Sermon Title: Remember, Repent; Repeat

Sermon Title: Remember, Repent; Repeat 

Let’s open up to the Book of Revelation chapter 2 reading verses 1-7: To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: “The words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand, who walks among the seven golden lampstands.” (** A quick note from Ch. 1 – the seven stars are the angels [or preachers] of the churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches in the Roman province of Asia, which is now Modern Turkey.)

² “‘I [the Lord Jesus Christ] know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false.  ³ I know you are patiently enduring and bearing up for my name's sake, and you have not grown weary.  ⁴ But I have this against you that you have abandoned the love you had at first.  ⁵ 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.  ⁶ Yet this you have: you hate the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.  ⁷ He who has an ear 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.’

(Opening prayer)

Let’s bow & pray:  Father, for this group of believers I pray Paul’s prayers for his church in Ephesus. They are a people of faith in Christ, trusting in his work done for them for the forgiveness of their sins & they love the people of God dispersed as they are amongst various churches. I pray that you give them your Spirit of wisdom and revelation that they may know you more. I pray that by knowing you better & having your Spirit in them that the doors of their hearts are thrown open and that Your light and love spills out from them to others in the church and the church itself is unable to contain that love and it spills out from the church to the world at large. And that this may glorify the head of the church, Jesus Christ.

(Pause)

All-powerful Father, I pray today that you revive, reinvigorate & restore Calvary Baptist.  I pray that, according to your riches in mercy that you grant us (each) strength through the Spirit to repent of our failings.  I pray that Christ dwells in our hearts through faith & being therefore rooted & grounded in your love, I pray that we learn to love You more, to be bound closer as a fellowship & to share that love to a world that has lost the true meaning of love.  To you Lord, who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask, to You be the glory of the Church on Earth and to Christ Jesus in all generations, forever & ever.  Amen.  (Adapted from Paul’s prayer for the Ephesians from Eph. Chapters 1& 3)

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Well Calvary, I am happy to be with you once again. As we have been locked down in Genesis for a while, I thought we’d take a week off to jump to the other end, to the book of Revelation. Now Caitlyn, my oldest, loves the book of Revelation. When I told Caitlyn that I’d be preaching from the book of Revelation I think she imagined something like a scene from the cover of a hairband album. You know the kind I mean, someone Brian might listen to, like Stryper….an album cover with a dragon and a hero with a sword, a damsel in distress & a moon that turns to blood & all that symbolic craziness, but to be honest our passage today is pretty light on symbolism and I hope we find together that it is very practical for the church today.

I’d been thinking back to the birth of Christianity in Jerusalem described in Acts & its initial growth in Western Turkey where the these churches from Revelation chapters 2 & 3 come.  Jesus gives us some of his thoughts for the Church recorded in Scripture, words of encouragement and warnings.  In this list of 7 churches the 1 that I think is most relevant for us is Jesus’ warning to the Church of Ephesus.

Now God richly blessed the church of Ephesus, more than any other church in all of Christianity. Paul the great evangelist was its founder, young pastor Timothy from 1^st & 2^nd Timothy in the NT became the 1^st Bishop in Ephesus; Paul’s co-worker Tychicus was also there. The Apostle John (the author of our passage) ministered there and was in Ephesus when he was arrested by Emperor Domitian & exiled to Patmos, where this book was written.  Church History goes onto tell us that the Apostle John was released late in his life & he returned to Ephesus. It also tells us Jesus Christ’s own mother Mary lived near John & spent her last years in Ephesus. Now ladies….imagine that alone, going to bible study with the very Mother of Christ in attendance. Even other NT people like Apollos, Aquila, Priscilla and Mary Magdalene where thought to have visited or moved there as well. For at least a hundred years Ephesus was doctrinally steadfast & even home to some Early Church councils that denounced heresy and defended Christianity from false doctrine. And yet even this church needed to be called to repentance, from its Lord.  And that, Calvary, is a chilling lesson for us today.  How can we look to this passage, to this church & learn to mimic this Ephesian success without falling into this Ephesian error.  

(Pause)

So I’ve entitled this sermon Remember, Repent; Repeat (words taken from vs. 5)

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As many of you know, I am the father of 3 young girls, I often work late & admitting to my own shortcomings, I can easily get frustrated with them after a long day and recently I read this story, I’ll read to you its called…Forgetting the Things of 1^st Importance.

**edit, condense to describe not quote** A man came home from work late again, tired and irritated, to find his 5-year old waiting for him at the door.

"How much money do you make an hour?"

"Well, that's none of your business. What makes you ask?"

"I just want to know. Please tell me, how much do you make an hour, dad?"

"Well, if you must know, I make $20.00 an hour."

Sad, the little boy replied "Oh.” Looking up, he said, "Daddy, may I borrow $10.00 please?"

The father became angry. "If the only reason you wanted to know how much money I make is just so you can buy some silly toy or game, then march yourself straight to your room. And think about why you're being so selfish. I work late every day and I don't have time for such foolishness."

The little boy quietly went to his room and shut the door. The man sat down mad fumed for a while. After a while, the man had calmed down, and started to think he may have been too hard on his son. Maybe there was something he really needed. The man went to the door of the little boy's room and opened the door.

"Are you asleep son?" he asked quietly.

"No daddy, I'm awake.”

"I've been thinking, maybe I was too hard on you earlier. It's been a long day and I took my aggravation out on you. Here's that $10.00 you asked for, if you still want it."

The little boy sat up, beaming. “Thank you daddy,” he yelled.

Then, reaching under his pillow, he pulled out some more crumpled up bills. The little boy slowly counted out his money, and then looked up at the man. "Why did you want more money if you already had some? " the dad asked.

“Since you’ve been so busy lately with work; I just wanted to buy an hour of your time. Here's $20.”

(Pause)

Maybe not an especially Christian story, but for me, and I hope for you a gentle reminder in not Forgetting the things of 1^st Importance in our lives…something I think ties directly into our passage today.

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Point 1 – It is absolutely shocking the number of times Scripture warns us against false teachers, false doctrine, false gospels & even against false ideas of Christ. Recently I shared a news video on Facebook of a pastor along the gulf coast that was teaching his church he was Jesus Christ, not teaching the bible, not teaching about Christ but that he was Christ.

Now Calvary, we are a rare breed. I am nearing 30 yrs in and out of various churches & denominations and far & away I have never been apart of another church as theologically minded as ours. And take note, does Christ say, “Well doctrine divides, let’s ignore that” or “its deeds not creeds, right?” or “all you need is love, love, love is all you need”? No. Here in our short passage we get 2 sections where Jesus is championing theological acumen. He speaks of a church that knows its stuff and because of that can tell a rat when it sees one.

Let’s read Revelation 2: 2-3: “I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false. ³ I know you are patiently endure and bearing up for my name's sake, and you have not grown weary.” And now verse 6: “Yet this you have: you hate the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.”

So who were the Nicolaitans? Theologians by and large say they were a sect that taught believers to eat food dedicated to false gods, encouraged sexual immorality & idolatry much like what happened over & over again in the OT with Israel’s history. A Church Father I like, Clement of Alexandria said, “The [Nicolaitans] abandoned themselves to pleasures like goats, leading a life of self-indulgence.” Their teachings perverted grace & replaced it with licentiousness.

Discerning truth from error in our passage then is seen as a good work, one that is done for the betterment of the believer, the good of the Church and the glory of God. So Calvary let me encourage you to continue in this good, godly pursuit of understanding scripture, Christian doctrine & even some church history. And if you are here and are not into Christian theology I can assure you of 1 point: you don’t love God!.......(Pause)…….If I claim to love my wife and yet I can’t even pick her out of a line-up, you know I’m not really that into her, right? Then friends, likewise you cannot continue from today going forward pretending to be “into” God but not desire to know Him more, to understand Him better, see how His presence has effected the lives of believers throughout time. If that is you, Remember our Lord’s words here, Repent of that error & Repeat often the works that would lead you to godliness.

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(Pause)

Point 2, (from verses 4 & 5) here we can see Jesus has been to business management school. I know cause I’ve got a business degree and one of the things they teach you is when you have a complaint against someone under you they will take that complaint better if you sandwich it between two compliments. So for example, hey Billy come into my office for a sec. You know, Billy, you’ve come into work on time for the last 6 months and that’s great! But you’ve been late all this week and we’re at the point where we need to write you up. Yet I don’t want to do that because you’re such a hard worker. What’s going on with you, lately? It’s called a Complaint Sandwich, feel free to use it on your spouses and kids they’ll love it. J So Jesus gives us the Ephesian Complaint sandwiched in between the two compliments about their vigorous confront against false teachers and false doctrine.

Read vs 4 & 5 - But I have this against you that you have abandoned the love you had at first. ⁵ 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.

*Passionate* In other words, Ephesus, what’s going on with you! You didn’t passively loose your love or fall out of love.  You abandoned, spurned; actively rejected the love & passion you once had for God! What's wrong with you?

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(Pause)

Now if you are taking notes this is the heart of the matter, here are 3 forms of Love that are meant to rule our lives as Christians & they are in order (the order is important). The order separates orthodoxy from heresy. 1^st Love for God ; 2^nd Love for the Brethren (other Christians); & finally 3^rd then we have love for the World. So we’ll dig a little deeper into each of those.

Love #1: what does it mean to love God?

1 = First, loving God requires knowing Him, and that knowledge begins with His Word. It may sound glib, but you have to know Him to love Him.

Let’s suppose a man is separated from his true love, she is beautiful & her name is Sandra and receives a letter from her. His first action will be to eagerly open the letter and pore over its contents. His love for her will naturally cause him to love her letter to him. The same is true with our love for God’s Word. Because we love the Author, we love His message to us. We hunger for it, we hold it close, and we hide its words in our hearts. Psalms 19 says its like this, its sweeter than honey to us & more desirable than gold.

2 = To love God is to put Him first. The number-one commandment is to love God “with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength” (Mark 12). It’s an undivided love. God becomes our priority. If God becomes our priority, we wont let thinks like sin distract us from God.

3 = And finally, to love God is to want to please Him. Jesus tells us, “If you love me you will obey what I command” (John 14; 15; & 1 John 5). However, this is not a matter of merely following rules and chalking up good deeds. It is about having God’s love written indelibly on our hearts. We naturally wish to please those we love.

So Calvary, how are we doing loving God corporately? How are you doing loving God individually? Do you need to Remember Him & Repent?

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(Pause)

Love #2: "What does it mean to love one another, in Christian fellowship?"

The mystery and privilege that is Christian fellowship exists because of the unique relationship that exists between God the Father, God the Son & God the Spirit. Just as the trinity is unified we are to be unified. As iron sharpens iron, in true Christian fellowship Christians sharpen one another's faith and stir one another to exercise that faith in love and good works, for the glory of God.

In giving this command, Jesus did something the world had never seen before—He created a group identified by love. There are many types of groups in the world, and they identify themselves in any number of ways: by skin color, political party, musical preference or by sports team. But the church is to be unique. Jesus created a group whose identifying factor is supposed to be love. Love for God; Love for 1 anther & showing love for the world.

When we are to love fellow believers as Christ loves us. We give evidence that we are His disciples or followers of Christ. So again Calvary, how are you doing individually? Or how are we doing corporately? Do we need to Remember this call from the Lord and his Apostles and Repent & Return to the basics of being a Christian?

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(Pause)

Love #3: "What does it mean to love the World?"
What we often call the Golden Rule refers to a passage in (Matthew 7) “Whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.” Jesus brilliantly condenses OT Law into this single principle, taken from Leviticus 19: “Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people, but love your neighbor as yourself; for I am the LORD.”

What is interesting to note about the Golden Rule is that no other religious or philosophical system matches it. Sometimes, liberals and sceptics attempt to explain away the uniqueness of the Golden Rule by saying it is a common ethic shared by all religions. This is simply not the case. Jesus’ command has a subtle, but very important, difference. I think a quick survey of the sayings of the Eastern religions will make this plain:

• Confucianism: "Do not do to others what you do not want them to do to you" (Analects 15:23)
• Hindusim: “This is the sum of duty: do not do to others what would cause pain if done to you” (Mahabharata 5:1517)
• Buddhism: “Hurt not others in ways that you yourself would find hurtful" (Udanavarga 5:18)

So the Eastern religions say, “Refrain from doing bad”; & yet Jesus calls us instead with, “Go out and do good!” The Eastern religions say it is enough to hold your negative behavior in check & Jesus says to look for ways to act positively in the world.

The command to love is what separates the Christian ethic from every other ethic in the world. In fact, the Bible’s championing of love includes the radical command to love even one’s enemies: to pray for them, to be struck & not strike back, even to provide for them if needed. Is this not what God did for us Calvary? Did he not seek us & provide for us when we still hated him. Did he not draw us, gift us faith, grant us repentance, save us & join us together? Shouldn’t we then show this kind of love to one another & overflow it with the world?

How about here, Calvary? How are you doing in loving the world? Anything you feel you are in need of Repenting of, Remembering the words of our Lord, or merely in need of Repeating this over and over again from now till the end of your days?

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(Pause)

As we wrap up let's think about this:

Do you cling to false teachers or false doctrines with their outlandish promises of prosperity? Do you know orthodoxy (or right-belief) well enough to weed out false doctrine from yourselves, your family, and your church? Are you loving God, loving those in the Church & extending that love to the world? Are we: Remembering, repenting; repeating! One of the Church Fathers I’ve been reading lately is John Chrysostom. He said this, “Since it is likely that, being men, they would sin every day, St. Paul consoles his hearers by saying ‘renew yourselves’ from day to day. Isn’t this what we do with our houses? We keep constantly repairing them as they wear old. You should do the same thing to yourself? Have you sinned today? Have you made your soul old? Then do not despair, do not despond, but Remember the Lord of our Salvation, trust now in his sacrifice done for you, renew your soul by repentance, and tears, and confession, and worship him by doing good things. And never cease from doing this.”
 

Calvary in this small message you can find every answer you have about the gospel & worship. The unbeliever will think he can justify himself by skipping God and the church and merely being good to others. The moralist will do good to others and be active in the church but still won’t need God cause he’s “good enough” in himself. Only the believer, the True Believer, will love God 1^st, use that love to begin merging his life with other believers and then still find room in his heart for those outside of the church. A Baptist hero of mine John Bunyan, he said this about extending love outside of the church, “You have not lived today until you have done something for someone else who can never repay you.”

Let’s close in prayer: from Valley of Vision: Humility in Service

Lord Christ, you are the head of the church. I pray that we as your church humble ourselves and call out to you. I pray we repent when confronted by our sin, when we’ve turned cold against the needy & shunned those who’ve offended us. And having repented I pray that theses sins be buried under the tide of Jesus’ blood and we are filled to over-flow with an ocean of compassion, that the reign of love becomes our motivation, the law of love becomes the rule of our lives. O God of all grace, make us more thankful, more humble by your Spirit, cement us to faith in the blessed Lord immovable, may love entwine us with one another and the Spirit pervade every fiber of our lives and then send us out to make Him known to our fellow-men. Let us be found worthy workmen in the Lord, Father. Amen.