I want you to take your Bibles,
turn with me if you would, to the book of the Revelation. Revelation
chapter 2. While you're turning, somewhere around 10 or 11 years
ago, we went through two times this book. the book of the revelation
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Over the last few weeks, I have
felt compelled by the Lord's leadership, I pray so, to go
back and look at the letters that were written to the seven
churches in Asia. I began to contemplate this,
I'm going to say probably, I said a few weeks, it might have been
a couple of months ago. And every time I would contemplate it,
I'd say no, this is not it. Yesterday morning, I woke up
considering these seven letters And I feel as though the leadership
of God's Spirit, and I mean this as sincerely as I know, has directed
my heart to look. If the Lord gives me liberty
to look at all seven letters over the next few weeks, I'll
try. I'll try to deal with them again. But this morning, I'd like for
us to look at the first letter that was written, that letter
that was written to the church at Ephesus. A few years ago, I heard Brother
Henry Mahan say this, if you have something to say to somebody,
a weighty issue. He said, write him a letter. He said, you'll have some time
to think it through and to express it well. And he said, it'll give
them an opportunity to go back and read it again. Hopefully
profit from the letter. This morning, I've entitled this
message a letter from the Lord. Seven letters were to be written
to the seven churches that are in Asia. None of those churches
are there anymore. The Lord has removed the candlestick
from each one of them. In Revelation chapter 1 and verse
11, The Lord, directing the Apostle John, said, saying, I am Alpha
and Omega, the first and the last, and what thou seest, write
in a book and send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia,
unto Ephesus, unto Smyrna, unto Pergamos, unto Thyatira, unto
Sardis, unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea. Each one of those
letters were written to a specific church, but each one of those
letters ended this way. He that hath an ear to hear,
let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. So every letter was for every
church, and it is so with Katie today. in every other church
where the Lord has raised up the gospel of God's grace. These
letters were written to God's people. This is not written to
churches where the gospel is not being preached. God Almighty
speaks to His people. Now we want to carefully consider
what the Lord had to say because of who the letter's from. Look at chapter 1 verses 4 to
6, John to the seven churches which are in Asia. Now listen
to this, grace be unto you and peace from him who is, which
was, which is to come, and from the seven spirits which are before
his throne. And from Jesus Christ, who is
the faithful witness, the first begotten of the dead, the prince
of the kings of the earth, unto him that loved us and washed
us from our sins in his own blood, and hath made us kings and priests
unto God, and his father to him be glory and dominion forever
and ever. Amen. This is written to God's
people. This is not an open letter, just written to everybody, no
matter what, throughout the world. This is written to those that
God Almighty has shown mercy and compassion to. From the Thrice Holy God, the
Eternal One. in the fullness of His Spirit."
That's what it means from the seven spirits, the fullness of
His Spirit. And all of this, grace and mercy
to you through the merit of the Lord Jesus Christ, who alone
has made our acceptance and peace before God Almighty. Not by our
merit, not by our work, not by our worth, Hebrews 2.1 says, Therefore we
ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we've
heard, lest at any time we should let them slip. Brethren, we need
to hear what God has to say this morning. And I pray as I've looked
at these verses, gone over these verses, gone over my notes, wrote
and rewrote and scratched out, wrote sideways, inserted. I pray that Almighty God bless
these words to our heart. I pray that today God might be
pleased to send revival. Verse 1, chapter 2. under the
angel of the Church of Ephesus Wright. These things saith he
that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh
in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks." Now, if you'll
just look back at the last verse of the first chapter, it says,
the mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right
hand and the seven golden candlesticks, the seven stars are the angels
of the seven churches, the pastors, and the seven candlesticks which
thou sawest are the seven churches." So the angel that he's referring
to in verse 1, the star, is the pastor. Almighty God raises up
a pastor in a church where God is pleased to bless. He's going to send His Word,
and He's going to send His Word through a pastor. A pastor, the
scripture says, that shall feed you with knowledge and understanding.
That's what Jeremiah 3.15. I will give you pastors after
my heart. Pastors that don't lord over
God's heritage, they instruct them. They're examples. This is a fearful position to
be standing in. I'm standing before many, I'm
convinced, that Almighty God has everlastingly loved, that
the Lord Jesus Christ has shed His blood for, that He bought,
by the sacrifice of Himself, those that the Father chose from
before the foundation of the world, and gave them and trusted
them to the Lord Jesus Christ. May the Lord help me as I stand
before God's heritage in realizing the responsibility, the severity,
the responsibility of being found faithful, faithful under the
angel of the church of Ephesus. There was a church that Almighty
God raised up. The scripture says in Acts chapter
20 verse 27, this was a church that the Lord sent the Apostle
Paul, that Saul of Tarsus that the Lord raised up. He was a
Pharisee. He was a religious, arrogant
Pharisee. Thought himself to be something.
And Almighty God, in his mercy, knocked him off his high horse,
revealed himself to him, sent him into Damascus, and he sent
Ananias over there, and he said, you go talk to Saul of Tarsus.
He's a chosen vessel unto me. And Almighty God called that
man out of darkness, taught him the gospel, and sent him to this
place, Ephesus. In Acts chapter 20 verse 27,
Paul said to the church at Ephesus, he said, I've not shunned to
declare unto you all the counsel of God. God Almighty taught him
the gospel. He saved him, taught him the
gospel, sent him to this place. And he told them, he said, I
have been faithful to Almighty God and before you, I've preached
the gospel to you. And this church, that God sent
the apostle Paul too. They heard the gospel, they believed
the gospel by the grace of God, and whenever it was time for
the Lord to remove Paul, that church right there that tenderly
received the gospel, it broke their hearts when God took Paul
away in Acts chapter 20. Verse 36 to 38, after Paul preached
to them, and when he had thus spoken, he kneeled down and prayed
with them all, and they all wept sore and fell on Paul's neck,
and kissed him, sorrowing most of all for the words which he
had spake, that they should see his face no more. And they accompanied
him into the ship. They, thank God, they loved that
message, they loved God's messenger. appreciative, thankful, kissed
him, loved him. God's people, they love each
other. They're affectionate. You find a group of people that
God's given a heart for the gospel, they love each other. Pray for
one another, thankful for one another. And that assembly at
Ephesus, that was the church that God moved Paul to write
the book of Ephesians. that blessed book we're going
through right now. Oh, I'm telling you, you take
that first chapter of the book of Ephesians. There'll not be
a more clear, more blessed to the heart of God's people book
in all of the Bible in Ephesians chapter 1, that one where God
Almighty reveals through the Apostle Paul you know, of God's
electing grace. God, you know, had chosen you
in Christ before the foundation of the world, predestinated you
unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself. That was the book of Ephesians.
That was written to this church, the church at Ephesus. And this letter Chapter 2, verse
1, it says, These things saith he that holdeth the seven stars
in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden
candlesticks. This one that is writing this
letter, or sending the letter, John's penning it, but he's listening
to what the Lord is saying, and he's penning this. This letter
was from he that seizes with power. and retains the seven
stars, all of God's pastors. You know why anybody doesn't
quit, especially a pastor? It's because God keeps him. The
responsibility, who in the world would ever, ever, above himself,
choose to be a pastor. I tell you the only one that
would choose to be one of himself is a false, false pastor. Nobody, nobody would choose this,
knowing the responsibility. Knowing the one that they must
answer to. Knowing the one before whom we
give an account The watching over your souls, the heartache, the griefs, the
joys, the privileges, all of the things that's involved. God Almighty must call a man
and give him a heart to want to do this. And then God's keeping
him. By the grace of God, He that
holdeth with power the seven stars, in His right hand, in
His hand of authority, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden
candlesticks, who accompanies. I know, I know where two or three
are gathered together in His name. He said, I'm in the midst
of you. Lord, you who walks in the midst of your people, that
knows the hearts of your people, the minds, the thoughts. Lord,
I pray even now, forgive me. Lord, for the inconsistencies.
Oh, for the thoughts that are disrespectful. Here's the one
that knows his people. He says in verse 2, I know thy
works. thy labor, and thy patience,
and how thou canst not bear them which are evil. And thou hast
tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast
found them liars. I know," he says, I know, thy
works. I know your acts, I know your
toils, He knows their obedience to him.
He knows their charity toward others. He said, I know. I know you're endeavoring, striving
to keep the unity of the spirit and the bond of peace. I know.
I know your devotion. Know our devotion to him, to
him and his tri-unity. He said, I know your principles.
I know your views. I know your motives. that they
all spring from love to Him. And I read that verse right there.
And I think, Lord, could that possibly be me? Could
that possibly be one such as I? You don't know me. You don't know me. You don't know the thoughts that
go through my mind. You have no idea, you know. You think, well, he's a pastor,
he'd never think, oh, please, are you kidding? But here's one
that says, I know. I know. He that sees and knows. The scripture says, Hebrews 6.10,
God is not unrighteous. to forget your work and labor
of love, and thy labor, thy wholehearted zealousness?" I said, Lord, me
looking at me, you that know Him, let me ask you, is it thus
with you? Is that the way it is with you?
You look at yourself and you say, Lord, could that possibly
be speaking of me? Me, who sees in me no good thing
in my flesh? He said, I know. I know your
works, your labor, your patience, your endurance, your endurance. He knows that they run well, that they're
patient in sufferings and persecutions for the gospel's sake. You know,
there was nothing outward about this assembly. No signs of decay
or no signs of outward inconsistency. They're kept by the power of
God. There was nothing outward that would appear to be inconsistent. He says, I know how thou canst
not bear them which are evil. I had you go back and check this
just a minute ago. I wanted to make sure I understood
as much as I could about what was being said. I know how thou
canst not bear them which are evil. The bear there means walk
with. He said, I know how you cannot
walk with. them that are evil. Evil here,
it means false in doctrine and practice. You can't bear, you
can't walk with them that are inconsistent with the gospel. Now listen, a lot of us at work,
you got to work every day and I understand that. That's right,
you don't work, you don't eat. And I'm telling you, Work's the
best thing in the world that's ever happened to us, humanly
speaking. Go to work. It's good for you. You need to. And I know you've got to work
around people that hate the gospel of God's free grace. I know that.
But you're in this world, but you're not of it. This scripture
is saying you don't walk with in fellowship with. those that
hate the God that you love. You just don't do it. You can't
do it. You work around them. And I'm sad to say you have to
tolerate them. But you're there, and you're
there by God's good pleasure. You're there by appointment.
But I'm telling you, I don't have any fellowship. Not fellowship. I might have an acquaintance,
but not fellowship. There is nothing to fellowship
with. Light and darkness doesn't go
together. 2. He says, Thou hast tried them
that say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them
liars. There is no tolerance. There
is no tolerance in fellowship. Now I'm not talking about being
mean. Don't be mean to anybody. No, I'm not. I'm telling you
a mean, hard, arrogant spirit, you know, not a believer. Not
a believer. Be you kind one to another. Tender
hearted. I'm not saying be mean to people
that you are around. I'm not saying that at all. I'm
saying you cannot fellowship with them. And the teacher, there's
no tolerance for false teachers. You've tried. How? By the scripture. By the scripture. People say,
well, we're all working for the same thing. No, we're not. No,
no, no, no. I'm not working for the same
thing. Somebody else is preaching a false gospel. I'm not. No.
No, sir. I've received so many phone calls.
People want to know if I go down in Franklin, it happens here.
We're going to have a statewide, no, citywide prayer meeting in
our courthouse down here. I want to know if we can count
on you to come. We'll all stand together in unity and pray."
I said, no. I'm not trying to be mean. I
just can't make it. I'll try to be nice, Mitch. Why? Because I don't agree with
you. We're not praying to the same
God. The God that I trust, look to, is the God of sovereign grace,
electing grace, predestinating grace. Thou hast tried by the
scriptures them which say they're apostles and are not. How do you know? According to
the scriptures. Any man, Galatians 1.18, Paul
says, if we are an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel,
gospel of God's grace, sovereign grace. If we are an angel from
heaven, there was a third of them that
fell, and they're liars. If we are an angel from heaven,
preach any other gospel than that which we've preached unto
you." Now you go back and read the gospel that Paul preached.
Go back and read Ephesians again. Go back and read 2 Thessalonians
again. Go back and read. Read where the Lord says, you've
not chosen me, I chose you. That one that Brother Neil just
read, you know, this is life eternal. That all that the Father's
given me may know me, may know Him, may know Christ. He said,
you've tried by the scriptures them which say they're apostles.
And then the Lord says, and they're not. You found them liars. How do you know? The scriptures
has borne it out. You found them to be liars. This church, the church at Ephesus,
and all churches that God's raised up, there's no unity. with the religion of this world.
I'm not trying to be hard or mean. I'm just honest. I'm just honest. According to
these scriptures, we got to be honest with people. Do you know
the truth is the only thing that's going to set a man free? Somebody
was talking to me the other day and they were talking about,
they said, well, I don't know if I ought to say that, you know, be so
honest. I said, well, I can tell you this, a lie is not going
to set them free. Silence is not going to set them free. The
truth, the truth sets you free. What did the Spirit of God say
through the Apostle Paul? 2 Corinthians 6.17, Wherefore,
come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord,
and touch not the unclean thing, and I'll receive you. Somebody
say, well, what's your advice about going someplace where the
Gospel is not preached? Don't go. Don't go. Why? Wherefore come out from
among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord. If you don't
believe what somebody's preaching, don't sit there. Don't go. Don't
go. Verse 3, And as borne, as patience
for my name's sake, as labor hath not fainted, they continued
patiently there in Ephesus. And all of the afflictions, the
persecutions, For the sake of Christ, they labored. They toiled
in the work of the ministry. The work of the ministry. It's a responsibility that I
have. It's a joy. It's the privilege
and a calling that I have to be prepared. Be prepared. I heard somebody say the other
day, There's three or four of you men sitting here that heard
the same thing. He called himself a preacher.
And he made reference to, he said, well, I don't really worry
too much about, you know, getting notes together and, you know,
making, he said, I just kind of go and I thought, well, that's
a foolish thing to say. A man that God calls, he's prepared
to study. You get into God's Word and you
ask the Lord to give you some direction and study. I have a
responsibility to study and be prepared and ask the Lord's blessing. Asking God to bless the message
to me and bless it to you. Bless it to your understanding.
My understanding, I need to hear what I'm saying. I need to hear
this. I have a responsibility. You that know Him, you that believe,
you have a responsibility to this ministry right here. If
God's called you out of darkness, number one, you hear the gospel.
Attend the hearing of the gospel. Preparation's been made. Be here.
Hear it. Hear it. Support it. Support
it. God's people, they hear it. God's
people support it. God's people pray for one another. God's people pray God's blessing
upon this. We're a family. The Lord says,
He said, you're born with patience, for my sake labored, and you
haven't fainted. You haven't stopped. You haven't
given up. This assembly believed the gospel
of God's grace. They believed it. They believed
that Almighty God chose a people. They believed that. No doubt
about that, they believed it. I just read it back in Acts.
They heard, they received it, they loved it. The Lord was going
to remove Paul. They wept and cried. They believed
that the Lord Jesus Christ died for His elect. They believed
in electing grace. They believed in redeeming grace.
They believed in regenerating grace. They believed that Christ
was made sin for them. They believed that. They believed
in effectual calling. All that the Father giveth me
shall come to me. They believed it. They believed
it. Go back and read it again after
you're done. You read those first three verses right there. He
said, I know your works, your labor, your patience. You can't
bear them that are evil. You tried them. They say they're
apostles. They're not. You found them liars.
You're born with patience. For my sake, you've labored.
That's a good epitaph for a believer. I'm going to tell you something.
You find somebody like you're faithful, faithful, faithful,
and you thank God for them. Thank God for you. Nevertheless, nevertheless, and I'm going to
tell you this now, y'all, I'm talking to me now. I pray the Lord bless you, bless
this next verse to your heart, but I'm going to tell you something.
This is to me. I'll stay right here in this
pulpit and read this verse for myself. And it just, I went over
it again this morning, and it just, my heart, my heart, my
heart. Nevertheless, I have somewhat
against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. Can that be? The Lord said it
was. The Lord said it was. Now he's
talking to believers now. Now I want to make that perfectly
clear. I want to make sure that we all understood. And I want
to make sure that we all understood that he had seen our works and
labors, how we were born, how we couldn't fellowship with those
that don't believe the gospel. Every believer in this congregation
believes the gospel of God's sovereign grace. Every one of
them. Every one of them. Nevertheless,
the Lord here laid bare something that they never considered. Something
they never saw. Something they thought never
really could happen. Something that would cause every
one of us to hide our faces in shame. Now I'm telling you, There's
not a believer in this congregation that's not going to hear this
word and say, that's me. That's me. That's me. Nevertheless, I have something
against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. Now here's
the good thing. Because this, I'm telling you,
my heart is just beating right now. I mean, this is a heavy,
this is a heavy issue right here. He did not say that you didn't
love me at all. And I'm so thankful for that.
He asked Peter, Peter, lovest thou me more than these? He said,
Lord, after three times, Lord, you know all things. You know
all things. Lord, you know I love you. And I'm telling you this morning,
there's not a believer in this congregation that doesn't love
Him. You do love Him. You do love Him. Because if He's
given you a heart for Him, He's given you a heart to love Him.
And you do love Him. Nevertheless, they had grown
complacent. Now that's what it is. You've
left your first love. She didn't abandon it. The church
does not abandon her love for Him. Because if she's ever loved
Him, it's because He loved her first. If He's given her a heart
that loves Him, the gifts of God are without repentance. He
doesn't take them back. Turn over. It's a song of Solomon. Chapter 5, verses 2 and 3. Now here's the absolute. This is the way it is. This is the way it is. Song of
Solomon 5, verses 2 and 3. Here's a beautiful book of the
relationship between the Lord Jesus Christ and His people.
And I'm telling you, they love each other. They love each other. He loves them and she loves him.
Song of Solomon 5-2, I sleep, but my heart waketh. I'm lax. I'm going to admit it.
I'm complacent. I sleep, but my heart's alive. My heart waketh. Now listen to
this. It is the voice of my beloved. God's sheep hear his voice. It is the voice of my beloved
which knocketh, saying, open to me my sister,
my love, my dove, my undefiled, For my head is filled with dew,
and my locks with the drops of the night." You know what that's
setting forth? We studied this right after I
got here. He's never unaware. He's always there. And listen to our answer. I've put off my coat. How shall
I put it on? I've washed my feet. How shall
I defile them? You know what she said to him?
I just don't have time. I don't
have time. I don't have time. The Lord says I have somewhat
against thee. You've become complacent. You
believe the doctrines. There's no doubt about that.
We do. She didn't abandon him because she was kept by power. But her first love, that first
love, the one who is foremost due our love. David said in Psalm
73, 25, Whom have I in heaven but Thee? There's none upon the
earth that I desire but Thee. The problem was not who or what
she believed. But it was her attitude. Her
attitude. And I'm telling you, we that know him agree with this. We agree. You know, I'd hate
to hear my wife say, you just don't treat me like you used
to. And that would hurt. And I think,
really? Oh, I'm sorry. But to hear him
say it, to hear him, listen to these words. Something that he
remembered and set forth, I'll read this, Jeremiah 2.2, Go and
cry in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith the Lord,
I remember thee, the kindness of thy youth, the love of thine
espousals, when thou wentest after me in the wilderness, in
a land that was not sown. The Lord said, I remember. I
remember. At first. When you first heard
the gospel, it was fresh. I had never heard of this. I
remember as the Lord began to reveal himself to me and I was
looking at scriptures and I could remember saying one time, I said,
this is everywhere. Electing, sovereign, enduring
grace. I remember, I remember. You know,
after a while, I can read these blessed scriptures. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath from the beginning chosen
you to salvation, through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the
truth. And I can find myself reading that, and it's so common. Lord, help me that it
might not be. May those words be brought to
my heart from above with fire and rekindle a love for me. Well, may I read that? I'm going
to tell you something. This is me. This is me. Lord, help me from becoming so
familiar with these glorious truths that it would be said
of me, Marvin, I've got something against you. You've left your
first love. You're complacent. Everything
else is so important. And the worship of God is not. Oh, how easily you mechanically,
methodically go through the form of worship. Well, we're here.
We'll have some scripture to read. Marvin's going to preach.
We'll take a break. Marvin will preach. Let's go eat, y'all. Is it not so? There's no depth to which we'd
fall if we weren't chastened, lovingly chastened. Back in Revelation
2 verse 5, listen to the remedy. Is there a remedy? Yes. Yes. Remember. Therefore, from whence
thou art fallen, and repent, do the first works, or else I
will come unto thee quickly, I will remove thy candlestick
out of its place, except thou repent." Thankfully, there's no judgment. There's no judgment. There's
no judgment for God's people. Rebuke chastening whom the Lord
loveth. He chasteneth and corrects. He
corrects. You know, I've heard parents
say, I just love my children too much to correct them. Well,
the Scripture says you don't love them at all. That's what
Scripture says. You don't correct them, you don't
love them. Whom the Lord loveth, He chasteneth,
correcteth. I need to hear this. I need to
hear this. I need to hear that I'm complacent.
I need to hear that I've left my first love. You know what
it does for me? Let me tell you what it does
for me. It makes me want to be like that prodigal. Went out there in the far land,
wasted everything he had, and by the grace of God, came to
himself. He said, I'm going to go back
to my daddy's house, and I'm going to say to my daddy, Dad,
I've sinned against heaven and I've done it before you. Would
you just make me one of the servants? I just want to be here. I just
want to be back. Just give me something to do in the
kitchen. The dad told him, he said, you get some shoes on this
boy. And you put a robe on his back,
and you kill the fatty calf, you put a ring on his face, it's
my boy. It's my boy. It's my boy. And there was rejoicing. This
is my son. Lost, found. You've left your first love.
But remember, be mindful of. Be mindful of, number one, our
deviation. I need to be told. That word
causes me to fly to Him. Oh, what mercy that Almighty
God would cause me to acknowledge my transgression. I am not in
myself blameless. I'm not blameless. And you're
not either. We might as well go ahead and
be honest about it. Listen to Psalm 51.3. This is
David, one that took Bathsheba. Took a woman. Took a man's wife.
Slept with her. Killed her husband. lied about
it. And Almighty God, in His infinite
mercy and grace, sent a prophet to him. And he said, you're the
man. You're wrong. You're wrong. And
the Spirit of God moved on David to pen Psalm 51. In that Psalm,
This is what he said, Psalm 51.3, for I acknowledge my transgressions
and my sin is ever before me. Oh, how thankful I am that God
would not be silent to me. Here's the friend that sticks
closer than a brother. Almighty God is going to chasten
his people. David said, Lord, Don't take
your spirit away from me. I love this congregation. I love you. I thank God for you. I pray that God have mercy upon
us, help us, correct us, cause us to look to Him, cry unto Him,
repent. Do the first works. I thought
about those first works in closing here. Do the first works. I was reading back in 1 Thessalonians
chapter 1. Paul is writing to the church
at Thessalonica. He said, knowing, beloved, your
election of God, remembering without ceasing your work of
faith. Faith is a work, not for salvation, but because of salvation. It's a work that is wrought by
the Spirit of God. It's a work of the Spirit. I
didn't come up with it. I remember your work of faith,
that God has worked a work of grace in my heart. Your work
of faith, your labor of love, your patience of hope in the
Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, those first works. Remember,
therefore, from whence thou art fallen. Do the first works. Lord, I can't, but you can. Lord
have mercy upon me. He said, do the first works or
I will come unto thee. And actually the wording there
is I'm coming. I'll come unto thee and will
remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent. Now I'm telling you, you might
say, well I don't think the Lord would ever do that. Oh my friend,
please, please, let's don't think ourselves too highly. Am I being
too honest to you? I mean, is this just too down
to earth, too honest? I don't think so. I think we
all need to hear it. Katie Baptist Church, this is
one of the places that I've just so highly, for years and years
and years before I ever got here, so thankful that God raised up
a church, raised up a pastor. Lord, don't take your spirit
away. Restore unto me, Psalm 51, verse
12, the joy of thy salvation and uphold me with thy Holy Spirit. We're never going to rise any
higher in this life in casting ourselves upon the mercy of God. Repent. Do the first work or
else I come quickly and will remove thy candlestick out of
his place except thou repent. If the Lord is pleased, as I've
said before, he will move the candlestick. He will. But I'll tell you one other thing
that is also found within that, you know, not only moving the
whole assembly, the building may still be here and there may
still be people in it, but no effectiveness no presence of
His blessing. I'll prove that. Prove that.
Judges 16.3. There was a judge named Samson. Judges 16.20. Samson was a man
raised up by God and mighty. By Samson the Lord He was going
to discipline Israel. He was going to do it through
the Philistines. But God had raised up this man
Samson. He was a strong, mighty man. But he toyed, he toyed with God's
blessing. And here's what happened about
the last time that he told Delilah, this is the source of my strength.
One time he messed around and he told her the truth. Cut his
hair, you know the story. Judges 16 verse 20. He'd fallen
asleep. Delilah said, the Philistines
be upon thee, Samson. He awoke out of his sleep and
he said, I will go out as at other times before and will shake
myself and he wist not that the Lord was departed from him." Lord, don't take your spirit.
Lord, have mercy upon us. Lord, keep us by your grace.
Lord, forgive us. for our attitude. Lord, forgive
us for our inconsistencies. Lord, forgive us that we've lost
our first love. I'm telling you now, listen,
it's not just for Katie. I'm talking about, I could name
any of them. Todd's Road, Central Grace, College Grove, whichever. Cottageville, none of them. There's
not one Grace Church that won't raise their hand and say, I'm
it. That's me. That's me. Every believer
is honest before God, but by the grace of God we are what
we are, kept by the power of God. But this thou hast, verse 6,
thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. Let me just say this very quickly.
Not a lot is known about the Nicolaitans, but more than likely
they were antinomian. Now you say, well what's that?
It's another word, I don't know what it means. Lawless. Lawless. No law for me. It's those that
say they believe the gospel of God's free grace. I believe five
points of Calvinism. I'm a five-pointer. Total depravity,
unconditional election, particular redemption, irresistible grace,
preservation of the saint. Five-pointer right here. Five-pointer.
And it's to say, I believe the gospel of God's grace and therefore
since I'm saved by grace, what difference does it make? What
difference does it make? If I'm saved by grace, kept by
the power of God through faith, I know I'm not going to be lost.
What difference does it make? Shall we sin that grace may abound? God forbid. He said, I know. You hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans.
You hate antinomianism. You hate that lawlessness. God's
people are not saved by law. They are not saved by law, but
they're not lawless people. They're faithful people. He that
hath, last verse, he that hath an ear, let him hear what the
Spirit saith unto the churches. To him that overcometh will I
give to eat of the tree of life, the Lord Jesus Christ himself. God's vine, which is in the midst
of the paradise of God. He that overcometh. 1 John 5
verses 4 and 5 says this, Whatsoever is born of God overcometh
the world, and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even
our faith. Who is he that overcometh the world? But he that believeth
that Jesus is the Son of God. May the Lord bless these words
to our heart, to our conviction, to our restoration unto Him for
Christ's sake.