Return to Christ
Notes
Transcript
Revelation 2:1-7
Revelation 2:1-7
The late Francis Schaeffer once observed that “the meaning of the word Christian has been reduced to practically nothing.… Because the word Christian as a symbol has been made to mean so little, it has come to mean everything and nothing” (The Mark of the Christian [Downers Grove, Ill: InterVarsity, 1970], 11). The term Christian in contemporary usage can mean anyone who is not Jewish, anyone who lives in a “Christian” nation (as opposed, for example, to a Buddhist or an Islamic one), or anyone who claims any kind of allegiance to Jesus Christ. The term evangelical is following the same trend toward imprecision.
MacArthur, John F., Jr. 1999. Revelation 1–11. MacArthur New Testament Commentary. Chicago: Moody Press.
John is instructed to write a letter to the messenger of the Church of Ephesus. The word angel comes from the Greek word “angelos;” it means “messenger.” I believe it has been incorrectly translated here. Jesus was not addressing a supernatural being, but that person in each community who represented the congregation before God; he was speaking to a human messenger. This has to be understood within the structure of synagogue worship out of which the early church emerged. In the synagogue, different roles were assigned to different members of the community for varying periods of time. One of the roles was to lead the congregation in prayer and to represent the community before God (Robert Mollohand).
The messages to the seven churches, which occupy the focus of ch. 2 and 3, have received the most intense homiletical attention. Pastors in every age of the church seem to have recognized the value of this congregational counsel. There is a universal quality to the messages contained in these letters. First, almost any church- even contemporary congregation-has more in common with one of these historical congregations. Even in the local congregation one can find individuals who portray one of these congregations.
Some theologians hold to a theory that these seven congregations have been the church in a period of church ages. There is very little evidence to command such a view. I do believe that today every church falls into one of these categories. I will explain that the last church is not Christian. It is an oxymoron to say you are a “lukewarm Christian!”
Ephesus was the largest of the churches and all other six congregations were started by missionaries from the Church of Ephesus. There are five actions for a believer to return to their first love, Christ. The first is to write His word on your heart. The second action is to remember whose you are. The third action is to repent from your sins. The fourth action is to do as you did when you first fell in love with Christ. The last action is to hear His voice again.
Write:
Write:
When I was a child we would have to write letters to our grandparents. It was a daunting task for me to sit still long enough to write these letters. My mother was an English major and would correspond with a stern tone. I would write two sentences and she would make me write them correctly and add to them. I thank my mother for commanding me to write and to write correctly. It has helped me with my writing even today. We are commanded to write His words in our heart; (Deuteronomy 11:18; Jeremiah 15:6; Psalm 119:11; Proverbs 3:3).
“You shall therefore impress these words of mine on your heart and on your soul; and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontals on your forehead.
“You who have forsaken Me,” declares the Lord, “You keep going backward. So I will stretch out My hand against you and destroy you; I am tired of relenting!
Your word I have treasured in my heart, That I may not sin against You.
Do not let kindness and truth leave you; Bind them around your neck, Write them on the tablet of your heart.
Jesus is telling the messenger to write these words for Ephesus to bring them back to the Words in their heart! Remember what Jesus told Satan when he was being tempted to turn the rocks into bread (Matthew 4:4)? You can do everything legally right and still be wrong in the sight of Christ. If we are not in love with Him and chasing Him we are not right. The Pharisees and Scribes had the law correct but still missed what was really written was His Desire for GRACE! Without our hearts being His and our Love chasing Him we become legalistic. To have the action of returning to Him, we must remember Whose we are.
But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.’ ”
Remember:
Remember:
On vacation I remembered my first love was Him. I also remembered the love I share with my wife is from Him. I remember how He saved me and bought me with His precious blood. I also remembered that He called me to pastor and if He called me to it, He would be the One who gets me through it. When was the last time you remembered “Whose you are?” I want to give you the acronym “BUSY!” We have become so BUSY with life that we have lost our first Love. We have become so BUSY doing Church that we are missing out on our First Love. We are so BUSY working to try to get ahead that we lost our First Love. What is “BUSY?”
It stands for this: Being Under Satan Yoke! Jesus told us what with the yoke we carry? Matthew 11:29; Remember? His yoke is gentle and not burdensome. Proverbs 6:21, Solomon knew that His yoke is easy. Jeremiah prophesied that the Lord would remove the yoke of Satan. If we are His, Satan cannot put the yoke on you unless you allow it. Remember what it felt like when you surrendered? How light our lives became. To remember we need to repent!
“Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
Bind them continually on your heart; Tie them around your neck.
Repent:
Repent:
Everyone of these actions are a command that Christ instructed the Ephesians. They are also commands for us. Repent of our sins, turn away from Satan and back to Christ. Strip the PRIDE out of your life, so we can strip PRIDE out of this country and world. Somebody asked why the Churches are hell-bent on the Pride community. Because it is PRIDE that causes us to fall away from Christ. We have taken what God has given us and threw it in His face.
When we sin we are being prideful. When was the last time you repented? Peter’s first message was for them to repent (Acts 3:19.) Ezekiel prophesied for Israel to turn and repent (Ezekiel 18:30.) John the Baptist told everyone to “Repent” (Matthew 3:2.) Jesus instructed everyone to ‘repent’ Matthew 4:17. Repent is turning from sin and turning to Christ. The action of doing this and you will do as you did when you fell in love with Him.
“Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord;
“Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, each according to his conduct,” declares the Lord God. “Repent and turn away from all your transgressions, so that iniquity may not become a stumbling block to you.
“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
From that time Jesus began to preach and say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
Do:
Do:
I love this word. It is an action imperative verb “Poieo.” It means to do, act, to carry out.” Hebrews 10:32 tells us to remember. We need to do the things we did at first when we were in love with Christ. We need to do these deeds. If we truly love Christ, nothing, I mean absolutely nothing can come before Him. We also need to do this to one another. The way we treat people shows the Love we have for Him.
But remember the former days, when, after being enlightened, you endured a great conflict of sufferings,
When we were first saved, we treated everyone with love. But BUSY comes into our lives and robs us of our joy in Him and in each other. We need to take action and DO the things to get back to when we first loved Him. You do this by hearing His voice.
Hear:
Hear:
BUSY causes us to not hear Him. The noise of PRIDE in our lives drowns out His voice. Selfishness causes us to ignore His voice. This hurts our relationship with Him. We start putting ourselves first and not Him. This hurts our relationships with each other. We care more about our comfort, materials, desires, and future more so than what He has for us and what our brothers and sisters need.
Jesus has always said for us to hear Him. Matthew 11:15. Isaiah told the Israelites to hear the voice, Isaiah 40:3. John the Baptist instructed everyone again like Isaiah, Mark 1:3. Jesus explained to them He was the voice calling in the wilderness. He is calling us to come back to Him, our first Love!
“He who has ears to hear, let him hear.
A voice is calling, “Clear the way for the Lord in the wilderness; Make smooth in the desert a highway for our God.
The voice of one crying in the wilderness, ‘Make ready the way of the Lord, Make His paths straight.’ ”
How many of you have lost the love for Him, I am asking, no I am pleading with you to come down here and cry out to Him.
Write His love on your heart. Remember you are His. Repent of the Pride in your life. Do the things you did when you first fell in love with Him. And Hear his Voice calling out to you.
