Revelation 2:1-17 Backslidden, Rich, and Called

 

July 11, 2021

Have you ever read someone else’s mail?  Maybe it was from some famous person, the letter was encased in a library or museum showcase for everyone to see.  Or maybe you found it in an attic, stowed away in a long-forgotten suitcase or chest.  You never knew the person who wrote, or got the letter, so you felt like you missed some of what the letter was all about.  There were references to old stuff, like horse and buggy days.  Or maybe the problems with loading a musket, and how unreliable they were when hunting bear. 

Well, Revelation is not anything like that.  The reason for that becomes clear in chapters 2 and 3 as John records that Jesus told him to write seven letters to the churches.  Although Jesus names them specifically, it becomes clearer as you read that these are letters to ALL the churches, from that day down to this moment in time, right here in Seagrove.  This isn’t just the mailbag contents for the post offices in Asia Minor; this is our mail…letters from the Lord. 

Today we see the first three, so gear-up with your Bible in hand and heart, mind, and soul all alert; we’re getting our instructions from the Commander in Chief.  (And that has nothing to do with Washington, D.C.!)

We’re going to look at three churches and what Jesus had to say about, and to them.  There will be a word in each letter for each of us…three words actually:

·       evaluation of the church’s service

·       reproach for the church’s sluggishness, and

·       encouragement to the church for stirring-up their love for Christ.

First up in our mailbag is the letter to Ephesus:

I.              Ephesus:  Backslidden – in need of Repenting

“Write this letter to the angel of the church in Ephesus.  This is the message from the one who holds the seven stars in his right hand, the one who walks among the seven gold lampstands:  “I know all the things you do.  I have seen your hard work and your patient endurance.  I know you don’t tolerate evil people.  You have examined the claims of those who say they are apostles but are not.  You have discovered they are liars.  You have patiently suffered for me without quitting.  “But I have this complaint against you.  You don’t love me or each other as you did at first!  Look how far you have fallen!  Turn back to me and do the works you did at first.  If you don’t repent, I will come and remove your lampstand from its place among the churches.  But this is in your favor:  You hate the evil deeds of the Nicolaitans, just as I do. “Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches.  To everyone who is victorious I will give fruit from the tree of life in the paradise of God.  Revelation 2:1-7

You don’t love me like you used to!  You don’t need to go further with that one.  Jesus talks about first love, and how the folks at Ephesus had been so committed, hot in the battle against false apostles, and other evils of their day.  Now…not so much!  That’s not just a B-grade movie, or romance novel.  That is worked out daily in believer’s lives and the life of the church.  Many people start out energetic and committed to serve Christ, but somewhere along the way, the cold-water committee gets ahold of them; worse – they join the committee and spread the misery.

For Ephesus (and for us) the word Jesus offered was repent.  This was evaluation mixed with consolation and warning.  To repent is to change your mind and behavior.  It means, go back to your first love.  Get re-engaged, and let God re-energize your love life with the Lord.
And this isn’t a one-revival-service fix.  This is a commitment of life, soul, and body.  In poker terms, this is all-in – nothing is held back.  You’re all His, and He promises to be all yours.
What I wouldn’t give to see the church altar filled once again with tears soaking the carpet.  Well…preacher…lead the way!
The next page in the mailbox was first read in Smyrna:

II.          Smyrna:  Poor – in need of Faith’s Riches

“Write this letter to the angel of the church in Smyrna.  This is the message from the one who is the First and the Last, who was dead but is now alive:                “I know about your suffering and your poverty—but you are rich!  I know the blasphemy of those opposing you.  They say they are Jews, but they are not, because their synagogue belongs to Satan.  Don’t be afraid of what you are about to suffer.  The devil will throw some of you into prison to test you.  You will suffer for ten days.  But if you remain faithful even when facing death, I will give you the crown of life.  “Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches.  Whoever is victorious will not be harmed by the second death.  Revelation 2:8-11

There are two warnings to the church here – poverty and persecution.  Persecution kind of speaks for itself.  Since Jesus’ day it’s estimated there have been some 70 million martyrs for the faith. 

Church history records that the church experienced some seven million martyrs at the hands of 10 different emperors in the Roman Empire.  Nearly 2 million of them occurred in the first two centuries after Jesus lived.  There was enough reason for Jesus to give the folks at Smyrna some encouragement about being persecuted.

One of the martyrs was Polycarp, who was the bishop at Smyrna.  Church history tells us he was a student of John the Apostle as a young man, became bishop and was martyred for the faith in AD 155.  Tradition has it that he was burned at the stake, and when the fire would not burn his body, soldiers stabbed him to death.  Tradition records his words as they lit the wood around him on fire:  Eighty and six years have I served him, and he has done me no wrong.  You threaten me with the fire that burns for a time, and is quickly quenched, for you do not know the fire which awaits the wicked in the judgment to come and in everlasting punishment.  Why are you waiting?  Come, do what you will.

Persecution holds no eternal threat.  Jesus told us not to fear those who could kill the body, but rather God, who has control over the body AND your soul. 

“Don’t be afraid of those who want to kill your body; they cannot touch your soul. Fear only God, who can destroy both soul and body in hell.  Matthew 10:28

But what of poverty?  Why is that lumped-in with persecution?  The fact is that the enticement and intimidation of riches can compel those who are poor to take their eye off the ball of serving God, and letting money have its place.  Just look at the numbers of untold millions who stand in line for lottery tickets; they don’t want to be have-nots anymore; they want what the haves have!

Truth be told, poverty claims more lives (spiritually-speaking) than the hatred of persecution.  And by this we don’t mean physical life, as when homeless people starve, or sickness is raging.  We are talking about the poverty of faith – when people choose the material goods and pleasures of this life over God’s promises of eternal riches.  There may have been 70 million martyred for the faith in the two-thousand years since Jesus, but there are twice that many alive today, just in America who have turned their back on God…have no church, no faith, and no salvation.  If you add in the rest of humanity just in 2021, materialism is claiming billions of souls!  Jesus gave the folks at Smyrna a message of hope, so they would be faithful, because God was willing to give them eternal blessings.

III.      Pergamum:  Called – in need of Courage

“Write this letter to the angel of the church in Pergamum.  This is the message from the one with the sharp two-edged sword:   “I know that you live in the city where Satan has his throne, yet you have remained loyal to me.  You refused to deny me even when Antipas, my faithful witness, was martyred among you there in Satan’s city.  “But I have a few complaints against you. You tolerate some among you whose teaching is like that of Balaam, who showed Balak how to trip up the people of Israel.  He taught them to sin by eating food offered to idols and by committing sexual sin.  In a similar way, you have some Nicolaitans among you who follow the same teaching.  Repent of your sin, or I will come to you suddenly and fight against them with the sword of my mouth.  “Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches.  To everyone who is victorious I will give some of the manna that has been hidden away in heaven.  And I will give to each one a white stone, and on the stone will be engraved a new name that no one understands except the one who receives it.          Revelation 2:12-17

The third page in the mailbag goes to Pergamum (Pergamos in some translations). Jesus’ complaint with this group of believers was not that they didn’t believe; they just weren’t into correcting corrupt behavior.  They tolerated the likes of Balaam in the church.  Balaam was a false prophet who only wanted the money he could get (Balaam was the TV smiling evangelist of the first century).  Also on their church roll were the Nicolaitans, epicureans – those who are the party-hearty group, eat-drink-and-be-merry…only having a good time matters.  The church is called to be different than these; we are not called to be like every other church, successful by worldly standards.  Rather we are called to be what our calling is, here, in this place, for this moment, honoring the Christ.

How are we to do that?  No matter what time it is, nor what public opinion is going viral these days, nor what it might cost us in popularity, income, or opportunity, wherever the conversation begins, we must take the conversation cross-country to Jesus.  It’s that simple!  John said Jesus promised gifts for those who will cooperate with this calling; more precisely, three gifts:

THE TABLE

Jesus promised heavenly manna for overcomers.  He is referring to the food with which God fed Israel during their wanderings in the wilderness.  However, it is not physical food, but spiritual kingdom.  Jesus called Himself the Bread of Life.  When we gather at the Lord's Table, and in humility, confess our sins, eating the bread of life, we submit to the one who has power to make us overcomers.

THE TABLETS

In ancient times the white stone was a symbol of acquittal from a jury.  Friends sometimes gave each other gifts of small white marble, cut to fit a hand, engraved with words of kindness.  When we bow at the foot of Jesus, confessing our sins, he buries our sins in the sea of forgetfulness, and posts a "no fishing" sign -- forever. 

THE TITLE

A new name.  Friends, this is not the name of Jesus – rather it’s a new name of friendship and power that only Jesus and you will know.  It may be a literal, lingual name, a name that sounds differently.  Abram became Abraham.  Saul became the beloved Apostle Paul. 

However, I believe that it is more.  I believe it is that certain something Jesus places deep down inside us when we are saved.  It is the quiet understanding of salvation...an assurance, knowing that He is Lord, and you are His.  It is the newness of relationship that you cannot really explain, touch, smell or know, apart from a personal relationship with Jesus.

In ancient days, if a child fell ill, and the situation worsened to the point of fearing for life, and the doctors could not help, the father would stand over his child and give him a new name.  It wouldn't be just any name, but one of a great and valiant warrior, or the name of a respected and strong individual.  The thinking was that the name carried authority.  The child would become a new person in that name, and the disease must capitulate. 

This is the overcoming, beloved; this is allowing Jesus to take complete control of your life at the cross, with His blood, with His love, with His power.  The disease of sin is no longer in control.  When you surrender to that power daily, there is nothing the world can do; you are an overcomer in Christ.

Years ago when hurricane Andrew hit the Southeast coast of Florida, a TV reporter went into one area in Homestead.  As he surveyed the devastation the camera settled on one lone house which stood largely undamaged.  It was the only house standing for blocks.  The owner was surveying his minor damage.  The reporter asked how it was possible for the house to stand when all others fell. This was the man's answer...I built this house myself.  I also built it according to the Florida State building code.  When the code called for 2X6 roof trusses, I used 2X6 roof trusses.  I was told that a house built according to code could withstand a hurricane.  I did, and it did.  I suppose no one else around here followed the code."[1]

There is a code written in the table, the tablets, and the title.  Is the house of your life built according to the code?  Are you an overcomer?  Do you answer the call?  Have you been renamed?  The church today is in dire need of this commitment. 

Title Image:  via Pixabay.com   Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation 

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[1] David R. Culver, Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin in LEADERSHIP/'93, Winter 1993, p.49

 

When the Land is Desolate

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Wednesday, October 31, 2018

Then this message came to me from the Lord:  “Son of man, suppose the people of a country were to sin against me, and I lifted my fist to crush them, cutting off their food supply and sending a famine to destroy both people and animals.  Even if Noah, Daniel, and Job were there, their righteousness would save no one but themselves, says the Sovereign Lord.  “Or suppose I were to send wild animals to invade the country, kill the people, and make the land too desolate and dangerous to pass through.  As surely as I live, says the Sovereign Lord, even if those three men were there, they wouldn’t be able to save their own sons or daughters.  They alone would be saved, but the land would be made desolate.  “Or suppose I were to bring war against the land, and I sent enemy armies to destroy both people and animals.  As surely as I live, says the Sovereign Lord, even if those three men were there, they wouldn’t be able to save their own sons or daughters.  They alone would be saved.  “Or suppose I were to pour out my fury by sending an epidemic into the land, and the disease killed people and animals alike.  As surely as I live, says the Sovereign Lord, even if Noah, Daniel, and Job were there, they wouldn’t be able to save their own sons or daughters.  They alone would be saved by their righteousness.  “Now this is what the Sovereign Lord says: How terrible it will be when all four of these dreadful punishments fall upon Jerusalem—war, famine, wild animals, and disease—destroying all her people and animals.  Yet there will be survivors, and they will come here to join you as exiles in Babylon.  You will see with your own eyes how wicked they are, and then you will feel better about what I have done to Jerusalem.  When you meet them and see their behavior, you will understand that these things are not being done to Israel without cause.  I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken!”  Ezekiel 14:12-23 (NLT)

Ezekiel shows God’s people four catastrophes that will come upon their land.  Defeat in war, famine, wild animals gone berserk, and rampant disease are more than natural disasters, rather punishment, sent in response to widespread wickedness throughout a nation God had established; a nation dedicated to showing the world the way to God.

Prophets, and the idea some people have of them are an enigma to me.  Many people see them as nut jobs, deluded monkeys in sandwich sign-boards on city streets proclaiming the end is near.  Some see them in a romanticized frame, robust truth-tellers, admired for their keen spiritual insights and powers of persuasion.  The truth be told, they are all of that at times, and more; they are unorthodox, powerful, theatrical, seemingly a little off, and scary … a perfect blend for Halloween!

However, there is one important reality we must not miss:  prophets are human instruments responding to the call of God to proclaim God’s messages.  And those messages were rarely comforting, and never to be ignored. 

Many of the messages God sent through prophets contained a warning about a current problem, or sin, which only pertained to that moment in history.  Noah’s flood was the only one that wiped out the world’s population; it was a prophecy never to be repeated.  But, more often these alarming counsels are timeless ethics that play out over and over.  Job, for instance, was about one man, and how troubles came into his life; and as the sparks from a fire fly upward, we all know man was born into an adverse, fallen world.

This prophecy of Ezekiel’s contains both momentary warnings for Israel in the 6^th century, but also serve as a caution to every generation…and the message couldn’t be more prominent than it is in America today:

The sinfulness of a generation or a nation will not go unpunished

And there it is; prophecy is short, stark, unsophisticated, often unbelieved, but there nonetheless, and God will be justified in whatever happens in this country.

Perhaps it is time for us to listen to the response of the people of Nineveh when the reluctant prophet, Jonah warned of God’s coming destruction:

When the king of Nineveh heard what Jonah was saying, he stepped down from his throne and took off his royal robes.  He dressed himself in burlap and sat on a heap of ashes.  Then the king and his nobles sent this decree throughout the city:  “No one, not even the animals from your herds and flocks, may eat or drink anything at all.  People and animals alike must wear garments of mourning, and everyone must pray earnestly to God.  They must turn from their evil ways and stop all their violence.  Who can tell?  Perhaps even yet God will change his mind and hold back his fierce anger from destroying us.”  When God saw what they had done and how they had put a stop to their evil ways, he changed his mind and did not carry out the destruction he had threatened.  Jonah 3:6-10(NLT)

For You Today

If a big fish spit Jonah out on the Eastern coast of America, would there be a revival?

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day.

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[1] Title Image: Courtesy of Pixabay.com

Disorderly Behavior

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Thursday, September 7, 2017

Perhaps you think we’re saying these things just to defend ourselves.  No, we tell you this as Christ’s servants, and with God as our witness.  Everything we do, dear friends, is to strengthen you.  For I am afraid that when I come I won’t like what I find, and you won’t like my response.  I am afraid that I will find quarreling, jealousy, anger, selfishness, slander, gossip, arrogance, and disorderly behavior.  Yes, I am afraid that when I come again, God will humble me in your presence.  And I will be grieved because many of you have not given up your old sins.  You have not repented of your impurity, sexual immorality, and eagerness for lustful pleasure.  

2 Corinthians 12:19-21^(NLT)                 

Paul had heard some pretty disturbing reports about all sorts of issues making a shambles of the church at Corinth.  His letter is drenched in personal humility, but it’s also a somber warning of God’s judgment of sin in the life of church people.

A favorite New Testament professor in seminary used to begin his classes with a tongue-in-cheek liturgy that went like this:

Professor:   Good mornin’ SINNERS!  

Class:  Good mornin’ Saint!

          -- then --

Professor:  Good mornin’ Saints!  

Class:  Good mornin’ SINNER!

The first time I heard that litany I literally Laughed-Out-Loud!  It was funny that a near retirement age professor in a proper seminary setting began the class with foolishness.  But after a few classes the barb on the end of my professor’s hook began to set-in, and I began realizing my teacher’s lesson was, in fact, the apostle Paul driving this warning deep into this would-be preacher’s understanding of who we humans really are. 

This was my teacher’s lesson of Saint and Sinner; in the words of that great opossum philosopher, Pogo: we have met the enemy, and he is us!

This fact is immutably fixed:  all sinners may become saints, but they remain sinners.  While a person can be gloriously saved and released from the penalty of sin, and anticipate going to heaven, the sticky truth is that we still retain Adam’s sinful nature and give-in to that nature.  Succinctly said:  saints sometimes sin!

Now, that is not new knowledge to anyone who has been a Christian for at least five minutes.  That is why John Wesley leaned heavily on this question about whether or not the preachers under his care were going on to perfection.  Wesley wanted them to know they were not above sin, and the battle raging within was to be expected.  And more, what was to be expected from them was to fight that fight, moving ever closer in love to the image of Christ.

This is the Christian fight.  It has never been about choosing the color of church carpet, or policing someone else’s sin; being a Christ-follower is all about waging war on the disorderly behavior rising up in your own soul!

For You Today

We can all benefit daily by answering to the call:

                Hello SAINT!  Fight on, SINNER!

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road…have a blessed day!

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[1] Title Image: screen capture from public domain trailer (Strawberry Blonde DVD, Warner Archives edition), via Wikimedia Commons