Could we take a minute here and look at
the Lampstand at Ephesus?
The New English Bible translation says in Rev 1:20 "Here is the secret meaning of the seven stars which you saw in my right hand, and of the seven lamps of gold: the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches and the seven lamps are the seven churches."
Then Rev 2:5 says: "But I have this against you: you have lost your early love. Think from what a height you have fallen; repent, and do as you once did. Otherwise, if you do not repent, I shall come to you and remove your lamp from its place."
The first mention of "church" is from Jesus in Matthew 16:18 when He talks of building His church upon the rock... (which by the way is a Biblical pun)
In Rev. 2:5 Jesus is saying that if the church at Ephesus does not repent and turn back to its first love...which is the Heart Intent of the Gospel of Jesus then He will take out the church or more specifically, Jesus will remove the heart of the church and what will be left? Nothing but works and deeds with no heart/mercy.
Jesus walks among the lamps of gold... Jesus is very much present within His churches.
For Him to remove the Lamp is for Him to remove the Light which is removing Himself from the gathering. 2 Tim 2:13 tells us that Jesus cannot deny Himself, therefore Jesus is not only removing Himself from the gathering but also removing all those that have Him living within them and those are the true believers. When the True Believers leave, there is nothing of Christ's Body left.
Jesus is taking His Body with Him when He leaves...He is not sending part of His body to Hell because of sin. There is no need for that because He has already paid for the sin of faithlessness. (2 Tim 2:11-13) He cannot deny Himself.
The consequence is removal, not damnation. And this is the hope for all with salvation. There is no sin too great that Jesus did not overcome it.
The New English Bible translation says in Rev 1:20 "Here is the secret meaning of the seven stars which you saw in my right hand, and of the seven lamps of gold: the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches and the seven lamps are the seven churches."
Then Rev 2:5 says: "But I have this against you: you have lost your early love. Think from what a height you have fallen; repent, and do as you once did. Otherwise, if you do not repent, I shall come to you and remove your lamp from its place."
The first mention of "church" is from Jesus in Matthew 16:18 when He talks of building His church upon the rock... (which by the way is a Biblical pun)
In Rev. 2:5 Jesus is saying that if the church at Ephesus does not repent and turn back to its first love...which is the Heart Intent of the Gospel of Jesus then He will take out the church or more specifically, Jesus will remove the heart of the church and what will be left? Nothing but works and deeds with no heart/mercy.
Jesus walks among the lamps of gold... Jesus is very much present within His churches.
For Him to remove the Lamp is for Him to remove the Light which is removing Himself from the gathering. 2 Tim 2:13 tells us that Jesus cannot deny Himself, therefore Jesus is not only removing Himself from the gathering but also removing all those that have Him living within them and those are the true believers. When the True Believers leave, there is nothing of Christ's Body left.
Jesus is taking His Body with Him when He leaves...He is not sending part of His body to Hell because of sin. There is no need for that because He has already paid for the sin of faithlessness. (2 Tim 2:11-13) He cannot deny Himself.
The consequence is removal, not damnation. And this is the hope for all with salvation. There is no sin too great that Jesus did not overcome it.
I find this admonishment from Jesus quite chilling because I do see many Christians whose love has grown cool. That means being lukewarm and look what that gets the church from Laodicia.
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