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Please turn in your Bibles to 
Revelation chapter 2. Revelation chapter 2, over the 
next few weeks, will consider these letters to the seven churches 
in Asia Minor. We have considered these in the 
past, several years ago, but I'm trusting in your lack of 
memory. Just kidding. Hopefully this 
is nothing but a reminder to you. You're all refreshed and 
remember everything that we're going to cover in these seven 
letters to the churches in Asia Minor. The thesis that I'm working 
on is actually commentary on the book of Revelation. So I 
thought it would be helpful for us to consider these letters 
in succession over the next few Sundays in our evening worship. The church in Ephesus is the 
first one addressed. I'll begin reading in chapter 
2 at verse 1. To the angel of the church of 
Ephesus write, These things says he who holds the seven stars 
in his right hand, who walks in the midst of the seven golden 
lampstands. I know your works, your labor, 
your patience, and that you cannot bear those who are evil. And 
you have tested those who say they are apostles and are not, 
and have found them liars. And you have persevered and have 
patience, and have labored for my name's sake, and have not 
become weary. Nevertheless, I have this against 
you, that you have left your first love. Remember, therefore, 
from where you have fallen. Repent and do the first works. 
or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from 
its place, unless you repent. But this you have, that you hate 
the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. He who has 
an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. 
To him who overcomes, I will give to eat from the tree of 
life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God. Amen. Let us pray. Father, we thank 
you for the book of Revelation. We thank you for what it teaches 
us concerning Jesus. We thank you, Lord, for the constant 
reminder in this book to set our minds at the right hand of 
God, where Christ is. Lord, we pray that we would learn 
well from these letters. We pray that you would help us 
to apply these lessons in our own lives as individuals and 
as a local church. For God, we know that all churches 
have good, and yet there is those elements that are worthy of your 
condemnation. We just pray that you would lay 
us bare, help us to be open, help us to be honest, and help 
us, Lord God, to remember and to repent and to do. And Father, 
we ask that you would aid us now by your Holy Spirit as we 
consider the Holy Scripture. And we ask through Jesus Christ 
our Lord. Amen. Now, one of the shameful 
things concerning this book of Revelation, or the attitude, 
rather, to the book, is that it's a closed book, that it's 
a gloomy book, that it's a dark book, that it's a book that we're 
not really supposed to understand, and that if we do understand 
it, it's only supposed to make us Well, the very idea of such 
a thing is contrary to the book itself. The book was written 
to be read, to be listened to, to be obeyed. In fact, there 
is a benediction or a good word pronounced upon those who would 
listen on those who do keep the word of God. In chapter 1 verse 
3, blessed is he who reads in those who hear the words of this 
prophecy and keep those things which are written in it for the 
time is near. The very title of the book, Revelation, 
means exactly that. It is a revelation of Jesus Christ. It is a revealing of him. It 
is a setting forth the glory of Jesus Christ. Each of these 
letters to the seven churches in Asia Minor are all ended with 
a call to hear. and with a call to understand 
and with a call to do what the Spirit says to the churches. So this is not to be a closed 
book, it's not to be a book we're afraid of, but rather it's to 
be a book in the arsenal of the Christian faith so it can encourage 
us and stir us up and spur us on to service unto our great 
God and Savior, even the Lord Jesus Christ." Now, each of these 
seven letters, they're all similar in a certain way. They each contain 
a command to write to the angel of the church. More than likely 
the angel there is not a disembodied spirit that hovers over the local 
church. It is the messenger, more than 
likely the pastor or the overseer of the congregation. There is 
then a self-description of Christ. And generally that self-description 
comes from chapter one, something that's already been said concerning 
the Lord Jesus. And most of the times that self-description 
speaks directly to the needs in the church to whom Jesus addresses 
himself. Usually there is a commendation 
for the church, a commending. He sees certain things about 
them and he speaks well concerning them. There is no commendation 
for the church in Laodicea. The fourth element is a condemnation. Not only does he commend, but 
he condemns. He points out those areas that 
are a problem within the particular church. Now, there is no condemnation 
for the church in Smyrna or in Philadelphia. Then there is an 
exhortation to repent, that exhortation to discern, as each of the letters 
end, and generally there is a promise to overcomers. the one theme 
that runs through the book of Revelation. It is designed to 
promote, in God's people, overcoming. Perseverance. If you remember 
at the very end of the book, in Revelation 21.8, it describes 
who will be in the lake of fire. And the first category of sinners 
in the lake of fire are the cowardly. Now, the cowardly are not those 
who are afraid of heights, or who are afraid of spiders, or 
who are afraid of being locked in a small place, or who are 
afraid of their shadows. That's not the cowardice that's 
in view. The cowardice that's in view 
are those who do not overcome. Those who do not own Jesus Christ. Those who, when trial comes, 
or when difficulty comes, instead of identifying publicly with 
the Savior, They recant. They forsake. That is cowardice. That will land you in the lake 
of fire. That is a sure way to enter into 
hell, by denying the Lord Jesus Christ. Now notice first of all, 
in this letter to Ephesus, the self-description of Christ. Verse 1. to the angel of the 
church of Ephesus' right. These things says he who holds 
the seven stars in his right hand, who walks in the midst 
of the seven golden lampstands." Isn't that wonderful? Jesus is 
with his church. Jesus is with us right now. Jesus is in the midst of his 
people. That's where he's found according 
to chapter 1, verse 13. And in the midst of the seven 
lampstands, one like the Son of Man, clothed with a garment 
down to the feet, and girded about the chest with a golden 
band. One of the reasons why we ought 
to go to church. Because Jesus is there. One of 
the reasons why we gather together corporately is because Jesus 
is there. Certainly Jesus is in our bedroom, 
Jesus is in our kitchen, Jesus is in the world around us because 
he's sovereign and he's omni... well, not the body of Jesus, 
but God. is omnipresent, but he is present 
in a special and powerful way among his people when they gather 
for corporate worship. Notice as well, chapter 1 verse 
20 identifies the seven stars and the seven lampstands. You 
see this? It's the revelation. It's the 
revealing. It's the showing forth. He doesn't 
just introduce these symbols and then forget about them. The 
symbols are introduced and they're explained. Verse 20 of chapter 
1. The mystery of the seven stars, 
which 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, which you saw, are the seven churches. All throughout 
this book, those things are explained. It's a revelation. It's a declaration. It is a telling forth of who 
Jesus is. And in this instance, it is a 
wonderful description that he gives to this church in Ephesus. He says that he is the one that 
holds the pastors in his hand. That's not to promote pride in 
the pastor. That's not to make the pastor 
say, wow, aren't I a great guy because Jesus holds me in his 
hand. No, it highlights Christ's intimacy 
with the church. It highlights Christ's authority 
over the church. It highlights Christ's aid available 
to the church. It highlights His nearness to 
the church, and it highlights His knowledge of the church. He walks in the midst of the 
seven golden lampstands. He holds in His hand the men 
who pastor or preach the word in those churches. Perhaps in 
each of these churches, there were some faithful ministers. 
This would serve as an encouragement to them. But to those faithless 
ones, it would serve as a great warning as well. Christ, according 
to Henry Sweet, a man by the name of Sweet, a commentator, 
says, as the enemy, 1 Peter 5.8, so the Lord patrols the ground 
and is ever in the spot when he is needed. Isn't that a great 
thought? Christ in the midst of the lampstands, Christ walking 
among them, Christ holding in his hand the seven stars. Another 
man comments, as a priest in the temple tends the lamps to 
keep them from growing dim or going out, Christ moves among 
the churches to attend to the purity and brightness of the 
light. they give to the world. He's 
concerned with our witness. He's concerned with the message 
that we send. He's concerned with the manner 
in which we conduct ourselves. And he is mindful of what we 
do that is good, and he is mindful of what we do that is wrong. 
And that brings us to consider, secondly, his commendation of 
this church in Ephesus. He speaks of three things. The 
first is their diligence. Notice in verse 2, I know your 
works, your labor, your patience, and that you cannot bear those 
who are evil. I know your works, Christ says. 
I think something that happens to us as Christians, and especially 
of the Calvinistic stripe, is that we often highlight God's 
knowledge of wickedness. In fact, some of us in our parenting 
like to scare our children this way. God knows the evil that 
you're doing. It's like Santa Claus at the 
Christmas time. He knows you're good. He knows 
you're bad. We use that to try and affect 
or mold or shape the conscience of our children. And as I said, 
Calvinists especially highlight the fact that God sees evil. We need to highlight that he 
sees good too. I mean, we are so much holier 
than God, we would never ever commend anyone lest they be puffed 
up with pride. Christ wasn't afraid of that. 
Christ is consistent with what we find in Proverbs 31. When 
a godly man is able to tell his godly wife, many daughters have 
done well, but you excel them all. There is a place, brethren, 
in the Christian life for legitimate, not flattery, but for legitimate 
commendation. It's not easy to be a Christian. When you meet an older brother 
or an older sister that has been faithful in the way for several 
years, it is not out of the character of God as a Christian to say, 
you know, I admire that. That is commendable. I actually 
think today a gospel minister that stays in the pulpit for 
more than however many years without committing adultery or 
falling prey to internet pornography ought to be commended because 
it's no longer the norm. Jesus says, I know your works. your labor, your patience, and 
that you cannot bear those who are evil. This is a wonderful 
statement of our Lord, a wonderful commendation of this church. We ought not to shrink back from 
recognizing God's grace at work in our brothers and sisters and 
telling them so. And if somebody were to do that 
to you, don't say, oh, I'm just a miserable Thank you. May God 
be glorified. We can have this sort of false 
humility or this piety that isn't biblical. And we need to realize, 
yes, God sees the evil, as Jesus will point out. But he sees the 
good. He sees when you're doing what 
you're supposed to be doing. And he prizes that. He says their 
diligence, then notice secondly, their testing of claims. I love this. Verse 2. You have 
tested those who say they are apostles and are not, and have 
found them liars. That's commendable. There were 
those within the ranks at Ephesus that claimed to be apostolic. The church in Ephesus didn't 
just say, well then go ahead and preach. No, the church in 
Ephesus tested those claims. Remember, the church in Ephesus 
was founded in Acts 19 by the Apostle Paul. He spent a considerable 
amount of time in the city preaching and teaching and ministering. 
Remember that when Paul was en route to Jerusalem before the 
Feast of Pentecost, he stopped in Miletus and he called for 
the elders of the church in Ephesus. And he gathered them to himself. 
He showed by his own pattern, by his own example, how they 
ought to conduct themselves in Christian ministry. He gave them 
that solemn charge in Acts 20, 28. Therefore, take heed to yourselves 
and to all the flock among which the Holy Spirit has made you 
overseers. He says you're to shepherd the 
church of God, which he purchased with his own blood. And then 
he gives a reason. He says, for I know this. that 
after my departure, savage wolves will come, not sparing the flock. And from among yourselves, men 
will rise up, seeking to gain a following after themselves." 
They listened to Paul. They listened to him. When those 
men rised up, they applied the scripture to test them. It's no accident. It's no, wow, 
that's just an interesting coincidence that it's 1 Timothy 3 that deals 
with the qualifications of elders. Where is Timothy when Paul is 
writing him? He is in Ephesus. So the church 
in Ephesus took the Bible seriously. They took Christian leadership 
seriously. They didn't just look at a man 
who wanted to minister and say, well, go right ahead. They took 
the scriptures and they said, if you are truly called of God, 
then you must be. You must be. You must be. You must be. You must be. And if you are not, you will 
not enter into this pulpit. Jesus says, you did good then. 
You did good. You didn't play the game. that are so rampant 
in religion. Men see it as an opportunity 
to make money. Men see it as a means to puff 
themselves up. Men see it as a means to control 
others. Not the church in Ephesus. They 
took seriously the admonition by Paul. They believed him. They listened to and applied 
what Timothy had taught them. 1 Timothy 3, and they followed 
Paul. Paul, in his own example, set 
forth a pattern of opposing those who spoke false doctrine. 1 Timothy 6, verses 3 and following. So these men presented themselves 
in Ephesus and said, hey, we're apostles. And the church in Ephesus 
said, if that's the case, then these things will be true. Let's 
see. They took the Bible, they applied 
it, and they found them wanting, and they said, or they found 
them liars. exposing them and rejecting them 
from apostolic ministry. The third aspect of commendation 
is their perseverance. Notice in verse 3, and you have 
persevered and have patience and have labored for my namesake 
and have not become weary. Great testimony. I mean, you 
read this, you go, boy, that's the church I want to be a part 
of, right? I mean, if we all drop dead right 
now and the Free Grace Baptist Church closed and they could 
write, you know, they persevered and they didn't become weary 
and they did what they were supposed to do, in my mind, hey, that's 
good. What we have here is a faithful 
church. What we have here is a commendation 
by Christ to a local body because they have persevered and have 
had patience, patient endurance. They have labored for the name 
of Christ and they have not become weary of being faithful in the 
task that God had given them. But lo and behold, we come to 
the condemnation given by Christ. Now, we need to see something 
here. The best churches have issues. I was finding it curious 
when people say, if only we could go back to the first century 
church. Oh, really? You want to go to Corinth? where 
there was incest going on in the congregation, and the congregation 
not only didn't stop it, but they were arrogant. You want 
to go back to Corinth where sexual immorality was rampant in the 
church? You want to go back to Ephesus? 
You want to go back to these? The point, brethren, is simply 
this. There are no perfect churches, and generally speaking, churches 
are like your spouse. You will always see better qualities 
in someone else's spouse. Beware. Beware. This church, 
if we stopped here, we'd be able to say, what a church to be like. But what's the condemnation? 
Verse 4. Nevertheless, I have this against 
you, that you have left your first lot. That huge, massive, 
monumental. Now I don't think it means they 
had no love whatsoever. I don't think it means they were 
radical apostates and hated everything. I think it means that white hot 
heart burning in love to Jesus Christ wasn't like it had been. Some ask, is it love to Christ? Is it love to brethren? Is it 
love to all mankind? I think it's all of the above 
with its source in Christ. In other words, when we are loving 
Christ the way we are supposed to, our love for one another 
and our love for mankind will be affected by that. Remember 
when Jesus is speaking to Peter and he says, do you love me, 
Peter? That whole account in John 21 seems to set forth the 
pattern that the primary element in a man of God is that he ought 
to love Jesus Christ supreme. And when he loves Jesus Christ 
supreme, then he'll tend the flock, then he'll feed the sheep, 
then he'll feed the lambs. What had happened in Ephesus 
is that they were on the battlefront. They were combating heresy. They 
were engaged in doctrinal warfare. They forgot something though. 
Oh yeah, we need to love the generals. I can understand what 
happened here. I can't say it's a good thing. 
But I can enter in. I have entered in. If you've 
been with us for any number of years, you have entered in probably, 
too. Maurice Roberts, several years 
ago, wrote a meditation called The Dangers of Becoming Battle-Weary. One of those dangers, I don't 
know if Roberts addresses this one particularly as number one, 
but one of the problems of becoming battle-weary is no love for Jesus. Not hate, not despise, not Not, 
I don't want anything to do with Jesus, but not that heartbeat 
for Christ. Not that seeing Him as altogether 
lovely and chief among ten thousand. Not being focused on Him primarily 
in our perseverance, in our becoming weary, in our fighting doctrinal 
battles. Doing it all with the desire 
of loving Jesus Christ. That's what's going on in this 
church in Ephesus. Our love for Christ animates 
our love to brethren and to the world. When love to Christ waxes, 
all other love dries up as well. Again, I don't think it's the 
absence of love. Paul in 1 Corinthians 16 said, 
if anyone does not love the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be anathema. 
Jesus doesn't come to this church in Ephesus and say, you don't 
love me, you're anathema. No. It's a matter of degree. 
It's a matter of emphasis. It's a matter of focus. You have 
left your first life. You know when you first get converted, 
everything is about Jesus? And then you've been converted 
for about 10 or 15 or 20 years, and then everything's about weird 
things? You have hobby horses, and you have to insist on this, 
that, and the other, and what about, you know, I love him too, 
but what about this important thing over here? Christ is pulling 
the church in Ephesus back to where they're supposed to be. 
He's putting their minds and their focus upon Him. Nevertheless, I have this against 
you, that you have left your first law. What's the implication? Do not do that. It is good that 
you are diligent. It is good that you test claims. It is good that you persevere 
and you weary yourself in it. But it is best to do those things 
out of a love for Jesus. How do we stir up that love for 
Christ? Well, guess what? You have to 
read your Bible. I know when I first met my wife, 
the way I stirred up, or the way the love was stirred up in 
my heart for her was spending time with her. Hopefully it's 
still like that too. How do we grow in our love for 
someone? We learn about them. We have Christians at times say, 
oh, I'm not in love with Jesus as I ought to be. Do you read 
your Bible? Well, no, not like I should. 
Well, then do it. How come we'll accept not like 
I should when it comes to biblical things? Imagine if your boss 
came to you at work. Are you doing this crucial task? 
Not like I should. What's he going to say? Get out! And yet we accept, not like I 
should, when it comes to our souls. How do we stir up love 
to Christ? Through the Bible. Through prayer. Oh, you know, sometimes when 
I pray, it just feels like I'm going through the motions. Go 
through them! We want to read books about prayer. 
We want to hear sermons on prayer. We want to download prayer. We 
want everything prayer except for pray. You ever thought about 
that? Man, I need to stir up my prayer life. I'm going to 
read a book on prayer. I got a zany idea. Just pray. Go pray. I mean, when you stop and think 
about prayer, brethren, and I'm saying this reverently, it's 
not that hard. It really isn't. You talk to God. Hopefully easy 
for you to talk to your husband or wife. It's easy for you to 
talk to your friends. It's easy for you to talk in 
some context or other. We need to stir up talking to 
the Lord God. A third way to stir up love to 
Christ. Meditation. Meditation is a forgotten 
art in Christianity. Meditation is not like the Eastern 
religions teach. Eastern religion teaches that 
meditation means emptying your mind. Meditation, according to 
the Bible, is filling your mind. Filling your mind with Bible. 
Taking the truth of Scripture and rolling it around in your 
head. Taking the truth of Scripture and asking questions of it. How 
can I apply this in my life? What does this mean for me? Now 
that I've found out in sin, what is my current course of action? We need to meditate. We need 
to take seriously our thought life. We're not thinking on the 
right things, we will be thinking on the wrong things. This is 
the thrust of Philippians chapter 4. We need to stir up love to 
Christ. I have two questions when it 
comes to this point, the condemnation given by Christ. What is this 
first love? And secondly, how do we lose 
it? And again, in Ephesus, I think they lost it because they were 
embroiled in controversy. I think it's pretty epic. I don't 
think it takes a lot to see that while they're fighting these 
doctrinal battles, they left off in love. Doesn't make you 
right, but it is understandable. How do we lose it in Chilliwack 
in the 21st century? It could be controversy. We could 
be fighting doctrinal battles. If that's the case, we need to 
ask, should I be fighting it? The internet's great. Everybody's 
on there fighting, arguing, chatting, blogging, fighting about everything. Do you love Jesus? I don't care 
that you've got 25 pages of great blog-dom. Do you love Jesus? 
I think a lot of times we lose our first love because we're 
lazy. I know that doesn't sound hyper-spiritual. We're lazy. 
We don't come to church. We don't read our Bibles. We 
don't pray. We leave off those things that put us into connection 
with Jesus Christ. Laziness. Neglectfulness. Indifference. Now I know someone's 
going to leave from here and go, man, I am just the biggest 
wretch in the world. I've been really busy in my job 
and I haven't burned with love for Christ as I ought. You know 
what? Jesus understands that. I just 
read in the Proverbs, do not overwork to be rich. If you're 
overworking to be rich, you've got a problem. If you're overworking 
because you're busy and that's the season God has you in, that's 
okay. Especially as young men, we usually 
have to work more. It's just the way it is. You 
do your overtime, you do your long hours, you do all that as 
a younger man, so that hopefully when you're an older man, you 
don't have as much vigor, as much strength, as much energy. You don't have to put in those 
kinds of shit. This is for those who get so 
focused on one thing, they have neglected Jesus Christ. Not on 
those who are struggling to be faithful in all those things 
and realizing, I love Christ, I want to serve Christ, I want 
to honor Christ, I want to do the best I can. And then notice 
the exhortation to repent. It's threefold. Remember, repent, 
and do. I love this. Verse 5. Remember 
therefore from where you have fallen. Davis, in his commentaries 
on the former prophet, says amnesia promotes apostasy. When we forget, 
we end up in big difficulties. He says forgetfulness may be 
the arch enemy of faith. This is what Jesus is saying. 
Remember, therefore, from where you have fallen. Look back to 
what you have. Don't be content with a loveless 
Christianity. Don't be content with a Christless 
Christianity. Don't be content with doctrinal 
battles when you have forgotten the reason for the doctrinal 
battles. Remember. Look back. Think about 
it. Recall the Savior. Remember when 
He first saved you. Remember what it was like when 
He took you up, when He cleansed you, when He washed you, when 
He purified you, when He gave you His Spirit. Remember that 
initial warmth that you had, that desire to go out and tell 
people, Jesus saves, Jesus saves. We've accepted the lie from the 
devil that there's this honeymoon period And then it wears off 
and then we just become cold, lifeless wretches. That's not 
in the Bible. Perfect example is Paul the Apostle. When he wrote for to me to live 
as Christ and to die as Dave, he had probably been a Christian 
for about 30 years. Not 30 minutes, not 30 days. You know, when you first get 
saved, you're like, yeah, I want to go out and die for Jesus. 
But, you know, 30 years in, you're, well, you know, don't have kind 
of the same oomph as I once had. No, not so oomph. We've almost 
accepted that it's okay to live without love for Jesus Christ. He says, remember, Philip Morrow 
comments, let us go back in our thoughts again and yet again 
to those days of heaven on earth when first we came to the knowledge 
of Christ and of his redeeming love. It's a glorious thought. 
Let us go back. Let us remember. Let us consider. Let us see afresh the gospel, 
the cross. That's why the gospel is so important 
for the Christian. You hear in some circles, oh, 
you don't preach the gospel to Christians. You better preach 
the gospel to Christians. We need to fall in love with 
Jesus Christ each and every day. We need to live in light of Calvary's 
cross. We need to say with Paul in Galatians 
2.20, the life that I now live in the flesh, I live by faith 
in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. He says, 
I live based on gospel. That's why Christians need gospel. He says, remember, he says, repent. You know what repent means? It 
means to have a change of mind. It means to change your mind. 
Repent. The words befitting repentance 
are those actions that flow from having changed your mind. But 
repentance primarily is a mental activity. It is to receive the 
data of Scripture, it is to receive the correction, to receive the 
rebuke, to receive the reproof, and then to act upon it. To mentally 
take it in, and change the mind, and then act upon it. This is 
what Jesus tells them. And then he says, do. Repent 
and do the first works. Don't neglect all the good things 
you've been doing, but do them with a supreme desire of love 
for Christ. And then notice His threatened 
sanction, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your 
lampstand from its place unless you repent. Christ means business 
with His churches. The very call here is a demonstration 
of His mercy. He doesn't just come and remove 
their lampstand. It's good news. Isn't it? Good 
news for imperfect churches. That when we fall into even a 
pattern of neglect in some particular area, Christ in His grace and 
His mercy even gives us opportunity to repent. He's not like us. 
I would imagine if I was the Christ and my church messed up, 
I'd rip that lampstand right away. But not Jesus. You'll see 
that over and over again in these letters to the seven churches. 
He calls on them. Even the church in Laodicea, 
the church he has nothing good to say about, the church he says 
that I want to spit out of my mouth, says as many as I love. I chase and reveal. He's here 
because he loves us. He's here because He loves this 
church. He's here because He wants them 
to love Him also. And even in this, He commends 
them in verse 6, that this you have, that you hate the deeds 
of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. We'll see more of these 
Nicolaitans in Smyrna and in Pergamos, so we'll not take too 
much time to look at the Nicolaitans right now. I heard of a man in 
a church who thought this was a reference to the Nickelodeon 
channel. The Nickelodeon channel on TV, the cartoon riddled channel, 
was the devil doctrine of Revelation 2. I doubt that's what John is 
referring to. I doubt that's what Jesus is 
speaking of. It was a heresy that plagued 
these first century churches in Asia Minor. Christ gives that 
call. He who has an ear, let him hear 
what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, there's 
that overcoming idea. I will give to eat from the tree 
of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God. Remember, 
God set Adam in the garden. Adam sinned. God drove Adam out 
of the garden. Then God stationed an angel there, 
and God put a flaming sword in his hand to guard the tree of 
life. That's what happened in Paradise 
Lost. Paradise restored to him who overcomes, Jesus will give 
to eat from the tree of life which is in the midst of the 
paradise of God. That is precisely what we find 
at the end of Revelation. Jesus makes good on his promises. So in closing, we learn first 
that Christ is present among His churches. He knows the good. 
He knows the bad. He commends the good. He condemns 
the bad. He wants us to remember. He wants 
us to repent. And He wants us to do those first 
works. He wants us to be holy. Christ 
wants faithfulness in his churches. Christ uses the church to expand 
his kingdom on earth, and the church must be the way he has 
decreed. Remember Yahweh. told the nation 
of Israel how they were to police the camp, how they were to set 
the camp up, how they were to deal with waste in the camp, 
all those particulars so that he himself could dwell in their 
midst. It's the same idea here. Jesus is telling the churches, 
the new Israel, that they are to make sure the camp is clean, 
to make sure they're dealing righteously with sin, to deal 
righteously with all those things that affect churches so that 
he could dwell in their midst. We learn from this church in 
Ephesus that the need for truth and love is inherent. One man 
has called reformed orthodoxy, or he has said that it can devolve 
into orthodusty. Orthodusty. Dusty, dry doctrine. Whenever I hear that, I shudder 
and I cringe and I think, oh man, that ought not to be. Truth 
ought to inflame. Truth ought to promote love. Truth ought to make the most 
fervent worshippers, not the other way around. We shouldn't 
take truth the way that a scientist deals with specimens. We should 
never put it under the microscope and simply gawk at it. We must 
come under that truth. We must delight in that truth. And we must let that truth so 
saturate us that the natural response is love to the Lord 
God of truth. And then never forget, thirdly, 
this promise to overcomers. And it is a thread that weaves 
through the book of Revelation. It's good that you believe the 
gospel. It's great that you are persevering 
currently. It's best if you keep on. Remember 
the middle mile. That's the hardest. You start 
a race or you end a race, that's the easiest because everybody's 
there watching you and rooting you on. It's when you're all 
alone in the middle mile, when you're all by yourself and there's 
nobody saying, good job, go, go, go, go, go. Well, that's 
where we find ourselves. I'm always reminded of the Apostle 
Paul in 2 Timothy when he's about to die. He says, I've fought 
the good fight, I've kept the faith, I've finished my race. 
Who's laid up and having a crown for me. How could he say that? 
He was faithful. He could say that in the 11th 
hour because he was faithful in hours 1 to 10. We will never 
be able to say that in the 11th hour if we have not been faithful 
in hours 1 to 10. Hour 1 is easy. We first say 
it. 2 to 10, I submit, are the difficult 
ones. Two to ten are tough. Two to ten are when we stand 
in great need of God's grace. And we need that conviction of 
truth, of Bible. We need the Spirit so that we 
will persevere and be overcomers and get to eat from the tree 
of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God. Well, 
let us pray. Father, we thank you for the Holy Scriptures and 
these letters to the churches of Asia Minor. We pray that you 
help us to learn the lesson from Ephesus, that it's good for us 
to be doctrinally sound. It's good for us to contend earnestly 
for the faith. which was once for all delivered 
to the saints. God, it's best for us to do so out of love to 
Christ. We pray that you would fill each 
and every one of our hearts with that love. Do forgive us, Lord 
God, that we are loveless at times, that we don't always live 
in light of passages like these. We thank you, Lord, that you 
have preserved us and kept us through many doctrinal battles 
in our history and many trying times. But God, may these things 
not promote a coldness in us, may they not promote a distance 
in us, but may they indeed cause us to just draw near unto you. 
We pray now that you would go with each of your people here. 
We pray that you would watch over us in this coming week and 
help us to serve you and help us, God, to overcome by your 
grace and for your glory. We ask through Jesus Christ our 
Lord. Amen.