Lesson 11 January 22, 2003

Review:

 

 

 

3. 2:5 Exhortation; The Call for corrective action for their loss of fervency of their first love.

- 3 Imperatives; Remember; Repent; Do!

First cmd: Remember (Pres. act imp) mnhmoneu,w; to call to mind to think, to use your mind; to call up what you know, therefore to dig into your frame of reference

 

Question? Can a believer or as here a congregation of believers retrogress?

 

Second Cmd: Repent metanoe,w; also stresses importance of thinking.

- basic idea of the word is change; change of ones thinking that results in a change of direction, a change in some action or conduct; there is a course reversal

 

Third Cmd: Do the first works; poie,w a word of production, make or do, basically

- This is not a cmd to get busy, to be active in doing something!

 

** but if not; eiv de. mh, introduces the consequences; for wrong choices

 

 

"unless you repent" (aor act subj) another conditional clause;

 

What happened to the church at Ephesus? What did they do?

- They failed to remember, repent and to do the first works and Christ removed the lampstand, the light eventually went out, never to return.

 

2:6 Another commendation; result again of discernment!

Big question here is Who were the Nicolaitans and what was it that they teach and do?

Christ makes a very strong statement here; commending them for their hatred of all that these Nicolaitans stood for and taught!

2 things are critical; #1 the motivation for the attitude;

#2 criteria, standard upon which the attitude is based.

 

The Nicolaitans; 2 main views.

#1 comes from the word itself in the Greek; Nikolai?tw/n

 

#2 Others after evaluating the writings of some of the early church fathers, have concluded that this term refers to a licentious sect who advocated complete freedom in Christian conduct including participation in heathen feasts and free love.

 

2:7 Promise for faithful obedience

Individuals are urged to respond to the exhortation, the warning just given! Remember, repent, do!

"He who has an ear, let him hear (imp) what the Spirit says to the churches."

 

** One of the greatest failures of believers in body of Christ today is to be hearers without response to what is heard.

"To him who overcomes, I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the Paradise of God."

Obvious Question here is who is the overcomer??

1 John 5:4-5 The Relationship of Saving Faith and Overcoming the World.

For whoever is born of (ek) God overcomes the world,

 

 

and this is the victory that has overcome the world -- our faith.

 

 

1 Jn 5:5 "And who is the one who overcomes the world; (pres tense) but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God."

Our conflict daily is with the Christ-rejecting "world," kosmoj all seeking to influence our thinking.

Rom 8:37

Eph 1:18-20