Pray the word with David Platt as a resource from Radical.net.

Revelation chapter 2 verses 2 through 4.

I know your works, your toil, and your patient endurance.

Now 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 are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name's sake and you have not grown weary.

But I have this against you that you have abandoned the love you had at first.

I want to make the connection here between.

If you listen to podcast episode, we pray through Revelation chapter 1 verse 9

and this phrase patient endurance.

Now we see that same phrase used two times in Revelation chapter 2 verse 2

in Revelation chapter 2 verse 3 as we see this exhortation from Jesus to his church saying,

I know that you are patiently enduring and that you are standing up against those who are

evil in the church and in the world and you are enduring patiently, bearing up from my name's

sake and you're not growing weary in that.

So they're patiently enduring, but they're doing this without love.

And there's a lot we could dive into here about what kind of love this is talking about.

It's talking about love for God.

It's just talking about love for others and without going into exhaustive study here.

I think it's both when you look at the context here in Ephesus and you look at what Jesus is saying.

They were patiently enduring in their faith, but they had lost love for God with all their

heart, soul, mind and strength that possible to patiently endure, to do all kinds of things

...