Messianic Perspectives

Guest (Male): They say prophecy is history written in advance. Today we'll be looking at a remarkable series of prophecies in the book of Revelation that outlines 2,000 years of church history, all predicted centuries before it ever happened. Stay tuned as Dr. Gary Hedrick discusses the mystery of the seven churches, right here on Messianic Perspectives.

Guest (Liz Aiello): Shalom and welcome to Messianic Perspectives, a daily program where we look into the scriptures from a distinct first-century Jewish point of view. This is Liz Aiello. Today Dr. Gary Hedrick is teaching on the mystery of the seven churches in Revelation chapters two and three.

I'll be back at the close of the program to tell you about two special resources we're making available during this series, so be sure to have a pencil and paper ready. Now with today's study, here is Dr. Gary Hedrick.

Dr. Gary Hedrick: All right, thank you and welcome listening friend to another edition of the program. We're glad you're on board today as we continue this series of studies on the mystery of the seven churches. Now we're looking at the first message, the one to the church at Ephesus.

Revelation chapter two beginning in verse two. He says, "I know thy works, and thy labor, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil. And you have tested those who say they are apostles and are not, and have found them liars. Verse three. And you have persevered or borne and have patience, and for my name's sake have labored and have not fainted."

So he commends these believers at Ephesus first of all for their good works. Sometimes Messianic believers are criticized because some people think we preach some sort of cheap grace where you can go out and live any way you want to and then just ask for forgiveness and everything is okay. They think we Christians are anti-Torah and that we're against God's law.

But nothing could be farther from the truth. If anything, the New Covenant creates an even higher standard of righteousness than the Old Covenant did. The New Testament has a great deal to say about good works in the life of the believer. Like we've said before, it's not salvation by works, but it's a salvation that works.

And if you and I have been truly saved by the grace of God, then that salvation will express itself through our lives in the form of good works. What did Jesus himself say? Matthew 5:16. Let your light so shine before men that they may see what? Your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven.

So first of all, the Lord commends these Messianic believers at Ephesus for their good works. Then secondly, he commends them for their discernment. He said the Ephesians had tested certain people who claimed to be apostles. In other words, these were people who claimed that God had sent them. That's what an apostle is.

And the Ephesians found out that not everyone who claims to be from God is really sent by God. They knew how to distinguish between truth and error. Then thirdly, he commends the church at Ephesus for its perseverance, its stick-to-it-iveness. You know anyone can start out to run a marathon.

But that next 26 miles has a way of weeding out the men from the boys, doesn't it? Because starting a marathon is easy. But finishing one, now that's a different story. And anyone can make a profession of faith in Christ, but following through is a different story. That's why there's a distinction to be made between professors and possessors.

There are many who make a profession of faith in Christ, but who have never truly become possessors of his life and his nature. Maybe they were somehow manipulated into praying a so-called sinner's prayer, like it's a magic formula or something, but they've never experienced the new birth.

In salvation it's not so much the words you say that are important. It's what's in your heart. Like John Bunyan, that old Puritan preacher used to say, in prayer it's better to have a heart without words than to have words without a heart. And until the Holy Spirit of God does something in your heart, you can pray all of those little formula prayers you want to and your prayers won't get any higher than the ceiling over your head.

You say, well how can you tell the difference between a professor and a possessor? Well first of all, we need to realize that that's not our job. That's God's job. He's the judge. He's the one who's going to separate the sheep from the goats and the wheat from the tares one of these days.

And I'm glad it's his job because to me they look an awful lot alike. In fact, they say it's real hard to tell the difference between wheat and tares because the tare is in the grass family and it looks a lot like wheat. That is until the plants mature. When the tare matures, it forms ugly, hard, black seeds.

Nothing at all like the beautiful soft white kernels of wheat. So here's the point. If you want to know whether or not someone is a possessor of salvation, just wait. Because the difference becomes more evident as the wheat and the tares mature. Sooner or later you'll see one of two things.

Either the ugly, hard, black darnel seeds of the tare or the soft, white, delicious kernels of wheat. That's how you can tell. That's one reason we try to be so careful in Jewish evangelism to let the Holy Spirit do his work. Back when our friend Itzak Shaya came to the Lord, there were people who said, you should put him on the radio.

Wouldn't that be tremendous to have this Hasidic Jewish man who came to faith in Jesus Christ on your radio program? Well, I suppose it would have made a big splash. But would it have been fair to Itzak without giving him time to grow in faith and to prove himself?

First Timothy 3:6 warns against thrusting a new believer into the limelight of spiritual leadership. And there have been other ministries who've done that and they've paid the price. As it turns out, Itzak was genuine to the very end. He died of leukemia in December of 1993 and he's in heaven now.

So we know now that Itzak was a possessor. We saw how he was sustained by his faith in Yeshua as he walked through the valley of the shadow of death. He knew he was going to die. And do you know what? In one of our last telephone conversations, Itzak told me that he had spent most of his life being afraid of death and of dying.

Even when there was nothing wrong with him, he was afraid of dying. But he said, "Gary, now that I'm really staring death in the face, for the first time I'm not afraid. And the reason I'm not afraid is because of Jesus Christ." You see, my friend, that's how you can tell the difference between a possessor and a professor. Just watch and wait.

So the Lord commends the believers at Ephesus for four things. First for their good works. Second for their spiritual discernment. They could identify false prophets. Third, he commends them for their perseverance. And fourth for their zeal. He says you have labored for my name's sake and have not become weary.

Revelation chapter two verse three. There was a lot of spiritual energy at work in that congregation at Ephesus. They were zealous for the Lord. But there were also problems. Look at verse four. He says, "Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love." Verse five. "Remember therefore from whence you have fallen.

Repent and do the first works, or else I will come unto you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place, except you repent." What's he doing? He's calling them back to their first love. The love they had for the Lord when they first came to faith in him. Do you remember the first time you ever fell in love?

Maybe it was in junior high school or high school or college. Or maybe you were just a little kid and someone said, it's just puppy love. But it's real to the puppy. Just think back to that first love when all you could think about was that person you loved. And then think about how it was when you first came to the Lord.

You were so grateful that the God of the universe could love you personally. And you were praising him for saving you, for touching you, for liberating you, for delivering you, and for calling you into the family of God. And all you could think about was him. All you could talk about was Jesus.

That was your first love for Jesus Christ. But then what happened? The newness wore off and you started taking him for granted. We all do it. We start developing those spiritual callouses and we lose the sensitivity that we had when we first met the Lord. And our lives get so cluttered with things and activities.

We're going and going and going all the time. Problem is, we're so busy serving the Lord we've forgotten him. The late Ray Stedman, a pastor from California, used to tell about Alexander Pope, the great English poet, who was on his deathbed. And his doctor was trying to lift his spirits.

So he said, "Why Alexander, already your pulse is stronger, your breathing is easier, and the color is coming back into your cheeks. All the signs are completely encouraging." And Alexander Pope, in a laboring, wheezing voice, said, "Here I am, dying of a hundred good symptoms." And that's how it is today, my friend.

When the church leaves her first love, we may have a hundred good symptoms. All kinds of church programs, all kinds of activities. Just read the church bulletin on Sunday morning and there's something going on every night of the week. Everything from Weight Watchers to support groups for people who are codependent, whatever that is.

We've got programs for people literally from the cradle to the grave. Take aerobics class, join a softball team, donate blood to the Red Cross, watch a video series on how to handle your finances. I mean, you name it and we've got it. But do you know what we've done? We've mistaken activity for spirituality.

And many of our churches are active, but spiritually they're withering on the vine, dying of a hundred good symptoms, just like poor old Alexander Pope. Why? Because we've left our first love. You say how can we keep from it? Well, he gives the answer in three steps and they're all here in verse five.

Number one, remember. Number two, repent. And number three, return. Remember how it was before. Then repent and return to doing those first works. Rekindle the fires of your first love for Jesus Christ. Well, once again our time is gone. But you can see that the Ephesian church had both pros and cons.

And in some ways we can see ourselves in that church at Ephesus. But next time I want to show you how the Ephesian church also typifies the first and second centuries of church history. Until then, this is Gary Hedrick saying, God bless you. Take care. Bye-bye.

Guest (Liz Aiello): Thank you, Gary. And thank you, listening friend, for tuning in today. If you liked what you heard today, you will be pleased to know we've taken all of the programs in this series and placed them on one convenient CD entitled The Mystery of the Seven Churches. It's available for your contribution of just $6 or more to help us keep this program on your station.

Also available is the companion chart adapted from the original drawn by Clarence Larkin in the early 1900s entitled The Messages to the Seven Churches Compared with Church History. This interesting chart shows how the messages to the seven churches in Revelation correspond to the seven successive periods of church history. It's the perfect companion for this series of studies on the mystery of the seven churches.

So that's the CD for $6 and the chart for $3, or both for a total of $9. Just visit our secure online store at MessianicSpecialties.com to place your order. If you would prefer to order by mail, just address your request to Messianic Perspectives, P.O. Box 345, San Antonio, Texas 78292. To order by phone, use our toll-free order line. The number is 1-800-926-5397.

And as always, when you're in touch with us, please mention the call letters of this station. If you're listening to our webcast or podcast, we need to know that too. I'm Liz Aiello. Join us next time, won't you, as Dr. Gary Hedrick continues our series of studies on the mystery of the seven churches, right here on Messianic Perspectives. Messianic Perspectives is sponsored by CJF Ministries of San Antonio, Texas, and is made possible on this station by the freewill contributions of our listeners in this area.