Walk With Me

Why Jesus Commends, Corrects, And Calls Us Back To First Love

• JJ

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SPEAKER_00:

Morning, everybody, and welcome to today's episode of Walk With Me. I am your host, JJ. So good to have each and every one of you. We are back, we are back, and I am so glad to be here with you. And I'm so glad that you are here with me, and we are here together on this walk, uh, this Christian walk, um, towards our destiny, which which we really all want to be heaven, right? Amen. So I'm so glad to see all the new listeners walking to each and every one of you. Thank you all for liking and sharing and even commenting or even sending me emails on the on the sidebars. And if you do want to do that, my email address is walkwithme bible study at gmail. Walk with me bible study at gmail. You can always send questions or comments to that. Uh, if you have the YouTube page, you can always comment on that. I have to admit, I gotta get better at going back to YouTube and checking the comments. But I do appreciate each and every one of you. Love each and every one of you. Big shout out to our sponsors, TrueBars Lyricists and Exquisite Creations. TrueBars does the intro and the outro, and he's also on Spotify and uh other music apps where you can download music. So go ahead and give him a quick checkout. Uh, he is on his way to God, so uh, you may hear some things you like and then some things you don't like, but this is how all artists are, right? So, but I do God bless, I do want to thank every one of you, and I wish that I pray that God blesses you richly for that. Amen. I'm so glad to have you all now. If you've been following this podcast for a length of time we are on, uh and believe it or not, this series, this entire long series, was started by a question. So don't think that any question is um pedantic or unnecessary or things like that. We a lot of things we just don't know, uh, because no one's taught us, and and and it sort of leads to questions. So questions are always welcome here, and you can email those questions to walkwithme bible study at gmail. So, again, like I started to say earlier, if you've been with this podcast any length of time, uh, we've been doing the end time study, and it all started because someone had a question, and it was a question based on some social media thing that took everybody by storm, and we've been on this ever since. So we have covered some things, and I know I might be going a little bit slow, um, but it's important because I I got a couple comments like, hey, when are we gonna get to the exciting stuff? Listen, if when by the time we get to the quote unquote exciting stuff, you're gonna realize that it's not quite so exciting. Alright, so that being said, let's go ahead and get into today's uh subject. We're gonna I I kind of gave a cursory overview of the letters of the church uh last week, and I'm kind of feeling led to go back and sort of give a sort of a detailed breakdown to each letter. Uh so we are going to do that and then we're gonna move on. Um, and here's something about these letters to the churches. If you or I are in the church, then each there is a letter in here. Either one of these seven letters. This is not denominational, y'all. This doesn't have anything to do with Methodist or Baptist or Missionary Baptists or Southern Baptists or or Presbyterian or Episcopalian, and all of that stuff is man-made. We we have a cup, we've got a couple episodes on that. This is to the true one God apostolic Holy Ghost talking church, and each one of these one God Holy Ghost Apostolic Churches, uh, these letters to those churches, we fit somewhere in those cat in these letters. Okay, our organization, our assembly, our church fits somewhere in these letters. That's why it's very important that we give these letters more than a cursory glance. What is that? What are you saying, JJ? All right, listen. We again, I'm not talking about denomination. Denomination is I'm not gonna get into that right now. But I if you know me, you know how I feel about denominations. It's non-biblical, and the reason why it's that way, I mean, the reason why we even have the denominations is because somebody misread something in the Bible and decided it was somehow canon. So, but I'm talking about the the one God apostolic churches, baptized in Jesus' name and speaking in tongues of the Holy Ghost. That was how all the books, all the churches were started in the book of Acts. Each one of these letters deals with a church that was started then, and each one of us who are one God, tongue-talking apostolics, it fit somewhere in these seven uh somewhere in these seven letters, each one of us. So, that being said, um, I'm gonna I'm just gonna move on because I I don't want to get too off in the weeds on that. So, let's talk about the pattern of the letter. And the first one we're gonna talk about is we're going to talk about the the church of Ephesus. Now, why are we gonna talk about that one first? Because Ephesus was described as more of the most desirable church in the book of Revelation. Now, as soon as the church was born, this this apostolic church was the quote-unquote desired church, and it had a love for God that was burning like fire shut up in your bones, as we like to say. That church was zealous and outreach and preaching the gospel, and and and no matter where you went, you knew that this week these were Ephesian Christians, and they sort of stood out. And this letter to the Church of Ephesus starts off with a commendation, and you're gonna see this pattern repeat. And in that church of um, in that book of sorry, the letter of to Ephesus, you saw that the Lord commended, I know your work and your labor and my patience. That means this church was faithfully serving God and did not grow weary and well-doing, like we see in Galatians 6 and 9. They had faithfulness, they had patience, they were steadfast, they they which these are some of our biggest Christian characteristics. And these qualities were found in the Ephesian church. The other thing you will see in the Ephesian church is that they didn't tolerate evil and they were a sanctified or a separated church, they didn't accept anyone that as a minister, but they were always set them through sort of like a trial to see if they were genuine and they had the right doctrine. And so therefore, that church stayed true. Um, and there was always the true test, and the name, and the reason why is because the name of Jesus was always under attack. From the moment, from the moment Jesus walked out there in in at that wedding in Cana and turned water into wine, and maybe one day we'll do an episode on that. From the up until now, the name of Jesus was under attack, but the Ephesians preached Jesus' name no matter what, and they refused to compromise. Now, one other thing: the Ephesians hated the deeds of the Nicolaitians. I always call it, I think I mispronounce it all the time. How come I'm just gonna call it Nicolatians? Now, the Nicolaitians, uh, I think we went over it last week, uh, came from two words Nico to conquer and lay out the people. So this is setting up a uh priestly order or like a clerical dictatorship that was over God's people. And Jesus said that he hated this and he commended the Ephesians for having the same attitude. The other thing that the Nicolatians were very famous for, not only was this this sort of uh clerical dictatorship, but the other thing that the Nicolatians was famous for was sort of a compromising with the world. See, Jesus intended his church to be separate, sanctified, called out. The same way uh a man, a high-quality man wants a high-quality woman to be separated and and not act like all the other girls. This is the same way Jesus wanted his church, his church people to be. Not with the attitude or anything like that, but and we're gonna talk about that, not in that sort of way, but he he did not want any sort of compromising in the church, and so you're gonna see the words Nicolatians mentioned quite a few times in these letters. However, there was a problem with the Ephesian church. Jesus, as soon as he gave the commendation, he's he kind of moved into condemnation. And as great as the Ephesian church was, the most desirable way the Ephesian Church was, there was something that the Ephesian Church did that Jesus condemned. He condemned the Ephesian church because she had left the first love. Now, what does that mean? There was a uh instead of there being a um more like a fervor or a hot desire, or it because they kept trying all the ministers and stuff like that, they sort of they kind of started switching into a more of a legalistic sort of deal. They still preach Jesus, but they sort of switched into a more of a legalistic sort of um uh purity test sort of um doctrine, and they did it for self self-preservation, and Jesus commended them for that, but this also caused them to kind of have a more of like a spiritual superiority complex. However, Jesus condemned that part because they in so doing, they sort of lost that love for people that they had in the beginning. So Jesus had to turn around and admonish them that, hey man, it when you leave your first love like that, this is a failure. And so Jesus quickly told them to repent and return to that love for people, that love for the souls, that love for um wanting to save everybody. And if not, there was a danger of having their candlestick removed, and that candlestick being removed, like we talked about last week, was a symbolization of having the Holy Ghost fire and the light taken out of their church. So you will see like a commendation, a condemnation, and then an admonition with one example, with one exception, and we're gonna get to that. Now, the next church you're gonna see is the church of Smyrna. Now, this you see this in Revelation 2, 8 through 11. Um, and Smyrna comes from the word myrrh, and they made a lot of myrrh there, um, and it was a fragrant spice, more like kind of like incense, but more like a perfume. Um, and I mean that's neither here nor there. But this was a the deal with Smyrna was that they were persecuted um from right off the beginning, like the second and third centuries. Matter of fact, in Smyrna, I believe historians um have noted that about five million Christians were murdered from that time in or from Smyrna. Five million. Five billion. So we we see that kind of those kind of numbers today, and there'll be protests in the street unless you're unless you're Christians. But that's how bad it was in Smyrna. Now, a lot of them were thrown in the lion's dens, and some were crucified, and some of them was covered with tar and set on fire, some of them were boiled in oil, burned at the stake. Matter of fact, Polycarp um was murdered in Smyrna in AD 156. But despite all the persecution, the church grew, and it reached the um the highest percentage of the world population, I think at that time, uh I would say right before uh the time of Constantine, and we all know what happened then. Now, there was a statement that Jesus made, uh, Revelation 2 and 10, that there was going to be a tribulation for 10 days. This is not the tribulation that we're talking about, and this is why we had to go back and talk about these letters again. There was a tribulation for 10 days. Now, there is a lot of thought, and I kind of agree with this thought, that these 10 days is not like a 10-day imprisonment. It's thought to reference a 10 periods of persecution under Roman Emperors from from like Neil to Diocle. I'm gonna m I'm gonna butcher this name. Diocletian. I always do it, I always butcher his name. But so here's the commendation. You know, commended for how well they endured the persecution. In spite of the poverty, because one thing about Smyrna was that there was a an economic system that effectively um effectively eliminated Christians from the diaspora. In other words, it what am I saying? Like there was there'd be holidays where you were required to to run around saying um the emperor is lord. Well, now for Christians, that's gonna be a whole problem. I mean, we there's some fake Christians now that'll be okay with it. Well, you know, you know, that's the law of the land. But listen, there was it would cause a problem. So what would happen is they would be most of the Smyrna church ended up being poor because they were not really, they're more they were not able to freely participate in the wealthy economy that was Smyrna. So that's why when Jesus said in the very beginning, he said, Thou art poor, but thou art rich, which means even though they're poor with the money, they were rich spiritually. So, and because of that, you will see in that um letter that there is no rebuke to that church. Jesus did not rebuke them, but he did admonish them, he told them not to be afraid. Um, and they would he told them that they were going to suffer, he said to be faithful unto death, but those who die for, you know, die for Jesus' name would not be affected by the second death. The second death, which means if the Smyrna Christians could just hang on and fulfill the admonitions, they were promised two blessings. First, they'd be given a crown of life, second, they would not be hurt in the second death, which means they would die the first death. Everyone's gonna die the first death. This just depends on how this was gonna happen. But they were promised eternal life, and they were also gonna be given the martyr's crown, which is a big deal when it comes to Jesus. So the Lord compared um some of Myrna Church, though, to the synagogue of Satan. And the reason why he did that is because there are people who don't treat uh teach the truth of God's word, they belong to that synagogue of Satan, and they won't be martyred, but the Lord knows them. There are those are people who are really going to be in a position where they're gonna be facing a lot of judgment, uh, they're gonna be facing the full wrath of the tribulation, and on top of that, when they do meet their end, they are literally going to um go to hell, and you don't want to do all that and then go to hell because you just didn't want to follow the word of God, and that's where the that's where some of the um not church the church at Smyrna, but people in Smyrna. Now, so now you also have, and this we're probably end up stopping here, the letter to the church of Pergamus. Now, this is still Revelation chapter 2, 12 to 17. Now, the word Pergamus um is uh is a word that really means married in the native tongue. Now, when the Persians conquered Babylon and the Babylonians kind of moved their religion into Pergamus, there was a lot of um persecutions there, and there were a lot of martyrs. And if you ever heard that term antipas, he was the one of the ones who got murdered by the um by the Babylonians when they tried to take over the you know the town of Pergamus when it comes to religion. Now, here's where we talk about Constantine. Because when Constantine, you know, he professed he was converted to Christian, what he did, the first thing he did was he united church and state. And this is where we got the name Pergamus, because the church is now quote unquote married to the world and guilty of spiritual fornication. When the church was never intended to be married to the world, was never intended to be married to the state. The cross took the took the place of the eagle as a standard because God never wanted that to happen either. And Constantine kind of tried his best to make Christianity the religion of the Roman Empire. But the state began to dictate to the church, and what happened with that is that uh images and worldliness and and other pagan things started being introduced into the church, and into this church there were two false doctrines. One, the doctrine of Balaam. Now, way back, when we probably talked about it in one of our dispensation episodes, when the children of Israel had came into the land of Moab on the way to Canaan, there was a king by the name of Balak, and he sent for Balaam to go and pronounce the curse on Israel. When the Lord did not allow Balaam to curse Israel, he taught Balach how to uh seduce Israel into sin by communicating committing fornication with the daughters of Moab, bringing the judgment of God upon them anyway. So when you sometimes when people can't get to you one way, they will get to you another way. So, and remember, we talked about the Nicolas. This is going to come back into play here. This is this is sort of a remember, I told you before, a few minutes ago, that this was a more of a spiritual dictatorship. Now, this is where it really got a strong foothold in the church. There was a council at Nicaea in uh AD 325, I think it was, and there was a the the layman outnumbered the bishops by the one. But when the when the uh when the council was completed, the bishop had complete control of the church, and God hated that. God hated that doctrine. Um, not only that, just because they were starting to allow these, remember, this whole simulation of the world into the church. So it is not surprising, it's not surprising that this whole thing is the same council that dominated the political intrigue that brought the Trinitarian doctrine into the church. Prior to this, I'm gonna tell you, and this may upset some of you listening, and and I I'm not gonna apologize because it's the truth. But before this time, before that council of Nicaea, AD 325, the church was always one God. God was manifest in the flesh, just like Paul wrote, greatest mystery of godliness. God was manifested in the flesh, seen of angels, preached unto the world, preached unto Gentiles, received up in the glory. So everybody knew from up from 81 to 325. Every saint, every Christian, every brother, every sister knew that there was one God. It was here at this at this Nicolatian sort of Nicene Council that they introduced the um the doctrine of the Trinity, and this was actually the effective birth of the Catholic Church, and all that was because of uh Constantine. Now there was a combination here. Uh the Lord commanded pergamus was holding fast to the name of Jesus and not deny the Lord faith because they withstood this whole Trinitarian thing, and there these are two big, big, big qualities for any church, and a pergamus uh adhered to these, and even though the the headquarters of the Babylonian religion, the new Catholic Catholicism religion, was centered there. Um, and we but we don't know much about Antibus, but we do know that they're the ones who murdered him. But it was so much, it was so um famous or infamous that God mentioned his name, even though we know nothing about it. Um, well, not not nothing, we don't know much about him, but it was so important to God that God mentioned him in the revelation. There's also a condemnation in that letter as well. This church was guilty of spiritual fornication, it was being married to the world, and again, this is that name Constantine. Constantine is perverting the church by giving large buildings. You got to start seeing uh seeing the word cathedral set up all over the place, and and you know, and robes and pretty things and and um all that stuff, and even though the church started out with pure doctrines and was true to the name of Jesus, it was kind of polluted and seduced by uh this form of worship and the introduction of these pagan festivals. And it was during that time, again, that Trinitarianism was adopted and the what we call the post-millennialism had its origin. What's the post post-millennialism? We'll talk about that. I don't want to get off into the week. However, there was an admonition. Again, it was very simple. Repent. The alternative alternative would be you either repent or you just be judged with the word, which is a two-edged sword. So this really was a a kind of a dire situation that they found themselves in because they had got comfortable with being attached to the world the way they were, and it was a it was a war basically fought against the church, against um the doctrine that Jesus gave them. And this is where, again, a lot of your denominations got its start. Alright? Now, that being said, I ask you, you I know you got questions. Go ahead and send them to me or walk with me at Bible study at email. Walk with me at Bible Study at email. Um, hopefully I can circle back to it. We got a couple more letters, then we'll get into some of the things that happened right after that. So I hope it's not going too slow, but I really want to make sure we cover a lot of things and why Jesus said he said it, and how it will feed into what we will now know at the end time. All right. I love each and every one of you. Thank you all so much for listening so much for liking, sharing, commenting. Yes, I'm trying to figure out how to get it over the rumble. Haven't quite made that. I have an account, some of the sermons are over there, but I just haven't figured out how to get the podcast over there. All right. God bless you all. Love you all. See you all the next one.