Your Lampstand -Revelation 2:5

Rev 2:5 Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place

ἐκπίπτω * ekpiptō * ek-pip'-to * From G1537 and G4098; to drop away; specifically be driven out of one's course; figuratively to lose, become inefficient: - be cast, fail, fall (away, off), take none effect.

They left the path. They are some place now where they shouldn't be. They were once in and on the way, but have stayed on unfamiliar ground. Jesus says they have fallen. This passage seems to indicate it may be possible to know the love of Christ. yet grow grow distant and cold. 

The answer to their plight is given by Jesus. The danger is there for all of us, as is 

It is the same requirement that allowed for grace: repent and change your ways. Turn back to God. Always turn to God.

Or else

ei de mē(ge) * i deh may'-(gheh) * From G1487, G1161 and G3361 (sometimes with G1065 added); but if not: - (or) else, if (not, otherwise), otherwise. 

There is but one outcome given if they continue the path they tread. 

Am coming (quickly KJV)

τάχος * tachos * takh'-os * From the same as G5036; a brief space (of time), that is, (with G1722 prefixed) in haste: - + quickly, + shortly, + speedily.

Assuredly as a pebble dropped from the hand falls to the ground; as the next step follows the one before.

Unless

ἐὰν μή * ean mē * eh-an' may * That is, G1437 and G3361; if not, that is, unless: - X before, but, except, if no, (if, + whosoever) not.

This is an example of mercy offered to the sincere heart.  The Father continually calls to us in this time of grace, but His patience is not infinite.  The lamp stand that represents the believers here in Ephesus is in danger of being removed.   As the light fades in this assembly, so does the need for a lamp stand.  The same applies to that place in our heart where we have made room for the light of the world.

Matthew 5:14-16  “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden

15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven

Revelation 3:19 Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent.

Revelation 3:3 Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; hold it fast, and repent. But if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what time I will come to you

You Have Received

Psalms 68:18-19 NASB
You have ascended on high, You have led captive Your captives;
You have received gifts among men,
Even among the rebellious also, that the Lord God may dwell there.
19 Blessed be the Lord, who daily bears our burden,
The God who is our salvation.
Selah.

The Hebrew word translated here as "have received" comes from a primitive root; to take, and has "the widest variety of applications" (CWSB). The BDB definition includes the ideas of "acquire, buy, bring, marry, take a wife, snatch, take away".

This could serve to remind us that He has redeemed us and we, the Bride of Christ, have been freed and raised with Him. He will be back to gather His Bride and take her to His Father's house. He has snatched us out from death's dominion and from His hand we cannot be removed by another. He alone holds the keys to life and death.

The gifts exchanged include our life for His. We receive salvation and the unfolding of His Spirit. He receives the glory given to Him by the Father.
It is love perfected.

The Lord Reigns

1 Chronicles 16:31-33 NIV
Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad;
let them say among the nations, “The Lord reigns!”
32 Let the sea resound, and all that is in it;
let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them!
33 Let the trees of the forest sing,
let them sing for joy before the Lord,
for he comes to judge the earth.

He came to earth once to redeem it. He will come again to rule it. Our joy is in His saving grace and the fulfillment of that grace. He sits on God's throne.

Forsaken Love - Revelation 2:4

Rev 2:4 Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first.

For all that was commendable by these Ephesians, this verse starts with the word “yet”.  Despite these admirable things mentioned, there was something more important lacking.  At odds with their works was leaving behind love.  Love is at the center of what it means to believe in God.  It was for love of the world that He gave His only Son.  It is in love all things are held together.  To forsake love is to forsake God.

Jeremiah 2:2 “Go and proclaim in the hearing of Jerusalem:

“This is what the Lord says:

“‘I remember the devotion of your youth,

how as a bride you loved me

and followed me through the wilderness,

through a land not sown

Matthew 24:12 Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold

13 but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.

Turn Their Hearts

Luke 1:17 NIV
And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make
ready a people prepared for the Lord.”

The parents turn and become like little children. Hearts reborn are able to inherit the kingdom. Hearts reborn are ready to seek and find the wisdom of righteousness. The Lord came and will come again. Get ready.

Let Him Finish

Psalms 14:2-3 NIV
The Lord looks down from heaven
on all mankind
to see if there are any who understand,
any who seek God.
3 All have turned away, all have become corrupt;
there is no one who does good,
not even one.

We are given this moment of life that we might find God. Not many found Him on their own, not the pure and holy God in heaven.

He Who made the heart judges the heart. He alone can fashion a man's heart to it's potential and to live. That's why it is important to let Him finish the work.

Psalms 33:13-15
From heaven the Lord looks down
and sees all mankind;
14 from his dwelling place he watches
all who live on earth—
15 he who forms the hearts of all,
who considers everything they

We Will Rise

Psalms 17:15
As for me, I will be vindicated and will see your face;
when I awake, I will be satisfied with seeing your likeness.


Isaiah 26:19
But your dead will live, Lord;
their bodies will rise—
let those who dwell in the dust
wake up and shout for joy—
your dew is like the dew of the morning;
the earth will give birth to her dead.

We are destined for life. Accepting God at His word will get us there. We will rise as did He.

Good All The Time

Psalms 13:3-6 NIV
Look on me and answer, Lord my God.
Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death,
4 and my enemy will say, “I have overcome him,”
and my foes will rejoice when I fall.
5 But I trust in your unfailing love;
my heart rejoices in your salvation.
6 I will sing the Lord ’s praise,
for he has been good to me.

The source of light is the source of life. With our mind let us trust in the Lord. Let our hearts rejoice in His unfailing love. He is good all the time.

Our Father

Truth is relative if we call Him Father.

You Have Persevered - Revelation 2:3

Rev 2:3 NIV

 You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary

The seed has been sown. If we hold on to His truth and believe, we will find a harvest of fruit, now and in that time to come. When the seed is welcomed and received, it takes root in the name of the Most High.  

In the midst of the world is the peace of God, providing His strength amid  hardship and struggles.  Here in His green pasture we find rest, even as we labor in the ripening field.  We often find shape and clarity as we endure the heat of the refining fire of life.

John 15:21 They will treat you this way because of my name, for they do not know the one who sent me.

Matthew 5:10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,

for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

John 16:3 They will do such things because they have not known the Father or me.

Luke 8:15 But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop

Romans 5:3-5 Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope 5 And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us

James 5:7 Be patient, then, brothers and sisters, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop, patiently waiting for the autumn and spring rains.

James 1:4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything

Psalms 37:7 Be still before the Lord

and wait patiently for him;

do not fret when people succeed in their ways,

when they carry out their wicked schemes.

Where Love Is

1 John 4:7-12 NIV
God’s Love and Ours
7 Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11 Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.

John repeats his emphasis on love. An additional description and why. We are told what our response ought to be.

John says here that no one has seen God, but Jesus said that seeing Him is the same as seeing God. In another place we are told He is the exact image of God.

Love is given as evidence that God lives in us, unified by His Spirit. John tells us that love fulfilled in our lives is the intent of God's love. Where love is, there is God.

None Fall To The Ground

1 Samuel 3:19 ESV
And Samuel grew, and the Lord was with him and let none of his words fall to the ground. 20 And all Israel from Dan to Beersheba knew that Samuel was established as a prophet of the Lord. 21 And the Lord appeared again at Shiloh, for the Lord revealed himself to Samuel at Shiloh by the word of the Lord.
4:1 And the word of Samuel came to all Israel.

As it is today, God reveals Himself in His word. His word goes out to the ends of the earth and and shines as a lamp held out in the darkness.
The word revealed in a life will manifest in that life.

Finding The Body

Luke 24:1-3 NIV
1 But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared. 2 And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, 3 but when they went in they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.

Just as the temple veil was torn allowing access to the Holy of Holies, the stone is rolled away from the tomb allowing escape from the darkness of death. We can walk out when He calls to us.
They didn't find the body of Christ on this morning, but we can. The body of Christ is alive and well today. It is His church, the bride of Christ, those who believe and trust in His name.

I Know Your Deeds - Revelation 2:2

Rev 2:2 I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked people, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. 

 He knows, for all things are before Him. There is no hiding place, no cover of darkness between Him and us. We are fully revealed before His eyes. Not everything is as it might appear to our eyes. Not everyone is whom they say they are. Sometimes this is deliberate, misguided, or just a mark of confusion.

To test something or someone, there has to be a frame of reference. The Lord is our frame of reference and His word connects us to His light, our guiding star. Without His Spirit there is no way to discern between spirits, for this is a gift of the Spirit. The only way to know something is false is to know the truth.

This church is commended for their testing and discernment of falsehood. It is because they have been exposed to and know the truth that makes this possible.

1 John 4:1 Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.

1 Corinthians 12:10-11 to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. 11 All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines 


2 Corinthians 11:13 For such people are false apostles, deceitful workers, masquerading as apostles of Christ. 14 And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light 


 Matthew 7:15-16 “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. 16 By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? 


 1 Timothy 1:6-7 Some have departed from these and have turned to meaningless talk 7 They want to be teachers of the law, but they do not know what they are talking about or what they so confidently affirm.

In The Beginning God

Genesis 1:1 NIV
1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.


Genesis 1:2
Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.

There is no indication, or hint, as to what was in place before God created the heavens and earth, or the context of our creation. We are only told that He created them. This is enough,

Verse 2 could used to describe man's state before receiving the breath of life was given, before the light of the world rose to shine on every man. His Spirit would hover until He was sent by the resurrected Jesus.

Long before man appeared, God was at work for His purpose.

Ancient Paths

Jeremiah 6:16 NIV
This is what the Lord says:
“Stand at the crossroads and look;
ask for the ancient paths,
ask where the good way is, and walk in it,
and you will find rest for your souls.
But you said, ‘We will not walk in it. ’

The latest is not always the best. The newest thing can be the poorer choice.
The road to rest is from old because it is from God Who was before time and present each moment.