9 I, John, your brother and partner in the tribulation and the kingdom and the patient endurance that are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos on account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. 10 I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet 11 saying, “Write what you see in a book 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.”
12 Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands, 13 and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest. 14 The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire, 15 his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters. 16 In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength.
17 When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, “Fear not, I am the first and the last,18 and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.19 Write therefore the things that you have seen, those that are and those that are to take place after this.20 As for the mystery of the seven stars that 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 are the seven churches.
To the Church in Ephesus
2:1 “To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: ‘The words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand, who walks among the seven golden lampstands.
2 “‘I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false.3 I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name’s sake, and you have not grown weary.4 But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first.5 Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent.6 Yet this you have: you hate the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.7 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.’
9 I, John, your brother and partner in the tribulation and the kingdom and the patient endurance that are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos on account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. 10 I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet 11 saying, “Write what you see in a book 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.”
12 Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands, 13 and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest. 14 The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire, 15 his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters. 16 In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength.
17 When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, “Fear not, I am the first and the last,18 and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.19 Write therefore the things that you have seen, those that are and those that are to take place after this.20 As for the mystery of the seven stars that 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 are the seven churches.
To the Church in Ephesus
2:1 “To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: ‘The words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand, who walks among the seven golden lampstands.
2 “‘I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false.3 I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name’s sake, and you have not grown weary.4 But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first.5 Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent.6 Yet this you have: you hate the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.7 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.’
Redeemer exists to celebrate and declare the gospel of God as we grow in knowing and following Jesus Christ.
Joel Brooks:
I invite you to open your bibles to Revelation chapter 2. Although I think I could just listen to that prayer again. I I really could. Amen. Revelation chapter 2, if you're looking for it, it's the last book in the Bible.
Joel Brooks:
We're gonna depart from 1st Corinthians for the next 9 weeks or so to look at the book of Revelation. We're not gonna be looking at the whole book. We're just gonna be looking at the first three chapters and the last three chapters of the book of Revelation, largely because I don't understand the middle of it. Alright? I say that only in half half jest.
Joel Brooks:
Revelation is a pretty confusing book, largely because all the imagery that's used there, all the symbolism that's there. John Calvin famously preached through 65 books of the Bible. He only left out one, Revelation. But growing up in the church, at least for me as a child, Revelation was the book we kept going to over and over. I can remember going to entire youth conferences about the book of Revelation.
Joel Brooks:
Long debates about whether the Visa credit card was really the number 666. I'm not making this up. I remember us wondering if Mikhail Gorbachev was Satan or if it was Pee wee Herman. And we just we debated who was the antichrist. Thankfully, we've largely moved past that as a church, but this book is is confusing.
Joel Brooks:
It's what we call apocalyptic literature. Actually the the word revelation is the word apocalypsis. It's the Greek word for apocalypse. But we no longer call this book the apocalypse to John, because apocalypse means something different in our culture. I mean, if I mention apocalypse to you, instantly you're probably thinking zombie apocalypse.
Joel Brooks:
You're you're thinking some kind of end time catastrophic event that brings the end of the world, but that's not what apocalypse meant to John's audience. Apocalypse really is just getting a vision and seeing things from heaven's perspective. It's heaven's perspective on things is an apocalypse. Sometimes this is a vision into the future, but usually it's just a vision showing what's going on here and now. So as you're just going on through life, as you're eating and you're drinking and you're driving in your cars and going to work and you're tucking kids in bed and you're doing normal life, what's really going on?
Joel Brooks:
When Heaven looks at this, what is really going on in our normal life? And so an apocalypse is when the curtain is drawn back, and we get to see things from God's perspective. And we get to see the things that we we think are so mundane and have little weight actually have incredible weight to God. And so this apocalypse, it wakens us up to these realities that are really all around us, but our eyes are hidden to. And so that's the book of Revelation.
Joel Brooks:
It's it's given to the church to show us a little peek behind the curtain as to what's really going on. Now this book is a letter. It's a letter to the church. In particular, it's a letter to 7 churches. And, and it was kind of this circular letter that they were to read and then to pass along to the next church.
Joel Brooks:
It was like, it was the first version of, you know, the emails that you get. You know, read this, forward it, and you'll be blessed. Alright. That's the book of Revelation. Alright.
Joel Brooks:
The church was to read this, and then they were to forward it to another church, and then they would be blessed. And it was to cycle all the way around to these churches. But the entire letter is written to all of these churches, but within the letter, there's there's smaller letters written to each individual church. And that's what we're gonna spend our next few weeks really looking at is these individual letters to these specific churches. And this morning, we're gonna start with the letter to the church of Ephesus.
Joel Brooks:
Alright. So let's begin reading Revelation chapter 1. We'll read in verse 9. I, John, your brother and partner in the tribulation and the kingdom and the patient endurance that are in Jesus was on the island called Patmos on account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. I was in the spirit on the Lord's day, and I heard behind me a voice like a trumpet saying, write what you see in a book, and send it to the 7 churches, to Ephesus, and to spurn or to Smyrna, and to Pergamum, to Thyatira, and to Sardis, and to Philadelphia, and Laodicea.
Joel Brooks:
Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning, I saw 7 golden lampstands. And in the midst of the lampstands, 1 like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest. The hairs on his head were white like wool. As white as snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire.
Joel Brooks:
His feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace. And his voice was like the roar of many waters. In his right hand, he held 7 stars. From his mouth came a sharp 2 edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength. When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead.
Joel Brooks:
But he laid his right hand on me saying, fear not. I am the 1st and the last and the living one. I died, and behold, I am alive forevermore. And I have the keys of death and Hades. Write therefore the things that you have seen, those that are and those that are to take place after this.
Joel Brooks:
As for the mystery of the 7 stars that you saw my right hand, and the 7 golden lampstands, these 7 stars are the angels of the 7 churches, and the 7 lampstands are the 7 churches. To the angel of the church in Ephesus, write, the words of him who holds the 7 stars in his right hand, who walks among the 7 golden lampstands. I know your works, your toil, and your patient endurance. And how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false. And I know you are enduring patiently, and bearing up for my name's sake, and you have not grown weary.
Joel Brooks:
But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. Remember, therefore, from where you have fallen. Repent and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent. Yet this you have, you hate the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.
Joel Brooks:
He who has an ear, let him hear what the spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers, I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God. This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. If you would pray with me.
Joel Brooks:
Our father, we ask that you would open up your word to us. Not that we can know more things, but that way, we might know you. That we can hear from you. That our love and our passion that you have put in our hearts would be reignited towards you. I pray that you would use these words to deepen our affection and adoration of you.
Joel Brooks:
And I pray that my words would fall to the ground and blow away and not be remembered anymore. But, Lord, may your words remain, and may they change us. We pray this in the strong name of Jesus. Amen. So if you wanted, you could still visit Ephesus today.
Joel Brooks:
It sits in western Turkey, and you can see a lot of the ruins from the 1st century. There's still a number of large buildings, that you can see where they stood and a lot of the the stones and foundation. The amphitheater is still there. It is an enormous amphitheater. The ruins of the temple of Artemis is still there.
Joel Brooks:
Artemis was one of the wonders of the world at its time. And if you were to just kinda go through the city, you can kinda get a feel for what 1st century Ephesus looked like. But one thing you will not find if you were to go to Ephesus today is a church. There is not a single active church in Ephesus or in any of the surrounding region. They're all gone.
Joel Brooks:
And this would have been unthinkable for John's audience here. That there could be no churches in Ephesus because Ephesus was the hub of Christianity for centuries. Other churches, Christian writers would point to Ephesus as the example of Christian faith and practice. To not have a church in Ephesus would be like not having a church in Birmingham, in the the very middle of the Bible Belt. I mean, it would be unthinkable for us to go through Birmingham and try to imagine that all of the large churches that are around now were gone.
Joel Brooks:
They've become lofts, theaters, city halls. But they are no longer places where Christians gather together for worship. Just think, could that really happen? Could that happen in Birmingham? Well, it happened in Ephesus.
Joel Brooks:
Once again, not a single active church is to be found there. And there might be Christians there, but they're in hiding. Jesus himself, he warns them that this might happen. Verse 5, he says, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place unless you repent. And this is a severe warning.
Joel Brooks:
Removing the lamp stand is removing the church's presence from the city, which happened. It's closing the church doors. But the church doors here, they're not closed because of some political pressure or some new laws that were passed to make it illegal to worship. The church doors were not closed because of persecution or some rival religion. The church doors were closed because Jesus Himself closed the doors.
Joel Brooks:
That is sobering. Just makes you ask, I mean, why would Jesus close the doors of the church in Ephesus. It's gotta it's gotta be something big. I mean, it had to be something pretty severe. Maybe it was rampant sexual immorality.
Joel Brooks:
That's why I closed the door. Maybe there was false teachers that were coming up, or people were believing a lot of heresy. Maybe maybe that was it, but it's not. Jesus closed the doors at Ephesus because they had abandoned the love they had at first. They were no longer a loving church.
Joel Brooks:
Just let that sick. This really isn't a complicated passage. It's not. It's a heavy one, but it's not a complicated one. It's just one that sobers us up and demands our full attention.
Joel Brooks:
When I read this, I'm reminded of Jesus's conversation with Peter after the resurrection. Peter on whom he's gonna build the entire church. You're the rock, I'm gonna build it. And after the resurrection, he didn't tell Peter, now are you ready to serve me? Peter, now do you believe in me?
Joel Brooks:
Peter, are you ready to now take great risk and show extraordinary faith for me? The only question he asked Peter, the rock on whom the entire church will be built, is Peter, do you love me? Peter, do you love me? Peter, do you love me? Because if you don't love me, there can be no church.
Joel Brooks:
Now this would have come as a shock to the Ephesians, largely because he first praises them. I mean, they've been doing a lot of really good things. You look at verse 2, and he he says, you've worked hard. You you toil. These are not lazy Christians.
Joel Brooks:
I know people from my generation or older are always looking at the millennial Christians thinking, oh, you're just such lazy Christians. The church is doomed. That didn't doom the church. That's that's not what's going on here. This is a church that's working hard.
Joel Brooks:
They have patient endurance, Meaning they're not easily discouraged, but they keep moving forward no matter the obstacles, no matter what comes their way. They patiently endure it, move forward. Jesus goes on to say, they cannot bear with those who are evil, but they have tested those who call themselves apostles and have found them to be false. Meaning, this was a church with good doctrine. They were solid theologically.
Joel Brooks:
They could sniff out heresy from a mile away, and they were happy to do it. They didn't bend their theology in order to become culturally relevant. They were not swayed by Oprah, whatever she would say or the media would say on the TV. They would say, No, that's false. Scripture says this.
Joel Brooks:
They didn't pick up, you know, the latest Time Magazine or latest book on heaven and were convinced by it. They were the ones who refused to go to the movie, the book, Shack. You know, it's The Shack because, hey, it's full of all of these errors. They knew their theology. And they discarded the stuff that didn't belong in the church, rightfully so.
Joel Brooks:
Says they couldn't endure this. Verse 3, Jesus tells them, I know you are enduring though, persecution. They were having their possessions taken away. They were losing their homes. Some were being tortured, some were being killed.
Joel Brooks:
And yet, despite all that, they kept their faith. I love that he says, I know this. Jesus knows this. He's watching, and He says, I know what you're going through. And so far, listen to how Jesus has been describing this church.
Joel Brooks:
He describes the church as full of Christians who are patient, hard workers. They endure evil. They are sound theologically that they hold fast to what is true. They keep the faith even when it means being persecuted. I mean, he is describing the kinda church I wanna go to.
Joel Brooks:
That model church that I think we'd all love to be a part of. And that's what makes these next words so shocking when you get to verse 4. When he says, but I have this against you. I mean, you know nothing good is gonna come after that statement. Jesus, remember once again, he's the one holding the stars, lampstands, this power sword out of his mouth, sounds like thunder when he's speaking.
Joel Brooks:
Like every image to kind of invoke power has just been displayed before us. This Jesus now turns to the church and says, I have this against you. And he says they have left the love that they had at first. I don't know if any of this sounds familiar to you. A couple of weeks ago, we pretty much went right through this when we talked about 1st Corinthians 13.
Joel Brooks:
I could almost get an MP 3 player up here and just play the sermon from 2 weeks ago, in which Paul was describing the very thing that the Ephesians were doing. And he says this, if I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I'm a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have all prophetic powers and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, And if I have faith, all faith, so as to remove mountains, but I have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but I have not love, I gain nothing. So Paul told the Corinthians that even if they were extremely gifted, had powerful proclamation, had a really good deep theology, had strong faith, endured patiently suffering, even if at the very at giving of their lives.
Joel Brooks:
Says you have did all that and you didn't have love. You're nothing. And Jesus is saying the same things to the Ephesians. You could be doing all of this, but if you don't love, you're in danger of being nothing. Without love, there is no church.
Joel Brooks:
The lampstand is gonna be removed. So the Ephesians had abandoned their first love. There's some debate as to, what is this love? Is Jesus the object of the love or is it talking about loving others? I don't think you really have to make a distinction as to which love.
Joel Brooks:
You love Jesus, you love others. You can't love others without fully loving Jesus. And so he's talking about just love in general at the church. A love for God and that resulting in a love for others. They are no longer doing that like they used to do when they first heard the gospel and were converted.
Joel Brooks:
But what does it mean to abandon the love that you had at first? It's strong language, to abandon or to forsake that love. I don't think, I mean, I don't think the Corinthians just I mean, the Ephesians just woke up one morning and just thought, you know what? Today's a really good day to just kinda forsake our love for Jesus. You know?
Joel Brooks:
And it just happened overnight. That's not how we forsake the love that we had at first. We don't wake up and decide to do it, but there comes a time we might wake up and realize that somewhere along the road, we had done it. And it just kinda came gradually upon us as we just kinda journeyed through life. Now unfortunately, I think we have seen this countless times in marriages.
Joel Brooks:
And I'm not talking about divorce. I'm not talking about couples that get divorced. I'm talking about marriages that are described as strong, solid, committed. I mean, husbands I mean, how would your wife feel since you're like, well, how do we describe our marriage? It's strong.
Joel Brooks:
It's solid. It's committed. She's like, and passionate? And is there is there love? Is there affection?
Joel Brooks:
That's what the wife wants to know. Those things should really define a marriage, but but I've seen many marriages just move away from that, yet they're deeply committed to one another. I mean, you know when a couple first begins dating, everything's magic. You know, there's that first date and, you know, the guy sees the girl kinda walking his way and you could swear you hear like string music playing. You know, doves flying around.
Joel Brooks:
You know, she comes, you'll sit down at the table together and you begin to just say stupid things. Things you would never normally say, but somehow you just, they come out of your mouth like, do you like food? And then you're like, that's stupid. I mean, not that you look like you like food. Not that it would be wrong if you look like and you know, and you're just like, shut up.
Joel Brooks:
Shut up. But of course, she doesn't hear it because she's sitting down, and she's just, like, looking across the table. She can't believe she's on a date, and her her pulse is beating so fast, she doesn't really hear a word that you're saying. And she's feeling sick, but in a good way. You know?
Joel Brooks:
One of those those good nauseated feelings. And so that's that's, you know, how you begin dating, and and you can't stand being apart from the other person. When you are apart, all you can do is talk about the other person to all of your friends, and they have to act like they care. You know, because you just like, you just keep on talking about it. Then maybe someday, you get married.
Joel Brooks:
And on that wedding day, you feel like your heart is going to burst, because it is so happy. And then this feeling continues for a while, but I've seen it happen many times. It begins to fade away. Because life happens. I mean, life kicks in.
Joel Brooks:
It's just normal, routine life. Paying bills, washing the dishes, doing laundry, paying a mortgage, raising kids. And then month after month and year after year, something about the nature of the relationship begins to shift and change. Not sure when it happened, but but it begins to change. Now you're absolutely 100% still committed to one another.
Joel Brooks:
There's no doubt about that. Your marriage is rock solid. You're committed. You're gonna take care of one another. You have weathered difficult storms together.
Joel Brooks:
You serve one another. Nobody's doubting your loyalty to each other. But the reality is, you no longer turn the head of the other when you walk into the room. Your old news. When you see your wife getting out of her minivan, wearing her mom jeans, holding all the groceries while shooing kids in the door, your heart no longer skips a beat.
Joel Brooks:
And when this is a hypothetical, people. Remember, we're we're deep in the hypothetical here. I'm not gonna look at my wife right here. Oh, women. You know, you're you're sitting down like at the end of an evening, and you're snuggled up to your husband and husband, and you're watching TV, but your pulse isn't racing.
Joel Brooks:
You can't even stay awake. You're like, what happened? What happened? And when you're apart from one another, you're you're not thinking about the other, which is what I mean, sort of thinking about the other. You're thinking about the schedules you have to keep together.
Joel Brooks:
You're thinking, is is she gonna pick up the kids, or am I supposed to pick up the kids? Is somebody coming over tonight? Are we going out? Is tonight a free night, or is it not? Am I supposed to bring dinner?
Joel Brooks:
Like, you're thinking of one another's schedules and what you're supposed to be doing in relationship with the other, but you're not daydreaming about one another. And what's happened is you've become really good roommates. You're like the best roommates. You get one another. You know one another.
Joel Brooks:
You're deeply committed to one another. But the passion, the affection is gone. It can happen. It actually happens a lot. It happened to the Ephesians.
Joel Brooks:
When Paul had first come and proclaimed Jesus to them, they could not get over the grace. Oh, the grace that was lavished upon them. They were dead in their sins, but now they're alive in Christ. They once were slave to sin, but now they've been set free. They've been given new life.
Joel Brooks:
Everything seemed new to them. They could not get over the fact that Jesus had come and lavished such love on them. And so when Paul wrote them earlier, he wrote the things about he he praised them for the way that they love one another, and he praised them for the way that they love Jesus. That was just 30 years earlier. And then life happened.
Joel Brooks:
Now, of course, they're still committed to Jesus. I mean, there's no doubt that they are committed. They're there every Sunday, committed. They're not gonna endure any of that false doctrine. They're gonna serve God.
Joel Brooks:
They're gonna go to church more than anybody else. They'll even be persecuted for Jesus. You cannot question their commitment to Jesus, but Jesus no longer turns their heads. When he walks into the room, they they're not struck by his beauty anymore. Grace, which once tasted so sweet, now was bland.
Joel Brooks:
Basically, Jesus had become their roommate. And Jesus says, I will not build my church by being a roommate. Jesus will not tolerate being a roommate. He loves you too much for that. He He wants you to awaken back that love that you had at first because He wants to be in a deep, passionate relationship with you.
Joel Brooks:
A relationship that's not like a roommate, but like a lover. You either love Jesus, or there's no church. Hear me. God is not honored through your dutiful service to Him. That's what we get here.
Joel Brooks:
He's not honored through your dutiful service to him. He's honored when you love him, when you find your joy in him. If Lauren's gone off and she's running some errands, and while she's gone, I decide, you know, to vacuum the house. I decide maybe to to put up the dishes, and when she comes home, she's like, wow. You didn't have to do that.
Joel Brooks:
And I say, you're right. I didn't. You know, I didn't have to do that. But I read a great blog on how to be a good husband, and it said a good husband does these things, so I decided that I'm going to do these things. Who was honored?
Joel Brooks:
Was my wife honored that I vacuumed and I put up the dishes? I honored myself. Even though I was serving, but it was done out of duty. But if she had come home, she goes, wow, you didn't have to do this. I said, I know, but it was my joy because I love you.
Joel Brooks:
She is honored, and I receive joy. She's honored when it's an act of love. Hear me, church, that is for our good. That is for our good. That is glorious news, because God is saying, I cannot be honored apart from your joy.
Joel Brooks:
I cannot be honored apart from you loving me. So he is all about your joy. He is all about this love relationship. And if those things start to wane and die, it's like, there can't be a church. Why even have a lampstand?
Joel Brooks:
I'll remove it. Let me ask you, how would you describe your relationship with Jesus? Is it more like Martha or Mary? Is it like Martha, you know, dutifully serving, slightly irritated at all the other people, not doing as much? Slightly patting yourself on the back because you're doing it so much better than everybody else?
Joel Brooks:
Or is it like Mary, who just wants to sit at the feet of Jesus in adoration? Do you have a genuine affection for Christ? Or are you just trying to be a good Christian? Is coming to church a duty for you, or is it more like a date? This is a date.
Joel Brooks:
Do you delight in knowing God? Or are you more of the heretical police? You could just pick out an error a mile away. And when you hear the gospel, are you largely thinking that applies to people outside? Or are you thinking this is something I still today need to hear every day?
Joel Brooks:
I was lost in my sins, and I would be lost in my sins if it wasn't for grace. And the gospel is something that you delight in, not just something you think is for other people. So if you find that you lack affection, that, yeah, you know what? Gosh. I actually my relationship with God is more like scheduling things.
Joel Brooks:
If you find that's you, what do you do? Let's look at verse 5. Remember, therefore, from where you have fallen. Repent and do the works you did at first. Remember and repent.
Joel Brooks:
Remember and repent. Actually, if you go through the Bible, repentance and remembrance are almost always tied together. To repent is to remember. So when you go throughout the Old Testament, when people fall into sin, God, he says, you have forgotten me. You have forgotten what I've done.
Joel Brooks:
And then he reminds them, don't you remember how you were slaves in Egypt and I rescued repented. Remembrance and repentance go hand in hand. So we are to remember the love that we had at first. We're to think back and to remember how sweet grace was when we first heard it. We're to remember how hopeless we felt when we were apart from Christ.
Joel Brooks:
We're to remember the joy that entered our hearts the first time we heard Jesus calling us. Remember. And then how if Jesus doesn't really prescribe how? Just remember what you used to do. Go back and do it.
Joel Brooks:
Do the works you were doing at first. But he doesn't give us the list there because He's not after the list. He doesn't want you to start checking off the things. But He's saying, what did you first do when you first heard my voice and grace was first came upon you? You're like, well, I couldn't get enough.
Joel Brooks:
I couldn't get enough of your word. I couldn't get enough praying to you. I couldn't get enough of sharing, you with others. It's like, exactly. At the very least, what this means to us, church, is that we need to find time in which we remember.
Joel Brooks:
For me, it's every morning, it's my bible and coffee. They go together. The bible and coffee. And early in the morning, I'll wake up and I'll have the bible and I'll just pray, Lord, stir my affections. And I just read a little bit, and then that leads me to prayer.
Joel Brooks:
Because what I've realized is I, and I think a lot of the church with me, are in danger of talking about God a whole lot, but we don't talk to Him. Talking to him is what stirs our affections, and that takes time in his word, and we listen to him, and we talk with him. Another way that we can stir our affections is simply by gathering together as his people. And we stir up one another in our faith and in our love towards Christ. You know, one of the best ways to really enjoy a meal is to not eat it alone.
Joel Brooks:
It really is. So like, you know, you you have some dessert, some great pie, and you you taste it. It's amazing. You give somebody else, you gotta taste this. And watching the way that they taste it and they enjoy it, your next bite will be even better.
Joel Brooks:
Worship is like this. We come together, and when we look around and we see the delight that other people have, and the joy that they have in singing, it makes us adore Christ even more. So we we're not meant to be Christians alone and just listen to a podcast, but we come together and we stir one another's affections towards Jesus. Then another way that we remember Him is, in a very specific meal that Jesus gave us, is one of the ways that we remember the gospel. We remember when He first came to us.
Joel Brooks:
We remember when He broke His body for us. We remember when Jesus went to hell for us so we would not have to. And when we remember those things, our hearts are ignited afresh with love towards him. So let us remember corporately together, church. On the night that Jesus was betrayed, he took bread and he broke it.
Joel Brooks:
Said this is my body, it is broken for you. Same way he took the cup and he said, this is my blood poured out for the forgiveness of many. Remember this, church. Remember the broken body of Jesus so that he might have a relationship with you. Remember the blood that Jesus spilled out so that he might be with you and enjoy you forever.
Joel Brooks:
And let your hearts once again be awakened with love and passion for Christ. This is how we're gonna take communion