Title: Restore Your First Love and Tears
Revelation (15) Restore your first love and tears
(Rev 2:1-7)
< Lessons from the Word to the Church in Ephesus >
When the Lord gave a message to the 7 churches through the Apostle John, the first message was given to the messengers of the Ephesian church, and they praised faith in action. Also, standing upright in the truth, he exposed the lies of those who claimed to be apostles (verse 2) and praised them for hating the deeds of the Nicolaitans (verse 6). On the other hand, he rebuked him for forsaking his first love and challenged him to repent (verses 4-5). Through the words given to the church in Ephesus, we learn the three life lessons that believers should have.
1. Have faith in action
What is grace? Realizing one's wishes or realizing God's love with one's head is not true grace. Strictly speaking, it is not true grace to say, “I have received grace!” after hearing the Word and being moved by it. The real grace is living like the Lord. It is grace that the Lord's will becomes my will and the Lord's life becomes my life.
It is not grace to pour out the grace you received from the parking problem in the church parking lot right after you say you received grace when you listen to the sermon. If you shout “Hallelujah!” at church and hurt your family with words at home, you are not receiving grace. There must be ‘faith in action,’ where belief is followed by action. Why are so many of the saints weak today, and there are so many anguish and anxiety? The main reason is that there is no action.
God knows our unrighteousness and judges us according to our unrighteousness. On the contrary, He knows our good intentions and repays us according to our good intentions. Words that are more moving than the praise of the church in Ephesus are the words “know” in verse 2 and “know” in verse 3. God knows everything. Don't worry if you don't have an answer right in front of you. God recognizes our hard work, sweat, and devotion, and will reward you with the best compensation at the most appropriate time and in the most appropriate way.
2. Try to Stand Right on the Truth
Heretics usually tempt the saints with what they see. Therefore, beware of flashy things, interesting things, and strange things, especially those who promise jackpots in the name of Jesus and the Gospel, and those who lie while claiming to be apostles. Even if there is no splendor, novelty, and fun, and furthermore, even if there is no fancy promise of a jackpot or a privileged position, be faithful to the Word and focus on 'getting' or 'solving' rather than 'getting things' or 'solving things'. ' put it on.
If you enter a cult after chasing new things and jackpots, it is easy to enter but difficult to get out. One heretic researcher said: “If you enter the heresy, there is only one way out. It’s a way to die and come out.” It is so difficult to get out of heresy. Even if you escape, you will lose all your faith and your soul will be devastated. Therefore, from the beginning, let go of the greed for the jackpot and the curiosity about heresies and pray for discernment to discern heresies.
Another thing to watch out for is the conduct of the Nicolaitans (v. 6). Nicolas was one of the 7 deacons of the Jerusalem church, but later apostatized and put forward two core ideas. First, there is no need to keep the law in the Age of Grace. Second, since the flesh is evil and only the spirit is good, there is no need to worry about sinning in the flesh. The doctrine of the Nicolaitans can be called anti-legalism. However, even if you are saved by grace and faith, you must respect the law with utmost effort to make the gospel more valuable and God's grace to shine even more.
3. Restore your first love and tears
Restore the passion, heat and innocence of your first love, especially the lost tears. Don't be stingy with crying. Although Jesus always lived happily, he also wept at times. He also said that blessed are those who mourn. Pray for the recovery of tears. Try hard to find good movies, books, or TV shows that make you cry. Sometimes visit an orphanage, do missionary work hard, participate in many moving things, and above all, shed many tears of prayer.
After crying a lot when it is difficult, difficult, and frustrating, you experience a calming and refreshing feeling. Those tears are precious, but the most precious tears are the tears of repentance and prayer. Such tears can also help you find your lost first love, give you a comfortable sleep, purify your blood, and strengthen your bones. Also, if you recover your first love and recover the tears of prayer, your problems will be solved miraculously. Tears of prayer not only lead to the grace of restoration, but also prevent hardships to come.