AMERICAN IDOLS: LOOKING AT OURSELVES AND OUR LOYALTIES THROUGH THE EYES OF JESUS
THE IDOL OF SUPERIORITY: EPHESUS
REVELATION 2:1-7
Sermon Objective: God’s greatest commandments are loved-based and reveal His priority on relationships.
Supporting Scripture: Mark 12:29-31, John 13:34-35; 1 Corinthians 13; Romans 12:10; Romans 13:8; Ephesians 4:2; Hebrews 10:24; 1 Peter 1:22; 1 Peter 4:8; 1 John 3:11; 1 John 3:23; 1 John 4:7; 1 John 4:11-12; 2 John 1:5
Revelation 2:1"To the angel of the church in Ephesus write:
These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands: 2I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked men, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. 3You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary. 4Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love. 5Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place. 6But you have this in your favor: You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. 7He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.
SERIES INTRO:
American Idols: Looking at Ourselves and Our Loyalties Through the Eyes of Jesus
There are two categories of idols:
{1} an image or other material object representing a deity to which religious worship is addressed.
{2} any person or thing regarded with blind admiration, adoration, or devotion.
Our concern is with the latter. There are a myriad of “things” which could be classified as an idol … they are limited only by the passions of the individual in question. But there are certain dispositions or demeanors that our culture serves and pursues as an end in themselves … they have become idolatrous.
What we discover in “The Revelation” is that they are not just limited to our culture but that others have also pursued these with “blind devotion”. They include:
• Superiority (pride) – The Church in Ephesus (Revelation 2:1-7) • Consumerism – The Church in Smyrna (Revelation 2:8-11) • Laize Faire – The Church in Pergamum (Revelation 2:12-17) • Tolerance – The Church in Thyatira (Revelation 2:18-29) • Leisure – The Church in Sardis (Revelation 3:1-6) • Stoicism – The Church in Philadelphia (Revelation 3:7-13) • Independence – The Church in Laodicea (Revelation 3:14-22)
INTRO:
EPHESUS: THE CITY
It was the chief city of Asia Minor. During John’s day it was approximately 3 times the size of modern day Syracuse (maybe as many as 500,000) and its claims to fame would be
[i] The temple of Diana/Artemis (which was one of the seven wonders of the ancient world) and
[ii] Its harbor. The harbor was the envy of other cities … it was their biggest problem too since it gradually filled with silt; shrunk, and required the city to move closer to it on several occasions.
The “shifting sand” of the harbor would prove the be the city’s downfall and, today, Ephesus is simply a historical footnote in modern Turkey.
Today we will turn our attention to Revelation 2:1-7.
EPHESUS: THE CHURCH
Similar to the city, the church is Ephesus was the largest and most substantive of the churches in Asia Minor. It was one of those churches that we would all want to attend; and for good reason! It had enjoyed stellar leadership. It was birthed by the Apostle Paul, served by such names as Aquilla, Priscilla, Timothy, and, now, St. John.
Let’s read some of today’s text.
Revelation 2:1"To the angel of the church in Ephesus write:
These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands: 2I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked men, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. 3You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary.
You cannot help but be impressed by the passion and accomplishments of this congregation. Verses 2 and 3 list five commendable traits that this church possessed.
Ephesus was a SERVING CHURCH (v. 2)
Notice the emphasis on “deeds”.
Ephesus was a SACRIFICING CHURCH (v. 2)
“labor” means hard work … actually “toil to the point of exhaustion.”
Ephesus was a STEADFAST CHURCH (v. 2)
“Patience” carries tones of endurance under trial. We know from history and the book of Acts that the city of Ephesus could be intolerant of any who opposed their gods.
Ephesus was a SEPARATED CHURCH (v. 2, 6)
It separated itself from false doctrine
It separated itself from false deeds
Ephesus was a SUFFERING CHURCH (v. 3)
They withstood hardship for Christ’s “name’s sake.”
Indeed, no matter how you looked at this congregation you’d find it favorable. Their passion for Christ and His cause are undeniable. You’d probably take your family there if it was in your town.
But Jesus saw beyond the activity; he had a different diagnosis. The one who holds “holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands” REMINDS US THAT IT IS HIS CHURCH AND HE IS IN CONTROL. HIS ASSESSMENT CARRIES MORE WEIGHT THAN THE MERE APPEARANCE WE WOULD SEE IF WE JOINED THEM FOR WORSHIP ONE SUNDAY.
And Jesus says: 4Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love. 5Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place. 6But you have this in your favor: You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. 7He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.
Our Lord saw something amiss. Our initial reaction might be to say, “Well, they had one small flaw but they were doing so much right that we should be able to overlook it.”
But look at the accusation again … it is no small matter.
Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love.
Have you ever paid much attention to the role and emphasis that “love” gets in John’s other writings? His words, many of which are quotes from Jesus, give us insight into God’s love. Listen to a few of his reflections:
John 13:34-35: 34"A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."
1 John 3:11 & 23: This is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another. … And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us.
2 John 1:5: 5And now, dear lady, I am not writing you a new command but one we have had from the beginning. I ask that we love one another.
These reveal a lot about the hearts of Jesus and St. John. They reveal God’s priorities. As far as I can tell … LOVE IS “THE TRUMP CARD.”
Oh I know such comments make some of you nervous … it makes me nervous too … but the uneasiness might say more about us than it does about whether it is true.
I suspect that statement would have made the Ephesian church nervous too. They would want to add a “Yes, but” to it or maybe an “and” at the end of the statement. But there is no indication is Scripture that any addition is warranted.
LOVE IS “THE TRUMP CARD.”
I’m sure it made the Ephesian Christians as uneasy as it makes some of us. Well, at least by the time John is writing. But that was not always the case. In Paul’s letter to the Ephesians (written 30 to 40 years earlier) he said something quite telling about them. In 1:15 he says, “Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the saints …”. He then praises them for it in the ensuing verses. Paul mentions love twenty times in that letter. He also applauds them in Acts 20 because they were known for “helping the weak.” This is important because we discover that “love” for Paul and the Ephesian church was action oriented … it was a “work” … and that will play significantly later in John’s message to them.
SO WHAT HAPPENED? WHERE DID THIS LOVE-FILLED CHURCH GO?
Many think there is a correlation between Ephesus’ heightened boundary keeping and its loss of the ability to love. THEY SEEM TO HAVE FORGOTTEN THAT MAKING DISCIPLES IS MORE ABOUT LOVE THAN IT IS ABOUT DOCTRINE AND THAT JESUS’ CORE VALUES ARE ALL ABOUT LOVE AND NEVER EVEN MENTION PASSING A CATECHISM.
Mark 12: 29"The most important one," answered Jesus, "is this: ’Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’31The second is this: ’Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these."
Something changed at Ephesus and it provokes some questions.
• Is there a connection between the church’s hyper-sensitivity to doctrinal purity and it’s lost of first love?
• Is the Ephesian zeal for watching the borders of the community also the cause of their lost compassion?
• Can a community so focus on maintaining the orthodoxy of its theology that it loses its ability to love?
• Is there a vulnerability in allowing urgent things (struggles against heresy, etc.) to take priority over “first things” like God’s priority of love?
There is good reason to think that the penchant and passion that the Ephesian church had for orthodoxy eroded their sense of compassion and love for one another and others. YOU SEE THEIR BIGGEST FEAR (AND WAR) WAS NOT FROM THE OUTSIDE (LIKE PERSECUTION) BUT FROM THE INSIDE (FALSE DOCTRINE) AND THIS PRODUCED SUSPICION. IF THE THREAT HAD BEEN PERSECUTION THEY MIGHT HAVE BONDED TOGETHER BUT THEY APPEAR TO HAVE LET THE DANGERS WITHIN MAKE THEM DISTANT AND SUSPICIOUS OF EACH OTHER.
WHEN THAT HAPPENS, ORTHODOXY HAS COST TOO MUCH.
AND ALL THE ORTHODOXY IN THE WORLD WILL NEVER TAKE THE PLACE OF UNITY IN LOVE.
I am not saying you let false doctrine creep in and tolerate it. The Scriptures speak clearly about this. But I am saying one must never let “heresy-hunting” or “keeping the church pure” be the mission and personality of the congregation.
The scholar, Robert Mounce, once wrote: “Every virtue carries within itself the seeds of its own destruction. It seems probable that desire for sound teaching and the resulting forthright action taken to exclude all imposters had created a climate of suspicion in which love within the believing community could no longer exist.” (Robert Mounce, “The Book of Revelation”, p. 69)
The church’s love for God seems well enough intact … very well intact … this seems almost a guarantee that they are hurting relationally.
Love for believers is the badge of discipleship. I take you again to John 13:35 … 35By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."
The Ephesian church’s passion for orthodoxy bred suspicion, intolerance, cliquishness, and lack of fellowship. The zeal for sound doctrine forced them to keep others at arms length – distancing relationships. They are told to recall the early days when love abounded in the congregation … the days when Paul wrote to them in celebration of their love.
WRAP-UP
These are tough thoughts for us because they hit us square.
Just as the sands around Ephesus built up gradually and brought more and more distance between the city and its harbor; so lovelessness builds up gradually. It is often not recognized until the hindrance and distance has already done damage.
In a mere generation the Ephesians had gone from a loving church where Paul gave no criticism in His letter, to a church where Jesus tells them they need to repent or face dire consequences.
But God is faithful and will reveal that which separates us from Him and call us to repentance.
Church history helps us with “the rest of the story.” We have a full copy of Ignatius’ letter to the Ephesian church. Ignatius was the Bishop of Antioch, he wrote about 20 years after John’s Revelation, and was probably discipled personally by the Apostle John himself, and was a martyr in the upcoming tribulation that John writes about in The Revelation. HE TELLS US THE EPHESIANS HEEDED THE WARNING!
I am not surprised because people who love God will right their path!
I have seen people and churches who felt superior because of their doctrinal purity or spiritual heritage. I have seen it do far more damage than it ever did good. IN AN IRONIC WAY, THOSE WITH A ZEAL FOR SOUND DOCTRINE MAY ACTUALLY LOSE THEIR INFLUENCE FOR THE KINGDOM BY ALLOWING THIS PENCHANT TO OVERRIDE A LOVING DISPOSITION.
God can (and will) correct a follower who’s doctrines is a bit off (Jesus’ earthly ministry to the disciples is an example) BUT GOD CANNOT TOLERATE THE WAY A LOVELESS FAITH ERODES AND DISTANCES HIS GRACE FROM HUMAN LIVES.
YOUR DOCTRINAL PURITY BECOMES AN IDOL WHEN YOU ALLOW IT TO SEPARATE YOU FROM GOD’S PEOPLE. WHEN YOU USE IT AS A REASON TO REMAIN ALOOF, UNLOVING, AND LET IT GIVE YOU AN AIR SPIRITUAL SUPERIORITY YOU ARE ON DANGEROUS GROUND! IT BECOMES AN IDOL WHICH GOD CANNOT / WILL NOT TOLERATE.
IN SHORT – WHERE LOVE IS ABSENT SO IS CHRISTIANITY.
Revelation 2:4Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love. 5Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place. 6But you have this in your favor: You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. 7He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.
Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. (1 Peter 4:8)
St. John’s solution for the Ephesian church was simple and direct. It has merit for us today too.
1. REMEMBER … what is used to be like when the relationships were close.
2. REPENT … this term’s syntax suggests that it means a “a final act” … it means DROP AND LEAVE IT NEVER TO RETURN TO IT!
3. RETURN … repentance alone is never enough it is the prelude to something else … “good works” … TO “DO” YOUR FIRST WORKS.
As we prepare for communion this morning it is an ideal time for you to take a serious spiritual inventory.
For example:
Are there people you are distant from because of theological differences? If so, you may need to repent and approach your “brother” of “sister” in Christ and make things right before you receive. Just hold off … I’ll be glad to serve you communion any time this week after you have made things right.
He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. (verse 7)
This sermon is provided by Dr. Kenneth Pell
Potsdam Church of the Nazarene
Potsdam, New York
www.potsdam-naz.org
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Supporting Scripture
Mark 12:29-31
29"The most important one," answered Jesus, "is this: ’Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’31The second is this: ’Love your neighbor as yourself. ’There is no commandment greater than these."
John 13:34-35
34"A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."
Romans 12:10
10Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves.
Romans 13:8
8Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law.
1 Corinthians 13
Ephesians 4:2
2Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.
Hebrews 10:24
24And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.
1 John 3:11
11This is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another.
1 John 3:23
And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us.
1 John 4:7-12
7Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.
2 John 1:5
5And now, dear lady, I am not writing you a new command but one we have had from the beginning. I ask that we love one another.
1 Peter 1:22
22Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from the heart.
1 Peter 4:8
Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.
