Revelation 2:5 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. This verse contains, first, Christ’ s counsel unto this church and her angel. Secondly, his commination if they repent not and reform. To "remember" in this place, implies, first, a calling to mind their former lively acts, fruits, and exercise of love to Christ and his saints, etc. and secondly, to compare them with the heartless, lifeless acts and fruits of their love to Christ and his saints, now, and of late days; and thirdly, to consider from whence they were fallen. "And repent" To repent is to sorrow after a godly manner, as they did, \ which worketh repentance to salvation: And to "do the first works," implies a performing with zeal and confidence those duties of love to Christ and his saints etc. which this church, her ministers and members did at their first conversion, and in the day of their first espousals. "Or else, I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent" In this commination, we have, first, the punishment which Christ threatened, “ and will remove thy candlestick out of his place.” Secondly, his patient waiting for their repentance; or else, except thou repent. "remove thy candlestick out of his place" Christ may be said to "remove the candlestick out of its place," first, when he suffers and adversaries or enemies either by hostility or persecution, so to disperse and scatter them, that they cannot meet together as a church with one accord in any one place, or part of that city visibly to worship God in the administrations and ordinances of the gospel. Secondly, when Christ suffers and false teachers or brethren among them, to cause divisions, schisms, and sinful separations through errors, contentions and heresies, whereby the church is divided and broken in pieces; so that the ministers and members do utterly refuse to assemble themselves together to worship God: Or, thirdly, when Christ forsakes the church, and will not walk with them any longer, but denies them his spiritual presence, and refuseth to hold communion with them, because they refute his counsel, will not repent nor reform what is amiss, but hold fast their sin obstinately; whereby they provoke the Lord to reject them. \ A true, visible, constituted, particular church of Christ may sin away their church estate by their iniquity and impenitency. \ And a church of Christ may become a synagogue of Satan, God hath removed those and other golden candlesticks out of their places, for their impenitency added unto their Transgressions.