According to research done by sociologist W.F. Nimkoff and Arthur Wood, the intensity of romance in a marriage diminishes by 80% during the first two years.
Two friends who lived in the West Virginia mountains were talking one day. “Horace,” the first one said, “why didn’t you ever get married?”
“I thought about it several times,” Horace said, “but things just didn’t work out. The first girl I wanted to marry was a pretty little thing with red hair, but my mother didn’t like the way she talked. My second girlfriend was a cute little blonde who sang in a hillybilly band, but when I brought her home my mother didn’t like her looks. Then I tried to find a girl that would please my mother. I finally found a young lady down in Charleston who looked exactly like my mother. She talked like my mother and even walked like her. I was sure she’d be able to please my mother. But things went wrong again. So, I gave up the idea.”
“What went wrong with the last time?” his friend asked. “Didn’t your mother like her?”
“Oh, yes, Mother thought she was perfect,” said Horace, “but my Dad couldn’t stand the sight of her.”
I suppose it is true that romance diminishes in those first years of marriage. But the truth is romance diminishes unless it is renewed and revised under a deeper kind of love. Love must be cultivated and deliberately given attention, or it will cool. What’s true for marriages is true for churches too. The first mark of a true and living church is its love for Jesus and the brethren.
The letter of Revelation was originally written to seven churches that existed in Asia Minor or what is today the nation of Turkey. Against a backdrop of persecution, infiltration by false teachers, and sinful lifestyles, John reveals seven characteristics that make up the true church of God. The first church addressed is the Christian church at Ephesus.
Ephesus was an impressive church. It was founded by Paul. The church could list Timothy and the apostle John as pastors. But the highest compliment that could be paid to any church is that it is a loving church. The first mark of a true and living church is its love for Jesus and the brethren.
As John records Jesus’ message to the church at Ephesus, notice Jesus’ commendation, complaint, and correction. John writes:
Write to the angel of the church in Ephesus:
Thus says the one who holds the seven stars in his right hand and who walks among the seven golden lampstands:
(2) I know your works, your labor, and your endurance, and that you cannot tolerate evil people. You have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and you have found them to be liars. (3) I know that you have persevered and endured hardships for the sake of my name, and you have not grown weary. (4) But I have this against you: You have abandoned the love you had at first. (5) Remember then how far you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. Otherwise, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent. (6) Yet you do have this: You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.
(7) “Let anyone who has ears to hear listen to what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.
First, Jesus commends the church.
I. JESUS COMMENDS THE CHURCH (REVELATION 2:1-3, 6)
The letter to Ephesus begins with a description of the person of Jesus Christ (v. 1) and then praise of the church in v. 2-3, 6.
A. The Person of Jesus (v. 1).
Write to the angel of the church in Ephesus: Thus says the one who holds the seven stars in his right hand and who walks among the seven golden lampstands:
It is none other than the Lord of the church who speaks to the church at Ephesus. Every letter addressed to these seven churches begins with a description of Jesus. Each description is found in chapter one of Revelation.
The seven stars most likely represent the seven pastors of the churches and the seven golden lampstands represent the churches. Churches are to be bearers of the light of the gospel to those who are still in the darkness of their sin. The light of the lampstand is not its own. It is a borrowed light like that of the moon from the sun. We must always remember we are not the attraction; Jesus is. We are a collection of people who are called together to show this community what Jesus can do through people who love and serve Him. We are just a lampstand. He is the light. He is the attraction.
John describes two actions Jesus takes with the church. Jesus holds the seven stars in his right hand. If I asked you to help me carry a couch into the house, you would get a hold on one end and I would get a hold on the other end. This is not the idea of the word “hold” in this verse. Rather, when I say I am holding my wedding ring in my hand, my hand completely envelopes the ring. This is the picture John uses to describe the action Jesus is taking with the seven stars.
Notice they are in the “right hand.” This is the hand of power, authority, and privilege.
The second action Jesus takes is He walks among the seven golden lampstands. This emphasizes His presence with the churches. When we meet Jesus is as present as anyone of us.
What’s the point? Christ is the divine overseer of the church. He knows us thoroughly. He visits His people. He dwells with them. Jesus inspects the church. In the Garden of Eden, the Lord walked and fellowshipped with Adam and Eve. That means He took an active interest in them and their work. He knew everything about them. The Lord is able to evaluate the condition of the church. In what He commends and what he condemns, He is perfectly accurate.
In this description of the person of Jesus Christ, Jesus goes on to praise the church for its commendable qualities.
B. The praise of the church (v. 2-3, 6)
(2) I know your works, your labor, and your endurance, and that you cannot tolerate evil people. You have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and you have found them to be liars. (3) I know that you have persevered and endured hardships for the sake of my name, and you have not grown weary.
1. Busy in service (2a)
The word works is modified or explained by the word labor. The word labor describes work which leads to exhaustion. Literally it describes sweat on the face. It could be translated “trouble.” You may have said to someone, “Don’t go to any trouble.” You mean extra work or effort. The church didn’t just work for the Lord, it worked hard and energetically for the Lord Jesus.
How exciting to be a part of a church where every member knew their spiritual giftedness and employed that gift in sacrificial service to the church and community. Service for Christ was not a hobby or a leftover for the members of this church. In this pandemic we are potentially facing an unemployment rate that exceeds anything our generation has ever seen, except in the church. Our churches have struggled along with a twenty to thirty percent unemployment rate for generations. Not Ephesus.
You know the difference between those who work energetically for the Lord and those who don’t. You have had Sunday School teachers who taught the Bible as a hobby. The lesson was put together with the leftover time they had that week. On the other hand, you have had Sunday School teachers who sweated over the lesson with study and prayer and care for the class. For them this was a labor of love for Christ and the class. The difference is night and day.
There are dozens of places of service at every church just waiting for a member to go to work. Just walk through our facility and you will see work that could be done. Every program is always in need of people who will help carry the work of serving the needs of people. When the Lord Jesus looked at the church at Ephesus, they were busy in service.
2. Diligently patient (2b-3)
and your endurance….(3) I know that you have persevered and endured hardships for the sake of my name, and you have not grown weary.
We know from the book of Acts that Ephesus was a challenging place to live the Christian life. Its pagan temples were grossly immoral. Witchcraft, sorcery, and idolatry were big business in Ephesus. Opposition to the Christian faith could have ranged from social ostracism, to physical violence, to economic hardship because of lost jobs or boycotts. Nevertheless, the Ephesians had not thrown their Christian faith overboard. They remained firm and unswerving in their allegiance to Jesus Christ.
Almost every week there’s a new article telling of Christians being persecuted and killed for their faith. For example, this week it was reported that nearly 50 Christians in Nigeria were killed in March by a group of Islamic terrorists, and ten were killed in the first two days of April. Two pastors were buried without their heads because of beheading. These same terrorists killed 125 Christians in January and then killed more Christians in February.
Thankfully we’re not faced with this kind terror in our country but just try standing apart for Jesus Christ and see what comes your way. Don’t laugh at the dirty joke told at work. Speak up for Christian values at school or in the workplace and see what happens.
A woman took a French class with six other women who met once a week. They all went out to eat after class one day. During the conversation one of the women asked who had cheated on their husband. All but one woman raised her hand. That woman told her husband about this conversation. Her husband asked if she was the one who didn’t raise her hand. She said, “I wasn’t the one, but I have never cheated on you.” The husband asked why she raised her hand? Listen to this answer, “I was afraid of what they would think of me.”
Apparently, the church at Ephesus didn’t give a rip what the world thought of them or did to them. They were going to stay true to Jesus.
Jesus praises their busy service, their diligent patience, and their orthodox belief.
3. Orthodox in belief (v. 2c, 6)
You have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and you have found them to be liars (2c)…. (6) Yet you do have this: You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.
Ortho means right. Doxa means opinion. They held the right opinion about the fundamental truths of the Christian faith. Things like the full deity and full humanity of Jesus Christ. Things like Jesus is the one and only Savior for sinners. The church had been visited by some self-styled apostles who taught or practiced false teachings.
They no doubt heard these pretenders present their ideas, but they didn’t stop there. They examined the beliefs and the behavior of these false teachers. Did you know that Brigham Young, one of the founders of the Mormons, had 40 wives? Charles Russel Taze, the founder of the Jehovah Witnesses, said he knew the Greek language of the New Testament. In a Canadian court of law, he couldn’t read a passage of the Greek N.T. nor recite the Greek alphabet. An examination of the lifestyle of these deceivers would explain some of their teaching which is to be rejected.
In 1 Corinthians 5 Paul rebukes the church in Corinth not because it had sin in it, that’s always true, he rebuked the church because they failed to deal with a blatant act of sexual sin by one of its members. This was not the case with Ephesus.
What a model church! Busy in service, courageous in suffering and sound in doctrine and behavior. But they have one mark against them that discounts all these marvelous virtues. What could be so destructive that a church that appears to be healthy is on life support? It’s full of energy, but it is almost dead. They have right beliefs and right behaviors but Jesus is ready to shutter the church. This is scary.
Let’s look at Jesus’ complaint against the church.
II. JESUS’ COMPLAINT AGAINST THE CHURCH (REVELATION 2:4)
But I have this against you: You have abandoned the love you had at first.
Look at those words individually.
A. Abandoned
Some translations say “left.” They didn’t lose their first love; they left their first love. The idea is they got distracted. Something else began to be the central focus of their life. They abandoned what produced right behavior and right belief.
All our Christian life we are going to wrestle individually and corporately with making the secondary the primary. The measure of your life is never going to be the success of your career or your family or your accomplishments. What is God going to measure when we stand before Him on Judgment Day? He’s going to ask, “What did you do with Jesus?”
It is easy to get distracted in the pursuit of some amazing accomplishment, but as a Christian our identification, our priority, and our great love is to be for Jesus. Resist the distractions of this world to abandon that central focus of life.
B. First
This is not love in general but your first love. Who is the first love of the church? It is Jesus. Somehow in the busyness of church life and maintaining doctrinal correctness, Jesus was lost. Church became about something else. They were a serving church, a doctrinally sound church, and a persevering church, but they were not a Christ-centered church. Unless they re-center on Jesus Christ the light is going to go out.
The word “first” doesn’t mean in a sequence but what is most important. It is this priority that establishes all other priorities. This priority is the core of who you are. Everything else emanates from this.
There was no gross sin or scandal that stole their heart from Jesus. I suspect they just got busy and life got full. Love for Jesus was taken for granted. Times of reconnecting got moved aside for who was picking up the kids and was getting them to the ball game. That’s life. The renewing of affection can get crowded out. A couple makes a commitment to live with one another for all of their life but come to a point where they hardly every meet with one another. What’s true individually can happen corporately to a church.
Sometimes people say a person’s priority can be determined by looking at their calendar and how they spend their money. Yes and no. A man loves his wife and family above his work, but if he doesn’t go to work for 40 hours, he is going to be spending lots of time with his family homeless sleeping in the car. What does show our priority is who or what determines your calendar.
I love my redheaded wife. I love her more than NEBC or my calling. If I were ever faced with the choice of the church or my calling over my wife, and that has happened with some pastors, I pick her. She’s first. She’s the priority that establishes all other priorities. Ephesus chose their performance of church work over the Person of Christ.
C. Love
Just a word about “love.” It is the unique word “agape.” This word is an attempt to describe the indescribable love of God. His love chased you all the way to the pit where you were covered in sin and still loved you and rescued you. His love embraced you despite all the shameful sin in your life. Ephesus was a filthy place with its temple prostitution and sexual perversion. But God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son for you. This is what Ephesus chose to abandon!
We’ve seen the commendable qualities of the church at Ephesus. We’ve looked at the complaint against the church. Lastly, let’s see what Jesus commands the church.
III. JESUS’ COMMAND TO THE CHURCH (REV. 2: 5, 7)
(2:5) Remember then how far you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. Otherwise, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent…(2:7) “Let anyone who has ears to hear listen to what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.
Jesus is not content to let this church to wander in lovelessness. He calls it to fall back in love with Him. He issues three terse commands.
A. Remember (5a)
The verb tense in the language of the New Testament means “keep on” doing something. It’s to be a lifestyle, a habit. Keep on remembering. Remembering involves two actions: recalling and rehearsing.
The O.T. called the Israelite to remember God’s Word. The idea was to hold something at the forefront of your mind. To recall God’s Word the Jew practiced this literally. He took a small leather pouch and tied it to his forehead. As the pouch bounced off his forehead he was to recall God’s Word and think and live it.
Every part of Jewish life had something built into it to recall God’s Word and obey. The door posts had boxes with scripture inside. Jews touched when leaving the home to remember to live like God’s people as they go into the world. They touched it again to remember God as they went into their home. Like saying to someone, “Remember who you are,” this was to provide an anchor to promote godly behavior.
Remembering also involves rehearsing. Stop. Occasionally take inventory. For some, to look back would be to remember you were on your way to hell, but Jesus saved you and now you are on your way to heaven. Your heart is filled with gratitude. Others look back and your church attendance was consistent and involved. It is not that way now. You experience conviction to return to what you know is right. Others can point to times of rescue, healing, provision, and joy as you rehearse the goodness of God shown to you.
Thomas Goodwin, the Puritan preacher, wrote this to his son:
When I was threatening to become cold in my ministry, and when I felt Sabbath morning coming, and my heart not filled with amazement at the grace of God, or when I was making ready to dispense the Lord’s Supper, do you know what I used to do? I used to take a turn up and down among the sins of my past life, and I always came down with a broken and a contrite heart, ready to preach, as it was preached in the beginning, the forgiveness of sin.
Do you remember when you were so filled with the love for Jesus your heart overflowed with joy? Do you remember wondering why you ever delayed the decision of coming to Christ and why anyone would not come to Christ? Do you remember being so hungry for the Bible you couldn’t get enough of it? Do you remember Sunday being the highlight of your week? You couldn’t wait until Sunday to go to church and see your new Christian friends and sing and study the Bible. If you don’t remember, maybe you never really knew the Lord as Savior. Memory can be a curse, but with God’s help it can become a great motivation for your spiritual life.
Jesus commands the church at Ephesus to remember. He also commands them to repent.
B. Repent (5b)
repent, and do the works you did at first. Otherwise, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent.
Many of you know repent means “to change your mind.” It’s more than the alcoholic changing his mind he is going to drink a beer rather than whiskey. It is the radical decision of the alcoholic deciding he will never ever again have alcohol as a part of his life.
Repent implies a sorrow concerning an offense. Ephesus has offended Jesus. They abandoned Jesus! Their neglect of Jesus is not a little thing; it was a great sin. They hurt Jesus. It was not OK to love other things in the place of Jesus. It was idolatry.
God convicted me a few years back that I loved my comfort and my routine more than I loved Jesus. This is was the reason I had not returned to serve on a mission trip. I was selfish. He had given me gifts, education, and experiences that would bless others who would never have those privileges, and I was refusing to share because I loved my comfort and routine more than Jesus. I repented and began to go on mission trips.
Remember. Repent. Resume
C. Resume (v. 5c)
Jesus said, “and do the works you did at first.”
Nothing said about waiting until you feel like it. William James, the father of American psychology, said the greatest discovery in psychology in the 20th century was you don’t feel your way into an action, you act your way into a feeling. Someone asked the writer Ernest Hemingway if he wrote when the spirit moved him. He said, “I move the spirit.” You don’t go to work only when you feel like it. You don’t pay your bills only if you feel like it. You do what’s right and often the feelings will follow.
A woman came to a counselor about her marriage. She told the counselor she wanted a divorce but before she divorced her husband, she wanted to hurt him as deeply as she could. The counselor said if that is what she wanted then she needed to go home and be as kind to this man as she possibly could. Cook his favorite meals, be loving and affectionate. Do everything she could think of to build him up. Then when he was so caught up in her love for him, divorce the bum. It was an intriguing strategy thought the woman. So that is what she did. She showered him with love and affection with her words and actions.
Eventually she goes back to the counselor. He asks how things are going. She says great, never been better. The counselor said that was good. Now it was time to divorce the bum. The woman looked surprise and said, “Divorce my husband? Why I love my husband.” True story.
Start doing those things you did when you were first in love with the Lord Jesus. Watch the love for Jesus and his church begin to return to your heart.
This command is strengthened with Jesus’ resolve.
D. Resolve (5d)
Otherwise, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent.
Jesus resolves to terminate the church if they refuse to repent of their lack of love for Him and others. Northeast has no guarantee of continuing existence. In my thirty years of pastoring in this community I know of three Southern Baptist churches that have closed their doors. There may have been more. One building is now being used by a group of followers of the Ba Hai faith. We have no guarantee of a place in this world. In 115 A.D. Ignatius spoke highly of this church. Apparently, they repented, but in the Middle Ages its message had been obliterated.
We have no light if we don’t have love. Only when our love burns will we have a light to shine. Have you ever been to a church where they had a polished preacher, beautiful buildings, programs for every member of the family, but you’d rather have spent a night in a mausoleum? The light has gone out. Why? The love is gone.
If I’ve understood this passage rightly, then the most critical metric to watch in our church is love for God and love for others. The absence of love is grounds for getting our franchise revoked. May God search our hearts in order to do a work of love for Him and His church.
Jesus is not only resolved to terminate this church if they don’t repent, He will reward them if they overcome. Jesus says in v. 7, “Let anyone who has ears to hear listen to what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.
Each letter ends with a promise to the conqueror, that is the person who obeys the message of the letter and overcomes the evil in the church. Here the promise is free access to the Tree of Life. It means enjoyment of eternal life in heaven. Eternal life means living forever with Jesus in heaven, but it also means living a quality of life that God intended for us. Whatever God knows of love, joy, and peace, a believer is to know as much as a human being can stand. It’s like a teacup on the beach when the tide comes in. The teacup is full of the ocean but there is so much more. The reward is the overcomer will gain more capacity to love God in perfect communion in heaven.
CONCLUSION
Neil Diamond sings:
You don't bring me flowers
You don't sing me love songs
You hardly talk to me anymore
When I come thru' the door
At the end of the day
What is your heart temperature for Jesus? Thursday morning seven men joined me to pray. The first two men to pray began, “Father, I love you.” I was blessed. Are you cultivating your love relationship with Jesus? The first mark of a true and living church is its love for Jesus and the brethren.
INVITATION
PRAYER
Father, fill our heart with love for you. Thank you for the people we have to love in our family, friends, and church. Thank you for work and provision. We have so many good things to be grateful for. But never let these good things distract us from You being our preeminent love.
Forgive us for abandoning our first love for You. We don’t think of it like that. We don’t see the seriousness of our actions. Holy Spirit, bring to us a repentant heart until we return to our first love.
