The Letter to Ephesus (Rev. 2:1-7)
In the book of Revelation Jesus address seven churches and the first church that is mentioned is Ephesus. As we read what Jesus had to say about the church in Ephesus, we see that it did several things well.  But before we look at the pros and cons of this church it’s important to note that Jesus in all seven churches begins and ends the same way.  He begins with a revelation of Himself unique to the church He is addressing and ends with the phrase, “whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirt says to the churches” and a promise.  This phrase lets us know that although these things He is saying is specific to that church, it can also potentially be applied to our own lives, and churches.  It is for anyone who has an ear to hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches (plural). 
                 To the Church in Ephesus, Jesus reveals Himself as the One who holds the seven stars in His right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands.  It’s difficult to say with certainty why Jesus would reveal Himself to Ephesus in this way, but perhaps it’s safe to say that the message and the messenger ideally are one in the same, and since it’s Jesus that’s giving the message we know that it’s a sure thing.  Also, the way Jesus reveals Himself to the Church may be connected to the callings and purposes of the Church.  For example, Ephesus may have been called to be Jesus’ hands and feet, but specifically called to an Apostolic ministry in that they serve and guard the message of the gospel represented by Jesus holding the seven stars and walking among the lampstand (the seven stars are the messenger/angels of the seven churches and the lampstand are the seven churches).  A Healthy Church no matter what the size of it is, ought to have a unique personalized revelation of Jesus.  Not a generic Jesus, and not a generic calling or purpose.  Meaning a local church can’t just look at what other churches are doing and say, let’s follow their patter, rather the church must learn to keep her eyes on Jesus and minister out of the revelation He gives them.  I’m not saying we can’t learn from one another, but we cannot be dependent on a form or formula to do the ministry of the Living God. 
                The Church in Ephesus did many things well.  To sum it up they worked hard, hated well, and had true grit.  Jesus praised the Ephesus church for both good deeds and hard work.  I’m not sure what the nuanced difference is of these two, perhaps it’s something like the difference between a mission’s team and a missionary.  One meets the immediate felt needs of the people, while the other toils for the salvation and transformation of the people.  Whatever the case is, the Ephesians did this well and were faithful in it.  They didn’t just do it for a season but persevered in this area of ministry.  The Church is called and created for good works and deeds.  We’re not saved to simply enjoy life through endless entertainment, but to serve others, which by the way is the road to becoming great in the Kingdom of Heaven.  Of course, we don’t serve to get saved but we’re saved so we can serve the One who has Eternal Life.  A Healthy church is constantly looking for ways to serve others, both through practical means, but also to make disciples of Jesus by sharing their lives with others.
                The Church in Ephesus was also doctrinally sound.  They became this way by hating well.  There were those that tried to become leaders within the Ephesian church and advocated certain teachings, tried to install certain traditions, and set a certain culture within the church, but the Ephesian church would have nothing to do with it.  Hating well seems easy enough, but this is actually harder than it seems.  This probably meant, that there were confrontations, intolerance of certain behaviors, exposing certain people who claimed to be godly as false, and having to endure retaliation for Jesus’ name.  Have you ever seen a church do that well?  Emphasis on doing it well, because I’ve seen churches that hate everything and everyone, and that is not what I mean by hating well.  Unfortunately, I’ve seen churches that tries to love everything and everyone and, in the process, naively loving and tolerating the things God hates (We will see this with the Church in Pergamum, and Thyatira).  If we’re not careful we will end up loving the things God hates and unintentionally allowing for false teachings and teachers to infect the church, creating a dysfunctional and/or toxic culture, which will lead to the decline and eventual death of a Church.  Healthy Churches have trained themselves to discern good from evil and to hold onto that which is good and have the courage to confront and cast out that which evil.
                Finally, the church in Ephesus had what I would call true grit.  They persevered in doing good works and deeds, they also persevered and have endured hardships for Jesus’ name and have not grown weary.  If you’ve been Christian long enough you know that this race is not a sprint but a marathon.  It’s easy to be excited, full of life, hope, and enthusiasm when you first start something new, but after a while, what was new becomes old, what was exciting becomes mundane, what was full of enthusiasm becomes wearisome… Not for the Ephesians.  They had the endurance of a world class marathon runner, and it showed in their lives, I’m sure it showed in their actions, attitude, and dare I say their attendance.  They showed up, even when things got hard, even when there were fighting’s about doctrine, who is the true apostle and who isn’t, even when there were slanderous reports, in all that they had to endure, they did not become weary, but persevered.  Their Faith in Jesus became faithfulness in their everyday lives and Jesus took notice of that.  A healthy church keeps on keeping on even if the wind, the rain, and the storms of life unexpectedly comes because they’ve built their house on the Rock of Jesus Christ.  If we’re not careful we can be too quick to abandon the seeds of faith before they become majestic fruit bearing trees that yields thirty, sixty, and hundredfold of what was planted.  It takes faithfulness to see faith manifest itself.  A Healthy Church endures and perseveres through thick and thin. 
 
We will continue our study of the church in Ephesus next time, but in the meantime, it might be a good idea to consider how you are doing in these three areas of your own life and church.  Until next time, Blessings!   

18 “Behold, my servant whom I have chosen,
    my beloved with whom my soul is well pleased.
I will put my Spirit upon him,
    and he will proclaim justice to the Gentiles.
19 He will not quarrel or cry aloud,
    nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets;
20 a bruised reed he will not break,
    and a smoldering wick he will not quench,
until he brings justice to victory;
21and in his name the Gentiles will hope.” ~ Matt. 12:18-21

What an amazing picture this prophecy from Isaiah paints for us about the nature and character of Jesus Christ.  Although there are tons to unpack here, today I just want to focus on the word justice.  A couple of nights ago, while I laid in bed unable to sleep I heard in my spirit God telling me to pray for justice.  That’s all He said.  I was hesitant at first.  I actually didn’t want to pray for justice since I personally prefer grace or mercy[i].  This reaction of mine most likely arose because of the famous bible passage that says mercy triumphs over judgment (James 2:13).  And wherever there is justice some kind of judgment is soon to follow.  I believe that justice and judgment goes hand and hand and you can’t have one without the other.  I remember one time a friend after she was cheated and taken advantage of, saying all she wanted in this situation was for justice, and I remember thinking to myself, “well that’s not biblical or godly …”[ii], thank God I had enough sense to keep that thought to myself.  So when I felt in my spirit, God telling me to pray for Justice, I didn’t know what to think of it at first.  But by God’s grace I obeyed and just simply prayed for justice.  While I was praying for justice God began to comfort me about this term that I was so hesitant to embrace.  He began to show me that God’s justice includes His perfect love, that though we live in a world where justice to a large degree has been corrupted, God’s justice includes and has just the right amount of grace and mercy; never too much and never too little.  He also began to show that His justice is always impartial, in light of His perfect love, meaning it’s not cold and calculated, but precise and personal.  His justice is tailor made for each individual and situation to bring about the best possible outcome for everyone involved.  As He began showing me these reasons why I could embrace this prayer for justice I began to desire His justice that much more.  As I was preparing for this blog, I just did a simple word search on the term justice in the bible and as you can imagine a number of verses popped up containing this word.  The bible tells us that God loves justice (Isaiah 61:8), and that Justice is part of His nature (Is. 30:18), He also loves all those who practices it (Ps 37:28), He commands us to maintain love and justice (Hosea 12:6), justice isn’t meant to be harsh and cold but it’s meant to brings joy to the righteous (Pr. 21:15), that a curse is attached to those perverting justice (Pr. 24:24), and this list can go on and on about the importance of justice found in the bible.  There were so many verses about justice that I couldn’t believe I was hesitant to pray it.  My avoidance of justice was perhaps a glaring sin in God’s eyes.  Whether it was I don’t know, but personally I can’t help but to feel foolish about my previous view on this and to think that it was because of just one verse that warns us about desiring judgement that I would have such a negative knee jerk response to pray for justice.  The final blow came when I read the parable about a woman that was so persistent in her request that an unjust judge granted it to her (Luke 18:1-8).  Guess what her request was?  You guess it, “Grant me justice against my adversary (v.3).  The parable points out that she persistently pestered this unjust, ungodly judge with this request until she was granted justice.  Then Jesus leaves us with the words, “and will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night?  Will He keep putting them off?  I tell you, He will see that they get justice, and quickly.  However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on earth?” ~ (Lk. 18:7-8).  I was put to shame by this parable and my attitude towards justice has significantly changed.  I hope I will no longer turn away from seeking justice but rather pray day and night for God’s perfect justice to come knowing His judgments are always loving, fair, true, and profitable.      


[i] A simple definition of these terms are; Justice = getting what you deserve, Grace = not getting what you deserve, Mercy = getting what you don’t deserve

[ii] I’ve since changed my thoughts on that, I was young and ignorant. 

6 The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. 7 Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. ~ 2 Corinthians 9:6-7
 
Last week (4/23/17 message available here, don't worry the message is in English, only the scripture reading is in Japanese) I gave a message on giving.  Not one of my favorite topics to preach on, however an important topic nonetheless.  One of the questions I had to struggle with as I prepared and gave this message was the practice of tithing.  Is tithing still required for believers who are under the New Covenant?  This blog won’t go into details on this topic, and because of the potential divisiveness on this topic, I’m hesitant to give you my take on it (although you can easily click on the message above and hear my take on it).  I personally know sincere believers, pastors, family members who are on either side of this conversation.  Therefore, I’m well aware that I may just be wrong and that my stance could easily change on this subject if there’s a good biblical reason to.  The reason for this blog isn’t to reiterate what I preached, rather, I’d like to make one correction/addition to my message.  I made a statement to the effect of you are no longer robbing from God when you don’t give you are robbing yourself.  I made that statement because of what Paul said in 2 Corinthians 9:6, “whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully”.  The picture seems clear enough, without a lot of explaining to understand what the Bible states.  If you give more you will also get more, and if you give less you’ll get less.  Certainly, our motivation for giving shouldn’t be for covetous, greedy, and materialistic purposes, however, it’s also important to note that there is a blessing in giving generously, and cheerfully.  So, I do think that you’re selling yourself short if you’re not giving what you have decided in your heart what to give.  I Also believe, which I did not mention in my message and therefore the whole reason for this blog, that you are grieving the Holy Spirit when you don’t give what you have decided in your heart what to give.  I’ve been walking with the LORD for about twenty years now, and I could tell you, there are few things worse than grieving the Holy Spirit.  You may be able to make the argument that, I no longer can rob from God, and that I’m blessed beyond any curse because of the cross, etc. etc. etc., but grieving and quenching the Holy Spirit is more important than being afraid of robbing yourself, it’s more important than reaping much, it’s one of the deadliest place you can be as a believer.      

8 And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” ~ Genesis 3:8-9
 
Most of you may be familiar with the story of the Fall found in Genesis chapter three, and if you are not I encourage you to read it and become familiar with it because this is where all the mess began for us.  This devotional will just cover one small aspect of the fall, the question of, “Where are you?”.  What an interesting question.  Either God didn’t know where Adam and Eve were, or He was asking that question for their sake and not His.  I’ve heard it said, when God asks a question it isn’t because He’s lacking information, rather it’s to reveal something for our own good.  In this case it wasn’t because God couldn’t find Adam rather He wanted to reveal to Adam that he was in sin, and because he was in sin he should’ve been seeking God instead of hiding from HIm.  I’ve come to notice that knowing where we are, directly correlates to how pleased God is in our response to certain circumstances.  If Adam knew where he was he would’ve responded appropriately by seeking Him but instead he compounded his mistake by hiding.
In life we are all constantly moving, and knowing where we are in our journey is paramount to making decisions that pleases God.  Another example of this is found in the story of the children of Israel in the book of Exodus.  In one situation they cried out to the LORD and it was the right thing to do at that moment in their journey and He therefore compassionately remembers them (Ex 2:23, 24).  However, in another situation, they cried out to the LORD and it wasn’t the right thing to do at that moment in their journey and He tells them to stop crying and move forward (Ex 14:15).  Here we see the same response of crying in two different situations.  In one situation it was the right response in the other it wasn’t, the difference was the situation they were in.  There are many more examples of this but the point is, it depended on where they were that determined whether how they responded was pleasing to God or not.  In our own lives, we will be faced with hard and life changing decisions.  Before we make any of these types of decisions it’s a good idea to pray, seek the advice of other, but also to be aware of where you are.  Where are you?  Should you be seeking or hiding?  Should you be crying or moving forward?  The correct response to these questions depends on where you are.  With all that said, our life’s journey isn’t simply to make the right decision and live a good life, but to learn to hear the voice of our Lord Jesus and follow Him.  The where are you question, isn’t something we just ask ourselves but the answer to that question is something we must learn to hear from God.    

As God’s co-workers we urge you not to receive God’s grace in vain. 2 For he says,
“In the time of my favor I heard you,
    and in the day of salvation I helped you.”
I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation. ~ 2 Cor. 6:1-2
 
What does it mean to you to receive God’s grace in vain?  To me it speaks of squandering something so precious that it makes me physically sick.  Have you ever felt that before?  That feeling you get after dropping and breaking something fragile, losing something that’s worth a lot, realizing you didn’t spend more time with a loved one after it’s too late, and the list goes on and on.  I’m sure we’ve all felt the pains of squandering something precious.  In this passage we find that we can squander the most precious gift ever offered to us, God’s grace.  What does it look like to squander God’s grace?  I’ve heard this passage used during altar call, “don’t miss this opportunity to receive Jesus in your heart” kind of thing.  And don’t get me wrong that’s the most important work of God’s Grace in our lives, the invitation of becoming His Child.  I hope that everyone reading this blog has already received the invitation of becoming His child.  There is no other invitation that is greater than this, and no greater gift we can squander than rejecting His invitation.  But with that said, notice that this passage is addressing those who are already considered “God’s co-workers”.  Implying that they have already accepted Jesus in their live and are still in danger of receiving God’s grace in vain.  This is more than an altar call, this is a wake up call, urging believers “co-workers” to actively engage in His Grace.  I believe that every day God gives us grace for the day, not simply to “get by” but to be “more than conquerors” of our day.  Those of us who passively receive God’s grace may one day find that we’ve unknowingly received it in vain while those of us who are actively and intentionally engaged in it will one day be surprised at how we were co-laboring with God and serving Christ.