1600-5 Church

REVELATION 2:1-7
“I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes: I hate the work of them that turn aside; it shall not
cleave to me” (Ps.101:3).
“Through thy precepts I get understanding: therefore I hate every false way” (Ps.119:104).
“For my mouth shall speak truth; and wickedness is an abomination to my lips” (Pr.8:7).
“The fear of the LORD is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward
mouth, do I hate” (Pr.8:13).

4. The church tested all the preachers and teachers of the church and rejected the false. If a teacher confessed that Jesus
Christ, the Son of God, had come in the flesh, he was accepted and allowed to teach. If he denied that Jesus Christ had come
in the flesh, he was not allowed to teach. The church could not tolerate false teachers and stood against all false teaching.
They were loyal to Christ. They did just what Scripture exhorts: they tested the spirits of the teachers.

“Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false
prophets are gone out into the world. Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth
that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: and every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is
come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should
come; and even now already is it in the world” (1 Jn.4:1-3; cp. 1 Jn.2:22-23; Mt.7:15-20).

5. The church bore up under all for the sake of Christ’s name. This is a descriptive verse, a description that touches the
heart of tender believers: the church...
• bore up
• patiently endured
• labored
• did not faint
Why? For Christ’s name sake. They did it all and bore so much for Christ’s sake.
g159 They worked and toiled to the point of exhaustion.
g159 They patiently endured.
g159 They did not bear or put up with evil.
g159 They tested and rejected false teachers.
This is a meaningful picture of a true church, a church that has surrendered itself to the Lord Jesus Christ. It is the picture
of a church that is loyal and devoted to Christ, that is orthodox through and through. It is the picture of just what a church
should be. But there is one thing lacking, one devastating and destructive thing that looms ever so large in the life of the
church. This is the discussion of the next note.

“And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be
saved” (Mt.10:22).
“He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it”
(Mt.10:39).
“And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife,
or children, or lands, for my name’s sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting
life” (Mt.19:29).
“For I will show him how great things he must suffer for my name’s sake” (Acts 9:16).
“We are fools for Christ’s sake, but ye are wise in Christ; we are weak, but ye are strong; ye are
honourable, but we are despised” (1 Cor.4:10).
“Therefore seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not....For which
cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day”
(2 Cor.4:1, 16).
“For we which live are alway delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake, that the life also of Jesus
might be made manifest in our mortal flesh” (2 Cor.4:11).
“Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in dis-
tresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong” (2 Cor.12:10).
“But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love,
patience, meekness. Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also
called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses” (1 Tim.6:11-12).
“In all things showing thyself a pattern of good works: in doctrine showing uncorruptness, gravi-
ty, sincerity” (Tit.2:7).
“And hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name’s sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted”
(Rev.2:3).

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(2:4) Church—Love—Backsliding: there is the complaint. The church had lost its first love. This probably means two
things.
1. The church and its believers had lost their feelings for Christ. The Greek says, “your love the first [love].” Believers
had left their first love. Christ was no longer first in their lives. They were putting themselves and their own affairs first, and
they were putting the church first—the programs, services, ministries, and fellowship of the church. They had become more
attached to the church than they were to Christ.
g159 They had lost their feelings of warmth and tenderness for Christ.
g159 They had lost their sensitivity to Christ, their fervor, spark, and unction.
g159 They were not fellowshipping and communing nor praying and sharing with Christ—not like they did when
they were first converted.
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