Participants: Ivor Meyers (Host), James Rafferty (Host), Jason Bradley, Yvonne Lewis
Series Code: SISS
Program Code: SISS000007A
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00:29 Well, it's not that we couldn't spend more time on Revelation 1
00:34 but we are going to move on, 00:37 we've laid a good foundation, we've looked at principles 00:41 and we connected to the Book of Daniel, 00:43 we've understood some of the themes 00:45 and I think that we have the tools we need 00:48 to start our journey 00:50 right into this first epic of the seven churches, 00:53 so we're going to look at the seven churches 00:55 or at least begin the seven churches' journey, 00:57 we're going to look at the first church 00:59 we'll just move through... again... 01:00 we don't have an agenda so we can move through this 01:02 as fast or as slow as the Holy Spirit leads 01:04 so it's understandable. 01:06 So, we'll start with the first church which is Ephesus, 01:09 we'll read the verses and we'll start to break down 01:12 the timeframe to figure out where we are, 01:15 what this message means in the context of history 01:18 and also, what it means to us today which, you know, 01:22 there's the principle there of idealism 01:23 that allows the principles to be applicable to us 01:25 even right now 01:27 and I think we're going to get some good stuff here 01:29 out of the seven churches, it's a beautiful picture so 01:32 let's start with a word of prayer, 01:34 Ivor, you want to lead us off? 01:35 Sure, "Heavenly Father, 01:37 we want to ask that you would bless our study 01:40 as we open the Word once again, give us insight Lord, 01:45 anoint our eyes that we may be able to see the things 01:50 that you desire us to see, 01:51 we thank you Lord for caring and answering, 01:55 we ask this in Jesus' name, amen. 01:58 All: Amen... 01:59 Now I wanted us to pick up on the theme, the love theme, 02:02 because love is a huge theme here... in the first church, 02:06 they lost their first love is what is said about them 02:10 but before we get into the first church, 02:12 we have a picture of Jesus standing among the candlesticks 02:15 and they're identified 02:17 and we did this in the earlier session, 02:18 they're identified in verse 20 as the churches 02:21 and so, here's the picture and I call this... a prelude of hope 02:25 but I want us to pick up this picture with an eye on romance, 02:29 okay, here is the picture 02:32 of Jesus staying among these churches, 02:33 the churches have problems, they have issues, 02:37 they have baggage, 02:38 you know, relationships have baggage, 02:40 they have baggage 02:41 and the thing that I love about this picture 02:44 is that even though they have issues 02:48 and they have baggage and they have problems, 02:50 Jesus is with them... All: Hmmm... hmmm... 02:52 James: Jesus is with them, 02:53 now, what's really significant is... 02:55 as we look through these churches, 02:57 we're going to find that there are two churches 02:59 that have nothing negative said about them, 03:02 the first one is Smyrna, 03:03 which is going to be the second church in our order, 03:06 and the next church, the second church 03:08 that has nothing bad said about it is Philadelphia, 03:10 the church of brotherly love, 03:12 all the other churches, 03:13 Jesus affirms and then He corrects, 03:17 he affirms, he corrects, which, by-the-way, 03:19 marriage... relationships... start with the positive 03:23 affirm your wife, affirm your husband, 03:26 affirm your children before you correct, 03:29 He affirms and He corrects, Jesus was the Master 03:32 and He knows that they've got issues 03:36 before He gets to the issues, He pictures Himself among them. 03:40 "I'm with you, I'm with you... " 03:42 now, He could have pictured himself, 03:44 just with two of the churches, 03:45 he could have just pictured Himself... 03:47 as with Smyrna and Philadelphia 03:49 and He could have had this attitude of, 03:51 "When you other five churches get your act together, 03:53 when you listen to what I have to say, 03:55 and when you follow my rebukes 03:56 you can join our little group over here... 03:58 we've arrived and you can join us" 04:00 but He doesn't do that, see, Jesus meets us where we are 04:03 and this is the message of the Book of Revelation. 04:06 Jesus meets us where we are, He knows our baggage, 04:09 He knows our struggles, He knows our weaknesses, 04:12 we see this in the gospels, the woman at the well, 04:15 in the middle of the afternoon 04:17 because that's when no one else would be there 04:19 and this woman didn't want to be 04:20 seen or talked to by anyone else, 04:22 Jesus... meets... He knows her life history, 04:24 He knows everything about her 04:26 and He tells her that He knows everything about her 04:28 but the way that He relates to her 04:31 and the way that He communicates to her, 04:33 tells her that he cares about her and loves her 04:36 and she now is free from all that insecurity, 04:39 all that history... that she's free to run into town and say, 04:41 "Come and meet a man that told me everything 04:43 I ever did wrong. " 04:44 Isn't this the Messiah? 04:45 Okay, that's the picture that 04:47 Revelation is giving us of Jesus Christ. 04:50 He knows all the problems we have, but He's still with us, 04:53 ahead of time, He shows us that. 04:55 I want to add something there, in Revelation chapter 1 04:59 Jesus is described as having on a golden girdle 05:02 and that is very key because 05:05 that description goes back to the Old Testament 05:09 when the High Priest, in fact, is found... 05:11 it's Exodus 28 verse 4 05:16 and it describes the garments of the High Priest 05:19 that he was supposed to put on, the verse ends with these words, 05:22 "that He may minister unto me in the Priest's office" 05:26 so when we see Jesus with these garments on, 05:30 it's signifying that He has now entered into His priestly work, 05:35 part of that priestly... of course, that's going to be, 05:37 after His resurrection, He's ascended, 05:40 so the vision here of the churches 05:43 begins with Christ beginning His work of ministry of intercession 05:49 but the nice thing about this is... 05:51 that He wears a Breastplate, right, with the... 05:54 with the names of the children of Israel on it 05:58 meaning what? He's bearing them on His heart 06:02 so that picture of Christ carrying us, 06:05 Christ caring for us, Christ loving us 06:08 is what comes before... 06:10 "before I begin to... like... tell you about yourself, 06:14 let me just let you know that I have you in my heart... " 06:17 Yvonne: Yes... James: That I'm with you. 06:18 Ivor: I'm with you. James: I'm standing with you. 06:20 Ivor: Exactly, exactly. 06:21 James: I got your back... Ivor: I got your back. 06:23 James: This is the picture, in fact, we see the same picture 06:25 now, again, Revelation is simply picking up 06:28 this story of the Bible, 06:29 so, Ivor, went to the Old Testament? 06:31 The Priest had the breastplate, 06:33 in the New Testament we see here, 06:35 He's among the candlesticks, so how do we see this 06:37 illustrated in the life of Christ? 06:39 Do you remember when Christ was getting ready 06:41 to go to the cross, He was in the garden... 06:43 He was in the Upper Room with the disciples, 06:45 He was getting ready to go to the Garden of Gethsemane 06:47 and then the cross and He told His disciples that 06:49 what they were going to do was they were going to betray Him, 06:52 every single one of them, even Peter denied, "I won't... " 06:55 "No, you're going to... 06:56 you'll be the worst... okay, other than Judas... " 06:58 but then He said this, He said, "But after I am risen, 07:03 I'm going to go before you to Galilee... " 07:06 now think about that, Jesus says, 07:09 "You're going to forsake me but I'm not going to forsake you, 07:11 you're going to run from me but I'm not going to run from you 07:13 you're going to deny me but I'm not going to deny you. " 07:16 Yvonne: Hmmm... 07:17 James: See this is the picture of the gospel, 07:19 this is the picture in Revelation, 07:21 Jesus is with us in spite of our failures, our faults, 07:25 in spite of our abandonment of Him, 07:28 He sticks it out with us 07:29 and that's the love that draws us... 07:31 that's the love that draws us. 07:33 Ivor: We love Him because He first loved us. " 07:35 James: And so, this picture is vital as we open up the churches 07:38 because what's going to happen is we're going to look at those 07:40 churches and we're going to see history... 07:42 the first church is going to show us the history 07:44 of the early... of the early apostolic age 07:46 but we're also going to see ourselves. 07:47 We're going to see ourselves, We're going to see ourselves... 07:50 and we're going to think, "Wow! I thought... " 07:52 Okay, let's just start with the church of Ephesus, 07:54 Jason, read for us the first what is it, seven, five, six... 08:00 seven verses... 08:02 Okay, "Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write; 08:06 These things saith he that holdeth 08:08 the seven stars in his right hand, 08:10 who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks; 08:13 I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, 08:17 and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: 08:20 and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, 08:24 and are not, and hast found them liars: 08:27 And hast borne, and hast patience, 08:29 and for my name's sake hast laboured, 08:32 and hast not fainted. 08:34 Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, 08:36 because thou hast left thy first love. 08:39 Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, 08:44 and do the first works; 08:45 or else I will come unto thee quickly, 08:48 and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, 08:51 except thou repent. 08:52 But this thou hast, 08:54 that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitanes, 09:01 which I also hate. 09:03 He that hath an ear, let him hear 09:07 what the Spirit saith unto the churches; 09:10 To him that overcometh 09:12 will I give to eat of the tree of life, 09:14 which is in the midst of the paradise of God. " 09:17 So, look at this and understand how it relates to us, 09:24 "I know your works... your labor, your patience, 09:27 you can't bear those that are evil, 09:28 you tried them which say they're apostles and they're not 09:30 and you found them liars, you've borne, you had patience 09:32 for my name's sake you have labored 09:34 and you haven't fainted... " 09:35 I mean, who among us 09:37 would not like to have that said about them? 09:39 Who? That's just a pedigree right there, 09:42 Jesus pouring it on, this is all just good stuff 09:45 and this describes the experience of the early church, 09:48 the early Apostolic church. 09:49 So we're starting in Christ's time, 09:52 we're starting in the Apostolic age 09:54 with this... with this... what was the word again? 09:57 This sequence of Genesis chapters 1 and 2, 10:02 we described the sequence of seven. 10:06 Ivor: Creation... yeah... one through seven... the cycle. 10:08 James: The cycle... the cycle of seven, 10:10 we're starting... right here, 10:12 we're starting with the Apostolic age 10:13 with the cycle of seven 10:14 and it's going to take us all the way down to the very end, 10:17 the second coming of Jesus, time of the judgment, post 1844, 10:20 the first church... Apostolic Church... 10:22 this describes... they were full of faith 10:24 and patience and labor 10:26 and they tried those that said they were apostles 10:27 and they're not they found them liars 10:28 and they had labored even more, they had more patience 10:30 but... what happened? 10:32 There was something that took place in that early church, 10:35 something that started to slip in their relationship 10:39 and it can happen with all of us, 10:41 when I first came to Jesus, I had nothing to offer Him, 10:45 I was just out of the world, fresh out of the world, 10:48 the words of that hymn, 10:50 "Nothing in my hand I bring, simply to thy cross I cling" 10:53 I had nothing to offer Him and so, I was just... 10:56 I had this first love experience, 10:57 I mean, I was just on fire because Jesus had forgiven me, 11:00 He accepted me and I just wanted to live for Him 11:02 because I just... all this guilt was gone, 11:04 I was like, "Yes... " but then you know after a few months 11:08 I started... I learned about the Sabbath, 11:09 I started going to church on the right day, 11:11 I learned about tithe... and starting paying my tithe... 11:14 learned about the Ten Commandments, 11:17 and just started following all the principles of the Bible 11:19 and studying and... a few months go by... 11:22 I am doing this and I am doing this... 11:24 and I've labored and I've got patience and I've got faith 11:27 and I've tried those and said, "they're apostles," 11:29 I was going to a lot of different churches actually, 11:30 not just the Adventist Church 11:32 and so I was trying the different doctrines 11:34 to see which one was true, so now, well... now... 11:39 I've little bit more of a pedigree there... 11:41 I have a little bit more going on, 11:42 I guess what I'm trying to say is, "The greatest enemy 11:46 of our love for Christ are our works for Christ... 11:50 the greatest enemy of our love for Christ 11:53 is our works for Christ... " 11:54 okay, I'm actually quoting Oswald Chambers on that one 11:57 but it's true... 11:59 the more we do... the greater the danger 12:03 that we would start... slip our... 12:05 slip from our full confidence, full trust, 12:09 full weight on Christ to our works, just a little bit, 12:11 we're just going to lean this way just a little bit. 12:13 Ivor: Self righteousness... James: Self righteousness. 12:15 Ivor: Let me throw something in here, 12:17 we talk about the cycle of one through seven 12:21 and how the first church is the beginning 12:24 so it's interesting that... 12:26 that's the very thing that happened in the beginning, 12:29 Adam and Eve were created in perfection, 12:32 they were like... this is like... first love 12:36 but something happens 12:38 that causes them to lose that first love, 12:41 they lost that first love, they fell from their position 12:44 just like we're reading about this first church 12:46 and what happens? 12:48 Satan came in and told them, 12:49 "You can be righteous by yourself, 12:51 you don't need God in order to be righteous, 12:53 you can know 'good and evil' for yourself," 12:56 and so we're seeing here... this reflects... 12:58 almost like this repetition of history 13:00 between the first church and what happened with Adam and Eve, 13:05 and it's interesting because guess what? 13:06 What does He say is the reward for this first church? 13:09 James: Eat of the Tree of Life. 13:12 Yvonne: Hmmm... 13:14 Ivor: It points us right back to the Tree... 13:16 why is He pointing our mind back to the Garden? 13:18 could He be trying to tell us, "Listen, I want you to remember 13:22 how mankind got into this situation in the first place, 13:26 look if you're faithful, 13:27 I'm not going to cut you off 13:29 like I had to do with Adam and Eve from the Tree of Life, 13:31 if you're faithful and don't make the same mistake 13:33 of self-righteousness, 'I can be like God... '" 13:36 James: Sewing fig leaves together... 13:37 Ivor: "Sewing fig leaves together... 13:39 right, then... I'll give you the Tree of Life. " 13:41 Yvonne: Hmmm... 13:43 James: Powerful, good stuff because when we see this, 13:45 when we see the description here, we apply it to us, 13:48 we can apply... we're very practical on applying this 13:50 but we know it's the early church, 13:52 it... it... probably... we're going to look at this 13:55 as the early church period probably to about 100 A.D. 13:57 Paul, as he begins to pass from the scene 14:01 and later John as he begins he begins to pass from the scene... 14:03 both of them are warning the church 14:05 of the apostasy that's coming in, 14:07 of people that want the "preeminence," John says, 14:10 of those that are going to come up among you 14:13 to draw disciples after themselves, 14:15 now that is the spirit of Antichrist 14:18 and sometimes we think about Antichrist 14:20 as one religious system and one religious person, 14:23 no, John says, "There are many Antichrists... " 14:25 "Anti" does not necessarily mean against... 14:28 it also means "in the place of" 14:30 "in the place of," in other words... 14:33 we are in danger of putting ourselves 14:36 in the place that Christ should occupy 14:38 in the minds and hearts of other people 14:40 and this is where we have to be very careful, 14:43 even here, right now, at this table, 14:44 we have to point people to Jesus, 14:46 we have to point people to the Word, 14:48 we can't be pointing people to our opinions, to our pedigree 14:51 to what it is that we have to offer, 14:53 the whole point of this 14:55 is to open up the Word of God and point people to Jesus 14:57 because He's the only one that can really restore 14:59 and so, about 100 A.D. and onward... 15:02 there's this transition that starts taking place 15:06 in the early churches, 15:07 the first Apostles, Disciples... passed from the scene, 15:10 John passes from the scene... 15:11 and he's warning the church of what's going to come, 15:13 there's some heavy persecution 15:15 and heavy persecution will take us into the next church 15:18 and that's followed by some compromise that takes place 15:20 and so we see this beginning right here 15:23 the doctors of doctrine that's coming in... 15:25 the doctrine of Nicolaitanes that is causing compromise 15:30 in the early church period. 15:32 Yeah, we should touch on that... on Nicolaitanes 15:35 do you have a question? 15:37 I did... I just want to... well, it's more of a comment... 15:39 in verse 4, when you think about... 15:43 when you think about a love relationship, 15:46 and you think about how that... the first love... 15:50 that's your first love, that's so important to you 15:53 and how you're going to nurture it 15:55 and how you're going to spend time with it 15:58 and how you're going to get engaged in it, 16:01 then, Jesus is saying, "You've left your first love," 16:06 again, this book of love, this is the romantic thing here, 16:11 you are walking away 16:14 from our relationship... 16:17 I like this, I think we need to build on this 16:20 just a little bit here because 16:21 what this is saying to us is, 16:23 "You can have all the doctrines right, 16:25 you can figure out who the Nicolaitanes are 16:28 and you can figure out who... 16:29 you can try those and say they're possibly not... 16:30 you can find them liars, 16:32 you can have all that stuff there 16:33 but if you don't have that relationship with Jesus Christ, 16:35 it's a "not" the candlestick's gone... 16:37 the candlestick's gone, 16:39 it's all about that relationship. 16:40 Ivor: The fire has died... James: Hmmm... hmmm... 16:43 Yvonne: Oh, taking away the candlestick 16:45 is taking away the... come on now... 16:48 taking away the fire... Ivor and Yvonne do a fist bump. 16:52 Yeah, the fire... 16:56 Ivor: Yeah, the fire is gone... the love is gone... 16:59 because that's what the book of Song of Solomon actually 17:03 equates or tells us that fire is a symbol of love. 17:07 "Love is like a fire that cannot be quenched" 17:09 so when that fire goes out, what God is saying is that... 17:12 He's not saying, "I've lost my love for you... " 17:14 He's saying, "You have lost your love for me" 17:17 James: But you can rekindle the fire. 17:20 Ivor: You can rekindle the fire. Yvonne: Come on... come on... 17:21 we can even call the Program, "Rekindle the Flame. " 17:24 Yvonne: "Rekindle the Flame!" I love it... 17:27 James: That's this one right there that's enough. 17:28 Yvonne: Yeah... yeah... 17:30 Ivor: So, it's interesting that we can even look back and see 17:36 that this very thing happened with Lucifer, 17:37 he was created perfect and righteous 17:42 but he ended up falling, right? from his place 17:46 because he left his first love, 17:49 so this is something that we see 17:51 reflecting many different levels 17:54 even though it's applicable to the church 17:57 in this particular time period we can see the principle 18:00 spilling out into other areas of the Plan of Salvation 18:04 and so, where are we right now? 18:07 we are... this first church... 18:10 is revolving around the 70-week prophecy, right? 18:16 the fulfillment of that prophecy... 18:18 the first church and where is our location? 18:21 we're in the Holy Place, right, 18:24 so that's just important to understand 18:25 as we move forward but about the Nicolaitanes, 18:29 if you look down in verse... chapter 2... 18:32 and look down in verse 14... it says, 18:35 "But I have a few things against thee, 18:37 because thou hast there them... " 18:38 now this is speaking about the second church, 18:40 we're not going there yet 18:41 but we're looking at this... for the first church... 18:43 "thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, 18:46 who taught Balak to cast a stumbling block 18:49 before the children of Israel, 18:50 to eat things sacrificed unto idols, 18:52 and to commit fornication. 18:53 So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine 18:56 of the Nicolaitanes, which thing I hate. " 18:59 So the doctrine of the Nicolaitane... whatever that was 19:02 was very similar to the doctrine of Balaam, 19:04 whatever Balaam was doing, 19:05 and what Balaam was doing... 19:07 Balaam was "supposedly" a prophet of God 19:11 but he was working against the cause of God. 19:14 Okay, so, this principle of compromise, 19:18 when you stand for God, you're supposed to stand for God 19:20 but this principle of compromise in the name of the Lord, 19:23 that's what's going on in the early church, 19:25 right? the Nicolaitans are teaching some kind of doctrine 19:30 in which compromise... 19:32 "Hey, hey, we're for God... 19:34 we're for God, you know we're for God... " 19:35 but there's beginning to be compromise 19:37 coming into the church. 19:38 This is, I think, a pretty interesting point... 19:43 is that Paul 19:47 who wrote the epistles... 19:49 he also wrote, "To seven churches... " 19:52 Yvonne: Hmmm... 19:53 James: Interesting... the seven is epistles to other churches, 19:55 Romans, Corinth, Ephesians, Galatians, 19:59 Colossians, Philippians... and Thessalonians, okay. 20:05 So seven churches... several different letters 20:07 but seven churches. 20:09 Ivor: Now John's letters to the seven churches, 20:12 come after Paul's letters to the seven churches 20:15 but if you read Paul's letters to the seven churches, 20:17 guess what he's doing? 20:18 He's warning against apostasy to come, 20:21 2nd Thessalonians... "a man of sin is going to arrive," 20:24 Galatians... "Let no one 20:28 deceive you and introduce to you another gospel" 20:31 Colossians... "be aware of the worship of angels" 20:34 Corinthians... "all the... " 20:35 That's right, all these things, these points... 20:38 it's as if Paul was warning, 20:41 "Listen, something's coming guys 20:43 and you guys are letting something come up in the church, 20:46 if you don't address this... " 20:47 so when John is writing, he's saying, 20:51 "Look, these things... they're beginning to occur now, 20:55 'You've lost your first love' these things... 20:58 and as a result, you're going to see the man of sin rise, 21:02 you're going to see this teaching 21:04 where we pray to angels instead of... 21:06 you're going to see another gospel being introduced 21:08 that is not the one that Christ spoke... 21:10 all this is a result of leaving your first love described here 21:14 in the Book of... in the first church. " 21:16 Yvonne: Wow... 21:18 That is really powerful because Paul is more explicit about 21:22 specific aspects of what that false teaching was... 21:25 or what those false teachings were... he identifies them 21:28 in a number of different places like in Galatians 21:31 and he talks about specifically what they were doing 21:33 and the most important thing... the most important solution 21:37 as you said, Ivor, the most important solution 21:39 to what they were doing was to reconnect with Jesus, 21:42 they were being taught about another Jesus, 21:45 they were receiving another gospel, 21:47 they were receiving another spirit 21:49 and just like in Thessalonians... 21:51 he says in 2nd Corinthians that the devil would come 21:55 with ministers of righteousness 21:57 and as an angel of light and by-the-way, 21:58 Lucifer was a God-given name and it means "Light bearer" 22:02 so you've got the light, the light, the light 22:03 and that light going out... and Lucifer is the one 22:06 who is trying to put out the light, 22:09 he's trying to quench the light. 22:11 Ivor: The love... 22:12 James: The love... the love... the love... 22:14 and the other thing that's interesting is 22:15 the picture that Jesus has here in the candlesticks 22:18 is Him tending the lights... tending the lights. 22:21 Ivor: Yeah, keep the love burning. 22:24 James: Yeah and in Matthew 25... the ten virgins... 22:26 they're trimming their wicks so the light can burn brighter 22:29 and they're needing that extra oil 22:31 to be added so the light can burn brighter. 22:33 Ivor: So the five foolish virgins 22:34 actually run out of love... 22:36 James: Yes, Holy Spirit love... 22:39 Yvonne: Hmmm... that is so deep. 22:42 Ivor: Yeah, they burn out. 22:43 James: And this is all 22:45 "a relational... " this is what the 22:47 Book of Revelation is, it's relational. 22:48 Yvonne: And I think that's really what the focus, 22:53 our focus... so often, in our church 22:56 we get... we start majoring in minor, 22:59 you get pulled into a whole other way of thought 23:03 which is legalism and so often in many other churches, 23:07 you get pulled into... anything goes... 23:09 "I can do whatever I want... " 23:11 I did a little research on the Nicolaitanes 23:13 and... and the word... the word that was involved was 23:20 "Antinomianism" and it really is like "cheap grace" 23:25 now, grace is never cheap but the whole idea of 23:29 "you can kind of do whatever you want... " 23:32 and giving it... you kind of have permission 23:35 to do whatever you want... 23:37 this is showing... and we have to really apply this to us, 23:43 how are we relating to our first love? 23:46 Have we gotten sidetracked from our first love 23:49 that we're just so busy doing the work of the Lord, 23:52 or we're so busy doing whatever we're doing, 23:54 whatever it is... that we've lost our first love 23:57 and we give excuses for it like the Nicolaitanes. 24:01 So think about... whenever you start a relationship, 24:04 whether it was, okay, 24:06 the person that you ended up marrying right? 24:09 before you got married and you were dating that person, 24:12 courting that person... whatever... 24:13 there was that fire there 24:15 and there was that love 24:17 and "Ah man, I can't wait to be with this person 24:19 and I love spending time with them" 24:21 and then imagine the feeling, like, especially as a man, 24:26 to know that the woman that you love 24:28 is now looking elsewhere, you know what I'm saying? 24:31 That feeling of, "What are you doing?" 24:33 "Why are you doing this thing?" 24:35 You're not like... "Get out of here... " 24:36 you're just like... "Please... " 24:37 but I want you to think... just take a moment and think 24:41 what is Jesus thinking as He feels His Bride-to-be 24:46 beginning to lose her... her love... and wane... 24:49 and look at this letter to the first church 24:53 that's Christ saying, almost with tears saying, 24:57 "Please, don't do... don't leave me... 24:59 don't leave me... " 25:02 because that's what Satan is trying to do... 25:03 he's trying to say, "Look, there's better over here" 25:05 Christ is saying, "What do I need to do? 25:08 no, no, no, not what I need to do... 25:10 look at what I have done, look back at the cross, 25:14 look back at the 70-Week Prophecy 25:17 and look at what I did for you 25:19 as a fulfillment of that prophecy, 25:21 I came and died for you, I love you... this much... 25:26 remember me, remember what I've done for you 25:29 and please come back to your first love. " 25:32 Yvonne: Hmmm... beautiful. 25:34 James: One of the verses in Jude 25:35 and this Book is just before the Book of Revelation 25:37 that I think it really nails what Yvonne was saying also 25:40 in relation to the doctrines of Nicolaitanes 25:44 is Jude... and I don't say chapter 25:48 because Jude is one Book, there are no chapters in here 25:52 so Jude verse 4, "For there are certain men 25:55 crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained 26:01 to this condemnation, ungodly men, 26:03 turning the grace of our God into a license for sin, 26:08 lasciviousness, 26:10 and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ. " 26:14 I say "a license for sin" 26:16 because that's the modern NIV translation, modern translation. 26:18 "Sin... " we're told in 1st John chapter 3 verse 4, 26:23 is "transgression of the Law," 26:24 these men are coming into the church 26:26 and they're taking the grace of God 26:27 and turning it into a license to transgress God's Law 26:30 and to know the man of sin 26:31 and so Jude is warning the same thing 26:33 and he... this is also a prophetic chapter if you will, 26:36 talking about the second coming, the third coming et cetera, 26:39 so, we have this picture that takes place here 26:43 that fits perfectly with the early church 26:44 and what was taking place in the history of the early church, 26:47 we have principles that apply to us today 26:50 and that is... the application of those principles to us 26:54 is called idealism, 26:55 taking the history and working out the principles 26:59 and applying it to our lives today 27:01 and that's what we see taking place in this, 27:03 again, we're out of time but we want to remind our Viewers 27:07 that they can send in their questions in the form of video. 27:12 Yvonne: Yeah, yeah... 27:16 Jason: sss@3abn. org 27:19 James: sss@3abn. org 27:21 and we want to answer some of those video questions, 27:23 the reason why it's video is because we want to have 27:26 their beautiful mugs involved in the program, 27:29 we want to encourage and involve them, so, 27:32 all right, Jason, close us out 27:33 with a word of prayer, would you? 27:35 Jason: Sure, "Dear Heavenly Father, 27:37 thank you so much for being with us 27:38 as we study the Word today 27:40 and please be with the people at home 27:42 and help them to retain the information that was discussed, 27:45 thank you so much for designing such an intricate... 27:50 but yet... an intricate Word but yet 27:55 making it understandable to us 27:57 thank you for all the many blessings 27:59 that you bestow upon us and for giving us a mind to 28:03 be able to study, discern and retain the information 28:07 in Jesus' name we pray, amen. 28:09 All: Amen... |
Revised 2016-08-04