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.

• Message from Him who holds the seven angels in His right hand and walks among the Churches.
• Church known for labor, patience, fighting spiritual wickedness, in the name of Jesus Christ.
• Church has left the first love for the Gospel of Jesus Christ
• The Faithful are Given the Right to Eat from the Tree of Life

Message from Him who holds the seven angels in His right hand and walks among the Churches.

“To the angel of the church of Ephesus write, ‘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

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. 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 message from the Lord, to this first Church, relates to how each Church is being guided by the Spirit of the Lord.

Church known for labor, patience, fighting spiritual wickedness, in the name of Jesus Christ.

“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 knows how the Churches began; they were grounded in the testimony of Jesus Christ, living in the presence of the Holy Spirit, and were firmly rooted in their devotion to God. They worked and labored diligently to spread the Good News of Salvation by the remission of sin through faith in Christ Jesus. They were patient through all of the hardships, difficulties, and persecution as they rested on the promise of His return and eternal life. The Churches were vehemently opposed to spiritual wickedness and those who lived to oppose the Gospel of Jesus Christ. They rooted out false Christians who were liars and spots in their love feasts, “These are spots in your love feasts, while they feast with you without fear, serving only themselves.” Jude 1:12 Through it all, the fruit of the Spirit blossomed in the Churches perseverance and patience and they did not become weary in living for Jesus.

 In the next verse of this post, the Spirit of the lord says, “Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love”. Today, the churches have abandoned the Gospel of Jesus Christ to partner with the secular community. They no longer work and labor to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ, which is described like this, “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

The churches of today no longer have the patience to endure the hardships that come by believing in God, living for Jesus Christ, and embracing the the presence of the Holy Spirit. They choose to partner with the community who serves the beast that gives them what to speak, do, think, and feel. The fallen churches tolerate and express love for the culture of the beast, those who live for the beast that gives breath/life to the image of the beast to speak. The beast is given breath/life by speaking and living through people. The community culture, with the fallen churches as their partners, are groomed to the mark, name, number of the beast by what they are given to say and do.

The fallen churches of today have left their first love for Jesus Christ and do not even care to test whether a person believes in God, acknowledges Jesus Christ as their Lord, or whether they welcome the presence of the Holy Spirit. The churches of today no longer care about people lying concerning their born-again experience, which is the first-love of the Gospel of Christ written on our heart. When it comes to belief in God, acknowledging Jesus Christ for the remission of sin, and welcoming the Holy Spirit, the churches have given up, and have no self-control against the ways of the world. They have become too weary to hold to their first love in Jesus Christ within an atheistic world

When it comes to their partnership with the community culture, the fallen churches of today are full of good works, they labor diligently, and have patience in the work that they do. But they have left their first-love for Jesus Christ. They pride themselves in hating inhumanities, hating violence, hating evil, but they reject the Holy Spirit who restrains lawlessness, gives blossoms to the fruit of Spirit, and works Holiness within a person. They test people to see if they are “apostles”, or disciples, of the beast that gives them what to speak, do, think, and feel. If people are liars about living for the beast, then the fallen churches reject them in harmony with what the community would expect of them. The fallen churches persevere and are patient in their diligence within the community partnership. They have left their devotion to God, “How can you believe, who receive honor from one another, and do not seek the honor that comes from the only God?” John 5:44

Today’s churches are those “…having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!” 2 Timothy 3:5

Church has left the first love for the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

 “Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love. 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

While the churches are filled with good works, and they hate physical wickedness within the community, and they have perseverance and patience in their secular endeavors, the Lord has something against them. They have lost their first-love. That first-love is when the Gospel of Jesus Christ was brightly shining through the congregation, preachers, and teachers of the Church. That first-love is a time when Salvation was the theme every Sunday, along with the life of Holiness, and the born-again experience of each individual was an important part of every Church service. Our born-again experience is the Gospel of Jesus written on our heart. The message of the Cross was heard, the resurrection of Jesus was focused on, His ascension into Heaven was routinely spoken about, and eternal life was what the churches looked forward to.

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

Unless the churches of today remember from where they have fallen, the Lord will remove the lampstand from its place. That lampstand is where the light of Jesus Christ belongs, not the light of the beast that gives people what to think, feel, do, and say. We are living in the day when that lampstand has been removed…the churches have abandoned the Gospel of Jesus Christ. 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 Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works.

Overcomers who remain faithful to Jesus Christ will eat from the Tree of Life in the New Jerusalem.

“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. The world serves the beast that gives them what to speak, do, think, and feel, but we are 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.

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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–Dead church, 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.