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SEVEN - A Study Through Revelation 2-3
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SEVEN - A Study Through Revelation 2-3
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Welcome to week one of a seven-week teaching series called "SEVEN," a study through the first two chapters of the book of Revelation. This is not a shouting series—it's a teaching series, and I encourage you to take notes. By the end of this series, if you allow God to do His work, you will walk out of here transformed.
In Revelation, we have seven letters sent to seven historical churches. These seven letters, found in Revelation 2 and 3, were addressed to churches that formed a circle of influence around ancient Asia Minor—what is today modern-day Turkey. Each church was a major center of commerce, education, and business influence.
These seven churches were located along an established trade route that ran in a circle, hugging the Aegean Sea. Each church received a full copy of the book of Revelation, including the letter specifically addressed to them. When each church received their copy, they would read that letter aloud to their congregation. Because these seven churches had influence, the entire book of Revelation would then be circulated to all the surrounding churches.
It was the intention of the sender that every believer alive at that time, and every believer who would ever be alive, would eventually read the entire book and all seven letters.
This is why there is a blessing pronounced on anyone who reads the entire book. The sender wanted you to know what was in the book.
As we go through these letters, you will find that each letter declares the triumph and failings of the recipient churches. Five of them received warnings; two of them received nothing but commendation. The five churches that receive warnings represent the five major challenges of all churches across all time and for all believers. Before these seven weeks are over, I promise you will find yourself in this text. You will insert yourself right there under the conviction of the Holy Spirit—for good or for bad. My prayer is that in that moment, you would lean into what the Spirit of the Lord says to you.
The advice in these letters is prophetic forewarning for present-day Christians and communities about the snares that can shipwreck a person's faith. The book of Revelation is not meant to make you afraid—especially if you belong to Christ. It is something that brings trouble for those who are outside of Christ.
In context, Revelation is a prophetic book that:
The Lord did not hide the end from anyone. He left the book of Revelation in the earth so that those who read it may understand the significance of the time we have right now.
At the ending of Jesus's ministry, He gave a commission to a group of men to carry the gospel to the ends of the world. These men left from an upper room, empowered by the Holy Spirit. On the day of Pentecost, Peter preached, and some 3,000 people were added to the 120 who were already there. The message of Jesus began to spread throughout Jerusalem, then leaked outside Jerusalem into places like Antioch and Samaria, and across the entire Roman Empire.
Then persecution came against the twelve men and those who followed the way of Jesus Christ. According to church history, all twelve of Jesus's followers—and Matthias, who replaced Judas—were persecuted. Eleven of them were brutally executed and martyred for preaching the gospel. One was clubbed to death, one was skinned to death, one was tossed off the temple. Fox's Book of Martyrs tells us about how eleven of them met their death in very brutal ways.
One of them was boiled in oil in a vat of hot liquid and survived by the supernatural power of God. He was raised from that vat of oil, still breathing. But because of his preaching of the gospel and his resilience to not die, they banished him to an island called Patmos—a prison colony, a small rocky island about fifty miles off the coast of ancient Ephesus in modern-day Turkey.
On that island were prisoners and people exiled there, sentenced to hard labor breaking up rocks for the rest of their lives. That man who was sent to that prison island—his name was John, an eyewitness of the life of Jesus.
In his own words, John tells us how he received the book of Revelation:
"The revelation of Jesus Christ which God gave to him to show to his servants the things that must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, who brought witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all who saw. Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy and blessed are those who hear and keep what is written in it, for the time is near." (Revelation 1:1-3)
In the Old Testament book of Proverbs, written by Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived, there is a very popular verse we put on t-shirts and bracelets. It says:
"Without vision the people perish."
Culturally, we take this verse and use it as our launching pad to give birth to anything we desire. We say we must have vision because if we don't have vision, our lives will perish.
But in its proper context, as recorded in the ESV—my favorite translation because it is one of the most accurate translations according to history—Proverbs 29:18 reads:
"Where there is no prophetic vision, the people cast off restraint. But blessed is he or she who keeps the law."
Let me repeat that: "Where there is no prophetic revelation, the people cast off restraint, but blessed is the one—he or she—who keeps the law."
Here's what this means: When people have no knowledge of the future, they have no control over their present lives. When they have no knowledge of what is going to happen in the end, they live today like tomorrow does not matter. When they have no knowledge of what is going to happen in the future, they live as if they have all the time in the world.
I bring this up because the reader of these two chapters was supposed to be the reader of the entire book. If you read the entire book of Revelation, you will bump into the revealing of Jesus and the things that are going to happen in the end.
Notice that He did not hide that from humanity. The Lord wanted all of human beings to know what was going to happen in the end. He sent these letters to seven churches—to all Christians—so that one day somebody will sit down and read the whole entire book in addition to the seven letters. Then you would have a prophetic vision of what is going to happen in the end.
The best way to have a vision is to start with the end in mind and then work backwards. When you have a personal vision for your life, you start with the end in mind. And when you start with the end in mind, it teaches you not to waste the time you have right now. If anyone would just read to the end of Revelation, you will get a wake-up call about how valuable the days you have right now are. You will get a wake-up call about how valuable it is that your name is written in the book of life.
I'm going to give you homework: I want you to read Revelation 20, 21, and 22—the last three chapters. Come back in here next Sunday for worship. I want you to just get a peek at the end. Don't even read the whole thing—just get a peek. You could do it in fifteen minutes. Just read it to the end so that you may have a prophetic vision of the things that are coming. With the hopes that the Spirit may shake you about how important your time is right now, how important your talents are right now, how important your prayer life is right now, and how important it is for you to be praying for the people you know who are far away from God right now.
Jesus began this entire end-time revelation to the church that bears His name, and all of us, beginning with the ancient church in Ephesus.
In Revelation 1:12-20, John describes what he saw:
"Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of the lampstands one like the Son of Man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest. The hairs of his head were white like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire. His feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace. And his voice was like the roar of many waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, and from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, which is the word of God. And his face was shining like the sun in full strength."
And then John said:
"And when I saw him, I fell down at his feet as though dead."
This is striking. John had walked with Jesus for three and a half years. He had seen Him crucified on the cross. He had seen Him buried in a tomb. He had seen Him resurrected from the dead. Yet John never fell down in those moments.
But what John saw now was not just a resurrected Jesus. What John saw was a fully glorified Jesus—a Jesus who had gone to heaven, who had sat down at the right hand of the Father, who had been crowned with many crowns, who had in His hands the keys of death, hell, and the grave, who had all authority.
When he saw the glorified Jesus, he fell down. He couldn't even look upon the glorified Jesus.
This is the same Jesus you pray to now. This is the same Jesus you sing songs about now. Not some baby in a manger. Not somebody who can't deliver. Not somebody whose arm is weak or doesn't keep His promises. This is the same Jesus—the powerful, glorified Jesus.
When you come into His presence, when you kneel down in His presence, when we write songs about Him, we are dealing with that glorified Jesus. Not the name on the bracelet or a t-shirt or a sticker on your bumper.
I get frustrated when people treat Him like a sucker or a homeboy or they blaspheme Him. Do you have any idea who you are dealing with? How we sit down during worship or can't open our mouths and say hallelujah? Do you know who you are dealing with? You are dealing with a glorified Jesus.
I pray that for your own sake, He doesn't appear to you in that way, that you fall down like a dead person. That is who we are dealing with. So we don't play around when we come into church. I don't play around in my prayer time. I'm not playing around when I open that Bible, because I'm dealing with a glorified Jesus.
The church I lead—I won't let you play Him like a sucker. He is worthy of me standing in worship. He is worthy of me singing and lifting my hand. He is worthy of my little offering. We want to make it rain in the club and can't bless the church? Man, He is worthy of that offering. He is a glorified Jesus.
He is worthy of my sacrifice. He is worthy of my serving. He is worthy of me being involved. He is worthy of that—not the baby in the manger, but the glorified Jesus.
Can I hurt you? He is worthy of me showing up and showing up on time for the first song. You will do that for your boss but won't do that for a glorified Jesus. We have more respect for men than for a glorified Jesus. We have more respect for preachers than for a glorified Jesus.
Do you know who we are dealing with and who we worship? When we would be nervous at the enemy's attack, I have got the full force of a glorified Jesus. What are you talking about? Why is your tail always between your legs? Why is your head always down when you serve and glorify Jesus?
I will fight a devil in a minute. I ain't backing down from no fight. I ain't walking away. I'm not going to abandon Him. Why are you nervous? Why are you always afraid? Why can't you step out on faith when the person that will catch you is a glorified Jesus?
How is He going to fail you when He is a glorified Jesus? How is someone with all authority going to fail you?
"Then he laid his right hand on me, saying, 'Fear not, for I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore. And I have the keys of death and hades.'" (Revelation 1:17-18)
If He holds the keys of death, you don't have anything to fear. That is why He can heal the body. That is why He has authority over everything.
In Revelation 1:20, Jesus explains the symbolism:
"As for the mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand, and the seven golden lampstands: the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the churches."
The seven stars represent the leaders or pastors of the churches. The stars are in His hand, which represents the agency of either blessing and goodness or the agency of discipline and wrath. No leader is going to get away with anything. We all will give an account to Jesus for how we stewarded the pulpit behind these sacred desks.
Jesus holds the angels where? In His right hand, representing the agency of either goodness or wrath or discipline. That is why He can raise them up when He wants and sit them down when He wants. He can bless them when He wants and expose them when He wants. He can put them in the ministry when He wants and snatch them from their office when He wants. No angel is going to get away with anything.
And notice what He says: He walks amongst the lampstands. The lampstands are the churches. Jesus says He walks among the lampstands, meaning the Lord inspects and assesses every gathering of believers in the world that call themselves a church.
There is no church anywhere—let's just stay in America—that the Lord does not know. He knows the heart of the leader. He knows the heart of the people. He knows everything that is going on inside that church. He knows every gossiper in the church, every slanderer, every blasphemer, every troublemaker, every liar, every faithful person, every godly person, every disrespectful person. He walks among all the churches, assessing them, taking inventory of them.
This is important because you should think very carefully about the church you belong to. Whatever church you belong to, your body has to give an account to the Lord Jesus Christ. That is why you shouldn't choose a church just because it has good air conditioning or can satisfy all your desires. Church hop if you want to.
He calls every church a lampstand, which means He expects them to give off light. No one needs a flashlight in a lit room. So the text prophesies that everything outside the church is darkness. Everything outside of God is darkness.
When I go to work, I go to work in darkness. When I go to the gym, I go to the gym in darkness. When I go to my campus, I go to my campus in darkness. When I'm moving around Atlanta, I'm moving around in darkness.
Since the church was not a building but people, that means I'm supposed to be the lampstand in any area I am in darkness. I'm supposed to be a light in the gym and not act ratchet in the gym. I'm supposed to be a light at my job, a light in my cubicle, a light in traffic. I'm a light on my taxes. I'm a light in my business. I'm a light in my marriage. I'm a light in my parenting.
He calls you a lampstand, not a building. A person. When somebody asked me one day, "Where's your church?" I said, "Everywhere." My church is not a building—we just use it together.
If He calls you a lampstand, you should be a light everywhere, all the time, representing Him. That is why people got a problem with God now—not because they got an issue with God, but they really got an issue with the people that claim to represent Him.
A lampstand is only for dark places. So He is telling you that everything outside of us is a dark place. In the Sermon on the Mount, He said, "You are the salt of the earth and the light of the world." How would they see light if you don't light that spot up? You ain't got to preach everybody down—just live right in front of them. They need to see Christ through you.
He not only inspects every church, He inspects you and assesses you. Everything is bare in this room. You got on clothes, but in the spirit, we are naked. Nothing is hidden in the room.
And since nothing is hidden in the room, that is why you can pray with honesty. So you don't have to tiptoe in with your tail between your legs when He already knows you messed up last night. He already knows you were angry. He already knows you have a bad mouth. You ain't got to tiptoe in because He already knows.
So it gives you the freedom to just be honest: "Lord, I am angry. I am jealous. Help me with this."
In Revelation 2:1-7, Jesus addresses the church in Ephesus:
"To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: 'These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand and who walks among the seven golden lampstands.'"
Ancient Ephesus is today a historical archaeological site with some of the greatest ruins in antiquity. The church in Ephesus was a prosperous church. Ephesus was like New York, Chicago, Atlanta, Los Angeles—a major metropolis with a quarter million people living there. The largest church in Asia Minor, with hundreds of thousands of Christians. Think mega church. Think of some of the largest churches in America.
This was the church in Ephesus—large, wealthy, prosperous, and the most famous church in that region of the world. It was the first church in that circuit along the Asia Minor road.
This church had some of the best leaders in the history of the church. Apollos was a leader in this church. The Apostle Paul preached and taught there. Timothy was a leader in this church. John himself was a leader in that church and preached and taught there. Ephesus was not only a mega church with a mega budget in a major city, but they had some of the best pastors and leaders in the day.
Listen to what Jesus commends them for:
"I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and that you cannot bear with those who are evil. You have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and have found them to be false." (Revelation 2:2)
Do you test those who call themselves apostles? A lot of people post false prophets and false apostles on social media, and you are sending them money and liking their posts. Do you know that a lot of people say foolish things eloquently? A lot of people preach heresy eloquently. A lot of preachers preach heresy eloquently, and because it sounds eloquent, you don't know it is full of the devil.
We love articles but not the scriptures. We love your 4 a.m. opinions but not the scriptures. If I wasn't pastoring, I would want to be in a church where they open the scriptures, walk me through the text, and convict me. Confront me. Challenge me. Coach me. Inspire me. Don't leave me the way I am right now.
Stop telling me I'm awesome every single week. Tell me I'm nasty. Tell me I'm sinful. Tell me I'm going to burn in hell if I don't turn. Tell me I need to be saved.
They never read Ezekiel, where God says, "If you don't tell the truth, their blood is going to be on your hands. And if you don't tell the truth, I'm going to terrify you." I don't want God on me, so I preach the truth to you because I don't want your blood on my hands. I'm not going to hell for you. I'm not going to have blood on my hands for you. I'm not going to compromise for you—not for a crowd, not for a platform, not for a following. I refuse.
If it makes me unpopular, that is all right. Though I am a big gangster on this side of the fence, and I am going to hold it down until I get my crown. And one day some of you, we are going to be sitting at that table together eating bread and fish, and you are going to be like, "Yo, Pastor, good looking on that sermon. Good looking on that series. Yo, you hurt me in that series, but I'm here though. You stepped on my toes, but I'm here though. Yo, you convicted me by the Holy Spirit, but I'm here though. Like yo, thank you for not lying to me, because I'm here though. I got a seat at the table. Yo, good looking, Pastor. Good looking. I almost sold out, but you weren't compromising. Yo, I came to church, you sent me home crying, but good looking though. I'm at the table."
Continuing with Jesus's commendations of Ephesus:
"I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name's sake and you have not grown weary." (Revelation 2:3)
I just love how Christ takes the time to commend them for what they are doing. This congregation was dedicated to the work of God even when it was difficult. They showed up every week, pressing through temptation to be weary, pressing through the temptation to say, "I got burnout" and quit. Nah, they pressed through all of that. They were serving when they were tired. They never made excuses. They didn't say, "I won't burn out" and then bow out. Nah, they kept going.
They were serious about doctrinal purity. They shut down false teachers and false apostles. They were serious about doctrinal purity. They protected themselves from false teachers and false teachings. This church was filled with godly activity. They were sacrificial. They were paying a price to serve the Lord. They were steadfast in their gatherings. This church had great work ethic.
This ancient mega church was a model for other churches. By all these commendations of the Lord, let's keep it real—Ephesus has all the trappings of a successful mega church. Anybody know any of those successful mega churches? Prestige, size, wealth, following, perfect presentation. But here's the issue: the one who walks among the lampstands of our nation's churches saw in their hearts and had a different diagnosis than what we see on the surface.
"But I have this against you: you have abandoned the love you had at first." (Revelation 2:4)
Y'all do all of that well, but I have this one thing against you. You have abandoned the love you had at first. You are busy. You are sacrificing. You are preaching. You are singing. You are serving. You are even giving. But you have heart trouble.
When people see you, they say, "There is a radical Christian." But you have heart trouble. They displayed great works and great labor and patience, but all these qualities were motivated by their work ethic, not by a love for Christ and people. They were physically busy but emotionally empty. Financially rich but lovingly bankrupt.
Can I say something to you? What you do and what I do for the Lord is important, but not as important as why you do it. Everybody gives you props for your what—we see what you are doing. But your what is not as important as your why.
When we lose the why behind the what, the what—your work—becomes wasted. The Lord knows you show up for church, but why? The Lord knows you serve faithfully, but why? The Lord knows you give consistently, but why? Is it routine or is it love? Is it obligatory or is it love?
Here is the question born out of the rebuke of the text to the Ephesians and for all of us: What is the source of your Christian activity? Is it for fame? Is it for props? Is it to be seen? Or is everything you are really doing in the name of God really doing out of love?
He said you forgot your first love. You remember that time you first fell in love with someone—your first love? You know how people act when they first fall in love? You are giddy. You want to be around that person all the time. You will be talking to them at two or three in the morning and falling asleep on the phone.
Ever been around a new Christian? Can't tell them nothing. They are on fire. They never miss church. They serve on three teams. They give faithfully. They study their Bible. They pray faithfully. When they go through hardship, they are positive. They just believe, "Come hell or hot water, the glorified Jesus is with them."
But watch—time has a way of wearing down my prayer life. Time has a way of wearing down my commitment. Trouble and hardship have a way of wearing down my commitment. Time and trouble and hardship and disappointment, and He didn't answer my prayer the way I wanted—that has a way of wearing away and eroding my love.
The truth of the matter is there are people sitting in this room right now who are faithful but not for the right reasons. How do I know? Because you know. Because your love is like—you see people as numbers but not as brothers and sisters. You don't really love. If you don't really love, you get offended so easily. You can't have a conversation. You can't say, "I'm sorry." It is like we don't really love this church.
This reminds me of established churches that are so perfected in programming that the people are just going through the motions. God forbid the Holy Spirit disrupts the gathering. God forbid we stay a little bit longer. God forbid we just get on the floor and pray. It's like everything is so programmed. We got activity and programs and budget and money, but man, in the hearts of the people, we are just riding the waves of the motion.
Big and wealthy doesn't mean successful or affirmed in the eyes of Jesus. I'm not against large churches. The first church in Acts was a mega church. I'm not against that. What the Lord is against is you going through the motions.
You are in worship like this, clapping your hands—everybody—but there is no love there. You are not really in love. You love what He can give you, but you don't love Him. We love what He can give us, but we don't love Him.
See, because when I love Him right, He is the reward.
How many of you can really be satisfied with just Jesus? If you don't get to fill in the blank, could you be just satisfied with Jesus? Do you love Him when He is not answering your prayer?
I see this all throughout the American church. It's people in this room, people watching—a Christianity apart from love, ministry apart from love. Any ministry apart from love is either self-serving or it is grudging. It is drudgery.
This wounds the heart of Christ. It is possible to serve and sacrifice and suffer for His namesake and yet not really love the Lord Jesus Christ. This is the church in Ephesus—maintaining separation but lost adoration.
Because labor is no substitute for love. Neither is purity a substitute for passion. You could be pure but have no passion. You can have labor but no love. A church must have both.
Here is a mega church—ancient Ephesus—with sound doctrine, mighty works, and external virtue. And yet I learned something reading about this church. I see in them what I see in a lot of us, what I have seen in me: that sometimes every virtue carries within itself the seed that brings its own destruction.
Everything that is virtuous inside of it, if it is not properly stewarded, has a seed that brings destruction. For example, without guardrails, morality can turn to self-righteousness. Without guardrails, the virtue of passion can turn to zeal without wisdom. Without guardrails, the virtue of contentment can turn to complacency.
For them, the virtue of work ethic turned to lovelessness. They created an environment so mechanical and rigid that love was eroded.
This is why truth without grace puts a beating on believers. We are hyper-religious without love. Like, how would you have dealt with the ratchet woman at the well? Or the woman caught in adultery? Or that thug up in a tree? We are hyper-religious doing God's work, but we don't have love in our hearts. So we don't have grace. We don't deal with people right.
Notice Jesus came in grace and truth. We forget the one who saved us, what He saved us from, what He saved us to, what He forgave us of. We forget. Jesus is rebuking this church about the main thing that must drive all Christian endeavors: love.
One author wrote this about this text: "Good works and pure doctrine are not adequate substitutes for that rich relationship of mutual love shared by those who have experienced for the first time that redemptive love of God." It is no substitute.
The Ephesian church had forsaken its first love—its love for God, its love for humanity, its love for each other. And when you truly have the love of God in your heart, you will love Him above all things. You will love your brothers and sisters deeply. Even if they get on your nerves.
But watch—you will stop hating on the sinner. Why do you want Jay-Z to go to hell? You will love the people who are far away from God and pray for them.
"Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent." (Revelation 2:5)
Here is what the Lord said to them. Here is what He said to you and me: If you find yourself just really going through the motions, here was the pathway back to fire.
First, remember. Remember what it was like in that season when you were on fire, when you had love, when you were praying, when you were serving, when you were faithful. Just get a flashback in your mind. When you first got saved—I do this all the time. Every now and then I'll be outside staring at the clouds. I'll be laying in my bed and I get a flashback to when He saved me. When I was so happy just to be in the kingdom.
I didn't have no platform. I wasn't called to be a pastor yet. I was dirt broke, and Lee and I had nothing but each other and Jesus. And I had so much joy in my heart because I felt like, "Wow, I'm saved and I just love Jesus. However you want to use me, I'll be faithful."
Man, get a flashback to when your life was like that.
Then he says, repent. Turn away from just going through the motions.
Then he says, repeat. Do the works over—the things you did that kept you burning for me. Go back and start doing those things again. Man, pray like you used to pray. Read like you used to read. Take the prayer walks like you used to do. Remember those things that used to have you hot. Man, throw those coals back on the fire again.
He said, "Remember, repent, repeat." That is the pathway back to love and fire.
Why? Because no one can drift from the Lord and not pay a price for that. If we drift, the only thing that follows drifting is damage. I am being honest with you: you now see, now you don't. You wanted to be at the table. Right now you are looking at me with your hand folded. I thought, twenty minutes ago, you were at the table.
You want to sit at the table? The only thing that follows drifting from Jesus is damage. When we drift, the only thing following that, like sonic entails, is "damn." Nothing good comes from drifting away from the Lord.
"Yet this you have: you hate the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate." (Revelation 2:6)
The Nicolaitans were a sect of false teachers who taught a mixture of Christianity and licentiousness—Christianity and wretchedness—under the guise of grace. They gave people a license to sin and live any way they wanted to live. "You can live any way you want and make it into heaven," they said. Lies. That was the Nicolaitans, tearing up churches with false doctrine.
He says, "Jesus says I hate that kind of preaching. Look out for it in today's society." Whenever you hear it, oh, you can do whatever you want and grace—that is hyper grace. Jesus says, "I hate that kind of preaching."
"He who has an ear to hear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God." (Revelation 2:7)
He addressed the whole church, but now He gets personal: "He who has an ear to hear, let him or her hear what the Spirit says to the churches."
So He is talking to a church, but Jesus is so gracious He recognizes even the people who are real in a bad church. To the one who conquers—and in the original Greek, "conquer" simply means the one who remains faithful to the end, that you don't abandon Jesus, that you don't abandon His love—I will grant you the eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.
I'm going to be direct with you: I don't know how else to say this except to repeat. My Savior—look right at me, right? Yeah, we are in here deep, and we are coming to church, and we are serving and we are singing and preaching, and all of that—man, the Lord said, "Is that solemn? I see a missionary in the house. Yo, what's up? Yo, some of your giving has helped to support a missionary that is in our house. And as you continue to give, we are going to support this missionary in our house—a missionary that came out of our house and we released to go pursue her calling, moving to another nation soon. And this church will support her on the other side of the world because she is serious about gospel ministry."
But let me look right at me—eye contact right here. Give me the camera right here. Jesus said your Savior and mine that the world would know that you are serious, or you are not a phony, by your Instagram following? No. But how well you preach? No. How well you sing? No. How well you serve? No. How well you give? No. How well you post? No. He said, "By this the world would know that you are really my disciple."
The only way they are going to really know that you are authentic and you are not a phony and a fraud is that you love one another. The evidence of authenticity is love.
You are not authentic because you are blowing up on social media. You are authentic when you can love—and let's go deeper—love those who are unlovable and even the ones that hurt you. That is real.
He said, "By this the world would know that you are really my disciples."
"Like, do you love me? I'm talking to you. Do you love me?"
"Yo, I love you. I really do."
"Do you love me?"
"Yo, I really love you, and I believe in what you are doing. I really do."
"Do you love me?"
"I love you, you love me, daughter. I know you love me. I freaking love you."
Like, love that joint. It feels good. It covers a multitude of sin. It apologizes. It says, "I'm sorry." It goes back to the spouse and says, "My bad. I'm sorry."
It is self-sacrificial. It is patient and kind and gentle. It keeps no record of wrong. It doesn't throw things in people's faces. It lets things go. It doesn't keep grudges. It doesn't wear its feelings on its sleeve all the time. It asks a question before it wants to be understood. It says, "I don't know why he said that or did that, but let me have a conversation instead of trash him on social media."
I mean, love! It is self-sacrificial in service and giving. It sings with love. It preaches with love. It shows deference with love. I mean, like man, there is nothing that feels more powerful. Luann, I feel like you should just hug the person next to you. Like, like, like, like—it feels good.
"This is my brothers and my sisters, man. By this the world would know that you, you my disciples, that you love. We hang out in the lobby and we love. And we go to Atlantic Station together and we love. And we eat and we love. And we get in small groups and we love. And we love and we—we are not going to just be busy without love."
I want everyone this week to take an inventory of your heart. And I want you to be honest with yourself: Am I doing Christianity with an emotionless heart? Am I serving Jesus without love?
I want you to take a real inventory. I want everyone this week here is your homework: to have a moment alone in a park, in a prayer room, in silence, and take an inventory of your heart. An MRI. Say, "Am I coming to church, serving, giving, posting? Do I really love the Lord in my heart? Do I really love people? Oh, am I a skeptic of people all the time? Am I not trusting? Am I—do I really love people? Do I really love?"
And if you find that it is not there, watch, repent. Ask God where Paul prayed for a church: "Let your perfect love be shed abroad in my heart by the power of your Holy Spirit."
That is your homework this week. I want you to take an inventory of your heart. An MRI. And you are going to read Revelation 20, 21, and 22. So you have prophetic vision.
Father, in the name of Jesus, I pray your perfect love will be shed abroad in our hearts by the power of the Holy Spirit. And that it would explode out of our lives—first towards You, not for the things You give but for who You are. It would pour out of our lives for our spouses and children, our friends, our family, and beyond that. They see our lives. For our church family and for the sinner, I pray we would so be in love with the sinner that we will be grieved when we see people who are far away from You. That in love we would pray for them. Because we have prophetic vision of the end, let this church explode with love. And let every activity done in this church be motivated by love for us locally and those abroad. In the mighty and majestic and matchless name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
Welcome to week one of a seven-week teaching series called "SEVEN," a study through the first two chapters of the book of Revelation. This is not a shouting series—it's a teaching series, and I encourage you to take notes. By the end of this series, if you allow God to do His work, you will walk out of here transformed.
In Revelation, we have seven letters sent to seven historical churches. These seven letters, found in Revelation 2 and 3, were addressed to churches that formed a circle of influence around ancient Asia Minor—what is today modern-day Turkey. Each church was a major center of commerce, education, and business influence.
These seven churches were located along an established trade route that ran in a circle, hugging the Aegean Sea. Each church received a full copy of the book of Revelation, including the letter specifically addressed to them. When each church received their copy, they would read that letter aloud to their congregation. Because these seven churches had influence, the entire book of Revelation would then be circulated to all the surrounding churches.
It was the intention of the sender that every believer alive at that time, and every believer who would ever be alive, would eventually read the entire book and all seven letters.
This is why there is a blessing pronounced on anyone who reads the entire book. The sender wanted you to know what was in the book.
As we go through these letters, you will find that each letter declares the triumph and failings of the recipient churches. Five of them received warnings; two of them received nothing but commendation. The five churches that receive warnings represent the five major challenges of all churches across all time and for all believers. Before these seven weeks are over, I promise you will find yourself in this text. You will insert yourself right there under the conviction of the Holy Spirit—for good or for bad. My prayer is that in that moment, you would lean into what the Spirit of the Lord says to you.
The advice in these letters is prophetic forewarning for present-day Christians and communities about the snares that can shipwreck a person's faith. The book of Revelation is not meant to make you afraid—especially if you belong to Christ. It is something that brings trouble for those who are outside of Christ.
In context, Revelation is a prophetic book that:
The Lord did not hide the end from anyone. He left the book of Revelation in the earth so that those who read it may understand the significance of the time we have right now.
At the ending of Jesus's ministry, He gave a commission to a group of men to carry the gospel to the ends of the world. These men left from an upper room, empowered by the Holy Spirit. On the day of Pentecost, Peter preached, and some 3,000 people were added to the 120 who were already there. The message of Jesus began to spread throughout Jerusalem, then leaked outside Jerusalem into places like Antioch and Samaria, and across the entire Roman Empire.
Then persecution came against the twelve men and those who followed the way of Jesus Christ. According to church history, all twelve of Jesus's followers—and Matthias, who replaced Judas—were persecuted. Eleven of them were brutally executed and martyred for preaching the gospel. One was clubbed to death, one was skinned to death, one was tossed off the temple. Fox's Book of Martyrs tells us about how eleven of them met their death in very brutal ways.
One of them was boiled in oil in a vat of hot liquid and survived by the supernatural power of God. He was raised from that vat of oil, still breathing. But because of his preaching of the gospel and his resilience to not die, they banished him to an island called Patmos—a prison colony, a small rocky island about fifty miles off the coast of ancient Ephesus in modern-day Turkey.
On that island were prisoners and people exiled there, sentenced to hard labor breaking up rocks for the rest of their lives. That man who was sent to that prison island—his name was John, an eyewitness of the life of Jesus.
In his own words, John tells us how he received the book of Revelation:
"The revelation of Jesus Christ which God gave to him to show to his servants the things that must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, who brought witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all who saw. Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy and blessed are those who hear and keep what is written in it, for the time is near." (Revelation 1:1-3)
In the Old Testament book of Proverbs, written by Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived, there is a very popular verse we put on t-shirts and bracelets. It says:
"Without vision the people perish."
Culturally, we take this verse and use it as our launching pad to give birth to anything we desire. We say we must have vision because if we don't have vision, our lives will perish.
But in its proper context, as recorded in the ESV—my favorite translation because it is one of the most accurate translations according to history—Proverbs 29:18 reads:
"Where there is no prophetic vision, the people cast off restraint. But blessed is he or she who keeps the law."
Let me repeat that: "Where there is no prophetic revelation, the people cast off restraint, but blessed is the one—he or she—who keeps the law."
Here's what this means: When people have no knowledge of the future, they have no control over their present lives. When they have no knowledge of what is going to happen in the end, they live today like tomorrow does not matter. When they have no knowledge of what is going to happen in the future, they live as if they have all the time in the world.
I bring this up because the reader of these two chapters was supposed to be the reader of the entire book. If you read the entire book of Revelation, you will bump into the revealing of Jesus and the things that are going to happen in the end.
Notice that He did not hide that from humanity. The Lord wanted all of human beings to know what was going to happen in the end. He sent these letters to seven churches—to all Christians—so that one day somebody will sit down and read the whole entire book in addition to the seven letters. Then you would have a prophetic vision of what is going to happen in the end.
The best way to have a vision is to start with the end in mind and then work backwards. When you have a personal vision for your life, you start with the end in mind. And when you start with the end in mind, it teaches you not to waste the time you have right now. If anyone would just read to the end of Revelation, you will get a wake-up call about how valuable the days you have right now are. You will get a wake-up call about how valuable it is that your name is written in the book of life.
I'm going to give you homework: I want you to read Revelation 20, 21, and 22—the last three chapters. Come back in here next Sunday for worship. I want you to just get a peek at the end. Don't even read the whole thing—just get a peek. You could do it in fifteen minutes. Just read it to the end so that you may have a prophetic vision of the things that are coming. With the hopes that the Spirit may shake you about how important your time is right now, how important your talents are right now, how important your prayer life is right now, and how important it is for you to be praying for the people you know who are far away from God right now.
Jesus began this entire end-time revelation to the church that bears His name, and all of us, beginning with the ancient church in Ephesus.
In Revelation 1:12-20, John describes what he saw:
"Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of the lampstands one like the Son of Man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest. The hairs of his head were white like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire. His feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace. And his voice was like the roar of many waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, and from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, which is the word of God. And his face was shining like the sun in full strength."
And then John said:
"And when I saw him, I fell down at his feet as though dead."
This is striking. John had walked with Jesus for three and a half years. He had seen Him crucified on the cross. He had seen Him buried in a tomb. He had seen Him resurrected from the dead. Yet John never fell down in those moments.
But what John saw now was not just a resurrected Jesus. What John saw was a fully glorified Jesus—a Jesus who had gone to heaven, who had sat down at the right hand of the Father, who had been crowned with many crowns, who had in His hands the keys of death, hell, and the grave, who had all authority.
When he saw the glorified Jesus, he fell down. He couldn't even look upon the glorified Jesus.
This is the same Jesus you pray to now. This is the same Jesus you sing songs about now. Not some baby in a manger. Not somebody who can't deliver. Not somebody whose arm is weak or doesn't keep His promises. This is the same Jesus—the powerful, glorified Jesus.
When you come into His presence, when you kneel down in His presence, when we write songs about Him, we are dealing with that glorified Jesus. Not the name on the bracelet or a t-shirt or a sticker on your bumper.
I get frustrated when people treat Him like a sucker or a homeboy or they blaspheme Him. Do you have any idea who you are dealing with? How we sit down during worship or can't open our mouths and say hallelujah? Do you know who you are dealing with? You are dealing with a glorified Jesus.
I pray that for your own sake, He doesn't appear to you in that way, that you fall down like a dead person. That is who we are dealing with. So we don't play around when we come into church. I don't play around in my prayer time. I'm not playing around when I open that Bible, because I'm dealing with a glorified Jesus.
The church I lead—I won't let you play Him like a sucker. He is worthy of me standing in worship. He is worthy of me singing and lifting my hand. He is worthy of my little offering. We want to make it rain in the club and can't bless the church? Man, He is worthy of that offering. He is a glorified Jesus.
He is worthy of my sacrifice. He is worthy of my serving. He is worthy of me being involved. He is worthy of that—not the baby in the manger, but the glorified Jesus.
Can I hurt you? He is worthy of me showing up and showing up on time for the first song. You will do that for your boss but won't do that for a glorified Jesus. We have more respect for men than for a glorified Jesus. We have more respect for preachers than for a glorified Jesus.
Do you know who we are dealing with and who we worship? When we would be nervous at the enemy's attack, I have got the full force of a glorified Jesus. What are you talking about? Why is your tail always between your legs? Why is your head always down when you serve and glorify Jesus?
I will fight a devil in a minute. I ain't backing down from no fight. I ain't walking away. I'm not going to abandon Him. Why are you nervous? Why are you always afraid? Why can't you step out on faith when the person that will catch you is a glorified Jesus?
How is He going to fail you when He is a glorified Jesus? How is someone with all authority going to fail you?
"Then he laid his right hand on me, saying, 'Fear not, for I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore. And I have the keys of death and hades.'" (Revelation 1:17-18)
If He holds the keys of death, you don't have anything to fear. That is why He can heal the body. That is why He has authority over everything.
In Revelation 1:20, Jesus explains the symbolism:
"As for the mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand, and the seven golden lampstands: the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the churches."
The seven stars represent the leaders or pastors of the churches. The stars are in His hand, which represents the agency of either blessing and goodness or the agency of discipline and wrath. No leader is going to get away with anything. We all will give an account to Jesus for how we stewarded the pulpit behind these sacred desks.
Jesus holds the angels where? In His right hand, representing the agency of either goodness or wrath or discipline. That is why He can raise them up when He wants and sit them down when He wants. He can bless them when He wants and expose them when He wants. He can put them in the ministry when He wants and snatch them from their office when He wants. No angel is going to get away with anything.
And notice what He says: He walks amongst the lampstands. The lampstands are the churches. Jesus says He walks among the lampstands, meaning the Lord inspects and assesses every gathering of believers in the world that call themselves a church.
There is no church anywhere—let's just stay in America—that the Lord does not know. He knows the heart of the leader. He knows the heart of the people. He knows everything that is going on inside that church. He knows every gossiper in the church, every slanderer, every blasphemer, every troublemaker, every liar, every faithful person, every godly person, every disrespectful person. He walks among all the churches, assessing them, taking inventory of them.
This is important because you should think very carefully about the church you belong to. Whatever church you belong to, your body has to give an account to the Lord Jesus Christ. That is why you shouldn't choose a church just because it has good air conditioning or can satisfy all your desires. Church hop if you want to.
He calls every church a lampstand, which means He expects them to give off light. No one needs a flashlight in a lit room. So the text prophesies that everything outside the church is darkness. Everything outside of God is darkness.
When I go to work, I go to work in darkness. When I go to the gym, I go to the gym in darkness. When I go to my campus, I go to my campus in darkness. When I'm moving around Atlanta, I'm moving around in darkness.
Since the church was not a building but people, that means I'm supposed to be the lampstand in any area I am in darkness. I'm supposed to be a light in the gym and not act ratchet in the gym. I'm supposed to be a light at my job, a light in my cubicle, a light in traffic. I'm a light on my taxes. I'm a light in my business. I'm a light in my marriage. I'm a light in my parenting.
He calls you a lampstand, not a building. A person. When somebody asked me one day, "Where's your church?" I said, "Everywhere." My church is not a building—we just use it together.
If He calls you a lampstand, you should be a light everywhere, all the time, representing Him. That is why people got a problem with God now—not because they got an issue with God, but they really got an issue with the people that claim to represent Him.
A lampstand is only for dark places. So He is telling you that everything outside of us is a dark place. In the Sermon on the Mount, He said, "You are the salt of the earth and the light of the world." How would they see light if you don't light that spot up? You ain't got to preach everybody down—just live right in front of them. They need to see Christ through you.
He not only inspects every church, He inspects you and assesses you. Everything is bare in this room. You got on clothes, but in the spirit, we are naked. Nothing is hidden in the room.
And since nothing is hidden in the room, that is why you can pray with honesty. So you don't have to tiptoe in with your tail between your legs when He already knows you messed up last night. He already knows you were angry. He already knows you have a bad mouth. You ain't got to tiptoe in because He already knows.
So it gives you the freedom to just be honest: "Lord, I am angry. I am jealous. Help me with this."
In Revelation 2:1-7, Jesus addresses the church in Ephesus:
"To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: 'These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand and who walks among the seven golden lampstands.'"
Ancient Ephesus is today a historical archaeological site with some of the greatest ruins in antiquity. The church in Ephesus was a prosperous church. Ephesus was like New York, Chicago, Atlanta, Los Angeles—a major metropolis with a quarter million people living there. The largest church in Asia Minor, with hundreds of thousands of Christians. Think mega church. Think of some of the largest churches in America.
This was the church in Ephesus—large, wealthy, prosperous, and the most famous church in that region of the world. It was the first church in that circuit along the Asia Minor road.
This church had some of the best leaders in the history of the church. Apollos was a leader in this church. The Apostle Paul preached and taught there. Timothy was a leader in this church. John himself was a leader in that church and preached and taught there. Ephesus was not only a mega church with a mega budget in a major city, but they had some of the best pastors and leaders in the day.
Listen to what Jesus commends them for:
"I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and that you cannot bear with those who are evil. You have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and have found them to be false." (Revelation 2:2)
Do you test those who call themselves apostles? A lot of people post false prophets and false apostles on social media, and you are sending them money and liking their posts. Do you know that a lot of people say foolish things eloquently? A lot of people preach heresy eloquently. A lot of preachers preach heresy eloquently, and because it sounds eloquent, you don't know it is full of the devil.
We love articles but not the scriptures. We love your 4 a.m. opinions but not the scriptures. If I wasn't pastoring, I would want to be in a church where they open the scriptures, walk me through the text, and convict me. Confront me. Challenge me. Coach me. Inspire me. Don't leave me the way I am right now.
Stop telling me I'm awesome every single week. Tell me I'm nasty. Tell me I'm sinful. Tell me I'm going to burn in hell if I don't turn. Tell me I need to be saved.
They never read Ezekiel, where God says, "If you don't tell the truth, their blood is going to be on your hands. And if you don't tell the truth, I'm going to terrify you." I don't want God on me, so I preach the truth to you because I don't want your blood on my hands. I'm not going to hell for you. I'm not going to have blood on my hands for you. I'm not going to compromise for you—not for a crowd, not for a platform, not for a following. I refuse.
If it makes me unpopular, that is all right. Though I am a big gangster on this side of the fence, and I am going to hold it down until I get my crown. And one day some of you, we are going to be sitting at that table together eating bread and fish, and you are going to be like, "Yo, Pastor, good looking on that sermon. Good looking on that series. Yo, you hurt me in that series, but I'm here though. You stepped on my toes, but I'm here though. Yo, you convicted me by the Holy Spirit, but I'm here though. Like yo, thank you for not lying to me, because I'm here though. I got a seat at the table. Yo, good looking, Pastor. Good looking. I almost sold out, but you weren't compromising. Yo, I came to church, you sent me home crying, but good looking though. I'm at the table."
Continuing with Jesus's commendations of Ephesus:
"I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name's sake and you have not grown weary." (Revelation 2:3)
I just love how Christ takes the time to commend them for what they are doing. This congregation was dedicated to the work of God even when it was difficult. They showed up every week, pressing through temptation to be weary, pressing through the temptation to say, "I got burnout" and quit. Nah, they pressed through all of that. They were serving when they were tired. They never made excuses. They didn't say, "I won't burn out" and then bow out. Nah, they kept going.
They were serious about doctrinal purity. They shut down false teachers and false apostles. They were serious about doctrinal purity. They protected themselves from false teachers and false teachings. This church was filled with godly activity. They were sacrificial. They were paying a price to serve the Lord. They were steadfast in their gatherings. This church had great work ethic.
This ancient mega church was a model for other churches. By all these commendations of the Lord, let's keep it real—Ephesus has all the trappings of a successful mega church. Anybody know any of those successful mega churches? Prestige, size, wealth, following, perfect presentation. But here's the issue: the one who walks among the lampstands of our nation's churches saw in their hearts and had a different diagnosis than what we see on the surface.
"But I have this against you: you have abandoned the love you had at first." (Revelation 2:4)
Y'all do all of that well, but I have this one thing against you. You have abandoned the love you had at first. You are busy. You are sacrificing. You are preaching. You are singing. You are serving. You are even giving. But you have heart trouble.
When people see you, they say, "There is a radical Christian." But you have heart trouble. They displayed great works and great labor and patience, but all these qualities were motivated by their work ethic, not by a love for Christ and people. They were physically busy but emotionally empty. Financially rich but lovingly bankrupt.
Can I say something to you? What you do and what I do for the Lord is important, but not as important as why you do it. Everybody gives you props for your what—we see what you are doing. But your what is not as important as your why.
When we lose the why behind the what, the what—your work—becomes wasted. The Lord knows you show up for church, but why? The Lord knows you serve faithfully, but why? The Lord knows you give consistently, but why? Is it routine or is it love? Is it obligatory or is it love?
Here is the question born out of the rebuke of the text to the Ephesians and for all of us: What is the source of your Christian activity? Is it for fame? Is it for props? Is it to be seen? Or is everything you are really doing in the name of God really doing out of love?
He said you forgot your first love. You remember that time you first fell in love with someone—your first love? You know how people act when they first fall in love? You are giddy. You want to be around that person all the time. You will be talking to them at two or three in the morning and falling asleep on the phone.
Ever been around a new Christian? Can't tell them nothing. They are on fire. They never miss church. They serve on three teams. They give faithfully. They study their Bible. They pray faithfully. When they go through hardship, they are positive. They just believe, "Come hell or hot water, the glorified Jesus is with them."
But watch—time has a way of wearing down my prayer life. Time has a way of wearing down my commitment. Trouble and hardship have a way of wearing down my commitment. Time and trouble and hardship and disappointment, and He didn't answer my prayer the way I wanted—that has a way of wearing away and eroding my love.
The truth of the matter is there are people sitting in this room right now who are faithful but not for the right reasons. How do I know? Because you know. Because your love is like—you see people as numbers but not as brothers and sisters. You don't really love. If you don't really love, you get offended so easily. You can't have a conversation. You can't say, "I'm sorry." It is like we don't really love this church.
This reminds me of established churches that are so perfected in programming that the people are just going through the motions. God forbid the Holy Spirit disrupts the gathering. God forbid we stay a little bit longer. God forbid we just get on the floor and pray. It's like everything is so programmed. We got activity and programs and budget and money, but man, in the hearts of the people, we are just riding the waves of the motion.
Big and wealthy doesn't mean successful or affirmed in the eyes of Jesus. I'm not against large churches. The first church in Acts was a mega church. I'm not against that. What the Lord is against is you going through the motions.
You are in worship like this, clapping your hands—everybody—but there is no love there. You are not really in love. You love what He can give you, but you don't love Him. We love what He can give us, but we don't love Him.
See, because when I love Him right, He is the reward.
How many of you can really be satisfied with just Jesus? If you don't get to fill in the blank, could you be just satisfied with Jesus? Do you love Him when He is not answering your prayer?
I see this all throughout the American church. It's people in this room, people watching—a Christianity apart from love, ministry apart from love. Any ministry apart from love is either self-serving or it is grudging. It is drudgery.
This wounds the heart of Christ. It is possible to serve and sacrifice and suffer for His namesake and yet not really love the Lord Jesus Christ. This is the church in Ephesus—maintaining separation but lost adoration.
Because labor is no substitute for love. Neither is purity a substitute for passion. You could be pure but have no passion. You can have labor but no love. A church must have both.
Here is a mega church—ancient Ephesus—with sound doctrine, mighty works, and external virtue. And yet I learned something reading about this church. I see in them what I see in a lot of us, what I have seen in me: that sometimes every virtue carries within itself the seed that brings its own destruction.
Everything that is virtuous inside of it, if it is not properly stewarded, has a seed that brings destruction. For example, without guardrails, morality can turn to self-righteousness. Without guardrails, the virtue of passion can turn to zeal without wisdom. Without guardrails, the virtue of contentment can turn to complacency.
For them, the virtue of work ethic turned to lovelessness. They created an environment so mechanical and rigid that love was eroded.
This is why truth without grace puts a beating on believers. We are hyper-religious without love. Like, how would you have dealt with the ratchet woman at the well? Or the woman caught in adultery? Or that thug up in a tree? We are hyper-religious doing God's work, but we don't have love in our hearts. So we don't have grace. We don't deal with people right.
Notice Jesus came in grace and truth. We forget the one who saved us, what He saved us from, what He saved us to, what He forgave us of. We forget. Jesus is rebuking this church about the main thing that must drive all Christian endeavors: love.
One author wrote this about this text: "Good works and pure doctrine are not adequate substitutes for that rich relationship of mutual love shared by those who have experienced for the first time that redemptive love of God." It is no substitute.
The Ephesian church had forsaken its first love—its love for God, its love for humanity, its love for each other. And when you truly have the love of God in your heart, you will love Him above all things. You will love your brothers and sisters deeply. Even if they get on your nerves.
But watch—you will stop hating on the sinner. Why do you want Jay-Z to go to hell? You will love the people who are far away from God and pray for them.
"Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent." (Revelation 2:5)
Here is what the Lord said to them. Here is what He said to you and me: If you find yourself just really going through the motions, here was the pathway back to fire.
First, remember. Remember what it was like in that season when you were on fire, when you had love, when you were praying, when you were serving, when you were faithful. Just get a flashback in your mind. When you first got saved—I do this all the time. Every now and then I'll be outside staring at the clouds. I'll be laying in my bed and I get a flashback to when He saved me. When I was so happy just to be in the kingdom.
I didn't have no platform. I wasn't called to be a pastor yet. I was dirt broke, and Lee and I had nothing but each other and Jesus. And I had so much joy in my heart because I felt like, "Wow, I'm saved and I just love Jesus. However you want to use me, I'll be faithful."
Man, get a flashback to when your life was like that.
Then he says, repent. Turn away from just going through the motions.
Then he says, repeat. Do the works over—the things you did that kept you burning for me. Go back and start doing those things again. Man, pray like you used to pray. Read like you used to read. Take the prayer walks like you used to do. Remember those things that used to have you hot. Man, throw those coals back on the fire again.
He said, "Remember, repent, repeat." That is the pathway back to love and fire.
Why? Because no one can drift from the Lord and not pay a price for that. If we drift, the only thing that follows drifting is damage. I am being honest with you: you now see, now you don't. You wanted to be at the table. Right now you are looking at me with your hand folded. I thought, twenty minutes ago, you were at the table.
You want to sit at the table? The only thing that follows drifting from Jesus is damage. When we drift, the only thing following that, like sonic entails, is "damn." Nothing good comes from drifting away from the Lord.
"Yet this you have: you hate the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate." (Revelation 2:6)
The Nicolaitans were a sect of false teachers who taught a mixture of Christianity and licentiousness—Christianity and wretchedness—under the guise of grace. They gave people a license to sin and live any way they wanted to live. "You can live any way you want and make it into heaven," they said. Lies. That was the Nicolaitans, tearing up churches with false doctrine.
He says, "Jesus says I hate that kind of preaching. Look out for it in today's society." Whenever you hear it, oh, you can do whatever you want and grace—that is hyper grace. Jesus says, "I hate that kind of preaching."
"He who has an ear to hear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God." (Revelation 2:7)
He addressed the whole church, but now He gets personal: "He who has an ear to hear, let him or her hear what the Spirit says to the churches."
So He is talking to a church, but Jesus is so gracious He recognizes even the people who are real in a bad church. To the one who conquers—and in the original Greek, "conquer" simply means the one who remains faithful to the end, that you don't abandon Jesus, that you don't abandon His love—I will grant you the eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.
I'm going to be direct with you: I don't know how else to say this except to repeat. My Savior—look right at me, right? Yeah, we are in here deep, and we are coming to church, and we are serving and we are singing and preaching, and all of that—man, the Lord said, "Is that solemn? I see a missionary in the house. Yo, what's up? Yo, some of your giving has helped to support a missionary that is in our house. And as you continue to give, we are going to support this missionary in our house—a missionary that came out of our house and we released to go pursue her calling, moving to another nation soon. And this church will support her on the other side of the world because she is serious about gospel ministry."
But let me look right at me—eye contact right here. Give me the camera right here. Jesus said your Savior and mine that the world would know that you are serious, or you are not a phony, by your Instagram following? No. But how well you preach? No. How well you sing? No. How well you serve? No. How well you give? No. How well you post? No. He said, "By this the world would know that you are really my disciple."
The only way they are going to really know that you are authentic and you are not a phony and a fraud is that you love one another. The evidence of authenticity is love.
You are not authentic because you are blowing up on social media. You are authentic when you can love—and let's go deeper—love those who are unlovable and even the ones that hurt you. That is real.
He said, "By this the world would know that you are really my disciples."
"Like, do you love me? I'm talking to you. Do you love me?"
"Yo, I love you. I really do."
"Do you love me?"
"Yo, I really love you, and I believe in what you are doing. I really do."
"Do you love me?"
"I love you, you love me, daughter. I know you love me. I freaking love you."
Like, love that joint. It feels good. It covers a multitude of sin. It apologizes. It says, "I'm sorry." It goes back to the spouse and says, "My bad. I'm sorry."
It is self-sacrificial. It is patient and kind and gentle. It keeps no record of wrong. It doesn't throw things in people's faces. It lets things go. It doesn't keep grudges. It doesn't wear its feelings on its sleeve all the time. It asks a question before it wants to be understood. It says, "I don't know why he said that or did that, but let me have a conversation instead of trash him on social media."
I mean, love! It is self-sacrificial in service and giving. It sings with love. It preaches with love. It shows deference with love. I mean, like man, there is nothing that feels more powerful. Luann, I feel like you should just hug the person next to you. Like, like, like, like—it feels good.
"This is my brothers and my sisters, man. By this the world would know that you, you my disciples, that you love. We hang out in the lobby and we love. And we go to Atlantic Station together and we love. And we eat and we love. And we get in small groups and we love. And we love and we—we are not going to just be busy without love."
I want everyone this week to take an inventory of your heart. And I want you to be honest with yourself: Am I doing Christianity with an emotionless heart? Am I serving Jesus without love?
I want you to take a real inventory. I want everyone this week here is your homework: to have a moment alone in a park, in a prayer room, in silence, and take an inventory of your heart. An MRI. Say, "Am I coming to church, serving, giving, posting? Do I really love the Lord in my heart? Do I really love people? Oh, am I a skeptic of people all the time? Am I not trusting? Am I—do I really love people? Do I really love?"
And if you find that it is not there, watch, repent. Ask God where Paul prayed for a church: "Let your perfect love be shed abroad in my heart by the power of your Holy Spirit."
That is your homework this week. I want you to take an inventory of your heart. An MRI. And you are going to read Revelation 20, 21, and 22. So you have prophetic vision.
Father, in the name of Jesus, I pray your perfect love will be shed abroad in our hearts by the power of the Holy Spirit. And that it would explode out of our lives—first towards You, not for the things You give but for who You are. It would pour out of our lives for our spouses and children, our friends, our family, and beyond that. They see our lives. For our church family and for the sinner, I pray we would so be in love with the sinner that we will be grieved when we see people who are far away from You. That in love we would pray for them. Because we have prophetic vision of the end, let this church explode with love. And let every activity done in this church be motivated by love for us locally and those abroad. In the mighty and majestic and matchless name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
