Last night as I studied for one of the four messages I will be recording at the TV studios on Thursday morning, for my weekend PLUMBLINE TV show (on WLCF TV ), I was reading about Jesus Christ and His rebuke to the Church at Ephesus in Revelation Chapter 2. What strikes me about this and the Word of Rebuke from the Head of the Church - THE LORD HIMSELF - is the parallel between the Ephesian and American churches!
The key line of His rebuke/complaint against them was "But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first". (Revelation 2:4 ESV)....sadly, this can be said about us! In all heated and fiery debates about this issue or that, what is sorely missing in the Discussion is the Name of Jesus! Yes, Jesus, the Creator of the World....the Creator of Life....and yes, even the Creator of Marriage (Genesis 2:24 and Matthew 19:4).
As the secular humanists in the elite media/government/academic circle of power and the Church hierarchy go back and forth on the primary and important issues of Religious Freedom, what we are not hearing from either camp is the Name and Work of the Lord Jesus. This saddens both the Father and Him Who died on the Cross for us.
Our prayer and exhortation this day is for ALL in the Body of Christ, and that includes under-shepherds (pastors, who are servants just like us) is what Jesus said in the very next verse. Because if we do not follow the prescription that He gave to the Ephesian Church, which was the Gateway church to Europe as America is for missions for the rest of the world, Judgment Day will not go well.
Here is the Prescription from Jesus: "Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent....(Revelation 2:5 ESV).
However, the Bible does not leave us without Hope or encouragement as we note here "But the steadfast love of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear Him, and His righteousness to children's children, to those who keep His covenant and remember to do His commandments.....(Psalm 103:17-18 ESV)
Think on these things today as you pray and walk in His Marvelous Light, in Jesus' Holy Name, amen.
(image by Google)
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