December 10, 2024 • 61 mins
Summary
In this episode, Kathy Barnette delves into Revelation Chapter Two, focusing on the letter to the church in Ephesus. She discusses the significance of the seven letters to the seven churches, emphasizing their relevance to contemporary Christians. The conversation highlights the importance of recognizing Jesus' acknowledgment of the church's hard work while also addressing the need for repentance and the restoration of joy in faith. Kathy draws parallels between the challenges faced by the early church and current global events, urging listeners to maintain a balance of truth and compassion in their faith journey. In this conversation, Kathy Barnette explores the themes of busyness versus joy in serving, the importance of maintaining a relationship with God, and the need to remember and repent to rekindle that relationship. She uses the biblical story of Martha and Mary to illustrate how busyness can distract from the joy of serving and the importance of prioritizing one's relationship with God. Barnette emphasizes the need for believers to actively engage in their faith, build on the foundation of Jesus, and live authentically to receive eternal rewards.
Takeaways
The letters to the seven churches are relevant today.
Jesus introduces himself based on the needs of each church.
Acknowledgment of good works is important in faith.
Repentance is necessary for spiritual restoration.
Joy is a crucial aspect of a believer's strength.
Current events reflect biblical prophecies.
Compassion must accompany truth in faith discussions.
Living by faith may come with societal costs.
Maintaining joy requires intentional effort.
Scripture should guide our understanding of faith. The burden of busyness can overshadow the joy of serving.
Rediscovering first love in our relationship with God is essential.
We must remember and repent to rekindle our faith.
Building on the foundation of Jesus requires quality works.
Living authentically is crucial for eternal rewards.
Joy in serving can be lost amidst overwhelming tasks.
God desires fellowship and relationship, not just duty.
The quality of our works will be tested in eternity.
We should strive for the best materials in our spiritual building.
Influencing others towards an authentic relationship with Christ is vital.
Chapters
00:00 Introduction to Revelation Chapter Two
03:10 Exploring the Letter to Ephesus
06:02 Understanding Jesus' Introduction and Acknowledgment
09:08 The Call to Repentance and Restoration
12:00 The Importance of Joy in Faith
14:47 Navigating Current Events and Faith
17:59 The Balance of Truth and Compassion
20:48 The Cost of Living by Faith
24:07 Maintaining Joy Amidst Trials
26:53 Conclusion and Reflection
30:55 The Burden of Busyness
36:10 Rediscovering First Love
39:40 The Call to Remember and Repent
45:54 Building on the Foundation
57:15 Living Authentically for Eternal Rewards
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Hello, everyone.
Welcome back.
Yes, you're listening to the whole you podcast with Kathy Barnett.
We are now getting ready to walk into Revelation chapter two.
It's not revelations.
(00:20):
It's only one revelation that was given to the apostle John.
We talked about that extensively in the overview as well as in chapter one.
You should see that in the show notes below.
We should have links there for you.
And so today we're going to walk right into chapter two.
(00:41):
Chapter two, chapter three, we're talking about the present.
Seven letters written to seven.
churches in chapter two, you have four of the seven letters.
One to Ephesus, to Smyrna, to Pergamum, and to Thyatira.
Today in this segment, we're only gonna talk about the letter to Ephesus.
(01:05):
We're gonna take our time walking into chapter two.
Now, as we talk about each of these seven churches, yes, these were seven real
churches and there should be a map there for you.
So you can see these are seven real churches kind of in the circle, highly populated,densely populated areas.
(01:28):
Ephesus is actually the capital of Rome.
And so the seven letters go out.
The first one goes out to Ephesus.
If you click into the show notes, there should be a link that takes you to my websitewhere you can actually print off
the handout for chapter two and you can walk along with me.
(01:51):
I'm trying to make this as easy and as painless as possible.
So as we look at these seven churches, these are one, seven real churches that existed.
It is also a typology of the seven types of Christians today.
So not only are these letters speaking to
(02:14):
seven real churches that once existed, but I believe they are a typology of the churchtoday as a body, as well as the seven types of Christians that we run into.
And so as we move through these seven letters to these seven real churches, I want you tothink about the body of believers you are a part of today.
(02:42):
as well as try to discern which church you fall into.
Maybe you're more than one church.
Maybe you're specifically one type of person, but nevertheless, listen to it.
Think about it as we go through.
Now, if you're looking at the handouts, again, go onto the show notes, click on the link,it'll take you to my website and you can look at the handout there.
(03:07):
But I've broken out each of these seven
letters, they follow a very similar format, all seven letters.
He names the church.
I'm speaking to Ephesus.
I'm speaking to Philadelphia.
I'm speaking to Smyrna.
Right now, we're about to look at the letter written to Ephesus.
But then he goes on after he says, this is who I'm writing this letter to, he introduceshimself to each church and each introduction.
(03:38):
for each of the seven letters are different.
He introduces himself based on the need that they specifically have.
So in the book of Ephesus, he names, this is who I'm writing this letter to, followed by,let me introduce myself.
And he introduces himself based on what they need.
(04:03):
Jesus is whatever you need.
You wanna see that?
After he introduces himself, he says something favorable about them.
Generally in our culture as humans, it's real easy for me to find all the many things youdo wrong.
Jesus does the opposite.
He starts off with say, you do some things right.
(04:25):
Now there's only one church where there's nothing good going on in that church.
Nothing good going on about that particular believer yet.
They're a believer.
He's sending it to his one of one of his church.
They're identified as one of his churches, one of his lampstands we talked about inchapter one.
But he starts off with this is who I'm writing this letter to.
(04:49):
Let me introduce myself.
You will see as we move through, he introduces himself based on the need for that specificchurch or people in our case today.
Followed by he began to list.
Some of the things he find favorable about them, followed immediately by, but this is whatI have against you.
(05:12):
There are only two churches where he has nothing against them.
But the other five, he says, he lists out what you're doing well, but then he says, but Ihave this against you.
You need to fix this.
You need to look at this.
And then he talks about what causes this particular sin or fault or issue that this churchis having, followed by,
(05:33):
Whoever has an ear to hear, he closes each of the letters like that.
Whoever has an ear to hear, I am coming, I am coming soon, and with me are some thingsthat you're going to want.
So this is who I'm writing to.
Let me introduce myself based on who you need me to be, followed by these are some of thethings you're doing really great, but this is something you really need to focus on.
(06:02):
this is why you need to focus on it.
Closing out with, you need to fix this and you need to fix this because I'm coming to you,I'm coming to you soon and I'm coming with some gifts.
I'm coming with some positions and you're going to want what I have, right?
So if you have an ear to hear what I'm saying, listen and follow suit.
(06:28):
Go back to chapter one in verses,
one through four, this book comes with a promise, not just to those who read it and studyit, but those who take it to heart and apply what is being read or studied.
Go to Revelation chapter two.
I'm just going to read verses one through seven, and then we'll come back and break itdown.
(06:53):
So.
Revelation chapter two, verse one, to the angel of the church in Ephesus.
Who am I writing this letter to?
Ephesus.
Let me introduce myself.
These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among theseven golden lampstands.
(07:16):
Now you remember in chapter one, click on the link in the show notes, we talk about whothe seven stars are.
Some believe they are the seven angels who monitor and watch over these seven churches.
Some believe it to be the pastors, the ministers, the authority over these seven churches,whatever it is, whether it's angels, whether it's ministers, he's speaking to the one who
(07:41):
is an authority over these seven churches.
This is also the one who walks among the seven golden lampstands.
And remember, we talked
In chapter one, all of this goes together.
So you can't just erase your mind once we leave one chapter.
Take those learnings on over into all the other chapters.
(08:03):
So in chapter one, we talked about not just the seven stars, the seven authorities overthese seven churches, but we talked about who is the lamp stand.
I double clicked on.
The lampstand, who is the lampstand?
What is the significance of the lampstand?
What is the significance of Jesus walking among the lampstand?
(08:24):
The lampstand, the golden lampstand, is you, it's me.
And Jesus is walking in the midst of you and I at all times.
You're never alone.
He is right there walking in the midst.
So.
These are the words of him, he's introducing himself, who holds the seven stars in hisright hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands.
(08:50):
He says, I know you, I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance.
I know that you cannot tolerate wicked men, that you have tested those who claim to beapostles but are not and have
found them false.
You have persevered.
(09:12):
You have held out and you have endured hardships for my name and have not grown weary.
So he's speaking to them.
He said, yet I hold this against you.
You have forsaken your first love.
Remember the height from which you have fallen.
(09:35):
Repent and do the
things you did at first.
If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lamp stand from its place.
But you have this in your favor.
You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.
(09:55):
He who has an ear, let him hear what the spirit says to the churches.
To him who overcomes,
I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.
So that is the section we're going to talk about.
What does Jesus say?
One, he writes, he's writing to the church of Ephesus.
(10:16):
And then he says, let me introduce myself to you.
He says, I am the one who know you.
I know who you are.
Jesus knows his ministers, the ones who are in authority, and he knows his people.
He lives inside of us.
The word of God is very clear that the Holy Spirit dwells inside of each believer, but notonly does he dwell inside of each and every one of us, he walks in the midst of us.
(10:44):
He knows his people.
He knows the wheat from the tear.
He is not fooled by those who are pretending.
He knows his children.
He knows those who are in his kingdom.
He says, I walk in the midst of his church with his eyes.
as a flame.
(11:04):
Turn with me to Hebrew chapter four.
I love how this is read.
Verse 12, and I'm going to read from the Amplified Bible.
I love how it breaks it down here.
Hebrews chapter four, verse 12.
For the word that God speaks is alive and full of power, making it active, operative,energizing, and effective.
(11:29):
The word of God.
It is sharper than any two-edged sword penetrating to the divining line of the breath oflife, which is the soul and the immortal spirit and of joints and marrow of the deepest
parts of our nature.
The Word of God is exposing and sifting and analyzing and judging the very thoughts andpurposes of the heart.
(11:56):
This is what this is who God is saying he is.
Hello, let me introduce myself to you.
I am the one who holds all authority over my people in my right hand.
And I am walking in the midst of my children.
I know you, I am sifting you.
(12:17):
I am analyzing the intent of your heart.
Everything you do, I am sifting it.
and analyzing it.
When I grew up as a kid, my grandmother had one of those old time sifters where you putthe flower inside of this 10 circular oval shape more like a rectangle shape more like
(12:42):
sifter.
And it had this little cranking lever on it.
And as it crank, as my grandmother would crank it, it would, the flower would be siftedout.
from the bottom, he's sifting out the junk from that which is pure.
This is God.
He is discerning everything.
(13:03):
He knows us, there is nothing hidden.
If anyone knows you, it is God.
So he says, this is who I am.
But then he goes on to say, let me tell you what I see that's good.
He says, I know you.
And I know your works.
You're working hard for me.
(13:24):
You're working hard to understand the word of God, to be able to rightly divide the wordof God.
You want to be in the way of God.
You have very little tolerance for foolishness.
You have very little tolerance for people who just want to talk about love, love.
God is love.
God is love, love, love, Yes, God is love, but God is also holy and God is righteous.
(13:49):
And God requires us to live a particular way.
He says, I see that in you.
You are enduring the hardships.
You are enduring foolishness and heartbreaks and lies.
The slander.
You are persevering.
You are pushing forward towards the finish line.
(14:11):
But turn with me to Matthew chapter 24.
Because he says, I see all of this.
You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed.
I mean, look around us today.
I talk often.
One day I went to bed on a Monday night, woke up Tuesday morning and the whole world wason fire.
(14:36):
Bangladesh had just kicked out their leader, Sheikh Hassani.
Israel had just attacked Lebanon and Israel had just attacked
Ishmael, the leader of Hamas on Iran territory, you had Erdogan saying, I think we'regoing to get involved in this war now against Israel.
(14:57):
I looked over in the UK and the people on the ground were up in arms there.
I'm looking here in Venezuela in our hemisphere in South America.
Venezuela, they just had their election.
Madaro was literally killing his people on the ground.
(15:18):
China, I thought they were going to take over Taiwan, but now it looks like they're allabout taking over the Philippines.
I woke up and there are Ukraine and Russia, the annihilation of whole generations of youngpeople.
In Ukraine, you look at the world.
is wars, wars and rumors of more wars.
(15:39):
I was looking at Nigeria and they had their 11 days of rage and at the time they were atday seven, so they still had more time of rage within them.
The world was on fire and so the word of God in Matthew 24 is telling us some of the signsof the end as we're approaching the end.
(16:01):
And this is where it said, Matthew 24 verse six, you will hear of wars, wars and rumors ofwars, but see to it that you are not alarmed.
Such things must happen, but the end is still to come.
Nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom.
(16:22):
We're living in that moment right now.
There will be famines and earthquakes in various places.
All these are the beginning.
of birth pains.
Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated byall nations because of me.
At that time, many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other.
(16:47):
And many false prophets will appear and deceive many people.
Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold." Let me read thatlast part again.
Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold.
People are being handed over to be persecuted.
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People are being put to death.
People are being jailed.
People are being hounded.
People are being hated on.
Nations, whole nations will hate you because you're, I don't know, a far right winger.
And all of a sudden, that's the buzzword.
for you being a bad person all across the world.
(17:32):
And the word of God says, because of the increase of wickedness, because it looks likethose who are wicked are winning.
Open borders, people are being murdered in the street, folks are rewriting history.
You have a virus that comes from somewhere with the name of the location of the country,and yet you can't say it, you can't call it out.
(17:59):
People are being canceled.
People are being locked up in prison for attending a rally on January 6th.
All of these things are happening.
It looks like the other side is winning.
And because wickedness is increasing, those who are of the faith are growing cold.
And here you have Jesus say, have this against you.
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You have lost your first love.
Not intentionally.
But because of the wickedness that is around, the word of God says, as I just read inMatthew chapter 24, people will become cold, right?
You become immune to it.
You become desensitized to a man wearing a dress, gyrating in front of a bunch offive-year-olds because you see it all the time and you just grow cold to it, to the
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wickedness of it all.
Or when you wanna talk about a person who is truly having, I mean, can you imagine forthose who are growing up in a body that in their mind does not agree with who they believe
they are, and when you and I walk into this space to talk about it, there's no love,there's no compassion.
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We meme them, we cancel them, we vilify.
them, there has to be a balance.
No, I will not stand by and allow a man in a dress with his prosthetic breasts hangingout, gyrating in front of a bunch of five-year-olds.
No, I'm not going to be one of those people who just sit by and watch that and just shakemy head as that is happening.
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I've already made my decision.
I'm not that person.
But at the same time, when I am
interacting with someone who is genuinely having a break from reality.
Am I harsh?
Am I cold?
Am I brutal?
Can I have balance?
Can I push back against the evil and yet interact with people not forgetting theirhumanity?
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And if there is a real cry for help and what can I do?
I think we're going to have to have that balance.
Otherwise you will grow cold and rigid.
And that is what the word of God says.
He knew that these people knew the word of God.
They were students of the word of God and they held it vigorously and rigorously as theyjudged everyone around them.
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They hated wickedness.
They were not idle.
But God says, have this one thing against you.
You have no joy.
They had lost the joy of their salvation.
And when you double click on that word joy, it means exactly what we would think the wordjoy would mean.
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There's no deep mystery here.
They were not happy.
They were sour puss.
They were always firing brimstone, right?
The firing brimstone, the holiness.
Can't wear red lipstick.
Can't wear short sleeves.
Yes, I grew up around people like this and they did not
look very happy.
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And had I not already given my life to the Lord, that face and what they were talkingabout certainly would not have wooed me into the flock.
Why is joy so important?
Nehemiah chapter eight, verse 10 says, the joy of the Lord is our strength, the joy, thehappiness, the gladness, truly the joy of being with the Lord.
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is our refuge, it's our strength, it's our place of safety when the world is burning upall around us, when there is wars, wars and rumors of wars, when wickedness seems to be on
the rise.
The joy of the Lord is our protection.
And you do not want to be disqualified from what it is that God has in store for you.
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I'm gonna read this one.
I was debating on, know, cause I'm gonna give you guys a lot of scripture because Ibelieve scripture interprets scripture.
And it is important that we study the word of God in light of the word of God.
Yes, I read, if I turn the camera, you will see nothing but books all around.
(22:35):
I have books just flowing out.
I have read the overwhelming majority of these books.
Plus I have books that I just listened to.
So I love reading about a variety of different topics, but when I'm studying the Word ofGod, in addition to looking at what others have taught and what concordances and things
such as that, I believe we have to always come back to the Word of God.
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The Word of God is our first and last authority on the Word of God.
So you're gonna see me going through scripture, write them down.
You can study this throughout the week, go back to touch these particular passages thatI'm talking about.
But with that, turn with me to Hebrews chapter three, verse six.
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But Christ is faithful as a son over God's house.
We are God's house and Christ is faithful over God's house.
He's faithful over us.
And we are his house.
Like I said, we are his house and he is faithful over us.
(23:44):
If, if, if we hold on to our courage and the hope of which we boast, that word hold meansto actively hinder the progress of sadness, of timidity, of fear.
(24:07):
of doubt.
God is faithful over us if we do our part as well.
you know, it's already been decided.
It's already been determined.
God will do what God would do.
I'm saved so I don't have to do anything.
No, that's not what the word of God actually says.
The word of God says that God is faithful.
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Jesus is faithful over us, his house.
If, if, if we actively hinder and push back the progress of sadness, the progress ofdepression, I'm gonna push it back, Lord.
I give you my mind, Lord.
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We gotta push back the very real inclination to stick our head in the sand out of fear.
It is going to cost us something in this culture.
to stand up and say, no, I am not gonna follow the trend.
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I am not going to do what, cause I don't agree with that.
This is against the word of God.
It's against my conscious.
It's against my freedom of religion, my freedom of conscious.
I'll probably talk about that a little bit later on.
Freedom of religion in the first amendment is not freedom to be a bad.
this, our freedom to be a Presbyterian, our freedom to be a Catholic, or the freedom to bea Muslim or a Hindu.
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No, it's freedom of conscious.
I get to live according to my conscious.
We are not living in isolated little bubbles.
That is the reason why I am bringing the whole me to this.
Because as I read the Word of God, I can put it next to, adjacent to the US Constitutionand I can determine
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am going to live my life.
But it is going to cost us something to not be depressed in this culture, to not live infear in this culture, to not stick our head in the sand in this culture.
These are my children.
But if my children that is going to a government school is told by the government,
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employees that you can be anything other than your DNA.
And if I, as the parent, want to interject myself in that conversation and talk to mychildren about how God has designed them and that their body is not a mistake, who they
are is not a mistake, that they are beautiful just the way they are.
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And if I try to seek help for them along that narrative,
In the state of California, your children can be taken away from you.
You do not have the right in many, in many states in this country to intervene.
They will literally come and remember freedom of religion, the freedom to go and practicemy conscious, live in my conscious during 2020 when we were on lockdown.
(27:13):
If you
wanted to go to church here in the state of Pennsylvania.
Our governor, Wolf at the time, said, we will come to those churches and we will writedown the license plate of every car that's out there and we will send the health
department, social workers to your home.
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You better not go to your church and assemble together.
What are you going to do?
Many churches made their decision.
They stayed home because God forbid it was fear.
of one thing or the other, but I say that to say we are coming into a time, we are now inthe time where it's going to cost us something to live according to our conscious and not
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live in fear, to not allow ourselves to grow sad.
And it is very hard to not be increasingly sad in this environment.
But the word of God says that the joy of the Lord
is our strength.
Now, joy is not just gonna come and jump on top of you like osmosis.
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You are going to have to fight for it, to work for it.
Now, can you lose your salvation?
I do not believe that the word of God, that there's any place in the word of God where itsays you can lose your salvation, although there are those who believe that.
But you will lose something else that is equally important.
I'm gonna talk about that.
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But we are...
called to intentionally hold on to our joy, to our confidence, to our sense of triumph inChrist.
And the Church of Ephesus, they were Orthodox.
They knew the scripture and they were gloom and doom and buyer and brimstone, but theywere cold and indifferent about it.
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They were legalistic.
about it.
And Jesus said, I love the fact that you're out here, you're fighting.
You're not giving up.
You're persevering, but you have lost your joy.
What causes this?
Turn with me to Luke chapter 10, verse 38.
As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman namedMartha opened her home to him.
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She had a sister called Mary who sat at the Lord's feet listening to what he said.
But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made.
She came to him and asked, Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do all thework by myself?
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me, Martha, Martha, the Lord answered.
You are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed.
Mary has chosen what is better and it will not be taken away from her.
Let me read this in the Amplified.
(30:22):
Now, while they were on their way, it occurred that Jesus entered a certain village and awoman named Martha received and welcomed him.
and to her house.
And she had a sister named Mary who seated herself at the lores feet and was listening tohis teachings.
But Martha, overly occupied and too busy, was distracted with much serving.
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So she's serving.
That's a good thing.
I mean, the food isn't gonna cook itself.
The house is not gonna clean itself.
The baby needs to be fed.
Diapers need to be changed.
Clothes need to be folded.
Got to go to the grocery store.
Things must get done.
So she was busy doing good things.
She wasn't wasting her time.
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She wasn't being idle.
And she came up to Jesus and said, Lord, is it nothing to you that my sister has left meto serve alone?
I'm tired, Lord.
And there's so much to do.
And this chick is sitting over here.
while I'm doing all the work.
Tell her then to help me to lend a hand and do her part along with me.
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But the Lord replied to her by saying, Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled aboutmany things.
There is need of only one.
or a few things.
Mary has chosen the good portion, that which is to her advantage, which shall not be takenaway from her.
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What had Mary chosen?
God.
Yes, there's a lot to be done.
And I am one of those busybody individuals, Thanksgiving come, I have a house full ofpeople.
Everyone flies here from California, Alabama, Texas.
And I
cook everything from scratch.
I go back to my days on that pig farm where I grew up as a little girl.
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I got all of my grandmama's recipes and I cook everything from scratch and I do it all bymyself.
Nobody, I don't want nobody helping me do anything.
I'm gonna do it all by myself.
But everybody else is sitting around laughing, joking, creating memories and I'm in thatkitchen slaving.
And then every single year I get upset.
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I get upset.
Somebody says this least thing.
I remember one year I had done everything.
I'm cooking for three days straight.
Now it's almost done.
It's ready.
Let's come in.
Let's sit down.
Let's eat.
Let's enjoy the spoils of my labor.
And my baby brother walks in and says, wait, let me go take a shower first.
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I lost it.
I was ready to take everything and just dump it in the sink.
It was crazy.
about to sabotage everything.
But now they enjoyed the food.
Somebody had to cook the food and they enjoyed the food, the richness of the food.
It was very rich.
It was not healthy eating, but it was good, right?
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But I'm always reminded.
I'm reminded even now as I talk to you is that Martha had lost her first joy.
She had lost the joy of serving, of...
having all that she needed to be able to provide.
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She had lost the joy of it, probably not intentionally.
I know I certainly go in to cooking Thanksgiving dinner and inviting everyone from aroundthe nation to come because I enjoy seeing, I enjoy cooking, I enjoy cooking for people, I
enjoy serving, I enjoy watching people eat and be full and the laughter and all of that.
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I enjoy hosting.
But then I get sidetracked with the busyness of it all.
It's overwhelming.
And then I lose my joy in doing it all because I got to do it all.
I got to do it all by myself and it has to be perfect.
And I can't leave any ingredient out.
Somebody run to the store and get that one lemon.
Right.
I need eight lemons, not seven.
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Yes, it's as easy as that.
We must actively choose the better things.
because I remember, you know, I'm thinking about all the Thanksgiving dinners, right?
Towards the end, I'm getting better.
I'm conditioned, I'm determined to be better this year as well.
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But I lose the joy and I get sad and I'm crying and it's a mess and I'm a wet blanket toother people's joy, right?
I don't just be a wet blanket to myself, but now I'm affecting others around me.
It begins to spread.
We got to push it back.
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That's just a simple example and not nearly equivalent to what this letter to Ephesus issaying.
But I hope you get the point.
You can lose that joy.
And this is what Jesus is saying to the church of Ephesus.
This is what I have against you.
You have lost your first love.
Remember when you fell in love with that man or that girl and it was all
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Joy, ooh, the butterflies.
You could talk for hours.
Then you get married and now everything they say irritates you.
The thing that used to be like, that is so cute.
When you were dating, now become a pebble in your shoe once you get married.
It's inevitable.
And yet here it is.
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I remember when I first gave my life to the Lord, when I was 19 years old, my goodness, Iwanted to tell everybody.
Every boy who wanted to date me,
I was like, come to church.
I was bringing everybody to church.
A whole choir of boys like this.
they're telling everybody about the gospel.
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None of them wanted to date me thereafter because they realized, no, this girl is reallyreal.
I love Jesus.
And I wanted to tell everyone about Jesus.
I would spend hours reading the Bible.
It was so exciting.
And all of this new stuff and that love.
And he said, you have lost that.
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I want you to get that.
I want to I want you to get back to that place where you love me.
where I am the first thing, I'm the most important thing.
And I'm not gonna tell Mary to get up and walk away and walk away from the most importantthing because she's chosen the most important thing.
That's what God is saying.
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He wants his people to get back to, but this is serious.
Because not only does he want to have a relationship with us, God wants to have fellowshipwith us, a friendship with us.
Relationship, yes, I'm related to you because now I have given my life to the Lord.
Now we are called brothers and sisters, children.
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We are part of the family, but he wants more than just being a part of the family.
I've ever had a family member who's a part of the family, but nobody like them or theythink nobody likes them or they don't want to come and be around the family.
That's not there.
There's relationship.
But there's no fellowship.
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There's no warmth.
There's no hugging and loving and I love you and how can I encourage you and what can wedo together?
There's no friendship.
It's like a husband and a wife who don't communicate.
They can't stand each other.
Remember how good it was at first to enter into a relationship with God.
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Spend time reading the Word of God.
It's not gonna come like osmosis.
You got to do your part.
Read the word of God.
Fellowship with other believers.
Talk about Him.
Think about Him.
Like when you fell in love with that girl or that guy, you wanted to tell everybody abouthim.
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You wanted to talk about this person.
You were sickening to people, but you were in love and you wanted everyone to know.
That is what God wants.
What can you do to change it?
Like I've said, one, remember.
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The book of Hebrews is always telling us, remember, remember, remember how good it oncewas.
Remember what he's done for you.
So remember how good it was at first.
Spend time reading the word of God, fellowshipping, talking about him, thinking about him.
The second thing, the word of God says it here.
Jesus says it here in his letter to Ephesus, chapter two, verse five.
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One, as I said, remember, that's the first thing you need to do.
Remember the height from which you have fallen.
Number two, repent and do the things you did at first.
That's it.
Remember where you once were.
with the Lord and the love and the joy, repent of it, which means change, literally exerteffort and do different.
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Again, it's not going to happen by osmosis.
That's not how this works.
God, make me fall in love with you.
That's not how it works.
Is that what your significant other said to you?
please fall in love with me.
Or did you just spend time with them?
Talk.
to them, listen to them, watch them, thought about them.
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And those affections begin to renew.
God says, remember where we once were and desire that.
Think about what I've done for you.
Think about how I've made ways out of no ways for you.
How I have assured you and loved on you.
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Think about that.
And then secondly, repent.
Turn, do an about face.
Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.
Solidify that change in God.
Go in the opposite direction.
If you're not going to church, go to church.
If you're not talking to other believers, pick up the phone and start talking to them.
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If you're not reading the Bible, start reading the Bible.
If you're not praying, start praying.
Change.
Do the opposite.
If you do not repent, if you do not change, I will come to you and remove your lamp standfrom its place.
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Whoa.
What is that?
Remember the lamp stand is the church.
Chapter one, Revelation chapter one.
He said, I will remove your lamp stand from its place, not remove you.
Because again, I do not believe there's any place in the Bible where the word of Godteaches we can lose our salvation.
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No, I don't believe that's what he's referring to.
That word place or remove your place or position.
He will take your lamp stand.
You're still a lamp stand, but he's going to move you from the position you have.
to a different position.
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He's gonna move your place.
That's what that word is.
Let's look at that.
Cause I want you to see it.
Cause I think it's important that you understand.
Luke chapter four, verse 17, the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him.
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Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written.
The place here is a place and a book.
Turn with me to Revelation chapter six, verse 14.
The sky receded like a scroll rolling up and every mountain and island was removed fromits place, its position.
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Turn one more time.
Revelation chapter 12, verse eight.
But he was not strong enough and they lost their place in heaven.
Place again, that word.
I don't want you to just run right past it, but it means a position.
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You're occupying a specific position.
Last thing, turn with me to 2 Corinthians 5-10.
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for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.
Again, for we must all appear and be revealed as we are before the judgment seat of Christso that each one may receive his pay what's due to him according to what he has done in
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the body.
So according to what you have done while you were here on earth and in Christ,
You're going to receive your pay, whether good or evil, considering what his purpose andmotive have been and what he has achieved.
Remember how Jesus introduced himself?
I see you.
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I know you.
I know your works.
I know what you do.
I know the motives behind what you do.
I know the purpose for why you do what you do.
I am sifting you.
am analyzing every
Everything about you.
I cannot be fooled.
I know you I Know you better than you know yourself is how Jesus introduced himself and Hesays here in the Word of God in 2nd Corinthians chapter 5 verse 10 Every last one of us
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will stand before The judgment seat of God the throne of God and we will receive our pay
One more time.
Turn with me.
First Corinthians, chapter three.
Let's start at verse 11.
no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ.
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When we give our life to the Lord and ask Christ to come into our life, to be our Savior,to forgive us of our sins and to be our Savior, that is the foundation.
Jesus is the foundation of every house.
And Paul says no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which isJesus.
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If you see a house that's being built, they don't lay down a foundation and then cometomorrow and lay down another foundation.
No, the foundation is Jesus.
But if salvation was enough, then God would just take all of us out.
There will be no need for us to be here because we're saved and the foundation has beenlaid.
But who walks and lives?
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and a house where there's only the foundation.
No, you need the walls, you need the roof, you need the windows, you need the doors.
And so Paul goes on here, if any man builds on this foundation, so there's the foundation,Jesus Christ, you must be saved.
Any other foundation is sinking and shifting sand.
It does not last.
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But if Jesus Christ is in your life,
You have asked him to forgive you of your sins.
You have asked him to come and to be your Lord and your Savior.
And you have committed yourself to him.
Boom.
That's the foundation.
But now you got to start building on top of that foundation.
1 Corinthians chapter three, verse 12.
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If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay orstraw, his work will be shown
for what it is because the day, the capital D day, will bring it to light.
It will be revealed with fire and the fire will test the quality of each man's work.
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So once you lay down the foundation, then you gotta start building on that foundation.
And there are six materials you can use
The word of God says to build on that foundation.
You can use material that is gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay, or straw.
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Notice the declining quality of each of the materials you can use to build on thatfoundation.
Gold is the highest of quality.
The longer it stays in the fire, the more pure it becomes, followed by silver.
then costly stones, then wood.
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Wood takes longer to burn than hay.
Hay takes longer to burn than straw.
I grew up on a pig farm.
You take one straw, throw it in a fire, whoosh, it's gone.
So you see the declining quality in the materials that are being used.
You can use these six materials to build on that foundation.
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What is the quality of the works you're doing?
Are you going to show up in heaven with just a bunch of straw to throw at the feet ofChrist?
Or are you going to step into eternity with bales of hay or a boatload of gold and silver?
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Continue with me.
First Corinthians chapter three, verse 14.
If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward.
If what you have built, if the material you've used to build on the foundation of Jesusdoes not just blow up into an immediate combustion of flames, but it survives, it's gold,
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it's silver.
He said he will receive his reward.
If it is burned up, if you show up in front of Christ and all you have to hand him is somestraw.
You will suffer loss.
This is the moving of your lamp stand from one position to another.
You're still saved.
He himself will be saved.
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You're still saved.
But only as one barely escaping through the flames.
There are going to be a lot of Christians who show up in heaven with their nose flared,clothes singed, smoke.
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on every smoke coming from them.
They're saved, but barely.
I remember when we lived in Illinois, my neighbor ran to our door.
Her car caught on fire in the garage and I'm watching her as she's running to our garage.
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Her nose was flared.
Her eyes were bucked.
She's rolling on the ground.
She's trying to run.
but she's tripping over her own two feet, rolling on the ground.
And then she comes and banging on my door and she looks a mess because she barely escaped.
Her car blew up while she was in it or it caught on fire while she was in it.
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And in her mind, she barely escaped the flames.
That's how a number of Christians, the word of God, I just read it, is going to show up.
in heaven.
There are going to be people who have lived their whole life.
They are saved, but they've lived their whole Christian life building on the foundation ofJesus using material that is the equivalent of straw.
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It's been all about me, myself, and I.
And the Word of God says, your lampstand will be removed from one position
to another position, from one place to another place.
Now, I remember teaching this when we lived in Illinois to a bunch of real OrthodoxChristians at the time, holier than thou in their own mind if nowhere else.
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My grandfather, he was a janitor.
And I have nothing but respect for what my grandfather did for his profession.
But I certainly did not want to grow up and become a janitor.
I wanted, I went and got it.
and education, more education, even more education, and I built a life for myself fromthat.
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And I was saying there are going to be some people who show up in heaven and theirposition that they could have had is going to be removed and they're going to be placed in
a lower position.
And I remember this one holier than thou Christian.
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say, well, if I get to heaven and if I'm a janitor, as long as I'm in heaven, that's allthat matters.
And there were a lot of, amen, she's in heaven.
Even if she's a janitor, she's in heaven and that's all that matters.
And I looked at her and I said, isn't that interesting, doctor?
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Isn't that interesting, doctor, that you have...
acquired so much education and learning because for you, it's not good enough for you tobe a janitor on this side of heaven, but it's okay for you to be a janitor on that side of
heaven, in heaven.
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Now, I don't believe there are going to be janitors in heaven.
I'm using her example.
She said, when I read this passage to them and I explained it as I'm explaining it to younow, she said to me,
don't care.
As long as I'm in heaven, that's all that matters.
Even if I'm a janitor in heaven, as long as I'm in heaven, that's all that matters.
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And I looked at her again and I said, that's interesting, doctor, because it's notsufficient for you to be a janitor on this side of heaven.
That's why you did the work.
You put in the hours.
You studied.
You disciplined yourself.
You did what you needed to do.
so that you can become a doctor because there are greater rewards financially, tangibly,and you wanted those rewards.
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And so you put in the work, you put in the discipline, you did, you studied, you showedyourself to be approved, you took the test, you passed the test, you held yourself to this
higher order of things.
And you are reaping the reward.
You're reaping the benefit.
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You did that.
You disciplined yourself.
You sacrificed.
You did that.
Because in your mind, being a janitor is you want it more than just being a janitor.
But then we take that same logic and we invert it and we say, well, as long as I, youknow, I barely made it in, but I'm in.
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That's not enough.
And God is saying to us, he's warning us, you're going to want what I have for you.
I am coming.
I am coming with my rewards and you are going to want these rewards.
So do what you need to do.
Sacrifice, discipline yourself, beat your body into condition.
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My daughter.
is an athlete, my son is an athlete.
And I watched them waking up early, my son waking up at six o'clock in the morning to getto the gym, to lift the weights.
My daughter running eight miles so that when it's time for her to run three miles, she cando it with no problems.
I see them being disciplined about what they eat, disciplined about how late they stay up,disciplined about what time they go to bed.
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My son is in college.
He just took his first chemistry test.
He's up all night studying, discipline, focused, sacrificing.
He's not going out hanging out with this friend and that friend.
And yet when it comes to the word of God, we refuse to discipline ourselves to read theword, refuse to discipline ourselves to pray before we close our eyes or to pray before we
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wake up in the morning.
I'm not judging you.
Don't get me wrong.
I'm speaking to myself as much as I'm speaking to you right now.
But we got to do better.
The Book of Revelation is here so that we are not ignorant of the things that God desiresfor us and demand from us.
We are all walking around every day, all day, building on the foundation of Jesus Christ.
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What is the quality of the material you're using to build your house?
Is it the best?
Are you sacrificing?
Are you giving?
Are you analyzing your own purpose of why you're doing what you're doing?
Are you analyzing and judging your own intent?
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I'm gonna judge myself before I get in front of Jesus and let him judge me.
I'm gonna do the best I can to analyze and sift through why I'm doing what I'm doing.
Am I doing what I'm doing so that I can earn the applaud of men?
There are things, there are places I could go just to say, to put it on Twitter, to say,look, I was there, or look, I'm right there, or look, I'm rubbing shoulders with this
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campaign and that campaign, but I am intentionally discipling myself that I only want todo those things that are going to count.
This side of heaven is important only because it determines
what I'm going to be doing on that side of heaven.
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bunch of straw and a bunch of hay and earn the applause of men.
but have my lamp stand moved from one position to another.
One of the greatest things I heard is when I heard my son, who's 18, say to me, mama, thisis how I'm going to live my life.
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This is what I've committed to myself and to God of how I'm going to live my life now thatI'm away from home and I'm living on college.
I'm going to do this, I'm not going to do that.
I'ma do this, but I'm not going to do this.
And he said, because when I get to heaven and I stand in front of God, I don't want toleave any of the things, any of my blessings on the table.
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I don't want to get to heaven and God say, you could have done this and you would havereceived this reward, but you didn't.
So I'm going to take that reward away from you.
My son said, I don't want that.
When I get to heaven, I want all my blessings.
I want all my pearls, I want all my diamonds and my crown.
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For a mom to hear that, that is.
Because God has given me these little souls for a moment in time where I can influencethem.
And if I can live my life in such a way that I can influence my children to want to havean authentic relationship with Christ, that should be the first things like Mary versus
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Martha.
And I am not talking at you.
I am speaking to myself because I too grapple and wrestle.
with the ruler of this world that runs around measuring if you are worthy or valuable orsomeone to be listened to based on your access or how much money you have or who you're
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rubbing shoulders with or how many clicks you have or how many impressions you're gettingor how many people are retweeting you.
I too grapple with that.
want it.
I want those things as well.
Yes, but that cannot be our first things.
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Feeding the people in her home is important.
I bet everybody was happy she had food prepared for them.
I bet Jesus was happy he was able to eat and not have to wait because Martha was sittingon the floor with Mary and nobody was in the kitchen cooking.
I'm sure they appreciated the food, right?
Those were good things she was doing, but it wasn't the most important thing.
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And I want to live my life in a way that I am putting emphasis on the most importantthings.
And this is the reason why we are teaching the book of Revelation.
I want to do the things that I believe are important that are my calling.
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It may be ridiculed by outsiders, but it is what I believe to be true and authentic.
So with that, blessing.
Hello, everyone.
Welcome back.
Yes, you're listening to the whole you podcast with Kathy Barnett.
We are now getting ready to walk into Revelation chapter two.
It's not revelations.
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It's only one revelation that was given to the apostle John.
We talked about that extensively in the overview as well as in chapter one.
You should see that in the show notes below.
We should have links there for you.
And so today we're going to walk right into chapter two.
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Chapter two, chapter three, we're talking about the present.
Seven letters written to seven.
churches in chapter two, you have four of the seven letters.
One to Ephesus, to Smyrna, to Pergamum, and to Thyatira.
Today in this segment, we're only gonna talk about the letter to Ephesus.
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We're gonna take our time walking into chapter two.
Now, as we talk about each of these seven churches, yes, these were seven real
churches and there should be a map there for you.
So you can see these are seven real churches kind of in the circle, highly populated,densely populated areas.
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Ephesus is actually the capital of Rome.
And so the seven letters go out.
The first one goes out to Ephesus.
If you click into the show notes, there should be a link that takes you to my websitewhere you can actually print off
the handout for chapter two and you can walk along with me.
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I'm trying to make this as easy and as painless as possible.
So as we look at these seven churches, these are one, seven real churches that existed.
It is also a typology of the seven types of Christians today.
So not only are these letters speaking to
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seven real churches that once existed, but I believe they are a typology of the churchtoday as a body, as well as the seven types of Christians that we run into.
And so as we move through these seven letters to these seven real churches, I want you tothink about the body of believers you are a part of today.
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as well as try to discern which church you fall into.
Maybe you're more than one church.
Maybe you're specifically one type of person, but nevertheless, listen to it.
Think about it as we go through.
Now, if you're looking at the handouts, again, go onto the show notes, click on the link,it'll take you to my website and you can look at the handout there.
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But I've broken out each of these seven
letters, they follow a very similar format, all seven letters.
He names the church.
I'm speaking to Ephesus.
I'm speaking to Philadelphia.
I'm speaking to Smyrna.
Right now, we're about to look at the letter written to Ephesus.
But then he goes on after he says, this is who I'm writing this letter to, he introduceshimself to each church and each introduction.
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for each of the seven letters are different.
He introduces himself based on the need that they specifically have.
So in the book of Ephesus, he names, this is who I'm writing this letter to, followed by,let me introduce myself.
And he introduces himself based on what they need.
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Jesus is whatever you need.
You wanna see that?
After he introduces himself, he says something favorable about them.
Generally in our culture as humans, it's real easy for me to find all the many things youdo wrong.
Jesus does the opposite.
He starts off with say, you do some things right.
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Now there's only one church where there's nothing good going on in that church.
Nothing good going on about that particular believer yet.
They're a believer.
He's sending it to his one of one of his church.
They're identified as one of his churches, one of his lampstands we talked about inchapter one.
But he starts off with this is who I'm writing this letter to.
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Let me introduce myself.
You will see as we move through, he introduces himself based on the need for that specificchurch or people in our case today.
Followed by he began to list.
Some of the things he find favorable about them, followed immediately by, but this is whatI have against you.
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There are only two churches where he has nothing against them.
But the other five, he says, he lists out what you're doing well, but then he says, but Ihave this against you.
You need to fix this.
You need to look at this.
And then he talks about what causes this particular sin or fault or issue that this churchis having, followed by,
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Whoever has an ear to hear, he closes each of the letters like that.
Whoever has an ear to hear, I am coming, I am coming soon, and with me are some thingsthat you're going to want.
So this is who I'm writing to.
Let me introduce myself based on who you need me to be, followed by these are some of thethings you're doing really great, but this is something you really need to focus on.
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this is why you need to focus on it.
Closing out with, you need to fix this and you need to fix this because I'm coming to you,I'm coming to you soon and I'm coming with some gifts.
I'm coming with some positions and you're going to want what I have, right?
So if you have an ear to hear what I'm saying, listen and follow suit.
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Go back to chapter one in verses,
one through four, this book comes with a promise, not just to those who read it and studyit, but those who take it to heart and apply what is being read or studied.
Go to Revelation chapter two.
I'm just going to read verses one through seven, and then we'll come back and break itdown.
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So.
Revelation chapter two, verse one, to the angel of the church in Ephesus.
Who am I writing this letter to?
Ephesus.
Let me introduce myself.
These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among theseven golden lampstands.
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Now you remember in chapter one, click on the link in the show notes, we talk about whothe seven stars are.
Some believe they are the seven angels who monitor and watch over these seven churches.
Some believe it to be the pastors, the ministers, the authority over these seven churches,whatever it is, whether it's angels, whether it's ministers, he's speaking to the one who
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is an authority over these seven churches.
This is also the one who walks among the seven golden lampstands.
And remember, we talked
In chapter one, all of this goes together.
So you can't just erase your mind once we leave one chapter.
Take those learnings on over into all the other chapters.
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So in chapter one, we talked about not just the seven stars, the seven authorities overthese seven churches, but we talked about who is the lamp stand.
I double clicked on.
The lampstand, who is the lampstand?
What is the significance of the lampstand?
What is the significance of Jesus walking among the lampstand?
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The lampstand, the golden lampstand, is you, it's me.
And Jesus is walking in the midst of you and I at all times.
You're never alone.
He is right there walking in the midst.
So.
These are the words of him, he's introducing himself, who holds the seven stars in hisright hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands.
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He says, I know you, I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance.
I know that you cannot tolerate wicked men, that you have tested those who claim to beapostles but are not and have
found them false.
You have persevered.
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You have held out and you have endured hardships for my name and have not grown weary.
So he's speaking to them.
He said, yet I hold this against you.
You have forsaken your first love.
Remember the height from which you have fallen.
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Repent and do the
things you did at first.
If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lamp stand from its place.
But you have this in your favor.
You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.
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He who has an ear, let him hear what the spirit says to the churches.
To him who overcomes,
I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.
So that is the section we're going to talk about.
What does Jesus say?
One, he writes, he's writing to the church of Ephesus.
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And then he says, let me introduce myself to you.
He says, I am the one who know you.
I know who you are.
Jesus knows his ministers, the ones who are in authority, and he knows his people.
He lives inside of us.
The word of God is very clear that the Holy Spirit dwells inside of each believer, but notonly does he dwell inside of each and every one of us, he walks in the midst of us.
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He knows his people.
He knows the wheat from the tear.
He is not fooled by those who are pretending.
He knows his children.
He knows those who are in his kingdom.
He says, I walk in the midst of his church with his eyes.
as a flame.
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Turn with me to Hebrew chapter four.
I love how this is read.
Verse 12, and I'm going to read from the Amplified Bible.
I love how it breaks it down here.
Hebrews chapter four, verse 12.
For the word that God speaks is alive and full of power, making it active, operative,energizing, and effective.
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The word of God.
It is sharper than any two-edged sword penetrating to the divining line of the breath oflife, which is the soul and the immortal spirit and of joints and marrow of the deepest
parts of our nature.
The Word of God is exposing and sifting and analyzing and judging the very thoughts andpurposes of the heart.
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This is what this is who God is saying he is.
Hello, let me introduce myself to you.
I am the one who holds all authority over my people in my right hand.
And I am walking in the midst of my children.
I know you, I am sifting you.
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I am analyzing the intent of your heart.
Everything you do, I am sifting it.
and analyzing it.
When I grew up as a kid, my grandmother had one of those old time sifters where you putthe flower inside of this 10 circular oval shape more like a rectangle shape more like
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sifter.
And it had this little cranking lever on it.
And as it crank, as my grandmother would crank it, it would, the flower would be siftedout.
from the bottom, he's sifting out the junk from that which is pure.
This is God.
He is discerning everything.
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He knows us, there is nothing hidden.
If anyone knows you, it is God.
So he says, this is who I am.
But then he goes on to say, let me tell you what I see that's good.
He says, I know you.
And I know your works.
You're working hard for me.
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You're working hard to understand the word of God, to be able to rightly divide the wordof God.
You want to be in the way of God.
You have very little tolerance for foolishness.
You have very little tolerance for people who just want to talk about love, love.
God is love.
God is love, love, love, Yes, God is love, but God is also holy and God is righteous.
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And God requires us to live a particular way.
He says, I see that in you.
You are enduring the hardships.
You are enduring foolishness and heartbreaks and lies.
The slander.
You are persevering.
You are pushing forward towards the finish line.
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But turn with me to Matthew chapter 24.
Because he says, I see all of this.
You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed.
I mean, look around us today.
I talk often.
One day I went to bed on a Monday night, woke up Tuesday morning and the whole world wason fire.
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Bangladesh had just kicked out their leader, Sheikh Hassani.
Israel had just attacked Lebanon and Israel had just attacked
Ishmael, the leader of Hamas on Iran territory, you had Erdogan saying, I think we'regoing to get involved in this war now against Israel.
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I looked over in the UK and the people on the ground were up in arms there.
I'm looking here in Venezuela in our hemisphere in South America.
Venezuela, they just had their election.
Madaro was literally killing his people on the ground.
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China, I thought they were going to take over Taiwan, but now it looks like they're allabout taking over the Philippines.
I woke up and there are Ukraine and Russia, the annihilation of whole generations of youngpeople.
In Ukraine, you look at the world.
is wars, wars and rumors of more wars.
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I was looking at Nigeria and they had their 11 days of rage and at the time they were atday seven, so they still had more time of rage within them.
The world was on fire and so the word of God in Matthew 24 is telling us some of the signsof the end as we're approaching the end.
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And this is where it said, Matthew 24 verse six, you will hear of wars, wars and rumors ofwars, but see to it that you are not alarmed.
Such things must happen, but the end is still to come.
Nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom.
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We're living in that moment right now.
There will be famines and earthquakes in various places.
All these are the beginning.
of birth pains.
Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated byall nations because of me.
At that time, many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other.
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And many false prophets will appear and deceive many people.
Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold." Let me read thatlast part again.
Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold.
People are being handed over to be persecuted.
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People are being put to death.
People are being jailed.
People are being hounded.
People are being hated on.
Nations, whole nations will hate you because you're, I don't know, a far right winger.
And all of a sudden, that's the buzzword.
for you being a bad person all across the world.
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And the word of God says, because of the increase of wickedness, because it looks likethose who are wicked are winning.
Open borders, people are being murdered in the street, folks are rewriting history.
You have a virus that comes from somewhere with the name of the location of the country,and yet you can't say it, you can't call it out.
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People are being canceled.
People are being locked up in prison for attending a rally on January 6th.
All of these things are happening.
It looks like the other side is winning.
And because wickedness is increasing, those who are of the faith are growing cold.
And here you have Jesus say, have this against you.
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You have lost your first love.
Not intentionally.
But because of the wickedness that is around, the word of God says, as I just read inMatthew chapter 24, people will become cold, right?
You become immune to it.
You become desensitized to a man wearing a dress, gyrating in front of a bunch offive-year-olds because you see it all the time and you just grow cold to it, to the
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wickedness of it all.
Or when you wanna talk about a person who is truly having, I mean, can you imagine forthose who are growing up in a body that in their mind does not agree with who they believe
they are, and when you and I walk into this space to talk about it, there's no love,there's no compassion.
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We meme them, we cancel them, we vilify.
them, there has to be a balance.
No, I will not stand by and allow a man in a dress with his prosthetic breasts hangingout, gyrating in front of a bunch of five-year-olds.
No, I'm not going to be one of those people who just sit by and watch that and just shakemy head as that is happening.
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I've already made my decision.
I'm not that person.
But at the same time, when I am
interacting with someone who is genuinely having a break from reality.
Am I harsh?
Am I cold?
Am I brutal?
Can I have balance?
Can I push back against the evil and yet interact with people not forgetting theirhumanity?
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And if there is a real cry for help and what can I do?
I think we're going to have to have that balance.
Otherwise you will grow cold and rigid.
And that is what the word of God says.
He knew that these people knew the word of God.
They were students of the word of God and they held it vigorously and rigorously as theyjudged everyone around them.
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They hated wickedness.
They were not idle.
But God says, have this one thing against you.
You have no joy.
They had lost the joy of their salvation.
And when you double click on that word joy, it means exactly what we would think the wordjoy would mean.
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There's no deep mystery here.
They were not happy.
They were sour puss.
They were always firing brimstone, right?
The firing brimstone, the holiness.
Can't wear red lipstick.
Can't wear short sleeves.
Yes, I grew up around people like this and they did not
look very happy.
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And had I not already given my life to the Lord, that face and what they were talkingabout certainly would not have wooed me into the flock.
Why is joy so important?
Nehemiah chapter eight, verse 10 says, the joy of the Lord is our strength, the joy, thehappiness, the gladness, truly the joy of being with the Lord.
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is our refuge, it's our strength, it's our place of safety when the world is burning upall around us, when there is wars, wars and rumors of wars, when wickedness seems to be on
the rise.
The joy of the Lord is our protection.
And you do not want to be disqualified from what it is that God has in store for you.
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I'm gonna read this one.
I was debating on, know, cause I'm gonna give you guys a lot of scripture because Ibelieve scripture interprets scripture.
And it is important that we study the word of God in light of the word of God.
Yes, I read, if I turn the camera, you will see nothing but books all around.
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I have books just flowing out.
I have read the overwhelming majority of these books.
Plus I have books that I just listened to.
So I love reading about a variety of different topics, but when I'm studying the Word ofGod, in addition to looking at what others have taught and what concordances and things
such as that, I believe we have to always come back to the Word of God.
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The Word of God is our first and last authority on the Word of God.
So you're gonna see me going through scripture, write them down.
You can study this throughout the week, go back to touch these particular passages thatI'm talking about.
But with that, turn with me to Hebrews chapter three, verse six.
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But Christ is faithful as a son over God's house.
We are God's house and Christ is faithful over God's house.
He's faithful over us.
And we are his house.
Like I said, we are his house and he is faithful over us.
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If, if, if we hold on to our courage and the hope of which we boast, that word hold meansto actively hinder the progress of sadness, of timidity, of fear.
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of doubt.
God is faithful over us if we do our part as well.
you know, it's already been decided.
It's already been determined.
God will do what God would do.
I'm saved so I don't have to do anything.
No, that's not what the word of God actually says.
The word of God says that God is faithful.
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Jesus is faithful over us, his house.
If, if, if we actively hinder and push back the progress of sadness, the progress ofdepression, I'm gonna push it back, Lord.
I give you my mind, Lord.
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We gotta push back the very real inclination to stick our head in the sand out of fear.
It is going to cost us something in this culture.
to stand up and say, no, I am not gonna follow the trend.
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I am not going to do what, cause I don't agree with that.
This is against the word of God.
It's against my conscious.
It's against my freedom of religion, my freedom of conscious.
I'll probably talk about that a little bit later on.
Freedom of religion in the first amendment is not freedom to be a bad.
this, our freedom to be a Presbyterian, our freedom to be a Catholic, or the freedom to bea Muslim or a Hindu.
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No, it's freedom of conscious.
I get to live according to my conscious.
We are not living in isolated little bubbles.
That is the reason why I am bringing the whole me to this.
Because as I read the Word of God, I can put it next to, adjacent to the US Constitutionand I can determine
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am going to live my life.
But it is going to cost us something to not be depressed in this culture, to not live infear in this culture, to not stick our head in the sand in this culture.
These are my children.
But if my children that is going to a government school is told by the government,
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employees that you can be anything other than your DNA.
And if I, as the parent, want to interject myself in that conversation and talk to mychildren about how God has designed them and that their body is not a mistake, who they
are is not a mistake, that they are beautiful just the way they are.
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And if I try to seek help for them along that narrative,
In the state of California, your children can be taken away from you.
You do not have the right in many, in many states in this country to intervene.
They will literally come and remember freedom of religion, the freedom to go and practicemy conscious, live in my conscious during 2020 when we were on lockdown.
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If you
wanted to go to church here in the state of Pennsylvania.
Our governor, Wolf at the time, said, we will come to those churches and we will writedown the license plate of every car that's out there and we will send the health
department, social workers to your home.
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You better not go to your church and assemble together.
What are you going to do?
Many churches made their decision.
They stayed home because God forbid it was fear.
of one thing or the other, but I say that to say we are coming into a time, we are now inthe time where it's going to cost us something to live according to our conscious and not
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live in fear, to not allow ourselves to grow sad.
And it is very hard to not be increasingly sad in this environment.
But the word of God says that the joy of the Lord
is our strength.
Now, joy is not just gonna come and jump on top of you like osmosis.
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You are going to have to fight for it, to work for it.
Now, can you lose your salvation?
I do not believe that the word of God, that there's any place in the word of God where itsays you can lose your salvation, although there are those who believe that.
But you will lose something else that is equally important.
I'm gonna talk about that.
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But we are...
called to intentionally hold on to our joy, to our confidence, to our sense of triumph inChrist.
And the Church of Ephesus, they were Orthodox.
They knew the scripture and they were gloom and doom and buyer and brimstone, but theywere cold and indifferent about it.
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They were legalistic.
about it.
And Jesus said, I love the fact that you're out here, you're fighting.
You're not giving up.
You're persevering, but you have lost your joy.
What causes this?
Turn with me to Luke chapter 10, verse 38.
As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman namedMartha opened her home to him.
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She had a sister called Mary who sat at the Lord's feet listening to what he said.
But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made.
She came to him and asked, Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do all thework by myself?
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me, Martha, Martha, the Lord answered.
You are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed.
Mary has chosen what is better and it will not be taken away from her.
Let me read this in the Amplified.
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Now, while they were on their way, it occurred that Jesus entered a certain village and awoman named Martha received and welcomed him.
and to her house.
And she had a sister named Mary who seated herself at the lores feet and was listening tohis teachings.
But Martha, overly occupied and too busy, was distracted with much serving.
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So she's serving.
That's a good thing.
I mean, the food isn't gonna cook itself.
The house is not gonna clean itself.
The baby needs to be fed.
Diapers need to be changed.
Clothes need to be folded.
Got to go to the grocery store.
Things must get done.
So she was busy doing good things.
She wasn't wasting her time.
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She wasn't being idle.
And she came up to Jesus and said, Lord, is it nothing to you that my sister has left meto serve alone?
I'm tired, Lord.
And there's so much to do.
And this chick is sitting over here.
while I'm doing all the work.
Tell her then to help me to lend a hand and do her part along with me.
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But the Lord replied to her by saying, Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled aboutmany things.
There is need of only one.
or a few things.
Mary has chosen the good portion, that which is to her advantage, which shall not be takenaway from her.
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What had Mary chosen?
God.
Yes, there's a lot to be done.
And I am one of those busybody individuals, Thanksgiving come, I have a house full ofpeople.
Everyone flies here from California, Alabama, Texas.
And I
cook everything from scratch.
I go back to my days on that pig farm where I grew up as a little girl.
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I got all of my grandmama's recipes and I cook everything from scratch and I do it all bymyself.
Nobody, I don't want nobody helping me do anything.
I'm gonna do it all by myself.
But everybody else is sitting around laughing, joking, creating memories and I'm in thatkitchen slaving.
And then every single year I get upset.
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I get upset.
Somebody says this least thing.
I remember one year I had done everything.
I'm cooking for three days straight.
Now it's almost done.
It's ready.
Let's come in.
Let's sit down.
Let's eat.
Let's enjoy the spoils of my labor.
And my baby brother walks in and says, wait, let me go take a shower first.
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I lost it.
I was ready to take everything and just dump it in the sink.
It was crazy.
about to sabotage everything.
But now they enjoyed the food.
Somebody had to cook the food and they enjoyed the food, the richness of the food.
It was very rich.
It was not healthy eating, but it was good, right?
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But I'm always reminded.
I'm reminded even now as I talk to you is that Martha had lost her first joy.
She had lost the joy of serving, of...
having all that she needed to be able to provide.
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She had lost the joy of it, probably not intentionally.
I know I certainly go in to cooking Thanksgiving dinner and inviting everyone from aroundthe nation to come because I enjoy seeing, I enjoy cooking, I enjoy cooking for people, I
enjoy serving, I enjoy watching people eat and be full and the laughter and all of that.
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I enjoy hosting.
But then I get sidetracked with the busyness of it all.
It's overwhelming.
And then I lose my joy in doing it all because I got to do it all.
I got to do it all by myself and it has to be perfect.
And I can't leave any ingredient out.
Somebody run to the store and get that one lemon.
Right.
I need eight lemons, not seven.
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Yes, it's as easy as that.
We must actively choose the better things.
because I remember, you know, I'm thinking about all the Thanksgiving dinners, right?
Towards the end, I'm getting better.
I'm conditioned, I'm determined to be better this year as well.
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But I lose the joy and I get sad and I'm crying and it's a mess and I'm a wet blanket toother people's joy, right?
I don't just be a wet blanket to myself, but now I'm affecting others around me.
It begins to spread.
We got to push it back.
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That's just a simple example and not nearly equivalent to what this letter to Ephesus issaying.
But I hope you get the point.
You can lose that joy.
And this is what Jesus is saying to the church of Ephesus.
This is what I have against you.
You have lost your first love.
Remember when you fell in love with that man or that girl and it was all
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Joy, ooh, the butterflies.
You could talk for hours.
Then you get married and now everything they say irritates you.
The thing that used to be like, that is so cute.
When you were dating, now become a pebble in your shoe once you get married.
It's inevitable.
And yet here it is.
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I remember when I first gave my life to the Lord, when I was 19 years old, my goodness, Iwanted to tell everybody.
Every boy who wanted to date me,
I was like, come to church.
I was bringing everybody to church.
A whole choir of boys like this.
they're telling everybody about the gospel.
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None of them wanted to date me thereafter because they realized, no, this girl is reallyreal.
I love Jesus.
And I wanted to tell everyone about Jesus.
I would spend hours reading the Bible.
It was so exciting.
And all of this new stuff and that love.
And he said, you have lost that.
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I want you to get that.
I want to I want you to get back to that place where you love me.
where I am the first thing, I'm the most important thing.
And I'm not gonna tell Mary to get up and walk away and walk away from the most importantthing because she's chosen the most important thing.
That's what God is saying.
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He wants his people to get back to, but this is serious.
Because not only does he want to have a relationship with us, God wants to have fellowshipwith us, a friendship with us.
Relationship, yes, I'm related to you because now I have given my life to the Lord.
Now we are called brothers and sisters, children.
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We are part of the family, but he wants more than just being a part of the family.
I've ever had a family member who's a part of the family, but nobody like them or theythink nobody likes them or they don't want to come and be around the family.
That's not there.
There's relationship.
But there's no fellowship.
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There's no warmth.
There's no hugging and loving and I love you and how can I encourage you and what can wedo together?
There's no friendship.
It's like a husband and a wife who don't communicate.
They can't stand each other.
Remember how good it was at first to enter into a relationship with God.
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Spend time reading the Word of God.
It's not gonna come like osmosis.
You got to do your part.
Read the word of God.
Fellowship with other believers.
Talk about Him.
Think about Him.
Like when you fell in love with that girl or that guy, you wanted to tell everybody abouthim.
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You wanted to talk about this person.
You were sickening to people, but you were in love and you wanted everyone to know.
That is what God wants.
What can you do to change it?
Like I've said, one, remember.
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The book of Hebrews is always telling us, remember, remember, remember how good it oncewas.
Remember what he's done for you.
So remember how good it was at first.
Spend time reading the word of God, fellowshipping, talking about him, thinking about him.
The second thing, the word of God says it here.
Jesus says it here in his letter to Ephesus, chapter two, verse five.
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One, as I said, remember, that's the first thing you need to do.
Remember the height from which you have fallen.
Number two, repent and do the things you did at first.
That's it.
Remember where you once were.
with the Lord and the love and the joy, repent of it, which means change, literally exerteffort and do different.
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Again, it's not going to happen by osmosis.
That's not how this works.
God, make me fall in love with you.
That's not how it works.
Is that what your significant other said to you?
please fall in love with me.
Or did you just spend time with them?
Talk.
to them, listen to them, watch them, thought about them.
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And those affections begin to renew.
God says, remember where we once were and desire that.
Think about what I've done for you.
Think about how I've made ways out of no ways for you.
How I have assured you and loved on you.
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Think about that.
And then secondly, repent.
Turn, do an about face.
Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.
Solidify that change in God.
Go in the opposite direction.
If you're not going to church, go to church.
If you're not talking to other believers, pick up the phone and start talking to them.
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If you're not reading the Bible, start reading the Bible.
If you're not praying, start praying.
Change.
Do the opposite.
If you do not repent, if you do not change, I will come to you and remove your lamp standfrom its place.
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Whoa.
What is that?
Remember the lamp stand is the church.
Chapter one, Revelation chapter one.
He said, I will remove your lamp stand from its place, not remove you.
Because again, I do not believe there's any place in the Bible where the word of Godteaches we can lose our salvation.
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No, I don't believe that's what he's referring to.
That word place or remove your place or position.
He will take your lamp stand.
You're still a lamp stand, but he's going to move you from the position you have.
to a different position.
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He's gonna move your place.
That's what that word is.
Let's look at that.
Cause I want you to see it.
Cause I think it's important that you understand.
Luke chapter four, verse 17, the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him.
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Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written.
The place here is a place and a book.
Turn with me to Revelation chapter six, verse 14.
The sky receded like a scroll rolling up and every mountain and island was removed fromits place, its position.
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Turn one more time.
Revelation chapter 12, verse eight.
But he was not strong enough and they lost their place in heaven.
Place again, that word.
I don't want you to just run right past it, but it means a position.
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You're occupying a specific position.
Last thing, turn with me to 2 Corinthians 5-10.
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for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.
Again, for we must all appear and be revealed as we are before the judgment seat of Christso that each one may receive his pay what's due to him according to what he has done in
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the body.
So according to what you have done while you were here on earth and in Christ,
You're going to receive your pay, whether good or evil, considering what his purpose andmotive have been and what he has achieved.
Remember how Jesus introduced himself?
I see you.
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I know you.
I know your works.
I know what you do.
I know the motives behind what you do.
I know the purpose for why you do what you do.
I am sifting you.
am analyzing every
Everything about you.
I cannot be fooled.
I know you I Know you better than you know yourself is how Jesus introduced himself and Hesays here in the Word of God in 2nd Corinthians chapter 5 verse 10 Every last one of us
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will stand before The judgment seat of God the throne of God and we will receive our pay
One more time.
Turn with me.
First Corinthians, chapter three.
Let's start at verse 11.
no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ.
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When we give our life to the Lord and ask Christ to come into our life, to be our Savior,to forgive us of our sins and to be our Savior, that is the foundation.
Jesus is the foundation of every house.
And Paul says no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which isJesus.
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If you see a house that's being built, they don't lay down a foundation and then cometomorrow and lay down another foundation.
No, the foundation is Jesus.
But if salvation was enough, then God would just take all of us out.
There will be no need for us to be here because we're saved and the foundation has beenlaid.
But who walks and lives?
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and a house where there's only the foundation.
No, you need the walls, you need the roof, you need the windows, you need the doors.
And so Paul goes on here, if any man builds on this foundation, so there's the foundation,Jesus Christ, you must be saved.
Any other foundation is sinking and shifting sand.
It does not last.
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But if Jesus Christ is in your life,
You have asked him to forgive you of your sins.
You have asked him to come and to be your Lord and your Savior.
And you have committed yourself to him.
Boom.
That's the foundation.
But now you got to start building on top of that foundation.
1 Corinthians chapter three, verse 12.
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If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay orstraw, his work will be shown
for what it is because the day, the capital D day, will bring it to light.
It will be revealed with fire and the fire will test the quality of each man's work.
(47:02):
So once you lay down the foundation, then you gotta start building on that foundation.
And there are six materials you can use
The word of God says to build on that foundation.
You can use material that is gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay, or straw.
(47:26):
Notice the declining quality of each of the materials you can use to build on thatfoundation.
Gold is the highest of quality.
The longer it stays in the fire, the more pure it becomes, followed by silver.
then costly stones, then wood.
(47:46):
Wood takes longer to burn than hay.
Hay takes longer to burn than straw.
I grew up on a pig farm.
You take one straw, throw it in a fire, whoosh, it's gone.
So you see the declining quality in the materials that are being used.
You can use these six materials to build on that foundation.
(48:09):
What is the quality of the works you're doing?
Are you going to show up in heaven with just a bunch of straw to throw at the feet ofChrist?
Or are you going to step into eternity with bales of hay or a boatload of gold and silver?
(48:30):
Continue with me.
First Corinthians chapter three, verse 14.
If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward.
If what you have built, if the material you've used to build on the foundation of Jesusdoes not just blow up into an immediate combustion of flames, but it survives, it's gold,
(48:58):
it's silver.
He said he will receive his reward.
If it is burned up, if you show up in front of Christ and all you have to hand him is somestraw.
You will suffer loss.
This is the moving of your lamp stand from one position to another.
You're still saved.
He himself will be saved.
(49:20):
You're still saved.
But only as one barely escaping through the flames.
There are going to be a lot of Christians who show up in heaven with their nose flared,clothes singed, smoke.
(49:41):
on every smoke coming from them.
They're saved, but barely.
I remember when we lived in Illinois, my neighbor ran to our door.
Her car caught on fire in the garage and I'm watching her as she's running to our garage.
(50:02):
Her nose was flared.
Her eyes were bucked.
She's rolling on the ground.
She's trying to run.
but she's tripping over her own two feet, rolling on the ground.
And then she comes and banging on my door and she looks a mess because she barely escaped.
Her car blew up while she was in it or it caught on fire while she was in it.
(50:28):
And in her mind, she barely escaped the flames.
That's how a number of Christians, the word of God, I just read it, is going to show up.
in heaven.
There are going to be people who have lived their whole life.
They are saved, but they've lived their whole Christian life building on the foundation ofJesus using material that is the equivalent of straw.
(50:56):
It's been all about me, myself, and I.
And the Word of God says, your lampstand will be removed from one position
to another position, from one place to another place.
Now, I remember teaching this when we lived in Illinois to a bunch of real OrthodoxChristians at the time, holier than thou in their own mind if nowhere else.
(51:20):
My grandfather, he was a janitor.
And I have nothing but respect for what my grandfather did for his profession.
But I certainly did not want to grow up and become a janitor.
I wanted, I went and got it.
and education, more education, even more education, and I built a life for myself fromthat.
(51:41):
And I was saying there are going to be some people who show up in heaven and theirposition that they could have had is going to be removed and they're going to be placed in
a lower position.
And I remember this one holier than thou Christian.
(52:03):
say, well, if I get to heaven and if I'm a janitor, as long as I'm in heaven, that's allthat matters.
And there were a lot of, amen, she's in heaven.
Even if she's a janitor, she's in heaven and that's all that matters.
And I looked at her and I said, isn't that interesting, doctor?
(52:27):
Isn't that interesting, doctor, that you have...
acquired so much education and learning because for you, it's not good enough for you tobe a janitor on this side of heaven, but it's okay for you to be a janitor on that side of
heaven, in heaven.
(52:48):
Now, I don't believe there are going to be janitors in heaven.
I'm using her example.
She said, when I read this passage to them and I explained it as I'm explaining it to younow, she said to me,
don't care.
As long as I'm in heaven, that's all that matters.
Even if I'm a janitor in heaven, as long as I'm in heaven, that's all that matters.
(53:11):
And I looked at her again and I said, that's interesting, doctor, because it's notsufficient for you to be a janitor on this side of heaven.
That's why you did the work.
You put in the hours.
You studied.
You disciplined yourself.
You did what you needed to do.
so that you can become a doctor because there are greater rewards financially, tangibly,and you wanted those rewards.
(53:41):
And so you put in the work, you put in the discipline, you did, you studied, you showedyourself to be approved, you took the test, you passed the test, you held yourself to this
higher order of things.
And you are reaping the reward.
You're reaping the benefit.
(54:01):
You did that.
You disciplined yourself.
You sacrificed.
You did that.
Because in your mind, being a janitor is you want it more than just being a janitor.
But then we take that same logic and we invert it and we say, well, as long as I, youknow, I barely made it in, but I'm in.
(54:24):
That's not enough.
And God is saying to us, he's warning us, you're going to want what I have for you.
I am coming.
I am coming with my rewards and you are going to want these rewards.
So do what you need to do.
Sacrifice, discipline yourself, beat your body into condition.
(54:47):
My daughter.
is an athlete, my son is an athlete.
And I watched them waking up early, my son waking up at six o'clock in the morning to getto the gym, to lift the weights.
My daughter running eight miles so that when it's time for her to run three miles, she cando it with no problems.
I see them being disciplined about what they eat, disciplined about how late they stay up,disciplined about what time they go to bed.
(55:15):
My son is in college.
He just took his first chemistry test.
He's up all night studying, discipline, focused, sacrificing.
He's not going out hanging out with this friend and that friend.
And yet when it comes to the word of God, we refuse to discipline ourselves to read theword, refuse to discipline ourselves to pray before we close our eyes or to pray before we
(55:40):
wake up in the morning.
I'm not judging you.
Don't get me wrong.
I'm speaking to myself as much as I'm speaking to you right now.
But we got to do better.
The Book of Revelation is here so that we are not ignorant of the things that God desiresfor us and demand from us.
We are all walking around every day, all day, building on the foundation of Jesus Christ.
(56:06):
What is the quality of the material you're using to build your house?
Is it the best?
Are you sacrificing?
Are you giving?
Are you analyzing your own purpose of why you're doing what you're doing?
Are you analyzing and judging your own intent?
(56:27):
I'm gonna judge myself before I get in front of Jesus and let him judge me.
I'm gonna do the best I can to analyze and sift through why I'm doing what I'm doing.
Am I doing what I'm doing so that I can earn the applaud of men?
There are things, there are places I could go just to say, to put it on Twitter, to say,look, I was there, or look, I'm right there, or look, I'm rubbing shoulders with this
(56:57):
campaign and that campaign, but I am intentionally discipling myself that I only want todo those things that are going to count.
This side of heaven is important only because it determines
what I'm going to be doing on that side of heaven.
(57:21):
bunch of straw and a bunch of hay and earn the applause of men.
but have my lamp stand moved from one position to another.
One of the greatest things I heard is when I heard my son, who's 18, say to me, mama, thisis how I'm going to live my life.
(57:44):
This is what I've committed to myself and to God of how I'm going to live my life now thatI'm away from home and I'm living on college.
I'm going to do this, I'm not going to do that.
I'ma do this, but I'm not going to do this.
And he said, because when I get to heaven and I stand in front of God, I don't want toleave any of the things, any of my blessings on the table.
(58:10):
I don't want to get to heaven and God say, you could have done this and you would havereceived this reward, but you didn't.
So I'm going to take that reward away from you.
My son said, I don't want that.
When I get to heaven, I want all my blessings.
I want all my pearls, I want all my diamonds and my crown.
(58:34):
For a mom to hear that, that is.
Because God has given me these little souls for a moment in time where I can influencethem.
And if I can live my life in such a way that I can influence my children to want to havean authentic relationship with Christ, that should be the first things like Mary versus
(59:06):
Martha.
And I am not talking at you.
I am speaking to myself because I too grapple and wrestle.
with the ruler of this world that runs around measuring if you are worthy or valuable orsomeone to be listened to based on your access or how much money you have or who you're
(59:37):
rubbing shoulders with or how many clicks you have or how many impressions you're gettingor how many people are retweeting you.
I too grapple with that.
want it.
I want those things as well.
Yes, but that cannot be our first things.
(59:59):
Feeding the people in her home is important.
I bet everybody was happy she had food prepared for them.
I bet Jesus was happy he was able to eat and not have to wait because Martha was sittingon the floor with Mary and nobody was in the kitchen cooking.
I'm sure they appreciated the food, right?
Those were good things she was doing, but it wasn't the most important thing.
(01:00:26):
And I want to live my life in a way that I am putting emphasis on the most importantthings.
And this is the reason why we are teaching the book of Revelation.
I want to do the things that I believe are important that are my calling.
(01:00:47):
It may be ridiculed by outsiders, but it is what I believe to be true and authentic.
So with that, blessing.
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