“Do You Need Jesus To Do It Over Again”?
In this post, an important question is being asked concerning you and your relationship with Jesus. That question is, “Do You Need Jesus To Do It Over Again”? Of course, we are not talking about Jesus having to die for your sins or clearing the pathway so that you can have a proper relationship with God again. That was done once and once is enough. The question has to do with your status in Him. The words over again imply that the ones being addressed are those who are or have once been, a Saint of God. As you read this post, please examine your relationship with the Lord to determine what the “It” may be in your own life.
We begin this post in the Book of Revelations. This book of the Bible promises that we will be blessed if we read it. Revelation 1:3 (KJV) states:
3 Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.
The Book of Revelation was written after Apostle John was sent to the Isle of Patmos as a punishment for preaching the gospel. It turns out that John was honored by God on that Isle during what man intended to be one of his hardest trials. The Isle was a dry, treeless place only about 6X10 miles. It was a place where criminals were sent by the Roman Empire for the most heinous of crimes. John’s “heinous crime”, however, was simply obeying God.
Revelation 1:9-11 (KJV)
9 I John, who also am your brother, and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ.
10 I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet,
11 Saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last: and, What thou seest, write in a book, and send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia; unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea.
What the devil meant for evil, God meant for good. This should help us to remember that not everything that comes against us is from the devil. Some things are simply circumstantial because we live in a physical world. The key thing we need to remember is that no matter what the source of our trials, God will make it work for our good.
Romans 8:28 (KJV)
28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
You may wonder how on earth the situation that you may be going through could possibly be working together for your good. The answer is, just trust God. He has everything under good control.
Following an experience that Apostle John had on the Isle of Patmos, God commissioned him to write the Book of Revelation.
Revelation 1:10-11 (KJV)
10 I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet,
11 Saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last: and, What thou seest, write in a book, and send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia; unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea.
John was told to “write the things which thou have seen; the things which are; and the things which shall be hereafter. ” The first thing that he was to do was write a letter to the seven churches of Asia: Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea. The focus of this post is the first letter which was written to the church at Ephesus. This letter contained a total of ten wonderful accolades. Let’s review that letter, found in Rev. 2: 1-7.
Revelation 2:1-7 (KJV)
1 Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write;
The angel in this passage is not the created being called an angel. This is God’s own selected, the Pastor, the head, the leader of the church. What we have to realize is that God deals directly with the leader of the church. He has an order that He operates under and we are responsible for honoring and following leadership. Some may have the attitude that “He puts his pants on one leg at a time just like I do”. That phrase implies that church members are on equal standing with the Pastor but that is not so. God will never deal with members in the same way that He deals with the leader. We must honor God’s man and woman of God. Why? Because God said so.
Let us remember what happened to Moses’ own sister Miriam when she got beside herself. God struck her with Leprosy until she learned to honor God’s anointed. Your very salvation is tied up with your leader. He is accountable to God for leading those of his congregation into heaven. That is, he is responsible for those who are willing to be lead. The problem today is that some people just don’t want to be pastored. They want to do what they see as right and override the man or woman of God. God says, “Not so.” If you have leaders that are praying for you, seeking God for your welfare and are accountable to God for you, you need to honor and obey them.
that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks;
In other words, He holds the leaders in His hand as He walks among the churches. We will now hear a beautiful list of the next nine positive accolades that the Ephesus church receives:
2 I know thy works,
You have been working in the house of God.
and thy labour,
Some have been busy working to win souls for the Lord. When He speaks of labour He means work related to trying to bring the unsaved in. Sheep bear sheep. Ask yourself how many souls you have witnessed to in the last month. The Bible says the harvest is ripe but the labourers are few. Churches are full of labourers. The problem is that some are just lazy and don’t want to work.
and thy patience,
You’ve been patient with the lost.
and how thou canst not bear them which are evil:
You’ve separated yourself out from the wrongdoers and you have not been ashamed to call yourself a Saint of God.
and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars:
People have not been able to deceive you because you know how to try the spirit by the spirit.
3 And hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name’s sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted.
4 Nevertheless
Oh-oh! In spite of all of the good things listed here comes the zinger…
I have somewhat against thee,
I’ve got a bad thing against you. One bad thing can ruin everything. Only one rotten egg can spoil the dish; only a little leaven will leaven the whole lump, and it’s the little foxes that spoil the vine.
because thou hast left thy first love.
Anything but that. Who exactly is our first love?
When we first get saved there is zeal, excitement, and enthusiasm for the things of God. The Pastor can’t hold enough meetings and we can’t spend enough time on our knees because we are so happy to be delivered from the Kingdom of Darkness. We love the saints because they are our fellow travelers. But as we tend to grow older in the Lord, if we are not careful, we begin to think that we’ve got it made. “We’re on our way to heaven and we’re so-o glad”. Before we know it, all of our love has leaked out. We can become passive, mean-spirited and even callous about our salvation. This is a good point to ask yourself the question, “Do I need Jesus to do It over again?”
This situation is similar to a marriage. The first year or so of the marriage the husband is practically carrying his new bride around. The bride looks long and lovingly into his eyes. God himself has to remind them, “Don’t love the gift that I gave you more than the Gift Giver”. But if they are not careful, somewhere around the seventh year of marriage they begin to get used to each other. They don’t do the little things that they used to do to please each other. When they first got married he would say things like, “Are your feet cold baby? Then put your little tootsies on me. I’ll warm them up.” Now he might be heard to say, “Woman, get them hooves off of me!” The wife might begin to take her husband for granted. When they have visitors she might say to the men in the room, “Would anyone like something to drink?” But when her husband asks, “Honey, would you get me a glass of water ?” her response becomes, “You’d better get it for yourself!” Careful, they are leaving their first love. On the job, they might find themselves spending more time with a co-worker than each other. You might hear words like, “She just understands me.” Or the wife might say, “This relationship with my friend is platonic. We just enjoy each other’s company. We haven’t done anything wrong. ” Well, if they don’t nip these extra relationships in the bud they won’t be platonic for very long.
The same is true in our relationship with the Lord. This letter to the Ephesian church was a wake-up call! What was being said to them was, “You are in a backslidden state! If you don’t repent and do your first work over, you are going to hell!” Don’t believe that the message was that strong? Let’s keep reading.
5 Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.
6 But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.
7 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.
The letter to the church at Ephesus contained ten good accolades, but the one bad thing was enough to make them lose out with God. They left their first love. The solution for the Ephesus church was the same as anyone who has left their first love: repent and do the first work over. God said that if we do not, then He will remove the candlestick or church.
What is the church? It is a called-out body of true believers. If He is saying that He will move the church, He’s talking about the people. How does one leave his first Love or Christ? It is called backsliding. Some people have backslidden so smoothly they look like Michael Jackson doing the Moonwalk.
God just may have His spiritual eraser poised over somebody’s record in the Lamb’s Book of Life. He’s saying to you, “Repent quickly”! He’s trying to give you one last opportunity to be saved. The Bible says in Heb. 3:15
While it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation.
Why would one die like a fool dies? We will all be judged one day. The saints will be judged for the works that they have done, but the lost will be judged in The Great White Throne Judgment. The lost are not only the rank sinners but those who were once saved but are in a backslidden state at the time of their death.
Which line will you be in? Do you need Jesus to do It over again? If your answer is a resounding Yes!, repent quickly and do your first work over. Get on fire for God and stay on fire, lest He, as He said to the Laodicean church, spew you out of His mouth. May God bless and keep you is my prayer.
