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Revelation 2:4-5 (ESV)

4 But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. 5 Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent.

What does it mean to love God? What does it mean to love? So often, we tie love to an emotion. This is right, but not nearly right enough. Often, I, in my teaching, tie love to a commitment to another’s good. Again, that is right, but something in this passage reminds me that even this is not enough.

 

As Jesus speaks his words of rebuke to the church at Ephesus, he comments on the fact that they have forsaken their first love. Clearly, this church is supposed to love God, and they are failing to do so. Even though they are properly theologically vetting false teachers, the love of the Ephesians is lacking.

 

And that would lead me to assume that love here is about the emotion one feels for God and one’s personal sense of commitment to God were it not for the picture of repentance in verse 5. Jesus told them to return to doing “the works” they did at first.

 

Love works. Love, the genuine emotion which is born of a genuine commitment to the good of another always takes action. Love does not sit still, unchanged. Love does not ignore the commands of God. Love acts. Love moves. Love changes you. Love leads to obedience. Love, like genuine faith, works.

 

So, as we face the Christmas season, perhaps now is a good time to ask yourself if your proclaimed love of Jesus during this season is resulting in genuine, God-honoring, Scripture-commanded works. Note that getting theology right is not enough here, as the Ephesians had that in spades—neither can getting theology right be ignored. But the love of God includes personal repentance, worship, and obedience to the commands of God.

 

Christian, what would it look like for you to love God in action? What commands of God’s word are you ignoring as you live in comfort? What has God clearly said in print that we are supposed to be about doing that you have not been up to? How can a genuine love for the Savior lead you to action? 

1 John 3:10, 23

 

10 By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother.

23 And this is his commandment, that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us.

 

            Christians often over-complicate the faith. This is sad but true. Sometimes we become so wrapped up with strategies, missions, and supposedly deep studies, and somehow, in the process, we fail to remember that God has commanded us to do some very simple things.

 

            Look at the verses above. In a very real sense, the verses above are a summary of the commands of God that we will find in the epistles. Of course, there is more to know. Of course, there is a depth of theology that we want to reach. Of course, there are important thoughts that must go into applying these commands. And, yet, the commands above are the commands of God.

 

            There are three things in the two above verses that I would argue summarize what Christians are called to do: believe in Jesus, love one another, and practice righteousness. How simple is that? I’m not asking how easy it all is to do, rather how easy is this to understand. I would argue that, if we really tried to boil down the commands of the New Testament, they fall into the categories of believing in Jesus, loving our brothers, and living rightly before the Lord.

 

            Of course believing in Jesus is a command of God. There is no salvation for the person who does not have genuine, life-changing, God-granted, saving faith in Jesus. We are sinners. We deserve judgment. God sent Jesus to save us through his life, death, and resurrection. And anyone who will believe in Jesus, placing their hope for their eternity in Jesus alone, will be granted salvation as a gift from God.

 

            Loving one another is also clearly a part of New Testament Christianity. Jesus told us in John 13:35 that the world will believe that we belong to him, not when we strategize evangelism perfectly, but when we love one another. Something about living lives of genuine love for the brothers and sisters we have in Christ takes Christians way beyond what the world expects. We are commanded to love each other, and this is a major part of the faith.

 

            Finally, in this list, is living righteously. Look at most books of the New Testament, and you will find, after a presentation of the gospel and alongside commands to genuinely love each other, commands to live differently than the sinful world around us. We are called to look at our words, our emotions, our sexuality, our marriages, our families, our jobs, and all other moral standards differently than the lost world that does not know God. We are not called to lives of asceticism. We are simply called to love God by obeying his commands. This kind of following God will make us look so different to the world around us that they will wonder at our ability to live with hope in a world that is so different than we are.

 

            Don’t get me wrong. We have many things we need to know and to do. But, how much do we over-complicate the faith when the three things we see above are not the heart of what the church is trying to do? We are to have faith in Jesus. We need to believe in him and respond to him by glorifying his name. We are to love each other in such a way that the world marvels. We are to live differently than the world around us, displaying the glory of God through simple obedience to his commands—commands which are not burdensome.

 

            Christians, may we learn to simplify. May we not over-burden one another with goals that are so far beyond the ones in the Scripture. May we have lives that testify to the glory of God and the truth of the gospel as we do these three things that God commands. May we take God at his word and shape our lives around faith in Christ, love of the family of God, and following the commands of God.

Ezekiel 13:1-9 (ESV)

 

1 The word of the Lord came to me: 2 “Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel, who are prophesying, and say to those who prophesy from their own hearts: ‘Hear the word of the Lord!’ 3 Thus says the Lord God, Woe to the foolish prophets who follow their own spirit, and have seen nothing! 4 Your prophets have been like jackals among ruins, O Israel. 5 You have not gone up into the breaches, or built up a wall for the house of Israel, that it might stand in battle in the day of the Lord. 6 They have seen false visions and lying divinations. They say, ‘Declares the Lord,’ when the Lord has not sent them, and yet they expect him to fulfill their word. 7 Have you not seen a false vision and uttered a lying divination, whenever you have said, ‘Declares the Lord,’ although I have not spoken?”

8 Therefore thus says the Lord God: “Because you have uttered falsehood and seen lying visions, therefore behold, I am against you, declares the Lord God. 9 My hand will be against the prophets who see false visions and who give lying divinations. They shall not be in the council of my people, nor be enrolled in the register of the house of Israel, nor shall they enter the land of Israel. And you shall know that I am the Lord God.

 

            When God gives us a clear warning, we should pay attention. When God speaks strongly against a religious practice, we had better take note. When God declares that he will judge a certain practice, we had better be sure that we are not taking part in said practice. When God pronounces woe on a people, we had better be sure not to be those people.

 

            In Ezekiel 13, God has some very strong words for people who claim to have a word from him but who in fact have no such word. During the days of Ezekiel, there were people who were claiming to have visions, prophecies, and other such revelations from God. They were attempting either to encourage the people, to calm fears, or to lead the people toward a certain action. And God says to those people that he is very much against them, as they are speaking words which they claim are his but which are not.

 

            Nothing here is a surprise. Throughout the Old Testament, God has always had very strong things to say against false prophets. God has decreed the harshest of punishments for those who would claim that God has said something that God did not say. This is obviously because the issue of divine revelation is extremely important. If we allow the revelation of God to be corrupted with man-made ideas, we soon have no confidence of anything that God has really said.

 

            How, then, ought we to consider these words today? God is still jealous to guard his revelation. He will not approve people speaking as if from him when he has not spoken. To say that God has said something that God has not said is as much an offense today as it was millennia ago.

 

            So, how then do we know what God has said? There is only one place where God has told us that he has spoken with certainty: the word of God. God has told us that Scripture is breathed out by him and profitable to all who would follow him (cf. 2 Timothy 3:16-17). God has declared that the writings of the prophets were not created by the prophets themselves, but instead are the result of men speaking from God carried along by the Holy Spirit (cf. 2 Peter 1:19-21). The Bible is sure. In fact, the Bible is even more sure than our personal experiences—the very point Peter is making in 2 Peter 1:16-21.

 

            But we all still desire to discern the present will of God for our lives. Many people today still believe that, through prayer or modern prophecy, tongues and interpretations, visions or dreams, that God is still actively speaking new words of revelation to believers who are spiritual enough to listen.

 

            What do we do with those who claim to have a new “word” from the Lord? I would urge caution in the strongest way. It is so very tempting to believe that we have access to a new and higher level of spiritual communication with God than those before us. Obviously the Colossians faced a group of leaders who claimed a spiritual knowledge that would lead the people to fullness in their Christian lives. Yet, in reality, God has constantly and repeatedly called his people to rest in his perfect and holy word, and to value that word above any vision or personal experience.

 

            Notice again how strongly God speaks against a person saying, “Declares the Lord,” when God has not sent such a person. God is against such people. Yet, in modern faith circles, we allow people to say “God told me,” often without batting an eye. Thankfully, most of these experiences are vague impressions. Also, often, these experiences are declarations of things which God has already commanded in Scripture. But, I wonder if we are really careful enough to test the claims of supposed prophets who would claim an intimate, personal, novel word from the Lord?

 

            At this point, I need to refrain from going on to naming books and studies which have led modern Christians to believe that new words of knowledge and prophecy are still available for the spiritually sensitive enough to claim them. I will also say that I certainly believe that God, by his Holy Spirit, does lead his people into his desires for them. Prayer matters. Yielding to the Spirit matters.

 

            What I will close with, however, is that the word is what is solid. If you want to hear the voice of God, find it in Scripture. The only way that I can say to you, “Declares the Lord,” is if that word is the word, the Bible, rightly handled, interpreted, and applied. And, I will urge us all to be extremely concerned when somebody tells us, “Declares the Lord,” when this comes from somewhere other than a faithful and diligent study of Scripture. 

Ezekiel 9:3-5 (ESV)

 

3 Now the glory of the God of Israel had gone up from the cherub on which it rested to the threshold of the house. And he called to the man clothed in linen, who had the writing case at his waist. 4 And the Lord said to him, “Pass through the city, through Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and groan over all the abominations that are committed in it.” 5 And to the others he said in my hearing, “Pass through the city after him, and strike. Your eye shall not spare, and you shall show no pity.

 

Revelation 7:1-3 (ESV)

 

1 After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth, that no wind might blow on earth or sea or against any tree. 2 Then I saw another angel ascending from the rising of the sun, with the seal of the living God, and he called with a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm earth and sea, 3 saying, “Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees, until we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads.”

 

            What grabbed my attention in the passage in Ezekiel this morning was the parallel to the familiar passages in the book of Revelation. If you have ever been around others who are interested in end times discussions, you will most certainly have looked at the places in Revelation where followers of God and followers of the evil one are marked on their foreheads.

 

            What is worthy of note for us is that Revelation is not the first place where such a marking occurs. And, as we see the Old Testament pattern for such marking, it might help us to understand the purposes of the ones prophesied in Revelation.

 

            In Ezekiel, the prophet was speaking for God to a rebellious people who were facing the judgment of God. The promised judgment of God was about to fall on the city of Jerusalem as the Babylonians were coming.

 

            But, before the judgment fell, God marked out for himself the faithful. Those who trusted in God, obeyed his laws, and who were saddened by the wickedness of the nation around them were clearly known to God. God marked them, and he promised to spare them his wrath.

 

            In the book of Revelation, we see the same thing happening. In chapter 7, we see that God marks a group of 144,000, which I believe to be a symbolic number of the complete people of God. They are known to God and preserved by God from his coming judgment. In chapter 13, the devil mimics the work of God, marking the rest of the world as his own followers, a mark which has become the focus of countless writings and bad movies.

 

            But what shall we do with these marks? What should we think about them? I certainly think that there is some interesting discussion to be had. For those who wish to talk about pre-millennial eschatology, I actually think the markings and the principles behind them point us away from a pre-tribulational, dispensational view. God marks his people and preserves them by his own power from the judgments he unleashes on the earth. However, in neither Ezekiel nor Revelation do we have evidence of God removing his people from the world in which his judgment is taking place.

 

            Yet, I believe that there is far more than eschatology for us to consider in the markings. What we need to grasp as the people of God or as not the people of God is the fact that God knows those who are his. Not all people on earth are his. God keeps those who are his, even if they face difficult lives in the here and now. And, God’s judgment is headed toward those who oppose him.

 

            The calling here, like the calling in many passages, should be for us to think with a much bigger vision of eternity. There is a God who is over us. He has the right to judge, and he most certainly will do so. He is far too great to lose those he has chosen. He is far too just to fail to judge those who are not under his mercy.

 

            For someone who is not a follower of God, this passage, along with the rest of the Bible, is a call to come to God in repentance and find mercy in Christ. We come in repentance, because all of us have, at one time or another, been those not marked as followers of God. We have all rebelled against the commands and rule of God, and we deserve his judgment. We must realize that such a judgment is legitimate and promised. However, God also commands all people everywhere to turn from their sin and to place their trust in the person and work of Jesus Christ. If we will turn to Jesus for salvation, he will forgive us based on his sacrifice and he will grant us eternal life based on his perfect life and resurrection.

 

            As Christians, we should recognize that God has us marked as his. He will preserve us. He may not remove us from harsh circumstances and difficult lives. But, God will never leave us. He will not forsake us. He will not judge us for our sins, because his judgment has already fallen on Christ as our perfect, sacrificial substitute. And now we live with minds set on eternity, knowing that the God who marked us as his own will bring us to himself and grant us eternal joy in his presence.

John 7:45-49 (ESV)

 

45 The officers then came to the chief priests and Pharisees, who said to them, “Why did you not bring him?” 46 The officers answered, “No one ever spoke like this man!” 47 The Pharisees answered them, “Have you also been deceived? 48 Have any of the authorities or the Pharisees believed in him? 49 But this crowd that does not know the law is accursed.”

 

            Why are we so often surprised when those who do not know Christ are completely dismissive of his value and claims? Such has been the case for all of history. When people have not, by the grace of God, been made to see the true identity of Christ, they think those who follow him are nuts. And, as they dismiss Christ as irrelevant, they will often posture and present themselves as the intelligent while those who have believed in Jesus are, to them, uneducated and foolish.

 

            In the scene above, the Jewish religious leaders had sent temple guards to arrest Jesus while he was teaching during a religious feast. The guards went, heard Jesus, and returned empty-handed. The religious leaders wanted to know why the guards had disobeyed their commands. All the soldiers could say was that nobody had ever spoken like Jesus was just then speaking.

 

            Take note, the guards could not explain with any sort of apologetic argument why it is that they were unwilling to lay hands on Jesus. They did not have the ability to reason from all of the Old Testament how Jesus fulfilled the prophesies of Messiah. All they knew was that, on a personal, spiritual, and emotional level, they knew that Jesus was different than any person who had ever walked the face of the earth.

 

            The leaders, the educated, on the other hand, were furious. How dare these uneducated, unenlightened, ordinary men question their orders. Notice their argument in response to the guards. No educated people are following Jesus. Why would you idiots think that you should follow him? Just listen to us. Let us do your thinking for you. We know best. Just hold your swords and clubs and do what you are told.

 

            Let’s bring this scene into the present. It is not at all unlike what Christians face today. There is a group of those who believe that, if anybody believes in Christ, they are fools. There is an element in the media and in the university world that would adopt the same tone toward believers as the religious leaders took toward the guards. These educated and influential people would happily show anybody that belief in Jesus is old-fashioned, closed-minded, outdated, and simply not in keeping with modern morals and education. In a very real sense, the world thinks that those who believe in Jesus are stupid or crazy.

 

            But the question comes, are we? Are believers dumb? Well, some of us probably are, but not because of our faith in Christ. At the end of the day, following from John 7 to 8 particularly and through the rest of the gospel overall, who was right? The religious leaders missed who Jesus is. The guards, the simple and believing guards understood. They could not defeat the religious leaders in a debate, at least not at that point. But the guards were right. They saw who Jesus is. They would not, at that point, reach out to lay hands on him. The simple guards had truth while the religious leaders only had their philosophy and their arrogance.

 

            Recently, I have read through C. S. Lewis’ space trilogy. In this fiction, Lewis presents an imaginative account of a man who experiences the conflict between good and evil and sees what worlds might be like had the fall never occurred. In the final book, That Hideous Strength, Lewis brings the conflict back to earth. There we find a faithful group of believers pitted against a powerful group of scientists in a struggle for control of the world.

 

            What hit me so much in all of the books in this trilogy is the very conflict that we see in the passage above. It appears that whether we are thinking of Jesus’ day, Lewis’ day, or our day, the world has always considered the faithful to be naïve, uneducated, and foolish. And, no matter how hard we work to demonstrate the fact that we are actually thoughtful, well-reasoned, considerate people, the world will reject this for the simple fact that our conclusions are not the ones that they like. The world will always look at Bible-believing Christians and assume our conclusions to be childish and odious. Truly, our only hope is that our faith is founded on truth. It was true in Jesus’ day, and Jesus proved it, not by reasoning, but by rising from the grave.

 

            What then do we take from this? I am not arguing that there is no point in apologetics. However, I would warn us as believers that we will not win the good will of the world by showing them that, “No, really, we are smart too.” The world will not believe us, not because of our faculties of reason, but because only the supernatural power of God can break through the dead sinfulness of the human heart and bring a person to faith. We need the powerful working of God to change the heart of an Ivy League professor or a blue-collar worker. So, we may reason all we wish, and I do not oppose it, but we must grasp that the work, in the end, will only be completed by the very thing that made the guards simply say, “No one ever spoke like this man.”

 

            So, Christians, think well and work hard. Present solid proofs for the word of God for the glory of God. Learn to spot the fallacies in the arguments that some of us wrongly use and that are present in the arguments of those who oppose us. Think really well to honor the Lord. But know that, as you do so, it is still only the Spirit of God who changes hearts.