Remember Rightly

​Revelation 2:5 ~ “Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent.”
 
How often do our memories play tricks on us? We recall a certain condition or circumstance only to find out from other reliable sources that we were far afield in our comprehension. We think that someone did something and when investigated, discover that it was all in our imagination. But, perhaps, the worst memories are the ones concerning our sins. We have two different judgments about them: either we think them to be of no consequence, thus, not really a sin—or—we think them to be so grave as to be beyond even the grace of Christ. Both thoughts are wrong. God wants us to remember rightly, that we should walk in faithfulness with Him.
 
For the church in Ephesus, the LORD Jesus chastised them on account of forsaking their first love (see Revelation 2:4). Considering that the church had Paul, Timothy and even the Apostle John as leaders in the fellowship, it is hard to imagine this congregation going astray. Yet, they had. But Jesus did not leave them in the condition, He provided the means by which they could return to the love they had at the beginning. And the command of our LORD was first to “remember.”
 
Before we explore the text for today, let us consider one initial thing. To remember the heights from which they had fallen, the church needed to acknowledge the fact that they, indeed, had fallen. It will be of no use to you or I if we hear the rebuke of God’s Word and then deny that it is true. In Jeremiah 25:7, God rebukes the Israelites because they would not listen, “Yet you have not listened to me, declares the LORD, that you might provoke me to anger with the work of your hands to your own harm.” Beloved, if God’s word declares it to be so, it is so. There is no debating the matter, nor is there making excuses in order to try and negate the truth of it. If you have fallen, listen to the rebuke of God’s word for the LORD is calling you to return to the heights.
 
Okay… you’ve fallen. Now what? The LORD Jesus commands a simple strategy and the first stage of that plan is to remember. But what are we to remember? Our text clearly tells us: “Remember therefore from where you have fallen.” So often we tend to remember, and even replay—over and over again—the state of our fallen condition. We’ve stumbled in sin, tripped up along the way and now are we supposed to lament and wail against ourselves? God has shown us our sin, but He would not have us remain on the heap. It is time to remember, not our failure, but from where we had fallen. Had you achieved growth and strength in Christ? Then look again to that place where you once were. Imagine an athlete having forsaken his training and he develops into a man of no strength or vitality. He needs but to remember where he had already been, and be encouraged that he could arrive there again. So it is with you, beloved. Every Christian is subject to falling in sin. But let those who have stumbled look to the LORD and remember where they belong.
 
The next stage in the stratagem of the LORD is from where our initial steps in Christ originated: “repent.” We started in Christ through repentance, and we continue in Christ with repentance. No amount of personal effort to regain the heights will avail you if you are unwilling to relinquish your sin in the process. A mountain climber who is encumbered by all manner of other paraphernalia will never be able to make an ascent. Hebrews 12:1 says, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.”
 
The final stage in this procedure is simple: “do the works you did at first.” Basically, get back to that which brought you into a life that was glorifying to God. Were you a man of prayer and have you forsaken those quality hours when you would meet with your LORD? Then, do the things you did at first. Did you feed on the Word of God through daily study and found your life in Christ growing stronger? Then, do the things you did at first and return to His Word and study to show yourself approved of the LORD (see 2 Timothy 2:15). For all the sins that will take a believer off their spiritual feet, the answer of repentance must be followed up with a response of obedience. Paul preached that very thing. In Acts 26:20 Paul states, “But declared first to those in Damascus, then in Jerusalem and throughout all the region of Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds in keeping with their repentance.”
 
Let us, beloved, remember things rightly. Our imaginations may distort the way we understand things. Turn to God’s word and when the Spirit of Christ convicts you, then do what Christ has commanded so that you can return to walk joyfully upon the heights with Jesus.
 
In His Grace,
Pastor Michael

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