Stunning Generosity

Good morning. It's good to be back with you. I was here last week. I know some of you

! I know some of you weren't here last week. So just a brief introduction so I'm not too much

! of a stranger. Do you have the photo of my whole family there? So this is my whole family.

I'm delighted this morning to have my wife with me, Jessica, and my son, Trevor, and then

we have three others who are about to say youngsters, but they're less and less youngsters.

And so and then I'm part of a ministry called Promote Humility, and we do workshops and coaching

and have some initiatives, focus on disability ministry around the world and other aspects

of what it means to grow in humility. And so that's a little about me. And Pastor Mike,

we actually went to the same seminary at the same time, and we have some overlapping relationships.

So he invited me here, and he's been in Alaska, where my wife and I served for 10 years. And so

when I asked last week how many people have been to Alaska, I was very disappointed in the number

of people who are here. So it's God's country up there. It's beautiful.

But we're in... So Pastor Mike said, you know, Phil, could you come with a two-part series?

And so I thought, you know, let's just go to Revelation for two weeks, right? Just something

really easy. But what I've been wanting to do here is to really rekindle your interest,

draw toward this incredible book of Revelation. Pastor Mike said he preached it back in 2018.

I'm sure you remember most of those sermons. But we always need to be refreshed in our memory of

God's Word. Last week, and I'm trying to come at Revelation from some angles that you may not

think about often. And sometimes you come to the book of Revelation, and people talk about timelines.

And I'm coming from a different angle of... Well, last week, we looked at this incredible imagery

of the Lamb on the throne. Over two dozen times or so, he's called the Lamb on the throne. Not the Lion

on the throne. A lamb on the throne. And so what we did was we took apart different layers of what

that image, imagery is. He's a lamb. Image of weakness. But he's a lamb that was... But we don't just

think of the symbolism just from thin air. We look at the context. And we saw in the context,

there's emphasis this lamb was slain. And then we go another... We peeled back another layer of this

onion. And we saw in the context in chapter 5 that this lamb, he was slain, but he's conquered.

And then he invites his sheep to follow him, to conquer along with him and reign with him.

And so this week, I thought we would come at Revelation from yet another angle.

And we'll do that by looking at chapters 2 and 3, where there's seven messages. So if you turn,

if you haven't already turned to Revelation, we'll focus on chapters 2 and 3.

And you recall, if you were here last week, we talked about this very interesting genre of Revelation,

where it's kind of three genres mixed. There's apocalyptic, so there's a lot of imagery and

metaphor and all these layers. There's prophecy. It says very explicitly that prophecies are things

it's saying will come in the future. And it's also a letter. It's a letter that the apostle John

wrote to these churches.

I'm very grateful that was part of our passage today. And chapter 1 was read. So go back to chapter 1,

because before we get to chapter 2, I want to just set the context there.

But what I like to do before we start reading Scripture is to pray as we come to God's Word. So would

you close your eyes and bow your heads and just take a moment, ask God to speak to you through his Word

this morning.

Amen.

You are a glorious Christ.

We want to stand in awe of you. We want to see you clearer.

Father, would you send your Spirit to just open our eyes so we might see another layer of your majesty

and greatness and goodness and grace. And our hearts, whatever our hearts need this morning,

you would bring through your Word. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.

Amen.

So, the passage this morning that was read was chapter 1, verse 12. But if you'd go back just a little

before that to chapter 1, verse 9, just to set the context a little bit. And you see here,

chapter 1, and if you're still looking for the book of Revelation, last book of the Bible,

chapter 1, verse 9. I, John, your brother and partner in the tribulation and the kingdom

and the patient endurance that are in Jesus was on the island called Patmos on account of the Word of God

and the testimony of Jesus. And I was in the Spirit on the Lord's Day, and I heard behind me a loud voice

like a trumpet saying, write what you see in a book and send it. So, it's a book that's made into a kind of a letter

because it's being sent to the seven churches, Ephesus and to Smyrna and to Pergamum and to Thyatira

and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to Laodicea. And in chapters, if you just flip the page there,

chapters 2 and 3 are to those seven churches in that order. These churches were in the,

what's geography, it's where Turkey is right now on the western side of Turkey. And it's as if

these are all kind of in an order as if a mailman was going around to these different churches.

One thing to keep in mind as we look at the passage we are today, I just want, I titled this message

Stunning Generosity. Last week, we saw this stunning reveal as the Lamb was revealed on the

throne and we marveled at the fact that it's a Lamb. In the back of your mind here, I want you to think

about the stunning generosity of this Lamb. And we saw the glorious picture of this Jesus as was read

earlier of chapter 1, verses 12 and following of this glorious King in which John falls before.

His face shining like the sun in full strength.

We already see God's generosity. This glorious one is among the lampstands. Do you see that in verse 12?

There's seven golden lampstands. And then at the very end of chapter 1, it says in the seven lampstands

are the seven churches. So there's this picture of this glorious, bright, really terrifying,

conquering, glorious one. And he's walking among the churches. You think about Kenosha.

This king walking among his people. And so you say this glorious generosity of this king coming along to

this people and each church having its specific issue. He knows these churches and he knows the

particular temptations of some, discouragements of some, where they need to be warned, where they need

to be encouraged. He knows his people like a tender shepherd. By the way, something I was just thinking

about. Isn't that interesting that he's described in such glorious terms here in chapter 1? So bright and

fearsome. It could have been that the descriptions of Jesus for the rest of the book could have been

the glorious one on the throne. But he's described as a lamb on the throne. It's very interesting how the

book is put together. So it's written to seven churches, or this whole book is written to seven

churches. But it's all within, and here's very interesting, it's all within one book.

So think about the other letters in the Bible. You have a book to Corinth. It's to, you know,

one location. There may be some house churches in that book, but it's to Corinth. Or it's to Thessalonica.

But we have something very unique here, and something to keep in mind as you read the book of Revelation.

It's one letter written to seven churches in very unique situations. They need the book of Revelation

for a different reason. Again, some that need to be warned. Some need to be encouraged.

So in a sense, you need to read the book of Revelation seven times at least.

Having read the context of each of these seven churches,

they are seven letters or messages in chapter two and three.

What was it like in that particular church? What were they facing? What were the temptations or

discouragements? And then,

read the book of Revelation. What did they need to hear?

What we're going to do today is, just like last week, we peeled an onion.

Today, we're going to go the opposite direction.

We're going to be like an image of a telescope.

We're going to focus on one of these churches. We're just going to start with the first one.

We're going to look at the book of, or the message

to the church in Ephesus, chapter two, verses one through seven.

We'll focus in on that. And then what we'll do is, we'll take a,

we'll change the lens a little bit.

And then we'll, and then we'll change it once again.

What was it like for Ephesians to get this message to them particularly?

But then,

what was it like for the Ephesians to read the other people's mail?

Do you realize that?

These aren't just individual messages to this particular church,

but they are given the opportunity to read other people's mail and see what was said.

And it's very interesting what the Ephesians need to hear as they read what was written to the other churches.

Because the one phrase that's repeated exactly the same in each,

each message,

you can see it in chapter two, verse seven.

He who has an ear,

let him hear what the Spirit says to the

Ephesians?

No, to the churches, all the churches.

That same phrase is said each place.

Listen to what

Jesus is saying to all the churches.

You need this.

And we'll find,

especially with Ephesians,

that the message of the Ephesians is that,

and these seven,

there's seven by the way,

a characteristic of literature

in the Bible often is a chiastic structure.

That means there's a similarity between the first and the last.

There's a similarity between the second and the second to last, etc.

And that's what we actually find here.

If you want to look at two churches that there was only encouragement,

there was no warning,

they only needed to be challenged to persevere,

it's the second and the second to last.

And we'll find today

is the first and the last,

Ephesus and Laodicea.

There's some similarities

of what their challenges were

and what they needed to hear.

So, let's look at the telescope here.

Let's just look at Ephesus, okay?

And what we have is a warning.

Chapter 2, verse 2.

Jesus is saying,

and by the way, back up in verse 1,

to the angel of the church in Ephesus.

Now, that could be just the leader of the church.

The words of him who holds the seven stars in his hands

and who walks,

I love this,

walks among the seven golden lampstands.

That is, he walks among the churches.

He knows what they need.

And this is what this particular church needs.

I know your works,

your toil,

and your patient endurance

and how you cannot bear

with those who are evil

but have tested those

who call themselves apostles

and are not

and found them to be false.

I know you are enduring patiently

and bearing up for my name's sake

and you have not grown weary.

This is an amazing church.

I'd recommend you go to this church

by what's been written already.

Here are some,

what's admirable about this,

admirable strength.

Do you notice there,

they've not,

they've not grown weary.

Patient endurance.

There's been,

there's been hardship.

There's been persecution.

There's been hard things

but they have persevered.

They're not like the seed

that fell among the rocky soil

that just died off

when the persecution came.

No, their roots have gone deep

and they've persevered.

Admirable strength.

And they have admirable minds.

They knew what was right and wrong.

Look at verse,

verse two.

But you have tested those

who call themselves apostles

and are not

and found them to be false.

They knew what was right and wrong.

They courageously stood up

to these false teachers.

Admirable minds,

admirable strength.

And perhaps this could be said

of Christ the King,

Kenosha.

You've endured through hard things.

You've got bright minds.

You're able to decipher

what's good and bad.

But

I was noticing

that the description of

Jesus in chapter one,

his eyes were like

a flame of fire.

I.e.

his eyes could see,

bring light

to dark places.

He could see

what was really going on.

On the surface,

you go,

wow,

great church.

But something else

is being

unveiled.

Verse four.

But I have this against you

that you have abandoned

the love

you had

at first.

So,

admirable minds,

admirable strength,

but absent hearts.

And what's

really remarkable

is this is

Ephesus.

If you know your Bibles,

this is where

Timothy was a pastor.

Paul wrote a letter

to the church

in Ephesus.

But that

motivation

out of a genuine

affection for God

were

drained away.

It was becoming

mechanical.

They knew the right

things to do.

They knew the right

things to say

and do,

but

they

no longer

delighted

in God.

Perhaps when they

first fell in love

with God,

they loved to

walk with Him

and talk with Him.

They loved to sing

and their hearts

were overflowing.

They loved to tell

people about Jesus

out of that overflow.

But now,

it was just

duty.

It was good

duty,

great duty,

but it was

just

duty.

And this

doesn't speak

of specifically

you've abandoned

the love

at first.

It doesn't say

love toward God

or love towards

others,

so it's probably

a bit ambiguous

as it's both.

So when at first

their love

for one another

was sacrificial

and long-suffering

now is just

they just kind of

put up with people.

They just loved

the people that

were easy to love,

not the ways

that was sacrificial

and loving.

So let's just

stop here

and reflect.

Think about

a married couple.

Imagine a couple

that the husband

is madly

in love

with his wife,

but over time

the wife's

love

just starts

to grow

cold.

Nothing that

the husband

has been doing,

it's just her,

just her attention

as other places

get involved

in hobbies

and activities,

a side job,

the kids,

the friends,

and her heart

just drifts

ever so slowly

away over time.

She's still faithful

to her husband,

still fulfills

her responsibilities

at home,

but she doesn't

delight in him.

So a while back,

Jessica,

my wife,

and I

were on a walk

and

we were holding

hands

and a couple

older folks

were coming

the other direction

and I still

remember

one of them

mentioning,

oh,

it's great to see

young people

holding hands

and I was like,

well,

of course I'm

going to hold

my wife's hand,

but it was just

an image

that caught me.

you know,

I still remember

my father

who's passed away

eight years ago

or so,

his big hands

and my mom's

very slender hands

and all the way

up till his,

he could no longer

walk,

they'd be walking

through the halls

of the retirement

center,

and he'd have

his big hands

on her hands,

like that affection.

And so I just,

as an image for you,

are you holding

God's hand

or are you just

kind of marching

and getting things

done and knowing

this is the right

direction to go

or are you actually

holding his hand

in affection?

Because if you're

holding his hand,

you'll go the right

direction and you'll

have endurance.

Are we holding

his hand?

But this is no

small matter.

Look,

look at verse 4

again,

but I have this

against you

that you have

abandoned the

love you had

at first.

Remember,

therefore,

from where

you have fallen.

Repent

and do the

things you did

at first.

If not,

I will come

to you

and remove

your lampstand

from its place

unless you repent.

Wow.

Lampstand

referring to

the church

where God's

spirit is working

and he would

just move

away.

I don't know

how immediate,

maybe over

decades or

something,

but the life,

God's life

in the church

would ebb away.

He would

leave it.

So it's a warning,

a warning to love.

Well,

what if you feel

like your love

has grown cold?

Well,

this is what he

says,

the Ephesians

kind of the three R's,

just briefly there,

verse 5,

remember,

therefore,

from when you're

fallen,

so remember,

what was that

when I was

on fire for

Jesus,

what did that

look like?

Again,

I walked with

him,

I was talking

to him,

I was singing,

I was telling,

what was that

like?

So I remember,

second R,

repent,

right,

middle of verse

5,

repent,

just a humble

recognition,

yeah,

this is how

it is.

My affection

has grown

cold,

and so don't

be dismissive,

don't think

about somebody

on the other

pew there,

it's,

it's,

I need

this,

and then

return,

and do the

works you did

at first.

But I'm

really glad,

unfortunately,

we read

this,

and that's

all we

read.

I'm so

glad that's

not it.

That this

message,

the Ephesians,

was put

in another

context.

And so

let's back

up here

with the

telescope,

and look

at what

the Ephesians

would have

read in

addition to

this message.

again,

these seven

books,

and there's

a similarity

between the

first message

and the

last one.

Look at the

last one,

chapter 3,

verse 14.

they would be

reading this

after they

read about

their own

situation,

and perhaps

they're feeling

like,

oh boy,

love is not

like a,

affection is not

like a switch

you flip,

you know,

just turn the

lights on,

and I have

this affection

for God.

what's a

good thing

they keep

on reading.

And they

run across

the church

of Laodicea

in a very

similar situation

in which

love has

grown cool.

Chapter 3,

verse 14,

and the

angel of the

church in

Laodicea

write the

words of

the amen,

the faithful

and the

true witness,

the beginning

of God's

creation.

I know

your works.

You are

neither cold

nor hot.

They've

lost the

warmth of

their affection

for God.

Would that

you were

either cold

or hot.

So because

you are

lukewarm

and neither

hot nor

cold,

I will spit

you out

of my

mouth.

Consequence

again,

quite dramatic.

For you

say,

this is,

you say,

I am rich,

I have

prospered,

and I

need

nothing.

Too often

we see

the things

going well

and we

think,

well,

we've

arrived

as a

church.

not

realizing

that you

are

wretched,

pitiful,

poor,

blind,

and naked.

I

counsel

you

to buy

from me

gold.

That is,

come to

another

market,

as it

were,

which we

find all

these things

are free

in this

market.

Come to

Jesus and

you'll find

gold,

gold refined

by fire,

so you may

be rich in

white garments,

so you may

be clothed

yourself,

and the

shame of

your

nakedness

may not

be seen

and salved

to anoint

your eyes

so that

you may

see.

Everything

is at

the

Jesus

market.

And notice

verse 19

though,

very,

very

interesting.

Those

whom

I

love,

I

reprove

and

discipline,

so be

zealous

and repent.

Very

interesting.

The

seven,

that's

this

chiastic

structure,

you see

the very

first one,

they're

lacking

love.

And the

last one,

the emphasis

is on

God's

love

for his

people.

And look

at this

beautiful

image

of Jesus'

love

for his

church,

a church

that has

grown cold

in its

love or

cruel in

its love.

Verse 19,

those whom

I love,

I reprove

discipline,

so be

zealous

and repent.

Behold,

verse 20,

beautiful image

here.

Behold,

I stand

at the

door and

knock.

If anyone

hears my

voice and

opens the

door, I

will come

into him

and eat

with him

and he

with me.

It's

such a

beautiful

image.

And this

is for

Christians.

This is

for a

church.

This is

not for

non-Christians

to get

introduced

to Jesus.

This is

for the

church to

be

reintroduced

to Jesus

and he's

offering

himself

to the

church.

He's

ready to

come in.

What do

you do

to grow

in your

affection

for Jesus?

Do you

kind of

work up

this energy

and this

to love

Jesus more?

You just

open the

door.

You have

him come

in.

he wants

to be

with you.

He's

the one

taking

the

initiative.

And it's

this image

of fellowship.

Come in

and eat

with him

and he

with me.

So this

idea,

sitting

around a

table,

being with

him,

enjoying

his

company.

every

day,

we say,

I need

you.

Come

in.

I want

you.

I want

more of

you.

So if

you look

at the

church in

Ephesus,

if you just

looked at the

message of

them,

there's this

warning.

They're to

repent of

this lack

of affection.

But as you

open the

telescope a

little bit,

as they've

continued to

read,

they learn

about this

generosity

of this

Jesus that

keeps on

knocking.

This is not

the first time

he's come,

but he keeps

on knocking.

He wants

to have

fellowship and

friendship with

them.

And so

they've,

that's the

second,

they've

read the

other mail

because that's

purposely here

for them.

But there's

yet one

more.

Because

these letters

don't end

there.

This,

this whole

letter,

including the

what's to

the Ephesians,

continues for

the rest of

the book.

So here's the

question.

This is why

you need to

read the

book of

Revelation

seven times

in each of

those churches

seats,

as it were.

what did

the church

in Ephesus

need from

the rest

of the

book?

Because often

we think,

well,

what the

churches

needed at

that time

with all

the persecution

and hardship,

and some of

these churches,

they were

suffering,

and what they

needed to hear

from Jesus

was endure.

Don't be

afraid.

And so as

they would

read the

book of

Revelation,

they'd learn

about this

conquering

king that

they could

depend on

to bring

full redemption

to them.

Yes,

that's what

they needed

to hear.

But what

did the

church in

Ephesus

need?

They needed

their hearts

rekindled.

So for

them,

that's what

the rest

of the

book of

Revelation

was for,

was to

rekindle

their delight

in God,

to stir

their affections

afresh.

And so what

I encourage

you to do

is read

the book

of Revelation

with that

lens on,

Jesus,

I want to

fall in

love with

you again.

And see

what the

book of

Revelation

does for

your heart.

Let me

just give you

a number of

the images

that you run

across the

book of

Revelation

that I

found just

wow.

In certain

seasons,

I need

these images.

Obviously,

last week,

it was the

lamb on

the throne.

And you

just meditate

on, oh,

my goodness,

he's this

symbol of

weakness

that conquers

and when

we feel

weak,

we're strong

when we're

in Jesus

and depending

on him,

his power

is made

perfect in

weakness.

Incredible

image you

meditate on.

One of the

images I

mentioned last

week also

is this

spring of

water,

repeatedly

in this

book,

to the

thirsty

I will

give from

the spring

of the

water of

life without

payment.

it's a

beautiful

image I

can come

to Jesus

with as

by

greatest

thirst and

hunger.

I don't

have to

bring

anything.

I just

come with

my neediness

and my

lack and

he is

there with

eternal

living

water.

Wow.

And it's

described in

Revelation 22

as a river

plentiful

righteous

the water

of life.

So maybe

you need

that

encouragement.

Or maybe

you're just

feeling a

lack of

you're feeling

alone

and then

you run

across this

image of

this wedding

feast and

the Lamb's

delight in

his bride.

In this

wedding feast

that's just

overflowing

and he's

building a

home for

his bride.

And so

perhaps you

are also

feeling a

sense of

insecurity

and you

learn about

this city

he's building

which is

perfectly

secure.

Safe.

Oh and

along the

way you

read all

these songs

that can

stir our

hearts in

affection for

this king.

Oh also

to those

of you

who are

in the

midst of

struggling

through

being

taken

advantage

of.

There's

injustice.

You're

angry at

how you've

been treated.

Oh

Revelation

is a good

book for

you.

There's a

rider on

a white

horse.

There will

be justice

and as we

sang earlier

on

everything

will be

made

right.

everything.

It's a

bloody

book.

And for

those who

have faced

injustice

it's good

news.

And so

what we

find is

this book

is a

feast.

So do

you see

what's

happened

as we

have

opened up

the

telescope

if you

were in

Ephesus

you've

read the

letter to

yourself

and you've

had a

warning.

You open

the telescope

a little

more and

you have

this

invitation

of this

king

and wants

to sit

with you

and you

open it

even further

and there

is a

feast.

Jesus

is the

feast for

you.

And he

comes in

so many

different

images

to satisfy

your needs

and that

you might

follow him

and worship

him for

all that

he is

for us.

And so

think of

this stunning

generosity

of this

feast.

Talking to

Jessica

as we

were

driving

up here

I don't

know if

you've

seen the

websites

where you

can zoom

really far

in like

to an

atom or

smaller and

then zoom

way out

and you can

see the

galaxies.

It's just a

website that

helps you see

the big

and the small.

That's what I

encourage you

as you come to

the book of

Revelation.

Think of that

image.

You come to

these images

and you

kind of peel

back the

layers like

that onion

or you

back up

and you

see all

these

incredible

images

and may

it be a

stunning

generously

stunning

feast

for your

souls.

Let's pray.

Father, I

just want to

give another

moment of

quiet for

my brothers

and sisters

here and

that they

would just

take this

moment and

what images

perhaps that

have already

been mentioned

do you want

to feast

upon for

this coming

week?

What is it

about Jesus

that you want

to grow in

your awe

and your

delight in?

Take a

moment and

do that.

And Father,

as we see

so often

in the book

of Revelation,

your people

turn to

sing.

We have

so much

to sing

about.

You

bring

so many

lavish

blessings

even though

we don't

deserve it.

We come

empty handed.

You are

so,

so generous

to us.

As

we prayed

last week,

tune our

hearts

souls

to sing

your

grace.

Streams

of mercy

never

ceasing

call for

songs

of

loudest

praise.

Pray this

in Jesus'

name.

Amen.

Amen.

Thank you.