Revelation 2:5 “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.”
In the last book of the Bible – the Revelation – the Lord talks to seven different churches. Note that these are churches – believers in Christ – not the unsaved.
The glorified Lord tells the first church in chapter two (Ephesus) to “repent” because they are no longer doing what they once did. God is displeased with their spiritual slipping and demands that they get back to it.
The word “repent” and “repentance” basically means having a change of mind. These two words are used eight times by the Lord when speaking to the seven churches.
To this church, Christ commands them to change their minds about what they are doing and get back to doing what they had been doing for Him in the past. The reason they had gotten away from doing the things Christ wanted them to do was because they had “left their first love” (verse 4).
Christ took their lack of love seriously. If they would not get back to the first works, He would remove their candlestick. History tells us that this church no longer exists.
When God’s people love Christ it is not difficult to serve Him. He gives blessing and joy as we do – but He chastens (punishes) when we do not. Listen to what He told another church in Revelation 3:19: “As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.”
This verse reveals that God’s blessing on our churches, personal lives, and that of our families depends on our obedience and love for Him. God is holy and can never tolerate sin or disobedience. Since we are commanded to love God with all our hearts, a lack of love is sin.
God cannot bless with revival until God’s people once again get lined up with His desires for them. It is not that He is not willing to give revival – the problem is that God’s people are not ready to receive it. A revival is not for our pleasure or entertainment. Having a meeting called revival does not mean there will be one. Rather, they are opportunities to help believers get realigned with the will of God in every way through prayer, confession, and surrender.
Revival begins with confession and turning away from sin and will only continue when His people truly seek His face and do as He desires.