My Dear Ephesus, I’ve Written You A Letter

well grab your Bibles in turn if you would to Revelation chapter 2 Revelation chapter 2 in our study and we're going to be looking at the first of the seven churches but before we do that markdown if you would the title of this message in fact they'll all be very very similar except for the address the address of the letter will end or I should say arrived at a different place at a different place both listen a different place 2000 years ago when this was given and a different place in our time right now in the world where we're at in our hearts the Word of God arrives the title will be this today my dear Ephesus I've written you a letter My dear Ephesus Jesus is saying I've written you a letter and so in our responsive reading that we're going to fudge on a little bit because we're not together right now by the way I can't wait until we get back together so we're going through this time of experiment until we see you again face to face I will read all the way through but you know what I got to tell you before you do that I think it's safe to say hear me out carefully I think it's safe to say that every pulpit all around the world on this Lord's Day on Sunday pastors are naturally delivering sermons of hope sermons of peace sermons to bring encouragement and I agree with that I'm gonna give a message that's going to be bringing hope and be bringing peace and bring an encouragement but I want to deliver it in a way that I believe the Lord has been speaking to my heart about and I trust and I pray that you will understand because it's God's chronology of speaking to his people very very important and so Revelation chapter 2 beginning to verse 1 John says because it was given to John he writes this down but he's speaking or writing on behalf of Christ to the Angel of the church at 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 to be liars and you have persevered and you have patience and you have labored for my name's sake and have not become weary verse four nevertheless I have this against you that you have left your first love remember therefore from where you have fallen repent do your first works or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place unless you repent verse six goes on to say but this you have that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans which I also hate says Jesus and he who has an ear let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches to him who overcomes I will give to him from the tree of life which is in the midst of the paradise of God let's pray father we ask you Lord now again that you'd speak to us out of your word with great power and great application and lord I pray that you would give me the ability to deliver a topical sermon one that it would address Lord your word rightly and speak to our hearts correctly so father we ask you now to inhabit our praises in your holy name we pray so obviously we're in the book of Revelation and the book of Revelation is exactly that the word apocalypse our apocalyptic is that it is the revealing of the unveiling if you had a great monument or maybe a great statue that was veiled the artist had finished his sculpture and before all the lights are turned on it before everything is seen publicly it is veiled maybe like a beautiful piece of art it's veiled until there is the unveiling and the book of Revelation is the unveiling of Jesus Christ that's what the book of Revelation is all about if you look carefully at the at least you should see at the top of your Bible there in the book of Revelation right above chapter 1 it says there the revelation of Jesus Christ not the revelation of st. John but the revelation of Jesus Christ the person of who Jesus Christ is so this book is featuring the central figure of the entire Bible itself and that is Jesus Christ you know it's interesting to me that there are some religions there are some groups that say you can't or you should not study the book of Revelation that it's a closed book my dear friends it's the exact opposite in fact if you take the time later today to read chapter 1 it will tell you that it is a book that is to be both read and listened to and to all those who read it and to those who hear it there's a special blessing that will be placed upon their lives no other book of the Bible promises such an amazing thing but I also believe that's exactly why Satan doesn't want people to read the book of Revelation I mean come on it's it's bad press for the devil it's bad press for him because it's this revelation of Jesus that teaches us the restoration of all things it teaches us all about the fact that Satan will be bound up that his attempt to overthrow the kingdom of God is sorted by Christ and that he in fact is bound for a thousand years and then eventually Satan himself is thrown into the lake of fire where he will reside it forever I can almost hear a clap I hope in some of your homes or offices or hotels wherever you're at that one day Satan will be bound all of the line all of the murder all of the brokenness all of the hurt all of the pain will go down into the pit where it belongs with the wicked one but this is an important thing this is a powerful thing to remember that Christ is a central figure but as we get ready to hear this study we have to remember this Jesus Christ in the revelation is the culmination of all of his ministry aspects see Jack what do you mean by that well Jesus Christ and the Gospels is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world John tells us we also know that according to the Bible that Jesus is our priest he's our priesthood the book of Hebrews tells us about his great everlasting priesthood that we are to confess to Christ the Bible says in the book of Hebrews and not to man by the way I review saw this headline news this last week but the Pope in Rome said that because you cannot get to a priest during this time of disease and pestilence on the earth that it's okay says the Pope to confess your sins directly to God I saw that article and I got a big smile and I went right over to Lisa my wife when I said look at this and she read it and we both looked at each other and smiled because that's exactly what the Bible says the Bible tells us to go directly to Christ Paul writes to Timothy and says that there's one mediator between man and God and that is the man Christ Jesus his everlasting priesthood you go too directly to Christ you don't go to a pastor you don't have to go to a priest the Bible says you can go too directly to Christ what a great comfort that is to the lonely and to the outcast and to those who are sensing a great need to pursue Christ today as I hope you are but not only those things but the fact of the matter is the Bible teaches us thirdly that Jesus Christ is judge that he's the judge Christ in the end will judge all things but as we look at this that's what we're seeing and I don't say this stuff said anybody by the way this message I'm giving its directly geared to the church now if you're not a Christian today by all means listen up and here's the fun part of it you can listen up so you know what to do regarding your Christian friend you can hold them accountable to what they heard today but I do hope if you're not a born-again believer that is a transformed individual if you if you've not transformed or experienced the transformation power of Christ I hope that changes in your life today but I want to talk about this very important message that Jesus gives to the church at Ephesus and the things that are going on in the world around us the question is this what is what is God saying to the church what's God speaking to the church in the world right now God is talking to every Christian to every pastor in the world right now and we need to be asking the question what is it and I personally believe that the events of this world right now God is using for a very specific purpose and I have no doubt in my mind whatsoever that God is speaking what we need to do what I need to do is tune in and listen but many things are certain I believe at this time I know many people don't feel like it but there are certain things and I believe that certain things are clear but to me nothing is more certain and more clear than the fact that God is speaking right now and the way of Mercy Mercy I'm just relating it to the fact that this whole thing about this virus it's a merciful thing you say pastor how can you say that when my mom died or my child died or whatever the case may be listen people die we're all gonna die by whatever means by the way scientists right now researchers are telling us right now that the current death rate in the world that is taking place does not set this this time outside the realm or the brackets of normal we're not hearing that on the news that the death rate of the flu season is at a normal yes it's an aggressive flu yes it's an aggressive disease this virus but the fact of the matter is if it wasn't corona virus it would be something else and next year there's going to be something else and the year after that there's going to be something else but my question to you is what are you doing to be prepared for days like this I believe God is speaking and mark it down please I believe that God is speaking in mercy because if you get sick you can start thinking thoughts toward God and you can make a decision about God and you can wonder about eternity that's what Christ wants you to think about but this morning all around the world there's a silence the wheels of Industry have silenced the sound of people buying and selling have been silenced there's no traffic here in Los Angeles it's very eerie and I'm not saying that to be funny you at any time of the day you can go out on our la freeways and drive at full speed no traffic it's very strange for us there's no baseball games which as Americans this is a big deal there's nobody going to the mall nobody's attending stadiums for various events I saw recently this week that the Vatican has been become silent as people are not allowed to gather you think about that for a moment the Vatican's empty the Vatican is silent and then I saw a clip regarding the Temple Mount in Jerusalem and it's absolutely silent nobody's there and then in Saudi Arabia the Muslims have the Kaaba and normally it's filled with tens of thousands or a million worshippers that walk around that black box of this lump and it's empty and there's a strange silence in fact Saudi Arabia announced on Tuesday that all the moss would no longer permit its worshipers to gather all around the world you say well pastor didn't our nation say the same thing isn't in the United States telling our worshippers not to gather you know what are our government has requested that people not gather and people are being obedient and people are being cautious about that but there was no official demand that it could have been it could didn't come down as strong as it could have been but even with that I want to challenge you the Vatican to silent the Temple Mount is silent the Kaaba is silent but don't think for a moment that the church is silent don't think for a moment that when you see an empty church with nobody in it that the church is somehow silent listen that building is not the church that's what's so awesome about being a Christian the building is not the church the people are the church and right now in your homes all around the world you're having Church the elements and this time have brought you to a place of having Church and to that I want to speak to you about we've all been brought under what they're calling because it sounds good rather than martial law they've called it sheltering in place and just again in the Southland in Southern California you can go down the streets of LA and there's an eeriness and there's an emptiness and there's a stillness of it all it's very very odd and very very strange but so we experience this interesting time and we ask the question what's going on what's happening what in the world is taking place in our culture today and what is going on in our hearts and our minds our attention has been seized and grabbed and God wants and he has always wanted his church to experience exactly what he is saying but you and I are prone to destruction and seemingly God has shut everything down and so I want to point out five things for you devotionally speaking this morning to consider when the Bible says my dear Ephesus I've written you a letter look at verse 1 in your Bible Revelation chapter 2 verse 1 revelation 2 one says to the angel of the church at Ephesus write these things says he who holds the seven stars in his right hand and who walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands the first thing I want you to write down friends is this when Jesus says I've written you a letter Ephesus it's so that we might listen to what he is saying will you write that down so listen to what I am saying to you I believe that at this hour God is using this moment to speak to us and he's saying to us listen to what I'm telling you pastor listen to what I'm telling you and I mean that sincerely when it says the angel he writes to the angel of the church who is at Ephesus the word angel is Anglos it's translated messenger it's most often for two thousand years believed to mean or reference the pastor of the church at Ephesus Ephesus a great city of Commerce two thousand years ago one of the biggest money-making locations of the Roman Empire it was the epicentre of the worship of Artemis or you know that deity as Diana and Diana was the chief goddess of that and patron saint or goddess I should say of the city of Ephesus the word Ephesus means interesting meaning the word Ephesus means desirable or delightful it's it's a word that means Pleasant it means by the way it can mean tolerant it can mean welcoming it was a tremendous city with a tremendous name and a tremendous history but the Bible here says that God is speaking via and to the power or the messenger of that church and he's challenging that church to consider several things these things says he who holds the seven stars so God has in his possession Jesus does these messengers every Church that is called by God and might I add might I put it this way just because somebody starts to church doesn't mean that's a church that's started by God there's a lot of churches out there that God is not welcome it it goes by the name of church or it might have the legal status of a church it might have the label of a church but there's no manifest evidence of God ever beginning that work or sustaining that work and giving that work vision here Jesus is saying I own the church that is that Ephesus and wherever you're at the Bible teaches us that God owns the church and that community those churches belong to him and that he holds the seven stars in his right hand the right hand in the Bible is referred to as the place of power strength and protection and that he walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands so we want to ask or remind ourselves what is it that God is saying he's announcing that it's a time of listening what am I saying to you is what the Lord is announcing to the church have you noticed that at a time like this many churches have stepped up and in the hour of trial and testing they've become as it were more glorious can I say more golden their light is brighter now I don't it's so amazing I'm speaking to you in a congregation that is empty as it were an auditorium that is black and yet there's more light going out now and that light is landing in more places now than ever before only God could have done that the golden lampstands the Bible says he walks through the midst of them if you ever get a chance to visit this church you can enter into the main entrance of the foyer and there's a 2,000 pound stone of uncut Jerusalem Rock and graft it into that great rock that great two thousand pound Boulder is a seven lamp stand the menorah it's found in the book of Genesis or Exodus I should say and then finally in the book of Revelation the seven lampstands not the Hanukkah light or the the nine branches the seven branches is biblical Jesus says that he walks through the midst of them he's walking through the midst of these seven churches seven churches that represent the church throughout all the last 2000 years and seven churches by nature and description represent any given Christian at any given time where your heart is at so it's a manifest observation Jesus has been holding his church and its leaders and he's gonna hold his church and his leaders until he comes from the church and when he walks through the midst of the lampstands he's speaking about fellowship so the question is what is he saying to you today as a Christian notice we've all been reduced as it were down to our own space no pun intended our own six-foot space and here in the United States were supposed to keep six feet away from each other somebody wrote me and asked me if that applied to their spouse I don't know if that was a letter of wishful thinking or an honest question but no it doesn't apply to your spouse or your your family assuming that you're healthy but what God is saying to you and your space matters and I would think that God is saying to us today that we need to get alone more we need to get silent we need to get quiet I think God is in the silence I think God is shouting in the silence the world has got a hush coming down here this morning none of our parks were filled with soccer players today no kids playing soccer I'm probably gonna get hate mail for this but that's a good thing have you noticed distractions have evaporated why because I believe God wants to speak and we need to ask the question of ourselves Christians we need to get on our knees and get alone and say Lord what is it that you're saying to me Lord if you were to examine my life as a church if you were to say my dear Mary my dear Bob I've written you a letter and this is what I'm saying to you so listen Christian God is speaking secondly I want to point out that in verses to the Bible here teaches us I believe that Jesus is saying my dear emphasis I'm I've written you a letter so look at what I'm showing you not only to listen to what I'm saying but to look at what I'm showing you he says in verse 2 I know your works this is beautiful of Jesus I know your I know your works your labor he's not listen he's not uninformed of your good works for Christ and your good deeds Christian thank God for them I thank God for the good works and the good deeds that those who know Christ do your patience the word patience here means the word that it's a patience that bears up under intense scrutiny great Waits you're patient you don't jump out of the frying pan as it were into the fire but you're hanging on and you're trusting Christ all around the world we're being called a hang on and Trust Christ but I gotta tell you an I don't want to divert from my notes but I got to tell you what springs up in my heart and I pray that this is going on in your nation wherever you may be and I make mention of it week but the things that are taking place regarding works and labors for good here in America is so impressive the love of people the care of people I've not seen in a long time and just this week we heard that in an area of Texas where the hospital is under great quarantine and all of the nurses and all of the doctors cannot go home they've all been exposed that people began to show up in the parking lot and the streets around that Hospital and they turned on their emergency flashers on their vehicles all of them and they began by sending that message and it was made known what are you guys doing oh we're doing this sending a message that windows who look out the window of the hospital see our flashers blinking on our cars they know we are praying for them jesus said let your light so shine before men that when they see your what good works that they might glorify your father which is in heaven what an amazing thing what an amazing simple thing that is that people would pull up before a police station or a hospital and just turn on the blinkers anytime day or night to say I'm praying for you I've got to keep my distance I cannot talk to you I can't I get close to you but I'm praying for you and I would submit to you that that is a tremendous power and a closeness that transcends any physical closeness look at what I'm showing you God is saying in neighborhoods and towns and cities and listen I want to read I want to give this and I have no authority but but what Christ might give me we need to stop complaining we need to stop griping I'm watching the mayor of New York City just complain and complain and complain this is not an hour of complaining this is an hour to give hope and to give peace and to give encouragement this is the time when we pull together and stop devouring each other as political or as some political players are doing we should be ashamed of ourselves we need to stop and look and see what God is showing us he says I know this he says that you cannot bear those who are evil so listen as a Christian and as a church the church at Ephesus was right on they they stood against evil and you have tested those who say they are apostles and are not you what that means it means that they had the ability to flush out fake teachers sounds like 2nd Peter they had the ability given by God because they knew the Bible imagine remember this - they had of fragments or parts of what we call today the New Testament they had all of the Old Testament but that was enough the book of Revelation that we're looking at here was written in the year 95 80 and there's there were previous books of the New Testament available to the church and they're reading them and here Jesus commends the church at Ephesus you know evil when you see it and you know false teachers when you see them and that's a great thing that that's that's a great compliment you can't say that much today but they did and they were doing it and he says you have found them to be liars speaking about the doctrine of God God's Bible this word of God just sifts through our mind and our mouths and our lives and flushes out what's evil this book is true the Bible says all men are liars ladies don't think you're off the hook the Bible says all men it means that all of mankind are liars we have an overwhelming propensity to lie because we're fallen creatures and even the Christian we might go on a Christian fishing trip on a Christian boat with a bunch of Christians and catch a fish by the time we get home that six-inch minnow by the time we get home we tell our wife nothing was six feet there's something in us and the Bible flushes that out the book of James chapter 1 verse 22 says but be doers of the word and not hearers only so you don't want to become a theologian that stays in their office you want to become a theologian that becomes a disciple this is very important it does no one any good if you just sit indoors and study the Bible there's a lot of armchair theologians today with the birth of the internet everybody has become a theological expert I laughs it's hilarious at the critics of the church today but they never leave their basement they never bury anybody then they're never there when someone passes from this world of the next they're never there to separate the family that's in a feud they don't know what it is they study and they talk and according to God that is very Nicolay attend Nicolay attend meaning that is very very academic you get knowledge but without use of it you'll wind up becoming heady thinking highly of yourself and you become listen impractical the worst thing that a church can become is impractical it's a tragedy and then comes along a virus and many churches in the world have now stepped into a beautiful glory of humbling themselves and serving one another serving unbelievers serving those who hate us and we love it because it's exactly what Jesus would do and so James goes on to say but be doers of the word and not hearers only deceiving yourselves for if anyone is a hear of the word and not a doer he is like a man observing this natural face in a mirror for he observes himself but goes away and immediately forgets what kind of man he was boys in that true life is sometimes merciful so you know when you're young you're beautiful now you got smooth skin and you know whatever attributes you enjoy now or some of us once had but you look in a mirror you know when you look at a mirror if you if you look at a mirror long enough to just you know dust off your hair and take off that works fine until you have more miles behind you as a believer or the years catch up to you and you look in a mirror and you see all of the signs of pain or weather or time or the ravages of what sin does to the entire world and we age and we grow older and such as life in this world until Christ comes but we observe our face in a mirror and I I find it funny that sometimes I get the boldness to look at you know those magnifying mirrors they usually round they don't have to be but one side is normal and then one sides radically magnified I look at one side and that's normal but listen because my eyesight's not as good as it was I look at the normal mirror and I go alright good to go and then if just out of curiosity I flip it around and now it's all magnified and I can see everything about my face and it's like what in the world I didn't know hair grows there I didn't know that I had that going on what is that and you look into the mirror and you see the truth of who you are and the Bible here tells us in the book of James that we need to look into the mirror and not forget and if we're all honest with ourselves we need to look in that mirror and we need to confess things like I've not been very patient this week boy with all that's going on in our world around us I look in the mirror and I think I'm starting to detect worry marks or signs of fretting or a fear or something like that but everywhere you look by the way you find people questioning but if they would just look into the Word of God and to the church I'm saying that I believe Christ is saying to us I'm writing you a letter and I'm asking you to look and for you to see what I'm showing you God says I want to show you new things in your life and for your life but I believe that God is doing these things in mercy I really do tremendous mercy fourth thing is this that's the fourth thing right what did we look at number one was listening to what I'm saying to you second is to look at what I'm showing you I'm sorry third thing the third thing is lean into what I'm doing in you number three number three God writes to Ephesus he writes to you and me and I think God is saying that he wants you and I to lean into what he's doing it says in verse 3 and you have persevered these are all great things and have patience interesting a second time he's mentioned that and have labored for my name's sake second time he's mentioned labored as well but listen you you've had patience and you've labored for my name's sake and have not be wearing all of these things are beautiful attributes beautiful traits for sure mark this down once again the book of James James 1 verse 2 says my brethren brothers and sisters in Christ counted all joy that means take the truth of the Bible and look at the the danger and the uncertainty of the moment that you are seemingly in do the math and come to this conclusion all joy should be the answer when you fall into various trials that's where all of us are at right now knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience that's what you and I are going through right now right now that's a merciful act of God praise the Lord I want to encourage you right now with that we're going through a fiery trial and he goes on to tell us knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience but let patience have it's perfect work that you may be complete or perfect lacking nothing God has that work in our lives and I have a question for you right now regarding that what is God doing in your life during these days of Mercy what's he saying how has he been displaying himself to you have you been picking up your Bible more we know this for a fact by the way there are various websites various Christian researchers that are telling you that can tell you that they've had world record amounts of downloads of their Bible apps there's been more Bibles downloaded onto their devices or Christian book sales of Bibles have skyrocketed around the world and that awesome man I don't mean to offend anybody out there that's of some other religion but I got to tell you man when the going gets tough people go to the Bible think about why it's because the God of the Bible speaks and he's speaking to us he's speaking to you and the beautiful thing about all of this is the fact that what God is doing right now we're too lean into that say what do you mean lean into that what does that mean whatever what I mean by lean in I mean by not resisting what God is doing now I'm gonna I'll put it to you one way and then I'll segue to something that's personal when we lean in that is we embrace or we say to God I want to get everything out of this that you are trying to instruct in me church at Ephesus Jesus was saying I'm judging you he has that authority I'm judging you and this is the good and a moment I'm gonna point out the not good but this is what I want you to do with what I'm saying to you I want you to embrace it or we would say in Christianity to lean into it to press into it not to resist to resist this to be stubborn to resist this to push back note you stand then you say God the shows are getting bare or we're all sick or we're out of money and God I'm gonna go with trusting you you know everything God and we cry out to you and you press into his promises endless and you lean into the situation number four is that we learn Jesus would say my dear emphasis I've written you a letter so learn what it is I'm teaching you verses 4 and 5 nevertheless I have this against you now this is judged Jesus Jesus the judge you have left your first love remember therefore from where you have fallen repent notice and do the first works or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand not plural by the way lampstand singular there's seven Ephesus get what I'm teaching you Christian get what you're hearing from God and what he's showing you lean into it learn from this or else I'll have to come along and set you aside as a witness you'll be unusable you'll be not a tool in my hand and then to be a tragedy what is it that I'm teaching you what a tremendous word this is in your Bibles market look at it carefully you might want to highlight verse four tells us nevertheless I have this against you this is stressing the fact that Jesus Christ hallelujah is the judge of his own church it's not a committee it's not a board it's not a pastor it's Jesus I don't I don't say this to offend any church leader but all of us who are in leadership regarding his church are at best sheepdogs he's the Shepherd he's the one that's in control and he's the one that is the authority to judge us and in His mercy he judges and we want to hear and we want to know we want to learn we want to lean into what he is saying and this is what he's announcing that we have left our first love that's the shout that I pray I can make to the church in America today is that right now we have waked awakened to the fact that we have left our first love we have become more passionate about things and about stuff than about sitting alone with Jesus and learning from him we've spent more time gleaning from the internet or listening to sermons than we have sat and waited to hear from the Holy Spirit of God the word listen mark it down the word left to have left your first love the word means to neglect anyone who has ever been or is in love with someone else it's easy to neglect when we get preoccupied it means to leave alone and there's a there's a that is implied here that it's it's not a deliberate I'm leaving you oh no no it's not a vacating of everything it implies by the way if you were to stick a microphone in the face of the pastor at the church at Ephesus and you had asked that pastor do you love Jesus that pastor would say we love Jesus yes we do we love Jesus how about you and just as he points that finger it's God's saying to him but have you stopped long enough when was the last time you laboured through a sermon that you didn't get downloaded from the internet or you didn't get off of some other source but I gave a Teel he warns the pastors and what about the Christians what about me what about you have we left our first love when when Jesus was our all-in-all that word left also means this it means to drift away slowly it means to slip away this is one of the dangers of love if it's not maintained it can slip away the word can also be translated to permit that is in the negative to tolerate that's in the negative to tolerate and to permit that that's which breaks or goes about to break our love connection this convicts me sorely because it's almost too painful you look in the mirror and you ask the Lord Lord in my own life have I left you as my first love have I left you in any way Lord and God demands by the way a singularity of his love the Song of Solomon chapter 8 verse 6 Song of Solomon chapter 8 begins in verse 6 and it says set me as a seal upon your heart as a seal upon your arm for love is strong as death jealousy is fierce as the grave it's flashes are flashes of fire the very flame of the Lord many waters cannot quench love neither can floods drown it if a man offered for love all the wealth of his house he would be utterly despised the love of God the intimacy of God at a time like this church all around the world is it possible that God is using this virus to get us to just simply have distractions removed from us how long will that last nobody knows what if God were to say that I'm the judge of all the earth and I'm calling out not to the unbeliever but to the believer and I'm calling out to say to you you've left your first love there was a day when you were crazy about me you wouldn't stop talking about me you read everything about me you would sit and you'd read the Gospels you would read my scriptures you would start in Genesis and you would end in the book of Revelation and you were in love with me and you sang in your crazy silly little voice you would sing to me songs you would walk or do whatever you were doing and you would pause and say thank you Jesus for just being mine when was the last time is that love for Jesus fierce it can be again it needs to be it better get fierce again that's what he's saying to us is it fierce is it jealous for him you know God's jealous for us his love is jealous for us in a very powerful way and then the word first left your first as your first love listen to this you're gonna recognize this immediately first is the word Pro tous in Greek it's where we get the word prototype it means the first the best of the one the one there is listen I'll keep this surface level because there may be young ears in the audience but this word left your first love the word in in a common sense would mean you slipped away from the one that you gave yourself away to first who was it that had you first who was it that you gave yourself to first all of the emotions were there all of the passion all of the commitment and you gave yourself over fully body soul and spirit to be in love and the Bible warns us here that we've left that first love jeremiah chapter 2 verse 1 Jeremiah 2 1 says moreover the word of the Lord came to me saying go and cry into the hearing of Jerusalem and say thus says the Lord I remember you Wow the kindness of your youth this is the Lord speaking to Jerusalem the love of your betrothal the love of the love of our engagement God is saying when you went after me in the wilderness in a land not sown what does that mean land not sown when you are so crazy in love with me you pursued me you would follow me anywhere and and you would listen you and I would meet in places that were far removed from everything else just to be alone with each other what a beautiful but painful cry that God laments love cannot survive alone and Christian I speak to us we need to love him now more than ever we need to check our hearts on this the first step of seven visits of the seven churches we need to start with where God starts and he says you've left your first love in this hour of Mercy this hour of divine opportunity still some are being distracted even now and God is saying to you he's shouting to you to turn to him to turn back to him we're so easily distracted I'm preaching and I'm teaching did the the very elements of this nature where there's nobody here I don't like it you don't like it we want to get together but there's a there's a preaching aspect of this rather than the teaching though teaching is going on I like the classroom setting but the temptation to be distracted is brutal that's the number one thing I was in trouble in going to school all my life every year my parents would get a note from my teachers Jack keeps looking out the window Jack is easily distracted and I remember in the sixth grade miss Dobson took my chair in my table and took it out away from all the other students and put my back to the window and you know what that did to me absolutely nothing I just kept looking over my shoulder until I got in big trouble those of us who are easily distracted why end up getting in big trouble we need to focus again on our love to stare at Jesus and our love and then he says to remember remember therefore from where you have fallen remember when was it that you were crazy about Jesus without apology go back there remember what you were doing remember where that was and when that was and do those things again and doing those things again implies repentance we need to repent and here's the word remember earlier in the opening I said many pastors around the world are teaching sermons today about hope and about peace and about encouragement with all due respect you can't hear a message of hope I'm only talking about the Christian right now you can't hear a message of hope you cannot hear a message of peace you cannot hear a message of encouragement according to Jesus until you repent this is the first word this is the word that the gospel begins with repent and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved repentance Metanoia change your mind and that applies even to the believer to get back he says or else I will come quickly and remove your candlestick your light your illumination from its place unless you repent I don't have much time I have to hurry but I don't want to miss this profound bit of history and just to keep myself from being distracted I'm going to read it in the history of England in the 1600s specifically there was what was known as the great ejection it was the systematic silencing of the pastors who refused to nationalize their churches under the king 2,000 English pastors were silenced they were the most effective passionate Bible teaching pastors they weren't listening I'm not kidding listen up everybody they were ordered by the realm by the king by the crown listen to and I quote shut up close quote - shut up a sixteenth century term meaning to shut the mouth it means to board it up it means to cease the words or to stop speaking that the crown of England said to two thousand English pastors shut up about the gospel stop preaching the Bible one of those precursors to those wonderful leaders was a man by the name of William Tyndale you may have a Bible that is published by Tyndale and it's it bears his name that's William Tyndale 1536 in London England listen to this he said I called God to record against the day we shall appear before our Lord Jesus that I never altered one syllable of God's word against my conscience nor would do this day if all that is in earth whether it be honor pleasure or riches might be given to me today more than ever the church and the Christian must not compromise because our love for God would not allow it and those 2,000 English pastors were shut up from public speaking by order of the realm and I'm going to give you a one guess as to what those 2,000 pastors did did they shut up did they have their mouths boarded up not one moment the edict was decreed they preached anyway some of them were driven out of the church so they preached in the streets they preached them the open air they preached in the fields and they called people back to repentance and they preached against a godless nation and a godless King we need to go back into our first works when we were reckless with our own lives and we didn't care what people thought and we weren't swayed by opinions and we listen we didn't fear even death because Jesus that life and love that he has given us stronger than the grave it's more powerful than the arm and so we need to repent oh I'm by the way historians and sociologists tell us that from the time of the great ejection the realm of England just descended down down down it went from one plague after the next what listen plague and one economic failure after the next to the losing of one battle after the next until the crown of England which once spanned the world began to diminish England went after its pastures England silenced its preaching and but for a few candles that were blowing in that wind the likes of which George Whitfield and Charles Spurgeon for a moment there was a flicker of light but England has to this day continued to decline and today by and large the churches of England are empty but there's a remnant that's not silent the building may be empty but God is awakening this people in England and he's awakening his people in Spain and right now God is awakening his people in Iran and then fifth and finally we end my dear Ephesus I write or I've written you this letter so let what I'm working on be done just let me go to work God let me work should be our prayer because God wants to work in us he says in verses 6 & 7 but this you have that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans those are the religious leaders who flex their spiritual muscle as it were which is really carnal they lorded their authority over people they controlled people Niko is the people or the Lord's and lay a key are the people Nicola attends is the lords over the people and Jesus says I hate that in that awesome does that give you it gives me a rush first of all I've never assumed any authority whatsoever and now and by God's grace I'll be the last one to receive any authority if he gives me any very well but there are those who love it they've got to have it their names got to be out front there they've got to have all of these things behind their name they've got to have that seat they've got to have that thing they've got to have that recognition and they've got to have that area of respectability and my name means everything I'm I'm very very proud of my reputation oh gods just stick it in your ear God says get over yourself you're a legend in your own mind and only your mind so forget about it you need to repent you need to love God first because we don't have a reputation we are nobodies without him and God says I hate those that rule over people like that verse 7 he who has an ear to hear let him hear what the Spirit the Holy Spirit is saying to the church and to him who overcomes I will give to eat of the Tree of Life that's awesome and in the midst of that is in the midst of the paradise of God let God work you want to know why coronavirus or not if your trust in Jesus Christ you're going to heaven did you know that hey listen I'm gonna end right here with some verses get ready gonna be a bunch of them I'm gonna go fast but I want to give you these and this is your homework for the rest of the week before I do I want you to know if you if you don't know this this thing's gone on long enough now a lot of research around the clock and this weekend the news even this morning scientists are arguing with each other now well this is how you can contract it this is how you are safe from it this is what it is this is what it isn't this is what we'll do to you this is what it will not do to you this is who it attacks and this is what it does this is when it started no this is when it started all conflicting and there's some scientists forgive me I forget where but it's a big deal it's a big place he said that at the current analysis of the flu season for 2019 and 2020 the winter it's not exceptional he said what are you talking about we're hiding in our houses I'm just telling you that they are now debating how long this thing has been with us I'm gonna confess something to you I had the worst flu I ever had in my life in December near Christmas time four days huge fever out of my mind fever slight dry cough body aches worst flu I've had in 20 years there's no wave for me to be tested to see if I had coronavirus but the more and more people I talk to you they say the exact same thing it just so happens that all those symptoms I add or all the symptoms that are being published right now on the web what's my point my point is this God's got this no matter what people say they were out there talking about you and I have been tempted to worry by the word of man rather than staying calm upon the Word of God so get ready because here comes your anti Corona device prescription Joshua chapter 1 beginning to verse 6 be strong and of good courage for to this people you shall divide as inheritance the land which I swore to your father's to give them only be strong and very courageous that you may observe to do according to all the law which Moses my servant commanded you do not turn from it to the right or to the left in other words keep yourself in the word that you may prosper wherever you go this book of the law shall not depart out of your mouth but you shall meditate on it day and night and you shall observe to do according to all that is written in it all that is written in it I've written you a letter chino hills' i've written you a letter chicago i've written a letter to you frankfurt i've written it that you may make your way prosperous and that you may have good success have I not commanded you be strong and of a good courage do not be afraid do not be dismayed for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go next deuteronomy 31:6 deuteronomy 31:6 jesus' favorite book he quoted more deuteronomy than any other book of the Bible be strong and of good courage do not fear do not be afraid of them for the Lord your God he is the one who goes with you he will not leave you nor forsake you Isaiah 43 verse 2 we're almost done but when you pass through the waters I will be with you and through the rivers they shall not overflow you when you walk through the fire you shall not be burned nor shall any flame scorch you he suggests this doesn't exactly apply to the virus yeah it does perfectly because for the Christian even if it takes our life it can't take our life Psalm 23 verse 4 yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil for you are with me your rod and your staff they comfort me John 16:33 these things I have spoken to you that in me you may have peace in the world you will have difficulty or tribulation but be of good cheer I've overcome the world I say 4110 fear not for I am with you do not be dismayed don't be undone for I am your God I will strengthen you yes I will uphold you I will uphold you with my righteous right hand says God final passage first John 5 beginning in verse 11 and this is the testimony that God has given us eternal life and this life is in his son he who has the son has life listen oh and he who does not have the son does not have life these things I have written to you who believe in the name of the son of God in the name of the son of God do you know his name that you may know that you are that you have eternal life and that you may continue to believe in the name of the only Son of God or the definite article son of God means there's not another one coming my dear friend as we end right now I want you to pray with me in closing no matter who you might be believer unbeliever listen up we're gonna pray right now and you can own this prayer or you can reject it but at this hour before you can have his hope as a person church or nation before we can have his peace before we can have his encouragement we must repent as a people as a church and as a nation repentance means that we are brutally sorry to God for what we've done in our line in our sin let's pray let's just quiet down in our homes let's quiet our hearts kids bow your heads mom and dad bow your head young married couple bow your head hardened stiff necked atheist why are you listening right now because God wants you to bow your head and own this dear Lord God in the name of Jesus Christ I come to you by the authority of the son of God and I ask you Father to hear my confession that I receive this letter written to me and I want to confess to you God that I've left my first love I've had so many other things pull me away money sex demands pressure tension sports fashion pleasure I've been distracted you have been somewhere Jesus on a list of mine and you've cleared my calendar now Almighty God and I find myself this morning only with Jesus my family may be with me right now or my friends or I might be alone in this room but the fact of the matter is I do find myself now calling out to Jesus considering Jesus and my friend I pray that you would pray to accept Christ if you're not a believer today that you'd say Christ I believe you died for me on the cross rose again from the dead as the Bible says I don't understand it all but I believe your word my hearts being pricked and prompted to believe you and God I just opened up my life to you and I pray that you'd come in and do whatever you do when you save someone because I'm receiving you now and I understand this prayer doesn't do magic upon me I'm just telling you God that right now according to Romans chapter or excuse me according to John chapter 1 verse 12 I'm receiving you and to the believer is all of us we rededicate our lives to you Lord in this quiet hour in the silence of this moment I recommit my love I ask you Almighty God we stoped the flames of first love passion in my heart for you O God prompt us to meet you early in the morning and to talk to you upon our pillow at night Lord we renew now the conversation of the day being wrapped around you we give you these things we pray Almighty God for the healing of our nation's we pray in the name of Jesus Christ as city county state and nation repents of their sins that we begin to see an absolute instantaneous stop of this plague of this virus and Lord in one moment technically you can even lose use this message right now to go around the world in an hour and this entire play could stop in an hour and we ask you Father to heal and to save those that are sick and those that are affected by this thanks for watching the real-life YouTube channel we love bringing you content that will help you grow in your relationship with Jesus Christ you can subscribe to this channel so that you don't miss one single video or live stream and you can share it with friends and family if you'd like to support this ministry by helping us reach others by taking the gospel and the teaching around the world you can do so by clicking the give Now button so thanks again for watching and God bless [Music]

Channel: Real Life with Jack Hibbs

Views: 71,932

Rating: 4.9184313 out of 5

Keywords: letters to the 7 churches, the church of ephesus, revelation song, the book of revelation, end times prophecy, amir tsarfati update, jack hibbs live, jack hibbs rapture, real life with jack hibbs, letters to the 7 churches sermons, letters to the 7 churches audio books, seven churches

Id: bhqdxvrMgY4

Length: 70min 43sec (4243 seconds)

Published: Sun Mar 29 2020