Where is the Bride

Revelation 2:1-7

The Bible is a Love story about God and the love He has for His creation. There is imagery all throughout the Scriptures about weddings and the Groom and the Bride. In the Old Testament, God often referred to Israel as an unfaithful bride. The book of Hosea starts with God calling out the nation of Israel as a harlot. He even has Hosea marry a prostitute to resemble the relationship and the unfaithfulness of Israel to God.

Thankfully, God does not leave them there but promises restoration to the people of Israel if they are willing to repent and return to their God.

In the New Testament, in Paul’s epistles, he often refers to the relationship between husband and wife as resembling the relationship between the church and Jesus. He declares that the husband is the head and is to love his bride as Christ has loved the church. He calls for wives to submit to their husbands as they submit to Christ. He does not call the husband to lord over the wife in an overbearing way but when he calls the wife to submit it is for her protection. The husband is called to cover the wife just like Christ covers us. However, the husband cannot cover the wife is he is not in submission to the authority of Christ first.

Jesus came, lived, died, and rose again to ransom us from sin and redeem us unto himself, to have a bride who is getting herself ready waiting on his return.

Jesus told his disciples,

John 14:1–3 NKJV

“Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.

This is all about a wedding. We view weddings from a Western perspective and when we look at Scripture rom that lens, we can miss a lot of the deeper meanings. Jesus was not speaking to a bunch of American citizens. He was speaking to Jewish disciples who would know exactly the image he was trying to portray.

In Jewish weddings, the groom would come and make a proposal, offering to pay a dowry for the bride. If the proposal was accepted, he would return to his father’s house and start building on to the house to make room to bring his bride back home to live in his father’s house once the wedding took place.

The bride did not know when her groom would return so she had to always be ready. She had to remain faithful to him while she waited and live as though she was already married.

Revelation 2:1–7 NKJV

“To the angel of the church of Ephesus write, ‘These things says He who holds the seven stars in His right hand, who walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands: “I know your works, your labor, your patience, and that you cannot bear those who are evil. And you have tested those who say they are apostles and are not, and have found them liars; and you have persevered and have patience, and have labored for My name’s sake and have not become weary.

Revelation 2:1–7 NKJV

Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place—unless you repent.

Revelation 2:1–7 NKJV

But this you have, that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God.” ’

Find your first love!!

They left their first love. The Bible does not say they lost it. They left it.

If you left your first love, you can locate it again and get it back.

Jesus does not want your leftover love. He wants our first love.

There are many problems and issues in the world today and even in many of our lives. Sometimes we get so caught up in our issues and our problems that we lose focus on the only solution to those problems.

It does not matter how many things are wrong or going wrong or how many things you are trying to fix or solve, Jesus said, “Seek first the Kingdom of God and all these things shall be added to you.” Jesus says, if you get your priorities in line, and seek the kingdom first, I will take care of everything else. He is the solution to every situation.

A lot of times we expect people to fix stuff without first fixing their relationship with God. You cannot even begin to fix all of the problems in this life if your relationship with Jesus is not right.

We have to get our focus back and our priorities back and get our eyes back on Jesus, the lover of our souls. Then He will start to fix all of the other things around us. If we try to fix stuff without first fixing our relationship with him, it may seem like it gets alright for a while but it won’t be long before it is all screwed up again.

What is most important to you in your life. Where does church fall in that spectrum of what is important? Where does your spiritual journey, your walk with God fall in that line of what is important.

If He is not the most important thing in your life, you will never be satisfied and nothing else in your life will ever be fixed.

Many times in the church we have made it about so many other things than Jesus. It is about what songs do you sing, what translation do you read, what do you wear when you come to church?

Can I tell you we need to get back to keeping the main thing the main thing? Can I tell you it is not about what songs, or what we wear, or if we have pews or chairs?

It is all about Jesus. Let’s get back to making it about Jesus!! Without Him, nothing else even matters!!!!

How can we ever expect to change our communities, our state, or our nation when we can’t even get along with each other? This church won’t associate with this church. That church won’t associate with the other church.

This message in Revelation 2 is a reminder to get our priorities in line.

Ephesus - first church in Asia Minor - Turkey.

Established by Paul and his apostolic team on a missionary journey.

Ephesus was the center of life in the region. It was also the center of the worship of the false god Diana. Her worship centered around sexuality and sexual perversion. In truth, Ephesus looked a lot like America today.

We have cast off all restraint, we have given permission for people to destroy the image of God they were created in and change genders. We have redefined marriage. We celebrate and parade around what used to be hidden in the darkest corners.

We cannot just pretend this is all normal. It is not normal. It is an abomination to God.

God sent Paul to plant a church in the middle of hell’s headquarters. He did not send them to a place that had everything right. He sent them to a place that was crawling with sin.

If the gospel works, it does not just work in the rich and well off neighborhoods. If the gospel works, it works in the worst and darkest places.

30 years after this church is planted, Jesus comes to John on the isle of Patmos and says, “write this to them.”

I know Your Works Both frightening and encouraging a the same time. This is Jesus talking! Frightening if you think you are hiding something from God Encouraging if you feel like you are working hard and being diligent and nobody sees. Jesus sees. He knows your works.

Could not tolerate evil It is not ok to become tolerant. We don’t want to offend anyone. We do not try to offend people but the truth is offensive because men prefer darkness rather than light and do not want their deeds exposed. I am beholden to any political party or political agenda. I am a citizen of the Kingdom of God and I answer to Him. I do not care if the Republicans like me. I do not care if the Democrats like me. They are not my maker and I do not answer to them. I am bought with a price and it is not some lobbyist or politician or corporation who paid my price. It is Jesus and I owe all allegiance to Him and His Kingdom. So I am going to preach the truth in love until He comes back or calls me home. When we do not preach and tell our kids the truth, Satan comes in and fills in the gaps with lies. That is why our kids are so screwed up and do not know who they are or what they are. We have stayed silent for too long.

You left your first love Not lost it - left it. Can you lose your salvation? In the Greek, this is not apostacy which is an intentional turning away and rejection of Jesus Christ and the faith. This is an unintentional and unknowing walking away. I got busy, I got distracted. He did not say you left Jesus - He said you left how you loved Him. Left how you loved Him at first. Not that we don’t love Jesus - It is we don’t love Him with first love. Do you remember how you love Him when you first got saved? The reason we cannot love others like we are supposed to love others is because we do not love Jesus like we loved Him at first. Take away your candlestick - remove your influence in the region.

Get it Back

Remember Remember how you first loved him

Repent Repentance is for the Christian too. If you get in sin, you can’t stay there. You got to get out. You have to turn around like the prodigal and turn around and come back home. It is time for every prodigal to return. If you have a prodigal in your family, you have to believe every prodigal is returning home and we need to prepare for a party.

Return Do the first works again - not work hard to get back into relationship with Him. It means love him like you used to love him. Stop loving Jesus from a place of hurt and bitterness. Stop loving him like you have been disappointed. If God was good in the beginning, He is still good today. You may have gone through some stuff and ended up in a place you did not want to be in. But God is still good and He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Return to Him - If you do not get anything else right this year, say I am going to love Jesus like I once loved Him. Your walking away may have been a long journey. It may have taken years to get where you are but it only takes one moment to get back. Jesus can fix in one moment what it took you years to mess up.

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