Milton Baptist Church
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  • Beautiful Saviour
  • Ascribe Greatness To Our God, The Rock
  • Come Behold The Wondrous Mystery
  • Introduce new section from Rev 1:19
    rev 1:19
    Johns Revelation
    Dispensations
    Church age Close up
    Peaks of Prophecy
    1st and second comings not seen as distinct events
    Isaiah 9:6–7 KJV 1900
    6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: And the government shall be upon his shoulder: And his name shall be called Wonderful, Counseller, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. 7 Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, Upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, To order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice From henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.
    Mystery Kingdom (Matt 13)
    not better and better as in Golden age/post and amillennial
    worse and worse
    1 Timothy 4:1–3 KJV 1900
    1 Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; 2 Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron; 3 Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth.
    2 Timothy 3:1–5 KJV 1900
    1 This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. 2 For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3 Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, 4 Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; 5 Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.
    2 Timothy 4:3–4 KJV 1900
    3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; 4 And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.
    James 5:1–8 KJV 1900
    1 Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you. 2 Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten. 3 Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days. 4 Behold, the hire of the labourers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth: and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of sabaoth. 5 Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton; ye have nourished your hearts, as in a day of slaughter. 6 Ye have condemned and killed the just; and he doth not resist you. 7 Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain. 8 Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.
    2 peter 2:1-22..
    2 Peter 3:3–6 KJV 1900
    3 Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, 4 And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation. 5 For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water: 6 Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished:
    Jude!!
    Matthew 13 Correlation
    sowing of the word
    imitated by false counter sowing
    kingdom will assume huge outer proportions
    marked by inner doctrinal corruption
    yet out of it comes a peculiar treasure from among Israel and from the church
    age will end in judgement- righteous into the kingdom
    ​
    The Three Views of the Seven Churches of Revelation
    The first is historical. These Churches did, of course, exist at one time.
    The second is spiritual The Churches represent seven different spiritual conditions that any particular congregation may be in at any specific time.
    The third is prophetic. The Churches represent seven consecutive periods in the history of the Church.

    Ephesus: A Drifting Church

    Introduction
    Ephesus was the capital of the Roman province of Asia Minor, and was a leading seaport.
    The Isle of Patmos, from which the letter was written, was located almost directly west of Ephesus in the Aegean Sea.
    Ephesus - Desired
    "The church at Ephesus, a very prominent city on the western part of the Roman province of Asia, had enjoyed the ministry of Paul for three years.
    Acts 20:31 KJV 1900
    31 Therefore watch, and remember, that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears.
    Timothy also had apparently served this church as pastor. Later, before his exile to the Isle of Patmos, the Apostle John had served as one of the pastors of this church." (Prophecy Knowledge Handbook, John Walvoord)
    Ephesus Represents the Apostolic Church
    AD30 to AD100
    only Church that apostles made mention of
    the apostolic church was characterised by fervent evangelism
    gospel preached throughout the known world
    Romans 10:18 KJV 1900
    18 But I say, Have they not heard? Yes verily, their sound went into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world.
    Romans 16:26 KJV 1900
    26 But now is made manifest, and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith:
    Colossians 1:6 KJV 1900
    6 Which is come unto you, as it is in all the world; and bringeth forth fruit, as it doth also in you, since the day ye heard of it, and knew the grace of God in truth:
    Colossians 1:23 KJV 1900
    23 If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister;
    So the early Church accomplished more wide spread preaching of the Gospel than the modern Church
    who led the early Church at this Apostolic period, Jews or Gentiles?
    Jews
    Who leads the modern day Church, Jews or Gentiles?
    Gentiles
    The Characteristic was evangelism under Jewish leadership
    The Characteristic we have go to under Gentile leadership? Apostasy and indifference
    we will see this we the last of the 7 churches - Laodicea
    This points to some prophetic truth that the only other time there will be worldwide evangelism on the scale of the early Church
    Is during the time of tribulation
    the 144,000
    Revelation 7:9 KJV 1900
    9 After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands;
    The Title of Christ
    Revelation 2:1 KJV 1900
    1 Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write; These things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks;
    each of the 7 letters a description of Christ is given from, the Revelation John had of Christ
    Christ was the recognized head of the early Church
    Ephesians 1:22–23 KJV 1900
    22 And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, 23 Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.

    The Commendation

    Rev 2:2-3
    Jesus says “ I know thy works”
    Christ sees it all
    The Good and the Bad!
    What you do for Christ may go unnoticed by people but it not unnoticed by the one who really matters.
    The Type of Work
    Labour toil and trouble working through the hardships
    Patience keeping going when times are tough sticking at it numbers low classes poorly attended
    Doctrine defenders of truth chasing the false teachers away
    Endurance for the cause fainted not all done for Jesus name
    Acts 19 - Demetrius - trade union!!
    Everything looked good
    Ephesus was a serving Church
    Ephesus was a sacrificing Church
    Ephesus was a steadfast Church
    Man is led by the external, we cant help it, we don't have the ability to look inside people hearts, we judge what we see.
    illustration of Addison - Letter - don’t shout it makes me think you don’t love me!

    The Condemnation

    Rev 2:4
    This Church was great on face value, and bears the hallmarks of many churches like ours, the fundamentalists of the faith so-called.
    Great workers, sound doctrine, getting after the false teachers, protecting the flock, all good and great things, but not the main thing.
    These Ephesian believers were so busy maintaining their separation that they were neglecting adoration.
    Labour is no substitute for love
    Oswald Chambers said "Whenever success is made the motive of service, infidelity to our Lord is the inevitable result."
    PWMI Illustration - Revelation Study
    The church is challenged by Jesus, and notice Its personal to Christ
    Nevertheless I have something against thee!
    Left thy First Love.
    Its a stinging charge from Christ, and its one that cuts deep
    Its not that they had no love, far from it
    its that there love had drifted
    honeymoon period

    The Correction

    Rev 2:5
    Remember
    what it was like to love at the first, remember (literally “keep on remembering”)
    joy of salvation newness of relationship that excitement
    Repent
    acknowledge something is wrong
    change, be determined, confess
    Reset
    do the first works
    Matt 22:34-40
    Love God, with all thy heart soul and mind
    Love others as thyself

    The Challenge

    Rev 2:5-6
    In spite of the privileges it had enjoyed, the church of Ephesus was in danger of losing its light!
    “The church that loses its love will soon lose its light, no matter how doctrinally sound it may be” Wiersbe
    If churches continue to be doctrinally sound and yet lose their love for the Lord, they will get to the place that they are intolerant of those who do not measure up
    “I will come quickly and remove thy candlestick”
    Get back on track or the light goes out
    Rev 2:6
    The Lord tells the Church of Ephesus that He hates the deeds of the Nicolaitans, even as the congregation of Ephesus does.
    We know little of the Nicolaitans who were obviously followers of a person named Nicolas
    Acts 6:5 KJV 1900
    5 And the saying pleased the whole multitude: and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Ghost, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolas a proselyte of Antioch:
    Irenaeus, who lived in the latter part of the second century, wrote that they were without restraint in their indulgence of the flesh and practiced fornication and the eating of foods sacrificed to idols.
    The word “Nicolaitans” is a transliteration of two Greek words that mean, “to conquer” and “people”.
    For that reason Nicolaitanism describes any system that seeks to dominate rather than serve people.
    “The teaching of the Nicolaitans was an exaggeration of Christian liberty which attempted an ethical compromise with heathenism” (Tenny).
    There seems to be a trend today even among Churches to give liberty to any kind of vice.
    We must strongly reject this evil temptation.
    We must continue to label sin as sin while still loving the sinner.

    The Comfort

    Rev 2:7
    overcomers
    1 John 5:4–5 KJV 1900
    4 For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. 5 Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?
    The Promise Was Backed By A Great Person vss 6,7a
    Such a wonderful and loving Saviour as Christ is, He promises great benefits to those who obey. Yes, there are many rewards for the believer when he obeys, and the promise can be believed because of Who made it.
    The Promise Involved A Great Place. (V. 7b).
    The place of the one who overcomes is heaven.
    The one who overcomes shall have the joy and the privilege of eating of the tree of life that is in the midst of the paradise of God.
    The fact that the believer is going to have so many eternal blessings and benefits should serve to motivate him to serve the Lord faithfully.

    Ephesus: A Drifting Church

    Conclusion
    So we have the Historical side of this
    Ephesus was a real Church
    A local body of Believers
    We have the Prophetical side
    They are a picture of the early Chruch
    The Apostolic Church AD30 - Ad100
    What I want to focus on as we close though is the Spiritual Aspect
    The drifting Church
    A second generation had come in and drifted in their love for Christ
    Nothing remains of the ancient city of Ephesus but a memory
    this is the same as some local assemblies but a memory
    St Thomas Methodist
    the Lord removed their witness
    Its said that 95% of the activity of the local Church would continue on as it presently does, even if the holy spirit did not exist
    And we wonder why the Church seems to be on the back foot in certain areas in our world
    Much activity, but most without divine purpose and power
    Christs words were literally fulfilled in Ephesus
    lets not make the same mistake and leave our first love
    let’s not be a drifting Church.
    ​
    ​
    ​
    ​
    Smyrna—A Delightful Church
    Pergamos—A Divided Church
    Thyatira—A Depraved Church
    Sardis—A Dead Church
    Philadelphia—Another Delightful Church
    Laodicea—A Disgraceful Church
    ​

      • 1 John 5:4–5KJV1900

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Milton Baptist Church
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01782 533352
https://mbcstoke.faithlifesites.com
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