Outlines the structure of the Book of Revelation, dividing it into three parts: the things John has seen, the things that are, and the things that will be hereafter, as stated in Revelation 1:19. It then focuses on the first letter to the church in Ephesus (Revelation 2:1-7), commending their works, labor, patience, discernment of false apostles, and hatred of the Nicolaitans' deeds. However, the central critique is their abandonment of their first love for Christ, urging them to remember their former devotion, repent, and return to their initial works, or face the removal of their lampstand.
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Well, we thank you again for coming. Turn in your Bible, if you will, to chapter one in the book of Revelation. The last book of the Bible, the book of the end. We would like to read for our lesson reading, beginning at verse nineteen. Going down into chapter two from verses one through seven, reading the first letter that was given by the Lord Jesus to the church of Ephesus. Chapter one. and your lesson will be particularly on page three of your lesson book or lesson sheet. Writing by the Spirit, John tells in verse nineteen the words of the Lord Jesus, giving in command, Write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter.
The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand. and the seven golden candlesticks or lampstands. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven candlesticks or lampstands, which thou sawest are the seven churches. Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus right, these things there he that hath or holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks. I know thy worth, and thy labor, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil.
And thou hast tried them, which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast proved them liars. And hath borne, and hath patience, and for my name's sake, hath labored, and hath not fainted. Nevertheless, I ask somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. Remember, therefore, from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first work. Or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy last hand or handle stick out of its place, except thou repent.
But this thou hast, that thou hast, that thou hast the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says unto the churches, to him that overcometh, will I give to ease of the tree of life which is in the midst of the paradise of God. May God bless the reading and the hearing of this portion from his precious and holy words. May I point out from verse nineteen immediately that God by the Spirit and through the lips of the Lord Jesus to his servant John gives to us an outline of the book of the Revelation in three great divisions, very clearly, very simply, but completely.
May I read the words of verse nineteen? We have known the division that John saw, the vision of the Son of Man, in all the judicial glory of his person as we saw it in its detail last week. and part of the week before. But now we find the commission that John has given in verse nineteen. Write, and then note there are three particular portions of the book referred to. First what he had already seen. Write the things which thou hast seen. And that includes the preceding vision, the vision of the Son of Man, which we have already covered by God's help.
and John was commanded to write it, that he did. Then the second division of the book, the Lord Jesus mentions in the next statement, And the things which are. Now we shall cover, God willing, that particular section of the Word of God in this book by chapters two and three. And we shall see especially as we enter into the study of the seven churches that it is the history of the church upon the earth during the absence of the Lord Jesus from the beginning of the early days of the church to the coming again of the Lord Jesus for his church and his bride.
The things that are. The period of time which is covered by church history, and of that we shall speak more in detail later. But the third great division begins in chapter four, and from chapter four and onwards, You've got the things which shall be hereafter. Will you go with me to chapter four for just a moment, please? And note the opening of verse one. And I want you to recognize how clearly this very first verse of chapter four indicates the commencement of the last great division, the things that were yet to be. After this, I looked and behold, a door was opened in heaven.
And the first voice which I heard was, as it were, of a trumpet talking with me and saying, Come up here, and note, I will show thee the thing which must be or shall be hereafter. And there you can recognize very clearly from the book. You know, one of the best books that explains the Bible is the Bible. You know, we're so... taken up with many other books that men have written oftentimes, and they're very helpful, many of them without question. But after all, well, I think of an incident that I've read concerning a dear old black creature down in the south many years ago in the town where we live, and he was a godly old man, and one of the preachers in the town enjoyed fellowship with his old brother, and he thought he would help him.
And he bought him a nice commentary of the Bible. And then many times later, sometime later, he asked him, he said, Brother, how you're enjoying that commentary? Well, he said, Do you know? I find that my Bible has a lot to say about that commentary. Well, he was going in the right direction, wasn't he? And thus we can realize that, see. And soon you've got in the... Now, please let me save it and emphasize it. I want to emphasize it specially. From that nineteenth verse of chapter one, you've got the outline of the book of the Revelation. Don't let anybody take it away from you.
You've got the past vision that John had seen, the vision of the Son of Man as we thought. And then you've got in chapters two and three as we come into them today... the revelation of the history, the prophetic as one of the spiritual history of the church upon the earth between the early days of the apostle and the coming again of the Lord Jesus. And then when you come, now may I point this out to you, don't forget when you get to chapter four, John was taken up to heaven. And I want to tell you frankly, before the events of chapter four begin and on through the rest of the room, I'm going to be in heaven. And if you don't want to go there, you can stay here. But I'm sure you want to be there too.
And if you're saved, you will be. Because in chapter heaven, in chapter four, we shall see that the church will be in heaven looking down on what's coming upon the earth. And I want to tell you bluntly and gratefully, I'm glad when the tribulation period comes, that great tribulation, I won't be looking up, watching what's coming down. I'll be up there watching what's going on. And have me now, then. Oh, the joy of realizing it. John once told, come up here, then. You've got the thought of the... And may I say this, don't look for the rapture in the book of the Revelation. You've got it elsewhere.
And John, when he wrote, was not writing concerning the rapture of the church, but the coming kingdom and the events that will introduce this in the book of Revelation and even the eternal things that are yet to come. So let me please repeat. the outline of the book of the Revelation and one of the greatest joys of Bible study to my heart and mind is the enjoyment of knowing a good outline and seeing the perspective of the book as a whole and you've got it in chapter one and verse nineteen the things thou hast seen the things which are and the things which will be after the things that are now go back to the chapter one then let me read verse twenty Very important verse as we begin our study in chapter two.
The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my hand. Will you know verse sixteen if you don't mind going back? In the vision of Christ that John was given, he saw that he had in his right hand seven stars. Now note that. Now here's an explanation. John is given the explanation of those seven stars and they're important. in regard to the interpretation of the seven letters. The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden lampstands. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands which thou sawest are the seven churches.
Now let me reflect with you again upon these words and the meaning of them in relation to the song and in relation to the candles mixed all that sense. John singing the Lord Jesus. Now I hope you may remember, but you may not, and I do thank God to me, repetition of truth helps me more than anything. The more one repeats the truth that God teaches, well, after a long time it sinks in a little deeper. And I noted that in studying the Word of God, going over with repetition what God teaches. And if you may recall, we mentioned the fact of these lampstands being significant in their representation of the churches.
We recall the fact that you've got in the Word of God that the church is called the house of God. You find that the church is called the body of Christ. you find it is also called the bride of Christ. But in the presentation of these two chapters, chapter one as well as two chapters two and three, you find the church or churches, even as individual churches, they are like a lampstand, light-bearing. Now you see the significance. For what we have before us, the Lord Jesus is examining the church or the churches in reference to the light that they are giving out for him or not.
And does she have lampstands, which represent that they ought to give out the spiritual light, reflect him and the truth of God to the world? I think we mentioned the fact, and let me repeat this. In the Old Testament, God's earthly people is real. They were not expected to convert the world. And if you read the history of that earthly people, they were told to be separated from all the other nations. God never wanted them to mingle with other nations. He took and put them in the land of Israel to be a nation that would be separated, unlike the other uncodly and even nations.
And what force? To shine for him, to give the light of Jehovah what he was. And what he meant to them. And I think you can certainly realize they failed. And what did God do? He removed the lamp set. After many years. And then you've got the picture in relation to the church. In light bearing. Paul writing in the Philippians in chapter two mentions. Year to be as light shining in this threat and evil world. And what the Lord Jesus in the relationship to the churches is doing, he's in the midst of the churches examining to see how they bear the light of his word and of his truth concerning his person, his work, and God in the dark.
Well, you know what the light's for? You don't need a lamp until it's dark, do you? But when it's dark, there's any light. And my beloved, please let me say, the world is very dark, spiritually. Well, did the poet write the lovely old hymn? The world was locked in the darkness of sin. The light of the world is Jesus. And the Lord Jesus, when he was here, said, I'm the light of the world. And now, please let me present to you, and I hope it will reach your heart and conscience, and mine too. Here he is. In the midst of the lampstands examining what kind of light they are reflecting for him.
Then please note something else, please. Now there's something that we've got to settle before we go into chapter two. Please know what he says in this twentieth verse at the end of it. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches. We recognize that the churches were the lampstands, but here's one of the puzzles who were the angels. He said, now I'm holding the stars in my right hand, and they are the angels of the seven churches, to whom he's writing, from Ephesus down to Laodicea. And the question, I think we must settle properly, I hope we will, who are the angels? What do they represent?
They are the stars that he supports in his right hand. Now let me raise this question. Do you think it means the literal angels? responsible for what the church is doing well let me say this if one of the holy angels is responsible for church conditions he's failed in his missions and i read in the word of god at the end of the hundred and third psalms that those holy angels they always do his bidding you can never find a holy angel that is a fake So relegate that literal angel out of it.
But primarily in the Greek text, the word angel means messenger. It means messenger. And then may I point out, the Lord Jesus is holding up the one he calls the angel of the church. Supporting. And surely we may recognize from Scripture and all the teaching that Paul brings to us in the church letters that he has written, as well as Peter for that matter, unto whom has God the Holy Spirit delegated the responsibility of the light bearing of the church?
First of all, let me speak a little bit about this dog. You know, in our solar system, we have the sun. The Son is the supreme authority in creation over our system that we live in. Then you've got the moon. That comes next. Go to chapter eleven in the book of Revelation, if you please. Chapter twelve, I beg your pardon. Chapter twelve, please. I guess we'll have to follow the old black man's advice. Let the Bible explain itself. Chapter twelve. In the book of the Revelation. And I want you to know something. And you'll think it will remind you also of the dream of Joseph.
And you'll find here in verse one. There appeared a great wonder in heaven. A woman clothed, now known, with the sun and the moon under her feet. And upon her head a crown of twelve stars. Let me read the verse again. Chapter twelve and verse one. There appeared a great wonder in heaven. Part of the vision that John was given later on. A woman clothed with a sun. When the moon under her feet on her head a crown of twelve stars. Now then you can see it. Now I don't want to go into detail, but this represents Israel. And then when we come to the chapter, we'll go into the detail of it.
But here you can recognize. Here you can recognize the supreme authority was the sun. The moon, a lower authority. And may I remind you, the moon derives its light from the sun. The moon has no light in itself. And when you and I see it shining, it's only the reflection of the sun. But then the stars, they have their own individual light. And may I point out this? In the order here, you've got the sun, the supreme authority. you've got the moon next represented in authority. And last of all, lower in authority, subordinate, the stars.
And then, of course, the stars are individuals. And therefore, every star has its own light. So that one can recognize it represents those who have... Now, let me remind you. Go back to chapter one, verse twenty. Who holds the stars? the Lord Jesus. Know what he said in that verse, in that twentieth verse. When the Lord said, the mystery of the seven stars with thou in my right hand, he holds those angels or those stars. Now who are they?
Who do they represent? Now let me please state this. We're going to find it all the way through the seven letters. They represent those who are responsible for the shining of the church's testimony in their place of divinely given authority. Now, what does the star do? It gives light. And there you've got a suggestion that the man, the person whom God puts into the church as the gift of the church, whether it be apostle, whether it be prophet, New Testament prophet, whether it be evangelist, whether it be shepherds, the pastors and teachers.
You'll recognize that they are responsible for the shining of the church's testimony through their ministry. And one can realize Who can hold them up? Not but the Lord himself. But the Lord Jesus maintains and is the only one who can maintain those that seek to propagate God's light of truth. Now may I say frankly, by way of example, very simple, my own ministry here, I tell you, I can't do it without his support.
And furthermore, I'm responsible for the light I give to you. And may I say reverently, carefully, every supposed minister of the word of God is responsible to give to the people of God what? The light of God's truth. What a responsibility. A great responsibility. And then may I go further. Go down to chapter two, please. I don't want to miss this. But not only they, but they are in leadership responsible for what?
And may I point out this fact, too. The responsibility of a man to minister the light of God's truth is so great. because it should have its effect spiritually upon the people who hear me. And what a responsibility to know that no particular testimony of believers will be any further led in the faith of God than the preachers on himself. I can no more lead you into God's truth than what I've got myself into. And one can recognize The sacred responsibility of being likened, typified representatively, as an angel.
A messenger for the churches. To propagate and to dispel God's precious truth to his own. You read the second epistle of Timothy. In a gig of his thoughts. It's the last epistle the Apostle Paul wrote. And one of the, in fact, may I give you the suggestion that not only first, second, Timothy, and Titus, they're called pastoral epistles. And in every one of them, you've got two distinct lines of teaching. First, the emphasis on sound truth. Second, the emphasis on sound living. Not only sound doctrine, sound living.
And when you come to study the second epistle of Timothy and see the condition that prevailed in the closing days of the church's testimony, let me give you this thought. You've got in chapter two, men who stray away from the truth. Repersive. You go to chapter three, and you'll find that there are men who resist the truth. You go to chapter four, and you'll find that a bunch of people that turn completely away from the truth. Now then hopefully let me make it plain and simple but clear. The responsibility of those whom God entrust the prevalence, the responsibility of ministering is truth so that the people of God may be spiritually fair and even the gospel in its grace and clarity presented to the world.
And where did he come from? How does the Lord shine through with his truth? Through the church. He doesn't use the heathen. He doesn't use the heathen nation. He can't use the false cause. He can't use all that may be in the world today under so-called religion. Let me quote one verse. First Timothy three, verse fifteen. First Timothy, verse fifteen. Paul writing to Timothy, hoping to come unto him shortly, says, I'm writing to him that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave or conduct thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God.
Now note, the pillar and the ground, the support and the depository of the truth. My beloved, many say this, the church is not the truth. Be careful now. As some, such as the Roman Catholic Church would claim, the church has been given the truth. And the church is responsible to support the truth. Maintain it. Maintain it. And make it known. What a responsibility. But go on to chapter two, I want to mention something very carefully. May I go down the chapter in that first letter which we read, verse seven particularly.
Now though the responsibility chiefly is placed upon the so-called angel, the representation of leadership within that church, now you find in verse seven, he that happened here and in here was a spirit set under the church. Now here you have something very individual referring to anyone that's in the church. You better listen to what I'm saying, the Lord Jesus says. I'm not only seeing what the angel of the church, the spiritual leaders of the church, the light that they're giving, the teaching that they're giving, and the propagation of the truth that they're doing. But isn't it?
I'm wondering how you take this, too. You know, when you listen to truth, God's going to hold you and me responsible for how much we took in. And what we do. And what we've done this. And what a responsibility. Now let's go back in the chapter, the verse one then. And now we'll begin. If you go to your page on page three, please, on your lesson sheet, we'd like to, first of all, cover what these seven letters bring before us in the opening of the page three. You know, they reveal the history of the professing church on the earth from its decline to its rejection.
Now, there are three applications you can give to these letters, and I've got them mentioned, please. First, there's the historical. Actually, there were seven churches existing when John wrote them. They were not the only ones, but these particular seven were chosen as we noted preceding in a preceding study. And historically, they existed in the days of John. So there is a local application to which it churches, to which it was addressed. But then may I point out number two, there's a prophetical interpretation or application. And each letter in its moral character, in its moral character, covers a specific period of church history.
As we go down the study of these seven letters, we'll recognize from the description of the church condition, we can cover all the church history from the beginning of the Apostle's Day when he wrote to the end of the church history. But then there's a third application. And may I point out, as I've got on the note, the spiritual is most important, for this reveals the true condition of the church upon the earth at any given time. Now let's please be very careful. The Lord Jesus is walking in the midst of the lampstand. The lampstands are the churches.
Where are the churches around the earth? And it's the Lord Jesus who's taking notes and examining. And what would he examine most for? What would he look for? The spiritual condition of each church. And that spiritual condition is the most important phase of taking into your heart and into your conscience what the Lord would have to say to us. And you'll find from Leviticus going to the end of the lay of the sea in church, you'll find that it covers the condition of the church at any time of its history upon the earth from each of these seven letters.
Now that will be developed as we go on. But now please, Now think with me then the first. Let me read the opening words of chapter two unto the angel of the church of Ephesus. Right. Just a little word of explanation regarding the church of Ephesus. I think it's worthy of mentioning what's under the word of God states regarding the church of Ephesus. You that have studied the book of the Acts and read it carefully, you certainly know there's much reference in the book of the Acts beginning in chapter eighteen and nineteen, especially in chapter twenty, there's much reference to Ephesus. Ephesus was one of the great, which is in the days of the apostles, the church of Ephesus.
And when we think of it, I've got a little note there, the meaning of the word itself. It's very suggestive, desirable. Now, please, if you may know, you find the church of Ephesus. commencing in chapter nineteen and twenty of the book of the Acts. And there was a great conflict there at Ephesus, as you may well know. You may well know what you've got on your first mention under the historical reference. It was the capital of Asia. It was the center of even idolatry. It was the place where the great goddess Diana was worshipped, the seat of worship. And you could find that in chapter nineteen of the book of the Acts.
And you may remember, Paul came with the gospel to that black, even state of things. Him all, an idolatrous place that was the center of idol worship. And the great goddess Diana of the Atheist was in that temple at Ephesus. It has been placed amongst what has been called the Seven Wonders of the World. Some of you may know. And that great temple of Ephesus with the shrine of Diana was known all over the heathen world. The shrine of Diana, the goddess Diana in many forms, whether by pictures or by images particularly, was spread over the heathen world.
And when you read the nineteenth chapter of the book of Acts, you remember there was the great uproar. The leading manufacturer. of the goddess, of the goddess, of the images of the goddess, and all the shrines that were built and were commercialized, recognized, and the craftsmen, and all that pertain to their commercialism in relation to the goddess Diana, was being jeopardized through the preaching of the gospel. You know what happened? Wonderful to realize what happened when Paul preached the gospel at Ephesus, and God say, precious souls. You know those converts, what they did?
They took all their images out of the hole. They took all their so-called writings of the God and of the papers and the scrolls, whatever pertained to their heathen idolatry. They took it out, and they made a great big bonfire in the middle of the city. It was worth, according to the scriptures, fifty thousand pieces of silver. You know when somebody gets converted and burns up all their rubbish, that's real. That's real. Put it along. And I tell you one thing. When the devil sees his old people getting away from it, he'll kick up a bus.
I remember many years ago, a dear friend of mine down South Carolina, so I walked into his door, fellowship a little while with him. He told me, he said, you know, Brother Johnny said, two of us this morning were having a conversation, three of us in fact. One was one of the preachers and another Christian brother, myself, and we were talking. And this brother that came in was mentioning how much trouble the devil gave him. And he said, believe it or not, Brother Johnny said, the preacher said, well, the devil never bothers me. So he says, I looked at him and said, well, maybe, brother, you don't bother the devil. Could be.
But oh, in Ephesus there was great trouble. He was enough for. And if an apostle was willing to even jeopardize his life to try and stop it. But they betrayed him from doing so. Even the guardian of the city in respect for him. Until he quieted the congregation. And it's quite enough, Lord. Demetrius, the leading craftsman, got all the craftsmen together. And then they went through the city crying, and in the great arena, great is the goddess Diana, greatest Diana of the goddess of the Aedesis. Quite enough, Lord.
But then they are quite enough. And let me give this thought. The church that may have the greatest conflict can come out to be the most powerful testimony. And Ephesus was, we shall see it even in our letter. And all you have to do to prove that is to read the epistle that Paul wrote to the Ephesians. Paul could never write the epistle to the Ephesians to the Corinthians. There are a bunch of carnal Christians that the Ephesians In the early days of the apostles, they were faithful.
And he begins his epistle by calling them the faithful in Christ Jesus. Can I ask a question? If Paul wrote to your church and mine today, where we fellowship, would he call us faithful? But to those faithful believers, he gave the highest, the greatest truth in New Testament teaching. you can find in all of your New Testament. Surely you can recognize the suggestion of the meaning of the church. Desirable. How we could decide to be life. Well, let's go on and see what the Lord has to say. Next that follows, we'll find the presentation of the Lord, the character and attitude of Christ.
For in every letter, In the preceding opening part, you'll find the Lord presenting itself in some particular way. Many times, not all the time, but most of the time, some characteristic from the description in chapter one that John wrote. But here we find the Lord saying, These things that he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candles, think all lampstands. Now, will you please note, as you've got on your lesson sheet, let me follow that outline under letter A there, the character and attitude of Christ toward Ephesus.
But his character, please note it, the one that holdeth the seventh star in his right hand. Can I give you this thought? I wish some of my dear brethren around the country and everywhere, as well as Every believer in any local testimony would remember this. There's only one that can hold the church together as Christ. He alone. Now, you know what we have in the comment? He one alone possesses what? Ecclesiastical authority.
I mean, I say very lovingly, but clearly and validly, there's no dear brethren that can hold the church together by their own authority. But I tell you there's a lot of them trying to do it. Oh, beloved, how little we realize. What these Lord Jesus implies, I'm the only one that can hold you together. And may I say, if all the believers would confess and admit how weak they are, he told them better. So when you get self-imported and trust yourself, your own knowledge, your own wisdom, you're saying, you're saying, please let me say, I say in lovingly, we get right here, what is perhaps the root of the church's failure from the beginning.
Not listening to the one who's the head. The head of the church. I remember witnessing to a dear man maybe fifty years ago. Down South Carolina. And he told me the head of his church was John the Baptist. I said, Paul, you're in bad shape. He had a tech car. Who's the head of the church? Who's the head of the church? Who's the head of the church? Ephesians chapter one, when God raised him from the dead and placed him at his own right hand, of all authority, and gave him power to be the head of all things of the church, which is his love.
And may I give you this precious comforting thought, my fellow believer, my beloved sister in the Lord, if you want to talk to somebody about the troubles of the church, go right to the head. You can talk to him. Take them to the head. Very frankly, I broadly say, we try to settle our problems ourselves. And if the Lord, I'm the only one that can hold you. And I want to tell you, I'd rather say, Lord, I'm a blunt failure. I can't hold myself. You know, there has been a saying, strengthen your grip.
May I say it's wrong. let go your grip we need him history let him hold you I give unto my sheep eternal life and they shall what never perish need of so many one pluck them from where out of my hand I know I'll let my grip go but I'll I want him to grip me though Only one that can hold me. Oh, David is sorry, there. Hold down my hand. And the old poet wrote, well, the word, hold down my hand, for I am weak and helpless.
And please, may I say, lovingly, whatever your problem is, whether it's personal, whether it's ecclesiastical, he's the only one. You know what Peter said, when Jesus said to the disciples, when people were leading it, Will he also go away? Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life, and we know and assure that thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. To whom will you go? I want to tell you something. Whatever happens to you, always remember you can go to the Lord. You can go to him. And then the Lord presents himself to this church.
It's with supreme ecclesiastical authority. Hallelujah. See, I say this. There's no party. There's no group of any people upon the earth. It's the head of the church. The head of the church is in heaven. And then you know something else, please. And this is searching. One, the first is comforting. The next is searching. But he says, I'm walking in the midst of the lampstand. I'm examining. How you're doing? I'm examining how you're doing. Let me ask the question. Wherever you fellowship, wherever I may fellowship with God's dear people.
I wonder what kind of a report the Lord would give if he told us what he said, examine and found. Now if you ask the elders or the board, you might not get the same report. Please, beloved, Christ does the examining. It's Christ who knows the condition. Now read on. And that's what we'll prove right away follows. He tells the general state of Ephesus as you go from verse two, begin at verse two then. Now know.
And you find in verse two, three and six, he commends, I know thy works. And may I say, that's a wonderful thing. You find that repeated through the letters. I know my words. And may I say, who else do you want to know about? Anybody else you wish to know what you're doing? Just let him know. I know. I've got perfect knowledge of what you're doing. You don't have to tell me, said the Lord. I know. I know. I know. I know. And then, of course, he goes on, and please note, everyone can recognize, he commends.
And may I say this, one thing I love about the Lord Jesus, before he rebukes anybody, he commends them for what he can. And he gave an illustration. Never let Peter walk on the water to go to Jesus. And he got out of the ship, and then, of course, all the rest of the disciples thought he was dumb. They do such a crazy thing like that. And he walked on the water to go to Jesus. And you remember he took his life off, Jesus? What happened? He began to sing. Lord, save me! That was a big prayer in three words. What did Jesus do?
He reached out his hand. Then after he reached out his hand and drew him to him, he rebuked him. So when you rebuked me, give me your hand, will you, first? You get the thought. The Lord, gee, even in these letters, the Lord commends. And he goes on to say, let me read on, I know thy work, and thy labor, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are even. And patience means endurance. I know what you're going through, and how you will not bear them which are even. What a commendation. Ephesus will not let any evil abide in the church. I wonder if that would be true today.
Agree further. And thou hast tried them, tested them with faith they are apostles. And they are not. And yet truth are liars. You know, there was some folks going around claiming to be apostles. After the apostles were off the scene. And even before, for that matter, Paul had to write about them. And Ephesus tried and tested them. And the Lord commends. They didn't believe anyone that came along and said, I'm an apostle. And you find the apostles and the apostles said that they were apostles. And dear apostles Paul sometimes had to defend this apostleship, which God had given him.
The Lord Jesus had given him directly. But then, let me give you this. Remember when we began our book in chapter one? And when John wrote, what did he call himself? I, John, who and what? Your brother. Your brother. Your brother. Your brother. Beloved, let me say this. I believe the name brother is more precious than any other title could ever be than anyone would want it to be. And when Paul was converted on the Damascus Road, And you remember Ananias came into him after the Lord spoke to Ananias.
And you remember the first word that Ananias said, Brother Saul. Brother Saul. Must have been the sweetest sounding words that Saul there, as he saw him, and came and healed him from his blindness at the command of the Lord. Brother Saul. But there were men who were claiming to be apostles. And may I say lovingly, we're living in days when we need to test the preacher's preaching and teaching. And from the Word of God.
And the dear Ephesians, if you read chapter twenty in the book of the Acts, when Paul said his farewell to the elders of Ephesus, He told them what kind of apostles would succeed him. Men that would pervert the truth. Men that would gather together people that would follow them personally. Apostolic succession is not very apostolic in character. And the Ephesian elders, they thought, you know what? They knew their Bible. Paul had written a letter to them. And in chapter two of his Ephesian epistle, he had told them that the foundation of the church had already been laid by the apostles and the New Testament prophets.
And may I suggest to you, how many times do you lay a foundation for any building? How many foundations do you need? And those early apostles and New Testament prophets, they laid it well. And when they came around to Ephesus, claimed to be apostles. Now, wait a minute. You're not. You're a liar. Yeah, please know what Jesus said. You've found a liar, and then go further in verse three. And you've gone, and you've had endurance, and for my name's sake, you've labored, and you haven't paid for it. You've given up. It was the most active church of the seven churches that you can read out.
But then, now please know, it's commendation. Now you come in verse three. thought you've got his accusation. Nevertheless, I've got something against you. And what is it? You let your first love. And may I point out what the Lord had mean? Everything outwardly was going along right. But he said, look, your love is getting a little cool toward me. Can I give you the thought? When any true Christian... wonders away from the Lord. You know where it begins? In the heart.
When was the prodigal? When did he become a prodigal? He was the prodigal before he left home. His heart was in the far country. His heart was away from his father's love. And then you find his feet gone. My beloved, let me say this. In other words, what the Lord Jesus means is that you don't have your heart for me as you sit once. And my fellow Christians, please let me say, for you individually and for me individually and for any church collectively, the Lord Jesus wants to be first in our hearts. You've left.
Will you please note something? He doesn't say you've lost. You've left it. You're blessed. Then read out. Remember then. Therefore from whence thou art fallen. Repent. Do the first word. For if your heart gets back to me. As it was at the beginning. You'll have the first glory. You'll have the same glory. A blessing that you had when you first began. Or if you don't repent. I will come unto thee quickly and know. I will remove thy candles. Think out of this place. Except thou repent. May I say, now we mentioned it before, all these seven churches, the candlesticks, been removed a long time ago.
But the Lord gives them opportunity to repent so that they could still be restored. But except you repent, I'll remove your last man. Beloved, may I say this, I do it very carefully, but I do it very soberly. Every church testifies. for its existence, for its future, is dependent on what the Lord thinks of him. What he says about him, now what you say, now what the board of elders may say, now what the Christian says about him, he exclaims it, and he himself declares what's wrong, and calls for repentance when he sees the hard affection for himself.
May I say this? Let me please say this. I'll put it in the form of a question. My fellow believer, do you love Christ more than you love your church? You better. For after all, it belongs to him. We are here. And the Lord Jesus saw the fading away of the affection for himself. You're always thinking, oh, hey, Lord Jesus, I love me. I know thou art mine, sometimes I wonder. How much do we love him? There's one woman in the third chapter of Luke's Gospel at the end.
There came a sinner. You know, Luke writes, she was a sinner. Simon the Pharisee and those in the house that saw what she did when she washed the feet of the Lord Jesus, they said in their hearts she is a sinner. Luke says she was, but she isn't anymore. But what she did without a word speaking, proved to the Lord Jesus she loved him there was love for his person and my fellow believers please let me say this put it in the right perspective your devotion and my devotion your love and my love should be to the person of Christ to the person of Christ and may I give this all I say follow me if you ever face the issue whether you love The organization.
Love the church of Christ. You better put the Lord first. Not easy. But does he not deserve it? And please note that we finish very quickly. In verse six and seven. He commends again. I commend you for hating the deeds of the Nicolaitans. We see I also hate. We'll see more of that later on in another letter. But then in verse seven, the clothes. He that hath an ear, let it hear what the Spirit says to the church is to him that overcometh, will I give to Eden of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God. And if you please notice, we shall know carefully all the way through.
Look, though the church condition may be what it is, the Lord Jesus looked for an individual believer to overcome that situation. If the church at love does not love him the way it should, you're responsible as an individual and so am I to love him. To give him the affection. To give him the affection. Oh, what a responsibility. So what a privilege. Hard affection for Christ. And I say very lovingly, I say carefully, You may have much, if not all, the truth regarding the Scriptures, but if you don't have heart, love.
You can have all the truth you can find and put it in your head, but that's not the right place for it. Thy word have I hid where in my heart, that I might not sin against you. And so the Lord Jesus examines the first church, and he finds the waning of love. And what isn't that true? In the history of the church, at the end of the apostolic period, the loss of the Savior began to win. And I say this, I challenge you. Can you look at the church today, and the whole church I mean, universal on the earth? Does it love them all? Would you call it this? Shall we pray? Oh, blessed Father, we look at the person of our Lord Jesus, walking in the midst of the lampstand, And Lord, you not only know the general condition of each church, you know the condition of each believer.
And we think of the words of David the psalmist when he wrote, Search me, O God, and know my heart. Try me and know my thoughts and see if there be any way of grief or pain or wickedness in me, and lead me in the way of a last thing. Lord Jesus, how is to leave this morning with a deep consciousness? You're with us. You're in the midst. And even though there may be failure, you call upon each individual believer to overcome the difficulty. And if there's one difficulty, we pray to overcome it.
We ask you, what was the difficulty of evidence? The departure of half. They were not departing with their feet. They had not yet departed from the truth. They departed from the love for thee.