[2] The title of the sermon today is “REVELATION CHAPTER 2.”
- We’ll be going through Revelation Chapter 2 verse by verse today.
[3] When we went through Revelation Chapter 1, remember that we learned the outline of Revelation looks like this:
- So today, we’re looking at Chapter 2, which is about John writing the things WHICH ARE.
- This means the things that were happening at the time John was writing the Book of Revelation.
- Jesus is speaking as we start out in Revelation Chapter 2.
- Jesus has a special message for the 7 churches that we talked about in Revelation 1.
- Chapter 2 is going to cover some of those 7 churches.
- Chapter 3 will finish out the messages Jesus has for those 7 churches.
We need to hear these messages because we should be learning from what Jesus has to say to His churches.
- And remember, these are 7 literal churches that were there at the time of John writing the Book of Revelation.
- These 7 churches don’t represent 7 different made-up church ages that dispensationalists will teach.
- In Chapter 2, we’re going to see the message to 4 of the 7 churches.
- Take a look at verse 1 of Revelation Chapter 2.
[4] Revelation 2:1 Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write; These things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks;
- Jesus then begins to give His message to the first church, the Church of Ephesus.
[5] Revelation 2:2-3 I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars: 3 And hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name's sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted.
- Jesus is telling the Church at Ephesus that they are doing many good things.
- What good things are they doing?
- They are working hard, they have patience, they cannot bear them which are evil.
- They have tested those who say they are apostles and aren’t, and they have found false preachers that are liars.
- They have worked extremely hard for the name of Jesus and have not fainted.
- So the Church at Ephesus is a hard working church!
- They are also great at recognizing false teaching and doctrine. That’s what we need to be.
- When we hear things that are wrong and not according to the Bible, we need to call this out so others aren’t deceived by false teaching.
This Church at Ephesus took a stand against evil. They could not bear those which are evil.
- When we have false churches around here teaching the wrong things, when we have LGBTQ groups pushing their evil agendas, when we have drug dealers out in our community, we need to take a stand against this evil.
- You see: we should want that same praise from Jesus. Let’s do what we need to do for the name of Jesus.
- The only ONE who can truly change this community is Jesus Christ.
- Once people truly accept Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit will change those people. Not us.
- We have no power to change. God does.
[6] John 16:13 Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.
- Now that we’ve seen the good things that the Church at Ephesus did, let’s see what else Jesus has to say.
- Listen, no Church is perfect and all Churches will be doing good things and bad things. We’re human.
- Let’s make sure we’re doing the best we can to do good all the time.
[7] Revelation 2:4-6 Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. 5 Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent. 6 But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.
- Jesus told them the good things.
- He praised them for their hard work, for standing up against evil, for having patience, and for recognizing and calling out false teaching.
- But now, He’s telling them that they have left their first love.
- He’s giving them the bad part, and He’s telling them to correct this.
- Remember, John is writing and delivering these letters to these literal churches in this time.
- But we can learn very much from these letters to the 7 churches so pay attention here.
How does the Church at Ephesus get back to their first love?
- Jesus tells them to repent (change their course) and do the first works. What are the first works?
- They were working hard and doing good works, but they weren’t doing the first works or the most important works.
- God wants them to get back to the first works.
- So remember this today: we need to be doing the first works ALWAYS.
- We cannot STOP doing the first works.
So, what are the first works that Jesus is talking about here? What is the first love that Ephesus has left?
- When Jesus Christ first setup the Church, think back to that time and what Jesus said at that time.
- The first thing Jesus did was to send out His disciples to preach and teach the Gospel of Jesus Christ to every creature.
- Jesus Himself said He was come to seek and to save that which is lost.
[8] Luke 19:10 For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.
- Jesus sent forth disciples two and two into every city and place to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
[9] Mark 6:7 And he called unto him the twelve, and began to send them forth by two and two; and gave them power over unclean spirits;
[10] Luke 10:1 After these things the Lord appointed other seventy also, and sent them two and two before his face into every city and place, whither he himself would come.
- And then Jesus, in Acts Chapter 1, tells His disciples to go out and be witnesses unto Him into the uttermost part of the Earth.
[11] Acts 1:8 But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.
- The main purpose of the Church is to go out and preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
- Doesn’t that make sense? Do you remember what Romans Chapter 10 says about this. Hear this:
[12] Romans 10:13-14 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. 14 How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?
- So listen, we’re all preachers and teachers of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
- It’s not just you and it’s not just me. It’s all believers in Jesus Christ.
- We are supposed to be going out and telling others about Jesus Christ.
- We don’t wait for the opportunity to come to us. We go make the opportunities.
- We go out and find people who need Jesus.
- The men preach within the Church because God said so, but the men and the women and the children ALL go out and preach outside the Church. It takes all of us.
Did you know that most people are saved when they are children?
- This is because their heart hasn’t been hardened over all the years of rejection of Jesus Christ.
- Children can preach to children to get those children saved.
- Our children in this Church have a great purpose and will also do the first works.
- Children are amazing, and our children will work for God too.
- So, hear this today:
- We can’t forget our first love, Jesus Christ, and we can’t forget our first works which is preaching Jesus Christ to others so they can be saved from eternal hell, eternal damnation, eternal fire, eternal torment, and from weeping and gnashing of teeth.
In this world today, we hear all about love, love, love BUT no one understands what that truly means.
- If we truly have God’s love, we’ll be going out and preaching Jesus Christ because we know He is the only one who can save them from hell.
- You see: the LGBTQ crowd will call me hateful for preaching against them, but the truth is: I’m trying to tell them the truth about hell because I don’t want them to go there.
- If you could actually see or feel what hell was like, you wouldn’t want anyone to go there.
- And I don’t want them to go there. I hope that they change their mind about Jesus Christ if it’s possible.
If we truly believe in and understand hell, we won’t anyone to go there.
- We’ll do our absolute best RIGHT NOW to tell them the truth.
- The Bible tells us that MOST PEOPLE will go to hell so we’ve got work to do.
- We preach against sin and people will call us hateful and they will hate us, but this is God’s love because Jesus saves them from eternal hell.
- We aren’t perfect. We are sinners too. But we will preach the word of God as instructed.
- We must tell the truth. We must help THE LOST to find Jesus.
When you’re going out to do the first works of spreading the Gospel, this is going to change you because love will increase within you.
- You’ll see the lost people. You’ll see the hurt within people. You’ll see how they need Jesus.
- And let me tell you: there’s a HUGE percentage of people who need Jesus around here.
- You’ll see how much some of them hate God and you.
Let’s go back to Revelation Chapter 2.
- Keep in mind that this church in Ephesus no longer exists.
- You can’t go and attend that same church today.
- We can apply this same teaching to every church today.
If your church isn’t going out and preaching the true Gospel of Jesus Christ to as many as they can, they have also lost or never started their first works.
- First, they need to understand the true Gospel of Jesus Christ within the Bible.
- Jesus isn’t happy with most of His churches today.
- I’ve lived here all my life and NO ONE has ever came to my door to give me the true Gospel of Jesus Christ.
- No one. I heard it from the Internet. I heard it on You Tube. Thank God for You Tube. It’s not all evil.
- I took what I heard, I got my Bible out, and I made sure it matched the Bible. And it did.
In other words, we can take all of these messages from Jesus Christ to these 7 churches and APPLY THEM to US TODAY!!!
- And that’s what we’re going to do as we go through Revelation Chapters 2 and 3.
- How can any church not take these messages and apply them?
- Why are churches not going out to reach the lost? The message is there.
- Many false teachers and preachers today will just repeat what they hear other false teachers say and they will tell you that these 7 churches are 7 different church ages and that we’re living in the last church age, the Laodicean Church age.
Where do they get this stuff? Where does the Bible say there are 7 church ages?
- It’s false and made up by some man YET people will continue to teach that trash.
- It makes no sense if you read and understand the entire Bible.
- But yet, most churches around here will teach that. I fell for it too. We need to wake up.
- They will say that right after Jesus, there is the Ephesus Church age and that’s followed by the Smyrna Church age and so on.
- But in Revelation Chapter 1 we already studied and showed that the 7 churches were 7 literal churches that John was writing messages to.
- They existed then and do not exist today. They weren’t future churches or ages.
The churches today will teach that we are in the Laodicean Church age and the problem with that Church was the fact they were lukewarm and neither cold NOR hot.
- So churches today think that it’s okay to be lukewarm and neither cold nor hot and that we can’t really change that.
- What??? You see: this is crazy stuff churches are teaching and leaving all of our people out there to be sent to hell.
- We aren’t going to be lukewarm here in this church.
- We’re going to be hot, and we’re going to stay that way as long as I am breathing here on this Earth.
- As long as I’ve got one other person with me, it’s a Church. It’s a congregation of believers.
[13] Matthew 18:20 For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.
- You see: WE have a responsibility to GOD to get this right.
- We have a responsibility to get out there and get people saved from hell. That’s our job.
- There is no other job more important. Jesus commanded us to do so, and if we aren’t, this is a great sin.
- Understand that today. Sin isn’t just doing things against God’s rules, but it’s also NOT doing what He tells us to do.
- When we do what He says, His love within us is increased.
- We want to go out more and teach others about Jesus Christ. It becomes a part of us and who we are.
- We aren’t scared or fearful to talk about Jesus.
[14] Matthew 24:12 And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.
- We will NOT let our love wax cold and lose our first love and first works.
- We cannot do this as others will be sent to hell if we do this.
- Moving on to Verse 7 in Revelation 2.
[15] Revelation 2:7 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.
- So I want to take a minute and see what this verse really means because I just heard false teaching this week from another preacher at a funeral.
- And to be 100% truthful with you, I’m sick of false preaching.
- I want to focus in on the part of the verse that says “To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life.”
- False preachers will use that verse to say that we must endure to the end and overcome sin in our life to make it to heaven.
- That we must continue to repent of our sin to overcome and to finally make it to heaven.
- That’s not what “OVERCOMETH” means. Let’s get this straight today. We don’t overcome anything.
- We are sinners. We are damned to hell unless we have Jesus. Jesus overcomes for us. We don’t.
- Let’s see what the Bible says “He that overcometh” means.
[16] 1 John 5:4-5 For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. 5 Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?
- So, the false preachers out there that use Revelation 2:7 to show that we must continue to obey God and repent of our sins and do good works until the end to be saved should actually read and understand the Bible.
- STOP teaching false doctrine and damning people to hell!
- Just a few pages back from Revelation 2, you will find the truth.
- He that overcometh is he that believes on Jesus. It’s that simple.
So now we know what verse 7 means in Revelation Chapter 2.
- It’s simply saying that saved people will eat of the tree of life and have everlasting life.
- Overcoming the world is being born again through Jesus Christ alone.
- Here’s another verse that false preachers will use about overcoming the world and enduring to the end to be saved.
- They will tell you that you aren’t yet saved or you don’t yet have eternal life because you MUST make it to the end.
[17] Revelation 21:7 He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.
- Overcoming means you are a son of God. In 1 John it says those who overcometh are born of God.
- It’s the same thing. Just more proof of what it really means.
- All you have to do is use the Bible to tell you what things mean and not some false preacher.
- Just the other day a false preacher says that he’s not sure why we die and why there’s death.
- Well, the Bible is very clear about that. Romans 6:23 says the wages of sin is death.
- This means sin causes death. When we sin, we earn death. The wages of sin is death.
- The Bible is very clear and will answer all questions.
- So, it’s very simple. Those who overcome are those who are saved and go to heaven.
- Those who do not overcome are those who aren’t saved and go to hell.
- Back to Revelation Chapter 2 now that you know what overcometh means using the Bible as the truth.
[18] Revelation 2:7 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.
- You’ll see the tree of life in verse 7.
- We also see the tree in life in the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve.
- The tree of life is associated with eternal life.
[19] Genesis 3:22-24 And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever: 23 Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken. 24 So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.
- God drove out Adam and Eve from the garden so they could not eat of the tree of life and live forever due to their sin.
- Revelation Chapter 22 also talks about the tree of life. Hear this today:
[20] Revelation 22:1-2 And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. 2 In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.
- Those who are saved will eat of the tree of life. He that overcometh will eat of the tree of life.
- So, you should understand verse 7 very well now. But let’s look a little closer at the end of that verse.
- It says the tree of life is in the midst of the paradise of God. Where’s the paradise of God?
- The paradise of God is heaven.
[21] 2 Corinthians 12:2-4 I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) such an one caught up to the third heaven. 3 And I knew such a man, (whether in the body, or out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) 4 How that he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter.
- So these verses tell us paradise is the third heaven as they are used interchangeably here.
- You might ask: What’s the third heaven? The Bible is very clear about this too.
- The first heaven is the sky above us. The second heaven is beyond earth in space.
- The third heaven is where God is located in paradise.
- Look at verse 8 and 9 in Revelation 2.
- You’ll see that we’re moving past the Church at Ephesus and Jesus is now sending His message to the Church in Smyrna.
[22] Revelation 2:8-9 And unto the angel of the church in Smyrna write; These things saith the first and the last, which was dead, and is alive; 9 I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty, (but thou art rich) and I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan.
- Jesus is clearly talking here because He says the person giving John the message here is the first and the last and was dead but is alive.
- This is clearly Jesus.
- He tells the Church at Smyrna that he knows their works, that he knows they are going through tribulation, and that they are poor and in poverty.
- But He also knows they are truly rich in Jesus Christ.
- They may be poor here on this Earth, but they were rich in the truly good things and good works.
I want to focus a minute on the end of verse 9 where Jesus Himself says: “and I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan.”
- So who in the world is Jesus talking about here? Who are these people who say they are Jews but are not?
- Jesus calls them the synagogue of Satan.
- So listen, I’m not giving you my opinion here. I am showing you what the Bible says.
- This isn’t my opinion. This is what God says in His Bible. If it’s not, show me where it’s wrong.
The synagogue of Satan is obviously someone that calls them self a Jew.
- This already narrows it down for us, right?
- If you don’t call yourself a Jew, then you aren’t included here.
- Only people who call themselves Jews are still left as we narrow this down.
- The religion of Judaism calls themselves Jews. Are they Jews? No, they are definitely not Jews.
Notice that Jesus uses the term synagogue of Satan. Which religion on this earth uses synagogues?
- It’s very clear and easy to know because there is a group of people who call themselves Jews, who deny the Lord Jesus Christ, and they worship their false god in synagogues.
- These are the people who follow the religion of Judaism.
- So you might say: “Well, I can see that they are Jews because of what they wear, the hats, I see them practicing their religion of Judaism, I see them honoring the Sabbath day, eating Kosher meals, and so on.”
- “I know those people are truly Jews. I can see it.”
- Well, take a look at Romans 2:28.
[23] Romans 2:28-29 For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: 29 But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.
- Paul says in Romans 2 that those who are say they are Jews and show it outwardly are not always Jews.
- He says that he is a Jew that is one inwardly.
- Just because someone is circumcised of the flesh does not mean they are a Jew.
- Let’s look at Philippians 3 and understand that Paul is writing to Gentiles here and not Jews.
- Philippi is a city in Macedonia and Paul is obviously speaking to Gentiles here.
[24] Philippians 3:3 For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.
- Who is the TRUE circumcision?
- Paul says it is WE that worship God in the spirit and REJOICE IN CHRIST JESUS!
- Does the religion of Judaism rejoice in Christ Jesus?
- No, they hate Jesus and say he is a false Messiah.
- They will say that He deserved to be put to death and that they would do it again.
- They said He used black magic for His miracles. They don’t deny the miracles.
- They just say that He used black magic.
This means they are NOT the circumcision. This means they are not God’s chosen people.
- This means they are NOT saved. This means they are the synagogue of Satan.
- They say they are Jews, but they aren’t. If you don’t believe me, listen to this verse:
[25] 1 John 2:22-23 Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son. 23 Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: but he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also.
- The religion of Judaism denies that Jesus is the Christ. They are antichrist. They are of Satan.
- If you deny the Father AND the Son, you are antichrist.
- If you deny the Son, you do not have the Father. If you acknowledge the Son, you have the Father also.
- So, false churches, teachers, and preachers will tell you that the so-called Jews in Israel may not believe in Jesus but they still worship the same god.
- Really? Because the Bible says different. And if you say something different than the Bible, you’re a liar.
- I’ll say this again.
1 John 2:22-23 Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son. 23 Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: but he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also.
- Do you know what else the religion of Judaism believes? They trust in themselves to save themselves.
- They trust in their own supposedly good works to gain them the gift of eternal life in heaven.
- They praise themselves and their own works. They have no Savior. They believe they can save themselves.
- So listen, we’re not talking about a race here so this isn’t racist okay.
- Some people (especially the so-called Jews) think once you start talking about Jews that you’re automatically racist.
- We’re not talking about race. We’re talking about a religion being the synagogue of Satan.
- There are people from Judah who are Jews who believe on Jesus Christ and are saved.
- I don’t care what race or what nationality you are. This isn’t about race. God doesn’t care about race.
This is about who is the synagogue of Satan in Revelation 2:9.
- This is important to understand because churches all throughout this country today support the man-made country of Israel with everything they have and the majority of the population there practices Judaism.
- Judaism is a FALSE RELIGION!
- This is the same religion that HATES JESUS CHRIST!
- And we have churches supporting them and giving them money.
- Our country backs them like no other. And they hate Jesus.
- We have made friends with people who are antichrist.
Let’s get this straight. The man-made country of Israel today is NOT ISREAL FROM THE BIBLE.
- People who hate Jesus HATE God the Father. It’s that simple.
- God the Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit are ONE. Hate one and you hate all.
- Did you know that most people think the religion of Judaism follows the first 5 books of the Bible?
- That lie has spread everywhere around here. Listen to this verse straight from the mouth of Jesus Christ:
[26] John 5:46 For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me: for he wrote of me.
- Jesus Himself says if you had believed Moses, you would have believed me. But guess what?
- They didn’t believe