Revelations Chapter Two (Part II)

By Odon Bulamba (2 March 2001)

Exodus 12:8, that same night they are to eat the meat roasted over the fire, along with bitter herbs and bread without yeast.

We must eat the meat and bread with bitter herbs. Jesus Christ is the bread of life, (John). When we read the word we must not read it with yeast. When we read the word, don’t just eat it to enjoy the taste, but eat it with bitter herbs. It means that we have to assess things and before doing anything for God we must meditate on our life.

How many times have you reacted against someone? How many times were you a stumbling block for someone? You must feel this bitterness in your heart and say, “Who am I to read God’s word if I have a problem with someone, I’ve done this before, so how can I carry on Lord”? If you humiliate yourself before God He will heal your soul, then you will eat meat and bread without yeast.

Many Christians today want to eat this meat and bread without the bitter herbs. Their desire is to go to church and be seen by others. Esau lost his birthright because he didn’t consider the value of his soul. He thought, “I was born first so how can I go back to my mother’s womb?” When Esau became hungry he lost his patience. His brother, who had a plan from birth wanted Esau’s birthright. Jacob said, “I will give you something to eat if you give me your birthright”.

God doesn’t want His children to despise their second birth because He has chosen you and it breaks His heart when you are ungrateful. God puts you first but you put Him second. God puts you in a church to teach others who He is, but you say, “I’ll take one thing at a time because I need time for my own life”. If the Lord says to you to change and you don’t, He will remove your lamp stand. This will bring shame to you.

Revelation 2:6 but you have this in your favour: You hate the practices of Nicolaitians, which I also hate.

Nicolaitians is a Greek word. It means to change what is religious. God uses people to lead others. When people learn from others they take with them what they have learnt. There are also people who help others grow, but there are also those who accept the principles of the Nicolaitians.

It means that when a person is learning to be a Christian, he or she can accept to be taught by the world. This is what we call the moderate Christian. They say to be a Christian doesn’t mean to be a slave, for God has set me free. God gave me teeth to crush bones, God gave me hands to fight others and God gave me a mouth so that I can lie, if God gave me a mouth then why doesn’t He accept the things, which come from it. The principles of the Nicolaitians came into the church. Fortunately the church had discernment and knew the system of the Nicolaitians.

Revelation 2:7 He who has an ear, let him hear what the spirit says to the churches.
Many Christians have ears but don’t want to hear what the Spirit says. Jesus said to the Pharisees, “You have ears but don’t listen, so woe to you because you don’t understand what is happening”.

Let’s open our ears to listen to what the Spirit has to tell us. There are Christians who live like the Christians in Ephesus. If you find that you are a member of this church and you’ve made an effort to please God and if God has talked to you about what has been mentioned in these verses, don’t hesitate to confess before going to bed. Come close to God and confess, then change your attitude.

To him who overcomes, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.

Those who overcome have the right to eat this fruit. It means that in the church you have two groups, those who have victory and those who don’t. So let’s keep in mind this question, am I keeping my first love? Will I keep this first love I had for Oscar at the beginning? If not, try and find the tools to fix it. If you don’t love Oscar you can’t love God. Even if Oscar is my enemy I have to love him and pray for him. Look for this first love, do not be a member of this church like many Christians are today. You may think you belong to an Anglican or Baptist church, but if you are not listening to the Spirit of God and you are not producing fruit; really you belong to the church of Ephesus. Remember this.