END OF TIME PROPHECIES 038

EPHESUS:   The correction.        Revelation 2v5.

"Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works."  

Having diagnosed the problem, He now prescribes the cure. He presents this in three steps:

1. Remember!
2. Repent!
3. Return!   

"Remember from whence thou art fallen"...........This is the first step:   acknowledge there is a problem and retrace your thoughts back to when you first bowed to the Lord; compare where you are today with where you were back then; see how far you have drifted from the heat of first love.   Paul captures this thought in Colossians 2v6  "As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in Him."    You received Him in trembling, you received Him in remorse for your sins, you were grateful for all he did for you and you wanted to give something back to Him.  Says Paul in the very same manner that you received Him, so continue to walk with Him.   Peter does the same in 1st Peter 2v2  " As new born babes desire (earnestly) the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby."   The word for new-born is just born.   What the apostle is saying you are to go back to the day you were saved and live like that.   The prophet Hosea also paints a picture in 2v 15  "I will give her...... the valley of Achor for a door of hope."   The valley of Achor is the place where Israel started to go astray following the great victory over Jericho.   Effectively what the Lord is saying through the prophet is get right back to when things were at their best and walk through that door in the same way you intended at the beginning.   When Israel entered the promised land, they first camped at a place called Gilgal; there it is said they  "rolled off the reproach of Egypt."   There every Israelite renewed their vows before God, there they built an altar of worship to the Lord; there was built a teaching school of the prophets, and every time there was a crisis in Israel  the prophets called the people back to their beginnings.   The Lord wants the love of His people to be at the same level as it was at the very beginning. Taken to a church level, remember the fervency, the hope, the resolve, the dedication of your beginnings. Visualize your first love, and return there.

Repent:   Change your mind,  change your mindset; decide you have been going the wrong way and turn right round and go the opposite way.   Decide to live your life in fervent love to God and His people.   The word fervent means boiling over.   This does not necessarily refer to a bubbly personality; it does however refer to an obvious heart of love to God and His things.   The command to repent is given to five out of seven churches!   The need for repentance in each case is different, but it is a command backed up with a threat of swift action..... in this case the removal of the testimony.   Loveless orthodoxy is not the way forward.   There is a more excellent way, which Paul described in 1st Corinthians 13 and which the Lord Himself repeatedly said to His disciples.   Our salvation was based on a Divine act of love and if any church will represent Me they will choose the way of love.   It will become clear that this does not mean soppy compromise with sin and evil, it means fervent love to God and His people in a way that is obvious to all. How many churches hold "repentance meetings"?  Pride stops us, we would rather continue as we are, relying on our self-righteousness, when the truth is we have left the Lord. Perhaps church leaders would feel their perceived "position" would be under threat if we were to repent in this way. Any such position is worthless in the service of God.

Return:   "Do the first works."   The prophet Hosea, reflecting the heart of God for His people says in chapter 6v1  "Come and let us return unto the Lord."   It will involve confession of sin, it will involve a searching of hearts.   Repentance is not merely to change the mind, but to change our actions and our attitudes.   In the ministry of John the Baptist the Holy Spirit defined what repentance would mean for different groups of people.   A reading of the latter half of Matthew chapter 3 and Luke chapter 3 reveal the following:

• To the Pharisees and the Sadducees  "bring forth fruits worthy of repentance."   Stop relying on a misconceived heritage.
• To the general public     "he that hath two coats impart to him that has none.   Start to be generous to your fellow man instead of grabbing everything for yourself.
• To the publicans (tax collectors)   "exact no more than is appointed you."   In your business dealings stop overcharging people because it is in your power to do so.
• To the soldiers    "don't accuse falsely, do violence to no man, and be content with your wages."

We could all of us add to the above list of things that need to be changed.   True repentance means doing the first works, doing the things our consciences told us to do when first awakened by the Holy Spirit.   Churches need to return to the Lord.   We need to clear away the things of the flesh that are hindering us, we need to demonstrate a love for the Lord in the works that we do and in the manner in which we do them.   We need to do all of the above quickly.   The Lord is actively moving amongst us. He does not acknowledge a loveless church as a testimony for Him.