OTY: The Revelation (6) -Kay Arthur
Are you in love with Jesus as much as when you first fell in love with Him?
That‟s the message to the church at Ephesus. You have left your first love. It‟s the only thing that He has against them. Why is that so important? It‟s so important because God wants you and me to be passionate about Him. He wants us to be in love with Him, not just duty, but delight. We‟ll talk about it today.
PART ONE
I am so excited about today‟s lesson, about looking at the message to the church at Ephesus. It‟s a message for you and me.
It‟s a message not just for that church that existed at that time in Turkey, but it is a message for you and me so that you and I can have a vital, living, loving relationship with Jesus Christ. We‟re going to learn so much. Now as we look at Revelation, chapter 2 and chapter 3, remember we‟re in the second segment of the book.
In Revelation, chapter 1, verse 19 Jesus instructed John to write; look at what it says; “Write therefore the things which you have seen and the things which are and the things which will come after these things.”
Now let‟s go to Revelation, chapter 2, verse 1. “To the angel or the messenger of the church in Ephesus write: The One who holds the seven stars in His right hand, the One who has charge of the messengers, the One who is delivering the message to the messengers to deliver it to the churches, the One who walks among the seven golden lampstands, says this: „I know your deeds.
In other words I‟m among the church. You don‟t see Me, but I‟m there and I know your deeds ….‟” I know what‟s going on. And because I hold these seven messengers in My hand, then what I‟m sending you is a true message that you need to listen to and that you need to heed.
Now remember Revelation, chapter 1, verse 3 says, “Blessed is he who reads and those who hear and heed the words which are written in this Book.” So here is a message to be heeded.
All right, now he says, “… the One who holds the seven stars in His right hand, the One who walk, walks among the seven golden lampstands says this: „I know your deeds and your toil and your perseverance and that you cannot endure evil men, and you put to test those who call themselves apostles, and they are not and you have found them to be false; and you have perseverance and you have endured for My name‟s sake and have not grown weary.‟”
Look at the way He commends this church. Now remember, if you‟ve got your study guide you have a chart, a chart that you can fill out on each of the seven churches. And on that chart the first thing that you‟re going to note is you‟re going to note the description of Christ.
Because the description of Christ has to do with His message to the church.
The way He describes Himself is saying something about Him in that church, in His message to that church that connect who He is and what they are to be, what they are to listen to or what they are to do, or what He commends them about The reason He‟s saying, “I walk among the seven golden lampstands and I‟m the One that holds the seven
messengers in My hand,” is because this is the first letter that He is writing and He wants them to know, hey, I‟m there. I know your deeds. He says your toil, your perseverance. Now what is He doing?
He‟s commending them. So on the chart, after you put the description of Jesus Christ, if there‟s a commendation to the church, something that He pats them on the back about, then what you want to do is you want to record that. Why do you want to record it?
You want to know what does God like. What does God praise? What does God approve? What gets His approbation His approval so that He says, “That a boy,” or “that a girl,” or “I‟m so proud of you,” or “this is what I like to see?”
You want to know what He commends, not just what He commends to the church at Ephesus, not what‟s just good about the church at Ephesus, but if it‟s good for the church at Ephesus, it should be good for you because you are part of the church. So you want to see the commendation. All right, now what I want to do is I want to stop at this point in the letter to the church at Ephesus, because it‟s going, to pertain to all the seven churches. And I just want to make sure that you understand what the church is. I mean if you were to ask to define the church, what would you say?
Well, it‟s a Presbyterian church or it‟s a Methodist church or it‟s a Holiness church or it‟s a Pentecostal church and it‟s on a corner and this is what this church is like and that‟s what that church is like and this is what they believe, and this is where they disagree. No, that‟s not the church that He‟s talking about.
He‟s talking about a collected body of believers. And what is so neat is that He opens these letters to the church, these seven churches, He begins with Ephesus. And it‟s so neat because it‟s in Ephesians that He reveals to them what the mystery of the church is. So what I want us to do is I want us to go back to Ephesians, chapter 2 and I want us to start in verse 13 and we‟re going to go all the way through chapter 3, verse 6. We‟re not going to harp on every verse.
But I would just put what is the church in the margin of my Bible or I would write the mystery of the church and then I would write Ephesians 2:13 through Ephesians, chapter 3, verse 6 because if
He‟s going to talk to the churches, then it‟s important for you and me, to understand what the church is. All right, now in Ephesians, chapter 2 in verse 13 he is speaking to Gentiles.
Ephesus had a synagogue there and when Paul got to Ephesus, he visited the synagogue. You see, after, 70 A.D. the Jews were dispersed around the world. Now they were dispersed after the first captivity in 586 B.C. and they were dispersed again in 70 A.D. Now in Revelation, this book is written about 90 A.D, 20 years after. So the Jews are scattered all over. When there were at least ten Jewish men, then they could build a synagogue.
Those ten Jewish men were called a minion; they had to have minion, ten Jewish men, before they could build a synagogue. When he got to a city he would go to the synagogue first, because the gospel was to the Jew first, Romans, chapter 1, and then to the Gentile. All right, so when he comes to the synagogue, the people basically come to the point where the Jews say we don‟t believe you; we don‟t believe in Jesus Christ, so he leaves and then he goes to the Gentiles. Now, Ephesus is primarily a Gentile city.
So what he wants Ephesus to understand it what is the role of the Gentiles in salvation? So he‟s talked about how they were excluded, how the Gentiles were excluded from the Law and from the covenants and from the promises of God. He says in verse 13, “… but now in Christ Jesus …,” because these Gentiles have believed in the Jewish Messiah, “… but now in Christ Jesus; you, who formerly, you formerly, who were far off …,” and formerly is a key repeated word in this chapter, “… were far off, have been brought near by the blood of Christ.” You‟ve been brought near by the blood of Christ.
Now remember we saw in Revelation, chapter 1 that He redeemed us by His blood. All right, so it says, “… for He Himself, Jesus, is our peace who made both groups into one …,” What groups? “… Jews and Gentiles into one.” Now how did He make Jew and Gentile into one? “He broke down the barrier of the dividing wall …,”
Now what‟s the dividing wall? Well, let‟s read on. “… by abolishing in His flesh, when Jesus hung on the cross, the enmity, which is the law of commandments contained in
ordinances….”
You see the Gentiles didn‟t know the Law of God.
They didn‟t know the commandments of God. Oh some of them they would obey innately and they were a law unto themselves, but these commandments and the worship of God in the temple separated Jew from Gentile. Gentiles had a court of the Gentiles in the temple, but they didn‟t really participate.
They never became priests or anything. That belonged to the Levites. So there was this partition. So he says that, “… Jesus abolished it, that in Himself, He might make the two, Jew and Gentile, into one …,” now catch this, “… new man, one new man, thus establishing peace.” Establishing peace because they were sinners and they needed to be reconciled to God. Establishing peace between Jew and Gentile because before they were divided by the Law and by the commandments, etcetera, and now they‟re brought together. “… and so that He might reconcile them both, Jew and Gentile, in one body …,”
And that‟s very important, that you remember, “… in one body, to God through the cross, having put to death the enmity,” the enmity of the Law that said if you keep the whole Law and break it in one point, you have to die. So, “Jesus, who knew no sin, was made sin for us.
And He took upon Himself the curse of the Law …,” because Galatians 3 says cursed is everyone that hangs on a tree. And so it says, “… for through Him …,” verse 18, “… we both, Jew and Gentile, have our access in one Spirit to the Father.
So you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and of God‟s household.” What is he saying? He‟s saying now we belong to God‟s forever family. That‟s what the church is all about. Now there‟s a little bit more to see, but first I want you to have this important announcement, then we‟ll come back and look at it.
PART TWO
Thank you for listening to those announcements. You know what? We want to have an ongoing relationship with you. Do you know why? Because if you‟re a believer, you‟re part of the family and we‟re part of the family. And
Precept Ministries International exists for the purpose of having you grow, establishing you in God‟s Word so that you can become all that you should be as a follower of Jesus Christ.
Well let‟s go back to Ephesians. Now I‟m going to Ephesians, not Revelation, chapter 2, where he‟s writing a letter to the church at Ephesus, but we‟re going back to an earlier letter that was written by Paul, to the church at Ephesus. And in this letter he wants them to make sure that they understand this mystery of the church.
And I want you to understand it because where is Jesus in Revelation? He‟s among the seven golden lampstands. And the seven golden lampstands are the seven churches. And you and I need to have a proper understanding of what the church is. So let‟s go back to Ephesians, chapter 2 in verse 19.
He says, “… so you are no longer strangers and aliens, speaking to the Gentiles, but you are fellow citizens with the saints of God and are of God‟s household, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets.” In other words, the apostles and the prophets came along and they proclaimed Jesus Christ. The people, some of them believed.
He says, “You have been built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the chief corner stone …,” I mean that‟s the thing that sets the code for all the building. He says, “… in whom the whole building, being fitted together is growing into a holy temple in the Lord.”
Now did you catch those present tense verbs? It says, “… being fitted together.” It‟s something going on now, continuously happening. And then it says, “… is growing into a holy temple.”
And this is why I want you to see this. I want you to understand that when he‟s speaking in Revelation to those seven churches, you‟re gonna come to the end of every message and it says, “He that has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches, to the churches down through the ages,” not Episcopal, not Presbyterian, not a building; to the people in the building; not all the people in the building, but the people in the building, or the people that are a member of that congregation, or the people from all over the world that are believers in Jesus Christ.
And God keeps adding to
the church and God keeps building the church and it keeps growing into a holy, holy temple until the church is complete.
And when the church is complete, then you move in to the rest of the book of Revelation. Well, let‟s go on in verse 22. He says, “… in whom, speaking of Christ, you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit.”
Now these letters to the churches are so important because you, as part of the church, are a dwelling of God. So you want everything in this temple, that is a temple of God to say holy to the Lord. Now he comes on down and this is what he says. He says verse 4 of chapter 3, “And by referring to this, the mystery that I wrote to you in brief, when you read you can understand my insight into the mystery of Christ,” into the mystery of Christ.
And I put an arrow right down to verse 6 because this is the mystery of Christ. “To be specific, that the Gentiles are fellow heirs and fellow members of the body and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus, through the gospel.” So Jew and Gentile, in one body, that‟s the mystery of the church. Now that one body, and this is what‟s so important for you to understand, that one body has one head and that one head is Jesus Christ. Read through Ephesians, chapters 1, 2 and 3 and you‟ll see it.
Christ is the head of the church, so therefore, although he‟s writing to the church that is actually the group of believers, that is actually located in Ephesus and actually located in Smyrna and Pergamum, and Thyatira, etcetera, although he‟s writing to them, you‟ve got to know there were no denominations in those days. So he wasn‟t thinking one denomination or another denomination.
He was thinking about a living organism of believers united together in one body with one head and that head being Jesus Christ and us being members of His body, bone of His bone and flesh of His flesh. That‟s why these letters are so important. Now let‟s go back to Revelation, chapter 2, Revelation, chapter 2. So He commends them. He commends them. He says, “I know your deeds ….” He‟s not saying, I know your deeds. I know your deeds. He‟s not saying it that way. He‟s saying I know your deeds. In other words it‟s a
commendation.
He says, “I know your deeds and I know your toil …,” I know that you‟re working hard for Me. “… I know your perseverance.” And remember John said that he was a brother and a fellow partaker of Jesus Christ in the tribulation in the kingdom and in the perseverance.
So perseverance, hanging thou in there, staying steadfast, not walking away, perseverance is a characteristic that you and I need in our lives. And especially in the times in which we‟re living, because people don‟t persevere. They don‟t persevere in relationships. They don‟t persevere in marriage.
They don‟t persevere in their schooling. They don‟t persevere in, temptation. They give into it. So you and I need to see here how important this is. He says, “I know your deeds and your toil and your perseverance that you cannot endure evil men.”
So he says, “You‟re standing for purity and you put to the test those that call themselves apostles …,” He says, “… and they‟re not. And you have found them to be false.” Now listen, Paul was troubled by false apostles that would come and say listen, an apostle came from two words: apo-from, stello-message.
So they were saying that they were messengers from God and he says you know who‟s a messenger from God and who‟s not a messenger. And He commends that. And I want to ask you a question: Can you tell the true from the false?
Can you tell the true teachers from the false teachers?
Can you tell the true apostles from the false apostles? A lot of people are calling themselves apostles today. That isn‟t a title I would put upon myself. But it‟s the fad and so people have come along and they‟ve said this. But can you, my friend, tell the true from the false.
So he says, “… you have found them to be false and you have perseverance.”
And once again, He‟s commending their perseverance, they‟re hupomanoing. They‟re abiding under. They‟re staying steadfast. He says, “… and you have endured for My name‟s sake and you have not grown weary. But this I have against you, that you have left your first love.” O, Beloved, you don‟t want to leave your first love.
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