1 00:00:03,320 --> 00:00:05,960 Welcome to the Liberty Baptist Sermon Archives. 2 00:00:06,200 --> 00:00:09,040 The message you're about to hear was preached at Liberty Baptist 3 00:00:09,040 --> 00:00:13,040 Church in Easton, MA. You can find out more about us 4 00:00:13,040 --> 00:00:16,079 or contact us at My Liberty Baptist dot. 5 00:00:16,079 --> 00:00:18,280 Org or just look us up on Facebook. 6 00:00:18,600 --> 00:00:21,240 And now we hope that this message from God's Word will be 7 00:00:21,240 --> 00:00:26,160 a blessing to you. Revelation chapter two. 8 00:00:26,760 --> 00:00:29,320 Once you found your place, we'll begin our reading in verse #1 9 00:00:31,760 --> 00:00:36,680 Unto the Angel of the Church of Ephesus write these things. 10 00:00:36,680 --> 00:00:41,160 Sayeth he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who 11 00:00:41,160 --> 00:00:44,960 walketh in the midst of the 7 golden candlesticks. 12 00:00:45,960 --> 00:00:51,120 I know thy works, and thy labor, and thy patience, and how thou 13 00:00:51,120 --> 00:00:53,880 canst not bear them which are evil. 14 00:00:54,680 --> 00:00:59,960 Thou hast tried them which say they are apostles and are not, 15 00:01:00,520 --> 00:01:05,319 and has found them liars, and as born, and as patience, and for 16 00:01:05,319 --> 00:01:08,680 my name's sake has labored, and it's not fainted. 17 00:01:09,920 --> 00:01:16,560 Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou has 18 00:01:16,560 --> 00:01:21,040 left thy first love. What an accusation. 19 00:01:22,520 --> 00:01:26,520 Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent. 20 00:01:26,960 --> 00:01:32,000 Do the first works, or else I will come unto thee quickly, and 21 00:01:32,000 --> 00:01:36,920 will remove thy Candlestick out of his place, except thou 22 00:01:36,920 --> 00:01:40,520 repent. But this thou hast, that thou 23 00:01:40,520 --> 00:01:45,520 hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. 24 00:01:46,560 --> 00:01:50,280 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto 25 00:01:50,280 --> 00:01:53,120 the churches. To him that overcometh will I 26 00:01:53,120 --> 00:01:57,960 give to eat of the tree of life which is in the midst of the 27 00:01:57,960 --> 00:02:03,880 paradise of God title the message tonight is falling out 28 00:02:03,880 --> 00:02:09,440 of love with Christ falling out of love with Christ. 29 00:02:09,840 --> 00:02:10,960 Let's have a word of prayer tonight. 30 00:02:10,960 --> 00:02:14,200 Last Lord's blessing on the service and the, the message. 31 00:02:15,200 --> 00:02:19,200 Father, we're, we're delighted to be in your house tonight and 32 00:02:19,200 --> 00:02:25,920 we're thankful that you, you're a God that is willing and even 33 00:02:25,920 --> 00:02:30,000 eager to meet with your people. I praise you for that. 34 00:02:30,000 --> 00:02:33,080 I praise you that you have a word for us tonight. 35 00:02:33,080 --> 00:02:37,680 You, you have a message and you desire to speak to our hearts 36 00:02:37,880 --> 00:02:39,520 from that which you've already spoken. 37 00:02:40,120 --> 00:02:42,280 And so I pray that you'd fill me with your Holy Spirit. 38 00:02:42,280 --> 00:02:47,440 Now would you use me as your vessel, your instrument to help 39 00:02:47,440 --> 00:02:49,800 your people and to be a blessing tonight. 40 00:02:50,080 --> 00:02:52,960 And Father, I pray that you would accomplish what you see 41 00:02:52,960 --> 00:02:55,080 fit in our hearts and in our lives. 42 00:02:55,520 --> 00:02:57,880 And we give you the praise for this and we ask it in Jesus 43 00:02:57,880 --> 00:03:00,800 name, Amen. Thank you for standing tonight. 44 00:03:00,800 --> 00:03:05,840 You may be seated as we consider this portion of scripture. 45 00:03:07,440 --> 00:03:17,040 Falling out of love with Christ. Nothing illustrates first love 46 00:03:17,840 --> 00:03:20,720 like a newlywed couple on their honeymoon. 47 00:03:22,080 --> 00:03:26,840 Actually, our our honeymoon, my wife and I, we spent at Cape Cod 48 00:03:26,840 --> 00:03:32,240 and we got married in 2020 and had a, you know, an underground 49 00:03:32,240 --> 00:03:35,240 wedding so that the government wouldn't arrest us because we 50 00:03:35,240 --> 00:03:36,600 had more than three people there. 51 00:03:37,160 --> 00:03:40,640 And so with love in our hearts and money in our pockets and 52 00:03:40,640 --> 00:03:45,200 masks on our face off we went to our honeymoon after getting 53 00:03:45,200 --> 00:03:47,440 married. And so we spent some special 54 00:03:47,440 --> 00:03:51,440 time together in Cape Cod and we're able to actually come here 55 00:03:51,440 --> 00:03:53,640 that Wednesday night service. We were able to visit here in 56 00:03:53,640 --> 00:03:56,800 the service and, and we did some fun things. 57 00:03:56,800 --> 00:04:00,360 We went to the beach. We were able to enjoy some mini 58 00:04:00,360 --> 00:04:03,880 golf together. And it can get pretty heated and 59 00:04:03,880 --> 00:04:06,680 competitive. And so I think I won two games 60 00:04:06,680 --> 00:04:09,480 and she won 1. And I, you know, you get talk to 61 00:04:09,480 --> 00:04:10,600 her, you might get a different story. 62 00:04:10,600 --> 00:04:12,360 She might have won more than what I'm admitting. 63 00:04:12,360 --> 00:04:15,480 But who played some mini golf? We had some steak dinners. 64 00:04:15,480 --> 00:04:20,560 We got to sleep in a little bit and enjoying the pleasures of 65 00:04:20,560 --> 00:04:22,640 marital bliss. Amen. 66 00:04:23,560 --> 00:04:28,000 Before reality sets in, right? Enjoying marital bliss. 67 00:04:28,000 --> 00:04:31,800 I mean, it was beautiful weather, crisp ocean breeze, a 68 00:04:31,800 --> 00:04:36,040 high of 75. And just just think about what a 69 00:04:36,520 --> 00:04:38,600 what a wonderful time to spend together. 70 00:04:38,960 --> 00:04:41,520 And it was easy to be in love and to be married. 71 00:04:41,920 --> 00:04:45,000 All of the circumstances surrounding our relationship was 72 00:04:45,000 --> 00:04:46,360 new. It was exciting. 73 00:04:46,960 --> 00:04:49,800 We didn't know what it was like to live with each other yet. 74 00:04:51,520 --> 00:04:55,200 Amen. And you know, it's OK to admit 75 00:04:55,200 --> 00:04:58,600 it. And yet we, we had a great time. 76 00:04:58,600 --> 00:05:02,520 It was wonderful. And about a week later we had a 77 00:05:02,520 --> 00:05:05,760 revival meeting at our church. And so we, we had a week full of 78 00:05:05,760 --> 00:05:13,000 preaching and then we moved to Oklahoma City, 1600 miles away 79 00:05:13,560 --> 00:05:17,640 from home. And as you can imagine, it's not 80 00:05:17,640 --> 00:05:21,240 exactly like Cape Cod. It's hot. 81 00:05:22,080 --> 00:05:25,520 People were, you know, greeting us as we got out of the car and 82 00:05:25,520 --> 00:05:28,280 they're saying, y'all. And I think, what did I get 83 00:05:28,280 --> 00:05:30,280 myself into here? I'm a Yankee. 84 00:05:30,600 --> 00:05:34,960 I don't belong here, you know. And Audrey, of course, growing 85 00:05:34,960 --> 00:05:37,360 up, both of us growing up in Connecticut our whole lives and, 86 00:05:38,200 --> 00:05:41,360 and I and I learned this. And, and I would imagine that 87 00:05:42,200 --> 00:05:45,760 many of you've been married would understand that when the 88 00:05:45,760 --> 00:05:51,920 newness of your relationship wears off, that it's easy to, 89 00:05:51,960 --> 00:05:55,280 you know, just kind of go through the motions in your 90 00:05:55,280 --> 00:05:59,240 relationship, right? You, you, you don't have the 91 00:05:59,240 --> 00:06:04,400 same thrill that you once had. Everything is familiar and it's 92 00:06:04,400 --> 00:06:09,240 easy to fall out of love without even realizing it because it 93 00:06:09,240 --> 00:06:11,160 doesn't happen automatically. It's something you have to 94 00:06:11,160 --> 00:06:12,720 cultivate. It's something you have to work 95 00:06:12,720 --> 00:06:17,320 at and that honeymoon experience really is transitory and it is 96 00:06:17,320 --> 00:06:20,120 temporary. But I, but I've also learned 97 00:06:20,120 --> 00:06:24,880 this in my marriage that, that I can experience something even 98 00:06:24,880 --> 00:06:29,160 better than the honeymoon experience when I, when I invest 99 00:06:29,160 --> 00:06:33,200 into my relationship with my wife, and that actually things 100 00:06:33,200 --> 00:06:37,760 can improve and get better. And that our, our, our 101 00:06:37,760 --> 00:06:41,440 relationship is stronger than it was just because it was new. 102 00:06:41,440 --> 00:06:43,960 Now it's strong because it's on a, it's on a more firm 103 00:06:43,960 --> 00:06:46,560 foundation than something fleeting, right? 104 00:06:47,360 --> 00:06:50,360 Because after a while in life, everything, the newness of, of 105 00:06:50,440 --> 00:06:53,640 all experiences will eventually die off and wear out. 106 00:06:54,720 --> 00:07:00,680 And the, the subject that we're considering tonight is, is quite 107 00:07:00,680 --> 00:07:05,080 sobering because it, it really does address the, the potential 108 00:07:05,080 --> 00:07:09,040 that there is in our relationship with Christ to just 109 00:07:09,040 --> 00:07:12,360 go through the motions in our relationship with him. 110 00:07:12,520 --> 00:07:15,040 Have you ever experienced that? I mean, you're just going to 111 00:07:15,040 --> 00:07:16,320 church because that's what you do. 112 00:07:16,320 --> 00:07:18,960 You go to church and you listen to preaching and you read your 113 00:07:18,960 --> 00:07:21,000 Bible and you pray because that's what Christians do. 114 00:07:21,600 --> 00:07:23,600 But there's something missing, right? 115 00:07:23,600 --> 00:07:27,200 And you can sense that something is missing because that that 116 00:07:27,200 --> 00:07:30,240 passion that you had, that zeal that you had at one time, it 117 00:07:30,240 --> 00:07:32,120 just seems like it's not there anymore. 118 00:07:32,440 --> 00:07:35,800 And, and we can get into our minds these ideas like, oh, if 119 00:07:35,800 --> 00:07:38,800 the preaching was better, if the church was better, if, if 120 00:07:38,840 --> 00:07:41,400 everything. Else was better, my relationship 121 00:07:41,400 --> 00:07:45,680 with God would be great. But the reality is we're 122 00:07:45,680 --> 00:07:51,680 sinners, Amen. And we struggle with sin and we 123 00:07:51,680 --> 00:07:56,040 struggle with putting into our relationship with Christ what we 124 00:07:56,040 --> 00:07:58,240 ought to. And I and I just want to remind 125 00:07:58,240 --> 00:08:02,520 you tonight that in a human relationship, there is always 126 00:08:02,520 --> 00:08:05,880 the potential that the other party could wrong you, that they 127 00:08:05,880 --> 00:08:09,200 could sin against you, that they could not put in the full effort 128 00:08:09,200 --> 00:08:11,160 that is worthy of the relationship. 129 00:08:11,320 --> 00:08:13,600 But when it comes to our relationship with Christ, that 130 00:08:13,600 --> 00:08:16,480 is never the case. He is always faithful, He is 131 00:08:16,480 --> 00:08:18,640 always right, He is always loving. 132 00:08:18,800 --> 00:08:21,840 And when there's something wrong in our relationship, it's not 133 00:08:21,840 --> 00:08:27,600 him. It's us and and I, I recognize 134 00:08:27,600 --> 00:08:30,360 that we could understand that and make application to our own 135 00:08:30,360 --> 00:08:34,440 lives individually, but I see more importantly that he's 136 00:08:34,440 --> 00:08:38,720 addressing a church in our passage, a local congregation of 137 00:08:38,720 --> 00:08:42,240 saved believers who are baptized into the church at Ephesus. 138 00:08:42,640 --> 00:08:46,800 And he, he addresses them. And this particular letter, the, 139 00:08:46,800 --> 00:08:51,160 the Book of Revelation, I, I think is a, it's sad because 140 00:08:51,160 --> 00:08:53,840 there's some Christians who simply avoid the book because of 141 00:08:53,840 --> 00:08:56,800 some of the interpretive difficulties that are there. 142 00:08:56,960 --> 00:08:59,760 And they read about all of these images and all of this 143 00:08:59,760 --> 00:09:02,800 apocalyptic language. And we can get intimidated by 144 00:09:02,800 --> 00:09:05,480 the Book of Revelation. And that that could cause some 145 00:09:05,480 --> 00:09:07,520 Christians to shy back away from reading it. 146 00:09:07,520 --> 00:09:10,280 But really, if we understand what it says when we read it, 147 00:09:10,280 --> 00:09:13,040 we're supposed to get a revelation of who Jesus is, 148 00:09:13,480 --> 00:09:16,160 right? It's not the revelation of the 149 00:09:16,160 --> 00:09:18,920 end times and the beast and all these events. 150 00:09:19,080 --> 00:09:23,320 It's the revelation of a person. And, and he he has a basic 151 00:09:23,320 --> 00:09:29,760 outline for us in chapter 1. It says in verse 19, as the Lord 152 00:09:29,880 --> 00:09:34,200 revealed himself to the apostle John and he gave him this 153 00:09:34,200 --> 00:09:37,160 vision, this revelation, and he says in verse 19. 154 00:09:37,440 --> 00:09:42,960 Write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are. 155 00:09:43,880 --> 00:09:46,400 And the things which shall be hereafter. 156 00:09:46,640 --> 00:09:49,240 It's a very simple outline. It's a threefold outline. 157 00:09:49,600 --> 00:09:52,520 The first would record that he's supposed to record the things 158 00:09:52,520 --> 00:09:55,480 that he's seen and the things that he's seen would would 159 00:09:55,480 --> 00:09:59,360 certainly be the the vision that he gets in chapter 1. 160 00:09:59,360 --> 00:10:02,120 Would you would you turn that with me for just a moment as we 161 00:10:02,120 --> 00:10:06,720 see this incredible vision or display of the Son of God? 162 00:10:06,720 --> 00:10:09,440 You look at verse 12, chapter 1 and we. 163 00:10:09,440 --> 00:10:13,800 See the the glory of the Son of God revealed to. 164 00:10:13,920 --> 00:10:17,920 To us, as John wrote what he saw it says in verse 12. 165 00:10:18,800 --> 00:10:24,000 And I turned to see that the voice that spake with me, and 166 00:10:24,000 --> 00:10:28,040 being turned, I saw 7 golden candlesticks. 167 00:10:28,040 --> 00:10:32,360 And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the 168 00:10:32,360 --> 00:10:35,800 Son of Man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and 169 00:10:35,800 --> 00:10:38,040 girt about the paps with a golden girdle. 170 00:10:38,400 --> 00:10:41,720 His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as 171 00:10:41,720 --> 00:10:47,200 snow, and his eyes were as a flame of fire, and his feet like 172 00:10:47,200 --> 00:10:50,040 undefined brass, as if they burned in a furnace. 173 00:10:50,040 --> 00:10:54,200 And his voice as the sound of many waters. 174 00:10:54,880 --> 00:10:58,280 And he had in his right hand seven stars and out of his 175 00:10:58,280 --> 00:11:00,200 mouth, when a sharp 2 edged sword. 176 00:11:00,760 --> 00:11:03,960 And his countenance was as the sun shineth in his. 177 00:11:03,960 --> 00:11:07,560 Strength and when I. Saw him, I fell at his feet as 178 00:11:07,560 --> 00:11:12,600 dead, and he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, fear 179 00:11:12,600 --> 00:11:20,280 not, I'm the 1st and the last. And so John sees this vision of 180 00:11:20,280 --> 00:11:22,960 Jesus and. I think it's very important that 181 00:11:22,960 --> 00:11:28,120 we get this, that this is not the Son of God in his, in his 182 00:11:28,120 --> 00:11:31,240 humanity here on earth where his glory was veiled. 183 00:11:31,240 --> 00:11:35,200 This is the resurrected Son of God in his glorious state and 184 00:11:35,200 --> 00:11:38,200 his glory is being revealed. It's being disclosed, it's being 185 00:11:38,200 --> 00:11:41,280 unveiled for John to see. And he sees that. 186 00:11:41,280 --> 00:11:43,920 He says, I want you to write this to the other churches. 187 00:11:43,920 --> 00:11:47,200 I want this to circulate to the to my people for them to know 188 00:11:47,400 --> 00:11:51,640 because I am, I am the king and he's not. 189 00:11:51,640 --> 00:11:54,280 He's no longer in that humble form that he was when he when he 190 00:11:54,280 --> 00:11:56,000 walked this earth and he had his public ministry. 191 00:11:56,000 --> 00:11:59,320 He's now glorified. He is resurrected and he is 192 00:11:59,320 --> 00:12:05,720 sovereign over all the cosmos. And he has something to say to 193 00:12:05,720 --> 00:12:09,840 his churches before he deals with the world and, and Israel 194 00:12:09,840 --> 00:12:11,320 as well. He's going to deal with the 195 00:12:11,320 --> 00:12:14,720 churches. You notice what he says in verse 196 00:12:14,720 --> 00:12:18,160 20. We don't need to spend a lot of 197 00:12:18,160 --> 00:12:22,240 time doing interpretation on this, these allegorical images 198 00:12:22,240 --> 00:12:24,440 here because he interprets it for us. 199 00:12:24,600 --> 00:12:28,320 Look what he says, the mystery of the seven stars which thou 200 00:12:28,320 --> 00:12:31,880 sawest on my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. 201 00:12:32,600 --> 00:12:35,160 The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches. 202 00:12:35,680 --> 00:12:39,840 And the seven candlesticks, which thou sawest are the seven 203 00:12:39,840 --> 00:12:41,960 churches. So, so we get a picture in our 204 00:12:41,960 --> 00:12:44,200 minds of the imagery that he's using, right? 205 00:12:44,200 --> 00:12:46,600 And this imagery is meant to teach us something. 206 00:12:46,800 --> 00:12:50,040 He says that the the two particular images that need to 207 00:12:50,040 --> 00:12:53,640 be interpreted are the stars and the candy sticks. 208 00:12:53,880 --> 00:12:58,280 And he says that the stars are the angels of the churches. 209 00:12:58,480 --> 00:13:01,480 Now, I would I would interpret that as the angels being the 210 00:13:01,480 --> 00:13:05,800 pastors of the Church of the churches who are the messengers. 211 00:13:05,800 --> 00:13:08,680 They're the ones delivering the message on behalf of God. 212 00:13:08,680 --> 00:13:11,960 So God speaks to the messenger and then the messenger presents 213 00:13:11,960 --> 00:13:15,080 that before the congregation. And so when he, when I, when he 214 00:13:15,080 --> 00:13:18,360 says that I'm Speaking of the angels, I believe he's very 215 00:13:18,360 --> 00:13:20,040 clearly Speaking of the pastor's. 216 00:13:20,200 --> 00:13:23,680 He's not an angelic being, but he carries the he carries the 217 00:13:23,680 --> 00:13:26,760 function of an Angel and that he delivers the word of God, the 218 00:13:26,760 --> 00:13:32,440 message of God to God's people. And the second is the seven 219 00:13:32,680 --> 00:13:35,800 candlesticks. Now you, you get in your mind 220 00:13:35,800 --> 00:13:40,080 when you see this imagery, a Jewish menorah with, with the 221 00:13:40,080 --> 00:13:43,560 candlesticks sitting on the lampstand and that light that is 222 00:13:43,560 --> 00:13:47,400 meant to illuminate. And he's saying my churches are 223 00:13:47,400 --> 00:13:54,760 like 7 golden candlesticks. And he sets the stage for that. 224 00:13:54,760 --> 00:13:59,360 Now he's going to give 7 messages to seven different 225 00:13:59,360 --> 00:14:02,360 churches that existed in the 1st century. 226 00:14:02,680 --> 00:14:05,960 And I, and I believe the point of all this, there's, there's 227 00:14:05,960 --> 00:14:08,560 different views on this. I don't believe that each church 228 00:14:08,560 --> 00:14:12,360 represents a period of time, but rather represents 229 00:14:12,720 --> 00:14:17,000 characteristics that could exist in churches generally speaking. 230 00:14:17,840 --> 00:14:20,040 And there are those that would try to say that each one of 231 00:14:20,040 --> 00:14:23,480 these represent an age, and I wouldn't necessarily divide with 232 00:14:23,480 --> 00:14:26,000 them over that. My view is different because in 233 00:14:26,000 --> 00:14:29,920 the 1st century all 7 churches existed and they all had these 234 00:14:29,920 --> 00:14:32,640 different characteristics. And I believe if you look 235 00:14:32,640 --> 00:14:35,600 throughout history, you'll see that while there could 236 00:14:35,600 --> 00:14:38,640 potentially be certain characteristics that are, you 237 00:14:38,880 --> 00:14:42,080 know, describing a, a period of time, More importantly, I think 238 00:14:42,320 --> 00:14:44,960 the nature of a church, the makeup of a church, the way that 239 00:14:44,960 --> 00:14:48,680 a church functions really is, is that they are all individual. 240 00:14:48,680 --> 00:14:50,760 They all have their own characteristics, they all have 241 00:14:50,760 --> 00:14:55,280 their own spirit and and that each church has the potential to 242 00:14:55,280 --> 00:14:59,960 find themselves in a situation like Ephesus was or Pergamus or 243 00:14:59,960 --> 00:15:05,680 Thyatira, etcetera. OK, I think, I think for anyone 244 00:15:05,680 --> 00:15:08,440 that's visited other churches, you would see that I mean, every 245 00:15:08,440 --> 00:15:14,360 church is different and every church is the Lord's body in 246 00:15:14,360 --> 00:15:16,840 that local community. Amen. 247 00:15:17,560 --> 00:15:20,200 We believe in. The doctrine of the local church 248 00:15:20,440 --> 00:15:25,320 and that God intends that Liberty Baptist Church here in 249 00:15:25,320 --> 00:15:31,120 Easton, MA would be like if Jesus were here, what would he 250 00:15:31,120 --> 00:15:34,160 accomplish? We are to be his feet, we're to 251 00:15:34,160 --> 00:15:37,280 be his hands, we're to be his mouthpiece here in Easton, MA. 252 00:15:37,280 --> 00:15:39,480 For those of you that are members of Liberty Baptist 253 00:15:39,480 --> 00:15:42,840 Church and I'm a member of Grace Bible Baptist Church back in 254 00:15:42,840 --> 00:15:44,920 Connecticut, we're to be that way in Vernon, CT. 255 00:15:45,360 --> 00:15:48,160 And what a what a what a wise God. 256 00:15:48,160 --> 00:15:51,920 We have to realize that we we have a great work before us and 257 00:15:51,920 --> 00:15:54,680 if that we're going to reach the World, one church isn't going to 258 00:15:54,680 --> 00:15:58,640 do it by themselves, but partnering together we can 259 00:15:58,640 --> 00:16:01,880 accomplish much. And so each of these churches, 260 00:16:02,680 --> 00:16:06,640 let's be very clear, these are God's churches, but they all 261 00:16:06,640 --> 00:16:10,320 have problems. I mentioned this morning that 262 00:16:10,680 --> 00:16:14,320 churches have problems because people have problems and people 263 00:16:14,320 --> 00:16:16,840 make up churches. Amen. 264 00:16:17,680 --> 00:16:20,080 Yeah, we don't have to hide it. We we're all Sinner saved by 265 00:16:20,080 --> 00:16:23,800 grace here tonight and and every once in a while we need a 266 00:16:23,800 --> 00:16:26,880 message from the Lord and he loves us enough not to leave us 267 00:16:26,880 --> 00:16:29,600 the way we are, but to confront us where we are so we can grow 268 00:16:29,600 --> 00:16:33,680 so that we can develop more. And and what we see from the the 269 00:16:33,680 --> 00:16:39,400 doctrine of the the problems in Ephesus that they had, they had 270 00:16:39,400 --> 00:16:41,280 a lot of things. Going for them. 271 00:16:42,840 --> 00:16:44,760 They did. It was the kind of church from 272 00:16:44,760 --> 00:16:47,120 the outside you would have said, man, this is the kind of church 273 00:16:47,120 --> 00:16:49,640 I want my family to be in, this kind of church I want to be a 274 00:16:49,640 --> 00:16:51,320 part of. I mean, they're taking all the 275 00:16:51,320 --> 00:16:57,560 right stands, but they are lacking one particular area. 276 00:16:59,560 --> 00:17:03,720 And so Jesus addresses them. And I think it's noteworthy that 277 00:17:03,720 --> 00:17:08,760 Ephesus was probably the most prominent city of all of these 278 00:17:08,760 --> 00:17:12,560 here. And that Ephesus was, was like, 279 00:17:13,079 --> 00:17:15,960 I mean, if you could get the gospel in Ephesus, then you 280 00:17:15,960 --> 00:17:21,599 could get the gospel to, to move and, and to develop more 281 00:17:21,599 --> 00:17:24,480 churches throughout that region of Asia Minor, but even more 282 00:17:24,480 --> 00:17:26,599 importantly for world missions, right? 283 00:17:26,599 --> 00:17:29,040 Because God's not just interested in one region, he's 284 00:17:29,040 --> 00:17:30,760 interested in reaching the whole world. 285 00:17:30,960 --> 00:17:34,960 And so Ephesus was a strategic location for the gospel because 286 00:17:34,960 --> 00:17:37,480 it was a very important city in the Roman Empire. 287 00:17:37,720 --> 00:17:40,200 And it was important really for three reasons. 288 00:17:41,040 --> 00:17:46,000 Politically, it was important economically and it was 289 00:17:46,000 --> 00:17:51,040 important based on its religion, their religious experiences. 290 00:17:51,520 --> 00:17:55,840 So we know we noticed that as we study the Church of rather the 291 00:17:55,840 --> 00:17:59,680 city of Ephesus from historians of perspective, that it was a 292 00:17:59,680 --> 00:18:03,880 seaport city and that it was it was the kind of place that was 293 00:18:03,880 --> 00:18:06,360 just booming with business. I mean, you can imagine that the 294 00:18:06,360 --> 00:18:10,480 ports seeing all the traffic, all this trade and, and it was 295 00:18:10,480 --> 00:18:13,800 economic, a very wealthy city for many reasons. 296 00:18:14,000 --> 00:18:16,360 And so they had a lot of wealth. They had a lot of people there, 297 00:18:16,360 --> 00:18:20,120 supposedly about 250,000 people that lived there in the city, 298 00:18:20,120 --> 00:18:23,680 which in an ancient city was really a lot of people in one 299 00:18:23,680 --> 00:18:26,840 place concentrated. And so it was, it was important 300 00:18:26,840 --> 00:18:30,080 for that reason. It's geography and in a 301 00:18:30,080 --> 00:18:33,120 situation economically but politically has a very important 302 00:18:33,120 --> 00:18:38,000 connection here as the city itself had received a honorary 303 00:18:38,000 --> 00:18:42,440 title from the Roman government known as the Neo Koros or 304 00:18:42,880 --> 00:18:45,480 interpreted would be temple wardens. 305 00:18:46,040 --> 00:18:48,040 And that probably doesn't mean anything to you. 306 00:18:48,040 --> 00:18:51,280 But there was this problem that arose in early Christianity 307 00:18:51,280 --> 00:18:56,840 known as the Imperial cult, and the Roman Emperor under Augustus 308 00:18:56,840 --> 00:18:59,480 began to view himself as a deity. 309 00:19:00,200 --> 00:19:03,560 He saw himself as God. And if you understand Roman 310 00:19:03,560 --> 00:19:08,280 theology and Rome, the Pantheon, and the Roman view was 311 00:19:08,280 --> 00:19:12,280 polytheism, multiple gods. So he's not saying he's the only 312 00:19:12,280 --> 00:19:16,160 God, but he's a God. He is a deified man. 313 00:19:16,560 --> 00:19:19,800 And that became a problem for Christians because they would 314 00:19:19,800 --> 00:19:23,720 have this ceremony in which all the citizens of Rome would have 315 00:19:23,720 --> 00:19:27,680 to go through and offer incense to the emperor. 316 00:19:28,960 --> 00:19:32,120 As a God. You say, Brother Brett, what's 317 00:19:32,120 --> 00:19:35,360 the big deal? Well, a Christian knows that 318 00:19:35,360 --> 00:19:41,840 only Jesus is God and that the Christian God is exclusive. 319 00:19:42,440 --> 00:19:44,720 Amen. That he must be worshipped 320 00:19:44,720 --> 00:19:48,920 exclusively and that there is no toleration of worshipping other 321 00:19:48,920 --> 00:19:50,880 gods. In the Christian worldview, 322 00:19:51,000 --> 00:19:54,360 monotheism, one God, not multiple gods. 323 00:19:54,600 --> 00:19:57,760 And so these Christians protested against this emperor 324 00:19:57,760 --> 00:20:01,920 worship, and the emperor called himself the My Lord and My God. 325 00:20:01,920 --> 00:20:04,920 He expected to be called that. He viewed himself as a deity. 326 00:20:05,080 --> 00:20:07,280 And so when he realized that the Christians were no longer 327 00:20:07,280 --> 00:20:10,680 worshipping him or refusing to partake in these offerings, it 328 00:20:10,680 --> 00:20:12,920 was looked at as like a lack of patriotism. 329 00:20:13,080 --> 00:20:14,760 And they began to. And persecute them for that 330 00:20:14,760 --> 00:20:16,680 reason. Well, Ephesus, as you can 331 00:20:16,680 --> 00:20:20,560 imagine, having received that honorary title from the 332 00:20:20,560 --> 00:20:23,080 government, they got that because they had demonstrated 333 00:20:23,080 --> 00:20:25,240 their zeal for worshipping the emperor. 334 00:20:25,440 --> 00:20:29,360 And that honorary title came with it a serious responsibility 335 00:20:29,360 --> 00:20:32,240 that the people would be expected to comply. 336 00:20:33,200 --> 00:20:35,680 With the worship. Of the Emperor. 337 00:20:37,040 --> 00:20:39,080 Well, the church at Ephesus wouldn't stand for that. 338 00:20:40,640 --> 00:20:43,400 Amen. But as you can imagine, there 339 00:20:43,400 --> 00:20:47,120 was quite a bit of pressure on them to cave, to bend. 340 00:20:49,040 --> 00:20:51,720 And on top of that, there were other religious problems. 341 00:20:52,320 --> 00:20:56,280 The biggest temple or, or one of the greatest temples in the 342 00:20:56,280 --> 00:20:59,240 world at that time was one of the seven wonders of the ancient 343 00:20:59,240 --> 00:21:01,840 world. The temple to Artemis was built 344 00:21:01,840 --> 00:21:05,160 in Ephesus. So you have, you have all of 345 00:21:05,160 --> 00:21:09,880 these different elements working together to, to really, yes, in 346 00:21:09,880 --> 00:21:14,200 one sense, be a huge opportunity for the gospel, right. 347 00:21:15,120 --> 00:21:18,080 But then on the other hand, and we read this from Paul's 348 00:21:18,080 --> 00:21:21,240 writings, that is great opposition to the gospel. 349 00:21:21,240 --> 00:21:24,000 It's great resistance. And, and we read even from Acts 350 00:21:24,000 --> 00:21:27,160 chapter 19, when Paul spent his time there in Ephesus, that he 351 00:21:27,160 --> 00:21:29,760 had the most fruitful ministry had ever experienced in his 352 00:21:29,760 --> 00:21:32,240 missionary journeys, but he also had the, the greatest 353 00:21:32,240 --> 00:21:35,360 persecution and the greatest resistance to his ministry there 354 00:21:35,360 --> 00:21:38,720 in Ephesus. And, and so it's probably been 355 00:21:38,720 --> 00:21:43,640 about 30 years since Paul has he, he established the church 356 00:21:43,640 --> 00:21:44,960 there. People got saved. 357 00:21:44,960 --> 00:21:48,440 I mean, they, they took all of their books that they used to 358 00:21:48,440 --> 00:21:52,000 worship all the false gods and they engaged in witchcraft and 359 00:21:52,000 --> 00:21:54,560 they burned those books in the fire. 360 00:21:54,920 --> 00:21:58,360 They didn't sell it on eBay. They burned it so that no one 361 00:21:58,360 --> 00:22:00,080 else could get it again. And they got saved. 362 00:22:00,080 --> 00:22:02,080 They committed their lives to Jesus Christ and they got 363 00:22:02,080 --> 00:22:03,880 planted in that church at Ephesus. 364 00:22:04,440 --> 00:22:07,200 But then we read the Paul wrote to the church at Ephesus and he 365 00:22:07,200 --> 00:22:09,800 wrote the whole letter to the Ephesians is in your Bible. 366 00:22:10,560 --> 00:22:13,640 And they had a real problem with unity because there were Jews 367 00:22:13,640 --> 00:22:15,880 and there were Gentiles in the church and they struggled to get 368 00:22:15,880 --> 00:22:18,120 along with one another. And so he wrote to them about 369 00:22:18,120 --> 00:22:19,720 unity. And then Timothy was there, and 370 00:22:19,720 --> 00:22:22,000 he wrote First Timothy and Second Timothy, and they 371 00:22:22,000 --> 00:22:24,520 struggled with problems of false doctrine and false teaching. 372 00:22:24,760 --> 00:22:28,800 But here we are 30 years later. Church at Ephesus is still 373 00:22:28,800 --> 00:22:37,000 standing, but it's been enough time that most of the people 374 00:22:37,000 --> 00:22:40,800 there would be probably made-up of second generation. 375 00:22:40,800 --> 00:22:43,760 Christians and I. Don't know about you, I've 376 00:22:44,040 --> 00:22:46,440 certainly experienced this. I've heard testimonies about 377 00:22:46,440 --> 00:22:51,400 this that second generation Christians, generally speaking, 378 00:22:52,000 --> 00:22:56,120 seem to lack the same zeal and fervor for God that their 379 00:22:56,120 --> 00:22:58,120 parents had. Amen. 380 00:22:59,400 --> 00:23:01,640 I'm not saying it happens every time that way, but just 381 00:23:01,640 --> 00:23:04,600 generally speaking, they tend to lack that zeal. 382 00:23:04,600 --> 00:23:07,120 They, they, they tend to lack that passion. 383 00:23:07,480 --> 00:23:10,320 And I think as we read this passage, we can see that that is 384 00:23:10,320 --> 00:23:16,720 likely what was happening. So as we, as we study this, 385 00:23:17,640 --> 00:23:21,000 we'll see that while the Lord commended the church and we, we 386 00:23:21,000 --> 00:23:22,800 ought to give credit where credit is due, right? 387 00:23:22,800 --> 00:23:24,800 They were commended for some things. 388 00:23:27,640 --> 00:23:33,400 He he did call them to repent. That's a strong word. 389 00:23:33,880 --> 00:23:37,120 And it's not, it's not just a word for unbelievers. 390 00:23:37,120 --> 00:23:39,960 It's something that believers need to do regularly. 391 00:23:42,080 --> 00:23:45,960 And so I think we'll see and we'll get a glimpse from this 392 00:23:45,960 --> 00:23:48,760 understanding how it's possible. For a church. 393 00:23:49,080 --> 00:23:53,840 For individuals to fall out of love with Christ, but more 394 00:23:53,840 --> 00:23:56,320 importantly, not just to diagnose that this problem 395 00:23:56,320 --> 00:24:00,560 exists, but that there is a solution to get back to a place 396 00:24:01,240 --> 00:24:03,960 where we can have a vibrant walk with God. 397 00:24:04,720 --> 00:24:08,160 So so we. See in verse one that Jesus 398 00:24:08,160 --> 00:24:11,200 Christ one through three, that Jesus Christ commended the 399 00:24:11,200 --> 00:24:15,000 Church of Ephesus for their commitment to Christian truth. 400 00:24:15,320 --> 00:24:18,160 They were committed to truth. And that is so important in our 401 00:24:18,160 --> 00:24:21,280 day and time, is it not? We live in a world that wants to 402 00:24:21,280 --> 00:24:25,120 redefine things. I hope I'm not losing anyone 403 00:24:25,120 --> 00:24:28,040 tonight. They want to redefine things. 404 00:24:28,760 --> 00:24:31,680 I mean, I I just think, for example, of gender. 405 00:24:31,960 --> 00:24:35,160 Gender seems to be something that to some people is so 406 00:24:35,160 --> 00:24:37,720 confusing and to me just seems so clear from what God's word 407 00:24:37,720 --> 00:24:38,920 teaches. Amen. 408 00:24:40,200 --> 00:24:41,880 There are males and there are females. 409 00:24:42,960 --> 00:24:45,720 That's a sign by God at birth. It's not something you can 410 00:24:45,720 --> 00:24:48,080 change. That's true. 411 00:24:48,960 --> 00:24:52,080 But in our society they want to say no. 412 00:24:52,080 --> 00:24:55,600 Gender is so much more complex than that. 413 00:24:56,040 --> 00:24:58,760 It's something that you express by the way that you behave. 414 00:24:58,760 --> 00:25:01,160 It's, it's something to express with your dress. 415 00:25:01,160 --> 00:25:04,040 It's something that you express by the way that you, you, you 416 00:25:04,160 --> 00:25:07,200 interact with other people. And it's just, it's kind of 417 00:25:07,200 --> 00:25:09,000 fluid. It could change at times. 418 00:25:09,000 --> 00:25:12,600 And it's not really, it's. It's not binary, it's just. 419 00:25:12,960 --> 00:25:16,600 What you choose it to be? Well, that's not true. 420 00:25:17,320 --> 00:25:19,800 Now we can. We can say that all we want and 421 00:25:19,840 --> 00:25:22,280 and people with capital letters behind their name can say that. 422 00:25:22,360 --> 00:25:25,440 It doesn't change that it's not true, doesn't change that it's a 423 00:25:25,440 --> 00:25:27,360 lie. And the Church of Ephesus would 424 00:25:27,360 --> 00:25:29,440 not have stood for that. He said no, no, no, there's only 425 00:25:29,440 --> 00:25:30,400 two genders. Amen. 426 00:25:30,400 --> 00:25:32,200 That's what the Church of Ephesus. 427 00:25:32,200 --> 00:25:34,840 Would have done and there's plenty of other cultural issues 428 00:25:34,840 --> 00:25:37,800 that we could deal with in our society in which we want to 429 00:25:37,800 --> 00:25:43,240 redefine things but the truth is that you. 430 00:25:43,240 --> 00:25:45,720 Don't get to change reality, you just have to live in it. 431 00:25:47,120 --> 00:25:49,000 And the Church of Ephesus was strong. 432 00:25:49,000 --> 00:25:51,360 They were committed to the truth in these few ways. 433 00:25:51,360 --> 00:25:55,920 Notice what it says here as Jesus reveals himself as the one 434 00:25:56,800 --> 00:26:00,560 who held the seven stars in his right hand. 435 00:26:01,040 --> 00:26:04,040 So in each of these revelations that he gives to the churches, 436 00:26:04,280 --> 00:26:08,920 he describes himself from one image that he used in the in the 437 00:26:08,920 --> 00:26:12,640 vision of chapter 1. In this case, what he's bringing 438 00:26:12,640 --> 00:26:17,200 out is that he is the one that holds the seven stars in his 439 00:26:17,200 --> 00:26:20,760 right hand and who walks in the midst of the 7 golden 440 00:26:20,760 --> 00:26:23,200 candlesticks. He chose to reveal himself 441 00:26:23,200 --> 00:26:24,560 differently to some of the other churches. 442 00:26:24,560 --> 00:26:27,640 The one that has the eyes like a flame of fire and the feet as 443 00:26:27,640 --> 00:26:30,800 brass and and the one that has the sharp sword going out of his 444 00:26:30,800 --> 00:26:33,640 mouth. So each one he uses one of those 445 00:26:33,640 --> 00:26:36,280 attributes of himself or one of those descriptions and 446 00:26:36,280 --> 00:26:41,600 depictions to to foreshadow what the message will be. 447 00:26:43,880 --> 00:26:47,560 So he says, he says this to the Angel of the church at Ephesus. 448 00:26:48,240 --> 00:26:50,120 So he's speaking to the pastor first. 449 00:26:50,400 --> 00:26:52,600 Amen. I'm thankful that I've had 450 00:26:52,600 --> 00:26:56,480 pastors in my life who hear from God and that they speak the 451 00:26:56,480 --> 00:26:59,080 message that God has given to them to the church. 452 00:26:59,120 --> 00:27:02,000 Amen. And so God speaks to the to the 453 00:27:02,000 --> 00:27:05,360 Angel and he tells them, here's the message because he's the one 454 00:27:05,360 --> 00:27:08,600 that is overseeing the church. He is responsible to answer to 455 00:27:08,600 --> 00:27:10,960 God before the for the spiritual state of the church. 456 00:27:10,960 --> 00:27:14,960 And he says I'm the one that holds the seven stars in my 457 00:27:14,960 --> 00:27:16,640 right hand. What a. 458 00:27:16,640 --> 00:27:18,280 What a. Personal message to that pastor 459 00:27:18,280 --> 00:27:19,680 there. You're one of my preachers and 460 00:27:19,680 --> 00:27:23,880 you're in my hand. And I walk among my churches. 461 00:27:24,360 --> 00:27:27,080 The candlesticks. How? 462 00:27:27,080 --> 00:27:29,000 How would you? Feel if you knew that Jesus was 463 00:27:29,000 --> 00:27:32,640 sitting next to you in the service tonight, well, he 464 00:27:32,640 --> 00:27:34,880 doesn't have to physically be next to you. 465 00:27:34,880 --> 00:27:36,920 He is here because he's on my present. 466 00:27:37,200 --> 00:27:39,800 He's God. He's in every church service 467 00:27:39,800 --> 00:27:44,200 that Liberty Baptist Church has. He knows what's going on more 468 00:27:44,200 --> 00:27:45,680 than the pastor, more than any person. 469 00:27:45,680 --> 00:27:47,800 He's omniscient. Nothing is hidden. 470 00:27:47,800 --> 00:27:50,360 From him. Sobering, isn't it? 471 00:27:52,760 --> 00:27:56,800 And he's, he's speaking. Notice it says these things, 472 00:27:56,800 --> 00:27:58,840 saith he. Here's what he says. 473 00:28:00,320 --> 00:28:07,240 I know thy works, thy labor, thy patience, how thou canst not 474 00:28:07,240 --> 00:28:11,320 bear them which are evil. And now it's tried them which 475 00:28:11,320 --> 00:28:15,240 say they are apostles and are not, has found them liars. 476 00:28:16,280 --> 00:28:18,640 And it has. Born and has patience and for my 477 00:28:18,640 --> 00:28:23,160 name's sake has labored and has not fainted. 478 00:28:23,680 --> 00:28:26,200 Look at some of these commendable characteristics 479 00:28:26,200 --> 00:28:28,440 about the church at Ephesus. He says I know your works. 480 00:28:29,280 --> 00:28:32,560 It's it's somewhat convicting that Jesus knows what's going 481 00:28:32,560 --> 00:28:34,160 on, but it's also encouraging, isn't it? 482 00:28:34,440 --> 00:28:38,040 Because he he sees your labor, he sees your sacrifice, he sees 483 00:28:38,040 --> 00:28:40,560 what you give. He sees your contributions to 484 00:28:40,560 --> 00:28:44,720 the church here and he commends you where commendation is due. 485 00:28:45,200 --> 00:28:47,400 Amen. I'm talking to the Court church 486 00:28:47,400 --> 00:28:50,280 here tonight and Sunday night. I mean the, the faithful group 487 00:28:50,280 --> 00:28:52,800 that comes back to church on a Sunday night, praise God for 488 00:28:52,800 --> 00:28:54,960 that. Praise God for church members 489 00:28:54,960 --> 00:28:56,360 that come back on a Sunday night. 490 00:28:56,680 --> 00:28:59,960 Jesus commends you for that. Jesus commends those that go out 491 00:28:59,960 --> 00:29:02,680 on visitation and they and they give out tracks to people. 492 00:29:02,680 --> 00:29:05,560 He commends you for those of you who don't just live a Christian 493 00:29:05,560 --> 00:29:08,040 life when you're here at church, but you do it Monday through 494 00:29:08,040 --> 00:29:10,480 Saturday. And you say, I've seen that. 495 00:29:10,480 --> 00:29:13,480 I've seen your labor and Christian life is not about fun 496 00:29:13,480 --> 00:29:14,680 and games. It's about labor. 497 00:29:14,680 --> 00:29:17,600 It's about work. It means we have to do work. 498 00:29:18,000 --> 00:29:20,280 And he's not just talking about the fact that you work a nine to 499 00:29:20,280 --> 00:29:22,000 five. He's talking about the labor 500 00:29:22,000 --> 00:29:24,720 that you do in the ministry at the church. 501 00:29:25,560 --> 00:29:27,760 It's like, I've seen that. I know, I know the work that 502 00:29:27,760 --> 00:29:30,040 you've done. And look at this, how you can't 503 00:29:30,040 --> 00:29:33,960 bear them which are evil. I mean, Jesus commended them for 504 00:29:33,960 --> 00:29:36,600 the fact that they were taking a stand against that which was 505 00:29:36,600 --> 00:29:38,800 evil in their culture. And they had a lot to stand 506 00:29:38,800 --> 00:29:41,040 against, did they not? I mentioned to you already that 507 00:29:41,040 --> 00:29:43,120 they had the emperor worship that was going on. 508 00:29:43,280 --> 00:29:46,680 And then, and that certainly was a huge problem, right? 509 00:29:46,680 --> 00:29:50,480 Because the worship of man is a direct insult to God. 510 00:29:51,560 --> 00:29:53,440 Man is not made to receive worship. 511 00:29:53,440 --> 00:29:56,520 Only God should receive worship. But then you see all the other 512 00:29:56,520 --> 00:29:59,440 religious confusion that was in their day and some of the, the 513 00:29:59,720 --> 00:30:03,040 moral abominations that happened in those Gentile cultures. 514 00:30:03,280 --> 00:30:06,960 And all, of the, all of the immoral worship that went on 515 00:30:06,960 --> 00:30:09,880 there at the temple of Artemis and all, of the, all of the 516 00:30:09,880 --> 00:30:12,800 different ways in which they thumb their nose at God's 517 00:30:12,800 --> 00:30:15,720 standards and morality. And, and the church at Ephesus 518 00:30:15,720 --> 00:30:19,240 said, no, that's not right. This is not what God intended. 519 00:30:19,240 --> 00:30:24,920 And they stood against it. Notice they also tried them 520 00:30:24,920 --> 00:30:28,760 which say they are apostles and are not and has found. 521 00:30:28,760 --> 00:30:32,760 Them liars and their day they had itinerant preachers that 522 00:30:32,760 --> 00:30:34,960 were going around and they would they would come to the church 523 00:30:34,960 --> 00:30:36,520 and say hey, we're here to preach Jesus. 524 00:30:36,520 --> 00:30:40,560 Do you have an opening and they promoted themselves so that they 525 00:30:40,560 --> 00:30:43,600 could enter into the church and begin to propagate false 526 00:30:43,600 --> 00:30:46,040 doctrine and they call themselves apostles. 527 00:30:46,040 --> 00:30:48,080 You know what the word apostle means is to be sent. 528 00:30:48,080 --> 00:30:51,280 Forth with orders. So they would say that they were 529 00:30:51,280 --> 00:30:53,680 messengers of God, but God never sent them. 530 00:30:54,360 --> 00:30:57,560 And then they would go to preach a message that God never told 531 00:30:57,560 --> 00:31:00,200 them to preach in the name of God. 532 00:31:00,880 --> 00:31:02,840 And then they would, and then they would, they would try that 533 00:31:02,840 --> 00:31:04,560 at the Church of Ephesus. The Church of Ephesus would kick 534 00:31:04,560 --> 00:31:05,600 them out of church. Say no way. 535 00:31:05,600 --> 00:31:08,200 You can't do that here. We, we, we don't tolerate that 536 00:31:08,200 --> 00:31:10,720 false doctrine. You're a false apostle. 537 00:31:11,080 --> 00:31:13,480 Now I'm I'm I'm only. Speculating, but I know that 538 00:31:13,480 --> 00:31:18,400 they, they, it says here you, you, you tried them, you found 539 00:31:18,400 --> 00:31:21,560 that they're not true. Isn't that a shame that there's 540 00:31:21,560 --> 00:31:25,680 so many, there's so many false teachers that we have to be so 541 00:31:25,680 --> 00:31:27,600 skeptical about things that are said? 542 00:31:28,120 --> 00:31:31,560 God never intended that, but but that the devil certainly does 543 00:31:31,560 --> 00:31:35,240 and and uses that so that he can create confusion where God has 544 00:31:35,240 --> 00:31:39,080 created clarity and he says no, you've tried. 545 00:31:39,080 --> 00:31:45,200 Them and you've born and has patience. 546 00:31:46,320 --> 00:31:49,200 The idea of patients is not necessarily like waiting in a 547 00:31:49,200 --> 00:31:51,360 doctor's office without complaining. 548 00:31:53,240 --> 00:31:55,440 We're not a very patient people in America, are we? 549 00:31:55,880 --> 00:31:57,160 He's not that's not what he's talking about. 550 00:31:57,480 --> 00:32:00,600 He's talking about endurance. It's the idea that you could 551 00:32:00,600 --> 00:32:03,240 bear up under the pressure and continue. 552 00:32:03,800 --> 00:32:07,040 You know, it's, it's sad and, and you see this as you, as you 553 00:32:07,040 --> 00:32:09,320 try to preach to people, try to help them in their life, that 554 00:32:09,320 --> 00:32:11,600 there are some people that get into church for just a little 555 00:32:11,600 --> 00:32:14,840 while, but they don't have any endurance, They don't have any 556 00:32:14,840 --> 00:32:16,800 patience. And the first thing that happens 557 00:32:16,800 --> 00:32:19,240 to them as a Christian is, oh, this Christian thing doesn't 558 00:32:19,240 --> 00:32:23,000 work and they get out of church. That's a shame. 559 00:32:24,720 --> 00:32:26,640 Endurance. They put up with some things. 560 00:32:27,240 --> 00:32:29,320 Any church will have to put up with some things. 561 00:32:29,320 --> 00:32:31,440 We have to put up with each other for one thing, that's what 562 00:32:31,440 --> 00:32:36,080 it says in some of the letters. Forbearance put up with each 563 00:32:36,080 --> 00:32:39,440 other because we're a. Family and every family has 564 00:32:39,440 --> 00:32:41,640 family problems. You're saying that you've had. 565 00:32:41,640 --> 00:32:46,080 Patience, you've endured, and for my name's sake, you didn't 566 00:32:46,080 --> 00:32:48,680 do it for your own glory. You didn't do it just because 567 00:32:48,680 --> 00:32:51,560 you wanted attention. You did it for my name's sake. 568 00:32:51,560 --> 00:32:53,320 You've labored and you haven't fainted. 569 00:32:53,320 --> 00:32:55,160 You haven't given up. You keep going. 570 00:32:55,680 --> 00:33:00,800 Praise God for a church like. That think man this is a great 571 00:33:00,800 --> 00:33:06,280 church and it all changes in verse 4. 572 00:33:07,520 --> 00:33:10,360 It's it's as if. It's as if he's talking to a 573 00:33:10,360 --> 00:33:13,480 whole different group of people now, but he's not. 574 00:33:14,360 --> 00:33:17,560 He's talking to the same church. Notice what he says 575 00:33:18,800 --> 00:33:22,120 nevertheless. You have some good. 576 00:33:22,120 --> 00:33:25,320 Things. But you have a big problem. 577 00:33:26,680 --> 00:33:33,720 Nevertheless, I have somewhat against thee because thou has 578 00:33:34,280 --> 00:33:39,520 left thy first love. In light of all these 579 00:33:39,520 --> 00:33:46,120 commendable traits in an abundance of activity, there was 580 00:33:46,120 --> 00:33:49,640 something missing. Something missing. 581 00:33:50,680 --> 00:34:00,000 They had left their first love. It seems that whatever the 582 00:34:00,000 --> 00:34:06,480 occasion was, they had gotten away from their first love. 583 00:34:06,480 --> 00:34:07,640 You say what is their first love? 584 00:34:07,640 --> 00:34:10,639 Well, I I would have to interpret this as meaning their 585 00:34:10,639 --> 00:34:13,040 relationship with Jesus Christ, wouldn't you? 586 00:34:14,520 --> 00:34:17,840 Their first love, I mean, the one that. 587 00:34:17,840 --> 00:34:21,760 Saved them, redeemed them from their sins and made them a new 588 00:34:21,760 --> 00:34:25,679 creature in Christ and and gave them a gave them an eternity in 589 00:34:25,679 --> 00:34:27,400 heaven. And, and knowing that their 590 00:34:27,400 --> 00:34:32,320 lives would never be the same, he put joy where there was 591 00:34:32,320 --> 00:34:35,320 sorrow. He gave them meaning and 592 00:34:35,320 --> 00:34:37,159 fulfillment where there was emptiness. 593 00:34:37,800 --> 00:34:40,520 And they had this vibrant relationship with one another. 594 00:34:40,600 --> 00:34:43,400 It's just like that honeymoon experience in which this was new 595 00:34:43,400 --> 00:34:45,120 and it was beautiful and it was wonderful. 596 00:34:45,280 --> 00:34:48,679 And yet somehow along the line, they continue to do Christian 597 00:34:48,679 --> 00:34:54,280 things, but they slowly drifted from Christ. 598 00:34:55,520 --> 00:35:01,640 Can you imagine that? And and it seems they were. 599 00:35:01,640 --> 00:35:08,320 Oblivious to it, it just kept going on without realizing that 600 00:35:08,320 --> 00:35:10,200 there was an engine light on in their Christian life. 601 00:35:12,840 --> 00:35:15,520 You know that it's good if you everything about your car is in 602 00:35:15,520 --> 00:35:18,920 working order. That's great, but the fact that 603 00:35:18,920 --> 00:35:21,880 you have good tires doesn't change the fact that you still 604 00:35:21,880 --> 00:35:25,480 need an oil change. I hope I didn't miss lose anyone 605 00:35:25,480 --> 00:35:28,440 there. Just because you have some 606 00:35:28,440 --> 00:35:31,160 components working doesn't mean you don't need to fix that's 607 00:35:31,160 --> 00:35:35,560 which is broken or needs maintenance, right. 608 00:35:37,040 --> 00:35:38,720 They needed maintenance in their Christian life. 609 00:35:39,440 --> 00:35:42,320 So brother Brett, what, what do you think caused this? 610 00:35:43,480 --> 00:35:47,800 Well, I all I can do is speculate, but I know this, that 611 00:35:48,880 --> 00:35:54,960 in, in our, in our finite human perspective, though, we know the 612 00:35:54,960 --> 00:35:58,000 truth about salvation, that it's by grace through faith, and that 613 00:35:58,000 --> 00:36:00,880 the only way that we can be saved is by God's gift, right? 614 00:36:00,880 --> 00:36:02,880 We understand that. We've heard that preached, 615 00:36:03,120 --> 00:36:05,400 thankfully, because we have good men of God in our lives who 616 00:36:05,400 --> 00:36:08,480 preach the Bible to us, but there's still that. 617 00:36:08,480 --> 00:36:12,840 In us that makes us think I still have to do. 618 00:36:12,840 --> 00:36:17,600 Something to be accepted by God. I mean, it's just this, it's 619 00:36:17,600 --> 00:36:20,040 performance based thinking that's in US. 620 00:36:20,360 --> 00:36:21,880 And that performance based thinking. 621 00:36:21,880 --> 00:36:25,040 I think especially in churches like the Church of Ephesus that 622 00:36:25,040 --> 00:36:27,360 have all types of activities that are going on that are 623 00:36:27,360 --> 00:36:32,040 constantly doing Christian things that they can, they can 624 00:36:32,040 --> 00:36:35,320 get into their minds that this is what my relationship with 625 00:36:35,320 --> 00:36:38,360 Christ is all about. Because I do this and I do this 626 00:36:38,480 --> 00:36:40,440 and I do this. I go to church, I wear the right 627 00:36:40,440 --> 00:36:42,920 clothes, I go out on visitation, I read my Bible every day, I 628 00:36:42,920 --> 00:36:45,840 pray every day. I give myself to doing all these 629 00:36:45,840 --> 00:36:49,880 Christian things. And yet in those rituals and in 630 00:36:49,880 --> 00:36:54,000 those habits miss the whole point. 631 00:36:58,920 --> 00:37:00,920 You know what Jesus says is the solution. 632 00:37:02,480 --> 00:37:09,320 It's very simple. I see twofold, twofold solution. 633 00:37:10,600 --> 00:37:16,240 The 1st is this. Remember, therefore, from whence 634 00:37:16,240 --> 00:37:20,040 thou art fallen, you see uses. The word fallen. 635 00:37:20,680 --> 00:37:22,240 You've stumbled. You've fallen. 636 00:37:23,960 --> 00:37:27,000 What I would say is they've fallen out of love with Jesus 637 00:37:27,000 --> 00:37:29,840 Christ and they've, they've fallen. 638 00:37:31,320 --> 00:37:39,000 But here's what you do you, you, you recall, you recall, I, I've 639 00:37:39,000 --> 00:37:44,080 had the past day or so to think about the past five years of my 640 00:37:44,080 --> 00:37:50,160 marriage with my wife. We've had four anniversaries and 641 00:37:50,160 --> 00:37:53,120 this will be, you know, our 4th signifying 5 years of marriage 642 00:37:53,120 --> 00:37:56,520 that's coming up in August. And as we were out yesterday, we 643 00:37:56,520 --> 00:37:59,760 were, we brought Drew to the beach for the first time and 644 00:37:59,760 --> 00:38:02,600 he's got the cold water coming on him and he was getting kind 645 00:38:02,600 --> 00:38:04,120 of scared from the waves and everything. 646 00:38:04,120 --> 00:38:07,520 And that was nice. But it also got me to think back 647 00:38:07,520 --> 00:38:11,840 to when we first went on our honeymoon because while we were 648 00:38:11,840 --> 00:38:15,400 being tortured in the scorching heat of Oklahoma, we never got 649 00:38:15,400 --> 00:38:20,120 the chance to go to the beach. And it was, you know, we were 650 00:38:20,120 --> 00:38:21,960 suffering for Christ there in Oklahoma. 651 00:38:21,960 --> 00:38:24,840 And I'm totally kidding, but. But I mean, it was the first 652 00:38:24,840 --> 00:38:26,680 time we'd been to the beach in five years. 653 00:38:26,680 --> 00:38:29,360 And you have the smells and you experience it again. 654 00:38:29,360 --> 00:38:30,600 It's like, oh man, this is great. 655 00:38:30,760 --> 00:38:33,640 And it brought me right back to that moment in our honeymoon 656 00:38:33,640 --> 00:38:36,400 and. You know what it made me do? 657 00:38:37,040 --> 00:38:41,040 I remembered some things. I remembered not just that 658 00:38:41,040 --> 00:38:43,960 experience in our honeymoon, not just that that time that we had 659 00:38:43,960 --> 00:38:48,080 together, but I remembered what it was like to be newly married 660 00:38:48,080 --> 00:38:51,000 with my wife. And, and then I thought about 661 00:38:51,000 --> 00:38:53,880 all our experiences together and all that we've been through. 662 00:38:53,880 --> 00:38:57,440 And it, it caused me to appreciate our marriage in a new 663 00:38:57,440 --> 00:39:01,280 way because I began to remember some things. 664 00:39:01,280 --> 00:39:05,200 Do you remember what it was like when you first got saved? 665 00:39:05,200 --> 00:39:10,080 Do you remember that you remember when God reached into 666 00:39:10,080 --> 00:39:14,120 your life and you were you were a Sinner. 667 00:39:14,800 --> 00:39:16,640 Say, brother Brad, I was just a child. 668 00:39:16,880 --> 00:39:22,280 You were a Sinner in your sinful condition and God reached you. 669 00:39:22,920 --> 00:39:25,120 But but perhaps. Some of you as adults got saved 670 00:39:25,120 --> 00:39:27,120 as adults. I got saved as an adult. 671 00:39:27,800 --> 00:39:30,600 And I remember what it was like to have my my life on a certain 672 00:39:30,600 --> 00:39:34,240 trajectory and, and really feeling like it was a time that 673 00:39:34,240 --> 00:39:36,680 I was really hopeless and didn't have any direction and didn't 674 00:39:36,680 --> 00:39:38,480 know where I was going. And it's not like I didn't have 675 00:39:38,480 --> 00:39:41,120 a career path in college and all these different things, but I 676 00:39:41,120 --> 00:39:43,320 knew there was more to life that I was missing. 677 00:39:43,960 --> 00:39:45,840 And it was at that moment, at that juncture in my life, that 678 00:39:45,880 --> 00:39:48,920 Jesus Christ revealed himself to me and a man shared the gospel 679 00:39:48,920 --> 00:39:50,720 with me, and I got saved at 18 years old. 680 00:39:50,840 --> 00:39:52,960 And the entire trajectory of me in my life changed. 681 00:39:53,080 --> 00:39:55,600 And every once in a while, as I've been busy and doing 682 00:39:55,600 --> 00:39:57,960 ministry and preaching and wearing a suit and tie before 683 00:39:57,960 --> 00:40:01,520 people on a regular basis, it's good for me to remember you 684 00:40:01,520 --> 00:40:03,320 weren't always a preacher, Brother Brett. 685 00:40:03,440 --> 00:40:05,960 You at one time were just a Sinner and you had no idea where 686 00:40:05,960 --> 00:40:07,880 you were going. And your Lord reached into your 687 00:40:07,880 --> 00:40:11,480 life and he changed you forever. I don't remember that every once 688 00:40:11,480 --> 00:40:14,320 in a while. How about you and your Christian 689 00:40:14,320 --> 00:40:16,080 life? When's the last time you 690 00:40:16,080 --> 00:40:17,640 remember what it was like to be lost? 691 00:40:19,520 --> 00:40:22,680 You were before. When's the last time you thought 692 00:40:22,680 --> 00:40:25,720 about that? When's the last time you thought 693 00:40:25,720 --> 00:40:28,200 about the blessings that he's brought into your life through 694 00:40:28,200 --> 00:40:31,560 what He's done? You got to remember these 695 00:40:31,560 --> 00:40:33,120 things. It's so easy to forget, isn't 696 00:40:33,120 --> 00:40:35,040 it? We tend to focus on the negative 697 00:40:35,040 --> 00:40:37,360 experiences and that can cause us to be. 698 00:40:37,360 --> 00:40:39,920 Blind all the. Blessings that God has given us. 699 00:40:40,320 --> 00:40:44,640 He's been so good. He says you need to remember 700 00:40:46,320 --> 00:40:49,200 this is the first imperative verb of the passage and it's the 701 00:40:49,200 --> 00:40:50,880 first thing he's telling you to do something. 702 00:40:51,000 --> 00:40:53,680 He's recording. He's recording of the issues 703 00:40:53,680 --> 00:40:55,280 there at the church and he's talking about. 704 00:40:55,280 --> 00:40:57,240 Them, he's commending them, and this is the first thing he says. 705 00:40:57,240 --> 00:40:58,440 This is what you're supposed to do. 706 00:40:58,440 --> 00:41:01,000 Remember. Remember what it was like when I 707 00:41:01,000 --> 00:41:03,320 first saved you? Remember what it was like when 708 00:41:03,320 --> 00:41:05,320 we had a vibrant relationship. Maybe you don't need to go all 709 00:41:05,320 --> 00:41:07,680 the way back to your salvation. Maybe just need to go back. 710 00:41:07,680 --> 00:41:09,760 To the last time you were on fire for the Lord and had a good 711 00:41:09,800 --> 00:41:12,280 relationship with Him. And maybe lately it's been 712 00:41:12,280 --> 00:41:14,880 somewhat stale. It's been somewhat lackluster 713 00:41:15,040 --> 00:41:17,280 and you haven't really had that same passion. 714 00:41:18,320 --> 00:41:21,200 But you know what's amazing is that he's he's waiting for you 715 00:41:21,200 --> 00:41:24,520 to come back. He's inviting you back to a 716 00:41:24,520 --> 00:41:26,880 place of zeal and fervency once again. 717 00:41:29,600 --> 00:41:32,880 You remember, OK, that that's the first step is you got to 718 00:41:32,880 --> 00:41:34,600 remember. You recall this to your mind. 719 00:41:34,760 --> 00:41:36,960 But the next step is so important. 720 00:41:38,080 --> 00:41:43,680 He says repent. Remember is in the present tense 721 00:41:43,680 --> 00:41:47,200 in Greek, it's in it and it's really meaning this, not just 722 00:41:47,200 --> 00:41:49,360 that it's supposed to happen now, but it's supposed to have 723 00:41:49,360 --> 00:41:52,200 this continuous action. You're not supposed to stop 724 00:41:52,200 --> 00:41:53,840 remembering. In fact, you need to jog your 725 00:41:53,840 --> 00:41:58,160 memory regularly about your your walk with God so that you keep 726 00:41:58,160 --> 00:42:01,040 yourself in the right place. But the word repent is Eris 727 00:42:01,040 --> 00:42:04,240 tense, meaning not that it's in the past, but that it is a one 728 00:42:04,240 --> 00:42:07,040 time decision that is decisive where it says that's it. 729 00:42:07,200 --> 00:42:10,280 I'm making a very serious decision and there's no going 730 00:42:10,280 --> 00:42:12,680 back. See, this is what I think 731 00:42:12,680 --> 00:42:16,160 sometimes we think of as forgiveness and repentance in 732 00:42:16,160 --> 00:42:22,360 our Christian life. Jesus, I forget, I ask for your 733 00:42:22,360 --> 00:42:25,720 forgiveness because I've sinned. Would you please forgive me? 734 00:42:26,480 --> 00:42:28,400 Cleanse me from all unrighteousness. 735 00:42:28,520 --> 00:42:32,360 Amen. We say our little prayer thing, 736 00:42:33,960 --> 00:42:36,680 but there's. There's no real brokenness. 737 00:42:37,800 --> 00:42:41,320 There's no. There's no mindset shift in 738 00:42:41,320 --> 00:42:43,360 which you say that's it, no more. 739 00:42:43,640 --> 00:42:47,000 I'm not doing that anymore. This is, this is a problem in my 740 00:42:47,000 --> 00:42:50,360 relationship with Christ. This is a problem and I need to, 741 00:42:50,400 --> 00:42:52,880 I need to separate from this. I need to sever this completely. 742 00:42:54,200 --> 00:42:59,240 I need to turn from this to him. So repentance means it's simply 743 00:42:59,560 --> 00:43:01,680 a change of mind that results in a change of direction. 744 00:43:02,360 --> 00:43:05,720 Repentance is not you do it and you bring all your works 745 00:43:05,720 --> 00:43:07,000 together and then you prove it to God. 746 00:43:07,000 --> 00:43:09,960 Repentance is a change of mind that results in the change. 747 00:43:10,640 --> 00:43:13,280 There's a lot of false teaching about repentance that people say 748 00:43:13,280 --> 00:43:15,320 that it's like works. If you need to repent, it's not 749 00:43:15,320 --> 00:43:17,400 works, it's just a change of mind. 750 00:43:18,320 --> 00:43:20,840 And that when you get a change of mind, that will change your 751 00:43:20,840 --> 00:43:22,440 behavior, won't it? It's pretty simple. 752 00:43:23,760 --> 00:43:25,040 Change your mind. You're going to change your. 753 00:43:25,040 --> 00:43:27,560 Behavior. The problem is so many times we 754 00:43:27,560 --> 00:43:32,200 pray these ritual prayers with no intent of really changing. 755 00:43:33,600 --> 00:43:36,840 And is it any wonder that our relationship with Christ would 756 00:43:36,840 --> 00:43:39,600 not improve if we haven't had a change of mind? 757 00:43:39,600 --> 00:43:42,080 We just thought that because we said a prayer made things right 758 00:43:42,080 --> 00:43:44,240 again. Well, it didn't if you didn't 759 00:43:44,240 --> 00:43:48,240 repent, but that's how you get back. 760 00:43:51,400 --> 00:43:58,680 And he says, if you don't, I will come into thee quickly and 761 00:43:58,680 --> 00:44:01,720 will remove thy Candlestick out of his place, except thou 762 00:44:02,200 --> 00:44:04,920 repent. He mentions also to do the first 763 00:44:04,920 --> 00:44:06,360 works. I think it's very simple. 764 00:44:06,360 --> 00:44:08,440 What he's saying there is. Remember what it was like when 765 00:44:08,440 --> 00:44:09,720 we were on our honeymoon experience. 766 00:44:09,960 --> 00:44:11,920 Get back to what you were doing when it was like that. 767 00:44:16,200 --> 00:44:19,240 But if you refuse to repent, there will be consequences. 768 00:44:20,120 --> 00:44:24,480 Because as the Candlestick, you are my representatives and 769 00:44:24,480 --> 00:44:26,600 you're not representing me properly. 770 00:44:27,000 --> 00:44:29,840 So if you refuse to represent me properly, I'm going to give you 771 00:44:29,840 --> 00:44:31,120 this space. I'm going to give you this 772 00:44:31,120 --> 00:44:33,880 opportunity to repent. But sooner or later, I'm not 773 00:44:33,880 --> 00:44:35,480 going to let you be my light anymore. 774 00:44:36,520 --> 00:44:38,000 I'll let someone else be my light. 775 00:44:41,640 --> 00:44:43,960 But this thou hast that thou hatest the deeds of the 776 00:44:43,960 --> 00:44:48,720 Nicolaitans, which I also hate. I don't want to get too deep 777 00:44:48,720 --> 00:44:50,600 into this because I don't want to get distracted from what I 778 00:44:50,600 --> 00:44:52,280 believe Lords laid on my heart for tonight. 779 00:44:52,520 --> 00:44:55,920 But the idea of the Nicolaitans, I believe is there's a couple 780 00:44:55,920 --> 00:44:58,520 different ideas about it. I think what probably they were 781 00:44:58,520 --> 00:45:01,960 doing, as the word in Greek is a compound word. 782 00:45:02,280 --> 00:45:04,880 It's. Nike, which means victory and 783 00:45:04,880 --> 00:45:06,960 then laity over the people, right? 784 00:45:06,960 --> 00:45:10,480 And they were trying to separate the make distinctions between 785 00:45:10,480 --> 00:45:12,960 the laity or the people in the congregation and the people that 786 00:45:12,960 --> 00:45:15,240 were preaching it on the platform, the clergy and the 787 00:45:15,240 --> 00:45:17,320 laity, right? And that the somehow the clergy 788 00:45:17,320 --> 00:45:20,600 had victory over the people. They were superior to them. 789 00:45:20,800 --> 00:45:23,000 And the church at Ephesus said absolutely not. 790 00:45:23,000 --> 00:45:25,160 That is not the true doctrine of Jesus Christ. 791 00:45:27,120 --> 00:45:32,040 They hated it. And then I think we see an early 792 00:45:32,040 --> 00:45:34,400 form of Catholicism there and other false teachings. 793 00:45:34,840 --> 00:45:39,400 They wouldn't deal with that. And so I, I, I think when we 794 00:45:39,400 --> 00:45:43,520 really boil this all down, here's what we see, that the 795 00:45:43,520 --> 00:45:47,280 church at Ephesus was commended, but they needed to repent 796 00:45:47,280 --> 00:45:49,280 because they were committed to Christian truth. 797 00:45:50,920 --> 00:45:56,480 They were committed to Christian truth, but they neglected their 798 00:45:56,480 --> 00:46:02,760 love for Christ. Doesn't that seem so foreign 799 00:46:03,960 --> 00:46:05,960 that you could be committed to Christian truth? 800 00:46:06,640 --> 00:46:09,160 Amen. We're Baptists. 801 00:46:09,480 --> 00:46:12,520 We believe the truth of the Word of God, and we have all of our 802 00:46:12,600 --> 00:46:15,560 preaching points that we love to say because this is the truth 803 00:46:15,680 --> 00:46:17,320 and this is the truth and this is the truth. 804 00:46:17,480 --> 00:46:21,680 And yet at the same time, we could be neglecting our love for 805 00:46:21,680 --> 00:46:27,800 Christ our Savior. I think the churches that are 806 00:46:27,880 --> 00:46:32,360 most in danger of this mentality are churches that are 807 00:46:32,360 --> 00:46:37,240 conservative Baptist churches that have been blessed to have 808 00:46:37,240 --> 00:46:39,360 the truth. Don't get me wrong, this is not 809 00:46:39,360 --> 00:46:41,240 a message saying we don't need to uphold the truth. 810 00:46:41,360 --> 00:46:43,880 We do, and Jesus commended them for that. 811 00:46:44,440 --> 00:46:46,440 We shouldn't stop holding up truth. 812 00:46:47,360 --> 00:46:52,560 The problem is that we can get so busy propagating the truth 813 00:46:52,680 --> 00:46:56,880 that we forget about Christian. Love, or more importantly. 814 00:46:56,880 --> 00:47:01,600 Love for Christ, and here's what he's saying, is that when you 815 00:47:01,640 --> 00:47:04,120 emphasize truth. Over love. 816 00:47:04,320 --> 00:47:07,720 There are some dangers that come with that that misrepresent the 817 00:47:07,720 --> 00:47:11,800 whole Christian message. Can I give you some examples? 818 00:47:14,400 --> 00:47:17,840 I think sometimes it's easier to identify Christians for what 819 00:47:17,840 --> 00:47:19,440 they hate rather than what they love. 820 00:47:21,360 --> 00:47:25,000 How about you tonight? Are you more identified with by 821 00:47:25,000 --> 00:47:27,760 what you hate or by what you love? 822 00:47:33,520 --> 00:47:36,760 God's grace gives us the opportunity to have a revival of 823 00:47:36,760 --> 00:47:42,480 love again, but when we emphasize truth over love. 824 00:47:42,920 --> 00:47:47,000 And by the way, one is not supposed to have more emphasis 825 00:47:47,000 --> 00:47:51,000 than the other. Both should have equal emphasis. 826 00:47:52,600 --> 00:47:54,920 Because you can't have one without the other. 827 00:47:57,360 --> 00:47:59,440 The Church of Thyatira had the opposite problem. 828 00:48:00,120 --> 00:48:03,440 They had love without truth, but Ephesus had truth without love. 829 00:48:03,440 --> 00:48:05,000 What are some of the dangers of that? 830 00:48:05,120 --> 00:48:09,920 Well, I think we ought to hate the promotion of the LGBTQ 831 00:48:09,920 --> 00:48:13,120 movement in our country, in our schools. 832 00:48:13,360 --> 00:48:18,080 We ought to hate that, just like they hated the deeds of the 833 00:48:18,080 --> 00:48:20,440 Nicolaitans, just like they hated those that were 834 00:48:20,440 --> 00:48:22,360 propagating evil. They were false apostles. 835 00:48:22,560 --> 00:48:27,360 But not to say we should not love people whose lives have 836 00:48:27,360 --> 00:48:30,720 been destroyed by the LGBTQ propaganda. 837 00:48:32,440 --> 00:48:37,120 There are, there are some really, I mean really stern 838 00:48:37,800 --> 00:48:42,840 Baptist churches that will take a strong stand against LGBTQ and 839 00:48:42,840 --> 00:48:46,800 they will preach, I mean, entire months of messages on the same 840 00:48:46,800 --> 00:48:49,920 exact issue to the neglect of other passages just because they 841 00:48:49,920 --> 00:48:51,520 want to make sure that they're strong on the truth. 842 00:48:51,680 --> 00:48:56,400 But they haven't won a L GB TQ person to Christ in months and 843 00:48:56,400 --> 00:48:59,320 years because they haven't preached the gospel to them. 844 00:48:59,320 --> 00:49:04,000 They just preached judgment and truth, but no love. 845 00:49:08,080 --> 00:49:12,560 And some would even shame a message like this as liberal. 846 00:49:13,200 --> 00:49:17,000 You got to preach the truth. But if you're preaching it with 847 00:49:17,000 --> 00:49:19,160 the absence of your love for Christ, then you're going to 848 00:49:19,160 --> 00:49:24,320 have the wrong emphasis. I think we ought to hate the 849 00:49:24,320 --> 00:49:30,760 notion of false teaching. False teaching is so horrible. 850 00:49:31,760 --> 00:49:34,360 Because those that put their faith and trust in a false 851 00:49:34,360 --> 00:49:38,000 teaching are going to one day face eternal ruin. 852 00:49:39,280 --> 00:49:42,680 And even those that have been saved but then been deceived 853 00:49:42,680 --> 00:49:46,440 into false teaching their lives here on earth for Christ are are 854 00:49:46,520 --> 00:49:49,640 in in ruin and destruction, and they can no longer be used at 855 00:49:49,640 --> 00:49:52,240 the capacity that God intended for their life. 856 00:49:53,160 --> 00:49:56,880 So yes, we ought to hate false teaching, but we ought not to 857 00:49:56,880 --> 00:49:59,240 hate people that have been ensnared by false. 858 00:49:59,240 --> 00:50:03,520 Teaching I used to be a Catholic. 859 00:50:05,040 --> 00:50:09,320 I'll just tell you, I I have no problem saying this, that I hate 860 00:50:09,320 --> 00:50:13,520 the web of lies that the Catholic Church has ensnared so 861 00:50:13,520 --> 00:50:16,640 many people in. I have no problem saying that to 862 00:50:16,640 --> 00:50:21,080 you tonight because I myself was deceived by the Catholic Church. 863 00:50:21,880 --> 00:50:28,000 And I have family members that are in hell tonight because they 864 00:50:28,000 --> 00:50:32,640 bought in, they swallowed it and they're in hell tonight. 865 00:50:33,840 --> 00:50:40,400 That, that that grieves me. And and I'm all for preaching 866 00:50:40,480 --> 00:50:46,000 the truth against the errors of Catholicism, but if I'm going to 867 00:50:46,000 --> 00:50:50,400 do that and I have no love for Catholics and their need to be 868 00:50:50,400 --> 00:50:55,080 saved, I'm a hypocrite. I can't say I love Jesus. 869 00:50:55,520 --> 00:50:58,880 And, and neglect people that he loves to reach with the gospel, 870 00:51:00,040 --> 00:51:03,520 say the same would be true folks about Muslims and, and about 871 00:51:03,520 --> 00:51:05,760 Hindus. And, and I know that there could 872 00:51:05,760 --> 00:51:09,320 be this problem with, with, with Islam and the radical Islam and 873 00:51:09,360 --> 00:51:13,880 in our own nation feeling the feeling the weight of the 874 00:51:13,880 --> 00:51:17,800 terrorist attacks on 9/11. And that could so 'cause us to, 875 00:51:17,920 --> 00:51:20,240 to view Muslims in Islam in a certain way. 876 00:51:20,560 --> 00:51:23,040 As I mentioned, we should view Islam as a false teaching and a 877 00:51:23,040 --> 00:51:26,520 false religion because it is. But there are Muslims who need 878 00:51:26,520 --> 00:51:29,840 to be saved. And we may not like talking to 879 00:51:29,840 --> 00:51:32,240 them or we may not like engaging with them because we have some 880 00:51:32,240 --> 00:51:34,680 sort of stereotype or some sort of bias based on these cultural 881 00:51:34,680 --> 00:51:38,920 issues. But if we truly love Christ and 882 00:51:38,920 --> 00:51:41,720 if we're being influenced by the teachings of Jesus. 883 00:51:42,480 --> 00:51:48,600 There's no people group that we can exclude and this is what 884 00:51:48,600 --> 00:51:55,800 Jesus warns US against is that when you lose your love, you 885 00:51:55,800 --> 00:52:00,680 lose your light. Well, here's here's what he's 886 00:52:00,680 --> 00:52:04,480 saying right now. I'm giving you space to repent, 887 00:52:06,240 --> 00:52:09,280 but if you don't or or else, he says. 888 00:52:10,000 --> 00:52:11,880 I'm going to come to. The church I'm going to remove 889 00:52:11,880 --> 00:52:14,720 the Candlestick and you'll no longer be a New Testament church 890 00:52:14,720 --> 00:52:17,280 anymore. You won't be my light. 891 00:52:17,280 --> 00:52:20,080 I won't work through you anymore and I will place that light 892 00:52:20,080 --> 00:52:22,680 somewhere else. And why did that happen? 893 00:52:22,680 --> 00:52:27,280 Because they lost their love. I think the same could be true 894 00:52:27,280 --> 00:52:29,520 about our our belief in the in the word of God. 895 00:52:30,880 --> 00:52:34,360 We can sit we can stand in the pulpit as preachers and and 896 00:52:34,360 --> 00:52:38,200 there are people in the in the Pew rather that is man. 897 00:52:38,200 --> 00:52:42,480 I got the King James Bible. Therefore, I'm a good Christian, 898 00:52:43,840 --> 00:52:46,760 but just because you have the right Bible and I believe it's 899 00:52:46,760 --> 00:52:48,960 the right Bible, it's what I'm preaching from tonight for 900 00:52:48,960 --> 00:52:51,000 English speaking people, King James Bible. 901 00:52:51,520 --> 00:52:55,240 I'm a I'm a believer in God's preserved word that it's 902 00:52:55,240 --> 00:52:57,600 inspired, that it's an error, that there's no errors in it, 903 00:52:57,600 --> 00:52:59,640 that he's preserved for English speaking people in the King 904 00:52:59,640 --> 00:53:01,680 James. But that doesn't mean just 905 00:53:01,680 --> 00:53:05,040 because I have the right Bible that all of a sudden I'm exempt 906 00:53:05,240 --> 00:53:11,200 from practicing what the Bible clearly teaches is when you. 907 00:53:11,200 --> 00:53:13,720 Lose your love, you lose your life. 908 00:53:14,800 --> 00:53:17,200 And I've, I've seen this, I think this principle is not just 909 00:53:17,200 --> 00:53:19,360 true for churches, but I think it's true with for Christians, 910 00:53:19,760 --> 00:53:23,520 Christians that have that attitude, they lose their 911 00:53:23,520 --> 00:53:26,000 influence with people for Christ. 912 00:53:26,760 --> 00:53:29,160 And I wouldn't say they lose their influence because actually 913 00:53:29,160 --> 00:53:32,320 what they do really is they put a bad taste in people's mouths 914 00:53:32,880 --> 00:53:36,560 about the gospel. And I, I can only imagine the 915 00:53:36,560 --> 00:53:39,760 only thing worse than not witnessing to anyone at all is 916 00:53:39,760 --> 00:53:44,320 misrepresenting Jesus Christ. I think a lot of that's going 917 00:53:44,320 --> 00:53:49,280 on. And so I mean, yeah, we ought to 918 00:53:49,280 --> 00:53:52,560 hate sin, but love sinners. We ought to, we ought to hate 919 00:53:52,560 --> 00:53:58,960 that which is evil, but we're we're in danger of losing our 920 00:53:58,960 --> 00:54:04,520 light when we lose our love. So we should stand for Christian 921 00:54:04,520 --> 00:54:08,920 truth, but not to the neglect of love for Jesus Christ. 922 00:54:10,000 --> 00:54:12,000 So I want to ask you this tonight. 923 00:54:15,680 --> 00:54:21,000 Are you, are you more heavily emphasizing truth in your life 924 00:54:21,000 --> 00:54:23,760 to the neglect of love for Christ? 925 00:54:24,920 --> 00:54:27,440 I think that's possible for any, any one of us to be in that 926 00:54:27,440 --> 00:54:29,200 position. Maybe, maybe, perhaps you. 927 00:54:29,480 --> 00:54:31,400 You would admit. Yeah, I've been there in my 928 00:54:31,400 --> 00:54:36,800 life, Brother Brett, but even as a church tonight and and most of 929 00:54:36,800 --> 00:54:39,160 this is going to be up to your pastor who I, I, as I've 930 00:54:39,160 --> 00:54:41,920 mentioned before, I, I have a great relationship with him and 931 00:54:41,920 --> 00:54:44,360 I, I really believe you've been blessed with a wonderful pastor. 932 00:54:44,760 --> 00:54:46,280 Praise God for his ministry here. 933 00:54:47,280 --> 00:54:49,960 And I know that his heart and his spirit would would certainly 934 00:54:49,960 --> 00:54:56,200 be aligned with with an emphasis on truth and love in their 935 00:54:56,200 --> 00:55:00,280 proper place. Have you fallen out of love with 936 00:55:00,280 --> 00:55:02,360 Christ? Have you have you lost some of 937 00:55:02,360 --> 00:55:05,320 that zeal, some of that passion? Is it not is your relationship 938 00:55:05,320 --> 00:55:09,520 not what it used to be? Can I encourage you, You can you 939 00:55:09,520 --> 00:55:13,120 can get right with God tonight. And perhaps you say, brother 940 00:55:13,120 --> 00:55:15,720 Brett, I'm really not in a place where it's, you know, I'd say 941 00:55:15,760 --> 00:55:17,760 I've fallen out of love with Christ, but I certainly know 942 00:55:17,760 --> 00:55:19,040 this. I want my relationship with him 943 00:55:19,040 --> 00:55:21,960 to grow. Well, here's here's how it 944 00:55:21,960 --> 00:55:25,840 happens. You give yourself to love and 945 00:55:26,000 --> 00:55:28,880 truth. The truth should never be 946 00:55:28,880 --> 00:55:31,160 compromised for love because then it's not true love. 947 00:55:32,600 --> 00:55:37,560 But we should never elevate truth above love because then we 948 00:55:37,560 --> 00:55:41,600 begin to be mean spirited. We begin, we get, we begin to be 949 00:55:41,600 --> 00:55:45,160 cruel to it. Now we use the truth more as a 950 00:55:45,160 --> 00:55:51,600 weapon than as an instrument of healing and a bomb for those who 951 00:55:51,600 --> 00:55:54,040 are hurting. You had a lot of hurting people 952 00:55:54,040 --> 00:55:57,600 in your community. You know what they need any 953 00:55:57,600 --> 00:56:03,160 truth and love, and that's what we need in our lives too, isn't 954 00:56:03,160 --> 00:56:05,280 it? So I'll ask you to stand with me 955 00:56:05,280 --> 00:56:09,640 tonight and and as we as we consider this at the Church of 956 00:56:09,640 --> 00:56:11,800 Ephesus. He concludes with this thought. 957 00:56:12,520 --> 00:56:15,760 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto 958 00:56:15,760 --> 00:56:18,640 the churches. To him that overcometh will I 959 00:56:18,640 --> 00:56:21,120 give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst the 960 00:56:22,080 --> 00:56:25,800 paradise of God. I'm not going to deal with that 961 00:56:25,800 --> 00:56:28,880 verse very much tonight, but we do have a glorious future. 962 00:56:30,280 --> 00:56:34,240 And if we will give ourselves to truth and love, Liberty Baptist 963 00:56:34,240 --> 00:56:36,120 Church, if you give yourselves to that, the Lord's going to do 964 00:56:36,120 --> 00:56:38,280 continue to do great things through this church. 965 00:56:39,480 --> 00:56:42,160 Thank you for listening to the sermon from the pulpit of 966 00:56:42,160 --> 00:56:45,080 Liberty Baptist Church. If this message was a blessing 967 00:56:45,080 --> 00:56:48,560 to you, or if there's any way we can serve you, please let us 968 00:56:48,560 --> 00:56:53,160 know by contacting us at info@mylibertybaptist.org. 969 00:56:53,440 --> 00:56:57,960 Or you can visit us this Sunday at 800 Washington St. in Easton, 970 00:56:57,960 --> 00:57:00,800 MA. May the Lord bless you as you 971 00:57:00,800 --> 00:57:02,000 grow in His Word.