First church — Lampstand removal from church for leaving the first love of the Gospel of Christ.

Revelation 2:1-7

Click for a description of the mark of the beast.
Click here for a description of the image of the beast.

The corruption of five of the seven churches leads to our Lord Jesus Christ opening the Seven Seals, as described in Revelations 4 and also Revelations 5. That leads to the events of the Seven Trumpets of Revelations 8, 9, and 11, the Seven Thunders of Revelations 10, and the Seven Plagues of Revelations 16. The two faithful witness, or two faithful churches [second and sixth Church], are faithful to the testimony of Jesus Christ, persecuted, and have little strength. A link to each of the seven churches are at the bottom of this post.

The church of this post is the first of the seven churches. The first-love for the Gospel of Jesus Christ has been left while doing good works, and the result is the removal of the lampstand.

• TO: The angel of the church of Ephesus.
• FROM: He who holds the seven stars in His right hand, who walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands.
• Positive Work of the Churches:
• Negative Behavior of the Churches:
• Repentance is Necessary:
• Reward for Overcomers.

TO: The angel of the church of Ephesus.

“To the angel of the church of Ephesus.” Revelation 2:1a

There is an angel in each of the Churches, and are messengers of the Lord. They are the eyes in the Churches, watching our love for Jesus Christ, watching the work of the Holy Spirit in the Churches, and watching our belief in God.

FROM: He who holds the seven stars in His right hand, who walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands.

‘These things says He who holds the seven stars in His right hand, who walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands…” Revelation 2:1

The message is from the One holding the seven stars and who walks in the midst of the golden lampstands. The stars are each of the angels of the seven Churches and the golden lampstands are the seven churches, “The mystery of the seven stars which you saw in My right hand, and the seven golden lampstands: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands which you saw are the seven churches.” Revelations 1:20 The lampstand holds a lamp to shine light in the same way that the Churches are to hold he Light of Christ Jesus.

Positive Work of the Churches:

“I know your works, your labor, your patience, and that you cannot bear those who are evil. And you have tested those who say they are apostles and are not, and have found them liars and you have persevered and have patience, and have labored for My name’s sake and have not become weary.” Revelation 2:2-3

The Lord encourages humanitarian work, welcomes the labor being done, and compliments the patience in their endeavors. The Lord gives praise for discerning those who falsely claim to be His followers but are not and know them to be liars. In the process of encountering opposition within the endeavors to bring humanitarian aid in His name, there is perseverance and patience.

Negative Behavior of the Churches:

 “Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love.” Revelation 2:4

With all of the good works being done in the name of Jesus, the Lord has something against the churches. They have left their first love. The first love of every born-again believer is the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the message of the Cross, which is described in this way, “Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve. After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once…” 1 Corinthians 15:1-5

Today’s churches are those “…having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!… And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye’; and look, a plank is in your own eye? Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.” 2 Timothy 3:5, Matthew 7:3-5

Jesus is the word made flesh, and all Bible teaching must be centered on Him, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” John 1:14

This is the message the Churches are to bring to the world, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” John 3:16-18

Today, the churches have abandoned the Gospel of Jesus Christ to form a humanitarian partnership with the community agenda. The community culture lives by the power of darkness through the beast that gives them what to say, do, think, and feel. They have a form of Godliness but resist coming to the light to reveal their true intention of requiring all people to serve the beast that gives breath/life to the image of the beast to speak by speaking and living through people.

Repentance is Necessary:

Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place—unless you repent. But this you have, that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.” Revelation 2:4-6

The churches of today must return to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, which is the place from where they have fallen. The churches must repent and return to the first works of preaching and teaching the message of the Cross: that we are all sinners, that Jesus Christ sacrificed His life on the Cross to atone for sin, that He was resurrected from the grave after three days, that through Him we have eternal life, and that the Holy Spirit enables us to live a life of Holiness. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son so that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16

The Lord warned that He would quickly remove the lampstand from the fallen churches, and that has happened today. No longer do the churches shine with the Light of Christ Jesus but have become a light and reflection of community values. The Churches, as God’s lampstand, is where the light of Jesus Christ belongs, not the light of the beast that gives people what to say, do, think, and feel.

As the lampstand has been removed from the fallen churches, our Lord Jesus [the Light of the World] has walked out of the churches, “Then Jesus went out and departed from the temple, and His disciples came up to show Him the buildings of the temple. And Jesus said to them, “Do you not see all these things? Assuredly, I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another, that will not be thrown down.” Matthew 24:1-2 Click for a post on when Christ walked out of the Church, from Matthew 24:1-3.

The churches must continue in their hatred for the “Nicolaitans”, not by community standards but by the standards that come through the word of God, through Christ Jesus, in the presence of the Holy Spirit. The Nicolaitans were people who were rebels against everything that Jesus Christ represents and even opposed to secular humanitarian endeavors. The Church is called to bring Salvation through the Gospel of Jesus Christ not by reliance on human effort,
“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.” Ephesians 2:8-9

Reward for Overcomers.

“He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God.” Revelation 1:7

For we who live for Jesus Christ, we see how the churches of today have fallen from the first-love for Jesus Christ. As we stand for Jesus as our Lord and Savior, within the culture of the beast, which is global, we are scrutinized, criticized, turned away from, afflicted, and many around the world imprisoned and killed. We are not the type of partners that today’s social network wants. The world serves the power of darkness through the beast that gives them what to speak, do, think, and feel, but we live in the Light as sheep who listen to the voice of the Good Shepherd.

We who are overcomers will eat from the Tree of Life, “And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. And there will be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and His servants will serve Him. They will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads. There will be no night there: They need no lamp nor light of the sun, for the Lord God gives them light. And they will reign forever and ever.” Revelations 22:1-5

“For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which will be revealed in us...Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Romans 8:18, Matthew 5:10

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they will obtain mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 5:3-10

Click for a post on Isaiah 28:7-8 about “The ministers of the churches have erred, have deviated from the way, err in vision, and stumble in judgment.”
Click for a post on Isaiah 28:9-10 about “To whom will the corrupt ministers teach the knowledge of Christ and the message of the Cross?”

Click here for pictures of a flyer from a local fallen church.

---

The Seven Churches

• First church — Lampstand removal from church for leaving the first love for Jesus Christ.
• Second Church–Persecuted and faithful Church, where the temple of Satan exists, is given the reward of eternal life.
• Third church–Those embracing the worldly agenda enters the church, but hidden “bread” given to those faithful to Jesus Christ.
• Fourth church– Teachings of the beast mixed into the church to teach Satan’s “deep secrets”. The faithful to Christ to hold on to what we have in Him.
• Fifth church–Church ready to die, but the names of the faithful to Christ are written in the Book of Life.
• Sixth Church–Faithful few have little strength but are made pillars in the temple of God and preserved for the eternal New Jerusalem.
• Seventh church– Church is indifferent to Jesus Christ but wealthy by worldly standards. Jesus stands at the door and knocks.