LETTER TO THE LOVELESS CHURCH
Revelation 2:1-7
Ephesus was the most important seaport in all of Asia Minor; Ephesus was at the hub if the major highway network of Asia Minor; Ephesus was also a religious center. That has long since changed. Where once there was a great, thriving harbor, today there are only deserted ruins and a swampy, mud-filled plain.
The message of the gospel was first preached in Ephesus by a Jewish convert named Apollos. His story is told in the book of Acts.
Read Acts 18:24-26
Apollos had heard the preaching of John the Baptist. He had heard the message that the Messiah was coming and would bring His kingdom. Now he was in Ephesus, preaching this message to the Jewish community which made up a considerable part of the city.
Also in the city were two other Jews named Priscilla and Aquila. They were associates of the Apostle Paul. They had met Paul in Corinth, but then they moved on to Ephesus. They heard Apollos preaching in the synagogue and they took him aside and shared with him how the One of whom John the Baptist proclaimed was Jesus of Nazareth who had died and had risen from the dead.
It was some time after this that Paul came to Ephesus and met several men who, like Apollos, had only heard of the preaching of John the Baptist. Indeed, these may have been some of the earlier converts of Apollos. Paul shared the gospel with them and they also believed.
For the next two years, Paul stayed at Ephesus, preaching and teaching daily; the effect of this ministry was dynamic. New converts had a great idol-burning party that threatened to overturn the economy of the metal workers guild (Acts 19:24-28).
As we come to the book of Revelation, many years have passed. Paul has written a letter to the Ephesians, encouraging them to grow in their faith. The doctrinal foundation he laid is still to be seen in that church as a second letter is now addressed to them. This one is addressed by Jesus.
Read Revelation 2:1
This greeting contains a powerful description of Jesus. He’s pictured in two ways. He’s the one who...
• Holds the seven stars in His right hand.
• Walks among the seven golden lampstands.
Remember from last week what these two things represent: (Rev. 2:20).
The seven stars represent the angels of the seven churches.
The seven lampstands stand for the seven churches to whom these messages are addressed.
There’s a message here. Notice where Jesus is seen. He’s standing among the lamp stands. He hasn’t gone off and forgotten about His churches. He’s personally involved with all of their problems.
This is important for us to know because sometimes we forget that Jesus is in the midst of His churches. Sometimes we think that Jesus was only interested in what happened back then and that He’s lost track of things. That’s not the case. Jesus is still standing in the midst of the lamp stands.
THE LORD KNOWS YOUR DEEDS (Vv. 2-3)
Jesus has some good things to say about this church; they had a good track record:
• They were hard workers.
• They exhibited great perseverance.
• They didn’t didn’t put up with evil.
• They stood against false teachers.
• They had endured persecution.
This was a church that knew doctrine. It was also an active church. They didn’t view Christianity as a spectator sport. Too many people think of Christianity in the same way they think of football — twenty two men who desperately need rest being watched by seventy thousand people who desperately need exercise. Ephesus wasn’t like this. They were the kind of church that most pastors would give their right arm to serve. But there was still a problem…a problem that struck at the very heart of the church:
AN ABANDONED LOVE (Vv. 4-5)
These two verse give us the whole reason this letter was written to the Ephesian church. Do you remember the first time you ever fell in love? It was a time of intensity; possibly a time of innocence. You wanted to spend every single minute with that person who was the object of your love. Everything was new and exciting. But then the newness wore off and maybe the love as well.
Why? What causes this problem for so many? How do we get so wrapped up in life that we lose our first love? It’s not like these believers had never loved Christ in the first place. Several years earlier, Paul had praised them for their reputation of loving Christ.
I think that the problem at Ephesus was that the people began to focus on the teachings about Jesus rather than Jesus Himself. They began to focus on theology instead of the One behind theology.
Love can grow cold if it’s not carefully tended to. Keeping your first love involves keeping your focus centered on the object of your love. How do you return to a love that has grown cold? Jesus gives the answer in three parts:
1. Remember where you were.
Remembering is important. That’s why we have things like the Sabbath and the Lord’s Supper, so we can remember the God’s work and God’s love. So if you’re a Christian, you need to remember where you used to be. Do you remember that moment when you went from being lost to being saved? Do you remember that intensity of your love for Christ and what He did for you at Calvary? It moved you to serve Him and to know Him. You couldn’t get enough of God’s Word. You wanted to be around other believers. You couldn’t stop talking about God.
2. Repent.
Remembering where you were will give you a desire to turn around and to return to where you ought to be. That’s what we call repentance. It’s a change of mind and of heart leading to a change of actions, which brings us to our third point.
3. Do the Works you did at first.
Notice this emphasis placed here on your works. True love always involves action. Now at this point, you might be thinking, “But I just don’t FEEL the way I used to.” That’s okay. Jesus doesn’t say to work up a feeling. He says to do the works that you once did. If your body gets involved, your feelings will eventually follow.
How do you regain lost love? You remember what it was like in the first place and then you go and you repent and you act like that love wasn’t lost to begin with. The same is true with faith. When you’re having trouble believing, go to God and repent and then act like your faith wasn’t lost to begin with.
At this point there’s a warning. It’s a warning of what will happen if you don’t return to your first love:
Revelation 2:5
This is a warning of coming judgment. Remember that there were seven lamp stands in John’s vision. Those seven lamp stands represented seven churches. Jesus is basically saying, “Change your ways or else I might be left with six lamp stands.”
What does this mean? I believe that its referring to the removal of a local church to whom this is addressed. If there’s no change, then before long this church will fall apart. It takes more than solid doctrine to keep a church together, it takes a living relationship with its Lord. There’s no substitute for this.
Revelation 2:6
We’re not told much about the Nicolaitans; they’re not mentioned in any other book of the Bible. But this is a group that was originally made up of followers of Nicolaus, one of the first seven deacons of the church at Jerusalem (Acts 6:5). Misunderstanding his teachings, they took the message of salvation by grace to mean that you can go and live as you please…and that’s exactly what they did, living a life of sin in the name of God’s grace.
The Christian life was never meant to be a life filled with sin. That’s a misuse of the doctrine of grace. Grace doesn’t mean that we are free to go out and sin as much as we want because Jesus has already paid our debt. Jesus paid our debt so that we can be pure and holy and clean and set apart for His purposes.
THE PROMISE (v. 7)
What you’re going to see in each message to the seven churches is that Jesus always ends with a promise. It’s a promise similar to that which He made with Abraham…what we call a covenant, meaning there’s a condition attached to it. In each of these cases, the promise is only offered to the one who overcomes. What does it mean to overcome? How can you overcome?
First we need to realize that Jesus is the overcomer. John pointed this out in his gospel of the life and ministry of Jesus:
These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world” (Jn. 16:33).
It should give us a peace that passes all understanding to know that Jesus has overcome the world. But that’s not all. John also goes on to say that we can be over comers as well:
For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? (1 Jn. 5:4-5)
If you place your faith in the One who has already overcome the world, you can overcome as well. This world is a difficult place to live in for the Christian; there are going to be tough times ahead. If you don’t want to take my word for it, then look ahead a few chapters in the book of Revelation. You’re going to experience problems in this life. Some will be big, some will be small. If you live on planet earth for any length of time, then something bad is going to come into your life.
Our churches are filled with people who may be smiling on the outside, but they’re hurting on the inside. They hide behind their mask, thinking that they're the only one who doesn’t have it all together…afraid that somebody might learn that they’re not experiencing victory in Christ.
Church, this is a place where you can remove your mask. A place where you can authentic. Everyone in this place is in the same boat as you whether they will admit or not. Let’s come together and share in the burdens of life. God has provided us with fellowship for this very reason, not just so we can bring our favorite dish to the next potluck. Real fellowship is about doing life together…the good and times, and the bad.
So my challenge to you tonight is to be an overcomer. Take God’s promises and apply them to your life, depending on Him for all things. Instead of letting your problems overcome you, you overcome them by placing your trust in the Lord.
