree bears good fruit”)

The living presence of the Holy Spirit in believers leads to Christlike virtues within them, just as a living tree will bear good fruit.

Greek oida is not just any knowledge it is a special intuitive knowledge that no one else can possess. This is always with the idea of absolute perfect knowledge.

Greek erga is more than just good deeds, but refers to the whole spiritual walk of the believer, as defined by the contents of the “deeds” in the letter.

Both of these words describe the immense battle the church was having with false teachers. We read more about this in Pauls letter to the Ephesians that it was a moral and spiritual battle.

Dedication is not Enough (2:3)

“You also possess endurance and have tolerated many things because of my name.” Have you ever felt like you are continually laboring and working for the kingdom by bearing with those who come against you and are testing you to your wit’s end?

“These were not fair-weather fans of Christ and His cross, and the Lord took note of their dedication.”

The Church at Ephesus would have faced many special challenges. Because they refused to bow the knee to the goddess Diana or the images of the emperor, they found themselves maligned, slandered, boycotted, and abused.

Christians in Ephesus would have been the object of physical violence, social ostracism, and economic repression. Yet they endured. They bore up under the load.

(Story of visiting the Church in Moldova)

Sound Doctrine is not Enough (2:2,6)

They took doctrinal fidelity seriously. One of the of evidence is that they would “not tolerate evil” and they tested those who called themselves apostles and are not, and have found them to be liars.

Perhaps some of the tests included:

What do you believe about Jesus and His work?

What is the gospel, and how are people born again?

Do you believe a holy life should complement our confession of Christ?

Do you teach anything contrary to or in addition to the Word of God and the witnesses of the 12 apostles?

Note: These are many of the same things we ask during our discover the Journey class before someone becomes a covenant member at The Journey. “I tell the class that they should want to be a part of a Church who have such tests.”

They hated the practice of the Nicolaitans.

The Nicolaitans practice idolatry and sexual immorality under the banner of spiritual freedom. They were those who continued sinning so that grace should abound.

People assume that Jesus is always meek and mild, only ever saying positive things about everyone. But from His own lips, Jesus tells us there is something He hates!

Jesus Hates Evil, Romans 12:9 “Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good.

Jesus Hates the World system: James 4:4 tells us that anyone who chooses to become a friend of the world makes themselves enemies of God.

Jesus hates whatever keeps us from Him. John 12:25 “The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.

Jesus hates religious hypocrisy.

SMYRNA CHURCH

*The Church is commended for its faith and perseverance.

WE WILL BE ATTACKED BY SATAN (2:9)

“I know your tribulation and your poverty but you are rich and the slander of those who say that they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.”

Note: What about those in our culture today that say they are Christians but are not, are they not a synagogue for Satan to use against the church today. John 8:44

John 8:44 ESV

44 You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.

WE CAN ANTICIPATE SUFFERING

“Don’t be afraid about what you are about to suffer.”

A word about the future of the church, specifically in America, is in order. Those of us in the West must be prepared for the jarring truth that, just as in Revelation 2:9 and Smyrna in the first century, those who oppose and reject Christianity are going to oppose and persecute us.

Not only will they say we are wrong; they will say we are bigoted, dangerous, and evil. We will be slandered as anti-choice, anti-diversity, anti-gay, anti-inclusion, anti-intolerance.

We can anticipate economic boycotts, governmental restrictions, and social ostracism. Eventually more severe persecution and even imprisonment will likely be our experience. Of course this is already true for followers of Christ around the world, and it is coming to America

What should be our Response?

Don’t be afraid

Don’t be surprised

Receive as God’s testing and proofing ground (pruning and refining your faith)

James 1:2–3 ESV

2 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, 3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.

Approximately 60 years after John wrote these words to the church at Smyrna, there would indeed be a man “who would not be afraid of what you are about to suffer” and who was “faithful until death.” He was their pastor. His name was Polycarp

PERGAMUM and Thyatira CHURCH

*The church must be Faithful where we Live

“I know where you dwell, where Satan’s throne is.”

Note: Jesus says, “I know. If no one else knows what you are going through, I do. I know where you live, where your home is.

You have......

The Acropolis, from the distance, looked like a throne.

The idols, altars, and shrines.

The altar of Zeus soter (meaning “savior”) is on top of the mountain.

The Cult Aklepios. The symbol was a serpent, aligned with Satan.

The imperial cult - worship of the state embodied in the emperor.

Be Faithful in your Witness

“Jesus said that you are holding on to my name and did not deny your faith in me even in dark days. Even in the days of Antipas, my faithful witness who was killed among you, this church maintained its fidelity. Their faithful witness had resulted in the martyrdom of one of their own.”

Christians are dying for their Faith

It is happening right now somewhere in the world. Somewhere Christians are dying for Jesus. Christian women are being raped. Christian children are being sold into slavery. Christian brothers and sisters are being imprisoned, persecuted, and tortured. In the Global War on Christians, respected author and journalist John Allen notes that 80% of all acts of religious discrimination in the world today are directed against Christians. These include:

Societal discrimination - Institutional discrimination - Employment discrimination - Legal discrimination - violence against individual Christians - Suppression of Christian Missions - Suppression of conversion to Christianity - Forced conversion from Christianity - Suppression of corporate worship - Community oppression.

90% of all people killed on the basis of religious beliefs in the world today are Christians.” There are between 100,000 - 150,000 new Christian martyrs every year.

THINGS THAT HE HAS AGAINST THE CHURCH

PHILADELPHIA CHURCH

*Jesus is honest with His people and jealous for their love

Honest

If anything we can always count on Jesus, to be honest, and direct with His children. He doesn’t pull any punches and lets us know the dire situation our sin has brought us into.

HE DOES NOT LIKE, WELL I DON’T LIKE IT.

Jealous

“You have abandoned the Love you had at First.”

Note: The Ephesians did not somehow lose their first love they purposefully left it. This would seem to support the two greatest commandments to Love God and Love People.

However, Jesus may have intended the greater meaning as their love for Him and the love for the Gospel message.

They had somehow lost their first enthusiasm and zeal for the Christian life and had settled into cold ritualistic faith with no more than surface strength and depth.

You have heard me say before that most Christians are a mile wide and an inch deep. They are doing lot’s of things for the kingdom just like the church at Ephesus, however, where is their passion.

Jesus has not lost His passion for His children. James 4:5

James 4:5 ESV

5 Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, “He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us”?

Of course He wants their obedience however, He also wants their affections.

PERGAMUM and Thytira CHURCH

*The Church must not Compromise

We must not Compromise our Morality

Some held to the teaching of Balaam (used symbolically). The story of Balaam is found in Numbers 22-25. Here the Lord says explicitly what sin was instigated by following Balaam: Pagan food and pagan women led to spiritual compromise and adultery on the part of the people of God!

Look what Paul said about Compromise.

Romans 6:1–4 ESV

1 What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? 2 By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? 3 Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.

Morally look at Romans 1:18

Romans 1:18 ESV

18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.

Note: Pergamum means (Thoroughly married), here was a Church that was married to the world. Satan could not defeat this church with a frontal assault from without, so he revised his strategy and fostered friendly accommodation from within and with deadly success.

Thyatira was the Jezebel Church

The name Jezabel was infamous and rightly so. She was probably the most wicked queen in Israels history; we find her treacherous behavior described in 1 Kings. She was “the power behind the throne’ as the wife of the weak and wimpish king Ahab. She led her husband to worship pagan gods, kill God’s prophets, and murder a righteous and plain man named Naboth for his vineyard. She was evil personified, and when God judged a church for allowing false teaching into His body, He said they were “tolerating the woman Jezebel.”

Doctrinal and Theological Compromise is always a danger to the health, and vitality, and survival of the church.

We must not Compromise our Theology

Some of Pergamum hold to the name of Jesus but some were holding to the name of Balaam. Some at Pergamum hold the name of the Nicolaitans.

Doctrine mattered very little and behavior mattered even less.

THE SOLUTION TO THE PROBLEM

*Remember - Repent - Return

vs. 1-7 Ephesus

Remember from where you have fallen

The present form of this verb is a reminder to “keep remembering.” Never forget what you have lost. Go back and note when and where the flame of love grew faint in your life.

Repent of your sins.

This indicates that we must undergo a change of mind resulting in a change of attitude and action. It is to think differently about your sin - sins of indifference. It requires that we must change our minds from thinking that our good deeds are somehow earned in God’s favor.

Return to where you have Fallen

Do the works that you did at first before you had fallen into sin. The first works are the key to restoring their first love. What were you thinking? You could not believe that He loved someone the way He loved you! That He forgave someone the way he forgave you! That He wanted someone like you!

*Be Wise to Satan’s Weapons

Smyrna vs. 10 “Do not fear what you are about to suffer, the devil will throw some of you into prison to test you.

Pergamum vs.13 “I know where you dwell, where Satan’s throne is.”

It never occurs quickly

It always lowers the original standards

It is seldom offensive because it is perceived as loving

It eventually leads you to accept what you once rejected

THINGS THAT ARE PROMISED

*The One who Conquers will eat at the Tree of Life

We will Celebrate in Paradise. Jesus told the thief on the cross surely today you will be with me in Paradise. What Adam and Eve forfeited through sin we regain in Christ. Heaven is paradise regained and more.

The tree of life is a beautiful “symbolic source of eternal life.”

Randy Alcorn

We read in Revelation 22:1-2 about the tree of life that will be placed on the New Earth. Just as the tree was apparently relocated from Eden to the present Heaven, it will be relocated again to the New Earth.

In Eden, the tree of life appears to have been a source of ongoing physical life. The presence of the tree of life suggests a supernatural provision of life as Adam and Eve ate the fruit their Creator provided. Adam and Eve were designed to live forever, but to do so they likely needed to eat from the tree of life. Once they sinned, they were banned from the Garden, separated from the tree, and subjected to physical death, just as they experienced spiritual death.

But on the new earth, our access to the tree of life is forever restored. (Notice that there is no mention of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil to test us. The redeemed have already known sin and its devastation; they will desire it no more.)

*We will receive a Crown for our Faith

The Crown of life in scripture is also referred to as the Martyr’s Crown, it is referred to in James 1:12 and Revelation 2:10; it is bestowed upon “those who persevere under trials.”

Jesus refers to this crown when he tells the church in Smyrna to “not be afraid of what you are about to suffer...”

Individual believers will be judged and stand before the Lord Jesus Christ and be judged according to our conduct and work as a believer. Romans 14:12 tells us that each one will give an account to God for what they have done with their lives.

James 1:12 ESV

12 Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.

“A man who endures trials is blessed because when he passes the test he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love Him.”

Note: at the end of verse 11 Jesus mentions overcoming the second death. There is something worse, far worse than physical death: spiritual and eternal death, what is here called the second death. (this is why we should not fear the one who can kill the body and not the soul).

*The one who Conquers receives a new name

The exact meaning of the white stone is not fully understood, there are dozens or more possibilities. Perhaps John was intentionally vague. Perhaps it was the stone of acquittal at a trial verses the black stone that was given to represent guilt or condemnation.

Maybe it was the stone of entrance when one presented themselves at a banquet. Maybe there is a connection to a stone in the breastplate of the high priest. Perhaps it symbolizes the victory of our faith in Christ. The bottom line is, it points to acceptance and victory in Christ our high priest, Christ our righteousness. He gives us the white stone. It is His gift never to be taken away.

The New Name

On the stone is written a “new name… that no one knows except the one who receives it.” The new name on the stone points to the end-time supper in which intimate fellowship with the risen Lord occurs.

To receive a “new name” is to receive Jesus victorious kingly name…no one knows except Jesus himself.

In the ancient world and the Old Testament, to know someone’s name, especially that of God, often meant to enter into an intimate relationship with that person and to share in the persons character and power.

Finally believers receive a name that represents their final reward and identification with the risen lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. It is a mark of genuine membership and acceptance into the kingdom of God without which entry into the eternal “city of God” is impossible.

This stands in contrast to the satanic “name” that unbelievers receive, which identifies them with the character of the devil and with the ungodly “city of man.”

Revelation 2:26–29 ESV

26 The one who conquers and who keeps my works until the end, to him I will give authority over the nations, 27 and he will rule them with a rod of iron, as when earthen pots are broken in pieces, even as I myself have received authority from my Father. 28 And I will give him the morning star. 29 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’

*We Receive the authority of His Power.

Christ honors His faithful disciples by allowing them to co-reign with Him in fulfillment of the messianic prophecy. This is a reference to the millennial kingdom we will read about later in Revelation. Believers will serve under Christ, sitting on thrones, jointly exercising His gracious, firm, and sovereign authority. He now shares it with His subjects.

“Once a king and queen of Narnia, always a King and Queen of Narnia.” (C.S. Lewis)

He will give us the morning star this is Christ Himself. In the end, we get what we started with: we get Jesus!

CONCLUSION

So many of us are running from something, and we're running to somewhere—but it's impossible to know where we are going if we don't know who we are. God's fingerprints are all over our lives, and as we search him out, the pieces begin to fall into place. Ultimately, we find out our true name—our true identity—only in Christ, and only then do we find out where we are to go with our lives.

CHURCH WE MUST CONTINUALLY REMEMBER WHO WE ARE - REPENT OF WHERE WE GOT OF COURSE - RETURN TO THE ONE WHO HAS GIVEN US A NEW NAME.