I'd just like to have a few minutes
with you in those letters with that thought. Thou hast left
thy first love. What is it to lose our first
love? What is it to grow cold? I can speak for myself when I
can't speak for anyone else. that nevertheless it is the testimony
of all of God's people who have been honest with themselves that we are drawn to be thankful to
our God, that it's on account of His faithfulness that I can
stand in the presence of God. I am thankful that the Lord Jesus
Christ is the surety of that better covenant, that eternal
covenant. And as that surety, our God,
God the Father, looks to his Son for everything. He looks
to his Son for faith. He looks to his Son for love
and he finds it, then in our flesh he has left us with this
weakness that we would know something of the need for us to walk humbly
before our God. We would know something of what
it was to be dependent upon him that we are left with this flesh
that causes us As Paul says of the Philippians, you have no
confidence in the flesh. No confidence in the flesh. So
what is it? What is it to leave the first
love? Quite simply I think it is, isn't it? The first love
is that first shining of light upon the Lord Jesus Christ. The
first love is the reception of the Gospel as good news. Not
good advice about something I must do, but good news about something
that's done. It's all about the Lord Jesus
Christ. To have that first love is to
hear the Gospel as a sinner. as a sinner in need of a Saviour. To have that first love is to
be stripped of any righteousness whatsoever. To have that first
love is for the Lord Jesus Christ to be precious and for His blood
to be precious to us. That first love. The love of many grows cold,
says the Lord Jesus Christ. Because of the increase in iniquity,
the love of many grows cold. You would think that when wickedness
grew in this world that there would be an increase in love,
that we have a promise from our God. So I wanted us to go through
these letters and just look what it is to have that first love
and to look at the fact that there are two churches in these
seven that receive a commendation and no rebuke from God. Let's
just look at those briefly. and look at the activities that
go on amongst those believers in those churches. Now, these
are real churches, but also, like all of the Word of God,
it is living and active. And this is written to us here
in Nauru on the 2nd of May, 2021. And if we don't see that as being
relevant and being the essence of it, then we've missed what
God is saying to us through His Word. See what happens to the
two churches, Smyrna and Philadelphia. In Smyrna he says in verse 9,
I know thy works and tribulation and poverty. See they see themselves
and they know themselves to be poverty, to be beggars. but thou art rich. You recall what the Laodiceans
said over there, don't you, in verse 17 of chapter 3, the Laodiceans
said, I'm rich and increased with goods and have need of nothing. See the people in Smyrna have
been granted by God the grace gift of being poor, And I know the blasphemy of them
which say they are Jews and are not, but are of the synagogue
of Satan. Fear none of those things which
thou shalt suffer. You're suffering tribulation,
and there's more coming. There's more coming. Behold,
the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that you may
be tried, and you shall have tribulation ten days. There will
be tribulation, and it's promised from God, and it has a limit.
That's what that means, it has a limit. Be thou faithful unto
death, and I will give thee the crown of life. The Philadelphians
are commended by God. He says in verse 8 of chapter
3, I know thy works, behold, I have set before thee an open
door, and no man can shut it. What a glorious word from our
God. For thou hast little strength. So the people who aren't rebuked
for forsaking their first love have tribulation and they are
impoverished and they're suffering. And they have little strength,
little strength. And has kept my word and has
not denied my name. They have little strength. Is that you? Does that describe
us here today? little strength, but you've kept
his word. You've held on to his word. And that's what you do, don't
you? Where there is no rebuke about
leaving first love, there's tribulation, there's little strength, there's
poverty, and there's a holding on to the word of God. And let's look at what it is
that we might learn from these other letters to these churches
about what it is to lose your first love. There is, I believe, in these
other letters to these other four churches, a picture of declension. And I'm not saying for one moment
that there aren't many, many other pictures involved in all
this, but I want us to just look at it from this perspective for
a little while, the Lord willing. 13, he says to the church in Pergamos,
I know thy works and where thou dwellest, even where Satan's
seat is, that thou holdest fast my name and hast not denied my
faith, even in those days wherein Antipas was my faithful mother,
who was slain among you where Satan dwelleth. But I have a
few things against thee. because thou hast them there
that hold the doctrine of Balaam. You can read about the doctrine
of Balaam. Balaam was the man employed by Balak to come and
curse the people of Israel. He was warned by a donkey not
to go there. And Balaam, if you read his speeches
in Numbers, you will find that Balaam doesn't say one single
word. God. And yet Balaam is held up
before us in the scriptures in any time he's mentioned as being
one of the most notorious false teachers in all of the world
and typifies false teachers. And what was the doctrine of
Balaam? It says there, doesn't it, who
taught Balak to cast a stumbling block before the children of
Israel. What was the stumbling block
before the children of Israel? You go down and you camp beside
them. If you want God to curse Israel,
you go down and you camp beside them. And the Moabitess women
will look very attractive to the Jewish boys and vice versa
with girls and boys on the other side. And you'll have them in
no time at all. Eating things sacrificed unto
idols and to commit fornication. But note what it says. You have
them there. So they're not doing anything
other than being there, which is extraordinary, isn't it? Let's
go down to the next one in Thyatira. He says, I know thy works, verse
19, and charity and service and faith and thy patience and thy
first works. and the last to be more than
the first, notwithstanding I have a few things against thee, because
thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, who calleth herself a prophetess,
to teach. Do you see, in the church in
Pergamos, you have them there, so you tolerate them in your
presence. In Thyatira, you suffer her to teach and to seduce. my servants to commit fornication
and eat things sacrificed unto idols. Jezebel, of course, is
the wife of Ahab and she was the one that introduced and supported
and promoted the worship of Baal in Israel in those days of Elijah
the prophet. You know what happened on Mount
Carmel where the Lord revealed himself after three and a half
years of drought. And he came to that mountain
and he made sure that all the prophets of Baal were there at
the mountain as well. And he had them set up these two altars,
didn't they? And the prophets of Baal whipped
themselves and the prophets of Baal cried out to Baal all day
long and Elijah mocks them. In fact, he says in one case
in the original, he says, maybe he's gone to the bathroom and
he needs to be woken up. And of course, that nothing happens
and then Elijah makes that altar with stones
and digs a trench around it and lays the ox upon the altar and
then fills the ditch with water. and calls upon the God of Israel. And it's the God who responds
by fire who will be the true God. And it's a remarkable picture
of the Lord Jesus Christ. And what happened? The fire came
down from heaven and it not only consumed the sacrifice, it consumed
the stones, it licked up the water and it consumed the dust.
The fire of God's wrath that fell on the Lord Jesus Christ
didn't consume him. Why? Because he consumed the
fire. All of the wrath of God from
all of God's children fell on the Lord Jesus Christ and he
consumed it. dead but alive again. And the
prophets of Baal are then killed and Elijah flees from Jezebel
because he's frightened of her. And you know something of the
rest of the story, Elijah meets with the Lord down at Mount Sinai. And basically God says to him,
what are you doing down here, Elijah? What are you doing down
here? You don't come to God by Mount
Sinai. You go back across the Jordan
and the chariot will come and collect you and take you to heaven.
But Jezebel was that woman. So it's interesting, isn't it?
In Pergamos you have them there, in Thyatira they are teaching,
they are allowing this woman, and I think it's
a picture of false religion of all sorts, to teach and seduce.
In Sardis, What an extraordinary word from
God to Sardis in verse 1 of chapter 3. Unto the church of Sardis write
these things, say of he that has the seven spirits of God
and the seven stars, I know thy works. God knows their works. And thou hast a name that thou
livest and art dead. They're living on the basis of
their reputation. They're living on the basis of
what they have done. And what a remarkable reputation
these churches had. No other churches could say it
in all of history, what could they? Planted by Paul, pastored
by Timothy, and these others we read of in the New Testament,
John as the bishop and overseer of them, They knew these people
personally. They had in their midst someone
who had leant upon the breast of the Lord Jesus Christ. The
only apostle who had been at the cross and watched the blood
flow and seen the spear piercing the heart of the Lord Jesus Christ
and out come water and blood. What a remarkable testimony.
Those guys didn't have any. What a history they had. How
many, how many. How many have a nine that you
leave and you're dead? How God asks searching questions. questions of me I trust he asked
searching questions of you but I love what he says even to these
people be watchful and strengthen verse 2 which that things which
remain that are ready to die Isn't one of the most amazing
pictures of the Lord Jesus Christ in all of the scriptures? That
a smoking flax he will not quench. You know what a flax plant is?
They have long, very sinuous leaves. They used to use them
up the road from us for tying vegetables together. They're
so strong and you can make paper out of them and all sorts of
things. But you can also make a wick out of a piece of flax.
And you can imagine it, can't you? A smoking flax he will not
quench. All it is is this piece of grass,
and all that there is is a sign of life. There's a little bit
of smoke, but inside of that is a little flame. And he says,
I'm not going to quench it. I'm not going to quench it. A
smoking flax he will not quench. A bruised reed, nothing could
be weaker than a bruised reed. Be watchful and strengthen. Let's
go down to the Laodiceans. You see what's happened? I just
want you to follow the pattern. And like I said, there are many,
many others in these letters. In Pergamos they have them there. In Thyatira they're teaching
and seducing. In Sardis they're living on the
basis of their reputation and what they've done in the past.
And the Laodiceans, what do they say? Thou sayest, verse 17, I am rich
and increased in goods and have need of nothing. Verse 15, the
Lord says, I know thy works that thou art neither cold nor hot. I would that thou wert cold or
hot. I don't have time to look at
all of that. But to be cold is to be uncomfortable.
I don't like being cold. And the older I get, the more
uncomfortable I am in the heat. in the city where my friend Gilbert
is in Hyderabad, the temperatures this time of the year generally
reach in the high 40s, and that for another month. These people
are suffering in the most extraordinary conditions of heat. And I don't
like heat. The older I get, the more I like
my air conditioner. comfortable isn't it? It's to
be neither hot nor cold. So then, verse 16, because thou
art lukewarm, neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of
my mouth. Because thou sayest, I am rich
and increased with goods and have need of nothing, and knowest
not that thou art wretched and miserable and poor and blind
and naked. It's a remarkable declension
in a church that had the most remarkable history and the most
remarkable people teaching it. What a lesson. What a lesson
it is for us. You see, the church in Smyrna
is impoverished and in tribulation, but the church in Laodicea is
rich. The church in Philadelphia has
little strength, but the church in Laodicea says, I have need
of nothing. These are letters to the churches
and they're letters to us personally. And let's finish with verse 18. I counsel thee to buy of me. What do you buy with? without money, without price,
says Isaiah. I counsel thee to buy me gold,
tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich. And white raiment
that thou mayest be clothed, the white raiment in the next
pages over is the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's
the only clothing for people in the presence of God is the
righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. That the shame of thy
nakedness do not appear. And anoint thine eyes with eye
salve that thou mayest see. as many as I love. So it begins,
these letters to the churches, it begins with a rebuke about
leaving your first love. It ends with what the Lord will
do in the lives of his people. God rebukes all that he loves
and he chastens all that he calls to come near him. As many as
I love, verse 19, I rebuke and chasten. Be zealous, therefore,
and repent. Behold, verse 20. It's one of
the most misquoted and misunderstood verses in all the scriptures,
isn't it? I stand at the door and knock. If he's standing at
the door of a church that claims to be his, then he's not inside. That's really the picture, isn't
it? I stand at the door and knock, and if any man hear my voice
and open the door, I will come into him, and will suck with
him, and he with me. Now, you know, something, what's
exercised some of my thoughts this week, I trust the Lord causes
us in this time that we have in his presence. to allow for
his questions to be asked of us. and to have him wonderfully and
graciously come and bring a clothing and bring an eye salve and bring
gold tried in the fire that we might be rich in his presence.
May the Lord bless his words to our hearts. Let's have a break
for a second.