chapter two in the Bible reads
Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works,
or else thou wilt come unto thee quickly, and wilt remove thy candlestick out of its place, except thou repent.
But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.
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, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.
And unto the angel of the church of Smyrna write,
These things saith the first, and the last, which was dead, and is alive.
I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty.
But thou art rich, and I know that the blasphemy of them, which say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan.
Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer.
Behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried, and ye shall have tribulation ten days.
Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.
He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.
He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death.
And to the angel of the church of Pergamos write,
These things saith he which hath a sharp sword with two edges.
I know thy works, and where thou dwelleth, even where Satan's seat is,
and thou holdest fast my name, and hast not denied my faith,
even in those days where an Antipas was my faithful martyr, who was slain among you where Satan dwelleth.
But I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam,
who taught Balak to cast a stumbling block before the children of Israel,
to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication.
So thou hast also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which think I hate.
Repent, or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.
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 hidden manna,
and will give him a white stone, and in a white stone a new name written,
which no man knoweth, saving he that received it.
And unto this angel of the church of Thyatira write,
These things saith the Son of God, who hath his eyes like unto a flame of fire,
and his feet are like fine brass.
I know thy works, and charity, and service, and faith,
and thy patience, and thy works, and the last to be more than the first.
Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel,
which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach, and to seduce my servants to commit fornication,
and eat things sacrificed unto idols.
And I gave her space to repent of her fornication, and she repented not.
Behold I will cast her into a bed, and then commit adultery with her into a great tribulation,
except they repent of their deeds.
I will kill her children with death, and all the churches shall know that I am he
which searcheth the reigns and hearts.
And I will give unto every one of you according to your works.
But unto you I say, and unto the rest in Thyatira,
as many as have not this doctrine, which have not known the depths of Satan as they speak,
I will put upon you none other burden.
But thou which ye have already, hold fast till I come.
And he that overcometh and keepeth my works unto the end,
to him will I give power over the nations.
And he shall rule them with a rod of iron, as the vessels of a potter
shall they be broken into shivers, even as I received my Father.
And I will give him the morning star.
He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.
Let's pray, dear Lord God, thank you for every soul here,
thank you for this church you've given us, Lord,
and I just pray right now that you fill, Pastor, with your Holy Spirit
as he preaches your word unto us, Lord,
and just pray that we in the congregation have ears to hear, Lord,
and that we are edified by the preaching, Lord,
and just learn new things out of your word, Lord.
We pray this all in Jesus' name. Amen.
Amen. Okay, we're in Revelation chapter 2 this evening,
and the title of my sermon tonight is The Hate Church.
The Hate Church, a study on the church at Ephesus.
And make no mistake about it, this particular church is a hateful church
when you look at some of the things that Jesus Christ had to say about it,
and we're going to address some of those qualities tonight.
Now here in Revelation chapter 2 and 3,
what you have is Jesus Christ addressing the seven churches which are in Asia.
And these are some powerful chapters,
obviously because many of them have end time significance to them,
but more so because of the fact that he's literally exalting some of their qualities,
and he's also correcting them for some of their deficiencies,
and some of the areas that they need to work on.
And it's pretty amazing to think that Jesus Christ came to John,
and he basically said, I got something specifically to say about this church.
And here's the good things about your church,
here's the bad things about your church,
and these are the areas you need to fix,
and these are the areas you need to remain strong in.
And obviously, Jesus Christ does not need to do that today to us,
because of the fact that we have Revelation 2 and 3
that shows us what to do and what not to do.
So these work and operate as an example of how we're supposed to behave as a church,
and what to avoid, what pitfalls to avoid.
So I'm going to go over a couple of points here tonight regarding this church,
and I'm going to focus mainly on the fact that they are a hateful church.
Number one, we're going to look at the fact that it's a working church.
It says there in verse number two,
I know thy works and thy labor.
Now this is something that he says about all the churches, right?
He says that he knows their works,
either the lack thereof or the fact that they are completing works.
But what we see with the church at Ephesus is that they are a laboring church,
meaning they're putting in the work in all different areas of their Christian life.
This is a church that majors on working, laboring,
and you kind of ask yourself, well, what specifically are they laboring in?
Well, here's the thing is that sometimes Christians, if they're not careful,
can think, well, the only type of labor there is is preaching the gospel, right?
And we see that, of course, in the later verses talking about the first works,
but here's the thing is that he's commending them for their labor,
and then he's also condemning them for their lack of the first works.
What does that show us?
It shows us that there is a variety of labors you can participate in a church, right?
Not just evangelism,
but there's other areas of life that we as Christians need to work on.
There's other areas that the church needs to work for.
You say like what?
Well, you think of the pastor, for example,
should be laboring in the word and doctrine.
In other words, it's the pastor's job to study the Bible,
to preach the Bible, to teach the Bible,
to give the church and the congregation a good, balanced doctrinal diet, right?
Through preaching, perfecting the saints for the work of the ministry,
teaching them the word of God,
and really just covering all different facets of topics.
You never want to attend a church that only focuses on one particular topic, right?
We need to give a variety of spiritual meals,
whether it's systematic doctrine,
maybe it's topical sermons that condemns a particular sin or abomination,
or it's just addressing some sort of cultural thing that's taking place in light of the Bible.
We have to make sure that we're preaching the word of God
and that we're reproving, rebuking, exhorting with all longsuffering and doctrine.
No matter what it is that we do, we need to be using the Bible, right?
So the pastor is laboring in the word and in doctrine,
and of course, the pastor, along with the church members, are laboring in evangelism.
So the church is a center of labor because of the fact that we meet here
in order to be sent out to go labor in the harvest fields to preach the gospel,
get others saved, and teach others how to do so as well.
Now, another form of labor that people don't really think about is fellowship.
Fellowship takes a lot of work, okay?
And you say, well, how so, pastor?
You know, I have a good time when I fellowship.
Well, I'm glad you do, amen?
I'm glad you enjoy fellowshipping.
But you don't fellowship.
Obviously, you think of fellowship as just like kind of shooting the breeze at church, okay?
You just kind of talk about, you got your little gang, your little clique that you gravitate towards,
and you talk about your favorite topic.
And yeah, that is considered fellowship.
But really, fellowshipping is when we exhort one another daily, right?
When we are exhorting one another to continue in the faith,
we're talking about doctrine, or you're discipling other people,
you're encouraging them, hey, let's go sowing.
Hey, come to church on Thursday.
Hey, you know, how's it going in your home life?
How's the situation in your life?
That takes work.
And you know, I used to think that churches majored only on fellowshipping.
Because I used to think to myself, you know, a lot of churches out there,
they don't major on preaching the Bible, they don't even major on evangelism.
The only thing I like to focus on is fellowship.
I used to think that a lot.
But actually, that's not even true.
You say, why is that?
Well, because most churches, as soon as the service is over,
everyone just bolts through the door and just takes off.
Essentially, they avoid each other is what they do.
You know, if they could, it's like they sneak out during prayer.
And as soon as, you know, and obviously, you might be that person tonight,
I don't know, you know.
You might even, you might take your time now leaving after this point here.
But I'm saying in general, a lot of churches don't like to fellowship.
Okay.
And the reason for that is because churches have become more so centers of entertainment.
So the reason people attend church is to be entertained,
entertained by the music, entertained by the specials,
you know, entertained even by the preaching itself, if you can call it that.
But at the end of the day, God expects a church to labor in doctrine,
to labor in evangelism, to labor in the Great Commission,
and in fellowship, one with another.
Hold your place or go to Titus chapter 3, if you would, Titus chapter 3.
Churches are to be centers of labor.
Titus chapter 3 in verse number 1 says,
put them in mind to be subject to principalities and powers,
to obey magistrates, to be ready to every good work, it says.
And you think to yourself, well, what work is it referring to?
Well, the work that I believe it's actually talking about
is the working out of the Christian life,
and essentially referring to your conduct.
How do we know that?
Look at verse 2.
To speak evil of no man, to be no brawlers,
but gentle, showing all meekness unto all men,
for we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived,
serving diverse lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy,
hateful and hating one another.
So obviously the work that is being talked about in its context
is that you got to make sure you're working on yourself, right?
Improving as a person, improving as a Christian,
making sure that you're adopting and learning Christian virtue.
What good is it if you come to church, you agree with the preaching,
you like what's being said, you sing the songs,
but you're not even growing in grace or in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
You're not becoming more righteous because of your attendance in church, right?
You're not becoming more righteous, more godly, more holy.
The Bible says we should maintain these good works,
working on our conduct and our conversation.
We should essentially be more like Christ the longer we're in church.
Not only that, but look at verse 8.
It says, this is a faithful saying,
and these things I will that thou affirm constantly,
that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works.
These things are good and profitable unto men.
So now he's saying, not only do good works, but be consistent about it.
Be faithful about it.
If you're going to work on your conduct,
make sure that this is a lifelong commitment that you're making
because it is a lifelong process to become a better husband,
to become a better wife, to become a better employee,
to become a better church member, just a better Christian in general.
And he counters this and he says in verse 9,
but avoid foolish questions and genealogies and contentions
and strivings about the law, for they are unprofitable and vain.
You know, God doesn't want us to be just a church that's filled with knowledge,
with no charity. Why?
Because knowledge puppeth up, but charity edified.
And so whatever knowledge you gain from the Christian life,
from your personal Bible reading, from the preaching of God's Word,
allow it to make you a better person, okay?
A better Christian, a better child of God.
He says in verse 14,
Let ours also learn to maintain good works,
for necessary uses, that they be not unfruitful.
Go to Ephesians, if you would, chapter 4, Ephesians chapter 4.
So the church at Ephesus is a laboring church.
He's exalting them and commending them for working and laboring.
We obviously know that he's probably referring to the fact that they are working on themselves.
They are living out the Christian life.
But, you know, as I mentioned, they probably are also working on this matter of discipleship.
What is that? Just mentoring other believers in the church.
Now one of the reasons I would say that that's probably the case is because
we're going to look at Ephesians chapter 4,
that's basically what he's encouraging to do.
And so they're carrying that out.
He says in verse 11,
He gave some apostles and some prophets and some evangelists and some pastors and teachers
for the perfecting of the saints for the work of the ministry.
For the edifying of the body of Christ.
Let me just say this, it takes work to do discipleship.
That takes a lot of work.
Why? Because sometimes you mentor someone in the faith and they just don't turn out, right?
And then you got to remind them, hey, be in church.
And then they show up to church and then they don't show up to church.
You got to call them again and be like, hey, you missed church, what's going on?
That's a lot of work.
And then when they come to church, you got to make sure you teach them the Bible and teach them how to act.
I mean, I find that in the Christian life, one of the hardest things to do when mentoring another Christian
is just teaching them how to act.
There's a lot of areas that they just don't know how to act right.
You guys know what I'm talking about? Or are you that person?
It's just like, you know, you're a Christian for so long and then you think to yourself like,
man, this person is inappropriate.
They speak inappropriate.
They just don't know how to behave themselves in a godly manner.
It takes work to try to teach them how to act.
Or it just takes work to teach them what their parents or maybe someone else didn't teach them.
You know what I mean?
And maybe you run into some people who are like, man, this person was not spanked as a child.
And maybe I can take over that responsibility or something.
And sometimes you have to chastise them with your words, right?
Rebuke them.
That takes work because of the fact that, you know, they might have a good run for a couple months
and then they just revert, they get back to whatever old bad habit
and you have to admonish them again.
I mean, it's just labor and work to work with people, okay?
You say, how do you know that?
Well, because I'm a pastor of a church.
And being a pastor of a church, I work with people like that.
Throughout the years, I've worked with people where you invest in them,
they fall back or they get back on track and then they fall away again.
And you say, how does that make you feel?
It's exhausting at times.
But that's what work is, right?
You edify them, you perfect them in the Lord for the work of the ministry,
for the edifying of the body of Christ.
Go to 1 Thessalonians chapter 2.
Look at verse number 7 of 1 Thessalonians chapter 2.
This is the Apostle Paul speaking here.
It says,
But we were gentle among you, even as a nurse cherishes her children.
So being affectionately desirous of you, we were willing to have imparted unto you,
not the gospel of God only, but also our own souls, because you were dear unto us.
For you remember, brethren, our labor in travail, for laboring not in day,
because we would not be chargeable unto any of you.
We preached unto you the gospel of God.
Ye are witnesses in God also, how holy and justly and unblameably
we behaved ourselves among you, that belief, he said.
So what is the Apostle Paul saying?
It only takes work to disciple a person,
but it takes work to stay right for the sake of discipling another person.
I mean, think about this.
You know, what if you put in all this work to invest in someone, mentor someone,
but you're struggling, you get out of church.
I mean, basically, all your work comes to naught because of it.
Because someone's depending on you, they're watching your example,
they want to make sure that you are on the ball.
And essentially, you have to be like a step ahead of them
if you're going to operate as an example to the other believers.
This takes work.
Now, you can obviously have the attitude and say,
Well, I don't care about that stuff.
I'm just here to learn the Bible,
and, you know, I'm just here to do church and sing the hymns
and get my services in or whatever.
Okay, then you're just not a laboring person then.
Just say you're spiritually lazy, okay?
But obviously, God wants us to labor and to work
and to invest in other people and to love people
and help them to grow in the knowledge of God.
Not only that, but I think also when he commends them for their labor,
it could be referring to the fact that the people at the church at Ephesus
work jobs.
They probably were not dependent on the government.
You understand what I'm saying?
Because that is a commendable thing,
not to depend on the government to actually work a job.
And this is something that's consistently taught in the Bible.
And you know what?
It's commended by God when you actually work.
And you and our church, we encourage and motivate
and exhort the young men to get a job,
to work, to have a good work ethic,
not to be a lazy bum that gets up at 12 p.m.
to play whatever video game
and just waste their day away and not do anything.
Have some oomph about you.
Get some motivation about yourself and work a job.
You're like, well, I haven't found the right job yet.
The right job is the job that pays you.
How about that?
Ephesians 4.28, you don't have to turn there,
but go to 2 Thessalonians, if you would, chapter three.
I think the Ephesians took this to heart
because it says in Ephesians 4.28,
let him that stole steal no more,
but rather let him labor,
working with his hands the thing which is good
that he may have to give to him that needeth.
And you know what?
Maybe there's a thief at the church at Ephesus
and he just took that to heart and stopped stealing
and became a laboring man.
He actually got a job, worked with his hands
and was able to be a blessing to others.
And you know what?
If you are, I don't know if someone's jobless here,
so don't get all offended or whatever,
but if you are jobless, get a job.
Whether it's working at a fast food restaurant,
it's better to get something than nothing.
And get a menial job if you have to
while you're looking for a better job.
But the worst thing you can do
is just be lazy, idle at home,
not doing anything, wasting your time,
not earning any money, and not laboring.
God wants us as men to constantly provide,
to stay busy, to work a job, whatever it is,
we need to make sure that we're not being,
listen to this, busybodies.
Look at 2 Thessalonians 3 verse 7,
For yourselves know how ye ought to follow us,
for we behaved not ourselves disorderly among you.
Now what does he mean by disorderly?
Well, something that is disorderly is not in order.
You need the Greek for that.
And what he's referring to is the fact that God's order
is that a man should work.
And we'll see that that's actually what he's talking about here.
He says in verse 8,
Neither did we eat any man's bread for naught,
but wrought with labor and travail night and day
that we might not be chargeable to any of you,
not because we have not power,
but to make ourselves and in samples unto you to follow us,
for even when we were with you,
this we commanded you,
that if any would not work,
neither should he eat, the Bible says.
So he's saying, if you're just an able-bodied person
who doesn't want to work,
you don't want to get a job,
you don't deserve to eat.
It's the greatest motivation to get a job, amen.
Instead of giving these transients
and these bums on the street money,
let them starve,
and that will help them to be motivated to go get a job.
You're like, no it won't.
Then why are there so many bums still out there?
Some of them get paid more than you and me.
Think about that.
Some of them make thousands of dollars,
and yet they're still living on the streets,
they're still rent-free off the 405 Freeway or whatever.
Some of them got big screen TVs,
they're living large.
And so he's saying here that a good motivation to work
is that you starve.
You're motivated to actually get a job
no matter what it is to earn some money.
Verse 11 says,
For we hear that some of you,
there are some which walk among you disorderly,
working not at all, but are busybodies.
Now isn't that funny that there are busybodies,
but they're not busy doing work.
They're busy being idle.
They're busy playing video games.
They're busy on social media.
They're busy filling the blank,
but they're just not busy doing actual labor.
And here's the thing.
Idleness leads to sinfulness.
When you are idle,
you give Satan more of an opportunity
to come and tempt you,
and to cause you to get involved in sins
or revert back in your habits
or in your sinful lifestyle that you had before.
It just gives Satan an opportunity
to come and attack you.
Verse 12 says,
Now them that are such we command
and exhort by our Lord Jesus Christ,
that with quietness they work
and eat their own bread,
but ye, brethren, be not weary in well doing.
What is that in context?
Be not weary in well doing.
Don't be tired of working,
is what he's saying, okay?
Like, well, I'm tired every day when I work.
Well, that's what work does to you.
It's supposed to make you tired,
mentally tired, physically tired,
so that when you go home,
you don't turn on the video game.
You just fall flat in your face on your bed
and you go to sleep.
I mean, there's so many benefits to just work, period.
It helps us to pay bills.
It helps us to stay busy.
You know, it helps people to respect you,
and it also helps you so that when you go home,
you don't get involved in sin.
And so this is a major theme in the Bible
that God commends those who work.
If you don't have a job, get a job, okay?
And don't look for a unicorn-type job either.
Well, I'm gonna get a job
once I find the perfect job.
There is no perfect job.
Well, I'll get a job once I find a boss that's Christian.
You're not gonna find one.
And if they are, they're probably some liberal anyways.
Okay?
And here's the thing.
Most of the time, in my experience,
the ones who are not Christian
are often better than the ones that are.
And so get a job.
The Bible says,
if any man provide not for his own,
especially for those of his own house,
he hath denied the faith
and is worse than an infidel.
An infidel is an unbeliever.
He's like, oh, man, is the Bible saying
I'm like an unbeliever?
No, actually, he's saying
that you're worse than an unbeliever.
Because unbelievers still provide for their families.
Think about that.
Okay?
But at the end of the day,
the labor that he's referring to just in general
is the fact that we work as unto the Lord
no matter what we do.
Okay?
And so they're a laboring church.
Go back to Revelation, if you would,
Revelation chapter two.
Not only that, but they are an enduring church.
Okay?
He says, I know thy works, verse two,
and thy labor, I want you to notice this,
and thy patience.
He then goes on to say in verse three,
and hast borne and hast patience.
Now, what does it mean that they are patient,
they have borne, what is that referring to?
It's referring to the fact
that they're able to withstand.
So this is obviously a church
that can put up and tolerate
with a lot of affliction.
And this is really important.
Okay?
Because of the fact that, you know,
a lot of times Christians quit the Christian life
because it just gets too hard for them.
It's too difficult, the drive's too long,
the hardships are too much,
I'm not getting what I thought I was gonna get,
the preaching's too hard, I'm offended.
You could come up with a long list of reasons
why you can stop going to church,
and at the end of the day,
all it proves is that you're not able to withstand.
That's what it proves.
It's not, you're not enduring
the hardships of the Christian life
because no one told you,
and if they did, they lied to you,
then once you become a Christian,
everything's gonna be fine.
In fact, sometimes things get worse
because the Christian life is a strict life, amen?
So they're able to tolerate difficulty,
they're able to persevere,
they know how to ride it out, okay?
In other words, they can serve God,
go through something really hard,
and it won't stop them, listen to this,
from serving God.
That's called an enduring church.
This is a church that is wrestling with flesh and blood,
excuse me, they're not wrestling with flesh and blood,
but against principalities, against powers,
against the rulers of the darkness of this world,
and they're doing all to withstand in the evil day.
Now this is really important because of the fact that,
you know, in the Bible and in church,
throughout my experience being in church,
you see a lot of people come and go,
and one of the most devastating or heartbreaking things
for a Christian or even for a pastor
is to just see someone quit on the Lord, you know?
And you say, well, they're not really quitting,
they just stop coming to church,
but here's the thing though,
quitting church is closely related
to forsaking the Lord though.
Plain and simple.
I don't care what your favorite devotional says, okay?
You know, your favorite devotional is just like,
you know, we're in the church,
or you know, it's a universal church.
Wrong!
That's not what the Bible teaches.
And one of the first things that goes
when someone begins to backslide is church.
You know, one service gets thrown out,
a second service gets thrown out,
then after a while it's just like,
you only go to one service a month,
and after a while it's like one service
every couple of months,
and after a while you're just gone.
What happened?
That person can't endure.
Because obviously something became more important
than their Christian responsibilities,
and it's for that reason
that they've essentially gotten out of the race.
Okay?
Think about this.
You know, the Apostle Paul said,
Demas hath forsaken me,
having loved this present world.
So the luster of this world
grabbed Demas' attention,
and it obviously,
I don't think like Demas left him
and just went to a different church by the way.
It's not like, hey, you're too hardcore for me,
I'm gonna go to, you know,
Jerusalem Baptist Church instead or something.
It says he loved this present world.
So there's something about the world
that caught his attention
and he didn't want to serve God anymore,
and he forsook Paul.
And you know what, Demas?
For all of eternity now,
you know, we're gonna know you as a quitter.
In heaven.
You know, thankfully we get new names
in the future.
It's like, hey, what's your name?
I'm Demas.
Oh.
Hey.
You know, it's just,
I know you.
You're the quitter.
Yeah, it's me, you know.
Just the love of the world,
lust of the flesh,
other things entering in,
basically that's what happened.
But you know what,
Demas ain't the only one though.
There's been plenty of Christians
throughout the centuries and years
who've just, they just quit
because they love other things
and something,
maybe it was an affliction that they experienced,
maybe it was a trial that they went through,
it was a tribulation that happened unto them,
and they ended up quitting.
And you're like,
well, why are you condemning them for that?
Because the Bible teaches the virtue of endurance,
that's why.
And you know what,
if you quit this time,
the time you decide to come back,
you're gonna quit again
because you end up developing a habit,
a character flaw of quitting
every time something gets hard.
And if I can just tell you as a church,
you know, when things get hard for you,
when you go through a difficult time,
that's not a time to quit,
that's a time to just plow through it,
just get through it,
just cry through it,
keep coming to church,
keep reading your Bible,
keep sowing,
and I know it's hard,
but it only lasts for a season,
endure the hardships of the Christian life
while you're doing the Christian life.
Because while I endured,
I just took a break from church,
then you didn't endure.
You know, you didn't pass.
Because the purpose of persevering through a trial
is that you're adding on the weight
of the responsibilities of the Christian life
in conjunction with your trial.
That's how you get strong.
Some people are like,
well, you know,
I just need to take a break from church.
I need to take a break from the things I've got.
Oh, so basically,
you're quitting is what you're doing.
And I'm not condemning you,
I'm just trying to,
as a pastor,
encourage you,
don't quit.
And I'm not saying if you get sick or something,
okay?
People get sick,
and our church is,
we're a sick church,
amen, you know?
In more ways than one, okay?
You know, you get out,
but here's the thing though,
let me say this regarding sicknesses,
and by the way,
some of you just gotta stop eating so much sugar,
maybe you wanna get as sick as often, okay?
I'm talking to my family as well too, okay?
Now, but here's the thing though.
You know, some people get sick,
and you can't really do anything about that, right?
And I might even get a fever tomorrow, right?
So, you know,
I'm just putting that out there in case.
But you know,
people get sick,
and then they're out for a couple weeks, right?
Cause they get really sick.
But you know what the danger in that is?
Is that sometimes you can get yourself out of the habit
of being in church because you're sick.
And when you get yourself out of the habit,
you get used to
not being in church.
And I know there's people in here who are just kind of,
this is kind of going over their heads,
they don't really agree with it,
they're like,
I don't believe it.
But you know what?
It's gonna happen.
And you know what?
We're creatures of habit.
We're used to doing things consistently,
the same way all the time.
And so when a wrench is thrown into your routine,
you get out of church because you're sick,
it's just easier for you to stay out of church.
You understand?
And look,
this is,
and look,
we're a church that has a lot of babies too.
But let me say this,
have the baby,
get your rest,
but get back into church though.
Don't try to use having a baby to stay out of church
for like six months or something.
The baby's good to go,
you're good to go too.
That happens sometimes.
Because it takes you out of church.
And thankfully,
you know,
we have ladies in our church that like come,
I think they come back to church
a little too early sometimes.
You know,
they have the baby and like that weekend
they're back or something.
Or two weeks later they're back.
And sometimes women,
they do that because they're just like,
I'm going crazy in my house.
Like I need to at least get one service in.
You know,
and I get it.
But let me just say that sometimes
things that are outside of your control
can often mess up your routine
and cause you to get out of church.
And then you start coming up with better excuses
why you should stay out of church.
It happens all the time.
Endure,
okay?
The apostle Paul talked about those in Asia
who forsook him.
It's important for us to bear.
Now what's interesting is that
when the Bible talks about that
they're a church who has born, it says.
That's the past participle of bear,
meaning they know how to endure
or how to endure with people.
So I want you to remember that, okay?
Because one of the qualities of true love
according to the Bible
is that charity suffereth long, right?
It beareth all things.
So we can say of the church at Ephesus
that they are a loving church.
Why?
Because they're willing to bear.
Meaning they're willing to put up with some people.
Right?
Am I losing you or you guys understand what I'm saying?
Okay?
So just keep that in mind, okay?
They suffer long,
they bear all things,
believe all things,
they endure all things.
This is a positive of what Jesus is saying
about the church at Ephesus, okay?
Is that they endure,
they don't quit,
and they bear.
Now go to verse two again.
It says, I know thy works, thy labor, and thy patience,
but look what it says here,
and how thou canst not bear them which are evil.
So we not only see that they're a laboring church,
we see also that they're an enduring church,
but let me say this,
they're also a hateful church.
They're a church filled with hate.
Why?
Because it says they can't bear them which are evil.
Now, well that's not very loving.
Well he just got finished saying to them
that they have born,
meaning they do bear.
So who are they bearing with?
People that merit their love,
people who are innocent,
people who are righteous.
Well how do you know that?
Because here it says they can't bear them which are evil.
So the opposite of evil
is just fill in the blank.
Innocent, righteous people,
people who merit it.
Now I want you to keep in mind that
it's Jesus who's saying this.
He's commending them and saying,
you can't stand evil people.
Because that's what it means to,
that can'ts not bear them which are evil.
He's saying, you don't put up with bad,
evil, wicked people.
Well that's not right.
You should be patient with people.
Not according to this.
And according to this, they were patient.
Because didn't he say they're patient?
Right?
And they don't faint?
But here it says they can't bear them which are evil,
meaning they don't put up with workers of iniquity,
they don't put up with wicked people,
they don't tolerate them,
make excuses for them,
or compromise on anything biblical
to have them come into church
or work with them.
He says they can't stand them.
Now if the modern churches of today
were to read something like that,
they would have an issue with that.
Because to them it's like,
well we need to just be patient with all people.
We need to make sure that we love everyone.
But hold on a second,
Jesus was commending them
for not putting up with these people.
And he says there,
and thou has tried them which say they are apostles
and are not,
and has found them liars.
So not only are they not tolerant towards evil people,
and he said well evil like how?
Well reprobates,
pedophiles,
people who just hate the Lord.
Right?
You know these are the individuals
that we can say are evil.
Not only that, but they're a judgmental church.
Cause he says thou has tried them
which say they are apostles
and are not,
has found them liars.
So in other words,
you know you have someone coming into the church
and say I'm an apostle.
They're just like,
well let me ask you some questions then.
Let me try you to say,
whoa whoa whoa,
you're being judgmental.
You know you gotta be accepting
of what people say.
You can't just call people out like that.
You can't just question people's salvation.
He's commending them for trying them
for calling themselves apostles.
And then once they
listen to what these people have to say,
they're like oh you're a liar is what you are.
They're calling them out for it.
So Jesus isn't saying,
hey don't be judgmental.
Don't say those things.
You guys are just so out of pocket.
You're too extreme.
He's actually saying this is a good thing.
And I want you to notice verse six.
But this thou hast,
that thou hatest
the deeds of the Nicolaitans
which I also hate.
Isn't that interesting?
Because churches they're like well Jesus doesn't hate.
He says he hates the deeds of the Nicolaitans.
And I would even say he probably
despises the Nicolaitans as well.
And I'll get into that in just a bit.
So Ephesus is obviously
a hateful church
as seen by verse two.
This is something that Jesus was
commending them for.
They weren't putting up with evil people.
They were being judgmental.
And you know what?
This is something that we need to be as well.
Who cares what people think out there?
And if they call you a judgmental church
take it as a compliment.
Well you guys are just a judging church.
Thank you.
Because that's the kind of church that God actually wants us to be.
You think God is fine with every
Tom, Dick, and Harry walking through here calling themselves
an apostle, calling themselves
or whatever and we just kind of
just don't question anybody? Absolutely not.
And in fact in our church we teach
the members here to
witness to those who come
to our church who are visitors because we
care for their souls.
We want to ask them if they're 100% sure if they die
today and they go to heaven. And you know what?
If they start spouting off some
false doctrine then guess what? We try
them and we find them to be liars.
The Bible tells us
you don't have to turn there in 2 Corinthians 11
3 but I fear
let's by any means as the serpent beguiled Eve through his
subtlety so your mind
should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in
Christ. For if he that cometh
preacheth another Jesus
whom we have not preached
or if ye receive another
spirit which ye have not
received or another gospel
which we have not accepted
ye might bear with him.
I mean that's embarrassing.
He's telling the church of Corinth, you know
I'm afraid of you. I
fear for you because I feel like if someone just comes
in here espousing some false
doctrine you might be cool with it.
And you think that's an
extreme example but folks this happens
in Baptist churches all the time.
Churches in general
but we're talking about fundamental Baptist churches
it happens all the time.
Where you have people believing
false doctrine about salvation
about the Bible
about a myriad of different things and
the pastor and the members just kind of
bear with it. Oh he just
doesn't know then teach him.
Until he gets it right.
And let him know that it's heresy
and it's damnable heresy and it needs to be corrected.
That's called not bearing with them.
That's called
trying them which say they are apostles
and are not and finding them to be
liars. But here's the problem
folks the reason a lot of churches don't do this
is because of the fact that they forsaken the Bible
that's why.
So the Bible says in Proverbs 28 verse 4
They that forsake the law praise the wicked
but said just keep the law
contend with them. So
if you have a church that does not read the Bible
you have a pastor that does not
study the Bible then they're not constantly
seeing the admonitions in the word of God
to make sure that they're
proving all things holding fast at which is good.
Therefore people
come in teach false doctrine about salvation
about the trinity
about baptism about hell
or any other thing they're just going to be
like well you know he's just a little
off in this area.
And I forgot to mention this
but this is pretty cool
because this is in relation to
enduring as well because as a church
we have to endure sound doctrine
as the Bible says right.
Like you got to put up with
doctrine. You have to listen
to it you got to accept it
you have to believe it if you
want to stay sound in your faith
you understand.
And you know there's a lot of churches out there
that aren't like that. Now
Malia, Polito
calling her out right now. No I'm just kidding
everyone's like what? You know she
did her ancestry she did that whole ancestry
dot com thing.
And this is kind of like a trend that's going through our
church right now. Everyone's trying to figure out who
their ancestors are and
I tried it and I couldn't even get past my grandma
like and they're like
maybe it's because she's Guatemalan but she
like died here though like I couldn't even
they couldn't even get my grandma right.
So I just kind of gave up on that. But other people
have tried and apparently it's
very successful with white people.
Cause white people keep good records apparently
okay.
Well Malia is like she's like German
I don't know if you know that but she's like
German so she
found her ancestry all the way back to like the
apostles or something. No I'm just kidding. They're like
Adam and Eve you know.
But she went
back and she ended up finding out that in
1858
she had a relative
I don't know how far back her that grandma
is what was it fourth
or what? Fourth or fifth
or something like that. But this
relative of hers
was a Baptist
and not just a Baptist
a KJV only Baptist.
That's what the ancestry says
you know. And in fact
you know that we were just talking about
this outside but you know she was a Baptist
she's KJV and the church
that existed in 1858
still exists
today.
Now let me say this is that most churches
that are started even
within a span of like 50 years
often just goes apostate.
Unfortunately even fundamental Baptist churches
happens all the time. I hope it
doesn't happen here but
it's just like a trend of churches
like for example you know the church at Ephesus
is just I'm sure there is a church
at Ephesus in Asia Minor
right now but it's not this church of Ephesus
like it's probably super
just apostate and they're just
trying to ride on the coattails of the church at Ephesus
here in the book of Revelation but they're probably
super apostate. Most churches
go apostate
after a while because bad leadership
takes over and you know they just
teach false doctrine. They don't hold
fast. That which is good
right? But this church still exists
and they're still KJV only.
Which is a
powerful testimony if you ask me.
Now you know obviously in
1850 the KJV is probably the only
Bible that existed at the time.
But keep in mind
1800s is when dispensationalism
was really big too.
1800s dispensationalism
was big.
And yes the KJV did exist during that time.
Absolutely.
And so you know you had that taking place
and here's the thing. Typically a church
starts off Baptist with KJV
after like maybe 20 years
they switch. I mean
you have like Lancaster Baptist
Church for example who they
started I think it was like 80s
or something like that. And he's
still preaching from the King James but the vast
majority of his members do not use King James.
And in fact the men that he's sending
out to start churches are using new King James.
So
you know that church is going to go apostate. I mean
it's already apostate but you know it's going to
go further into apostasy as the years go by.
But this church actually remained KJV.
Okay.
And so something
good took place there. Something right
happened there. Someone preached a sermon like
this there and they endured
sound doctrine and they kept
the faith.
You know the guy who's dying off
and passing off the church to another person
that person who's receiving that
church had those convictions thus
within themselves and passed it on
to another person and that's why the church is still
in existence today. KJV only.
Now her relative
not only was she a Baptist
she's KJV she was
like the first one of
eight one of the first eight members
of the church right. So
like I forgot what year because I don't remember
the numbers. What was that what year was that picture
taken?
1907 they took a picture
of her and they said she's the last
of the first eight members of the church.
Folks
she endured. Don't
let some lady out do you.
Now thank God for
her. Yeah
don't let
and she was there to the
hey she's faithful unto
death and
so is the church.
Think about that for a second.
That boggles my mind.
You say why because it's a testimony
it's a powerful
testimony of not only a
church that endured but a
person as well because
typically sometimes people just atrophy
over the years because they don't give heed
to the warnings. They don't take it serious.
That woman took it serious.
She was there all the
way into the very end and that's very
much commendable and so
you know for a church to exist for that long
they had to be a
group of people who could not bear them
which were evil. Try them
which say they are apostles or not and did find them
liars. You say well how do you know because every
Bible believing church will have
people trying to infiltrate and teach false doctrine
over the generations. It's
going to happen sometime
or another. Especially if that church has been in
existence since 1858.
You're going to have that happen
multiple times throughout the years.
So obviously
they were a church that could not bear them
which are evil. They tried them which say they are apostles
and are not. Found them liars.
They essentially kept the law.
The laws of God.
They were very much aware
of the dangers.
And you may think to yourself well we're
pretty aware of the dangers.
We know what the Bible says about false prophets.
We know what the Bible says about these things
but what good is it to know about it if
you don't have personal endurance though.
What good
is it to have the right doctrine up here
if you don't know how to
physically, mentally and spiritually
endure in church.
You're worthless.
It only helps if you actually stay in church.
Like the knowledge
that you have only helps
if you actually remain in the things
of God, remain in church
and you pass that on
thereafter. You know I hope that
when I die off
years from now
that I pass my faith on to my
children, my church and that I
finish strong. You know I don't want to
finish a compromiser.
I don't want to finish some limp-wristed compromising
pastor. I want to preach hard to the very end.
Even if there's only five people
left here or it's just my family
and everyone rolls out
or whatever, I don't care. I want to
keep it until the very, I want to be like her.
You know take a picture
of me when I'm old
and just standing there and just like
I made it to the very, I finished my course
I've kept the faith.
And you should desire
that too. You know
and that doesn't happen on accident
my friends. You have to
be somewhat hateful.
And you know what? That church
I guarantee you had a lot of love
because they made it this far
and they had a lot of hate too because they made it this far.
Because you have to have
both in order to survive
as a church. If you only
have love, you're an imbalanced church
and all types of falls, the
leaven is going to creep in, it's going to
lead people astray and it's going to
apostatize and if you only have hate
which rarely we ever find a church
that's only hate. Right now it's just
mostly only love. If you only have hate, you don't
have love, then you know what? You're also
going to go into apostasy as well.
Because charity edify it.
Okay.
The Bible tells us in 1 John chapter 2 verse 18
Little children, it is the last time
as ye have heard the antichrist shall come
and even now there are many antichrists
whereby we know that it is the last time.
They went out from us but they were
not of us for if they had been of us they would have no
doubt have continued with us but
they went out, they might be made manifest
that they were not all
of us. So just keep in mind that
throughout the existence of our church
we are going to have false prophets come in.
And
they will go out and apostatize
and that is just
the way of things. Okay.
And so it's important for us to
keep that in mind
and to hate that stuff. Look what it
says in verse 6 again, it says but this thou hast
that thou hatest the deeds of the
Nicolaitans which I also hate.
Now that's kind of like a
verse that just kind of seems to come
from like left field.
Because Nicolaitans isn't mentioned anywhere else
other than this particular chapter.
And it's just like that was kind of a
curve ball. Why is he
mentioning the Nicolaitans? Who
are the Nicolaitans? What
do they have to do with what's taking
place here? And I believe we
can deduce who the Nicolaitans
are based upon
the New Testament and the information
provided here in Revelation chapter
2. Because it seems as though
the Nicolaitans
are some form of false prophets.
And if you were to
study the New Testament there is
one overarching nemesis
and adversary of the Old Testament
of the New Testament. Who is that?
The Jews.
He said well no
but those are called Jews.
Well later on he says they which called
themselves Jews and are not.
And here he names them
as the Nicolaitans. And isn't it funny that
he says but this thou has that thou
hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitans
which I also
hate. And then look at verse 14
when addressing the church at Pergamos
he says but I have found
a few things, excuse me, but I have a few things
against thee because thou is there them that
hold the doctrine of Balaam who taught
Balak to cast a stumbling block before the
children of Israel to eat things sacrifice
them to idols and to commit fornication
so hast thou also them
that hold the doctrine of the
Nicolaitans which thing I
hate repent or else I will come
unto thee quickly and I will fight
against them with the sword of my mouth.
I don't believe this is like a new enemy that's popping up
that the New Testament doesn't talk about.
The main adversary of the New Testament
was the Jews, were the Judaizers
they were the Jews and it's of
my opinion that when it says the Nicolaitans
it's just God's way of addressing
the Jews. And it is
funny that you know in
the earlier verses
he says they would call themselves
apostles, they would say
they are apostles and are not
and then later on you hear about the Jews
they would call themselves Jews
and are not. Who are
these false apostles? I believe they're Pharisees.
You say well how do you
know that for sure? Well think about Judas
was a false apostle, he
was a Jew, he was an infiltrator and that's who
John is talking about when he says they went out
from us for they were not of us for if they had
been of us they would no doubt continue with us.
So I think it's a strong possibility
who he's referring to here
when he talks about the Nicolaitans he's referring
to the Jews who are seeking
to Judaize these congregations.
But of course Ephesus is not putting up with it.
They're not going to allow Judaizers
to come in, they hate the
deeds of the Nicolaitans, they're not going to
permit them to just bring people back
under the law, they're going to hate it
and the Bible says that Jesus hates it as well
and therefore they're not being
infiltrated in that area. But the
point that I'm making here is the fact that
it pays to hate
and it results
in the protection of the flock
it results in
avoiding apostasy
and here's the last point that I want to make. Look at verse
number four.
He says, nevertheless I have somewhat against you.
Uh oh. Jesus says
I have something against you.
He says I have somewhat against
thee because you're just hateful.
Isn't that interesting?
So if hate was so bad
why didn't Jesus bring it up?
I have somewhat against thee
because you just don't
you're just not patient with people.
You know, just because
they say they're apostles and they're liars
doesn't mean you should just kick them
out of church.
No, actually the thing he had against them is that they had left
their first love.
Remember therefore from whence thou
art fallen repent and do the first works or else I will
come unto thee quickly and remove the candlestick out of its
place except thou repent. Now what
are the first works? The first works are referring to soul
winning. Preaching the word of God
getting people saved
that's what he's referring to there. Now
notice he didn't say stop the
hate and only do the love.
He wants them to add the
love to the hate
because he's exalting the virtue
of hatred towards them which are evil
but he's telling them
I want you to get this on track as well
though. I want you to get your love
intact as well. Not at the
exclusion of the hate.
So it's not like oh man
you know you guys are a hatred, wrong
only love, no hate.
No he says there's only one thing that I have
against you meaning that the other thing he's for.
Meaning that he
actually likes what they're doing on the other end.
It's just this one area
that they need to work on which is they
essentially stop soul winning.
And here's the temptation for many churches
is they rear back soul winning
they start cutting that back
they don't preach the gospel they're not getting
people saved and this is
the reason for which we are
created for and why we get
saved is to preach the gospel to other people.
To get people saved.
Why? Because you know proclaiming the name of the
Lord to others so they can come to the saving knowledge
of Jesus Christ is one of the most loving things that you
can do.
Well then if you do that you can't really have the hate.
Of course I can.
Because in order for me to want to get people
saved that means I have to hate the doctrine
that damns those same people.
You can't really have both.
There's only one way of salvation.
Right?
And so if there's only one way of salvation
that means by process of
elimination I would have to hate the other ways
that claim to be the way of salvation
that are actually taking people to hell.
Because if I have legitimate love in my heart
for people I want to give them the truth
I want them to be saved.
And so the point that I'm
making this evening
is that this church teaches
us that it's not only
possible to be loving
and hateful but that
God wants us to both be loving
and hateful as well. And if you're
deficient in either or you're not right.
You're an inbound church.
You have churches out there that are
only love. You're not correct because
you're missing out on the fact that God wants
you to hate false doctrine and in fact he says
the things which I also hate.
The Bible even says, listen to this
ye that love the Lord
hate evil.
So can you legitimately say that you love
the Lord if you don't hate that which is
evil and abhorrent in the eyes of God?
Absolutely not.
True love has the hatred
as well. You can't
you know for someone to say well I only have
love you're a liar and you're a hypocrite.
And you have a love
that the Bible does not signify or talk
about. Because in order
for heaven to exist hell exists as well.
You know in order for the
splendors of eternal life to
exist there is eternal damnation as well.
And that eternal damnation illuminates
and exalts how
wonderful eternal life is.
If only eternal life existed it wouldn't be as
wonderful because what are we saved from?
Right?
But because there is an eternal damnation
and eternal hell and because we're saved
unto eternal life it gives us that
appreciation that much the more especially over the fact
that Jesus Christ went to hell for
us for three days and three nights.
That's an expression of love for us.
So it's important
for us not only to be loving and hateful
but just understand as well that God wants both.
And we see an example here at the
church at Ephesus where he
is he spends a considerable
amount of time commending them for their
abhorrence of that which is evil
and then he just has this one little
thing to say about it. And let me just say this
I believe the church at Ephesus probably got this right.
I don't think they just
remain in that state where they just left their first love.
You get a letter from Jesus
it's over with.
You know what I mean? It's just like
and everyone's reading it?
Because it's not just your church
their church is not the only church that read it like all the
churches read it.
So it's just like the church at Thyatira was like did you hear about Ephesus?
They're not sowing.
That's embarrassing.
So obviously the pastor
the angel at the church at Ephesus
is referring to the messenger the pastor
he's probably starting
up all times with sowing times.
Sowing programs, sowing
times, missions trips.
He's like we're going to get this right because they got a good
report card.
I mean that is a great report card if you think about it.
They just got basically like a
B minus or a C minus or something.
Because everything else they got right
except for the sowing.
I don't know what grade you would give that I'd probably give it a C minus because
sowing is very important.
But you know what if they're able to do a little extra
homework during the summer or take a couple extra classes
they can bump that into an A
by just going and preach the gospel.
And this is a lesson to us.
If you are deficient in any area
just add it.
Just add the sowing.
Hey maybe you are sowing but you're deficient
in the hateful area. Just add it.
Like how do I do that?
This is what you do. This is what you do.
Lord help me.
Cause I got a compromising
heart.
And you know I just spend too much time
listening to a bunch of nonsense and it's convinced
me against what the Bible says
here. Help me to hate the things
that you hate the way you hate them.
Help me to hate false doctrine the way you hate them.
May it upset me
the way it upsets you.
Help me to be grieved over these things.
Folks I get grieved over
false doctrine.
One of the reasons I can't be on social media
a whole lot is because there's so much
there's a slew of false doctrine on there
and it just drives me absolutely bananas.
I want to break my phone.
I want to reach through the phone
and grab that nickelatin.
Cause it
makes me angry.
But you know what it should make us angry.
If you're angry something's wrong with your heart.
Well I got love in my heart. Apparently not enough though.
Because if you truly
love the Lord you'll hate the things that he hates.
And he hates
damnable heresy.
He hates wicked false prophets.
He hates them.
That's what the Bible says.
He despises them.
Have some hate in your heart.
Have some love and you'll have both.
Be like the church at Ephesus
without the deficiency of the first love.
Make sure that we have that first love.
Continue to go preach the gospel.
Get people saved. And luckily you know
we have a church where we have enough times where you can
go at any time. And you're not just
constricted or constrained to go on a Sunday.
That's the time when we would encourage everyone to go.
But we'll make time at any time throughout the week
if you want to start going soloing.
We'll go to Mexico
if you want to go there.
Cause we're already going there.
Why? Because we want to keep
that first work.
We want to keep that first love
circulating, but we also
need to keep the hatred circulating as well.
We need both.
Let's pray. Father, we thank you so much for your word.
And just in admonition today
to the congregation, a reminder
to us all, Lord, that we need to make sure
that as a church, we become
like the church at Ephesus in the sense that we can't
bear them which are evil.
And make sure that we stay a
judgmental church.
I'm not adhering to the opinions
of people who don't know the Bible outside of the
walls of this church.
Lord, if this is what you said, this is what you want, this is
what we need to do. But at the same time, help us not
to forsake our first love.
And make sure that we do the first works and keep
soul winning on the forefront of our minds.
That we would have a tender heart towards the lost,
towards our family.
And that Lord, even we would shed a tear here, now and then
when we do think about the lost, Lord.
Whether it's our family or not,
there's people out there that are dying and going to hell.
And we have this treasure
within vessels, Lord. Help our hearts to be softened
and tender towards that.
And help us, Lord, in like manner
to despise the things that you
despise, Lord. And maybe we don't enough.
I pray that you'd help us to
develop that type of heart
and mind, Lord. Bless
us as we go on our way. Bless the fellowship and the food.
And all there is, Lord, we love you. We thank you.
We pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen.