October 5, 2008
Morning Service

Scripture text. Revelation 2:1-8.

Supporting scripture.

 A performance review; The Church in the Twenty- first Century 

  

"We have grown in numbers, wealth, and power as no other nation. But we have forgotten God." • ABRAHAM LINCOLN

Our Lord wants to unleash in our lives the power of His word, changing the way we think and act. He wants to use His word to set our lives apart for Himself.

 

 

 We are living in post-Christian times. By this I do not mean that there aren't enough churches in America. There are. Our towns and cities are full of buildings designed for the worship of God, and in some cases still used for that, purpose. Nor do I mean that there aren't very many Christians in America. We still have plenty of those, too. The vast majority of Americans believe in the existence of God, and many claim to be "born again." Nevertheless, we are living in post-Christian times, when Christianity no longer exercises a prevailing influence on the mind and heart of our culture.(     PHILIP GRAHAM RYKEN (M.Div., Westminster Theological Seminar University of Oxford, England) is senior minister of Tenth Presbyterian ( Philadelphia, where he has preached since 1995.)   

 

A side-by-side comparison of how you see your self and what others see. More importantly how the lord sees 

In this case of the Lords performance review.    

 

A look at the interviewer

Revelation 2:1 Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write; These things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks;             

OMNIPOTENCE (om-nip'o-tens), the attribute of God, which describes His ability to do whatever, He wills. God's will is limited by His nature, and He therefore cannot do anything contrary to His nature as God, such as to ignore sin, to sin, or to do something absurd or self-contradictory. God is not controlled by His power, but has complete control over it; otherwise He would not be a free being. To a certain extent, He has voluntarily limited Himself by the free will of His rational creatures. Although the word "omnipotence" is not found in the Bible, the Scriptures clearly teach the omnipotence of God (Job 42:2; Jer. 32:17; Matt. 19:26; Luke 1:37; Rev. 19:6).

 

 OMNIPRESENCE (om'ni-prez'ens), the attribute of God by virtue of which He fills the universe in all its parts and is present everywhere at once. Not a part, but the whole of God is present in every place. The Bible teaches the omnipresence of God (Ps. 139:7-12; Jer. 23:23,24; Acts 17:27, 28). This is true of all three members of the Trinity. They are so closely related that where one is the others can be said to be (John 14:9-11).

 

OMNISCIENCE   (om-nish'ens), the attribute by which God perfectly and eternally knows all things which can be known, past, present, and future. (God knows how best to attain to His desired ends. God's omniscience is clearly taught in Scripture (Prov. 15:11; Ps. 147:5; Isa. 46:10).(Pictorial Bible dictionary)      

Two lessons rise to the surface as we consider

First, the more we understand whom Christ Really is, the quicker we will respond to  Him with submission and respect. In Revelation 1:17, John wrote, "When I saw Him I fell at His feet. John’s immediate response was complete submission before the glorious Savior.

 

Second, the greater our willingness to submit to Christ, the deeper will be the truths He reveals to us.  John's profound perception of the person of Christ led him into submission to His authority. In turn, this led to continued, deepening revelation of who Christ is and what His plans are for the future.

 

He addressed the angle of church of Ephesus; we have the planting of this church in acts the 19^th chapter I have some scripture.

DOORWAY TO HISTORY Ephesus

Although today the impressive ruins of Ephesus are uninhabited, at the end of the first century Ephesus was the most important city of western Asia Minor and a major center of political, economic, and religious activity. In the political sphere, the proconsul of Asia conducted most of his affairs in Ephesus. In the economic arena, it was the first port of entry for seafaring vessels and a strategic location for major trade routes, granting Ephesus a robust market and a large, diverse population. In its religious life, the city boasted a grand temple of the fertility goddess, Artemis ("Diana") — one of the wonders of the ancient world — and it also had a rigorous emperor cult with several temples dedicated to his worship.

Paul founded the church at Ephesus in about AD 52 (Acts 18-19). After that time, around AD 65, Timothy became the pastor of Ephesus (1 Timothy  1:3, followed perhaps by John the apostle.,At the time of the visions of the book of Revelation, the leadership of Ephesus may have been temporarily passed on to Onesimus, who, after John's death, carried on the pastorate. It's possible, though uncertain, that the messenger ("angel") at Ephesus addressed in Revelation 2:1 was Onesimus.(Charles R. Swindoll)

 

In His commendation, Jesus pointed out four strengths that were true of the church at Ephesus.

1. First, they were active and energetic. They were known for their hard work—their "deeds and toil" (Revelation 2:2).

       2.  Their labour. Twice is this mentioned (vers. 2, 3), and it denotes the

Divine delight in the quality as well as the quantity of their works. It was

strenuous, whole hearted, earnest.  it was as “withboth hands earnestly.”

       3. Their suffering. Thou “hast borne” (ver. 3). It means that they were not

allowed to labour as they did unmolested. There would be plenty, as we

know there were, from all manner of motives, to raise opposition and to

resent what they so little liked, indeed hated. Cruel, fierce, relentless,

unjust, the sufferings might be and were that their enemies inflicted, and

which they had borne; but these did not daunt, dismay, or deter them from

going right on.

4. Their patience is commended. Generals in the armies of earth value

highly what is called elan in their troops — the dash and rush and

enthusiasm with which the brave fellows spring to the attack; but they

value yet more “staying power” — that which depends more on dogged

Pertinacity and enduring courage than on aught beside. And there is the

like of this in the spiritual warfare. High, eager courage at the outset,

hearts filled with enthusiasm, — yes, these are good; but better still is what

will ever be needed, and that is the grace of patience, the power to endure

and not to faint. Thrice is this great and indispensable grace commended in

this epistle, as if the Lord would show in how high esteem he held it. Oh

for this power to labour on and not weary in well doing, to be patient and

faint not! For one who has this there are many who will set out and set out

well, but they soon get hindered and turn aside or stop altogether, and

some even turn back to the world they had professed to leave. Blessed,

then, is this grace of patience.(look up James 5:7-11 there are 33 verses in the new testament that describe or recommends patience,)

 

Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee - The clause should be read, according to the Greek, thus: But I have against thee that thou hast left thy first love. They did not retain that strong and ardent affection for God and sacred things, which they had when first, brought to the knowledge of the truth, and justified by faith in Christ.

The soul’s secret energy — be impaired, time only is needed to bring the Church to utter decay.

But if love, Christly love is the life and sun of the soul; it

is the beginning and end of genuine Christianity . Without charity — love — we

are nothing. There is a danger of this waning. Some of the angels have lost

it. Many good men have experienced its decay. This is a great evil; it is the

sap leaving the tree, and the foliage withers, and death descends from

branch to root. Christ implies that men are responsible for this loss. Where

this love exists it will not only be maintained but increased — the spark

may be fanned into a flame

He urges them to reform. In order to increase this waning love, heexhorts them to do four things.

(1) To remember. “Remember… whence thou art fallen.” Review the past,

and call to mind the sweet, delicate, blooming affection of thy first love,

with all the fresh joys and hopes it awakened. This memory will help

resuscitation.

(2) To “repent.” Repentance does not mean crying, confessing, and

throwing yourself into ecstasies, but a change in the spirit and purpose of

life.

(3) To reproduce. “Do the first works.” Go over thy past life, reproduce

 and reattempt old effort. This can be done;

. (4) To tremble. “Or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy

candlestick out of its place.” “Terrible warning this! Let deterioration go on,

and ruin is inevitable. This is true with individuals as well as with

congregations . In losing the candlestick, what a loss! The loss is midnight”

(C aleb Morris).

He that hath an ear, let him hear ... - This expression occurs at the close of each of the epistles addressed to the seven churches, and is substantially a mode of address often employed by the Saviour in his personal ministry, and quite characteristic of him. See Mat_11:15; Mar_4:23; Mar_7:16. It is a form of expression designed to arrest the attention, and to denote that what was said was of special importance.(Albert Barnes notes on the bible)

To him that overcometh - Greek, “To him that gains the victory, or is a conqueror”  This may refer to any victory of a moral character, and the expression used would be applicable to one who should triumph in any of these respects:

(a)  over his own easily-besetting sins;

(b)  over the world and its temptations;

(c)  over prevalent error;

(d)  over the ills and trials of life, so as, in all these respects, to show that his Christian principles are firm and unshaken.

Life, and the Christian life especially, may be regarded as a warfare. Thousands fall in the conflict with evil; but they who maintain a steady warfare, and who achieve a victory, shall be received as conquerors in the end.

Will I give to eat of the tree of life - As the reward of his victory. The meaning is, that he would admit him to heaven, represented as paradise, and permit him to enjoy its pleasures - represented by being permitted to partake of its fruits. The phrase “the tree of life” refers undoubtedly to the language used respecting the Garden of Eden, Gen_2:9; Gen_3:22 - where the “tree of life” is spoken of as what was adapted to make the life of man perpetual. Of the nature of that tree nothing is known, though it would seem probable that, like the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, it was a mere emblem of life - or a tree that was set before man in connection with the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and that his destiny turned on the question whether he partook of the one or the other. That God should make the question of life or death depend on that, is no more absurd or improbable than that he should make it depend on what man does now - it being a matter of fact that life and death, happiness and misery, joy and sorrow, are often made to depend on things quite as arbitrary apparently, and quite as unimportant as an act of obedience or disobedience in partaking of the fruit of a designated tree.