Jump Start # 584

Revelation 2:21 I gave her time to repent, and she does not want to repent of her immorality.

Our Jump Starts are taking a quick look at what Jesus said to the seven churches in Revelation. Many of the churches were troubled and had left their position with the Lord. What Jesus tells them will get them back on course. This is a unique way of looking at these things, focusing upon the rebukes of Jesus. This is often not the pleasant type of verses that we would rather think about, but this is reality. Often churches, often Christians, often we, need to hear these things to get back where we ought to be.

Our verse today is addressed to the church at Thyatira. That church had a problem. Someone, possibly a woman, was leading the Christians astray. Using a parallel from the O.T., she is called Jezebel. The original Jezebel took the prize for being wicked. She was married to Ahab the king. She was a worshipper of Baal. She killed God’s prophets and put out an assassination order on Elijah. She signed her husband’s name to letters and ran the country. Wicked, evil and hurtful was her ways. Now, all these hundreds of years later, the church at Thyatira had someone that was parallel to Jezebel. Not only was someone doing their evil work among the brethren, but they were successful in leading Christians to listen and follow her corrupt ideas. The church was tolerating her. Christ was set to bring down wrath upon this corrupt person and all who went along with her.

Our verse today is found in the midst of what Jesus says to the church. He gave this Jezebel time to repent, but she does not want to repent. Interesting thought.

First, people need time to repent. They need to know what they are doing is wrong. Some don’t know. They need to come to reality with what the Scriptures teach. Moving too quickly may bring discipline upon someone before they even know that they did wrong or were given time to change. God always allows a person the opportunity to change. God is gracious. He will forgive. The Biblical approach is to show a person through the Bible that their actions are not correct. Then, show them how they can get right with God. For some, that will be hard. It means some radical changes in their life. Sin has messed up their thinking and taken them down a long and dark road. There is more to it than simply come back to church services. Values, priorities, thinking has to be changed. Satan redefines words and allows us to become so selfish that we think the universe revolves around us. It doesn’t. But we can sure think that way.

It take time. Righteous folks can be impatient waiting for the wicked to change. This is a judgment call. How much time do I give a person? A day? A week? A month? It depends upon each person. We can move too quickly and we can move too slowly. With some situations, rapid movement is necessary to protect the church. Other situations allow for growth and progress. Our passage says that God gave her time to repent. The problem wasn’t that she didn’t know, nor, was she not given enough time. Those were done.

Second, some, like this Jezebel, do not want to repent. They don’t want to come back to God. They remain in the land of sin and in the wilderness of being lost. They want nothing to do with the Bible, God’s people or church. They are willing to ruin the marriage for an affair. They are willing to destroy all that is good for the pills or the bottle. They would rather hang out with people who are vulgar, lost and nasty in mouth and attitude than to associate with the holy. Time was given. Warnings were sent out. They do not want to come home. This story doesn’t end well. It’s not like the prodigal who came to his senses. These modern Jezebels’ never do come to their senses. They remain with the pigs and invite others to join them. It’s hard to understand. It’s especially hard to understand, knowing that they once walked with the righteous and now they have gone back to the land of being lost. The future course is not a good one. They are headed for a headon crash with God. They will not survive the judgment. Hope, Heaven and goodness have been tossed out like trash. They’d rather party with the pagans, dance with the wolves and die with the sinners. And so they will. And what a loss it will be. h

We think about all the good that they could have done, and all the potential lost. All the opportunities thrown away. Gone. Turned their back on the loving Savior. Walked away from grace and forgiveness. Denying that God made them and made them for better things.

Parents are crushed with this is one of their children. Churches are stunned when one of the members goes this way. And I can’t help but imagine that Heaven sheds a tear at the loss of one of God’s children. The world becomes a bit darker. The kingdom loses a worker. The family is set adrift. Children lose a godly chance and opportunity.

God longed for Jezebel to turn from her wicked ways, but she did not want to. How sad. How about you? Is God calling you home but you are fighting Him? You want to keep one foot in the land of sin, you are not ready to leave what you know is wrong. Someday, you may run out of time. Then it will be too late and such a loss. Home with God, living as He wants you is the only way to be.

Roger

Jump Start # 583

Revelation 2:16 “Therefore repent;  or else I am coming to you quickly, and I will make war against them with the sword of My mouth.”

We are taking a special look at what Jesus told each of the seven churches of Asia to do to be right with Him. These are stern words, but they are solutions to problems. Following Satan, we always get in a mess, every time. God must help us get out.

Our verse today is addressed to the church at Pergamum. They were facing tough circumstances. They dwelled where Satan’s throne is and one of their members, Antipas, was killed for the faith. The situation at Pergamum had led some to tolerate things that are wrong. It is often easier to compromise, look the other way, than it is to deal with things that are false. Some were tolerating the compromising teachings of Balak and the Nicolaitans. Interesting, the church at Ephesus had been exposed to the teachings of the Nicolaitans, as well. At Ephesus they hated it, but at Pergamum they were accepting it and embracing it. Two congregations both facing the same poison of error. One rejected and the other accepted. That happened then and it happens today.

Often, those that reject the error are condemned for judging. The loving spirit of Jesus is thought to be all that is needed. Yet in closing the eyes to what is wrong, Satan gets a foot hold within a congregation. Gone is the one mind, one voice and one heart that God wants brethren to have. Gone is contending for the one faith. Now, because of tolerance, there prevails two ideas, two ways, and two forms of thinking. Can both be right? Does love compel us to just accept and do nothing? Does the fear of judging keep our mouths closed? That is the reaction from many today. Satan is glad to hear that. He dances to such thoughts. Abe Lincoln once said, “To say nothing, is to be a coward.”

God hates error. God hates the teachings of the Nicolaitans. Revelation 2:6 specifically states that. How can anyone embrace what God hates and think that is the loving thing to do? God didn’t accept it. God didn’t say leave it alone.

Some folks have manufactured a spineless Jesus that would never say anything is wrong for fear of hurting their feelings. Maybe it’s time to look at the real Jesus, the one the Bible gives to us.

Our verse today is Jesus’ solution to the Nicolaitan problem. He said Repent. Best stop accepting. Better get back to the word of God. Leave Satan. Mixing truth with error doesn’t make strong churches, strong families or strong members. It confuses, dilutes and opens the door for more and more error. Believing wrong always leads to doing wrong.

So repent. That’s Jesus’ words. He adds, if you don’t, “I’ll make war against them…” The “them” must be those that are teaching crooked things. It has to include those on the sidelines who are doing nothing against it. The false teachers best supporter is the one who will tolerate. How will Jesus make war against them? With the sword of His mouth. He will attack, expose and destroy error not with a host of angels, not by opening up the earth and swallowing them, not by sending fire upon them—those are ways God has dealt with wrong in the past. This time, by the sword of Jesus’ mouth. Interesting, Hebrews calls the word of God a two edged sword. Jesus will make war by exposing their error and defeating it with the truth, His word. His words always stand. His words are always right. His words win, every time.

The Pergamum situation isn’t a study in history. It’s happening today. There are congregations today that have tolerated error. They do so because to take a stand is messy, hard, and may involve hurting the feelings of some and may lead to some leaving. So they do nothing. So they hope it will just go away. The class ends and nothing is said. No follow up. No corrective teaching. Just nothing. Other times, the one who is pushing the envelope is a favorite. People like this person and because of that they close their ears and eyes to what he is saying. They give him some latitude and with that he takes it. He pushes his unbalanced ideas more and more. Some begin to rethink things. Some accept what he is saying. Soon a church is divided over this. A small mess has become a major mess and now it’s difficult to contain. Just like an oil spill. The damage is done. Clean up is expensive, hard and taxing—whether we talk about oil or error.

Shepherds throughout this land need to get back to leading spiritually and be alert to what is being taught. Some don’t recognize error when they hear it. Shame on them. Too many are interested in expanding the parking lot more than they are purity of God’s word being taught.

Those that want to hear the theories of the Nicoliatans need go else where. Those that want to teach it, won’t be allowed to teach. Those that keep at it must repent or face a coming war. Hard words. God is serious about His church. It’s not our’s. We’d do anything to save our families. We need to do the same for our congregations. If someone down the street was trying to offer one of our children dope, we’d call the cops and before they got there we’d chase him down the street with a ball bat. I know we would. It’s our kids he’s trying to poison.

Why don’t we have the same spirit when it comes to someone trying to poison the minds of our church family? I’ve told a few in the past that there is something interesting about every church building I’ve been in, and I have been in many. Small ones, big ones. City and country. They all have a front door. If a person isn’t content to stay with Jesus, then they need to go out that door.

The Psalmist declared that he loved the law of the Lord. God’s word is amazing. It shows us the amazing Jesus. Don’t twist it, change it or alter it. Keep it the way it is. Become Biblical. Stand with God. Stand for His word. Refuse to give error a minute of your time. Draw a line in the sand and stand with Jesus.

Can you do this? It’s not easy. It gets messy sometimes. Folks will accept the wrong and point fingers at you and accuse you of being wrong. They’ll say you’re not acting like a Christian. They’ll say that Jesus wouldn’t do that. They’ll say you are judging. My answer to all of that is simply read our verse today. Enough said!

There is a war going on and I’ve cast my lot with Jesus! How about you?

Roger

Jump Start # 582

Revelation 2:5 “Therefore remember from where you have fallen, and repent and do the deeds you did at first; or else I am coming to you and will remove your lampstand out of its place—unless you repent.”

In this series of Jump Starts, we are looking at the pleas of the Lord to the seven churches. In identifying problems, the Lord offers solutions. It’s those solutions, or calls to repentance that we are focusing our attention on. Earlier Jump Starts, around # 290s, gave some overviews and thoughts about each of these seven churches. Those can be accessed from Jumpstartsdaily.com

Ephesus had left her first love. The church was still going onward. It was still exposing false teachers, holding worship and doing all the signs of an active church, but something was amiss under the hood. Internally, duty had replaced devotion. Have to had replaced want to. It’s a sad state when love is gone. That is true with a hobby, a marriage, or a church. Often, when love is lost, a person moves on. When golf is no longer any fun, the clubs gather dust in the garage. When love is gone in a marriage, a couple act more like roommates sharing an apartment than two who are supposed to be one. Often, one starts thinking about leaving. When a church forgets its love for Christ, sour attitudes start surfacing, things tend to bother people more, and folks start thinking more like the world than Jesus. It’s a terrible state to lose that love.

Can you ever fall back in love again? Many would say “No.” That’s why they give up on the hobby, the marriage, and the church. Jesus says otherwise. He doesn’t think it’s over. He tells Ephesus three key principles.

1. Remember. We often forget. We often only see things the way they are now. We forget how excited we were at first. We forget how great things were. This is true of the marriage that has lost it’s love. Remember dating? Remember planning the wedding? Remember the first home? Fixing it up. Most of us started out poor. Many of us struggled, but we were happy. We were in love. Remember? Remember what it was like to be a Christian? Remember how great it was to sing hymns? Remember going to people’s homes for singings, studies, and get togethers? It was amazing. Remember going to Gospel meetings? Every night. Tired as you were, it was great. What happened? The church still sings those same hymns. The church still has gospel meetings. What happened is that the newness has worn off. The old river of life keeps rolling along. Problems, kids, stress, work, bills have squeezed their way into our hearts and in the process, Jesus has been pushed out. Remember? That’s one of the keys. It’s not that you never had it, so you have to make believe or dream. You’ve been there. You were in love—in your marriage and with the Lord.

2. Repeat. Jesus said, do the deeds you did at first. It worked before, do it again. This is true in marriage and this is true with the Lord. I use this passage with couples who have forgotten. Remember, guys, opening the car door for your lady? Been a while since we’ve done that. Often we are sitting in the car waiting on them and then when they get in the car, we declare, “What took you so long?” One time, the wait was worth it. Remember, writing little notes and leaving them for the other to see? Remember, holding hands? Remember, seeing each other and smiling? Remember? How about with Jesus? Remember getting to the church building early? Remember sitting up close? Remember writing down nearly every word the preacher said? Remember going to a Bible Class like it was a college class? Sitting up front? Notebook opened. Studied ahead of time. Excited. Engaged. In tuned. Remember? Remember asking the preacher questions? Remember looking for books that would help you grow? Remember listening to tapes or cd’s of sermons in the car as we drove to work? We did all those things. We did them at first. Then we quit. The cd of sermons was replaced with the cd of the Eagles. We don’t have any questions any more and that is partly because we have lost the awe of God and the mystery of the spiritual things. Do the deeds you did at first. It works in marriage and it works with God.

3. Repent. Change. Don’t keep going the way you are headed. The direction you are on has taken your heart away from God. The more you stay on this course, the more you will become distant to God. Turn it around. Turn back and do the things you did at first. This is not something that someone can do for you, it’s what you must do yourself. You must turn your heart back to God. He deserves better from you and you are capable of more.

Three simple words: Remember, Repeat, Repent.  This will get the engines started again and turn a sour marriage around, it will bring life to a dead relationship with the Lord. These thoughts remind us that God wasn’t finished with the Ephesians. He hadn’t given up on them. He wanted them to love Him. The same goes for us. He’s not done with you and He wants you to have a vibrant relationship with Him. It can be done.

People don’t continue very long in a loveless relationship. Either they get the love back or they give up and move on. When we talk about the Lord, where are we going to move on to? There is no one else. There is no where else.

We sing, “O how I love Jesus, O how I love Jesus.” Give that some thought. Try singing that song today. Try finding your way back to the Lord. He’s looking for you.

Roger

Jump Start # 581

Revelation 1:11 “Write in a book what you see, and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus and to Smyrna and to Pergamum and to Thyatira and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to Laodicea.”

The seven churches of Asia were the recipients of the powerful message called the Revelation of Jesus Christ. Chapters two and three addresses specific messages to each of these churches. There are many great and profound lessons to be found there. We want to look at some of those. This will not be a concentrated detailed examination of these passages, that’s not the purpose of our Jump Starts. There are things we can gather that will help Jump Start our faith.

One of the initial thoughts is what are we to make of these seven churches? Do they represent something? Some have thought that they illustrate either periods of church history or cycles that churches go through. Both thoughts make a person stuff more things into the passage than what is there. A person must remember what it would have been like to be a member at one of those seven churches and to have received this letter. They did not know about church history—it had not been developed yet. And the cycle theory leaves one depressed if it were true. Ephesus, the first, begins with losing their first love and Laodicea, the last, ends with making the Lord sick. If this is the cycle all churches go through, we might as well quit.

These were real historical places and real churches. We read about some of these churches in Acts. The times the book of Revelation was written was hard. It was hard being a Christian. The government of Rome was squeezing the church and trying to destroy it.

Revelation was written to these scared brethren. It was a message of hope, encouragement and victory. Overcome is one of the key words in this book.

Those who have studied the specifics written to these seven churches, chapters two and three, recognize some common patterns to all the letters. Jesus is identified in a glorious manner. The letters are addressed to the angel of the church. Good is praised. Things that are wrong are exposed and a plea to repent and return is made. An image of Heaven is revealed.

Two thoughts about what is written to these seven churches:

1. God knows what is going on. The expression, “I know,” is used each time when these churches are addressed. God knows. Sometimes God seems to know what the people do not know. Laodicea thought that they needed nothing. God knew better. Sardis had a great reputation. God knew that they were dead. This is something for us to think about. Sometimes a person may get discouraged because of what is going on at church. Things may be stale, or maybe some are being neglected and it’s easy to think, no one knows about these things. God does. He always does. He knows. This is why prayer is so powerful. This is why prayer can open doors and bring hope. We pray to a God who knows.

2. God is interested in faithfulness to Him. Faith has always been something that God has wanted. Sometimes we get our order out of order and spend so much time on things that really do not matter much to God. For instance, in this letter to the seven churches, you will not find God concerned about church buildings, budgets, parking lots, or the hiring of preachers. Those things sure seem to occupy so much attention these days. What God was interested in was the pure devotion and commitment to Him. We worry more about the roof on the church building than the faith of the folks sitting in the pews.  More money is spent on keeping the place up to date than it is in keeping the member’s faith alive.

This is not to say that the place we worship in ought to be neglected and look like a dump. Not at all. But it’s easy to think a fine building means a fine church. The two are not the same.  In a hundred years what will matter is not how new the carpet was in the church house, but how alive the faith was in the members. Strong faith leads to strong families and strong churches. It is our faith that will lead us to walk with the Lord, talk to our friends about Jesus and to overcome the worst of things that Satan might throw at us. Faith is the difference. Faith is what needs to be nurtured and grown. The faith of our young people will help them to make the best choices. The faith of our men will lead to more leaders. The faith of all of us will make an impact in the community.

So, one of the best things I can do for my marriage, my family, and the church I attend, is to get stronger in the Lord. Build my faith is the key. Faith comes through a connection to the word of God (Romans 10:17).  Know the book. Look carefully into the book. Think about it. Talk about it. Share it. Wear your Bible out. Underline verses. Circle words. Write notes in the margins. Get the big picture. See the message. God loves you. Jesus is the Lord. Walk by faith. Pray at all times. Seek the things above. Be engaged in good deeds. Be obedient. Become…become like Jesus!

God knows…God is interested in your faith—that’s what matters.

Roger