Be With Me is a daily 7 minute chronological walk through the New Testament hosted by Michael Smith. It is for everyone who is curious about what Jesus actually said and did in the gospels. Most episodes will leave you with at least one good thought to chew on for the rest of the day. We start with the Bible and hopefully end with Awe. We are walking through the chronological events of Jesus' life and then thoughtfully considering them. It is meant to spur the devotional life of the Christian and the not-yet-Christian. We occasionally venture into the Old Testament when it helps our understanding of the New Testament events. Everybody has 7 minutes. Everybody needs to wonder. Be With Me is hosted by Michael Smith who has absolutely no special qualifications to do a podcast. He is not a pastor. He has not been to seminary. He does not lead a mega-church. He is not a professional and he has no more credentials than you do. He does, however, follow a great God with an observant eye and a curious heart. Each day, he starts with a study bible and aims for astonishment. ‘be with him’ for 7 minutes as he sets out daily to discover the God who invites us to ‘Be With Me.’
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The Church at Ephesus does so many things RIGHT. When God drops the curtain of all pretense and looks carefully at them, there is much to commend. May this be true of us.
Imagine God doing a spiritual health check up. He doesn't have to FIND anything, He KNOWS already. God knows truly who we are. The question is, do we? Let's assess this same idea with the Lord in ourselves.
Bewithme.us bewithme.us@gmail.com Apple Podcast.
Michael Smith:
Good morning, my brothers and sisters, welcome to episode eight. In season 27, which is in the book of Revelation, we're going to start Chapter Two today, kind of titled today. Hey, I know you. So we find ourselves entering this passage when Jesus comes playing with his keys, so to speak to those the keys, we talked yesterday, the keys of authority, I have the keys of death, I have the keys of Haiti, I died and why did Jesus die, I died to help you with your sin. And Jesus, somebody had to first be sorry for your sins so that you could one day be sorry for your sins. And he had to first take your sins seriously. So you could one day take them too seriously. And the only reason Jesus died was to help you live and then today, we're going to get the assessment of that, that life. And Jesus is not currently dead, he is now currently alive. He says I'm gonna live forever, to why to help to be aware. So we find Jesus in this passage aware, and awake and interacting, and still powerful. And we find them right in the middle of the churches. And then we're just going to find him now he's going to, you know, go to each of the seven churches, and lay them out realistically on how they are. So we find ourselves not trapped in patterns and practices and the penalties of sins. That's how we come into this. But Jesus does have a few things to say. So here it is chapter two, verse one in the book of Revelation. So to the angel of the church in Ephesus, right? The words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand, who walks among the seven, golden lampstands. I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but have tested those who call themselves apostles, and are not and found them to be false. I know you're enduring patiently and bearing up for my namesake, and you have not grown weary. So that's verses one through three. And then the killer is verse four. I'm only going to say half of it. But I have this against you. But let's, let's talk about how Jesus knows this group of people. So Jesus is here. He's close. He's powerful. He's walking amidst these people. He's walking right in the middle of them. So I know you I see the good stuff. I am omniscient. And he's going to see in verse four, don't forget about my Omni presence. Don't forget about the relationship with me. But I see and I see your positive works. I see your toil, I see your patient endurance. He says the twice enduring patiently. So It recalls the verse from First Corinthians 13. Love is patient, that that Greek word refers more to being patient when provoked patient when somebody's got their finger in your eye. This word talks about toiling patiently under difficult endurance, this is more like patients when prolonged. So he's, he's aware, Lord is aware of deeds. So he is aware of what captures the activity of your attention, and therefore your your actions. So the Lord is almost saying, I'm interested in what seems to be interesting to you. So this toil that he's talking about it's work that results in some weariness. So, you know, two of my favorite marks of Christianity are exhaustion and inconvenience, that the, and the Lord sees this. He's present. He's seen, he's approving some of the most spiritually robust people I know are physically tired, because ministry is that way. One of the things that he says about this church in Ephesus is he he endorses intolerance. So I know our society is all about tolerance. But here, he's saying, I want you to assess these people. And then He praises them for not being able to bear with evil. So these people that call themselves apostles, so you know, just because you call yourself that apostle, doesn't mean you saw Jesus and bear his his message. So they're, like the Bereans. And they're testing what the so called apostles I hate even use the word, what they're saying, and they're saying, assessing them as not true. So they're saying one thing maybe and doing another they're they're saying falsehoods, they're liars. They're saying one thing and doing another. This is talked about significantly in First John, which we just finished, and those people were called deceitful deceivers and elsewhere in the New Testament false teachers. To search the Scriptures have spiritual truth test spiritual truth. Alright, so he says, I know that you are what would God say or could be saying is if it's just came up to you and said, Hey, I know you, I know you're fearful or angry or gluttonous or selfish or out of fellowship, you know, whatever, whatever it is, it probably would be a little bit of a mixed bag like it is here with this church in Ephesus. And he's, he's gonna assess and say, Do you have the character and activities that commend you to God? At your testing, or like Ephesians? Here are some some positives, some negatives. So the Ephesians here are testing spirits. They're testing apostles, the Lord loves this. I always say that dating is a period of deception. What if you could like start your date, and know everything about that other person, and they would know everything about you would change everything. So what if God knew everything? Oh, wait, he does know everything. So what if he came to your church? What if he came to your wallet? What if he came to your calendar? You say your love, but let's walk through, you know, your day of love. So in verse three, he says, I know that you were enduring patiently and bearing up for my namesake, you're not growing weary, maybe physically weird, but you're not growing spiritually weary. So these people are doing so many things, right. So they have good actions, good efforts, and good and good habits. But there's this, all this wonderful stuff is going to lead tomorrow into a blind spot, and that is love for me. So today, let's leave ourselves with this question. If you were fully known by God, what might he see? And it's not really if it's really a statement, you are fully known by God. And what's what's in there. to Jesus. He says to the church at Ephesus, and says to each one of us, I know you are I know your actions. I know your thoughts. And then tomorrow, he's going to say, I know your heart. So he's omniscient, and he's going to condemn them for not appreciating his Omnipresence and the personal relationship that he has. So then in the meantime, let's think about if God would say to us, I know you are dot dot dot, thanks for listening
