Churches Are Warned.

“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.” Revelation 2:5

We live in an age where people and even Christians are laidback with their doctrine. We live in an age where, so many churches are laidback in their doctrine. This is unacceptable to the Lord Jesus Christ, whom is the Head of the Churches. Jesus speaks here of removing the candlestick and if He does then they are no longer a church. “…will remove thy candlestick out of his place…” As members we must remember that the churches belong to Jesus Christ and not to us. He builds them and sustains them, not us. It is Him that supports them in every way, and without Him, no matter what else, a church will fail and not be a true church. Paul wrote ...For in him we live, and move, and have our being..." Acts 17:28, personally and in Churches we are sustained. Pastors are also the Lords, He set them into place and sustains them just as He does everything else. With all this being said, Christians and churches are not allowed to do as they please in any area. Churches and their membership must be warned that Jesus Christ is the head of the churches and He is the very One who sets the candlesticks in them, and He has every right to pull them out. Paul wrote to the church at Corinth, “And he is before all things, and by him all things consist…And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.” Colossians 1:17-18 The word “consist” means - to set together or to constitute – meaning He “maintains in continuous stability and productiveness” of the churches being and the believers being. Therefore, it tells us that if a church fails to maintain doctrinal truth they will fail as a church because Jesus Christ will remove their candlestick making them a non-scriptural church. Consider it to be like unto expulsion, the Lord, the Head of the churches will personally exclude a church from the bride until “except thou repent.” Rev. 2:5 If the churches and their pastors fail to realize this, then in glory they will. We must all realize that Christ Jesus has a job and we have a job, we cannot do the Lord’s job in building and sustaining the churches. Our job as churches and pastors is to maintain the truth in doctrine, money, and in getting the gospel to a lost and dying world. So many have lost their sense of what we are to do, they have broken from their responsibility and have attempted to do the Lord’s job. They have tried to serve mammon and God, but we cannot serve two masters, saith the Lord because one will cause us to hate the other. Attendance and money are the two main reasons churches leave the truth to serve untruth. We must realize we live in the day of apostasy and both attendance and money are going to suffer. I believe we are living in the last days and because of this times will get harder and persecution will get much worse in the years to come. Now is the time for the churches to come together and not allow petty disagreements to separate us. I believe if time last it will get so hard for churches and truth to stand that only the most spiritual will survive. Let’s face it folks, the church age is coming quickly to an end. This is our warning, we either stand as a church, walk as a church, and worship as a church, or get excluded as a church by Jesus Christ her head. Growth and prosperity is not for the churches of truth in this day, not in the day of apostasy. All we will accomplish by pushing these things is failure. We may grow and be prosperous in this world, but not in the Lord, spiritual, and in truth. The Lord warned the church at Ephesus to “Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works” or else He will remove the candlestick, that church does not exist today. Churches only fail when the Lord Jesus Christ no longer sustains them, or they have reached their predestinated end. May God bless us all as we strive to maintain our work and worth fulness to our Head Jesus Christ.