This is the Truth Network. Welcome to Ignite the Light Ministries radio and podcast. It is our mission to help listeners develop a deeper relationship with Jesus by sharing what the Bible says and what it means. We aim to encourage and equip you to serve others, share the gospel, and reflect Christ in every aspect of your life. I'm Pastor Wyatt Cudd.
Thank you for tuning in.
So today, last week we did an overview of the beginning seven letters to the churches in Revelation. Did an overview, got a bird's eye look. at it. Today we're going to be looking a little more closely. at two specific letters.
Um We're just going to do them in order. We're going to do them in the order of how God revealed them. This is not a time for me to get creative. We're just going to do them in the order that God revealed them. But I think you will see some commonalities and some differences between these two churches.
So if you got your Bibles, we are going to be in Revelation. Chapter 2 Verses 1 through 11. Revelation chapter 2. Verses 1 through 11. Go ahead and turn there with me if you got it.
All right, so to recap a couple things before we get started. The word revelation means a symbolic unveiling. of the things to come. We see in Revelation 1, This vision of Jesus with a lot of elements of symbolism and figurative language. And the point of this vision is to communicate that Jesus in every aspect holds the absolute Authority.
When Jesus speaks We Listen.
Now something I didn't mention last week is that each of these churches are an archetype, a model.
So to use football for an example, I don't know much about football, but I know a little bit. Quarterback. The quarterback is an archetype or a type of player. The quarterback's gotta be able to throw long. He's gotta be able to throw wise.
Tom Brady. Quarterback, I think he's a quarterback, right? Yeah, yeah. Tom Brady, he's a quarterback. He's not so much.
Tom Brady's a quarterback, but not all quarterbacks are Tom Brady. But you wouldn't want a lineman to play as your quarterback. These are different types of players in the game of football. The advice you give to a quarterback And the advice you give to alignment of how to do what they're doing well is going to be different. It's the same thing with these churches.
Each are struggling with specific things. And our church, along with other churches, can find themselves in these similar places. You see these letters, they're not just History They're a diagnosis. A diagnosis of common problems. the churches can face.
The Church of Ephesus, the first one we're going to look at. They are doctrinally sound. But they're drifting. in their love. Have you ever been in a church like that?
Smyrna is poor in their resources. but rich in their faith. These are archetypes, models, and if our church is struggling with.
Something similar to these churches. What Jesus says is the diagnosis and the treatment. Two words.
So let's begin here. Revelation Chapter 2, starting here at verse 1. I'm going to do a clean read-through and just let scripture speak for itself, and then we'll talk about it.
So to the Church of Ephesus. To the angel of the church in Ephesus, write. These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands. I know your deeds. Your hard work.
your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked people, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. Verse 3, you have persevered and have endured hardships. for my name, and have not grown. We are eating.
Yet I hold this against you, You have forsaken the love you had at first. Consider how far you have fallen. Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place. But you have this in your favor.
You hate the practices of the Nicolitians? I think I pronounced it right. Which I also hate. Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the ones who is victorious, I give the right to eat from the tree of life.
which is the paradise of God.
Okay.
So let's ease into this. First off, the church has a lot of good qualities. This church also has a good bit of room to grow. And Jesus, we talked about last week, Jesus delivers this information to them in a sort of compliment sandwich. You have the good, you have the things they need to approve on, and then you have more good.
You remember talking about this last week? Even in the structure of how Jesus is addressing them, there's something we can learn. about communicating with each other. We have an interplay of both love And Truth. Because Truth without love.
It's cold. But love without truth It's hollow. Even in the structure of this letter, Jesus delivers truth. But you see. He wraps it.
in love. The truth is given, but it's surrounded on all sides. By love. Makes me think of an aspirin. I like aspirin.
Yeah, you got some candy coating on the outside, and it's sweet. But the inside has exactly what we need. to help us.
Now thank God for the child locker. I'd be eating those things like they're M ⁇ Ms. But it makes me think of aspirin. Delivering truth in love is so important. It's crucial for our relationships both with each other and the world.
We have to be kind and sweet to one another. But not at cost. to honesty. This is something that sets us apart from the world. I've seen the world argue bitterly over truth.
Conflict, war, much violence happens over this. Why? Because people don't care what you know. And let's say no. How much you care?
And it's like, where is the love? But more recently, I've seen America swing the other direction. Where truth is not welcome, but only Love. And these people will love each other. to help.
And it's worn like a virtue, a badge of honor. Look at how loving I am. My love is so great, I can even take the venomous serpent into my embrace and love him too. And it's killing you and everyone else. Where's the truth?
Truth must be given. But we must wrap it. In love.
Alright, so let's look here at verse 2. To the angel of the church in Ephesus, write, well, this is verse 1. These are the words of him who hold the seven lampstands in his right hand and walk among the golden lampstands.
So yes, the church will read this letter, but Jesus is charging the angel of this church to encourage them and convict them of these things as well. See, our faith is not simply a behavior modification. Input this and then output that.
Now, there's certainly sanctification and growing to be more like Christ, but there is a supernatural undergirding. To it through the angel, through the Holy Spirit in our lives. We do not do this alone. He convicts us. He encourages us.
This is Grace. We don't do it alone. These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the golden lampstands.
So this is pointing back to the vision. In Revelation 1, Jesus is clarifying the authority of his words. When Jesus speaks, we listen. What he's saying here is I speak by the authority of holding the spirit of your church in the palm of my hand. I established your lampstand.
Not only that, I walk Among you. I know you intimately. He says, I know your deeds, your hard work, your perseverance that you cannot tolerate. Wicked people.
So Jesus starts with praise. And all these things are true.
So, let me give you some background on the church of Ephesus. We can understand. where they are and how they got where they are.
Now Ephesus was a major port city, a commercial hub in Asia Minor. That would be modern day West Turkey. This city was very influential to the Roman Empire, but this city had the temple of Artemis. It was made a hub for pagan worship. And this church is right in the middle of it.
in the middle of pagan worship spiritual confusion. And like many cities in the Roman Empire, Ephesus worshipped the Roman Emperor Caesar as. God. Obviously, Christians must refuse to do this. And you can see how that claim Jesus is king was so controversial.
It was a direct affront. to their governments. This was their government. They demanded worship, so the stakes of being Christian in Ephesus was very high.
Now we jump to verse 6 here. Jesus also says, You hate the practice of the Nicolatians. I think that I got it right that time. The Nicolatians, who I also hate. The church was known for their theological precision.
The Nicolatians were Christian heretics that encouraged idol worship and immoral behavior alongside of worship. With Jesus, and Ephesus rejected them. Good on them.
So, this church had high stakes for being Christian, and many lies are coming to their door. They have claimed to truth.
Well. But their hearts are hardening. and they're losing sight. Of love. That's what we talked about.
All truth. I love love. It's a problem. Truth must be wrapped in love.
So verse 4 he says, Yet I hold this against you. You've forsaken the love you had at first.
Now we know in the Greek we got four different types of love. This one in the Greek is a parsing of agape, which is. Godly love. sacrificial Love.
So this kind of love is the love of our enemies. It is loving at cost. to ourselves the same way God loves. us. This is what sets us apart from the world.
We do fine with the reciprocal love. That part comes natural. Tit for tat, you do this for me, I do this for you. It's the sacrificial love, loving when it's not reciprocated that we're called to.
Now this church surrounded on all sides by pagans. Demanded by their government that they worship Caesar, and you got false Christian doctrine seeping in through the walls. How on earth? Could they not be expected to grow a little hard? and a little defensive with this is what they're dealing with.
The world's not going to love me, I'm not going to love it. I want to read a quote for you. Do unto others as they do unto you. Makes sense.
Somebody treats me poorly, why would I treat them better? Tit for tat, do unto others as they do unto you. Didn't Jesus say that? No. That is actually a quote from the satanic Bible.
Do unto others as they do to you. When Jesus said in Luke 6:31, it's due unto others as you would have them do unto you. You see, the Christians, Christians, the world, even the Satanists agree with the first part of this process. You give initial courtesy to somebody. When somebody is kind to you, you respond kindly.
When we disagree and somebody treats me terribly or without love or somebody treats me without respect, that's where we disagree. The world says treat them the same as they treated you. They don't deserve it, do they? That's not love. That's survival of the fittest.
Jesus says, Love your enemies. And he modeled it: Love your enemies, even if they spit in your face. even if they tear your beard out. Love your enemies all the way. The cross How on earth am I supposed to do that?
That doesn't make sense. Do to others as they do to me. That makes sense. I can understand that. That comes natural.
That's how the world. Worse. Church. The only way we can love our enemies is by being connected to Christ and receiving His love first. His love is so powerful, so strong, so overwhelming, it will come to us and we won't be able to contain it.
It will overflow through us into our relationships. If we want to love our enemies, We have to be connected to Christ, the true vine. Be connected to Christ if you want to love people like Christ. Christ. That's what Jesus is calling this church to return to.
Return to agape love like you first had. I can only love people. who hate me, who don't treat me with love. by an outpouring of Christ's love. Otherwise, survival of the fittest.
Tit for tat, that's the only thing that comes natural. It has to come from Christ. We have to be connected to Christ if we're going to love like Christ. And this kind of agape love is what separates us, breaks down barriers, and what introduces the world into a new way of living and to their new king. What happened to the Church of Ephesus is they've held on to truth.
But they have lost sight of Adape. Love. That's the diagnosis. What's the treatment? Jesus says to them verse 5.
Consider how far you've fallen. Repent and do the things you did. At first.
So repent. Turn from this. Two-face Me. Turn away from this and face and focus on me. is what he's saying.
And then it says, return to the basics, return to what you did at first. If you find yourself struggling, With your faith? or you're feeling doubts? Pray the way you used to pray when you were on fire. Read the Bible the way you used to do.
Call on Jesus expectantly like you used to. Remember when you were on fire and what you were doing, and return to that worship like you used to. Remember those songs you used to listen to when you felt the fire of God? Listen to them again the way you used to. Come to church like you used to.
Turn from that sin again like you used to. Brothers and sisters, we don't ever graduate. from the basics. of the face.
Sometimes we need a reset. And this is the treatment. It works. Return to the love. you had at first.
Verse 7 says, Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear what the Spirit says to the church. To the one who is victorious, I will give them the right to eat of the tree of life. which is in the paradise of God. When we see a broken and hateful world, it should break our hearts. These people need Jesus.
They need a love that they don't understand. But we can only respond to the world When we are in step with the Spirit, Leaning on Jesus daily, coming and receiving our daily bread. We say, give us, Lord, our daily bread. That's the model Jesus gives. We don't say, give us, Lord, our weekly bread.
Give us, Lord, our annual bread. God, next week's gonna be busy. Can I get this week's bread and next week's bread too? That's not how it works. Jesus will never give you stato provisions.
He's going to give you exactly what you need when you need it. We're going to talk about this when we get to the persecuted church. Jesus gives you what you need when you need it.
So we do this. We receive our daily bread so Christ's love can flow to us and through us. This church has lost sight of that. And Jesus is calling them to repentance. Return to the fundamentals.
Here's the sound bite for today. Truth without love is cold. Love without truth is hollow. Jesus calls us to this. And by approaching the world with both love and truth, he gives us the right to eat of the tree of life.
The Church of Ephesus, it's a good example. We can be very busy. For Jesus. But yet we can be distant. From Jesus.
We can trade out intimacy. for activity. But you see, Jesus doesn't just want our service. He wants our hearts.
Okay.
Let's continue here. We're going to move to the church of Smyrna, the persecuted church. Revelation 2. 8 through 11. Starting here at verse 8.
To the angel of the Church of Smyrna, write. These are the words of him who is the first and the last who died and came to life again. I know your afflictions. and your poverty. Yet you are rich.
I know about the slander of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. Do not be afraid. of what you're about to suffer. I tell you the devil will put some of you in prison to test you. and you will suffer persecution for ten days, but be faithful.
Even to the point of death. And I will give you your victor's crown. Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who is victorious will not be hurt at all. By the second death.
So, for context, Smyrna was in a similar situation as our previous church. There were many pagan temples. The word Simyrna actually comes from the word myrrh, which is a bitter resin used for embalming the dead. Fitting for a church that's facing death and persecution.
Now they had almost the exact same political, social, and legal pressure to worship their government, to worship Caesar. They had pagan temples to Apollo, to Zeus. They had all the same external pressures as Ephesus. Smyrna could have fallen into this same trap of I'm clinging to truth. And I'm dropping love.
Samyrna could have fallen into that same trap, hardening their hearts, but they didn't. You got the same ingredients in the pot. Why is this church different? Because this church had remained connected to Christ, Even through everything. Truth and love are there Together.
You'll notice in our read through, Jesus actually had no criticism, no call to repentance for this church. There was nothing for them to repent from that his fiery eyes could see. They actually proved to us this other church failing is avoidable.
So why are they being punished? Why are they going through persecution? Because faithfulness draws fire. If we're under attack, Might actually mean we're on target. Praise God.
We're worth the devil's time. That's what that means. We're worth the devil's time. Now Jesus speaks into their circumstance by his authority. What's his authority?
That is the picture and vision of Jesus John had in Revelation 1. In verse 8, Jesus highlights this portion of the picture. He who is the first and the last, who died and came to life again, by that authority, Jesus speaks to this persecuted church. Verse 10 he says, Do not be afraid. of what you're about to suffer.
I'm the first, I'm the last, I see it all. I see where you're going and what the outcome is going to be. Not only that, I understand your pain. I was crucified by the people I love. But death could not hold me.
Don't worry. Death cannot hold you either.
So interesting to me. the more we become like Christ. the more our lives will mirror Christ. Verse 10 also says, I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you. You will suffer persecution for 10 days.
Be faithful even to the point of death and I will give you life. What? That's rough to hear. I think if I was in their situation and I'm facing this kind of persecution, That'd be hard for me to receive. The only person I could receive that from is somebody who can see the outcome.
Somebody who's been through it themselves. That's Jesus. I know the road is hard in front of you, but do not be afraid. Even if it gets worse. I know where this leads.
I know exactly how it's going to feel. But you can trust me, I wrote this story. Jesus says, verse 9: I know your afflictions and your poverty, yet you are rich. How can Jesus say that? Because they're doing what Ephesus is not doing.
They are staying connected to Jesus, the source of all blessing, of all riches, of all love, and all truth. They're connected to Jesus and it's spilling out of their lives into everyone else's lives. That's why they're persecuted. Satan sees them as a threat because they're doing exactly what they're called to do. We talked about it last week.
If you stay connected to Jesus... If you follow his Lead. You will experience persecution. Jesus promises that. Praise God.
We are worth it. Take his time. Hey there. I hope this sermon has enriched your day. If you like this message, I want to personally invite you to join us for Sunday worship.
We have two locations in Virginia, Trinity Methodist Church in Concord and Mount Comfort Methodist Church in Appomattox. Come join us Sunday morning at 9.45 and we will help you get connected. As always, I'm Pastor Wyatt Cudd. Thank you for tuning in.
