“A Backslidden Church”
Introduction:
Several years ago a couple was on vacation in Florida and they were floating in the ocean on inflatable rafts. The husband decided to head into the shore but his wife wanted to stay out on the raft and continue to catch some rays. After a short time the woman lost herself in floating along on the raft.
What the woman failed to realize was that she was slowly drifting out to sea. As she simply relaxed and let the gentle current take her with it, her situation was becoming more and more dangerous. By the time that she noticed what was happening to her, it was almost too late. She saw that the shore was much farther away than she expected and she began to panic.
Fortunately the lifeguards were able to rescue her but the whole situation was created just by being careless. How many people in this church today are just coasting along in their spiritual walk?
There are many like that in the church today, they are just slowly drifting out and they do not realize the dangers at hand.
In Revelation 2 and 3 we find that Jesus addresses seven churches and most of them he strongly rebukes for some problem that they are dealing with. As we read into those letters we find that the story of those first century churches may be very similar to the story of some churches today, or perhaps even could be true on an individual level with some Christians. That is why I want to ask, what type of church is this? By that I do not mean simply what we believe, and what group of believers we identify with. I mean if you were to describe Falls Mills Christian Church what adjectives would you use? Are we a strong church or weak church? A growing church or dying church? Are we faithful or lukewarm? Furthermore, what type of Christian are you?
The first church that is addressed is the church at Ephesus. The church at Ephesus may be the church out of all the other churches mentioned in Revelation that we have the most Biblical information on. It was the church at Ephesus that was founded by the Apostle Paul. It was in Ephesus where Paul started a riot with the metalworkers and the worshippers of Artemis. Paul spent three years working with the church in Ephesus. One may be able to say that the church of Ephesus held a special place in his heart. It was the church at Ephesus where the young evangelist Timothy was when Paul wrote to him. With that in mind, Jesus addresses this once strong church and pictures them as a backslidden church.
The city of Ephesus was a much commercialized city because of its advanced roads, its rivers, and seaports. Ephesus was a city very much like modern day America. There existed there a lot of paganism during the first century. You may remember on Paul’s trip to Ephesus in the book of Acts that the goddess Diana had a lot of followers. Paul was converting these pagan worshippers and the silversmiths and metal workers were getting mad because they were loosing money because they used to make a lot of money selling false idols. There was so much anger about Paul’s preaching that a riot started there in the city of Ephesus. The pagan people surrounded Paul to kill him shouting, “great is Diana of the Ephesians”, but Paul told them that the great temple to Diana was not god’s temple, that they were the Temple of God.
The Christians who emerged from this city were on fire for Jesus Christ. We learn in the book of Revelation that they hated false teaching, but they did not realize that hating false teaching is not equal to loving Jesus.
The Christians in Ephesus always had strong preachers like Paul, Apollos, Tychicus, and Timothy, but they did not realize that great preachers do not guarantee great churches.
We can read in the scripture what Jesus said to the church in Ephesus, but the question that we must deal with today is what would Jesus say to us today?
Perhaps he would compliment our not accepting false teachers like Ephesus. Maybe he would say he knows we live in an environment that is a humanistic society, a sports crazy society, a money hungry society, a pleasure seeking society, a sin crazy society, and tolerant society. Perhaps he would rebuke our lack of evangelistic effort, our lack of giving, our unfaithfulness to the local church, our broken down homes, and our tolerance on doctrine.
What would Jesus say to you? What would Jesus say about Falls Mills Christian Church today?
Text: Revelation 2:1-7
I. They Had Done Good Works
Revelation 2:2
Right from the start Jesus makes clear in His address to this church that He is aware that they have done good deeds in the past. He knows they have worked hard and have persevered. Those things he was giving to their credit. Perhaps if the church here was to be addressed one could comment about past victories and good deeds. Perhaps some could sit and take about days gone by, and how the church was doing this and doing that.
We are a people that like to look back at the olden days. We love to talk about good times we had in the past. I hear it a lot with churches. When I was in North Carolina, the church there had always had a history of highs and lows. That is not too uncommon. However, the old timers there loved to talk about times they used to be more faithful and they used to be more involved. I constantly had to remind them that the past is the past. That is not to forget or to undermine good things that had been accomplished, but we cannot live in the past.
History has always been one of my favorite subjects. Sometimes for fun, I would just read an encyclopedia, because I loved history. When I would read stories of great things that took place I get excited, though I can find some encouragement in the past, and though I can learn from past successes and failure, if we are always looking back we are going to be in trouble.
Sometimes I fear that we might do that. Perhaps you can look at your life and realize you have had your highs and lows. Perhaps you remember the times of the spiritual mountain top when you felt close to God. Perhaps you remember times when you were more involved, when you were more committed and more faithful. Perhaps you remember times when you were serving, learning, growing, praying more, and reading more, that is great, but do not look too longingly at the past, but we need to move forward. We are not saved because we had a period of good works in our lives, the present is much more important than the past.
Ezekiel 3:20
Jesus is saying the same thing to the church here. They have done some good deeds, they have some past victorious, they have had times of great success, but now they need to start doing those things again. We will not be saved because we used to be something or because we used to do something, we need to be doing it now.
II. They Did Not Tolerate Immorality
Revelation 2:2a
If many people read this verse today they may not think of this as a compliment, but this was intended to be a point of praise for the Church at Ephesus. Jesus commended the fact that they did not tolerate wicked people.
One of the most prominent ideas that is being promoted in our society is the call for tolerance. We are looked down on if we do not tolerate other people’s choices, ways of life, or religions. We are called narrow minded if we do not tolerate sins like homosexuality. Well, it is not my place to tolerate sin. God doesn’t tolerate it and the church at Ephesus was praised for not tolerating sin in their church.
I believe there are many churches and people of which this could not be said of today. Many have bit into the lie of tolerating that which is evil. Therefore, they justify sin and make it acceptable. They change the lines. They forget that the Scriptures say, “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil.”
Romans 12:9
As long as we as the church are in existence we cannot tolerate evil. That is not because we are being full of hate, but it is because we are doing the most loving thing possible. When Jesus warned to be weary of the yeast of the Pharisees, he meant that yeast can spread throughout the whole batch. In Scripture yeast is always symbolic of sin. The concept was that we should not tolerate sin because it will spread.
III. They Did Not Tolerate False Doctrine
Revelation 2:2b; 6
Another point of compliment for the church at Ephesus was that they were strong in not tolerating false doctrine, but they should have known that hating false doctrine is not the same as loving Jesus. Don’t misunderstand me, it was a compliment that they were strong in their doctrine, and that they loved the truth. It was pointed out that the hated the practices of the Nicolatians. We do not know much about this group, but it seems that this was a group of people who turned the grace of God into a license for sin. The church at Ephesus hated the practices of this group of people.
Again, we live in a very tolerant society which wants to overlook false teaching as just slight differences of opinion, but I do not believe that we can compromise doctrine, it is not our place. We like the church at Ephesus need to hold strong to the truth and not compromise what we believe or what the Word of God teaches. Many though have attempted to change the truth into something that fits with what they want to do or how they want to think.
The Smith’s were proud of their family tradition. Their ancestors had come to America on the Mayflower. Their line had included Senators, Preachers, & Wall Street wizards.
Now they decided to compile a family history, a legacy for the children. They hired a well known author. Only one problem arose: how to handle that great-uncle George who was executed in the electric chair. But the author said not to worry, he could handle that section of history tactfully.
When the book appeared, the family turned to the section on Uncle George.
There, they read "George Smith occupied a chair of applied electronics at an important government institution, was attached to his position by the strongest of ties, & his death came as a real shock."
Let us not be a church or a people that pervert or compromise the truth.
II Thessalonians 2:10
Tolerating and allowing false teaching is not a positive trait. Perhaps the Ephesian church remembered Paul’s warnings to them about the false teaching that would creep into among them.
Acts 20:25-31
I believe Paul’s warning to them could still apply to us today. We still need to be on our guard. We have to watch that we do not allow false teaching to creep in. We must always elevate and proclaim the Word of God.
Why was the warning of false teachers such a prominent theme in the New Testament? I believe because the Apostles knew and understood that people come and pervert the Word and twist the Word and in doing so would lead people not closer to Christ, but away from Him. It was a matter of salvation of people’s souls.
Let us be a church and a people who love the truth and who do not tolerate false teaching among us.
IV. They had Faithfully Endured Hardship
Revelation 2:3
There is no doubt that the church at Ephesus has endured hardship, and this letter says that they did it faithfully.
It is easy for some when the undergo hardship to not do so faithfully or to grow weary, but this was not the case in Ephesus. We have to understand that what is referred to here is probably not just hardships in life, but was persecution that they were facing directly as a result of them being Christians.
They were to be commended because they did not give in to the persecution. They did not reject Jesus despite their lives being threatened and their well-being in jeopardy. The town of Ephesus was full of people who worshipped all sorts of false idols, and we see that the Christian faith was diametrically opposed to their way of life, and was a danger to the whole society. Paul caused a riot to start, and we can only assume that the Christians who remained in Ephesus faced a difficult time.
V. They Are Called To Repent Now
They sound like a church that had it all together, don’t they? What more could be expected from them?
Revelation 2:4-5
The text says that the church had forsaken their first love and that they were to repent. Then a consequence is given, their lampstand would be removed, in other words their light would taken from them, they would no longer be a church any longer if they didn’t repent. I wonder could that same call be given to us as the church or us as individuals.
A. Why Had They Forsaken Their First Love?
One may wonder first what was their first love. This is an obvious answer. Their first love was Jesus. They had forsaken him for the world, but why had they forsaken him? Perhaps it was because of familiarity. You have heard the old saying, familiarity breeds contempt. Sometimes we get so used to something that it loses its value to us. Do you remember how it was when you first met your spouse? I remember when I was dating Stephanie, we would be together and she’d say, “don’t leave me”. Now she can’t wait for me to get away. Not really, but there is a truth to the fact that sometimes the new wears off and we lose interest. It shouldn’t be that way, and it certainly shouldn’t be that way with Jesus. Have you forsaken your first love? Have you put something else ahead of Jesus in your life?
B. What Did They Stop Doing?
We wonder as we read this, what did these people stop doing that they had once done. They had forsaken their first love, they had fallen a great deal. Often times when people think of a necessity of repentance they think that somebody must have done something awful or committed some sin, but I do not know if this is the case here. It does not command them necessarily to stop doing something, but he commands them to start doing something which they had ceased to do. In other words sins of omission are just as serious as sins of commission. I believe there are many in the church who are good people, who do not commit awful sins on a regular basis, but perhaps repentance is still in order. Perhaps they need to be called to start doing things they once did. Perhaps you look at your life and you notice you are not doing things you ought to be doing. Maybe you are not as faithful to the church as you ought to be. Maybe you are not sharing your faith as you should. Maybe you are not there for your family like you ought to be. Maybe you are not praying or reading your Bible like you ought to be. If that is the case, then I would call you to do the things that you once did. I would assume that there are areas we can all repent of. There are areas we can all do more. I believe we need to repent and do the things we once did.
What type of church is this? What type of Christian are you? A backslidden one? If so, then let us repent and do the things we once did. Let us return to our first love. Perhaps that means we have to cast down other things. Perhaps that means we need to remake a commitment to serving Jesus and Him alone. I don’t know exactly what that may mean in your life, but I really believe that we need repentance in the church today. We need repentance over the areas we have neglected as well as for the sins we have committed. Let us return to our first love, throwing off the sin, worldliness, and stumbling blocks from our path and do the things that we once did. Let us not live in the past and speak only of what we have done previously, but let us do currently what we ought to be doing.
